The slowly setting sun illuminated a soft orange glow in the sky above Paris. Birds flying in the distance appeared silhouette from the balcony of the palace where stood, Louis, the young king of this vast stretch of land.

He sighed as he gazed all around his land. It was practically one of the dreamiest and most beautiful scenery he had ever looked at. I wonder how it's like for each bird to fly over such a magnificent view...must be tempting. I should try taking a balloon ride during sunset, but... Neither did leisure find him nor did he. The first couple of weeks as King has been too stressful.

He nudged at the back of his neck. It hurts from having that heavy pile of fancy designed gold on its top. His crown is too heavy. Not just in its mass but also having one on top is like having a burden to carry on most times. Even when he takes it off he feels it's just present on him.

"Your highness," a voice addressed him from behind.

"Yes?" the king looked at one of his messengers, slightly annoyed for interrupting his thoughts.

"Monsieur Treville and the musketeers have returned."

"Oh, alright." He didn't pay much heed to his announcement. It was strictly official. Hold on! The musketeers, he said? That would mean...Corrine has returned! He grinned as well as shaking with ecstasy.

"Y-your highness, are you... alright?" the messenger asked nervously, hoping not to sound too informal to the king.

"I-I must go!" He raced out of the balcony before he could even finish. His messenger scratched his head in confusion.

Corrine is finally here! In Paris! For heaven's sake it's been so long! His heart fluttered and cheeks flushed red as he thought about her, Corrine, the girl he had fallen in love with. He imagined her, dismounting her horse with such style and daring fashion, landing on the ground, taking off her royal-blue musketeer hat and then swishing her fair hair in the air. Some strands of hair would cover parts of her face which she would blow away with her pink lips and reveal her beautiful face: her vivid blue-grey eyes, filled with triumph and pride; her lips tugging into a cunning smile.

His heart exploded.

...

"Good day, your highness. " Treville, the captain of the musketeers acknowledged the young king's presence. Oh Louis, forgot your crown again. "My musketeers have once again held satisfactory victory among their hands, but I must say, the girls made the most effort and progress."

"Good day to you too, Monsieur." Louis hated how he said girls. A way of telling them that they were unusual and different. But he didn't want to be disrespectful; Treville was older than him and personally he never took advantage of his position as King to disregard people. Corrine's images flashed into his mind again. "Is... Corrine here?"

"Ah, miss D'Artangan." The old man acknowledged someone's presence behind Louis. He spun around, it was Corrine, standing confidently with her hands on her waist. She looked just as he had pictured her before. Beautiful, confident and dreamy. His heart fluttered.

"Just whom you were looking for... She had rather been the best in this mission. Such a natural." Treville complimented.

"Why thank you, Captain! I owe it all to my friends and our teamwork." The blonde musketeer waved to her friends who dismounted their horses by the stable in the distance.

"I agree. You girls did marvellous." He nodded. "Now I must go, there is a special meeting I have to attend."

"A meeting? Again?!" Corrine was already getting sick of the sheer boredom she experienced in those so called meetings.

"Not for you, Corrine. It's amongst the palace guards."

"Oh, thank goodness." She let out a relieved sigh as she watched the captain jog away, leaving her alone with the king. She shrugged shy when his presence approached at her back. She turned around, her pace slower than a turtle. "Good afternoon... Louis. "

She called me Louis! She did! Joy beamed in his heart. For the first time in a long... time, someone special had addressed him by his name. Well Phillippe did, but... he wasn't true of his words. He was also pleased that Corrine pronounced his name ever so beautifully and correctly instead of saying Lou-iss, which a lot of foreign people had. Overall, he just liked how his name slipped out of her tongue.

"Afternoon, Corrine." What should I ask her next? "Um, how was... your mission?"

"Oh, it was awesome! I've never enjoyed any moment in my life before! We fought, we won! We totally kicked the bad guys in the rear! It was... amazing." She pranced, gesturing all the movements with her limbs. He chuckled softly. God, this girl sure owns spirit.

