Chapter 20

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Life was following its course at the garrison. D'Artagnan was a new musketeer and took pride in hi new function. He proudly wore his uniform and strode in the streets of Paris. Now, I don't know what happened between Constance and him but Constance was only a shadow of her cheerful and feisty self. As for D'Artagnan, he didn't believe in love anymore. As for the Captain, he was still recovering from his fight against Labarge. The woman that I have met a few days ago has made another appearance in my life. Well, she was talking to the Captain when I arrived at the garrison after a walk. The Captain has called me into his office while she was here and left us both alone. She introduced herself; she is Catherine De Sauvignon, my grandmother. After the death of her husband she's decided that it was time for her to find her daughter. She came into Paris a few months ago to discover that her daughter, my mother, had already died and her son-in-law followed after. All she knew is that they left a daughter behind, so, she went looking for this daughter. And she found me. I stayed silent while she was talking not because I didn't have anything to say, no because I don't know where to start. The Baroness Catherine De Sauvignon realised with the death of her late husband that she regretted stripping her daughter of all of her belongings. Now she will make it right by getting to know her grandchild better and possibly gave her all she had missed during her childhood. I didn't know what to do about this. I didn't believe it and I didn't want to believe it. Twenty years is a little bit too late. She had twenty years to make it right but she didn't, maybe because of her pride or because she was still mad at my mother for choosing love over her family, but still she didn't.

She was staying in Paris for a few weeks. And I left with the musketeers with the Queen for her trip to a pool known for its power of fertility. It would give me time to think about my new found grandmother. It was also the first official mission of D'Artagnan as a musketeer. I'm really proud of that little idiot. Anyway, as the Queen doing her little ritual, the musketeers and I were sitting around a fire. It was almost midday; Athos and Porthos were sparring with D'Artagnan. I sat by the fire with Aramis, the latter was cleaning his pistols. I was watching the sparring match between the three other musketeers, listening to their little banter. Porthos and Athos just scratched his uniform again.

"For the last time, mind the uniform." D'Artagnan said to them out of breath.

"It doesn't look right on you." Porthos shook his head.

"Too shiny, too new." Athos added.

"It's like your mom dressed you." I chimed in.

"Exactly." Athos agreed.

"Aramis, what do you think?" D'Artagnan asked for Aramis' opinion.

"I think we've landed in paradise." Aramis answered and I snorted. "Listen to that."

"What?" Porthos asked. Aramis whistled with the birds. The three men resumed their sparring session. Well, it was more like Porthos and Athos attacked the new musketeer by surprise. Porthos pushed him on the ground with his foot. And with Athos they dragged him in the dirt.

"It looks better." Porthos remarked.

"Much better." Athos agreed.

"Although, one day he might even land a hit." Porthos added.

"Never gonna happen." Athos replied.

They resumed their fight one more time. I just watched for a few more minutes. I've ended in my own world, contemplating the idea of living the life of a Baroness or the life of a former thief who now lives and fights alongside the Musketeers. There's no question here, it's obvious that I love my life with the musketeers way too much to ever think about leaving them behind me in Paris while I'm living in a luxurious mansion in Bordeaux as a Baroness. Alright, maybe I wanted to live in a luxurious mansion and I'm sure whatever my decision will be, all my friends would understand but I'm not sure that I would forgive myself. But I know I will always regret not trying to get to know my grandmother. I must have been lost in my thoughts for a while now, I was brought back to reality by D'Artagnan who sat next to me and nudged me with his knee. It has been two days now, that we were waiting for the Queen to finish with her ritual. Aramis was now losing patience. The birds that he used to love, oh so much, once upon time were now getting on his nerves. He wasn't the only one to be bored out of his mind, I was too. That's why I sparred with the boys earlier but now we were resting. I was sitting next to Athos. The latter was asking Aramis to leave the birds alone. His new way of passing time was to kill the birds. Two days ago he thought that this was paradise and now he wanted nothing more than to kill those paradisiacal birds. He was numerating all the reasons why he missed Paris, the excitement, the noise, the danger. I chuckled hearing him. A gun was then fired. "Aramis!" Athos scolded him. Aramis answered that it wasn't him. We ran to the Queen's tent. We saw a body on the ground in a white cloak. Aramis and Athos were already looking over the body when the Queen got out of her tent. Athos ordered us to take her to safety. We took cover over the hills where the assassin was less likely to hit her. As Athos ordered us; Porthos, D'Artagnan and I took the Queen with us and went to get the horses while Athos and Aramis went after the assassin. The Queen rode with Aramis. We passed through the woods in order to put enough distance between the assassin and us. Those men were determined, even after we rode a really long distance, they were still after us. We spent the entire day trying to loose them but it was useless. After several hours we stopped in a clearing. We were safe for now; they have stopped to follow us for an hour. I was helping Porthos with the fire. Aramis went to fish and Athos and D'Artagnan were keeping watch. The Queen came to help us with the fire but I declined it gently. I saw that she wanted to help and she suggested that she could cook for us. Don't get me wrong I don't doubt that she was able to cook but I didn't trust her to do this. So, I gut the fish and I showed her how to cook. Anne was a really kind woman, no wonder why she was such a good Queen.

"Now, you can turn it over otherwise it will burn." I indicated to her.

"Like this?" She asked unsure.

