A/N: Second challenge fic! :D Okay, so pretty much I did a sort of "deleted scene" from the 2011 three musketeers movie version. I thought it to be kind of weird when Buckingham was trying to interrogate D'Artagnan and he acted as if he knew him when he didn't even glance his way before that, so I am assuming that they had an encounter from before. I thought of just doing the original D'Artagnan, but I know some of my readers seemed to be just dying to see an interraction between Buckingham and my OC from The Lady Musketeer, so I made the challenge fic into my fem!d'artagnan theme just for my readers to give them a little taste of what the interraction between them is going to be like. This fic stands on it's own, it does not belong to my Lady Musketeer fic, so the interraction you will see in that fic will probably be a little different at first, this fic is just a taste of what it's going to be like.
Summary: Adeline has an encounter with the Duke of Buckingham for the first time, but is not pleased to meet him when he gives her a little friendly advice.
Rated: K+ for two adult words.
Timeline: 1628
Unfortunately, I do not own Dumas or Anderson's work, they all belong to them, only Adeline belongs to me.
The Meeting of a Lord
With two summons from the king in two days, Adeline felt very flattered. She did not think King Louis would have such a high opinion on a female swashbuckler, she believed him to disapprove of her behavior, just like the Cardinal and Athos and a number of other people she could mention, but instead he seemed rather fond of her. He greeted her with a warm smile when she arrived in the courtyard, and he politely asked her if she would like to take a stroll with him into the garden, which Adeline did not refuse. Who could refuse their king, anyway?
They walked down the gravel with King Louis' six servants escorting them, four of them carrying the royal canopy, one at each pole, and two of them unrolling the red carpet on the roller. They were walking toward what looked like the Queen and her ladies in waiting, one of them being Constance Bonacieux whom Adeline just got acquainted with.
"Two summons in two days? His Majesty honors me," Adeline said as they walked.
"Oh, please, think nothing of it," King Louis said. "You are a good woman, Adeline, despite what my advisor says about you."
Adeline looked at the king, wondering what is it that Cardinal Richelieu told him, but she decided not to ask. He probably said what all the others believed her to be, that she was a harridan who should know her rightful place. After a while, Adeline just stopped caring what other people thought of her, so she just shrugged off whatever the king said what the cardinal told him about her.
"So, uh, how are the men treating you these days?" King Louis suddenly asked.
'An odd question,' Adeline thought, but answered anyway. She refused to mention her fiancé, though, it was better not to mention that subject to her king.
"Can't complain."
"Yes. Well, same here, of course, except with the ladies," King Louis said. "The thing is…" They stopped walking here, not too far from Queen Anne and her ladies in waiting before King Louis continued, "I got this friend, just a regular person, like you and me. He got married very young, political alliance, arranged marriage, you know the sort of thing."
Adeline realized right away who King Louis was talking about since the "political alliance" and "arranged marriage" gave it away, but she made no comment and just listened to her king.
"Hardly knew the girl…"
"But he likes her?" Adeline asked.
"Oh, yes, very much."
"Well, does she like him?"
"Well," King Louis said, laughing nervously, "funny thing is, that's the problem. He's, um, he's not sure." Here, he looked towards Queen Anne with such hopeless longing. "He just feels like a fool when he's around her. He's always saying the wrong thing, his palm is sweating, his heart is pumping so loud he's afraid she might hear it."
Adeline gave her king a small smile, thinking how it was romantic in a way that he was in love with his wife, despite their marriage being arranged. She also felt sympathy for him too because if she noticed anything about the Spanish Infanta, it was that she loved her husband very much as well, and it was sad to see King Louis not notice the love Queen Anne had for him.
"It's torture just to look at her," King Louis continued. "Have you ever felt this way?"
"I must tell you the truth, Your Majesty, I have not, but I think I know what your friend must do," Adeline said, making King Louis look excited.
"So what do we do? I mean, my friend, what does he do?"
"He should speak his heart, be someone who cares for her, and isn't afraid to show it. Be himself."
"Well, that's what I told him."
"Well, then he is doubly lucky," Adeline said. "After all, he does have Your Majesty as a friend."
"Yes, yes, it's good to have friends," King Louis said.
He looked at Queen Anne for a moment before, "Will you excuse me for a moment, Adeline," and went towards the group of women. He coughed to gain their attention, and they all responded by standing up and curtsying to him. Adeline could not hear what was being said from where she was standing, but she could tell that it was good by the way Anne of Austria was beaming with delight and the grateful smile Constance was giving her.
King Louis then walked back towards her after a few minutes and they started walking back. "Well, thank you, Adeline, that was very helpful advice," King Louis said a bit more cheerfully than before. "I'll be sure I be—I mean, tell my friend what you told me."
"I am glad to have helped, Your Majesty," Adeline said with a smile, glad that she helped with the king's love problems in a way.
"You may be dismissed, if you wish."
"Thank you. Goodbye, Your Majesty," Adeline said with a curtsy.
"Goodbye, Adeline."
Adeline and King Louis then went their separate ways, the king going back inside the palace and Adeline going back to her temporary apartment with Athos, Aramis, and Porthos. Along the way, she met someone.
"So, you must be Adeline d'Artagnan, the female swashbuckler that stood against forty of the cardinal's men along with those former musketeers?"
