"Finally we are alone, Anne. No one will disturb us".
Milady got startled, grabbing a knife from her boot and turned around to face Catherine: Same clothes, same half mad expression, mouth curled into a tight grimace, skin tensed and sweaty, hands clutching Thomas' pistol, ready to shoot anytime Anne would move.
They were standing near Milady's quarters. After offering her husband a new life in England, she decided to buy some necessary items first, thinking about him on her way and paying for it dearly by nearly falling into a stream of mud in front of her. Thank god an old man caught her on time. In short, meeting Catherine was the last thing she could expect. At least not for the second time.
"She will not stop until I kill her". – She thought annoyingly, but her tongue moved otherwise.
"Changing the ways of killing, are we?" – Milady observed, eyes alight with amusement. – "I am glad you followed my advice, dear Catherine, but you still need a great work to turn them into more original ones." – She added, watching the other woman's expression turning grey, like the evening sky getting ready for a great storm.
"Oh I will, dear Anne. Too bad you won't see them". – She replied, fake sweetness cutting her voice sharply, making it sound almost unnatural. Well, warmth was never her thing after all. She was born to command, not to be commanded and that's what Athos sacrificed her for, when giving his lands to everyone. She would finish her matters with him later, first she had to take care of his beloved wife.
Before Milady could come to her senses, a very familiar noise of gunshot filled her ears, sending shivers through her spine. Her eyes widened, feeling a cold bullet hitting her stomach, blood oozing out like a stream of wine. She fell on the ground lifeless.
Catherine stood there shaking, trying hard not to panic. Her pistol fell from her hands. For the first time in her life she had killed a person. It was both comforting and terrifying to know she had won over her worst enemy, but it costed her more than she thought it would. It turned her into a murderer. How could she live normally again?
"I did the right thing. She deserved it". – She thought, suddenly coming back to her senses. Her guilt and shame gone in a blink of an eye. She felt like a person satisfying her thirst for the first time after a long journey through a long desert. It felt good. It filled the empty hole of her heart. She was almost whole again.
"No!"
Catherine nearly jumped out of her skin, hearing someone's desperate shout. Turning her head, she saw Athos running towards them, holding a small bouquet of forget me nots in his right hand.
The former count was never a quick one in making decisions. He went against that "habit" only thrice in his life: When marrying Anne, condemning her to death and joining the musketeers. It took him more than 2 hours to decide whether he should go with her or not. The approaching war and Treville's proposal were complicating things. He was needed in France. He had to do his duty, but he couldn't live without her either. After struggling a lot, he decided to persuade her to stay in France with him. Athos didn't manage to wait until sundown and decided to talk to her a few hours before her trip as she would have some time to think about his request.
Once reaching his destination, Athos quickly kneeled in front of his wife, letting the flowers hit the ground with a soft thud and started checking her pulse, cradling her head on his lap. He panicked, unable to find it, but after a good struggling he felt a faint beating in her veins and let out a sigh of relief. Taking off his scarf, he quickly wrapped it around his wife's wound tightly and kissed her forehead, before turning to Catherine, who still hadn't moved from her position.
"What have you done?" – He asked, voice dangerously quiet.
"I finished what you started five years ago". – She answered as firmly as she could, but the fear in her eyes didn't go unnoticed by Athos.
"It had to be you, not her" – He told her, feeling his control slowly slipping out of him.
"What do you mean?" – She asked wearily.
"Don't be ridiculous. I know everything."
"What do you know? What lie did she tell you this time?" – She asked, finally managing to look him in the eye.
"I know you were in that room, when it all happened. You knew what Thomas was trying to do to her, yet you didn't move a finger to save her. You were ready to let him rape her and then accuse her in being a thief and a murderer to get rid of her with my help." – Athos finished, struggling not to explode.
"Oh and you believed her of course. You are her slave, her protector, her biggest trump card."
"I am not an idiot, Catherine. You knew the truth and hid it from me. You made me condemn my wife to death and enjoyed watching her suffering!" – He shouted, finally losing his control.
"It's a lie! Your wife is a liar, a thief, a whore and a murderer! Why would I want to get rid of her? We lived like sisters, remember?"
"You were pretending all the time. You hated her. You hated knowing a thief managed to steal your position, that's why you started gathering information about her."
"But she deserved it. She lied to you".
"She might be a thief and possibly a whore, but it wasn't a crime that would get her hanged by me. You wanted to see her dead, that's why you didn't help her, when she was struggling with Thomas. You knew one of them would die in the end and it didn't really matter which one. Both deaths would be useful for you".
