Upon the realization of loss

[averygoodshot]

There is little that will keep Aramis away from his son. Even trips to exotic beach locales only serve as temporary diversions from what he considers his family. He has not gone back to Paris to appease the Queen, he has been diligent and loyal and good (love, he tells himself, is a powerful force).

Then comes the day when he knocks on the right door and no one answers. When he's told that Anne, Queen of France, no longer resides in the Nexus at all. How, he wonders, his heart clattering in his chest, can he keep the Queen safe now? How can he protect his son?

After a thorough and emotional search, resulting in nothing, not even a door back to Paris, Aramis does the only thing he can think to do. He drinks (and yes, he does let the others know of his findings, or lack thereof) and he wallows. This is how he finds himself in the tavern, a wine bottle and goblet in front of him, and his head in his hands.

Comments

[at_your_side]

The look she gave him then was of a mixture of equal parts fondness and exasperation as was so often inspired in her by the Musketeers in her life. One that spoke of a familiarity with romantic fools and the seeming inability not to be charmed by them out the things they did out of love or the sense of right and wrong so ingrained in them and so absent from so many she had met. d'Artagnan, she was certain, had played much a part in her growing understanding of such things, and saw that she gave Aramis a fond smile.

"I know that, I do." Where she worried was not of motive, but of the lack of understanding men seemed to share of what limits the world had put on the women who lived in it. How many times had she argued with d'Artagnan on that very score? "I only ask that you trust me, and that you be careful. You cannot be ruled by your heart here, Aramis. You must use your head, for their sakes, and keep your distance."

Her fingers squeezed at his arm again as she spoke, "Please, help me keep them safe and keep your distance in Paris. I would do all I can to protect them both, but promise me you'll be careful."

[temperamentalsteel]

Aramis' fear provokes d'Artagnan's and he, too, is hurrying toward the door. "I know that you will feel better if you see to the matter yourself." God knew they would all sleep easier if only Rochefort's grip on the King might be lifted.

[averygoodshot]

Were she anyone else and Aramis would reply to the contrary; he would note that surely, there was something he could do.

Constance, however, had proved herself time and again to be wise and more than capable. He has no choice but to sigh, lowering his chin to his chest. He nods, then. It seems not much has changed since the Queen exacted the very vow from him. "You must promise to do the same, Constance. Rochefort is a dangerous man; I have no doubt he would do what he needs to to get what he wants."

[averygoodshot]

Wouldn't they, just.

Aramis follows d'Artagnan down a hall and into another.

Surely, they are getting close? This blasted hotel is so large.

[at_your_side]

The memory of the man's fingers biting cruelly into her arm as he hissed a veiled that, that of the back of his hand striking her hard enough to send pain radiating across her cheekbone and up to her eye, were still too vivid for her to misunderstand how dangerous Rochefort was. Neither could she forget the more intimate and unthinkable cruelty of his attack on the Queen. A man who believed he had such license was not just unpredictable, he believes himself untouchable.

"I will," she swore, knowing as he must that her loyalty to the Queen would trump her personal safety if she were put to the test. That there was not a thing on heaven or earth she wouldn't do to try and save the Queen and the sweet babe who would one day, by the grace of God, be the next King of France.

After a moment she gave him a slight smile and added, "If you could do one more thing for me?"

[averygoodshot]

"As if," he says, rallying himself as best he can to muster his usual charm. "I could deny you anything, Constance."

This goes against his very nature and pains him to take from his duty, from his very promise.

[at_your_side]

The curve of her smile cut deeper into one cheek at his answer, the words all the more important where she knew how difficult a thing it would be for him to hold back from chasing what was and could not be his family. "I have yet to tell d'Artagnan that I am leaving for Paris, but when I have could you," she paused a second as she searched for the right phrasing for what she needed to ask him.

Duty and loyalty pulled her away from the place that had offered the first taste of true freedom she had ever known. It would take her from d'Artagnan's arms and the sentiment openly meant in her fondness for each of the Musketeers in their own way. What needed to be done had to be done, but she knew too well that she could not be certain of when she would be allowed to return to the Nexus, if ever. "Could you try and keep him from earning himself more of your stitches, Aramis? I would prefer him in one piece next time I see him." Her voice carried a touch of lightness she did not wholly feel, but she could not indulge in her worry any more than she could in her habit of motherhenning each of the Musketeers in turn. She needed to trust that they could care for each other in her absence and not be entirely rules by what she deemed to be Musketeer Logic.

[averygoodshot]

"Please tell me that you won't leave without telling him." Aramis's brows draw together in consternation. "Constance."

He sees what she wants of him: to keep d'Artagnan from doing something stupid, just as Porthos as been tasked for him. "Your beloved is hard-headed," he reminds her. "I will do my best, but when he wishes to do something .... "

It is a reasoning that actually might serve both Aramis and d'Artagnan in this situation. Not that they would go against Constance directly ....