Adeline spun around and came across a handsome man that she recognized immediately as the Duke of Buckingham. He had on a charming smile that Adeline found really handsome on him, but she kept herself in check. She knew what this man was all about, what with Aramis telling her what happened in Venice, so she knew of his charming ways and did not want to show any weakness to him. However, out of habit, she got from her mother, she curtsied to him. It was something her mother always taught her: to bow to noble people out of respect, even when they didn't deserve it.
"I am that same woman, my lord," she said. "How may I help you?"
"I only wish to be acquainted with you, my lady, I want to be properly introduced to you."
"You wish to introduce yourself properly to a mere peasant? I should be flattered, Lord Buckingham, but I am more stunned than flattered," Adeline said.
"I am not as bad as I look or seem, I assure you, my lady," Buckingham said with a reassuring smile. "Besides, I would like to get to know the beautiful Gascon woman who boldly stood against forty men."
And before Adeline could even say or do anything, he began properly introducing himself. He took her hand and brought it to his lips, his moustache tickling it, the touch sending a weird sensation down her spine.
"I am George Villiers, also known as the Duke of Buckingham, and I am pleased to meet you."
"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Monsieur Buckingham, I am Adeline d'Artagnan," Adeline said. She wasn't sure if she was lying about being pleased to meet him because she found him charming in a way and she could not deny his physical appeal that drew women to him. It is what worried Adeline, though, because even she could feel herself getting tempted by just being in his presence.
"Enchanté, Mamoiselle d'Artagnan. You are the daughter of the famous Bertrand d'Artagnan, am I correct?" Buckingham suddenly asked.
"Yes, he died when I was only three, and my uncle took my mother and I in after he died, I learned how to fence from him," Adeline answered.
"Ah, yes, my father once knew your mother, it was said he was quite smitten by her beauty," Buckingham said.
"Your father knew my mother?" Adeline asked, surprised.
"It was a long time ago, before you were born, I was only a child when they first met," Buckingham responded. "My father talked a lot of your mother's beauty and I must say that you fit her description very well."
Adeline found herself blushing and feeling very flattered at the compliment, but she then remembered Aramis' description of Buckingham and shook it off.
"You know, as a gentleman, I feel obligated to give a little friendly advice to a beautiful young lady such as yourself," Buckingham said.
"Oh, and what friendly advice would that be, my lord?"
At this, Buckingham stepped closer to her, leaning into her ear and whispered, "If you wish not to have a bad reputation, stay away from those musketeers and also from swords and guns, it is no place for a lady to carry swords and guns around."
The hot breathe that was breathing down Adeline's neck would have sent delightful shivers down her spine to hear such a smooth and silky voice speaking to her in such a way, but it was the words that prevented her from having such a feeling. She glared at Buckingham, having a desire to wipe that charming smile off of his face with her sword. She had her chance to do so since she had it with her and she was reaching for the hilt, but she just took a deep breath before dropping her hand back to her side. She would just show the duke how "lady-like" she could be and show him never to provoke a Gascon's ire.
"My lord, most people would tell me I should accept this piece of friendly advice that you give me, but I am afraid I cannot accept it, it is an insult to my friends and my pride," Adeline responded. She expected Buckingham to look shocked to hear her expressing her opinion just like most men did, but his expression just remained neutral as she continued, "Athos, Aramis, and Porthos are my friends and they are the greatest musketeers ever in all of France. They may not be musketeers now, but as my uncle always said: once a musketeer always a musketeer, and I can see my friends are still musketeers by heart. And I may be a lady, Monsieur Buckingham, but I am unlike any other lady you will ever come across. I am not going to stand here and smile, thanking you for your so-called advice because I am not meant to be on the sidelines like some docile housewife. The next time you insult my friends and pride, you will find yourself on your backside with a blade in your gut."
Realizing what she just said, though, Adeline began to curse herself. 'Damnit! Why do I always let my Gascon temper get the best of me?' she thought. She knew her mother would probably get on her about talking to a noble man in such a way, but she did not regret standing up for her friends—and pride—because they meant the world to her, and no one insulted her friends like that! What did he expect her to be? Some back-stabbing whore, like Milady?
She believed to have made Buckingham angry, but instead of glaring at her, he just smirked. "I would not defend them so quickly if I were you, especially Athos, he is not as great as you think he is," he said. "I must say, though, I love your feisty spirit, it's something I have always admired in a woman. I wish to stay and chat, my lady, but I must be going, I still have a peace talk to discuss with that king of yours, but I do hope to meet up with you again." He kissed the back of Adeline's hand again before leaving a fuming Gascon girl behind.
"Why, that conceited, arrogant, womanizing, no good lying arsehole! How dare he say that about Athos, he doesn't know anything about him," Adeline mused on the way back to the apartment. "I hope he never gets to see me again because I definitely do not want to see him again!"
But fate seemed not to be on Adeline's side because she found herself meeting with the Duke of Buckingham again when she was captured during a mission to retrieve the queen's diamonds in the Tower of London. She was dragged into Buckingham's office and was greeted by Buckingham himself who smiled when he first saw her.
"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in…" he said.
The End
A/N: There you go, hope you all enjoyed that :). Sorry for all you Milady fans about the little "back-stabbing whore." I should be about done typing my Conquered By Love fic, so that should be uploaded sometime soon.