December Desolation Chapter 22
A/N: Chapter 22, enjoy! :D
"Right who do we know that would have a grudge against Aramis?" Athos asked, quill hovering over paper in readiness.
"Do you want the long list or the even longer list?" Porthos quipped in reply
Aiming a baleful glare at his big friend Athos brought the tip of the feather to his lips and began to nibble on it absently. The four men had congregated back in the big comfy library, lounging around the room as they attempted to deduce who had it in for their currently vulnerable brother.
"I know i've pissed a lot of people off" Aramis began sheepishly, "but surely I haven't done anything for them to wish me ill or to wish me dead!
"I dunno Mis, to some people adultery is that bad"
"This isn't helping" Athos snarled, drawing the attention of his brothers back to him "there are only a couple of people I could think of that would be angry enough with you to plan your murder, but I doubt they would have the resources to carry out attacks of this size or frequency!"
Silence fell as they pondered Athos' words.
It was true, whoever had orchestrated these attacks had both money and connections, and an inside link to the palace to have known they were to be staying at the Kings Hunting Lodge. Either that or they were very efficient at tailing people, and they had been so out of it during the journey that they just hadn't noticed.
"Who are you thinking of Athos?"
Aramis' voice was quiet and he refused to make eye contact, despite being a soldier who faced death at the point of a sword or by the pull of a trigger, it was still terribly upsetting and a little frightening to know that at any time someone could be waiting to end your life. Besides even though Aramis did sleep with other people's wives, he had a big heart and it was infinitely painful to know that another being wished him such harm when he had only been doing what he thought was right to help someone who was suffering.
"Jacques Durant, Pierre Albert and Marc Plissette. I can think of others but the mere notion is ridiculous"
"I can think of one other" Aramis muttered softly, colour draining from his already pale face "Isabelle's father. I met him the other week and he was... well, to say furious would be putting it lightly, he believes I am to blame for her death and he is right. The loss of a child is enough to wish death on the one responsible, especially since he had essentially lost her for the second time."
"Hmm, granted it is plausible, but if it were him, he must be working with someone else." Athos scrawled out the names they had considered in a looping cursive script that screamed of his educated past.
A jaw cracking yawn from D'artagnan made Athos throw his quill down in frustration, "if this is boring you D'art then i'd rather you go than us keep you" he snarled.
The Gascon recoiled in shock, brown eyes blown wide and watery as he stared at his mentor. With a slight hitch in his breath he stood abruptly and fled the room, betrayal clear in every fibre of his being.
Athos sighed, threw down his quill and raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. He grimaced and quailed slightly under the judgemental eyes of his friends, before letting his hands drop limply between his legs and hanging his head in shame.
"I'll go find him later, give him time to cool off before trying to have that conversation"
"You'd better" Aramis said sternly, "that poor lad stayed up for a long time worrying about me because he felt guilty, and he didn't deserve to be growled at."
"I know, I know"
'Aramis, how could you let me die. First you failed your child, then your brothers in Savoy, me at the convent and now you are putting your brothers in danger. What kind of a man are you Aramis, bringing all this danger down upon your friends because of your failures.'
The Spaniard shrank back from the woman standing at the end of his settee and made a choked noise, how was it possible that a woman he knew to be dead, a woman whose body he had discovered, be standing there in front of him.
I must be losing my mind he thought, terrified, having seen the things they did to people who saw things that weren't there.
He shuddered violently as the spectre faded away, only to be replaced by the translucent apparition of...
"Marsac" he breathed
'Yes Aramis, I am not surprised you recognised me so quickly. How could you forget your brother? Oh that's right you did, when was the last time you thought about me before I came back Aramis? You moved on with your life and forgot all about your brother, your best friend who's to say you won't do the same to them?'
Marsac pointed a silvery accusatory finger at where Athos and Porthos were sitting, concerned expressions plastered across their faces.
"No, no I would never. I didn't forget you I promise, I could never forget you!"
The shade followed in the wake of the previous one and seemed to dissolve into a cloud of water droplets, glistening in the firelight and dispersing quickly leaving behind no trace of it having ever been there.
"No don't go! MARSAC! I'm sorry!"
"Aramis, who are you talking to?" Porthos cried as the two men stared in shock at the quivering form of their brother, skin as pasty as cold porridge and eyes haunted by the ghosts of his past.
Cloudy brown eyes cleared slightly and the arm that he had raised to point lowered slowly back to the settee, head swivelling slowly until he made tentative eye contact with the two men.
"I-it was Isabelle and Marsac, they were telling me I killed them. Oh God Porthos I killed them!" he covered his face with his hands before continuing "and i'm going to end up killing you too, this person is after me because I made a mistake! You're in the middle of it now and you are going to end up getting hurt, that's not what I want. The other day when you left me, you were doing the right thing, if you stay near me you're just going to die!"
"Now you know that's not true! You did nothin wrong Mis, how could you have stopped Isabelle's death or Marsacs'! You were bloody senseless and in no state to be doing anything let alone stopping a full grown man from making his own decisions, he should have stayed to help you!" Porthos grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a little shake.
Athos grunted lowly as he pulled himself up from his chair, bones cracking loudly and sat down next to Aramis, looping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him to lie relaxed against him.
"Porthos is right Aramis. You know I would never lie to you so believe me when I say this, you are not at fault here." Athos punctuated his words with a comforting squeeze, "the only people at fault are us, we were selfish. We didn't think about how you would be suffering, or coping with the terrible things you have endured, and when you needed our help we weren't there for you. That is on us, not you. Can you ever forgive us? I promise we will never leave you in a situation like this ever again. We are going to find out who it is, that for some crazy, unfounded reason wants you dead and we are going to face them. Together. As brothers."
"I-I don't know what to say" Aramis stammered, clutching at Athos shirt tightly. "I already forgave you but... I think i'm ready to trust you again. I love you both"
He buried his face in Athos neck and let the tears fall again, but these tears were much different from the hysterical sobs that had ransacked his body before. These were calm and slow, his body entirely still against the strong support of his brothers and relief flooded through him as he realised he wasn't alone. He had his brothers back.
"You don't think i'm mad do you?" he asked suddenly, "seeing things like that?"
"Of course not, I think you are tired, ill and haunted by things that would have completely destroyed a lesser man. This was your minds way of telling you that you for some silly reason thought you were to blame and needed to tell your brothers so we could dissuade you from that ridiculous notion!" Porthos teased, over the moon and practically giddy with happiness that Aramis finally trusted them once again.
"I should go and fetch D'artagnan" Athos sighed "try and fix the damage my stupid mouth made"
Suddenly a gunshot rent the air, the sound of glass shattering was deafening and all three men threw themselves unceremoniously on the floor to get out of the line of fire. A cracking sound signified the end of the attack as a bullet wedged itself into the bookcase inches away from where Aramis' head had been only seconds previously, shards of wood raining down onto the floor.
"I know who our mystery benefactor is" Athos ground out darkly as he dug the ball from the wood and examined it, "this ball is engraved... and I know this logo"
A/N: Aghh exciting! What is the engraving and who does it belong to? Find out in the next chapter! As usual read and review and thankyou so much for your comments, you guys are amazing and really make a difference to my writing! I hope you enjoyed this and look out for the next instalment!
