Thanks again to everyone still reading and reviewing, I hope you're enjoying it. Special shout out to Uia for reviewing (sorry, I can't directly reply) and Whatfunny who's definitely come closest to guessing what's going on.
Just a warning this chapter is seriously angsty and the start of the gang coming through some heavy trauma. Hence the song choice. I love this song and think it's heartbreakingly beautiful and poignant (rather like P!nk's What About Us, but that doesn't fit the show as well) and is it just me or is this song a perfect fit Queen Anne? Poor girl has been put through the ringer even before the show. Trauma and angst just follow her. Come to think of it the same can be said for Athos too. And Aramis. And Porthos. You know what this song could probably suit anyone of the cast (if anyone more talented than me want's to do a fanvid, you'll probably win by eternal love) and they all need big, big hugs.
Also there's implied domestic abuse, it's pretty subtle I think and nothing worse than what's in the show so just throwing that warning out, just in case anyway.
Oh, when you told me you'd leave
I felt like I couldn't breath
My aching body fell to the floor
Then I called you at home
You said that you weren't alone
I should've known better
Now it hurts much more.
ohhh... Mmmm
ohhh... Mmmm
You caused my heart to bleed and
You still owe me a reason
Cause I can't figure out why...
Why I'm alone and freezing
While you're in the bed that she's in
And I'm just left alone to cry.
So Cold - Ben Cocks
Anne was used to hiding her emotions, but that did not stop her having them. Nor did it stop her using them.
She did little to hide her anger as she swept through her fiancé's offices into his own personal study. He looked up in mild surprise and what could only generously be described as vague delight.
"Do you know anything about the accusation of pollution?"
"A farmer came by earlier making outlandish claims that we had poisoned his animals. Scare tactics for a payment no doubt." He dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand as well as his words.
"Why didn't you tell me? We need to investigate and ensure there hasn't been negligence on our part." The thought alone horrified her. Not only would it damage their reputation but what about the poor people and animals affected. How many would get sick or die. Families suffering as their livelihoods rotted, the land they loved now a danger to them.
"He never returned, and we can hardly placate every scam artist. Besides I've already dealt with it." The matter was already closed in his mind which amplified Anne's frustration.
"What did you say to Marguerite when you dismissed her? I haven't been able to contact her at all."
"You don't need to speak to her at all. What's done is done." Anne was too well-schooled in the subtlety and art of reading people to miss the warning in his tone. Still she could not just walk away.
"Why did you tell the d'Athoses that the wedding was so soon?"
The perplexed look he gave her only fed her simmering ire with his next words. "Because it is."
"Rochefort, we haven't even set a date yet, let alone discussed the actual wedding."
"I've already made the arrangements." She was so stunned; it took her a moment to find words.
"You didn't think I should have a say in it?!"
He stood up to move around his desk, towards her. "You were distracted. I only wanted to make things easier for you." The contrite tone soothed the highest flames of her anger but only left it simmering rather than truly extinguished.
"You still should have discussed it with me. It's still too soon for a wedding, there's so much to do. I have to organise a dress, a veil, bridesmaids."
"Those can be easily sorted. Why should we wait any longer? Who would stand in the way? I've waited so long to marry you, to proclaim you as my wife, to consummate our love."
It was as if a stone had been dropped into a pool. A ripple of disquiet passed through her at the words. She sensed rather than felt his hands take hers. She had thought little about the honeymoon of her marriage. An act of deliberateness rather than negligence. The future consummation of her marriage was a thought that still left her uncomfortable. It was something entirely natural in a marriage after all. But if it had been her little experience that was the source of her distress it might have been understandable, but it wasn't. It was who she'd be consummating the marriage with that was the problem.
"Why are you so upset? Surely it is better to declare our love sooner rather than later? You do want that don't you." The pressure around her wrists tightened ever so imperceptivity. The ripples formed swells.
She smiled brightly. "Of course. I just want it to be perfect."
It worked in appeasing him. He relaxed and gave her what was almost a smile.
"It will be. It will be just the way we deserve."
Anne's smile remained even as her heartbeat frantically against her ribcage. The revelation was almost too great. Not only did she not trust her soon-to-be husband, she was afraid of him too.
Milady was on alert the second Catherine entered. The other woman was too smug and self-satisfied – she could feel the waves of it rolling off her across the room – compared to her usual sullen, vindictive demeanour.
Oliver and Thomas didn't seem to notice, or rather acted as though they didn't.
Milady pretended not to be affected by Catherine's stare from the other end of the table. She daintily dropped her napkin in front of her as the table was cleared.
"They should count the cutlery."
