A/N: I remembered! I do so love all the reviews I receive for the chapters. I genuinely makes my day so much better. And even if you aren't one for reviews, a random combination of letters are always the best reviews. Even if it's just a smiley face. I also love hearing all your ideas for the story (Yes, I have written them all down.) so keep sending them in. I am planning on re-writing this story once it is finished because I know it isn't amazing, but I just adore writing it. I am so excited for the second season, some big things are going to happen!
Happy New Year lovelies!
X
Ellie chuckled as D'Artagnan threw a rock at Aramis, the marksmen dodging it expertly.
'He's right you know.' Ellie called at him, causing the Gascon to huff.
'I didn't ask your opinion.' D'Artagnan yelled at her, glaring. Ellie chuckled as the breeze picked up again
The four Musketeers had been clearing the farmhouse after the roof collapsed two days ago. Aramis had forbidden Ellie from doing anything other than sitting and reading after she got caught in the collapse. She'd managed to give herself a small concussion and had sprained her knee somehow. Athos had had a go at her for lying, before giving her a hug and telling her not to scare him like that again.
But Ellie was happy not doing anything. It was far more fun watching Aramis and D'Artagnan fall out. The farmland around the house had been cleared, and Athos and Porthos had begun rebuilding the fence surrounding the land. They only had a week left before they had to head back to Paris, and the farm was far from rebuilt. If anything it looked worse than it had before they'd arrived.
They'd aimed to get the land back to farming standard, and at least get the farmhouse cleared. But the roof collapsing, and only having four people working instead of five had slowed things down considerably.
Ellie sighed, turning back to the drawing she'd been working on the past couple of days. She was more tired than she was letting on, and she was glad that Aramis had forbidden her from working. As nice as the break had been, she was looking forward to going home. She looked up as D'Artagnan came and collapsed next to her, sweat pouring down his face.
'This is impossible. We'll never get it rebuilt.' He sighed, running a hand through his knotted hair as he looked up at her.
'We will have faith.' Ellie told him. 'Have faith, and trust us.' D'Artagnan looked up at her, his brown eyes gazing into hers.
'You sound so wise.' Ellie chuckled, turning to face the farmhouse.
'Believe me, I'm really not.' She replied, watching as Aramis threw some rubble out of this house. 'I just read a lot.'
'Are you alright though?' D'Artagnan asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.
'I will be.' Ellie told him, smiling down at where he had laid down next to the barrel Ellie had perched herself on.
'Well…it looks a lot better than when we started.' Porthos commented as they stood in front of the farm. The field had new fences and D'Artagnan had begun to plant some seeds. The farmhouse was nowhere near ready to live in, but all the rubble had been cleared, and the begins of a new roof could be seen.
'Thank you. All of you.' D'Artagnan told them. 'This means a lot to me.'
'I know, that's why we did it.' Aramis replied, an arm around the Gascon's shoulders. The four of them stared at the farm in front of them, reflecting on their work.
'If we're to make Paris by tomorrow evening we need to leave.' Athos called from where he'd been standing with the horses. Ellie sighed, turning away.
'And the moment is gone.' Ellie joked, smiling. Athos rolled his eyes at her as she mounted her horse.
'Remind me again as to why I put up with you?' He asked, mounting his own horse.
'Because you love me.' Ellie replied, urging her horse into a walk.
'I doubt that.' Aramis replied slyly, winking at Ellie when she glared at him.
The ride back to Paris was peaceful, all five of them enjoying the break while it lasted. As they rode back into the Garrison, Ellie realised how quiet it had been in Gascony. The Garrison was filled with the sounds of swords meeting each other, the blacksmith in the forge next door and the low hum of chatter.
Ellie winced as Aramis helped her off her horse, her knee protesting at the new weight. Despite it being a week on, it was still tender. Ellie gave Aramis a small smile as his eyes creased into worry at her wince.
'I'm fine.' Aramis looked at her before letting her unpack her stuff. Truth be told, Ellie wasn't fine. She hadn't received any more letters from Kingsley since she told her brothers. While some would think that was good, Ellie knew that it was, in actual fact, very bad.
She was paying no attention when she walked into someone. She stumbled back, trying to hide the gasp of pain as she jarred her knee. She looked up, seeing Athos steadying her.
'What's wrong?' Athos asked, taking one look at her face.
'Nothing.' Ellie replied quickly, trying to walk around him.
'Elizabeth…'Athos growled warningly, grabbing her shoulder. Ellie's step faltered. She turned around and sighed.
'I haven't gotten a single letter from my brother since I told you.' She admitted.
