The musketeers had been sailing the skies all night and dawn loomed overcast and cold. It was Planchet's turn to be throwing up now. Felice and Kitty had slept well during the night. For Felice, it had been nothing like when she'd been transported airborne in the opposite direction!
"Ah! Morning, lassies." Porthos greeted.
"Are you feeling better, child?" Aramis asked Kitty.
"So far, Master." Kitty curtsied.
"No need for that, little one. We do not stand upon ceremony here." Aramis laughed.
"I suppose you're hungry." Porthos said.
"Oh, yes, sir!" Kitty's eyes lit up.
"You're looking better, love." Aramis told Felice. "I take it the night's rest did you good?"
"I suppose," Felice shrugged. "Charles, did you sleep at all?"
"Aww, sure." D'Artagnan said, without facing her to say good morning as he peered through the spyglass. "I'll be so relieved when we reach our destination. I hope Constance is unharmed!" He counted every single hour until they would reach Paris, and then he would know. The time seemed to drag on and on. He prayed that when they arrived, her would find her dolled up, in her devoted position: at the queen's side! If she wasn't there, he would know the first place to look!
"So do I." Felice agreed. "She was very brave."
"She is." D'Artagnan said wistfully.
"I can't believe she did that. For all of you, for me even!" Felice exclaimed. Perhaps D'Artagnan's interest in the queen's pretty little handmaiden wasn't just puppy love. Perhaps it really was something more!
"What's that?" Kitty asked curiously, pointing up into the sky. D'Artagnan followed her direction and looked up. Something, massive and looming with cannon fire was hiding behind dark clouds. Then suddenly, a blast hit the side of the ship. Everyone stumbled, while Felice and Kitty yelped.
"What the-" Porthos huffed.
A huge airship, dwarfing their own, slowly crept out of the mist into view. At the bow of the ship, a petite figure with flowing blonde hair trembled in the winds, her body tethered to the ship, holding her in place. It was Constance!
"Noo," D'Artagnan breathed. A tall, bulky figure stood proudly at the mast, his familiar silhouette disheartening their hopes of freeing Constance.
"Rochefort." Athos growled. Kitty let out a gasp, shuddering. Felice placed her arms around her, holding her closely at her side. But Felice began trembling herself, and the color drained from her face. Aramis protectively placed himself in front of the both of them.
"Constance…" Felice swallowed. "Ugh! That devil!" If Rochefort had had a mind to treat her friend the way he'd treated her at their first meeting...
"So you traded off when it comes to transport. Once again, you're outmatched. You can thank Milady for that. She passed on Buckingham's plans some time ago. As you can see, we've made some improvements. Isn't she a beauty?" Rochefort bragged in a booming voice.
"What do you want?!" D'Artagnan called out angrily.
"The diamonds."
"Oh, naturally." Porthos rolled his eyes.
"Come and take them!" D'Artagnan demanded.
"Ohh, gladly." Rochefort sneered. "You see, I can blast you out of the sky with total impunity. If you fire on me, on the other hand, you'll be killing Miss-Oh-So-Young-and-Pretty! You have sixty seconds!"
The musketeers and Planchet all glanced to and fro at one another. "We're all going to die!" Kitty chewed her lip, clinging to Felice's skirt.
"Please tell me that one of you have a plan!" Felice groaned anxiously.
"He'll shoot us down the moment he has the diamonds." Aramis stated.
"We can't outrun them." Porthos shook his head.
"We can't fight them, d- it! We can't!" D'Artagnan interjected.
"Ohh, D'Artagnan." Athos gritted his teeth, exasperated.
"What? Do you think you have the monopoly on loss? What if she dies? The life of one woman or the future of France, what would you do if you were in my position?" D'Artagnan spieled angrily.
"I've made a lot of sacrifices, a lot of hard choices." Athos said dismally. "For honor, for king, for country. You know what I've learned, boy? Hard choices and sacrifices do not keep you warm at night. Life's too d- short, and too d- long to go through without someone at your side. Don't end up like me! Choose the woman. Fight for love, D'Artagnan. France will take care of itself."
