Author note: This comes from a review I received for 'Decision'. LordLady said they would like to read a story where Athos did not make any decisions for a week. This is what I came up with.
They are all in this, but it is more d'Artagnan centric. D'Artagnan angst and a bit of Athos whump are contained within. Porthos and Aramis get a bit of action later on.
There is some preposterous Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider style architecture/engineering in this...just go with it. It's nonsense!
Life and Death
Chapter One
'I think a few days leading the three of you would do him good,' said Treville, 'you can keep an eye on him, step in if necessary. Anyone who can keep Porthos and Aramis in check is a fine Musketeer in my eyes,' continued the Captain with a grin.
Athos managed a small smile, 'yes, despite having less service than Aramis he is happy to let me lead him and Porthos just wants to get on with the fight, in whatever shape that takes. But d'Artagnan, he is destined to lead, he will be the best of us all, I am sure.'
Treville nodded, 'then you'll let him take the lead for a few days? Let him make mistakes, as long as they are not dangerous, let him find his way as a leader.'
Athos nodded.
'He has enthusiasm, but I would like to build up his confidence, show him what he is capable of, with you there he has someone to fall back on if necessary. But I don't think he will need it.'
'I think I might enjoy taking a step back, not making the decision for a week or so will be liberating.'
'I know, I wish I could do the same,' replied Treville with a grin, 'but you won't take over from me.'
Athos shook his head, 'I would not want to Captain.'
'One day,' said Treville, 'you will.'
'But not today.'
'I'll put the four of you on patrol in the markets for a couple of days. That generally includes a few diversions.'
Athos nodded, he turned to go, putting his hat on as he did so, he paused at the door, 'I wonder if this, letting d'Artagnan take charge, will actually be relaxing...or terrifying?'
'Welcome to my world,' laughed Treville.
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After Athos had told him what the plan was, that he was to take the lead for the next few days d'Artagnan had been a little shocked. He had not been expecting it. They each played to their strengths. Aramis would take charge when one of them were injured or if his weapons mastery was required, Porthos was a tactician who could plan and strategies further ahead than anyone he knew. Athos was the natural leader, he was calm, quiet, slightly aloof and commanded respect from most people.
But he was young, he could fight and shoot but he was not leadership material. They listened to his ideas, they respected him, but he did not think he was ready to take charge.
The idea was a little daunting. He wondered if Athos would be able to fully let go of his position, if they would just be humouring him. Did Treville think he needed a boost to keep him happy as a Musketeer?
'Look at him, trying to take in the idea,' said Porthos nudging Aramis with his arm.
Aramis looked up from the gun he was cleaning, 'I wonder if he knows what to do? Oh, the fun we shall have with him.'
D'Artagnan looked away for a moment trying to think of a response.
'First telling off on its way,' said Porthos quietly, leaning into Aramis and conspiratorially looking across to the younger Musketeer.
D'Artagnan noticed Athos was about to speak but beat him to it, 'if either of you had wanted to be leaders you would be by now,' he said, 'but as you clearly have no ambition I think you should both shut up and give me a fair chance.'
'Ohh,' responded Aramis, as Porthos laughed.
Athos hid a smirk as he took a drink of wine.
'What they are trying to say,' said Athos, 'is that they will support you as much as possible.'
Athos made a point of glaring at each of his friends. Aramis pretended he was deeply offended while Porthos grinned widely.
Treville appeared behind Porthos and Aramis, he rested his hands on their shoulders.
'Your men will be nothing but respectful, I am sure,' he said glancing down at them both, 'now don't let me have to haul the four of you up for dereliction of duty, that marketplace will not patrol itself.'
The Musketeers nodded as they gathered their doublets and weapons. Athos deliberately placed himself at the back of the group as d'Artagnan led them out of the mess.
D'Artagnan knew Porthos and Aramis would help him out as much, or as little as necessary. He was grateful to have his brothers with him. Although he hoped nothing untoward occurred whilst he was leading the group. A little action to lead the charge on might be interesting, but he did not want to be responsible for any life and death situations.
At least not yet.
MMMM
The man threw the apples back at the stall holder in disdain. The stall holder remonstrated with the man. A women, they presumed the stall holders wife wagged her finger at the customer, her other hand on her hip. A couple of passes by stopped to watch the confrontation.
The four Musketeers paused a few yards away watching. When d'Artagnan did not move Athos sighed, wondering if the young man had already forgotten he was in charge.
Athos nudged d'Artagnan who looked at him. Athos nodded in the direction of the argument which was growing more heated by the moment.
