He watched Maggie settle at the table; she was still shaky. It would take some time for her to handle this, and he didn't know what that was going to take. It was going to take him some time to handle it too, Treville had never anticipated that his marriage would force him to choose between her and his duty to his country; yet today he had. Taking the stairs down to the yard, he found Aramis and Porthos were holding the bench down while Athos and D'Artagnan faced off; both stopped as he approached.
"Maggie's cooking, come up for dinner later." Before she was done there would be enough for an army.
"Thought we weren't supposed to be spoiled." Aramis quipped, he fixed the younger man with a glare.
"Maggie doesn't need to know the wound was fatal." Given it was safe to assume the Cardinal had sped the process along a bit. He would give her some time before they reviewed her technique.
"She did well with minimal training." Athos answered behind him, the man sheathed his sword as D'Artagnan dropped onto the bench next to Aramis. "What tipped her?"
"Heard the click, he primed it, she is used to hearing it in the morning." He paused, hand resting on his own sword, he knew how train a warrior.
Maggie had the basic understanding of how to use a dagger, she was agile and young. There was no way to know whether she had any raw talent with a sword or not, she'd probably never held one. Constance had done well, but she hadn't needed too much sword training; she couldn't conceal it in the palace. He didn't worry too much about roles, had no problem with his wife knowing how to fight; or carry a sword.
Treville continued across the yard, dispatching units to question the cousin of the servant they had arrested this morning and several others who had previously worked at the palace. When he came back he paused to watch Athos best Aramis. The musketeer held out his arms in an invitation to the cadets; none stepped forward.
In a real fight he knew the younger man would end him, and having trained him there was a certain pride in that. Drawing his sword Treville stepped forward, in his prime they would have been a fair match.
Athos nodded, a half smirk on his face as their swords touched; and then it was on. They circled each other dodging and jabbing, he forced Athos to work around him and take low shots; he knew the man preferred to work high.
After a few moments they were both breathing hard, Athos jabbed forward and took him out at the knees. Treville countered and sent the man hard to the right as he tried to regain his feet, glancing up he saw that Maggie was on the balcony watching.
Again they faced off, he heard some of the comments from the cadets watching. For that alone he wasn't willing to give up yet. Treville blocked a blow and countered, Athos lost his footing but blocked just in time.
They knew each other's moves well, he knew how to throw the younger man off; but Athos knew the same about him. Blocking one blow he switched sword hands and caught Athos from the other side, it caught the man off guard and their sword's locked. Calculating his chances Treville dropped and stepped left, Athos' slipped forward, reaching out to break his fall.
Chest heaving he straightened his arm, extending the sword so the tip touched his soldier's back. Athos nodded and rolled, sheathing his sword Treville held out a hand to the man. Aramis held out a cup, he took a drink and passed it off to Athos.
He left the men to their jokes and took the stairs up to where his wife watched. "I thought you might kill each other."
"No." Putting an arm around her he turned her back into the room. "No, we've done that many times. Its how you learn to use a sword."
"You are good at it." Her cooking smelled incredible, she went to check the pot on the stove before turning back to him; coming back to him.
"I want you to learn to use a sword." Her hand rested on his chest, he covered it with his. "I want you to be able to defend yourself."
"I know how to use a blade." She smiled at him, her body pressed against him.
"I am thankful that you do." Treville wrapped his arms around her. "I told them they could come up for supper."
"Good." She grinned, and turned back towards the stove.
Not long after his quarters were full, all the musketeers in the garrison had piled in for his wife's cooking. There was noise and laughter as his men ate, Maggie flitted about ensuring everyone had enough to eat until he pulled her down to sit on his knee.
"Eat something Mags." He murmured, it wasn't as if she hadn't piled enough food on his plate. The woman didn't seem to have an issue with managing a budget or a household; but she could make it stretch.
"This is nice." She murmured, her cheek nuzzling into his shoulder; the noise in the room enough to cover her words. "It's like having a family."
"We are a family Mags, we'll make it bigger soon enough." Gently he kissed her cheek, he hadn't thought he would have a wife; or truly want a family.
"You do remember you are entitled to actual quarter's Captain. Not just a corner of your office." Aramis commented, he fixed the soldier sitting next to him with a glare. "Not like we don't have space. The south rooms have been empty for years."
He just shook his head, he had never expected to have a family, let alone consider raising one in the garrison. Yet there wasn't a safer place in France than the musketeers' home base, and with the demands of the regiment he could hardly move out of it.
The south rooms had been empty so long for the primary reason that none of the men really wanted to live in adjoined rooms. It was an apartment of sorts that was part of the original building; before it was remodeled into the garrison.
The cadets lived off site, receiving rooms upon being commissioned, the other soldiers picked their rooms. It had always seemed simpler for him to live in the office when it was just him. But with Maggie maybe he needed to consider his options sooner rather than later.
Later, when they had cleaned up from supper Maggie sat next to him, her hand tucked into his. "I'm happy here Jean, we don't need more space."
"It would give us some privacy. And really the office shouldn't be our home." He smiled a little as he glanced around; he was beginning to think of something different. "Aramis is right, by rank alone I have the right to proper quarters; you should have some sort of home."
