Evening My Lovelies
Wow... Okay.. This chapter got a lot more emotionally intense then I was originally planning, especially at the end. Be prepared people.
Also Wow the outcry over the mere possibly of Jacques dying! So much love for the young boy I'm sure he appreciates it :D
Due to this he WILL LIVE! And as a special thanks for the love you all seem to have for him I'm planning a special scene for him that'll appear near the end of the story so stay with me for that :)
Notes On Reviews:
Deana: Thanks for the review - Glad you liked it, I don't think Aramis knows what slow down means when it's said to him lol. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Katie (Guest): Thanks for the review - I wont say either way as to her fate, you'll have to read and find out... Though I'm hoping the hate comes from her personality and actions rather then the fact I wrote a sucky character. Enjoy the new chapter! x
criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - Oooh? I always welcome suggestions. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - Treville got to have a mini rant so I was happy :) D'Art's very worried and after today's chapter so will be Porthos (though not about the same thing) I couldn't resist the chest comment, glad you liked it. Hmm doesn't seem like Viv has many people caring what's going to happen to her... though that's what she gets for almost killing one of our boys. Enjoy the new chapter! x
FierGascon: Thanks for the review - Ha! Don't believe that innocent look at all :) Worry not Jacques will live... Viv? Well read on and find out. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Issai: Thanks for the review - He's a proper prince charming him :D I'm thinking we'll still see angsty D'Art, just during Jacques recovery instead of mourning his death (I fear for my life if I killed the stableboy off lol) Hmmm We may have some bad waiting for our lovely medic, hopefully the evil part of you enjoys it... though we don't really see the full extent of it and we wont until tomorrow. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Helensg: Thanks for the review - How odd you're not getting update emails :( I have no idea what's going on there I'm afraid. Glad you liked the Athos tied to the bed bit :) Who knows... our lovely swordsman is quite stubborn, they may need to do so again. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Maryg (Guest): Thanks for the review - The fact that you take the time to read my work at all is great enough for me :) Hopefully you enjoyed your mini binge of the last few chapters. Mwhaha i Know! No one is safe when I unleashed the demon that is my evil mind lol. Hopefully this chapter counts as the something bad you were thinking of, though there is a bit more to come relating to this. Thanks for the congrats. Enjoy the new chapter! x
f1gymnast: Thanks for the review - Hehe Glad you liked it. I'm very tempted to have our boy do it to him again... we'll have to see how it works into the story. D'Art tried to help out his friend and got the both of them punished instead... though at least they'll have company now. It's alright I forgot about her too lol. Enjoy the new chapter! x
watlocked: Thanks for the reviews - (chapter64) Gotta love medic mode Aramis, he's lots of fun to write :D worry not Jacques will live. (chapter65) Bwhaha loved the start of this review :D Yeah I think that quote's from fast & furious franchise but I agree, definitely applies here too. Haha oooh I do love the begging, makes me feel all evil :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
pallysdeeks: Thanks for the review - They don't seem to be having the best of lucks right now bless them :) Oh we all know the thoughts you were having ;) and you might get to have them again as I'm debating them being forced to tie him up again ;) ... no such 'imagery' today though I'm afraid. Enjoy the new chapter! x
MicheeO: Thanks for the review - Oh it's sooooo tempting to go against what you're all asking me to do just to see the responses I'd get lol :D Worry not though Jacques will live. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - Haha glad you liked it, I'm not quite sure where it came from but I couldn't help myself. If they gave out awards for the best scowl Athos would win. Hands down. Every. Single. Time lol :D Treville just wanted to rant but he did have good reason to be angry at his men, at least the two boys will have each other for company while they work in the armory. Yeah I get what you're say... that and I'm slightly worried what you all would do to me if I killed the poor stablehand off lol Worry not Jacques will live. Hope you like what I have planned for today's chapter. Enjoy the new chapter! x
As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading. Love you all!
Enjoy!
xxx
Chapter Sixty-Six: Vivienne
"Vivienne!" roared Aramis, stumbling slightly as he came to a stop out in the garrison courtyard, his eyes widening with fear as he saw the young woman, now sporting a bright red cheek and a long cut down one of her arms.
"See," jeered the man holding her as he danced the bloodied tip of his blade across her skin making her whimper in fear. "I told you he would come for you."
Vivienne wanted to say something back but fear had her frozen solid. She still couldn't believe Aramis was standing before her, worry and fear for her clear on his face.
When the shot had rung out sometime earlier the men guarding her temporary cell had rushed off, leaving her alone and unguarded. It had taken her a few minutes to gather up the nerve to risk escaping, knowing that her punishment would be severely worse if she was caught.
