The movie ends with the information that Louis was taken to a quiet estate in the country. That’s where this fanfiction starts.
The end of a feud
By Christiane MärkerLouis stood at the window and looked outside. He watched the garden which was quite beautiful. Also the complete estate was beautiful – at least much more beautiful than the prison. Louis thought about the past events and he had to admit that he had yet get off quite well. Actually he also could be dead or in prison now.
“But I won’t be thankful”, he said to himself, “he is a traitor. I don’t owe him anything.”
And he turned away from the window. Louis was relieved that he was not in prison anymore. The few weeks during which he had been there, had been worse enough. But he was still convinced that he was the only true king. After all he was king by the grace of God. He was anointed and Philippe was not.
“He is maybe also a son of Louis XIII. He is maybe even my twin brother. But that doesn’t make him king. He will never be the true king! He is only an usurper!”
Louis was really agitated now. His twin had definitely made a mistake, when he had released him from the prison. Did Philippe really think that he, Louis, would just accept this treason and be quiet? No, he wouldn’t. He was free now. So he could try to get the throne back. The only question was how.
“Well, first I have to see what is going on at the palace at the moment”, he said to himself.
But then he realised that this wasn’t so easy. He had servants and guards here at this estate. But actually they were also his jailers. They served Philippe and had to make sure that Louis didn’t make any trouble. So he couldn’t send anyone of them to spy at the palace. If he liked it or not, he had to go himself. This would be hard enough because he had to leave the estate unnoticed.
In the meantime Philippe was doing his best to be a good king. But this wasn’t so easy, because always when he did something good, his courtiers were looking at him as if he was ill. And Philippe knew why. The courtiers hadn’t known such behaviour from Louis. This made Philippe worry. What if someone would become suspicious? He decided to speak with his friends about this.
“Jean”, he said to his valet, “Go and search Aramis, Athos and Porthos. Tell them that I wish to see them now.”
“Yes, Sire”, the valet replied and hurried away.
About ten minutes later he came back together with the three musketeers.
“Here we are, Sire”, Porthos said joyfully, “what can we do for you?”
Philippe looked at the valet.
“Thank you, Jean”, he said, “you can leave now.”
The young man bowed and left the room. Now Philippe and his friends were alone and able to talk. Philippe started the conversation.
“My friends, I’m worried”, he said.
“Worried? Why?” Athos replied.
“Because I fear that the people here at the palace will get a suspicion that I’m not Louis. They already always look so strange at me when I do something which was untypical for Louis.”
“Ah, don’t be worry, Philippe”, Aramis said, “the courtiers are just naive. Even if they would get a suspicious, they wouldn’t do anything against you. They are more interested in becoming the king’s favourite. And for them king is who is sitting on the throne.”
“But what about the king’s musketeers?” Philippe demanded.
“Well, after all you have us”, Athos replied, “and as long as we are on your side, nobody should dare to harm you.”
“By the way, what is Louis doing right now?” Porthos asked.
“He is at his estate where I have sent him”, Philippe replied.
“Do you think that this was a good idea, Philippe”, Porthos said, “you are worried about the courtiers. But I would be more worried about Louis. What if he is hatching out a plot against you right now?”
“I don’t expect that Louis is very excited about the current situation”, Philippe replied, “but the servants and guards at this estate are watching him and they keep me always informed about what he is doing.”
“I don’t know”, Athos said, “I have to agree with Porthos. It was very risky to release Louis from the prison. What if he manages to get some of the servants on his side?”
“I felt sorry for him”, Philippe replied quietly.
“He doesn’t deserve it!” Athos chocked out.
“I know, but…”
“Sire”, Aramis interrupted, “maybe I have a solution.”
“Speak.”
“You could exchange the current staff at the estate against some of my Jesuits. They will be loyal to you.”
Philippe smiled.
“That’s a great idea, Aramis”, he said, “Would you arrange this for me?”
“Of course, Sire.”
But Philippe and his friends were talking about problems which they already hadn’t under control anymore.
In the night Louis was ready to escape. He got his clothes on, took a bag with provisions and left his bedroom quietly. The house was quiet. One could even think that nobody was there except for Louis. He went down the stairs slowly while he tried to make no noises. When he had reached the entrance-hall, he looked around himself. Nobody was there.
“I thought they should guard me. Looks like they do a very bad job”, he said to himself.
But when he wanted to open the door, he noticed that it was locked.
“Argh! These bastards!” he hissed angrily.
Now he understood why there were no guards. It was unnecessary because he was locked up here. But then Louis appeased himself a bit. A locked door wouldn’t stop him. That would be absurd. He could climb trough one of the windows. Of course they were locked up, too. But it should be no problem to smash the glass.
Louis took a cloth and wrapped around his right fist. Then he went to one of the windows and smashed the glass. The pieces rattled loudly and for a moment Louis paused. He waited fearfully if someone would come, but nothing happened. So he nodded satisfied and climbed out of the window.
The garden was as quite as the house. Louis almost couldn’t believe that his guards were so careless. He went to the stable and took one of the horses. But when he wanted to leave the stable with the horse one of the servants suddenly stood in front of him. Louis was alarmed, but so was the servant.
“What are you doing here?” the man stammered.
Louis took a spade which had leaned against the wall next to him.
“I’m leaving this place!” he exclaimed. Then he stroke…
At the next morning the other servants found their dead comrade at the stable. His head was bloody and they saw the spade lying next to him.
“Oh God! What has happened?” someone exclaimed.
“Well, what should have happened? The impostor has obviously escaped. We must warn the king.”
“I will go”, one of the guards said.
The others nodded.
