The Musketeer Girl

Chapter 13

After she had calmed down to her uncle's words and embrace, Kayley said good night to the man as she left the office; she decided to continue her night stroll a she wished to clear her crowded mind - she even saw a few familiar faces. "Evening Constance" the teenager greeted, forcing herself to form a small smile; the Inn owner smiled at the girl as she briefly hugged her "good evening hun, how are you??" she asked. The young girl sent the woman a nod "I'm good" it wasn't completely true but Kayley wanted to forget her issues for the time being "I think I'm gonna finish my walk before heading back to the Inn" she explained; Constance nodded as she thought of something "okay, I'll warm you up some of that chicken stew that you like if you want??" she suggested earning a real smile "thanks, that sounds great". And with that, they parted ways once more. Kayley wondered around for a while until the dark night sky had taken over, the moon and stars covering the world above; she decided to call it a night and began making her way towards the Inn - it was nine at night after all. As she did, however, Kayley came across two people, hiding away in a shaded area against a building as they had a heated make out session; she smirked upon recognising the couple as her two close friends - Aramis and Porthos. Folding her arms across her chest as halted her steps, Kayley cleared her throat in an attempt to catch the men's attention; it worked more than she intended as both lovers physically jumped as their heads shot in the direction the voice had come from. As soon as they saw the fourteen year old smirking, they instantly relaxed "damn it kid" Porthos grinned "don't sneak up on us like that, my heart can't seem to take much more" all this did was make the girl's smirk strengthen "I wasn't even trying to sneak up and make you jump this time, you two seemed rather...distracted" she teased; this didn't help the couple's burning cheeks, though it made them chuckle. "I'll see you tomorrow" Kayley smiled kindly "don't be up all night boys" was the last things she said before she walked passed them; both men were now completely red in the face, nervously laughing "see you tomorrow kid". Once they knew the teen was out of sight, the men returned their attention to one another. The fourteen year old eventually reached the Inn and spotted her brother and Athos sat at a table in the corner in the dining area; she walked over and joined them. "Kayley?!" D'artagnan seemed to be startled by the sight of his sister entering the Inn "where have you been all evening??" he asked - he thought she had been in their shared room since she parted from them in the Tavern; the girl raised a brow at her brother's obvious concern "I decided to go for a walk around town, saw uncle Treville and Constance, just passed Porthos and Aramis". The last comment earned a snort of laughter "I bet I can guess what they were doing" he smirked; all three of them laughed as they knew he was right - the teenager even confirmed it. Constance, being the kind woman she was, stayed true to her previous promise, brought over a bowl of hot chicken stew "there you go, just what the doctor ordered" she smiled; Kayley happily grinned as she thanked the woman, digging into the delicious food. Let's just sat the stew was gone within ten minutes "I'm going to bed" Kayley stated as she stood up from her seat "uncle Treville said he has some kind of announcement for tomorrow morning" the two men nodded as they said their good nights. The fourteen year old retreated to her shared rented room and changed into her night clothes; as soon as her head hit the pillow, she entered the land of dreams....or nightmare.

Both siblings were woken up the next day by someone knocking on their door before walking in; it was Athos - but how did he get in then the door was locked?? They really needed to find out. "Come on you two, we need to get to the Garrison" he stated; the brother and sister jumped up from their beds, took turns to use the bathroom to wash up and change into their day clothes - the musketeer sat on D'artagnan's bed as he waited for them. Within ten minutes, they locked the door and left the Inn, saying good morning to Constance as they passed her; they made their way towards the Garrison where they saw all of the cadets eating their breakfast or training, as well as Aramis and Porthos sat at a table with some food. The three friends joined the couple after grabbing their own drinks and breakfast; a conversation broke out until all four men noticed how Kayley lacked in both the talking and eating. "You alright kid??" Porthos asked, catching the girls attention as she sent him a smile "of course " Aramis raised a brow - none of them believed her "you're very quiet today Kayley" he pointed out "and you haven't touched your breakfast". Continuing to smile, fourteen year old reassured the men that she was just fine "I'm just not that hungry and I'm listening to your conversations" was her answer; neither the musketeers or her brother could bring themselves to believe any of what she was saying, but they were forced to drop the subject as Treville could be heard exiting his office and stopping at the bottom of the stairs. "Attention!!" he called out before all eyes turned towards him "the King had declared a competition is to take place between the musketeers and the Red Guards" he explained, surprising and interesting the people in front of him "one of you will represent us as a whole by going head to head with a Red Guard in a duel". Why did the King want the Red Guards and musketeers to fight in a competition?? "But to decide who that will be, I shall be holding a series of challenges for whoever can play 30 shillings before tomorrow morning" all eyes widened; D'artagnan huffed in annoyance "30 shillings?! Well we're out" he mumbled. Kayley rolled her eyes as she rested her head on her hand as her elbow lent on the table in front of her "we'll find the money some how, even if it's just for you" she promised. "Once the challenges are through, I will decide who will be representing us" Treville finished before leaving the Garrison; he had business to attend to at the Palace. Looking towards each other, Porthos and Aramis began to think of ideas to find the money for the competition "well my dear, I believe it's time we go fishing like old times" the gunman stated with a smirk; his lover seemed to shrug with a grin "needs must". They stood from their seats and left to go 'fishing'; Kayley raised a confused brow at the two "fishing??" her brother and Athos laughed at her innocence before deciding to begin training - they didn't want to explain what their friends were really doing when they said 'fishing'. To her annoyance, Kayley realised she had forgotten her dagger back at the Inn "uhh!!" she groaned "I'll be back in ten minutes!!" she called out as she rushed out the Garrison gate; the two men fondly shook their heads at the girl as they continued to finish off their breakfast. They spoke about this upcoming competition, deciding to wait for D'artagnan's sister to return before they began their own training; it was actually twenty minutes before they saw Kayley run back towards them. "I'm back" she stated, taking a moment to catch her breath as she sat down at her previous table; her brother smirked "that took longer than I thought". Rolling at the statement, Kayley took a sip of water from the cup that Athos offered her "thanks" she smiled before turning towards D'artagnan "I bumped into Constance and she got talking" she explained "I told her about the competition". Finally, training began; Kayley smiled at how much her brother had improved on his sword skills - she couldn't help but think about how proud their father would be of him 'oh Papa, you'd be amazed with him...just like I am'. Shaking her head of those thoughts, Kayley watched her brother with a smile  "very good D'artagnan" she praised; Athos watched from the side, also impressed at what he was seeing. Well....five minutes later and the girl was rolling her eyes "move your feet!!" she explained as she attacked D'artagnan "if I have to tell you again, I'll shoot you myself!!" she playfully warned....at least D'artagnan hopped it was playful. Never the less, he did as told and sent an attack of his own as he laughed. After two hours, Athos began to how training with the fourteen year old as they were both on the same level of skills whilst her brother took a break; he needed to clean his and his sister's horses stable - apart of their agreement with Treville. It wasn't difficult and, with him being raised on a farm, it didn't take long - just over half an hour. As he sat at the table to grab some lunch, D'artagnan watched as his sister and friend duelled - they would give each other tips on how to perfect a move and push one another to the extreme. Even the cadets would stop and watch the two train, still amazed by the scene unfolding in front of them - especially by the young D'artagnan girl.