God this chapter was hard to write! I think I restarted it about twelve times. I still don't think it's up to much but it moves the story on so it'll have to do!

Helensg; can't tell you what the dream means yet! It'll be revealed in a later chapter!

Pallysdeeks; I think they do hold each other at arm's length in a way, but I think certainly on Amorette's part she still can't believe her luck!

I only own Amorette.

They were sitting on the couch by the fire, devouring a feast of bread, cheese and sweet meats that Athos had returned with a little while earlier. Amorette was sure that Athos never usually ate so well and that it must all be for her benefit. She reminded herself of her conversation with Aramis the previous evening and swiftly decided that she would not broach the subject and decided upon an altogether different topic of conversation.

"I see you still have possession of my book Athos. Did you read it?"

Athos' head jerked up from his meal sharply. His bewildered expression told Amorette that he had more than likely not considered that she would notice the book. "No I haven't," he replied.

"Then why keep it? You've had ample opportunity to return it."

Athos sighed heavily as he leaned back against the couch. "In all honesty I do not know. It was almost as if I had a part of you with me. You seemed to have forgotten about it, and I think that every time it crossed my mind to return it, I swiftly reminded myself that you didn't seem to miss it."

"I did forget about it for a time," Amorette mused. "I didn't have you down as the sentimental type though. It's just a book and I think I have an older copy floating around in one of my trunks somewhere."

"It's a part of you though," Athos murmured so quietly that Amorette was sure he had not meant her to hear it. "The meaning behind the book; and no matter what I thought of you back then I still felt inspired by the rare innocence that you once had."

Amorette let out a snort. "Rare innocence? Naive and childlike maybe, but I'm not sure about innocence!"

"You were innocent," cried Athos, "and you still are." Despite her disbelief of his words they were still able to touch her. She gently moved the remnants of their meal to the floor and slid along the couch to rest her head against his shoulder. "I know you don't see it yourself, but you've never been anything other than innocent. You have this intrinsically rare ability to see good even in those who have done you yourself wrong. My occupation as a musketeer and perhaps the little age difference between us means that I see the world differently than you do Amorette. I have a hardened and negative view of the streets that I walk every day. It is rather easy for me to brush aside sentimentality in favour of the cold logistics when in fact I should strive to see things perhaps a little more as others do."

Amorette pulled away a little to look up at him. "Athos you were trained that way. As a musketeer and a soldier in general you have been schooled to remain detached from certain aspects of what you see every day. There are some things which you will have seen, that would put the fear of God into me! I would not cope with them as you do. That is not a bad thing. You would not be able to do what you do if you viewed the world through a pane of rose-tinted glass. I myself have seen your sensitive side before, and it was there without my influence. You've had to find the balance between that and your logical and rational mind."

"There is still improvement to be made," he mumbled. "But you're right. I do have to strike a balance. There are certain situations where you have seen someone's true feelings and intentions and still found some good there when there was none. It is a strength and a weakness too. It has occurred to me in the past that people may take advantage of your kindness that you offer so willingly. I cannot dissuade it however, because it is who you are."

They lapsed into an easy silence then, both assured that the other felt placated by the conversation. Amorette only realised that she must have fallen asleep in that position when she woke the next morning. She and Athos walked to Les Halles together before parting ways. It was the same walk they would take many times over the course of the next few weeks as they came to believe that staying together in Athos' rooms was less conspicuous than sneaking around the Louvre Palace together. They were both under no illusions that all of their friends could easily guess by their happy countenances that their relationship had progressed yet more, but oddly Amorette was beginning not to care.

They did not see each other every night, for Athos and his friends were still tasked with trying to find the escaped Bastille prisoners that more than likely roamed lands much further than Paris. They did so in earnest though, well aware that the mood of the city had become somewhat strained and anxious after the breakout. Whilst on the surface it seemed as if normal life carried on resolutely, there was an undercurrent of fear and trepidation bubbling below the surface that no one dared to speak of. That was why, when a letter arrived for Amorette from Lyall Fitzgerald; she took it straight to Athos before she had even opened it.

