AN: Posted on fan_flashworks on LJ under my penname afleur_de_lis. I would have posted this sooner but the challenge requires the masterlist to be posted before you uploaded it somewhere else. The prompt was 'candles'.
Candle making was a long and tedious task, usually done by those within the industry of candle making or made homemade by those who could not afford them at the market. Surely two musketeers had better things to do than standing at Monsieur de Tréville's home, twisting string and dipping a wick repeatedly into the pots of tallow and melted wax? However, a fine afternoon found them busy at work as they made candle after candle for their commanding officer's home, both angry at their captain for forcing them to do such hard work unfit for musketeers, while he had a large shipment of tallow candles waiting for him at the shop.
Neither of them spoke as they dipped their wicks in fat, however they both wore scowls upon their face and looked up to glare at those who walked past them.
"Don't you look at me like that Aramis," said Tréville as he moved past them to where a group of musketeers were standing with a stack of parchment in his hands. "and you too, Porthos. You both needed to be taught a lesson and I reserve the right to give you discipline when you didn't listen to my previous orders for you to stop."
Both Aramis and Porthos paused in their work as they watched Tréville walk the rest of the way to their fellow comrades and call out each man's name in turn to hand out the pieces of paper to them. They both judged by the way that the group of musketeers went silent that it was the latest update for their guard duty.
"Sir, my wife is big with child and the doctors think that she..."
"I know that Marie Françoise is due any day now as both you and her father are keen to tell me everyday," said Tréville as he looked over the schedule with a frown. "For the next month I gave you as little to do as I possibly could without sending you home with a letter of leave."
François de l'Hillaire looked grateful and appeared as though he was about to pull Monsieur de Tréville into a hug, however he stepped back with a worried look on his face and quickly looked at the schedule in his hands. "She is unwell, you know? Her breath is laboured and she gets sick frequently... the doctors are concerned as am I."
Monsieur de Tréville said nothing as he placed a hand on the man's shoulder and squeezed gently, the fatherly affection that he had for his musketeers showed with such a gesture and though Aramis and Porthos were annoyed with their captain, their fondness of him overcame such dark feelings.
However that feeling of affection quickly faded away as Tréville noticed them slacking off in their work and scolded them with the threat that they would be making every household in the city of Paris candles if they didn't get back to work.
"Will he actually do that to us?" Porthos asked Aramis quietly as he grabbed for the nearest string to dip into the tallow.
"I don't know," muttered Aramis with a look of contempt on his face as he watched Athos come into the room with d'Artagnan, both wore expressions of happiness on their faces but the moment that they caught sight of Porthos and Aramis working hard on candles, their smiles froze and both quickly became sombre. "But I am not in the mood to find out."
Porthos cursed loudly when two of his fingers on his right hand touched the hot fat in the pot and he quickly pulled away waving his hand around and held it up so he could take a look at it. Aramis threw him some thimbles distractedly as he clumsily cut away the excess wick and lay the completed candle aside to start on another one. He looked up briefly from what he was doing to find that d'Artagnan was watching them with interest on his young face and quickly looked away, the only thing he needed was for the young man to come up to their work space and watch them with that eager look that came into his eyes every time he saw them hard at work on something.
"Thank you," said Porthos as he grabbed the two thimbles and placed them on his fingers and picked up the piece of string again to dip into the hot fat. "But tell me Aramis: Why exactly is Tréville angry at us? Surely, we didn't do anything that could cause such discipline?"
Aramis looked up in disbelief, did Porthos already forget what had happened and why Tréville ordered them into doing this form of punishment? However, his question seemed genuine and for a moment there was silence as they continuously dipped a string in fat.
"Candles are expensive nowadays, Porthos," answered Aramis with a quick look towards Athos and d'Artagnan, both were in deep conversation with Tréville. "And seeing as our rough housing constantly broke all the candles in the household, Tréville thought it suffice to teach us a lesson by making them ourselves."
"Why is it that whenever you do something, Tréville never catches you but when we are doing something together that he comes out of his study?" Porthos frowned at his friend as they worked. "You're always the one who cuts the candles so that the person in charge of candle lighting can't light them."
"We get loud when we bicker together Porthos." Aramis was amused now and paused in his work long enough to give thought to what he was about to say next. "Whenever I bother the servant in charge of candle lighting, I am always silent about it and he knows better than to make his objections heard."
Before Porthos could respond however, Tréville disengaged himself from conversation and began to head back to his study. The two friends went back to their work quickly, with the wish that their captain did not see the slacking off.
"Once I find out that answer, I'll come back down." Tréville stopped near Aramis and Porthos long enough to turn around and call out to d'Artagnan and Athos. Before he hurried up the staircase, he looked over at the two friends who were hard at work. Porthos' face was red and Aramis tried to make himself as busy as possible by comparing the finished candles to the one that he was making. "I better see some real progress from you two when I come back later."
D'Artagnan sauntered towards their workspace with a curious look in his eyes, and when he had neared them enough to see what they were working on, that curiosity was replaced with a look of amusement.
"You two realise that there is a much easier and faster way of getting candles made right?" the young man asked the two of them with a barely concealed smile on his face.
"Do I look like I have made candles in a day of my life, d'Artagnan?" Porthos asked heatedly, he had burnt his other hand whilst putting the string into the pot, and had a look of exasperation on his face.
D'Artagnan picked up a stick and began to put many pieces of strings on them, when he had about eight on the stick, he placed the strings into the hot fat and while holding onto the stick began to dip them into the tallow every ten seconds.
"It is something that I learned when the candle making chore was given to me." he handed the stick to Aramis and began to prepare another one for Porthos, who actually looked as if he were about to hug d'Artagnan in relief. "It is a simple cheating method for making as many candles at once in less time and makes the chore a bit more entertaining."
When d'Artagnan was finished placing the eight strings on the second stick, he handed it over to Porthos who took it without hesitation. Before he left them to their chore, he gave them one last look and offered them some more words of advice.
"The thing about candles is that they prefer things just right. If you leave them on that fat for too long, it will turn back into bubbling tallow and you'll have to start over again."
As d'Artagnan left them to return to Athos as the door to Tréville's study opened and their captain emerged carrying a sheaf of papers, Porthos turned to Aramis with a grin on his face.
"I think that d'Artagnan has helped us make this chore move more quickly, don't you think Aramis?"
"Yes," he answered as he dipped the eight wicks into the fat. "However, he forgot to mention one other thing to us. When we are done with these candles, how do we take them off of the stick without burning ourselves?"
On his way to d'Artagnan and Athos who were waiting for him, Tréville paused at their workspace and watched them work for a few moments. "Did you two learn anything yet?" he asked them.
"Sir, we've learned a lot," said Porthos.
"Yes," answered Aramis with a look in d'Artagnan's direction. "We learned that candles are hard to make and that we should appreciate that."
"Good," answered Tréville as he walked away. "Finish up on what you're working on and come find me for your schedules."
Aramis and Porthos watched him leave with smiles on their faces. Both were grateful for d'Artagnan's help and advice and soon they went back to their work using the technique that d'Artagnan had showed them.
The thing about candles, Aramis mused as he dipped the eight wicks into the fat, was that even though it was a tedious job that many hated, that it became enjoyable once you found out you could cheat on it.