Aramis skirted around the woman leaning over the table talking to the two young men. The men did not know where to look. The woman knew what she was doing, she would have work that night and the two men would have considerably lighter pockets by the morning. Aramis shook his head with a smile and left the woman to practise her art.

The tavern was noisy, loud conversations were happening throughout the large open room. Someone was singing badly, and a dog was barking outside. The room was hazy with smoke.

He reached the bar and waited patiently for a local man to finish his conversation with the owner of the tavern. The owner had acknowledged Aramis with a nod. The man continued to talk to his customer for a couple of minutes. The customer, an old man, whose hand shook each time he lifted the cup of wine to his lips finally shuffled off to sit by the fire.

'Can I have a word with you,' said the owner, indicating for them to step to the side of the bar where it would be quieter.

Intrigued, Aramis nodded. He had not been in the tavern long. Long enough to see that Athos was already a bottle of wine into what would probably be another night of drowning his thoughts in alcohol. Porthos, who was sitting opposite their friend, had indicated to Aramis as he walked through the door that they needed another bottle. Aramis made his way straight to the bar.

The owner was a big man, he might have been a labourer in his youth, and now his size meant he did not have to worry about trouble in his tavern. He was probably a couple of inches taller than Aramis and certainly heavier. In his younger years, he would have given Porthos a run for his money in a fistfight.

As they stepped away from the bar the owner glanced over Aramis' shoulder and nodded. Aramis was about to turn to look when he was pushed violently back several paces and pinned to the wall. The air was knocked out of him, and he bumped his head on the wall leaving him unfocused for several seconds. It did not take long for the owners' sons, two tall and broad men in their twenties to appear. They grabbed Aramis' arms and pinned him firmly to the wall. The owner pressed his hand over Aramis' mouth.

'I've got more loyal customers out there than you have friends,' he said. 'Don't call for help. It won't end well.'

Aramis had no idea what was happening. He could not work out what he had done to deserve the treatment he was getting. He realised the owner had carefully manoeuvred him out of sight of Porthos and Athos and any other Musketeers that might have been frequenting the tavern.

'He don't come up to the bar much. He gets the girls to bring his wine and then never comes to pay for it. I guess he forgets. I asked him when he got here today, and he just shrugged me off.'

Aramis began to understand. He was not the one that had caused the owner to become irate. Athos was the cause of the man's ire.

The owner began to search Aramis for something. He felt around his weapons belt before rifling through his pockets. Aramis knew what the man was looking for and knew why he had chosen that particular day to collect it. The tavern owner knew the men in the garrison had been paid that day. Knew they would have money on them. Knew he could retrieve the debt that Athos had built up, even if he was retrieving it from someone else.

As his money bag was pulled from his pocket Aramis watched the owner of the tavern smile. He weighed the bag up in his hand and nodded.

'I think that just about covers it,' he said as he handed the bag to one of his sons. 'Just about.'

With no warning, the hefty tavern owner punched Aramis in the stomach. The sons kept him pinned to the wall, not allowing him to double up as the pain radiated through him. The owner kept his hand clamped firmly over Aramis' mouth, preventing him from crying out in pain.

Once Aramis managed to focus again, he found the owner grinning at him.

'You're not welcome here,' he said. 'If I see him in here again, I'll do more than retrieve my money.'

The owner nodded to his sons and stepped back. The two men holding him up let go. Aramis slumped back, bending forward, trying to catch his breath.

'You have five minutes to get him out,' said the owner before he walked away.

Aramis was aware of the two sons following their father chuckling as they went.

Aramis coughed a few times, before pushing himself up straight. He took a moment to straighten his doublet and hat before stepping back out into the full view of the rest of the tavern. No one had seen what happened between Aramis and the tavern owner.

He made his way towards Porthos and Athos. Athos was sitting forward staring at what remained of the wine in the cup in his hand. He was turning the cup slowly. Porthos was watching Aramis as he approached.

'What-'

Aramis shook his head, 'I'll explain in a minute. But we have to leave, right now.'

Porthos furrowed his brow, 'what did you do?'

Aramis huffed out a laugh, 'this is not my fault,' he said.

Somehow Porthos picked up on Aramis' need for urgency, he grabbed his hat and turned to Athos.

'Leave me, I'll walk back later.'

'No,' said Porthos, 'we're leaving now.'

