Hey guys!

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy this next segment of the story. Also thank you to Deana for pointing out to me that there were 22 Musketeers at Savoy! Happy Reading!

Athos was completely taken aback.

The Red Guard grabbed the marksman and brought him forward. Aramis, not wanting to show any weakness, did not struggle.

When the Musketeers noticed Rochefort rolling up his sleeves, they looked at each other with concern in their eyes. What kind of punishment was this going to be?

"What are you going to do to him?" Porthos asked.

"The legend of the brotherhood of the Musketeers is well-known. So, I figured the best place to start would be to make one of you personally responsible. Aramis is my choice. Everytime one of you fails in your mission, you can rely on the fact that Aramis will pay for it. Maybe that will entice you to never give the King a bad name again."

One of the Red Guard gave Rochefort a wooden club. Aramis was forced to kneel in front of him.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Porthos screamed.

"I'm going to break his ribs," He answered coolly.

"It should be me Rochefort! I'm their leader!" Athos screamed.

The Red Guard had to restrain the three Musketeers from getting to their friend.

Rochefort swung the club at his midsection. Aramis fell over and his groans echoed in the Hall. Rochefort beat and beat him until an audible crack was heard and Aramis cried out.

"Enough!" Athos screamed.

Rochefort straightened and a jeweled crucifix sparkled on his chest. It was Aramis' necklace that he had received from the Queen.

"You're a monster!" Porthos yelled. "This is barbaric!"

Rochefort smiled. "I hope you've learned your lesson. There will be more to come if you don't." With a miniscule grin on his face, he turned and left the Hall.

The three of them ran to Aramis who was trying to sit up on his own.

"Aramis!" D'artagnan cried. "I'm so sorry, brother, this was all my fault. If I had killed that man with the dynamite…"

"Enough, D'artagnan, I won't have you blame yourself for this. This is no one's fault but Rochefort's," Athos responded.

Aramis didn't look too bad when they got him up on his feet. Porthos helped him to walk out of the palace and return to the Garrison.

In Treville's office, D'artagnan wrapped Aramis' ribs as Athos briefed Treville on what transpired. "It was like he wanted to do it."

"I will need to speak to the King about this. There is no way that he allowed a punishment this extreme. I will be back."

"It wasn't even our fault that that revolt happened. It was the Red Guard's duty. We just happened to try and help them, yet we, or rather Aramis, are getting the blame for it," Porthos said.

D'artagnan finished wrapping his ribs and helped him put his shirt back on. Aramis sat there silently for a few minutes before he said, "Did anyone notice the crucifix around Rochefort's neck?"

Athos looked at him and nodded, "Yes it looked familiar."

"It's mine. I thought I had lost it."

"How did he get it?"

"I don't know. But the Queen sent me a message, saying she saw him with it and she was worried that he knew about us. I didn't think anything of it at first, but after today, I think she's right."

D'artagnan spoke, "Treville won't let this stand, will he?" The young Gascon had never seen such outright brutality. His fear for Aramis was rooted in his naive love for the older Musketeer.

"I don't know that Treville has any power to say. Louis' been angry at him ever since he refused position as Minister. Plus, Louis' been locked up in his chambers ever since he learned about the plague spreading to Paris. Even the Queen barely sees him," Athos said.

The room grew quiet with an unspoken fear; an anticipation of how long this was going to go on for and how far out of their control this was going to go.

"Rochefort can't go on with this cruelty. Would he dare physically abuse a Musketeer in the name of the King?" D'artagnan asked, not able to control his puppy dog eyes.

"All we can do is hope and pray that Treville gets through to the King," Porthos said as he took a seat next to Aramis. "How are you feeling, 'Mis?"

Aramis had been relatively quiet ever since they got back from the palace. It was due more to the fact that he feared for the Queen and the Dauphin than from his own injuries. He had no idea what Rochefort knew about him and the Queen, but he knew it wasn't good. "I'm fine, Porthos, thank you."

"Rochefort just broke your ribs, I don't think you're 'fine'."

"No really, it's not as bad as it looks. I should be ok soon."

