Well, since you are all so very anxious to figure out what Athos' skills are! Here you go! :)

Sixteen

The four men were still in the room, with Julie still on Aramis' knee, when there was a knock on the door and it opened shortly thereafter to reveal the innkeeper, Madame Villeneuve. She looked around until she saw her daughter, still on the bed next to Aramis, with his hat way down over her ears and eyes.

"Julie. Come with me, please leave the men at peace."

"But mother, I want to stay here and hear their stories." Julie pleaded, as Aramis lifted the hat off her head. Julie then turned on the same secret weapon as d'Artagnan had - the doe-eyes. It was a look hard to say no to, but her mother had apparently had training in this matter.

"I'm certain their stories are of honour and courage, but should not be listened to by a five year old girl." The woman said gently, her head in a bow to the men before she turned to her daughter. "Come on now, hurry up."

Julie pouted, but didn't disobey her mother. She jumped down from the bed and hurried out of the room. Madame turned to the men. "I'm sorry about her, I hope she hasn't been an inconvenience. My brother was a Musketeer before he married, she's grown up with the stories."

"She's a sweet girl, you have raised her well. I assure you her company has been most pleasant." Aramis smiled as the others agreed in a nod. Madame bowed once again before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

"You're good with the child, Aramis." D'Artagnan grinned.

"What can I say? Everyone loves me."

"Not unless you do something about that beard." Athos smirked as he handed Aramis the dagger and mirror. He was done with his own beard, and then Porthos had dealt with his. D'Artagnan was absently rubbing his cheek, his fluff still not wild enough to be in need of a trim. Aramis rolled his eyes before taking the dagger from Athos, beginning to shave his cheeks with a skilled hand.

"I never know what to say to children." Athos sighed, his forehead deep in frown. Everyone had once believed him to be the best with the youngsters, he did after all have a baby brother once, but they had realized that the two of them never really played around as kids.

"You can say anything to them. Just… no blood and scary things, okay?" D'Artagnan offered.

"So what else is there?" Porthos grinned.

Athos nodded in approval, as they watched Aramis finish off his beard, leaving a perfect line along his jawbone, and of course the moustache. He wiped his face off with a damp towel, before looking up and grinning widely to d'Artagnan, who pouted.

"One day my beard will outgrow all of you."

The snort of air coming out of Athos' nose was the closest thing to a laugh they had heard in… ever, actually. Aramis and Porthos happily laughed as Porthos clapped a big hand down on top of d'Artagnan's shoulder.

"Sorry lad, that won't happen. But a beard will come. I mean, mine didn't start growing before I hit my adolescence either."

"Not funny." D'Artagnan pouted. "But at least I'm not all stubbly and annoying when kissing a girl."

"I've never had any complaints. But I only kiss women though, not girls." Aramis grinned as he got up on his feet, went over to his saddlebag and pulled out his little 'emergency kit', the one he always carried on him in case someone would get hurt. He pulled out a pair of scissors from it, which he put on the table, before he grabbed a bucket of water standing by the door, and put it closer to Athos. He then leaned against the table, tired, even from the short movements. They all looked up at him, worry in Porthos' and d'Artagnan's eyes, while Athos' eyes mostly looked annoyed.

"Aramis, there is no need for this."

"Yes, it certainly is. Now dip." Aramis panted as he worked to control his breath, smiling through it. Athos sighed, not being one to say no to Aramis, and he dunked his entire head into the bucket of water, not very different from his morning routines after a night of heavy drinking. As he sat back to his chair, Aramis was suddenly behind him with a comb and the pair of scissors, and begun working his way through Athos' unruly hair.

"Your hair actually reaches your shoulders." Aramis noted. "Like a proper little lady." The comment was answered by Athos shrugging his shoulder, while the comment had earned a laugh by d'Artagnan. Aramis looked up sternly to the younger one. "Oh, don't believe that you're leaving this room without a haircut either. Your hair might be looking a little bit less dishevelled than Athos', but it's definitely grown too long. We will have to take care of that as well."