She found him on duty at the Louvre and watched as he turned the rather ostentatiously folded letter over in his hands a few times. The crest imprinted into the wax seal and the spidery, scrawling handwriting had left her in no doubt that Lyall was the sender. Athos leaned against the wall behind him and looked at Amorette.

"Open it if you like," she mumbled. "I've no interest in what he has to say to me. I just thought it might be important, that's all." Athos turned his attention back to the letter and broke the seal. Unfolding the letter, for a moment his expression was unreadable before Athos rolled his eyes and swiftly crumpled the letter. "What?" Amorette asked him hesitantly.

"He wants to meet."

Their argument ensued all day and into the evening; only coming to an abrupt end when Amorette seemed to win it as they left the Louvre under the cover of darkness and wandered out into the Paris streets. Reaching the Rue de la Madeleine, Athos stopped just before the boarding house where they were to meet Lyall Fitzgerald. He turned to Amorette warily, clearly still apprehensive about this meeting. He gently tugged on her brace of pistols hidden beneath her cloak. "Don't be afraid to use these if you have to. You will not face any consequences for it if you are with me; in fact the King might just reward you. After all, the man is a traitor and a terrorist."

When they entered the tavern and approached the bar, there seemed to be a happy and relaxed ambiance. Amorette thought that it remained so purely for the fact that Athos had changed from his uniform into something a little more inconspicuous. They stood at the bar for a while as Athos observed the room and got his bearings before attempting to find the Scotsman. At length, Amorette gestured to the proprietor and gently queried the presence of her Scottish 'Friends'. The man bought her lie and nodded in the direction of a door at the far end of the large and busy room.

"I don't like this," Athos muttered in her ear.

Amorette rolled her eyes at him. "I know you don't. You've said so as many times but surely even you are curious as to why Lyall wants to meet with me?"

Athos shrugged. "Actually I don't think I am that curious; certainly not enough to warrant meeting him and likely a large contingent of his own men in the back room of a rather disreputable boarding house."

"Just as well I have curiosity enough for the both of us then isn't it Athos," called Amorette over her shoulder as she began to make for the door.

Athos tugged on her pistol brace again as he caught up with her. "Remember what I said. If you have to shoot Amorette, then do it."

Amorette may have been feigning nonchalance before Athos, but she understood very well why the musketeer was apprehensive about this meeting. She knew more than most what Lyall was like and was surely unprepared for what he was about to throw at her. She had the oddest sense of responsibility though to meet with him and hear what he had to say. Perhaps he had news of Henry or of the situation in Scotland. Sucking in a gentle breath Amorette forced herself to press down upon the door handle and push it open, not wanting to prolong things any longer.

The first glimpse of the room was one of almost darkness compared to the front room of the bar. As their eyes adjusted a little to the gloom though, Amorette and Athos were just able to make out two or three lit candles resting upon the table top. Surrounding the table were four men, only one of which Amorette knew by sight. They all scrambled to clear away their documents and maps that they had been working at before the two newcomers could catch a glimpse of anything untoward and Amorette had the slightest suspicion that such an action could only have been staged. After all, Lyall had been the one to arrange the meeting, and he had known that Amorette was coming. Thus Amorette surmised that Lyall wanted her to think that he was up to something when the real likelihood was that he was up to nothing at all.

He had aged considerably in the years since Amorette had last stood so close to him. His black hair was probably flecked with grey but Amorette couldn't tell with only the flickering candles to light her way. The monstrous shadows that the small flames cast made his sunken cheeks and tired eyes look even more grotesque. His skin was definitely of a rather sickly parlour and his clothes whilst well-made were old and shabby. It seemed Lyall had fallen on hard times, and Amorette struggled to find any sympathy for him at all. There was a stark contrast between Lyall's appearance and that of his brother Henry's. To Amorette, Henry always exuded an air of anticipation and hope. He might have just experienced the worst day of his life but he wasn't willing to give in to his own doubts.

