Somedays I feel like this fiction could go on and on, you know? But unfortunately I'm beginning to feel everything wind to a close as I continue writing, and I hope that you will all forgive me when it does finish. I've had such an amazing time with these characters that it breaks my heart to know that I will shortly be finished. Here is another installment, just before the beginning of June reaches us. Let me know what you think!

Chapter XXXII

"Chateau Montblanc…"

He could feel the horse moving nervously beneath him as he stopped it just before the tree line would expose his presence to any guards on watch. The stallion knew as well as he did that there was something sinister waiting for them just over the horizon and wanted nothing to do with it, pawing anxiously as he tried to turn his head around and lead them away from the impending dangers. But Philippe held him firm and refused to double back despite knowing that his father would never have allowed him to make the journey alone. While there had been ongoing discussion of how they were to rescue Katherine from the clutches of her captors without giving into Louis and his demands, Philippe had dressed himself in plain clothing and saddled a horse, sneaking off of the palace grounds before anyone could come to realize his intentions and stop him. He knew that all wanted to bring her back safely, but unless they gave into the demands that had been sent to them, there was no way of guaranteeing that they could accomplish that.

And Philippe wouldn't let Katherine pay for his actions with her life.

With a kick and a quick tug on the reins, Philippe steered his horse back toward the looming chateau that stood in the distance, prepared to cross the open field and never again return. He had known that if he were to surrender himself to his twin brother and whatever forces he had at his disposal, there was a very good chance that he would not live to see his parents or his friends again. Louis had once attempted to lock him away in the iron mask that had been his prison for so many years, but after a betrayal like the one that had transpired that night at the Bastille, he was sure that his brother would not risk his existence for another day. With the support of D'Artagnan and the others behind him he would forever remain a danger to the power that Louis so desperately craved, a shadow that would haunt him continually until he had been thrown into the light and removed from existence.

He was scared, he couldn't deny that fact. Between the feeling of impending doom and the uncertainty of what might actually happen to him, it made perfect sense for the boy to be concerned with his wellbeing. But there was another life to consider, one that was in no condition to fight off her attackers as she had before when Philippe had first set eyes on her, a young woman donned in men's clothing as she held a sword tightly in her hand and defended his life in addition to her own. That young woman had known nothing of what lie in store for her, never having guessed that a trap lay in wait for the exact moment that she left the palace walls. Yet she had sent him one letter, a single sheet of paper that told the boy exactly how she felt about him and that alone was enough to spur him forward.

The heavily fortified gates of the chateau were menacing to his smaller form as he approached them, holding the reins a little tighter in his hand so that he might not shake quite so badly before them. His horse whinnied once, shaking his head to try and dissuade his rider from going any further but Philippe would take no heed. He would do what he had come to do.

"Louis!" he called, hearing his voice echo in the silence. "I am here, and I am alone. Let the girl go!"

There was no verbal response to his request, save for the terrible creaking that came as someone unbolted the doors and slowly pulled them aside so that he might ride through and into the belly of the beast itself. Philippe paused only a moment before giving his horse another firm kick, taking them both beyond the boarder of the gates that closed just as quickly behind him. At the slam there was a swarm of activity as men leapt out from all of the hiding places one could imagine, pointing both swords and guns in his direction. Bright eyes scanned his surroundings to take in the number of men who had been appointed to "greet" him upon his arrival before he slowly slid from the side of the stallion and raised his hands in the air to show that he would not resist. No sooner had he done that when two sets of hands grabbed him from behind and immediately began to shuffle through his pockets, looking for any weaponry he might have concealed on his person. Finding nothing they gave him a shove forward until he nearly ran into another man, the one who held the rope that would be used to bind his hands in front of his body. With this done they finally shoved him toward an opening in the external wall of the building and grunted for him to move.

Through the seemingly endless tunnels and corridors they took him, taking care not to head in one direction for too long lest he be keeping an eye on things that might aid in his escape later on, but Philippe felt that this was a pointless waste of energy. He would not be trying to escape, not while there was still someone else to consider, and not even when she was free. Coming to his place was an exchange, Katherine's life for his own, and if Louis honoured his word and released her upon his surrender than he was happy to suffer whatever punishment his brother had chosen as his fate. That was the reason that he had left all of his loved ones behind and ventured forth with such danger awaiting him. That alone was why he had come.

