A quick crack to the back of the head. The axe had missed her neck. The pain seared through her, but she did not scream. Only silent tears creeped down her cheeks. It still hurt less than the endless strings of betrayal she had suffered, her time in captivity. All of it had culminated in this. Another blow, and then darkness...

He had felt every last bit of pain. Every tear. Every memory...but then something had woken him, pulled him from his long sleep. A darkness. One like he'd never felt before...

Bash's eyes flew open. He gasped for breath. The vision combined with the dark force he had felt had nearly been too much for him. He grabbed at his chest, wheezing, choking.

"Sebastian! Sebastian what is it? What's woken you?" a druid asked as he came to his side and offered him water. He grabbed the water vigorously and drank it down, not caring that he'd made much of it miss his mouth.

"I don...I don't know." he panted. "It was dark. I could feel it. Like it was reaching for me and then..."

"Yes. It must have been dark indeed to wake you from your spirit journey." the druid agreed as he took the water bowl back from him and set it too the side. "And now it is not completed."

"Put me back under, let me finish it." Bash begged as a second druid entered the tent.

"A spirit journey, once ended, cannot be entered again. I'm afraid you will not be able to gain any further knowledge in this manor." he explained to Bash, as the first druid left.

"But Elder Mason my training..." Bash began.

"Does not matter. You were woken for a purpose. This darkness that was awakened, you were the one meant to correct it." said Elder Mason.

"How can I do that if I have so much left to learn." Bash wondered.

"The gods would not have woken you for this task if you didn't already have what you needed." Elder Mason told him.

"I came here to learn how to use my gift so I could help Mary, not to hunt down some evil that I can't even identify." Bash raised his voice, a bit angry.

"Helping your friend can wait, because if something this dark is left alone, saving her will be pointless because we will all be doomed." he warned.

"But how will I know how to find it?" Bash asked.

"I think you know exactly where you have to go." Elder Mason said.

France

Two weeks later...

Catherine and her daughter Margot were just arriving back at court. Margot had been wearing Catherine's nerves down through the entire ride asking questions, many of witch she couldn't answer.

"It doesn't make sense for you to call me back to court for no reason." Margot said as they got out of the carriage and entered the castle. Servants took their cloaks and they continued on down the long corridor to the throne room, as Catherine pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ease the growing headache.

"Can't a mother just miss her daughter and want to spend time with her?" Catherine questioned back.

"You're up to something aren't you?" Margot asked curiously.

"Why would I be up to something?" Catherine wondered.

"Because you always are." Margot replied. Catherine just pursed her lips as they entered the throne room, Margot walking directly behind her mother.

Charles and Henri stood over a table in the center of the room with half a dozen other men at their sides. Maps and letters were scattered over it.

"Have we heard any word back from the Basque leaders? Are they with us?" Charles asked to no one in particular.

"The letters have yet to be returned majesty." said one of the men. He was a tall, handsome man in his forties. His hair was starting to grey, but it had clearly once been a golden blonde all the way through. Charles looked up as he noticed his mother standing in the room.

"What is it mother? he asked, annoyed. "We are trying to plan our attack on Spain."

"I just thought you'd like to welcome your little sister back to court." she said as she stepped aside to reveal Margot.

"Margot!" he said, surprisingly, with a smile. He rushed to his sister an hugged her happily. Catherine half smiled at the show of affection, but her face changed when she noticed the man who had just mentioned the letters was staring at her. She eyed him back for second, trying to figure him out.

"It's good to see you sister." Henri said as he covered the plans on the table.

"I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting your new associates." Catherine said, still glaring a bit. Charles rolled his eyes, but introduced them anyway.

"Mother, this is Admiral Jasper Coligny, and these are some of his men. They are here to help us plan the attack on Spain." Charles said rather gruffly. Catherine and Coligny continued to look each other over.

"Coligny. I've heard that name. You're protestant." she said with a small measure of disgust.

"Is that a problem?" Coligny asked, wondering if he should be insulted.

"Not to me, but I'm sure the nobles won't be as tolerant as I am." she said. Charles rolled his eyes again.

"Tolerant? You?" Henri jested, arms folded.

