The girls had just finished a mission in Italy and were on their way back home. They were travelling in silence, which was odd, because someone always had something to say. When it was silent, either someone would come up with a crazy idea or something bad would happen. Luckily, it was the first thing.
Aramina was lost in thought when she suddenly fell off her horse. No one was expecting a happy reaction from this, so they were very surprised when she popped back up with a smile on her face.
"You okay after that fall?" Corrine called as she leaned over her horse.
"Yup! I'm all good. I mean, who hasn't fallen off a horse and gotten a brilliant idea before?" she called back.
"Uh oh." Viveca muttered under her breath. "The last time she had an idea after falling from her horse, she had us all teach our horses how to tango. It was awful!"
From her horse, Renee shudders at the memory. "I think that I'll regret asking this, but what's your idea this time?"
"Only that we share our earliest memories. I mean, I already know your favorite memories. It's the same for all of us. Saving the Prince and becoming musketeers. But the earliest memory that we have is still unknown to the rest of us." Aramina explained excitedly.
"I never realized that it's true!" Viveca exclaimed, but then added in under her breath. "Not that I'd offer to go first or anything. I'll just stare at the fields that we're passing until someone else goes first. Then, I'll go second. Or third."
Aramina smiled from where she was seated on her horse. "It's okay Vivi. I was gonna go first anyways."
"Whew! That's a relief."
Aramina looked up for a moment, as if she were searching for the memory in the sky. "You know, it all started on a fine spring day like today. I think I may have been four or five at the time. I remember dancing outside, it front of my mum's dance studio, dreaming of becoming a great ballet star."
A five year old Aramina was dancing along the path outside the dance studio, waiting impatiently for the rest of the class to arrive so that their dance lesson could start. She knows that there probably wouldn't be anyone coming to class since most families had gone out to the music concert that was held downtown. That was the only downside in living in Paris' uptown.
A piercing scream awakens her from her daydreaming. A mother and father are trying to drag their daughter up the stone path into the studio. The girl is thrashing violently, her blond hair falling out of the ponytail that was in. She's screaming about how she doesn't want to go to a dance class. Aramina found that odd. She had never met a girl who didn't like to dance. She had thought that every girl liked dancing.
She followed the small family into the studio and watched as they entered her mother's office, leaving the door slightly ajar. Aramina waited outside the door, pressing her ear to try and listen to the discussion inside. She only caught small glimpses of what was said. Something about a dance, the girl needing to learn how to dance and when the next class was going to be.
Suddenly, she leaned in too much, the door swung open and she fell on the floor. Her mother had scolded her and reprimanded her, telling her that it was rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations. She knew that it was all true, and had been told this many times. But, she simply couldn't help it when there was the prospect of a new friend to dance with.
Aramina hung her head in shame and didn't lift it up until the girl reached over, grabbed her hand and whispered that it was okay. The girl dragged her out of the studio, to the disappointment and maybe relief of her mother and ran.
They didn't stop running until they reached a field full of flowers. Both stayed silent as the surveyed the field in front of them, drinking in the beauty.
The girl suddenly piped up, "I sometimes come here to dance, but mother says that it isn't the proper way to dance at a ball. There's this ball next year, that they want me to attend. She says that I have to learn how to dance properly, even though I'd rather be in the barn with father, practicing my fighting."
Aramina was shocked. Fighting? Why, that was a boy's job wasn't it? A girl only had to know how to dance nicely. "Why do you rather fight? I'd rather dance all day long instead."
The girl leaned in, as if she were to whisper a dreadful and deceitful secret. "I'm training to be a musketeer. When I get older, I don't want to get married and live on a farm. I'd rather work in the palace like my father and protect the royal family. As a musketeer."
"Is that even allowed? I thought that only boys were allowed to be musketeers." Aramina said in disbelief.
"No, not yet. But when I'm older, I think it would be. I don't think that there's anything better in the world than being a musketeer. Even if it is hard work and you have to train a lot and sometimes miss your cousin's concert." Her blue eyes glinted fiercely for a moment, before they settled down again a resumed the bright blue color it once had.
