Hi. Posting this today as Season 3 finally starts in the UK today. :)

To Guest who liked the Comte de Fortier, I like him too and he is quite fun to write.

Hope you enjoy this chapter and I've managed to get the brotherly banter right. :)

Chapter Seven

The musketeers were led to their rooms by one of the Comte's serving girls and Athos opened the door to the first room. Inside were two beds with crisp white sheets, a bucket of water and some apples placed in a bowl. Lying at the foot of the beds were their four saddlebags. All of them in turn went and located their own bag before looking around the room the room in earnest.

'Nice innit,' Porthos said with a grin.

'Much better than some of the places we've stayed in, that's for sure,' agreed Aramis.

'What do you think of the Comte?' asked D'Artagnan.

'I like 'im. For a noble he cares 'bout people more than expensive property, which is rare. That makes 'im ok in my book,' Porthos said with sincerity. D'Artagnan nodded in agreement and looked to Aramis for his response, 'What he said,' the marksman replied simply.

Athos was listening to the conversation and realised it had stopped and looked up to see his brother's waiting for his comment. 'I find that nobles who desire higher status and more power are more likely to value objects over people. Fortier obviously has no desire for more power and status and is therefore not blinded by greed.' Athos turned back to his saddlebag, effectively ending the conversation.

The others looked rather stunned by Athos' statement until Aramis broke the silence, 'The wise man has spoken,' he said with a cheeky grin. Porthos and D'Artagnan roared with laughter while Athos pursed his lips, albeit with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

'Right Porthos, let's go and check out next door,' said Aramis cheerily. 'Meet you two in about fifteen minutes?' Both D'Artagnan and Athos nodded as they began to unpack their saddlebags as Aramis and Porthos entered the room next to theirs.

Rochefort sat at his desk trying to work out his scheme and whether it could possibly work. If Renard was sincere about his hatred for the musketeers he would surely appear with duke tomorrow and Rochefort needed as many pieces of his plan in place if he was to succeed in convincing them to help him and quickly, as the plan only had a small window of time to work.

The key point to the plan was the place where the ambush could take place and then allow Renard and his men to leave without being captured. Rochefort knew of a deserted shack that could be used that had a hidden exit, allowing the men to get away.

Rochefort knew that if this plan worked, he might be able to disgrace the Musketeer regiment to the point of no return, gain the king's absolute trust and bring himself closer to Anne. He just needed the Duke of Épernon to agree to help and if the duke had enough men to ambush the musketeers then he would be willing give the duke the musketeer he desired. Rochefort pondered who out of Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan had crossed the duke and how they would meet their end. In the end he knew it didn't matter which one it was, the inseparables would be wounded and therefore vulnerable.

Aramis poked his head around the door to inform Athos and D'Artagnan that he would meet them downstairs as he wanted to go and check on Herbert. When the other three musketeers were ready they made their way down to the room where they had previously been ushered by the Comte to find the table now laden with five plates each with a roll, a slice of ham, some cheese and some grapes.

The musketeers turned to see Fortier enter the room from a different door, 'Please sit and eat as much as you like,' he said with true warmth in his voice. The Comte noticed that there were only three musketeers before him and asked, 'Where is….erm….don't tell me his name, let me think for a moment.' The Comte's features creased as he tried to remember the name of the missing musketeer. 'Aramis?' he asked hesitantly.

As the musketeers pulled out their chairs, Athos confirmed the name of their missing brother, 'Aramis has gone to check on Herbert and will meet us here soon.'

'Thank you….Athos?' Athos nodded to confirm that the Comte had the correct name.

'Now let me see…..D'Artagnan?' Fortier nodded towards the younger man, 'And Porthos?' to the larger man now on his right. Both nodded and smiled and Fortier looked rather pleased with himself.

The musketeers settled themselves at the table and poured themselves some wine as Aramis finally entered the room.

'Aramis!' Fortier exclaimed, 'How is Herbert?'

Aramis pulled out the chair next to Porthos and sat down before he answered, 'Dr. Allard is happy with how he's recovering and hopefully he should be back to his normal self soon,' Aramis finished with a smile.

Soon they were all eating and the musketeers began to realise how hungry they had been. A bowl of apples had also been placed on the table and the musketeers took one each and Fortier explained that they came from his small orchard.

Once the plates were cleared a decanter of brandy was brought in and Fortier encouraged his servants to get some rest as it was getting rather late. The Comte poured the brandy for his guests and himself and leant back in his chair, savouring a sip of the liquid.

'Well now, I was wondering if you would tell me about these men who attacked you today?' Fortier asked looking truly interested.

'Well, we were passing a wood and we heard a gunshot,' started Athos.

'It was that gunshot that startled Herbert's horse and led to him being thrown to the ground,' interjected Aramis.

'Yes. Then we were attacked by ten men who came charging out of the trees.'

'They were pretty hopeless shots, to be honest, though one shot did only jus' miss my head.' Porthos continued.

'Aramis and I managed to kill three them with our own shots, which left us with seven men between the four of us,' said Athos matter-of-factly.

Before Athos could continue Fortier interrupted him, 'So, the four of you took on ten men!?' he asked in astonishment.

