The next day, the musketeers and Treville arrived at the palace. The king was on his throne and waiting for them. The Cardinal was also at his side trying his hardest to not be shocked at the situation.

'Treville. I cannot believe you did not tell me that my childhood friend was in Paris!' the king exclaimed with mocking anger.

Leaping off his throne in an almost childlike way, Louis came down to meet Athos.

'Athos! It has been far too long!' Louis exclaimed 'How has your estate been?'

'Not as magnificent as the presence of his majesty.' Athos replied, in a way that was sincere but clearly phrased to stroke the king's ego.

This clearly impressed his majesty. 'Athos, you did always know how to do court life. Too bad your aspirations lie in the life of a soldier. But better you than thomas. He is the worst. 'Louis commented 'The boy probably would not know which end of the sword was sharp even if he were impaled!'

Louis paused as he thought for a moment. "It has been some time since you have been to the palace and there have been many changes. Allow me to show you!' the king excitedly suggested.

'It would be an honour to accompany you, your majesty' Athos responded with genuine enthusiasm.

As the King and Musketeers exited the throne room, the cardinal pulled treville aside.

'What is he doing here?' Richiule asked

'Exactly what the vicomte said, he is visiting Paris for a few days.' Treville calmly explained and not giving away a hint as to what was really going on

'Do not play dumb with me Treville! The Comte De La Fere has been missing for years and he suddenly shows up! What if this is an imposter.' the cardinal continued to question

'Is this what your spies have been telling you?' Treville asked. When he got no immediate reply, treville continued 'I assure you that this is the real Vicomte De La Fere. If the King did not recognise him, he surely would not have let him enter the palace and my musketeers certainly would not have allowed him in'

The cardinal could not argue with this. Both Treville and the Cardinal knew that the king and the Vicomte De La Fere knew each other because of their respective positions as prince and Vicomte. They also knew that the vicomte often used the allais 'Athos', hence why the king referred to him as such.

'Treville are you coming?' the king called back

Treville glanced at the cardinal in a way that both of them knew. The look that said 'do not interfere'. When treville left the room, the cardinal disappeared back to his office. He could not interfere with this, but he could continue with his other plans with Milady. However he would watch this carefully.

—-

As per their protocol, the musketeers silently followed the king around the palace. The musketeers had already seen most of the palace since it was necessary for them to know the layout for their duties. However the musketeers were learning many tales of the court, most of which were before their time in service. As it turns out, Athos had been to court many times as a child and he and the, at the time, prince louis had many adventures.

What surprised the musketeers most were the stories that accompanied each room, such as in that current moment in the library.

'Treville I very much remember when we'd drag you into the library' Louis was saying, 'If we told you that you would become the captain of the musketeers, you would not have believed us!'

The musketeers really had not realised this.

'What was Treville like before he was captain?' D'artagon asked innocently

The king and Athos looked at each other with a knowing smirk. Treville looked as though he was trying to decide if he wanted to risk his job or risk humiliation.

—-—-years earlier —-

Long before the inseparables, Treville himself was nothing more than a cadet himself. Treville, unlike many musketeers he would later recruit, had a noble background as his father was a general and his grandfather was a respected general in his prime as well. At this time, the regiment was made up primarily of sons of generals, other high ranking officials and the lesser sons of nobility. Although these men had money and far more education than a commoner would ever think of. They were all far from the elite troop that would later become his majesty's pride and joy. The musketeers of this time were a branch of the military that served far more of a ceremonial purpose than anyone would like to admit. In a time of peace and prosperity, everyone had seemingly forgotten how to fight.

Treville himself, although skilled with a sword, was far from the swordsman he would eventually become. He certainly was not the leader he would become either. In fact Treville was a rather shy and unconfident man who stayed out of the way and was quite weak when it came to leadership. Despite these qualities, he was objectively the best swordsman they had at the time which put him in a position of leadership early in his career. Although he was still a recruit at this time, he was basically a musketeer as the student of a more senior musketeer at the time.

On the day in question, the current king Henry, father of the now King Louie, was meeting with some of the nobles in his kingdom to discuss matters. Treville had long forgotten what these matters were, but it was probably trade again. The comte de la fere was one of these nobles as his region supplied horses and leather for the musketeers. There was also a young boy with him, who treville later learned was Athos. The boy, although appearing interested in the matter at hand, seemed distracted by the swords and weapons of the musketeers. Treville felt a touch of sympathy for him. Even though the boy clearly knew politics as though it were the function of his hands, it was very clear that he had a clear interest in the life of a soldier.

—-present time—-

'He never really liked you did he?' The king asked Athos rhetorically, to which Athos shook his head. The king looked disappointed but then seemed to remember something that made him smirk as though he were a child with a mischievous prank.

'Athos found a way to sound like he was paying attention, so when I say things there's an obvious meaning and a hidden meaning.' the king said with a grin 'watch this, Athos, what tax rate should I have?' the king asked

'His majesty is wise and his decision should be wise to help the people.' Athos replied with full knowledge of what was happening and going to happen

'Which really means,' Louis prompted

'I really don't care and it is of no interest to me.' Athos replied with a hint of hesitation.

Louis chuckled. 'See! Brilliant!' Louis praised. Then he turned to Athos and asked 'Do you still enjoy strawberries?'

To this, Athos nodded enthusiastically.