Hello. Thank you for all your lovely comments on the last chapter and thank you to the guest reviewers whom I cannot reply to individually. :)

This chapter caused a few problems and hasn't quite got as far as I originally thought. However, I decided to update today so there would be something to read.

I hope you enjoy it. :)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

When the Inseparables returned from the chapel they headed straight to their shared mattress. Tréville watched as the men lay down to sleep and wasn't at all surprised to see Porthos in the middle being used as a pillow by both D'Artagnan and Athos. They were all very downcast and Tréville was praying that they would return to find Aramis alive. If not, these men would be difficult to predict even for their former captain.

Sleep didn't come easily but exhaustion had finally overcome the men and they slept until sunlight started to enter the room through the windows. Tréville made sure he was awake before the others as he plotted the quickest and easiest way to get the Duke back to Paris. Thankfully, it seemed that the Duke's men had decided not to fight and that would make their departure far easier than it could have been.

Tréville was also worried about the information the Duke could give Louis about baby Henry and how the Musketeers had covered up Marie de Medici's coup along with the Cardinal, who could no longer answer to the monarch. In the mood he was currently in, and with Rochefort at his side, Louis would surely be annoyed at the Musketeers for lying rather than praising them for protecting him from his mother. Such was life.

Tréville watched over the silent room and his gaze was drawn to one mattress in particular. He knew he couldn't let them take the fall and therefore there was only once course of action. He was no longer their captain but he hoped they would have enough respect for him to do as he told them. He hated to use Aramis against them but he knew it may be his only option.

The sun was rising and Anne looked at Aramis who was sleeping soundly although his forehead was slightly creased in pain. She knew she would have to leave soon but her heart was now full of hope that he would indeed be well again. His appearance had been a shock to her but know she saw he was still the same man and even illness wasn't able to dull his handsome features. She smiled as she looked at him and was dreading leaving him without saying goodbye.

She held his hand and kissed his knuckles while wondering how he could still make her feel like a blushing little girl when he was ill and fast asleep.

'I take it his fever broke then,' came an amused voice from behind her.

Anne turned to Constance who was rubbing away the sleep from her eyes. 'Yes. And I managed to get him to drink the pain draught and some water,' Anne said clearly proud off herself.

'That is good news,' Constance sighed in relief.

'He was very weak but he did recognise me once the fever went down,' Anne smiled back.

'It was terrifying when he didn't know me,' Constance said quietly as she moved around the bed to check Aramis' temperature by touching his forehead. 'Fever's gone,' she declared.

'One of the cadets brought some food,' Anne indicated the food she had left for Constance and stepped away from Aramis.

'Did you eat it with your fingers, Your Majesty?' Constance asked in jest as she had noticed the lack of cutlery.

'It was a new experience,' Anne said as she blushed slightly.

'I find eating with your fingers tastes better,' Constance said as she popped some bread and cheese in her mouth. 'Not bad,' she announced as she licked her fingers clean.

'I ate the apple,' Anne suddenly said hesitantly.

'Don't worry,' Constance smiled. 'If I want an apple I'll send for one.' She continued to eat as she realised that she was now ravenous.

Anne looked out the window and was startled as to how light it was. 'I really should go,' she said despondently.

'Yes,' Constance agreed.

'Could you write me a note telling me of Aramis' condition?' Anne asked making Constance crease her brow in confusion.

'So if I let slip about Aramis' condition I have evidence,' Anne clarified as she knew she would most certainly end up telling someone that Aramis was recovering without any word being sent to her.

'Of course,' Constance nodded and retrieved paper and a quill form the infirmary office.

Anne watched as Aramis slept and she placed her cloak around her shoulders. She had to go and it was tearing her apart. She just hoped she hadn't been missed otherwise the explanation would be difficult.

'Here,' Constance handed over the note.

'Thank you,' Anne smiled back.

'Anne?' came a quiet croak from across the room and both women turned to see Aramis awake and looking directly at them.

'Aramis,' she called as she walked over to him and sat on his right side on the bed. Constance moved around so that she was sat on his left side. 'You're supposed to be resting,' Anne quietly chastised him.

'Had to see you,' he mumbled. 'Make sure...not a dream.' Anne stroked her hand down the right side of his face making him smile.

'I have to go,' Anne said quietly.

