Catherine stared at Bash a moment, candlestick still raised, but not quite as ready to strike as before. How dare he...
"My mess?" Catherine asked, annoyed at the insinuation. "You don't even know what's happening and you just assume I did something bad?"
"That woman just spoke of Satan's heir, so yes, I'm going with 'bad'. That's what drew me here in the first place." He said forcefully.
"That wasn't my intention, and what do you mean, 'drew you here'." She lowered the candleatick a little more, but continued to cling to it.
"I have been with the druids, learning..." he began, but Catherine wasn't interested in the details.
"Yes, I'm aware of your new found gift, Mary told me when I was in Scotland." She said.
"You...were in Scotland?" He asked, surprised.
"I went to her wedding." She clarified. Bash raised an eyebrow, a little shocked, but he cleared his throat and continued.
"I was in what they call a 'spirit journey', a sort of dream state used to train us in magic, when I was pulled out of it by something dark. And though I didn't know what it was at the time, that dark feeling led me here...now I know why. You've been playing with black magic." He told her.
"I didn't have a choice. My sons were trying to kill each other, and thanks to you, I no longer had the authority to stop them. One or both of them would have ended up dead had I not done what I did. I am not about to appologize for that." She spat out, finally putting down the candlestick and taking a few threatening steps toward Bash.
"Thanks to me?" He questioned.
"You were so bent on getting revenge on me for killing your murderous mother, you never stopped to think about the consequences of giving that damn letter to Charles. Do you have any idea what it cost him? What it cost all of us?" She explained.
"I was protecting him from you. Making sure he didn't blindly follow you to..." he began.
"To what? To keeping his throne? To staying alive? To keeping France from falling down around him?" She was growing increasingly angry.
"You were..." he began to argue back, but stopped himself and took a deep breath. "Look, none of this even matters right now. Right now we have to get rid of whatever evil you've summoned by playing with things you don't understand...Now tell me exactly what the hell happened here."
Scotland
Night had fallen by the time Mary and Bothwell had arrived at their next destination.
"Dunbar Castle?" Mary questioned at their arrival. "I thought we were supposed to be hiding. Staying in a castle isn't exactly inconspicuous."
"We tried inconspicuous. They found us anyway. At least here we have castle walls to protect us." Bothwell explained. They entered the understaffed castle and were led to their rooms.
"I don't understand. We killed all of Knox's men. So who was it that came for us? Who else knows what happened?" Mary asked as they entered her room.
"Clearly someone who could gather men quickly." Bothwell said.
"Is there any way someone else could have seen you the night you killed Darnley?" Mary asked. Bothwell shook his head.
"We checked the perimeter very thoroughly. We saw no signs of anyone else being there." He said.
"You must have missed something. It couldn't have been Knox. Even if he were to retaliate, it would likely take him time to come up with a plan. He wouldn't come after us so soon without one." Mary said as she paced the floor.
"Our men should be joining us soon. I will send out some of them out tomorrow to gather information. We will weed out the culprit, I assure you." He said. Mary sighed in frustration. She sat on the bed and a tear trickeled down her cheek. She wiped it away promptly. Bothwell sat down next to her, looking concerned.
"I miss him. I miss my son. I've hardly gotten any time with him at all, and now..." she trailed off, trying to keep the tears at bay. Bothwell rubbed circles on her back, trying to calm her.
"We will get back to him, I promise." He said.
Meanwhile, back at the castle, James was trying to comfort his new nefew, failing miserably as he knew nothing about children, when Greer came in. She watched him for a moment, unbeknownst to him. She tried to surpress a giggle at his ineptitude. He was clearly trying his best, and it wasn't even close to enough.
"He's probably feeling your stress. The more upset you get, the more he'll cry." She finally said from the doorway.
"Nothing is working." He said as he tried bouncing him lightly.
"Why don't you just have one of the wet nurses watch him?" Greer said.
"I don't want anyone to know Mary is gone yet." He said.
"Here, let me try." Greer held out her arms. James handed her the little prince and he almost instantly stopped crying.
"How did you do that?" He asked.
"You'll figure it out." She said with a smile.
"Maybe if you help me..." he added.
"I think I can arrange that." She agreed.
"Greer I..." he leaned toward her.
