Revenge of the Mad Scientist (Book One: Airship Adventure Chronicles) Read Free Page B

running all over the place in Aereopolis. Very improper.”
    “What?” Belle had been barely listening as she tried to remember why the name of that hotel struck a chord of memory. “What person?”
    “The young man, the messenger. He had on outlandish long black robes and a silly hat perched on top of his head. Nothing you would ever catch me wearing outside my bedroom I assure you.”
    She tore off the paper. It had to be from the ambassador. Now she remembered. Her father had told her yesterday that he had rooms at the Royal Asburry.
    Inside, she found a brass box with a round seal of carved jade on the top. She ran her fingers over the carvings in the stone and jumped when the seal depressed and the top of the box popped open. Inside rested a folded sheet of paper and a silver ring.
    She picked up the ring and examined it. A crest marked the surface—entwined figures of a tiger, a hawk and a snake—the imperial seal of Gandiss. There was a short message on the paper followed by a glob of red wax with an impression pressed into it. The design in the wax mirrored that of the ring. Curved elaborate writing covered the page.
    My dear Lady Arabella,
    I write to you in great haste, for I must leave your country at once. Someone has decided to intervene in the treaty between your country and mine and leave the impression that Gandiss is responsible for your father’s disappearance. I beg you to believe me when I say that nothing is further from mine or my country’s desire. I came to Urbannia fully committed to working out a fair and lasting peace with full support of my Raja.
    Unfortunately, other countries have become threatened by this alliance. I want to assure you that your father’s kidnapping was not at the instigation of Gandiss. You must look for the culprit in another area.
    I wish you the best of luck in locating your father. I send you my imperial seal ring in the event I may be of service to you in the future. You have only to present this ring to any agent of Gandiss and you can be assured of aid.
    I leave with the dawn to return home. My sources indicate there is danger for me to stay here with the present unrest. I hope you will find your father soon and end the hostility that threatens to dissolve us into a world war.
    Your servant,
    Lord Ismatan
    Just as she suspected, there were powerful forces at play here. Politics and popular opinion would lead the investigators to suspect Gandiss. Meanwhile her father was likely on his way someplace else. Unless she could find him and expose the truth, there was no telling how far they were from a world conflagration. Too many countries already stood on the brink of war. She slipped the heavy silver ring on her forefinger.
    She walked down the hall and went through the doors into the library, an intimate wood paneled room lined with bookshelves filled with every size and topic of tome for which one could ever hope. Lingering embers in the fireplace cast only a dim light about the room. She paused on the doorway, one hand still on the handle of the door and a tender smile curled her lips as she observed the only occupant.
    Benji lay stretched out on the brown leather sofa, fast asleep with three books tented across his abdomen and legs. His shirt was rolled up at the sleeves and his cravat askew. At least he'd removed his shoes.
    She crossed the room and rescued the precariously tilted books from his body and laid them on the side table. He snorted in his sleep and rolled over on his side. She put a hand on his forehead, brushing back the unruly brown curls falling over one eye. At her touch, his eyelids fluttered and then went wide.
    “B,B, Belle,” he said as he struggled to a sitting position.
    “There, there, Benji. Sorry to wake you,” she murmured as she lit one of the table lamps and turned up the wick. Then she lowered herself into a wing chair beside him, put up a hand to remove the pins from her auburn hair, and let the long strands spill down upon her