'T'was dangerous...to come,' he said earnestly as Anne rolled her eyes making both Aramis and Constance smile. 'I'm glad you did.'

Anne felt herself blush and Constance's giggle beside her told her that her friend had seen.

'Do you want some water?' Anne asked quietly as Aramis nodded slightly.

With Constance's help they managed to get Aramis to drink a few mouthfuls before he had had enough.

Aramis then looked between the two women sat on his bed and smiled.

'What?' Constance demanded in the brisk manner that she often used when she was stating her authority. Aramis was under no illusion that he held any power in this room. At least for now.

'My nurses are...much better looking...than usual,' he grinned dopily.

He watched as Constance and Anne exchanged slightly confused looks.

'They normally have beards,' he smiled as realisation hit the two women in front of him that he was talking about the other musketeers. 'Well two of them do,' he looked to Constance with a glint in his eye. 'The other one is...trying.'

Constance put on her best 'offended face' and very lightly flicked his cheek with her hand.

'What for...this time?' he sighed.

'For being you,' she smiled warmly at him and he squeezed her hand in return. His eyelids were starting to close now as exhaustion took him over.

'I have to go,' Anne squeezed his hand gently. 'I do wonder if my son is still clinging to his favourite teddy bear,' she smiled and saw Aramis' eyes light up. 'He does so love that teddy bear.'

'You mean the one that calms him instantly?' Constance added looking amused.

'Yes, that's the one.'

'Be careful and stay safe,' Aramis murmured as he raised Anne's hand to his lips.

'Always,' she replied. 'And you get better,' she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

'Always,' he replied as his eyes shut and didn't reopen.

Anne gently tucked his arm under the blanket and stood. She smiled to Constance who moved around the bed to give her friend a hug.

'Be safe going back,' Constance said quietly.

'I will,' Anne replied. 'I just hope that my absence hasn't been noted.'

'Surely you ladies will wake you at the normal time and you have been up all night,' Constance said looking worried.

'They will and I will tell them that I didn't sleep well and that they are to leave me,' Anne said confidently. 'Assuming that no-one has noticed that I wasn't in bed.'

'I think he was glad to see you,' Constance smiled as Anne blushed. 'I'll take good care of him. Well as long as he behaves,' Constance had a mischievous twinkle in her eye which made Anne smile.

'I know you will,' Anne said as she moved towards the door. She took one last glance at Aramis before she opened the door and then shut it behind her.

Constance moved to sit in the vacant chair next to Aramis' bed. 'Don't you dare get any worse now,' she threatened quietly.

Anne quickly found the stable boy who quickly saddled her horse for her. It was still early but the sun had clearly risen and Anne knew she would be exposed. She hoped that she would manage to return to the palace without attracting any attention.

She quickly mounted and guided her horse through the streets. What she saw staggered her as she saw many men and women clearly inebriated and even saw one man and woman having sex in an alley in clear view of anyone who passed by. She had always known that the streets of Paris had their problems but now she realised how sheltered she had been.

She made it to the stables without incident and was grateful. She started to relax but quickly turned away from the red guards that were guarding the stables. She hadn't noticed someone standing behind her until she turned to look him in the eye.

'Jean. You startled me,' she said as she placed her hand over her thumping heart.

'Forgive me, Your Majesty,' he bowed. Anne felt her heart turn to ice. She had been recognised and now she may have a serious amount of explaining to do. 'Are you ok?' Jean jolted her out of her terrifying thoughts.

'Yes,' she gulped. Jean suddenly moved and Anne realised her was blocking her from the guards.

'I'm assuming that you do not wish to be seen,' he smiled warmly. 'Who is Constance?'

'One of my ladies,' she answered honestly as she waited for him to reveal his next move.

'I thought I recognised you last night but in the darkness I told myself I was seeing things,' he said conversationally as he unsaddled the horse that Anne had used.

'What do you intend to do?' Anne asked with a resigned expression.

'What you do is your business and absolutely none of mine,' he reassured her. He wasn't talking to her as if she was Queen and she rather liked that. 'I'll escort you back to the servants quarters so you can lay low. I doubt they know your gone otherwise this place would be crawling with guards.' He was still smiling warmly.

'Thank you,' Anne sighed in relief.

Once Jean had finished with the horses he checked where the guards were. They were currently talking with their backs to stables.

'Useful as always,' Jean muttered under his breath before blushing.

