"So, you found me defenseless. Now what? You're going to have me arrested?" Milady asked as she sat on the stone floor with ropes tied around her.
"Obviously," Athos said as he waited by the doorway for the guards. He smiled to himself. He had finally caught Milady and it was not an easy task to fulfill.
He had left Aramis and Porthos to search through the castle for new soldiers of Buckingham, as was part of their plan. His part of the plan was to search for the infamous Lady De Winter. He checked through every room, every hallway, and every door he could find and still, she was nowhere to be found. It wasn't until he reached the highest part of the tower, that he found her hiding near one of the windows as if she were about to make a grand escape. When she had seen him, her anger grew into fury and he had no other choice but to respond to her attacks against him. These attacks consisted of thrown daggers and thrown whatever else she could find in the room. When she ran out of things to throw at him and attack him with, he noticed that a rope was hanging out of a barrel she had attempted to throw at him. Athos quickly went to the barrel and grabbed the rope when she, to his surprise, was distracted by whatever was out the window. In her defenseless state, he tied the rope around her as quickly as he could and now she was sitting on the floor; defeated and tied up. She had no way of escaping and she had not even bothered to call for help since she knew Buckingham would not be able to hear her. She was at the hands of Athos; the man who had once loved her and the man she had thought she had once loved.
"Well, I hope you're happy," Milady mumbled.
Athos paced in front of her. "I am ecstatic. I need to ask you this, though. Why did you not call for Buckingham?"
"He wouldn't have heard me."
"And why is that?"
Milady smirked when she saw the worry in Athos's eyes as he stopped pacing. "Buckingham is not in the tower anymore."
Athos looked at her. "Damn! Then where is he? He's escaped, hasn't he? Damn, damn, damn!"
"Now, now, Athos. I said he was no longer in the tower. That does not mean that he isn't still out and about on the tower," She said and she quickly glanced up to the ceiling.
"The roof?" Athos asked and Milady nodded in reply.
"Then, D'Artagnan," Athos started, "D'Artagnan better know what he is doing."
"What are you doing?" Arabella asked, slightly annoyed, as D'Artagnan put his life in danger by walking along the edge of the roof, as he had been for the past ten minutes.
"Preparing," He simply said.
Arabella crossed her arms as she watched him "prepare". "Preparing for what exactly?"
"Preparing for when Buckingham is going to attack me, which should be soon."
"What does walking along the edge of a tower have to do with that?"
"Well, think about, Arabella. If Buckingham attacks me, his ultimate goal is to kill me-"
"One would think."
"So, in order to kill me, he's going to lure me into the most dangerous parts of the roof. One of those being the edge of the roof. If I practiced balancing in advance, I can block or dodge his attacks successfully without falling to my untimely death which would leave you and everyone else devastated and depressed," D'Artagnan said cooly and got off the ledge so he was on the flat surface of the roof again.
"Hmm, I love how confident you are," Arabella said.
"As do I."
"But anyway, what am I supposed to do while all of that is going on?"
"You wanted to help me, didn't you?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Then you find your own ways to attack him or come to my rescue if I am in need of it," D'Artagnan said smiling at her.
"Something tells me you are not going to be in need of rescuing," Arabella said.
"How can you be so sure?" D'Artagnan asked.
"Because you'll both be dead," A voice said.
Arabella's eyes darted from corner to corner of the roof until she saw him.
"Do you have to be so dramatic and violent all the time? You're pretty much cliché in the sense of being evil and honestly, I'm sick of you," D'Artagnan said confidently as he turned towards Buckingham.
Arabella covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile and stop her giggles but she could not help herself.
Buckingham turned towards her, "You think it's humorous, dear sister? How is it that you are alive? How did you escape?"
"Well, after your failed attempt at killing me, I awoke with a splitting headache. After I came to my senses, I devised up a plan and climbed out of the window and thanks to the help of D'Artagnan-"
"That's me," D'Artagnan smirked. Buckingham responded with the roll of his eyes.
"Yes, and now I'm up here on the roof speaking with you about how I ended up here," Arabella finished.
"I see," Buckingham started and being circling D'Artagnan slowly. "Tell me, D'Artagnan, what did you think of our little plan at the masquerade ball?" He asked.
Arabella had been hoping D'Artagnan had forgotten about that but she knew he hadn't. Honestly, who would be able to forget that?
"I thought it was terrible," D'Artagnan said, following Buckingham with his eyes as he circled him.
"Oh, thank you. That really means a lot to me," Buckingham said.
"Now, you have to tell us what you are up here for," Arabella insisted.
"To get to my airship, obviously. Now, if you'll both excuse me," Buckingham said as he began walking but was stopped by D'Artagnan.
"You're not going anywhere without a fight, Buckingham."
"I feel so threatened."
"You should."
Arabella watched as D'Artagnan slowly took his sword from its sheath. Buckingham was unaware of this action.
"What if I don't?" Buckingham's eyes narrowed.
"I suggest you start," D'Artagnan said as he swung his sword out to him.
"Is that all of them?" Aramis asked breathlessly as he put his sword away and examined the doorway.
"Yes!" Porthos yelled from the next room.
"Good. How many soldiers does Buckingham have?" Aramis asked.
"Too many," Porthos answered as he carefully stepped over the bodies of soldiers.
"I agree. Do you think Athos has found Milady?"
Aramis shrugged. "Shall we go find out?"
Porthos nodded and the two began to search for their friend. After a few minutes, they found Athos, after he was pushed down one of the staircases.
"Well! Hello, Athos!" Aramis laughed as he watched his friend lie on the floor in pain.
"Hello? Why not some help?" Athos asked.
Porthos laughed and helped his friend up. "Who pushed you down the stairs? D'Artagnan?"
"No, Milady," Athos winced. "She's still up there, go get her!"
Aramis and Porthos quickly ran up the stairs and saw Milady De Winter struggling to hop quickly away with the rope tied around her.
"Good work, Athos." Porthos said.
"Thank you."
Porthos quickly ran up to Milady and swung her over his shoulder.
"Now, where do we take her?" Aramis asked.
"Outside so she can be arrested," Athos said.
"I hate you all," Milady said as she kicked Porthos.
"Arabella, grab the dynamite!" D'Artagnan yelled as he blocked Buckingham's attacks.
Arabella quickly ran to the pack of dynamite on the floor. "And do what!"
"Uhh," D'Artagnan started but was pushed to the edge by Buckingham. D'Artagnan lunge forward and was back on the flat surface of the roof.
"See! That's why I prepare! Go to the air ship and-",Buckingham pushed him again.
"Stop being rude. I'm trying to have a conversation with her," D'Artagnan said as his and Buckingham's swords clashed.
"Not now!" Buckingham said.
Arabella then thought of what D'Artagnan might have asked her to do. Maybe he wanted her to light the dynamite and throw it in Buckingham's air ship so he would have no way of escaping. Yes, that's it! Arabella ran into the airship with the dynamite and looked for something to light it with.
"There, that's over and done with," Athos said as he watched the King's guards lock up Milady in a carriage and drive away with her.
"It's about time, I'm starving," Porthos said.
"We can't leave yet. We have to wait for D'Artagnan. Where is he?" Aramis asked.
Athos stepped back so he can get a better view of the roof of the tower. "He should be up there. Milady told me that Buckingham was up there, as well."
"We're doomed," Porthos sighed.
"Shall we go help him?" Aramis asked.
Athos nodded. "I'm sure he needs all the help he can get."