"Now isn't really the time." She said halting him. "I think we should wait until this has all blown over. Your mind needs to be on helping Mary right now. Mine too." She said. He sighed.
"You're right. But we will talk?" He said.
"Of course." She assured.
England
Elizabeth and her men had arrived back at the castle. She burst through the throne room doors, Francis Drake in tow, still in her armour.
"Well, seems you have earned my forgiveness in winning this battle for me, but you're not entirely off the hook just yet." Elizabeth said as she removed her breast plate and set it aside.
"Not off the hook? I've accomplished everything you asked of me. What more could I possibly do?" He said. Anger was creeping into his voice, but he kept it in check, knowing he was speaking to a queen.
"You could accept your new knighthood." Elizabeth said.
"You want to knight me?" He asked for clarification.
"How does 'SIR Francis Drake' strike you?" She added with a raised eyebrow. She then pulled out her sword. "Kneel."
France
"So let me get this straight, you cast a spell that didn't work...so you un-cast it, only to hire a witch that you don't know, to cast yet another spell, whose price you didn't intend to pay because you planned on murdering her once you got what you wanted...which also didn't work?...are you insane?" Bash summed up. Catherine rolled her eyes.
"You're making it sound much worse than it is." Catherine said.
"What part did I exaggerate?" Bash questioned. "And how exactly does this demon child or whatever it is fit in to it?"
"She...she drugged...Narcisse..." she stuttered, purposely leaving herself out. "and did some spell...I don't know...it all happened so fast. What does it matter?"
"It matters because I need to know exactly what she did in order to undo it...what are you leaving out?" He asked, squinting his eyes accusingly.
"Maybe...Narcisse...wasn't the only one...she drugged." She said reluctantly, looking away from his gaze. He raised his eyebrows.
"Are you saying...you...all three of you...?" He was very uncomfortable all of the sudden. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to shake it off. "Did...did she she say anything during...I mean was there some kind of incantation?" He continued uneasily.
"Whatever she gave us altered my mind. I don't really remember everything, it was a fog with moments of clarity. All I remember of what she said was that it was something in latin about the devil. I pulled Narcisse off of her then, but it was too late." She explained.
"And...that's when you stabbed her?" He asked. She nodded.
"Several times...She didn't even flinch...she just laughed..." Catherine shivered at the thought of it.
"So you didn't want to..." he began, but he couldn't get himself to finish the thought. Catherine rolled her eyes again.
"Yes! I wanted a threesome with a filthy peasant who was planning on druggung me and creating a demon spawn!" She spat, sarcasm dripping from each syllable.
"Well you did sleep with a seral killer, so how am I supposed to know." He reasoned.
"Oh, for crying out loud. I didn't know he was a serial killer when I met him." She said, exasperated.
"You didn't seem to stop once you found out." He said.
"It was only that one time after, and I had no choice...why am I explaining any of this to you. My personal life is none of your business." The irritation in her tone was rising slowly.
"No...but what is my buisness is whatever spell she cast. I need to know what it was, and since you're having a hard time remembering the details, we need to find the spell itself." He explained.
"Well, it's likely she got the spell from the Goetia I gave her, but it's doubtful we'd be able to get our hands back on that." She said.
"You gave her..." he stoped and pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Nevermind. Let's just move on. It can't be the only Goetia in all of France. If we can't get that one back, we'll hust have to get ourselves another one. Would you recognize the spell if you saw it?"
"I'm sure I would, yes." She answered.
"Alright, then in the morning I'll go into town and see if I can track one down." He told her. Then he turned to leave out her bedroom door and she stopped him.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Going to get some sleep." He replied.
"With that witch roaming the halls? She can't know you're here to stop her, she may retaliate." She pointed out.
"So what do you want me to do?" He wondered.
"Just go back out the way you came in." She said.
"And what? Go sleep in the woods?" She shrugged nonchalantly at his question. He looked at her, annoyed.
"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "You can sleep on the chaise. Sneak back out in the morning." She finished as she crawled into bed.
Bash awkwardly complied.
Scotland
"I think we should get some rest. I don't think I've slept more than a few hours since James was born." Mary sniffled after she'd finished a long cry.