"What about your own hair?" Athos said, raising an eyebrow as he tried to look behind him, to no good use of course.

"Oh I will deal with this too. At least my charming locks make it look better than your bird's nest."

"Nothing wrong with my hair." Athos muttered, before being jerked back by Aramis swift hands pulling his hair. "Aouch!"

"Sorry, fingers got entangled, my bad!"

Athos mumbled something incoherent and Aramis let it slide as he looked over to d'Artagnan and Porthos. D'Artagnan hadn't stopped pulling his fingers through his hair since Aramis said it would be cut shorter.

"Oh, don't worry lad, I would never cut it short, just… It doesn't have to reach your waist."

"So Porthos is the only one to get out of this hair saloon business?" D'Artagnan answered him, his fingers still running through his thick hair.

"Aramis won't touch my hair again. He's no good with it."

"Too curly. I don't know how to deal with those curls." Aramis nodded. He had tried to cut Porthos' hair once when it had outgrown itself but it had looked terrible, so he left Porthos in the hands of more skilled hairdressers instead. The black curls Porthos had inherited from his mother was just out of his league.

"So Aramis is not only our seamstress, he's our hairdresser too? Why bother? I can see you do your own hair to keep neat and trimmed but why does it bother you that my hair is long?" D'Artagnan asked, still with his fingers running through his black hair.

"The women doesn't like it when the man's hair is longer than their own." Aramis grinned, wiggling an eyebrow.

"I doubt that Athos will approve of female company just because he got a haircut?" D'Artagnan questioned, confused to what Aramis actually meant. Athos raised his glass in salute before explaining it all to d'Artagnan.

"No my hair will not change my sights on love. But what Aramis is referring to is that his women won't approve of my hair. And since Aramis is always seen together with us, we all have to look our best to fit his image. And it's easier to convince me to cut my hair than for him to find new friends."

"Athos is right. I have worked hard to get you to where I want you, breaking in new friends just takes too long time." Aramis agreed with a nod, while pulling his fingers gently through Athos' hair - which by now was a lot shorter – before declaring himself done. He then met d'Artagnan's eyes, and pointed over to the same bucket. It was easier cutting someone's hair when it was wet. And he would always make sure his men looked their best. After all, who could be bothered finding new friends when he already had the best he could possibly have?

After all of them had cleaned up both their facial hair and the hair on top of their heads, they cleaned off with some hot water and soap, Athos gently tended to Aramis still sore back, before they got dressed in some cleaner clothes, and donning leather and weapons again, never knowing when they would be in need of it. They made their way downstairs and noticed that there was still quite a bit of people there, but not as much as it had been upon their arrival, and food was still being served.

"I will tend the horses. You go ahead and take a table." Athos said, putting his hat on his head before exiting the inn, as the other three nodded and took a table in a corner, ordering food and drinks.

Athos walked outside, the evening beginning to cool out, but happily not as cold as it could be during the nights in wintertime. He loved the summers, even though he would burn his skin raw. It was still better than trying to fight in eight layers of clothes. At least you never got nicked, the swords would never go through all of those layers. But being so padded that you can't put our arms down towards your sides always made it more difficult.

And speaking of nicked, Athos' ears suddenly picked up on something, and the following second, his dagger was in his hand as he parried a sword coming at him. He pulled out his sword as well, and a short fight later, d'Artagnan could find himself lying on his back in a cart of hay, with Athos' sword towards his injured side – without touching it of course. D'Artagnan was scowling as Athos sheathed his sword and dagger, and offered a helping hand out of the cart.

"You need to stop this before I hurt you." Athos mumbled as d'Artagnan's hand went to his side, clutching it as he tried to catch his breath. "I don't want you further more injured than you already are."

"I'm fine. And I will win the bet."

Athos smiled gently, putting his head to his side as he met the youngster's eyes. Oh so naïve. "You keep telling yourself that. But please, I don't mean to hurt you, so please don't make me do it by mistake."

