"He found him… Dead."
A loud clap of thunder rumbled through the castle halls, slightly shaking the building and everyone in it.
Corinne took a step back and grabbed Renee's arm. She was sure if her friend hadn't been there, she would have landed on the floor. Her grip on Renee's arm tightened as she tried to steady herself. But it felt as if someone had reached an icy hand into her heart and yanked it out.
"Are you sure?" Viveca asked.
Count Sournois nodded "I found him. He was dead, had been for a few hours. He had a…"
"Don't tell us!" Aramina interrupted quickly "We don't want to know how you found him."
"He had no family." Treville said "We have to find a new ruler. Unless he wrote a will."
"Which is impossible!" Count Sournois exclaimed "He was young and healthy! He wouldn't have written a will!"
"King Louis was no fool He knew the risk of being king." Treville said "And his life has been threatened many times." He nodded towards the girls "He would have been gone a long time ago if it wasn't for them."
"But the King had no family." Viveca said "Who would he put in a will?"
Treville shrugged "Some of the men are looking in his office and bedroom."
After several minutes, the men came back empty handed.
"See." Count Sournois said "No will."
Treville nodded slowly "I guess we're going to have to find someone else…"
"Wait." Corinne said suddenly, her voice finally coming back to her "There's one more place to look."
"Where?" Treville asked.
Corinne pointed to the throne "The seat lifts and there's a secret compartment that can be triggered by pushing the left arm rest up and twisting it to the right."
Treville walked over to the throne and followed Corinne's instructions. When the secret compartment popped open, a large white envelope was seen inside.
Treville looked back at Corinne "How did you know?"
Corinne shook her head, her hands still gripping Renee's arm "He told me." She whispered.
Treville took the envelope from the throne and looked at it. He then nodded "It's his will."
Count Sournois rolled his eyes "Well, do read it."
Treville broke the seal, then opened the envelope and pulled out several pieces of paper and another envelope. The captain glanced at the other envelope curiously, but turned his attention to the loose papers. As he read, his eyes grew bigger and his mouth went slightly slack. The color seemed to leave his face as he continued reading.
"I knew it!" Count Sournois exclaimed "He had no heir!"
Treville lowered the papers "No. He did leave the kingdom to someone." He shook his head "Uncanny."
"What?" Renee asked "Who?"
Treville took a deep breath "He left everything, the kingdom, his money, everything he ever owned to…" he looked around, his gaze landing on the blond "Corinne."
"What!?" Everyone exclaimed.
"That's impossible!" Count Sournois shouted "That girl doesn't know the first thing about running a kingdom!"
"Um… guys." Renee said slowly.
"But it's what the king wrote!" Treville argued "These are his wishes and they must be honored."
"Guys."
"But he was listening to the voice of a crush." Sournois spat "Not the voice of the kingdom!"
"Guys!"
"Corinne is spirited, courageous, independent and determined." Treville answered calmly "And Louis knew that."
"But she doesn't know the first thing about running a kingdom!"
"HELLO!" Renee shouted "GUYS!"
"What?!" Treville and Sournois exclaimed in unison.
Renee pointed to the floor "We have a problem."
Corinne was laying at her feet unconscious.
"Did she… pass out?" Viveca asked slowly.
Renee nodded "Yeah."
Count Sournois snorted "That's exactly why she can't run the kingdom! On top of her not knowing how, she's too weak!"
"Hey!" Renee snapped "Corinne is not weak! She's one of the strongest people you'll ever meet in your life!" she got right into the Count's face "But she just had two major shocks that will change her life! I probably would have landed on the floor too!"
Count Sournois glared "I can probably guarantee that she didn't 'pass out' when she heard her father was dead."
Renee clenched her hands into fists, trying to keep her temper at bay, but this guy was really pushing it "There's a vast difference between her father and Louis to her. Her father was a part of her heart. Louis, he had her heart. Her heart belonged to him, and when she heard that he was dead, her heart died too."
Everything fell deathly silent as Renee faced the Count. Her eyes shot fire that made the Count want to cower.
"That was beautiful." Aramina whispered.
Viveca shook her head "She's right, Count Sournois. Corinne is a lot stronger than a lot of people I know. Even you."
Treville bent down and picked the girl up off the floor "Come on. Let's move to the library." He dismissed the other musketeers, then carried Corinne from the room, down the hall, into the library and laid her on a couch.
Count Sournois and the girls followed.
"Do you think she'll be alright?" Aramina asked quietly.
Viveca nodded "Yes. But she won't be herself for a while."
A quiet groan came from Corinne and she tossed slightly.
"I cannot sit to the side and watch this farm girl take over!" Count Sournois exclaimed "She doesn't know the first thing about running a kingdom!"
"We heard you the first time." Viveca groaned.
"And the second." Aramina giggled.
"We will just have to wait till she wakes up." Treville said.
But Sournois wouldn't hear of it. So he started the argument all over again.
While they were arguing, Corinne was dreaming...
"Hello!" Corinne called.
She was surrounded by complete and total blackness, except for what seemed like a spotlight on her "Is anyone here?"
"Corinne." A voice said.
She squinted trying to see into the dark "Louis?"
The young brown haired king stepped into the light "Yeah. It's me."
Corinne ran to him "I thought you were dead!"
"I am." Louis said, pulling her into a tight hug "That's why I need you to run the kingdom."
A tear slipped down Corinne's cheek "I can't." she whispered "I'm just a country girl. I wouldn't even know where to start."
Louis pushed her back gently and swept some hair from her face "You can do it. I believe in you."
There were some voices calling Corinne's name far in the distance.
