Alias Aramis: The Secret lives of Aramis

By Greg Pius

The early life of a novice is disrupted. So Aramis becomes a warrior for the King of France. During that time of his life Aramis has a secret life of romance and royal intrigues. But his father wants him to return home to become a priest. Paris is where his heart is but family duty is calling him home. There are plots to have him killed. So Aramis must live by outwitting his enemies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tablo Publishing
• Release date: Nov 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781649693914

Book preview

Chapter I

The three swordsmen had just seen off their adversaries. One of the cardinal's guard may have been fatally wounded.  Yet none of these young Frenchmen showed any signs of remorse. On the contrary they were determined to do it all again if their honor was challenged. The tall one was built like a bear. His hands were twice as big as those of any normal man. The slim one was older but more noble in bearing. Finally the short one was of no great physique but generated an aura of danger. They were distant but considered their military bounds to be more scared.

Athos was the leader but Aramis was the thinker. Porthos was the muscle! As a threesome they were unequaled for bravery and cunning!  They had to be careful defending their honor by dueling. The King had outlawed all duels. His chief minister Cardinal Richelieu was unlikely to go easy on anyone caught fighting with his guards.  If no appeal to the King was possible then even their powerful uncle Captain M.  de  Treville could save them from the bastille.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of hoof beats coming their way. Quickly they hid themselves among the gravestones. Expecting to see a whole squad of the Cardinal's horse guard, they were surprised when only a single horse entered the graveyard. And what a horse. It had to be the worst horse in all of Paris. This clinched it for the three cousins. Only one person in Paris owned such a horse. In one voice they called out, 

Bonjour D' Artagnan.  

Sliding from his horse the young man called back,

Bonjour Athos. Bonjour Aramis. Bonjour Porthos. You must flee from here at once. There is a cardinal's horse guard on its way. It cannot be long in coming. I left it back at the crossroad to the river bridge. Luckily they do not know of the shortcut across the field of vegetables.

Athos took all this in quickly. He called out to his comrades,

Quick get your horses from the alley. Ride to the inn where D' Artagnan has his billet. We must hide out there for a few days.

Aramis was now caught up on the urgency of their situation, so he said,

As long as they do not link us to our dead friend over there we should be okay. Do we send to our Captain or leave him in the dark?

Athos replied,

For now we must not contact anyone who has anything to do  with the Musketeers. That includes our esteemed Captain. But don't worry, he will not expect us to report with all the intrigue going on around the King.

Aramis came back to show his wide knowledge of the royal goings on at the palace. He said,

There is always intrigue at the Palace. Yet it is rare for it all to be solely centered around the King. He is like some sun with all the rest circling as his planets, moons and comets. Do you think the King may be in any danger Athos?

Shaking his head Athos replied,

No the king is safe for now. The big intrigues are between the Cardinal and the Queen Mother. But lets get going before we become tomorrow's intrigue.

Without saying another word the four young men rode away from the graveyard. Not a moment too soon because as their dust settled eight horsemen rode into the graveyard. They were soon disappointed enough to leave only with a dead body to show their master. They all shuddered. The Cardinal will not be pleased that they had failed to catch the killer of one of his palace guard.

Later on in from the Cardinal's office a much more heated response was being heard far and wide in that very palace. At the top of his lungs the Captain of the Cardinal's guard was defending his men. This he did simply by asserting their competence in no uncertain terms when he said,

"MY MEN ARE THE BEST IN ALL THE KINGDOMS!

But this only evoked an equally strong response from Richelieu.

If  the King's Musketeers can so easily evade a whole troop of palace guards…after my spies told them exactly where they were…then it may be best to change those guards. Or maybe their Captain.  the Cardinal said sarcastically.

Turning red in the face the Captain of the palace guards responded with a desperate defense of his position by saying,

 There is nothing that my guard officer did that warranted the vicious ambush from musketeers. My captain said that three guards stood off an assault by eight musketeers.  One lost his life! This just shows how desperate the fighting got in such a confined space.

