Free On My Lady's Honor (All for one, and one for all) by Kate Silver

or worse.   At any rate, none of them would risk a journey in the middle of winter to a house with the plague.   By the time I was well enough to travel, word had reached me that Sophie was long since dead and that you were on your way to rejoin the regiment.”
    Sophie crouched in the dirt still, her heart aching for what she had done, wallowing in the newfound sense of her guilt.   She had misjudged Lamotte and sought to murder him, when he had risked his life to save her.   He would have saved Gerard, too, if he could.   He had not forsaken them in their hour of need as she had thought for so many many months.  
    She rose unsteadily to her feet to make what belated amends she could.   “I apologize for my actions when I first saw you again.   I was deeply upset.   I thought you had ignored my plea for your help out of fear.”   She cleared her throat.   The words stuck deep down in her chest until she thought she would choke on them.   She had to force herself to give them voice.   “I take back my words.   It seems I had no cause to call you a coward.”
    Lamotte bowed his head briefly.   “Apology accepted.”
    She sheathed her sword with a hand that trembled.   “Thank you for the lesson.”   She had been so used to seeing him as the enemy that she did not know how to handle this sudden change.   Her thirst for revenge had given her the strength to struggle on when even her desire for honor could not have kept her on her feet.   Losing the guiding force of her life all on instant made her feel suddenly lost and alone.
    She had to believe him.   His body could not lie.   She had seen his wound with her own eyes and touched the raw edges with her fingertips.   He had taken that wound for her.   For Gerard.   He had nearly died of it.
    She had much to think about now – more than she had ever imagined possible.   She wanted to be alone in her lodgings with her thoughts.
    She could feel his eyes on her as she strode away.   “Come back tomorrow,” he called after her.
    She waved her agreement.   She would be back for another lesson in the morn, though her desire to use her new-found skill against her teacher had utterly disappeared.   She would learn her best so that she would bring honor to Gerard’s name.
    Her brother had been right.   Lamotte was no coward.   He was an honorable man and he deserved her respect.   He had well-nigh died trying to bring her the medicine she needed.   She would not seek his death any longer.
    Still, she could not afford to let him get close to her.   Only by holding herself aloof from her companions could she guarantee that her secret would be kept.   She would learn from Lamotte, but she must nonetheless avoid his friendship, as she avoided the friendship of all her fellow Musketeers.   She would never be his companion as Gerard had been.   The thought pained her even as she admitted its absolute necessity.   He was an honorable man, and the best fighter she had ever seen.   She would have liked to become close to him, to share his hopes and fears, to become a part of his life.
    She understood now why Gerard had chosen him for her husband.   She sent a silent apology up to Gerard’s soul that she had ever doubted him.   Her twin had known her better than she had known herself, choosing for her with eyes unblinded by childish liking, choosing her a man she could both love and respect.   Lamotte was more of a man than Jean-Luc ever would have been.   He was a hawk, a fierce predator, to Jean-Luc’s good-natured robin.   Lamotte’s wife, whoever she would be, would be blessed with a courageous and loyal husband.
    Her life as a man gave her freedom to do as she pleased, she thought to herself, as she lay awake on her narrow bed that evening, but it cut her off from the rest of the world.   She could trust no one, neither man nor woman, with her secret.   She had never felt so alone or so lonely before.   Even her ambition to do her