He was yanked to a halt in the middle of a large hall, one he presumed would ordinarily have been filled with people as they took in their daily meals. But the large tables that might have been laid with food had been pushed to the wall or removed all together, an elaborate rug laid out on the floor beneath his feet. Otherwise there were few decorations about the room itself, the walls showing only the standard crest of the household and a few hung pieces of weaponry that had been crossed over one another and mounted on brackets for easy access. There was but a single chair in the room, a large piece of sturdy oak that sat before the roaring fire to further bring out the shadowed features of the occupant and give him a more menacing glare.

"Louis."

It was perhaps the coldest look that Philippe had ever seen that was directed down upon him, a stare so void of happiness that it might possibly freeze the very room in which they stood. Nothing about his brother had changed in the last few weeks save for the removal of the mask that he had once forced upon Philippe. His hair was still perfectly done and pulled back to prevent it from obscuring his vision, his clothes were still made of fine materials that denoted his higher class to all who might see him. But his eyes were unforgiving to the point of being purely resentful as he looked down upon his younger twin, blue meeting blue in a battle for dominance.

"You see?" Louis asked, raising his voice a little so that he might address all who stood in the room. "Even the traitor refers to me by my true name, the very one that he has adopted in order to fool this country into thinking that he could pass for their King."

There was no laughter from the various men who stood around, not a sound at all, and so Louis continued. "I thought perhaps you might give yourself up. I understand you have become rather attached to that girl recently."

Though Philippe said not a word, Louis knew that the truth rang clear in his eyes. It was such a weakening emotion, this love that everyone seemed to praise. It served as nothing more than a distraction, something that would prevent you from thinking clearly and setting yourself above other people when that was your God-given right in life. He had seen it many times as he grew up, and every time Louis had sneered at it from afar and turned his back so that the infection might not spread to him as well. There had been but one brief moment where he had succumbed to it, allowing it to take control of his actions and prompt him to do something nearly foolish, but the truth had been revealed in time and he had been spared of its grasp. Never again, he had vowed. And yet here was his brother before him, a victim of the very same emotion that had once nearly threatened to ruin the life that he had established for himself. Of course, it wasn't entirely the same thing, he rationalized to himself.

"As I expected," he taunted.

"Where is she?"

Louis raised a brow at the force behind his brother's words, a tone quite unlike what he had heard in previous conversation. Interesting, he thought to himself. Perhaps my brother has some promise of manhood in him after all. Too bad it will be short lived, added another little voice in his head.

"She is of no concern to you-"

"I want to see her, Louis. I want proof that you have not harmed her in any way."

As the staring match began between the two of them, it appeared that Louis might perhaps be considering the weight of the demand that had been placed before him. The rest of the room seemed to grow rather still, for none had dared to speak to Louis like that when he was King, and certainly not now that he had the power to snap his fingers and bring his brother's life to an end. Yet it seemed that there was a trace of amusement showing in the bright depths of Louis's eyes, because a slow, evil smirk began to show upon his face as the cold blue of his eyes looked down upon his younger twin. With a turn of his head Louis nodded toward the dark figure that loomed in the doorway, watching only to see him bow in acknowledgment before he scurried away and out of sight.

It seemed that Louis had anticipated such a request, for not even a minute later the man emerged again with another, suspending the thin figure of the young woman between the two of them. She struggled as best as she could in their grasp, her hands bound before her and a gag placed around her mouth to prevent her from crying out. As she was brought into the room, Katherine continued to thrash as much as her body would allow, though neither man seemed to really register the weak movements of their captive, while her eyes glared daggers at the man who stood at the head of the room and regarded with her cold distain.

"Katherine."