[at_your_side]

"I won't," she rushed to assure him, "I wouldn't." Where she could not be unaware of the contradiction in having agreed to tell Aramis of the Queen's departure and her having blundered for the duty so that she could make certain that he understood without putting the Queen into a position where she need order the man who had been her lover to stay back, Constance was equally aware that her relationship with d'Artagnan was of a different footing. "Besides, I think we've too often already been taken away from each other without a word."

She spoke in reference to being snatched from her daily life by someone or another to be used as leverage, but lost the sour memory to a snort at Aramis' all too accurate assessment of the man she loved so well. Even when she was not sure whether she wanted to strangle him or kiss him senseless for that very reason. "Nothin' and nobody can stop him. Believe me, I am quite aware." Hers was a fond exasperation as she added, "Fool that I am for loving such a man."

[averygoodshot]

"You two are well-matched," Aramis says, his hand atop hers giving her a squeeze. And he can only hope, he supposes, that he finds someone to love in such a way (and so freely).

"I will," he promises, since it isn't technically a lie, "keep my eye on him. You have my word, Constance."

[temperamentalsteel]

"This door," D'Artagnan says, finding a plain one that looks almost forgettable, except for the sense that it does not belong in this hotel but to some other place that is either far more or far less grand.

"Remember, it might not let us through."

[averygoodshot]

"We won't know unless we try," Aramis tells him, clapping d'Artagnan on the back. Then he's gesturing for the door. Well - go on, then, d'Artagnan. Open it.

[armedagainstlove]

Athos says nothing at all, merely pouring himself a touch more of the wine as he regards Aramis' behaviour. He has to wonder whether this is another mood that will have him making poor choices and for all their sakes, vows to stay with him. "What's happened?" he finally asks.

[averygoodshot]

"The Queen has gone back to her duty in France, taking the Dauphin with her," Aramis tells Athos quietly. "It seems," he tells his friend, "that I am destined to be kept from those I love."

[at_your_side]

True to her word, Constance had left Aramis only to go in search of d'Artagnan to tell him not only of the Queen's leaving, but of her own imminent departure. Little as she relished the thought of leaving behind the Nexus' safety and freedom, duty pulled her toward the door back to Paris and all that lay waiting for her on the other side. Try as she might to not think of the Queen's 'a beautiful dream' as being any reflection of her time within the hotel, the thought plagued her even as she searched for the man she had to leave behind.

The question of where the man in question was was answered when she turned a corner and spotted him with Aramis. "There you are," she said, "I've been looking positively everywhere for you."

[temperamentalsteel]

"Constance," d'Artagnan said, apologetic that he'd thought of duty first before her. He looked between Aramis and Constance, his hand resting on the handle of the door. "The Queen is no longer an occupant of the hotel. She's back to Paris, permanently."

Constance, perhaps out of all of them, knew best the danger that represented while the rest of them were absented here in the Nexus.

[averygoodshot]

Caught. Aramis had promised not to do exactly what he's doing. His expression is entirely penitent as he looks at Constance. Really, what is there to say?

[praiseandglory]

"With the white hair and the corsets?" Porthos checks, and nods. He's seen her around; she's difficult not to notice, after all.

[averygoodshot]

"That's the one. She's ... friendly," Aramis tells Porthos with a wry grin. He thinks he could have taken advantage of her friendliness had he been not thinking of the Queen.

[praiseandglory]

"How friendly?" Porthos asks, lips curving into his usual rakish smile. He would rather see Aramis in the arms of a blue-skinned girl than longing for the Queen, by far.

[averygoodshot]

"Very generous-seeming," Aramis tells him. But no, he did nothing.

That was before the Queen left, though.

"I fear," he realizes, looking over to Porthos side-long, "that I have been a fool."

Even here, the Queen did not seem interested in having a chance to be with Aramis, truly.

[armedagainstlove]

Athos knows that Aramis has his share of dramatic behaviour, but this is an accurate statement of the situation he is in. "She is not dead, neither is her son," Athos feels compelled to remind Aramis. "Even if they are out of your reach, in this fashion." They are still alive and Aramis, too. It is not the worst of all situations.

[averygoodshot]

No, not the worst, but Aramis cannot be accused of being reasonable when it comes to matters of the heart.

"Perhaps it is," he says, filling both their glasses before pulling his close again, looking into its depths, "that I thought here - in this somewhat magical place - that we had a chance to be something ... different."

[praiseandglory]

Generous seeming hardly sounded as if Aramis had made the most of the girl's generosity, which seemed a shame to Porthos. At his words, though, the taller man stopped and put a hand on his friend's shoulder, holding his gaze. "You often are."

The look in Porthos's eyes made it clear how greatly he hoped that Aramis would take the obvious bait and banter with him, rather than get mired in anguish and self-recrimination.

Besides, there was a door somewhere nearby leading to a beach full of scantily clad women. Porthos would rather see his friend smile again.

[averygoodshot]

The teasing does draw a smile to Aramis's face, as well as gratitude; Porthos can always be counted to lighten Aramis's mood. He pats at his friend's side and leads him to the door that he had before gone through.

With a glance again, he pushes through and they are indeed back on the beach he was at before.