Sorry for the long wait. Life again got in the way and this chapter didn't want to write. I hope it is good enough.
Also, I just want to say thank you to my guest reviewers. I read all your reviews and I'm glad you are enjoying this fic.
Were you right about why Pierre was angry? Read on to find out. :)
Chapter 5
'The truth is...my brother is a coward,' Pierre stated glaring at Aramis who could not meet his brother's eyes. Silence enveloped them until it was broken by Porthos.
'Say that again,' Porthos' growl made Aramis lift his head. He knew that growl and the look on D'Artagnan's face showed that he did too. Athos had not moved nor had his expression flickered.
'My brother is a coward!' Pierre stated forcefully while glaring at Porthos. Porthos let out an angered roar and while D'Artagnan and Tréville tried to restrain the big man nobody noticed Athos move from his position on the stairs until he punched Pierre hard in the jaw, forcing him to the ground.
'Athos,' Aramis quickly turned from where he was watching Porthos be restrained to Athos who was clearly beyond furious.
'I don't care who he is, he doesn't get to say that about you,' Athos' eyes were full of rage and Aramis' had rarely see his friend this angry. 'He's just lucky I hit him and not Porthos.'
'How can you defend him?' Pierre glared at Athos as he stood and Athos turned to look at him. Pierre wiped the corner of his mouth where his lip was bleeding after Athos' punch.
'What do you mean?' Athos' replied with an icy stare.
'You surely know?'
'Know what?' Athos glanced at Aramis who was looking rather guilty which worried Athos.
'Only a coward survives a massacre,' Pierre growled as he looked at Aramis. This time Aramis was ready as he blocked Athos path. Behind them Tréville and D'Artagnan were doing their best to restrain Porthos who had managed to get to the bottom of the stairs even with the two men trying to stop him. Constance at this point managed to move around the three of them and gave Porthos a powerful glare that made him look away from her and momentarily stop his struggle.
Sophie, Nicole and Patrice watched on looking disillusioned at the scene before them. Queen Anne decided to stay as far away as possible but she could never believe that her brave musketeer was a coward.
'To survive something like that he must have hidden himself away and watched as the others died!' Pierre's voice was full of spite.
'YOU WEREN'T THERE!' Porthos' roar was deafening as he glowered with disgust at Pierre breaking free from Tréville and D'Artagnan. 'HE NEARLY DIED! You didn't carry him from that field or watch as the doctor struggled to save him!'
'Porthos!' Aramis call sounded desperate as he and Athos struggled to keep the big musketeer away from Pierre.
'If you defend him you must be cowards too,' Pierre directed his comment towards Athos and Porthos but there was now a hesitancy about him.
Pierre didn't see it coming as Aramis launched himself at his brother after the insult to his fellow musketeers.
'YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!' Aramis yelled as he grappled on the floor with his brother. 'THEY ARE THE BRAVEST MEN I KNOW!' Aramis continued to yell as he punched his brother with his left and right hands. He was stopped from continuing as Athos had made a move to pull him away from his brother. 'Athos let go!' Aramis said with fury as he struggled against his musketeer brother.
Aramis found himself being pulled away with force as Porthos had wrapped his large arms around his friend and pulled Aramis back forcefully. D'Artagnan had appeared too and was now stood in front of Aramis trying to calm him but Aramis couldn't hear anything.
Aramis continued to struggle but Porthos' grip was iron-clad.
'THAT'S ENOUGH!' Tréville's commanding voice broke through the cacophony of noise and Aramis finally stopped fighting Porthos. Pierre was actually looking scared at the sight in front of him as he gradually moved to stand. 'It seems that there has been a misunderstanding here,' Tréville's voice had reverted to calm but to the musketeers the anger was still evident.
'No misunderstanding,' Pierre's voice was quiet and slightly croaky. His lips were bleeding and his left eye was starting to swell. 'He didn't even have the courage to tell Maman and Papa the truth.'
At Pierre's words Aramis deflated completely and Porthos was now focusing on keeping Aramis upright rather than restraining him.
'See?' Pierre looked almost triumphant but there was also a sense guilt in his expression. 'Then he has to go back and prove that he wasn't a coward. You would have been safe here! You chose to leave our family behind!' Pierre turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. Alice quickly followed and silence started to choke the room.
