"Corinne!" Louis and the three girls cried.
Louis dropped to his knees beside her and pulled her partially into his arms.
"I am not finished!" Sournois repeated as he held up a bow with another arrow in place "I would have succeeded if it wasn't for that girl! And now, she will pay for it!"
Louis stood to his feet and moved between Corinne and the deranged man. The three girls followed suit.
"You won't hurt her any further!" Louis growled.
"Then say good bye to yourself!" Sournois released the arrow, sending it flying straight at Louis.
Renee leapt forwards and grabbed the arrow "Sournois! You will not get away with this!" she whipped off her necklace and sent it's gem flying at lightning speed towards the man.
He simply stepped out of its way and smirked "Is that the best you can do?"
Aramina threw one of her fans, but as before, Sournois moved out of the way.
Several musketeers ran at him with their swords drawn, but he easily knocked them away.
"We can't get near him." Treville said to the girls "Look at his eyes. He's gone crazy! And we can't risk the lives of the civilians." The towns people were all pressed up against the walls, staring terrified at the Soutnois.
Corinne slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, desperately fighting off the blackness that was trying to swallow her, while trying to ignore the overwhelming pain in her side "Aramina!"
The red head looked over at her worried.
Corinne looked at her friend, then up at the chandelier.
Aranina's nodded slowly as her mouth formed a small 'o'. Then, she pulled out her fan, and sent it flying straight up into the air
Everyone watched as the fan zoomed around the room, then sliced through the rope that was holding the chandelier in place.
"Move!" Renee shouted as she and the others dove for cover.
Sournois, who was standing in the middle ballroom tried to run. Shattered glass and a few gold pieces flew everywhere as the Chandelier crashed to the floor, pinning Sournois beneath it as it did.
"I'm not done!" he shouted as he tried without success to free himself "Paris will be mine!"
"Not in this life." Treville responded, then he motioned to several musketeers to take him away.
"Corinne." Louis said as he gently pulled the girl back into his arms "Talk to me, please!"
The only answer he got was a whimper as she started to lose consciousness, then she went completely limp in his arms.
"Let's get her upstairs." Viveca whispered.
Louis nodded then stood to his feet, easing Corinne up as he did, then he carried her from the room.
He gently laid her down on a bed in one of the spare bedrooms, then pushed loose hair off of her forehead "Don't leave me. Please."
"I know a little bit about taking care of wounds." Renee said "I'll see what I can do."
Louis nodded, then with one last look down at the blond, he left the room.
Nearly an hour later, Renee exited the room "Well, I've done all I can."
"We told everyone to leave." Treville said as he joined them "We've arrested Tessa Jackson and her husband, As well as an Italian lady who we don't know her name. And I sent some men to go find and arrest the Doctor."
Nicholas came running up to them just then "Is she okay?"
Louis looked over at the young prince curiously "We don't know yet."
"I don't care how much it costs to get her taken care of." Nicholas added "I'll pay for it."
That time, one of Louis' eyebrows rose "I'm sure we both will."
Viveca slid over to Renee and whispered "This could get lightly interesting."
Renee looked over at her "Slightly?"
Louis shook his head, trying to ignore the thought that was coming into his head about his childhood playmate "Can I see her? Please?"
Renee nodded "Of course."
Louis, Nicholas, and the three girls walked into the room slowly.
Louis walked over and sat on the chair that was facing the head of the bed.
Marie, who had come running in earlier to help Renee, was sitting in a window seat, trying to calm herself down.
"We just have to remember how strong she is." Renee said "This isn't the first time she's been injured."
Marie and Louis' heads snapped in their direction "It's not?"
Renee cringed "Oops." then she shook her head "She's a musketeer, danger is part of her life. We've all gotten our scrapes and bruises."
Louis sighed and picked up one of the blond's hands. When his fingers ran across something hard, her looked down curiously "Um..." he said slowly "Where... did she get this?" he raised the hand he was holding, indicating towards the ring that was on her finger.
"We don't know." Viveca answered "It just appeared one day. We didn't get a chance to ask about it."
Louis nodded slowly then sighed. The room fell into complete silence as everyone hoped she'd be okay.
Over the next several days, the three girls and Marie were constantly in the room, trying to keep the fever that Corinne had gotten under control, but it seemed no matter how hard they tried, it just got worse. Her injury wasn't healing, and it was starting to get infected.
No one voiced their concerns, but they all knew she was fading... and no one could seem to stop it.
"Just give up already." One part of Corinne screamed "Quit fighting!"
"No!" the other part answered "What about my friends? Mom. Paris... and Louis."
"You've given everything you've got. Just let it go."
"How can I let it go? I can't leave them!"
"They'll understand." the first side of her said, slowly pulling her in that direction "Just think of everything you've been through recently. Louis' death. Sournois. All that horrid training! And now you've been wounded. Just leave it all."
"Maybe you're right." the other part of her sighed.
