Athos and Phillippe looked up as the carriage bearing Aramis and Porthos galloped into the courtyard. Aramis was out immediately.
"Change the horses! Clear out everything! Now!" he shouted.
Athos shook his head as the carriage sped back toward Paris. "Aramis, this will never…"
"Louis is planning a visit to the Vatican, then who knows where after that. If we miss him now, we may not get another chance."
"But," began Athos.
"It presses us but it is good for us too! Louis's whims make him more vulnerable. We are less ready, but so are his guards."
"D'Artagnan, unready?" Porthos snorted.
"At a ball, everyone watches the King!" said Athos.
"But what if something extraordinary happened? Something so unusual that all the attention went to someone else? Someone whose confirmation of Phillippe the King would never be questioned." Aramis looked at them.
"Who?" asked Porthos, skeptically.
"The Queen Mother, Anne." And Aramis began to sketch out his plan.