A/N: S'up readers. Yes, there's a new chapter (hallelujah) and if you hop on over to my profile, there's a little surprise for you :)
Over the next couple of weeks, I'm planning to edit some of my old chapters and change a few things as well as adding in things. If anything significant changes I'll let you know in the next chapter I post so that you won't get confused. I decided to edit them because A) I have grown massively as a writer and B) I have a plan for the final few episodes of Series 2 that might not be able to happen if I don't change a few things (still with me?).
Anyhoo, relax, read and review x
The Battle for Pinon
Ellie sighed, leaning her head against the wall. Sleep had evaded her despite how tired she was, and she assumed it was down to the slight fear she had for tomorrow. No matter what happened, something scary was going to happen, whether it was with Renard or Liam. Ellie watched as the candle in the window flickered as a gust of wind snuck through the crack in the window. D'Artagnan grumbled, in his sleep and rolled over, his arm smacking Ellie's leg as he rolled. She chuckled, rolling her eyes as she moved his hand off her leg and back onto his roll.
"Hey."
Ellie jumped slightly, reaching for her dagger, when a gentle hand grabbed hers, stopping the gut reaction. She looked up and sighed with relief when she realised it was just Aramis.
"Hey," Ellie sighed, running a hand through her knotty hair. "Can't sleep?"
"Well, I needed to – " Aramis nodded to the door that led outside and realisation dawned on Ellie.
"Yes, thanks 'mis, I get the idea," Ellie stated, shaking her head at the mental image forming in her head.
"Why are you up?" Aramis asked as he slid down the wall and sat next to her.
"I can't sleep," Ellie replied quietly, resting her head on the wall. "Keep thinking about what might happen tomorrow. It's on an endless loop in here," she pointed to her head and groaned softly, "I know that it's normal, but it's different when the people you're fighting with are normal humans who don't kill people for a living." She shrugged, "for some reason, the consequences seem greater."
"We'll get through it, Els," Aramis said softly, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Here." Aramis rummaged in his pocket, pulling out a silver coin. He handed it to Ellie who inspected it curiously.
"This is old," she said, flipping it over, "it's not been in service for years."
"It's my mothers," Aramis explained wistfully. "It's her lucky coin. She kept it for years and then gave it to me. I've carried it with me everywhere, from Savoy to Spain."
Ellie's eyes widened and she stared at the coin in her hands, a piece of family history, Aramis' family history, in her hands.
"Aramis, this is incredible," Ellie whispered, holding the coin gently in case it broke.
"It's yours now," Aramis said, shaking his head when Ellie began to protest, "no, I'm not listening. It got me through the worst years of my life, it'll get you through yours." Aramis smiled, grabbing Ellie's hand as tears began falling.
"Aramis," Ellie whispered, frantically wiping away her tears. "Thank you." Ellie rested her head on his shoulder, smiling as he kissed her head.
"I'm with you," Aramis whispered, hugging her, "no matter what."
The next morning came far too quickly for anyone's liking. Ellie had tied her jacket around her waist and rolled her sleeves up as they waited in the village square for the villagers to decided. Kicking a loose stone, Ellie watched as it skittered across the ground, bouncing to a halt. The sun was beating down despite the early hour and Ellie could feel the sweat beginning to drip down her back.
"They're not coming," Aramis announced after they'd stood there, waiting for ten minutes.
"You can hardly blame them," D'Artagnan replied as they walked back towards their horses.
"No," Ellie said, spinning on her heel, "you can't."
"They've made their decision," Athos added, joining the group as they walked back.
Treville turned around, double checking there was no one coming out. "Wait," he called, staring at something. Ellie frowned, turning around to see what her captain was staring at. A young boy had appeared in the square and Ellie recognised him from the night before.
"Is that it?" She whispered to Porthos as Treville walked up to the young boy who'd emerged from one of the houses. Porthos shrugged in response as the boy stared at them.
"Just you?" Treville asked, looking at the boy with a sigh. The boy didn't reply, merely matched Treville's gaze as the sound of footsteps joined the squawking of the chickens. Ellie looked to her left and saw two more villagers emerging from their house, joining the stand. To her right, Jeanne and Bertrand appeared, also joining the fight. One by one, the square filled with the villagers who had decided to make a stand and fight.
"Looks like we're staying then," Porthos said, looking around. "Just one question then, how exactly are we going to turn this bunch of misfits into a fighting force?"
