[To the guest who left a comment asking about whether we know what happened to Evette yet...no we dont! Sorry I couldn't reply personally, there's no way to reply to anonymous reviews! :) Hope you're enjoying the story so far, please let me know what you think- R&R]

Porthos and Aramis stood outside the brothel. The scene was very much the same as the night before, there were people all around and children playing despite the late hour. Porthos knocked in the same fashion as before and Derell opened the door.

"Back again Porthos?" the two musketeers entered the dark hallway, "You must've been one satisfied customer." Derell was leering at the men, inappropriately raising his eyebrows. But seeing as they didn't want to raise suspicion Porthos played along.

"Well, you know Nancy! She knows how to please."

Derell laughed with him and patted Porthos on the back. They reached the table which was their queue to disarm themselves.

"Are you both wanting Nancy again? I tell you something Porthos, I'm not happy with you sharing my girls between you. It doesn't feel fair on them."

"Nah, not tonight. Aramis will have one of his own."

They walked into the room where all of the girls were waiting. Porthos automatically searched for Nancy whilst Aramis scanned the room judging to see which one might be compliant to their requests. Having found Nancy, she and Porthos left the room quickly whilst Aramis was still deciding on a girl. Derell stood nearby eyeing him curiously waiting to see who he would choose. He wasn't short of choice either, a number of bold girls approached him which was inevitable due to his good looks and musketeer uniform, but he eventually settled on a girl, who sat apart from everyone else. He walked over to her and offered his hand, she took it without question and they left the room.

D'artagnan and Athos were outside trying to blend in with the crowd. They were stood against a wall which faced the brothel, drinks in their hand and sans uniform. Athos was leaning casually against the wall, surveying the scene and taking in every movement, every character and every brawl. D'artagnan was standing on edge; he was ready to attack at the slightest provocation.

"Stand down D'artagnan. We don't want people to get suspicious."

D'artagnan realised he was being less than subtle and tried to imitate Athos' stance and attitude. Just as before, children were running around, adults were drinking copious amounts of wine and acts that Aramis would consider 'debauched' were around every corner. Morality was optional in this part of Paris.

Just in front of them, gamblers were gathered around a game that was unfamiliar to the musketeers. Both men and women were huddled over the small table where money was being exchanged quicker than greetings. Athos was watching intently while D'artagnan struggled to focus on one particular act in this den of iniquity.

The woman who was controlling the game was undeniably strong. She had the presence to control all of those who surrounded her and although she was rather beautiful, it was because of her character not her looks. She was their equal, if not their superior. From what Athos could gather, her sole job was to roll the die and keep the players in check. But the main reason Athos' attention was fixated on her was because of a familiar mark on her arm.

Before telling D'artagnan where he was going, Athos moved from the wall and joined the game. D'artagnan watched him go but seeing as he didn't have spare coins he stayed where he was. In an attempt to remain nonchalant, he allowed his mind to wander over his own life. He thought of Evette's sudden appearance into his life and still wondered what she wanted. He thought back over his time in Paris, his rise into the Musketeers ranks and his relationship with Constance. It had been a hectic year for the young Gascon and he hadn't really contemplated the change in his life. Only twelve months ago he was hell bent on killing the man he was currently working with, he had never been in love and he had never imagined he would be- much less in love with a married woman. He'd killed more men than he thought he ever would and was surprised with the strength that he possessed. He now felt like a soldier. This had always been D'artagnan's dream, he was a fighter at heart and his thirst for justice was unquenchable, so why was he unhappy? The image of Constance kept appearing in his mind and he thought back to the beginning of their relationship.

It was fun and exciting, he had finally told her how he felt and his heart soared when she had returned the feelings. Her husband was blind to his wife and they took advantage of it. Some days they would spend hours talking, laughing, touching and Bonacieux never caught on. But things began to change; Bonacieux did not have as many clients as he once had which meant he spent much of his time at the house. As D'artagnan's position with the musketeers solidified, he had less time to spend with Constance. They were reduced to hushed whispers when Bonacieux's head was turned and swift kisses in the dead of night. He loved Constance but if this is was all their love affair could amount to, he needed to consider their future. He could feel resentment building up inside of his chest when they acted like a happy couple, when she questioned D'artagnan about where he had been or when she would spend her nights away from him.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the gamblers before him made a particular raucous sound. Athos however, was predictably calm. Whereas the men surrounding him had their attention on the most recent winner of the game, Athos was watching the dealer intently. He was putting money down without really paying attention to the rules of the game, not that his competitors were complaining. Over the noise of the game he tried to attract the attention of the woman.

