She's Back (Sequel)

Chapter 5

The five musketeers entered the pub and stood at the bar; no one was here but a barman who Athos recognised as the owner. "Long time no see" the man chuckled as he shook the musketeers hands "hey Jackson, how's business??" Porthos asked earning a shrug "it could be better, but I'm not complaining". The man got the five a drink, nothing strong mind you "so what can I do for you??" Jackson asked; Aramis spoke up "his morning, you opened up for a bit didn't you??" he asked earning a nod "yeah, I do every now and then, why??". This time, Kayley asked the question "who was here this morning??" the man had to think "hmm...not many people to be honest" he admitted "but there was a group of men, about five of them huddled together over there" he pointed over to the corner of the room. The eighteen year old smiled before walking over, leaving the male musketeers to continue with the questions; they did. "Did you hear anything?? Like what they were talking about??" D'artagnan asked, but sadly, Jackson shook his head "sorry, but I was busy getting ready for opening later so I heard nothing" he explained; the musketeers nodded with sighs. Athos looked over to where Kayley had gone and saw her nod towards the door; she was telling them they needed to go. "Okay, thanks for your help Jackson" he smiled "come on, we better get going" he motioned for his confused friends to the door. They left the pub and a few seconds later, the ten did the same "what is it??" Athos asked the girl; Kayley showed them a small piece of paper. "I found this around the area Jackson claims the men were sat" she read what writing was on it " 20 squared pieces of cloth, rope, flammable wires and..." the girls eyes widened in horror "Kayley??" the men became worried "and 100g of gunpowder!!". All eyes widened now "what!?" Porthos exclaimed "what the hell could they be doing with all of that?!" he wondered, trying to piece them together; they couldn't work it out. "Come on, we need to tell Treville about what we've found!!" Aramis stated; they rushed over to their horses, untied them and hopped on before galloping on. Once they reached the Garrison, they handed over to the horses to the stable boys before rushing up their stairs and into the office; their Captain was sat at his desk going through some papers. "Musketeers?? You're back sooner then planned" he stated "did you find something??" they nodded as Kayley handed him the list; his eyes widened for a second "Christ...we need to get to the Palace now, ensure the safety of the King and Queen!!" he exclaimed as he stood up from his seat. They left the office and raced through the yard, saddled up again before jumping on the horse; they galloped though the town and towards the Palace. "What could they possibly make or want with all of this??" Aramis asked as he rode next to their Captain who shook his head "I don't know, but whatever their reasoning, it isn't good" that much was clear.

The six reached the Palace and handed over their horses to the stable boys before rushing in; they ran though the halls, passing maids and servants who were getting things ready for the ball. They reached the throne room, but the royal couple weren't there. Treville called over one of the servants "where's the King and Queen??" he asked; the woman thought for a moment "the King is talking with the Count Rochefort in his office" she explained "and the Queen is in the middle of her dress fitting for tonight's ball". After quickly thanking and dismissing the woman, Treville turned to the musketeers "Kayley, do you know where to go to find the Queen??" he asked earning a nod "yeah, she's most likely in Rosa's room" she explained; the older man spoke again "okay, you go and just stay with the Queen, we'll go and stay the King" he informed "one of us will come and tell you what's going to happen". After nodding, the teen turned and was about to run in the direction of Rosa's room when someone gently grabbed her arm; looking, she saw that it was Athos "be careful". Smiling, Kayley grinned as she began to run "always am!!" they heard her call; Porthos chuckled and yelled back "liar!!" they also heard her laugh. Treville smiled as they began to walk in the direction of the Cardinal's office "she's still a kid at heart, isn't she??" he asked, although it was more of a statement; D'artagnan sighed "she is when she can, Kayley grew up way too fast that she lost most of her childhood". Soon enough, the men reach the office, knocked on the door but walked in "your majesty, Rochefort" the two men turned to the musketeers and their Captain "Treville, what do I owe the pleasure??" Louis asked with a smile; his friend explained what they had found and stated that something was to happen at the ball. "Oh my....what do you suggest we do??" the King asked in horror; Athos spoke again "maybe postponing the party until we've taken down the threat??" he suggested. Rochefort rolled his eyes "we can't just cancel the ball, it's been planned for over two months, and people from all over have travelled to attend" Porthos had to bite his tongue whilst his boyfriend spoke up "we understand that the ball is a big deal, but this is the safety of the King and Queen we're talking about". Louis seemed to be in deep thought "no...no, the ball won't be cancelled" he declared, earning mental groans from the musketeers "we'll strengthen the guards, all musketeers will be there...this party must go on". Treville couldn't go against what the King said, so he nodded okay "okay" he turned to the musketeers and walked them out of the room. "D'artagnan, Porthos, Aramis , I want you three to find out who's planning all of this" Treville explained "Athos, you, Kayley and I will stay here during the ball, but you two will be disguised as guests" that was a surprise "em...okay". Treville asked Athos to go inform the teen girl of the plan whilst he sent the other three to go and find out who was planning the plot; they told one another to stay safe and be careful before parting ways. Their Captain re-entered the office and told the King what the plan was; he was going to stay with Louis until the plot was no longer a threat.

