Evening My Lovelies!
ITS HERE! ITS HERE! ... In case you can't tell I'm a bit excite to publish this chapter :D We'll be seeing the first proper appearance of our baddie and I absolutely can't wait to hear what you all think of both him and the chapter itself as I'm quite proud of it :D
Also, there's a plot idea that starts a bit in this chapter that was suggested by OC Guest Reviewer and I just wanted to thank them again for their amazing idea, I'm absolutely loving running with it and exploring how it fits in with my ideas for the story. I really really like it and I hope I can do your idea justice my friend! Thanks again! x
Also to ensure there's no confusion like the other day figured it would be best to state now that although D'Art was heading towards the explosion site he did not make it there before he was attacked so he has no idea of the state of his brothers.
Notes On Reviews:
Guest: Thanks for the review - Haha! The whole dun dun dun thing just reminded me of when I finished writing the chapter... pretty sure I actually said that to myself when I finished it :D We'll be getting a bit of a glimpse at Alain and his situation today but most of the focus is on D'Art and Moreau. Enjoy the new chapter! x
SpiritFeather19524: Thanks for the review - Hmm pretty safe to expect nothing good will be happening to our boys for a little while... my evil mind is out to play :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
pallysdeeks: Thanks for the review - Oh don't worry about it! It was completely my fault for not explaining the scene properly, I completely understood why it could be read that way upon reading it back... guess because I knew how it was supposed to sound it didn't really click in my mind that it could be taken any other way. Again don't worry about it there's absolutely nothing to forgive and you weren't harsh at all :D I'm really looking forward to your opinions on today's chapter, though I think you might be coming up with a harsher name for him than tosser once you've read this :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Deana: Thanks for the review - Yeah our lovely medic isn't really having the best time of late and things are only going to get worse in the coming chapters, for all of them :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - That's possibly a bit of an understatement considering some of the ideas I debating running with but also very true :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Bit annoyed at myself regarding it, though it will only make me more conscious of in next time I try something like that so hopefully I can write it better :D Luckily our boys are stubborn enough to ignore their injuries, especially when they learn our puppy's missing :) though its not going to be easy for them that's for sure... I'm really looking forward to writing their protective instincts warring with their injuries :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
FierGascon: Thanks for the review - Oh just wait for today's chapter my friend :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
The OC guest (Guest): Thanks for the review - Haha :D I'm really really glad you liked it, as soon as the joke came to me I couldn't resist adding it in :D I know! It's going to be interesting having them so injured at the beginning of things, I'm really looking forward to writing how their protective instincts will be at war with their injuries :D This chapter begins to lead into your idea, we'll be exploring it more in the latter half of tomorrows chapter and then in the coming chapters after that, I'm really excited to write it so thanks again for suggesting it! Tristan (physician apprentice) and Mathéo (musketeer) are two new OC's I'm not sure how big a part they're going to have but then again I never expect Issac and the others to have such a big part in my stories when I first created them so we'll have to wait and see on them. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Helensg: Thanks for the review - Things aren't looking good for most of our boys now unfortunately... and given some of the idea's my minds come up with its probably only going to get worse :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
Maryg (Guest): Thanks for the review - I couldn't throw something else at them after that explosion without even the smallest moment of respite... Though things will be really heating up drama-wise now :) I'm super excited to see your reaction to this chapter, I think you'll really like it (or at least I hope so!) Enjoy the new chapter! x
WelshEssex (Guest): Thanks for the review - Haha I know, things just can't go smoothly for even a whole chapter when I'm involved lol :D We'll be getting a brief glimpse at Alain and his situation today but we'll be exploring that more tomorrow. Interesting you mentioned Corbett, no-ones mentioned him yet and I'm glad you did :D I have a plan in mind for Corbett and what's going on with him but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see that. I'm torn with how long it'll take them to notice because he was in bad enough condition that he needed monitoring so someone should be checking on him... but at the same time they now have six injured musketeers, two of which are in a real bad way and I can see that taking all their focus and so almost forgetting about D'Artagnan... we'll see. Hope it stays sunny for you, we've pretty much got nothing but rain up here lately in Yorkshire. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - No problem :) Hopefully the mix up will give me something to learn and improve on so it doesn't happen again. I can't believe I created that sort of dynamic either... And to think I originally just created them because our boys needed help and I couldn't have unnamed men helping them... I'm almost offended with myself for thinking so dismissively of them in the beginning, I love those boys and how much everyone else seems to love them too :D I'm glad you liked Mathéo, I had a lot of fun writing him :D I'm not sure how big a role he's going to have, but like I said, that's what I thought about Issac and the others originally so who knows...I kinda picture Treville pretty much sprinting out of the palace once he was sure the royals were safe. I'm glad you liked the Athos/Porthos moment, it was too cute to pass up and I think after coming so close to death, and lets face it something like that could have killed them if I was evil enough, both of them needed the comfort that simple action brought. I'm so freaking excited to hear what you think of this chapter and I'm praying I haven't bigged it up too much out of my own love for it :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading
Love you all!
