December Desolation Chapter 39
"Francois!" an agonised cry echoed around the clearing and one of Albert's men came sprinting forwards and collapsed beside the body that lay, sans head, in the dirt. Tears streamed down his cheek as he bawled noisily, clutching his friend's cold, limp hand to his cheek in his misery.
"I apologise for the death of your friend" Athos murmured, neither sword nor eyes wavering from Alec "but the blame here lies solely with your Lord, it's up to you decide if you want to follow his orders and end up the same way as your comrade here⦠or run far away and hope you never see my face again"
A minute of silence followed his declaration, then all hell broke loose with men rushing hither and thither like headless chickens, ending with only four of Albert's reinforcements standing to attention, swords held in slightly shaky grips.
"Cowards" Alec spat in disgust, clenching his fist tighter about the hilt of his own sword and eyeing Athos' sword tip warily as it wavered with each bob of his Adams apple when he swallowed. "You would leave your Lord to die after all that I have done for you!"
"What have you done for them exactly?" Porthos asked quietly from where he stood wriggling in his bonds, "Apart from lead them to their deaths"
"Don't you recognise these men my dear Athos, of course why would you when you have neglected them so terribly"
Athos' eyes widened in shock, mouth dropping slightly slack and an exhale gusting out as if he had been physically struck by the insinuation.
"It can't be" he mouthed, horrified.
"Oh, but it is" the smarmy grin on Alec's face put Porthos' hackles up but he was still no closer to freeing himself from the ropes binding his wrists, it was becoming ever more imperative that he do so every second as he watched Athos tense, the muscles in his back bunching and warping, hands clenching. "When you and your whore wife abandoned Pinon, it quickly fell to the dogs, disease and debauchery ran riot through the streets. Crops decayed, people starved and where was their Lord Athos throughout all this? Drowning himself in the devil's liquid in a tavern in Paris! I Lord Albert was their saviour, pulling them from the pits of despair and giving them a purpose so you ask me what I did for them, I did everything!"
The manic megalomaniacal cackle echoed gratingly around the clearing, disrupted only by the grinding of Athos' teeth from where he was clenching his jaw so much, the only thing preventing him from flinching away from the sound.
"You know nothing of what my life was like, nothing of what Anne did to me, nothing of my reasons for leaving Pinon as I did. I am ashamed of my conduct in shirking my duties but I was not fit to fulfil them, best I left my people in better hands than my own which would bring nothing but pain, suffering and death as they had done so recently"
"Oh spare me the sob story, you won't get any pity from me. It doesn't matter why you abandoned them, only that you did and I filled the void"
"Athos enough!" Porthos shouted as he watched his brother open his mouth and take a deep breath to argue vigorously with his adversary once more "he's not worth it, save your breath and concentrate on what's important here, Aramis!"
"Of course," Athos nodded, flicking his eyes quickly to the left to glance at his injured brother who had yet to weigh in on the events around him other than to stare wide eyed and pleading at the older man standing protectively in front of him.
"Alec Albert, I am detaining you under authority of His Royal Highness King Louis, for the offences of murder, assault, kidnapping of a Musketeer, treason and finally just being a general piece of work"
Pulling a handy piece of rope from his belt, Athos deftly wrapped the nobles' wrists, securing them together a little more securely than was probably comfortable, watching with some satisfaction as the skin pinched and began to turn red immediately.
"This will not stand and you know it" Alec growled, pulling away violently "the King would never convict a noble, not in million years"
"Are you sure of that?" was Athos' simple response, a slight devilish grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.
Alec paled abruptly, blood draining from his face in seconds as reality set in, every citizen in France knew of the King's fluctuating mood, but the one thing he was always consistent with was his refusal to abide anyone acting against his Musketeers and in doing so, against the King himself.
Without even turning to address his friends' condition, or even if he had escaped his bonds as of yet, Athos commanded Porthos to collect the Spaniard who was still quivering in his own world on the ground. Confident that he would be obeyed, he turned to D'artagnan, for even if he hadn't told Porthos what to do, the bigger man would have been at his best friend's side within seconds attempting to care for him.
"D'artagnan, collect their belongings and ready the horses. There may be something of import amongst it but we had better not linger here any longer, who knows what other lunatics he has wandering around out here"
"Hey! Are you calling me a lunatic?"
"I don't know, am I?"
Athos smirked as a puzzled expression fell across Alec's face, turning smartly on his heel he roughly tugged his prisoner across the clearing to where Roger was patiently waiting, before securing the rope that bound his wrists to the cunningly placed loop on his saddle that would force any tied to it to run awkwardly behind or be dragged through the dirt.
Meanwhile Porthos had lowered himself to kneel beside his friend, gently rubbing and massaging at his wrists. They hadn't spared even a fraction of an inch when tying his wrists and he was most certainly feeling the pain of it now, the skin was reddened and irritated and his thumbs were slightly numb at the tips.
Ignoring his discomfort, he cautiously reached out, not wanting to startle his skittish brother, and cupped the narrow face in one large hand. Hopefully the contact and warmth would draw the younger man out of his mind.
"Hey, Mis, mon ami" he gently coaxed Aramis to turn and face him, thumb gently stroking across his cheekbones, until dark brown eyes clouded with confusion "let's go home eh"
A/N: Sorry for the huge delay in updating! Life has been so hectic, hopefully now I will be able to write a little more frequently and we'll have more chapter soon. We are actually getting to the point where this story is nearing completion :D I have so many ideas for other stories once I have so nearer the time I'll ask you guys what sort of story you want to see :D