It was only with Philippe's voice that Katherine finally seemed to register the fact that he was in the room, her head snapping around with wide set eyes to look at him. The young man made as if to move a step in her direction and was quickly stopped by those who stood at his side, held tightly as their hands encircled his upper arms and yanked him backward once again. All at once the fire died in her eyes and the struggling once again renewed itself, but this time with the pitiful cries that were muffled by the rag tied around her mouth. There was a battle as each tried to get to the other. And when her body could no longer maintain the exertion that she had begun to show, she fell to her knees and began to shake, blinking quickly as her chest heaved in her struggle to breathe. To see him there, standing in the very same room as his brother…the fool had come. He had somehow managed to slip past the securities that D'Artagnan would have placed around the palace for his protection and given himself up to Louis in order to try and save her life. But she knew that it was all for naught. Louis had no intention of letting her go.

He would never let them go.

"How touching," came the frosty voice from across the room, his eyes dancing between the two figures. "To be reunited only to be torn apart forever."

It was the sound of his laughter that made Katherine shiver and cower slightly from her place between the two men, hunched over and laying against the cold floor. As she recoiled, the motions did not escape Philippe's notice and he immediately turned around to address his brother again, this time in a tone of anger that Katherine had never before heard.

"You fiend," he growled. "You know that she is not well, Louis, and still you continue to hurt her like this. What are you going to gain by putting her through this?!"

Louis chuckled. "Oh, there are a great many things I intend to gain by using her, brother. Not least of all is the sympathy of the people when they learn that our father's bastard has decided to usurp my throne and remove me from it."

Philippe blinked up at him. "You knew-"

"Of course I knew!" snapped Louis, cutting his brother off entirely. "As he lay dying our father confessed of your existence to two of us, but only one of us knew of the other child born of his blood. It took some time, some careful digging for me to find out who she was and what had happened to her. And when I learned that she had been living quietly at a monastery for nearly twenty years I knew she was no threat to me."

Then he turned, hands behind his back as he stepped down from the place he had occupied and slowly made his way back over to Katherine, looking down upon her as he would have looked at one of the beggars who lined his streets, imploring passersby for food in order to survive. "But that night at the Bastille I saw her with you and the others, and I realized just how careless I had been. With Aramis putting all of his noble nonsense in her head she was sure to have learned from the others as well, so my surveillances had been for nothing. I thought I was safe."

Here he stopped, leaning forward until he was able to cup Katherine's chin in his hand and force her gaze upward. For a moment he regarded her in silence. "I know better now," he said, murmuring to them all with a conviction that Louis had never truly possessed before. "When this is over, there will be no more threats to my kingdom."

Throwing her head away, Katherine could feel the snap in her neck as Louis forced her head away, but she uttered not a sound. She no longer attempted to pull away from the men who held her in her place and the look on her face was worn with exhaustion. From his own place in the room, Philippe could tell that she was not healing the way that she had been before, noting the pale look of her face that made her bright blue eyes stand out all the more. He pulled away, yanking his shoulders to try and shake the men off of him, but they held him fast. They had no intention of letting him go, and Louis would see to it that he would never again be able to feel the joys that freedom had brought for him. Death was the only adventure that awaited him now.

"Remove them from my sight," Louis ordered with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I care not what you do with my brother, but be careful with the girl. I will require my sister in the near future."

Sister.

There was that word again, causing Katherine's head to swim madly as she attempted to comprehend what it was that he was talking about. In the years that she had been alive she had come to identify Aramis as her father despite knowing that there was no blood connection between them, and D'Artagnan would have identified himself as being her father if that indeed was the case. Looking upward at Philippe in questioning fear, she found that his eyes were not looking back in her direction. They were instead focused upon Louis, staring widely as his mouth hung agap in shock. There was a lack of understanding written across his face that immediately set Katherine's stomach in knots again for reasons she did not understand, a reaction that was short lived. As soon as she felt herself being dragged to her feet once more and pulled backward, she tried her best to wiggle in their grasp, calling out in muffled words to Philippe.

All was lost.

Louis had managed to get his hands on Philippe after everything that had been done to try and keep him safe, and in taking her he had attempted to cripple the resolve of the men who would likely have tried to save her if their King's life was not also at risk. She could only imagine how sick with worry they would all be when they found out that Philippe had left their care in order to come and find her, foolishly hoping that his surrender might allow for her release. And now there was nothing else to be done. Even if they were to attack the chateau, she knew it was heavily fortified. The chances of them being able to get inside before someone hurt Philippe were slim.

She would never see her father again.