The three friends then brought Athos to their rented room to sober up. It was already late anyway, so I also said good night to them. I was lucky enough to catch the last available room at the very end of the hall, so that I also had a place to sleep. However, this room was so far away from the 4 because when I woke up the next morning, they had already left. I was very upset that they left me behind. But that wasn't all, when I saddled Raoul, I noticed that my crossbow was gone. It was clear to me that only the 4 could actually have something to do with it, because I had hidden the sword under my dress. They probably thought that now that I had no chance to defend myself, I would turn back. But they had been wrong. I would follow them to reclaim my crossbow. I knew their destination, the Louvre in Paris, the headquarters of the royal family. So I rode after them. I was on the road for a few days until I finally reached Paris. I rode purposefully to the Louvre, and when I stepped into the forecourt, the fighting was already in full swing. The cardinal's guard against the king's musketeers. Hundreds of men fought their battles here. I looked out for D'Artangan and the others, but that was nearly impossible with the chaos here. Then I thought I heard Porthos in the babble of voices. I followed the voice and sure enough, there he was, fighting in the uniform of the Musketeers. I stormed up to him, angry as I was, grabbed his shoulder and made him turn around. He looked at me, clearly surprised.
"Oh! You here? "He said.
"I did not know that thieves are now allowed into the ranks of the musketeers!" I said angrily, pointing to my crossbow on his belt.
"Hey, that wasn't my idea." Porthos justified himself as I picked up the crossbow again. At that moment I saw a movement further up from the corner of my eye. When I looked up, I recognized D'Artangan, who was hanging on a flag next to the palace at a height of about 20 meters and was trying to defend himself against an attacker. I put my crossbow on and shot the assasin. I hit him right in the chest and the assasin fell forward.
"It's about time!" Shouted D'Artangan.
"Come down, D'Artangan! We're rescuing the king! "Porthos shouted.
I glared at Porthos, but said nothing more. I hung my crossbow over my back again and entered the palace. Here, too, the musketeers fought against the guardsmen. Suddenly I heard a shot coming from further back.
I ran towards the source of the shot, but was stopped when I saw Athos fighting a man with an eye patch. Athos also wore the uniform of the musketeers.
The one-eyed man just hurt Athos with a stab wound with his sword in the right upper arm.
Athos backed away from the pain, and I feared that his opponent would now finish him. So I stood before Athos with my sword in hand.
"What? How long have women been with the musketeers? "Replied the one-eyed man when he looked at my sword.
I raised my sword to take the place of Athos. But I quickly saw that this man fought way better than me. Although I struggled against him, I managed, with a distraction from D'Artangan, to knock the sword out of the hand of my opponent. Without knowing it, this once belonged to D'Artangan's father. D'Artangan picked up his father's sword and threw the one he had carried until now to the one-eyed man. This was the standard model of every musketeer.
Now D'Artangan fought against the one-eyed man and I withdrew, out of breath.
Porthos and Athos kneeled in front of Aramis, who was lying unconscious on the floor, also in the uniform of the musketeers. As I joined them Aramis just came back to life. He showed his cross that he always wore around his neck, that the bullet that should have hit Aramis had caught.
"Do you see? There is a God ... "said Aramis.
Porthos and Athos helped Aramis up and I looked at them in turns.
"Why didn't you mention that you are musketeers?" I ask.
"Too dangerous."; said Porthos.
"We were followed," said Athos.
I rolled my eyes because I wanted to slap myself for my stupidity.
"Where could Richelieu and his people have gone with the king?" Asked Porthos.
I walked up to the throne pensively: "As a child, I often played hide and seek here. I discovered a secret door once. ", I bent down and pushed a switch on the side of the wall. Then the wall opened in front of us.
"Tre bien, Mademoiselle," said Aramis and the Three Musketeers went through the secret door. I ran after them.
"No, it's too dangerous for you. That is a matter for the musketeers, "said Athos.
"You must have slowly noticed that I can also be useful. I saved D'Artangan from being killed earlier, and you too, Athos. "
Athos rolled his eyes, it was clear to me what he was thinking. That I'm a pain in the ass.
"Very well, but stay behind us.", Said Athos and I followed them. But soon the corridor forked.
"Now what?" Asked Porthos.
"We split up.", Said Athos and Aramis walked with Porthos in one direction, while I followed Athos in the other direction. It didn't take long before the guards came to stop us. Athos grabbed a torch and tried to keep the guards at distance while I took out a few attackers with my crossbow.
Then Porthos joined us.
"Where have you been for so long?" Asked Athos.
"I had to fix something hideous," Porthos replied.
Finally we managed to fight our way to the jetty that ended in the canal.
We rushed forward and saw the cardinal about to sail away in a boat with the king and queen. The cardinal was confident because he believed his alliance with England was closed. But Athos held up the document that the alliance should have sealed.
The cardinal did not want to be unsettled by this, and during the conversation between the two of them I skilfully switched off the boatman with my crossbow.
Aramis had sneaked onto the boat and eliminated the men who held the king and queen. Then he went up to the cardinal, wanted to get him into the canal too, but the young king did it himself, and I couldn't help giggling when I saw the cardinal end up in the water.
The next day the 3 musketeers were to appear before the king with D'Artangan and me.
D'Artangan was made a Musketeer for his courage and deeds, which moved even the great Porthos to tears. Then the king turned to me.
"You were not indifferent to our rescue, as I saw," said the king.
I bowed and said, "My name is Jeanne de Fleur."
"De Fleur?" Asked the King, it seemed as if the name sounded familiar. Athos stepped forward again and declared: "Her father was once a count and a close confidante of your father. But after the cardinal took over the business of government, her family's title was stripped and they were banished from the palace. "
"The cardinal has caused a lot of injustice, I will try to redeem yours. Return here with your father and we will discuss how we can give you your title back," the king said to me.
I stared in disbelief from Athos to the king. I never would have thought that there would be a way to give us the title back.
Porthos cleared his throat: "Sorry, but your Highness doesn't want to send a young lady alone on the long journey?"
"Of course not. Aramis and Porthos, you accompany them as escort. D'Artangan must now begin his training as a musketeer and Athos, Monsieur Treville would like to see you this afternoon. We bowed farewell to the king and were cheered by the other musketeers in the hall. I later left the palace with Porthos and Aramis to ride back to Louches and tell my father the good news.