"Yes. You're probably exhausted." Bothwell agreed. He stood and began pulling down the covers of the bed. Mary was frozen watching him...'wait...did he think?...no of course he doesn't he's just trying to help...right?' She wondered as her thoughts were immediately answered when he sat and began taking off his boots. Mary gulped. Bothwell finally noticed she hadn't moved since he'd left her side. He stopped what he was doing and looked up, confused. "Is something wrong?"
"No. Not...wrong...exactly. I...I just dont think I'm ready for you to...I mean for us to be...it's just been a long few days. I need time before we start sleeping in the same bed." She tried to explain. He nodded in agreement, but lookeda bit...what was that in his expression...annoyed. Mary shook her head thinking she was just imagining things because she was tired.
"I understand. I suppose waiting a bit longer won't kill me." He said, putting his boots back on. "I'll leave you to it then." He kissed her cheek and left the room. Mary watched him close the door behind him then turned to look at the pulled down blanket. No, she definitely was not ready to let him that far in.
France
When Catherine woke the next morning, Bash was already gone. She dressed and left the room to start her day. She started by making her morning visit to Jon in the nursery only to find Claude was already there. She watched as she played with him a bit from the doorway. She smiled a little to herself and decided to let her be. She could always visit Jon later. Instead she made her way to the morning council meeting. She knew they wouldn't let her in, eavesdropping would have to suffice. She couldn't exactly rely on Narcisse to tell her everything.
When she arrived, they were already ending the meeting. 'Oddly early' she thought. She half hid behind the wall so her sons wouldn't see her attempting to overhear and waited for Narcisse to come out. She saw Charles and Henri pass by her and then came out from behind the wall. As she tip toed around the corner she bumped into Coligny. He eyed her.
"Queen Mother." He said with a small bow. "How very nice to see you again." He grinned mischeviously. Catherine tilted her head to the side questioningly, thinking about what Margot had said before. 'Is he flirting with me?' She wondered.
"Yes. Very nice indeed." She said sizing him up. She heard a throat clear from behind him.
"Catherine, may I have a word?" Narcisse said, trying to step between them without being too obvious. She glared up at him, partially annoyed, but also partially amused.
"Of course." She said to him and looked back to Coligny. "If you'll excuse me." She said politely as she sidestepped around him.
"What were you doing talking to that protestant?" He asked.
"I accidentally bumped into him in the hall. What is wrong with you?" She wondered.
"Nothing is wrong with me. He's our competition." He replied.
"Exchanging pleasantries in the hall isn't like crossing enemy lines. What is it you wanted?" She told him.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to see Luc today, as you requested, but I'd still like to know what this is all about." He said.
"It's about our children fixing their marraige." She said. He rolled his eyes.
"Please, Catherine, we both know there's more to it than that." He questioned. She mereley looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He sighed. "Fine. I guess I'll just have to go figure it out on my own."
"Good luck with that." She said sarcastically and then turned and left him in the hall annoyed.
Scotland
It had been days since Bothwell had sent out scouts to track down who'd sent those men after them and they hadn't heard anything when the men finally arrived back.
Mary was sitting by the fire when they entered.
"Did you find out who had us attacked?" She asked as they bowed to her.
"Yes your majesty. We were able to track down the culprit." They said.
"Then where are they?" She wondered.
"I'm sorry majesty, she was able to escape to England before we could get to her." They informed.
"She?" Mary asked.
England
Elizabeth was seated, having a cup of tea, when a servant entered.
"Lady Lennox to see you, your majesty." He said.
"Lady Lennox? What on earth would she possibly be doing here?" She asked rhetorically as she put her tea down. She was, however, curious despite her irritation. "Let her in." Lady Lennnox stepped in, head held high as usual, confident in what she had to say. She bowed her head. "Lady Lennox, what brings you back to my court after your betrayl? Tell me why it is I shouldn't request your head be served on a silver platter right here?"
"I admit, I have made a mistake in going against you your grace, but I'm here now to correct that mistake." She said.
"And how exactly were you intending to do that?" Elizabeth wondered.
"By giving you the tools you need to finally rid yourself of your enemy. I know information that will destroy Mary Queen of Scots. And solve your problems, permanently." She said, with an added evil grin. Elizabeth grinned in return.