He grabbed Athos under the arms and pulled him up to stand. Athos did not want to leave and tried to push Porthos away. Aramis stepped forward grabbing Athos from the other side. Between them, they forced their friend to the door. Aramis glanced back in time to see the tavern keeper, arms crossed over his chest, watching them leave with a smug smile.

As the cool air of the Parisian night hit them Athos straightened up a little, sobering slightly.

'What's going on?' he asked, his words slurred betraying the fact he was not actually sober.

Porthos was looking to Aramis for an explanation as well.

'The owner wanted you to pay off your debts,' said Aramis, who was finally able to feel annoyance at what had happened and not be fearful for their safety.

'Debts?' asked Porthos.

'He's run up a debt, in there.'

'Then why are we leaving, why doesn't he want Athos to pay?'

'The debt has been settled,' said Aramis.

Athos pushed away from them both, stumbling back a couple of paces before steadying himself.

'What?' he said, staring at Aramis. 'I don't need charity.'

Aramis finally let the anger boil to the surface.

'I didn't have much of a choice,' he said, 'he bundled me out of sight and took the money from me. All. Of. My. Money.'

Porthos reached out to Aramis.

'Are you alright?'

Aramis nodded, 'nothing I can't handle,' he said, unconsciously rubbing at his stomach where he had been punched.

'You did not need to do that,' said Athos.

'I told you, I didn't have a choice.'

'You should have said something to me.'

'I didn't have a choice.'

The two men stepped closer. Aramis was angry. Athos was angry.

'Athos. No!'

It was the last thing Aramis heard.

MMMM

A few minutes earlier Porthos had no idea why Aramis initially bundled them out of the tavern but when his friend explained he could understand why Aramis was annoyed, even if Athos did not.

'You didn't need to do that,' Athos had said.

Porthos had shaken his head, annoyed that their friend was too drunk to understand what had happened. He did not know what exactly had happened to Aramis, but the man was annoyed. He had looked a little shocked when he reappeared at their table before ushering them out of the tavern, Porthos soon knew why. Some sort of altercation had gone on between the tavern keeper and Aramis. And all because Athos could not keep track of what he was doing when he drank.

'I told you; I didn't have a choice.'

Aramis and Athos were glaring at each other. Aramis was holding his right arm around his stomach. Porthos hoped his friend was only suffering from a bruise to the stomach and perhaps a bruised ego.

'You should have said something to me,' Athos said, his words still slurring.

Athos took a stumbled step closer to Aramis.

'I didn't have a choice,' Aramis reiterated slowly for the inebriated man.

The two men were only a foot apart. Athos swayed to the side a little. At least that was what Porthos thought he was doing, when actually he was twisting away ready to punch Aramis who momentarily looked away shaking his head.

'Athos. No!' yelled Porthos.

But it was too late. The unsuspecting Aramis did nothing to protect himself. He took the full force of the punch, his head snapped back. He staggered a couple of steps as he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

At least Porthos hoped Aramis was only unconscious. He pushed Athos out of the way and got to his knees. He grabbed Aramis by the shoulders and shook him, getting no response. Alarmed, Porthos pulled open Aramis' doublet and rested his hand on his friend's chest. He held his breath for a few seconds. He sighed with relief as Aramis' chest rose and fell steadily.

Porthos looked up at Athos who was simply standing watching them both.

'You did this,' said Porthos.

'What?' said Athos. 'I did not ask him to pay what I owed. He could have told the landlord to speak to me.'

'Didn't you hear him?' retorted Porthos. 'He wasn't given a chance.'

Athos sighed and wandered a few paces away.

Porthos scrambled up and grabbed his friend, 'don't you wander off.'

Athos pulled out of Porthos' grip.

'Leave me alone.'

'No,' said Porthos firmly. 'You are not going anywhere. You are going to help me get him back to the garrison.'

Athos stared at Porthos for several seconds with unfocused eyes before shaking his head. Porthos scowled, he grabbed Athos' arm again and shook him.

'Aramis is unconscious, you can't just walk off.'

Athos mumbled something but stopped trying to escape from Porthos' grip. Porthos manoeuvred Athos so that he was a few paces along the street, in the direction they needed to go. After a moment to rearrange his weapons Porthos pulled Aramis up and over his shoulder, he steadied himself and began to walk forward, ushering Athos ahead of him.

Carrying a full-grown man any distance was not easy, Porthos was glad they were only a couple of streets from the garrison. Athos seemed to sense that Porthos was not going to put up with any further attempts by him to wander off and remained walking a few paces ahead.

