Everyday the queen bathed. Once in the morning, once at midday and one last time before retiring to bed. On the second day she invited me to join her, so I had waded into the water and swam with her, where we playfully splashed at one another and tossed a ring in the shallower waters to dive for it. The lake was so clear that it was easy to see the gold glint of the ring with the heavy ruby upon it, so it was an excellent game for us to play. I enjoyed the refreshing swim, kicking my feet and floating upon my back whilst gazing at an endless azure sky.
These days were pleasant ones, and I enjoyed them immensely. Queen Anne seemed to relax the more time we spent there, growing more at ease with the simplicity of our routine and allowed herself to feel less like a queen and more like a woman. We played games of cards with Caroline and Paulette, who proved to be excellent sources of knowledge pertaining to everything concerning the royal court, including the newest guests from afar, a Count Mellendorf and his youngest daughter, Charlotte. I was soon immersed in the latest gossip, some of which was deliciously scandalous.
On the third day, Caroline ventured to ask if the queen would spare her so that she too could bathe, and the queen kindly gave her the robe she used for herself to cover Caroline's body for the sake of modesty until she could step into the water. I thought nothing of it, holding cards in my hand to decide upon my next move as Caroline drew up the hood and stepped outside. I placed my card. All was blissfully quiet, soft and unassuming as our game held our full attention. A gunshot penetrated the silence, which shattered like glass upon stone. My blood ran cold.
All of us froze, eyes darting to stare at one another as the sound echoed around us, carrying through the air. The queen moved first, rising to her feet but the moment she did so I was by her side as she made towards the entrance of the tent. "Caroline?" Thinking of the maid, Queen Anne stepped outside as I anchored myself to her, seeing the men had rushed down the bank to go to the form of someone lying upon the ground. I saw the white robe of the queen. I saw blood. "She borrowed my robe…"
"Get her under cover!" Athos shouted fiercely as I curled my arms around the queen and dragged her away from the tent. It was a sitting target and too dangerous to keep her inside it now. Without hesitation I pulled her with me towards the slope of the embankment, Porthos rushing to cover us both with his own body as together we moved the queen to where the trees would hide our position. The others followed suit, pressing their backs to the ground as I curled my arm around Queen Anne, burying her against me as she gasped and trembled. "Stay with the Queen, get to the horses," he said to us before turning to Aramis. "You and I have an assassin to catch."
"Be careful," I ordered them both before tossing myself further over the queen as a second gunshot was fired. Queen Anne could be their only intended target, the assassin had aimed for Caroline because of the robe. I mourned for her quietly, the poor girl. It was unjust, but my duty lay with my queen.
"D'Artagnan, how we doing?" Waiting for d'Artagnan to tell us that the way was safe, I did not move until he said so.
"Good to go!" All at once I rose to my feet and carried the queen with me, rushing her upwards in one smooth movement.
"Hurry, your majesty!" I went first but held onto her hand tightly so that I could pull her up the slope whilst Porthos pushed from behind, both of us helping her to climb as quickly as possible to get to the horses. They were startled by the gunshots, whickering and tossing their heads as they danced in place, all except for my mare. She was calm, a little alarmed by the way her ears swivelled back and forth, but she did not fuss when I hastily flung the saddle over her back and secured it as Porthos and d'Artagnan did the same, rushing to get all the horses saddled before the assassin could return.
Mounting my horse, Porthos had already lifted the queen onto his own and pulled himself up behind her. We were ready to ride, waiting only upon Athos and Aramis to see if they returned with news of the assassin. They did so. Their news was not what we had hoped for. "There's more of them! Ride! Go!" My brother shouted ahead to us, and the moment we heard that there was more than one assassin, each of us dug our heels into our horses to spur them forwards. My mare gave a pretty toss of her mane before leaping forwards, coursing ahead into the trees as I masterfully held the reins in one hand to guide her, keeping one hand free should I need to reach for a weapon.
We rode hard and fast, leaving everything else behind as we attempted to lose our pursuers in the forest. Varying our pace to keep the horses from tiring, I stayed near the queen as she curled herself into a small a shape as she could make herself. She did not scream or weep, despite the frightened look in her eyes. Eventually when we slowed, I was able to pull the spare blanket from my saddlebags and offer it to her. "Forgive me, your majesty, but I do not have a cloak to offer you."
