Bash walks through the deserted castle corridors, heading to the gardens where he last saw Mary taking a walk. Ever since the incident with Catherine, he has felt the need to keep an eye on her every hour of every day, wanting to keep her safe from everything.
Suddenly, he hears footsteps behind him and he turns to find himself face to face with one of Mary's Ladies, Greer.
"Bash, I am so sorry to stop you, but do you have a moment?" She fidgeted on the spot, and this made Bash straighten with caution, as Greer was usually so refined in her stance. He looked over at the window once more to check that Mary was still by the lake, and stepped towards Greer to make the conversation more private-just in case.
"Don't be sorry, I was just going to check on Mary. Is everything alright?" He looked into her eyes, but she looked away hesitantly. She took a step back, and braced herself before returning to watch his eyes, as if measuring his emotions.
"Actually, Mary is who I wanted to talk about." Sebastian reached for Greer's arm in earnest.
"Is she ok?" He glances at the window once more to check on her. "Is she hurt? What's wrong?"
Greer brings his head back to face her, away from the window, but her expression was one he could not decipher, but it certainly wasn't giving him much trust that this was a conversation about a dress Greer might have creased badly.
"She isn't hurt Bash, but it has been a week now since the incident with Catherine, and I am not sure how well Mary is taking it."
"What do you mean?" his voice was deep and steely, anger threaded in his words. Greer looked at him, and hesitated before continuing.
"The past few night's, her guards stormed her rooms because they heard her screaming. She allegedly paid them to keep quiet about it, but one of my guards gave me his share of the money to return to Mary, saying he was worried about her. She has been having nightmares, almost every night, but she refuses to tell us anything, even when we outright ask." Bash puts his head in his hands and leans against a brick column of the hall.
"I knew she wasn't ok, she has been very…happy, the last few days, and it seems very forced. Even my father noticed, but he didn't say anything, he just looked at me with a confused expression." Greer pulled his hands away from his face and looked at him with an exasperated expression.
"Bash! You must talk to her, Mary will listen to you, she always does." He looks at Greer with indecision before turning and jogging towards the gardens.
"Thank you Greer, I will handle it!" he shouts at her from the other end of the hall. Greer shakes her head, amused, before turning to find that dress that Mary wanted folded.
A cough sounded behind Mary, and she gasped before spinning to meet Bash, his expression of mirth was being muffled as he tried not to laugh.
"I am so sorry, your Grace, I did not mean to startle you." Mary glared at him, both for the sarcasm and the title, and it was all Bash could do to not laugh.
"Yes, go ahead and laugh, I know you want to." She let out a little chuckle herself before Bash started laughing handsomely, not being able to help himself. However, suddenly he stopped, and moved closer to Mary. Mary frowned, but enjoyed his closeness that offered warmth and protection, as well as sending her heart into rapid beats.
"Bash, whatever is the matter?" She takes his face in her hands and looks into his eyes, before touching his forehead. "Are you ill? Talk to me, tell me what's wrong." He looked at her sadly, grasping her hands that still cupped each of his cheeks.
"How can I tell you what is wrong with me, when you won't tell me what is wrong with you?" She looked at him with confusion once again, before bristling in realization. He knew.
"I don't know what you are talking about Bash, lets go inside, it is getting cold out here." Actually, it was beginning to get very warm, with his closeness and his gaze of knowledge. She went to turn and head inside, when a hand wrapped around her waist, refusing to let her walk, instead bringing her closer to him than she was a few seconds ago.
"Sebas-"
"No, Mary. You don't get to do that. I know about the nightmares, and you need to talk to me, you shouldn't go through this alone. You shouldn't want to. Talk to me." She looks at him, as if she was going to say something, before turning away sharply, and in his moment of surprise, Bash's loosened hold on her gives way, and he watches her run to the castle, stunned. He stays for a moment, wandering whether he should follow, or let her come to him when she is ready, before Henry comes up behind him and pats him on the shoulder.
"I don't know what is going on Son, but I have a feeling it has something to do with Catherine. I cannot be more sorry for what she has put Mary through, but I know she needs you. And, in my experience of ladies, it is always better to go after them in cases like this." With a nod from Bash, and an almost unnaturaly kind but small smile from his Father, Bash turns and runs in Mary's direction.
He heads to Mary's rooms, but the door is closed with no guards standing watch. This worries him, and he is about to kick the door down as he imagines the worst, when he hears shouting coming from inside her rooms. One voice is Mary's, but the other two are deeper. Male. The thought makes Bash see red, before he put the puzzle together and realizing that the voices are the guards, and it is them that Mary is shouting at.
"How could you? I paid you to not say a word of what happened!"
"My Lady, we didn't want your money, and we were worried-"
"How do you think this makes me look?!" She shouted, her muffled voice harsh and broken behind the wooden door. "It makes me look weak! I am Queen of Scotland, and Queens do not have weaknesses!"
"My Lady, we apologize, but we thought it was best!" One of the guards stuttered out.