Dammit! Learn to control yourself, Corrine! You're in front of the king. "Sorry, I was just a bit too excited about... yeah." She looked down, blushing at her uncontrollable actions.

Louis laughed. "I can tell. I am glad you are excelling as a musketeer."

"Thank you." She bowed, tossing her cap. At times you need to do the Lady Barbecue. "Well, what about you? I mean, how's life as King? Must be relaxing and luxurious, huh?"

"The exact opposite." He bluntly said. The stress, the headache, the crown...

"Oh... but why?"

"Never mind. You... still remember that balloon ride I asked you to, right?" He raked his fingers through his dark hair. She nodded.

"Would you like to take it, today, Corrine?"

"Sure, why not?! I've been waiting forever to see France up from the clouds, again! Yes!"

...

It was almost dark when Corrine had quietly walked to the palace premises. Her eyes widened when she saw huge amounts of pink and purple floating in air. That balloon... She thought. Her mind flashed back to the memories she had collected from that enormous invention of his. 'I'll never forget the first time we met. Up there, between the clouds... Just him and I.'

Her cheeks tinted rose. Ever since he had bumped into her at work and politely apologized, she felt agile and fluttery. The prince! He... he spoke to me! I must agree with Aramina, he's so handsome! Wait no! Stop it Corrine! Stop thinking like all the other girls! He's the prince and you are...

She had mentally slapped herself after her mistress scolded her for speaking to the prince. Seriously, De Bossé?! I guess not replying to his apology would have been rudely disrespecting him! But her eyes were still fixed upon him walking down the staircase. All she knew at very that moment was a new feeling of crush being formed in her heart. And that early stage of love known as a crush grew bigger and stronger day by day when she would think about his safety, when she shared her first ball with him, rescued him and miscellaneous.

"Evening, Corrine!" the young king waved from the balloon that floated a metre above the ground.

"Hey!" She jogged closer to the balloon. As she did so, she observed the surroundings to make sure nothing was insecure. Ropes? Check. Premises? Check.

"Well, what do you think?" He called to her.

'What do I think?' The blonde shot him an Oh-what-do-I-know-about-your-balloon look. "Um, it's great? I guess?"

Louis laughed timidly. This was yet his second attempt on riding his very own invention. He felt proud although he lacked a tiny portion of confidence about his invention for most didn't operate quite the way he expected. "Hop in!" He descended the rope ladder for her to climb on.

But Corrine was already standing right behind him with her hands on her waist. Who needs a ladder when you know a bit of gymnastics?!

"Hi." She said softly to snatched him out of his dreams.

"What?! When did you-" Louis looked at her astonished although that look of astonishment was quickly replaced by him staring at her; her clothing.

She was wearing the skimpiest of white long-sleeved shirts and a pair of dark blue pants that stuck to her legs firmly. Her look was completed with a pair of black boots. How could he possibly resist? His stomach flipped.

She realized there was something quite unusual about her clothing. Royal people like Louis aren't quite used to this type of clothing . Shame. "Um, they are clothes I wear for training, Louis. I came out straight from training so..."

"Oh, yes! O-of course. I-I didn't mean to... you know." His cheeks were flaming not only because of his actions that made the girl in front of him feel suddenly uncomfortable but also at how lustfully revealing, flaunting and feisty she looked in her attires. He only wished her looks didn't drag attention of the many men she worked with. She belonged to him. No one else.

...

Louis carefully adjusted the burners of the balloon one last time before it slowly started to soar above. "Well, here she goes! Let us just hope for the best."

"Oh, of course this will! How can things possibly go wrong when you are controlling it, Louis! You are a genius at this!" Corrine smiled excitingly.

The king looked at her shy and confused. His expressions were enough to tell him that she suddenly acted weird and all...

'Shoot! I think I said a bit too much!' She mentally slapped herself again. Focus, Corrine! You are not here to flirt him! You are here to protect him! Although... when he first asked me to the balloon ride it pretty sounded like a date! Like, he didn't sound like as if he wanted to use me for security...

