"I do not have a wife" Athos said raising his chin "That woman is a murderer and I do not believe the King to be in danger from her" the Queen paced in the hallway "If anyone is in danger your Majesty it is you" That made all of us stop and look at Athos
"Athos what are you saying" The sound of Captain Treville's voice made us look as he strode down the hallway toward us.
"Milady is a woman that craves power and status and money, and she will do anything to get what she desires" He took a deep breath "and what is a bigger prize than to be Queen of France"
"No woman can threaten me" the Queen stammered in disbelief
"She will not threaten. She is more cunning than that" Athos looked around at all of us "She will charm the king and people of power and you will be undermined"
"We have to see the King now" the Queen began to walk down the hallway toward the Kings apartment
"Your Majesty" Captain Treville stepped in her path "We cannot go in there tonight whilst she is with him"
"Captain Treville is right; We must have a plan in place for telling the King of this" Aramis said moving next to the Queen and looking at her with a look that had my stomach knotting.
"She is also a woman close to the Cardinal" I said chewing my lip "She has a hatred for me, and she is trying to find out anything she can about me because of what I am to Athos" I felt Athos's eyes on me "Maybe she is spreading herself too thin trying to seek revenge on Athos and also trying to gain favor of the King"
"We need to plan this without the Cardinal finding out or getting suspicious" Porthos took a deep breath
"We can't talk about it here" Captain Treville said as a patrol of Red guard rounded the top of the staircase. "Majesty you should go to bed I shall leave Aramis and Porthos here to guard you tonight"
"She will not do anything tonight she has only just found the Kings favor" Athos said shaking his head "Let us return to the Garrison, I am more than sure that Constance is a protector" Constance smiled and nodded
"I have had a good teacher" Constance smiled and looked at D'artaganan
"I have faith in Constance" The Queen nodded and squeezed Constance's hand "But what about you" The Queen looked at me
"Estelle will come back to the Garrison with us" Athos said quickly I looked at him and my eye brows rose"
"I will?" I put my hands on my hips
"Estelle it is the safest place for you, away from the red guard and that woman" D'artaganan said trying to sound like a peace maker
"You also need to be a part of this plan" Athos said walking over to me.
"Estelle go with your Musketeer" the Queen instructed "I will expect all of you back here tomorrow morning with a plan; this woman needs to be out of all of our lives as soon as possible" I dipped into a curtsey and Athos put his hand in the small of my back.
I walked down the hallway surrounded by Musketeers. The Cardinal stepped out from a room and looked at all of us.
"An escort of Musketeers for a mere woman?" He fixed me with is stare and he got a twinkle in his eye
"She is under the protection of the Musketeers by order of the Queen" Captain Treville said blocking the Cardinal's view of me. "Athos, Aramis please Take Estelle to her horse" Athos put his hand in the small of my back and Aramis Put his hand on my other elbow and they both escorted me down the stairs.
"Intriguing woman that one" The Cardinal said turning and looking at Captain Treville "She seems to have all the Musketeers under a spell"
"She is like a sister to all of us" Porthos huffed gruffly
"A sister that whores herself amongst you, I have seen her with Athos and D'artaganan was the object of her affections when she first came to court and four of my own men found her in the street touting for..." D'artagnan was faster than anyone else could move her pulled out his sword and held it to the Cardinals throat
"D'ARTAGNAN" Treville put his hand on his arm as Red guards surrounded them
"You do not disrespect Estelle Cardinal" D'artagnan said tipping his head and looking at him
"Call off your dogs Treville" The Cardinal snapped
"Watch yourself Cardinal my men are duty bound to protect by order of the Queen" Porthos put his hand on D'artagnan's arm while he sheathed his sword
The three of them turned on their heels and walked out through the circle of red guards and they came down to where we were sitting on horseback waiting for them.
"You should have ridden for the Garrison" Treville said mounting his horse "We were waiting just in case we were needed" Aramis smiled
"Can we just get out of here?" Porthos said pulling the reins of his horse around and starting toward the garrison.
We rode in silence through the streets and into the courtyard of the Garrison. Athos dismounted and came over and put his hands on my hips and lifted me down. He kept his hands on them and looked down at me before he let me go.
"I need a drink" I said moving around him and up the stairs following Captain Travaille. We all went into the large armory. Athos poured cups of brandy and handed them out.
"Well I think that the Cardinal is now more interested in Estelle more than ever" Porthos said leaning on the mantle over the fire place
"What?" Athos stopped with his cup halfway to his mouth "Why do you say that?"
"Because D'artagnan held a sword to his throat when he questioned Estelle's well her morals" Treville smiled
"It is one way to distract him" Aramis chuckled
"What are we going to do about Milady?" I asked
"You are not going to do anything" Athos said looking at me
"Excuse me?" I tipped my head
"I do not need to be worrying for your safety whilst we deal with Milady" He said firmly
"You think I'm some weak woman that should be seen and not heard, I'm good enough to warm your bed but I can't help"
"I didn't say that"
"Oh I think you did" I huffed sinking the brandy "You leave Constance to protect the Queen and bring me back for what"
"ENOUGH" D'artagnan shouted "Are we sure you two are not married with this bickering"
"He started it" I frowned
"Athos unfortunately We need to use Estelle for what we have planned"
YOU ARE READING
Lost in the pages
RomanceHave you ever got so lost in a book it's as if you were actually there. Estelle Bennett was left a little Old bookstore that used to belong to her grandmother, it was a place that Estelle had loved since being a child and her Grandmother had always...
