The day passed very slowly with Athos and Porthos riding on either side of Aramis, close enough to catch him should he fall, which thankfully didn't happen.

Aramis' left ear drove him insane, feeling like it was full of pressure. He started feeling lightheaded again, but it was manageable.

A hand suddenly grabbed his arm. "Aramis?"

"What?"Aramis answered, slightly startled as he turned his head towards Athos. A dizzy spell swept through his brain, making him tilt a little towards the left.

Athos tightened his hold. "I asked if you were all right."

Aramis blinked the dizziness away. "I'm fine," he answered, ridiculously. "It's my ear that isn't."

"Water still in it?" Porthos asked.

"Yes," Aramis told him, sounding annoyed.

"Sleep on your left side tonight," said Porthos. "That should drip it out."

Aramis sighed. "I prefer sleeping on my back or right side."

"I know that," said Porthos. "But if you wanna get rid of the water in your ear, sleep on the left and see if it helps."

Aramis sighed, before seeming to realize that he was bring ornery. "I'll try."

Athos intently watched him. "Aramis?" he said, hand still on his friend's arm.

With just that one word, Aramis knew what he was asking. "Yes, when I turned my head to look at you, it made me dizzy."

"No other symptoms?"

Aramis nearly shook his head, but remembered in time. "No."

"Do you wanna stop for a while?" Porthos asked.

In actuality, Aramis did; the lightheaded sensation having remained after turning his head. "No need, I'm fine."

"We aren't in a rush," said Athos. "Once we get to town, we are renting a room."

"Because of me?"

"Yes," Athos plainly told him. "You would do the same if it were one of us."

Aramis knew that to be true. "The king will be angry if we're late in returning."

"Then we'll make up a story if we have to," said Porthos. "We'll tell 'im the wine was stolen and it took us a while to rescue it."

"You mean Treville will tell the king," said Aramis. "We can't tell the captain such a lie."

"Then we give him the truth, that you fell ill on the road," said Athos. "It happens."

"But I'm fine...except for this," Aramis answered, gesturing towards the left side of his head.

"Then take it easy and we'll see what happens," said Porthos.

What happened was that the lightheadedness remained and continued to increase. By evening, Aramis was having frequent dizzy spells, and at one point, his body followed the motion in his head and he accidentally leaned over his horse against Athos, who grabbed him.

"Aramis?"

"Can we stop?" Aramis gasped, trying to straighten himself in the saddle but failing.

Athos pushed him back upright, relieved beyond words that he'd ridden so close to his friend, but worried that Aramis felt ill enough to actually ask them to stop. "Porthos!" he called.

The other musketeer had already jumped down from his horse and reached up to help Aramis down.

Aramis let his friend manhandle him, closing his eyes with a soft moan once he was shakily standing on the ground.

"You all right?" Porthos asked, holding him upright against Bella's side.

Aramis' head was spinning and he couldn't open his eyes. "I'll live," he mumbled...before promptly passing out in Porthos' arms.

Porthos was taken by surprise and pulled his friend's limp body closer to himself. "Aramis!" he exclaimed.

Athos had dismounted and hurried over, watching as Porthos lowered Aramis to the ground, keeping his upper body on his lap.

When they saw that Aramis was out cold, Porthos looked at Athos with a stricken expression.

Athos took the bedroll off Aramis' horse and dropped it to the ground before kneeling beside them.

"Aramis?" Porthos called, tapping his cheek. "Come on, this isn't funny!"

Aramis gave no reaction, eyes closed in unconsciousness.

"What's wrong with him?!" Porthos nervously exclaimed.

Athos had no answer.

Porthos tapped their friend's face again, and it seemed to work that time; Aramis softly groaned and his eyes scrunched tight with pain. He moved his head slightly, sluggishly lifting a hand to cover his left ear.

Athos squeezed his arm. "Aramis? Open your eyes."

Aramis obeyed, blinking repeatedly. "It happened again?" he asked, sounding dazed.

The others nodded.

"Tell us what you feel," Athos commanded.

Aramis kept blinking, hand still over his ear. "Dizzy...my ear hurts."

Porthos looked at Athos. "Do you think there's a connection with his ear?"

Athos sighed. "That started after he fell into the river...he passed out before that."

Porthos nodded, before gesturing his chin towards the bedroll. "Lay that out."

Athos did and they gently moved Aramis onto it, turning him onto his left side.

Aramis sighed and closed his eyes.

Porthos patted his back. "Just rest. Whatever this is, I'm sure you'll be fine." He desperately hoped that he was telling him the truth.