"With great difficulty," Ellie muttered, just loud enough for Porthos to hear and the musketeer snorted as Treville began giving orders.
Ellie chuckled as she sat on a bale of hay in the middle of the village, watching as her brothers and Treville tried to teach the villagers how to fight. D'Artagnan had just ducked and rolled out the way of a loaded gun and glared at his giggling sister as he stood up and dusted himself off.
"How's it going?" Marie asked, sitting down next to Ellie.
"Well," Ellie replied, drawing out the words as several guns fired. She looked up and saw two of the villagers who'd just fired their guns, on the ground, and the rest wincing as their ears rang with the sound. "It's happening," she chuckled, sighing in despair.
"Looks like it," Marie said, sarcasm dripping off her every word.
"Hey, you're more than welcome to try and teach them yourself," Ellie replied, leaning back and looking at the woman, squinting as the sun re-emerged from the clouds.
"No thanks, I'm scared I'd be shot!" Marie exclaimed, ducking as a stray bullet zoomed over their heads and into the wooden pole behind them. Marie and Ellie looked at each other and burst out laughing as the guilty villager yelled an apology over his shoulder.
"Blimen hell!" Ellie exclaimed, trying to fight off the giggles threatening to take over her body. She looked at Marie again and began laughing even harder, the latter falling off the bale and onto the floor.
"What are you two doing?" Athos asked in his usual grumpy voice from where he sat teaching the villagers how to load a gun.
"How come you just get to sit there whilst us lot do the 'ard work?" Porthos added, glaring at Ellie and Marie.
"We are doing work!" Ellie exclaimed pointing to where a barricade had begun to form. "The children were getting twitchy so I asked them to help build a barricade."
"And how did you know that was where I wanted it?" Treville asked, leaning on the stick he was using to demonstrate sword fighting with.
"It's the only place in the whole village where you can see all around, behind us is a river and boggy marshland and directly that way," Ellie said pointing towards the barricade, "is where Renard lives."
"Oh, my word," Aramis said, staring at Ellie who'd helped Marie up off the floor, "she's become one of us."
"And we're meant to believe that they did all that for free?" D'Artagnan asked, pointing at the children carrying furniture to the barricade.
"Yup," Ellie replied, nodding.
"Ahem."
Ellie turned and saw one of the older children looking down at her expectantly. "Yeah, yeah, alright," Ellie muttered, pulling out two coins and handing it the child as her fellow Musketeers burst out laughing as the child practically pranced off with the money. "Honestly." There was a loud bang as a table from the tavern got wedged between the door. Ellie jumped up and raced towards the children who looked like they were about to drop said table, taking the weight and carrying it to the barricade.
"Chop, chop," Ellie yelled as she dumped the table at the bottom of the building heap, "we haven't got all day!"
"Doesn't she just make you want to hit her sometimes," D'Artagnan muttered as they turned back to the job at hand.
"I think you mean all the time," Aramis replied, clicking the safety off of one of the guns.
"I heard that!" Ellie yelled, followed by a concession of bangs and the sound of Ellie swearing rather loudly. Aramis and D'Artagnan shared a smirk as they looked back and saw Ellie struggling to catch the chair that'd fallen off the barricade.
"Oh, I definitely mean all the time," D'Artagnan amended, taking a step back as the villagers prepared to fire their guns again.
"Oh, watch out," Ellie muttered from where she was standing on top of the barricade, "the rich is about." She nodded her head towards where Catherine had emerged from.
"Ellie," Athos tutted as he followed after Catherine.
"Why don't you like that woman?" D'Artagnan asked as he handed Ellie a chair.
"She rubs me up the wrong way," came Ellie's muffled reply as she wedged the chair in-between a sandbag and a table. "She's too pretentious for her own good."
"Louis is too pretentious for his own good," D'Artagnan reminded her as he helped her down off the barricade, catching her as she jumped off.
"That's different," Ellie replied, throwing a basket on top of the chair, "he's the king, he's allowed to be. Her? A woman whose life was supposedly ruined, leaving her penniless, yet she can still afford to walk about in expensive dresses that are most definitely not the 'height of fashion' " She opened her arms, walking backwards as she headed to get more furniture. "Explain to me how I'm wrong."
D'Artagnan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched Ellie disappear into a house.
"She's hiding something," Porthos said, standing next to D'Artagnan.
"I know, as much as she's trying to hide it, it's obvious," D'Artagnan replied. "I'm not forcing her to tell us though."
