Thank you to all who have been reading and leaving comments. Apologies for the delay since the last chapter but things are a little hectic here. I'm on the committee of a five day literary festival in the next county and it's getting busy finishing arrangements for the whole thing and the events I am personally managing/hosting/devising, as well as reading visiting authors' books in advance. It'll all be over two weeks today.
Time is passing and the search for Athos continues ...
33 DAYS BEFORE
PORTHOS
"Three days! Three days he's been gone an' it seems like 'e's just dropped off the face of the earth. Nothin'. No sightin'. No clues. Nothin'!"
Try as I might, I can't contain my outburst as Aramis an' I meet with the Captain in his office. The man looks exhausted, haggard as 'e sits there at his desk; it's as if he's aged ten years, but I have a feelin' that if I looked in a mirror, I'd probably look the same. I don't remember ever bein' quite so helpless.
All I know is that Athos is out there somewhere, hurt, needin' 'is brothers and we aren't there. What's 'appened to him? What's goin' through his head?
"We've covered the same ground twice now," Aramis says, summin' up an informal report to the Captain, informal because we've told 'im this before. In fact, 'e probably told us a lot of it in the first place. We keep sayn' it over an' over again, going through it in our heads to see if there's anythin' we missed and refusin' to accept that we've actually done the job properly an' haven't missed anythin'.
"We covered his route again from when he left here and all the councillors households have been spoken to at least twice; the second time we specifically asked to speak to the person who had taken the message from Athos. Most could remember roughly the time he showed up and it all fell into place. The last place he was seen at was the mansion belonging to Villart. We even spoke to the man himself rather than just a servant. He was eager to help us in our search for, and I quote, 'one of His Majesty's most loyal and brave Musketeers'."
I give an involuntary shudder. "That man makes me uncomfortable with 'is eye twitch."
The corners of Tréville's mouth lift. "You are in good company then. Apparently, the Cardinal insists upon sitting at the same side of the table as him rather than opposite, anything so that he cannot see the eye twitch."
"I bet he's lyin' through 'is teeth and knows exactly what 'as 'appened to Athos," I grumble.
"Porthos!" Aramis starts to remonstrate with me, "You cannot decide a man is a suspect just because he has a rather severe eye twitch that you do not like and that is beyond his control. The poor man."
"On that point, I have to agree with Aramis," the captain adds. "If we started arresting Paris citizens on suspicion of being behind the increasing crime figures just because they were troubled by an affliction, no matter how minor, we'd soon have the vast majority of the city behind bars, an overflowing Chatelet and Bastille and the populace clamouring about unjust treatment."
My cheeks puff as I exhale, reluctantly acknowledgin' that they are right, but that will not change my mind about Villart.
"The next councillor on the route was Soubert and the servant there says Athos never appeared and he didn't get to Jolivet's mansion either," Aramis continues, frownin' an' doin' his best to ignore me. "We have checked the most obvious route for Athos between Villart, Soubert, Jolivet and the garrison and there is nothing. We went back over it and then explored different routes that would have taken him longer. According to people working and living in the area, there was nothing that had happened to block any of the streets on that day that might have caused him to divert. We've had men searching all empty buildings and warehouse along the river front in the vicinity. As Porthos says, nothing."
Tréville starts chewing on the middle knuckle of his left hand as he thinks. "I will speak to Richelieu and ask him for any information he has on those three council members."
"You do think one of 'em is lyin' then," I press.
The Captain hesitates for a moment. "I am not going to discount the possibility, especially as the Cardinal has his own suspicions."
"The Cardinal?" Aramis speaks before I get the chance. "Who does he suspect?"
Tréville merely sighs. "Right now? Most, if not all of them. He is a sure that a traitor sits on the council, but he has no evidence. I spoke with him about it again earlier today but he is no closer to getting a name."
"So he's trying to uncover their identity and we must too," Aramis eyes light up an' I can tell he's eager to be on the hunt. "I take it that we are assuming they are in league somehow with Bircann and acted on his behalf in seizing Athos? I mean Bircann has heavily implied that he is behind Athos' disappearance with the message under the saddle and what he bragged about in prison."
I am still puzzled. "But how is whoever it is involved with Athos' disappearance? How do they know? Bircann took against him for beating him in the sword fight that morning an' it led to 'is immediate arrest. He was taken straight to the chatelet. He'd never met Athos before that encounter."
