Updated: Monday 4/09/2023


Chapter 3: Letters: Part 1


Treville helped D'Artagnan into the Infirmary. Both thankful that it was empty at the moment. Both for different reasons.

D'Artagnan sat on the bed with a relieved sigh of getting of his now shaking leg. The pain was getting worse.

'Damn. Treville is going to see me go through a pain fit', D'Artagnan thinks grimacing.

"D'Artagnan where are you hurt?" Treville asks urgently seeing the Lad's pain.

D'Artagnan looks up at Treville, "There is nothing to worry about…"

"I beg to differ…"

"Sir my only injuries are old and still healing. Nothing life threatening. I swear on my honour!" D'Artagnan assures him.

Treville was surprised by the Lad's honesty and promise. This was unlike the D'Artagnan he had known 9 months ago.

"Must be some injury to still be effecting you 9 months later", Treville comments and it pains him to see the Gascon flinch at that.

"It was", he heard D'Artagnan mutter.

He takes off his coat and Treville was surprised to see just how many throwing knives and daggers that were strapped to his body.

"Can I lay my weapons somewhere safe Sir?" D'Artagnan asks him.

"Of course. Where did you get those?" Treville asks as he was surprised to see D'Artagnan also pull out a Musket and pistol.

Along with a sword.

D'Artagnan looks at the items fondly, "The people that helped me wouldn't let my go unarmed. They surprisingly have been a bit overprotective of me. Nearly as much as I imagine my Brothers to be"

Treville raises an eyebrow at that.

Who would gift all these things to the young man.

"The horse?" Treville asks.

"They gifted me Midnight too, along with a custom saddle for my needs. The cane they obviously made and they gave me enough clothes, food and money to get by", D'Artagnan asks.
"What did they want in return?" Treville asks knowing this was too good to be true.

D'Artagnan shrugs, "I don't have the answer for that Sir. They were kind to me and I did what I could for them. But I don't know what I did to be given this kind of generosity"

Henri interrupts then coming in with some of the saddle bags with Christian carrying the others and spare weapons.

Treville raises an eyebrow at that.

D'Artagnan shrugs, "Dangerous times"

Treville decides to take that as an answer for now.

"Sir can I have that bag", D'Artagnan says pointing to a specific one.

"Of course,", Treville says grabbing it and was surprised by its weight.

He turns to give it too D'Artagnan just as D'Artagnan takes off his hat and Treville saw the scar along the Gascon's hairline and some small scars across his face.
D'Artagnan meets his eyes knowing the Captain has seen some of the many scars covering his body. He holds out his hand for the bag and the Captain hands it over and goes to inspect the facial scars and was surprised when D'Artagnan flinches back and Treville quickly withdraws.

"D'Artagnan, I didn't mean…"

"No apologies needed Captain. Just be careful", D'Artagnan tells him, not wanting to tell of his obversion to touch, but he knew it was unvenerable.

D'Artagnan rummages through the bag and pulls out several letters and a couple of jars. He mutters going through the letters and picks two out of the pile.

"Here Sir. From my new friends", D'Artagnan says to him holding out the letters.

"Do you know the content of these?" Treville asks him curiously.

"No. But I can guess", D'Artagnan mutters looking annoyed, exasperated, amused and was slightly blushing.

That had Treville intrigued as the Gascon's reaction had been so mixed.

"Read the one by Madame Helene first. She was one of the two people that treated my injuries and I think you'll find her letter the most helpful of the two", D'Artagnan instructs.

Treville nods and breaks the seal and starts to read.

To Captain Treville of the Musketeers,

You don't know me but I know you very well. From the young man that has hopefully given you this letter.

My husband Phillipe and I have been the ones healing Charles or D'Artagnan as you call him. My husband is a Doctor and I'm a healer. We are both very experienced but I must tell you young Charles tested us.

He was found just outside our town barely alive. Many didn't think we should waste resources on a man that was basically a dead man walking. But my husband and I had a feeling and we took a chance and I am sure you have now seen that Charles did indeed survive.

But Deaths Reapers fought had to take his life and Charles won against them THREE times.

You must understand Captain Charles was so badly injured that we were sure some of his injuries would stick around if he survived.

The main problems were the obvious head traumas and his right leg…his WHOLE right leg. His right hip, leg, ankle, foot and several toes were broken. His right knee and ankle dislocated. He seemed to have been stabbed in the hip with a sharp, hot object and there were cuts along the tendons and muscles of that leg. We didn't know if we could say the leg as it was badly infected and was the course of one of his many ailments. But we did what we could to save it.

We'll get back to that.

His head trauma is bad enough that he continues to suffer from headaches from time to time. My husband and I believe that will be an ongoing condition and there isn't much we can do for it. But those headaches Charles can tell you are the least of his worries.

He was whipped severe down to the bone and he was burned and cut in nearly every part of his body. His right arm, hand, wrist and three fingers were broken. He had two dislocated shoulders and his left elbow was dislocated. He had 5 broken ribs and 2 cracked.

His nose and cheekbone were broken and because of his head injury he temporary lost part of his vision. But rest assured that problem has at least corrected itself.

Now back to his leg when he first became aware of it, he couldn't feel it at all. We feared it was paralysed. But over time it seemed to get feeling in it. But it was excruciatingly painful for Charles and won't hold his weight well. (Not that he weighed much). Over time this pain comes and goes and you can normally tell it is there when his leg trembles. The worse the tremble the worse the pain. Or it would go into the other extreme of being numb. But again, it is temporary. We hope if given enough time the leg might improve more.

