A/N: It's late, and I can't sleep, so why not make use of this moonlight and post another chapter? Thank you so much for continuing to follow along!

By Any Other Name

Chapter 8

The night passed slowly. There was a tension in the house that seemed to perforate through every room. Porthos and Aramis traded shifts outside of Christine's door joined by Athos. D'Artagnan, who had become friendly with the guards in their barracks, was settled down for the evening with the horses, having scoped out the grounds, with a plan to keep the barracks distracted if everything fell into place…

Christine hardly rested. She tossed restlessly until finally giving in to her exhaustion sometime in the early morning hours.

She was awoken suddenly by slightly raised voices outside her door. Pulling her dressing gown about her shoulders, she opened the door to find Aramis and Porthos blocking her doorway and refusing the General Gardeau entrance into her chamber. Athos stood tensed behind the General, his hand prepared to pull his rapier if need be.

It took Christine a half moment to grasp the situation. "General!" she cried, "What time is it? This is hardly appropriate. I haven't even dressed yet," she said blushing sincerely as she drew her gown closer around her.

"No matter," said the General, "As I've just told your men, I had wished to join you for breakfast," he said, confidently.

Her eyes flickered to Athos who eyed the General before glancing quickly at Aramis. Her husband's eyes were dark as he glared at the General. He was grinding his teeth in order to stop himself from pulling his pistol.

"Please," she said, "I'm hardly presentable. It wouldn't be appropriate –"

"Are you shy suddenly? Quite the change from last night!" he mocked her raising an eyebrow. She blushed again, but met his challenge.

"Very well, if you are so determined...I warn you, I doubt I'll be good company. Gentlemen, let him," she said exasperatedly, turning away from the door and taking a seat at the table next to the window.

He grinned smugly as Porthos and Aramis parted to permit him to enter the room followed by a servant who set out an elaborate breakfast before making a hasty retreat. Aramis and Porthos followed closely behind and positioned themselves at the door. The General glanced back at them as he joined Christine at the table.

"Are your men strictly necessary?" he asked, again in a teasing manner.

"You're the one rising me at such an ungodly hour. I'm not aware of the purpose for your urgency –"

"Perhaps I thought you might enjoy the company of a real man for a change instead of listening to the simpering of my brother and our other guests. Perhaps I desperately needed to get you in a more intimate setting, in order to win your affection."

"So you forced yourself into my bedchamber," she snapped, a bit of the real Christine showing through.

"It's after eight," he grinned. "I like you better like this, when you're unlaced," he said suggestively.

Christine would have slapped him, but she glanced quickly at Aramis and Porthos who both seemed ready to pounce on the General and she calmed herself. It seemed as though the General reacted far better to strength than the dainty fool his brother preferred. She would need to put him in his place.

She sighed in a bored and exasperated way. "And here I thought you'd be different from those other bores," she drawled, "But you use the same practiced lines they all do."

The General grinned again at her, but a slight flush crept to his neck. "I'm not sure what you mean, my lady."

She laughed at him, and he tensed. Porthos and Aramis calmed slightly.

"Please, Claude," she said, "You must all study from the same book. You force yourself in here, desperate for my company, and you think you can trip me up with some suggestive word play, and we'll what? Fall into bed together?" Again she laughed at him.

"I know you'd much rather be talking about yourself while I bat my eyelashes and marvel at what a courageous and powerful man you are, but General, Claude, I am the Duchess de Bari, and my tastes are a little more refined now that my husband is dead and I have a duchy to run. Though, to be fair, I am rather fond of men in uniform," she said smugly as she popped a piece of fruit into her mouth and took a sip of wine.

He sat there stunned and she grinned at him before reaching forward and taking a second cherry from off of his plate. She was the alpha now and he was cowed in his confusion. "Tell me, General, are you sure you prefer me ungirdled?"

He frowned at her and began to quietly eat his breakfast like a scolded child. Aramis grinned at her and she flashed him a subtle wink.

After a few moments in which he cautiously and she carelessly ate their meal, he spoke. "I am trying to figure you out," he said, breaking their silence. "You pretend to be a lily of a woman, but clearly there is steel lining your petals. Who are you really? What are you after, I wonder?" he said, his tone cryptic.

She looked him square in the eye as she sipped from her glass again. "I want that pretty diamond necklace, and anything else that might catch my eye this evening. And if I need to prance and pout a bit to get what I want, so be it. I'm a Duchess. I always get what I want," she said arrogantly.

His eyes glowed at her as he replied, "So do I…"

There was a sudden knock at the door.

"Be a dear and fetch that," she dismissed him and with a grimace he rose to open the door.

At the door stood the Lord Gardeau with a handful of roses. "Claude" he said upon seeing his brother in the Duchess' room.

"Victor," he said tersely in response casting a cool look over his immaculately dressed brother.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked waspishly.

"The General was just leaving. He woke me at the crack of dawn and insisted on joining me for breakfast, despite my haggard appearance," she said adjusting her dressing gown slightly, for emphasis.

Claude grinned at his brother and left without saying a word. The Lord Gardeau was stunned, his anger obvious. "I had no idea that you and my brother were so…intimate," he said sharply.

