The ship sailed on for the next few days. The girls helped mop the decks and Liana cooked a few of the meals.

During the day, Corinne taught Liana how to fight with the sword, as well as hand-to-hand combat while in the evenings, Liana taught Corinne how to play the guitar.

They tried to sleep at night, but neither on of them could seem to doze off. The water seemed to go on forever.

Corinne found herself humming as she tried to ignore a sickening feeling in her stomach, thinking she might be getting sea sick.

"Are you okay?" Liana asked one evening while Corinne was leaning against the aide of the ship strumming the guitar slowly.

Corinne sighed "Something isn't quite right, Liana. I just don't know what. I've always had this sixth since about things, but... I was hoping it was just because I was getting sick of the water. Something is wrong."

"Captain!" One of the sailors shouted "There's another ship approaching!"

The two girls looked at each other worried. Then they ran under deck and peeked out through a port hole window.

"It looks like your gut feeling was right." Liana whispered as the other ship came into view "There's Drake."

Corinne bit her bottom lip "And we're sunk."

"Please don't say that while we're on a boat." Liana added nervously.

"But we are." Corinne whispered "We're in the middle of the ocean. There's no where to go!"

Joe came running under deck to them "They're about to start checking the ship."

Corinne sighed "Why did I let Liana come? She's going to get hurt!" she thought "And it's all my fault!"

"We're about twenty miles from land." Joe continued "It gets shallow enough to stand in in about ten miles. Can you swim that far?"

"Swim?" The two girls said in unison "Ten miles?"

"There's lots of rocks but no current." Joe said "When you need a rest, you can climb on a rock."

"How far are we from Dulcenia?" Corinne asked.

"When you reach land, heading East. It's about thirty miles up."

"Alright." Corinne looked over at Liana who nodded.

"Let's do this."

"Good luck girls." Joe smiled, then he ran back up the stairs.

"We're not going to make it off this boat without being spotted." Liana said "So, I say, we run. Fast."

Corinne nodded, then the two tiptoes up the stairs and stopped behind the door.

"Let's check below!" Drake's voice shouted.

"Wait." Corinne whispered as she listened to steps coming closer "Wait." then the door knob turned "Now!"

Liana and Corinne shoved the door open, knocking over everyone on the other side and took off across the deck.

"Get them!" Drake shouted as he scrambled to his feet. He smiled when he saw the edge of the deck "Get 'em cornered."

"Ready?" Corinne asked.

Liana nodded "Ready."

then they both dove over the edge and splashed into the water.

"Shoot!" Heinrich shouted, grabbing a bow and arrow from one of the men nearby. Then he shot an arrow into the water.

Corinne jerked back as the arrow flew past her face.

Liana looked up towards the deck, then pointed to the hull of the ship. With a nod, the two girls swam beneath the boat, then watched as arrows sliced through the water.

They could hear the ship's sailors shouting at the men that were firing. But the arrows kept flying.

Corinne's lungs were about to explode! And she knew Liana was running out of air too. She reached over and grabbed the other blond's wrist, then pulled her to the back of the ship where no arrows were falling, and up to the surface.

Liana took a deep breath "Okay. Not fun."

Corinne pointed in the direction of the shore "Come on. We have to make it!"

Liana nodded "Let's go."

They both took a deep breath then dove back under. They went around the area that the arrows were falling into and made a B-line for land.

A large rock came into view, the girls hurriedly swam behind it and came up for air.

Liana pushed her wet hair out of her face "They're still too close."

Corinne peeked around the rock "At least we have some cover here and there. Do you think you can make it?"

"I can if you can."

Corinne smiled and dove back under "It's just seeing if I can." she thought. Just then, she gasped and grabbed her arm. A small trail of blood floated towards the surface.

Liana looked at her, her face worried.

Corinne sent her a thumbs up, then continued swimming forward.

The arrow had just scraped her arm, but the salt water made it sting like crazy! Not to mention she had just lost most of her breath!

Liana grabbed Corinne's hand and pulled her forward to where another rock was. The girls didn't stop long this time. They got a breath of air, then dove back under.

