Courfeyrac and the Several Amis: A Les Mis AU

Chapter 9

Combeferre was riding through the woods, wondering what he was going to do now. He had made it clear that he didn't want to go back to the castle, but he didn't have many other options.

Finally, he decided he would stop by the kingdom in which he had met Courfeyrac. Maybe he had an idea of where he could go. Although, he might suggest that he stay in that kingdom, which Combeferre didn't mind the idea of. He enjoyed thinking about sharing a home with his friend, sort of like if they were a married couple, even if he's only met him once. Actually, even the idea of marriage didn't sound like such a treacherous prospect when Courfeyrac was involved.

"To think I just fought with my mother over not getting married to someone, and now I want to," Combeferre laughed to himself. "This is crazy."

Combeferre made his way through the woods, searching for the castle. He could hardly wait to see his friend again. But when he got to the castle, he couldn't find Courfeyrac anywhere. He searched all over the grounds, but he was still missing. Even though Combeferre didn't believe in trespassing into other people's homes, it seemed suspicious that Courfeyrac couldn't be even heard anywhere. He had been quite loud when Combeferre had first met him.

When he peeked over the windowsill to see inside, he could see an older woman, probably Courfeyrac's stepmother, waltzing down the hall.

"I did it! Everything is just how I want it!" she cheered. Combeferre couldn't see how getting an entire room cleaned by oneself was such a huge achievement, but he decided to wait and go in when she wasn't looking.

He snuck around a corner, watching the woman disappear into a room. He scooted across the floor, making far more noise than necessary trying to get into another. Scratch, scratch, scratch.

Inside this room he heard sniffing from a corner, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. He stood up, not realizing that there was a mirror hanging on the wall behind him, and accidentally sent it crashing on the floor. He jumped as the glass shattered, and out popped Jehan, who was curled up in a ball up until this point and squeaked in surprise.

Combeferre knelt next to the small person, who was shrinking away from him in fear. "It's okay, I won't hurt you, little one... what's troubling you?" He had to ask, seeing as the tears on their face weren't fresh. He approached them gently, and just as carefully wiped their face with his thumb.

"I'm so tired, sir," Jehan whimpered. "I've been trying for a whole week to see my friend with my mind, and Madame won't feed me or let me sleep if I don't tell her anything." They curled up tighter in a ball and cried. "And now... she went to go kill him and I haven't seen her since."

Combeferre put his arm over them, letting them sob into his shoulder. "You don't have to call me sir. You can call me Combeferre."

Jehan sat up, looking at him. "Sweet, handsome, glasses--you're Combeferre! Courfeyrac was telling me about you! He thinks you're really spectacular."

"Really?" Combeferre blushed at the praise. "You know Courfeyrac? I'm going to find him, would you like a ride? We'll have to be very quiet getting out of here, but we can do that. We can go find him, warn him, and maybe find somewhere to hide all together. It'll be okay."

Jehan nodded a little and said, "There's someone else I want to find. His name is Montparnasse, and he was very sweet and respectful. I don't get that much, so I want to thank him."

Combeferre agreed and helped them out the window--accidentally breaking the glass, but no one was hurt--and over to his horse. The two of them rode off into the woods, figuring that was the most likely place to find who they were looking for. Jehan fell asleep on the horse's mane, and Combeferre made sure they didn't fall off. Soon they came to a clearing full of people, all of them in tears.