Still not convinced the Cardinal moved on to more important matters. He said to his confidant 

My informant assured me that there was only three NOT eight. But lets leave that for now. Of much greater concern is this message about Marie de Medici, the Queen Mother. She has been seen in meetings with the Count of Calais.  When he arrives at her court sessions, always the Queen Mother sends away all but her most trusted ladies. I want Marie de Rohan-Montbazan, Madame de Motteville and Madeleine du Fargis questioned. Here are the authorities signed by the King. But do not question the Count. I want him too think he is safe for now.

Comet de Rochefort, the Captain of the Cardinal's  Guard, was used to such commissions. He was not squeamish about torture and knew how to pressure ladies of the court. So he merely nodded his head. Cardinal Richelieu was not finished.   He now moved onto his main target. So he said,

As for Dona Ana Maria Mauricia I will not call her Queen because she is Spanish not French nobility. There must be some way to get a spy into her chambers. I am sure she is getting messages from her brother King Philip IV. If this could be proven then this absurd marriage could be finally annulled. It was never consummated you know? They were only fourteen at the time. Absurd to think that one night could make for a scared marriage. I know for a fact that the blood on thee nuptial sheet was pig's blood. That old fool of a cardinal from Notre Dame had the worst eyesight and no sense of smell. If only I had been there and not down with that mystery stomach pain. I am sure I was poisoned at the nuptial banquet. Like her mother-in-law…those two scheme to get rid of me….The so called Queen of France is not as innocent as she pretends to be in the King's presence. No she is hiding something. I will expose her treachery if its the last thing I do.

Realizing that on this matter the Cardinal would never see reason,  Rochefort decided to use it to make him richer. He said,

There is an inn keeper's wife who does the Queen's....I mean the Spanish traitors dresses. She goes to the Palace every morning! When he exits the palace she is carrying dresses back to her home to alter. Surely this woman could be made to spy for your Eminence.

A look of pure malice came into the Cardinal's eyes. He said,

Rochefort you have done it again. Where do you get these tidbits of information? That is just the person. Get hold of her today and turn her to our use. Here is a purse of gold. Deliver this woman to me as our own personal spy and I will double the contents of that purse.

Smiling wickedly the Captain left his master's study. As the doors were thick enough, he did not hear what Cardinal Richelieu said softly once the door to his office was shut. To no one but himself the Cardinal said,

Deny my attentions will you Madame. Well hell has no fury to match mine now that you have scorned me. I will have my revenge.

Chapter II

Once they are all safely inside D'Artagnan's room, the four friends ordered food and wine. The innkeeper's wife, Madame Bonacieux, took their order of four mugs of wine, some bread and a four whole roasted chickens.  The comrades in arms were all keen to  make up for a missed breakfast. Only D'Artagnan spoke with a distracted mind turning down his turn to eat some of the plentiful food. He has eyes only for the comely figure of the woman serving their late breakfast. She felt his stare and blushed. The burning eyes of her young lover spoke volumes of a passion to share once they were alone. Backing out of the room the woman stared lustfully back at D'Artagnan.

As soon as the door shut Aramis could stay silent no longer. He said in a jocular tone,

Pity you cannot marry that wench. By the look of her she could give you many children.

As D'Artagnan's color rose dangerously, Athos spoke in his slow calm manner,

Take no notice of Athos. He is just jealous, as we all are, of your good fortune. I know for a fact that Porthos here would give his best sword for a woman like that to feed him breakfast in bed. Is that not the case my lumbering giant?

Trying to think of ways to get more of the chicken they had ordered and talk at the same time, Porthos said,

Why should I not look for such a woman? Am I not a great catch? Any woman who can roast chicken this well is alright by me. Well done my young friend. If her chicken is this superb just imagine  the rest of her cooking> It makes my mouth water. Speaking of which does anyone wants that half chicken I see lying idle on our platter. No? Well I cannot let such fine food go to waste. Pass it here Aramis. But before you think of marriage young D'Artagnan just you make sure first that her wine is of the best vintage.