Enjoy!
xxx
Chapter Twenty: Moreau
"This could all end you know," mused a voice that pulled the attention of the barely conscious man just enough that the injured man could muster what remained of his energy to glare at his captor.
"Glare all you want musketeer," sneered the voice, "It will do nothing but worsen your stay in my humble abode."
"Can't… get… much worse," growled the chained and bleeding musketeer, his swollen eyes narrowed into a weak attempt at a glare as he remained conscious and defiant mainly due to his overwhelming desire not to lose any more of his pride to the man before him. He had let his fear get the better of him once and he could still hear the explosion that had, in all likelihood taken the lives of those he cherished above all, ringing in his ears. To honor them, he could not give in to his fear again.
"Oh musketeer," crooned the man as he tightly gripped his prisoner's hair, harshly pulling the man's head back, forcing the musketeer to look him right in the eyes as a wince of pain escaped, unwanted, from the bleeding man's lips. "It can always get worse."
Throwing his captive's head back, uncaring for the grunt of pain it produced, the man moved his hands to the musketeers bandage covered shoulder, knowing all too well what nature of wound laid underneath and pressed just hard enough to cause pain but not enough to cause the man to pass out.
"Now then. If you insist on being stubborn and thus continue to refuse to answer the questions I had you summoned to me for –" the musketeer broke free of his pain-filled haze for a moment at that and, in his anger, spat a mouthful of blood right into his captor's eyes.
Snarling, the man viciously backhanded the musketeer, making dark spots dance across the man's vision, before pulling a handkerchief from his suit and wiping away the blood, his expression ice cold when it returned to the battered man before him.
Despite his every intention the musketeer was unable to neither hide nor contain the shiver of fear that passed through his body at the look on the man's face. He had only seen the look twice before and both times ended with him in a world of pain.
Smirking internally at the musketeer's reaction the man took a step closer, amusement flickering in his eyes as his captive instinctively tried to shy away from his touch.
"Seeing as how you refuse to answer my initial questions," continued the man, acting as if the last few minutes never happened, though this time the musketeer was careful not to let his anger dictate his reactions. "Perhaps you will answer a different one."
In all honesty he wasn't sure where the courage to say the next words came from, or what possessed him to do it, but they were falling from his lips before his mind could even register he was saying them.
"No," he smirked, part of him proud of being able to do so in front of the man who genuinely scared him, "I don't… know how… to get that stick… out of your ass… but… I'd very much like… to beat you with it."
For a few moments, the only sounds to fill the room after the musketeer's words were his pained gasps as he desperately tried to fill his now screaming lungs with the air that had been forcefully kicked out of him.
"I'm disappointed D'Artagnan," sighed the man, the glint in his eyes sending yet another shiver of fear down the spine of the injured musketeer. "I had thought I had put a stop to that smart mouth of yours after that conversation we had several weeks ago… You do remember what we discussed I take it?"
D'Artagnan froze, his already alarmingly pale skin blanched further as he recalled exactly what the man before him was talking about.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" screamed the Gascon, his voice raw and hoarse as he fought both against the chains restraining him and the cries of his own body as he attempted to get to his captor.
Smirking the man knelt down, once again forcing the musketeer's head back by violently gripping the man's hair.
"I just blew up a bunch of musketeers," he stated coldly, his eyes lighting up at the look of complete and utter despair that entered the Gascon's eyes at his words. "What makes you think I wouldn't dare live up to my earlier words?"
D'Artagnan remained silent, his heart breaking as he willed the tears building up behind his eyes not to fall. His brothers wouldn't have wanted him to mourn them, not now at least. They had only entered the building in the first place because they were seeking justice for what had befallen him. Now all he could do would be to get out and ensure Moreau met the fate he deserved for all the pain he had caused.
A large part of him was desperately clinging onto the hope that his brothers had survived, despite Moreau's words to the contrary. He knew they had faced dangerous odds numerous times before, yet had emerged victorious in the end… Hell Aramis had survived a massacre that killed over twenty men and had been forced to endure near freezing conditions for several days before help could reach him.
His brother's past actions should have spoken for themselves as a testament to their strength and resilience, but D'Artagnan couldn't stop replaying the sound of the explosion over and over again in his mind, for them to have heard it all the way in the garrison it must have been a big one and the Gascon honestly wasn't sure if he believed that was something his brothers' could have survived.
A keening cry threatened to escape the injured musketeer's throat but he caught it just in time, not wanting Moreau to see more of his grief then he already had done, the man in question getting far too much amusement and enjoyment from it for his liking.