D'Artagnan stared at Athos, dumbfounded but altogether grateful. He didn't think the older man would give in so easily.
"Time's up!" Rochefort announced.
"What are we going to do?" Felice asked.
"An exchange!" D'Artagnan told Rochefort."I go aboard your ship with the diamonds, the girl comes aboard ours. Once I know she's safe, I give them to you."
"Fine! But first I want to see the diamonds." Rochefort replied. "Cut her loose."
"Charles! You can't go with them!" Felice grabbed D'Artagnan by the arms.
"It's not as if I was planning to linger there." D'Artagnan assured her. "I'm not leaving Constance with the likes of him!"
"But what if...Charles, he hates us! What if he kills you?"
"He won't." D'Artagnan said.
"You don't know that!"
"Would you rather Rochefort assault Constance the way he tried to do to you? What would you wish, if you were in her position?" D'Artagnan asked curtly. Felice's face crumpled. That hurt! But then she looked up at the larger ship. She could make out the fear on Constance's face. She looked so helpless. And every minute she was on that ship would not remove that. And the girl had risked her reputation and life to help the musketeers!
"Promise me you'll get off the ship?" Felice asked.
"Come on. You know me." D'Artagnan smiled.
"Promise me, Charles!"
"I promise. Don't worry about me." D'Artagnan said.
The gangplanks were lowered until they met together, forming a bridge. Athos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan were at the opposite end of Rochefort, Constance, and one of his men. Felice watched closely behind her brother. D'Artagnan held out the necklace. "Satisfied?" He called out.
Constance nervously began her trek across the makeshift bridge. It was so high, the altitude made her head spin, and the gangplank looked precariously fragile compared to the moat bridges at the king's palace. She clung to the rope railing, tentatively making her way across, step by step.
"Be careful, Charles." Felice whispered.
D'Artagnan marched forward to meet Constance. Finally, they came to the middle. Their eyes met, Constance's sad and worried, D'Artagnan's determined. They passed each other. She just made it to the musketeer's ship, Athos helping her steady herself aboard.
"Are you alright, lass?" Aramis asked.
"Y-yes." Constance murmured.
They watched D'Artagnan step onto Rochefort's ship. He was inside, when Rochefort snarled,
"You never learn, do you?" Then, Jusaac swaggered his gun across the back of D'Artagnan's head.
"No!" Felice shrieked as she saw her brother go down. She dashed straight down the gangplank, trying to reach the door of the other ship.
"Felice!" Aramis shouted. "Get back here!"
Felice just reached the threshold when the door slammed shut in her face. "Charles!" She yelled, banging her fists on the door.
"Felice!" Aramis called.
"Fire!" Rochefort yelled.
"Hard right!" Athos commanded. Aramis panted, manning the ships rudder as quickly as he could. Rochefort's soldiers were firing fierce cannon fire upon them, splintering the sides and railings. "We can't outrun them and we can't outgun them!" Athos declared.
"We can try asking him to surrender, but somehow I don't think it will work." Aramis complained.
"We hide. In there." Constance suggested. The men watched, then reluctantly steered the vessel into the thick, dark storm clouds.
"Get down, Kitty! Stay low!" Athos told the frightened little girl. She curled on her hands and knees under the rudder, clinging to Aramis's leg.
"Main the pursuit course!" Rochefort commanded his men. D'Artagnan was held back by two men, who held him in place on the outer deck so he would see the destruction of his friends. Another bout racked the musketeers' ship.
"He's persistent, I'll give him that!" Aramis remarked. As far as he knew, Felice was still on that ship with her brother. What madness had overtaken her? Now she was in Rochefort's territory! Aramis would have to get her off, somehow! But right now, he had to focus on finding shelter and a safer vantage point from the Cardinal's cloaks. They slipped their way into the middle of the storm, lightning flashing closer than they'd ever thought possible, and thunder shaking the airship violently.