'In this case, I think its best that they are idle,' she stated and gave Jean a smile.

'Just don't look at them and hold onto me,' he said quietly as she took Jean's arm.

Jean appeared to know all of the servants but none took a lot of notice of Anne. One questioned him about her but didn't really look at her as Jean explained that she was new. Eventually, they arrived at the stairwell which led to her apartments.

'Thank you Jean,' she said gratefully.

'A Queen's got to have some secrets,' he winked. 'As far as I know I met a new maid called Constance.'

'Thank you for your discretion,' she nodded to him as he turned away.

'If you ever need to escape again...I work in the kitchens,' he turned and left. Anne suddenly thought of the many reasons why she shouldn't take up his offer as well as the reasons why she should.

She climbed the stairs and walked past her son's room as quietly as she could. Clearly, Jean had been right that her disappearance hadn't been noted and she quickly entered her bedroom and stripped off her clothes. She placed Constance's letter to her in her desk drawer to make sure she had it if she let slip that she knew about Aramis' condition. She knew her ladies would be in to wake her soon but she would just tell them to leave her as she had had very little sleep. That certainly wasn't a lie.

She settled herself between the sheets as a smile formed on her face. Aramis was back from the brink and, although he still had far to go, she was sure he would recover.

As the sunlight became stronger the musketeers started to rise from their short sleep. All of them knew that the Duke was going to be a pain and the trip back to Paris would be testing. What they didn't know was how annoying the Duke was going to be before they had even set off!

'I must be clean to see the King,' he said pompously. The bruises that adorned his face from Porthos' and Athos' punches were clearly visible.

'You are under arrest,' Tréville growled.

'I am used to certain standards and I slept the night on the floor and therefore I must wash and wear clean clothes.'

Tréville turned to look at Athos who was smirking and Athos' glance told the former captain what was on the man's mind.

'Ok,' Tréville agreed as the Duke looked slightly surprised that his request was being granted. 'It will take time for the horses to be saddled and my men require sustenance so you should able to wash and dress in that time.' Tréville's smile was unnerving the Duke. 'Athos, Porthos and D'Artagnan will oversee your ablutions.' Tréville watched as the cocky Duke realised what Tréville had said.

'We would be honoured to be of service,' Athos drawled as he indicated that the Duke should show them to his chambers. Porthos and D'Artagnan exchanged smirks.

The Duke did his best to hold his head high but he realised that he had certainly not won this round.

The Duke quickly came to realise that he would be afforded no privacy at all as the three musketeers watched him undress and wash.

'You missed a bit,' Porthos called clearly amused at the situation as he bit down on an apple. They hadn't allowed the Duke's dresser in the room either but he was rather glad that Athos had chosen a decent outfit.

'Practical and elegant,' he had said as he chomped some grapes.

'You might want to hurry this up as the longer you take the faster we have to ride,' D'Artagnan pitched in with a grin as he munched some cheese and bread.

'And the faster we go the more dust we kick up,' Porthos added.

The Duke was soon washed and dressed and biting back his embarrassment and he had no idea how else to delay the trip. He was rather annoyed that his own men had run away and that only a few of the musketeers had real injuries.

'Feeling better?' Tréville raised an eyebrow as the Duke emerged.

'I am at least clean,' the Duke replied.

'Good. Time to go,' Tréville led the Duke outside where the remaining musketeers were already mounted and ready to leave.

'Where's my carriage?' the Duke demanded.

'Takes too long,' Porthos growled as he pushed the Duke towards the horse he would be riding.

'Hands,' Athos demanded and the Duke took a look around before complying. Athos tied the Duke's hands loosely enough to be able to use the reins but there was enough restriction that the Duke couldn't do much else.

The Duke mounted and then noticed that the reins of his horse were also connected to another horse. Porthos' horse.

'Weren't thinking of riding off, were yer?' Porthos chuckled when he saw the Duke's glance.

'Let's go,' Tréville called as the group started to head towards Paris.

Constance sat at Aramis' bedside as he continued to sleep. She had left him briefly to see to her own needs but she wasn't worried about him anymore. She had instructed the garrison cook to make some broth and he complied, but he did seem rather put out about following her instructions. When she had forced the issue that it was for Aramis he had confirmed that he would do as she asked.

She rose from her chair and decided that the place needed a proper clean and set to work. She cleaned all of the work surfaces with the left over water that she had used to cool Aramis and felt she had done a rather good job.