"You need to go now." Louis said, his hand resting on the side of her face right before he started walking away .
"But Louis!" Corinne said grabbing his hand "I can't!"
"You have to." Louis said, sending her a reassuring smile, then he winked "Don't let me down." Then he was gone.
"Louis!" Corinne called "Wait! I can't!"
Corinne's eyes flicked open. She looked confused at the library ceiling. How had she gotten here?
"She's awake!" Aramina said, her face suddenly coming into view.
Corinne groaned and rubbed her head "What happened?"
"You passed out." Renee said.
Viveca elbowed her "You had a sudden high level of stress come upon you, and… you passed out."
Corinne sat up as Count Sournois recontinued "That girl cannot be given control! She knows nothing about running a kingdom!"
Treville groaned "But those were the king's orders."
"Orders that I will take." Corinne said.
The room became silent as everyone looked at the musketeer.
Sournois began to stutter with anger "B…but you're just a…"
"I am very well aware of the fact that I am just a Country Girl, thank you very much." Corinne snapped "But one thing I did learn on the farm, was that you don't shirk the duty given to you. And I'm not going to shirk this one."
Sournois frowned "But you don't know the first thing about running a kingdom!"
Corinne looked over at her friends "Why do I get the feeling that that's not the first time he's said that?"
"Tenth." Her friends said in unison.
The Count opened his mouth but Corinne silenced him "With all due respect, Sir." She said "King Louis gave me the responsibility and whether I can do it or not, I intend to try." She sounded a lot more confident that she felt. In fact, all she wanted to do was curl up in a corner and cry. But she couldn't. Not yet.
"You know." The count growled, his eyes narrowing till they were tiny slits "I'll bet you wrote that will yourself! You killed the king, then wrote the will so that a little nobody like you could take control of everything!"
Corinne gasped and her hand reared back, but Treville grabbed her wrist "That's highly impossible, Sir." He looked at Corinne "Down, Girl."
"And why is that?" Sournois asked, his arms folded across his chest.
"The will was sealed by the King's Seal." Treville answered as he relaxed his grip on the blond's wrist, and Corinne relaxed her fist and returned her hand to her side "He was the one and only person who knew where it was. He told no one. So Corinne couldn't have written it."
Corinne's hand subconsciously went to her throat to where she had a copy of the king's seal hanging around her neck, hidden behind her dress. Nobody knew. Not even her friends. And she had a feeling, now was not the time to bring it up.
Count Sournois shook his head disgusted "Fine. We will make a compromise " He turned to face Corinne "You must dress like a queen." The Count pointed to her musketeer outfit "That is much too shabby."
Renee grabbed Viveca's arms while Aramina clamped a hand over the brunette's mouth. The last thing they needed was a Viveca Outburst. Even though Count Sournois deserved it.
"You must fix your hair like a queen." The count continued "You must read the Princess's Book of Etiquette and practice it! You must hold your tongue and not let that ridiculous temper I've heard about come out." He started to walk towards the door "You must live the life of a Queen to prove that you are able. Oh. And you cannot carry a weapon on you." He stopped halfway out the door "And you only have six months to prove yourself."
"Excuse me!" Renee gasped as she, her friends, and the captain followed the count out the door.
"Six months!?" Aramina exclaimed "That's not even enough time to organize a ballet!"
"Then she'll have to work on it." Count Sournois said, his chin high in the air "Six months is already enough to being the kingdom to ruin! I'm being gracious!"
"But she's never done anything like this!" Viveca said.
"Then she'll have to learn if she wants to keep the kingdom!"
Renee put her hands on her hips "You are impossible!"
"Thank you." The Count mocked "But as I've discovered, so are females who think they can become real musketeers." Then he walked away.
"Oh no he did not!" Renee gasped, then Viveca and Aramina grabbed her arms to keep her from going after the count and laying him flat on his back.
"Come on." Aramina said calmly "Corinne needs us right now."
Treville nodded in agreement "Yes. Go to her. I've got to go make arrangements for the funeral and temporary coronation." With a final nod, he left the castle.
The three girls returned to the library to find Corinne sitting in a corner, her knees pulled up to her chest, a pendant connected to a golden chain grasped firmly in her hand.
"Hi." Viveca said quietly, going to her knees in front of her friend "Are you alright?"
Corinne looked up at her "Yes. No! I don't know!" she laid her head down on her knees "How am I supposed to run a kingdom?"
"We'll help in any way that we can." Renee said, patting the blond's shoulder "It's all for one and one for all, remember?"
Corinne lifted her head and smiled "Thanks."
Aramina gave a little curious squeal and pointed to Corinne's hand "What's that?"
Corinne released the pendant, but held onto the chain, allowing it to dangle in midair.
Viveca squinted her eyes as she looked as it "Is that… the king's seal?"
Corinne shook her head "No. It's a copy. Louis gave it to me yesterday, just in case…" her voice trailed off as she recounted the former day's events "He knew he was in danger." She said quietly.
"What?" the others echoed.
Corinne looked down at the seal "Louis. He knew something was up!"
"But why didn't he say anything?" Viveca asked.
"I don't know." Corinne answered "He was too stubborn? He wasn't sure? I don't know. But he definitely knew."
"How do you know?" Renee asked.
Corinne looked at each of her friends "Remember that balloon ride we went on yesterday?"
"Of course." Renee nodded "Y'all were out till almost midnight!?"
"Renee!" Aramina gasped "Be nice!"
"Anyways." Corinne continued "I got there, he helped me in, then he cut it loose from the ground…"
(Sorry for the long delays. Still no net at house. :( Thank you for your reviews! Laterz!)