'In total, yes,' said D'Artagnan, entering the conversation for the first time. 'We fought two men each, apart from Aramis who was only fighting one-'

'I was trying to fight my opponent while making sure Herbert was ok and not treading on him,' said Aramis in mock offense.

'Oh, we just thought you wanted an easier fight,' teased D'Artagnan.

'I never hold back from a fight!'

'True, 'cos you normally start 'em,' laughed Porthos.

'Maybe we should remember that Aramis' skill with a pistol meant that he hit both his targets and as I hit one as well there were only seven men left to fight, so one of us was bound to only fight one man,' reasoned Athos before sipping his brandy.

'Thank you, Athos,' Aramis said defiantly.

Three smiles had appeared on the musketeer's faces, while Athos had settled for an amused smirk, and Fortier watched the exchange with a rather large grin on his face, noting that these men weren't just colleagues, they were more like brothers.

'Eventually, we defeated eight of our attackers, while two fled,' said Athos, turning back to Fortier. 'I followed but I heard horse's retreating so the two unfortunately escaped,' he concluded with obvious disappointment in his voice.

'Well, I'd heard that the King's Musketeers were the best soldiers in France, now I know the rumours were correct,' Fortier beamed.

'So, you said you'd had a rough day. What happened?' asked D'Artagnan.

'Somehow, the hay in one of the outer buildings caught fire and we had to douse it. I burned my forearm,' Fortier lifted his left sleeve to show a bandage, 'and Dr. Allard put some foul smelling medicine on it to help it heal.'

'Was anyone else hurt an' did the fire destroy much?' Porthos queried.

'Thankfully no, as the building was mostly empty and everyone else appears to be smarter than me. That'll teach me to leave the hero stuff others,' said Fortier with a booming laugh. 'Still, I was also worried that something had happened your convoy, as you didn't arrive in the afternoon as we had originally expected. Of course, I'm glad that Herbert will recover and no-one else was seriously injured.'

'As are we,' said Athos as he downed the rest of his brandy and the other musketeers followed suit.

Fortier soon after downed his glass as well and said, 'I suppose it's been a long day and it's time for bed. Before you go, I was wondering when you are expected back in Paris?'

'Saturday,' replied Athos.

'Well, that would be a journey that you could make easily in three days, so you wouldn't have to leave here until Thurs.' Fortier looked around and could see the slightly bemused expressions of the musketeers. 'What I'm trying to say, rather badly, is would like to stay here tomorrow?'

The musketeers again exchanged confused looks before Fortier continued, 'It was just an idea I had, to thank you for everything you've done. Rather than return to Paris straight away you could have a day of relaxation here. You are welcome to explore the grounds or do anything you like. I don't suppose you get many 'days off' and I wondered if this would be something you would consider?' he asked hesitantly, looking at each musketeer in turn.

'That is a very generous offer,' said Athos as he bowed his head slightly in respect. 'May we inform you the morning of our decision?'

'Of course, of course,' replied Fortier now beginning to smile. 'Please discuss it and if you wish to leave tomorrow as planned then my staff will make sure you have everything you need for your journey. If you wish to stay, then you are all more than welcome to and don't worry I won't bother you at all, so you can find some time to yourselves or whatever you want,' he finished with a flourish of his hands.

The musketeers turned to Fortier and in unison said, 'Goodnight Monsieur,' followed by a bow.

'Goodnight gentlemen,' Fortier called before leaving through a different door.

The musketeers climbed the steps to their rooms in silence but Athos could feel three pairs of eyes boring into the back of his skull. When Athos reached his room he turned to face his brothers.

'We know what you're going to say Athos. We are King's Musketeers and it is our duty serve him and we should get back to Paris as soon as possible-'

Aramis was then interrupted by D'Artagnan, 'But we hardly ever get time to relax-'

'An' we hardly ever get a 'day off,' finished Porthos.

Athos held up his hand to quieten his brothers, 'Actually I was going to say, that we would be stupid not to take up his generous offer as we had had very little 'time off' for months. Goodnight,' and with that Athos opened the door and walked into his room leaving his brothers stunned.

Aramis was the first to recover, 'What can I say, you think you know the man…..and then he surprises you.' The remaining musketeers all exchanged looks before bursting out laughing.

'Goodnight,' they all said in unison and turned to their rooms.

Renard urged his horse to go faster. It was almost pitch black with clouds covering the moon but Renard knew this land well and he was not far from home.

He arrived at the estate and immediately asked if the duke had retired for the night. He was told that the duke was still in his study and quickly made his way over there.

'Renard,' greeted the duke. 'I hadn't expected you back so soon.'

'I came back as fast as I could.'

'Why the hurry?'

'The Comte is agreeable with our aims. He wishes to meet you tomorrow at four o'clock outside the South gate.'

'I told you not to mention my name if possible.'

'It was necessary as he would not agree without knowing my master,' Renard decided not to say anything about being practically strangled to death.

'I see. What did he suggest in return for his help?'

'He said he was going to think about it and I'm sure he'll have his conditions when we see him tomorrow.'

'Very well, we should get some sleep. We have a lengthy journey tomorrow.'

Both men left the study eager for sleep as tomorrow was going to be a very important day.