Chapter 44

Thanks for reading this story. Thanks to NicoleR85 and to LegandsOfTime for their reviews. Thanks to all the followers and the one who favorited this story.

New Chapter, read, enjoy and review.


Porthos arrived with another man. He wore a dark cloak and was dressed all in black. "Monsieur Boucher. I am Athos and this is Emma." Athos introduced us to the man.

"I know who you are. I make it my business to know the finest swordsmen in France. And of course the only female musketeer." He answered. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Help us, maybe?" I retorted.

We led him into Treville's office where the crossbow used to kill the archbishop were laid out on the table. We didn't tell him what the weapons were used for, we didn't tell him anything at all. Boucher walked up to the table and took the crossbow in his hands.

"Recognize that?" Athos asked him.

"Yes. This is my work." Boucher answered.

"And this?" Porthos showed him the arrow used to kill the archbishop.

"Also mine." He replied sitting down. "You don't find craftsmanship like this, every day."

"I couldn't agree more and I'm sure the archbishop would agree too." I retorted. "If it wasn't planted in his throat."

Boucher licked his lips before turning his eyes on Athos. "I had nothing to do with that."

"You?" Athos said back. "A known dissenter with a grudge against the Catholic Church and a personal connection to the murder weapon, you're the last person we'd think of."

"I make weapons. I don't use them."

"Then, who did you make this for?" Porthos questioned him.

"That's confidential." Boucher replied.

"How convenient." I huffed. "Listen, you've admitted making the weapon that killed the Archbishop. And we're looking for a murderer and as far as I'm concerned, you are the best thing we have."

"All right! Wait…" Boucher stood up and took the weapon back in his hands. "It's one of the matching pair that I made."

"For who?" Athos asked him.

"For myself." Boucher revealed.

"This is confusing." I drawled while he walked slowly to Athos.

"There were 27,000 French citizens living in La Rochelle. By the time your King had finished with us, there were only 5,000 left. When the siege ended…all my weapons were confiscated and sent to a new home." He pointed to the crossbow. "That's where this has come from."

"What new home?" Porthos questioned as I frowned.

"The Cardinal had sent them all to the Red Guard armory." Boucher answered. "Whoever used this came from your own side."


"This is a waste of time, Athos." I said as we stepped into the palace. "We already know his answer."

"She's right, Athos." Porthos agreed with me. "He won't tell us anything."

"We ought to tell him, anyway." Athos retorted. "Whether he admits it or not. We need to let him know that there's a traitor among his men."

"Something tells me that he doesn't care." I muttered.

"Musketeers have you made yourself useful." Rochefort asked as soon as he saw us.

"We might know where the weapons used to kill the Arcbishop came from." I replied following him through the palace hallway.

"Where?" Rochefort asked.

"It seems that the weapon came from the Red Guard armory. It has been confiscated by the Cardinal after the La Rochelle siege."

"It might've been stolen." Was Rochefort's answer.

"Or the killer was a member of the Red Guard." Porthos suggested.

"I have more than 500 guards under my command, unless you've killed any in a bar room brawl today." He answered sarcastically. I had to bite my tongue to stop me from making any comments. "Do you think you can be a little more precise in your accusations?"

"It doesn't concern you that there's a traitor amongst your own men?" Porthos asked him.

"It would concern me more if you had any proof." Rochefort turned around to face us after we stopped in the stairs. "This weapon could have found its way into anyone's hands. You, musketeers, really must give up this ugly habit of blaming your failures on everyone else." He barely turned around when Milady De Winter walked down the stairs. I glanced briefly at Athos and he glanced back. "Search her bag." Rochefort ordered his guards.

"What do you think you're doing?" Milady asked him. "These were personal gifts from his majesty. Keepsakes." I looked up at her not dissatisfied with what I was seeing.

"You leave carrying only what you arrived with." Rochefort warned her.

"You would be wise not to make an enemy of me." Milady warned him in return.