'We are here to keep the peace…'
Athos raised his eyebrows at d'Artagnan who took a few seconds before he reacted.
'Oh…' was his only response as he slowly walked forward towards the argument.
The portly customer had stepped up to the stall holder and was squaring up to him. The finger-wagging wife took a step back from her husband and the customer looking a little apprehensive. The customer was using his baulk to intimidate the stall holder.
D'Artagnan walked up to the arguing men, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The stall holder glanced at him a look of relief crossed his face. The large man did not look happy that d'Artagnan was about to interfere. The man was breathing hard and had turned a deep red colour due to his obvious anger.
'That man could probably knock d'Artagnan down with one swing of his meaty arm,' remarked Porthos.
'He could probably knock any of us down,' said Aramis, 'that is a big man.'
'Let us hope that our young friend is quick enough to evade any attempt to knock him down...I suspect the gentleman is of limited intelligence. He may not realise he has his size on his side.'
They watched as d'Artagnan gently manoeuvred the large man a few feet away from the stall holder and began a quiet conversation with him. The man was still worked up but listened to d'Artagnan when he spoke. He waved his arm about a bit.
Athos lay a stilling hand on Aramis' arm when d'Artagnan had to dodge to the left to evade being hit accidentally by the irate man.
'Let him deal with it…' Athos said quietly.
'If he gets knocked over and damaged I will blame you whilst I am dealing with his injuries,' replied Aramis as he allowed Athos to push him back a step.
'We can't molly coddle him forever,' remarked Porthos.
Athos knew Aramis and Porthos would gladly step forward and back up d'Artagnan but he was determined the man learned to deal with the fraught situation alone. D'Artagnan was young, he had a tendency to be impetuous, he needed to learn to deal with many different situations.
'Ohh, that was brave,' said Porthos.
D'Artagnan had turned his back on the big man and began to talk to the stall holder. He was looking at the apples that had been thrown by the big man. The wife had stepped back to stand by her husband and seemed to be trying to remonstrate with d'Artagnan who shook his head. The stall holder shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated manner but seemed to acquiesce to d'Artagnan. The stall holder reached into his pocket and pulled out a few coins, he handed them to d'Artagnan who turned back to the big man who accepted the coins with a smile.
After a final scowl at the stall holder, the big man wandered away slipping the coins into his purse as he went. D'Artagnan nodded to the stall holder and his wife before walking back.
'How did I do?' he asked.
'No one is dead or injured,' said Aramis, 'I would say you did well.'
Porthos smiled and slapped d'Artagnan on the shoulder, 'perhaps you should have been a diplomat.'
'How dull,' remarked Athos, 'but at least you know that our job is not all sword fights and shooting guns.'
'If only it was that simple,' said Aramis with a faraway look.
MMMM
They walked back into the garrison, with Porthos trying to persuade d'Artagnan that, as their leader, he should pay for the wine when they visited the tavern later.
Aramis looked up to see Treville leaning over the balustrade watching them, he nudged Porthos who was still trying to get a free drink and nodded towards their captain. The four men paused, it was obvious the Captain needed their attention.
'My office, bring Chevrier, Proulx and Lapointe with you, I think they're in the mess at the moment.'
'I'll round them up,' said Porthos as he walked towards the mess.
D'Artagnan, Porthos and Aramis made their way up the stairs to the Captain's office.
'I guess if we are being sent on a mission my temporary leadership is over,' said d'Artagnan.
Aramis thought he detected a little disappointment in the Musketeers' voice. D'Artagnan had not had much of a chance to lead the four of them, but had been pleased with himself after the incident in the market. Aramis and Porthos had stopped teasing the young man after that, a silent understanding between them that yes, their friend was ready to take the reins of leadership. Porthos had pointed out the proud look on Athos face when d'Artagnan had continued to take the lead for the rest of the day. Athos was trying to hide it, but he was clearly happy with their friend's actions.
As they reached the door to Treville's officer Aramis spotted Porthos walking back across the yard with the other three Musketeers in tow.
Pierre Chevrier was younger than d'Artagnan and a small slight lad, he was barely tall enough to be a soldier, but his fighting spirit and enthusiasm meant he had quickly become a popular Musketeer. He had earned his commission after stopping a spooked horse from running into the Royal party.
Marc Proulx, had made friends with Chevrier very quickly, they were rarely seen apart. The young man had no other surviving family and had fully invested himself to the Musketeers.
Luc Lapointe, was a big man, he had been in the infantry for a few years, Aramis smiled at the thought of the time the man had almost beaten Porthos in a brawl. Almost. Porthos was very fond of the man and often could be found trying to teach him to play cards. But Lapointe for all his brute strength was not much of a thinker, but he was fiercely loyal to his friends and the Musketeers.