"Has anything like this ever happened to you before?" Athos asked. "As a child? Before you became a musketeer?"

"Passing out for no reason? No," said Aramis.

The way he phrased that made Porthos frown. "So somethin' else happened?"

"As a child, I sometimes had trouble breathing," Aramis told them, opening his eyes. "I grew out of it."

The others were silent for a moment before Athos broke the silence. "I confess that this has me greatly concerned," he said. "There's nothing that you haven't told us?"

"Nothing," Aramis answered. He sighed and closed his eyes again. "We can't keep stopping because of me...we'll be late getting back to Paris with the wine."

"We have a week," said Porthos. "Three days to get there and three days to get back, there's an extra day left."

"We're supposed to arrive the night before the king's dinner with the duke," Aramis said. "Today was day three and we haven't arrived yet because of me!"

"Cease worrying," said Athos. "Your health is more important."

"Yeah," said Porthos. "It's not as if you have a harmless sniffle; you keep losing consciousness, for goodness sake!"

"We'll send a message regarding a possible delay to Treville when we arrive in town," Athos said.

Aramis sighed again, knowing that there was nothing he could do. He squirmed a little, not comfortable on his left side.

"Keep still," said Athos.

"I wish you could tell that to my head," Aramis replied.

"Still dizzy?" Porthos asked.

"Yes."

Both of the others sighed. "I wish there was somethin' we could do to help you," said Porthos.

"So do I," Aramis answered, wincing from the pain in his ear.

Sunset quickly came and they carefully turned Aramis over so he could eat.

"I'm not hungry," Aramis told them. His eyes were tightly closed with his hand fisted in Porthos' sleeve as he winced against the dizziness.

"Is your stomach bothering you?" Athos asked as they reclined him against his saddle.

"No," Aramis told him.

"Then you must eat," Athos replied. He kept a hand on his shoulder until Aramis opened his eyes.

With a sigh, Aramis blinked at him. His eyes seemed to track slowly and his face was pale.

The sight heightened Athos' concern. "We'll reach Burgundy tomorrow," he said, squeezing his shoulder. "We'll stop in Nevers and have a doctor look at you."

Aramis nodded slightly, knowing that only a fool would refuse.

Porthos passed around the food, with he and Athos staring at Aramis as he attempted to eat the meat, bread, and cheese. His struggle was obvious, and he only ate enough to satisfy them, after which he carefully laid down on his left side again in the hope that it would drain the water out of his ear.

The night passed in the same way as the night before, with Athos and Porthos dividing the watch.

Aramis woke before dawn and gave a loud groan.

"Aramis?" said Porthos.

Aramis winced and rolled onto his back with another groan, putting a hand over his ear.

Athos was on the other side of him asleep, and he instantly woke and sat up.

"It didn't work," Aramis mumbled.

Athos and Porthos shared a look over their friend's prone body. "I don't think there's water in his ear," said Porthos.

Athos shook his head. "When something damages an ear, such as the sound of an explosion, it renders the victim off-balance. Aramis, something must be wrong inside your ear."

"I'm inclined to agree," Aramis said, eyes squeezed closed.

"What do you think it is?" Porthos asked.

"I don't know," Aramis replied, wincing.

Porthos frowned. "It hurts that much?"

"Yes," Aramis told him.

"He needs to get to a doctor, Athos," Porthos exclaimed.

"I know," Athos replied, grabbing a waterskin. "Give him this. I'll pack up the camp."

Porthos nodded and slid an arm under their ailing friend. "Have some water," he said.

Aramis kept his eyes closed as he was pulled up high enough to drink. The water was heavenly and he gulped down nearly a quarter of it before he was satisfied.

"I'm gonna sit you up now," Porthos warned him.

Aramis said nothing as he was pulled up higher, and he cautiously opened his eyes, blinking against the lightheadedness that clouded his brain.

Porthos tightened the grip around his friend's back. "You all right?"

"Considering," Aramis answered, wincing when a stab of pain filled his ear.

Athos was quick, packing up the camp in record time before returning. He had Aramis' gloves and cloak with him, and they got them on him before carefully pulling him upright, holding on tightly when Aramis swayed dizzily.

"Stay awake, stay awake!" Porthos chanted.

Aramis did, but his head drooped and it took several seconds of heavy breathing before he could raise it again.

"You're riding with Porthos," Athos told him. "No argument."

Aramis quietly conceded, proving that it was the right decision.

As they rode off again, Athos and Porthos desperately hoped that there would be help for Aramis in Nevers.

TBC