Evening My Lovelies

I'm afraid it's a bit of a short one tonight... Hopefully, the plans I have for the next few chapters will make up for it though :)

Notes On Reviews:

pallysd'Artagnan: Thanks for the review - Athos definitely isn't going to be comfortable letting D'Art out of his sight any time soon, should make for some cute scenes between the pair :D Hopefully some of tonight's chapter will clear up the confusion you had with the last one. Enjoy the new chapter! x

beeblegirl: Thanks for the review - Yes! Thank you for that comment about mixing up Athos and Porthos's names, I DID mean Porthos but had Athos on the brain :D I've gone back and changed that in the previous chapter but thanks again for noticing it and letting me know :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - It was tempting to have had Fredrick kill Rochey but it felt a bit anti-climatic to have him die in between chapters... besides I'd like our boys to get a bit of vengeance/justice :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

WelshEssex: Thanks for the review - Playing catch up can be fun :) You get to binge on a few chapters :) Poor Aramis and Tristan are going to be SO exhausted once they get this injured lot home. Having something other than his own problems to deal with is definitely helping Aramis, he's still going to have the odd nightmare I think but he's kinda pushed all thoughts and memories of his own trauma down as far as he can to better focus on the situation on hand (if that makes sense). Enjoy the new chapter! x

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

Love you all!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Kink In The Plan

Transporting an injured man across the French countryside whilst avoiding pursuers wasn't the easiest task but it was the one Marcus and Ethan had taken on when they decided to save their former boss from musketeer clutches.

The escape itself had gone off with few problems, Ethan sneaking through the church's corridors to saddle up their horses and to hitch up the musketeer's wagon, the vindictive part of him taking a small amount of pleasure in stealing from the rival regiment.

Marcus had been tasked with guarding their cargo whilst the elderly priest finished making him stable enough for transport before bringing the man out to the wagon.

Being the more religious of the two Ethan had not taken the news that in leaving Marcus had killed the elderly priest to keep him from talking well and for a large portion of their early journey the only noise coming from the group were the groans of pain coming from the injured man lying unconscious in the back of the wagon.

"You'll have to talk to me eventually Ethan," teased Marcus as he looked over at the man. Unlike his companion he had no such hesitance when it came to the killing of the priest, seeing it as merely something that needed to be done to ensure their survival.

"You didn't have to kill him," snapped the other red guard with a slight growl to his voice. He had no issues with killing normally and had it been anyone else he likely wouldn't have batted an eye at his companion's methods but he drew the line at children and priests.

Letting out a loud, drawn-out sigh Marcus shook his head, "You're naive my friend,"

Ethan scoffed, "I have standards you mean."

Ignoring the bite in his friend's words Marcus shrugged, "If you want to call it that, sure. The way I see it leaving that old fool alive would only be tempting fate into letting the musketeers learn of both our plan and our 'cargo'." Seeing his companion was silently listening the corners of Marcus's lips tugged up as he continued, "They would like us dead on a good day so forgive me if I'm not too eager to see what they'll do to us after all they have suffered as of late."

From just a glance Marcus could tell Ethan agreed with him, no matter how much he was trying to deny it. "Regardless," he continued, his tone light and free, "It's done now and with luck, we will be far from here when the musketeers finally learn of our actions."

"What happened here?" breathed Porthos in disbelief as he and Talbot took in the bloodstained room. The pair had followed the trail left behind by the priest and whilst they hadn't been expecting anything nice the amount of blood coating the area on and around a small cot sent chills down both of their spines as their minds imagined darker and darker scenarios.

"Did they torture him?" spoke Porthos as he tried to remember the old man's condition but given the amount of blood coating the man and his quickly fading condition they hadn't investigated his wounds any deeper.

"It wasn't torture," breathed Talbot from his spot knelt down by the bed. As he got to his feet and turned to his friend Porthos was able to see what he had found that made him so confident in that fact, blood-soaked cloths and bandages.

"They didn't care if he died in the middle of the hall," reminded Talbot as he clenched the fabric in his fist, "They definitely would not have taken the time to tend to any of his wounds."

Understanding quickly darkened Porthos's eyes as he let out a quiet curse. "But we know who would benefit from such treatment."

It wasn't until night began to fall that the two red guards finally began to relax, relishing in the distance they had managed to put between them and the church. The last few hours of their travel had been worrisome for the men as Rochefort, despite still being unconscious, had become increasingly vocal about the pain the journey was causing him and the pair worried it would alert any pursuers to their position. They had debated gagging the man but didn't want to risk him choking on his own blood or vomit should he cough either of those up in his current state. Instead, the pair had done their best to ignore the groans and whimpers, focusing all their attention on the road ahead of them until they felt it safe enough to stop for the night.

Once they did stop however they were then forced to address the injured man in their company and both grimaced at the blood staining the man's many bandages.

With a resigned sigh, Ethan turned to his companion. "I'll check him over, you get a fire started."

Without another word the pair set to work, both oblivious to the danger making its way towards them.