"Is that a threat?!"

"Merely an observation."

"If I ever see you in this palace again I'll have you executed as a thief." He threatened her before the guards dragged her down the stairs. Athos following behind.

I looked him walked away feeling Porthos' eyes on me. "What?" I asked looking at him.

"Jealous?" Porthos asked with smiling eyes.

"Nope. I'm fine." I replied nodding my head slowly.

"Not even a little."

"Not even a little." I shook my head this time. Athos came back a few minutes later. "I told you so. Rochefort didn't listen to us and he accused us of being failures." I told him.

"What do we do now?" Porthos asked him.

"Monsieur Athos! Monsieur Athos!" Someone called as we stepped down the stairs.

"Hey, calm down!" Porthos stopped him resting a hand on his shoulder. The boy stopped in front of him regaining his breath.

"What's wrong?" Athos asked him.

"It's Captain Tréville. He's been shot." The boy said quickly.

"Take us to him." I urged him.


There was a group of people around the captain when we reached him. Athos and Porthos crouched down next to him.

"Captain?" Athos called him but the Captain didn't answer. He was mostly grunting and groaning in pain.

"He was shot in the back." I pointed it out unnecessarily.

"We need to take him back to the garrison." Porthos said.

I got up and looked around quickly and my eyes upon a man standing by his cart watching us. "Excuse me, sir. We need your help to take the Captain back to the garrison." I told him urgently.

"You needn't need to ask." He nodded quickly.

"Thank you." I turned back to the group of people surrounding the Captain. "Athos, put him in the cart it would be easier to take him back to the garrison."

I got in the back with the Captain while Porthos went in the front with the owner of the cart. I glanced at Athos worriedly while whispering soothing words to the Captain.


"Be careful!" I ordered to the Musketeers who came and took the Captain inside. "Thank you for help." I said quickly to the man with the cart and nodded curtly and left.

"Where's the Captain?" Aramis asked as soon as he arrived at the garrison.

"He's been taken inside." I replied as we both moved to the mess.

"Move! Out of the room now!" Porthos ordered. Two tables were put together so the Captain could be put on it. Aramis yelled orders to the men.

"Put him on the table! Gently, gently." They pulled the sheet out from under him. "Captain! Captain, it's Aramis. You're at the garrison."

"He was on the Rue Jacob. Nobody saw the attacker." Athos informed Aramis.

"What was he doing there?" Aramis asked.

"He was collecting something for Rochefort. A gift from Monsieur Arnaud." I answered him my heart hammering in my chest.

"We need a surgeon." Porthos suggested.

Aramis ripped the Captain's shirt and examined his wound. He sighed deeply before looking up at us. "Send for Lemay."


Athos exited the room without waiting for another word. I crossed my arms over my chest and started to bite my nails. I never thought once that the Captain could be the target to an attack. And yet, there he was lying on table, in pain. I was scared for his life; I didn't want him to die. But I was also angry. Angry at the man who shot him, angry at Rochefort for sending him there.

Standing there, waiting anxiously for Lemay to arrive, thoughts were swirling in my head. I was thinking about the weapon used to killed the Archbishop, about the attack on the Princess Louise, about the attack on the Captain. They all had one thing in common, they were related to Princess Louise and Rochefort. Rochefort sent us on this escort mission, Princess Louise was the target of the arrow that killed the Archbishop. The Captain was running Rochefort's errands when he got shot. I couldn't help but think that Rochefort had something to do with this.


"He was shot in the back. And the ball's still in there." Aramistold Dr. Lemay as soon as he stepped in with his equipment. Constance was right behind him and I noticed that her bottom lip was slightly cut. I stared at her as she came and stood beside me with Lemay's equipment now in her arms.

She looked at me and said nothing as she opened Lemay's trunk. "You are going to tell me what happened or I'll have to guess later?" I asked her looking over my shoulder as I heard Captain Tréville grunt in pain.

