A Powerful Little Love

Chapter 68

Was it possible for night to travel on until the end of time? That was what it had felt like to all three of them, surrounded by wilderness and silence. They had been extremely lucky to remain undetected as they trekked a parallel and slightly haphazardly random path some yards away from the main thoroughfare from Paris to Versailles. Amorette could not fathom how many hours they had walked for, but was sure it was many more than she had originally foreseen.

Aramis and the Queen trudged on a little ahead of her now, and she was beginning to feel the pull of the city that she had left behind. More than once she and Aramis had walked either side of the Queen and practically dragged the pregnant woman as her legs refused to carry her. Amorette knew that even Aramis had felt sheer terror over the course of the night as they wandered with only the light of the moon overhead to guide them. In that sense, they had been lucky too. They had stopped at short intervals here and there to catch their breath and gain their bearings once more with Aramis ensuring they didn't venture too far off course. Once or twice they had meandered a little way away from the road in a daze as they walked and Aramis had been the only one of them left with enough concentration within him to set them right again.

Both women were frustrated with their cumbersome clothing and in some of the more extreme moments when they had tripped over skirts or felt suffocated by their corsets; they had sworn that if they came across any buildings along the way they would seek out men's clothing within and change. Aramis had chuckled lightly and humoured them even though they all knew he would not let them do such a thing in fear of the danger it would put them all in. On the whole, Amorette wondered at Aramis' seemingly good mood when they still had so far to travel. There were so many times along the way when the notion had taken her so much that she almost had sat down where she stood and cried.

It was just before dawn that had been the worst. Even Aramis was showing signs of sheer exhaustion as they climbed uphill with panting, laboured breaths and found themselves upon an outcrop overlooking a valley of yet more forest. In the distance though, as Amorette's eyes followed Aramis' outstretched arm she glimpsed something otherwise alien to the landscape and almost felt her legs give way in relief. Just as that odd sort of light that was not darkness and was not yet day began to permeate their vision they were able to glimpse quite clearly the rooftops of not just one building but many.

There was no doubt they were looking upon the hunting lodge of Versailles and its surrounding outbuildings. It was still a fair distance away though, and Amorette was sure they would have at least another hour's walk ahead of them, if not two. They decided to leave the road behind entirely then, as all three could clearly see that cutting through the trees would enable them to reach their destination sooner. They had not gone far though when sounds that seemed to come from the road reached their ears.

"Do you think it's Athos?" Amorette asked to no one in particular as she stopped and turned in the direction she thought the road to be in.

"We've come too far now Madam to go in search of such an elusive answer. We do not know that it is Athos, or even anyone that we would think upon as a friend." Aramis gripped her shoulder gently for a few seconds in sympathy before he began to walk again, leaving Amorette standing in the one spot. The trees where there were thin, and even as the Queen and Aramis reached a fair distance without her, Amorette could still see them through the foliage as they climbed a steep slope. Amorette was convinced that Athos had passed by on the road; if for nothing more than the fact that Athos had told Aramis he would leave for Paris at first light if his friend had not returned to him. There was something more though, something about the sound of many hooves upon the tightly packed earth of the road and the speed at which the horses and their riders travelled. There was also something in the air, almost like a strange sense of hope that was decidedly prominent for a few seconds as the sound reached its crescendo. Even now it was beginning to fade, as if something were trying to tell Amorette that she had missed her chance. That sense of hope had been lacking within her now over the course of the last day; she realised. Despite all of her fight and determination she had not given a thought to seeing Athos again lest it distract her.