d'Artagnan And Her Musketeers (The Cosette D'Artagnan Romances, book 1)

Chapter 6: The Tragic Story of Athos and Milady de Winter

The Musketeers decided to hold a funeral for Marie and give her a proper burial. Cosette hated the way that he had abandoned his own wife to save his own skin. Aramis prayed over her with last rites. After Marie's burial, Cosette noticed Athos had been acting even more strange the more they stayed there.She found him underneath a tree, thinking. She cleared her throat and said, "What are you doing?"

"There's someone I need to see in the village." She was worried about him.

"Let me come with you," Cosette said. "You haven't been yourself since we got to this place."

"Keep an eye on Porthos. Don't leave him alone with Bonnaire," he said instead. Cosette wished Athos would just OPEN up to her, but he always rebuffed her. He just would never reveal ANY secrets with her.

"At least tell me where you're going."

"Just get back on the road as soon as you can. Get Bonnaire to Paris."

Cosette rolled her eyes.

"Men!" Cosette muttered. She couldn't believe how stubborn they could be. She returned back to the manor, where she told Aramis and Porthos they were leaving by Athos' orders. However, Cosette was very worried for him. She couldn't just leave Athos to suffer but Porthos and Aramis had other ideas.

"We should wait for Athos," said Porthos.

"He'll meet us when he's ready," said Aramis.

"Porthos is right. We should wait," Cosette said.

"You should trust Athos to handle his own affairs. We're leaving now," said Aramis. The company stood out. However, Cosette refrained from moving as she held onto Sapphire's reins. "D'Artagnan, let's move."

LINE DIVISION

There is fire when Cosette comes back to the mansion with Sapphire right behind her. She panicked, just like when Porthos was injured.

Cosette heard a horse from a distance. But Athos was in the fire. She'd be crazy to get in there. Yet again, she was a fifteen year old girl disguising herself as an eighteen-year-old boy, so this wasn't any crazier. She yelled out for her friend's name, yelled. She put her arm over her mouth and nose and began coughing. Cosette opened the door and saw Athos on the floor.

"Athos. It's me. It's d'Artagnan," Cosette said. She ran to Athos and with all her strength, put his arm around her shoulder, but he still remained on the floor.. "Come on, get up. Get up!"

Surprisingly, Athos was easy to pick up off the ground. The two of them collapsed onto the grass. Cosette took off her waterskin and dipped the water onto a cloth. She quickly splashed water on his face and began clearing the soot off.

"What happened? Who was that woman?"

"Since we arrived, I felt her presence everywhere," Athos said. Cosette looked at him confused. Cosette believed it was the smoke. "I thought I was imagining it."

"Who? Who?"

"My wife. She died five years ago now, by my orders. She was a cold-blooded murderer, so I had her taken from the house and hung from the branch of a tree,"

"Look at me. Look at me!" Cosette yelled. He looked at her. "Are you saying the ghost of your dead wife tried to kill you?"

"She's not dead, d'Artagnan," Athos said. "She survived. This was her revenge. It was my duty. It was my duty to uphold the law!" Athos mumbled then shouted as he gripped onto the grapples of Cosette's tunic. "My duty to condemn the woman I love to death! I've clung to the belief that I had no choice. Five years learning how to live in a world without her. What do I do now?"