"I'll explain later. Just let's focus on Captain Tréville." She replied.

"…He's lucky." Lemay continued his examination of Tréville. "He's struggling for air. Must have probably damaged his lung. Our first task is to find and remove it."

"I have some practice with muskets wounds." Aramis informed him.

"I bow to your superior experience."

"Constance, Emma, this won't be pretty. You don't have to stay." Aramis said to both of us.

"I've seen worse." I replied to him.

"Dr. Lemay asked me to assist him." Constance told him.

"Madame Bonacieux's help will be invaluable." Lemay added. "She's already saved one life; I might have lost. Boiling water." He instructed to Constance.

"I've already cleaned the wound." Aramis told him.

"It's not for him. It's for my equipment." Lemay explained. "I find that if I bathe my instruments in boiling water first, my patients have a much greater chance of fighting off infection." Lemay continued. "I have no idea why. I believe it is a blessing from God."

Aramis gave a look to Porthos and Athos both and the two men moved closer to the Captain. Together they held him down as Aramis took the bullet out of his wound. I winced and my eyes fell shut. I could only imagine the pain he was in. Relief came over me once the bullet was out and the Captain stopped screaming. Dr. Lemay took over, he put his ear to the Captain's back and listened.

"There is fluid in his lungs." He declared. "We have to drain it."

"How?" Constance asked.

"The same way you'd drain a keg of wine." I replied to her.

"Precisely." Lemay answered.

I moved to the Captain's side. "Help me put him on his back." I ordered the others. "Then he's all yours, doctor."

"Be ready to collect the blood." Lemay ordered to Constance.

"Are you sure this will work?" Aramis asked.

"I have not had occasion to perform this operation before." Lemay replied. "But the principle is sound…in theory."

"Emma?" It was Athos.

I turned to him as Lemay lift Tréville's shirt. "My father used to do it when I was a girl. He did save a few lives."

"The tube." I heard Lemay said. I turned back to him, I could see the blood coming out of the tube and finishing its course in the bowl in Constance's hands.

The Captain let out a long breath, relieved it seemed to be able to finally breathe. As much as he was, we were relieved to see that he was doing better than a few seconds ago.

"Secure that with a dressing." Lemay started to give instructions. "Let all the fluid drain out before stitching the wound. Your Captain should make a speedy recovery now."

Lemay walked away from us and Aramis replaced Constance at the Captain's side.

"Whoever did this is going to have to deal with me personally." Porthos declared. "Where are you going?"

"To find out more about this gift." Athos replied opening the door. "Whoever shot him knew where to find him."

I gave his sword to Porthos before he left. "I'm staying with the Captain."

"So am I." Aramis as Porthos left.

"Need any help with the dressing?" I asked Aramis.

"Just hold the bowl, please." Aramis smiled at me. "Your father was a physician?"

"My father? A former slave?" I scoffed. "No, he wasn't. But let's say that getting shot and stabbed was a common thing where we lived. Men, women, children. My dad knew the plants pretty much and was able to make some draught or paste that would help people recover quickly. So, words got around and people started to come to him for help."

"Did you learn anything from him?" Aramis questioned.

"No." I chuckled. "I had no patience for this sort of thing. I was more interested in sword fights and great adventures." I smiled. "But I do remember this one time, it was a woman. People had brought her home in the middle of the night. She had been stabbed in the chest by one of her customers. Blood was coming out of her mouth and she couldn't breathe clearly. It was as if she was drowning. And my father, without hesitation inserted a tube into her ribs to drain the blood. It was scary and also impressive."

"Did she survive?"

"Unfortunately, she died of infection." I sighed. "He didn't know about the boiling water then." I sighed deeply. "We're lucky we had Lemay."

"Yes, we are." Aramis replied. He finished the dressing and nodded to Constance to come and join us. "Emma and I need to go back to the Louvres…"

"I'll watch the Captain. Don't worry." Constance smiled at us before taking the bowl from my hands.