"I have no ill will towards the protestants, but there are some, even in this very castle, who would kill you on site for no other reason than your faith. I would be careful if I were you." she gave Coligny one last look of warning and turned to leave. "Come Margot, we should get you settled into your rooms." she grabbed her daughter on her way out of the room.

"What was that all about?" asked Margot as they waled down the hallway.

"What?" Catherine wondered.

"Coligny." she said.

"What about him?" Catherine honestly didn't know what she was referring to.

"The way you two were eyeing each other." Margot added.

"What are you blathering on about?" she pushed.

"Just wondering if you two needed a room." Margot said. Catherine pursed her lips again in annoyance and scoffed. She started walking a bit faster. Margot gave her a look of amusement before speeding up to match her pace.

They arrived back at Margot's room and a gang of servants bustled in behind them as they started bringing Margot's things in and readying the room for her stay.

"I still want to know why you called me home all of the sudden." Margot said.

"Don't you want to be here?" Catherine asked.

"Of course I do but..." Margot began.

"Well, then what does it matter?" Catherine said. Margot was about to answer when Claude entered the room.

"So it's true. You're home." Claude said as she saw Margot.

"Claude? Is that you sister?" Margot said as she ran to her and hugged her. Claude looked almost confused at her actions. She eyed her mother. Catherine looked away and Claude knew there was a reason her little sister showed up so suddenly.

Catherine and Claude left the room and let Margot settle in. Catherine headed to her room and Claude followed after.

"Mother, what is going on?" Claude asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" She asked.

"Because Margot is here." she answered.

"And?" Catherine pushed.

"And...and Margot is here. She..." Claude realized that she couldn't really point to a specific reason she suspected something, she just knew her mother.

"Exactly...now what was it you wanted? The servants told me you were asking for me earlier." Catherine changed the subject. Claude shook her head knowing she had no leverage to push the subject further.

"I was hoping you could speak to Narcisse for me. I need to speak to Luc and he won't answer any of my letters. I've accepted that I will never be with Leith and I want to try and work it out." Claude explained, looking very nervous.

"Of course I will..." Catherine noticed her odd behavior. "Are you alright?" She reached hand to her forehead. Claude pulled away.

"I'm fine." she said. Catherine squinted a bit and looked her over. Then she had a realization.

"You're pregnant." she stated, a small gleam in her eye.

"What? No...I'm not..." she paused and looked at her mother then sighed. "How did you know?" Catherine cocked her head to the side as if to point out the obvious.

"Don't worry, I will make sure Luc comes back." Catherine said. She smiled at Claude and hugged her.

"And could you not tell Narcisse or Luc that I'm...well...Luc should find out from me." Claude asked.

"Of course." She said smiling and touching her cheek.

Scotland

Mary and Bothwell were riding, shackled in the back of two separate carriages, headed toward Loch Leven castle. They'd been on the road a few hours. Mary sat silently contemplating her next move, deciding if she even had a next move. The only thing she could think about was never being able to see her son again. The pain of that thought suffocated her.

As the carriages began to pull into a densely wooded area, they came to a halt abruptly, knocking Mary around in her seat. It was eerily quiet for a moment and just as Mary tried to look out the window to see what was going on, an arrow struck the edge of it, narrowly missing her face. Mary ducked down in her seat and the carriage started to rock. She could hear sounds of more arrows and swords clanging. After a few minutes the sounds stopped and Mary slowly started to rise up from her hiding position to look out the window once again. Just as she was about to lean forward, the door opened and there stood Bothwell, hand held out to her.

"What, what on earth happened?" Mary asked.

"Seems you still had a few loyal men left. I alerted them before I came to tell you of the failed plan. The rest are my men." He said as he uncuffed her. The entire caravan lie dead on the ground save for one. John Knox. One of the guards held him against the carriage by his throat.

"Would you like to kill him yourself your grace?" He asked.

"No. We're not going to kill him." She said. She walked over to him and stared him in the eye. "I won't have you become a martyr or let your supporters use your death to hang me."

"I know what you did. You'll hang anyway." He struggled to say through the fist around his neck.

"Yes. You do know, but you have no proof and your witnesses are dead. No one will believe your word alone. Not when you've made it quite clear to the world that you hate me."

"You're going to burn in hell." Knox hissed.

