The King of Spain

5 - 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑇𝑅𝑈𝑇𝐻

As Julia began to remember the last words she uttered, she knew how she had to explain it all from the top. She groaned before sitting up in a more comfortable position since the tale is quite long, and she knew that they had to know everything in order to protect the young boy.

"A civil war is now happening in Spain between King Felipe and Princess Luciana, Queen Anne's older sister." Julia slowly started to give them a summary of what was currently happening from where they came from. Though at the mention of Queen Anne's older sister, everyone in the room held a puzzled look.

Athos tilted his head to the side, "Older sister? If Queen Anne had an older sister then she would've been our queen."

Julia sighed and shook her head, "Princess Luciana rebelled against her family and even went as far to renounce her royal status. She wanted to be treated equally as her brother, to learn everything King Felipe has learned. She wanted to learn how to fight, to strategize, to become a ruler, but their father strictly told her it wasn't a woman's job to do those."

"And now she wants to take over the Spanish throne?" Minister Treville asked with a tone of disbelief, "Not that I am against women but who would support her? She'll get her head on a spike."

"That's the thing, she has tons of supporters to match King Felipe." Julia replied which made all of their eyes widen in shock as the thought of a female ruler on the throne was nearly impossible, "You have seen the war, King Felipe has further proved his mind is in no state for it. Spain has many more casualties than France. When a truce was offered, the King held his pride above the others and declined it. When the princess offered her guidance and strategy for the war which the council thought was best he also declined it, because the thought of being bested by his sister, a woman, nonetheless, made him mad."

D'Artagnan then crossed his arms, "You're saying that the only reason this war isn't over is because King Felipe values his pride more than the people?"

Julia slowly nodded, "Like everyone else, all we want is for this war to end. Princess Luciana has seen first hand the chaos it has brought and despite knowing many strategies to win this war, she wants to settle for peace. Most of the council is on her side for they are convinced of the king's madness. Still, King Felipe has loyal men to him and I'm sure this civil war we have will be a lot more bloodier than the one against your country."

The men turned to look at each other as if they were speaking by eyes alone. This war could've ended under the princess' rule. This war is not about power anymore, it's about pride. Treville still remembers how he managed to convince King Louis to have the Queen write to his brother for peace only for it to be denied in an instant. He remembers how mad King Louis was, to have seemed pathetic in the eyes of the Spanish. Queen Anne assured them that his brother would've accepted and it might be the council who was against it, they believed her, of course. But now, they knew the real reason.

"And how does this fit with Aramis?" Porthos pointed out with a shrug, "You came here because it was gettin' bloody over there?"

The woman then breathed deeply before shaking her head, "Because we can't have King Felipe use Aramis as leverage."

At this, all of their eyebrows furrowed as confusion took over once more. Leverage? How could the King of Spain use a Musketeer's son as leverage? Julia saw the looks in their eyes and it made her sigh.
"Leverage?" Athos questioned

"Princess Luciana is Aramis' mother."

And with that, everything started falling into place like a puzzle. Julia had to watch as silence took over the Musketeers, the realization of their brother's son being a prince if ever the princess wins the throne. Treville had to sit himself down as he thought of how such a thing could happen, how could Aramis have bed a princess and not tell anyone about it?

"I-I'm still confused," D'Artagnan stammered as he shook his head

Julia sighed upon realizing how she had to explain everything from the beginning, "Princess Luciana was 16 when she met Aramis who was 15. I told you how she had left the palace to live in an estate in the countryside with her aunt, it was there she met him. He saved her from a bunch of teenagers trying to harass her, he was the first man she loved. She introduced herself as Mariana and that's why he never knew of her status. He was the first man she slept with and same with him. After a few months, Princess Luciana had to move to another country because her aunt sold their estate and she had no choice. She found out she was pregnant not long after moving away, her aunt loved her so and took that secret to her grave. Aramis and her never met again, until 4 years ago."

"Aramis always had quite the taste," Porthos breathed out as he began to see the kind of women his brother had slept with. Aramis never had standards when it came to women, he respected them all the same, but there's no denying the pattern of royal and noble born women in his streak.

The woman gave them a few minutes to absorb the information before continuing, "Little Aramis doesn't know of it as well."

Their lips began to form an 'o' as the reason for her wanting the boy to leave became evident. A secret such as this was too big to hide, it's as if keeping the boy's whole identity from him. Treville sighed heavily as the thought of keeping yet another life-changing secret weighed on his conscience. Not only were they to keep this secret from the boy, but also from France and the King whom they swore allegiance too.

"You're telling me we have to lie to that boy, our brother's son, about a huge revelation such as this?" Athos questioned quite aggressively as he never really appreciated lying not unless it was truly needed, "You're not only asking us to lie to him but also to the country we swore allegiance to!"

Julia knew how much the Musketeers values their duties but she had no choice, "I only ask you to keep this from him until he reaches 18. The civil war is not yet finished and we are not sure of what the outcome will be, all we know is that Aramis must be protected or else he'll follow his father to the grave too soon."

"The king is willing to kill his nephew?" Treville asked with disgust

"Of course, it's a blood feud." Julia answered, "And I, for one, will not let anything happen to that boy. I love him like my own, I'll die to save him if I have to."

All of them heard the conviction in her voice and never doubted it one second. The boy is not only their friend's legacy but also Spain's, still, if there is a reason for them to protect and love him it would be the latter. They owe it to Aramis to keep his son safe and loved, just like how he loved and cared for them throughout his life. They would not only fail their brother but themselves if they turned his son away, not that any of them had the strength to. The boy barely spent time with them and it felt like their chests had gone lighter and the pain they felt was slowly lessening.

"We do this not for Spain but for Aramis, for both the father and the son." Athos sternly proclaimed which the others seemed to agree on.

This made the woman slowly smile as the weight in her chest was lifted, "Take care of him, mold him into the honorable man like you and his father are. Teach him to defend himself and fight for those that need it, teach him how to lead with not only his mind but his heart, show him not how to rule but to lead. If there is any way for this war to end with peace then believe me, that boy is the key."

They would want nothing but peace, for this war to end and for everything to go back to normal, but again, this is a war of pride. If they wanted peace then Julia was right, the secret about his identity must be kept. Little Aramis is still a boy no matter how tall or mature he seems to be. Things like this can slip from his tongue and there are people who have the ability to pressure him into saying something, but none of it will happen if he doesn't know.

"If Princess Luciana manages to succeed, which I think she will, Aramis will be the next king." Julia added to further press on the reality of their situation, "So, like I said before I passed out, protect the future King of Spain."