It had taken her some time to get out of her restraints but once she had she threw caution to the wind and ran from her cell.
For a moment she thought she had succeeded but then she was grabbed from behind and pushed against a wall.
FLASH BACK
"Well lookie here," jeered a familiar voice sending chills down the woman's spine.
"A…Aimeric," she stammered, her eyes filling with fear as she tried not to outwardly show the panic now threatening to overwhelm her. When Marcel and Daviau had first captured her the pair had questioned her endlessly before finally sending for Aimeric, his orders… to get the information from her by any means necessary.
The man had taken a great deal of sadistic pleasure in hearing her scream and beg. To be in front of him now… alone and unarmed, terrified her.
"And just where do you think you're going love?" he asked, his grip on her arm tightening just enough to draw a small whimper of pain from her. When she refused to answer, too lost in painful memories to respond, the man took the time to look her over, instantly noticing the clear sign of restraints on her wrists.
"Oooh," chuckled Aimeric and he grabbed her hand and brought her wrist up close for inspection, a smirk forming on his face as he felt her tremble in fear at his touch. "Someone's been naughty. What'cha do to get these love?"
A flash of defiance settled within her as she tried to rip her arm free of his grip, but that only served to make her tormentor angry enough to backhand her hard enough to send her tumbling to the ground.
"Come now pet," he crooned as he let his fingers graze her back, right where he knew the scars of their last encounter would be. "Surely you've learnt by now what happens when you disobey me." Vivienne let out a small but audible whimper of fear at that, "So let's try again… How'd you get locked up?"
Knowing what would happen if she refused once again to answer Vivienne explained the actions that led to her capture and arrest.
"Aramis huh," mused Aimeric as a dark, almost predatory look entered his eyes. "The same man you were so adamant would save you?"
Still sufficiently terrified Vivienne could do nothing but nod weakly in response.
Aimeric grinned, "I seem to remember you saying he was one of the best in the regiment and was definitely the best shot."
Not so much a question but Vivienne nodded weakly anyway.
"I wonder if he could beat me," mused Aimeric as he twirled a small throwing dagger. "First though," he said, his voice cold and dark as he grabbed her arms, "I'll need bait."
"He… He won't come," protested Vivienne weakly as the pair neared the infirmary, having heard the most noise coming from there. "I… I almost killed his best friend, he won't care enough to come for me."
Aimeric smirked, sending tremors down her spine as he turned to face her, dagger now gripped in his hand. "Well then," he crooned, "We'll have to give him… incentive," at this he drew his blade down the length of her nearest arm, shoulder to elbow, relishing in her scream of pain the whole time.
END FLASHBACK
"Let her go!" demanded Aramis as he glared at the man before him, his hand gripping the pommel of his sword.
"Are you sure you want me to?" queried the man, a dark smirk gracing his face as he drew yet another terrified whimper from his captive. "She did try to kill you after all, she almost killed your friend in doing so. Why would you want her free?"
Aramis glared at the man, drawing his blade and pointing it at him. "I won't ask again. Let. Her. Go."
The man seemed to be considering it for a moment before he noticed the growing audience they had accumulated and his smirk turned deadly.
"If you say so musketeer," he mocked, ignoring the flash of surprise on Vivienne's face in favor of stabbing his dagger into her stomach, watching with sadistic glee as she crumpled to the ground, an agonized scream tearing from her lips.
"NO!" roared Aramis as he tried to rush to the now heavily bleeding woman's side, only to be stopped by the bloodied blade then being thrown at him.
"What?" Aimeric asked with mock innocence. "I let her go as you asked… If you wanted her unharmed, well then you should have said so."
Noticing both Porthos and D'Artagnan rushing to Vivienne's side Aramis let himself channel all his anger on the man in front of him.
"I. Will. Kill. You" he spat, lashing out with his blade, only for his blow to be parried with surprising force.
"We'll see about that musketeer," grinned Aimeric.
Aimeric could tell he had the clear advantage in their fight, not only was he larger then the musketeer but his opponent was clearly injured, the squinting of his eyes told of a headache and the way he held himself and favoured one leg more than the other spoke of several other healing injuries, all open for him to take advantage off.
Never one to ignore an opportunity presented to him Aimeric aimed several fast attacks at the musketeer's weaker side, a smug grin growing on his face a he felt his blade connect and pierce skin… True the man had managed to avoid the worst of the hit at the last moment but his attack had still managed to draw blood.
Scowling at the long but shallow cut he was now sporting just above his weaker knee Aramis knew he needed to focus. For the duration of the fight he knew his attention had been split between the fight and the cries of pain coming from Vivienne… cries that were getting progressively weaker.
