Authors note: A bit more action and then some mopping up.
Chapter Five
D'Artagnan and Luc returned to the small courtyard. They were not surprised to be met with resistance. Three men were heading in their direction, having exited another room across from the entrance to the cellar. One man drew his gun but was shot by Luc before he had a chance to aim it at either of them.
D'Artagnan raised his gun and took out the second man while Luc engaged in a brief but fierce sword fight with the third man. As Luc finished off the man d'Artagnan looked up in time to see Marc charging across a walkway above them towards a room situated above the entrance way. D'Artagnan guessed the lever to stop the water rising was in the room. He hoped his friend would get to the lever in time.
Two more men had emerged from the same room across the courtyard. D'Artagnan had not had time to reload his weapon so was forced to fight the men using his sword. He was starting to tire from the continued fighting and the men he was attacking were fresh and quick with their movements.
But d'Artagnan found them both predictable. There was no imagination in their fighting. They had been trained but not given the chance to develop their own styles. D'Artagnan found them easy to defeat. A thrust of his sword in one man's chest, before a quick slash with his main gauche across the other man's throat.
He glanced across to Luc who was looking up at the room Marc had run into. They heard a yelp followed by a crash as a body fell from the room through a window. They watched, shocked, as the body hit the floor with a thud. Both Musketeers sighed with relief when they saw Marc peer out of the window briefly, looking down at the man he must have pushed from the room. He disappeared again.
D'Artagnan and Luc had no time to rest as yet more men appeared.
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'There's nothing I can use,' called Porthos as he continued to search for something to free Pierre with.
Porthos glanced back to his friends. Pierre was pressed up against the bars, being held tightly by Aramis. The water that was sloping out of the shaft had left the marksman's doublet darkened as it had soaked through the leather. Porthos only had a few seconds before he would be forced to drag his friend off Pierre.
'Shoot the lock.'
Porthos stared at Aramis who was staring back, his eyes wide. Aramis was panting from the effort of holding onto a weakening Pierre.
'What if I miss?'
'Don't miss,' was the reply Aramis gave with a glare.
The padlock was only inches from Aramis. The chances of Porthos missing and hitting his friend or the trapped Pierre were high. Their only chance was a risky one.
Porthos walked forward pulling his gun as he did so. He double checked it was ready to be fired before trying to work out the best angle to shoot from. He would have to shoot from fairly close.
'Just do it,' yelled Aramis.
Porthos levelled the gun and fired. The lock sprang off shooting to the left. It hit Aramis across the face before falling through the bars into the water. Aramis had his eyes screwed shut, a mark on his cheek showing where the padlock had hit him. The marksman slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times before glaring at Porthos for a moment. Porthos shrugged his shoulders as he discarded the gun and reached down to grab the grate.
'Keep 'old of him for a few more seconds,' he said, 'shift your weight a bit so that I can lift the grate.'
Aramis managed to shuffle to the side. He was forced to let go of one of Pierre's arms as Porthos lifted the grate upwards. Porthos quickly reached under and grabbed Pierre. The young man was too cold and exhausted to help in his rescue. Aramis let go of the slight man's other arm and managed to move off the grate completely, grabbing its edge and pulling it fully open so that Porthos could pull Pierre out.
Porthos moved away from the water which he noted was no longer rising. He lay Pierre down. Aramis knelt beside the younger man.
'It's alright, you're out now. We got you,' he said as Pierre managed to focus on him.
He was shivering uncontrollably. Porthos looked about and rose, he crossed to the man he had killed and pulled the cloak he was wearing from his body. As he walked back to Aramis and Pierre he was pleased to see the young man sitting up. Porthos wrapped him in the cloak. Between them, they pulled him up to stand and started to walk him back towards the smaller courtyard.
As they were about to enter the archway that led to the other yard Marc leaned out from a room above them.
'Thank you,' he said with a smile, 'good to have you back with us Pierre.'
Pierre managed to smile in reply.
