Prince Don Carlos has lost his mind. Mary thought as she bolted through the woods. Hound and hare? Seriously? Why did I agree to this, Mary stumbled. I'm going to break my ankle, she sighed. It had been a long time since she'd worn anything other than silk shoes, at least this part of the game was fun. She smiled as she continued her run through the woods. She could see that many court ladies had already caught their hounds, they were in the midst of aggressive necking as she sprinted by, but she had no idea how to catch Don Carlos. As soon as the trumpet had sounded, he took off into the foliage as if there really was a quick footed hound on his tail.
She tried not to think about the last time she'd been in the woods. With Francis, in the river...And then those awful assassin's and Francis's sacrifice….Her eyes welled up with tears. She hadn't thought about that horrible day in weeks. Suddenly she couldn't breathe. She crumpled into the duff with no care for her beautiful silk dress. Oh Francis, she thought, how could you leave me? Mary heard a rustling in the bushes and out popped Bash, brandishing his sword that happened to be pointing at her. "Mary? Is that you?" Bash lowered and sheathed his sword. "Bash?" Her voice broke. He smiled. "You haven't called me that in a while. What's wrong? What are you doing out here by yourself?" "I'm not by myself. There's a game going on, haven't you heard?" "I was in the village with Delphine. What game?" "Hound and Hare." "Hound and Hare? Sounds suspiciously like the game King Anton played at his estate." "You knew about that?" "Francis told me. What are the rules to this game."
Mary bit her lip, "It was Don Carlos's idea….. She swallowed, "The ladies are the hounds and the men are the hares and the ladies are meant to catch them so they can steal a kiss." "Oh…" Bash looked down, flushed with embarrassment. "And I'm guessing you were meant to find Don Carlos?" "That was the idea yes." "Then why have you stopped." He questioned. "I was thinking about Francis….The last time we were in the woods….the day he….he…." She burst into tears. "Oh Mary," said Bash, pulling her off the ground and into a hug. "I'm so sorry. That bastard had no right to do this to you." "Interesting choice of words coming from you." He smirked "You've caught me there…."
They fell into a comfortable silence for a few seconds that was quickly broken by Mary with, "You know this is the most we've spoken in months?" "You've been keeping track?" Bash asked, eyebrows raised. "We used to be friends. I used to be able to talk to you about anything…..Without any court rules and restrictions…." "I know…" Bash said, "But you married Francis, and my father married me off to Kenna. It was hard being around you…." He looked away, attempting to hide the pain in his eyes. " You never speak to me directly anymore, you only speak to Francis….spoke..." she corrected herself. "You only spoke to me if he wasn't there," Mary accused, as she stepped towards him slowly. "It was too hard….I tried to move on with Kenna, with Delphine, you were always around in the back of my mind. I knew if I spent too much time with you….my feelings might run away with me. Coveting a King's wife is treason. My mother warned me…" "Bash," Mary cried out, touching his face, slowly remembering the familiar coarseness of the stubble on his cheek. No matter how often he shaved, it was always there. She'd forgotten how much she'd missed this feeling. Francis had stubble too, but it wasn't the same. His was more tamed, Bashes was wild, as if it was a physical manifestation of the wildness in his soul. No matter how hard he tried to tame it, he never could.
"Did you ever think," he swallowed, "Did you ever consider, what might have happened if Francis had stayed away, like he was supposed to. If he'd never heard about Catherine's demise and stayed away from court." Mary looked down, and nodded. "I wonder…." She paused, "In my darkest moments recently I have wondered….If he'd stayed away, if he'd never married me, would he still be alive? Would I be with you? Would you be King of France now?"
He smiled. "Maybe. Probably. My father would never have given up the alliance, whatever the cost. But what of Catherine's fate, or my half-brothers. Would they have been killed to destroy the Valois line?" "Either way the cost would have been too high," Mary agreed. "In a world where I wasn't Queen of anything…. And you weren't the son of a King... In that world. I think we could have been together. And we would have been happy." "Perhaps so." Bash considered, scratching his chin absentmindedly.
"What if we pretended... For just this moment...That you weren't a Queen and that I'm not the bastard son of a King. That you're just a highborn lady playing this stupid game and that I'm a highborn man you've caught in your trap. You've ensnared me Mary Stuart." He swallowed, "What do you want of me…." Bash demanded.
What happened next surprised them both. Mary grabbed Bash by the neck and pulled him into a round of passionate kissing. When Francis had kissed her it was so delicate and precise, Bash kissed hungrily, eagerly, as if he'd never been kissed so before and never would be again. Heat pooled at the base of Mary's spine and it took her every ounce of free will to break away from him. She hadn't wanted to stop. If her head hadn't intervened she would have happily taken him there….On the forest floor…. With no regard for who might see them. "We should get back." She squeaked. "Don Carlos will be wondering where I am." "Certainly," he replied huskily. " Your fiancé will be worried," he growled. Instinctively he put his hand at her lower back to lead her from the clearing but remembering himself, he hastily removed it, but not before Mary noticed.
"Bash?" "Don't worry about it." He grinned. "It was nothing. Just a harmless game." "So we're….okay?" Her voice went up at that last word. "Okay….Sure. we're okay. That's a good word. We're okay." "Good," Mary smiled, "because I couldn't bear to lose you a second time…." She wandered forward and when she was out of earshot, Bash mumbled, "Neither could I," as he followed her into the clearing….