PLEASE PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE READING THE AU.
Hello, everyone! I bring you this musketeers au because I have become obsessed with this show and the rocky relationship between Constance and D'Artagnan so, of course, I made it into lucaya!
Now, before you start reading, you should know that, if you haven's seen the show, this au spoils specifically:
episode 1 of series 1 (first flashback)
episode 7 of series 1 (second flashback)
episode 8 of series 1 (third fashback)
episode 10 of series 1(fourth flashback)
and episode 6 of series 2 (which is everything else)
I recommend listening to Rescue Me by Kerrie Roberts while reading.
Also, if you can't tell, Madeline is Maya. I just didn't think that her name suits the 17th century, so I changed it into Madeline, as it does kinda, maybe sound close to Maya. I wanted Farkle, Zay and David (lol I love David) to be musketeers with Lucas so I didn't change their names, although they sound a bit weird. Just ignore it.
I do no own the show or its characters, obviously, nor do I own the dialogues used in this au. Most of them are from the show itself, I regret to admit, but I didn't want to change too much of the masterpiece that is The Musketeers.
Hope you enjoy this, I am really proud of it and I think it's my favourite au of mine.
The King and Queen, along with their most royal subjects have been invited by the astronomer Marmion to watch the solar eclipse using his new invention, the camera obscura. As The Queen's most loyal lady in waiting and confidante, Madeline Bonacieux is sitting right next to The Queen in the carriage. The King, along with his son and Comte de Rochefort, who is the captain of the Red Guard, are across the two women.
The Musketeers, D'Artagnan, Isaiah and David, with the exception of Farkle who stayed at the garrison to help their captain, are accompanying Their Majesties to provide protection, as they are the most trusted and most capable of all the musketeers.
Madeline knows that his eyes are on her. They always are. Her eyes seek his just the same, but she is trying not to show it in front of the people around her. She is, after all, a married woman. A married woman whose husband waits for her at home, and trusts that she is not in any sort of contact with him. She had always been a loyal and faithful wife. Then he came along.
Once they arrive, The King and Queen are escorted out of the carriage toward the once known fort which was turned into an observatory. As Madeline is getting ready to walk down the two steps separating the carriage from the ground, a hand is extended to her.
She looks up to see D'Artagnan giving a light smile, barely noticeable.
''Madame.''
She accepts the hand, trying to ignore the spark each touch ignites in her. Her husband has never made her feel the way the young man does. When he would hold her hand while showing her off to the public, she only felt the obligation to not seem as stiff, to act like she actually enjoyed it as his wife. But when D'Artagnan's fingers make contact with her skin, she feels like she is waking up. Like everything around her is not real, all that is real is him and his touch and the fire it leaves burning inside her. It has been that way since the day they met.
He had just been framed for murder. By a woman he slept with not too many hours ago. If they catch him, he will never succeed in avenging his father's death.
He doesn't think things through as a woman keeps on yelling 'You murdered him! Murderer!' so he rushes back into the room he rented for the night, closing the door and knocking over and entire wardrobe to block it. Soon he realizes that he is now trapped with no way of getting out, and it is only a matter of time before they find a way in.
So he jumps out of the window.
He stayed on the first floor so the fall doesn't kill him, thankfully. But he does land on his stomach, which knocks the wind out of him for a few seconds. He has no time to try and recover from this and his already gained injuries, because he heard a voice yelling 'He's down there! Get him!'
He's up on his feet, running past people looking at him weirdly. He has found his way to some sort of small market place and he runs frantically before quickly hiding behind a pillar. He glances to the side, over the corner of his hideout, and sees three people getting closer to him and he realizes that this won't do much to keep them from finding him.
He turns back to see a woman in front of him buying some vegetables. Without thinking, yet again, he grabs the woman by the hand and pulls her to him. She lets out a gasp of surprise and looks at him wide-eyed.
He places his hands on her cheeks. ''I'll give you five livre if you kiss me.''
