The Musketeers were riding leisurely back to their barracks from the palace.

"I haven't seen Remy for a while," commented Aramis.

"Me either," said Porthos. "Hope he was alright with all that snow we had."

Athos said nothing, but Aramis noted the look of concern that briefly flitted across his face. They rode past some market stalls full of beets, cabbage, carrots, oranges, small trinkets, and some not particularly fresh fish, into a small square. At the far side was a throng of people and the familiar sounds of a brawl. Aramis raised himself up in the saddle to peer over the crowd.

"Just some kids."

As he spoke, one of the kids came flying backwards out of the throng with a bleeding nose, a look of confusion, and an angry hen flapping it's wings angrily and trying to peck him in the head. Athos peered past the boy, through the hole in the crowd he'd created, and groaned.

"Remy!"

Porthos laughed. "Should have guessed he'd be involved. Is he on the winning side?"

"Hard to tell. Ouch. He packs a hell of a punch for the size of him. Looks like he's trying to take on three of them all on his own."

"Think we should rescue him?" asked Aramis.

Athos winced. "If he's going to forget to duck like that again, then yes, we should."

As one, all three men spun their horses and rode towards the crowd, with Porthos whooping loudly to alert people to get out of the way. The crowd scattered quickly, with some of the would be combatants also deciding that fleeing was a good idea.

Remy ducked under the punch thrown by the boy he was currently facing, jabbing a straight right into the boy's ribs and causing him to gasp in pain. He heard the horse's hooves and glanced up, seeing the approaching Musketeers. The other boy followed his gaze and turned pale.

"Guards! Run!" He set off out of the market square at speed, with most of the other boys scrambling to follow his lead. Remy grabbed a small, dark haired boy out of the clutches of a much larger boy, said something in his ear, and sent him off with a shove. The larger boy seemed confused and angry that he'd lost his opponent, and decided that hitting Remy would be just as good. Aramis vaulted from his horse and grabbed him, dragging him backwards and preventing the wild swing from connecting with Remy's head. The boy briefly struggled to try and hit Aramis, and then seemed to realise what was happening and struggled to break free instead. Athos nodded almost imperceptibly to Aramis, who released the boy and watched him disappear quickly. In a few seconds, the only one left was Remy, who made no attempt to flee.

Athos looked down at him from his horse. "You do know you can get in trouble for fighting in a public place."

Remy shrugged. They gazed at each other for a while, Athos with his usual blank and unreadable expression, and Remy with a grim look of determination. Porthos and Aramis exchanged glances, and Aramis remounted his horse. It was Athos who broke the silence.

"Working today?"

Remy shook his head, ruefully, and looked around the now deserted market place. "Was supposed to be, but I have a feeling there won't much work to find here for the rest of day. Might try somewhere else."

Athos regarded him closely, taking in the fresh cut above his eye and the bruised knuckles. His lip looked as though it had been split fairly recently as well, although it was now fairly well healed. "Grab your pack."

Remy blinked a little, but obediently retrieved his pack from the side of the square where he'd left it, shifting it securely onto his shoulder. Athos held a hand down to him, which he took, and found himself swung easily up, settling onto the horse behind Athos. Athos gave him a couple of seconds to settle in, then turned his horse and headed back to the barracks, with Aramis and Porthos close behind him.

In the courtyard, Remy slid quickly from the horse and deftly took the reins as Athos dismounted. Porthos took the reins from Remy, and led all three horses over to Jasper, while Athos headed inside to report to the Captain. Remy was momentarily lost and unsure what to do, but Aramis grabbed him by the shoulder and led him to a bench, gently shoving him down onto it and cursorily inspecting the cut above his eye.

"Stay."

Remy fidgeted and wiped a trickle of blood from his face, but stayed put. Aramis returned with a cloth and a bowl. Remy almost managed to disguise the groan at the sight of them, but not quite.

Aramis chuckled. "This is getting to be a habit with you."

Remy shrugged and allowed Aramis to tilt his head backwards, wincing a little as he cleaned the cut.

"Not too bad. Should heal just fine." Aramis batted Remy's hand away as he reached up to inspect the cut with his fingers. "As long as you leave it alone anyway. You get into a lot of fights for a twelve year old."

"Thirteen," corrected Remy.

Aramis shook his head with a smile. "You get into a lot of fights for a thirteen year old."

"I don't mean to. It's not like I go looking for fights, but when they come my way ..."

Aramis chuckled.

Captain Treville was staring out of his window as Athos entered.

"How did it go?"

Athos managed a dismissive shrug, before realising the Captain had his back to him, rendering the gesture meaningless.

"As well as could be expected. The Duke is not happy, but we managed to allay his fears somewhat. Had there been any real threat to his welfare from the intruders, the injuries to his household would have been far worse. I would surmise that these were simply thieves who were interrupted and were seeking to escape the house as quickly as possible."