"I think that honor is reserved for you Reverend Knox." She retorted. She turned to the men. "Tie him up and blindfold him, then clean up the scene. Bury the men deep in the woods. Erase all signs of the struggle. Once all is clear, release him and get back the castle."

"What about you?" Bothwell asked.

"I need to get somewhere safe. Away from the castle. We don't know where the pieces will fall after this. I need to know if I'm clear before I go back. And I need to rally my supporters in case I need to fight." Mary explained.

"Don't worry. I think I know just the place." He replied and then the men got to work. When they were done, and Knox was set free, one of their men in tow to make sure he wasn't going to follow them, Mary, Bothwell and the men that were left, took off toward a destination that was unknown to Mary.

Hours later, they pulled up on a small stone residence. Mary got a bad feeling, a cold shiver ran through her almost immediately, but left her trust in Bothwell and shook it off.

"Where are we?" Mary asked while getting down off her horse.

"A safe place. It's been abandoned for years. We should be able to stay here for weeks, even months if need be, without being found." Bothwell told her as they entered the house. Mary looked around at the place. It was falling apart. She almost started to cry, but sucked it back in and turned to Bothwell.

"We need to send someone back to the castle to tell my brother and Greer what happened. To let them know that they need to act like my arrest never happened. Tell them...tell them I needed a rest after giving birth. That I'll be back when I'm feeling better." she told him. He nodded and went to speak to one of the men.

Back at the castle, James and Greer were pacing the room near the prince's cradle, trying to figure out how to help Mary.

"I never thought I'd find myself wishing Catherine de Medici were here. She would know how help Mary. She would probably already have her back." Greer said. "Maybe we should write to her for help."

"There's no time." James replied, shaking his head.

"We have to do something. We can't just let her be executed." Greer pleaded. He stopped and put his hands on her crossed arms.

"We'll figure it out. I promise." He assured. She half smiled and he leaned in and kissed her. She pulled back a little surprised as a knock came at the door.

"A messenger to see you my lord. Said he would only speak to you." A servant said.

"Let him in." He ordered. The man waited to speak until the servant had left.

"My lord. A message from Queen Mary. She escaped with Lord Bothwell. All the accusers except Lord Knox are dead. She wanted me to tell you to act as though her arrest never happened. Call Knox a liar if he says otherwise. She says there is no other proof except his word and that she'll return once the smoke has cleared." He told them. James turned to Greer.

"Seems she found a way to save herself." James said. Greer sighed in relief and smiled at the baby.

England

Elizabeth and her fleet had been chasing down the Spanish Armada for days. They'd had them on the run. They had not only surprise, but speed on their side.

The long sea battle had Spain speeding for the closest safe harbor, which just happened to be France.

"What are they doing? Why are they turning around?" Elizabeth called out as the Spanish fleet made it's turn to flee.

"Heading for French port your grace, where they know we can't follow. If the French see English ships they'll fire on us as well. We'll be out gunned." Said one of her men. Elizabeth thought on it a moment.

"Follow them! We'll wait just outside the perimeter. They can't stay there forever." Elizabeth ordered.

"But your majesty..." the sailor began.

"If they're running from us, it's because they think we're going to win. Follow them." She demanded.

"Turn her about!" The sailor called out. Elizabeth grinned powerfully at the thought of certain victory.

France

Narcisse was standing in the hall speaking to some other nobleman as Catherine approached him.

"A word, Lord Narcisse." She said, gesturing that he follow her. The nobleman gave her an obligatory bow and walked away as Narcisse turned to speak with her.

"Does this have something to do with a certain witch?" He asked quietly. Catherine looked around to make sure no one was around.

"No. That's a conversation for another time...and a more private setting." She whispered, then brang her voice back to a normal volume. "I wanted to talk to you about Luc. I was hoping there might be some way for you to persuade him to come back to court."

"What for? So your daughter can tell him more about how much she loves the kitchen boy?" He asked.

"She's not going to do that. She wants to make it work with him. She's tried writing to him to no avail. I was hoping you might have better luck convincing him." Catherine explained. She touched his arm and he squinted at her.

"Why the sudden interest in match making? He's been gone for weeks. It didn't seem to bother you before. Are you hiding something from me?" he asked.