He was at the point of collapse when the garrison gates finally came into view. He had lost count of the number of times he had to alter course to stop Athos wandering off. After sobering slightly Athos had returned to his inebriated manner, complaining and getting annoyed that Aramis had not told the landlord to talk to him. Athos seemed oblivious to the fact their friend was unconscious because of his actions.

'What have you two been up to?' asked Treville.

Porthos had to think fast. The Captain had only seen him carrying Aramis. Athos had already wandered off, stumbling towards the sleeping quarters.

'Nothing, Captain,' he said as he played for time.

'Then why is Aramis unconscious?'

'A fall, Captain.'

Porthos knew the lie would not be believed, but he wanted to keep Treville's attention on him and Aramis. Athos had already been in trouble a couple of times for drinking.

'If you get into any more duels or fights it's going to come to the King's attention,' said Treville, before pointing to the infirmary.

Porthos had to hide a smile. He turned towards the infirmary.

'Once he's awake you can spend the next week mucking out the horses. I'm fed up with the pair of you.'

Porthos almost sighed with relief, a week of mucking out the horses was a small price to pay. It meant Athos would not get into trouble. Although, Porthos hoped his friend realised what he had done and made more of an effort in the future. Poor Aramis had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and paid the price for Athos' actions.

He pushed into the empty infirmary and relieved himself of his unconscious friend on the first bed. He paused, resting his hand on Aramis' chest for a few seconds, reassuring himself that Aramis was still alive.

After checking for any other injuries and finding only the bruises left from his encounter with the tavern keeper and grazes where he collapsed to the cobbled street after Athos punched him, Porthos settled next to Aramis.

He realised they had got off lightly, the evening could have turned out a lot worse.

MMMM

Late the next day…

Athos rolled his shoulders and looked at the knuckles of his right hand. He could not work out why they were bruised. He knew he had drunk too much the previous night, but he was not usually clumsy. He could pass himself off as sober by walking in a straight line and not knocking into things. He wondered if the thoughts of her had got the better of him and he had hit out at a wall in anger. It happened occasionally. Fortunately, never when anyone else was around.

Due to not needing to be on duty until that evening he, Aramis and Porthos were all excused from muster, so Athos was not surprised not to have seen his friends that morning.

He took another drink of water and flexed his fingers looking at the bruising again. He wanted to ask his friends if they remembered him knocking into anything the previous night. It was unusual for him to not remember what went on in the evenings.

Athos looked around the yard. Neither Porthos nor Aramis were anywhere to be seen. He would have expected to see them sparing or helping the cadets with their training. Other Musketeers and cadets were milling about, but there was no sign of his friends.

Serge shuffled up to the table and plonked a plate of meat in the centre with an accompanying basket of bread.

'Bread's still warm,' he said. 'Let them know.'

Athos furrowed his brow.

'Them two,' Serge nodded towards the stables.

Athos still did not understand.

'Porthos and Aramis,' Serge said with a shake of his head, 'thought you knew.'

Athos shook his head.

'Got caught by the Captain sneaking back in after fighting. He's got them mucking out the horses for a week. Aramis didn't look too good this morning; doubt it's going to be an easy couple of days for him.'

Athos looked away, trying to remember what happened the previous night. He knew they were together, surely if there had been any trouble all three of them would have been involved.

He pushed himself up to stand and wandered towards the stables. Two horses were outside being brushed down by the stableboys, Athos knew they had not been stabled because the mucking out was usually done during the day when most of the horses would be out either being exercised or on duty.

Athos paused at the entrance to the stables. He could tell from the assorted piles of used and new hay and straw that the mucking out was nearly complete. He could hear a quiet conversation further into the stables.

Porthos sounded concerned, 'Aramis, sit down before you fall down.'

'You can't do this on your own,' Aramis replied.

'The Captain will understand,' said Porthos.

Aramis huffed out a laugh, 'but we can't tell him the truth, can we? Athos is on thinner ice than we are.'

'You're his longest-standing recruit,' countered Porthos, 'he should have some respect for your loyalty.'

'But,' said Aramis, 'we do get in trouble more than anyone else in the garrison.'

Porthos chuckled, 'you're right there, we have a rugged charm that he loves. We just need to get Athos a bit better behaved and then we won't have to keep covering for him.'

