The art of courting
The throne room is bustling with people for yet another party. Francis can hardly remember what the occasion for this particular one is, but he is left to entertain Count Nadine on his own. He looks around for his wife (in name only, he grimaces as he reminds himself) and finds her deep in conversation with Louis. She doesn't look back at him, she doesn't seem to do that at all these days. Louis must have said something extremely funny because suddenly her laughter fills the entire room. Oh and how he has missed it.
They seem to have grown closer since Louis helped her kill those bastards. "Thank God she wasn't alone. Thank God she is safe", he had thought to himself a thousand times since she told him she killed those men. He had wanted nothing more than to kill those bastards himself, or at least catch them and deliver them to Mary to do the rest, but it matters naught now. They are dead, they paid for what they did to his Mary. He is pulled out of his thoughts when the Count sneezes ever so loudly. Through his blocked nose the count apologizes, "The weather has grown so very cold". Francis offers a sympathetic smile and his eyes shift back to Mary. There is a smile plastered on her face and Francis can't help but admire her beauty in that instant. She almost looks like "just a girl". But Francis knows that is far from the truth. The truth is his wife is in more pain than he can ever imagine, and the more haunting truth, is that he has caused that pain. This time, it is Bash who pries him away from his thoughts, "So, what are you going to do about that?"
"About what?" Francis inquires.
"Oh come now, you aren't that naïve, you caught on to me in a jiffy", Bash smirks.
"Explain yourself brother", Francis sighs tiredly. Bash tilts his eyebrows towards Mary and Conde, and continues "I know you and Mary are in the midst of another fight and-"
Francis interjects, "And, how could you possibly know that?"
"Uh, well, let's just say it's a talent of mine", Bash shrugs.
"Mmm-hmmm, talent, is it?" Francis says sarcastically.
"Anyway, back to the point, Conde is most certainly trying to seduce Mary." Bash says firmly.
"I believe seduce is too strong a word, Bash" Francis says lightly, but looks back at the two of them and continues, "I'm not blind, you know. Any man in his right mind would fall for Mary," Bash nods knowingly, "and yes, we are fighting, period. But, she's mine and I'm hers. I don't need to worry about anything from her side."
"And from his side?" Bash triggers him on.
"What about it? If I start to swat off every man who takes an interest in Mary, I wouldn't have any time left to run a country. I know where Mary's heart is, it is right here, with me, and that's all I need" Francis says decidedly.
"Wasn't it with you when she got drunk and kissed me?" Bash shoots back.
"Don't," Francis warns in a low voice, "You could not have picked a worse time to dredge up the past".
"I don't want to. Believe me when is say, I want nothing more than to prevent history from repeating itself, especially with someone else playing my role", Bash smirks out the last part.
Francis now turns completely towards Bash, and half-shouts, as if to convince himself "It won't! She is not my drunk, angry fiancée anymore. We are married. She is my angry WIFE now!" he finishes with a tone of-this discussion is over.
"Well then brother, you underestimate Lord Conde's powers of 'persuasion' " Bash continues with a tone of-this discussion is far from over, "and, he has a knack for married women" he adds. At this Bash can see Francis' resolve breaking a little so, he continues to strike. "Anyone can see that he is courting Mary".
"Courting?" Francis spits out disgustedly "is that what you call trying to steal away another man's wife?"
"Well, it's an accurate word to describe what he's doing" Bash says animatedly.
"You seem to be very well versed in the art of courting Bash." Francis says suspiciously.
"What and you are not?" Bash scoffs.
"Absolutely not! I have never had to court anyone, ever!" Francis looks affronted.
"You're lying. What about Natalia, Olivia and the rest of them?" Bash asks suspiciously.
"Excuse me, but they were all more than happy to 'entertain' the dauphin of France. I never had to court anybody" Francis answers defiantly.
"Wait a minute, not even Mary?" Bash asks shocked.
"Umm, well" Francis thinks about it for a while and then continues fondly "You know, I never really had to. She arrived at court, ready to love me and give me her heart. Maybe it's because it was always arranged that we would be together, but I never had to court her or win her over," Then he really thinks hard about it and continues "But I did want our engagement to be more than an alliance, an arrangement. So whenever we had a few moments to ourselves, without all the politics and backstabbing, I would try to be romantic and 'court' her, as you call it, but someone, or something would always come in the way and drive us apart" he finishes sadly.
