"Oh come on!" Viveca exclaimed, slouching back in her seat and crossing her arms.

"No!" Victor said "You are not going to go traipsing all over creation, looking for a man who is dangerous!"

"And that goes for you too, Aramina Treville." Jonathan said.

Aramina looked over at Corinne who was sitting on her throne with her arms crossed, staring at the ceiling.

"I think that goes for all of you." Hugh said, sending a pointed look to Renee, who was standing with her hands behind her back looking innocent. But what the boys couldn't see, was Renee was mimicking them with her hands, which were hidden behind her back.

Louis nodded in agreement "I agree with the guys. Let the other musketeers handle this."

Corinne snorted "Ever wonder what would have happened if we'd let the musketeers handle our first mission? You know, the one where they were all tied up, and we were the only ones there."

Louis rolled his eyes "Yes, but you weren't pregnant then!"

"So what!?" Corinne jumped to her feet "I promise we'll be careful!"

Louis grunted "Yeah. Sure. Remember where you were twenty minutes before Lorrain was due?"

Lorrain, and the others were leaning against the wall listening with great interest and amusement.

"Where was she twenty minutes before I was due?" Lorrain asked.

"Fighting a serious battle!" Louis Answered.

"But I came back just fine! And so did Lorrain!" Corinne retorted.

Andrew chuckled as the other female musketeers got into the conversation "This is interesting."

"No kidding!" Ruth said "I never knew my dad could be so stubborn!"

"Who do you think will win?" Victoria asked "The moms or the dads."

The four looked at each other "Moms." They said in unison.

"No!" Victor shouted "I will not let you! And neither will Louis!" he looked over at the king for confirmation, which he was given immediately.

Corinne placed her hands on her hips and faced her husband "King Louis Francois Xavier Charles Auguste Ferdinand Alencon Of France, please!" her arms dropped her side in defeat and she just stared at him.

"Wow." Lorrain mouthed "What a name."

Louis stared at his wife for a long moment her blue eyes pleading. The one thing that had always been his downfall… the blue eyes. And unfortunately, his daughter had them too. He tried to look away, but everywhere he looked was another pitiful face looking at them. He finally sighed "Fine. You can keep at the mission."

"Yes!" The four musketeers squealed, running together in a group hug.

Victoria shook her head "And the mother's win again."

Victor walked over to Louis "Dude! You let us down!"

Louis shook his head "You try to say no when you have seven pitiful faces staring at you."

"Seven?" Hugh asked.

Louis pointed to the girls that were standing against the wall "They were helping."

Ruth leaned over to her friends and whispered "Let's get out of here!"`

The four kids turned and ran from the room, leaving their parents laughing behind them.

The next morning, Lorrain went up to the room that Katherine was in. The girl was still unconscious.

Corinne stepped into the room behind her daughter "How's it going?"

Lorrain shrugged "She's still out of it. I was hoping she'd be awake so we could talk." She walked over to the bedside "You don't suppose those men are after her, do you?"

Corinne shook her head "I thought they might be, but last night when we met them, they thought we had what they wanted. And she was here."

"True." Lorrain sat down "If only she could tell us."

"She will when she wakes up." Corinne answered, walking towards the door "But right now, she's still regaining her strength."

"But why are they here?" Lorrain asked "It's nearly sixteen-hundred miles between here and Russia."

Corinne shrugged "I don't know, Lorrain. But we'll find out. We just have to be patient and be on our guard."

Lorrain nodded, then smiled "How did you become so patient? My patience runs thin."

Corinne peeked out the door to make sure no one was around, then whispered "You learn patience when you get married. Trust me, you need it."

Lorrain laughed as her mother disappeared. Then she looked down at Katherine "You're safe here." she whispered "I promise." She stood up and walked over to a window.

She was wondering if she should tell her mom that that man kept staring at her whenever he showed up. But she didn't know if she was just being paranoid, and she didn't want to worry her mother if she was.

She sighed as she leaned against the window sill, she could see her father and Andrew working on Louis' balloon together.

She smiled at how well they got along.

If only Andrew would ask. She'd be twenty in a couple of days, maybe then… maybe not.

Her hand found the necklace that was around her neck and she subconsciously fingered it. Why does everything have to be so complicated?

"Did you get her?" Igorek asked.

"No sir." Turner answered "It appears she's a harder case than we thought."

"WHAT!?" Igorek shouted "How hard can it be to grab a princess!?"

Turner groaned "She carries a sword, Sir."

"I don't care if she's a musketeer! Get her!"

Turner bowed "Yes, Sir." Then he left the room.

Igorek picked up a picture of Paris and then lit a match and put the flame to the picture "I have found where you are hiding, and I'll have you before too long." He watched as the rest of the picture became engulfed in flames "Do svidanya, Princess."

After dinner, Lorrain, went out to the garden for some fresh air. She walked over to a large oak tree that had a wooden swing hanging from it and sat down.

"Hi."

She looked up to see Andrew walking towards her.

"Hi." She said.

He leaned against the tree and looked up at the sky "It's a nice night."

"It is." She looked at him casually leaning against the tree, holding his musketeer hat in his hand "I saw you with my dad earlier. And progress on that machine?"

Andrew chuckled "I told him that the weight needed to be more evenly spaced between the sides, and that coming down straight would also help."

Lorrain laughed "Since when were you a scientist?"

Andrew shrugged "I don't know."

The stars up ahead were starting to grow brighter as the sky got darker.

"Come on, Andrew!" he thought "Now's the perfect time! Just tell her!" He took a deep breath "Lorrain?"

She looked up at him "Yes?"

Andrew cleared his throat. "I wanted to tell you something." He was stalling..

"Yes, Andrew?" Her eyes widened hopefully and she bit her bottom lip.

"I lo…"

"Andrew!" Jonathan's voice wafted out through the air "Let's go!"

Andrew sighed "See you tomorrow, Lorrain."

Lorrain jumped to her feet and grabbed his arm "Wait! Wasn't there something you wanted to tell me?"

He swallowed hard, then smiled "Um… Good night." Then he basically ran for the castle.

Lorrain shook her head "Will he ever say it?"

She sat back down on the swing and listened to the gentle breeze rustling through the tree tops.

A think hand suddenly went over her mouth while another wrapped around her waist and pulled her off the swing.

"Stay quiet." The threatening, Russian voice of Turner warned "Or you might meet your fate early."

Lorrain's arms were pinned to her side. She tried to grab her sword, but it was no use. In one final effort, she bit the man's hand.

"Ow!" Turner screamed in pain, pulling his hand away from the Princess's mouth.

"Mom!" Lorrain shouted at the top of her lungs "Help!" Turner's hand came down hard on the top of her head, and she went limp in his arms.

Corinne ran out of the castle, her sword drawn "Lorrain?" she called, looking around anxiously "Lorrain!"

But it was no use. She was gone.