Disclaimer: I borrowed one line from the BBC. Everything else is the product of my imagination.

Chapter XIII

When he woke up some hours later, Aramis felt incredibly well-rested. The sun was finally back and it warmed his face. Opening his eyes, he realized it must already be late morning. It was a wonder he had been allowed to sleep for so long. Athos truly was a good friend. No matter how much he could disapprove of his friend's actions, he would do anything to help. The Musketeer had to go and seek news from the Palace. There was always hope of some progress during the night.

Then, he remembered that he had not spent the night alone. It made him smile. He had enjoyed his long talk with Elise. It was so easy to speak with her, almost natural. But there was no one else in the room with him. The blanket next to him was cold. If Elise had woken up before him, she had left long ago. There was no blaming her for it. He would simply have to find her to discuss their situation.

Aramis was deeply conflicted. On the one hand, she was a great ray of sunshine in his complicated life. He thought he could never feel this way after losing Adele and Isabelle, and coming to terms with the hopeless idea of having a relation with the Queen. He may have been wrong. But on the other hand, Elise was so young, the Captain would see red when he'd know she had been involved with a Musketeer. Besides, it was too dangerous for her to be with him. Who knew when his secret could be exposed and his life in danger? Whatever he decided, hearts would be broken, and Aramis was not ready to take such a decision yet.

"Would you look at that! Someone got a special treatment!" Porthos complained, riding through the Garrison's gates, Athos at his side. Aramis was walking down the stairs towards them. "d'Artagnan had to take your watch at the Palace because you would not wake up."

That was the reason why he had been let to rest. Aramis stared at Athos who did not acknowledge him, dismounting and taking care of his horse instead.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'll make it up to him."

"He hopes so. You should have seen him: he was delighted to trade a mission into town for the nursery."

Porthos then left to find some food, leaving his two friends alone. Aramis felt like a little boy, waiting to be scolded. Athos took one good look at him, judging him. He must have been satisfied with his evaluation because he slapped the other's shoulder in a friendly way.

"Any news?" Aramis could not help asking. Athos did not turn around.

"Not yet. You'll have to ask d'Artagnan when he comes back. And you better find a way to thank him."

"You did not even tell me I was supposed to be on duty this morning."

"Of course not. Do you really think I would let you anywhere close the Palace knowing your turmoil? You'd end up making a fool of yourself, putting all of us in jeopardy."

"You made the right decision. I'll offer to take some of d'Artagnan's duties in the future." The other Musketeer nodded in agreement and they both went their separate ways.

In his heart, Aramis did not like how his problems were impacting his friendship. There was so much he had to hide when he was used to sharing so much with the others. It was to protect them yet it did not make it easier. If he had not fallen for the Queen, there would be no baby to worry about, and his mind would be free to joke and feast with Porthos instead of thinking of his son's illness. Well, his mind would at least be free to focus solely on Elise.

Elise was in her uncle's office, analysing her mother's jewels. There were so many left. She tried on the rings, choosing which ones went better with her dress. After, she tried on the necklaces. There were some hair clips as well. She needed some sort of mirror to put them on, but failing to find one, she went to the window, trying to find her reflection. She saw the two Musketeers coming back into the courtyard and talking with Aramis before disappearing in the stables.

There were so many thoughts running in her head that she could not put them in order. Aramis and a baby? A baby so young? Or was the miniature already old? Why had no one ever talked about this child? Why did he never talk about it? Where was he? More importantly, where was the mother? Who was she? Was she still part of the Musketeer's life? Was she this Marguerite Porthos had talked about?

In the chapel, she had not understood if the person he was praying for, this Louis, was a member of his family or not. His answer: "Yes, no, it's complicated" was very obscure. How could someone be and not be a member of his family? Did Aramis have an affair with a married woman and fathered a child he could not claim as his? Elise did not know how she would react if such was the case. It was one thing to know that he was a lady man and he had many admirers. She had the secret and foolish hope she may be able to change this. But if he had no scruples and even bedded married women, what would she do? How could he look at himself?

Was it this impossible child that was putting her dear soldier in such a bad shape? Was he the one being very, very sick? She could understand why he was worried. When a child was sick, it was always a miracle when he recovered. Some part of her hoped that if it was the case, the baby would soon be healthy again.

So deep in her thoughts, Elise did not see Athos and Aramis re-enter the courtyard. She did not realize he saw her at the window and climbed up the stairs to come to her. Then, there was a soft knock on the door and he was in the room before she could find an excuse.

"Good morning," he greeted her, a rather large smile on his face. Elise was secretly happy to know it was because of her, but she could let it cloud her judgement. She was in need of important answers before she could let his charms affect her. "You were gone when I woke up. I hope you slept well."

"Very well, thank you. You needed to rest; I did not wish to wake you up."

"I could get used to going to sleep and waking up with you by my side," he said, walking to her. He went to kiss her, but she moved her head and his lips landed on her cheek. They stared into each other's eyes for a long time, but when they both realized a silent conversation would lead to nothing, they simultaneously decided:

"We need to talk." Aramis laughed.

"By all means, ladies first," he offered.

"There are things I do not understand about you. It does not really matter if they are related to the Musketeers or to your past as a soldier. But I do think I am entitled to some answers. You must promise me that you will answer my questions."

"As long as my answers keep you safe, you have my word." Elise was not completely satisfied with his reply.

