Chapter 6: And Death Shall Have No Dominion.

"Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion" - DYLAN THOMAS

When Noelle woke the next morning, she found her new home empty. Athos had left on a mission for the king that would claim him for weeks to come, granting her the perfect opportunity to flee.

Athos expected as much. On return to Paris, he dropped off at the tavern for dinner and spirits before snailing home. He opened his door and peeled off his weapons. He heard a slight noise in the kitchen causing his heart to literally skip a beat. He sprinted into the kitchen and inhaled a sharp intake finding Noelle laying the table with a meal she had cooked for him.

"I did not expect to find you here."

Pain blanketed her pretty reflection. "If you wish me to leave, I will."

He charged at her so fiercely she fleeted until her back meshed the table. The look in his eyes so raw, she cowered, mistaking it for anger, thinking he was about to beat her as her father had done so many times in the past. He shoved the plates back to make room and hoisted her up to the table spread eagle. "I never want you to leave!" He growled in between kisses, fumbling to free himself from his pants. He rammed himself deep inside her with desperation as his guide. He was doing what his body had craved to do the past few weeks. Not a minute of those days passed that Noelle was not in his thoughts.

"Aye!" Noelle sobbed with delight wrapping her legs around his thrusting hips. This was not lust. This was love. And she knew she had been in it since the moment he had first caressed her lips with his.

After a good long fuck and dinner, she reclined in his embrace, soothed, in front of a cozy hearth. "Will you ever love me as you did Milady?"

"Peer into my eyes for they are no longer sad." He stroked her face as he continued. "What I thought was love was not. I bore no love for Milady. What I feel for you there are no words strong enough to express."

Finally the first tears for him, or any man for that matter, fell and they were happy tears. "I never thought a marriage under duress would hail me true love, but it did and I am very blessed. I will make you a good wife. I will never betray you. I will honor you as long as I draw breath, and I shall always love you."

"As will I for there is no cure for this love. Not even death shall relinquish my love for you..."

Their vows remained true throughout their years of marriage. Noelle bore him two strong sons and a beautiful daughter. Athos was killed on the battlefield near the age of retirement. On the night they brought Noelle his body, she bid her children farewell and stated that Athos was weeping in Heaven without her. She died the same night to join him proving his vow true; not even death could abolish their love.

Notes:

SOME say that the real Athos, Armand de Sillegue d'Athos d'Autevielle, died in combat as I wrote him here…Whether it is true or not, we will never know...

Thank you for reading my cheesy little romance. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.

I have another fic in progress about the Musketeers, BUT is basically nothing but smut.