D'Artagnan just shook his head, his much-shorter-hair jumping around his ears. "I will be fine."

Athos just gave him a wave of dismissal with his hand, before turning his back on the youngster, and headed out to the stables. He thought for a second that d'Artagnan would follow him and try again, but apparently he had some sense in him to go back to the dining hall.

Athos entered the stable and walked over to their horses, and he was stunned as he saw Roger's door open. He was instantly on his guard, worried that someone had done something to his horse. He could see Roger's back, but the horse did not lift his head up to greet him as he usually did, and Athos could feel his stomach roll… Had someone hurt his beloved friend? Had someone given him something, or cut a tendon off with a dagger? Had someone…

He deadpanned as he rounded the corner and got a full view of his horse. Sitting in a pile of hay was Julie, the innkeepers' daughter, and she was completely leaning against Roger's head, her head resting against his forehead and her small hands holding onto his ears, as he had tucked his muzzle down into her lap. Both of them had their eyes closed as Julie was humming a song. Athos couldn't help but to grin, his other so noble and stoic stallion that would never let anyone else deal with him without at least trying to make a fuzz about it, was totally in love with this little girl who had found him. Athos usually pulled children away from Roger, as the horse seemed to dislike the noisy children even more than Athos himself – but this girl certainly was something extraordinaire.

"Hello there." Athos said quietly, not wanting to spoke neither horse nor child. Both of them looked up at the same time, and Julie let go of Roger with a high squeal, jumped out of the hay and ran over to Athos. She put her hand in his again, and looked up at him with those big, brown eyes.

"Is this your horse monsieur Athos?"

"Yes, it is my horse. His name is Roger." Athos said, lifting his hand without taking his eyes off Julie, and placed the hand on Roger's forehead as the stallion walked closer.

"He is so pretty."

"He's a good one." Athos smiled, patting his neck. "And I think he wants some rest."

Julie nodded happily as Athos closed the door to Roger's stable. Athos pulled up a piece of a carrot from his pocket, and handed it to Roger who took it happily.

"Are these other horses your friends?" Julie asked, pulling Athos long to the next stable, where Zad was. Porthos' mixbreed moved at the sound of their voices, and put his head out of the stable, leaning down in an attempt to reach the little girl.

"Yes, this is Zad. He belongs to Porthos."

Julie reached her hand up and tried to pet his muzzle, but wasn't really able to reach. She tried several times before she tugged at Athos' hand, looking up at him with her eyes wide.

"Monsieur, I can't reach him."

Athos contemplated a moment on how to deal with this, before he decided to lift her up onto his hip, much to her delight. She tucked her legs around him, allowing him to hold her safely around her waist, as she happily petted Zad on his forehead. Athos gave her a piece of a carrot so she could give it to him. She held out her hand with her fingers straight like her mother had shown her several times, and then clapped her hands happily as Zad took it from her.

They moved on, Athos still with her on his hip, as they went to check on Belle and Buttercup as well. Julie was thrilled to all the horses eating out of her hands, and Athos couldn't help but to smile at her joy and excitement. While she enjoyed the gentle horses, Athos looked into them all making sure they all had plenty of straw, hay and water. Pleased to see the stableboy had given them excellent care, he could focus on the girl on his hip instead.

As they finished, Julie wrapped her arms around his neck, a big yawn escaping her lips. Assuming the girl should probably be in bed soon, Athos decided it was time to get back inside. Not having the heart to put the sleepy girl down, he carried her back up to the house, and only put her down as he entered the dining hall. She blinked sleepily at him as he pulled his fingers through her dark hair.

"You should go sleep. We'll see you tomorrow."

"I'm not tired!" Julie immediately protested, but another yawn choose that time to escape her lips and she pouted angrily as her body betrayed her.

"Go sleep love." Athos whispered, going down to rest on one knee, pinching her nose like he had seen Aramis do. "And sleep tight. We'll see you at breakfast I'm sure."