When Lyall finally managed to hide his sheaf's of parchment and glanced up at Amorette, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Madam Cometess, I did not expect you to bring friends." His eyes roved over Athos' appearance suspiciously and Amorette sent up a silent prayer of thanks that Athos was no longer in his musketeer uniform. Lyall had never really been an observant man during those parties all those years ago. Amorette knew there was next to no chance he would recognise Athos in daylight let alone in the gloom of the room they currently stood in.

Amorette kept her face impassive. "Mon Seigneur, did you really expect me to wander in here to meet with you without bringing my own witness. Do not forget that I know you. This man is here to ensure that should you say anything untoward, a second pair of ears will have heard it all."

Amorette felt Athos shift uneasily beside her. Lyall let out a dry chuckle. "Come then, sit!"

"I'd rather stand if it's all the same to you," mumbled Amorette. "I do not intend to stay long. Say whatever it is you have to say and be done with it."

Lyall threw another glance at Athos. "Your friend, who is he? I will not speak of what I know before I man I do not trust. I would advise that you sit, Cometess. You see my three friends here do not take kindly to such hostile greetings."

Athos took heed of the warning and stepped sharply in front of Amorette, hand upon the butt of his pistol. "You may not know me mon Seigneur but know this, I'm under no illusions about what this meeting may entail. I'm here in protection of the Cometess. Do not test me, for I'm willing to shoot first and ask questions later!"

Lyall raised a slightly surprised eyebrow before gesturing to the table and chairs. "Let's not stand upon ceremony then. I've not come here for a duel; and besides, I've not brought the right duelling pistols. I came here to talk."

Athos still maintained a defensive stance but Amorette moved around him, laying a gentle hand upon his arm. "Lyall you will have to forgive my friend. He is a military man and as such, his instincts have him upon the defence. You can surely understand why?"

Lyall nodded as he relaxed back into his chair and gazed up at them both patiently. Amorette decided to try and bridge the gap by taking a seat opposite him, catching Athos' glare as she did so. "I must confess that I find you greatly changed Cometess. From the little I remember of you from so many years ago, it seems as if you have morphed into a different being altogether."

"I shall try to take that as a compliment," Amorette murmured. She felt movement behind her and Athos took the seat to her right. "You on the other hand Lyall, look as though you've seen harder times."

Lyall laughed again, and it was not a comfortable sound. There was no humour in his voice, only a coldness that was trying to disguise itself. "You are very observant Cometess. I have had rather a hard time of it recently, not helped by yourself of course. I have barely escaped England with my life after the Denbigh plot failed and face severe punishment if I return there. Paris is grand of course and the prefect hiding place, but even here I must avail of my fine clothing and jewels for there are those that would hand me over to the authorities for a few pieces of silver." He threw Athos a warning look and Amorette glanced downwards just in time to see Athos' hand curl itself into a fist beneath the table.

"Oh, I do believe I'd report you for nothing mon Seigneur Fitzgerald," cried Athos. "You can have the silver to bribe your jailors for better food. The question is, why shouldn't I report you?"

Lyall smirked at Athos and raised his eyebrows in Amorette's direction. "Your friend is a shrewd one, like yourself Cometess."

"Can we cut to the chase?" Amorette asked impatiently. "When I said I wasn't staying long, I meant it."

"Some soiree to attend Cometess?" Lyall queried good naturedly before chuckling again. "You're right of course, why prolong this meeting. I know that you have always favoured my brother Henry over myself. You were even once one of his closest friends, but I am here to warn you regarding my brother. I know that you have connections here in Paris Cometess. You are a confidant of the Queen and are privy to certain fragments of news that could be classified as instrumental in the upholding of the Bourbon dynasty in France. I wish to warn you that Henry means to tear France apart. He wants a free Scotland, and he will go to any lengths to do it. The Bourbon regime has not helped him even though France and Scotland have always been allies. There are rumours that he has found solace in the Duke of Guise's home and that they are plotting together."

Amorette frowned. "Plotting what exactly?"

Lyall shook his head warily. "We cannot be absolutely sure, but there are rumours that the Valois line is not dead-"

"That rumour is years old, and worth nothing!" Interrupted Athos.