The balloon rose higher into the sky and soon the palace and buildings began to appear small. People from the streets rushed out to see the bright pink and purple object float above them. Both children and adults waved and cheered. Louis, who was busy controlling the balloon smiled and waved to his subjects whenever he could.

Just how sweet and kind he looks when he is waving at his people. He must be loved by all... Corrine smiled at him with adoration which only grabbed his attention towards her. The musketeer blinked a few times before quickly shifting her gaze to her feet.

"So...how are you enjoying this?" He asked.

"Um..." She rapidly glanced at the four corners around her. The sky was bluish purple with a tint of dark orange. Small bits of clouds were scattered all over the sky and the pole star was the only one to be twinkling brightly.

Needless, to say whole through the time, Louis was the only thing she had her gaze upon. "The evening sky is... amazing. Really. Next time we should try flying over the clouds when it... rains or snows!"

The king was quite dazzled by seeing her sudden enthusiasm. Does she really enjoy flying with me that much?!

Corrine stood still. "Oh, I meant if only...you well... you would want to come or if you'd take me up here... with you. I-I... sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Of course I'd want to come up here! Well I am not sure if that would work when it's raining but... seeing the snow clouds from above truly sounds fascinating!" Louis snapped her off.

She nodded.

"And you can always take a balloon ride with me, Corrine. Whenever you want just... tell me. I'd love your company."

Did he say 'Love'?! "Thanks. But I... couldn't."

"Why not?" His voice was curious.

"Because... I'll be too busy."

"You know you told me 'Just because you have your feet firmly on the ground, doesn't mean you can't keep reaching for the sky.'" He smirked.

"I did. But things don't exactly go as they say." She diced her eyes.

"Really?" the smirk on his lips still kept playing on. He was starting to enjoy this conversation. "But it would be quite relaxing to take a break sometimes. Right?"

"I don't know."

...

Silence befell them for sometime. Well, not that they wished to hear the whooshing and whirring of the balloon only.

"Corrine?" the king questioned her name.

"Yes?"

"There's something I wanted to tell you." he scratched the back of his head.

Corrine bit her lip, blushing. "Of course,"

"Will you..."

"Go on."

"I just wanted to say that...um, the thing is that-WHOA!" a strong gust of wind slapped at the crashed at the balloon, giving it a violent shake. Corrine had toclutch onto his neck for dear life after being nearly tripped over the low walls of balloon basket. 'That bloody wind almost killed me!'

Both panted heavily. "Murderous!" She mumbled.

"That... was... close." Louis chuckled. He was still in shock and fear.

"I-I nearly got knocked off! What is it that you find so funny?!" She stormed giving him a piece of her thundery temper just like before when he had dissed her dream to be musketeer.

"It's funny you...still... have your arms around me." He mentioned the last couple of words in a shy manner.

Corrine immediately let him go. "Sorry."

"No, no... It's alright. I'm glad I saved you, I can't even imagine what would have happened if you... Yeah, I'd never ride a balloon again."

The blonde stood still for a moment, gasping, blushing, thinking... what he had just said...

The night sky is studded with stars now. Corrine swings her head downwards from the wicker basket. Paris is looking so... peaceful yet so... ghostly. Her head spins with fear. She was already being swept to death's hands but her lucky stars saved her. Louis, to be precise. Just the thought of him immediately clutching her wrist when she was about to fall and then her hands being wrapped around his neck sent tingles down her spine. But her heart was still palpitating on the deathly fancies she's having. What if a wind, oh no wait, A Gale! Hits the balloon? Again?

The fear and tingling in her brain takes over and soon she finds her hand take his arm and slide down until it's lightly touching his. She feels his hand go taut, and then relax. His fingers curl around hers. He remains quiet.