The woman opens her mouth to protest, he assumes, but he hears the footsteps getting closer and closer, so he pulls her close and kisses her, holding her in place. She lets out noises muffled by his lips, but he grips even tighter, waiting for the people to pass them. He keeps his eyes open and when he sees all three men run past them, he lets go.
''I can't believe that actually worked.''
He keeps looking at them but he is forced to close his eyes when her knee collides with his groin. He lets out a groan, bending over.
''Touch me again and I'll gut you like a fish.'' She threatens. He looks up to see her pointing a knife at him. ''Do I look like a prostitute to you?''
''My apologies, Mademoiselle.'' He wheezes out.
''Madame.''
''Madame.'' He repeates, maneuvering himself away from the pillar he was leaning against to avoid getting stabbed by the knife in the woman's hand.
He begins walking away, when he remembers all of his injuries which are now hurting everywhere.
''Are you alright?'' He hears her speak, but he will admit it is kind of distant, blurry.
''Just fine.''
Suddenly, he is falling on his stomach and the face of the woman he basically assaulted fades away.
She doesn't know why she brought him to her house. She doesn't know why she is tending to his wounds. She doesn't know why she keeps thinking about the kiss. But she is.
She is pressing a cloth to his forehead, waiting for him to wake up. Now that he is unconscious, peaceful, she is able to really look at him. She doesn't remember ever seeing a man as beautiful as he is. Just looking at him made her question everything she has every known about men and attraction between a man and a woman.
When he comes to, he grabs her hand, stopping her ministrations, not fully being sure of what was happening. He makes eye contact with her.
''Where am I?''
She shakes off his hand and stands up from his side. ''My husband's house.''
''I can't stay here. I have to go to the Musketeers' garrison.'' He gets up and pulls on the shirt he had been wearing for almost two days.
''Why the garrison?''
''I have an appointment with the Musketeer Farkle.''
''Is he a friend of yours?''
''Not exactly.'' He turns to face her. ''May I know the name of my rescuer?''
''Madeline Bonacieux.''
He pauses for a few moments. ''He killed my father, Madeline. I must face him.''
''But your injuries-''
''Let me worry about that.'' He grabs his sword lying on the chair and walks toward the door.
''And your name?''
''D'Artagnan. Lucas D'Artagnan, but I never use my first name.'' And then he was gone.
Marmion leads them inside, and Their Majesties take their seats, along with Madeline. Two of the Musketeers, Isaiah and David go upstairs to watch over the top floor and to make sure no intruder barges in in an attempt on The King or Queen's life.
D'Artagnan and Rochefort stay downstairs, Rochefort makes his way The King and stays at his left side, while D'Artagnan stops between The Queen and Madeline.
She looks up at him but diverts her eyes when he turns his head towards her. She isn't sure if The Queen noticed it, but if she had, she mentioned nothing.
D'Artagnan looks across the room, checking for anything suspicious and then makes eye contact with Isaiah and David upstairs, letting them know that it was all clear down there.
While he is busy mentally talking to his friends, she lets her eyes wander to him. So does her mind.
He is sitting with her at her house, after yet another day of saving someone's life from the Red Guards and the Cardinal.
This time, it was Countess Ninon De Larroque, who broke the law by secretly giving women an education. She was accused of kidnapping her own students after some of the girls had gone missing, one of them being Fleur, Madeline's friend.
When they found the girls, Fleur's father immediately found her a husband and prohibited her from going to another Countess' class. Madeline saw how devastated her friend was, and she knew just how eager she was to learn, so she tried to persuade her father into changing his mind. But he didn't tell her what he decided.
They are drinking tea when the door opens and Fleur walks in. Madeline stands up to greet her and the girl flies into her arms.
''What are you so happy about?'' She asks the girl, chuckling.
Fleur pulls away from the hug but takes hold of Madeline's arms. ''I don't have to get married yet!'' She giggles. ''And my father is letting me continue my education! He said that a woman persuaded him.''
Madeline opens her mouth but is interrupted. ''I bet it was Ninon. She's just so inspiring.''
D'Artagnan notices that she falters slightly. But a smile soon graces her face again.
''I'm happy for you.''