Louis was riding the whole day. When he arrived at the palace, it was already night again. He stopped under the cover of some trees. There he dismounted. He tied up the reins to a branch and patted his horse’s neck.
“Wait here for me”, he said.
Then he went towards the fence. He saw that two musketeers were guarding the gate. So he chose a place about fifty metres away from the gate, where he climbed over the fence. When he was on the other side, Louis smiled. Now he had to come inside the palace.
Philippe wasn’t sleeping very well. It was a sultry night and this made it not easy to sleep. Philippe rolled in his bed. Then he sat up.
“Maybe I could need a drink”, he said to himself and stood up.
He went into the room which was next to his bedroom. There a carafe with juice stood on a little table. Philippe poured something into a glass and drank. It did good. Philippe went to one of the windows and looked outside. The night was quiet and the sight reassuring. Philippe felt that he was happy. But suddenly he started. Hadn’t he just seen someone in the garden who was flitting between the trees? Philippe rubbed his eyes and looked out of the window again. Everything was quiet and nothing moved in the garden. Philippe shrugged.
“I must have dreamed”, he said to himself.
He emptied his glass and put it back on the table. Then he went back into his bedroom.
But when he entered the bedroom, he froze. There was someone standing next to his bed. It was dark and so Philippe only saw the silhouette of this person first.
“What…?” he began.
The person moved forward. Now Philippe recognized him and he flinched. It was Louis.
“You”, he exclaimed. He wanted to scream, but he couldn’t.
“Nice to meet you again, brother”, Louis said coldly.
Philippe remembered what Athos and Porthos had said and now he had to admit that they had been right. It had been a mistake to give Louis a pardon. But now it was too late.
Louis grabbed his brother and squeezed him against one of the pillars which hold the baldachin of the royal bed. He hold a dagger against Philippe’s throat. Philippe trembled with fear.
“Now you will give me back what belongs to me”, Louis said.
“Whatever you do to me, you will always have Athos, Porthos and Aramis against you.”
“I don’t care about them”, Louis replied angrily, “but you must die.”
“No. Don’t do this, Louis. Please.”
“Oh. Are we afraid now?” Louis mocked.
Just at this moment the guard from Louis’ estate arrived at the palace. The musketeers at the gate stopped him.
“Hey, where do you want to go?”
“Please, it is urgent. The impostor has escaped from his estate. I’m here to warn the king.”
The two musketeers became pale.
“Yes, yes… of course”, the stammered.
It was an incident that just in this moment Porthos went past. He had decided to make a nightly walk.
“Monsieur Porthos”, one of the musketeers exclaimed, “please come.”
“What is?” Porthos asked curiously.
Louis pressed the knife harder into his brother’s flesh. But something prevented him from slitting Philippe’s throat. He hadn’t expected this, but now he had scruples. This made Louis angry with himself.
“Please Louis, don’t do another crime”, Philippe begged.
“I have gone so far, I can’t go back anymore”, Louis replied.
“I will give you a pardon.”
“Pah! Who are you that you can give me a pardon? I’m the king. You are only an impostor.”
“I’m your brother.”
"Brother, brother... I have no brother. You are only an enemy to me, a traitor!"
"No Louis", Philippe said desperately, "don't do it. I see that you have scruple. Please, listen to your heart."
Louis hit Philippe at the face.
"Damn! Spare me with this overweening sentimentality. I have no scruple. I hate you."
"Please, Louis. You don't have to do this", Philippe stammered.
"You are just afraid", Louis hissed, "you're going to wet yourself any moment. Am I right?"
"Yes, I'm afraid", Philippe whined. His resistence dwindled. "Who would not be afraid in my position? I'm your brother, Louis. Your brother. Do you understand. Please, do you really want to kill another member of your family?"
“What do you mean? Another member of my family?” Louis demanded distrustfully.
“D’Artagnan”, Philippe moaned, “he was our father.”
“No! That’s a lie!” Louis exclaimed angrily.
“It is the truth”, Philippe replied, “he loved our mother and we are his children.”
“You are telling nonsense. I’m not a bastard.”
“I swear it is the truth. Please Louis, don’t make everything worse.”
Louis' hand began to shake.
"Do you really swear that?", he asked carrifully.
"I would swear in God's name if you demand me to do so", Philippe replied.
“So you… you really mean that… that I have murdered my own father?” Louis stammered. He had always liked D’Artagnan. If there had ever been someone to whom he had have a deeper relationship, it had been D’Artagnan.
Suddenly Louis recognized what this meant. He had killed his own father, one of the worsest crimes which one could commit. He felt bad. Philippe saw how his brother became pale. Louis was almost getting dizzy. He had maybe expected many things which could have happened this night, but not this. This was too much for him.
“It was an accident”, Philippe said quietly. He felt a bit sorry for his twin.
"Maybe", Louis whined, "but I killed him while I wanted to kill you. So what makes this better?"
"Just one moment ago you had no problems to kill me and now..."
"No! Don't speak like this", Louis exclaimed, "I can't bear that. You... you are just trying to confuse me... This story is not true."
Philippe shook his head sadly. Louis saw it and he knew that his brother told him the truth. There was no doubt and no chance for him to awake from this nightmare. Then he began to weep.
"My father. I murdered my father. Scum, that's what I am", he sobbed.
It was as if Louis had lost all power now. He released his brother. The dagger dropped onto the floor.
“Why?!” he sobbed “Why must all this happened? Why can't I just wake up and see that everything was just a nightmare?”
Philippe was relieved. On the other hand he felt the desire to comfort his brother. Maybe this was a chance to reconcile now. He felt that if they ever would want to make peace, he had to do the first step now. Louis was still sobbing. Philippe made a step forward, but just at this moment the door burst open.