The beam of the light of the fire thins into the darkness of the night sky. It hardly makes any difference, just a small pinprick in front of the lit burners. Their voices too, are swallowed up by the darkness. She feels agile. To begin with, she feels cold and then something starts to happen. All of her fear drains away. A tingling sensation flows up through her feet, her legs, her thighs, her belly. She can feel the pulse of Louis' heartbeat just by touching his fingertips. She had a sudden yearning to bury her head into his chest and wrap her arms around him ever so tightly like she'll never let go. But the immediate warning of the difference in their social positions prohibits her to do so.

Well, maybe not most times. Sharing words and offering delusional touches to his hand builds a feeling of guilty pleasure inside her.

"Can you feel it?" She whispers, and tugs him closer. He's so close now that she can smell his faint, musky, male smell of royalty. He turns, and she senses that his face is right next to hers, almost touching, but not quite. He quivers his lips. So close. He yearns to smash his lips on hers and experience the lusty tenderness of her skin.

"Feel what?"

"How warm it is... and sort of alive. The burning flames above us."

His breath is warm on her cheek.

"It feels amazing." Her frosty eyes danced with amazement.

"I don't know. There's no sound though. Our voices don't echo, like you'd expect. The sound is sucked away. I can hardly hear you, even though... you're so close."

She can hear a tremble in his voice. "You're shaking." She says. "Are you alright?" her voice is unexpectedly tender. What's happening to her?

"Yes – no — you-" His heart paced its beats faster and louder. The sensation inside of him rapidly took over making him feel woozy like he would tumble over.

Corrine can't take it any longer; for a flash second she has to ignore the barricade of class between them as she lets her dry lips brush against his face. "It's okay, Us. Here."

His lips touch her. Just as he had imagined, soft and tender. A sensation is building up inside of him making his body go tight and faint at the same time as her arms go right around him and presses at his spine. Heat creeps up to his cheeks and he is slowly gaining deficiency of breath inside his lungs but the thing is, neither of them wants to let each other go, certainly not after they've shown each other their true colours.

He pulls away from her. He is panting breathless. "Corrine... I, I don't know what to say-"

"You don't have to say... anything."

She is still shaking. What have I done? No, this is not how things are suppose to be, he's the king! Unless... "Louis, look. I'm sorry."

"Why?" he's puzzled.

"Cause, your the king and I am not a princess! It's not how it's suppose to be!" She cries out loud. The chills in her body hasn't decreased, she's craving for more.

The king thinks for a moment. "Remember when I laughed at you and said, 'Girls can't be musketeers!'?" a hint of laughter was present in his voice.

The look on Corrine's face stiffened. Even though she loved him and he had proved himself wrong at the end by announcing her as a musketeer, that incident between him and her which happened a long time ago was still unforgivable. She had encouraged him to pursue his dreams while he dissed hers although he thought of it as something rather funny. He didn't realize how much it had hurt her and recalling it hurt her even more. "You did." She replied curtly.

Louis raked his brown hair. "So, then it's the people who say 'Royalty must marry royalty.' Why can't we prove them wrong?"

His words did have inflict in them.

The blonde studied her feet. Should I really do this? She didn't want to confess it but she couldn't somehow find any urge in herself to... well... kiss him like before. The words he said was enough to destroy her mood, and she didn't know why.

Louis bit his lip. Well that didn't go very well. He treasured for a certain action he was required to take at that very moment. He nudged her shoulders and sighed. Without even thinking he folded his arms around her body. Corrine gasped, the warmth of staying motionless inside his arms sent a gentle breeze of satisfaction and happiness over her sanity. She fulfilled her long awaited urge to bury her head into his chest. Her arms snaked under his shoulders. Mine... you are only mine, Louis. His musky, male smell tickles her nose.

Yet, her king was the first one to pull away leaving a dissatisfied look on her blushed face. "I love you, Corrine."

She quickly favorited that statement as she replied to it. Louis closed the distance between their lips, cradling her face in his hands. His lips followed at a certain rhythm against hers rapidly and then slowly from lip to lip. Corrine's lips reacted cooperatively. He tasted her mouth —it tastes like nothing, yet so delicious.

It was like the same as before, the muffled sound, the electric charge, the tingling sensation. Their minds are too blurred to operate. They are practically losing their sanity as each sensual second ticks by.