"You know I am. You're tired and weak. It's so much easier to just let it go."
"Yeah."
"Please don't leave me." a voice said "Please."
"Louis?"
"I can't live without you."
"I can't go." The second part of her said, jolting to a stop "I'm still needed."
"But what about everything you've been through?" The first part shouted.
"It's been worth it. Every single mind blowing moment. It's what I live for! And besides, there's people that still need me. I'm not going to leave them now!"
Louis' hands were clasped together and his head pushed against them as he sat there. Seven different doctors had been called in, and all of them told them it was useless to even hope.
"I need you." he whispered.
He froze as a hand suddenly touched the side of his face "That's why I'm here."
He looked up in shock to see her smiling at him "You... You're awake."
Corinne laughed softly as she slowly sat up, then quietly said "I couldn't leave you yet." then she leaned forward and hugged him.
He returned the hug slowly, still shocked that she was alive.
She pulled back and looked at his amused "Don't worry. It's not too hard getting over people coming back from the dead.
She swung her feet over the side of the bed and groaned as a slight pain shot up her side.
"You're okay!" Aramina squealed as she and the other two ran over to their friend and hugged her.
Corinne laughed "Of course I'm okay!" then she hugged her mother.
"Oh. I'd thought I had lost you too." Marie sighed.
Corinne hugged her tighter "You'll never loose me." then she slowly started to stand up.
"Don't rush it." Renee said cautiously.
Corinne glanced over at her and smiled "I'm starting to get cabin fever. I have to move!"
Her friends laughed and shook their heads. That was Corinne for ya. Completely restless.
When she finally got to her feet, she walked over to where Nicholas was standing "Hey, Nic."
He smiled, then hugged her gently "I was worried too."
Corinne chuckled "I know." she glanced at Louis over Nicholas's shoulder.
His face was a mixture between worry, relief, and anxiety.
"Oh Louis." she thought as she pulled back from the prince. Then she walked over to Louis and hugged him one more time "He's engaged to another girl. And he's like a brother. Nothing more." she whispered, so only he could here.
Louis sighed with relief, then returned the hug whole-heartedly "Good."
Several weeks later, when Corinne could walk around without cringing because of pain shooting up her side, another ball was thrown to celebrate the return of France's king.
Louis and Corinne were dancing when Nicholas came walking up to them.
"Corinne." he said "I want you to meet someone."
Corinne smiled "Okay."
Nicholas motioned to a blond haired girl in a long hot pink dress "My fiancee, Blair Willows. Or, recently discovered, Princess Sophia."
Corinne's smile grew "Really?"
Blair nodded "Long story."
"I take it your parents don't mind anymore?" Corinne asked mischievously.
Nicholas rolled his eyes "Oh, they always liked her! Now."
Corinne laughed then turned to face Blair "Well it's nice to meet you." Corinne shook the girl's hand "Warning. Nicholas can be a bit of a handful."
Blair laughed "I know. He started break dancing in the middle of class... after he nearly ran me over."
Corinne raised an eyebrow "First meeting a run in?"
"Yep."
"Me too!" the two girls laughed as Corinne pointed to Louis "The first time I met him, he ran into me while chasing one of his experiments."
Blair smiled "Did you hit the floor?"
"No."
"Lucky."
Nicholas shook his head "May I?" he asked, taking Blair's hand.
The girl nodded "Talk to you later, Corinne." then she went out to the dance floor with Nicholas.
Corinne heard the sound of running heels and turned to see Liana hurrying towards her. With a laugh, she ran over and hugged the other girl "What are you doing here?" she asked.
Liana pulled out of the hug and shrugged "I wanted to drop in and say hi. And Congratulations that Louis' alive."
Corinne smiled and nodded "You have no idea how happy I am that I don't have to run France."
"But you did get crowned, right?" Liana asked "If you're the Queen and Louis' the king, what are y'all going to do?" She sent Corinne a pointed glance, which only caused the musketeer to laugh.
"Before my coronation I tweaked with the papers that I had to sign." She answered "I added a line that said If Louis should happen to somehow come back, the Throne would automatically go back to him, relieving me of my Queenly duties."
Liana nodded slowly "Okay."
"So... what about you and Jeremy?" Corinne asked "Are you two... together?"
Liana rolled her eyes "If it eases your conscience any, we're engaged now. Okay?"
"What about Ian and Alexa?"
"Same." Liana smiled brightly "We're going to have a double wedding."
Corinne laughed "Well, I'm happy for you."
Liana nodded "Well... I'm going to leave you alone... for a split second." she hugged the other blond, then took off running.
"May I have the honor?" Louis asked, stepping up to Corinne.
Corinne chuckled quietly as she glanced at Liana, then turned to Louis "Of course."
(One more chapter folkz! Alright, the prequel I'm working on is how Liana and Corinne first met... and what they discovered. :) So, let me know what you think! Laterz!)