Julie nodded as she gave Athos a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. Athos was thrown back, not used to all of this affection, but wasn't sure of what else to do than to hug her back. As he let go, so did she, and soon she was out of his sight. Athos got back up onto his feet, looked around and found three Musketeers staring at him from across the room. He sighed, knowing he would regret not dropping her off outside the room, as he walked over to his friends, sat down and drowned an entire cup of wine in one go.

"Père Athos, I knew you were good with children." Aramis grinned widely as he placed a hand on Athos' shoulder. Athos did not reply, he only growled with a stern look at Aramis that told him to back off.

Aramis was just about to say something, when he noticed movement by the side of the table – something was being dragged across the floor – and he leaned over Athos to see what it could possibly be.

Of course it was Julie, the stubborn child not ready to go to bed just yet, and she was half-dragging, half-carrying a guitar with her. It was bigger than she was tall, and she was really putting in an effort trying to get it to the men's table. Athos couldn't help but to put his head into his hands for a second, a deep sigh escaping his lips. He would never get out of this now, and he knew he would never hear the end of this.

Julie was frowning by the time she made it to the table, a small sweat breaking out at the top of her neck. She pulled the guitar the last bit, and leaned it against Athos' knee.

"Play!" She giggled happily as she then proceeded in climbing up next to Athos on the bench, leaning against his side, a big happy smile on her face.

The other three men at the table could barely hold back their laughter. Out of all of them, Athos was the most unlikely to play a happy tune on a guitar. None of them could play, but they would've at least not been looking as grumpy as Athos was right now. He looked like he was ready to blow.

But Julie would not take no for an answer, and an angry pout made it's way to her face as her small hands grabbed onto his leather sleeve, pulling at it before gesturing wildly towards the guitar.

"Please monsieur Athos, play for me. I cannot sleep until father played, and he won't be home til late mother says."

D'Artagnan, Aramis and Porthos were all ready to burst with laughter as Athos caved, only their hands towards their mouths holding it in. Athos wanted to get up and leave, but Julie's puppy eyes being just too much to handle. He could not say no to this little girl, it was just not going to happen. So with an greatly exaggerated sigh to demonstrate just how much he did not want to do this, he picked the guitar up into his lap, as Julie clapped her hands in excitement, before wrapping her arms around him midsection.

Athos sent the other men an angry glare as they were now laughing through their hands, none of them being able to look up to one another in the fear of bursting completely, before he turned his attention to the girl, talking as softly as he could.

"Is there anything in particular you would like to hear?"

Julie sat quiet for a second, her forehead frowning deep in thought, before she lit up, and came up with a song she wanted. Athos was just glad he knew which song it was, and he moved his fingers to the tight strings of the instrument, testing its tune slightly before finding the rhythm of the song requested.

The intense giggling of his comrades quickly turned into silenced shock as Athos begun playing. He knew how to do this. He was not just fiddling with the string as they thought he would so awkwardly be doing, he was actually playing. And it was beautiful. His fingers moved over the strings with a gentle determination, and he never once took his eyes away from Julie who was grinning pleased. He just knew how to move his hands to create beautiful sound. He had certainly done this before.

And then he began singing. Softly, gently, leaning into the words. And if they had thought the guitar to be beautiful, it was nothing compared to Athos' voice as he sang. Jaws dropped, and they all turned to stare at each other. They had not expected this to come from Athos, not from his lips, not from his fingers. But they all ended up staring at him during the entire song. Julie nestled up next to him, leaning against his side and pushing her face into his jacket, ending up underneath his right arm, which was placed on top of the guitar. Athos didn't stop playing, nor singing, even as she drifted off to sleep, but he didn't look up at his friends either. They all figured that if he did, he would probably stop immediately and he couldn't do that to her.

As Athos hummed the last words out, and his fingers slowly stopped playing, no one around the table said anything for a long time. They were all shocked and amazed, and yes, it does take a lot to render all of these men speechless. But Athos had done it, and he had done it oh so well. Even Aramis was choking on the words, silence still hovering the table as Athos put away the guitar, and wrapped his right arm around Julie as she snuggled closer. He sighed, looking up to meet the eyes of his brothers as he grabbed his glass of wine and emptied it.

