Hello. Been awhile in the Musketeers fandom. This just came to me.
Hope you enjoy this little fic of mine.
Captain Tréville was tired. Really tired. He hauled his aching body up onto his horse, Blaze, and headed away from the palace towards the garrison. Right now, he could kill the King. King Louis XIII had his moments when he could be surprisingly caring but he also had his moments where he truly did not understand the way of the world on his own doorstep.
The King had declared he wished to inspect his Musketeers, three days hence. Tréville had tried to bargain for more time but the Cardinal had sneered, 'Well, if you're not able to get the garrison in order, His Majesty could inspect the Red Guards instead.'
Louis, of course, had dismissed Tréville's concerns and proceeded with the inspection. Tréville had been very busy lately with the scheme to expose the Cardinal and Milady in the plot to assassinate Queen Anne. His stress levels had been at their highest when his four best men and willingly walked into an ambush of Milady's making.
All four men had survived and Tréville had given them some time off from their duties. Tréville, however, was still trying to run a busy garrison and now had to get the garrison looking pristine and ready for the King!
He arrived at the garrison not really knowing how he had got there and slowly trudged up to his office, thinking of all the things he needed to do. He needed to make sure the garrison was as clean as it could be, that all of the broken posts and railings were fixed and make sure the men all had clothes ready and clean. On top of that he still needed to complete food and supply orders from the garrison as well as fill in the necessary paperwork. He sighed and set about his task, filling a goblet with brandy.
An hour later Tréville had made very little headway and reached for another bottle of brandy, only to find an empty space. He sighed and thought he could maybe fetch some wine from the mess hall. He walked out onto the balcony and saw the familiar sight of Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan sitting at their table. He had often wondered how they managed to function properly when it seemed they got very little sleep.
'Is there something you need Captain?' Athos' voice sounded around the empty courtyard.
'I'm out of brandy,' he sighed.
'Here, have our wine,' Aramis said as he picked up a bottle from the table and brought it up the stairs.
'Thank you,' Tréville said gratefully. 'I'll make sure to replace it.'
Tréville moved back into his office and tried to look at the numbers for the equipment needed for the garrison. Musket balls, gunpowder, as well as new training swords and pistols were all needed. Tréville felt is eyes start to droop but he had work to get on with. Soon though, he felt himself nodding as he tried to stay awake and eventually conceded defeat. He managed to remove his uniform and boots before getting into bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Tréville woke feeling surprisingly refreshed. Maybe wine was better than brandy and that was why Athos could function after drinking so much. He chuckled at his own thought but something was amiss. He looked to his chair and found his best clothes cleaned and ready for him. He had not had time to do it himself, plus he would have only done it the night before the inspection. He looked to his desk and noted that the piles of paper had disappeared and that his office looked as though it had been thoroughly cleaned.
There was a knock at the door which startled Tréville out of his thoughts. 'Enter,' he called and the door opened to reveal Joubert.
'Ah, you're awake Captain,' the man smiled at the increasingly uneasy Tréville. 'You best get dressed, Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan have left to escort the King for the inspection.' With that Joubert left and Tréville felt like screaming so loudly that the King would hear him at the palace. He had been asleep for three days!
Tréville swiftly moved out of bed towards a basin of water, which looked as though it was fresh that morning, and washed himself before changing into the fresh clothes which had been set aside for him.
As soon as he was ready he exited his office onto the balcony and saw the regiment lined up waiting for the inspection. He looked around and saw that the broken posts had been fixed, as had the hole in the stables. Jacques, the stable boy, looked cleaner than Tréville had ever seen him and the courtyard looked remarkably tidy.
Tréville continued to marvel at what he was seeing when trumpets sounded and the royal carriage entered the courtyard, escorted by Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan. Tréville steeled himself and moved to open the carriage door. To his annoyance Cardinal Richelieu was also attending and, surprisingly, so was the Queen.
The King stepped out into the courtyard as Tréville held his hand out for the Queen, which she took and he aided out of the carriage. Cardinal Richelieu looked as though he would rather be anywhere else and Tréville had to steel his features to not show his amusement.
'Attention!' Athos' voice sounded as the regiment stood to attention. Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan were standing at the front of the gathered musketeers and Louis greeted them warmly.
'See Cardinal, I knew Captain Tréville would have everything in order,' the King said looking positively gleeful. Tréville did notice the Queen's eyes lingering on 'her' musketeers. Most of her attention seemed to be taken by Aramis, nothing new there when it came to Aramis and women.
The King's inspection ended up being a triumph of 'his musketeers'. Cardinal Richelieu looked as if he was sucking lemons for most of it and Tréville had heard all the praise he could take from Louis by the end.
Once the royal procession had left the garrison with a musketeer escort, Tréville turned to look at the architects of the successful inspection. All four had annoyingly smug looks, well as smug as Athos tended to look when he was proud of himself.
All four nodded and returned to their table, while Tréville made his way up to the balcony. He rested his hand on the fixed bannister and surveyed the courtyard below. One day he was kill all four of them, he was sure of it. Just not today.
A/N: Currently, I'm considering extending this to show what actually happened, although I think it is easy enough to work out. Please let me know in reviews if you want me to continue or not. I don't think this is the best but it has been a while since I have done some writing.