Children, Athos supposes, must hope for better than their lot or die of despair, though he doubts that many of them turn to political philosophy for their wellspring. He will grant the boy this: something clearly changed, somewhere along the line. One only need see the ease with which Porthos can now walk down the street, even sans the deference provoked by arms and the king’s uniform, to realize that not all is as it once was.

Still, he has no time for the sorts of rebels and radicals the gamin speaks of, who tend to get people killed for no reason. Athos sighs and shrugs. It is no matter now. “Very well."