Corinne woke up early the next morning and rolled out of the bed. It felt good to actually get a full night's rest.
Liana was still sound asleep, So Corinne slowly put on her boots and left the room.
She was walking down the stairs when she ran into the owner of the Inn.
"Ah Miss Liana!" he greeted.
"I'm actually Corinne." she chuckled.
"Oh." he thought for a second then shrugged "I was coming to make you an offer!"
One of her eyebrows rose "Oh?"
"Yes! You stay on as my Inn's permanent entertainment, and everything will be supplied for you! Your meals and board will all be free!"
Corinne smiled "That's very kind of you, but I'm afraid we can't. We've already stayed far longer than we should have."
"But you bring such success to this place! See!" he flipped up a newspaper.
Corinne nearly choked when she saw it.
On the front cover was a picture of Corinne and Liana standing back to back with their guitars singing.
"When did this come out?" she asked slowly.
"Well, you two came in early enough and made such a big hit, this is actually yesterday's newspaper!" The man answered.
"Sir, we have to go! Now!" Corinne spun around and sprinted back up the stairs "No no no!" she said to herself "We'd lost them!" she burst into her room so fast is made Liana sit up.
"What's wrong?" Liana asked as she leapt out of the bed.
"We landed in the newspaper." Corinne answered "Yesterday!"
Liana's eyes widened "What!? We've got to get out of here!"
Corinne nodded "Come on."
The two quickly left the room "Excuse me!" Liana called to the owner "Where did you put Jeremy?"
"Three doors down." the man answered.
"Thank you!" the two girls called in unison as they sprinted down the hall.
When they reached the door, they both began banging on it "Wake up!" Liana called "Jeremy! Come on!"
They heard a groan, then something hit the floor.
"He's awake." Corinne chuckled.
Jeremy's door swung open a moment later, his hair was ruffled and he still looked half asleep "What?"
"We've been located." Corinne answered "We have to get moving."
"Alright." Jeremy immediately became alert "Let's go."
On their way out the door, the owner of the Inn stopped them "For your journey and as a thank you." he said, holding out three bags of food and some money.
"Thank you." Liana smiled as she took them "Very much."
Then they ran out the door and down the street to the Livery Stables for Jeremy's horse.
"Which way do you think they'll come from?" Liana asked as Jeremy put the last bag of food in his saddlebags.
Jeremy glanced around "That way." he answered, pointing to the left.
Corinne looked in that direction to see the whole army marching down the street "Let's go! If only we had another horse!"
They ran down the road as fast as they could, but some soldiers stepped out in front of them, and on all sides.
"You're trapped." One of them laughed.
Corinne pulled out her sword, knowing it was pointless but not willing to be taken without a fight. Her glare alone was almost enough to make half the men cower.
One of them stepped forward, a coil of rope in his hands. He walked towards Corinne, who's glare simply got hotter. When he was close enough, she leapt into the air, her boot catching the side of his jaw, knocking him to the ground.
Jeremy stepped a few feet back, giving some extra room.
Two men ran forwards, but they ended up just like the other one.
Corinne's Ire was as high as it could get. She was mad and these guys were really pushing it!
Liana stepped up to Corinne's side and dropped into a ready pose.
"Get them!" One of the soldiers shouted to five of the men, but they fared none the better. Between Corinne and Liana, they couldn't even get close.
"Look." Corinne snapped "I don't know where you're from, but you had better leave Paris alone!"
"It's our job to take over weaker kingdoms." One of the men sneered "And this time, it's yours." he smiled evilly "And I'd stop before your friend ended up in trouble."
The two girls looked at each other, then slowly turned around.
Jeremy was being held in a death grip by one of the soldiers, a sword held to his throat.
Liana gasped "Let him go!"
"As long as your sister drops her sword."
Corinne's grip tightened around the handle as she stared at the man holding Jeremy.
"You either drop your sword now, or this guy dies right now."
From the corner of her eye, Corinne could see Liana's panic stricken face. With a sigh, the sword dropped from her hand and clattered to the ground.
"Now that's a good girl." the man holding Jeremy laughed "That's the problem when you care for people. You always lose."
Corinne's gaze was on the ground as her hands were yanked behind her back and tied.