The Captain turned to face him. "Another theft? Was anything valuable taken?"

"Just trinkets as far as I could ascertain. They were somewhat vague with specific details. Since the King has offered them secure lodgings in the palace grounds and generous restitution for any loss, I would hesitate to rely on any accounts of exactly what went missing."

Treville nodded. "Still, another theft, and that's just the ones we've heard about. We seem to be having too many thefts lately, and no one seems to be able to work out how they're gaining entry."

Athos inclined his head to one side. "All the householders I have spoken to swear that their doors were locked, yet none of the doors have been forced or the locks broken. It's as though the doors were unlocked from the inside."

Treville sighed. "Well, keep asking around. Someone must know something. Is that the boy you had helping Jasper the other week?"

Athos glanced to the window and the courtyard below. "Remy. Yes, Sir."

"Jasper said he was a good worker, yet I can find no record that we paid him."

Athos smiled. "Technically, I employed him for the day, so I paid him."

Treville nodded, thoughtfully. "Well, Lucas has failed to turn up today. Perhaps he could help Jasper this afternoon. After lunch. I assume you're planning on feeding the boy." Athos shifted from one foot to the other as Treville chuckled. "Well, take him to the kitchens and get him fed. Then, if he has nothing better to do, he can help Jasper. And make sure I get a record of it this time please."

Remy was leant back on the bench, enjoying a break in the weak winter sun. Today they'd had no work for him at the barracks, as Lucas, the regular stable boy, had actually turned up for work, sniffing loudly and coughing a lot. Well, when he thought there was anyone within earshot anyway. Porthos had stored his pack safely for him in the armory, and a quick run down to the docks had found a couple of hours work running messages around town for some swanky merchant. Tiring work, but Remy had delivered all the messages quickly, so it had paid fairly well. He'd even managed to get Jamie a temporary job at the bakers down at the docks, which meant he'd be safe, warm, and fed for the week. Aramis was sat on one end of the bench, reading a book, while Porthos was sat on the other end, cleaning his musket.

No one seemed to mind him turning up here regularly, especially now he'd started using the proper entrance and not the roof. In fact, some of the Musketeers occasionally paid him to run an errand into town. Well, paid was putting it a bit strongly. Usually they paid him with food; some bread usually, a lump of cheese, or even fruit. Remy didn't mind, as long as they didn't mind him spending time in their courtyard. It was a lot safer that a lot of places he could have been, and when it rained, there was an overhang on the upper storeys, which meant it was also a lot drier that a lot of places as well.

Both Remy and Aramis looked up as the horse and rider clattered into the yard, both looking tired. The rider dismounted swiftly and looked around for someone to hand the reins to, but Jasper was busy dealing with a horse with a bad leg, and Lucas was nowhere in sight. He looked almost despairingly over to Aramis, obviously keen to leave the horse and report to the Captain. Aramis made a move to put his book down, but Remy was already on his feet.

"I'll see to it." A brief nod of consent from Aramis, and Remy deftly took the reins from the grateful rider.

"Keep him moving. I still have a fair way to go." The rider was halfway to the Captain's office before he finished speaking.

Remy spoke quietly to the horse and patted its neck. The horse nuzzled him and whinnied quietly. Remy led it forwards, keeping it moving slowly but steadily around the yard, pausing to let it drink at one of the troughs. The horse followed him docilely, snorting occasionally, seemingly in response to Remy's quiet murmurings. Porthos put his musket down and watched.

"He wasn't exaggerating when he said he likes horses."

Aramis smiled and nodded. "Seems like he knows how to handle them."

As the rider emerged from the barracks buildings, Remy turned the horse to face the exit and rubbed its nose gently. He handed the reins to the rider as he mounted quickly, and stepped back out of the way to allow a speedy exit. Captain Treville appeared in the doorway behind him, watching with interest.

"Remy."

Remy spun around, looking a little worried. Treville recognised the look and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, lad. You're not in trouble. Come here."

Remy walked over slowly, still with a look of apprehension on his face, stopping just out of reach of the Captain.

"I take it you like working with horses."

Remy nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"Hmm. Well, you seem to know your way around them. Jasper tells me you're a good worker too."

Remy shrugged slightly.

"Well, I already have a full time stable boy, somewhere around here, but if you're ever in this courtyard, and Lucas and Jasper are busy, or nowhere in sight, you have my permission to tend to any horses that come in. You can keep whatever tips may come your way, although I have to warn you, my scouts won't even think about tipping. In fact, it's highly unlikely any visitors will think about tipping. However, if we need an extra pair of hands, and you happen to be here, you get first refusal of any work. Do we have a deal?"

Remy grinned broadly. "Deal, Sir. Thanks."