Evening My Lovelies

I had planned to get this up yesterday but got roped into helping out at work at an event which was a colossal waste of my time and meant I didn't get back until late so apologies for the slight delay.

Notes On Reviews:

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Yay I'm glad you liked it. I haven't decided if he'll switch regiments yet but I am toying with the idea. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Issai: Thanks for the review - Glad you liked Marin's backstory :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

beeblegirl: Thanks for the review - I'll be honest, I hadn't considered him holding a bit of a grudge against Aramis but now I'm toying with the idea :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysd'Artagnan: Thanks for the review - Haha yeah just when they think they're safe he appears :) I actually had a spark of inspiration where he's concerned today and am changing a bit of what I had planned for when his identity is revealed, something I can't wait to write and share with you all :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading

Love you all!

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xxx

Chapter Twelve: Plans In Motion

"We need to move!" exclaimed Issac once he and Favier had briefly explained to a confused but worried Henri what they had encountered on the road to find him. "He might as well have outright said he was going to target us again."

Favier nodded his own worry building, not only for themselves but for their friends who had also, if the letter's words were to be believed, found themselves attacked on the road. "It's likely Alain and Blaise also found trouble. The line about being alone has me worried they were forced to split further."

Issac's eyes widened in alarm as he realized the truth in his brother's words, having been too focused on the threat than the words used in said threat beforehand.

"Are you sure that's wise?" spoke Henri, gaining both men's attention straight away as they looked to him horrified that he could even suggest they leave their friends to fend for themselves. Seeing this the musketeer's tone was quick to turn defensive as he moved to explain his thinking. "This author has been one step ahead of us since his first letter. He seems to be able to predict how we'll react so he must know after reading this we would race to their side."

Hearing the logic in his comrade's words, even though he dearly wished to ignore it, Favier slumped, indecision tearing him up inside as he desperately tried to come up with a solution to their situation. "What do we do? We can't just abandon them to their fate."

Henri sighed, his own expression mirroring the feelings of both of his friends. "If the whole point of the letter is to get us to race to our brothers then it is possible our mysterious author doesn't know where they were heading. If that's the case and we run to them…"

"We could bring an attack to them," breathed Issac, horrified, his gut churning with the guilt of an event that, to their knowledge, hadn't even happened yet.

As he had not personally suffered at the author's plans, aside from the struggle he had just encountered, Henri was able to view the whole situation with clearer eyes than his companions, who were still battling the grief of losing Issac's little sister to the monster's plans.

"We should head for the nearest town and find a way to send word of this to the Captain, we can then take a longer route back to the garrison, with luck it should, at least, by our friends some time."

Despite the tension surrounding the mismatched group of current and past musketeers along with red guards, the men were able to arrange a patrol schedule that allowed each member time to rest, something that had been a struggle for the three musketeers before.

For the first day, things went almost alarmingly smoothly aside from a few snarky comments from both sides, trouble seemed to be staying away. Athos wanted to believe that maybe the letter had been a hoax, or a ruse to distract them from some larger goal but he just couldn't shake the feeling that his brothers were in danger, that something was coming.

The second evening of patrols saw D'Artagnan out, walking the church's perimeter with one of the red guards, something he wasn't overly happy about, although he knew not to complain given Porthos had been forced to spend several hours with the most volatile member of the trio earlier that day.

As it was his own patrol partner was largely quiet, choosing instead to simply glare at the young Gascon whenever he looked over at him or mumble snide comments under his breath whenever D'Artagnan made a comment or suggestion.

Whilst annoying it wasn't really something he could do anything about, and he definitely wasn't going to give the man the satisfaction of knowing his actions annoyed him by speaking up about it, so instead the Gascon decided to walk several paces in front of the man, hoping that this would help to ignore him for the remainder of their patrol.

This plan was short-lived however when, out of nowhere a blinding pain erupted in the back of his skull, causing him to fall to the ground as his vision quickly began to fade, the last thing he saw before all went black was a hooded figure emerging from the trees.

To Alain's great relief Corbett hadn't taken more than a few minutes to get ready to ride out, nor did the older man complain about the harsh pace his younger companion was determined to set, only speaking up to reign the younger man in when the speed was a risk to both them and their horses given the state of the rain-sodden ground.

"Now will you tell me what the hell's going on?!" demanded Corbett as the pair raced through the French countryside, the older musketeer not having missed the way Alain appeared to be scanning their surrounding as they rode, something that only increased the uneasy feeling building in his gut.

Knowing he couldn't leave his friend in the dark, and honestly a little thankful for the distraction from his own darkening thoughts Alain launched into an explanation of all that had happened since the man's departure from the garrison when he set out on his delivery, all the while praying his beloved brother had not come to further harm in his absence.