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.
As the day passed, Athos and Kayley took a break from training as they ate some lunch; D'artagnan smiled as they sat with him "nice work" he complimented as he handed them both a cup of water; they each thanked him and took a sip. All of a sudden, they saw Treville enter the Garrison with an envelope in hand; he approached the three friends "where's dumb and dumber??" he asked, noticing the missing couple. Athos smirked as the siblings chuckled before he told the older man of their 'fishing trip'; the captain shook his head before handing the envelope over to Kayley - she sent him a look of confusion as she began to open it. "It's the last bit of money your farm earned before it was burnt down" he informed; the girl counted what was there and was surprised "twenty shillings...a little more than we normal make" she smiled. Both she and her brother were pleased to receive the money "now we just need to find ten more shillings, then you can try for the competition" the fourteen year old smiled; Treville narrowed his brows "is only D'artagnan competing??" he asked, wondering why his niece wouldn't as well. Both brother and sister sighed as they explained how they barely had enough money for one of them, forget two, so the man was going to take the chance. Upon understanding the issue, Treville nodded his head before returning to his office; he had paper work to attend to. The three friends grabbed their things and left the Garrison; Athos needed to run some errands so he and Kayley parted from D'artagnan who wished to find some form of a job to pay for the rest of the entrance fee. As he travelled through the town, the young man noticed a woman staring at him....no, examining him; he was a beautiful woman - he couldn't lie. The next thing he knew, the same woman was approaching him; he remained his polite self "hello madam" he greeted "can I help you??" what other reason would she come up to him?? Smiling, the woman spoke "what is your name??" she asked, taking the confused man back "em....Charles D'artagnan, but I am mostly known by my last name" he explained before asking the same question "and yours madam??". As she stared at D'artagnan, he couldn't help but feel there was something...cold about her; what exactly?? He didn't know. "I go by many names, it hard to remember" she signed out, yet she didn't actually answer the question "that's not important anyway" she waved the subject of names off "I hear you have yourself a little money problem?? Am I right??" D'artagnan was surprised by the stated - how did she know?? The only people who knew of his and Kayley's struggle with money was their uncle, the three musketeers, Constance and themselves...as well as possibly the Queen; she and the fourteen year old were close so it wouldn't be a surprise. "Indeed" he confirmed "but what does it matter to you??" he asked, suspicious clear in his voice; the woman couldn't contain a chuckle that sent a shiver up the young man's spine "down boy" she teased "a little birdie told me, now...rumour has it you want to become a musketeer" now that was very much common knowledge "so I'll take it you plan to compete in the competition tomorrow??" she asked earning a nod "but I bet that entrance fee is being a pain in the neck, am I right??". How did she know all of this?! Pulling a small purse out from her blue silk cloak, the woman pushed it into D'artagnan's hands "now I must be off, very busy you know" she smirked "people to meet, things to buy" and with that, she wiggled her fingers flirtatiously as she began to walk away "see you around D'artagnan" and with that, she was gone. Snapping out of her state of confusion, the young man looked down at the purple purse that had been forced into his hand; he opened it and was able to count....thirty shillings?! Eyes wide, D'artagnan couldn't believe what he was seeing - why would a stranger give him money?? Especially this much?! All he could think was 'this is confusing' before he shrugged 'must be my lucky day I guess??'. Closing the purse and storing it in his pocket, the man began to return to the Garrison
Back at the Inn, Athos and Kayley had greeted Constance before entering the man's private room; he said he needed to grab something. Once the door was closed, Athos easily moved his bed away from the wall before lifted up the floor board in the corner to reveal.....a bag?? Kayley watched in confusion as he pulled the bag out of it's hiding place "I'll take it I can trust you to keep this quiet??" Athos asked, sending the teenager a glance over his shoulder; she remained silent until she saw what was in the bag....a hell lot of money?! Sending the man a smile, Kayley reassured him that her lips were sealed "but how come you have so much money anyway??" she asked; Athos sent her a caring smile upon hearing her promise "I have....quite the past" was all he would say. After returning the bad, the floor board and the bed to where they belonged, the two friends left the Inn and were about to return to the Garrison when, all of a sudden, an ear piecing scream could be heard. They shared a look of confusion "come on!!" Athos began to run in the direction that the scream had come from with the girl only a few feet behind; they came across a woman trying to get up from the floor as a horse galloped away. "Are you alright?? What happened??" Athos asked as he crouched down next to the fallen woman; she shook her head, pointing towards the escaped horse "don't let him get away!!" she begged. Looking towards Kayley, Athos yelled out her name, yet the teen seemed to know what he wanted her to do as she was already running after the wild animal "on it!!". The horse was much faster than the young girl of course, so Kayley needed to use strategy in order to get control over the animal again; she thankfully knew this area of the town like the back of her hand and knew all of the short cuts. Everyone around watched the horse galloped passed and then a few seconds later, Kayley followed, sprinting as fast as she possibly could. Finally, the girl found her opening as she ran down an alley way which would cut the animal off; she needed to be quick as she jumped up onto the side of the wall before using her leg to push her up and onto the horse. She did it!! "Whoa!! Easy boy!!" she attempted to calm the animal down, pulling at the reigns to come to a stop as she stroked its neck; it seemed to do the trick as once they had completely halted, she noticed her uncle watching with a smirk outside a fruit stall. "And to think you're not a musketeer" he chuckled; Kayley sent the man a bright smile and a playful salute "just doing what I do" and with that, she galloped back to where she and Athos had parted. He had helped the woman back to her feet and checked her for any injuries - it appeared she was fine, though her right side will most likely bruise within an hour. Never the less, she seemed to be over the moon at the sight of her beloved horse "thank you so much" she smiled before leaving to continue her day; Kayley was still in the middle of catching her breath from her sprint through the town. Athos patted his friend on the back before they began to make their way back towards the Garrison - their original plan "nice work Kayley" the man praised, earning a bright smiles "thanks Athos" she said once she had regained her voice "come on, let's get back to the others".