A/N: I wanted to see what it would be like if a female musketeer joined the team! It's my first time writing, all comments are welcome!
CHAPTER 1
I was running. Running for my life. Well, really I was running to save my life after I had been called out by the King's musketeers. I was wanted for robbery and theft, not the typical pastime of a young girl. I had just turned 23 a few days ago, celebrating down the local tavern getting pretty wasted, even though I only brought myself one drink. You see, I knew how to use my body and mouth to get me the perks of free/pre-paid for drinks by drunken men in the tavern, but this would all change in the morning. No one would give me the chance to flutter my eyelashes and give them the 'puppy-dog' eyes just so I could have a loaf of bread for free. No. It was all grab an' go. I won't tell you how many times I've had to hold a man at gun point.
I wandered the streets pinching an apple or two when the stall keeper wasn't looking, just to keep me going until dinner at the inn. The inn wasn't what I would call homely, but it had a bed, food and gave me a roof over my head and that was all I worried about. I had fled English after our village was destroyed, my family perishing in a house fire. I was lucky to escape and I'm lucky to be alive. The memory of my family's desperate faces pains me even now, but I didn't get out unharmed. One of the men who had destroyed our village made sure of that. I had a scar that ran from my left shoulder blade down to my left hip. That's another reason why I had to leave. My husband-to-be took me back to his village wounded, but once my wounds had healed it left the scar. He took one look at me and laughed in my face.
"If you think I'm marrying that you've got another thing coming." He said. And with that, I hit the road. I was heartbroken. I thought he loved me. So I rode and walked to France where, somehow my heart slowly began to heal. My name would have been Roxanne Constontinas, but it's just plain Roxanne Smith. Or for short, Roxie.
Now I was running through the town with four musketeers chasing me. My blonde hair flew in the wind as I dodged the stalls, making it to the stables where I grabbed my trusted steed, Arthur. He was a 17 hand Friesian who was stunning.
"Time to go." I said as I mounted him. My heart was racing and I knew he could feel it. We galloped out of the town to open fields. I thought we lost them, but the thundering of hooves told me otherwise. Somehow two of the musketeers were riding towards me as well as the two behind me.
"Great." I mumbled, and galloped towards a covered area full of trees.
"Stop in the name of the King!" One musketeer shouted.
"No way in hell!" I shouted back and pushed Arthur harder which was not the best idea.
We carried on with our fast canter until I knew that my horse might collapse underneath me. I stopped him and jumped off.
"Get out of here boy." I said and he galloped off towards the musketeers. I climbed up the nearest tree, catching my dress on the branches as I climbed. I finally reached a high branch by the time the musketeers had arrived, I placed my hand over my mouth to quieten my breathing as they dismounted and walked around.
"She's not here." One of the musketeers said. He was the larger one out of all of them with a small scar on his face, probably from a fight with a red guard.
"Well she can't just disappear." Another musketeer replied. This one had an impressive moustache but was a smaller build than the other.
"You're on the run D'Artangan. Your horse is parched, what do you do?" The leader of the musketeers spoke to a younger looking boy. The leader was older than them in mature sense rather than in age. It was as if he had seen and witnessed things that could never be repeated. The younger man, named D'Artangan, had olive skin and was the smallest out of the bunch. He waited before answering, my heart racing with anticipation of what could come next. Then he did something I had hoped he wouldn't do. He looked up. Before he come give a response to the leader of the musketeers, I pulled out my pistol from my cloak pocket, jumping to the ground and grabbing hold of him, the pistol aimed at his temple.
"Don't move." I said as he struggled in my grip. The musketeers froze to the stop.
"Found her." D'Artangan said and I cocked the pistol.