The silence was broken by Tréville who had noticed the bemused expressions on the faces of Aramis' parents.
'You didn't tell them...did you?' the Musketeer Captain asked quietly as he approached Aramis. Aramis looked up into his captain's eyes and slowly shook his head. 'Aramis!' Tréville exclaimed with quiet huff and nodded to Porthos to place Aramis the chair. 'I sent you home to recover.'
'I'm sorry,' Sophie's voice sounded timid. 'I don't...I don't understand. What massacre?'
'What exactly did he tell you when I sent him home?' Tréville asked keeping his tone as level as possible while glaring at Aramis, who was sat on a chair with Athos and Porthos sitting on each of the padded arms of the chair.
'Only that his friends had been killed at Savoy and you had sent him home to try and recover from losing them,' Patrice said as he walked towards his son who was now bent over in his chair and running his fingers through his hair. Queen Anne watched on from a distance as it seemed that everyone had forgotten that she was there. As far as she knew no-one had survived the massacre at Savoy.
'Well, that explains a lot!' Porthos said with a sigh.
'Hmmm,' was Athos' response.
'So he failed to mention that he nearly died in said massacre and I sent him home to recover?' Tréville phrased it as a question but the answer was already obvious.
Sophie moved across and knelt before Aramis who was looking thoroughly miserable in the chair. 'Why didn't you say something?' she asked with tears in her eyes. Patrice also bent down next his wife looking imploringly at his son.
'Aramis, you have to answer,' Athos prodded lightly and Aramis finally dropped his hands from his hair and raised his head.
'I didn't want the weight of what had happened to me to be on your minds,' Aramis answered looking at his mother and father with tears in his eyes.
'Lovely,' Nicole's unimpressed voice washed over them as she moved to sit on one of the sofas with Constance and Anne. Both Constance and Anne were doing their best to remain as quite as possible. 'Now tell them the truth.' Nicole eyes were fierce yet warm.
Aramis sighed as Patrice and Sophie looked to him.
'I didn't tell you...because...because you would never have let me go back,' he said with the most apologetic look anyone had seen across Aramis' handsome face. 'You would have convinced me to stay and I would have.'
Silence clung to air as Aramis stared down his parents. The unvoiced conversation loudly echoing across the room.
'You're right,' Sophie finally gave in as she stared at her son through tears. 'We would have told you to stay.'
'To protect you,' Patrice added with a loving look towards his younger son.
'I know,' Aramis looked guilty now. 'But I had to go back. I thought Pierre would understand. I was wrong. Now he thinks me a coward for surviving.'
'Hmmm,' Athos hummed as he was clearly thinking.
'Athos?' Aramis gave his musketeer brother a questioning look.
'I think there may be more to this,' Athos replied cryptically. 'But I don't know what. Yet.'
'Like what?' Porthos asked knowing that Athos wouldn't let this drop now that he suspected something else.
'I'm not sure. Just something he said,' Athos didn't elaborate. 'I apologise for my actions,' he turned to Sophie and Patrice. 'I should not have hit him.'
'Don't apologise for teaching him a lesson!' Nicole answered with a sly smile at Athos who couldn't help but give a small smile back.
'Well, somebody was going to hit him,' Patrice said as he stood. 'I'm glad you did and not Porthos,' he chuckled giving a nod to Athos to show he wasn't angry with him.
Anne watched the exchange and noticed the atmosphere starting to warm. She knew there would never be a good time to ask but she had to know. Her Aramis suffering like that was stifling to her but she had to know.
'Captain?' her voiced echoed louder than she had anticipated throughout the room.
'Your Majesty?' Tréville turned to her with a flicker of fear in his eyes as though he had only just remembered that see existed. He had lied to save Aramis and that could all unravel now.
'You told Louis that no-one survived Savoy,' Anne did her best to leave any accusation out of her voice.
'I did,' he replied softly. 'To protect him. I sent twenty-two men to Savoy. Twenty died, one deserted and one survived.'
'Well, at least Marsac's dead now,' Porthos growled making Aramis flinch slightly. 'I'm sorry,' he said to Aramis, 'but I will never forgive him for how he left you there to die.'
