When the girls returned to their apartment that evening, they all immediately turned to their other hobbies: Viveca started on a dress, Renee with her music and Aramina started writing in her book. Corinne flopped down on her bed, her head hanging over the edge and closed her eyes.
"Does that help you think or something?" Viveca asked, glancing back at the blond.
"How did that fire start?" Corinne asked no one in particular "It couldn't have just sprung up from nowhere."
"But it had to." Aramina pointed out, scribbling quickly in her book "The windows were closed and no one else was in the office."
"And the letter caught fire in his hand." Renee added "It just doesn't make sense."
Corinne sighed and looked around at her friends "I wish Treville would let me take my job back."
"He's probably got a good reason for wanting you to train Chad." Aramina said "Otherwise he would." then she grinned "And I would gladly take your place."
Corinne chuckled "Harvey's getting a little jealous, Aramina. You might want to be careful."
"Oh, you know I swoon over every boy in the kingdom. But I LOVE Harvey!" she sighed dreamily "He's… perfect. Even though he doesn't have an accent."
"You know, Corinne. I'm kinda surprised that you're not suspecting him for the new threat." Renee commented "I mean he shows up and BOOM! The king almost gets grilled."
Corinne shrugged "I would, but he was with us when Louis' office set fire. He couldn't have done it. And besides, I don't have a bad feeling about Chad. He seems pretty honest."
"Well, if you trust him then so do I." Aramina said cheerily.
Corinne cocked her head to the side and smiled at the red head "Are you still writing that book?"
"Doi! And I started it at just the right time! A new mystery and a new boy! Perfect!"
Corinne just shook her head then a moment later sighed and rolled over then propped her chin up on her hands "Hey, guys? Can I… ask you something?"
"Go ahead." the others echoed, completely engrossed in their work.
She took a deep breath "I think… Louis was going to ask me out yesterday."
"What!?" everyone's attention was instantly on her.
"I mean, it sounded like it. But Treville came in and he stopped." she twirled a piece of blond hair around her finger "And… I don't know if he'll try it again now that I'm not guarding him anymore."
"And that's a problem?" Aramina asked slowly, a smile creeping across her face.
Corinne let out an aggravated sigh and flopped over onto her side "I've been waiting for him to ask me out for two stinkin' years!"
"Ooooh." Aramina giggled "Then why didn't you say so?"
"Because I don't know how his brain works!" she rolled back onto her back with her head hanging towards the floor "I mean sometimes he's… one way and other times he's such a knucklehead!" she laughed slightly as she said the last word "I have never had such a hard time figuring someone out. And yet at the same time he's so easy to read but… I don't know."
"Well, I guess you just wait. Until then, we've got sleep to do and an investigation to look into while training Mr. Cutie." Aramina closed her book "Good night, all."
~*~*~*Love's Fate*~*~*~
"Is the king alright?" Chad asked the next morning as he and Corinne met on the front lawn.
"A bit scorched but he's fine. Thankfully." she answered "You ready to get busy?"
"Of course." He nodded with a grin "What are we going to… Whoa!" he gasped as she suddenly kicked his feet out from under him and he crashed to the ground "Ow."
She chuckled as she looked down at him "Sorry. I thought you said you were ready."
"Oh, you're that kind of teacher."
"Oh, I'm many kinds of teachers." she crossed her arms "You just need to learn how to react."
"Ah." he nodded slightly then suddenly struck out with his boot in an attempt to knock her down but she easily sidestepped it.
"Tut-tut, Mr. Dailey. Trying to trip the teacher is not a good idea." she took a step back "Try to keep up." with that she turned and sprinted off.
Chad scrambled to his feet and ran after her. As he rounded to the back of the castle he skid to a stop. Corinne what nowhere in sight.
"Whatcha' doin' Chad?" Viveca asked.
"Trying to catch Corinne."
"Ooh. Good luck with that. She's ridiculously fast."
"I'd noticed. Any advice?"
"Yeah, just keep running. She'll stop and wait for you to catch up eventually."
"Oh. Thanks."
Viveca smiled "The keyword being 'eventually'."
"Chad!" Corinne suddenly called from the castle's back door "Are you coming or taking a snack break?"
"I'm coming." he answered as he started running again.
"Good." then she disappeared through the door.