Catherine's face got even paler than Milady's. Realizing she was trapped felt anything but pleasant. She knew Anne and Thomas' struggling would indeed end badly, but she didn't consider the result then. Her mind was only focused on gaining her rightful position as a countess De La Fere and first of all how could she think Anne would escape her death? She thought nothing would go wrong, but everything went wrong.
"So what will you do now? Kill me? You were never good at killing women, Athos". – She said half mockingly, half pointedly. Letting her eyes linger on Milady's sprawled figure for a second.
"No, but I will make you face justice. The king will decide whether you should live or not."
Catherine felt her stomach churn at his words. She would certainly die in the end. No, she couldn't let him do it. She couldn't die when she finally got a chance to set everything right. She still had a whole life ahead and it would be easy to start new life with Athos' money and find a matching husband at last. Her mind started looking for a solution, when an idea crossed her mind. Now she just needed Athos to turn around.
To her luck, Athos suddenly remembered his wife needed help and decided to mount her on his horse. He started walking towards Roger. Not bothering to take her pistol as her movement could give her intentions away, she took out a quite sizeable knife hidden in her skirts and started following him quietly, clutching her knife tightly in her sprawled right hand, ready to stab him by the first given chance.
Athos felt something was amiss and turned around. Catherine shouted like an animal and moved forward to attack him with her knife. Athos avoided the first stab, trying to keep a balance, but she pushed him with all her force, making him land on the ground as she got on top of him. Catherine tried her luck again, but Athos managed to block her hand on time, barely managing to prevent the knife from grazing his face. The swordsman almost felt the taste of metal in his mouth. The fierce woman didn't stop and was about to strike again, when she felt a sharp pain in her back. Her expression got a mixture of shock and fear. Athos stared at her unblinkingly, feeling a warm blood wetting his doublet and undershirt. After some seconds of struggling, Catherine fell on top of him, letting out her last breath. Athos hurriedly pushed her off him and sat up to find his wife watching him, holding the dead woman's pistol in her hand. Their eyes met and she smiled at him. He smiled back, feeling warmth spreading through his chest.
"You came for me". – She whispered lovingly.
"Yes" – He answered with the same tone.
Milady smiled again before letting her body embrace the ground once more.
Athos reached for his wife with a desperate sound, patting her cheeks, calling her name, desperately trying to wake her up. He put his ear on her heart, feeling a weak beat. He started doing a heart massage with his hands, praying to the lord he wasn't sure he believed in for her well-being. He couldn't let her go after getting to know the truth. He still owed a great apology. There were so many things he needed her to hear and know, so many kisses he wanted to gift her, so many sincere promises he wanted to gain her forgiveness with. He would be damned forever if he let her go now. Athos knew he didn't deserve her after all and god had every right to take his last happiness away, but he was selfish enough to fight his fate, desperately hoping he would be successful.
"Anne, listen to me, darling, please live, please don't leave me!" – He kept saying those words to her. His eyes widened, when he suddenly lost the feeling of her heartbeat. He let out a strangled sound, increasing the pressure of his hands on her chest.
"Anne, please don't do this to me, I love you!" – He shouted, tears blurring his vision as he collapsed on her chest, sobbing openly. He felt like a child punished dearly by his parents for his mistakes. And indeed, it was his punishment. He felt empty, cold and alone in the world, having no reason to breathe anymore.
"I love you too." – A weak female voice made Athos' head jerk up in an instant to meet the most beautiful green eyes ever. He let himself get lost in them for a short moment, before hugging his wife with all his might, wrapping his arms protectively around her trembling body, sobbing into her neck.
"Easy, husband, I am a wounded woman". – She chided him, but her eyes were warm with love.
Athos raised his head to kiss her passionately, putting everything in that one kiss. She kissed him back, ignoring a sharp pain in her stomach, letting herself enjoy the moment. Who knew, maybe it was their last kiss.
Athos pulled away and picked her up in a bridal style, mounting her on his horse as gently as he could. He needed to find Aramis as soon as possible.
Upon reaching the Garrison, he quickly explained the whole situation to his friends and soon Milady was placed in Aramis' skilled hands.
The swordsman waited outside, pacing back and forth restlessly, unable to steady his heartbeat. Porthos, D'artagnan, Constance and Treville kept trying their bests to calm him down, but nothing could work on him. He was more than battered this time.
"She saved my life." – Athos whispered brokenly. – "She saved my life and nearly said goodbye to her own".
"Don't worry, Athos, she is a strong woman". – Constance put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly.
"Yeah, she will survive and you two will live happily for a very long time". – Porthos added with a dreamy smile.