"Nah." Porthos shook his head as he said, "it's up to her to trust us."
"Ellie! Hurry up with that table," Treville yelled as the villagers moved to stand behind their barricade.
"This would happen a lot faster if you gave me a hand," Ellie grunted, evidently struggling with the weight of the solid wood table. Porthos chuckled, jogging up to her and grabbing the other end. The two carried it to the barricade, pushing it on top of a wagon full of hay.
"The barricades should hold to the south and west," Treville said, as he examined the structure of wood and hay. "And with water to the north, they've no choice but to take this path. There's no cover and they'll be badly exposed. That gives us an advantage."
"Just like I said," Ellie sung quietly from where she stood next to Marie on the barricade. Marie chuckled quietly as Aramis and D'Artagnan pushed the wagon next to Ellie forwards, finishing the barricade. Ellie reached out a hand, pulling Aramis up on to the table they were kneeling on.
"Why are you doing this?" Marie asked suddenly as Aramis readied his gun. Ellie glanced up at Marie, confusion on her face at the question. "We're just a bunch of villagers, this isn't your fight."
"No, it isn't," Ellie replied quietly, pushing her gun into a small gap between a basket and a barrel, "but the job is to fight and save people, and I enjoy it."
"You enjoy saving people?"
"Oh god no," Ellie scoffed, sending Aramis an apologetic look when he glared at her, "I love the fighting part. Not to mention the stabbing."
"I'm friends with a psychopath," Marie sighed, staring into space in shock.
"I didn't realise we were friends, Marie!" Ellie exclaimed, hand going to her heart. She laughed, ducking as Marie swiped at her.
"Try living with her," D'Artagnan replied, patting the young woman on the back in comfort as Ellie chuckled.
Suddenly, a gunshot cracked out across the village, striking one of the elders and bouncing off a table. Ellie and Marie ducked, readying their guns as Renard's men finally appeared.
"To your stations!" Treville yelled as the villagers yet to stand up at the barricade moved in.
"Ah shit," Ellie swore, ducking as another bullet whizzed over her head. "Aramis?"
"Hang on," Aramis replied, looking through a gap in the barricade.
"Hold!" Treville's voice came loud and clear over the cacophony of bullets. "You can't shoot what you can't see; you're just wasting ammunition. He's trying to see how many guns we have."
An odd silence fell over the village, the kind that Ellie dreaded as she knew it meant something bad was coming. She calmed her nerves as she crouched down, looking down the barrel of her gun, waiting for one of Renard's men to make a move. There was movement in the bushes to her left and Ellie's finger hovered over the trigger as she waited for him to emerge. The man stood up and began running towards the barricade. Ellie fired her gun, a feeling of justice when the man fell in the middle of the field.
"Nicely done," Aramis whispered, his eyes straight ahead as he, too, waited. Another man made his move and Aramis pulled the trigger, killing the man instantly.
"They're retreating!" Ellie yelled to Treville as two men snuck forward, grabbing the dead bodies and dragging them off the field.
"Not for long," Treville replied, watching the retreat. "Re-group and look after the injured."
"It never stops," Ellie muttered, jumping down from her spot and heading towards the small group of injured villagers sitting outside the tavern. She smiled as she knelt down in front of one of the children, a young girl, a small graze from splintering wood on their arm.
"Hi," she whispered as she gently took the girl's arm and examined it, "I'm Elizabeth."
"Eliza," the girl whispered, wincing as Ellie began to clean the wound with a cloth.
"Sorry, sweetie," Ellie consoled as she gently cleaned it. "I'm very impressed at how brave you're being." Eliza didn't reply, a smile on her face the only answer Ellie needed. Eliza sat perfectly still as Ellie wrapped a bandage around the girl's arm, making sure it wasn't too tight.
"Thank you," Eliza said quietly, swinging her legs. "You're really cool."
Ellie laughed, "Why thank you. But if anyone's cool, it's you." Eliza began blushing and Ellie chuckled. She looked up and saw Porthos sitting in the shade, re-filling the guns. "I'll be back."
Ellie stood up, waving goodbye to Eliza, and walked over to Porthos.
"You want some?" Porthos held out a flask of water and Ellie took it, greedily drinking it. She put the lid back on and handed it back to Porthos as he carried on with his work.
"Right," she began, sitting down next to her brother, "what's going on with you and the Captain?"