The girl laughs gleefully and gives her another hug before running out of the house. The smile is gone. She notices his eyes on her and walkes past him towards the window.
''You talked to her father, didn't you?''
She closes her eyes.''Don't be silly.''
He stands up from his chair and makes a step closer to her.
''You are the finest woman I have ever met.'' She freezes. ''I don't believe there is a more generous soul in all of France.''
She walked up to him and put her hand to his mouth. ''Stop that. You're embarrassing me.''
He grabs her hand, gently removes it from his mouth but keeps his hold on it.
''Why shouldn't I embarrass you? Why shouldn't I name all the reasons I love you?''
Both of them freeze at that. She's staring at him wide-eyed, suddenly forgetting how to breathe. He soon recovers and tries to save himself from rejection.
''Well-uh..What I mean by that, of course, is that I admire and respect you.''
''Say it again.''
''I admire and I respect you.''
She slaps his chest lightly. ''Not that, you idiot.''
He looks down for a moment before his eyes are on hers. ''I love you.''
She breathes out, not believing what she is hearing. When he arrived, her world turned upside down. Each glance, each smile, each touch, no matter how friendly, moves something inside of her. And she is scared of it.
Her marriage is something she has known almost all of her life. And since it was not a marriage out of love, every day was practically the same and predictable. But with D'Artagnan and his musketeer life comes a whole new world, full of love and adventure. Each day has something new in store, and she can never expect it or know what it is. It scares her, knowing that things might be out of her control for once. It scares her, knowing that everything would be new and unknown. It scares her, knowing that he might die any day.
But she has hid her feelings for him for so long. She has never experienced love before, and then it came knocking at her door. Or falling at her feet, more like. No matter how hard she tries to convince herself that she should be a loyal wife, she decides that, for once, she should listen to what her heart is telling her.
So she grabs his shirt and kisses him. Hard. His arms go around her waist, trying to diminish any sort of space between them. When his tongue slips between her lips, she lets out a whimper and claws at his musketeer uniform, desperate for more.
He created fire, now he has to extinguish it.
It all happened so fast. One moment, Marmion gave them all protection for their eyes and they all gathered around the camera obscura, and in the next, chaos.
In a matter of seconds, they were all surrounded. Guns were pointed at The King, The Queen and Madeline, as the Musketeers and Rochefort tried to defend them, but were outnumbered, resulting in Isaiah being thrown out the window on the top floor he was guarding, David and Rochefort being taken away to a cellar. The Queen and her son were taken away to a room to torture The King. D'Artagnan was left downstairs with The King and Madeline.
''The game must be witnessed.'' Marmion says.
D'Artagnan tries to shake off the two men holding him but receives two strong punches to the stomach, taking him down.
''Leave him alone!'' She screams as she stands up, trying to get to him, but to no avail. A man grabs her from behind and holds her in place.
Her outburst didn't go unnoticed by Marmion.
''You're defending him. Why?'' He walks to her slowly.
''Because I care about him. Because he's my friend.'' Her voice cracks at the last word.
''Well then, tie these friends together. They can give each other comfort.''
The man holding her takes her to him, tying their hands with the same rope.
She looks at him, scared.
''Don't worry, we'll get out of here.'' He promises, kissing her forehead.
She doesn't know how he found out. They were being careful, she made sure of that.
She has just returned from the garrison, after she had wished D'Artagnan good luck for the tournament he entered between the Musketeers and the Red Guard. He gave her the sweetest kiss which left a smile on her face as she walked back to her house.
She walks in to see her husband standing by the window, just how she did when D'Artagnan first told her that he loved her.
He is silent for a few moments, and then he turns his head to the side. ''Was your life so bad, Madeline?'' She understands immediately. He knows. ''Was I cruel to you? Did I beat you?''
She shakes her head. ''You were never cruel, I-I wasn't unhappy.'' She sighs. ''At least I didn't know I was until..'' She doesn't continue, because he knows.
He turns around fully to face her, his expression stone cold. ''I order you to end it, immediately.''
''I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I won't give him up. I love him.''