Athos blinked at them, unable to believe his ears. He thought they hated her, but now their hearts were full of hope and acceptance. He couldn't be more grateful to god for giving him such friends.
"I know it's almost unbelievable to hear it from us, but your happiness is our happiness, my friend". – D'artagnan clapped his shoulder.
"If she makes you happy, we have nothing against her. I am ready to accept her as my sister." – Constance said sincerely.
Athos' eyes filled with tears of joy and pride as he hugged them all tight, thanking god for 100th time for them.
Aramis came out after an hour with a victorious smile on his face. Athos and the others rushed to him, spinning his head with different questions.
"Don't worry, people, she will live. She has lost a great amount of blood and is very weak now, but her life is out of danger now. I took the bullet out and stitched her wound. It wasn't as deep as it first seemed. All she needs now is a plenty of rest and her husband's care". – He finished, winking at Athos.
The swordsman hugged the medic tightly, thanking him endlessly. Aramis enjoyed the hug for a while, before gently pushing Athos' hands away from himself.
"Now, now, your wife requires your attention, Mon Comte". – He chided softly, pointing at the closed door. Athos nodded and went to see his wife.
"I hope they will find their happiness at last." – Aramis whispered and joined the others.
The first thing he noticed was a pale figure laying on the bed, eyes closed and breath erratic. He sat quietly by her side and took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips.
"I am sorry". – He murmured, leaning his forehead against her hand. Skin to skin. This silent apology was dedicated to each and every bad thing he had done to her, including the last accident. Athos was never a man of words, he was a man of actions, but a single word could enough to express his feelings. This time his voice got rich with guilt, shame, hope and love. He cursed himself for not letting Aramis teach him how to speak properly when he offered, but he hoped his wife would understand even without romantic declarations. She always did. That was the reason she was with him and still loved him. She trusted him, she knew him and she admired him for his honesty. She never needed words from him to make sure he loved her, each and every small action of his in her address was enough for her. Athos foolishly hoped she would understand this time too.
Athos was about to raise his head, when he felt a hand running through his hair. He didn't need to look up to know it was her. He would recognize the gentleness of her skin everywhere.
"Anne…" – He began, raising his head, but she stopped him, putting a finger on his lip.
"Listen to me first, will you?" – She asked. He nodded.
"I am truly sorry for everything I have done to you. Even if it was never my intention to kill your brother, the fault is still mine. You have every right to hate me or abandon me. I will not blame you for rejection. I just want you to know that I loved you then and I love you now. I will not stop loving you until my last breath. And today… Today, when I saw Catherine, I thought it was the end and felt bad for not confessing my feelings to you when I had a chance. I am a person living on the edge of a sharp knife, smelling the scent of death during every step I take. Yet, you had always been my strength to go on, Athos. Even when I thought I wanted my revenge, I couldn't stop pain rushing through my chest at the image of your dead body. I didn't know I still loved you then, or didn't want to acknowledge it, but I do now. Forgive me if you can and give me another chance if you still love me."
Athos took her both hands in his and looked into her sad eyes.
"Anne," – He began, - "I fell in love with you from the first sight and never stopped since then. I loved you when I married you, I loved you when I got to know who you were, when I condemned you to death, when I let my head express my acceptance of your death, when I forced you to fall on your knees in front of me, when I threw you out of Paris, when I saw you with the king and finally when you killed Catherine. I love you now and I will love you forever. I am sorry for everything. I shouldn't have made a hasty decision. I was wrong. I really want to start a new life with you, but I'll be honest. The war is approaching and Treville wants me to be the captain. I am needed here, Anne. I can't abandon my country when it needs me the most, but you can stay here, with me. I know being a musketeer's wife is nothing compared to being a count's wife, but it's all I can offer. Please, stay".
Milady felt a hot stream of tears bathing her pale cheeks. She felt so proud of him. Of course, it was a known fact Athos was Treville's second in everything and she wasn't surprised he had made such decision, but she couldn't help feeling pride raising in her chest. Her husband would lead a great army in the war, give instructions, protect country and return as a hero. Oh, she couldn't be any luckier in this life.
"I will stay, my captain". – She whispered trough her tears, looking at him lovingly.
Athos' face broke into a wide grin as he bent to kiss her softly, putting all his feelings in it, enjoying the absolute rightfulness of being with her. He didn't know what the future had for them, his mind was only thinking about the present. Finally, the fortune was on their side. They were together at last and he knew they would make it work.
"And I am whole again". – They thought in unison, smiling at each other lovingly.