(Howdy y'all! Okay. For those of you who were reading Double Trouble, it wasn't going very well on my end, so... I took it off for a time so I can actually get it flowing. :) Thanks for understanding! Enjoy!)

"This is the worst night of my life." Aramina wailed "We've lost our jobs, we've been banned from the castle…"

"And we smell like garbage." Viveca finished as she picked up a perfume bottle and sprayed herself multiple times.

Renee sighed "So much from being musketeers."

Aramina sighed "What are we gonna do?"

Viveca placed a jewelry box inside her suitcase "We're all going to go back to our homes and forget about all of this."

"No!" Corinne said immediately "We can't leave! There's still a plot against the prince!"

"Yes." Renee said "And Treville and the musketeers will handle it."

"But it's..."

"Corinne." Renee cut the blond off and shook her head "We're already in enough trouble. If I end up in the dungeon, my parents will kill me."

Corinne stared at the three girls "But..."

"She's right." Viveca sighed "We tried. At least Treville knows now."

Corinne sighed as she sat down on her bed "What's going to happen to the prince?"

"Treville and the musketeers have more experience than we do." Renee answered "They'll know how to handle it."

"They couldn't handle the chandelier or the balloon." Corinne huffed "But, I guess you're right. They are more trained to handle swords and not UFOs."

"Well, you better start packing." Renee said, pointing to the blond.

Corinne smiled slightly "I… didn't bring anything except for my old clothes, my horse and my cat."

The other three girls in the room stared at her for a long moment, then they all sighed.

Twenty minutes later, they were all packed and ready.

"Well…" Corinne said quietly "I guess this is good bye."

"You know, Corinne." Renee said "When you first got here, I didn't you… at all. But now." she shook her head slowly "I wish we weren't saying good bye."

Corinne laughed softly "I know."

The four girls hugged then walked out of the apartment and to the castle gate.

"Hey," Viveca said "If you're ever in Paris, look us up."

"I will." Corinne took a deep breath "Well… Gascony's a long ways away. I better get going."

After a final good bye, Corinne went and retrieved Alexander from the royal stables "Come on boy." she said sadly "Let's go home." she sat Miette up in the saddle then mounted up. She glanced back at the castle and sighed. If only she could warn him. Her mind went to the passageways but she quickly shook off the thought "No. The musketeers will handle it." she reassured herself. She stared at the castle for a long moment "Good bye… Louis."

The next evening, Louis went down to the ballroom for the masquerade.

He'd heard about the girls being fired, and needless to say, he was disappointed. He had really hoped he'd be able to talk to Corinne some more... and apologize. But she had left for home last night.

He straightened his shirt collar then stepped through a set of large double doors into the ballroom.

"Prince Louis!" The Announcer called.

The prince walked down to the bottom of the steps and looked around at all the people.

"The Prince's sword dance!" The Announcer handed Louis a decorative sword, which he put into his belt, then began looking for a partner.

A couple of girls off to the side were arguing over who he would dance with. For the pure satisfaction of it, he chose neither.

After several moments he finally chose a dance partner. Like everyone else, her eyelashes beat ninety-to-nothin'.

"If only there was a girl here who wouldn't be so… girly." he thought "Like… Corinne."

She'd been the only girl who actually treated him like a normal person.

He just stared off into space as he danced, ignoring the constant chatter of his partner. What seemed like an eternity later, bright lights began to explode overhead.

Louis turned from his dance partner to watch the colorful firework display. Purples, pinks, blues and greens lit up the sky.

It was amazing!

He'd seen fireworks many times before, but it never got old.

He smiled as he stared into the sky "Wonder what it would be like to watch fireworks from my balloon." he thought "Corinne would probably love it." then he mentally kicked himself. Corinne wasn't there anymore!

Just then, a faint sound reached his ears. It sounded like a sword being unsheathed.

He spun around to see a man in a blue costume with a lion mask standing behind him, a sharp sword in his hand.

Louis took a step back, then spun around and ran.

No one else in the room seemed to notice as they watched the exploding lights above.

The assassinator groaned in frustration. He raised his hand in the air and motioned to his men to follow the prince.

"Where are the musketeers?" Louis said to himself as he ran down a long hall. Just then, a man with one eye covered appeared in front of him, his sword drawn.

Louis skid to stop and looked back. Several men were coming at him. He quickly took off down a hall off to the side.

"Get him!" one of the men shouted.

Louis ran out a side door, hoping to come across a musketeer, but there were none.

He didn't dare stop when he reached the outdoors. Whoever was chasing him was too close.

The fireworks illuminated his path as he ran for the stables, the sound of shouting men right behind.

The stable hand, Serge, was standing in the stable aisle holding a horse when Louis ran in.

"Find the musketeers!" Louis shouted as he quickly mounted up "Hurry!"

"Yes, Your Highness." Serge said slightly confused. Then he ran for the castle.

The man with the half mask grabbed another horse and followed the Prince.

Louis' horse raced through the dark, deserted streets of Paris. Not a soul was out.

Everyone was either at the ball or asleep.

"I hope he finds the musketeers." he thought. The city soon vanished behind them and a long country road spread out before him, seeming to never end.

Louis gritted his teeth as he realized he was getting further from civilization, which was something he hadn't wanted to do.

He glanced back to see that his pursuer was no longer following and slowed the tired horse to a walk. The animal was panting heavily as it made it's way up the road "Sorry, boy." he said as he rubbed the horse's neck "Just keep walking." He allowed the horse to continue it's slow gate till the sun began to peek over the horizon.

He came to a bridge and stopped "I think we lost him." No sooner had the words left his mouth than a pain suddenly exploded into his right shoulder.

With a gasp, he gripped his shoulder as the world started spinning. Then, he toppled off of the horse, over the bridge railing and into the river.

The man with the eye patch walked onto the bridge and scanned the water below "Even if he does make it out of the water, he doesn't know how to take care of an arrow wound. And no one lives anywhere near here. He'll be dead soon." He took the reins of the horse that the Prince had been riding then went to his own horse "Philippe will be pleased." Then he rode away.

(Drum roll! Bum bum bum... Okay, the story is not over! What do you think? )