The idea whirled in her little head. Another girl wanting to be a musketeer. It was a dream of hers, but her father had told her it couldn't be. Yet this girl seemed so sure that it was possible. Maybe it was.
She slipped her hand into the other girl's hand and squeezed it. "Can you show me what you can do?"
The girl jumped up and performed a small sequence of flips, but fell at the last flip. "Oh, I can never seem to land that last flip." She cried in anguish.
"Oh, that's alright. I myself can't even do that. I can only spin round and round for five minutes. And dance around, throwing fans at things. I don't suppose it would help a girl become a musketeer." Oh no. It had slipped out of her mouth, without realising it.
The girl's steady gaze looked into her eyes. "You want to be a musketeer too? I didn't think that there would be another girl like me."
Aramina lowered her head. "Yes." She whispered. "I believe that I want to be a musketeer. But, no one thinks that it's possible.'
"Well, we'll just prove them wrong." The girl casually replies. "When we're twenty, on May Day, we'll meet at the palace gate and ask to become musketeers. With two of us there, surely they would let us I think. Plus, after we ask, we can go and enjoy watching the parade, knowing that we'll become musketeers. And then, we can give each other lily of the valley for May Day, to bring us good luck when we have to fight and defend the royal family."
"But what if one of us goes to the gate before she's 20? Then what'll she do?" Aramina questioned, ignore the part about the parade and flowers.
"Well, she'll just have to take care of herself until the other comes at twenty." The girl replied, casually swinging her hair over her shoulder.
Aramina nods her head. "So I'll meet you at the palace gate in fifteen years." She gazes solemnly at the girl, trying to memorize what she looks like, her blond hair, blue eyes and sharp pointed nose. She also takes in the sunset in the background, and she suddenly gasps. They had lost track of time and had spent all of the afternoon out here in the field.
They had missed the dance class. No doubt that the girl would be pleased with missing the class.
As if she were reading her mind, the girl said, "I suppose that the class is now over. I can go home now and continue training. My father says that my swordsmanship is getting better and better each day."
The two of them raced back to the studio to find it deserted. Well, except her mother and the girl's parents were there, so I suppose it wasn't exactly completely deserted. The two of them shared a small glance, before the girl was lead down the path to return to her home.
She had come back for one dance class, the week after their initial meeting. But she had found it boring, dull and unsatisfactory. Aramina was disappointed that she didn't share her love for dance, but was glad that they had a common interest and goal. Becoming musketeers.
"And I never saw her ever again." Aramina finishes with a flourish. 'I don't think that I'll ever see her again.
"But surely, you'll see her again at the gate on May 1st this year." Renee objects, having ever so quickly remembered that Aramina was 20.
"Oh, I hope so. Then, I could tell her about how I already became a musketeer and see if her skill matches ours and so that she can become a musketeer too." Aramina pauses for a moment, before coming to a dreadful realization. "May 1st! This year! Why, that's only a day away. Girls, we must get back to Paris on time. I would hardly want her to be at the gate, wondering where I am. We've got to hurry. Or at least I've got to hurry!"
Viveca suddenly exclaims, "What's this with you going off ahead of us? We always stick together. After all, it's,..." She trails off as Renee finishes her sentence for her.
"All for one and one for all! If you've got to hurry, then the rest of us will hurry too. I have to meet someone at the palace gate tomorrow too. I just remembered that."
"Plus, I think we can still tell stories as we go along. I'd love to hear Renee's story next ya know." Viveca says, giving everyone else a smile.
In the sudden burst of panic, no one noticed that Corrine had stayed silent after Aramina's story. No, she wasn't asleep. Just busy thinking and contemplating about an urgent matter that was in her head.
So that's the start of a new story. And for those of you who are wondering, May Day in France is May 1st and yes, it did take place back in their time. Now, it is known as Labor Day.
And yes, the girl is Corrine. I liked thinking that they had met before the movie had started, because the chances of 4 girls wanting to become musketeers and meeting in France isn't all that high. So let's just say, she may have inspired them to become musketeers.
All thoughts and feedback is welcomed and greatly appreciated.
Cheerio,
Lasting Violet