D'artagnon tucked the blankets in around the shivering girl "You'll be okay."
Corinne nodded her teeth chattering "D-dont t-t-ell m-momm-my. Okay?"
"Okay, Honey." D'artagnon pushed her sopping hair from her face "Just get warm."
Marie came back in the room just then with some rags and a bowl of hot water.
It was later that evening when the girl was finally warm and dry, although she had caught a cold from the day's misadventures.
"Daddy?" Corinne said as she pulled the blankets up to her chin "What did he want?"
D'artagnon sighed and sat on the edge of the bed "Corinne. Bing a musketeer means protecting France. And protecting France means protecting it's secrets."
"Secrets?"
"Mm-hm. Secret treasures and stuff." He shook his head slowly "Those treasures were hidden away years ago, but then they were discovered by Flint Griffin."
"Is that the man who was here tonight?"
"Yes."
Corinne sat up and pushed her hair over her shoulder "But why was he asking you for it?"
"Well, let's just say when he found it, I found him." D'artagnon rose from his spot on the bed "I was given the box and was told to find a new place to hide it. That's why he came after me."
Corinne stared at her father "But, Daddy. He got away."
Corinne and Louis rode up to the Lighthouse.
"I always did want to see the inside of a lighthouse." Corinne said as she dismounted.
Louis' eyes sparkled, informing her she'd said the right thing "I guessed you had. I suppose this is a little safer than the balloon."
"Which makes it not quite as fun." Corinne laughed "Come on!" she grabbed Louis' hand and ran into the lighthouse.
She took the stairs up two at a time, quickly leaving Louis behind. When she reached the top where the light was, she stopped then walked out onto the circular porch.
The view was breathtaking. You could see for miles around. The ocean stretched on forever, the setting suns rays reflecting off of the waves.
She leaned against the railing and looked around, trying to take in the scene.
Louis stepped out behind her "So, what do you think?"
"It's beautiful." she sighed "Definitely amazing."
He placed his hands on the railing on either side of her and placed his chin on top of her head "I'm glad you like it. I haven't been here since I was thirteen."
She frowned "Why not?"
"That's when my father died." he answered quietly "This was my parents' favorite spot. I guess after they died, I didn't want much to do with it."
"So why come now?" she turned around and looked up at him, leaning back into the railing.
Louis looked down at her and smiled "You."
She cocked her head confused "Me?"
He nodded "You've given me something back that I lost when my parents died. You made me want to come back. I wanted to see the place where my parents always felt the closest together again." he smiled at her "I wanted you to see it."
Corinne sighed "You know Louis, sometimes I wonder if you made a mistake."
His eyebrows lowered in concern "What do you mean?"
She laughed to ease his conscience "I didn't make a mistake, trust me. But... I can't help but wonder if I was really the best choice for a queen of France."
Louis chuckled "I hadn't really thought about it." he said "But if I did make a mistake, it's the best one I've ever made." then he leaned down and kissed her, knowing there was no way for her to escape... and she didn't try.
Her eyes fluttered closed as her hands found their way to his shoulders. It was strange how natural being so close to him became.
Before she could stop it, a laugh erupted from Corinne's throat, breaking the moment.
Louis looked at her curiously "What?"
Corinne shook her head "Nothing. It's just... remember how awkward that used to be?"
Louis chuckled "Used to be?"
She shrugged "Things change."
He just shook his head and grinned "Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"Are you... avoiding the water?"
Corinne stared at him for a long... long moment. Her face had gone completely blank.
He couldn't tell what she was thinking.
Finally she spoke "No."
He tilted his head to the side "Are you sure?"
"Trust me." She flashed him a wide smile "Like the others said, no one in their right mind is afraid of the water." then she turned around and leaned against the railing. She swallowed the lump that was in her throat. Shed just lied... to Louis. But she had to. There was no way she was going to let anyone know that she was terrified of the water. No one.
"There's a small town about five miles from here." Corinne said as she mounted her horse "Someone want to see it?"
Renee's eyebrows raised "I thought you were saddle sore. Plus, do we have time? The sun's nearly down."
"Well... I'm over the saddle soreness and it's only a few miles away." Corinne leaned forward "Are you really saying no?"
"Convince me." Viveca said with a bored expression.
"There's a small fabric shop that has the cutest Calico fabric." Corinne watched as the brunette's eyes blinked a few times "And they have homemade lace."
"Let's go!" Viveca quickly leapt onto her horse.
