Chapter 6: Emile Bonnaire

Cosette finally arrived to the harbor and had Sapphire taken to the stables. Now, she wished the boys would actually come drag her along rather than just telling her when and where to meet them. She was pretty mad at them for getting her in danger with that Valdim character a few weeks ago. And Aramis fussing over her wounds was very annoying. Cosette was just lucky he didn't look any further. They were treating her differently. Luckily, they were treating her like a normal human being and not a tag along kid. She spotted her friends and sat next to Aramis, all four watching the man they came here to collect: Emile Bonnaire, a man who broke the peace treaty between France and Spain.

What disgusted Cosette even further was that the man was flirting with a young woman...and she was seduced by a feather.

"Seduced by a feather. Really?" Cosette muttered. Aramis came down and whispered in her ear and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Anyone can tell a woman she's beautiful," said Aramis. "Making her believe it... is where the genius lies."

Turns out, Athos was right, as there was a lot of people watching Bonnaire. And things got really interesting when a woman came in to attack Bonnaire flirting with another woman. Cosette nearly got up but Aramis stopped her and pushed her back into her seat.

"I want to see how this plays out," Aramis said and Cosette couldn't help but laugh at that. That was when all hell broke out. The musketeers and Cosette quickly entered the fight, firing their pistols and sword fighting. When it was done with, Bonnaire looked at the men.

"Gentlemen, thank you. Thank you. I can't thank you enough. Lucky for me you were here."

"Not entirely," said Athos. 'Emile Bonnaire, I am Athos of the King's Musketeers. You are under arrest. We're taking you to Paris to appear before the King."

"Er, no... I'm afraid I can't, er, can't travel today cos I've got important business..." said Bonnaire.

"Your business will have to wait." said Athos.

"Right. What about her?"said Cosette, pointing towards the woman who tried to kill Bonnaire.

"I have a name. It is Maria Bonnaire," said the woman.

"Gentlemen, my wife," said Bonnaire.

"That explains a lot," Cosette said, earning a laugh from Porthos.

"Any hidden weapons we should know about?" Athos asked.

"Er, no. No, I never carry any concealed weapons." However, the boys found weapons hidden with him. Bonnaire laughed. The musketeers shook their head in disgust. Porthos chuckled and patted him good-heartedly on the back. The two men dressed in black approached what appeared to be papers Bonnaire lost. Cosette could tell the hostility in their voices being hidden in their voices.

"Paris it is," said Bonnaire. "But grant me one last favour before we go. A few moments alone with my wife."

"You must think we're stupid," Cosette said. She looked at her friends, in which Aramis shrugged and Porthos laughed a little bit. She looked back at Bonnaire. "Hm, terribly sorry, apparently we are."

" I must have your guarantee that you won't try to escape, monsieur," said Athos.

"You have my word on it... as a gentleman."

"D'Artagnan," Athos said. Cosette shook her head as Athos wanted her to show them to their room to spend alone. The Bonnaires followed her, where Maria was allowed in first. Bonnaire stopped and looked at Cosette.

"I must ask, what is a girl doing with a group of musketeers," Bonnaire asked the teenager. Cosette looked up at him alarmed. How did he know?!

"You are mistaken..." Cosette began.

"Oh, I know a girl when I see one," Bonnaire said to the teenager, who glared at him.

"Okay, three things," Cosette said. She had enough, "One, I am not a girl I'm a WOMAN!" Since the life expectancy was short, Cosette was considered a woman. "Two, it's none of your business. And three, you tell anyone who I am, I will hunt you down and kill you myself. Got that?"

Bonnaire nodded, disturbed by the girl's warning and entered the room the Musketeers gave him. As Cosette predicted, he did think they were stupid, and as predicted, Bonnaire attempted to escape. Cosette really, really hated having to ride horses. She loved Sapphire, no doubt but this was taking them too long.

"You know, we could probably walk to Paris quicker than this, Athos," said Cosette. "Ditch that wagon and we might make progress."

Athos chuckled at his young friend. "D'Artagnan, Bonnaire hopes his exotic gifts will soften the King's mood."

"Do you think he's right?"

"It costs us nothing to humour him." Suddenly Aramis came up on his horse.

"We're being followed!" Aramis announced. "By two men dressed in black, about a mile behind."

"The men from the inn?" Athos asked.

"Yes."

"What are they waiting for?" Cosette asked.

"If we stay off the road, we should lose them."

They made their stand at a farm. Cosette, Aramis and the others fought. Cosette looked and saw Porthos fall to the ground wounded.

"Porthos!" Cosette yelled, quickly rushing to him. The rest of the men who survived quickly rushed away.

"Easy, d'Art..." Porthos began. Aramis came running next to Cosette, who quickly moved out of the way.

"Are you all right?" Aramis asked.

"That's enough. I've no argument with you, only with him!" said a new voice.

"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce my business partner, Paul Meunier."

"On the face of it, I'd say your partnership isn't going well," Aramis said from Porthos' side, Cosette nodding before focusing back on Porthos.

"I funded Emile's expeditions for eight years, and yet I discover his ship has arrived, my cargo is nowhere to be found, and he's made no contact with me. There was no..."

"There was no time, Paul! I was forced to travel to Paris without warning."

"Hand him over and we will be on our way," said Meunier.

"I sympathise with your grievances, monsieur," said Athos. "No doubt your partner is a cheat and a swindler. However, it is our duty to deliver him safely to Paris, so... you must wait and seek justice there."

"I'm not leaving without him."

"That is unfortunate, because neither are we."

"I don't suppose I have a say in this, do I?" Bonnaire asked, and silenced himself when Athos glared at him.

"Tell your men to lay down their weapons. I will inform the cardinal of your claims against Bonnaire," said Athos.

"How do I know you won't betray me?"

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. If I see your scouts on the road again, there won't be any second chances."

Paul looked at them confused. "What scouts?"

"Two men in black. They've been on our tail since Le Havre."

"They're not mine. I'm not the only man with an account to settle with Emile Bonnaire."

Athos was both shocked and confused. If they weren't his scouts, then whose were they? Cosette looked at Porthos in concern.

"Will I lose my arm?" Porthos asked Aramis, who shook his head.

"No, but you might lose your life." Aramis answered.

"That bad?"

"It requires needlework and soon." Aramis looked at Cosette, "DArtagnan, come here and press Porthos's wound to stop the blood." Cosette nodded, rushing towards Porthos and doing what Aramis told her.

"Will he make it to Paris?" Athos asked.

"He won't make it to the next village unless I get a chance to sew up that wound."

"Do you think we should leave the road and look for shelter?" Cosette asked as Aramis bound Porthos' wound.

"Not here. We will ride on for a few miles and then find somewhere."

Aramis signaled for Cosette to continue. She took the rest of the rap for Porthos.

"Porthos isn't fit to ride anywhere."

Athos looked at Cosette, who finished up patching Porthos up. .

"Get him on the cart." However, Aramis placed a hand upon her shoulder to stop the girl from Athos' command and angrily confronted his friend.

"Didn't you hear what I said?! If we don't operate soon, he'll die," Aramis cried.

"We'll wait till it's dark," said Athos.

Aramis had enough. He grabbed onto his friend's doublet and yelled. "What's the matter with you?! Don't you care about Porthos?"

Athos stopped. He was too focused on going through the King's command that he wasn't putting Porthos first. Of course, Athos cared about Porthos, as his friends' health were more important than completing a mission.

"All right. I know somewhere... nearby," Athos said.

"Why didn't you mention it before?" Cosette asked.

"Thought didn't occur to me," Athos simply said. Cosette rolled her eyes but they followed through with Athos' plan.