She rose and, affecting a look of deep hurt, said, "My dear Lord, please don't misunderstand. Your brother insisted that I dine with him, but my men never left the room," she said, and coming to him, she placed her hands on his forearm. "The title of General holds no interest for me. He is no Lord," she said gripping his arm. His anger softened as he looked at how her unbound hair fell past her shoulders. Seeing this, she stepped back suddenly and pulled her dressing gown tight around her once more.

"Forgive me my Lord," she said piteously, "I hate to be before you in such a manner. Please, allow me time to dress and make myself presentable for your company," she purred and he gleamed. Where the General wanted strength, the Lord wanted only his ego boosted. Perhaps some men really were that simple, she thought.

"Will you walk with me this afternoon?" he asked.

"Sounds delightful," she said assuming that vapid breathy voice once again.

He smiled broadly, as though assured of his victory over his brother. "I shall return this afternoon. These are for you," he said and forcing the flowers into her hand, he marched triumphantly from the room.

She exhaled deeply and turned with a smile towards Porthos and Aramis. She nearly leapt as Athos and D'Artagnan entered the room, closing the door with a snap behind her.

"Aren't you a bit underdressed?" asked Athos dryly. D'Artagnan blushed and Porthos laughed as she crossed her arms in front of her and glared at Athos.

"My last two suitors brought me gifts," she snapped at him as she threw the roses onto the bed.

"Forgive me, your Grace. I did not bring you flowers, but a Gascon with information."

She smiled and said, "Well at least someone else is doing some work around here."

She moved to join the others near the table where Porthos was availing himself of the General's discarded breakfast. With a small smile Aramis removed his long doublet and draped it around his wife's shoulders. She held his hand for a moment – husband and wife sharing a brief but caring caress – before focusing in once more on the mission at hand.

"Tonight is our chance," said Athos. "Our goal is to arrest the Gardeau brothers and their guests and confiscate the items for sale."

"There are two guards stationed outside the room where the items are kept at all times," said Christine.

"And a dorm full of guards outside," said D'Artagnan.

"We'll need to prevent them from becoming a liability," said Athos. "I trust you have something in mind?" he asked.

The Gascon grinned. "You could say that. I'll have the horses ready for a quick escape if need be. Hopefully we won't need to abandon your carriage, Christine, but I'll leave it untethered just in case."

She smiled at him. "A willing sacrifice," she responded.

"The men guarding the room shouldn't be too much of a challenge," said Porthos.

"Once D'Artagnan has the barracks under control, you and he can take out the guards. We'll need you to pick the lock and begin loading the jewellery into the saddlebags. Ignore the weapons. The jewelled hilts and scabbards are all fakes," said Athos.

"Why do I get the feeling that a quick escape is seeming more and more necessary?" asked Aramis with a grin.

"What should I do?" asked Christine.

"You will need to help buy us some time. Keep the brothers distracted until D'Artagnan and Porthos have secured the goods. Aramis and I will cause a distraction allowing you to slip out to the stables to meet Porthos. We should have this all concluded by midnight. If we haven't joined you by then, you and Porthos are to ride to Paris."

"What?! No!" Porthos and Christine protested.

"Brother," said Aramis, seriously, looking at Porthos, silencing his protest.

"No," said Christine. "No! That was never part of the arrangement. I never agreed to leave any of you behind."

"That is the mission Christine," admonished Athos. "Our duty is to secure your safety and the stolen jewels."

"I am not a musketeer. I do not need to agree to this!" she protested.

"You are not a musketeer. You will not risk your life Christine. I will not risk it. We will not," said Aramis, sternly.

She turned and glared at him. "I am not a liability," she said.

"Far from it," he soothed taking her face in his hand.

"You are our last line of defence," said Athos. "If something happens…if we are overrun, if they manage to get passed us and overtake even Porthos, we all have confidence in your horsemanship to get the jewels back to Paris. We have faith that if it comes down to it, you will complete our mission."

"All for one and one for all," D'Artagnan said solemnly.

"No," she said, shaking her head and gazing around at all of them. "This isn't fair, this isn't what I agreed to. I didn't agree to sacrificing any of your lives when I volunteered to take part in this –"

"Only your own," said Aramis quietly.

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean…" she said desperately, turning back to him and taking his face in her hands. "I mean, I knew the risks, but I did not realize their weight until now!" she said as she clung to him and stared fiercely into his eyes. He stared fiercely back and she knew there was no point arguing. She realized then how naïve she had been. They were a family and they each loved and valued each other beyond even their own lives, but at their cores, these men were musketeers and their honours would never allow her to put their lives before her own.

Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked into her husband's eyes before catching the eyes of each of her brothers in turn.

"That is only something to think about should the worst happen," said Aramis, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumb.

Porthos grinned. "Everythin'll be fine. We've been through worse."

"And these guards don't seem to do much other than aggravate visitors and stand guard," said D'Artagnan confidently.

She smiled softly at them, drawing strength from their confidence. Finally, she nodded.

"We are all getting out of here together," she asserted. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to put some clothes on while there still may be one or two men in this house who haven't seen me in my night clothes."

oOo