She frowned at the other woman's comment. So did the men. It was Thomas who voiced the confusion.
"I said they should count the cutlery, to make sure none of it has been stolen."
Milady snorted, "why? Are you in the habit of stealing hotel cutlery?"
"No, but you are." It came so quickly that it took her a moment to see the trap. Catherine smirked. "Actually, you're rather in the habit of stealing anything and everything."
"Catherine what are you saying? Anne is no thief." Her heart swelled with love as Olivier defended her.
"But her name isn't really Anne, is it?" Damn those waiters. She could have already killed her sister-in-law with her steak knife if she still had it.
"It's Milady de Winter. Or is it Clarrick? Charlotte Brackson? There seems to be so many in this police file."
Milady was frozen in her seat as Catherine brandished a file. Any attempts to dismiss it as fiction useless as the photos and official documents spilled across the table for all to see.
"What is this?" Oliver had never sounded so cold.
"Isn't it obvious, Olivier, she's been lying to you. Your precious wife is nothing more than a gold-digging con artist. A common criminal."
"Oh, shut up, you miserable bitch!" She stared at Oliver begging him to look at her, to understand. "I was scared. I didn't know you well enough at first, and then I didn't know how to."
"Didn't know how to part with the life of Madame De la Fere you mean."
Catherine would know misery when she was through!
But Catherine wasn't what was important now, Olivier was. Olivier whose eyes were locked on the pages of arrest records and charges, the photos.
"Olivier, please." She reached out but he pulled away before she could make contact. He walked out of the room without even acknowledging her.
Athos didn't even remember what pub he was in or what wine he was drinking. His mind was still back in that hotel room, looking at those photos. The shock on Thomas' face, Catherine's hard glare. Most of all he saw Anne's horrified features.
He was a damned idiot.
Athos had always considered himself a level-headed and rational man. He knew what kinds of people orbited his world. He had seen many of his acquaintances ensnared by priorities of a certain nature. He had always thought he would be sensible enough to escape.
Instead he'd fallen deeper into the trap than any of them. Anne – he still thought of her as Anne, when she clearly wasn't. What a fool he was – was much more than a simple ambitious social-climber. He'd read enough of the police reports in those few brief, unforgettable moments. Theft, larceny, prostitution, homicide.
He desperately wanted another explanation, but Anne's reaction had verified what he would have otherwise vehemently denied, pictures be damned.
His phone buzzed with yet another message. He ignored it and sat even further back in the little snug. Solitude and anonymity were all he wanted right now. He was not so naïve as to think he could escape forever but he refused to face the matter now. Anne's bland excuses and Thomas' pity could wait.
"I was scared. I didn't know how to." Was that the truth? Had Anne really just been scared. Desperate to protect their love and leave that life behind. Or was he still just a fool wanting to believe he was smarter than he was, wanting to believe it hadn't all been a lie.
His phone rang again. The unknown number – normally a reason to ignore it – was now the sole reason he answered it.
The news immediately knocked what inebriation he had, out of him, at the ashamedly welcome distraction. He quickly paid his bill and strode out into the busy Paris streets, never more grateful to do his duty.
His work rarely took him to hospitals. The red guards often ended up needing to avail of one's services. Sometimes a doctor might be ferried out to one of the estates for more discrete assistance, if required.
But never for him. He had enough medical knowledge to treat most of the injuries he encountered in his line of work. And for those he couldn't, well… nobody would care anyway.
His reason for being in the hospital was down in the depths of the basement, oh so fittingly the morgue. The dim, close environment perfectly reflected the mark's intelligence.
"Rochefort will get what he wants in due course, I'm busy. I can't just jump at his command."
Aramis stifled a sigh and barely managed to refrain from rolling his eyes. Since the other man was born privileged, had attended a pretentious school and was supposedly destined for a glittering medical career he thought he was untouchable. He thought he could get away with anything. He thought he could cross Rochefort.
Aramis was to remind him otherwise.
That little thrill that came with danger and excitement flared up. The rush of adrenaline, risking his life. The only time he ever felt alive anymore.
Even three-on-one it was ridiculously easy. Neither the target or his friends had any proper ability and their technique was downright embarrassing. If they'd managed to land any hits in the drunken swings they'd practiced, he'd shave his head.
His foot met the mid-section of the stockiest one and sent him sprawling into some medical trays. The man stayed down too stunned to even sit up.
The mark swung at him. Aramis caught it, locking the arm behind its owners back. He pulled open the closest tray and slammed the mark onto it. The third tried to rush him while he was distracted. He pulled up short at the sight of Aramis' gun barrel in his face.
