Athos, Porthos, and Cosette were practicing at their sword fighting again. Today, it had been two weeks since Cosette officially joined the Musketeers and she was excelling in it. However, in all honesty, she didn't see why Porthos and Athos continued sparring with her. Maybe it was because they liked watching her complain or how they kept scratching their blades against her new pauldron or that they liked teasing her every time it happened.
"For the last time, mind the uniform!" Cosette shouted.
In honesty, Athos and Porthos just could not believe how protective she was of her pauldron.
"It doesn't look right on you. Too shiny, too new."
"It's like your mum's dressed you," said Porthos.
"Exactly," said Athos.
"Nah, my mother never stressed how I dressed, so I didn't need her helping," Cosette said.
"Aramis, what do you think?" Cosette asked. Aramis, meanwhile, was too busy admiring the birds to defend her. when Athos' blade scrapped her pauldron again, she hissed.
It took a while but Aramis finally responded.
"I think we've landed in paradise, brothers," said Aramis. He heard the birds chirping as he looked at Cosette and their other brothers. " Listen to that."
"What?" all three of Aramis' siblings asked. Aramis smiled as they listened to the birds singing in the background. Porthos whistled to gain Cosette's attention, and she, Porthos and Athos continued fighting with each other.
Two days later, Aramis' demeanor changed for the worst. He was pacing back and forth while Athos and Porthos relaxing on a tree trunk and Cossette was near the campfire with a stick in her hand. Honestly, why couldn't Aramis calm down? To Cosette, she saw that Aramis missed Paris and the action. The only action he ever got out of these past few days was seeing his comrades practicing with the swords. They saw him reach out for his pistol.
Aramis, Leave the birds alone," said Athos
"I hate these birds and their... Agh!"
"I thought this was paradise," said Athos.
"That was two days ago. Now...I'm bored. I miss Paris, the excitement, the noise."
Athos and Cosette looked at each other with smiles and a shake of the head at their brother's rant. "The danger."
He cocked his gun. however, a fire shot.
"Aramis!" Athos shouted, annoyed. however, what alarmed Cosette was Aramis' look of alarm, horror written all across his face.
"That wasn't me," Aramis promised. Athos, Cosette and Porthos got up from their seats and grabbed their pistols and rapiers. The inseparables looked down to see the Queen. Dead on the floor.
"Oh, Mary, mother of God," Cosette cried. Athos, Porthos and Aramis understood her agony. When Aramis flipped over the body, Cosette was slightly relieved that it was not the Queen but her handmaiden, Caroline.
"Caroline," said the Queen. Cosette and her friends looked up in relief to see the Queen was unharmed. "She borrowed my robes."
There was someone trying to kill the Queen. Cosette and Porthos got the Queen Anne to safety, son joined by Athos and Aramis. The Queen's party quickly disbursed in different directions. The other guards made sure that Queen Anne's handmaidens were put to safety. Athos looked at Cosette and Porthos.
"Stay down! Stay with the Queen. Get to the horses," he instructed them. Athos looked at Aramis. "You and I have an assassin to catch."
Cosette kept a look out.
" D'Artagnan, how are we doing?" Porthos asked. Cosette wasted for the assassin to move
"Go! Right." She shouted. Cosette took the Queen's hand and helped her up the hill as Athos and Aramis soon joined them. Cosette mounted Sapphire while her friends mounted on their other horses while Queen Anne rode in front of Aramis. The five traveling companions stopped for a while. Athos ordered Cosette to take a spyglass and see how far they were. She really wished Aramis didn't complain about having quiet days. They were the best days when nothing was life-threatening going on. Now, back to the assassins, they were a few leagues away, but they were determined to kill their innocent Queen.
"They're still following us?" Athos called out.
"Yes, and they're not tiring," Cosette answered.
"Determined. "
"What if we can't lose them?" asked Queen Anne, the fear was clear in her voice.
"We will," Aramis assured her.
"What if we don't?"
"We've been in much worse situations than this and always prevailed. You've nothing to fear. This is a relatively quiet day for us!"
"Which could have stayed that way if you did not jinx us," Cosette muttered as she returned. Aramis looked over at her as she raised her eyebrow.
The companions ride off.
"There's been no sign of them for an hour now." Cosette reported.
"We're safe for a while." Athos answered. "The Queen needs to rest."
Cosette nodded. She stopped for a second. She hadn't adjusted her corset in a long time as it made her breathing shallow. She looked to Athos.
"Athos, is it alright if I have some privacy," Cosette asked. "From everyone. Just for a quick minute."
"D'Artagnan, I don't think ..." Athos began.
*please, just a quick five minutes." She looked at him with pleading eyes.
"Just be careful," said Athos.
"I always am," said Cosette. She turned away as Athos shook his head in amusement.
Cosette made herself comfortable by taking off everything. Quickly, she took off her pauldron, doublet and then her corset. She adjusted it three times and made sure it was covering all the right places. And when Cosette turned, she saw Queen Anne had been watching her the whole time. And Cosette's mouth dropped.
"Your majesty," Cosette stumbled from her words. She was so dead. The Queen saw her as a woman. She was discovered. Cosette quickly put her shirt back on. "Your Highness, I can explain..."