With Kayley, she was with the Queen and Rosa; she had explained what they had found which both woman were horrified. All of a sudden, a knock was at the door, Kayley stood and answered it alert, but she soon relaxed when she saw her friend and allowed him in. "Just letting you know what's happening, D'artagnan, Aramis and Porthos have gone to find out who's doing this, we're staying here with the King and Queen with Treville" Athos explained "but you and I have to be disguised as guests for tonights ball" that was a surprise "em...okay, let me go to my woredrobe of fancy clothes that doesn't exist" Kayley said blatantly making all three people laugh. Rosa spoke up "once I've finished with her majesties dress, I'll find your one" she smiled earning a thank you from the teen; Anne was next to speak "you'll both need masks too, I'm sure we can arrange something". This earned two raised brows "masks??" the Queen realised they didn't know "the ball is a masquerade ball" she informed; Kayley looked at the man "a masquerade ball??" she had never heard of one "basically you just wear a mask". Rosa said she'd make the masks for both musketeers as well as the dress; Athos bowed and left to return to Treville and the King. "Well this makes our jobs a little harder" Kayley mumbled, but it was loud enough for the other two women to hear "and why's that??" Rosa asked as she continued to add the finishing touches to the dress "we won't be able to see the faces of whoever is doing this, so if they manage to escape, we won't know who we're trying to find". The Queen gave a smile of sympathy before speaking up, trying to change the subject "so what type of dress do you want?? Long?? Short?? Colours??" she asked; Rosa listened up. The eighteen year old chuckled "you both know I'm not picky, as long as I can move freely and fight well in it, and can attach my weapons" whenever Rosa was making an outfit for Kayley, that was all she would say, as well as "but no pink". They all laughed before speaking about other things.

 With the other three musketeers, they had reached back into the town and were on their way back to the bar when they saw a hooded man struggling to lift a large barrel onto a cart; D'artagnan quickly hopped down from his horse, handed the reins to Porthos and jogged over "need a hand??" he asked with a smile. The man seemed to be startled at first but calmed down "em...that's okay, this is the last one" he stated but the musketeer was already helping him "it's fine really, this barrel is pretty heavy" they loaded the barrel and the man thanked D'artagnan before hurrying to the front of the cart and going. The musketeer wondered why the guy was in such a rush but just shrugged "where's the fire??" Aramis joked as they watched the hooded man hurry though the street. When Porthos handed the reins back to his brother, he noticed something "what's that on your hands??" he asked, catching their attention; the slightly younger man looked and raised a brow "hmm, black powder" he stated before taking a small sniff to determine what it is; his eyes widened in horror "gun powder!?". The other two musketeers shared a look of worry as D'artagnan looked around; he saw a spot where there was some more of the black powder "there's more....right where that barrel was" realisation suddenly hit him. "You guys don't think??" he wondered, knowing they knew what he was thinking; Aramis exclaimed "after him!! We can't let him get away!!". They galloped off, D'artagnan only a foot behind from having to mount his horse. They spotted the cart quickly and raced after it; the man was taking an old and rarely used path on the outskirts of the town; Porthos hurried ahead of the cart and turned around to a stop as he pulled out his gun "stop right there!! In the name of the King!!" he ordered. The man tried to go around the musketeer, but the other two had blocked him on both sides; they too had their guns aimed right at him. "Care to tell us why you have two barrels full of gun powder??" Aramis asked as he grabbed at the man and pulled him away from the cart; no answer "what?? Cat got your tongue??" Porthos asked "or is it because you know we already know why??". D'artagnan looked in the two barrels and indeed, they were half full with gun powder, but the barrels where rather large "there's about...a quarter of the amount we're looking for" he informed. They focused on the man "where's the rest of it?? and who else is in on this plot??" Porthos asked, grabbing the man by the shoulder extremely tight, earning a hiss of pain "easy Porthos, we can't break him" Aramis stated before looking the man dead in the eye "yet". They saw the fear in the mans eyes as they had removed the cloak "you...you're too late!!" he exclaimed "the others...they...they'll be half way though the plans by now!!" the three shared a worried look "what plan??" Aramis asked "tell us!! Now!!". He kept quite which worried them even more, Porthos grabbed the man by the front of his jacket before furiously shaking him, as if doing so would force the answer out....it did "okay!! Okay!!" he exclaimed "a group of us are planning on setting ten barrels of gun powder underneath the palace where the thrown room is" their eyes widened.