Evening My Lovelies

Damn this chapter was hard to write! I'm putting the blame on the fact that all my story ideas lately seem to be focused on a new story I've begun planning out... Annoyingly though I can't make a start on this and try to get it out of my system as it's going to reference things that happened in this one so I don't want to write something I'm going to have to go back and change if I later change my mind about something while writing this one.

Notes On Reviews:

beeblegirl: Thanks for the review - Yeah unfortunately what Corneau went through hasn't left him all there in the head. If he had voiced his anger another way then maybe the men would be on his side but after everything he's done, they're not going to give him much sympathy. Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Oh the plans I have in mind for Issac :D... Don't worry Athos isn't going to give up until he gets answers :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysAramisRios: Thanks for the review - To be honest, it is only Issac's fondness of the pup that is stopping him from killing the traitor :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

WelshEssex: Thanks for the review - Woo! Always great to hear from you :D Hope you are doing well :D Oh I have some lovely plans in mind regarding Issac :D but its pretty safe to say that he's not handling the reveal or explanation well...Glad you liked the stuff with Marin, he's really grown on me, I know we haven't heard from him in a little bit but he'll turn back up again soon :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

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

Love you all!

Enjoy!

xxx

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Betrayal III

Once he was sure Issac, who had stormed off after his rather ominous declaration, was far enough away from their traitor Treville called out to Gaspard, his eyes remaining locked onto Corneau's with an impassioned stare.

"Captain?" answered the physician, the distaste he held for being pulled away from the Gascon clear in his voice as he did everything to ignore the training inside himself that was screaming at him to tend to the injured man now bleeding before him.

"I hate to ask this of you but we'll get no answers from him if he dies from blood loss first," stated Treville with a glimmer of sympathy in his eyes as he allowed his gaze to drift from the traitor to his physician friend.

Understanding what was being asked of him Gaspard bit his tongue as he nodded sharply once before turning to grab his supplies so he could tend to the bleeding man.

On his way back he was halted by a hand on his arm from Athos, the dark look on the musketeer's face sending chills down the physician's spine. "No pain draughts," stated the swordsman quietly, waiting until he received a nod before letting go and allowing the physician to move closer to his newest patient, who, in the time he had been gone to get his supplies, had been restrained.

Unwilling to look the man who had betrayed them in the eye Gaspard made quick work of tending to the man's wounds, though it went against everything he had been taught to ignore the cries of pain that escaped, unbidden from the traitor's lips as he worked.

While this was going on the majority of the men had crowded Treville for answers, the Captain being forced to explain to his men how they had come to realize there was a traitor in their midst and whilst most of the men were understanding of the distrust the Captain had to force himself to feel for his men there were a few who were clearly not happy, though Treville was thankful when the more forgiving members pulled those men away with them when they, as a group, returned to the camp, though the earlier levity was nowhere to be found.

Porthos and Athos on the other hand flat out refused to move, not that Treville had ever expected either to. Both men had given themselves a protection detail with Porthos refusing to move from his defensive stance in front of Aramis and D'Artagnan, the former now examining the vial he had found earlier in a rather futile hope of working out what had been given to his brother.

Athos, on the other hand, was standing beside Gaspard, his still bloodied blade in his hand as he glared daggers down at the grunting Corneau, practically daring the traitor to act up so he had an excuse to kill him.

He was mildly disappointed when Corneau refused to act, remaining still as a perfect patient until Gaspard was finished, at which point the traitor was forced to his feet by Treville, who nodded his thanks to Gaspard, who returned the nod before moving back to his spot by D'Artagnan's side. Treville then turned his attention to Athos who, after a few seconds of silent communication with his Captain, nodded once before sheathing his sword.

The pair then spared the sick Gascon a look before hauling a now once again smirking Corneau out of the camp, Athos pausing only long enough to quietly order Porthos to watch over the others.

The moment Corneau was out of his field of vision Porthos dropped out of his defensive stance and sunk to the ground next to Aramis, his hand instinctively finding its way to the Gascon's hair, his fingers running through the dark locks in a way he knew the young boy found comforting.

"How bad?" he asked breathlessly as he glanced between his brother and the physician, silently begging one of them to reassure him that his baby brother was going to be fine.

Knowing this wasn't a situation where sugar-coating the news would be welcome Gaspard decided to be honest and let out a long sigh. "Bad," he admitted quietly, "Corneau clearly has a longer reach then we ever knew so it's almost impossible to say what he was able to get his hands on and for the moment what could be symptoms have only just started to show but we have no way of knowing if they are from whatever he was given or his existing illness."

Concern flashed across Porthos's face and he had to consciously remember his hand was in the boy's hair and so he couldn't tighten the limb into a fist like he initially wanted to. "What do you mean?" he asked, his eyes dropping to his baby brother's face, silently scanning to see if he could spot what clearly had both the physician and his brother worried.

"His breathing's becoming even more laboured," explained Aramis quietly as he tightened his grip on the vial in his hands. "His fever's rising as well."

Gaspard nodded, "It would not be uncommon for this to happen given his pneumonia and that we have been camping outside, but the difficultly breathing and fever could also be a side-effect from whatever he was given."

"We need to know what he was given," stressed Aramis, knowing full well that his brother had been about to question why they couldn't just treat the developing symptoms. "There are several herbs and draughts that shouldn't be mixed together and if we accidentally give him something that reacts badly with what he's already been given… the results could be deadly."

Porthos was spared from having to react when a shout of pain pierced the air, drawing all eyes to the direction Treville and Athos had gone with the traitor some time ago.

Now understanding the severity of his youngest brother's position Porthos didn't fight against the darkly pleased expression that settled on his face, "I doubt we'll be waiting for long."