His eye harden. ''End it, or he will be dead in a week.''
She gasps. ''What are you talking about?''
''My new client is the Cardinal. You know very well how powerful he is. And how much he hates your lover.'' He spits.
''You're bluffing.''
''Do you really want to take that chance?'' She is silent. ''I thought so. Give him up or he dies.''
''Treville has decided to fight himself. Can you believe that?'' He says angrily as he walks into the kitchen where she sits.
She doesn't look at him. Her eyes are trained to the floor. ''Well, guess that puts an end to your daydream.''
''What do you mean?''
''We were fooling ourselves, D'Artagnan.'' She says as she stands up. ''There's no future for us together. A respectable..married woman.'' She struggles with those words. ''This flirtation has to end.''
''Flirtation? I love you.''
''But I don't love you.'' It was like a knife to the gut, for the both of them.
''I was tempted, I'll admit that.'' She continues. ''But I can't risk my future for you. I have far too much to lose.''
She sees the tears in his eyes, and is trying extremely hard to hold hers in.
He swallows before looking at her sharply. ''I'm sure you've made the right decision. What use is love compared to money, right?'' He blinks aways his tears. ''Thank you for helping me see things more clearly.''
He walks past her, and his smell envelops her for a few seconds, making her tremble. The moment she hears the front door closing, she lets go. The tears are running down her cheeks, she is sobbing, quite loudly, and all she can feel is her heart hurting, crying out, screaming at her for doing this to them both.
He nudges her with his hands. ''Sit down.'' When she does, he kneels in front of her.
''If I hadn't spoken to The Queen about you getting the job as her adviser, you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be in danger.'' He shakes his head.
''You only wanted the best for me. '' She says quietly, looking into his eyes.
''You are the bravest woman I have ever known.''
She feels a tug at her heart.
''I wish I had never married. I wish I was free.'' She shrugs slightly. ''I wish a lot of things, but we can't change how the world is made.''
''We can do anything if we dare, Madeline.''
''Do you really believe that?''
''Always.''
''Time to make a choice, Your Majesty.'' Marmion interrupts their conversation.
''What kind of choice?''
''I toss this coin. If you call corectly, she lives.'' He points at Madeline. ''If not, she dies. Untie her.''
D'Artagnan immediately starts struggling. ''Don't harm her. Don't harm her, I beg you! Your Majesty, don't call. Please, don't make the call!''
''If he doesn't call, she dies anyway. This way she at least has a chance.''
Marmion tosses the coin. As it flies in the air, Louis can still hear D'Artagnan begging him not to call.
''Tails.''
''No!'' He struggles against the man holding him, as he feels tears gathering in his eyes.
D'Artagnan doesn't see on what the coin landed as Marmion's back is turned to him, but he sees The King sighing in defeat, and all too quickly, the man pulls out a gun and points it at her.
Farkle's wife is holding a gun to her head, waiting for the Musketeers to get themselves out of the mess the woman had created for them. Milady knows that they will. She also knows that this probably won't work, but she has no choice left.
She sees the four of them walking towards her, finally noticing the situation.
''One move and she dies.'' She points the gun at them, still holding Madeline.
The four of them freeze.
D'Artagnan feels as if his life just flashed before his eyes. After all, she is his life. He is not prepared to lose her. He looks at her, making sure that he has her full attention, as he moves his arm slightly, hoping that she understands what he's trying to say. Thankfully, she does.
As Milady is distracted by her husband, she uses the opportunity to grab her arm and raise it upward, making the shot fire. The woman is left shocked so she manages to wriggle herself out of her arms and fly into D'Artagnan's.
''I'm so sorry!'' She sobs into his neck, as one of her hands finds its way into his hair. ''I'm sorry for everything that I've said. I didn't mean any of it, none of it was true.''
She breaks the embrace to kiss him. The kiss was passionate and salty, laced with her tears.
''I love you so much.'' She pulls away to speak, but he kisses her again, his hand in her hair, holding her as close as he can.
''Madame Bonacieux!'' They are interrupted by a short, older woman. ''I have been looking for you. Come quickly, the Master has tried to kill himself!''
