1. Close Calls
A masked man drifted down a palace hall, methodically checking for guards at each turn. His full faced mask and long black cloak fully disguised him; only his dark hair pulled back into a horse tail gave any hint to his identity.
Seemingly arriving at his destination, he shrunk back into the shadows of the corridor. One Cardinal's guard stood between him and the door. Silently, he pulled an ornate but delicate looking rapier from its sheath. In two strides he had crossed the distance to the door and dispatched the lone guard with one easy thrust. The intruder slowly and gently lowered the dead man to the floor.
He exchanged the rapier for a small, plain dagger, concealed in a gloved hand. He opened the door, unhurriedly revealing the empty antechamber beyond. Passing through, he listened at the second door. In one swift motion, he kicked the it open.
Cardinal Mazarin looked up from his work table in barely concealed surprise. He had shed his rich Cardinal robes for a flowing white shirt and vest so he would be comfortable for a long night of work. "What are you doing here? I gave orders for no visitors."
The man grinned under his mask and threw the dagger. As he brought his arm forward, however, a guard burst out from behind the door, throwing his body into the assassin. The knife flew wide, grazing Mazarin's shoulder and falling with a clang on the floor behind his desk.
The masked man spun and shoved the red-clad guard back. As the Cardinal's man recovered from the sudden attack, the assassin escaped out a conveniently open window into the gardens. The guard yelled out into the hall, "Search the gardens and arrest any man you find!" He then ran to the side of his Cardinal. "Sir, are you injured?"
Mazarin gripped his shoulder, blood visible spreading through the white fabric like wine spilled on table linen. "Yes, you fool! Find that man or I'll have your head!" he roared at his new Captain of the Guards.
The man recoiled at the threat, but managed to steady himself to ask, "Do you know who he is, sir?"
Mazarin looked out the open window where the shouts of searching guards could be heard. "I have my suspicions."
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"Why didn't you just ask that man for directions?"
"Because I'm not lost," d'Artagnan growled for the tenth time in the past hour. "Paris will be in sight at the crest of this hill." He gestured forward, eyed his comrade defiantly, and kicked his horse into a canter.
Jacqueline met him at the top only two strides behind, just in time to see the look of disbelief on his face when d'Artagnan saw the empty valley below.
"You know what? I knew it! I told you to go right, and you go left. I ask you to get directions; you refuse. Now we are fully lost in the forest you said you knew like the back of your hand, and it's getting too dark to do anything!" Jacqueline's mare pranced nervously underneath her, spooked at the outburst.
D'Artagnan shrugged off the tirade, amused by the sudden anger from his usually restrained friend. "We can camp out tonight and find our way tomorrow. It's not exactly the crisis situation you imagine." He led the way down the ridge to a clearing he had spotted. Jacqueline had no choice but to follow her patrol partner but let her displeasure known with an annoyed snort.
D'Artagnan turned back, grin on his face as he drawled, "Besides, I'm sure we can find something to do in the dark."
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Jacqueline and d'Artagnan found their way back to the garrison by mid-morning the next day. Captain Duval caught them in the stables unloading saddlebags from their tired mounts.
"Where have you two been?" Duval asked roughly.
D'Artagnan and Jacqueline exchanged an anxious glance before d'Artagnan replied, "We had evening patrol last night, sir. We lost track of time and had to wait until morning to find our way back. Is something wrong?"
"Come with me." He led the way down the empty garrison halls; most Musketeers would be out on duty or spending free time in the city. Jacqueline looked back at d'Artagnan with worried eyes, and he dared to reach out to press her hand reassuringly for a split second. If this was the end of Jacqueline's secret, he would not let her go down alone.
Duval brought them to his office where Siroc and Ramon were waiting. Siroc closed the door behind the three, and the four Musketeers lined up, d'Artagnan hovering protectively at Jacqueline's side. "Men, there was an attempt on Mazarin's life last night," the Captain began. Jacqueline let out the breath she did not know she had been holding. D'Artagnan and Siroc relaxed a little as well.
"Sir, isn't that a concern of the Cardinal's Guards? It would seem that it was a person on our side," d'Artagnan probed.
"First of all," Duval stated, pacing in front of his Musketeers, "no matter what our personal feelings might be as to the Cardinal, there was an assassin that managed to get into the palace undetected. This man may be just as dangerous to the King.
"Second, it became our concern when you, d'Artagnan, were missing all last night; Mazarin has got it in his head that you were the assassin."
D'Artagnan opened his mouth to defend himself when Jacqueline beat him to it, "Captain, I was with him all night. We were in the forest outside Paris; there is no possible way he could have done it."
"Well then it's just rotten luck that you were outside the garrison on the night it happened," Duval growled.
"Sir," Siroc broke in, "could it be possible that someone is trying to frame d'Artagnan, someone who could find out when he would be out with only one witness, his friend Jacques, to account for his whereabouts?"
"Sounds a little farfetched for me," Ramon interjected. "Only a Musketeer could know that, and none of us would attempt a renegade mission like this."
"But it is a possibility," Duval said. He stopped pacing and faced d'Artagnan. "Until we can find out who this would-be assassin really is, you must stay in the company of Musketeers at all times. For good measure, stay near the garrison as well. You are relieved of active duty."
"But this is ridiculous; I don't need a guard force! And I wouldn't murder in cold blood!" d'Artagnan finally said for himself.
"That is an order, Musketeer!" Duval roared. "I need to look into some things. Dismissed!"
The four filed out without a word, Ramon and Siroc going towards the laboratory. D'Artagnan practically shook with rage; he stalked off to the practice court, presumably to find an unfortunate sparring partner to release some steam. Jacqueline hesitated for a moment, debating who to follow. She chose the third route that led to her room.