"And until then, we will have your back and settle this whole matter. I swear on my life we will stop him."

"Rochefort will not win," Athos said sternly. "Woe is he who commits an injustice upon the Musketeers."

Aramis smiled. His brothers always had his back and he always would have theirs. But that didn't help the deep anxiety that filled his mind and heart about the fate of the Queen and the Dauphin, should Rochefort find out the whole truth about their affair.

Treville stormed into Rochefort's chambers while the Red Guard desperately tried to stop him.

"Rochefort!"

Rochefort stood from his chair, "Well it's good to see you too, Captain," sarcasm evident in his body language.

"I demand an explanation! How dare you touch one of my most loyal Musketeers! The King will hear of this!"

"The King already knows about it, he's the one that signed the order."

"Under false pretenses! If he had known the physical assault you were going to be handing out, I'm certain he would not have signed the order."

"The King has given me full responsibility to deal with the messes that your Musketeers consistently deal out."

"Intentionally beating Aramis until his ribs break is psychopathic!"

"Tell your Musketeers to clean up their missions and we won't have to worry about this anymore will we?"

Treville was stunned. He was truly dealing with an egomaniac. "Go to hell, Rochefort."

"I've already been," Rochefort quipped. They stood glaring at each other until Treville finally stormed out, eager to meet with the King.

Rochefort sat in silence, pondering his next move. "Pierre, come here."

Pierre, the head Red Guard, came in, "Sir?"

"I would like to commend you for your efforts in staging the prisoner break out the other day. It went very smoothly."

"Thank you, sir."

"I will keep you updated on our next move regarding the Musketeers. Before you go, I have a question to ask you. When you worked for the Cardinal, did you ever hear him mention anything about the Musketeer Aramis?"

"No, sir, but I do know that he had a few papers on him that he kept in the upper left cubby, if you would like for me to fetch them for you."

"Please."

Pierre grabbed a couple rolled up scrolls and handed them to Rochefort. He took them and opened the first one which was entitled, 'SAVOY'. Rochefort had heard horror stories about the mission that went horribly awry. 50 soldiers and only one survived. He had heard the blood from the dead Musketeers tainted the ground in such a way that nothing grows there anymore. He skimmed the document and smiled when he read that Aramis was the lone survivor. "Ahhh, Aramis miraculously survived the ordeal, did he? Being the only survivor out of a company of 22 of his closest friends has to take a mental toll." Rochefort sat there and conjured up one of the sickest ways he could possibly break Aramis. "Pierre, Listen to me very closely. We've got some work to do."

A few days had passed since the beating of Aramis. His ribs had healed quite nicely in that time, though Dr. Lemay was not allowed out of the palace due to the King's crippling fear of contracting the plague and could not adequately diagnose Aramis. Aramis himself was pretty sure they were only cracked, not completely broken. This helped the healing process speed up significantly. He spent those days alone in his room, thinking about how he was going to protect the Queen and the Dauphin. Rochefort was an extremely dangerous man and has proven resourceful. He had decided that he was going to do everything in his power to keep the Queen and the Dauphin safe; no matter what the cost.

Captain Treville had told them earlier that his attempt to talk to the King was unsuccessful since he would not open his doors to see him. That cast a damper on the mood of the whole garrison since they now came to the realization that this really was up to them to fix. They couldn't rely on the King.

Athos, Porthos and D'artagnan came into Aramis' quarters.

"Are you up for a mission, 'Mis?" Porthos asked.

"Really?" Aramis asked, confused. He didn't think he was going to be cleared by Treville this soon.

Athos spoke up, "The mission is simple enough. Even you couldn't screw this up," he laughed.

"What is it?" Aramis asked, eyes wide in anticipation. Being alone for the past few days made him miss his brothers. He never did well on his own. Being left to his own thoughts never turned out well.

D'artagnan sat on the end of Aramis' bed and clapped his knee, "We just have to accompany the King to greet the Princess of Sweden who is coming in this evening."

"And it's just to the end of the Versailles staircase," Porthos added.