"So, you are telling me, that you never flirted with her, never showered her with compliments, never bought anything for her, or, or did something special for her? Like maybe, I don't know, arrange a snow fair or something?" Bash asks incredulously.
"A snow- what? No." Francis replies "I told you. Just as we would relax and try to have a normal romantic conversation, something would come up."
"Unbelievable! Do you KNOW what all I had to do to win her over?" Bash asks indignantly.
"I would rather NOT!" Francis cuts in angrily.
"Yes, of course, of course. It's just that, I mean, I thought you had some sort of struggling period at least, before you both were together. But, this is just not fair." Bash resigns.
"Well, come to think of it, I did give myself up as hostage once, to save her life, but I think she loved me before that too", Francis says lightly.
"Even when he came back, all he had to do was show his face and say 'No Prophecy!' and she went back to him. Honestly, this isn't fair", Bash mutters to himself.
"Umm, Bash, all this began 'cos you wanted to help me?" Francis gently reminds him.
"Ah, yes, yes, help you prevent history repeat itself. Honestly, I think you can just let this play out, she'll come back to you anyway" Bash says distractedly.
"Bash!" Francis warns in a low voice.
"Right" Bash comes back to the present "We were talking about the art of courting. So what you have to do is-"
Francis cuts in, "I don't need you to teach me how to court my own wife, Bash. I can handle that on my own very well. What I want to know is how a man goes about courting another man's wife"
Bash shoots his eyebrows up. Francis continues "If what you are saying is true, I need to be aware of Conde's 'techniques' in order to counter them" It seems that the strategist in Francis has woken up "Well, go on then."
Bash takes a deep breath and begins "So first off, disclaimer! Anything I tell you now, may or may not bear any resemblance to how I courted Mar-"
"Oh get on with it, brother. All is forgiven, remember?" Francis drawls.
Bash begins with determination, "Right! Well, the first thing he will do is help her out in a sticky situation."
"Check" Francis mutters bitterly, ticking this one off the list.
"What?" Bash inquires.
"Never mind, continue" Francis covers quickly.
Bash doesn't seem to notice and continues, "And not once, not twice, every time she needs help, he will magically appear, as if on cue. Even if it is a behind the scenes effort, he will make sure she knows he did it for her."
Francis props an eyebrow up, "Seems desperate no?"
Bash continues "Desperate times, desperate measures. Next step, is to wait for a fight to occur between the lady in question and her partner. In the meantime, he may feel free to fill the gap with harmless flirting or longing looks."
"Check and check" Francis ticks off more points, more bitterly.
"And then time for the main move. He will find out what caused the fight. He will swoop in and ensure her, that were he in the same position, he would not behave like you, uh I mean, like the partner." Bash finishes sheepishly.
"What exactly do you mean?" Francis asks. All this seems so petty to him when there is so much going on. All he wants to do is be with Mary, help her forget that horrible incident, and love her until the day he dies. Why must they face another such complication?
"Just as a hypothetical scenario…" Bash starts to explain and Francis rolls his eyes knowing what's coming "Suppose the lady suspects the partner of say, cheating. Then he would perhaps say something along the lines of 'unlike your partner, I would never look at anyone else while having you by my side', or you know, something like that" Bash finishes and he is most certain his face resembles a tomato.
"Right. So you, I mean, he, comes out smelling of roses and I am the bloody skunk!" Francis concludes angrily.
"Uh, something like that, yes" Bash shrugs.
"Well then, I need to either purchase some very strong perfume, or I need to stop him from making this last move" Francis says with determination.
"Honestly Francis, knowing how luck has favored you lately, I wouldn't know which to bet on", Bash says in light but serious tone.
"The only thing I'm betting on, is my love for Mary, and hers for me. I know it will bring her back to me. But, it might need a little push." Francis continues with a smirk growing on his face "He has made his moves when my hands were tied. But now, I will make my move" he decides with a sparkle in his blue eyes.
Author's notes- This is my first fanfic guys. Basically I needed to rant and suddenly got an idea to make it into a dialog between Frash because I thought their interactions in 1x18 were amazing and I now totally want to see this play out. And, yes, just like any Hollywood movie these days, I have given it an open ending so that in the case this actually works and y'all like it, I shall continue with it till you guys get bored. Otherwise it shall remain a one-shot. Either way, hope you like it. Cheers.