Evening My Lovelies

How's everyone doing? Are you all keeping safe?

Notes On Reviews:

beeblegirl: Thanks for the review - The longer it goes on the harder it's going to get for D'Art to keep calm, something I'm looking to writing. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review -, Yeah my family and I are good thanks, I'm pretty much a hermit by nature so I'm not too bothered (at the moment anyway) by the lockdown I'm now in lol :) Haha part of me thinks D'Art has a WWAD (What Would Athos Do?) mentality when it comes to problems lol :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysd'Artagnan: Thanks for the review - Aww yay I'm really glad you liked it, they'll be finding him soon... But we'll have to wait and see if it was in time or not :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

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

Love you all

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Twenty: Buried II

Every second that passed without finding some sign of their littlest brother's whereabouts caused the panic and worry building up within the two inseparables to grow, eventually reaching the point where it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep it contained enough to focus on the search, the reminder that D'Artagnan would die if they lost their focus being the only reason the two men were able to keep it together as they frantically searched the graveyard, stopping only to light additional torches if an opportunity to do so appeared, the pair knowing they would need every bit of luck and light possible to find their brother.

"ATHOS!" exclaimed Porthos, the urgency in his voice pulling the swordsman from his darkening thoughts as he, unwillingly, felt a flicker of hope spark within him. Abandoning his own search the senior musketeer rushed over to his brother's side, his eyes instantly spotting what had caught the larger man's attention, there was a portion of recently disturbed dirt by one of the trees on the edge of the grounds.

"D'Artagnan," breathed Athos, feeling the tiny flicker of hope inside him growing just a little bit bigger as he and Porthos began to frantically dig, using the shovel they had found when they had found Rochefort's note earlier that night.

Porthos, uncaring of how it looked, had taken to digging with his hands, desperately clawing at the dirt with a single-minded determination, somehow managing to miss getting his fingers cut off by Athos's equally desperate digging with the shovel.

It took at least ten minutes before the pair were greeted by the sound of metal hitting wood as the tip of the shovel collided with the lid of a wooden box.

"Where are we starting?" asked Talbot, the other former musketeer who had accompanied Glenn and the others upon Treville's request as he followed after a furious Fredrick, the pair having accompanied Marin to Aramis's room, leaving him with the injured musketeer and the physician's assistant.

"The rookery," answered Fredrick, the former musketeer doing what he could to keep his anger from bleeding into his voice, knowing his friend didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of it. "I doubt they've kept him there but there might be a clue there."

Talbot was about to say something else when he was quickly pulled behind a wall, Fredrick's hand clamping over his mouth as they waited in silence for one of the church's brothers to walk past their hiding place. Fredrick waiting several minutes before releasing his friend and answering the question in his silent eyes.

"Audric betrayed us, who knows how many more are in on his schemes."

It took the pair longer than they would have like to reach the rookery as they had to take several detours to hid from the brothers of the church whenever they heard one of them approaching but when they opened the door they honestly wished it had taken them longer.

"No," they breathed as one, their eyes locking onto the two large bloodstains on the floor, the only signs that something had happened in the room.

"It's dried," commented Talbot dazedly as he knelt by the bigger of the two bloodstains, the pair having, reluctantly, moved into the room to search for clues as to the location of their missing friend.

"If he was conscious when they moved him Glenn would have left us a clue, we just have to find it," responded Fredrick with an assuredness that calmed his friend's frayed nerves.

"Would it not be wise to go back and force the answers out of Audric?" asked Talbot, not liking how things were looking for his friend.

Fredrick shook his head, "I doubt he would break easily, he seemed far too cocky for that and if these both belong to Glenn then he needs us sooner rather than later… Plus I don't see Audric giving us the correct location even if we managed to force an answer out of him. No doubt Aramis will try and get some information from him if he wakes before we return but I'd rather not waste time Glenn might not have, nor put my trust in the person who caused him to not have said time."

Talbot could hear the pain and anger underlining his friend's words and so didn't dispute the man's decision, deciding instead to place a hand on the man's shoulder, offering him a reassuring and grounding squeeze before turning back to the bloody scene before them.

"I think this belongs to Glenn," he stated quietly as he stared at the dried bloodstain. "D'Artagnan's been missing longer and we don't even know for sure he was here whilst we know Glenn came this way."

Fredrick faintly smiled at the man, grateful for his support as he nodded once, the pair quickly moving to examine the area around the bloodstain with greater intensity, both sure their friend would have left them some kind of message, his eyes lighting up sometime later as he moved a piece of wood to find exactly what they were looking for.