"Thank you, Constance."


Back at the Louvres, D'Artagnan was standing by the fountain in the yard of the court. "How's the Captain?" He asked immediately.

"He's in good hands. The chancellor?" Aramis asked in return.

"On his way." D'Artagnan replied.

"Hopefully, this will be over soon." I exhaled.

And we waited for several minutes in the yard for the Chancellor to arrive. The three of us oddly quiet, waiting as if we all couldn't wait for this to be over. I couldn't wait for this to be over.

The Chancellor's carriage arrived in the yard. Aramis, D'Artagnan and I moved forward to his car.

"Good afternoon, Chancellor." D'Artagnan greeted him.

The Chancellor excited the carriage…

"Get back inside!" Someone roared. It was Athos. He and Porthos were both riding hurriedly to us. "Take cover!"

"The assassin's in the palace." Porthos added.

I pushed the Chancellor back in his car. A stabbing pain shot through my arm. I yelped in pain.

"Up, There!" Aramis cried. "Go! You go! Move!"

I slammed my back into the carriage and saw D'Artagnan disappeared into the palace. I looked down at my arm to see that an arrow has found its place in my forearm. Aramis joined my side and put a cloth around my arm but didn't take the arrow out. Athos rushed to the car and stopped in front of us.

"I'm fine." I groaned in pain. "I'm fine."

Athos tightened his jaw as Aramis looked up at the window. Then he cast another look at Athos. They nodded at each other briefly before Aramis gave him the signal to take the Chancellor out of the car.

The pain was pulsing through my arm and I barely held in a wince as I followed them through the yard with my pistol. Someone shot at us from our right. Porthos fired back at them.

"I'm going after him." He cried before he chased after the shooter.

Aramis, Athos and I led the Chancellor to safety inside the Louvres. We left him to the red guards that were in the palace. I made to follow them but Athos stopped me.

"Fetch Lemay." He ordered to one of the red guards that remained behind while his comrades have taken the Chancellor further into the palace.

"Athos?"

"Your wound needs tending." He said with finality in his voice and he left.


The red guard took me to Lemay. He was standing in his chambers, looking out of the window.

"Twice in a day." Lemay said as soon as he saw me.

"This time, it's for me." I said. His eyes fell upon my right arm and he rushed to my side. He made me sit down in a chair before dismissing the red guard. "Surely, you've heard what happened."

"Pistols being fired." He said absentmindedly. "It doesn't look too bad but I will have to take the arrow out before affirming that no tissue has been damaged."

"Then, do so." I nodded.

He broke the arrow in two. He, first, took the end of the arrow out of my arm. The action sent a new wave of pain through my arm. The end of the arrow was soon followed by the head and a new surge of pain gripped me.

He ripped the sleeve of my jerkin, so he would have free access to my wound. He worked quickly, he stopped the bleeding. Once this was down, he asked me to move my hand and my fingers to check if I could do it. I did it, each movement sending pain through my arm. Once he was satisfied with the results and the bleeding stopped, he sown my wound and put a clean dressing on it. I didn't last long in this room. My only desire was to join the others and find out what happened.

Before I could do so, Lemay warned me that I won't be able to use my right arm for the days to come. And to change the dressing everyday. I nodded my thanks and left his chambers.


There was a red guard outside of Lemay's chambers. I asked him if he had any news of the musketeers. And what he told me shocked me more than I thought it would.

Athos was waiting for me outside, exactly where the guard say he would.

"Is it true?" I asked him. "Is Bonacieux really dead?"

"Yes." Athos replied. "The Assassin killed him."

"Does Constance know?" I asked.

"D'Artagnan wants to be the one to tell her." Athos answered.

"Naturally."

The day was not over yet. And the death of Bonacieux wasn't the only ill news will have to hear. Actually, there was no worse news than Rochefort being named prime minister by the King.