Much laughter at this unintended witticism restored the even tempers of these firm friends. But just then they heard sounds of a scuffle and many boots in the room below their loft.

Looking down into the main room of the inn the four men saw a strange scene.  The inn keeper's wife was beating off guards with her  large ladle. They were trying to pin her arms but kept getting smacked in the head as they got close. Seeing this unfair assault D'Artagnan tried to jump to her aid. It was the strong arms of Porthos  that stopped the young man from this rash act. Quickly but quietly Athos spelt out the futility of such a rash act to his new friend. He whispered,

Think what would happen even if you could eliminate all three of them. They have been sent by the Cardinal! If we kill his first team then won't he just send another team. No better to wait then follow them outside. They will make a mistake as they walk through the narrow streets, then we will pounce.

Reluctantly, D'Artagnan gave in to this quiet wisdom of his new friend.  When a small procession of the now bound woman and her guards left the inn,  the four friends became four shadows. Eventually the procession of the guard and prisoner  was halted by heavy street traffic. They were still only half way to the Palace.    So the guards turned off into a side street to avoid the crowd gathering around an overturned fruit barrow. 

Not half way along this side street, they were attacked by four sword wielding  fighters. D'Artagnan did not wait for his friends but waded in alone. Aramis  arrived just in time to kill a swordsman who was trying to stab his young friend. When Porthos arrived the fight went out of the remaining guards. It was Athos that called them all back from  the chase. He said,

We must all get back to our posts quickly. We will have to take Madame with us all the way to the Palace. She just whispered to me that the Queen will give her sanctuary. Someone cut her bonds. No not you D'Artagnan. We have no time for kisses and hugs. There will be time for grateful reunions when you both are safe. So I suggest we leave here without delay.

All five of them ran off in the direction of the palace.   When they got to the palace gates, the sentry at the gates blocked their passage. He called out,

Stand. What is today's password?

None of the men knew the password. Knowing that the innkeeper's wife would only be safe once she was in the Queen's chambers the four friends were perplexed. They loudly argued over alternate plans. Not noticed by the four friends, their supposedly helpless fifth member walked up to the sentry and whispered into his ear.  Immediately he snapped to attention to permit them all to pass safely through the Palace gates.

Stunned, the four friends followed the rescued woman. She led them to a back entrance to the Queen's apartments. When they got to the top of a long stairway, Madame Bonacieux once more whispered something to the sentry at the top of those stairs.  He opened a large door to allow them access to the main Palace building.

When they were no longer under the eye of any sentry, D'Artagnan finally broke his silence. He said, 

How did you get us inside? And how do you know the way to the Queen's chambers? These corridors all look the same to me.

Madame Bonacieux replied,

I work as the Queen's seamstress! That means I must have access to her at odd hours. So she gave me a special password known only to royal favorites. It is changed every week. But I am now seeing the Queen on a daily if not nightly basis. So I am always given the new password. As for knowing this way along these corridors I have been coming this way in the dark of night for one year. See these corridors all  have pink sashes on their lamp holders. No other corridors in this section of the palace have such decorations.

Once this was pointed out, the four friends saw clearly the pink sashes high up on the walls. They followed in fascination as they  led them to the door of the Queen's chambers. Here Madame Bonacieux stopped them before saying,

This last password only allows one person to enter the Queen's rooms. I must say goodbye to you all at this spot. But take with you my eternal gratitude. You have also done a great service to the Queen. I shall be sure to inform Her Majesty of your loyalty and bravery.

After kissing D'Artagnan lightly on the cheek, the young woman walked boldly up to the doorman. On hearing the password for that week  he allowed her to enter past his door.

Left to find their own way out of the Palace, the four friends remained deep in thought. By consensus they made for their favorite drinking spot. Porthos broke their collective silence when he bellowed out these words,

"FOOD!  Innkeeper bring food at once. Lets