Free Traitor's Chase by Stuart Gibbs Page A

your weapons until everyone suddenly learned to speak French?”
    Even Aramis reddened at the insult to their plan. “We felt we could get by,” he explained. “I can speak Latin. Spanish derives from it, just as French does.”
    â€œLatin will serve you well if you find yourselves in ancient Rome,” Milady said. “But you’re going to Spain . Catherine and I can both speak the language. You need us.”
    The Musketeers all looked from one to the other. Aramis was practically beaming with joy now that Milady had made her case for joining their mission—and Porthos was never one to turn down female companionship. As for Greg, he was pleased to have the girls along as well, and not merely because he found Catherine attractive; having two more people along made him feel safer.
    He glanced at Athos, who was frowning, the lone holdout. Greg knew Athos didn’t trust Milady. But even Athos seemed to recognize that Milady had made a solid argument for coming along—and that no one else would agree to send her home again. “Fine,” he said grudgingly. “But be warned, this isn’t going to be some fancy excursion.”
    â€œI’d already figured that out.” Milady waved toward the roasted rabbits as evidence.
    â€œWell, this is downright cushy compared to how things are going to be,” Athos cautioned. “I suspect you know that René Valois is linked to those assassins who came after us the other day?”
    Milady nodded, taking another bite of the rabbit.
    â€œWell, Valois still has friends in Paris. If you could figure out where we’ve gone, Valois will figure it out, too. Which means we could have those assassins on our tail soon, if they aren’t already.”
    â€œI’m aware of that,” Milady said coolly.
    â€œThat’s not all,” Athos went on. “The closer we get to Spain, the more dangerous it becomes—whether you know the language or not. I can’t afford to have anyone slowing us down. The purpose of this mission is to serve the king. Whoever jeopardizes it gets left behind.”
    Milady tossed a well-gnawed bone aside. “Whatever happened to ‘All for one and one for all’?”
    â€œThat applies to the Musketeers, not hangers-on,” Athos replied. “The members of our team have all proven themselves in battle.”
    Milady held his stare across the flames for a long moment. It was challenging, but Greg thought he might have noticed a glimmer of respect in it as well. “Fine,” she said. “Understood.”
    Athos shifted his gaze to Catherine.
    â€œUnderstood,” she repeated.
    Neither she nor Milady seemed fazed by the idea of danger, which surprised Greg. Athos’s speech, which was meant to frighten the girls, had done the job on him instead. He still feared that he might turn out to be dead weight. What if he jeopardized the mission? Would the Musketeers actually leave him behind—or was that just a bluff?
    The meal was done now, and Athos and Porthos set off into the woods to bury the rabbit bones so the smell wouldn’t attract wolves to the campsite. Aramis went to check the supplies, leaving Greg with the girls.
    It was his first chance to see Milady alone since she’d told him she needed to speak to him.
    â€œMilady, I was wondering if we might speak privately.” Greg looked at Catherine warily, and Milady nodded to dismiss her. Once she was out of earshot, Greg continued. “When I saw you in the throne room the other day, you said you had found something of Dominic’s that you wanted to show me....”
    â€œYes, I apologize for not finding you sooner. I do have something to show you … although there’s something I wanted to talk to you about first. I’m very interested in your connection to Dominic Richelieu.”
    Greg felt a slight chill go through him. “What do you mean?”
    Milady finally turned