Corinne watched as her sword flew through the air and stuck in the roof of the castle, not far from Prince Louis.
"Great." she thought.
"You just couldn't stay away, could you?" Philippe snapped.
Corinne turned her attention back to her opponent "Not when I knew what you and your men were up to." she countered.
"Actually, your persistence is quite useful." He said with a smirk.
Uh-oh. Corinne watched him carefully This can't be good.
"When you couldn't finish of the prince at the ball, you came up here and had one final battle." as he spoke, he waved his sword just inches in front of her "Unfortunately, I was too late to help the prince. And when you lunged for me, I had no other choice than to send you off the roof to your tragic demise!"
Corinne gasped. Think of something, think of something, think of something! she thought frantically.
"Lady Barbeque!" The Prince called getting her attention "Catch!" with that, he tossed her sword her way.
Or I can just catch my sword. She thought as she cut a back flip, then jumped and caught it and pointed it at her foe.
"Nice story." She said "To bad yours won't have a happy ending!"
Philippe groaned in frustration and lunged for her.
Corrine blocked his every move, her eyebrows furrowing in determination. Then with on final move, she sent his sword crashing into the roof.
With a smile of satisfaction, Corinne raised her sword and walked towards him, keeping her sword inches from his face.
Philippe backed up frantically, then misstepped and fell. He clawed at the roof, trying to find something to hold on to as he dangled hundreds of feet in the air.
Corinne placed her empty hand on her hip and pointed her sword down at him.
"Still believe a girl doesn't possess the proper skills?"
Philippe stared at her. Who had he said that to?
Corinne pulled Philippe's sword from the roof and emphatically threw it to where he had no hope of retrieving it.
She hurried over to the prince "Are you alright?" she asked.
The Prince nodded "Yes I am. And you?"
Philippe pulled himself up onto the roof and stood. Taking a dagger from his belt, he lunged for Corinne.
"Look out!" Louis shouted, seeing his cousin coming.
He grabbed Corinne's wrist and spun her around, then allowed her to maneuver her sword to send his dagger flying the same place his sword had… down.
Corinne looked up at Louis and smiled, which he smiled in return.
Philippe saw his chance to escape , but Monsieur Treville appeared behind him and grabbed him.
"Arrest him!" Louis ordered as Corinne's friends appeared.
"Yes!" they cheered, and ran over to their friend while Louis looked on "We won!"
"I'm not done with you yet!" Philippe whispered hoarsely. Then with a vicious jerk, Philippe broke loose from Treville's hold and lunged forward.
"Look out!" Louis and Treville shouted.
Corinne spun around, but it was too late. Philippe shoved her… hard.
"Whoa!" Corinne screamed as she went flailing backwards. Her foot slipped off the edge of the roof and she went plummeting down.
"NOOOO!" Her friends made a grab for her but missed.
Monsieur Treville grabbed Philippe again, and dragged him to where three other musketeers were waiting.
"Corinne!" Aramina screamed.
Louis' head snapped in their direction "What did you just call her?"
But the girls were already running back into the castle.
Louis and Treville followed having great difficulty keeping up with the rushing girls.
They ran out the front door and around to where their friend had fallen.
She was laying on her back sprawled out on the ground.
The other three girls removed their masks, threw them to the ground and rushed to their fallen comrade's side.
Louis looked at the three girls that had helped save his life. Weren't they maids in the castle? Or used to be?
Aramina reached up and removed Corinne's mask, revealing her face.
Louis gasped "Corinne?"
While Renee checked for broken bones, the others silently waited.
"I don't think anything major is broken." She said, referring to her back or neck
Viveca pointed to a nearby bush that had a deep gorge in it "I think that may have broken her fall."
"We need to get her inside." Renee said, as a wet drop of rain hit her hand "Quickly."
Monsieur Treville stepped forward and gently eased the unconscious girl from the ground.
Louis stared after them as they headed back for the entrance.
"You saved my life." He murmured "Twice."
Five days passed, and Corinne never woke up.
A doctor was there daily, all he said was "We just have to hope for the best."
No bones had been broken… surprisingly. Even though she did have a major concussion.
The girls were there day and night, waiting for any sign of her awakening,
Two weeks came and went.
Louis stopped in to see how Corinne was.
"She's still out of it." Renee said, pointing to the bed "Obviously."
Louis sighed "I can't believe she risked her life for me after what I did."
"You mean the balloon incident?" Viveca asked.
Louis nodded "I made fun of her dream right after she encouraged me in mine."
Aramina nodded slowly "It's our duty to protect the royal family." she smiled slightly "No matter how challenging the situation or the subject."
Monsieur Treville chuckled at that one.
"And it was a great pleasure."
Everyone gasped and spun around to see Corinne sitting up and smiling.
"You're awake!" Her friends shouted in unison.
The two men smiled as the four girls hugged.
Corinne slowly stood to her feet "How long have I been out?"
"Forever!" Aramina exclaimed dramatically.
"Around three weeks." Renee answered rolling her eyes.
"I'm really sorry about what I said on the balloon." Louis said.
Corinne nodded, smiling gently "Yeah. Me too."
"So to make it up to you." he looked at the rest of them "And to thank you. I am going to make y'all musketeers!"
The girls squealed and ran into another group hug. This time, Louis and Treville got caught in the middle of it.
When the noise died down, Corinne turned to the Prince.
"Your Highness."
Louis held up his hand before she could continue.
"Please, Corinne, as earlier requested, call me Louis." he smiled
Corinne's face turned pink "Uh, your…" she scratched her head "Louis."
Her friends laughed quietly.
"May I ask you one favor?"
"Of course." Louis nodded "Ask anything."
Philippe was fuming in his jailroom.
He'd gotten beaten by a girl!
He looked at his men in the other areas. They'd gotten beaten by girls too.
He grumbled "At least I took care of that blondie once and for all."
He smiled slightly. Good to know he'd been able to get his revenge before he was sent to the dungeon.
Footsteps approached him. He looked up: Louis.
"What do you want?" Philippe snapped."
Louis smiled sadly at his cousin "I trusted you Philippe. It pains me to see you here."
Philippe snorted "Well, I don't regret what I did. I only regret I got caught!" he stood to his feet and grabbed the prison bars "And you know what else. I'm glad I pushed that girl off the roof!" he laughed menacingly "I had my revenge!"
There was a sound of lighter footsteps and Corinne stepped around the corner "Not so much, Philippe."
Philippe's mouth gaped open "That was you?"
"So. Do still believe a girl doesn't posses the proper skills?" she smirked.
"How… what… you…?"
Corinne laughed as Louis extended his hand to her "Shall we?"
Corinne nodded and excepted his hand, then they left the prison together.
"I can't believe you wanted to see Philippe." Louis chuckled.
"I had to see his face when he figured out I was still alive." Corinne said with a grin "It was incredible!"
All of the sudden, her three friends turned the corner and started giggling.
Louis and Corinne's hands separated, but the others had already seen it.
"Corinne. Come on!" Aramina grabbed her arm and started pulling her away "Viveca wants to measure us for new uniforms to wear to our musketeering tomorrow!"
Corinne looked back at Louis and smiled. Then was led away by her friends to get ready for the biggest day of their lives!
All their dreams had come true! They were going to be musketeers!
And the rest as they say, is history.