The Three Musketeers – Act 2

D’Artagnan’s inn turned out to be a clean, warm place with very few customers. After bidding goodbye to his new friends, he introduced himself to the landlady, a pretty young woman named Constance. “How’s business?” he asked her.

“It comes and goes,” she said brightly. “Literally.”

D’Artagnan laughed but stopped abruptly when he noticed Constance looking concernedly behind him. Curious, he turned to see a hooded woman behind him, her face in shadows.

“Constance! I’m so glad to have found you here. I have a dilemma. Oh, who’s this?”

“This is D’Artagnan, a new customer, your Hi—“

“Shh! Be careful, Constance! Come here, I need to speak with you.”

Suspicious, the young fighter watched the two women converse in whispers. At one point, Constance gestured at him and they both nodded.  A moment later, the lady addressed him.

“How would you like the chance to serve your Queen, young man?”

D’Artagnan sprang to his feet. “More than anything, ma’am!”

The lady lowered her hood. She was a bit plain but still lovely—and more importantly, was wearing a glimmering gold crown!

“Constance tells me you’re a bright, eager young man. Can you help deliver a gift from myself, Queen Anne, to my friend the Duke of Kinzinghamshire?”

“Certainly, your Highness! I’d be honored!”

“Perfect.” Taking a small velvet bag out of her pocket, the Queen handed it to him. “Conceal this carefully. It’s a ruby ring and very important to me. To us. I will trust you and Constance to deliver it safely.”

D’Artagnan nodded and put it in his pocket. But just as he did, the doors burst open and a tall figure dressed in red, accompanied by two royal guards and a woman in a blue gown, rushed in!

The Queen gasped and fled through the back door while the guards grabbed both Constance and D’Artagnan. D’Artagnan squinted at the woman, who looked eerily familiar…and then realized with a start—it was the icy woman from earlier that day!

“Making trouble again, Miss Constance?” sneered the man in red. “Doesn’t the Queen have enough real ladies-in-waiting without a secret one running errands for her?”

D’Artagnan glanced at Constance in surprise. Constance, meanwhile, watched the man with a bored look. The woman glowered at her.

“Cardinal Richelieu, we meet again,” said Constance mildly. “Aren’t you tired of keeping an eye on me for the King? You can never prove anything anyway. You can’t keep track of my hairstyles, let alone whether I’ve committed treason. And you, Milady de Winter…you’re the most inept spy there ever was. Have you ever actually caught anyone?”

D’Artagnan groaned inwardly. This was the Cardinal, the most powerful ‘Kinz in Old Kinzville, and he seemed very angry. And this woman was a spy? What had he gotten himself into?

The Cardinal frowned. “Well, unfortunately for you, we do have proof this time. With Milady’s help, we received a tip-off about this secret meeting and were listening behind the door. We are now arresting you for treason! The King will not allow his wife to have secret admirers!”

“NO!” cried D’Artagnan, struggling to get free. Where were his new friends when he needed them?

The guard wrestled with his wriggling for a moment and then, with a clunk, knocked him on the head. As D’Artagnan slid to the floor, powerless, he could see them hustling Constance away to another room, and then everything went black…