"Does the game go on all night?"

"Until the money runs out...or the wine." She continued to roll the die whilst the money was still flowing. Athos still hadn't quite grasped the rules of the game but that wasn't the intention.

The stakes were getting higher and Athos was running out of coins.

"It's getting too rich for my blood."

She was distracted with the other players but responded nonetheless, "You've been betting too quickly, you should've waited and controlled the highest bid." He didn't really know what she was explaining, but was impressed by her knowledge nonetheless. He was out of money and had no excuse to stay longer. He resumed his post near D'artagnan and waited for the game to finish. They needed to talk to this girl.

Porthos was in Nancy's room. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, she rushed into his arms pulling him into her and kissing him passionately.

"Woah, woah. Wait a second." He was trying to untangle himself from her. "We need to talk first."

"Ohh, there's plenty of time for that after." She said, trying to work her way back up to his lips, unclipping his jacket as she did so. He continued to fight off her advances until she resigned herself to talking. "I don't really know what to tell you Porthos. I've asked a few of the girls, but no one knows anything about Joy."

"What about Claudia?"

"She didn't know anything. It's difficult to talk without Derell finding out."

"You'll have to do it while he sleeps. You're all we've got."

A look came across her face and she knew this was the time to distract him, "I'm all you need." And she took his hands and guided him to the bed.

Aramis was having just as much luck with his informant. He had tried to approach the subject gracefully but she was not co-operating as much as he'd have hoped. She was trying her best to get him into her bed and after his best attempt at distracting her attention he bluntly said, "I'm here about the dead girl."

That knocked the desire out of her and she was shocked at his blatant lack of interest in sleeping with her.

"The dead girl? What dead girl?"

"She was found in the marketplace a few days ago. We believe that her name was Joy and that she was a resident of this house."

"Joy?" a flicker of recognition graced her features and Aramis was quick enough to spot it before she rearranged her mask. "I've never heard of her." Aramis knew she was lying but there was nothing he could do.

"Look, she wasn't the first one, and she won't be last. We need to know everything about this girl otherwise we don't know who could be next."

"Like I said, I've never heard of her."

Aramis gave up. He was about to leave the room when he turned back, "What's your name?" She didn't answer him and he hadn't really expected her to. "Well, in case you remember anything about her, my name is Aramis of the King's Musketeers. You can find me at the garrison and if you're worried about what will happen in you talk to us, just remember; we can protect you."

The game was slowly dying out and only a few players remained. D'artagnan and Athos stayed close, ready to talk to the games dealer. When the winner was announced and the table emptied, they approached the girl.

"Excuse me?" D'artagnan began.

"I'm sorry boys; the next game won't start for another thirty minutes or so."

"We're not looking for a game. We need to talk to you about something." Athos said stepping forward, "Privately."

"I don't do that sort of thing. You're better off going over there. They've got what you want." She said all of this while putting her equipment away and barely looking up at the men. She was used to these kinds of advances and she was more than comfortable at rejecting them.

"That's not what we meant Mademoiselle-"

"It's Madame actually." She corrected D'artagnan before finally looking up at them.

"Our apologies. We'd like to ask you about that mark on your arm. We can discuss it here out in the open or we can go somewhere private."

She motioned to an alley that was near her table. The three of them walked half way down until she felt they were suitably hidden from the outside.

"You obviously know what it means-" she started.

"Not exactly." Athos clarified.

"It's a brand, it shows that you belong to something. This one is for Pascal House."

"That's the whore house across the way?" D'artagnan asked.

"Brothel, yes." She answered dismissively.

"You worked there?"

"For a short time. I didn't like it, so I left."

"You left? I didn't think it was the kind of place you could just leave."

"It's complicated. I-"

"Rose?!" a voice called down the alley way, "where are ya?"

"COMING!" she called to the voice, "look I've got to go. Don't tell anyone we spoke...please." And before they could answer she ran back up the alley way to join the voice that called her.