Viveca chuckled as Chad ran after her "I suppose I could have warned him that she can run seven miles without a problem. Except when Louis' life is in danger. Then it becomes an easy fifteen."
~*~*~*Love's Fate*~*~*~
Louis dropped his quill back into it's ink well and began to read another one of the many pieces of paper that was on his desk when he heard the sound of footsteps running across the tiled floor.
"What is who doing?" he mumbled as he stood up and left the office. He walked down the small hall and peeked around the corner to see Corinne running across the floor, Chad several feet behind. He watched Corinne run past then with a smirk slowly stuck his foot out right in the path of Chad.
"Whoa!" a second later Chad pitched forward, hit the floor and slid across the tiles.
Louis cringed then laughed quietly and ran back to his office.
"Hey, you okay?" Corinne asked as she walked up to the fallen man "That looked like it hurt."
"I'm okay." he groaned "Not sure what I tripped on though. It was probably my own feet."
Corinne glanced down the nearby hall and raised an eyebrow "Maybe." she offered him a hand up, which he accepted "You ready to continue?"
"I think so." he responded with a wince "I'll try."
"Good." she smiled and nodded towards the stairs "Let's go."
~*~*~*Love's Fate*~*~*~
"'I probably tripped on my own feet'." Louis mimicked quietly as he continued his paperwork "I wish."
"Your Majesty." Treville stepped into the room and looked around "Where is Yves?"
"Viveca called him a few minutes ago and he was too scared to delay."
The Captain let out a deep breath "That boy. Sometimes I wonder if he's cut out to be a musketeer. But Corinne was insistent that he was."
"You know who isn't cut out to be a musketeer? Chad. I think you should let him go."
Treville frowned and looked down at the young king "Pardon?"
"Chad Dailey. I'm not sure he has what it takes." Louis answered professionally "And it would be a shame for him to get hurt."
Treville's eyebrows lurched "Chad Dailey is the last person I'm worried about. Corinne's with him so there's no way he'll get hurt… unless she hurts him, of course."
"And any man who can be hurt by a female should not be on the musketeer force."
"You Highness, you're aware that Corinne has whipped every one of the musketeers including me… twice. If we follow that rule you will have no protection." Louis went to speak but Treville cut him off "I'm afraid you're not using your head, Louis. You're letting you emotions control you and you can't afford that. France could suffer for it."
Louis stiffened "I'm not letting my emotions control me. I was just saying.' then he turned back to his paperwork.
Treville rubbed the bridge of his nose and swallowed a sigh. What idiot created Romance and Crushes?
~*~*~*Love's Fate*~*~*~
Corinne swiped her hair out of her face as she walked towards Louis' new office. It was nearly midnight, but she had seen the candles still lit and figured he was working late like he often did.
"He wouldn't." she said to herself "I don't think he would anyways." she sighed "Guess I just ask." she grabbed the doorknob and pushed open the door "Louis, I need to ask you..." she suddenly froze. Bent over the desk was a figure clothed in black, in his hand he had a stack of papers "Who are you and what are you doing in here?"
The person straightened up to his full height and turned to face her.
She took a slight step back, preparing for an attack, but instead the man whirled around and leapt out the window.
She went after him, but with it being pitch black outside and the figure being in black, he quickly disappeared "Okay. I know some musketeers that have some explaining to do." she mumbled as she continued to scan the area. She was about to turn around when she spotted a piece of paper laying on the ground. She picked it up and sat back on her heels, training the face of the page into the moonlight. It only took her a second to recognize the drawing as one of Louis' detailed designs for his Hot Air Balloon.
"What would someone want with this?"
(Ei-yi-yi! Once again I am SO sorry for the Mega Delay in update! Got snowed in, so there was no going places with internet :(
I did want to give you a longer chapter, but I also hit a small bump of writer's block so this is all I've got. Sorry!
And to Rosetrang628: hehe, good point. But I promise, Chad isn't the villain of this story :)
And to Weatherbug02: Oooh, you've got me. But I may surprise you *evil grin*
And to everyone else, and those two THANK YOU for all the favs, follows and reviews!
Oh, and good news! I FINALLY got a new laptop! After working on one with a busted screen for two years I am seriously hyped! Yay!
Well, Laterz everyonez!)