"NO!" They heard Drake shout "They're getting away!"

It seemed like an eternity later that Corinne and Liana pulled themselves up onto the sand.

"Are... you... okay?" Corinne asked around gasps for breath.

Liana nodded "You?"

"I'm good." Corinne looked down at her arm. Part of the sleeve was torn where the arrow had sliced it, and a cut about four inches long was behind it.

"Did it get you bad?" Liana asked.

"No." Corinne answered "It'll be okay. And all that salt water will help it not get infected. Come on. We need to keep moving."

Liana stood up "Okay."

"How is it you can't seem to catch two girls?" The king shouted after Heinrich and Drake reported their progress.

"They jumped ship!" Drake said quickly "I sent some of the men after them, and a few more on ahead to Dulcenia. We will capture these two, Sire. I promise."

"You had better. Because all these run-ins you're having with the musketeer is just giving her tips on how to defeat us! If she gets back to Paris, she'll spread the word to all the others, then we'll lose! And if we lose, you two will pay dearly!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The two men bowed, then hurried away.

The king shook his head "I may have to take care of this myself."

Alexa slowly picked a flower and placed it in her bucket then sighed.

Melody looked over at her "Hey. Are you okay?"

"I guess." Alexa shrugged "She'd been gone so long."

"I'm sure she'll be back." Ian said gently "You did say it was about a four week trip there. Well it's been about one. You have to give her at least ten weeks before you start worrying."

Alexa shook her head "But... what if she gets to Paris and doesn't want to come back? What if she see's the huge city and all it has to offer and chooses it over this?"

Ian rolled his eyes "Seriously Alexa. Liana. Stay in the city?" he shook his head emphatically "She gave up living in a castle to come back here. Liana wouldn't choose to live in the City. That's you Alexa."

The brunette frowned "Ian. You'd better duck."

The boy quickly obeyed as Alexa's basket, without it's flowers, soared over his head.

There was a small round of laughs, then they all got back to work.

Meanwhile, the other two girls had finally reached Dulcenia.

"We look amazing." Liana said wryly as they stepped into the kingdom.

Corinne looked down at their mud caked dresses then over at Liana's limp, mangled hair "I can only imagine."

They both stopped as the smell of roasting chicken floated past them. Reminding both of them that they hadn't eaten since yesterday morning.

"Come on." Corinne said "Let's see if we can find someone who will let us borrow a map for a moment. Without charging us."

But, there was no luck. Everyone seemed to have gone home for dinner.

Liana sighed "You don't realize how much you miss home until you're not there."

Corinne nodded in agreement "Yeah. But didn't you leave your home before?"

"Kinda." Liana answered "It wasn't too hard. It had been burnt to the ground."

"Oh." Corinne looked around, trying to think of a plan.

"Anneliese?" a voice said behind them.

They turned around to see a brunette in a plain blue dress.

"Oh. You're not..." the girl cocked her head "Neither one of you are... Uh... Hi."

"Hello." Liana and Corinne said in unison.

"I'm Erica." The brunette held her hand out to them, not seeming to notice the mud and everything else.

"I'm Corinne and this is Liana." Corinne said as she shook the girl's hand "Do you know where we could get a map?"

"Sure. I have plenty at home." Erica nodded towards a carriage that was sitting several yards away "Why don't you two come and get some dinner. You look hungry."

"We don't want to impose." Liana said quickly.

"Oh, you won't!" Erica walked towards the carriage "Come on."

Corinne eyed the transportation curiously. It didn't look like anything a girl like Erica could afford "We're... pretty dirty."

"Don't worry about it." Erica laughed "Come on. When we get back, we'll get you two cleaned up before dinner."

Liana looked over at Corinne who shrugged, then they crawled into the carriage.

"What brings you to Dulcenia?" Erica asked as the carriage rolled up a hill.

"We're heading back to Paris." Corinne answered "I think there may be a problem. And I have to warn my friends and Louis about it."

"Who's Louis?"

"The King."

Erica smiled as her eyebrows went slightly up "You're on first name basis with the king?"

