This is a 2 or 3 part tag to Trial and Punishment. Given the way Rochefort was portrayed in the show, I was shocked that he didn't try anything when Aramis was in his hands.

When he had been taken out of the palace, the Red Guards' hands-off attitude abruptly changed.

Grabbing Aramis' arms and wrenching them behind his back, they shackled them tightly together. When they were barely finished, one of them shoved him forward with a fist in his back, saying, "Get going, Musketeer scum!"

Aramis had expected the rough treatment, but still stumbled. They grabbed him by the elbows, yanking him along as they headed for the Chatelet.

Aramis was not a fool. He knew he would be treated cruelly by the Musketeers' long-time enemies. He was very uneasy about what could happen to him out of sight in the prison, especially under Rochefort's supervision.

They reached the Chatelet, and led him through passageway after gloomy passageway. Then, they headed down two flights of stone steps, and Aramis' heartrate sped up. He knew the layout of the prison well, and he knew they were taking him to the most isolated part of the old prison-the dungeons, where no sounds could be heard in the rest of the building.

Reaching the dungeon area, they forced him along the barely-lit hallway to the very last cell.

Its door creaked as it was opened, and then he was roughly shoved inside, barely keeping his feet. They grabbed a length of chain that was attached to a thick ring on the wall, fastening them to his shackles, before kicking his feet out from under him. He fell, not having any way to soften his fall with his hands fastened behind his back.

Laughing, they left, one of them saying, "Enjoy your stay, Musketeer. We plan to entertain you well during your time here-until your execution!"

Using the wall, he sank down to a sitting position on the ground. He had no idea how he would get out of this one.

The odds against Athos and d'Artagnan being able to get to him were heavily stacked against them. Rochefort would like nothing more than for them to try. He would enjoy cutting them down before they ever reached him. He most likely had Red Guards manning every door between the entrance and his cell, just waiting and hoping for the opportunity.

Aramis was almost glad Porthos was far away at the moment. His friend would think nothing of the odds before throwing himself against however many heavily-armed Red Guards came at him. Aramis didn't want his friends to die.

He must have half-dozed off, then came wide-awake when his cell door was being unlocked.

He had wondered how long it would be before Rochefort showed his face.

The man walked into his cell with a self-satisfied smirk on his face as he stared down at Aramis.

"At last," he sneered. "You're mine to do with as I please. You will pay dearly for touching my Anne, Musketeer."

"She was never yours to begin with, Rochefort," Aramis quietly but defiantly answered.

Rochefort's face contorted with anger at his words. "You, a lowly Musketeer, dared to have relations with the Queen of France. I could have you transported to her brother in Spain with that information, and he would have you torn limb from limb for what you've done." Pausing, he continued softly, his voice hissing with his next words. "But I will punish you myself. You will wish you are dead before I'm through with you."

Nodding his head at his men, they pulled Aramis to his feet. Unlocking the shackles and pulling his arms in front of him, they fastened them together again before pulling them high above his head to lock them through a chain and metal loop that he hadn't noticed hanging from the ceiling. They then cut his doublet and shirt off.

Rochefort slowly sauntered around him, saying, "So this is the object of so many of the ladies of the Court. Pity they won't be able to see you when I finish with you."

"Now, we need to make sure nothing is visible when you appear for trial. It might cause sympathy for you in the minds of the judges, or it might appear that we decided to take the law into our own hands."

He paused. Then, "I wonder if you've ever been flogged before," Rochefort mused, the words sending a shiver of dread up Aramis' spine.

Rochefort was handed a long-handled black whip, which he proceeded to shake out, and then snapped it a couple of times in the air.

"I know it is used in the army for disciplinary purposes, and you," snarling up at Aramis, "have probably been a problem for your commanding officers in the past. You don't know your place..." rearing his arm back and hitting Aramis across the back, blood blooming on his skin.

Continuing, he said, "You don't respect your betters..." lashing out again.

"And you dare to put yourself on the same level as the Queen of France! How dare you!" the lash moving furiously now, over and over again.

Aramis had refused to make a sound when Rochefort started. But the lash was biting into his skin, causing him finally to scream. This was obviously what Rochefort wanted, as he increased his pace.

When Aramis passed out, Rochefort stopped, his expression showing he was disappointed to end his punishment.

Aramis limp body was taken down, and again chained to the wall. Then, he was left alone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rochefort continued to 'visit' Aramis in the next few days, always with a new form of torment. Aramis, in his lucid moments, wondered if the Comte had learned some of the torments from his time in Spanish prisons.

Rochefort continued to taunt, belittle and show his hatred for the

marksman each time he came.

"Tell me, Musketeer, how long did you plan to sleep with the Queen behind Louis' back?"

"How many furious husbands did you have to fight over the years?"

"I know all about you, Musketeer. Does Louis know that you have your Spanish mother's blood running in your veins-the blood of our enemy?"

"How did you stay alive at Savoy when all the others on your training mission were killed? Or did you conspire to help the attackers?"

He never seemed to run out of ways to try to get under Aramis' skin. But no matter what he said, Aramis kept silence. This made Rochefort even angrier, and he took it out on Aramis.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

His 'trial', a farce in itself, was over. He had been found guilty. But, with Rochefort in charge and having the King's ear, that had never been in question.

The wheel. He had witnessed an execution once using the gruesome object. His heart clenched within him just at the thought of what he would go through.

They hadn't told him when his execution was to be. They wanted to keep his mind unsettled, he guessed.

He heard the cell door being unlocked again.

Before he had even entered, Aramis heard his voice.

Rochefort. Gloating.

"At last, I will be rid of you. None of your women will come to your execution. They prefer their lovers untouched, unmarked, shall we say?"

Making his way slowly around the cell, Rochefort continued, obviously enjoying himself immensely.

"She's mine now, Musketeer. She will remember how much we enjoyed each other's company years ago. She will learn to fall in love with me all over again," smiling as he looked down on the chained Musketeer.

"Your friends will not dare to try and invade this prison. You are alone, utterly alone, and will remain this way until we come to drag you to your execution. How the popular Musketeer has fallen!"

Kicking the helpless Aramis, he strode confidently back out of the cell door, banging it shut after him.

Aramis lay alone in the dark, dank cell, in the lowest level of the prison, far from his brothers, his beloved and his infant son, wondering how long he had before he was put to death.

TBC