"Is the explanation being that you're a woman?" said Queen Anne. "because if not, then you are the most feminine man I've ever met." She smiled. "I suspected for the longest time, when I first met you."
"But I've deceived you, my lady" Cosette said. "and such actions are punishable by death."
"Relax, D'Artagnan," Anne said. "I do not intend to tell. Your actions are not out of malicious intent, I hope."
"If course not, Madame. In truth, I never expected it to stay intact this long. Apart from other girls who were smart to figure me out, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis do not know. For now, at least."
"You certainly are brave, Mademoiselle d'Artagnan," Anne said.
"No, ma'am, Cosette, it's just Cosette."
"Cosette, you better head back. The boy has been worrying for you," said Queen Anne. "Now, I'm sure you can handle them."
The young woman smiled.
"And I hope to cook a little." Anne stopped from turning and looked at Cosette. "And it should be my first-time cooking."
Cosette smiled back.
"Looking forward to it, Madame," Cosette said, giving her queen a smile.
Cosette wished she could take her words back. In truth, the meal the Queen cooked actually tasted terrible. However, the boys and Cosette gave the Queen credit because it was her first-time cooking. She burnt the fish, blackening it. Cosette was trying not to let her tongue fall off from her mouth. No one could complain to her. It was her first-time cooking and probably would be the last. "Delicious, Your Majesty," Aramis said. Cosette shook her head because one, Aramis was their bad luck charm today, and two, she could tell he was lying. Cosette decided to do the same thing.
"It's very good," Cosette said, giving the Queen a smile when she looked at her. Also, the Queen was looking at her based on the secret they had. Porthos whispered to Cosette.
"Did we miss something?" He asked her. Cosette shook her head.
"Of course not, Porthos," said Queen Anne.
"Exactly the words, Your Highness.," Cosette said. She looked at Athos, who raised an eyebrow. Shrugging her shoulders, Athos looked away from her, trying to stomach the fish.
"It's the first time I've ever cooked," Queen Anne revealed.
"That's..." Athos tried finding the right words, "...hard to believe."
Athos was kind of cute when he was doing that. However, it immediately disappeared. Cosette, despite being younger, had to admit she had a slight crush on the boys when she met them. However, they became brothers to her. So, they were very close as siblings.
Back to Anne, she had another fish prepared and offered it to Arrive.
"Would you like another?"
When the Queen wasn't looking, Cosette dumped her contents.
"Thank you, but...I'm full." said Athos.
Anne offered one to Aramis, Cosette and Porthos but they all declined. He quickly shushed his friends. They heard horses coming.
"D'Artagnan," said Athos. She rolled her eyes.
"Your Majesty," Cosette said, taking Queen Anne's hand. She helped her from the hill and they all mounted on their horse. The five companions
"I'm tired of running away," Porthos complained.
"Perhaps we should be the ones doing the chasing." Aramis suggested but Cosette could hear the supposed sarcasm
"The Queen's safety is paramount," Athos explained. "We can't risk it by making a stand."
"Nor can we outride them forever," photos added.
"When we can't, then we'll fight," Athos wanted to start to make the getaway now. They all got back on their horses and rode for miles and miles. Cosette could have sworn her arms would fall off. As luck would have it, there was a convent not too far from here. They could take refuge there, at least. it was as if Athos read her mind. He looked at the convent from afar and he looked back at Porthos and Cosette.
"You two ride to Paris and get reinforcements," said Athos, then gestured to him and Aramis. "We'll hold up in there till you return."
"What, just you two? Alone?" Porthos asked incredulously. Cosette had to agree with him. Two against a dozen was against the odds.
"I agree with Porthos," said Cosette. " that is a terrible idea."
" Thank you for the vote of confidence, d'Art, Port," Aramis said sarcastic.
" We won't be back before tomorrow at the earliest, Mis," Cosette emphasized. "There's at least a dozen of them,"
"In that case, you'd better hurry," Athos said.
"Good luck," Cosette said and this time she meant it. Porthos and Cosette rode away from the intimate danger. About twenty minutes later, Porthos in Cosette knew they were being followed by some of the attempted assassin's people. Together they decided to make a stand against their pursuers. Porthos had Cosette take the shot by having her up on the hill. They only have four chasers following them, so that wasn't any so that challenging. Cosette fired at the other assassins and felt the adrenaline rush through her body.
"Isn't this better than running, d'Art?" Porthos.
"Ask me in 20 minutes if we're still alive," she said through her teeth. She fired multiple times when one of the men tried to fire at her. The assassin fell hard on the floor, and she panted in relief.
"D'Artagnan, are you okay?" Asked Porthos.
"Fine. You?"
"Eh." Porthos searched the assassins. Cosette looked at their shoulders and saw hands on the back.
"Porthos! What's that?" Cosette looked at him alarmed
"Nothing I've seen before," said Porthos. He searched through their attempted killer's pocket. Porthos found a folded-up piece of paper.
"A promissory note, to be cashed at a moneylender's in the Rue de Bonnasse..." Porthos showed her the paper, "in Paris."
Cosette panicked.
"Porthos, we got to get there fast before our Queen and brothers run out of time." Cosette's voice was lined with fear and horror. Porthos nodded and they got on their horses and travel to Paris as soon as possible.