Corinne rolled her eyes "Yes."

"So..." Erica looked over at Liana "You and your sister are going back?"

"We're not sisters." Liana and Corinne said quickly.

"Are you sure?" Erica looked back and forth between them "You two look almost exactly alike."

Corinne glanced over at Liana "Pretty positive my mom would have told me if I had a sister."

Erica nodded "Okay. You have a point. We're here."

The carriage door swung open and the two blonds stared at the building before them.

"This... is a castle." Liana said slowly "You... live here?"

Erica smiled as their expressions "Yes. I'm married to King Dominic."

Corinne and Liana's eyes widened "Oh." they said quietly.

"Please. No formalities." Erica said quickly "I'm just a normal person like everyone else."

Corinne smiled "I think we can manage that."

Erica led the two inside "Dominic will be home in a few minutes so..."

"I'm back." a voice echoed.

"Or he's back right now." Erica smiled then turned to face a walk way.

A tall, handsome, brown haired blue eyes man came walking towards them. He frowned slightly when he saw Erica's dress "Were you in town again?"

Erica laughed "You know me."

He smiled then kissed her cheek "Yeah. I know you." he looked over at the two blonds and froze "Uh..."

"Dominic, this is Corinne and Liana." Erica said quickly "Corinne and Liana, this is Dominic."

"Hi." Liana waved slightly.

"No, we're not sisters." Corinne said before Dominic could ask.

The king nodded slowly "Okay. Are you staying for dinner?"

"They are." Erica answered "Right after we get them washed up."

"Okay. I'll be in my office." Dominic gave Erica a quick hug before he retreated down the hall.

"Come on." Erica led the two upstairs where they washed up and were handed a couple of other dresses to put on... which happened to look exactly alike. They were both a deep pink. They were elegant, yet simple.

"My guess, she did that on purpose." Liana laughed as she was standing beside Corinne in front of a full length mirror.

Corinne nodded "Oh yeah." she started twisting her hair so she could put it up in a bun when she glanced over at Liana, who was working on pulling the sides of her hair back "Hey."

Liana looked over at her "Hm?"

"You want to get them really confused?" Corinne asked mischievously.

Liana smiled "Oh yeah."

Then they both quickly pulled their hair up into ponytails.

"This is crazy." Corinne said as she stared at their reflection.

"No kidding." Liana shrugged "Come on. They're holding dinner for us."

A maid walked into the room "Uh..." she looked back and forth between the two "Madames. Dinner is ready. Please, follow me."

The two girls looked around as they were led down the halls.

"What I would give to clean this place." Corinne mumbled.

Liana looked over at her confused "Clean?"

"Yeah. When you clean, you find things you never would have originally." Corinne answered "Besides, cleaning's not so bad. Me, my three friends and the person who trains us are castle maids."

"Interesting combination." Liana turned a couple of circles "This is quite amazing."

"Here we are. The dining room." The maid pushed open to large double oak doors "Dinner is served."

"Hi." Erica greeted "I'm... not sure which is which now."

Dominic glanced up at them "I'm not even going to try and guess."

The large dinner was eaten around friendly chatter and mild bantering. An hour and a half later, they stood up from the table, not able to eat another bite.

"Would you like to stay the night?" Erica asked as they walked from the dining room.

Corinne knew that Drake and Heinrich were probably looking for them. And they probably had men coming into town, since it was the closest kingdom. She opened her mouth to say that they had to keep moving, but stopped when she looked over at Liana.

It was obvious she was exhausted, but she wasn't going to say anything because she knew the urgency of saving Corinne's home.

Corinne took a deep breath then smiled "If ti wouldn't be too much trouble."

from the corner of her eye, she saw Liana smile with relief.

"Of course not." Erica smiled "Come. I'll show you to a room. Would you rather bunk together?"

Corinne shrugged "Whichever."

they were led to a room that had two beds "How's this?"

"Perfect." the two girls answered.

Erica leaned against the door frame "Your dresses should be cleaned... and repaired, in the morning."

Corinne nodded "Thank you."

"Good night." Erica gently pulled the door closed behind her.