Suddenly, she felt eyes looking at her and turned to see Aramis awake and smiling.

'How long have you been watching?' she placed he hands on her hips.

'A while,' he smiled back.

'How are you feeling?' she moved across to him.

'Fine,' he said automatically and then winced at Constance's disbelieving expression.

'You call this fine?' she indicated him lying in the bed.

'Alright. I'm in pain, my head hurts, I'm dehydrated and I feel useless,' he reeled off.

'Well, at least you're telling the truth now,' she smiled as she helped him sit up. He was very weak but he had lost a lot of body weight and Constance was able to manoeuvre him into a sitting position as he rested on pillows.

'Here,' she said as she brought water to his lips and he drank greedily.

'Constance?'

'Yes.'

'Could you go and get one of the cadets for me, please?' he asked looking slightly apprehensive.

'Why?' Constance asked looking confused.

'Well...it's just that...I...I need to relieve myself,' he finally huffed looking embarrassed. Constance had never seen him blush like that. Ever.

'Oh.' She said. 'You don't want me looking.' He nodded without meeting her eyes. 'Who's to say I didn't already take a peek?' she teased.

'Constance!' he sounded exasperated as she grinned widely.

'You think you're the only one that can tease?' she laughed.

The door to the infirmary opened and Dr. Jardin walked in and looked rather stunned by the scene in front of him. After a moment he regained his senses and smiled as he moved towards Aramis.

'Well monsieur, I hope you can forgive me for believing the worst when I arrived here today,' Dr. Jardin looked slightly anxious.

'I did too,' Aramis admitted.

'I told you he was stubborn,' Constance smiled.

'And I apologise to you too Madame-'

'No need,' Constance waved his apology away. 'Right,' she said suddenly business-like. 'I'm going to check on the broth I ordered for you and the good doctor can help you with using the chamber pot.' With that she left Aramis smirking and the doctor looking a bit stunned.

'You don't argue with her, do you?' the Jardin smiled at Aramis.

'Not if you want to live,' Aramis agreed.

'Right let's move you to the edge of the bed,' Jardin said as he helped Aramis sit at the edge of the bed. Jardin picked up the chamber pot and realised he would have to hold it for the musketeer.

Aramis looked embarrassed as the doctor steadied him by placing a hand on his shoulder while the other hand held the pot.

'Don't worry, I've seen it all before,' the doctor said quietly and Aramis knew he had no reason to be embarrassed but he couldn't stop the feeling.

'You're very dehydrated which is unsurprising,' Jardin said as he helped Aramis back into a sitting position, leaning against the pillows.

The doctor then checked Aramis' cuts and was pleased to report that the infection seemed to be gone and that they were starting to heal. Aramis fingernails, though still dark from dried blood, were starting to clear and evidence of new nail growth could be seen at the quicks.

'Not too shabby,' the doctor chuckled once he had finished his examination. 'You will need rest though,' he said poignantly.

'I know,' Aramis said with an air of petulance.

'I expect your sister will keep you in line,' the doctor's eyes held a knowing look.

'You know she's not my sister,' Aramis admitted.

'Of course,' Jardin smiled back. 'But she protected you like one. You mean a lot to her and she does to you. But it's not romantic,' the doctor said thoughtfully. 'It is rather like siblings.'

'I suppose it is,' Aramis agreed and then yawned.

'Oh no you don't,' Constance appeared in the doorway as Aramis was yawning. 'You're having some of this broth before you sleep again.'

'How can I argue with that?' Aramis turned to see Jardin smiling.

'I shall leave you both to it. Here are another couple of pain draughts,' he said as he collected his things. 'I will update Dr. Lemay and I'll check in on you this evening. You know where to find me if you need me,' he gave a last smile and left the room.

Constance sat on the bed and lifted the cup which Aramis tried to take but his hands wouldn't let him. Constance could see the frustration creeping into his expression.

'Stop expecting too much of yourself,' she smiled kindly as he finally drank with her help. He managed a few more mouthfuls before shaking his head and then stopping as his headache made itself known.

'Here,' Constance helped him drink the pain draught and then helped him lie down.

'Thank you,' he mumbled as his eyes shut and sleep overcame him again.

A/N: If you're wondering what has happened to Rochefort, he will be back in the next chapter. If you were wondering...