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Man of Honour

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Odette emerged on the deck of the ship as her first view of France came into sight. The sun shone brightly on Le Havre, illuminating it like a gorgeous landscape portrait that had hung in her childhood home. She had never been to France before, but already she could tell she would like it much better than the land she had called home her entire life, despite it being the land of her mother.

It had been weeks since she had first departed Scotland for the journey to France, the homeland of her father. Scotland had never truly been home. Her father had been an ambassador, keeping them away from the place of his birth and heart. Odette could hardly remember her mother, having lost her when she was quite young with only a few treasured memories in her heart. Now with her father recently departed, she found herself at a crossroads in life, and thankfully her uncle had offered to look after her until she found herself a suitable husband - something that didn't interest her much, but should, given her present circumstances.

Aside from the money she inherited from her father's estate, she had nothing but the belongings in her trunks that were below deck. It seemed rather odd. She had grown up in privilege, but she truly was starting over with very few physical possessions. The sense of adventure seemed to suit her. Or at least she hoped it would. She hadn't had cause for too many adventures back in Scotland.

Her first adventure would be travelling to Paris with the escort sent by her uncle. Her uncle was an important man in Paris, the captain of the King's Musketeers. In his letter he explained that his presence was needed near the king, so he was sending his most trusted man to bring her safely to Paris. He gave her no description of the man that was to be escorting her, only his name. Athos.

Odette assumed that she would recognize him from the fleur de lis he ought to be wearing. While she had never been to France before, her uncle had visited Scotland several times and told her many stories about his musketeers when she was growing up. His stories always told of sword or gunfights, bravery, loyalty, and resourcefulness. Ever since she was little, Odette had longed to become a musketeer one day. Only to have her heart broken when she realised that only men were accepted into the regiment.

When the ship finally docked, Odette made her way to dry ground. While she found the sea could be a breathtaking sight, it wasn't quite so enchanting aboard a ship. No, she was much happier to be on solid ground once more. Nervously, she smoothed out her wrinkled skirts. Not that it did them any help following her voyage. She then began to chew her bottom lip, wringing her hands, as she looked about the small crowd for her escort.

What if her uncle had gotten the date wrong? What if her escort had been delayed? Should she seek some sort of refuge in Le Havre or somehow convince someone to escort her to Paris. Odette slowly exhaled a breath to calm herself before she pulled her uncle's letter from the pocket of her cloak and reread the words it seemed like she had read a thousand times. Her uncle's letter assured her that he would send one of his men to Le Havre a day before she was set to arrive in case she should somehow arrive earlier than expected. The man was also to wait, should she arrive later than expected. He was to meet her at the docks. . .

Odette tried to read more details from her uncle's letter when her light was suddenly blocked. She found this rather peculiar because it wasn't even midday yet and there hadn't been a cloud in the sky. She looked up to find a rather rugged-looking man nearly towering over her. He seemed to be scrutinizing her from head to toe.

"Can I help ye?" Odette asked, with her hand resting on her skirts near the pocket where she had a small blade hidden in cases of a dire emergency. She had only had to pull the blade out once on her journey from Scotland. Her father and her uncle, when he visited, had seen to make sure she was able to protect herself should the need arise.

"You wouldn't happen to be the niece of Captain Treville of the King's Musketeers, would you?" the man asked.

She relaxed slightly but was still ready to grab her weapon if she needed it. "I would. Who is it that asks?" Odette arched an eyebrow at the strange man before her.

He made eye contact with her and arched his eyebrow in response. "I'm Athos, also of the King's Musketeers. I believe your uncle sent word that I would be escorting you back to Paris on his behalf."

"He did," Odette agreed. "But in his letter, he said that you would have something for me." She held her hand out, palm up toward him. "Can't go galavanting across France with just any man without my reputation ending up in tatters, now can I?"

The man eyed her peculiarly before he pulled a letter from his pocket before he handed it to her. Her uncle's familiar seal was on the back. She looked at the man who seemed to be watching her rather intently. She offered him a small nod before she opened her letter and read the words her uncle offered her. Odette then folded the letter and pocketed it.

"Are you going to share with me the contents of that letter?" Athos asked.

"No," Odette responded. "It was addressed to me. Not the two of us, meaning its contents are for my eyes only."

The man blinked away his momentary shock before regaining his composure. "Mademoiselle, if there was information in there for me. . ."

"Then it would have been addressed to ye" Odette retorted, resting her hands on her hips, looking pointedly at Athos. "Seeing as my father is no longer living nor are ye my husband, what's mine is mine and not the property of some man, just with my name attached to it. There is nothing in the letter that concerns ye, except maybe a judge of your character that my uncle might soon regret, sir."

He took a deep breath, trying not to let her words rile him. This was the captain's niece, he couldn't let anything go wrong. "I can assure you, Mademoiselle, that I am a man of honour. . . "

Odette took a step closer. "Any man can say they are a man of honour. It doesn't mean that they are, aye?"

