The Musketeer Girl

Chapter 20

By the time it was ten O clock the next morning, everyone was up and busy - busy attending to their duties and responsibilities.....well nearly everyone. "Where's Athos and D'artagnan??" Aramis asked as he looked around the open Garrison from where he was sat with his lover and their new musketeer; the couple turned towards the teenager as she was the last to see both missing men - she shrugged "last I saw, Athos wanted to walk to my brother about something in private last night so they went to his room" she informed "though D'artagnan never came home, not whilst I was awake and he wasn't in his bed this morning". That was strange as the man always had to be woken up by his sister. Taking a moment to think, Porthos voiced his thoughts "you don't think they got together last night, do you??" he asked as he ate his breakfast; his lover stroked his short beard as he thought about what was just said "what?? Like you and I are together??" he asked earning a nod. The teenager shrugged "who knows??" before returning to cleaning her gun "after all, everyone knows D'artagnan has a thing for Athos" she wasn't wrong. Just as the conversation changed, the two missing musketeers could be seen entering the Garrison, talking with the other; they grabbed some breakfast and a drink before joining their friends. "Bout time you showed your faces" Porthos stated before asking "where have you two been??" they took a sat on the table as Athos explained "we spoke a lot last night, much longer then planned so we slept in". Kayley sensed a lie but left it be for the time being as she turned to her brother "and what about you?? You never came home last night" she questioned; D'artagnan sent her a smile as he could tell their was the slightly hint of worry in her voice "sorry, I became to tired so I crashed in Athos's room". All nodding - though they had a strong feeling that wasn't the entire truth - the five friends moved on as their finished their breakfast before beginning their training; they were all surprised to see Athos partner with D'artagnan to train - not teach, train. Upon seeing this, some of the cadets offered to train with Kayley as it was a known fact that she normally duelled with the older musketeer due to having the same level of skills; the teenager happily agreed and entered a duel - five cadets against her. The duel lasted less then ten minutes "that girl seriously scares me" one of them said as he pushed himself up from the floor - the girl helped him of course. All of a sudden, Treville called for the musketeers; they grabbed their things and made their way into the office before closing the door. "I want you all to go to Spain and bring back the Cardinal's spy" he informed, earning wide eyed looks of shock "the Cardinal has a Spanish spy?!" Aramis exclaimed, followed by Kayley "why the hell would he need one?!" she asked; their captain sighed as it wasn't a complete surprise to him "I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I discovered a letter addressed to the Cardinal" he explained "and it was signed by Russo Andre with private information that no one other than the King should know" this was worrying. Athos stated that they would leave immediately before all five musketeers rushed out of the office and saddled up; they did this for Kayley whilst she hurried to the Garrison's kitchen and packed a bag of food and filled five canteens with water before returning to her friends. They informed the people that needed to know that they'd be gone - like Constance - before galloping out of the town of Paris.

"Okay, so where are we going to look first once we enter Spain??" Aramis asked as he ate an apple from the apple tree they had just passed; D'artagnan pulled out a map that he had packed before they left and looked at it "hmm....Treville said the letter was from the North border, right??" he asked earning a multiple of nods "then we'll start our search there". As they travelled down the many roads, Athos and D'artagnan seemed to be like glue - they were always talking with one another and made sure to ride side by side. It was very much like Porthos and Aramis. So this left Kayley to ride at the back; she was rather....lonely. She had guessed what had happened the previous night between her brother and their friend and was more than happy for them, but she wished they'd talk to her as well - she was their friend as well after all....right?? After many hours of travelling, Athos pulled them to a stop "it's gonna be dark in a couple of hours and there aren't any villages for at least over a days ride" he informed, correct with what he was saying "so let's set up camp, get a fire started and have some dinner". Stopping by a large tree, the musketeers dismounted and tied their horses reigns to some low branches; Kayley was deep in thought as this was the first time any of them had spoken to her since they left Paris - she couldn't help but feel hurt. Whilst she was forced to do nothing so that her shoulder would heal without any issues, had her close friends and brother become used to it just being the four of them?? She hated how worried and hurt this made her feel. Finally, it seemed at least one of the men caught sight of the sad expression and also noticed how silent she had been the entire journey "hey" he called out to her "you okay kid??" he asked; this forced the other's attention to focus on the teenager "Kayley??". To their utter shock, Kayley seemed to ignore her friends as she turned away ad walked off; all eyes widened as they were taken back by her actions "did...did Kayley just....give us the cold shoulder?!" Aramis asked. After the long time that they had all been together, Kayley had never ever ignored them, let alone give them the cold shoulder; this was very much new and none of them know what to do. "I...em...I'll go talk to her" D'artagnan stated, rather concerned by his sister's actions as he jogged to catch up to her; he called for her to wait but she continued to walk away. Finally, he caught up to the fourteen year old and stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder "Kayley?! Why didn't you stop?!" he asked, now really worried "and what's with the cold shoulder??" the teenager just rolled her eyes, as well as her shoulder to remove his hand before continuing to walk away; this began to anger her brother "Kayley!?". Grabbing the girl by her arm, D'artagnan pulled her back and picked her up, lying her over his shoulder before making his way back to the camp; Kayley thrashed around in an attempt to escape "D'artagnan!! Put me down!! Now!!" she yelled at him, the anger clear in her voice. The man shook his head, stating he'd put her down once they were with the others. Disappointingly for the older musketeer, Kayley was able to push herself over his shoulder and out of his grasp; she rolled onto the floor, even doing a cartwheel before landing in the crouched position so that she wouldn't break her neck in the fall. As the girl rose up from the floor, she turned to her brother "don't. Ever. Do. That. Again!!" she ordered, furious with her brother; D'artagnan had never seen this side to his little sister "talk to me then!! What the hell is so wrong with you that you'd act like a little brat?!" he was letting his anger get to him and control his words but he couldn't help it. The words hit Kayley like a ton of daggers to the heart; she halted her yells as her emotions began to build up and turned around before resuming to walk away "don't turn your back on me young lady!! Tell me what your problem is!!" the man ordered. The fourteen year old spun on her heel as she screamed out the three words neither thought they would ever hear come from her mouth when addressing her brother "I hate you!!" and with that, she ran off.