Love is the Most Selfish of All the Passions

Chapter Twelve

The musketeers finally arrived outside the village surrounded by a gate that was well guarded, just as the young girl had said. They quickly dismounted their horses, tied them up, and cautiously ran toward the back of the perimeter under the protection of the trees in hope that they wouldn't be spotted, then quickly looked for the loose board to get inside undetected. When they found it, Athos pushed it open and when he saw that the way was clear, he and the others made their way inside, making sure that their disguises were in place so that they wouldn't be recognized as musketeers.

They found that many of the villagers were passed out from too much drinking after some kind of celebration the night before, while those that were still awake were walking around as any other day. Athos motioned for his friends to split up in search for Aramis and then started walking toward the center of the community, hoping not to be interrupted by anyone. Unfortunately, Porthos was not that lucky as two drunkards came up from behind him and offered him a drink as they started mocking musketeers in general, then began laughing about having caught one of them and seeing him in such a lowly state. When he was sure no one else was watching him aside from his other comrades, Porthos swiftly punched one of the men hard in the face, then broke the bottle of wine they had offered him over the back of the others' head, successfully knocking them both out before either one could cry out.

D'Artagnan smiled when he saw Porthos knock the men down, then continued searching in his own direction when he came across a table inside one of the open shelters with a sword, a pistol, a musket, and a number of smaller weapons draped across it as well as a leather jacket with the musketeers' insignia stitched into the jacket's shoulder covering, all of which d'Artagnan immediately recognized to be Aramis' things. One of the villagers walked inside to collect his own gun and when the man finished and left again, d'Artagnan immediately began to pick up his friend's weapons and his jacket as quickly as he could, then carried it all back outside the gate to where they had tied up their horses so that they wouldn't be left behind.

As Athos continued walking, cautiously so as to not draw attention to himself, he soon saw a man carrying what looked like a whip, or cat, heading toward a large, stone shelter that he found to have a cell door, then followed after him until he stopped outside of it, making sure that no one else was approaching. However, he suddenly heard the sound of the whip cracking, immediately followed by the pained cry coming from who he knew was their friend they had been searching for.

The cat was struck against Aramis' chest once again and the torturer was about to continue until all of a sudden the tails were grabbed in midair from behind him, forcing the man to turn around in surprise as he come face to face with nothing more than Athos' fist as it swiftly and forcefully struck him down to the ground unconscious before he could even see who his attacker was.

"Aramis, we're here," Athos whispered as he quickly knelt down in front of his friend and gently pulled his head up in hope to get him to look at him, though he could see that Aramis was barely conscious and that a dangerous fever had taken hold over his friend's body. "We're all here for you and we're going to get you out of here, I swear it."

"F… for… give me..." Aramis muttered softly as Athos couldn't understand what he was trying to say.

Athos quickly got back to his feet as he walked back to the prison's entrance, then motioned for Porthos and d'Artagnan as he saw them nearby looking out for trouble, and when they both stepped inside, Porthos raced to his friend's side upon seeing the terrible shape he was in, then cried out, "My God! I swear, I will kill every last one of the men that has done this to him!"

Athos tried to pull on the shackles that bound their friend in between the posts, but when he saw they wouldn't break easily, he said, "Porthos, I need you to focus on breaking these chains. We'll work on getting the shackles off later, but for now, we just need to get him out of here and get him to someone who can help him."

"It was easy for us to break in, but getting back out while carrying these people's prisoner, impossible," d'Artagnan replied as he came over to try to help them.

"Unfortunately for you, the boy is right," a familiar voice responded from behind them and they immediately turned as d'Artagnan and Athos swiftly stood with their swords raised upon seeing Milady standing in the entrance with a pistol raised in her hand directly at them. "I am glad to see you've come at last, especially you, husband. Aramis here isn't going to last much longer and I was so looking forward to making you all watch as I finish him off right here in front of you."

Athos answered firmly, "That isn't going to happen. You're behind our attack and Aramis' capture?"

She smiled as she looked between the musketeers and then replied, "Actually, I wasn't. However, it was wonderfully fortuitous that those that had captured him should arrive into the village where I happened to be hiding from you. This is a village where everyone hates musketeers even more than they hate the King and I knew that I would be welcomed. When Aramis was brought in, I volunteered to be his torturer until you arrived so that this moment would be even more rewarding for me, than should I have killed him outright."