Renee groaned "Fine. Come on, Aramina."
"I'm ready." Aramina rode her horse up to the others "I'm the one that talked Corinne into going."
The blond shrugged "Hey. May as well, right?"
"Sure." Renee echoed.
Louis chuckled and tossed Corinne her hat "Have fun."
"Don't I always?"
He raised an eyebrow "I don't know. Trouble seems to find you more than fun does."
Corinne simply laughed and smiled down at him "Too true." a long moment of silence followed.
Renee cleared her throat "Well, if you two are done staring at each other, we can leave."
"Have fun." Louis said, then he turned and walked back towards the castle.
Corinne turned her horse around "Come on."
The second Viveca saw the array of fabrics she was sold... and so was the material "Oh my! Have you seen these calicoes and laces! They are so Magnifique!"
"Tell you what, while you're cruising through the fashion stuff, I'm going to go check out the town." Corinne sent her friends a small wave then walked out the door, Renee right behind her.
"I heard some music down the road," she said "Catch ya later."
Corinne watched as Renee disappeared down the road then continued her stroll.
"Maybe we can slip in a visit to mom." she thought.
She didn't get to see her mother too often. Between being a musketeer and the queen, she was kept pretty busy.
She smiled to herself. Honestly, if someone had told her five years ago that she'd fall in love and marry the king of France, she would have called them crazy! Then tied them up and waited for a doctor to come and check their brains for signs of damage.
She was suddenly jolted out of her thoughts as she ran headlong into a man that was standing in front of a store. "I am so sor..." her voice trailed off as the man turned to face her. Her heart leapt into her throat and it felt like her mouth turned to cotton. Every muscle in her body went tense.
The man was six foot three and very muscular. He had dark gray hair and a beard and mustache.
But what made Corinne's breath catch was a large scar that ran from the man's hairline down across his left eye then zigzagged across his cheek.
The man's eyebrows rose for a second then a deep scowl covered his face. Without a word, he turned on his heels and stormed away.
Corinne stood frozen in her spot. She couldn't move.
"Who was that?" she thought "I know that man... but from where?"
Just then, the other three girls showed up.
"Corinne?" Viveca asked slowly "Are you okay?"
But the blond didn't so much as blink.
"Stiff much?" Renee waved a hand in front of Corinne's face "Okay... are you alright?"
Aramina pulled out one of her fans and swapped the back of Corinne's head with it.
"Wha..." Corinne shook her head and closed her eyes, then she looked at her friends "What?"
"Care to explain why you were psyched out?" Renee asked, placing her hands on her hips.
Corinne looked around but spotted the man nowhere "I... he... um..." she shook her head again "It's nothing... I think."
"Come on." Aramina tugged on Corinne's arm a bit and looked up at the dark sky "There's a storm rolling in. I want to get back before it hits."
Corinne nodded slowly "Yeah. Let's go." she let out a long low whistle and her horse came running over.
"Race you back!" Viveca said as she leapt into her saddle.
Corinne laughed "You're on!"
The four lined up then raced back to the palace.
"Well, we may actually get a little fun while we're here." Renee commented as they put their horses away.
"Oh?" Corinne raised a curious eyebrow "Why is that?"
About that time, Serge, the stable hand, came running in "I can take care of your horse, Your Highness."
Corinne groaned "No thank you, Serge. I can take care of my own horse. And for the ten thousandth time, call me Corinne!"
The stable hand simply shrugged then walked away.
"Oi." Corinne huffed "Okay. Renee, you were saying. You said there might be a bit of an adventure on this trip?"
"I was talking to the people and they mentioned that it'll be nice to have some musketeers around because someone's been robbing them for awhile." the other girl answered "Not to mention there's been a few men injured when they tried to stop the thief."
Corinne's mind flashed back to that man in town but she shook off the thought "Sounds like fun I guess we'd better keep our ears open."
Flint Griffin walked into his old apartment and slammed the door behind him "I know that girl. She's that feisty little kid that belongs to that musketeer, D'artagnon." he ran his hand over scar that went down his face "And it looks like she's become a musketeer just like he was." He walked over to a chair and sat down, a slow smirk inching across his face "He probably told her where he hid that box. And I'm going to get it." he pulled his dagger out of his belt and rammed the blade of it into the wooden table "If I have to force it out of her."
(I know things are moving kind of fast, but I'm trying to get to the real story! Thanks for the reviews! Laterz!)