Be warned about his violent nightmares. They are not pleasant and they leave him screaming in terror. We have given him Sleeping Draughts to help. We have also packed different strengths of pain draughts and nausea draughts. We have given him a few jars of salve for his scars. Hopefully this will help him until everything is sorted.

He understandable has a problem with touch. And I am sure you can guess why. But as long as you make noise or warn him or allow him to get used to your presence, he should be right.

But be warned about the panic attacks! I hope you know how to deal with them. But rest assured they have gotten fewer and fewer as the weeks and months past. But sometimes little things trigger them and I can't even say what triggers most of them!

But know Charles has improved so much from when we first started on him. And the people here in town have come to love him as one of their own. He has that way of charming people, everyone he meets, doesn't he?

Everyone loves that young man. They helped him wherever they could. I won't go into details about what the townspeople gave him. I believe someone else wrote to you about it.

I should tell you that when Charles first got here, he was insistent on getting a message to Athos. He even had us pen the letter to him and you. But no reply came. Again, we tried and still nothing. When Charles was more coherent, he told us if his Brothers had gotten the letter there would have been no stopping them from tearing this place apart looking for him. So, Charles told us something was wrong. He then had us pen letters to you, Athos, Aramis, Porthos, Constance and a Madame Flea hoping that had least the last two would get through. But again nothing.

Charles then decided not to send anymore letters as he believed that somehow everyone was getting intercepted.

He wanted to go home straight after that. But he was no way well enough to do so. He pushed himself so much that he drove himself into the ground and got another fever. Which was a wakeup call for him.

So, he stayed and trained so one day he could make the journey back to Paris and back to his Brothers.

Please make sure those men know how dear they are to Charles. He loves them so much and, in his delirium, he called out for them. Wanting them with him and begging them not to be mad at him. That he didn't mean to abandon them. He begged for forgiveness.

I told you this so you can assure those men that Charles never gave up on them. Tell those men I am sure they were the reason Charles survived. That knowing his Brothers were waiting for him kept him fighting Deaths Reapers no matter how much pain he went through.

I have written letters to these men basically telling them the same. But I would like your help convincing them if them doubt Charles's love for them even for a minute.

When Charles was training, he found his love for throwing knives and daggers that he could use even when his injuries were playing up. He NEVER misses a shot, Captain. It is truly amazing to watch. He spends his time in the Inn/Tavern keeping watch over the place from the dark corner of the room and when the crowd starts to get rowdy or fights break out, Charles's knives come out. He has scared men into submission with those knives. His favour throw when someone is being especially nasty or crud is to through the knife so it hits just centimetres above the man's sensitive area. That shot normally keeps any man in line. Soon the Inn was a peaceful place with Charles watching over it. I am not sure how Old Tom is going to manage the mayhem that will probably start up again now that out Charles has left us.

But I suggest you ask Charles to demonstrate his talents to yourself and others. He is VERY proud of his skills. And I am sure it will help his confidence if you allow him to show off a little bit.

That brings us to another point. Charles confidence has taken a hit. I would say it was from his imprisonment and torture that knocked him down. He is only truly confident with his knives in his hands and showing everyone, he can make a shot no matter how they stage it.

He knows Captain that you might not take him back into the Regiment. Because of how long he has been gone and because of his lingering injuries. But I ask a favour of you. Give. Him. A. Chance. To prove himself. I assure you; you won't be disappointed!

I hope this helps you and I hope one day to meet you in person.

Take good care of this Boy he is truly one of a kind and I hope you know how lucky you are to have him loyal to you, his Brothers and to his King and Country.

Madame Helene

PS: Please tell his Brothers we would like to meet them when everything settles down and tell Charles that this town will always welcome him when he needs us…

PSS: He knows what he is coming back too…

Treville was surprised by the content of the letter. Nearly everything surprised him. But he had known since he saw D'Artagnan in the Garrison gates that the Lad must have been imprisoned to keep him from his Brothers and torture was basically a given.

But to hear the extent of the Lads injuries were devastating! How the Lad survive was surely a mystery!

"Alright Captain?" he hears D'Artagnan asks him.

Treville coughs, "Yes everything is fine. Madame Helene's letter was a surprise that's all"

"I know it would be. Helene isn't one to sugar coat things. Tough woman that one and not one you won't to mess with", D'Artagnan replies with a fond smile, "She is one of the toughest women I know. Even compared to Constance"

Treville gives him a small smile.

"How is Constance?" D'Artagnan asks hesitantly.

Treville sighs, "She like everyone else, besides your Brothers, believe you are dead"

He was surprised when D'Artagnan nods not looking surprised.

"Surprised?" D'Artagnan asks him.

Treville nods.

"Captain, I have been gone 9 months. With no sign of life. I didn't expect anyone to believe I am alive. But then again, I know my Brothers. And they wouldn't give up without proof. So maybe I expected those three to believe I was alive somewhere…but everyone else?" D'Artagnan shrugs, "Doesn't surprise me"

Treville had to admit he felt pain for the Gascon. As he just realised that D'Artagnan knew his old life had moved on without him. He knows everyone would have moved on. He realised that was what Madame Helene meant at the end.

Treville had to respect the fact that still knowing that D'Artagnan came back to face the enviable heartbreak that would be waiting for him.

D'Artagnan could basically see what his Captain was thinking and gives him a soft smile.

"For my Brothers Captain, for them, always"


~~Author's Note: What Do You Think? Please Review:)!~~