'I'm not going to say 'isn't that a good thing?' because I know it's not.' Athos replied. 'Are you worried?' Ellie nodded, feeling the worry and stress land on her shoulders again.
'It scares me more than I'll admit.' She muttered. 'Just knowing that he's in Paris somewhere, scares the shit out of me.' Athos brought her into a hug, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.
'We're here.' He whispered. 'We'll always be here.' Ellie closed her eyes, tears falling down her face. Athos tightened his grip on her as the tears soaked his shirt. 'I promise.'
The inseparable were seated at their usual seat in the tavern, a bottle of wine serving all five of them. Night had long since fallen, and the streets were almost empty except the occasional drunken homeless person. Lamps had been lit on the main street corners, casting eerie shadows along the wooden beamed houses and the cobbled stone path. The back streets were in complete darkness; the lamps at either end of the streets lighting the walls. It had been raining for most of the evening, and thunder cracked amongst the clouds as a storm built up in the sky. The cobblestoned paths were slick with rain and water dripped down from dodgy drains and porches. Inside the tavern, it was cosy and warm; if slightly packed. There was a game of cards taking place in the darkened corner of the tavern that Porthos kept unsubtle glancing over to ever five minutes. Aramis had striked up a rather flirty conversation with one of the barmaids and Athos had resigned himself to another night of flirting, cheating and drunken foolishness. Aramis had stopped flirting with the barmaid to tell D'Artagnan one of the many stories of his near misses with woman and their husbands/
'None of that is true.' The Gascon exclaimed when he finished. 'Is it?'
'Why do you think we keep an eye on him when he's around women?' Ellie asked before drowning her drink. 'He's like a puppy.' Porthos chuckled.
'I am not a puppy.' Aramis replied, pouting. Athos rolled his eyes, sighing in either fond amusement or despair. Both sighs were exactly the same.
'I'd believe that if you weren't currently giving me the puppy eyes.' Ellie told him and Aramis whacked her on the arm.
'You are completely mental.' D'Artagnan mused, pouring them some more wine.
'That we are.' Porthos agreed. Ellie stood up, D'Artagnan following her lead.
'We're going to head back to the Garrison.' Ellie told them. 'We'll see you when you get back.' The three of them said goodbye as the twins headed back to the Garrison linking arms.
They turned down one of the lighter back streets with lamps lit at both ends. Some houses had small lamps outside their homes but most were covered in a thick blanket of humid, stuffy darkness. Thunder cracked among the clouds again, waiting for the climax of the night. Ellie stopped in the middle of the street, her breathing awfully loud against the silent night. She could feel the back of her neck slowly begin to rise. She began to cautiously look round the dimly lit street, squeezing D'Artagnan's arm. He stopped, one hand on the pommel of his sword.
'What is it?' He asked quietly, looking round as well. The shadows danced along the walls, hiding anyone from view. The water dripping from the houses sounded like footsteps, and neither Musketeer could decide if it was their imagination going into overdrive, or if there actually was someone following them.
'A very bad feeling.' Ellie replied. She didn't get a chance to elaborate as a sharp pain hit the back of her head, sending her to the damp ground. She was vaguely away of D'Artagnan falling next to her, his hand landing on top of hers. The last thing she saw was someone kneeling next to D'Artagnan before the darkness claimed its victim.
Aramis, Porthos and Athos strolled into the Garrison, stopping short when they saw their table empty. Sharing a puzzled look, they went upstairs, checking Ellie and D'Artagnan's rooms.
'Jacques!' Athos yelled. The stable boy looked up from where he was sitting in the mess. 'Have you seen D'Artagnan or Ellie?'
'No, no one's seen them since they left with you this evening.' The boy informed them. Athos thanked him before turning to face his friends.
'Something's wrong.' Aramis muttered. A murmur of agreement echoed through the group as they walked out onto the balcony.
'Check the shortcut.' Porthos stated, his eyes widening. The three set off down the stairs, taking them two at a time. The ran through the courtyard, taking a sharp turn left towards the alley. Aramis took a torch from the side of the street as they slowed down, looking around the dimly lit street. The torch cast terrifying shadows against the walls, bending over the crooked shapes of the houses. The occasional flash of lightning lit up the street in a bright white light, chasing away the shadows. The rain had started dripping down from the sky, the water being reflected in the lamps along the streets. The backstreet was deathly quiet. Not one single thing dared to make its move.
It was a silence that one would associate with death.
Aramis's eyes caught a lump in the middle of the street. The lamp from a nearby house blew toward the lump, light bouncing off the blonde shape in the middle. Aramis groaned as he jogged over to the lumps, lying the sword on the ground next to the lump.