"Why are you doing this?" he growled, leaning backwards just enough to avoid another large sweep of his opponent's blade, following the dodge up with a strong kick to the man's ankle and a bash to the knee with the pommel of his blade, making his shout and curse in pain.
There, smirked the marksman having noticed his opponent now limping from his assault on his leg. Even playing field now.
Aimeric blinked, looking slightly surprised that the musketeer would ask him that, though the temporary distraction allowed Aramis to get in a sweep of his own. One Aimeric wasn't as quick to dodge, leaving the man with a deep, bleeding wound on his arm.
"Why?" asked Aimeric curiously as he parried another attack from the tiring musketeer, following the move up with the throw of another small dagger, this one landing slightly above the medic's healing gunshot wound, making his grunt at the pain as he pulled it out, somehow remembering to keep hold of it in case his opponent had poisoned his blades.
"Daviau is dead," stated the medic as he blocked an attack with his blade while his unarmed hand threw a punch at Aimeric's cheek, successfully sending the man stumbling back a few paces with an audible grunt.
"Marcel's captured," he continued, this time punching the man in the stomach.
"And the hired thugs are dead so why are you here? You gain nothing by fighting us."
"Simple," smirked Aimeric as he spat out a mouthful of blood, having bitten his cheek as the musketeer had hit him.
"Because it's fun."
The musketeer was stopped from responding when his opponent practically flew at him, their blades clashing continuously as both men fought for dominance.
For several minutes the pair seemed surprisingly well matched given the musketeer's existing injuries but before too long it became clear that Aramis was fading… and fading fast. His moves were sloppier and his reaction time was practically non-existent, leaving him to accumulate a range of new wounds.
Aimeric on the other hand, although tired, was holding up much better, though his limp was now much more pronounced and he had been forced to abandon his attempt to use his injured arm as it became too weak to be of any use.
"Hey musketeer," called Aimeric, breathing heavily as he wiped some blood out of his eye, Aramis having landed a hit on his head that cut just above his eyebrow.
Too tired to waste energy on verbal responses Aramis settled for glaring at the man instead.
"How bout we end this?"
Now this, this caught Aramis's attention and Aimeric could tell. Moving his injured arm slowly to rest on the pistol strapped to his belt, noticing this Aramis felt his own arm doing the same.
"One shot," explained Aimeric with an arrogant smirk on his face. "Whoever's quicker survives," sparing a quick glance over his shoulder his smirk grew as he turned back to face the musketeer, "and from the looks on your 'brothers' faces the girly doesn't have long."
This woke Aramis up, an Athos worthy glare on his face as he nodded his agreement to the arrangement before moving with lightning speed for someone so injured, to draw, aim and fire his pistol, the shot landing in the middle of Aimeric's chest, killing him instantly.
Limping over to check that the man was in fact dead Aramis couldn't help but retort, "If you wanted to go at the same time you should have said so."
"ARAMIS!" yelled D'Artagnan, instantly pulling the medic's attention away from the dead assailant and to the young woman he had once considered a sister as she fought desperately to cling to life.
"Viv!" exclaimed the medic as he all but collapsed at her side, his keen eyes trailing over her body to the wound, taking in the damage done and the amount of blood she had lost despite the best attempts of his brothers. He could tell, just from the location of the wound that it was designed to be fatal, which nothing short of a miracle could have saved her.
"…A'Mis?" whimpered Vivienne, tears and pain blurring her vision as she tried to resist the pull of unconsciousness.
"I'm here Vi," he soothed, gently lifting her into his arms, not caring at all over the blood that was now soaking his clothes. "He's dead… You're safe now."
"…H'rts," she whimpered and all of Aramis's anger towards her flew from his mind as he saw her so close to death and still in pain.
"I know," he nodded, his voice breaking as a sob tried to escape.
"D…Do… you th'nk… I'll… see him… again?" coughed Vivienne weakly as she felt her body abandoning her.
Knowing instantly whom she was referring to Aramis nodded, a blood stained hand coming to brush the loose strands of hair away from her face as tears fell from his eyes, no longer able to stop them.
"He'll be waiting for you," he said softly, tightening the grip he had on the girl as he felt her breathing slow. Forcing a smile on his face he glanced down at the dying woman, who despite everything was weakly smiling too, the notion of seeing her brother again a greater comfort then anything Aramis could have physically done for her.
"Keep him out of trouble for me okay?" asked Aramis quietly, his voice breaking into a small sob as Vivienne tried to nod in response.
Silence fell over the courtyard as Vivienne's breathing slowed to a stop and her heart stopped beating.
The silence was then broken almost instantaneously by the heartbroken sob that exploded out of the medic as the man buried his face into Vivienne's neck, holding the woman close to him as he cried.