"Well it wasn't! What do you think Queen Catherine would think, if she heard gossip about me having nightmares? Pathetic!" There was a quick pause. "Leave now, and don't ever breathe a word of this again, do you understand!?"
"Yes, your Majesty." The door opens to reveal the guard's weary stances and sad expressions. Suddenly, as the guards walk out of the room, an almighty crash echoes through the hollow hallways of the castle. Bash and the guards immediately turned, only to see a smashed vase launched-with very good aim-at the doorframe, with Mary on her knees crying.
"Go and find your replacements for the evening, I can handle this." He ordered the guards, and they turn and walk quickly and heavily down the hall.
Bash sighs with sadness, before walking into Mary's room and closing the door. He stands there and looks at her. Her hair washes over her face, which is wet from tears-which he can tell from her dampening skirts that her head is leaned on. Her arms are wrapped around her legs, and she is sobbing quietly, but uncontrollably. Sebastian's heart breaks, and he kneels next to her, lifting away her hair to see her half buried tear stained face.
"Oh Mary, my strong, confident, stubborn Mary. I hate to see you like this." He strokes a visible part of her cheek as she suddenly looks up at him, and his heart shatters more at the sight of her sad eyes.
"I…I don't know how-how…why…" She gives up as a fresh wave of tears wash over her, and Bash pulls her into his lap as she cries into him, clutching his loose shirt with all of her strength.
"Shh Mary, don't think of that now, you will feel better after you cry. We can stay here as long as you need."
About half an hour later, Mary's sobs had almost stopped, but Sebastian remained there with her, holding her hair and stroking her face. Bash felt horrible, he hated seeing Mary like this, she was normally so differed, so…the opposite of the beautiful mess she was now. It made him wonder how many times she had cried alone before. Suddenly, Mary clambered out of Bash's hold and stood up, her back facing his form still slumped on the ground. Bash was silent, he knew she was composing herself, as he watched her wipe her eyes, run a hands through her hair and flatten the creases in her skirts. He stood slowly, his legs numb from sitting on the ground for so long. Mary turned quickly, with a smile on her face. Astounded, Bash opened and shut his mouth like a fish. She looked like the past hour hadn't happened. Her eyes were a little red, but other than that, all tell tale signs of her distraught crying was erased.
"Ba-Bash," She spoke, her voice confident but broken from her tears. Once again, the signs were almost non-existent. For some reason, this annoyed him greatly. "Would you happen to know the time, I completely forgot that I had a meeting with the King this afternoon." Bash shook his head dazed, before he found a clock on the table of her dresser.
"It's one thirty. Mary, what-" Mary waved her hand and grinned.
"Well, that's a relief, I thought it was much later. However, I do have lunch with my ladies in fifteen minutes, so if you would excuse me, I need to change." She turned towards her dressing screen, but just as she reached it two hands rested on her shoulder, spinning her to meet Bash's heated eyes.
"Bash, I must insist you leave, I have to be in the dining hall soon." Bash shook his head, closing his eyes and sighing before opening his mouth to speak.
"I am not going anywhere. And neither are you, Greer wont expect you at lunch, I have spoken to her already this morning." Mary's false grin dropped, replaced with a tight, quivering line.
"You have spoken to Greer? Does she know?" She pauses. "Oh god, she told you. And then the guards-" She sharply looked up at Bash, eyes wide in fear. "Catherine. Catherine will find out, and then she could find a way to…Oh no, this is a disaster, she can't find out! I have to go and see her…see what she knows…and you! Bash, don't take any medicines, or drinks that have come straight from the kitchens, make sure they are-" Bash shook Mary lightly, pulling her out of her dazed reaction. She looks up at him once more, with wide eyes and trembling lips.
"Mary! Dammit calm down. Catherine will not found out, and you certainly are not going to go and see her. She is dangerous, and we will get through the next couple of days, and then she will be gone. Forever. She wont harm you ever again." Mary closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, before opening them to peer into Bash's strong green ones.
"What about you?"
"What about me?" Mary stares at him, with an irritated look on her face.
"It isn't just me she wants dead, if anything I think she wants your head more than mine! That woman is manipulative and sneaky; she could poison you, or get someone to cause an accidental wound-that turns out fatal. She has so many tricks, neither of us are certain of the power she has at the moment. What about her connections? And now, knowing about my…my nightmares," She casts her eyes away from Sebastian's before continuing. "This is a weakness, one that I shouldn't have, and can't afford." Bash looked at her, securing eye contact again.
"Mary, everyone has weaknesses, even Queens. I have weaknesses, especially at the moment. What would I do if something happened to you? I couldn't live with myself, so I use this weakness as strength. I use it to protect you, and to be there for you-to listen to you." Mary looked at him, carefully and severely, as if testing him.
"But it is a weakness you don't have to have! You can leave-I shan't stop you; I could never stop you from being safe, however much it hurt me. Run away, be with your mother!" Mary is sobbing again at this point, and she clutches Bash's arms as her lifeline. "Be with a girl that doesn't put you in danger, that doesn't come with a crown and a country. You could have that!" At this point, Bash doesn't know how to calm her down, so he shakes her gently.