He dropped down beside Ellie, checking her pulse. He sighed quietly when he found it, moving on to D'Artagnan. The Gascon began to wake up at his touch, groaning in pain. Athos and Porthos joined them, crouching down as they helped him up.
'What happened?' Porthos asked gently as Aramis checked Ellie. Athos hauled the Gascon to his feet, Porthos holding him up as the Gascon's knees buckled underneath him.
'We got ambushed on our way back.' D'Artagnan frowned. 'They had a message for Ellie…' He trailed off, stumbling slightly. Porthos steadied him, looking down at Ellie. She groaned, scrunching her eyes up.
The teen was half awake, her head pounding from being knocked out. Aramis helped her off the ground, Athos putting an arm around her waist when she stumbled. The five of them slowly made their way back to the Garrison, helping the twins up the stairs when they reached them.
They settled in Aramis' room, D'Artagnan taking his bed as the Gascon was ready to collapse. Ellie laid down next to him, not a single word being passed between them as they nodded off in each other's arms.
Aramis chuckled quietly, settling down in a chair by the bed, Porthos and Athos nodding off in the other two chairs in the room. The storm finally broke, raining cascading down in curtains outside as lightning lit up the streets outside and thunder cracked amongst the clouds.
They weren't going to leave them alone tonight.
'From the beginning.' Athos said. D'Artagnan shifted in his seat, leaning forward.
'We left the tavern and took the shortcut back. It was as we were heading down the alley, that Ellie felt that something was off. From what I could tell, we'd been followed from the tavern to the alley by a man.'
'A man?' Aramis asked.
'Yes, a man.' D'Artagnan repeated impatiently. 'He knocked Ellie out with the back of his gun, but only knocked me to the ground. He said that he had a message for Ellie.' D'Artagnan trailed off as Ellie walked into the room, balancing a cup of tea and a plate of food as she opened the door.
'I heard my name.' She said as she kicked the door shut behind her.
'The man that attacked us last night.' D'Artagnan replied.
'Hmm.' Ellie nodded at him to continue as she set the plate down on the table.
'He said that he had a message for you.' Ellie's heart skipped a beat.
'What did he look like?' She asked slowly, not wanting to sit down.
'Umm…tall, had a scar running down the side of his face. Dark green eyes…' Ellie swallowed, her throat constricting slightly as her face paled. Her heart began to echo in her ears as she stilled.
'Ellie? What's wrong?' Athos asked, watching her as her eyes went blank.
'What was the message.' Ellie whispered, her voice tight. D'Artagnan hesitated. 'D'Art…what was the message?'
'An east wind is coming.' Ellie paled, even more, the cup she was holding falling from her grasp. She looked up at D'Artagnan who'd stood up worriedly. Ellie couldn't say anything as her knees gave way, forcing her to the ground.
Someone caught her, stopping her from crashing to the ground as the cliff she had been standing on crumbled underneath her, sending her spiralling into darkness.
It's funny how five words can affect someone so much. It could be any five words but put into a certain order, they have the power to terrify people. Ellie was not a stranger to the power of words and knew the power that such simple things held. All words were, were letters placed together to create a word. As she emerged from the thick curtain of darkness, the first thing she was aware of was the voices above her. She couldn't pin point who they were, but they sounded very familiar. She felt someone stroking her hair, relaxing the panic that had built up inside her.
She didn't want to leave the warmth of the darkness. She didn't want to face reality.
'I think she's waking up.' A buzzing noise invaded her ears, before fading. She felt footsteps moving next to her, then a hand on her cheek.
'Ellie?' The voice was calm, gentle and comforting. 'Ellie, come on sweetheart. Open your eyes.' Slowly Ellie's eyes opened, and she was greeted with Aramis kneeling above her. He smiled when he saw her eyes open.
'Hello.' He whispered, stroking her cheek. Ellie turned her head slightly and realised that it had been Porthos who'd caught her. He smiled at her, still stroking her hair.
'Where's D'Artagnan and Athos?' She asked quietly, seeing that they weren't there.
'We had to kick D'Artagnan out, he was panicking. Athos went with 'im.' Porthos replied. Ellie didn't say anything, closing her eyes again, exhausted from the build-up of emotion.
'Ellie?' Ellie moaned and Aramis chuckled quietly. 'Ellie.' She opened her eyes again, her eyes meeting Aramis'.
'Hmm?'
'That message was from your brother, wasn't it?' Aramis asked, stroking her hand gently. Ellie nodded, too tired to do anything else. Aramis didn't ask anything else, as Ellie's eyes closed again.
She wanted to be safe a while longer.