They look at each other, eyes wide, scared of what will happen now.
They walk into the house she shares with her husband, only to find him in the kitchen with a doctor, his arm in a sling.
''What have you done?'' She asks.
''I thought you had abandoned me.'' He explaines. ''I couldn't bear to live life without you, so I..tried to end it all.'' He kisses her hand. ''Please, don't leave me. I love you. So much.''
She shares a look with D'Artagnan and he knows. It's over. He's won.
''Know this, if you leave me again,'' He sobs. ''my death will be on your conscience. Please, don't leave.''
He's waiting for her outside. He knows what she's going to say, but he is hoping and praying that he's wrong.
''I can't leave him.'' He hears her behind him.
He was not wrong. He closes his eyes and breathes out shakily before he turns to face her.
''He's bluffing.''
''I don't know that for certain. What if he does try it again?'' Tears are in both of their eyes.
''He will never make you happy.''
Her hands reach out to touch his cheeks, but when he leans into the touch, she drops them to her sides. He takes them, brings them to his face and plants a wet kiss on them, making her cry even harder.
''Goodbye, D'Artagnan.''
''Don't shoot! Please! Take me instead!'' He pleads desperately. ''My life for hers.''
Everyone's eyes are on him.
''No, D'Artagnan.'' She shakes her head.
''You think I can just stand there and watch you die?'' He raises her his voice. ''I won't do it. I-I can't do it.'' His voice cracks as he struggles against the man.
''Lets us test your resolve. Untie him.'' After he is free, Marmion steps closer to him. ''You're free to go. I give you your freedom! You are free to live your life, but she has to die.''
''D'Artagnan, please, go.''
''I am not leaving.''
''There is no need for your sacrifice, why would you offer your life for hers?'' Marmion points the gun at him now.
''Because I love her.'' A sob comes out of her mouth. ''Just promise you'll let her go.''
''A life for a life, alright. She lives, you die, then.''
He looks at her, wanting to make sure that she is the last thing he sees before he dies. He hopes that his eyes tell her how much he loves her and how much she means to him. He regrets never winning her back and letting her go so easily, but he knows that pushing her would've been the worst thing he could've done, and he just hopes that she will find her happiness one day, even if it's not with him.
As he ignores Madeline's protests, Marmion cocks the gun and aims for D'Artagnan.
Suddenly, the door opens. In walk the remaining three Musketeers, along with their captain and Rochefort, and they take everyone down. Marmion runs away, but, once Isaiah, who he is thankful to see alive, tosses him a gun, D'Artagnan runs after him.
Madeline and The King are escorted outside by David, where they are both delighted to see The Queen and the dauphin safe and sound.
She is standing in front of the carriage, waiting for D'Artagnan to return. Once the Musketeers made sure that nobody else was in the fort, they too got out, so now, everyone is waiting for D'Artagnan to return, and the more time passes, the more Madeline grows worried.
A hand lands on her shoulder. She turns to see The Queen smiling at her. ''He'll be fine, I'm sure of it. He's a musketeer.''
''I hope so, Your Majesty.''
''Madeline.'' Farkle's voice makes her glance at him. He smiles, jerking his head to the side, making her turn.
And she sees him. He is walking towards them with a smile on his face, and thankfully, no scratch on him. A smile graces her lips, then a laugh, and soon she is running towards him at full speed. He stops and opens his arms, ready to finally embrace the woman he loves.
When they collide, she lets out a sigh of relief. Her head nuzzles his neck briefly before she takes hold of his cheeks and pulls away to look into his eyes.
''I love you.'' She smiles at him, moving the sweaty hair away from his forehead.
''I know.''
''I don't care what people think, I don't care what they say.'' Her hands move from his cheeks down to his neck. ''This is my life, and I want to spend the rest of it with you.''
''Do I get a say in this?'' He smirks.
''No''. She laughs before she pulls him in for a sweet kiss.
They will figure things out. Somehow, they know they will. But they're in each other's arms, both alive, both safe. And that is enough for now.