Evening My Lovelies

... Oh writer's block... Thou art an evil bitch lol

Apologies for the delay, hit a wall when writing this it's taken AGES!

Notes On Reviews:

beeblegirl: Thanks for the review - I think part of Gaspard might have, had Corneau not betrayed the regiment. Gaspard's medic/doctor training has him wanting to take the pain away so leaving a man in pain doesn't sit completely right with him but he's also a man who's been hurt (emotionally) by Corneau's actions... Plus angry Athos is scary lol :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Haha it's pretty tame so far given the anger Athos is dealing with... can't promise it'll stay that way though... Plus I have plans in mind to ensure Corneau gets what's coming to him :D Enjoy the new chapter! x

WelshEssex: Thanks for the review - Treville is going to try to keep things civil for as long as possible, reasoning that it's the best way to get Corneau talking but I can't promise it'll stay that way for much longer :D Oh yeah, :D D'Art's not going to get lonely any time soon lol Enjoy the new chapter! x

pallysAramisRios: Thanks for the review - Hmmm Corneau is just as stubborn as the rest of the regiment appear to be so I can't see him giving the answer easily... That being said... Athos is nothing if not determined :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-Nine: The Lesson

It killed Athos to walk away from his brothers, especially when the health of the youngest was in a perilous state. In fact, it was only the knowledge that he needed to walk away to help with that that made the swordsman able to leave his brothers and follow Treville deep into the trees, away from the prying ears and eyes of the rest of the regiment.

"This where you kill me because you can't stand hearing the truth?" snarked Corneau with a rather impressive amount of sass Athos thought considering the man was already beginning to bleed through the bandages covering his newly acquired wounds, the walk having been forceful enough on their end to cause several of the quickly placed stitches to pull.

"And just what truth would that be?" sighed Treville, feeling exhausted with this whole thing but unwilling to leave the questioning to Athos who was likely to go off of the man the moment he made a snarky comment regarding the young Gascon.

As if the question had been just what he had been waiting to hear Corneau's face broke out into a wide, dark grin as he leaned forward, into Treville's personal space, ignoring Athos's reaction to the movement as he did so. "The truth," sang Corneau with obviously fake merriment before his voice and expression turned almost frighteningly dark, "That you failed your men… That all the pain and suffering they've had to endure is your fault!"

Unwilling to hear any more Athos forcefully pushed the traitor away from his Captain and into a nearby tree, his face remaining impassive as the man screamed in pain as the force of his push caused several of his already pulled stitches to completely tear open, blood immediately beginning to soak through the bandages.

Both men were too locked into their glaring battle with the other to notice Treville approaching until the man placed a hand gently, but firmly, on Athos's shoulder, prompting the man to instinctively take a step back.

Looking deep into Corneau's eyes Treville kept his face emotionless as he spoke, his quiet tone somehow appearing to echo throughout their surrounds. "I freely admit to failing the men under my command before," he admitted quietly, quickly raising a hand when Athos opened his mouth to protest, continuing before Corneau could do anything but look at him with a look that was a mixture of smugness and suspicion. "That being said… The pain you have put your brothers-in-arms through is not my fault. It is not a result of any failing on my part. Their pain… Their anger… Their grief… That's all on you."

When Corneau didn't react more than to shrug Treville realized just how truly gone the man before him really was and found himself questioning how he hadn't noticed any of the signs before. He had kept a watch on the man once he was rescued during the mission that he had mentioned earlier. That had been one of the many instances he felt he had failed his men, despite knowing there was literally nothing else he could have done considering he had absolutely no knowledge of the predicament they had found themselves in until they failed to return.

When Corneau did return Treville had done what he could to be there for the grieving man, accepting all the anger he threw at him, the tears he shed and the silence he fell into, knowing it was his minds way of attempting to process what had happened to him.

In time, however, Corneau's mind appeared to heal much like his body had, the man even going as far as to apologize to the Captain for how he had acted so Treville couldn't understand why and how he hadn't seen any signs to their current situation before now.

"They might hate me now," spoke Corneau through gritted teeth as pain rushed through his body in waves. "But eventually they'll be thankful for this lesson."

Treville's eyes narrowed, "You mentioned a lesson before, what is it I'm supposed to be learning?"

"Having someone explain it to you isn't the same as learning it for yourself," mocked Corneau with a faint glare.

"Maybe not," shrugged Treville, "But I highly doubt you'll get another attempt to teach me so if you care for the men as you claim this is your only chance to impart the lesson on me."

For a moment it looked like Corneau was going to remain silent out of spite and Athos was just getting ready to insist he answer when he opened his mouth.

"That you are the musketeer's Captain not the Captain of the palace guards. Your priority should be to your men. The palace has guards for a reason, you need to stop pandering to the King every time he wants to use us to hold some silly event because it is the musketeers under you that suffer when you have favourites like the King."

"Favourites?" pressed Treville as he took a single step forward, "As in more than one?"

Letting out a small barking laugh Corneau nodded towards Athos, "Your precious inseparables of course… I'd hoped that by targeting them you would learn the lesson but it just illuminated the unfair favouritism you hold for them."

It was taking all Athos had not to react, now knowing the anger Issac had felt when he had attacked the man earlier that afternoon. Instead, he focused on the thought that he needed answers to help D'Artagnan and he wasn't going to get them if he acted rashly.

He tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear the traitor's explanation of how Treville had shown his apparent favouritism, his reasoning being that upon learning his men might be in danger he had sent only two men each to the lone travelling musketeers but had, eventually mustered the entire regiment to go after the inseparables.

"Did you lose your memory the same time you lost your sanity?" scoffed Athos, ignoring the dark glare now being sent his way, continuing before Corneau could cut him off. "You targeted us first. Given we all survived your scheme it was only logical for the Captain to suspect us of being the target when you sent another threat." Corneau opened his mouth to retort then but Athos cut him off with a single look before effortlessly continuing on. "Even with his fear for us, the Captain didn't come after us until he had secured Henri, Corbett and those he had already sent after them so your claims of favouritism are unfounded."

Treville watched as his lieutenant berated their traitor while making no attempt to hide the pride he felt for how the man was conducting himself. He knew the swordsman was barely holding back from doing whatever it took to get answers from the traitor as to what he had done to D'Artagnan and while he would have fully understood had the man went that route he was impressed that the swordsman was doing what he could to deny Corneau the reaction he was obviously trying to get.

As impressed as he was with his lieutenant, Treville knew he had to step in once their conversation devolved following some… less than polite remarks from Corneau that were very likely testing what remained of Athos's quickly fading patience.

"That's enough!" he snapped stepping forward and instantly putting a stop to the insult Corneau had been in the middle of throwing. With all eyes back on him Treville narrowed his at Corneau, "Your actions have caused this regiment and those in it more than enough pain." He thought he saw a flicker of remorse cross Corneau's face but it was gone too quickly to be sure. "It's time to put an end to this… Tell us what you gave D'Artagnan."