"I'm sorry." Jeremy whispered.
Liana looked over at Corinne and watched as one lone tear rolled down her cheek and splashed onto the road.
"Hey, guys!" Viveca called as she ran into the throne room "Corinne's alive! And she's okay!"
"What!?" everyone else exclaimed.
Louis jumped up from his seat "How do you know?"
Viveca held out a newspaper to him "Check it out."
He quickly flipped it open "She... What!?" The picture that happened to land in the Paris newspaper only showed Corinne in mid jump with a guitar smiling brightly. Her hair flying out behind her.
"She was singing in an Inn!" Viveca answered "Yesterday!"
"And looks like she was having fun." Renee commented "Since when did she play?"
"Do you think she's coming back?" Aramina asked "She seems pretty happy."
Renee raised an eyebrow "Keep a life singing on stage? No. Corinne's a musketeer and only a musketeer. She's coming back."
Louis spoke up just then "Did you see where this Inn was?" he did some mild calculations in his mind "If she's walking, it'll be a little over a week before she gets back."
The three girls looked at each other and smiled "Finally!"
The three had been thrown into the dungeon, their hands still tied behind their backs.
A large guard took his place outside the cell.
Corinne sighed "We were so close!"
"If only we didn't end up in the newspaper!" Jeremy huffed "Man, that news went everywhere! Trust me. That one particular newspaper goes all over the world."
Corinne's eyebrows raised "Then I'm in trouble. Viveca always reads the newspaper to keep tabs on the newest trends."
"So," Liana mouthed "How do we get out of here?"
Corinne stared hard at the guard who's back was to them.
Liana cocked her head "Staring bores holes."
Corinne smiled warily "That was the point."
"She is captured and in the dungeon" Drake announced.
"It's about time!" The king thundered "Send the note to Paris, and we'll see how fast the king responds."
"Yes, Sire." Drake bowed then quickly left to do as ordered.
Corinne was pacing around the dungeon cell like a caged lion.
She had long since gotten the dagger from her boot and cut them all loose.
The guards had stopped watching them, because Corinne's constant moving drove them nuts!
Jeremy looked up at ceiling "She's making me dizzy!" he whispered "She's been pacing non stop for three days!"
"Maybe it helps her think." Liana answered.
Corinne's mind was far away, sorting through every escape option possible... then an idea struck her. She turned to Liana and asked quietly "Think you can put him to sleep with a lullaby?"
Liana shrugged "I don't know."
"Well try."
Liana took a deep breath then started singing a random lullaby.
It wasn't five minutes before the guard started nodding off to sleep.
Corinne smiled. You may be ruff and tough, but there's still no escape from a lullaby.
"Keep singing." she whispered as she pulled the laces out of her boots.
Liana nodded and continued to sing.
Corinne tied the ends of her laces together then very gently tied the guards legs to the cell rails. Then she gently slipped the keys off of his belt "Jeremy, unlock the door." there was no answer "Jeremy?" she looked over at the boy to see him nodding off to sleep. She rolled her eyes as she picked up a small stone and threw it.
"Wha-?" Jeremy started as the stone bounced off his head.
Corinne held the keys out to him "Move. Just don't open the door yet."
Jeremy nodded "Got it."
She then took the ropes that had once bound them and tied both of the guards hands to the bars, but not tight enough to possibly wake him up.
Liana and Jeremy were watching her, amused at her antics.
Corinne looked back at Liana "Got a gag?"
Liana shrugged then pointed down to her skirt.
With a smile, Corinne tore off the bottom of the skirt till it was the same length as her own "Thank you. Get ready to run." she slipped her hands through the bars and gently eased the fabric over the guards face "Now!" as soon as she gave the order, she tied the fabric on the inside of the cell then took off out the door.
The guard jumped and tried to move forward, but his head, hands and feet were tied to the bars behind him. He tried to shout for other guards, but he was gaged.
Corinne chuckled as they ran for an exit "Well... it'll take him awhile to get help."
Jeremy looked down at her feet "But what about your boots?"
Corinne shrugged "It's a nice souvenir to remind them of who used to be in there."
How they managed to make it out of the kingdom without anyone seeing them, they weren't sure, but they escaped into the woods, making a B-line for Paris.