"There is no smoke without fire though Monsieur. The rumours must have been founded in some inkling of truth. Heaven knows the Medici's are always game for a war, so I'd say they are behind it somewhere. With Marie de' Medici no longer able to exert her influence over her son the French King, it is now in their best interests to find a way to claw back some control of the French crown. If that means obliterating the house of Bourbon altogether I think they would do it."

Amorette felt the beginnings of a headache growing as confusion set in. "I don't understand what this has to do with Henry though?"

"Oh come now Cometess. I thought you'd have figured that out! You always were a sharp one but it appears you've lost your touch. Henry no longer sees France as his way to a free Scotland, so what if he's chosen Spain as his newest ally? After all, the Queen of Spain is also descended from a Medici! Let's not forget the Duke of Guise though, he will be involved in this somewhere too."

"You do realise," sighed Athos, "That if anyone else were to hear this conversation you could be convicted of slander! The house of Guise… that's some very important French nobility you're talking about!"

Lyall cocked his head to the side suddenly as he took to observing Athos. Amorette felt the uncomfortable silence keenly as it bore on for a few minutes more before finally Lyall grinned. "I do believe I know you monsieur, or should that be Monsieur Comte de la Feré?"

"That title is now void," Athos muttered darkly.

"But you are descended from nobility! Of course my slating of the great French houses will not be to your liking but I'm curious as to how you have ended up here? A military man who was once nobility? Yes I can see now why the Cometess might lower herself to such company."

Amorette felt riled by the whole conversation and leaned forward as she placed her elbows on the table surface. "Lyall we are not here to trade insults," she sneered as she tried for a little menace in her voice. "You bade me come here to hear your sermon on how your brother is siding with the Medici's and trying to put a Valois back on the French throne! Do you know how ludicrous this all sounds?"

Lyall was grinning again. "And yet Cometess, you are sorely tempted to believe it. I know you cannot be close to my brother any more, for he has distanced himself from all those that he once held dear. Don't you see what he does? He makes himself an island in order to gain precedence over those who can help him free Scotland from English rule! On the whole it's a foolish move. Spain's not going to war with England; not after the whore Queen Elizabeth and her navy thrashed the Spanish Armada. They know better now."

Amorette thought she could see a sudden thread of conversation dangling before her eyes. "Is that why you haven't involved yourself in it all Lyall?" she asked conversationally. "It's just that I know you want a free Scotland as much as your brother does, even though you try to hide it. You know that Spain is useless in that regard, so you've come sneaking into Paris to try and get aid from France? Perhaps even through me?" Amorette let out a peal of laughter that seemed to surprise even Athos, who jerked a little. "I offered your brother as many French contacts as I could muster because I think if he had the right backing he would go about things the right way. Henry was always brash and uncouth but he never hid behind a lie. He gave up his inheritance and his family to fight for what he genuinely believes in! I don't think you really want a free Scotland deep down Lyall, even if you think you do. You were hiding right in the King of England's inner circle for quite some time and I think that was because you will go where the money and power is! The truth of the matter is that if you sacked the Stuart monarchy from Scotland, you'd stand to lose a great more than if they were to stay. I can't work you out Lyall, and for that reason alone I don't trust what you say."

"You're mad!" Lyall cried. "England has confiscated my lands, my title, everything! If Scotland had home rule, then all of that would be returned to me! I've been cosying up to the English King to try and get it back, but it's not working. I can't afford to fight openly for Scotland when I do not even have a place to call home!"

"None of that bother's Henry though!" Amorette shouted. "He willingly gave up everything before the English could take it from him! At least he has the courage of his convictions! How would I believe you over him?"

Her anger almost bubbling over, Athos hand on Amorette's underneath the table did not soothe her in any way. She was breathing heavily, her eyes narrowed in Lyall's direction. Lyall simply smirked at her and Amorette suddenly had the sickening feeling that he was about to play his trump card. "Of course there is another way to destroy the Spanish-scots association altogether Cometess. You may not like it though, with you being such a close friend to the French Queen. You see I am not entirely ignorant of my brother's dealings with Spain, though I pretend to be. I know there were letters sent back and forth between the Queen and Henry. I know what they contain. Publishing them would probably cause quite a lot of issues."