"I know you're going to think that I'm too curious but...when I woke up this morning, you were sleeping and... your necklaces were right under my nose and..." His heart sank.

"You opened it," he finished her sentence and she nodded. The way his eyes darkened was the answer she needed. Her own heart grew a little cold.

"Do you have a child, Aramis?"

"No..." he first said. How he was going to protect her from his secret now, he had no idea. He could lie, say it was somebody's else baby. She would probably ask whose, though. Sometimes, it was better to give some pieces of the truth. "...Yes."

"Be clearer. Either you have a child or you don't. It's simple."

"Not in that case. Yes, he is my child, yet at the same time, nobody can never know he is. So, no."

"I was correct, then. I was aware you had a great reputation amongst women but I naively imagined you stayed away from the married ones."

"It's a little bit more complicated than you think, Elise. You don't know what happened."

"And I don't want you to tell me! I cannot believe you would do such a thing! I thought I knew you but you must have been right: I may not."

"You cannot judge my actions so harshly." Aramis was trying to remain calm. She was young and her ideas of what marriage entailed solely came from what her mother had taught her. He understood long ago that life was not as easy and smooth as he thought when he was a child. "There are times in life when your world comes crashing down, when you don't even know if you will survive the day and it leads to act without thinking. She had not planned it, I had not. And we knew it could never happen again afterwards. It hasn't," he added, looking right into her eyes. She had to understand that much. "There was just this unexpected consequence." He touched his neck, reaching for the locket.

"But she's married..."

"And she is unhappy in her marriage. Duty is what matters the most to her, and I know the baby is safe with her. He will have a far better life than if he was with me. What would I do with a baby in the barracks?"

Elise was still not completely comforted by his explanations. She had a hard time wrapping her head around his actions. She was not sure she could forgive it, however, was it her role to do so? Aramis was older than she was, he had lived more adventures than she could ever dream about. He was bound to carry more burdens. This one was quite unexpected, though.

"Do your friends know?"

"Only Athos. It is safer for the others to stay out."

"I cannot believe I am saying this, but you are certainly not the only one in Paris who has sired a child out of wedlock. You are a Musketeer, so are your friends. I am sure you could defend yourself against a furious husband."

"Not this one, no." Aramis shook his head.

"I can hardly think of anyone who could outdo you. You are the finest sword man I know, so unless you've slept with the Queen, which is quite impossible, admit it, I do not fear for you." She laughed at her own silly idea. She was starting to understand his problems better, and it did him great credit to wish to protect his closest friends.

Aramis tried to disguise his shock when he heard her words. He knew she could not have meant it as a trap; there was no way she had figured out that much. But hearing his most feared secret being voiced out loud was like being hit in the stomach. He was breathless, the colour drained from his face. Elise could not help but notice. She opened her mouth a few times, no sound coming out.

"You...did...not."

If he lied now, she would be smart enough to know it. He had doomed her as well. Athos was going to kill him.

"But she's the Queen!" Elise gasped, taking a step back when Aramis reached for her hand. "You have a child...You were praying for a friend yesterday...he is sick and..."

"Elise, please..."

"His name is...Dear God..." As understanding crashed on her, Elise felt like fainting. It simply could not be possible. He would not have done such a thing. He was not that stupid. "He's the heir to the throne."

"Which is why no one can ever know. Do you understand why I warned you it was extremely dangerous? I wish you had not been so curious. I'm sorry, I truly am."

Not at all recovered from the shock, she did the only thing she could think of: she slapped him so hard his hat fell to the floor. It quite hurt this time. Aramis deserved it. What happened next was rather unexpected. Elise clung to his neck, her lips kissing his desperately. He caught her in his arm, responding furiously to the pressure. There was so much tension in the room that their kisses were everything but gentle.

"They'll kill you. Why would you do this? They'll kill you!" Elise cried, angry tears running down her cheeks. Aramis brushed the first ones off but there were too many. "They can't kill you, they can't!"

"Ssssssh...calm down. They will not kill anyone because they will never learn about it. Do you hear me? They will not hear about this story."

Elise nodded, sobs preventing her from saying another word. Her hands were touching every part of his uniform within her reach. It was impossible for her to imagine her world without Aramis in it now, and the mere thought of him being imprisoned and judged as a traitor broke her heart. She could not accept what he had done, nevertheless he had done it, nothing she could say or do would change this fact. She was sure of one thing, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with him.

Aramis gently took her chin in his hand so she would look up. He looked tortured. All his attempts to protect her had failed. He had failed her. It was unfair to put such a weight on her weak shoulders.

"You carry my life in your hands, Elise."

"I'll never betray you. You mean too much to me."

"Too much indeed," he sighed, and she managed to smile a little.

"You are such a fool. A gallant fool, but a fool anyway."

"It's probably the best description you'll ever make of me." He kissed her softly, taking his time. Where her shyness had gone, he had no idea. Her mouth opened willingly for him. Their kiss seemed to last forever.

"What did you want to talk about?" Elise eventually asked, remembering that he, too, had meant to tell her something before she confronted him. All their problems were not resolved, far from it, yet for now, nothing mattered but to spend time together. He would find time later.

"Given what just happened, trust me, it is now irrelevant. You already have much to worry about. We should go get some fresh air. What do you say?"

Elise agreed willingly and they left together, more united than ever.