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

[temperamentalsteel]

"Back to France? She will return though, won't she?" He's never seen Aramis mourn someone living as though they were dead. Though the logical answer should smooth away any troubles, it does nothing to mitigate the grief on his friend's face.

[averygoodshot]

"It seems not," Aramis says, taking a deep breath and studying his wine goblet. "She has given up her rooms here."

She was never really here, it seemed, and now she is completely gone.

[temperamentalsteel]

But why? How? Why would Her Majesty do such a thing when all of them had come to recognize the Nexus as a haven? D'Artagnan sat up straight and looked to Aramis, a hand on his shoulder.

"We can go back to Pars. Follow her to keep her safe."

[averygoodshot]

"Do you know of a doorway?" Because yes, Aramis will go, quickly and easily back to Paris, to do all he could. "To get to Rochefort."

[temperamentalsteel]

D'Artagnan nodded, though he was clearly uncertain. "It does not always let me go through, but I do know of it."

[averygoodshot]

Already, Aramis is getting to his feet. "Then let us go." There is nothing, now, holding him here, is there?

[temperamentalsteel]

He stands so fast that he almost knocks d'Artagnan's wine over, only half drunk. Apologetic, he sets money on the counter and hurries after Aramis. "I can't promise it'll let you through."

[averygoodshot]

Clasping d'Artagnan's shoulder, ARamis shrugs. "We will not know if we do not try. We can go back, d'Artagnan. We can find Rochefort .... "

And end him.

[temperamentalsteel]

Though he hates Rochefort, the intensity of Aramis' zeal is beyond him. What has Rochefort done?

"This way!"

[averygoodshot]

It's good that Aramis has not gotten out of the habit of keeping his weapons close. He walks a half-step behind his friend toward the door. "What has Constance told you?" he asks, his voice low.

[temperamentalsteel]

"That Rochefort is a scoundrel who attempted to force himself on the Queen and he must be stopped. What can he possibly done that is worse than that?" d'Artagnan was afraid to actually learn the answer to that question.

[averygoodshot]

"... and that is not enough?" Aramis asks, legitimately shocked. "He violated the Queen's honor."

[temperamentalsteel]

"More than enough, but you make it sound as though something has happened on top of that!?" d'Artagnan says. Already, he knows of Rochefort's undue influence on the King, that it can become deeper and more sinister shakes him to the core.

[averygoodshot]

"She is not here, now. I can't protect her. Yes - " Aramis says, a hand up lest d'Artagnan say what he knows - "I know we are there, but I am - that brings little comfort." Aramis does not yet know what Rochefort will attempt, how intimate his attempts at the Musketeers' lives will be, how he will target Constance.

[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]

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.

[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.

[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?