ofimaginarybeings:
“ That I should be. ” he says as though there isn’t an alarming feeling rising inside of him. His hand thoughtlessly travels along the horse before he turns his gaze towards her. She looks withdrawn, she looks somewhat startled and perhaps even panicked. There’s a curious sort of worry that fills him as he regards her and yet he knows that there are things at work here. Things that might be dangerous to know.
As though he would cower.
“ Where are you going? ” he questions, dropping his hand to the hilt of his sword, taking on a far more defensive stance. “ And so late? The roads will not be very safe on your own. ”
Where was she going? That was an immensely complicated question that she was unsure of how to answer, or if she even could answer for him. The garrison was her home and these Musketeers her family, and she did not know where else to go that would be safe or even remotely as comfortable to her as here. Yet, she would not stay and endanger any of these men. This was not their fight, so it would not be fair to any of them. Shadowed eyes finally rose to meet his after several tense moments of thought.
“I am taking a leave of absence.” Sheathing the knife she had in her hand, she continued collecting her things hastily, not wishing to remain here in conversation with this man who could read her like an open book. As she lifted her arms to set things in her saddlebags, she grimaced as her bruises began to ache again. “I do not know how long I will be gone. I did not wish to leave in the middle of the day. It’s incredibly chaotic here when the men are all awake. Please, Athos...please do not ask any more questions of me.” Her eyes rose back up to meet his as her voice wavered slightly, her gaze pleading and anxious.