Athos arched an eyebrow. "You haven't met many decent men, have you?"

"And ye have?"

"The men of King's Musketeers are the finest men in all of France."

Odette scoffed and looked at him rather pointedly. "That wasn't the gossip on the ship over here. Something about killing innocent men and burning farms to the ground?"

Athos inhaled deeply, carefully choosing his words. "As you said yourself, it was gossip. Nothing more. I can assure you that the men under the command of your uncle are fine men." Athos made mention of her uncle, hoping that her opinion of her uncle was high enough to end this conversation.

"I'll be the judge of that for myself, thank ye."

Athos forced a smile on his face for decency's sake, not as an outward sign of how he felt about this opinionated woman. Not wanting to stand on the docks arguing any longer, Athos decided to ask about her trunk. "If you'd direct me to your trunk, then we can be on our way." And you out of my hair, Athos finished in his head.

Odette directed Athos to a spot where five trunks sat together. Athos looked at the woman and then at the trunks. How much could one woman need for a visit with her uncle? Odette looked at Athos and folded her arms across her chest, she could practically feel the judgment coming from him.

"Before ye say anything, that's everything I own in the world and I sold quite a bit off back in Scotland."

"I don't believe I said anything, Mademoiselle."

Odette rolled her eyes. "No, but ye were clearly thinking that I'm some petty woman with five trunks full of pretty dresses. Not that it's any of your concern, but I'm moving to Paris to be closer to the only family I know, my uncle. Besides, most of them aren't even clothes."

Athos attempted not to outwardly grimace at the announcement that she was in Paris to stay. Her opinionated nature and ability to somehow know what he was thinking without him saying anything unnerved him. It would be best to stay away from her and not only for the sake of her being the captain's niece. "I'll get the cart," he said rather gruffly before walking away.

Odette blew a breath of air to blow a tendril of hair from her face, grasping the locket around her neck. While she was an independent woman, some of her abrasive tendencies she exaggerated to keep men away. She couldn't risk one falling for her and ruining everything she had worked so hard for. As long as no man was interested in marrying her, she was free to live her life as she thought fit. Although, it wouldn't require much acting to keep this brusque man at bay.

When Athos returned with the cart, he walked toward her trunks.

"I'd start with that one, if I were ye," Odette told him, pointing at one of her trunks knowing that it was indeed the heaviest of her trunks.

"Yes, Mademoiselle," Athos said through gritted teeth.

It was clear he didn't take well to being bossed about by a woman. She knew she shouldn't be enjoying this as much as she was, but she watched as he attempted to lift the trunk. He struggled for a moment as his eyes bulged in shock. Odette hid her smile by covering her mouth with the hood of her cloak.

"What do you have in here? Bricks?" Athos grunted as he carried the heavy trunk to the cart.

"Close," Odette responded. "Books. My father had an extensive library. I only picked a few of my favourites and sold the rest."

"I'd say that's a bit more than a few," he said dryly as he dropped the trunk onto the back of the cart. He then looked rather pointedly at Odette. "If the horse can't pull this, you're going to have to downsize even further."

While Odette didn't say it, she reasoned that making the surly musketeer walk beside the cart would also significantly lighten the load. Having had her fun at watching the man lift her trunk of books, Odette climbed onto the seat of the cart. Normally a man would help a woman with such things, especially given their skirts. But Odette was perfectly capable of such a feat on her own.

She had just situated herself when a voice came from the back of the cart, "I would have assisted you," Athos said, looking rather pointedly at her.

Odette shrugged. "I didn't require your assistance."

After the last of her trunks was on the cart, Athos joined Odette on the seat of the cart. He settled himself and grabbed the reins. "If you're the religious type, I'd start praying now that the horse can pull this."

"I'm not frivolous," Odette responded. "I'm sentimental."

Without showing it on his face, Athos winced internally. How the hell had she been able to call him out again like that? He didn't like that she was able to do that without first relaying the information first. Information he wouldn't dare ever reveal because he kept his cards close to the vest.

Thankfully, the horse was able to pull the cart. Much to Odette's great relief. But they didn't travel very far when Athos brought the horse to a stop. He then jumped down from the seat as he situated the reins to the cart.

Odette's brow furrowed. She looked around and noticed men walking into a door and drunk men walking out. She groaned. They were supposed to be heading for Paris, not stopping for a drink. "Excuse me. Why are we stopping at a tavern?"

"Musketeer business," Athos said. That was all he said too.

Odette rolled her eyes. He was probably stopping for a drink. She didn't for one moment believe it to be Musketeer business. "And what am I supposed to do while you're on this supposed Musketeer business?"

Athos looked at her and then at the tavern. "You can either come inside or you have a trunk of books, I'm sure you'll think of something, Mademoiselle."

With that, Athos walked into the tavern, leaving Odette alone on the cart in an unknown city surrounded by unknown people. She huffed before climbing down the cart and following after Athos into the tavern. Man of honour her arse.

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