Evening My Lovelies

Okay, wow this chapter ended up being a LOT longer than I was expecting, not that I'm complaining or anything and I'm sure you all will like having a slightly longer chapter but I was thinking the idea behind this chapter would maybe take like 500-700 words but when these two get going they REALLY get going lol :D

Notes On Reviews:

pallysAramisRios: Thanks for the review - It's definitely going to be hard for our guys to know who to trust right now that's for sure :) Enjoy the new chapter! x

beeblegirl: Thanks for the review - Haha yeah that's pretty much guaranteed :D I feel like, after everything, he's watched his men suffer through he wants the one behind it to suffer too, but given his position, he can't exactly order his men to beat the guy to a pulp. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Haha glad you liked it, I think all our muskys are more than willing to see the author of the letters endure at least of a bit of the pain he's caused before they hand him over to the King. Enjoy the new chapter! x

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

Love you all!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Sixty-Two: To Catch A Rat II

Marin's curiosity over what the musketeer Captain could want to talk to him about only continued to grow when the man took him outside. The young red guard would have been lying if he had said he didn't feel any fear in the older man's presence, especially given the dark look on the man's face.

"I am going to give you one chance," spoke Treville with his back still to the younger man. The Captain's voice was hard and almost dripping with both ice and venom, so much so it sent chills down Marin's spine, though the red guard did his best to disguise it as he forced himself to relax.

"To do what sir?" he asked innocently, silently cursing that the Captain had taken them outside so he was out of the line of sight of any of the few musketeers who might be willing to leap to his defence, something that was likely a reason behind Treville's decision of conversation venue.

"Drop the act kid," spat Treville as he turned to face the red guard, a dark glare settled firmly on his face as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I am willing to give you one chance to tell me, honestly, what game you're playing here."

Now Marin's confusion wasn't held back as he blinked in surprise at the Captain, "Game sir?" he asked, an uneasy feeling settling in his gut.

"Given your age, I am surprised you were chosen for such an important mission," stated Treville as he glared at the red guard, "Out of all those in your regiment the only one who 'did his job' was the one who would likely remind my men of D'Artagnan? At a time when D'Artagnan's fate was unknown to his brothers, you inserted yourself among my men, playing the innocent, helpful assistant, endearing yourself to them in doing so, and I want to know what you're playing at."

For several seconds Marin remained completely still and silent as he was dumbfounded by the Captain's accusations. However, that quickly morphed into anger as the man's words and tone echoed in his mind and it took a great deal of self-control not to lash out like he wanted to, knowing that any response like that would only serve to further convince the man in front of him that he was not to be trusted.

Instead, Marin gritted his teeth and crossed his arms in front of his chest, hiding his hands which were so tightly clenched into fists the skin on his knuckles had completely turned white.

"I volunteered for the task actually Captain," spat Marin, a slight glare of his own on his face as he battled to keep his anger under control. "Our interim Captain was tasked with selecting the men but didn't want the hassle over the outrage doing so would cause amongst the men given very few would be willing to do any sort of job that would benefit musketeers. Instead, he opened it up to volunteers. Now I don't know what motives went behind Marcus and Ethan volunteering but mine were far from malicious."

Treville made a move to interrupt, his face now completely void of any emotion, but Marin, now completely on a roll shut that down before he could begin.

"And if we are going by your logic then surely D'Artagnan, who is younger than me if I might add, is far too young to trust with such an important task as protecting one of your most prominent members, but if rumours are to be believed he was not young enough to find and present the evidence which cleared said man from being hung. You and nearly everyone in your regiment had complete faith in someone several years younger than me to do the job he volunteered for so why is it such a surprise that my Captain would trust me with mine?"

"Young man," started Treville, raising a hand in an effort to cut off the full-blown rant Marin had now started, only for the young red guard to completely ignore him as he continued onwards.

