Chapter 5 Anything Else
Jacqueline continued her tale, talking about becoming the King's Special Protector and moving in to the palace as d'Artagnan listened thoughtfully. She found herself at the part of the story where d'Artagnan had come into her room to talk, and she had jumped on him like one of his barmaid 'friends.' She took a deep breath and decided to skip it. He doesn't need to know about my little fantasy, she told herself. It would only encourage him.
She got to the part where she had charged in, flanked by Cardinal's guards, to accuse Siroc, d'Artagnan, and Duvall of aiding in Ramon's escape. "We were then summoned to the Palace. It must have been Mazarin's doing," she shook her head. "I just don't understand…" Jacqueline trailed off and tried to get back to the point.
"I stood between you and Siroc facing Louis, the Queen, and Mazarin. I was ready to expose you for helping Ramon escape when Mazarin started off on his own speech. Somehow he had discovered my secret. I first blamed you; you were the only one that could get angry enough to expose me—"
"I would never tell your secret. I will take it to the grave," he quickly assured her. Jacqueline shuddered internally, He said that before, too.
She nodded her head in acceptance. "I know that, but the sword did things to my mind… I can't even begin to explain."
Jacqueline sighed again, Now the hard part. She focused her gaze on the dirt ground. "Louis ordered you to arrest me, and I drew the blade. You tried to reason with me; you asked the King to consider exile. For us." She glanced up quickly at the pause to see a reaction, but d'Artagnan's face was blank.
"What happened next?" he asked quietly.
"You tried to disarm me without hurting me, but I was merciless," she choked as tears threatened to spill. God, forgive me. "I killed you."
The words hung in the air; d'Artagnan stared at Jacqueline strangely. She gasped for breath, feeling like she had just been knocked down in a fight. Neither spoke.
D'Artagnan abruptly stood. "Anything else I should know?" His tone was as cold as bare steel.
Jacqueline scrambled up to stand even with him. "It wasn't me who killed you. I mean, it was me, but it wasn't," she fumbled. "Look, as soon as it happened I dropped the sword and rushed to your side. I was there as you died; I heard your last words; and I prayed for forgiveness." She fought her hand from touching his face. "Then I was all disoriented. Everything that had happened spun around me, and I saw the person I had become. I landed back on the marble floor of the palace about to be run through when Ramon rushed in… You saw what happened from there."
I'm free, she thought, from one less secret. A large weight had been lifted from her chest. The fleeting moment passed, however, when she saw d'Artagnan's stunned face.
She struggled, "Please, remember it never happened." This time, she let her hand reach up to touch his cheek. "Never."
He ignored her touch. "Jacqueline, what were my last words?"
She stiffened and looked directly at him. "You said, 'I love you.'"
Jacqueline saw those words echoed in his eyes.
D'Artagnan brushed her hand away lightly, trying to take no notice of the feel of her skin, and turned to the horses. "Ramon and Siroc will be missing us. We should go back." He collected his horse's reins and looked over his shoulder when Jacqueline spoke again.
Rooted to the spot, she said, "There's something I left out. One night, we… we got close." Jacqueline mentally smacked herself, Why did you say that? "But you left before anything really happened."
"I left?" he inquired. When she nodded back, he laughed. Not a small laugh, but one that filled the entire clearing. "I left?"
Jacqueline tittered a little to herself out of embarrassment and stepped quickly over to her mount. D'Artagnan swung up into his saddle still chuckling. "Well, I won't make that mistake again."
Jacqueline glanced at him sharply, and he flashed a rakish grin at her before heading out at a trot towards Paris. She followed a moment behind.
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Farther down the road, they were able to walk side by side, and d'Artagnan noticed Jacqueline squirming in her saddle. "What's wrong, Jacques? Feeling a little constrained?"
Jacqueline grimaced as she tried to adjust the binding under her jacket. In all the excitement, it seemed to have shrunk. "Just imagine someone shrinking your underwear while you were wearing them."
"Could be fun," he retorted. "Tell you what, after patrol we stop by a lake, we shed these binding clothes and take a dip au naturale." He turned to wink at her.
She shot him her best look of disgust before becoming distracted by a riderless horse running past them. She looked at d'Artagnan questioningly. "Is that a yes?" he asked.
Ugh! Men! She kicked Neige into a gallop to chase after the horse herself.