"What?" Porthos asked, almost dropping the gun he was holding. "How did you – "
"I'm not blind, Porthos," Ellie answered, picking up another gun and filling it. "I can see the tension between you two. Not to mention you've been ignoring him all week. What's going on?"
Porthos sighed, "he's lying to me. He knows something about my family and he's refusing to tell me what it is. Ever since we went to Spain, he's been off with me."
"That's unlike him," Ellie commented, putting the safety on the gun before throwing it on the pile of armed guns. "Have you asked him?
Porthos scoffed, "of course I have, he just avoids the question – and me."
"Well," Ellie sighed, handing Porthos the gunpowder as she stood up, "if you ever need to talk, I'm here."
"Likewise," Porthos replied, nodding at her.
"I know," Ellie replied, smiling, as she took off back towards the barricade. She clambered back up onto the barricade, excepting Aramis' hand as he pulled her up.
"You good?" He asked, handing her a gun.
"Yeah," she replied, cocking her gun, "may I ask why we're talking and not shooting?"
"He had a white flag," D'Artagnan answered from beside her, "although I'm beginning to regret not shooting."
"The land is no longer mine," Athos yelled, and Ellie's brain suddenly caught up with the conversation.
"The land belongs to us now," Jeanne said, emerging on top of the barricade next to Ellie and pointing her gun at Renard.
"To all of us!" Bernard added, joining his daughter on the barricade.
"It does?" Ellie asked looking around in confusion. "I was gone for five minutes, what happened?"
"I have given the estate over to its people," Athos explained, and Ellie nodded in understanding, struggling not to laugh as she caught sight of Catherine's expression.
"So, you're trespassing on our land," Jeanne said, pride in her voice as she faced down Renard.
"You go, girl," Ellie muttered, smiling when Jeanne looked down at her, pride on her face.
"You'd hand this rabble your birthright to defy me?" Renard demanded, fury evident on his face.
"I have made my choice," Athos said calmly, leaning on the legs of a chair.
"So you have, and it is on your own head," Renard replied, turning his horse around and riding off.
"Prepare yourselves – every last one of you is going to die…in pain!" Edmond yelled as he rode away. Ellie rolled her eyes, readying her gun as he disappeared into the words.
"Does he know when to shut up?" Ellie questioned quietly, her only answering being Jeanne's snicker of amusement.
"Remember your discipline," Treville said as he marched behind them. "Think like soldiers and you cannot lose."
"I hate this part," D'Artagnan whispered as he stood next to Ellie, guns pointing at the field before them. "The calm before the storm."
"Me too," Ellie whispered, eyes frantically scanning the landscape for any sign of Renard's men.
Gunshots and yelling filled the air as Renard's men charged forward from the bushes. Ellie growled softly, eyes narrowing as she aimed her gun at the men running towards the village.
"Wait for it," Ellie ordered, the villagers around her following her order. The soldiers were getting closer and closer, so nearly in range. Ellie's finger twitched as it hovered over the trigger, waiting for the order.
"Fire!"
Ellie immediately pulled the trigger, successfully hitting a man directly in the chest just as he reached the barricade. She threw her gun to the side, picked up a freshly loaded one and fired again, hitting a different man in the head.
Soon the men were upon them and the villagers quickly moved out the way as the Musketeers came chargings forward with their swords and began fighting. Ellie felt the vibration of her sword meeting the enemies go through her bones and smirked as she pushed him off the barricade, stabbing him in the stomach as he fell.
There was a small yelp as the young boy who'd been the first to emerge that morning got shot in the shoulder and Ellie felt fury rise in her. Apparently, D'Artagnan felt the same as both of them kicked down the table blocking them in and launched themselves at the men in front of it. Ellie stabbed one of the soldiers in the back, pulling her sword and launching herself at the next man running for her.
Ellie spun around, ducking as a bullet shot over her head. She eyed up the guilty soldier who was charging towards her and waited. Waited until he was almost upon her as she grabbed his shoulders, throwing him to the ground and stabbing him with her sword.
"Reload!" Treville yelled as the remaining men ran off back to Renard. "Tend to the wounded and repair the barricade. This isn't over yet."
Ellie jumped over the barricade and ran over to where the little boy was lying against the table.
"Hey," she said, throwing her sword down and falling to her knees next to him. She carefully pulled his shirt away from his shoulder, revealing the bullet wound.
"How is he?" D'Artagnan asked from behind her, handing her a roll of bandages and a bowl of water.
