A Powerful Little Love

Chapter 24

Muffled shuffling and shouts ensued from within the tunnels as three musketeers paced the floor in search of their friends. When Aramis came upon an atrium of adjoining tunnels he found Athos beginning to stir where he lay, a thin coat of grey dust coating his face and hair. Ascertaining that his friend was regaining consciousness and on the whole, relatively unharmed Aramis then strained his eyes to look into the still gloominess of the tunnels in search of Amorette. Despite the still floating dust that cast a translucent sheen over his eyes Aramis could just make out two blue heeled slippers and the hem of a thick skirt.

Reaching a face down Amorette he rolled her over onto her back and found her still unconscious. "Porthos!" Aramis called back to his friend who was helping Athos to his feet, "Get him up! Get him up and get him out! This place could cave in at any moment!" Swiftly he pulled Amorette into a sitting position and threw her over his shoulder and began to move through the tunnels as quickly as he could.

As Amorette came around she vaguely noticed that she was hanging upside down. A firm arm clamped around her waist and a familiar voice close at hand told her that Aramis was carrying her over his shoulder. Just as she opened her eyes a fraction, a cloud of dust erupted around her and a large stone fell from the celling to collide with the wall. She heard Porthos growl nearby and closed her eyes again to combat the nausea that Aramis' jostling shoulder caused. Suddenly she felt cool air gently ruffle some of her loosened curls and opened her eyes again to blink harshly at the early evening sunshine.

Aramis gently slipped Amorette from his shoulders to sit on the ground in the deserted street. The marksman bent over, catching his breath as did Porthos and Athos a few feet away. Amorette saw that she and Athos were not the only ones covered in a light sheet of dust, they all were. D'artagnan emerged from the tunnels a few seconds later and he began to shake the dust from his hair. Amorette greedily sucked in clean air and began to cough and splutter as her tightly drawn corset prevented the dust from leaving her airways. Aramis gently clapped her on the back and muttered "Bloody corsets."

"We should get off this street; we're causing quite the scene!" D'artagnan announced with a nod towards the end of the deserted street, where a crowd had begun to gather. The sight of two Red Guards making their way through the throng of people had all of the musketeers jumping to their feet. Aramis helped Amorette up and kept a hand on her shoulder to steady her as they cut down a side street away from the tunnels. As they turned a corner and made for Les Halles Amorette braved a glance towards Athos who walked beside her and found him already gazing at her intently. She offered him a weak smile in return and looked away. As she did so, she felt his large calloused hand take a hold of her smaller one.

In the yard outside D'artagnan and Constance's lodgings they shook off most of the dust from their clothes and hair and crowded into the small parlour. Amorette gulped down a glass of water quickly, still feeling grit at the back of her throat. They sat around the small table in silence for a few moments as they took in what had just happened. Amorette's breathing slowly returned to normal and she turned her attention to the pockets of her dress. Finding everything but what she was actually looking for, she worriedly looked to Athos. "I must have dropped the necklace! It's not here!"

"Going back down to the catacombs is not even in question now," he mumbled in reply. Amorette ran a shaky hand over her face as she contemplated just what she was going to tell the Queen.

"Is this what you were looking for?" D'artagnan called from where he leaned against the doorway. On his outstretched finger swung the diamond necklace. Amorette felt her shoulders sag as she let out a very audible sigh of relief. D'artagnan moved forward and handed her the necklace. "I found it down in the tunnel and figured it must have been of some importance."