'The Cardinal,' Anne said quietly. 'Richelieu could never know.' She had realised how far the Cardinal would be willing to go when he had sent assassins after her. She realised she had been very naive up until then. 'He would never have allowed Aramis to live.'
'Exactly,' Tréville nodded, glad of her understanding.
'Of course, we only found out the truth when Marsac returned,' Aramis sighed.
Anne's eyes widened. How could they know? She turned to Tréville who wore a small but warm smile.
'It's alright Your Majesty, we know,' Athos answered her unasked question. 'We know about the Duchess.'
'Not your average Duchess,' Porthos laughed. 'What?' he asked as the others turned to look at him with knowing looks.
'We know about Cluzet,' D'Artagnan added. 'And the Cardinal knew that we knew,' he added with a satisfied grin.
'Looked bet'er with the hat,' Porthos laughed as D'Artagnan rolled his eyes.
Anne looked at D'Artagnan enquiringly.
'When the Duke was looking for Cluzet we swapped him for Serge, our garrison cook, so the Duke never found Cluzet as he searched the correct cell. The Cardinal noticed me guarding the door,' D'Artagnan explained. 'I think he was glad of our intervention.'
'The treaty was signed, which was the point,' Tréville sighed. 'They understand. There is no need to worry Your Majesty.' Instinctively Anne looked to Athos who nodded.
'Then I don't see why Louis needs to know about this,' she stated as she looked at the musketeers who knew too much and then to Constance who wore a knowing smile.
'Couldn't have put it better myself!' Nicole said with a no-nonsense tone. 'Now back to the idiot that is my grandson,' she gave a warm smile as she looked to Aramis.
'I'm sorry...I should have told you,' he looked to his parents who both hugged him together making him mostly disappear from sight.
'Yes...you should have. But I know why didn't,' Sophie kissed his forehead tenderly.
'All boys are the same, think they know best when what they need most is hug,' Nicole chuckled. 'Just wait, Your Majesty, your son will be the same. He may one day be King but some days he will still need a hug.' Anne gave a warm chuckle. 'Not to mention that some days you'll want to murder him as well!'
'We're not all that bad!' D'Artagnan said with indignation.
'You sure about that?' Nicole asked with a twinkle in her eye.
'Before you answer that, consider that I feel like murdering the four of you more than anyone else in the regiment,' Tréville interrupted with a smirk making D'Artagnan bow his head sheepishly. Porthos' booming laugh then encompassed the room as they all considered the truth behind Tréville's statement.
'Well, after all this excitement, I'm going to bed,' Nicole announced as she rose from where she was sat. 'Pierre will be dealt with tomorrow and I suspect Athos with have his theory by then,' she gave Athos a wry grin.
'I don't why but something he said leads me to believe there is more to this but I don't know what,' Athos frowned.
'Sleep on it, best way,' she winked at him and Athos couldn't help the small smile that formed on his face. Aramis' grandmother was certainly one of a kind.
'I think sleep is probably the best idea as well,' Tréville agreed.
'Unless you're up for something else,' Nicole was staring straight at the Captain who blushed slightly making Nicole grin widely.
'Grandmaman,' Aramis grumbled. Nicole just laughed louder as she slowly made her way up the stairs.
'Goodnight,' she called from the top of the stairs.
'Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day,' Tréville said effectively ending any further conversation that night.
Quietly, everyone moved and mumbled 'goodnight' as they separated to find their beds for the night. The musketeers stayed in the sitting room.
'Sometimes, you can be a real idiot, did you know that?' Porthos mussed Aramis' hair slightly making the marksman glare but there was no heat in it.
'Well, you seem to tell me that a lot,' he retorted making Porthos chuckle.
'Must be true then,' Porthos replied with a wink.
Aramis settled down on the sofa feeling embarrassed by the night's events but also with a sense that a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Porthos and D'Artagnan settled quickly with both asleep within minutes of resting their heads on their pillows. Aramis followed not long after but Athos lay awake. His mind continuing to churn over Pierre's words from earlier that night. He was sure there was more to this than originally thought.
A/N: I'll be honest, I wasn't entirely happy with this chapter but I hope it came out ok. Anything you liked or didn't like, please let me know. :)