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Several bodies now lay littering the courtyard. Luc had just finished off a weedy looking man with one thrust of his main gauche.
'Are there any more, do you think?' asked d'Artagnan looking around.
Cautiously they walked towards the door where the men had appeared from. D'Artagnan listened for a few seconds before pushing the door open. A roaring fire was the only movement they found. The room was finely furnished with several couches and cushioned chairs. A sideboard had been covered in dishes of food. Cold meats and vegetables and what looked like a broth or a soup in a metal pot.
D'Artagnan turned back to Luc, he was about to speak but the big man beat him to it.
'I'll get Clement and Simon, bring them here. They'll be more comfortable.'
Luc left d'Artagnan alone.
A noise at the door caught his attention, he drew his gun, levelling it.
'I'd rather you didn't shoot us,' said Aramis as he appeared in the doorway, 'particularly when we have someone to see you.'
As Aramis entered the room he stepped aside to reveal Porthos practically carrying Pierre who managed a weak smile.
D'Artagnan could not prevent the sigh of relief that escaped him.
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Luc and Simon had helped Clement into the cosy room with the fire and settled him on one of the couches. The man was a little unfocused but had thanked them both. Aramis was crouched in front of Clement assessing his injuries. Marc had helped Pierre to strip off and was busy swathing the man in blankets he had collected whilst searching the rest of the castle. Pierre had passed out once he had been stripped of his wet clothes. Marc had gently laid his friend down after pulling one of the blankets around his shoulders.
Between them, they had killed or incapacitated all the men who had been occupying the building. The bodies were moved to lie haphazardly by the main gate.
Porthos watched Aramis finish his quiet conversation with Clement and stand up.
'We need to get Athos, bring him into the castle, I want to see to his injury,' Aramis said, turning toward the door.
'No,' said d'Artagnan who was standing by the door watching them all.
Aramis stopped, a surprised look on his face.
'You're shivering, you're soaked through, you're no good to us if you become ill. Stay here, and get dried off. Look after Clement and Pierre whilst we go and get Athos.'
Aramis stared at d'Artagnan open-mouthed, Porthos laughed.
'Well, he is in charge, after all,' Porthos said as he walked passed Aramis, slapping the damp Musketeer on the shoulder as he did so.
Porthos had noticed that Aramis was shaking a few minutes before and was on the verge of pointing it out to the man when d'Artagnan had spoken. Aramis was either unaware that he was wet and cold or was choosing to ignore his obvious shivering. Porthos suspected it was the latter.
Luc picked up one of the blankets and handed it to Aramis without a word.
Clement, who had watched the exchange with an amused expression said, 'I think, Monsieur Aramis, that you have been put in your place.'
Aramis shook his head in defeat.
'In which case, can one of you bring my medical bag? Monsieur Clement has some injuries that need to be stitched.'
Luc nodded as he and Marc left the room. D'Artagnan paused in the doorway.
'Thank you,' he said, looking at both Aramis and Porthos, 'I felt awful for allowing him to go off on his own.'
D'Artagnan glanced at the sleeping Pierre. Porthos stepped forward and placed his hand on the Musketeer's shoulder.
'You did a good job, now let's go and get Athos back before he,' Porthos nodded towards Aramis, 'goes himself despite being told not to.'
D'Artagnan nodded.
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Athos was cold, the cloak was helping a little but his lack of movement was not. He contemplated trying to sit up and start a fire, but dismissed the idea, he did not want to draw attention to his position.
He had watched the moon on its journey across the sky through gaps in the trees. He knew he had been waiting a while. The hastily written note had said that they would come back for him.
Athos wondered if his brothers were capable of coming back to him. They knew there were not many men in the castle, at least that is what Simon had said. But the servant could only give them scant details. What if there were more men than his friends could deal with? What if they had been captured or killed? There was a possibility that no one was coming back for him.
Noises in the distance caught his attention. He had heard the local wildlife going about its nocturnal business but what he could hear now was definitely human. And it was definitely heading in his direction. He picked up the gun which had been lying in readiness beside him. Awkwardly he levelled it toward the sound of the approaching men.