Amorette felt a worrying knot tighten in her stomach but did not let her outward resolve waver. Forgoing all pretence she let her secrets tumble out. "I destroyed all of those letters with my own hands Lyall. You couldn't possibly know what they contained!"

"And yet I do Cometess." Lyall leaned back even further in his chair and swung his booted feet up onto the table to rest. "I saw some with my own eyes! In Anne of Austria's own handwriting too; telling my brother all sorts of intrigues. Some of the letters still exist and I will not hesitate to use them if the need arises. Perhaps we could come to an arrangement though. No doubt you would wish to destroy those letters too and I'm happy to help you with that. Help a man out in a time of need, would you? I'll sell you the letters for my named price."

Athos snorted. "You don't even have the letters do you? If you did you'd have produced them before us now!"

Lyall's eyes flickered this way and that towards his silent friends who seemed to take little interest in the conversation at all. "I may not currently have the letters in my possession but I will-"

"We're done here!" Athos growled as he stood and pulled Amorette up with him. Amorette fought his grip of her arm but her attempts were futile as Athos dragged her back out into the bar and on out into the dark street.

"What the hell did you do that for?" she cried at him exasperatedly.

"Not here," he whispered as he glanced about nervously. Only once they had retreated to the safety of Athos' rooms did he choose to speak again. "Don't you understand what all of that was about Amorette? He was after money! Yes he may be privy to certain things that would cause some suspicion but I don't think he really wanted to warn you about his brother. All of that was said for effect. He knows somehow that you would try to protect Henry if you could and attempt to stop him from doing anything rash. He's played on your insecurities to try and swindle you out of money! I'm willing to bet he's never seen one of those letters in his life!"

"Then how did he know to use them against me and against Henry?" Amorette cried as she sank down into the bed.

"Rumour perhaps, like everything else. You said before that he was a manipulative man so I don't know why you're surprised by this. Men like him thrive off rumour and intrigue. He probably doesn't even believe half of what he's just told you Amorette!"

Amorette buried her head in her hands as her headache increased in volume. "So what you're saying is that you were right?" She looked up at Athos through the gaps between her fingers.

Athos sat beside her with a heavy sigh and threw an arm around her shoulder. "I'm not saying that at all Amorette. You're right in that Lyall was up to something and it was worth meeting him to find out what that something is. Now we know what type of game he's playing and we can take measures to ensure that he does not influence others in Paris."

Amorette shook her head slightly to ward off the ache. "I'm just so confused now. I think that was all a little too much information to take in. I've got a terrible headache now."

Athos fell back to lie across the bed and pulled Amorette down with him. "I'm sure I can think of one or two ways to remedy that." He leaned in to kiss her and Amorette pulled back.

"Athos aren't you slightly worried about what we've just been told? There's a potential plot to overthrow the King that might have come all the way from the Medici's or some distant Valois line and you want to…" Amorette gesticulated with her hand as Athos grinned at her.

"I'm sure there will be nothing in it, but I'll speak with Treville tomorrow and even the King if I have to. I'll relate all of the information to them and they can decide what they wish to do with it. I will have to tell them about Lyall though," Athos mused as an afterthought. "He will more than likely be arrested if he's found tomorrow."

Well I'm not sorry about that," mumbled Amorette.

The next morning brought with it the realisation that her headache still had not lifted. Amorette padded to the window and threw back the drapes to let some light in. Opening a the window a fraction she leaned forward to breathe in the fresh morning air and absorbed the sounds of early morning Paris. People seemed to be up and about and heading for the Les Halles market already and Amorette almost turned to scold Athos for letting them lie for so long when something caught her eye. It had just been a flash of material at the end of the street; or rather the flash of a pattern. Sure that she had just seen tartan somewhere Amorette stood on her tiptoes to get a better look of the street. She couldn't glimpse it anywhere though and supposed it had rounded a corner somewhere. Amorette lowered herself back onto the soles of her feet and the movement came just in time as something large and heavy hurtled into the window pane. Shards of glass flew everywhere as Athos jumped up from the bed and grabbed Amorette by the waist. He moved on instinct, curling them both into the wall at the side of the window and shielded Amorette's head with one of his arms.