Still, no one had found words.

Athos sighed, refilling his glass. "Okay. Out with it, let me never hear the end."

Aramis was the first one to find appropriate words, but even as he opened his mouth to speak, it was only a trembling whisper. "Athos, c'était magnifique."

"Ey, that was magnificent." Porthos agreed, his voice too just a low rumble. D'Artagnan didn't do anything else but nod.

Athos was so bright red that they were afraid he might just burst from embarrassment. But, a small grin was approaching, and they could all tell he was smiling down into his cup.

Then Aramis found his voice again, and there was suddenly no stop. His hands accompanied him as well in wide gestures. "Athos! Why did you never talk of this? That was truly amazing, it was beautiful. Your voice is that of an angel! You need to sing more often, and the guitar – you play the guitar? You never told us that either!"

Athos hushed at Aramis as his protective arm around Julie pulled her closer to him as she was squirming. His fingers went carefully through her hair, and she relaxed into his hand. Making sure she was still sleeping, he smiled gently at his friends. As his secret was out, he could just go on and tell them.

"My mother was a musician, and she taught me to play several different instruments. My favourite is the viol. The singing… I never trained it, but I've been doing it since young age, I always found it to have a calming effect. I just… I have never done it in front of anyone else before. Except my mother, of course."

"I feel so special." Aramis smiled, his right hand pressed against his heart as he looked to meet d'Artagnan and Porthos' eyes, the two of them grinning widely as they followed Aramis' gesture, covering their hearts as well. This had been such a special moment, and they were happy that Athos felt safe enough with them to be able to share it.

Athos rolled his eyes at their gestures, and had another sip of wine, just as Madame Villeneuve approached the table, her eyes set on the girl.

"There she is…" The woman turned to look at Athos. "Monsieur, I do apologize if she has been any trouble. She's a bit too brave for her own good and she do like meeting new people. She just sneaks out when I'm busy with her brothers. I will take her off your hands, I am very sorry about her intrusion… again."

"No need to worry, she has not been intruding." Athos smiled as he gently shook the girl awake.

"Not at all." Aramis quickly added before the woman had time to say anything. "She's a sweet little girl who brings out the best of people."

The woman smiled relieved as she looked around among the men, not sure what they were referring to but glad her daughter had not been up to her normal mischief. She carefully woke her daughter up, and Julie grinned happily as she saw her mother. Julie stood up on the bench, gave Athos a quick peck on the cheek before jumping down onto the floor, hugging her mother's leg as Athos – Mr Bright Red Face – handed the guitar over to the woman. The mother and daughter took each other's hands, and said their goodbyes as they turned and walked away.

As they left, they could hear the mother lean down and whisper. "Well at least your taste is good considering you picked a group of the King's Musketeers. It could've been worse."

A smile spread across the faces of all four men around the table at that. What a little girl. Not only had she managed to choose them, but she had singled Athos out straight away. None of the other could sing nor play but they would've all done it with all their heart without hesitation no matter how bad it would've been. The fact that she picked Athos – and the fact that he had blown their minds – was just perfect.

"So what you're telling us is that you are a musician?" D'Artagnan suddenly asked, apparently he had found his words. Athos nodded gently. "I always thought Aramis was the musician of the group."

"I've always wanted to learn the Spanish guitar but never done so. Now, when I have a teacher, things will change!" Aramis grinned happily. Playing an instrument usually went along well with the ladies.

Athos groaned unhappily, knowing this would definitely not be the last he heard of the matter.

There you go, Athos is a musician and singer! Some of you did guess that right. I do have a picture in my head of him being a painter as well, just you know, an artist in general. I think it would suit him well. But that will be for another story. Now there's only a few chapters left, but you don't really think the boys are completely safe and happy and emotionally healed right? Cause that doesn't sound like our boys!