"This is more than enough, thank you Madeleine, you were so brave just now," she praised me and I felt my cheeks warm slightly at her compliment. "All of you were brave, I am grateful to each of you."
"Just doing our job, your majesty." We halted to allow the horses a short rest where Porthos shifted the queen into Aramis's care so that he could dismount and survey our surroundings. Leaning over my mare's neck, I patted her gratefully, praising her for doing so well before I turned her around to look at where we had ridden from. I could see nothing, but d'Artagnan had rather wisely brought a spyglass with him which allowed him to see further than the naked eye.
"They're still following us?" Taking the opportunity to replenish my thirst, I took a water-skin from the saddlebags, grateful that Treville had been so thorough and promptly took a sip. It was a little warm from being sat in the leather for a few days, but it was quenching enough. Reaching across to the queen, I offered her a drink which she readily accepted.
"Yes, and they're not tiring." D'Artagnan informed us, focusing through his spyglass in a particular direction where he must have sighted our pursuers. Athos made a thoughtful expression.
"Determined." From where I sat atop my horse I could hear them well enough, but that meant so could the queen. She began to worry.
"What if we can't lose them?" She asked, to which Aramis assured her that we would. "What if we don't?"
"We've been in much worse situations than this and always prevailed," he maintained an aura of confidence and smiled effortlessly to the queen as she had turned herself to look at him, appeased by his assuredness. "You've nothing to fear. This is a relatively quiet day for us." The jest settled the queen, but I saw Aramis's face drop into one of concern when he looked away from her. From where d'Artagnan was scouting, he called that it was time to leave. Clearly our ploy with the forest had not waylaid the assassins, meaning that we had many hours of hard riding ahead of us.
We avoided an outright gallop as that would only exhaust the horses, keeping them collected in a smooth canter so that we could make us much ground as possible. Periodically d'Artagnan would streak ahead and wait at a convenient vantage point to look back with his spyglass. Each time his expression told us that we were still being followed. That is until we reached the open grassland of several rolling meadows, where we were most exposed. We rode through it, d'Artagnan having gone ahead whilst the rest of us remained in formation.
I was growing concerned for Queen Anne. Although she did not complain, I could tell that she was tiring and beginning to ache from the ride. Her body was not accustomed to such strenuous demand, yet still she did not bemoan her plight. I admired her spirit all the more for it. We came to a halt in the shade where I decided to dismount and stretch my legs a little, allowing my mare to rest from having to carry my weight also. Athos and d'Artagnan rode upon us, all of us gathering as they dismounted. "There's been no sign of them for an hour now."
"We're safe for a while," my brother determined, brushing his hand upon my hair as he passed me to lead the way. "The Queen needs to rest." I think we all required the rest, especially the horses. Thankfully we found an ideal place to tether them and make camp. There was fresh water by means of a stream and Aramis did not hesitate to strip himself down and wade into the water to begin catching fish for our supper.
Whilst Porthos gathered firewood, Athos and d'Artagnan saw to the horses. We untacked them and I began to rifle through the saddlebags to see what could be found. Luckily I found a cloak hidden away in my own, a spare I had forgotten I had packed for the queen when arranging her things just yesterday. I promptly gave it to her to exchange it for the blanket. "What of you? Have you a cloak for yourself?" She fussed and it was only then I realised that I was still wearing a simple cotton shift with no sleeves.
"I shall make do with the blanket, your majesty. Please, let me find you somewhere to sit." I did so, using another blanket to drape it upon a log so that the queen might have somewhere clean and dry to sit. "If you have need of me, call for me. I will search the woods for things to complement our meal." Nodding in understanding, the queen allowed me to go where I promptly began to forage. I discovered wild parsley and mint so I cut a bushel of each, continuing my search before I began to dig for truffles.
Luck seemed to smile upon me, for I found several small truffles after rooting around for an hour or so, allowing me to return triumphantly to share my treasures with the others. Porthos had gathered plenty of firewood and Aramis a bountiful collection of fish, however the queen seemed to be intending on cooking them herself. Athos had already gutted and cleaned them so they were skewered upon a stick, so I halted her before she could begin to cook them. "Here, allow me, your majesty. We shall make them taste delicious," I promised and began to make a truffle and parsley filling for the fish with a handful of oats which were originally intended for the horses.