Tréville drums his fingers on his desktop, his frustration at the situation rollin' off 'im in waves. "But he knows me."
"You think this is another way of getting to you?" Aramis queries.
"I have no reason to doubt it," the Captain admits, his eyes hardenin'. "If he can't get to me directly, then another way is to attack one of my men and who better than my second-in command? To Bircann, that would create a necessary inconvenience. He has been in Paris for several weeks, although he has kept his head low, has at least one contact at court that we know of, and can have any number of ways to garner additional information about me, the regiment, the garrison and the chain of command. Identifying Athos as his target was also made the sweeter by Athos being responsible for his being taken prisoner."
The three of us fall silent as we reflect upon the Captain's words.
"Be honest with us," Aramis eventually says softly. "You know Bircann from what he's done in the past; for what he did to you."
It's more of a guess as he an' I both know somethin' happened to the Captain when 'e came up against Bircann before, but we don't know what it was an' we're reluctant to ask outright for fear of rakin' up bad memories. I know where Aramis is goin' with this though an' we have to know.
Aramis' dark eyes fix upon Tréville. "Do you think Athos is still alive or do you believe that all we can do now is try to find his body?"
The Captain looks from one to the other of us as if weighin' up what he feels 'e can say. When he clears his throat first before speakin', I know I am not going to like what I am about to hear.
"Bircann is a strange man who appears likeable and is at the centre of any social gathering, although those have probably been few and far between for him in recent years since his last attempt in league with Marie de Medici failed. That does not take away the fact that he is a born leader with a strong personality who can sway opinions, hence his ability to encourage others to join him and the King's mother in yet another attempt to seize Louis' throne. He will be fiercely loyal to her only as far as it benefits and advances him. Now that is likely to have been halted once and for all this time, I wonder if he will be quick to turn on her and what he will tell the Cardinal.
"There is, however, a frightening and dark side to the man. He derives satisfaction from inflicting pain upon others, of dominating them by any means. He wants to break people mentally and physically because he likes the power, reducing them to shadows of the people they once were."
He pauses an' I suddenly realise I'm 'oldin' my breath as I think of someone tryin' to do this to Athos.
Tréville's voice drops an' his piercing eyes 'ave a strange look about 'em that I don't recall seein' before.
"Aramis, you removed that pistol shot from my shoulder a couple of years ago; you cannot have failed to see the other scars on that same shoulder. Thank you for never asking about them."
Aramis nods an' the pair of us go very still, as if we sense that the Captain is about to open up an' tell us more. I didn't see the scars but Aramis described them to me: several ugly ones, criss-crossin' his right shoulder - his sword arm.
"I was honoured! They were done by Bircann himself. Just one of his slow, excruciating torture techniques that he tried on me. There would have been more but, fortunately, I was spared many of his ingenious methods because of the Cardinal's intervention and my rescue. There was damage enough though and my recovery from that and the general experience was long.
"You ask me if I believe Athos is still alive, even though we hunt the riverbanks daily for his corpse. Yes, sadly, I do."
"Sadly?" I can't quite believe the Captain 'as said that. "You don't mean it."
His blue eyes hold mine an' I can't look away, his gaze so intense.
"Yes, I do, unless we find him very soon. If we don't, it would be better if he were dead as I hate to think of the types of revenge Bircann will heap upon him. Athos humiliated him and brought about the end of his part in the uprising."
"You say Bircann, but 'e's safely locked away. What can 'e do?" I demand, unnerved by what the Captain is saying.
"My reach is long," Aramis quotes, hardly daring to speak above a whisper.
"Exactly," Tréville continues. "Bircann might not be the direct instrument of torture, but he will have issued his instructions. He will want Athos kept alive for as long as possible and will delight in thinking about what is happening to him, imagining his screams …"
"This is Athos we're talkin' about; 'e won't scream," I insist foolishly, not wantin' to believe it happenin'. Somehow, I can't contemplate 'im breaking under such pressure, but then every man has 'is limits.
Tréville flinches an' I can't 'elp wonderin' if he screamed, if he sees himself as havin' demonstrated any kind of weakness under duress. I don't like the thought of hurtin' the man any more than he 'as been already, but I also don't want to think about what might be happenin' to my brother.
"Then we'd better find him," I state, "an' soon."