December Desolation Chapter 46
The weather took a turn for the worse as they stood in the Garrison courtyard before their Captain and an unwilling shiver took over Aramis' body, the cold draft worming its way into all the gaps between his uniform where the well-worn leather was pulling away from his shirt.
The shudder that had started off minor gradually grew more and more severe, the feeling of cold spreading inexorably, almost as if ice were forming a freezing shell around his body and numbing all his senses. So much so that he could no longer feel the fingers that were wrapped firmly in Athos' doublet, nor the smooth leather he clutched.
Athos couldn't help the feeling of alarm that speared through him as he felt the violent shuddering of his brother whom he had clutched tightly to his chest. Whilst a cool breeze was brushing its icy fingers against the back of his neck, he was protected from its true frigidity by the scarf that was perpetually wound around his neck.
Clenching his teeth into the supple leather of his gloves at the very tips of his fingers, Athos hurriedly tugged his hands free of their warmth and clapped it instead over his brother's forehead.
The taciturn man, for what felt like the hundredth time in the past few days, swore vehemently and narrowed his eyes in frustration.
"Porthos come" he barked out sharply, dragging his attention away from where he stood talking with Treville and teasing their young gascon companion.
The attention of all standing in the courtyard was drawn like magnets to the striking man still sat bolt upright on the back of his horse. Treville was cursing himself within his mind for once more having missed, nay ignored, the state of his men as they came tumbling back through his doorway and into his arms.
"What is it Athos?" Porthos and Treville asked in sync, exchanging a small and reluctantly amused glance with one another.
"We must get Aramis inside" he murmured in response, shifting his too light brother in his arms "it may not seem cold out here to us but he is freezing"
A flurry of movement burst out in the courtyard, men rushing to and fro, plying Athos and the others with blankets, yanking and propping open doors en route to their brother's rooms and tugging away their steeds to the stables.
A rush of gratified warmth flared in Athos' chest, one he was unaccustomed to feeling for any but those brothers closest to him, at the selfless actions of the Musketeers and all those who worked in the Garrison. Most of all it hammered home exactly how beloved their wounded brother was by all of these people, his kind heart having reached out to all he saw, whether they were suffering or not, giving them his warm smile and extending his all to help others.
Aramis was barely conscious as they tipped him from Athos' arms into the waiting blanket draped over Porthos outspread arms. Feeling himself falling with a sickening sense of vertigo and weightlessness, he whimpered pathetically and tightened the grip of his frozen fingers on his brother's clothing.
Guilt was the overriding emotion in Athos' heart as he gently pried his doublet free from the sadly weak grip, giving those chilled fingers a comforting squeeze.
"S'alright, you aint fallin' you silly sod" Porthos chided gently, adjusting one arm around the slight man's shoulders and the other under the bend of his bony knees. "I got you and would I ever let you fall?"
While tired of seeming weak and being carted unceremoniously from place to place, Aramis was painfully aware of the harsh reality. As he was now, there was no way his legs would support him even for the couple of seconds it took to stand, let alone cope with even his minimal body weight. It would be a briefly lived moment of uprightness and a rapid reaccuaintance with the floor that would be as painful as it was humiliating.
Mustering as cheeky a grin as possible, he slapped Porthos on the chest with what little reach he had, narrowly missing his own face where he had instinctively curled into the body heat the bigger man offered.
"You have been known to be a little butterfingered my friend, I do recall the first few times I called on you to rescue me from a mistress' window, you failed to catch me. So yes, I do believe you would, and have, let me fall"
Faking an insulted scoff, Porthos' long strides took them swiftly across the courtyard and all four men were halfway up the stairs before Aramis had even registered that they had moved.
Deciding against the infirmary, Porthos unceremoniously kicked the door to Aramis' room open with one foot and carefully manoeuvred through the narrow doorway, wanting to avoid smacking any body parts into the hardwood door frame. He lay Aramis gently onto his bed, propping his sore feet on top of a pillow.
Before he had a chance to drape a blanket over his brother's chilled form a strong hand landed on his shoulder and frightened the living daylight out of him, although if asked he would deny the very unmanly squeak that issued from his lips. Although D'artagnan smirked and mentally tucked that one away as ammunition for future use when the larger man took all his earnings in a card game.
"Let me" Treville murmured, using his grip on Porthos to gently move the other man from his path, taking his place at the bedside.
"Ah Captain" a hitch in his breathing the only giveaway to his pounding heart, "didn't realise you had followed us up here"
"I had to make sure you walking disasters didn't get into anymore trouble didn't I" his face softened as his gaze fell upon Aramis whose eyelids had fallen shut within moments of his head hitting the pillow. "And I promised I wouldn't leave this one to suffer alone again."
He tucked the blanket securely around his shoulders, brushing strands of hair from his forehead and collapsing into a chair beside the bed. Gripping Aramis' hand firmly he turned to the other men in the room and asked them to give their report of what exactly had happened to keep four of his best out of contact for so long.
Before they could even begin to explain, a stable boy came running into the room in a panic. His eyes were wild, whites showing and limbs trembling like a nervous horse.
"Captain Treville!" he cried, knees threatening to buckle and almost collapsing before the superior officer, "someone has attacked the palace. They are holding the King and Queen at gunpoint and demanding that you bring the man named Aramis to him.'
"Damnit" Athos yelled in a rare fit of unbridled anger and frustration, slamming his hand flat against the door, "can we not have a single minute of peace!"
A/N: Well, who do you think it is attacking the King and Queen! :D It's all kicking off now, I'm trying to round everything off now as we come to the end of this story, only a few more chapters to go now. Thank you so much for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter :D