They both took sharp and exhilarated breaths as the room fell into nothingness again. The shards of glass that littered the floor glinted prettily in the sunlight almost like patches of frost and the street below sounded as it had done moments before. Sensing that there were no more projectiles on their way, Athos moved across the room towards the large rock that someone had evidently thrown through his window. Heavy and uneven, it must have come from one of the city's quarries as it didn't much resemble a brick.

"Are you hurt?" Athos asked Amorette as he moved towards the window again.

"I think I moved just in time," said Amorette as she plucked a shard of glass out of her hair.

Athos set the rock down on the window ledge and glanced through the broken window down into the street. Suddenly he emitted a growl so low that Amorette drew back from him slightly. With no explanation Athos tore his doublet from a chair where he had left it, snarled at Amorette to stay where she was and raced out of the room and down the stairs. Amorette reached the window in time to witness another glimpse of tartan before she watched Athos emerge from the alleyway that led from the courtyard a few seconds later. He looked right and then left before setting off down the street in a rage.

Amorette stuffed herself haphazardly into her dress and followed Athos out into the street. Trying to follow him was futile but she went in the general direction that he had run in and turned corner after corner for a while before thinking it might be best to turn back. A thought came to her then that she might check the garrison. She dashed around a few more corners until she reached the large archway and discovered she had thought right. Even from the other end of the archway she glimpsed the flash of tartan as a man fell into the dusty ground. Amorette raced forward just as Athos advanced towards the man.

"Athos! What are you doing?" she cried even as he threw out an arm to knock her out of the way. A little off balance from her scuttle through the streets Amorette felt herself land on the ground herself. Lyall Fitzgerald might have looked tired and decrepit but it appeared he still had the agility of a man of his young age. He was back on his feet in no time, a cut lip the only evidence that Athos' fist had made contact with his face and launched his own punch towards Athos. Amorette jumped up again and when grabbing onto Athos' arm didn't work a second time, she threw herself between the two men. A fist stopped a little short of her face and Athos glared at her before lowering his arm. "What good will fighting do? Athos he's just after a reaction and you're giving it to him!"

"She's right," snarled Lyall. "The rock was just a ploy to clear your head a little, musketeer!"

Athos grabbed Lyall by the lapels with shaking hands and threw him against a wooden pillar. A strange calmness took him over in that second and he let out a deep breath. "The problem is that you almost hit her, and that's not something I can stand for!"

"Lock me away in the Bastille then Musketeer! I've broken in and out before so I'm sure I'll manage it again!" Amorette gasped as the realisation hit her and Athos glanced at her for a split second, but it was enough time for Lyall to catch caught him off guard with a punch to the side of the head. When Athos finally came around twenty minutes later, it was not Amorette looking down upon him as he lay in the dirt, but Aramis. Amorette sat at his side but was looking off into the distance in the direction of the street through the archway. Athos groaned as he sat up and clutched the side of his head. "Please tell me one of you caught him?" he groaned.

Aramis shook his head. "We were too late to even see what direction he went in."

"He knows his cards are on the table now," mumbled Amorette, "He won't go back to where he was staying last night. He knows you'll be looking for him. He'd be a fool not to leave Paris as soon as he can. We know one thing though. Henry didn't send Gaspard to kill me that night. Lyall sent him, but why not just kill me last night when he had the chance?"

Aramis shook his head warily. "Perhaps he only intended for the boy to scare you. Gaspard was out for blood that night though, and you wouldn't give up his brother. I don't think Lyall would have seen that coming."

Not sure I'm feeling this chapter. It's a bit of a bridge to the next part of the story really but I wonder what Lyall's got up his sleeve next?