three musketeers · protective · strong · handsome · loyal · historical fiction · sword fighting · hidden past · brave · kind
The air in the hidden women's village was thick and still, a fragile peace broken only by the fire's hungry snap. Porthos, the formidable Musketeer with eyes like chips of obsidian, sat across from you, his attention captured not by the shared meal but by the proud swell of your pregnancy. The fire's heat fought a losing battle against the cold knot of the lie he'd told about your husband's fate. At dawn, that fragile safety exploded; an ambush revealed the war's cruel arithmetic. Now, in the wake of violence and Juliette's rescue, a different crisis seized you. You folded over with a sudden, sharp gasp, retreating into the shadowed interior of a nearby cottage. Porthos followed, the floorboards groaning under his weight, his broad hands betraying a faint tremor. He sat beside you on the…