"Bullet went straight through and there doesn't appear to be any serious damage," Ellie replied, wiping the blood away with the cloth, "it's small enough not to need stitches so, all in all, good." The boy looked at her and D'Artagnan, relief in his eyes. "And you'll have a really cool scar," Ellie added as she began wrapping the wound.
"I'm gonna go and refill the guns," D'Artagnan said, picking up the empty ones strayed about.
"Can you do mine?" Ellie asked as she tied the bandage in a knot and cleaned her hands.
"Already on it," D'Artagnan replied, mock saluting her as he ran off. Ellie rolled her eyes as she tipped the bloody water onto the grass an stood up.
"What's your name?" Ellie asked the boy as she helped him stand up and move away from the barricade.
"Tomas," the boy replied, wincing as he sat down on a bench far away from the path of any bullets.
"You've been really brave, Tomas," Ellie said sitting down next to the boy.
"I want to be a musketeer when I grow up," Tomas said, watching as Ellie cleaned her sword on the grass.
"Well, if you turn out to be anything like I saw today, you'll have no trouble becoming one," Ellie replied winking at Tomas. "Here." She pulled out a dagger form her belt and handed it to him. It had a highly embellished handle with the Fleur De Lis in the middle and flowers all around it.
Tomas took it with gentle hands, awe on his face as he stared at it. Ellie smiled, "it's yours now," she said softly, "I pray that you'll never use it before coming to Paris, but when you do," she ruffled his hair and sighed, "hand it to whoever's at the Garrison."
"What'll that do?" Tomas asked as he flipped the dagger over.
"It'll let them know that you're a friend of mine," Ellie replied, glancing behind he to see Aramis waving at her. "Look after it, alright?"
"I will," Tomas replied, nodding furiously as Ellie got up. He stared after her, awe on his face. "I'll do it justice."
Ellie grunted as she grabbed a pile of hay and dropped it on top of the barrel of gun powder, hiding it from view. She stood up, dusting down her jacket as she picked up her sword belt.
"Have you seen this work?" Aramis asked D'Artagnan as the latter dropped his barrel into the hole.
"I've never seen it not work," he replied, dusting off his hands and standing up. The three of them walked off, climbing over the barricade and taking up their positions once again. Ellie stood next to Treville, hand on her sword, as they waited.
Yelling men appeared from the forest, firing their guns at the villagers as they ran towards them. Treville gave Aramis the signal and the Spaniard fired his gun, hitting the barrel of gunpowder. The barrel exploded, killing the men unfortunate enough to be caught up in it instantly. Within seconds, every barrel had exploded, and Ellie caught a glimpse of a smirk on Aramis face and chuckled as she drew her sword.
She launched herself over the barricade, her sword immediately meeting flesh. Ellie spun around in a circle, swiping at the soldiers trying to kill her. She stabbed on in the stomach, throwing a dagger at another as she pulled her sword from the dead body. Ducking a punch, Ellie thrusted her sword forward, smirking slightly when she heard a groan and pulled it out.
"Athos," Edmond yelled over the clashing of swords. Ellie glanced behind and saw Athos stalking out from behind the barricade, ready to face Edmond. She turned her attention back to the fight before her, meeting the soldier's sword with hers. Ellie grunted as she pushed the soldier over, stabbing him in the back as they both fell to the ground. She rolled off the man, panting as she laid on her back, trying to catch her breath.
Looking around, Ellie could see that the fight was almost over and that the victory was almost definitely Pinon's. Stumbling to her feet, Ellie noticed that Athos and Edmond were still at it, the latter stumbling as he tried to keep up with Athos' expert swordsmanship. There was a yell as Athos managed to disarm Edmond, sending the boy tumbling to the ground in surprise. Athos stood over him, sword pointing at his chest as Edmond stared back.
"Go on then," Edmond panted, "what are you waiting?"
"Don't tempt me," Athos warned, his sword unwavering. Ellie stumbled to her feet, her head swimming as the blood rushed back into her brain. She picked her sword up from the ground, wiping the blood and mud off on her pant leg and sheathed back in her belt.
"Drop your sword, Athos."
Ellie's head shot up, her eyes widening when she saw Catherine standing in the field with her gun aimed at Athos. To his credit, Athos didn't flinch, throwing both his swords to the ground as Catherine walked closer.
"I can't breather in a world where your wife still lives," Catherine said, her gun still aimed at Athos, "if you won't do anything about it, then I will."
"She's the King's mistress," Athos explained, taking a few cautious steps towards the woman. "Neither of us can touch her."