"Exactly." I nodded.

"Tell me, Emma, how did you meet the musketeers?" She questioned while we were waiting for the fish to be cooked.

"I stole Athos' purse, your majesty." I chuckled remembering how my disguise had failed me that day. "Since this day, I'm working and fighting with them."

"We heard about you at the court. The King is seriously considering you as one of his musketeers." She replied.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The Captain never failed to mention your involvement when he is doing his report to the King. The Female musketeer he calls you." She explained. So, I have a nickname and I went from thief to female musketeer.

"How flattering of him but I have no ambition in becoming a musketeer." I said to her.

"I don't see why not? The women of France could benefit from the presence of a woman in the musketeers' rank." She pleaded.

"Your majesty, I'm honoured of your trust in me." I said turning the fish over. "But do you really believe that a thief could be a musketeer what tells you that I won't steal again?"

"Nothing, but if you really wanted to go back to that life you would have done it a long time ago." She smiled at me. The men joined us at this moment and the fish were all cooked. "You should be honoured gentlemen; your dinner has been cooked by the Queen of France herself." I shared the fish.

"It's the first time I ever cooked." She said proudly.

"It's hard to believe." Athos said appreciatively.

"I have a little bit of help from Emma." She replied. Athos shushed us. We could hear the far away sound of the horses' hooves.

I'm tired of running away from them but Athos made it clear the Queen's safety is our priority. But we couldn't run away forever. There has to be a solution. I was wondering for how long we were going to ride. After a few miles we spotted a sort of monastery. Athos ordered to Porthos and D'Artagnan to go back to Paris and the three of us left stayed behind to protect the Queen. Porthos wasn't reassured by the idea of leaving us behind but we didn't have a choice. We parted ways with them and rode to the monastery. The group of assassins was closed behind us. We passed through the gate, Aramis went to put the horses to the stable, I stood with the Queen and Athos went to close the gate. A nun came and stopped him from doing so. He explained to her that he was doing it to protect the Queen. The mother superior arrived and ordered her to close the gate. I let the Queen be taken away by the nuns. Aramis called for Athos on the highest spot in the monastery. We both went up to go see him. We saw two of the assassins coming with a white flag. The white flag notified that they were coming and were meaning no harm. "What do we do?" I asked Athos keeping my eyes on the men. "Do we talk or shoot?" Aramis also asked. Athos went to retrieve his horse and went outside to talk with the men. Aramis was pointing his musket to the men, ready to shoot at any sign of them attacking Athos. And I stood by his side, worrying or Athos' safety. The exchanged lasted a few seconds before the man who seemed to be the leader drew his pistols out and shot one of his men. "What has just happened?" I asked Aramis not believing what I just saw. The conversation went on for a few more minutes. We then joined Athos in the main room of the monastery. He was suggesting to the nuns to leave while they still can. The mother superior offered to take the Queen and I disguised as nuns. Aramis replied that if the Queen was discovered she will be killed on the spot. And he seriously doubts that I will leave them both behind. The mother superior told to her peers that if they wanted to leave they could but none of the nuns left. They all stayed and were willing to help.

"We need to barricade the gate." Athos said to her.

"You can use tables from the refectory." She said and then gestured to the nuns to go to the refectory.

"I understand that there's two lookout points. Each with a clear sight of anyone approaching." Athos continued.

"My bedroom and the sacristy are best." She replied.

"You don't happen to have any weapons here?" Athos questioned.

"A musket and some charges." She answered, Athos gave her a surprised look. "To shoot rabbits…and Protestants." I chuckled at her answer. I went to help the nuns to barricade the gate. Anne helped too. Once the barricade was placed I went back to the chapel and got myself ready for any possible attack. But with only a pistol and some charges, I won't last very long. I just hoped that D'Artagnan and Porthos will come back with men really soon.

"Emma, what are you doing?" Athos pulled me out of my thoughts from the sacristy.

"Getting myself ready in case of an attack." I answered joining him in the sacristy.

"No, you're not." He retorted.

"What?"

"You're not fighting, not today." He continued

"I'm not? Athos what are you on about?" I questioned.

"If you're here, it's because I wanted you and the Queen to be safe." He explained. "You're not protecting anyone today."

"Athos, I can fight and you know it." I answered almost snarling.

"I am aware of that fact but today they aren't simple criminal, they are assassins." Athos retorted.

"And you are underestimated me."

"No, I'm not Lady De Sauvignon." He said coldly. My blood boiled with rage. I could not believe that he will use this against me. How could he?

"This is the reason why you don't want me to fight." I seethed. "I'm not a lady; I'm Emma, the girl from the court of miracles. And whether you like it or not, I'm going to fight. No one will stop me, especially you, Count De La Fère." I stomped out and joined the nuns in their preparation.

A shot rang out. We all went back to the chapel. With only two lookouts the men were the only one to do the shooting. The nuns were praying while there were shooting. I was becoming restless at doing nothing. I got up and called for Helene and the mother superior to join me. We went in the cellar and retrieved some bottles of alcohol. We went on the highest point of the convent and used them as weapons. We put cloths in the bottle; we lit the end of the cloths and threw them at the assassins who were trying to get into the convent. Helene threw a beehive at them. After several bottles being thrown, the assassins withdrew themselves. They gave us, by doing so, a little time to rest.