"Well that should be easy enough," Aramis said, getting up from his bed.

"Knowing Rochefort, he won't make it that way," Athos grumbled. "He will be there along with the Red Guard, so please, let's keep alert in case he has anything planned."

Porthos rubbed Aramis' shoulders, "we won't let anything happen to you, 'Mis."

Aramis smiled in appreciation of the brotherhood that he was being protected by. "Thank you."

Athos opened the door, "Let's get saddled up."

Inside the palace, the four Musketeers stood vigil at the bottom of the staircase, waiting for the King to come out of his chambers.

"You alright, 'Mis?" Porthos asked. He was always the mother hen between the two of them. Out of the four of them, Porthos and Aramis had known each other the longest.

"I'm fine, Porthos." Aramis noticed D'artagnan's cheeks flush and a smile flutter across his lips.

Constance walked down the stairs and walked right up to the Musketeers, "I heard what happened, Aramis, are you alright?"

Aramis nodded as D'artagnan spoke, "Constance, you need to stay away from Rochefort. He is a very dangerous man."

"You don't need to explain to me why he's dangerous. The Queen grows very nervous when he is near. The way he looks at her…"

Aramis looked at Constance, "Is she in danger?"

"Not necessarily. But I don't like leaving her alone. I never know what's going to happen. What Rochefort is scheming behind his dead eyes."

Aramis replied, "Constance, you must promise me that you will keep an eye on things, and if they get bad…"

"I know." Constance smiled. She has been a great and loyal friend to the Musketeers for a few years. Aramis knew that if he could not be with the Queen at all times to ensure her protection, he could rely on her to do it for him.

The King and Queen descending down the stairs with Rochefort in tow, interrupted their conversation.

"Has the Princess arrived yet?" Louis asked Rochefort.

"Yes, sire. Her carriage is pulling up now." Rochefort glared at the Musketeers, who in turn glared back.

"Let me at him, I'll rip him to shreds," Porthos commented.

"As entertaining as that would be, we have a duty to perform. And I don't have to remind you what's at stake if we fail," Athos said.

Porthos looked to Aramis and frowned. "I hate this. Rochefort's going to watch our every move. He's just waiting for one of us to screw up"

The doors were opened and a bone-chilling wind blew on the company. It was an extremely cold day, colder than any Paris had seen yet that year. There was about 4 inches of snow on the ground and it looked as if it were going to continue snowing through the night.

King Louis and Queen Anne led the company out onto the road which the Princess' carriage was arriving. It was all a very regal affair; Everyone was dressed to the nines and awaited the Princess with smiling faces despite the miserable weather.

The carriage pulled up to the main entrance and the door opened. King Louis took a step forward with his arm outstretched ready to take her hand. "Princess Elsa, welcome to Paris."

Suddenly a shot rang out and a statue that was set near the Kings head exploded.

The Musketeers looked in the direction where the shot was heard from and Athos, D'artagnan and Porthos ran after the assailant. Aramis, knowing he wouldn't be any help with his injured ribs still healing, helped corale the King, Queen and Princess inside the palace. "This way your highnesses!"

D'artagnan, by far the fastest amongst the three of them, could see a dark figure weaving in and out from among the bushes and trees. He sprinted as fast as he could and was gaining on him.

"Hey! Stop! In the name of the King!"

D'artagnan turned a sharp corner when a Red Guard suddenly appeared. Crashing into each other, both men went flying and landed heavily in the snow. Enraged, D'artagnan screamed, "What are you doing?!" He got up quickly and looked around him for any sign of the assailant, but couldn't see any trace of him. "You let him get away!" D'artagnan ran a few paces ahead but could see no clue as to where the assailant may have gone off to. He saw a piece of ripped cloth clinging to the sharp end of a branch. He picked it up and closely examined it. It was dark leather and had a jagged edge from where it had ripped. Athos and Porthos caught up to him.

"What happened?" Athos asked, noticing the snow on D'artagnan's face.

"I'll tell you what happened! There was a Red Guard standing right behind the corner and he purposely cut me off! Now I've lost him! I swear if Aramis pays for this…."

