The Musketeer Girl

Chapter 10

After the discussion about the poisoned letter, the musketeers and their new friends were excused; they were leaving the Palace and making their way towards the stables. "So there's someone who wants to start a war between Wales and France??" Aramis asked earning a multiple of nods "and we need to find out who and why??" he asked again; D'artagnan sighed "pretty much, but where do we even start??". That was an issue for them - where do they start?? As the men spoke and listed places to look and ask around, Kayley noticed something in the corner of her eye, halting her in her path - someone in a black cloak was entering the servant tunnels...through an open window?? Those tunnels led to nearly every single room in the Palace. "Porthos??" the men stopped in their track as they turned towards the teenager, noticing how she herself had paused "yeah kid??" the bear like man made his way over towards their youngest friend, wondering what had caught her attention "is there something wrong with that servant tunnel door??" she asked, pointing towards the door she was talking about.  They all rose a brow at her question "not exactly, they're locked up because the tunnels are being re-decorated due to them not being safe enough to travel through" he explained "so no one's allowed to use the tunnels till the work it done". Although looked down at the fourteen year old "did you see someone use the door Kayley??" he asked, still extremely confused by the question; Kayley shook her head  "not the door, but someone wearing a black cloak just climbed in through that window". Alarmed by the shady statement, they all knew they couldn't just leave after what the fourteen year old had just said "Aramis, Porthos, go back to Treville and tell he what's happening" he ordered "D'artagnan, Kayley and I will go after the intruder" the couple nodded and did as told, racing back into Palace. Turning towards the siblings, Athos continued "D'artagnan and I will go to the nearest door to the tunnels up ahead" he stated "Kayley, do you think you can fit through that window??" he asked, nodding towards the same window she had seen the intruder sneak through; she nodded her head "sure, give me a boost". The teenager allowed herself to be picked and lifted up by the leader as her brother stepped back - Athos took note of how alarmingly light she was; Kayley climbed through the opening and jumped down with ease. The two men sprinted away as they tried to find the nearest door that would lead them to the servants tunnels so that they could meet with the kid.

"Captain!!" Aramis called out as he and his boyfriend rushed into the throne room; all eyes turned to them in confusion and alarm "Porthos?! Aramis?! What are you doing back here?? And where are the others??" Treville asked. The two musketeers caught their breaths once they stopped in front the older man "shady person....black cloak....sneaked through window....servants tunnels" Porthos attempted to explain through his panting; no one understood what he was saying - not even the King or Queen "what on earth are you talking about??". Once he could actually form a proper sentence, Aramis explained this time "Kayley saw someone sneak into the servant tunnels by climbing through a window, they were wearing a black cloak" he finally managed to inform "D'artagnan, Kayley and Athos have gone to check it out whilst we came here to warn you of what's going on". Now understanding what was being said, the King, Queen and their visiting friends began to worry; the Cardinal sent for his Red Guard of course, not trusting the help that was already there, as Treville ordered his two men to stay and protect.  Back in the servants tunnels, had managed to climb through the window...though she didn't land too graceful "uhh" she stood up and dusted herself off as she followed the sound of footsteps; she made her way down the very dark tunnel until she noticed a faint yellow glow coming from behind the upcoming corner. Silently running forward, the girl halted as she peeked out to see....the hooded figure talking to one of the Palace maids?? The yellow glow she had seen was a lit torch in the maids hand. "Did you hide the barrel??" the cloaked figure, who sounded like a man, asked the woman, earning a nod "yes....are you sure this is a good idea??" the maid asked, unsure of whatever they had planned "what if something goes wrong?? Or if we get caught?!" she as clearly worried. Placing his hands on the clearly scared woman's shoulders, the man seemed to attempt to....reassure her that all would be okay "after today, all will be well" he beamed "but for that to happen, we need to start a war between France and Wales...that way all focus will move away from the prisons and we can break our family out". Kayley's eyes widened as she realised what the intruder was saying - they were the people who were to blame for poisonous inked letter!! And to double her shock, the two unaware plotters leaned in and shared a loving kiss!! "Now, where did you hide the barrel??" the man asked once he had successfully calmed his lover's nerves; the maid explained how she had placed the barrel in the empty stable, just outside the throne room - what was in this barrel they spoke so much about??