She's Back (Sequel)

Chapter 7

The next morning came too soon for the musketeers; Athos found himself being his boyfriends personal cuddle pillow. Smiling at the sight in front of him, the older man kissed D'artagnan's forehead and brushed his fingers through his hair. After a few minutes, Athos saw the other mans eyes tiredly open; D'artagnan looked up a little to see his boyfriend smiling down at him. "Good morning" the younger man greeted in his morning voice that was too cute to be possible; Athos smiled "morning" his morning voice however, was hot!! "I like this" D'artagnan stated "waking up next to you, getting to hear that sexy voice...what more could a guy ask for??" it wasn't really a question; Athos chuckled but agreed "I like this too babe...and nothing's gonna change anytime soon". They shared a longing kiss before D'artagnan sat up "come on, as much as I'd love to stay here like this, it's 9 O clock and we have work" he stated earning a groan; Athos annoyingly knew his boyfriend was right and did the same. They both took a shower and changed into their uniforms, attaching their weapons to their belts and soon left the B&B; they didn't wait for Kayley as they knew she would already be at the Garrison, and they had found Porthos and Aramis talking to Constance. The five men left together and walked through the town before entering the Garrison, all of the cadets were sat eating their breakfast, talking about whatever; the musketeer soon joined them. Half an hour later and everyone was beginning training; there was one thing that confused everyone. "Where's Kayley??" D'artagnan wondered as he looked around the Garrison "she's never this late for work or training" Aramis returned from the stables "she's not with the horses". They saw Treville leave his office and walk down their stairs; the four musketeers approached him "Captain!!" the man stopped in his tracks. Athos asked Treville if he knew where the teen was, if she was at the Palace or on a solo mission; to their dismay, he seemed confused "I haven't seen Kayley since you five left the Palace last night" he informed before thinking "I'm sure she's fine and be here soon". Deciding their Captain was right, the four men began their training, as well as stepping in for Kayley by helping the cadets; the cadets had asked where the female musketeer was but the men couldn't give them any answer, although they wished they could. Training continued for a while before Treville called the musketeers to his office; they did so quickly. "Is it Kayley??" D'artagnan asked worried - his sister had yet to show herself and it was now 12 O clock - but to his disappointment, the older man shook his head "sorry but no, I need you four to escort King Louis's second cousin and their son to the Palace" they listened to the details before Porthos asked "is Kayley coming with us??". Treville sighed "she was meant to, but if Kayley doesn't turn up within the next ten minutes, then you four will have to go without her" he explained; they didn't like that but knew the mission had to be done, with or without the girl. The four musketeers saddled up and packed some food, as well as filled up their flasks with water; still no sign of the teen. The ten minutes passed and the men hesitantly left for their mission; they had to leave Paris to meet up with the King's second cousin and their son, and they still didn't know where Kayley was.