"So they were people you knew well?" smirked Moreau as he took in the grief the boy in front of him couldn't hide, "Guess what they say about the 'brotherhood of the musketeers' is true after all."
D'Artagnan was about to make a sarcastic retort, the fear he held of the man in front of him vanishing the further into grief he sank, when Moreau's words finally registered within him, making him pale even further.
"W-What… What did you call me?" breathed the Gascon, his mind working overtime trying to remember when he had slipped up and given away his true occupation and loyalties, wondering if it had been all his fault that his brothers had been targeted in the first place.
The smirk on Moreau's lips turned even more sinister as he once again approached the restrained man before him.
"Finally caught on I see," chuckling darkly at the fear and alarm on the musketeers face, Moreau stood. "Don't look so worried boy, I've known from the beginning who and more importantly, what you are."
D'Artagnan blinked, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to process that statement; he had worked so hard to keep his musketeer identity a secret. After learning exactly what sort of man Moreau was D'Artagnan knew he had to protect his brothers from him, he had seen what would happen to them if they ever crossed paths…
FLASH BACK
"Ah, there you are D'Artagnan," greeted Moreau as he heavily patted the man on the back, his eyes filling with dark amusement as he watched the younger man try to contain his wince of pain as his pats landed right on the bruises he had received only two days ago.
"Didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon," stated the Gascon warily, his body tensed as he prepared himself for whatever the man before him had in store for him this time.
"Well a situation has arisen and I would be a fool not to let you witness it."
The corners of D'Artagnan's lips curling downward into a frown, he might have only known the man a few weeks but he could already tell that nothing good was going to come of this meeting.
With one more harsh pat on the bruise Moreau gestured for the clearly nervous and tense younger man to follow him, his eyes watching the boy like a hawk when they reached their destination.
"You want me to fight again?" questioned D'Artagnan, doing all he could to keep the anger and worry from his voice, knowing it would only make things worse for himself if he allowed it out. He was essentially Moreau's new pet and that gave him a greater leeway in his reactions than the men who worked under Moreau, but the Gascon was quickly learning how fast the man's amusement at such responses could turn to anger.
"Not yet," shrugged Moreau, clearly enjoying the situation and the musketeer's reaction, "I brought you here to see something." D'Artagnan frowned, really not liking the sound of that and he found himself flinching when Moreau yelled for them to 'bring him out.'
The musketeer's frown became even more pronounced as he watched two of Moreau's leading men drag a third into the center of the room. It was only when the two men stepped back and the third became visible that D'Artagnan truly realized the enormity of the situation he found himself in.
Before him, kneeling on the ground beaten and bloody was a man he recognized from the garrison's recent recruitment drive. He had only seen the man in passing but D'Artagnan was sure the man had attended the event, which had been set up to help test who was worthy of becoming a recruit in the regiment.
"James here," stated Moreau as he strode closer to the blooded, restrained man, "thought he'd try out for the musketeers," Moreau hadn't bothered to hide the sneer in his words when he said the name of the regiment and D'Artagnan could do nothing but watching in sickening silence as Moreau whipped the man senseless before cutting his throat.
"Musketeers… red guard, it matters not, both are dogs of a pathetic King and I will see no traitors or turncoats in my men. Let this be a lesson of what will happen to each of those pathetic excuses of men if I get them in my grasp."
With that Moreau had swiftly left the room, though, unknown to the musketeer, he had watched the Gascon's reactions from the shadows, smirking at the look of despair and hopelessness that filled him.
END FLASH BACK
"It was fun watching you try to hide who you were," mused Moreau, pulling the boy from his memories. "At first I wanted simply to kill you but then… then you became interesting… Now however," he said, his earlier coldness returning with a vengeance.
"Now your uses are dwindling so…" he clapped and the door to the room opened and an all too familiar scene replayed out as two of Moreau's right-hand men dragged a clearly injured third man into the room, only this time D'Artagnan didn't have the strength to hide his reactions.
"So you do know him," smirked Moreau as he moved closer to currently unconscious man, not missing how D'Artagnan tensed the closer he got.
"One of my men brought him to me earlier, thought he was you, you see," explained Moreau callously as he kicked the unconscious man onto his back, grinning as D'Artagnan all but growled at him for the action, though the boy's attention was quickly diverted to the other man's injuries.
"I punished the incompetent fool of course but this one…" Moreau knelt down and drew the unconscious man's head back much like he had done to D'Artagnan earlier. "This one refuses to speak, even to give me his name.
Unable to help himself D'Artagnan's lips quirked up into a small but proud smirk
"I'd wipe away that smirk if I were you musketeer," sneered Moreau, tightening his grip on the unconscious man's hair, pulling a small whimper of pain from the injured man. "I'm only just getting started."