Embers
"Those embers, they keep me warm. And they will as long as I'm lucky enough to serve you."
- Sebastian de Poitiers, season 3, episode fourteen
"This is not how we were supposed to go to Paris. We were supposed to dance under the stars."
Bash's heart broke for Mary all over again, and he had to step away. Time had been, he had almost been the reason Mary and Francis were kept apart. Shame washed over him at the thought - he had been convinced that he was the one that deserved her, that Francis could never put her first the way that he could. He had never wanted Francis's throne, but he had wanted his most cherished possession. His beloved.
And he still wanted her. Not in the same way, maybe, but his love for her hadn't faded even as time passed and he was married to another woman. He had loved Kenna, but he would always love Mary more. He understood now, what she had been feeling as she stood before him and said, I love you. But I love Francis more.
That didn't matter now.
He wouldn't have a chance with her.
Mary's primary focus now had to be her country. She couldn't marry him - he could protect her, and he would with his life, but he couldn't protect Scotland. He didn't have wealth, a title, and he certainly wasn't royalty. And besides that, she would never love him. Not the way she loved Francis. Their love was written in the stars and he had learned long ago that he would never be able to compete with that.
He couldn't have her even now - never. But that didn't mean he wouldn't go back to Scotland with her.
She didn't have much choice. She could hardly stay in France forever. She held no position here but that of a widow, the former queen consort. No, she would have to return to Scotland - at which point he would give her the gift that Francis had given him for her, and he would return with her.
It didn't matter to him that she would never be his, because he would always be hers. He would protect her with his life. He would stay by her side.
The embers of a love that had long since been doomed, a love that was now unrequited - well, those embers kept him warm. And they would as long as he was lucky enough to serve her.