"I can't have that Mary! Can't you see?! I couldn't live a life without you! I need you, and I need everything that you come with, including dangerous adventures and a crown." Mary's eyes are still spilling over with tears, but she is listening to every word he is saying, watching his mouth that makes her shiver in pleasure.
"The only way I could escape this weakness is death, and quite frankly, that is something that neither of us want. I can't escape this weakness through running away and marrying a country maid I don't love! I need you! I love you Mary, with or without your crown, country and danger!" And then Bash did the next best thing he thought he should do; he kissed her. This wasn't like their other kisses, this was different, and it had a spark, an outburst of feeling. Her lips tasted like mint and cream, and as he nuzzled her neck, her hair smelt of roses and lavender.
Mary pulls away first, catching her breath. She grabs Sebastian's head in both her hands and looks challengingly into his eyes.
"Bash…you are my weakness as well, a much bigger weakness than nightmares and my crown. Do you realize how dangerous it is to love me? I can't protect you, and me loving you makes you a massive targ-" Bash kisses her once again, slower this time, but with no less spark and feeling than the last. Mary looks at him, as he grins down at her.
"Say it again." She raises her eyebrow at him.
"Say what again?" He pulls her face closer to his, and whispers against her lips.
"You know what." She smiles and pulls on his hair, his lips grazing hers.
"I love you, Bash. So very, very much." With that, Bash maneuvers his head the rest of the way and kisses her again, lifting Mary by her waist at the same time, spinning her across the room. Mary laughs gleefully, the first real laugh he has heard for a very long time and he laughs with her. He lowers her to the ground, and dizzy, she leans on him and Bash looses his balance, fortunately falling onto the soft mattress of her bed. Mary falls on top of him, and he raises his eyebrows dramatically.
"Why Mary! How lucky we landed on a soft mattress instead of the floor. Or did you plan that?" She blushes, making her beautiful face light up. He smirks, and rolls them over, him pinning her down on the bed.
Bash jolts awake, not sure why he is ramrod straight in bed at-he looks at the clock on the dresser- 3.20 in the morning! Suddenly the covers of the bed move, and whimpering noises are heard from the other side of the bed. He remembers now, the blissful night he had with Mary, spending the whole afternoon in bed after wonderful love making, and staying in bed until they both fell asleep that night.
He is brought out of his memories by a piercing scream, and the two guards burst into the room. Bash quickly covers himself and Mary up.
"It's ok, I will handle it, stay outside please." He ordered the guards, and they turned with grateful expressions, and walked back to their stations.
He turned to Mary, and pulled her into his arms. Before he had a chance to say anything, another scream rang from her mouth, tears falling from her eyes.
"No! Please, don't…I love…Catherine NO!" He decides that is enough and shakes her gently, caressing her hair.
"Mary, Sweetheart, wake up, its just another nightmare…Mary…" She jolts awake, in a similar fashion he did a few minutes prior, and she scrambles away from him.
"No, it's ok, it's just me, it's Bash, remember?" She looks at him in relief, before looking around the room in fear.
"Catherine…?" Bash shakes his head.
"No sweetheart, she isn't here, I promise you are safe, she is still locked up." She sighs, and crawls back over to him, clutching him in a tight embrace.
Sebastian looks down at her, softly and cautiously.
"Do you want to tell me what the nightmare was about?" Mary looks up at him from her place in his neck, not knowing what to do. She was so used to not having anyone to talk to, that she didn't know what it was like to share these kinds of things with someone else, let alone someone she was so close to and loved.
She nodded slowly, but hesitated. Bash shakes his head and strokes her hair and arm comfortingly.
"You don't have to Mary, I won't make you."
"No, it's-It's all right." Bash nods his head, for her to carry on. "It…It always starts with me in the bath, and Catherine comes in-you know that part. But for some reason, the poison isn't affecting her or I…It-It is you that falls from the smoke, and you hit your head on the tub. There…there is so much blood everywhere, and you aren't breathing, and I'm begging Catherine for an antidote but she refuses, even when I tell her how much I love you. I ask for Nostradamus, but again, I am refused-and-and the blood won't stop and you still won't wake up!" Cries shudder through Mary, and she once again clutches to her lifeline. Bash holds her, and rocks her soothingly.
"Mary, listen to me-are you listening?" He feels her nod into his damp-with-tears chest. "I love you, and I know that you love me, and that means nothing can hurt us, nothing can steal away what we love, because we are together. Nothing can hurt us when we are together. Not Catherine, not poisons, not the court, not Scotland. If we do this together, nothing can stop us." Mary looks up at Bash, wipes her eyes self-consciously and sniffles a little, but-Bash notes with delight-there is a smile there, and it is real, if not a little small. But he can work on that.
"You promise?" Mary squeaks, her voice harsh from her crying. Bash looks down at her, and musters all the love, passion and loyalty he can into that one look.
"I promise."