Liana walked over and fell on one of the beds "I am so... tired."

Corinne sat on her own bed and pulled off her boots "I know. Me too."

Liana picked at some lint on the blanket "Do you think they're here?"

"I do." Corinne laid back and stared at the ceiling "They're going to try and keep us from getting back to Paris. And the closer we get, the more desperate they're going to get. You can stop here if you want."

Liana smiled "Why stop when we're almost there? It'd be like deciding to stop writing a song when you have all the lyrics and just need the music." she rolled over on her back "It's funny how everyone thinks we're sisters, huh?"

Corinne chuckled "Yeah. Ironic."

"What if we were?" Liana asked "I mean, if it were possible."

Corinne smiled "That'd be totally awesome."

They both laughed softly.

Liana glanced out a window "What if we have to make a run for it again?"

"I was thinking about that." Corinne sat up and lifted the hem of her dress "I'd die if I had to run in this." she thought for a moment "Can you sew?"

"Yes." Liana answered "Alexa and I both made our dresses."

"Okay." Corinne grasped the hem of her skirt, then with a yank, tore a slit up the side, then folded it under so that the skirt was now the same length her musketeer dress had been "Just in case."

Liana smiled slightly then walked over to a small dresser "There's normally sewing supplies in one of these... tada!"

After sewing up Corinne's dress they laid back down and slowly fell asleep.

It was five-thirty in the morning when Corinne's eyes snapped open. She listened carefully.

Someone was coming up the castle road.

She crawled out of her bed and walked over to the window. The rising sun revealed five men carrying spears with bows and quivers draped over their shoulders, marching towards the palace.

"Oh no." she ran over to Liana's bed and shook her shoulders "Liana. Liana wake up!"

Liana sat up quickly "What?"

"We have to go. Now!" Corinne answered, sliding her feet into her boots "They're here."

Liana quickly pulled on her shoes "Okay."

Corinne suddenly froze "Oh no."

"What?"

"My sword! It's still in my other dress!" Corinne face palmed "I was so tired last night I didn't even think!"

"We'll have to do without it." Liana said "We don't have a choice."

Corinne nodded, then they ran from the room and down the stairs.

"We'd better go out the back." Corinne said, pointing the way.

There was a loud banging on the front door, and a maid scurried to answer it.

"Wait." Corinne grabbed her arm "Where's the laundry room and where's the kitchen?"

The maid quickly pointed her in the direction. Thankfully, they were both on the same hall.

Corinne ran into the laundry room where her dress, now clean, was hanging.

"If we had time, I'd just change!" she mumbled. She pulled up the top two ruffles of the skirt, then grasped the sheath that was inside and tore it out. Then she slipped it into a place in the skirt she now wore. She glanced up at Liana who was staring at her "When I had a hard time falling asleep last night, I started tweaking with the skirt. I just forgot that I didn't have my sword."

"Ah." Liana nodded, then they ran to the kitchen and out the back door.

"There they go!" a man shouted.

"Great." Corinne mumbled as she and Liana took off across the yard "If I remember correctly. This way is right."

Liana simply nodded, trying to ignore the fact that arrows were striking the ground right behind their heels.

They ran into some trees, but when they got back out of them, about thirty yards ahead was a huge ravine with skinny rock structured across it.

"Now what?" Liana asked.

Corinne glanced back at the men, then to the ravine "Jump."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

When they reached the edge, they jumped and landed on the first one, which swayed slightly.

The men behind them skid to a stop and stared. One finally snapped out of it and shot an arrow.

Liana gasped as it zoomed past her head.

"Keep going." Corinne said encouragingly.

And Liana did. When they jumped to the one right in the middle, Liana's foot slid out from beneath her and she fell.

(I think 'rock structure' is the right name for those things. Well, if you don't know what I'm talking about, watch Tangled. That really tall rock that falls and traps Flynn and Rapunzel in the cave, that is what Corinne and Liana were jumping across. Well... I hope you enjoyed! Oh yeah, I am working on a Mermaid Tale 4 as well as a Mariposa story (which I believe will be posted next!) Laterz!)