"But, sir! We can't go into the storm!" One of the Cardinal's men protested to Rochefort. Rochefort, thoroughly annoyed, pulled the trigger of his gun and shot the unfortunate man. The soldiers flinched.
"Anyone? Anyone else who wants to question orders?" Rochefort barked. The soldiers cowered. "Good."
"Where are they?" Jusaac asked impatiently.
"You're never gonna find them in there." D'Artagnan said proudly.
"I beg to differ." Rochefort said cockily.
"Do you know how to work one of these things?" Planchet asked Constance, gesturing to one of the elaborate cannons.
"I…" Constance gaped.
"Good! Here, take this." Planchet placed Constance's hands on the control levers. "Look, all you have to do is roll these gears back and forth. Easy, right?"
"Uhh…"
"Piece of cake!" Planchet patted her on the back and rushed to the other side of the deck.
"Am I doing this right?!" Constance hollered at Athos.
"Yes! Now harder!" Athos told her.
A blinding flash of lightning zapped closely to Rochefort's ship, throwing it off balance. The men fell, and the diamond necklace slipped from Rochefort's hand. D'Artagnan shoved back the guards holding him, and snatched up the diamonds. He dashed back into the cabin of the ship. One of the guards attempted to pursue him, but Rochefort kicked him out of the way.
"Keep after them!" He barked. "I'll take the Gascon!"
Felice had been hiding in a wardrobe, waiting for the perfect chance to strike. Before, she'd been terrified at the prospect of facing Rochefort. That was she was livid. She wanted to see him go down. He had her brother. He'd hurt him. He was going to kill him as soon as he got tired of him. "Not today, you overgrown cockroach!" She hissed under her breath.
D'Artagnan was met by several Cardinal's cloaks. He darted, ducked, kicked, punched, and tossed them around. He knocked two of them into one of the pillars holding up the ship's upper deck. The men grabbed at him and swung at him, but being slighter of build and with quick Gascony reflexes, he pommeled them unconscious. He dashed to the door at the end of the room, yanking on the knob, but it was locked. He pounded on it in frustration.
"You know what your problem is, boy? You've read too many books." Rochefort mocked, his voice husky. "And then, you believed them. Courage, honor, all for one. But history isn't written by heroes. It's written by victors."
"Keep your eyes open." Jusaac told his men, worriedly glancing around for the musketeers' ship. His jaw dropped, as the airship crept above them, with the cannons aimed directly down at them.
Athos held a lit torch and boasted, "Round two!"
"You afraid to take me in a fair fight?" D'Artagnan suggested nervously.
"Hardly. I just don't fight fair. Ahh well." Rochefort sneered.
"Ah ha, you admit it! How contrite." Felice chided scornfully. She stood several paces behind Rochefort, near the entrance of the room.
"I am surprised you are here, girl." Rochefort chuckled, not even bothering to face her. "Since when do you come out of hiding behind your big brother's trousers?"
"Oh, just since you took it upon yourself to destroy my friends." Felice answered. She motioned for D'Artagnan to slowly shift away from the door. Rochefort snorted and turned to face her. She felt sick to her stomach as he looked at her, remembering his creepy smile, and his sadistic touch. But she stood firmly planted in place, hands on her weapons. Though her hands were shaking.
"Two can play at this game, Rochefort." D'Artagnan grinned.
"I doubt that." Rochefort shook his head.
"See, that's where you're mistaken."
"Really?"
"You see, we are Gascons." Felice boasted, slowly shifting her hand to one of her knives. "And Gascons fight together."
"Two are better than one, is that it?"
"Something like that.' D'Artagnan said casually.
"Admirable." Rochefort said. "But not ingenuous." Felice tossed a spinning knife through the air, straight at Rochefort's shoulder. He fired his pistol and a loud clang sparked as the bullet hit the steel of the blade.
D-, Felice thought. D'Artagnan crouched down behind Rochefort, trying to quietly retrieve the knife. Another pistol rang through the room. Felice gasped loudly as D'Artagnan watched her drop to the ground.
D'Artagnan stood there, horrified. Felice was on her back, struggling to sit up, with a red hole in her side.