"Right now, we stand between you and Aramis and you will have to go through us before you can hurt him anymore," Porthos vowed angrily.

"Porthos is right," d'Artagnan stated in agreement. "You may be able to take one of us down, but the moment that you do, the rest of us will strike you down where you stand."

She only smiled as she lowered her musket and then responded, "Actually, I'm afraid you're both wrong. I'm sorry, Athos."

Before they could stop her, Milady swiftly fired her weapon at the ground, which immediately caused the ground to burst into flames, the fire spreading around them as she ran out the door, then d'Artagnan shouted, "She must have dowsed the ground in oil or brandy! We need to get out of here now, before the whole shelter is consumed!"

"Pull, harder!" Athos shouted as he and Porthos struggled to rip the chains from the posts in order to free Aramis as well before the fire could reach him and begin to burn him alive. "Go, d'Artagnan! Get out of here, now!"

"Not without you!" he shouted back as he rushed over to help his friends and together the three finally managed to rip the chains free, then struggled to carry their wounded friend between them through the flames and back outside to safety.

As soon as they were clear of the fire, a shot was suddenly fired above them, narrowly missing Athos' head, and then they saw Milady as well as several other villagers wielding their own weapons in hope of killing the musketeers once and for all before they could escape. They carefully laid Aramis down on the ground in between them and then began to fight the bandits and murderers as they surrounded the soldiers. The musketeers were by far outnumbered, but despite the grim outlook, the three fought with all their strength as they did in any fight.

Athos fired his pistol at one of the bandits as he tried to sneak up behind Porthos, then continued fighting with his sword, each of them managing to hold the bandits back for a little longer. Milady shoved her way through the battle in order to come face to face once and for all with Athos, who looked at her sadly for a brief moment until he thought about the torment she inflicted upon Aramis and anger replaced his sadness, allowing him to fight the woman he once loved until she became the villainess standing before him now.

She cried out, "You and your friends will die here today, Athos, and you can't do anything to stop it. You've failed them."

Milady de Winter was good with a sword, but Athos was far better and it wasn't long before he had disarmed her. She fell back to the ground and glared up at her husband as he thrust his blade up to her throat to make the final blow. However, he looked down at her with pity and instead of killing her, Athos suddenly picked her up off the ground and held his arms tightly around her throat until she fell unconscious, then let her fall to the ground while he continued to fight against the villagers with his comrades. If they survived this battle, Milady was going to die after facing trial for her crimes, and not by his own hand.

Porthos soon cried out, "We won't be able to keep them back much longer, Athos! What are we doing?"

"We fight until we're struck down," the band's leader answered fearlessly as Porthos killed one of the bandits as he was about to plunge his knife into Athos' back. "We will die together, as brothers."

When they each believed they were about to die, the sound of an attack could suddenly be heard from outside of the gate and it wasn't long before the entrance opened, allowing a large band of other villagers to fight their way inside against the bandits and not the musketeers. Athos, Porthos, and d'Artagnan continued fighting, until Athos ordered them to fall back so that they could break free. Porthos quickly rushed back to Aramis and as gently as he could, lifted him into his arms with d'Artagnan's help, while Athos lifted Milady's still form over his shoulders and together they broke through the battle and made their escape.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" d'Artagnan asked once they made their way into the woods where they had left their horses.

Athos carefully tied their prisoner up and to the back of his horse as he replied, "I don't know, but if Aramis was able, I'm sure he would say that God had something to do with our lives being spared today."

Porthos laid Aramis down on the ground once again and quickly tore his covering into pieces to be able to create a makeshift bandage for his friend's wound in his shoulder, then responded, "And I would actually believe him for once. We need to make a travois to carry him if Aramis is going to have any chance of surviving it all the way to Paris. His wounds…"

"I know," Athos answered as he moved to kneel down beside their friend, quickly poured water from his decanter over a cloth he pulled from one of his bags, then gently began to wipe down his forehead and neck in order to try to help with his fever. "We better get started, before the battle ends and the survivors come out looking for us. We have been spared today for a reason. I'll be damned if Aramis dies."