'Athos, I doubt you could shoot straight anyway, why bother?' asked Porthos as he pushed aside a low branch.
His friend smiled broadly as he knelt beside him.
'Everyone's alright. We found Clement, he's injured but will live. Other than two shivering Musketeers we all got through unscathed.'
'Shivering?'
'We'll fill you in on the way back,' said d'Artagnan, 'there's a room with a big fire waiting for you and the previous occupants left us some food.'
Porthos hooked his arm under Athos' and pulled the man up to stand, Athos hissed in pain screwing his eyes shut as he did so.
D'Artagnan pulled Athos' arm over his shoulders as Porthos did the same on his other side. Once the wave of dizziness had left him he nodded. Slowly they began to walk toward the castle.
Athos looked across as he saw their horses trot passed them a few yards away. Luc and Marc were riding their own mounts whilst leading the other five horses between them.
'Why did Pierre leave his doublet and weapons?' asked Athos glancing down at the items that d'Artagnan was carrying over his left arm.
'Pierre is the one that got us into the castle,' replied d'Artagnan.
Athos listened with interest as d'Artagnan related what had happened in the castle. Porthos filled in the details that d'Artagnan could not, including how Marc had managed to stop the rising water before he was forced to pull Aramis away and let Pierre drown.
'It seems to me that you have done a good job in my absence,' said Athos as they neared the castle.
D'Artagnan did not respond, he was looking down. Athos glanced at him.
'It is not an easy job,' Athos said, 'responsibility can be difficult.'
D'Artagnan looked up, 'I honestly thought he was going to die. I knew he was going to die. I felt bad because, even though I didn't order him to do it, I could have stopped him from going, but I didn't.'
'It does not get easier,' remarked Athos.
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Athos was close to passing out by the time they had him settled in front of the fire and the now dry Aramis was checking the wound to his hip. Clement was dozing, his assortment of injuries cleaned, stitched where necessary and bandaged. Simon was sat on a chair by his master, Porthos had pushed a plate of food into the man's hands and glared at him until the slight young man had begun to eat. Pierre had come around and was sat in front of the fire with Marc and Luc nearby.
They planned to spend the remainder of the night in the castle. They all needed to rest and Pierre and Aramis were still shivering, but much improved from their earlier state. Porthos was to leave at first light with Simon to update Clement's wife that her husband was safe and not too badly injured.
D'Artagnan sat in one of the large cushioned chairs and stared at the fire for a few minutes. He had been in charge of his first mission and had succeeded. But he found that it was not something he wanted to celebrate. He had nearly been responsible for a man's death. He should have been able to think of a different method of infiltrating the castle.
He looked across to Athos who was watching him.
'You did a good job, I'm sure we,' he nodded toward Aramis and Porthos, 'would have come up with the same plan. We needed to get into the castle as quietly as possible. Without the element of surprise, we would not have been able to take out the amount of men who were here. Leadership requires you to make the hard decision. Sending a man to do something he might not come back from is sometimes one of those decisions you have to make.'
Aramis looked across at d'Artagnan and Athos, 'Athos has sent me to a certain death several times,' he said.
Athos looked at Aramis for a moment before speaking, '...and yet, you keep returning,'
Porthos laughed out loud as Aramis struggled to find a response. D'Artagnan smiled for the first time in several hours.
'I could have refused to go,' said Pierre quietly from his place in front of the fire.
D'Artagnan looked across, 'but you didn't, without you risking your life, we would not have got in as easily as we did.'
'You used your resources,' said Aramis with a grin.
'And you have yet to get us back to Paris,' remarked Athos, 'I am in no state to lead just yet.'
'I'll be happy when you are though,' said d'Artagnan, 'whilst this has been...interesting and forced me to face a difficult decision, I'm not sure I want to stay in charge.'
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Authors note: Thanks for reading. Thanks for the comments.