The boy could feel her trembling. What should he do? But he knows, she's in charge. He feels her arms coil around his back as he touches her back, finding bare, cool, naked skin. Corrine shudders to the soft and sensational caress of his cold fingertips against her back. She picks up his other hand and places it right on her chest under her shirt. He daren't move. Can't breathe. She feels so soft and warm through the layers of her lingerie. Stop thinking. He let's his mind float off and his body take over.

Warm. Soft. Close.

Her mouth will swallow him up. Her tongue like a fish, a slippery eel. He'll suffocate. He surfaces for air. Corrine pants with a never fading smile playing on her lips. She licks off the wetness from her lips.

Louis reaches for her hair, letting it fall free from its tight bun. He strokes it—it's tangled, dry and slightly damp from sweat. It smells like candles and apples. He is spinning, dizzy with sensation.

The musketeers tugs at the hem of his shirt, his belt. "Take them off." She whispers. He is bewildered and bewitched by her intentions. She pulls away from him just long enough to fumble with the buttons of her own shirt. His eyes fail to look away; they are closed with deep affection and desire. He swallows hard when her shirt falls to the surface. Her lingerie is indecent as well. Stop looking.

Corrine eyes him; they are blanketed in worry and hesitation. Should I really do this?

"Corrine..." He whimpers. By some means he wants her to tell him what bothers her while he also wants her to make further progress in doing whatever she is doing. He can't decide.

She presses her incisors on her lower lip. I have to... there's no other choice.

She hastily unfastens the belt off her pants; pushing them down, only to a reveal a lengthy, diagonal cut that trails down from her left thigh above her knee bone. The brown of Louis' eyes widen with horror when her injury gains visibility.

"C-Corrine what happened?!" He screams like as if he's come against something blood-curdling and paranormal.

"Sorry for scaring you, Louis."

"How did this happen?" He kneels down to examine the gash, fingers caressing the border of it. The touch of his fingers on the smooth flesh of her thigh sends jolts of intense craving inside her — she takes no notice of his curiosity and concern. She looks down at him; his has surrounding her injury. One of his fingers accidentally touches the sore spot of her cut and she cringes in pain.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry." His face looks twice as much as hurt as hers. "Corrine, please. Tell me what happened."

"Swords are meant to kill, Louis." She finishes off with a sad sigh, recalling how her opponent had made her fall to floor and her, screaming in pain as she bled her stockings red. After a day of rest, she resumed with her training but insisted Treville to say nothing about it to the king. She was afraid he might take away her position as a musketeer if he heard about it, but she didn't know if it would be out of his worry or dissapprovement for she lost one of the battles and got hurt.

And now all of it was revealed. She only hoped Louis wouldn't do the things she feared he would.

He exhales a large amount of air he was trapping in his lungs. He hugs her tightly just like before. "Why do you have to do this?"

"It's what I live for."

Louis eyes him, questioned.

Corrine doesn't know what to do. All of a sudden she feels worthless of herself. Why did I do this? What was I thinking? She stares down at the small mound of her clothes and boots on the surface. She bites her lip.

As for Louis, he can't quite name his thoughts. They are a great blend of worry, confusion, desire and regret. But what is he regretting? He glances down from the wicker basket.

Clouds. Altocumulus. His vast sense of knowledge tells him so.

He doesn't notice that Corrine is still looking at him, expecting something. Her eyes somehow seizes attention from the corner of his eyes. He turns towards her but... his eyes can't handle this. They travel south down her face, her neck and lands at her cleavage. He swallows hard. The contouring shadows formed at the valley of her breasts by the faint light of the fire above her makes his stomach flip. The blonde shifts uncomfortably and rubs her hands around her arms. It's not even that cold up there.

"Um, we... we should probably get down." He quickly turns and takes steps in bringing the huge vehicle back to land.

Oh, alright. Corrine, feeling quite embarrassed at her action, crouches down to grab her shirt. I am a fool.

...

Thanks for reading.