Mashing them together in a bowl, Queen Anne watched in fascination and even wished to help. I let her roll small portions of the mixture into a ball before we stuffed them into each fish. The men watched hungrily and perhaps even a little relief as I directed the queen on how to cook the fish evenly over the fire. "Not too close to the flames otherwise the fish will burn, and we shall loose the flavour. It is the heat that will cook them, not the fire itself." I found myself telling her as together we held four fish over the fire, two apiece. "The best way to enjoy fish is to have soft and flaky flesh but crispy skin. They'll be finished in a few minutes, then we shall take a pinch of this salt then sear the skin for texture."
"You are very knowledgeable, Madeleine, who taught you this? Your mother?" The idea of a woman whom I could not really remember teaching me how to cook a fish over the fire was a humorous one. My brother had often told me that my mother was a wise woman, but I doubt she had ever cooked a fish in her life.
"At the garrison, Old Surge is the main cook. He cooks for dozens of hungry men every day and I assist him. He taught me all I know about cooking," I informed her, reaching across to gently raise one of her fish as it had lowered too closely to the flames. Under my watchful eye, we were able to produce a sumptuous meal for all. Porthos devoured his ravenously then looked up in hope for another. For the queen I provided a plate and a fork, passing around sprigs of mint for everyone to chew once their meal was finished to cleanse their mouths.
"Delicious, your majesty." Athos complimented and she blushed with pleasure.
"Oh…Madeleine did all the work truly, I feel I have not helped much at all."
"Do not be so certain," I said to her, smirking to the men as I leaned towards her to murmur in her ear. "Feeding four hungry men at once to keep them happy is no easy task, I could not have done it without you." She giggled before pulling apart her own fish. When she tasted it, her eyes widened as she marvelled at the taste. For a rustic meal, I was glad it suited her palate. I was quite impressed with it myself, at least the truffles added a little delicacy to the flavour. Suddenly my brother tensed and hushed us all, holding his hand up to listen intently. We all went still, straining our ears until gradually, I began to sense what my brother did. Vibrations.
Lunging to his feet, Athos called to d'Artagnan who hurriedly moved to the queen as I pulled her to her feet. Unfortunately, the fish would have to remain half eaten. With no other choice, we went to the horses which had been resaddled and I quickly pulled myself up onto my mare as d'Artagnan lifted the queen onto Aramis's horse. Behind me, I heard Porthos grumbling. "I'm tired of running away."
"Perhaps we should be the ones doing the chasing," Aramis suggested, also tired of simply running away from the enemy.
"The Queen's safety is paramount. We can't risk it by making a stand." Knowing my brother, he would have felt of tired of running as the rest of us, but he rightly considered the queen's safety above all else. We could not hold a defensive line against so many and expect to emerge victorious, not at least without several casualties. We could not risk it. Porthos, however, remained frustrated with our fruitless situation.
"Nor can we outride them forever."
"When we can't, then we'll fight."
"Gentlemen," I called to them before an argument could erupt, holding Aramis's horse by the reins whilst guiding my mare forwards, the queen anxiously looking over the men as I gave them all a stern glare. "Unless you wish to be left behind, I suggest you mount up. Otherwise, I shall escort the queen myself back to Paris." Reprimanded like little boys, they quickly went to their horses. With a gentle tap, my mare sprung forwards once more, seemingly sensing my urgency. She led the way forwards ahead of the men, smoothly gliding through the trees as we sought to put more distance between ourselves and those who followed us.
We had tarried too long, expecting that they would have also stopped to rest their horses. I could only feel sorry for the poor beasts, but there was nothing we could do now. All we could was ride and make for Paris, that is until another opportunity presented itself to us. It was dangerous to simply continue riding, especially for the queen. So when we sighted what looked to be a monastery nestled within the distance, we brought our horses to a halt. My brother turned to d'Artagnan and Porthos. "You two ride to Paris and get reinforcements. We'll hold up in there until you return." Looking at him incredulously, Porthos voiced his unconvinced disbelief.
"What, just you two? Alone?"
"Three of us, actually." I quipped, holding my mare still as I held the queen's hand. "I am staying with her majesty." My brother knew better than to argue as Aramis frowned at Porthos.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence."
"We won't be back before tomorrow at the earliest," d'Artagnan reasoned, looking as perplexed as Porthos. "There's at least a dozen of them."
"In that case, you'd better hurry." Having no further time to debate the matter, we siphoned off into two groups. Porthos and d'Artagnan rode on for Paris whilst I joined my brother, Aramis and the queen, holding firm to our course whilst the agents of death rode hard upon our heels.