Once they were all in the office, Aramis closed the door, leaning against it. Treville was stood behind his desk looking his men over.
'One of the King's diplomats, Paul Clement, along with his wife and a servant have been taken captive by a group working for the Spanish. Clement has been attempting mediation with a few of the more reasonable Spanish factions. I believe he had been doing very well in his diplomatic role. The men who have him must know that he has information that will be useful to enemy spies. There is a strong possibility that Clement will be tortured for the information he has.'
Treville paused, all the men were giving him his full attention.
'I need the seven of you to head to the castle Clement and his wife are being held in and rescue them. If he has already given the information up it cannot be allowed to get back to Spain.'
'Why are so few of us going?' asked Athos, 'surely numbers are required?'
'We need this done quietly, a large troop travelling to the castle will alert the enemy sooner and Clement may be killed, without us knowing what, if any, information he had given up.'
Athos nodded.
'You will leave as soon as you are prepared,' Treville turned his attention to d'Artagnan, 'if you are happy to continue to take the lead then please do, but I would ask that you use the resources you have with you.'
'I've never been referred to as a resource before,' said Aramis with mock annoyance.
Porthos smirked.
Treville looked at them both before continuing, 'despite their behaviour they have a lot of experience that you can draw on. If Athos sees the need he can take over.'
D'Artagnan nodded, 'thank you, Captain.'
Aramis noticed that Chevrier and Proulx looked impressed that d'Artagnan had been put in charge.
MMMM
Porthos lifted his saddle across his horses back and began adjusting the tack. He watched as the other men quietly worked. D'Artagnan had sent Aramis off to the infirmary to gather what he needed, whilst Pierre and Marc had been despatched to collect food for their assignment.
Luc and Athos were readying their horses. Athos was watching d'Artagnan surreptitiously.
'Do you think this'll be too much for 'im?' asked Porthos.
'He was not expecting this when he agreed to lead the group and he now has three more men to look after, but I have confidence in him. And we will be there,' replied Athos quietly.
Aramis had returned and was talking to d'Artagnan, going through what he had chosen to bring with him. D'Artagnan nodded his approval before leaving the stable.
'Is he really in charge?' asked Luc.
'Yes,' replied Athos.
Luc smiled, 'I think he will be very good.'
Porthos smiled, Luc was a man of few words, but when he did speak he had a knack for saying what everyone was thinking.
Within a few minutes, Pierre and Marc had distributed the food and equipment they would need to camp. D'Artagnan glanced around at the men who all looked at him expectantly.
'Shall we?' he asked.
Porthos nodded along with the rest of the men and followed their new leader out of the garrison.
MMMM
He was convinced there would come a point when Athos would take back control of the group. Surely they could not expect him to lead them on what was an important mission. They were to rescue a diplomat who was being held and no doubt tortured. He was far too young to be dealing with something like this. A rescue, potential skirmishes with the men at the castle where Clement was being held.
They were humouring him, letting him take the lead for a while, then Athos would take it back, when it mattered when mature decisions were required. When his inexperience would potentially jeopardise the rescue. He would not stop Athos, he would willingly step aside. If he was honest with himself the prospect of leading this mission, leading six men was quite daunting. He had gone out on guard duty a few times with some of the newer Musketeers who naturally looked up to him, but he was not really in charge on those occasions, all they had to do was stand still and watch out for trouble. No one needed to be in charge of men doing that.
But, for the time that they were allowing him to lead he would do the best he could. He was glad Athos, Porthos and Aramis were there. It was good to have their collective experience to back him up. He would happily take their guidance, he would probably need it.
They left the city and as he urged his horse into a canter he noticed the others follow his lead. Nobody questioned him, they simply copied him and continued along the road towards the castle where they knew Clement was being held.
Treville had told them that the castle was protected in some way. They had gathered limited information from another of Clements servants who had evaded capture. The man had been exhausted by the time he had reached Paris and was able to report what had happened. He had said that they were ambushed on their way to Paris. The servant had jumped from the carriage and landed in a ditch unnoticed by the men who were attacking. He had followed his captured master and seen where they were taken. From what the servant had seen of the castle it was apparent that a defence could be mounted of the castle should an attack occur.
The way the castle could be defended was another reason why such a small party had been sent to mount a rescue. They were to be stealthy. As they rode d'Artagnan tried to formulate a plan of attack, but found it impossible with so little information to go on. The perils and pressure of leadership had started to make themselves known to the Musketeer.
MMMM