Athos furrowed his brow, he still could not remember what happened the previous night, but he was starting to suspect he was the cause of his friend's misadventure.

'I'm serious Aramis, I carried you back here last night. I don't want to have to pick you up again. It's nearly done. Sit there and drink some water, you look awful.'

Aramis did not reply. Athos could hear some shuffling around, he guessed it was the sound of Aramis getting comfortable.

'We'll have to pick a different place for dinner tonight,' Porthos said.

Athos could hear his friend getting back to work, the methodical sound of the fork pushing into the straw and dropping it into a stall was sometimes comforting.

'I can't afford to eat out,' said Aramis. 'At least not until next week.'

'Guess I'll be paying then,' retorted Porthos, 'I'll keep you like a mistress.'

Aramis laughed, before going quiet for a few seconds and sighing.

'I might have to make myself drink one of my painkillers,' said Aramis after a while.

'That bad?'

Athos looked at his hand, studying the bruises on his knuckles. An image of Aramis standing in front of him with an enraged expression on his face floated to the surface of his mind. Was there something about Porthos telling him it was his fault, that he had caused something to happen? Athos decided he had to know what happened the previous night.

He stepped fully into the stables. Porthos had his back to the entrance, he was leaning on the handle of the fork looking further into the stables. Aramis was sitting on the ground, his legs stretched in front of him. His face was pale apart from the bruise that covered his left eye, along with some grazing across his cheek. Neither man was wearing their doublets which were hanging from hooks along with their weapons belts.

Aramis looked up at him, causing Porthos to turn around.

'I caused this?' Athos asked, knowing he should be making a statement not asking a question.

He had remembered what happened. He did not know what to say or how to feel.

'You didn't mean it,' said Aramis, as he got to his feet.

It was not lost on Athos that Aramis took his time to get up and used the wall to steady himself.

'He didn't know what he was doing,' corrected Porthos, who looked annoyed.

Athos knew how he felt. He felt ashamed.

'I am sorry,' said Athos. 'I had no memory of last night until just now. I … I should not have hit you.'

Porthos huffed. Aramis leaned back on the wall.

'I will talk to the Captain,' Athos said. 'You two should not be punished for my wrongdoing.'

Aramis laughed, 'that would just make it worse. The Captain will just punish all three of us. You for running up a debt and us for not telling the truth when he caught us last night.'

'Me for not telling the truth,' said Porthos. 'You weren't saying much of anything.'

Aramis gestured to Porthos that he was correct before wavering. He steadied himself against the wall blinking a few times. Athos stepped forward, worried his friend might collapse. Porthos raised a hand to stop him. His help was not welcome. Porthos reached out to Aramis who had rallied slightly and indicated he was alright.

'Athos,' said Aramis, 'you were not aware enough of what you were doing last night. I don't blame you for this,' he indicated the bruises on his face, 'or for us getting punished.'

He paused and sighed before continuing.

'But you need to stop letting yourself get into the state you were in last night. One day it won't stop with the landlord getting your debt paid by force. One day it will be a lot more serious. You're unpredictable. You're going to end up getting yourself hurt. Or end up hurting someone else.'

'I think it is a bit late for that,' said Athos.

Porthos huffed an agreement. Aramis did not respond.

They were all taken by surprise when Treville spoke.

'Lying to cover for a friend could be seen as an admirable quality,' he said as he stepped into the stables in much the same way Athos had minutes before.

Athos wondered how much of their conversation he had heard.

'Aramis,' said the Captain, 'you are confined to quarters until you can stand straight and don't look like you will keel over at the slightest gust of wind.'

Aramis was about to respond but changed his mind. Athos thought that was a good idea, the Captain looked serious.

'Porthos you will finish your punishment and Athos can help you. Perhaps the time away from the taverns will do you good, Athos.'

He turned to go, pausing for a moment and looking back, 'but you are right, I do appreciate your loyalty, both to myself and to each other. I think you, Athos, should work a bit on your loyalty to your friends.'

He walked off. The three Musketeers looked at each other. Athos did not know what to say.

'Apology accepted,' said Porthos. 'I'm nearly finished here, why don't you see Aramis to our room, I'm not convinced he'd get there on his own.'

Aramis sighed and nodded as he pushed himself away from the wall gingerly.

'I will try,' said Athos. 'I will try to be a better, more loyal, friend to you both.'

'That's all we ask for,' said Aramis.

The End.

Whumpee: Aramis. Featuring: Athos and Porthos.