Ellie's hand strayed to her gun as she saw Edmond pull out a small dagger, hidden in his sleeve.
"What will you give me for him?" Catherine asked, nodding at Edmond, seemingly oblivious to the boy's actions. Ellie's hand rested on her gun, ready to pull it out and shot Edmond if he tried anything. "I thought you meant to give me my life back. That at least might have been some compensation. But you deceived me there too. Perhaps he can give me what I deserve."
"But the gun down, we can talk this through," Athos replied. There was a yell as Edmond finally made his move. In a matter of seconds, Ellie had pulled her gun out and fired it, hitting Edmond in the leg as he grabbed Athos. But another gunshot echoed out and Ellie realised very quickly that she wasn't the only one who had fired.
Athos and Edmond fell to the ground as Catherine slowly lowered her gun. Ellie's heart plummeted as she watched neither man get back up. Footsteps to her right alerted her to Catherine running away, but she didn't care anymore. She took a hesitant step forward as Athos rolled off the boy, stumbling to his feet and moving away. D'Artagnan quickly ran over to Athos, checking him over as Renard leapt off his horse and ran over to his son.
"No! Edmond?" Renard fell to his knees beside his dying son as Ellie walked over to Athos, looking him over for any injuries. Seeing none she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly albeit briefly. He returned the hug, patting her on the back as she let go. Ellie stayed close to Athos as Edmond's life left him, the two of them walking back into the village side by side.
Ellie winked at Marie as she walked past her, carrying one of the many chairs used for the barricade. Marie smiled back at her as she helped look after those injured in the battle, Aramis sitting next to her. Looking to her right, Ellie saw Athos approaching her, carrying several baskets.
"Thank you," he said as they carried their loads back into the houses.
"What for?" Ellie asked, dropping the chair next to a table and dusting her hands.
"Talking sense into me, ensuring Edmond didn't kill me, for being my sister –"
"Yeah, I get the idea, 'thos," Ellie chuckled, looping her arm through his as they walked back to the barricade to carry more furniture back to where it belonged. "Even though he was a horrible person, he didn't deserve to die."
"No," Athos replied sadly, helping Ellie up onto the barricade to grab a table.
"Any idea where Catherine went?" Ellie asked as she handed the table down to Athos, jumping down from the barricade when he had it.
"None," Athos answered as Ellie took the end of the table. "You were right about her."
"You knew," Ellie said, looking at her brother as they walked, "you knew she was going to pull something."
"Of course, I did," Athos said, setting the table on the floor and giving Ellie a rare smile," she used to be my betrothed." Ellie chuckled as he disappeared back towards the barricade, her heart full of happiness at the small victory they'd achieved that day.
"Thank you," Jeanne said as she approached the five musketeers walking their horses to the edge of the village.
"You did it, not us," D'Artagnan said, smiling. Ellie winked at Jeanne as she mounted her horse, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Marie walked up to Ellie's horse, a smile on her face as Athos and Bertrand emerged from the tavern.
"You know," Marie began, patting Ellie's horse on the neck, "I might move to the city one day."
Ellie chuckled, "Well if you do, you know where to find me." Ellie sighed, shifting in the saddle. "Just follow the sound of fighting." Marie chuckled. "Good luck, Marie," Ellie said, holding out her hand.
"You too," Marie replied, shaking Ellie's hand. "Hopefully I'll see you all again."
"I can guarantee it won't be here!" Ellie exclaimed as she urged her horse into a walk, catching up with the rest of her group.
"I owe you all a debt of thanks," Athos said suddenly as they began their ride home. "I was wrong, and you made me see it."
"I don't think your change of mind was because of us," D'Artagnan replied as they rode around the corner.
"Who then?" Athos asked. His question was answered as the approached the entrance to the village. Nearly the entire village was lining the path, wanting to bid farewell to their saviours. Ellie smiled as she saw the Tomas standing at the very end of the line, giving him a small wave as she rode past.
"It's a beautiful day," Aramis said as they left, "we really should come to the country more often."
"And when does that ever end well for us?" Ellie retorted, giggling at his offended expression as she urged her horse into a canter and took off ahead. She glanced back briefly and saw Tomas standing there, watching as they left. A bittersweet filling filled her heart as she rode away.
Tomas would be back, she knew that much.
A/N: I have big plans for Tomas. Make sure you head on over to my profile for the exciting news! I can't wait to see your reactions!