He'd been a good soldier for a reason. Fighting was something that had come easily to him. He was aware enough to accept that sometimes violence was needed. Orders were followed no matter where they lead. No matter how bloody they came.
He pressed the mark further into the morgue tray. The man struggled weakly. His eyes fixed wide on the body on the bay beside him. "I suggest you review your schedule and consider how busy you really are. Or my next visit will involve you having much more in common with that poor soul than just lying on these bays." He shoved him before releasing him to emphasis his point.
His gun was still in the tall one's face.
Aramis had killed before. Sometimes it was what was needed to be done. The mark needed to stay alive for now. His friends didn't. Two quick shots direct to the head. At this distance, it would be impossible for him to miss. They'd both be dead before they hit the floor. Rochefort would prefer they die.
But they didn't need to. Aramis gave them a wolfish grin as he holstered his gun. They'd be nursing the injuries he'd left for days at least. Even from the far end of the corridor he saw it. Injured, terrified animals.
The lift doors closed and took him up.
D'Artagnan barely noticed Constance's hand on his shoulder. All he could see was his father lying on the hospital bed. Tubes were connected to every part of him. From somewhere in the room, a machine beeped but he didn't look for it.
Coma. Mass internal bleeding. Severe brain damage. Unknown if he'll ever wake up. He understood the words but couldn't comprehend them. How could his father never wake up again? Why had this Athos beaten him so badly? What had his father ever done but be a good, kind, hard-working man.
The police had asked some questions but D'Artagnan had little hope. He would have to find some way to get justice himself.
"…d'Athos. I received a call…" The words filtered through D'Artagnan's mind and the world turned red.
"What are you doing here?"
Barely conscious, too weak to sit up and hopped up on drugs and his mom could still be intimidating. He was lucky to have this woman as his mother.
"Where else would I be."
She waited in expectation. Porthos sighed. Now was as good a time as ever.
"Charon heard about this clinic in Normandy, it might be able to help you."
"And how are we going to pay for it?"
"Charon knows a guy- "
"Absolutely not!" The words came remarkably strong for a dying woman. The stare she gave him was no less heated. "You are not putting yourself in debt. Especially not for me."
She cut him off before he could explain. "I don't care that he's your best friend. He's not a very good one. You're not taking up some strange man's offer and putting yourself in god knows what kind of position. And you're not putting yourself under compliment with Charon! He'd use it against you."
"Maman- "
"If that's the cost of getting better than I'm not going to that clinic. You want to help me, you make a proper life for yourself, a good one."
"Ok, Maman." He let her rest, trying to settle everything in his head.
"MURDERER!"
Oh, you can't hear me cry
See my dreams all die
From where you standing
On your own
It's so quiet here and I feel so cold
This house no longer
Feels like home.
I'm still having computer problems so can't guarantee updates. However I will leave you with this question to ponder:
What is your favourite character/ dark counterpart (mortal enemy) relationship?
Aramis/ Rochefort was probably the one most developed and had the most tension. (Both respected, skilled soldiers who rose to powerful positions, both in love with Queen Anne but one acting out of love and loyalty, the other revenge and personal grievances.)
Treville/ Richelieu was an interesting take. Both loyal right-hand men and father figures to Louis. Both captains of their own regiments. And both having a competitive but begrudging respect and understanding of each other's positions. Especially with Richelieu being more pragmatic than the other antagonists and willing to work with our heroes and even see their uses and strengths.
Porthos/ Charon ended too soon. It would have been interesting if Charon had been a reoccurring villain and how Porthos dealt with being at odds with an old friend. Especially with them both wanting the same things (respect, money, glory, a better life) but making very different choices about choices to get there.
D'Artagnan/ Marcheaux was a wasted opportunity. Both were young stars in their respective regiments with a close relationship to a mentor/ superior. But they never quite developed beyond that apart from Marcheaux harassing Constance and them hating each other.
Athos/ Grimaud - I honestly never got this one. It felt like the show was trying to portray Grimaud as Athos ultimate foe/ demon but I never got why Athos seemed to particularly hate him (sure he'd want him dead but up until Grimaud kills Treville and threatens Sylvie there's no reason for Athos' hell-bent fixation) or why Grimaud seemed to have a particular grudge against Athos when both Porthos and Aramis had interfered in his plans as well. Essentially the two stared at each across a smoky, impossible to see post-battle field and somehow became mortal enemies because of it.
For the ladies, I'm not sure they had any? Marie de Medici for Anne, I suppose. I think Constance and Milady were meant to start out as these but they grew out of the roles to quickly to really fit.
Anyone else have any thoughts? Do you agree? Disagree? Or do you think there are other counterparts that are better?
