"Excuse me, Your Grace." Mary was in the midst of a conversation with her ladies, but turned around when she heard herself being addressed. A page was standing before her, causing the young queen to furrow her eyebrows in confusion. He bowed before he continued speaking. "I have been sent to let you know that Francis and Sebastian have returned to the castle."
"Thank you for informing me," she said, "I will go see them once I am done talking to my ladies."
"Your Grace," the page said as Mary started turning back to her previous conversation, "I don't mean to frighten you, but Sebastian did mention something about your husband not being well when they returned."
"What do you mean?!" Mary snapped, her tone perhaps a bit more harsh than she intended. But she didn't care. Everyone knew how much she was concerned about Francis' well-being. After all, she did break off their engagement and upset the line of succession when she thought their union would be the cause of his death. Looking back now, she had to admit that it wasn't one of her best decisions. All based on a prophecy, for that matter. The sentiment was still the same, though. She was worried sick about Francis' health and life.
"That's all Sebastian told me. I don't know any more about what happened," he replied, "I'm sorry, Your Grace." With that, the page bowed and walked away from Mary. As she watched him retreat, she forgot about the conversation she was having with Greer and Kenna. That could wait. Right now, she needed some answers about what had happened to Francis when he was dragged on that crazy darkness hunting trip by his brother.
"Kenna, Greer, I'll talk to you later," she told them, "Right now, I need to go find my husband and ask that brother of his what happened." Worry was evident in her voice as she spoke. She swiftly turned on her heels and picked up her long skirts, running through the hallways of the castle, not quite sure what room they were in. The page hadn't mentioned exactly where they were.
After asking a guard if he had seen where the pair had headed when they returned to the castle and getting the answer she wanted, she made her way to the chambers where Bash and Francis were. She burst in without so much as a knock and approached Bash. "What happened!?" she shouted at him, not looking too happy to see her brother-in-law. She took a moment to glance over at her husband, who was sitting in front of the fireplace. He appeared to be drenched in water, shivering and the color drained from his face. She returned her gaze to Bash, glaring at him this time. "Well?"
"Mary, I can explain…" Bash said, but she cut him off.
"Explain what?" Mary asked, "When I said he should go with you, I didn't mean go out and try to get yourselves killed."
"It's my fault," Francis cut into the conversation, his voice weak, "We were tracking the darkness and I was following a track of footprints. They led me onto a lake that was frozen over before stopping abruptly. And then the ice broke and I fell through. Bash saved my life." Mary glanced between the two of them, a skeptical look on her face.
"Really? You two have been at each other's throats ever since I tried to get Bash legitimized."
"Believe it or not, I still care about my brother," Bash told her, "I would never leave him to die."
"Thank God for that," Mary said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She had begun pacing back and forth during the conversation, worry about Francis consuming her. "Are you okay?" she asked her husband, rushing over to his side. Francis could hear the concern in her voice.
"Yes," he said as Mary joined him by the fireplace, taking a seat next to him, but she didn't believe him. "Really Mary, I'm fine."
"I'll just leave you two alone now," Bash told them, but neither paid attention to him. He sighed and sulked out of the room, unnoticed by the couple."
"You had me worried to death, Francis. When the page came up to me and said that you weren't well, my mind kept going to the worst possible scenarios."
"You worry too much."
"I can't help it when your life is constantly in danger."
"Darling, you don't need to worry yourself sick about me."
"You could have died out there," she told him, "And I can't bear to imagine what it would be like to live in a world without you." She felt tears trickling down her face as she said that.
"Hey, don't cry." He reached out and stroked his thumb across her cheeks, wiping away the tears. She grabbed his hand, placing a kiss on it. His hands were cold from the combination of it being the middle of winter and him falling into the freezing lake water. She stood up and let go of his hand, causing Francis to frown. "Where are you going?"
"I'm just getting a blanket," she told him as she crossed the room to where a blanket hung over the side of a couch. "Your hands are still cold. You should stick them closer to the fire." Francis sighed, but obeyed his wife's wishes and moved closer to the fire, sticking his hands out. Mary rejoined him at his spot in front of the fireplace, sitting down and draping the blanket over them. She then snuggled into his side and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I'm still a bit wet."
"I don't care."
After a few minutes, Francis moved his hands away from in front of the fire and wrapped his arms around his wife's body, pulling her even closer to her. "Mary, look at me." She turned to face him. "I promise to be more careful when I'm out there. You already have enough to worry about. The last thing I want is for you to get all worked up because I do something stupid." Mary smiled up at him and leaned in to capture his lips in a soft kiss."
"Thank you." She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder again.
The pair drifted off into sleep like that, both exhausted from everything that had happened that day, only to be awoken when Bash returned to the room and asked if he could speak to Francis alone. Mary glanced at her husband, not wanting to leave his side, but resigned. She might as well let the brothers patch up their relationship. "Fine," she said as she walked out of the room, "But don't do anything stupid."