Reconciliation

Chapter Ten

The next morning Aramis was down in the yard before anyone else was awake. His knee had stiffened up overnight making his limp more obvious and it had taken an unhealthy amount of pain medication before he could make the short journey from his room. He sat with his leg stretched out in front of him and tried to breathe through the pain. While he struggled to compose himself the sun began to rise. Athos joined him just as the sky lightened with the first rays of the dawn.

"How do you feel?"

"It's manageable." The draught was finally doing its work, although the trade-off was a feeling of light-headedness.

"Somehow I doubt that. How are you going to cope if we are put on guard duty at the palace today? You're not fit and you're not doing anyone any good by pretending otherwise."

"What would you have me do?" Aramis asked, rousing himself from his stupor.

"Tell Treville the truth, send for the physician who tended you the last time and follow his advice. If you continue as you are you risk permanent damage."

"You would have me put my career in jeopardy?" he asked angrily.

"Isn't that what you're doing now? Tell Treville, or I will." Athos folded his arms and looked belligerently at his friend.

"You have no right!" Aramis hissed.

"It's for your own good."

D'Artagnan walked down the stairs, yawning. "Morning." He looked from one to the other and frowned. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing." Aramis glared at Athos who gazed serenely back at him.

"Alright," d'Artagnan said doubtfully. "What did the Queen say?"

"She is setting up a home for the orphaned children."

"That's very good of her." D'Artagnan looked at Aramis. "Isn't it?"

"Yes." Despite his hatred for the people of the Court he didn't want the children to suffer. What the Queen was proposing was a good compromise, giving aid without becoming embroiled with the criminal element of the population.

"What does Porthos think?" d'Artagnan asked.

"He was grateful. Now all he has to do is persuade Flea."

The yard was starting to fill up as men came down for their breakfast prior to the morning muster. There was still no sign of Porthos though, for which Aramis was immensely grateful. He knew that he owed his friend an explanation and an apology but had no idea how to go about it. Athos fetched bowls of porridge and they ate in silence. When the church bells stuck eight they all shuffled into lines to await Treville. Aramis stood as close to the back as he could manage, not wanting to be in Treville's line of sight. When he looked around he saw Porthos join Athos and d'Artagnan in the row ahead.

A few minutes later Treville emerged from his office and walked down the stairs, stopping before he reached the bottom. "The King has sent word that he intends to hunt today. He will require a full Musketeer escort. Saddle up your horses and be ready to leave in thirty minutes."

The crowd of men dispersed and Aramis grimaced. Hard as it was to walk it was even harder to be jostled around on a horse for hours. He caught Athos looking pointedly at him and sighed.

"Captain," he called.

Treville turned back to wait for him, frowning when he saw Aramis' uneven gait. "What's wrong?"

"I'm having trouble with my knee again."

"I can see that. When did this happen?"

Aramis' mouth went dry. "A couple of weeks ago but it worsened last night."

"Weeks? Have you seen the physician?"

"Not yet."

"Well, you're clearly not fit enough to accompany the King. Stay here. I'll send someone for the doctor."

Aramis' shoulders slumped and he nodded. He turned around to find his friends watching him closely. Porthos looked away quickly and walked off towards the stables. A small part of Aramis wanted to go after him but Porthos clearly didn't want to talk to him so he stayed where he was.

"I have been relieved of duty," he said. "I will see you this evening." With as much dignity as he could muster he slowly made his way back to his room.

TMTMTM

The King had broken off the hunt for the midday meal. Copious amounts of food had been laid out on long tables under a canopy and the King and his courtiers were sitting around waiting to be served. Athos, Porthos and d'Artagnan stood at attention to the right of Louis, scanning their surroundings. Satisfied that there were no imminent threats Athos relaxed his stiff posture a fraction. He glanced at Porthos who was standing in the middle of the three.

"Are you going to talk to Aramis when we get back?" he asked.

"I told you last night…"

Athos didn't wait for the denial he knew was coming. "You've been friends a long time. Are you going to let a misunderstanding ruin that friendship?"

Porthos snorted rudely. "Misunderstandin'. That's a funny way to put it."

"Aramis doesn't distrust you," Athos said, his temper fraying. He was hot, tired and hungry and he'd had enough of watching his friends tear their relationship to shreds.

"Could have fooled me."

"He's worried about losing his position with the Musketeers."

"Doesn't mean he couldn't have talked to me about it."

Athos made a conscious effort to relax his hands which were curling into fists. "He thought you would blame yourself again for his injury. You remember how guilty you felt when he was abducted?"

"He persuaded me I wasn't at fault. He was taken because Flea wanted to attract my attention but it wasn't my doin'."

Athos could feel his hard-won self-control slipping. "Damn it, Porthos, he's hurting more than just physically."

"And the people of the Court are starvin'. He doesn't seem to care about that."

"How would you feel if Aramis had to leave the Musketeers?" d'Artagnan asked, joining the conversation for the first time.

There was a long silence.

"I wouldn't be happy about it."

"Then, imagine how he is feeling. His knee worsens just at a time when you are lying to him about visiting the Court. Can't you see how betrayed he feels?" Athos gaze slipped away from Treville who was watching them closely. He knew they were breaching protocol by talking while on guard.

"You know why I didn't tell him."

"Yes, for the same reason he didn't confide in you!" Athos lowered his voice. "You were each afraid of hurting the other and look how well that turned out." He shot a quick glance in Porthos' direction. The big man still looked cantankerous but he thought he saw a slight softening of his expression.

"Treville's coming this way," d'Artagnan hissed.

Athos stared straight ahead in silence. Treville stopped immediately in front of him, standing much too close for comfort. The Captain did not look happy.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, Sir."

"Then perhaps you could get back to guarding the King."

Athos kept his mouth shut and nodded curtly. With a huff of disapproval Treville turned away and went back to the table.

"I'm goin' to check the perimeter," Porthos said.

He was gone before Athos could think of a way to detain him.

"D'you think he listened to a word we said?" d'Artagnan asked.

"I don't know. I suppose we'll find out when we get back to the garrison." He worried about Aramis' state of mind. His secret was out now and his future hinged on the prognosis of the doctor. If they returned to find he was crippled for life there wasn't a force in the world that could mend the rift between the two men.

Tbc