Back at the B&B,  at the front desk, Constance was writing some forms when a woman approached her; she looked up and smiled "hello, how can I help you??" she asked. The mysterious - to Constance - woman looked around as she spoke "I'm looking for a young woman, Kayley D'artagnan to be exact" she explained "I've been told that she lives here" Constance raised a brow "she does, but Kayley isn't here, she's a musketeer so she always leaves early in the morning" she stated "maybe try the Garrison". The woman didn't seem to accept that answer "she isn't there, and she hasn't left this building, I assure you" she smiled "may I??" she asked, gesturing towards the hall way where the rooms were "...sure, room twelve" Constance was hesitant but agreed "who are you to Kayley exactly??" she asked; the woman smirked "a friend". Constance didn't know this, but the woman was in fact Milady De Winter. She entered the hall way and found the door that had the number '12' carved into it; she knocked and waited a few seconds before hearing something; it sounded like....someone in pain?! Pulling a pin from her hair, Milady quickly pick locked the door and hurried in; she closed the door and turned around to see the horrific sight. Kayley was lay unconscious in her bed, a lay of sweat covering her body; she was thrashing around as if she was on fire. It seemed she was struggling to breath. She was huffing and puffing, moaning and groaning as her face formed the emotion of pain; all whilst remaining asleep. Milady rushed towards the eighteen year old and felt her forehead and cheeks, quickly pulling away as if she was touching fire; it felt like it. 'She's burning up' she thought as she removed her coat and placed it on the hook on the back of the door; the lady grabbed a bowl and filled it up with water from the bathroom. She sat down on the edge of the bed, removed the sheet that was on half of the girls body before soaking a small cloth in the cold water, then dabbed it over the teens face, neck, shoulders and chest, cooling her down. It seemed to help too. Milady left the cloth on Kayley's forehead before opening the window as much as it would; it the teens fever got any worse then it could become life threatening "and here's me thinking we were just going to have a chat" she mumbled with a fold smile. Looking around the room, she saw the younger woman didn't have many things to call her own; two outfits, her weapons, three books, and some papers that were from the war, as well as letter from soldiers, Constance, Treville, the King and Queen, as well as people from her old village in Gascony. Other then that, there was nothing else. Grabbing one of the books, the woman moved the chair meant for the desk and sat down next to the teens bed before beginning to read; it was a good thing she had nothing else to do for a while. She couldn't help but wonder where the other musketeers were?? It was more then clear that all four of them were protective of the teen, and cared about her with all of their hearts; why weren't they looking after her?? Did they even know that Kayley was ill with such a high fever??

After an hour, Kayley finally began to wake up; she felt the wet cloth on her forehead. It felt like heaven!! But...why was it there?? Opening her eyes, she looked around the room before they landed on the woman sat in the chair, reading a book next to here "M...Milady??" was she hallucinating?? The woman looked over the book and smiled "welcome to the land of the living" she joked as she placed the book on the bed side table "how are you feeling??". The teen though about it; she was boiling, felt sick and her head and stomach hurt "not great to be honest, what are you doing here??" she asked. Milady De Winter helped the younger woman sit up as she explained "I was planning on talking to you, since we couldn't the other night" she began "I came here and found you covered in sweat, thrashing about, as well as sounding and looking as if you were in pain". Now sat up, Kayley nodded "how'd you get in?? The door was locked...wasn't it??" she always locked the door, but had she been so tired and began to become ill that she had forgotten?? Milady reassured her that the door was indeed locked and that she had picked it. They spoke for a few hours before the woman decided she needed to get going "you're fever isn't as bad as it was before, but you should stay in bed for the rest of the day, to make sure that it stays that way and get's better" Milady suggested as she threw on her coat; the eighteen year old groaned but agreed "fine". The woman handed the teen her fifth cup of water before turning to leave "thanks Milady, for looking after me" Kayley spoke; the woman smiled as she nodded "get better soon Kayley, Paris need their female musketeer" and with that, she left. Milady walked over to Constance "Kayley has a high fever, it's better now but she's to stay in bed for the rest of the day" she informed, shocking the owner of the B&B "she shouldn't eat anything too much, but some soup is fine". Constance nodded and wrote it down, she turned back to the woman to speak but....she was gone; she quickly shook it off and prepared some soap as fast as she could. After twenty minutes, the woman entered the room with a bowl and spoon; Kayley was sat in her bed still, book in hand and the wet cloth lay on her forehead. Constance at with the young woman as she ate, keeping her company till she was done eating "thanks Con, the soup was delicious". Soon enough, after reading some more, Kayley fell asleep.

With the four musketeers, they had been travelling for a while till they finally reached the border of Paris; they were really worried about their missing teammate. They saw the carriage and the guards surrounding it; they approached them. The guards spoke to the musketeers for a few minutes before the guards left, transferring the duty of safety over. Athos greeted the couple and their son before they began heading back to the Paris; it was going to take longer due to the carriage being slower then horse riding. Aramis was riding beside the door when the son spoke up "is it true that there's a female musketeer??" he asked; all four men shared a look before the flirtatious man replied "indeed, she would have been here too, but....she's disappeared for the day" he wasn't lying.