Evening My Lovelies

Okay, so I went to upload today's chapter and then realized that whilst having written a chapter for upload on Monday I had completely forgotten to actually upload it! I'm SO sorry I made you all wait for the update!

To make it up to you all though I've decided to do a double update tonight :D (Mainly because the second chapter I'll be updating is pure fluff and I love it :D)

Notes On Reviews:

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Haha I thought it might be obvious :) Oh you are definitely right about things never going right for our boys... and about your suspicion about things about to go bad again? Well, we all know how evil I enjoy being at times :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysAramisRios: Thanks for the review - Henri was going to go with or without Treville's blessing but he'd much prefer to have it. I'm very much looking forward to them finding our muskys, they need some help. Enjoy the new chapter! x

WelshEssex: Thanks for the review - Well I figured Treville and his men needed a bit of hope :) I was going to have Etienne offer until I remembered I injured him and so he's out of commission for a while. Our muskys desperately need those supplies so I'll be happy when Henri and Issac reach them :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

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

Love you all!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Fifty: Bad Luck

As they, true to their word, pushed their horses to their limits racing through the French countryside both Issac and Henri found themselves deeply grateful Athos and the others had chosen the route they had as the rarely travelled route was overgrown and generally poorly kept, unlike its more widely used main road counterpart. This meant that their entire focus had to be on the path ahead, even as they raced through in complete silence. It did wonders for keeping their thoughts from focusing on the growing worry they both felt for what they might find when they finally reunited with the others.

Of course, this meant that once they were forced to stop to give the horses a break all those fears and worries came rushing back, especially when they thought back to the state of their route and the difficulty Athos and his group would have had to traverse it with injured and a wagon. It made the pair realize how desperate their brethren truly were when they fled the church, something which caused a surge of determination to ignite in the pair as they shared a silent look before nodding once and moving back to their mounts, the horses were still breathing heavily so they slowed the pace to a trot as they continued forward.

Unfortunately, it appeared the sky was not on their side as not even an hour into their resumed ride it opened and began to rain heavily, the pair becoming completely drenched within a few minutes.

"ATHOS!" cried Aramis, shouting to be heard over the sudden rainstorm. He didn't bother to hide his worry from his voice, nor did he hide the pain he was feeling from showing, although that was more because he couldn't not because of conscious choice on his part.

"Athos we need to get out of this rain!"

The swordsman understood his brother's concern, knowing he was largely thinking of their sick and injured as this downpour would be doing none of them any favours but it didn't help when there was literally nowhere for them to go to get out the storm.

Subconsciously Athos hugged D'Artagnan's still unconscious body tighter to his chest, hoping he could use his body heat to keep the boy from getting sicker, already feeling the younger man shivering from the rain.

Athos was so focused on this that he hadn't noticed Marin ride up beside him, the younger red guard startling him slightly when he spoke up.

"Keep to the planned route and I'll ride ahead and see if I can find us some shelter," he stated, his own eyes drifting worriedly to the Gascon trembling in the swordsman's arms.

Athos shook his head, "It's not safe-" he protested, although part of him desperately wanted to let him go and so was a mixture of relieved and proud when the young man shot him a look as he shook his head in return.

"It's not safe for any of them to be out in this. I'm going," he stated firmly before lightly kicking his horse to pick up speed, missing the faint look of approval which settled over the swordsman's face as he left.

Thankfully it didn't take too long for Marin to return with news of an abandoned farm. The main homestead would be unusable due to being mostly ruins but there was a small barn which looked like it could serve their needs.

Gratitude lined the faces of all the men as Athos quickly instructed them to pick up the pace, sending an apologetic glance over his shoulder at Aramis who was already barely handling the pain their current pace was causing him. Thankfully the medic was more than understanding and gritted his teeth as he nodded sharply at his brother.

By the time the party reached the barn they were all completely sodden, shivering and immensely thankful that they took the time to collect extra firewood to bring with them on the wagon before the rain began as it meant that, once they had dismounted and gotten their injured settled, they were able to start a fire, the men immediately crowding around it as they greedily absorbed its warmth.

They were also grateful that they had all been aware that the journey would take a few days, meaning they all had at least one change of clothes with them. Getting their injured into dry clothes was a bit of an ordeal but everyone felt better once they were dry and warm once more.

"How's he doing?" asked Tristan as he came over to check on D'Artagnan, who Athos had moved as close to the fire as he could get the boy without risking him getting set on fire accidentally.

Athos could see the obvious concern on Tristan's face and couldn't help but match it as he looked down at the unconscious Gascon currently using his lap as a pillow.

"His breathing's worse," he admitted quietly, gently brushing some of the boy's damp hair from his eyes.

Tristan sighed quietly before beginning his own examination of the boy. "The rain couldn't have come at a worse time for our friend here," he said quietly as he retied some of the bandages around the boy's broken fingers. "Focus on keeping him as warm as possible, with luck the rain will be gone by morning and we can reach the second village tomorrow and they'll have some supplies we can make use of.