"We'll make sure he doesn't. Come, let's get back to the palace," Athos said calmly.

The first thing that could be heard was the King berating every poor soul around him.

"This is an outrage! An assassination attempt just outside my palace! I could have been killed! Killed! I want his head!"

Athos, unchanged by the King's tantrum met with Pierre and asked, "Where are the Queen and the Princess?"

"They are safe in the Queen's chambers, along with the Dauphin."

"Good. I will try and get the King back in his chambers."

Athos walked up to his King and tried to get him to go upstairs. "Please your Majesty, come this way."

"Have my loyal Musketeers found the murderer who tried to kill me?" the King asked.

"Unfortunately, he got away."

"This is unacceptable! You will find him and bring him to me!"

"We will try our very best sire," Athos answered as he ushered the King back into his chambers.

D'artagnan looked around, "At least Rochefort isn't here to see this."

Porthos answered, "Well he was earlier and I'm sure he'll hear we didn't catch the guy who did it. He'll be looking for any excuse to get to Aramis."

Athos came down and joined the other two Musketeers. "Well the King's in a mood and we can only hope nothing comes of this. Who would try to assassinate the King on palace grounds?"

"Whoever it was had to have been very gutsy, but also would have had to know the palace layout very well," Porthos responded.

"What did the assailant look like, D'artagnan, could you see him at all?" Athos asked.

"I could see nothing but a dark cloak and a dark hat. I did pick up this piece of ripped cloth from a nearby bush. I think this came off his cloak. Maybe if we can match this up with his cloak, we can identify our guy?"

"That would be a long shot. How many people have ripped cloaks on the streets of Paris?" Porthos asked.

"I could be wrong, but this looks like the kind of leather that the Red Guard uses for their uniforms," D'artagnan added quietly.

Porthos looked at him quizzically, "D'artagnan, are you accusing the Red Guard of attempting to assassinate the King?"

"I don't know… why was there a Red Guard waiting behind that bush when I ran into him? I don't think that was an accident."

Athos joined in, "It could all be Rochefort's doing. He wants to see us all fail, especially Aramis."

"Speaking of Aramis, has anyone seen him?" Porthos asked.

The three of them looked around and noticed that they hadn't seen him since the shot fired.

Porthos said, "Maybe he's with the Queen. I'll go check." He ran up the staircase and knocked on the door to the Queen's chambers.

"What is it?" Constance asked, answering the door.

"Sorry to disturb you, but have you seen Aramis? We thought he might have escorted the Queen back here."

"He's not in here," Constance said frankly. Noticing the distraught look on Porthos' face, she added, "Last I saw him he was talking with Rochefort."

Porthos' heart dropped. He had to get to him now. He looked over the railing and shouted to Athos and D'artagnan, "Hey! He's with Rochefort!" Going back to Constance, Porthos asked, "Can you keep an eye out for him? Send word if you see anything!"

"Ok. I will," Constance answered with a look of confusion evident on her face.

Porthos sprinted down the stairs. All three Musketeers were frantic as they searched every inch of that palace. They looked in every room, in every closet, in every dark corner of Versailles, but to no avail.

"I can't find him anywhere!" Porthos shouted as they all met up outside the Great Hall. Athos kicked the door in frustration.

"Are we certain Rochefort took him?" D'artagnan asked in desperation.

"I know it was him," Porthos roared. "That monster did this. He set this whole thing up to seperate Aramis from us."

"We'll go to Treville, talk to him and see what we can do," Athos said.

For the rest of that evening and into the night, Athos, Porthos and D'artagnan roamed the streets of Paris searching for their brother. All three Musketeers were experiencing something they had never felt before. It was a terrible mixture of anger, emptiness, hopelessness, fear and confusion. How could Rochefort just take him from under their noses like that? It had to have been planned. It had to have all been a ply to get Aramis alone.

Feeling dejected and hopeless, the three Inseparables went back to the garrison and spent a sleepless night worried sick about what kind of punishment their brother was enduring on their behalf.