"I helped your men Captain because it was the right thing to do! I know you believe red guards to have no idea what that even means but I do and I am not the sort of person to sit by and do nothing if I can help. Your men came in bloodied, bruised and unconscious, it would not be honourable of me to simply sit there and watch are Tristan, a trainee and Aramis, greatly injured as he is, attempted to treat them all on their own. I may have given up a lot when I joined the red guards but I refuse to believe that doing so meant I gave up my honour and I'd thank you not to question it again!"

Learning his lesson from his previous two attempts at speaking Treville waited several moments to be sure the red guard wasn't going to go off again. While doing so he watched the now panting young man with curious eyes, not missing the way he seemed to come back to himself, his earlier anger now dying off. Marin's posture immediately became a mixture of both resigned and defensive, something which made the corners of Treville's lips twitch upwards.

"Are you done?" he asked teasingly, not bothering to hide the amusement from his voice, nor from his expression as Marin's head shot upwards at the sound of his voice, honest confusion now lining the young red guard's face.

"W-What?"

"I asked," said Treville, his tone now far gentler than Marin had ever heard it as he watched the Captain take a step towards him, "If you were done. I'd like to speak now without being cut off."

Marin's face immediately flushed a deep red, making Treville burst out with a bark of laughter, which only served to further confuse the now embarrassed red guard.

Once he had received a somewhat sheepish nod from the younger man Treville allowed his posture to relax. "Marin, son of Alexis," Marin's face shot up once more, a mixture of confusion, curiosity and unease lining his face, though Treville paid it little notice as he continued to speak. "Nephew of Dorian, correct."

Marin could only nod in confirmation, his head still spinning at not only the fact that Treville knew who he as, beyond being a red guard, but also the complete change in Treville's attitude.

"They both served in my regiment, loyally and with honour, if I recall correctly."

Nodding once more Marin felt enough of him return that he was able to verbally respond this time. "They died in Savoy," he stated and Treville noticed that although there was grief lining those few simple words there was not any anger or accusation like he would have expected, seeing the surprise on the Captain's face Marin added, "I've long moved past my anger over the situation Captain."

"That is big of you," acknowledged Treville, a small but definitely proud smile tugging at his lips as he watched the confusion once more settle on the younger man's face. "Especially as you were suddenly responsible for not only your mother but your siblings… Two younger sisters if I recall correctly."

At the clear surprise on Marin's face, Treville sighed softly at approached so he was now standing directly in front of the younger man. "I remember the names of all those lost under my command, along with the names of all those recruits that show true promise," he added with a knowing grin, startling the red guard.

"You… You knew who I was all along?"

Treville nodded, "Since before you joined the red guards, although I will admit I had not kept close enough tabs to know you had joined the regiment."

Crossing his arms in front of his body Marin felt a small scowl grow on his face. "If you know enough about me then how could you think I would do anything to hurt a musketeer?"

It wasn't until he noticed the smirk now plastered on Treville's face that he finally understood.

"You were testing me?" he breathed, almost sagging as he finally understood what was going on.

"I was," nodded Treville, "Athos was quite vehement in his defence of you when we spoke. I trust Athos implicitly so while I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt given your history it was he who solidified it."

Warmth filled Marin and he was sure it showed on his face, though he paid it little to no attention as his earlier confusion returned. "Why? If Athos's word was enough to exonerate me in your eyes, why the interrogation?"

It was then that Treville's expression became serious, "Because there are things going on that are making it hard to know who to trust and there is a task I must give to someone outside my regiment. The situation has life or death implications so I had to be sure, beyond any doubt that you were still the honourable, loyal young man both your father and uncle praised you as being."

"This has something to do with those letters you've been receiving I'm guessing," stated Marin, doing a poor job of hiding how pleased he was with knowing his late father and uncle had been so enthusiastic with their praise of him. At Treville's look of surprise, he elaborated, "Rumours have reached the red guard garrison… Plus your men were willing to explain the situation to me once I had their trust."

"I see," nodded Treville, though it was clear he wasn't sure what to think about rumours reaching the red guard garrison. "It is indeed to do with those letters, in particular, catching the one behind sending them."

Nodding Marin lowered his arms to his side and straightened his posture, looking Treville directly in the eye as he spoke, "What can I do?"