#dumas

A little announcement for my fellow Musketeers Enjoyers ! I've had the pleasure to illustrate a luxury french edition of the Three Musketeers with a box and gold foil dust jacket and you can preorder it right now !

The collection also includes Picture of Dorian Gray and Pride and Prejudice, illustrated respectively by Anaïs Flogny and Anouck Faure. It's produced by an independent team of editors and all made in Europe.

Simon Riley x The Three Musketeers AU ?

: ̗̀➛ disclaimer : it’s a little scene I imagined and wrote right on spot, if I develop this AU more, I need to do some historical research and to read Dumas’ work. I also tried to be as inclusive as possible so there aren’t any physical depiction of the reader’s POV - except that it's a female!reader one.

: ̗̀➛ also this is my first time ever writing in English, and as it’s not my first language, I truly apologize if it comes off as emotionless, I still need some practice lmao. I hope you’ll enjoy it still !

It's late at night when Simon posts himself next to your door, ready to take his turn as your personal bodyguard. A new decree from your father has given you a permanent bodyguard, one chosen among his personal elite guard, the famous Musketeers. Usually, at least they would know why he took such measure for his daughter, yet no one knows at court no matter how high their status is or how close from His Majesty they can be. Rumors have since spread like wildfire : have you dodged an assassination attempt ? Have you been caught with a secret lover ? Courtiers lack of information, but imagination and romance they certainly don't.

Yet none of that is his concern. Since his recent recruitment in the king's personal cavalery, the young man's mind is focused on only one goal : being worthy of his new role as a Musketeer. Having worked as a squire gave him the opportunity to see the legendary Musketeers from up close : Porthos and his unreal strength, Aramis and his admirable faith, and the mysterious Athos, to whom he didn't speak much. Even if Simon himself was usually quite silent and even more when he met them, they all grew fond of the kid. He dreamed everyday to become like them, because every boy his age shared the same dream of glory , adventures and battles, but also because Simon saw through them the best way of putting as much distance between him and his father that he could ; with protection from the king himself, he hoped he would never see this cruel smile anywhere anymore.

So Simon trained. Every night, with only the moon as witness, he trained his moves and reflexes, with a wooden stick as a sword and an empty box in the stables, and a vague idea of how to fight with a saber. Eventually, the Musketeers learned about his training - or rather they caught him while coming back from a mission - and soon enough, M. de Tréville himself showed up and recruited him in the young guard. Simon got finally nominated as a new Musketeer when M. de Tréville died and the legendary trio retired, leaving room for a new generation.

An here he is now, on his first mission to protect Her Highness from an unknown menace. Armed with his own musket, Simon keeps his posture, vigilant of anything remotely suspicious that could happen in this tiny bit of a corridor. As time passes and the moonlight stretches its rays inside, the young man starts observing : a rich wooden console table on which stands a golden candelabra, the only light around his peremeter ; and a portrait of what looked like a young girl and her dog. Given the scale of the painting, its location and the richness of her dress on the portrait, it must've been the princess. No one sees her except for exceptional occasions, and Simon especially has never seen her before, so he could only guess.

On the painting, she looks calm, holding a puppy on her knees, radiating a softness she's still renowned for today. However, Simon can't help but notice the sadness in her eyes. Is it the tiny crease of her brows, or the light shining a bit too much ? Was she truly sad when the painting was made, or was it the reflection of an ill-intentioned painter ?

A loud thud reverberates before he could continue his analysis. Coming from the other side of the door, Simon heared another song of what seemed like a groan of pain. Without hesitating further, he barges in and arms his musket around.

The sight before him is however unexpected : sheets of paper on the floor or still floating around, a full inkwell spilled on the secretary, and the princess, visibly fallen from her chair. As his gaze falls on her, Simon could notice the way her sheer nightrobe falls on her hips, how her hair is braided but some rebel strands framed her face. But no, what strikes him the most now are her eyes : soft, but reflecting the exact same sadness he has seen on the painting outside... And panic ? He quickly realizes what the scene looks like : an unknown armed man in Her Highness' most intimate space in the whole palace - hell, the whole kingdom. He has no time to even bow before she shouts.

A charming little Neo-Gothic building where Alexandre Dumas would go to write or take a break. It stood on the grounds of his large suburban Paris estate (the Château de Monte-Cristo), where he lived in the late 1840s.

" There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body's sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever. "