Next one ;)
Thanks so much niagaraweasel.
D'Artagnan and Porthos helped Constance down from her horse. Porthos watched her with an eagle eye. She was clearly in pain, but she gritted her teeth.
Porthos pulled the youngest musketeer aside. "Aramis or the doctor should check her ribs again."
D'Artagnan nodded and both men hurried back to Constance, not wanting her to enter the palace alone. Shortly before they reached the door, Constance halted for a moment. She could feel the hand of the man she loved on her back and relaxed again. Porthos was the first to enter the palace, with D'Artagnan and Constance behind him.
"Madame Bonacieux, how nice to see you again, " a voice sounded behind them.
Constance froze. In a flash, D'Artagnan had turned around and had his sword drawn and at Rochefort's throat.
"One word from me, D'Artagnan, and my men will not hesitate to kill you. Pack your sword away again," the blond man's voice sounded sharp.
D'Artagnan glared at him, his sword not moving an inch away from his target. "Lay a hand on Madame Bonacieux again and I will ram my sword through your throat." Slowly D'Artagnan lowered his sword but didn't break eye contact.
Rochefort grinned. "It would not have happened, had she not meddled in my affairs. But I have to admit she's tougher than most other women."
The young musketeer was just about to attack Rochefort, when Porthos grabbed his shoulder. "D'Artagnan, he's just trying to rile you up and to hurt Constance. Let it be, we'll see that he gets his just reward. Go check on Constance, she's not doing so well."
Only now did D'Artagnan notice that the woman he loved was no longer at his side.
Constance hurried up the stairs as quickly as she could, Rochefort's words still echoing in her ears. His face, his smug grin…. it had been too much for her. She hurried to the queen's rooms and quickly opened the door.
"Constance?" Anne asked, astonished. Aramis and she immediately went over to where Constance had collapsed on the floor in tears. Anne took her friend into her arms.
"What happened? Where are Porthos and D'Artagnan?"
"Rochefort," was all Constance managed to get out through the tears.
Aramis was just about to storm out when his friends entered without bothering to knock. D'Artagnan immediately went down on his knees, wrapping his arms around Constance. "Shhhh...calm down, everything's alright."
"What happened?" Aramis asked, looking at Porthos.
"Let's discuss that outside."
The two friends left the room.
"Rochefort goaded D'Artagnan, telling him that Constance shouldn't have meddled. The boy exploded, understandably. If not for the ten Reds around us, I'd have helped him to kill them all. We need to do something, Aramis, or this will come to a very bad end."
"It already started to, Rochefort has molested the queen. He loves her and if she doesn't return his love, he will kill the people she loves."
"The pig…we need to speak to the king."
"The queen has already tried that in vain. Rochefort has all but brainwashed the king, not only the queen can get through to him now."
Porthos was just about to say something, but his friend interrupted him. "There's something else. Rochefort knows something that he can use against the queen and me."
Porthos' eyes became bigger. ""Aramis, no, don't say that…"
"Yes, and the heir is my son."
"Are you out of your mind? Widows and lonely rich women, okay, but the queen of France?" Porthos raked a hand through his hair. "Does anyone else know?"
"Athos caught us at the monastery and Constance found out in Emily's camp. That and the queen told her about it. D'Artagnan suspects it and I'm sure Constance has told him."
"So I'm the last one to know."
"Porthos, you're my closest confidante, but this is different," Aramis tried to explain.
"If I were your closest confidante, you'd have told me about it," Porthos replied and left.
D'Artagnan opened the door and looked at Aramis. "Is everything okay?"
Aramis scrubbed his hands across his face. "Porthos knows and he didn't like it very much. How is Constance?"
"She's exhausted. The ride to the palace wasn't exactly good for her ribs and the encounter with Rochefort didn't help either. She's tough and the strongest woman I know, but I think she's not well, but she doesn't want to admit it."
"I'll take a look at her if you don't mind. The queen trusts Constance and sent for her because of the child. We can't trust anyone at the palace any longer."
D'Artagnan nodded. "It's time for us to get Rochefort out of the way."
Aramis opened the door. "You're right, but that's not going to be easy."
In the queen's rooms they found Constance in the bed, asleep.
"She fell asleep," the queen said. "We have to do something, I don't feel safe her any more. Rochefort controls everything, even the king. I have no chance to get through to him."
"Calm down, we will find a way," Aramis promised, gently touching her shoulder.
"But how? Rochefort has the king and the Red Guard under his control as well as Milady de Winter. Even Marguerite is behaving strangely. I only have you and Constance left who I can really trust," she said, her head bowed.
Aramis paused for a moment. Why was Marguerite behaving strangely? Did she suspect something and was jealous? Had she maybe seen the two of them kissing? He had to tell Anne the truth, even if it broke her heart.
"Your Majesty, could I have a word with you?"
Anne gave him a worried look. "Yes, of course."
Aramis looked at the sleeping Constance and then at D'Artagnan.
"Let's go into the other room," Anne suggested, leading the way.
Aramis closed the door behind them and clamped his fingers around the brim of his hat. "There is something I have to tell you and I'm not very proud of it."
"What is it?" The queen tried to appear calm, but she found it very hard where Aramis was concerned.
"After the night at the monastery with you, nothing was the same. I….I could no longer sleep with women like before, you were constantly in my thoughts."
Anne smiled, she felt the same way. But Aramis knew that the smile on her face would soon be replaced by disappointment and rage.
"After the birth of the child, I wanted to be with him and with you. I didn't get the chance to hold him or spend a few minutes alone with him, so I flirted with Marguerite to be able to spend some time with the boy. One thing led to another and we slept together." Aramis didn't raise his eyes. He was ashamed of himself and he knew without looking at Anne that tears were running down her face.
"It didn't happen for love, there were never any feelings involved, I did it just to get close to our son. I know that sounds like an excuse, but it isn't." He looked up and the despair and disappointment in her eyes all but broke his heart.
"Anne," he pleaded, purposely using her first name, and took a step closer to her, but she shrank back. "You and me, that is something special and I love you. I rejected Marguerite and I think that is the reason why she acts so strangely. I think she saw us together."
"I, too, though what we had was special, but I seem to have been wrong," Anne said. She opened the door and left the room.
"Damn," Aramis cursed, throwing his hat on the floor.