"Haven't you learned by now, I'm always hiding something from you, just as you're always hiding something from me. It's what we do." she said as-a-matter-of-fact.

"In that case, are you hiding something in particular interest to me?" he added.

"Nothing more than usual." she said.

"Of course." he said, not believing a word. "I'll go and speak to him, after we talk about how to handle our little witch problem."

"Tomorrow." she assured. "I've had a long, hot day riding in a carriage with my very inquisitive daughter. I'm exhausted."

"That reminds me, why is she here? Does she have anything to do with the reason you are very clearly lying about keeping something from me?" he asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" she wondered. "Maybe I just missed my daughter."

"Right." he answered, rolling his eyes. "Tomorrow then." he added then walked away.

Scotland

Mary and Bothwell had been trying to make themselves comfortable in the small stone cottage all day, but it was cramped and awkward, just the two of them. She knew he likely expected something from her. She wasn't ready for that. He, on the other hand, was clearly ready to jump in head first. They had been sitting quietly by the fire, not saying much for awhile. He hadn't wanted to push her to talk about her predicament. It was a lot to handle in one day. He was just about to try and break the silence when he heard the clap of hooves on the ground outside. Mary and Bothwell shot each other a worried look. They ran outside. A small group of soldiers was riding toward the house, weapons in hand,

"How did they find us?" she asked.

"I don't know. Get back inside where it's safe." he said. He pulled his sword as his men, who'd been standing guard outside, got into position. Bothwell and his men stood their ground as the enemy charged them. Mary could hear the battle sounds outside. She looked around the house in a panic, hoping to find something she could use as a weapon should they make it past her guards outside. She grabbed the poker from the fire and peered out the window. A few men from both sides were already dead. She looked around again for some way to escape. The door creaked. She lifted the poker in the air, ready to swing. Bothwell entered and jumped when the poker swung toward him, stopping inches from his face.

"Be careful with that thing." he said.

"I thought you were one of them." she replied.

"We need to get out of here now. Come with me." he said, ushering her to the back of the house.

"What about the men?" She asked.

"They'll catch up once they take care of the soldiers." he told her as he yanked her out the back door.

France

Catherine entered her room and sat, wringing her hands as she stared into flickering flames of the fire. What a mess she'd gotten herself into. She'd gone to retrieve Margot as the witch Emanuele had said, but she wasn't sure yet if she could really bring herself to trade her sons lives for her own. They had surely broken her heart, and they obviously didn't deserve her sacrifice, but they were still her children. She closed her eyes and breathed in, trying to clear her mind. A gush of wind blew in her face a moment later, causing her eyes to fly open again. There stood Emanuele.

"What the hell are you still doing here? Haven't you caused enough trouble?" Catherine asked in an attempted irritated tone that was fooling no one. She was actually just afraid.

"Oh, I'm not leaving this castle until this child is born. I can't leave you alone to try and plot against me. To try and stop Satan's heir from entering the world." She told her as she leaned in toward her.

"That doesn't mean you have to taunt me every day until then." She spat as she stood and crossed the room.

"I'm simply here to tell you that your sons have adjusted their plans. They will be moving on Spain any day now. Seems that Spain's luring English war ships toward our harbors angered the King even more. You haven't much time to decide. Your life, or theirs?" She said.

"If it was just as simple as that, I would have already made my decision." She informed.

"What is it that's giving you pause? The fact that there's war involved, or the fact that if you choose to die, it will be your own sons ordering it?" Emanuele asked quietly into her ear.

"What is it you want from me you haven't already taken?" She wondered.

"Why would I tell you that? If I told you what I wanted, you'd just do the opposite. I'm just here to give you the facts." She straightened up. "Happy decision making." She added as she left the room. Catherine threw the pillow from her bed across the room and sat, putting her face in her hands in frustration.

"What did she mean by Satan's heir?" A voice asked. She jumped up, grabbing a candle stick from the knight stand, and brandishing it in the air. She squinted to see the figure standing in the dark corner. He stepped forward into the light. Her eyes widened at the face she saw.

"Sebastian." She breathed out in shock. She kept up the candle stick not knowing if he'd returned to finish what he started the day he left her half strangled on the floor. "What in God's name are you doing here?"

"Apparently, I'm here to clean up your mess." He said.