ONE: Necessary Lengths
Only a door stands between him and his mother's fate. He smiles callously at the irony. Fate. Such a simple word with so many unwanted implications.
Her guard eyes him suspiciously as he prepares for what is to come, for what he feels unavoidable and necessary. Kings were born to make tough decisions, after all, and he has already made his.
Nostradamus had cowered when Francis appeared in the infirmary that morning. He understood from one look at the prince's face that Francis knew of the prophecy and of his conversations with Mary before her departure.
But he took the prince's questions like a man. He answered openly, not shying away from honesty regarding his visions, even as the future king called him a heretic and a deceiver. Evasive though he tried to be, he could not hide from Francis the queen's involvement. Francis already knew. The seer offered no fight when a guard was sent for to bind him and remove him to the jails. It was the risk he had run in accepting employment at Court. The time for judgment had come.
Francis knows his mother is inside, catching pieces of her humming some insipid tune. Though the last days have brought several surprises, she still does not deviate from her routine. By his calculation, she has just finished breakfast and soon will leave to confer with Nostradamus before meeting Henry in the throne room. She knows not that her son waits outside her door, full of wrath and ready for vengeance.
Regardless, the time has come to enter her rooms. He has hesitated long enough, acknowledging what this will cost his family, his brothers.
It pales in comparison to what it has already cost him.
He pushes on the door with more force than expected, sending it crashing open upon his mother as she finishes her breakfast. She looks up, startled to see her son, especially in what is obviously a fit of anger.
"Francis?" She plays coy, innocent, certain he is being moody and knows nothing of what she has done. "Is everything all right?"
"No, Mother," he grits through his teeth. "It is not." He closes the door behind him, the guard nodding on the other side in remembrance of what Francis had spoken to him moments earlier.
"You might hear shouting. This is a conversation my mother and I need to have. We are not to be disturbed, do you understand?"
"My dear son, I know your heart is broken. Tell me what I can do to help."
The sweet timbre of her voice causes his blood to boil. This is no time for pleasantries.
"I know what you've done, Mother." He does his best to remain calm, knowing that he must deliver his whole message before letting his emotions overtake him.
She has yet to realize that he actually knows, still feigning no responsibility for what has transpired. "I don't know what you speak of, son. What have I done?"
She glances at him, eyes wide, ever the doting mother. He nearly loses it at the sight.
"I know it all. Nostradamus. The prophecy. Mary. You did this!"
The volume of his voice begins to rise, blood pumping more vigorously through his body.
"Francis, I-" she starts to speak, but he is quick to cut her off.
"No! I told you, Mother! I told you that if anything happened to her, I wouldn't need proof and that you would lose me. Did you not understand the consequences of your meddling?" He realizes he is going to lose it, control be damned.
Catherine's face reveals her shock and fear, her mind scrambling to be able to explain away whatever it is that her son now thinks he knows, but she cannot speak. There are no words that will assuage the wrathful brokenness of her son.
"I don't need proof, but I have it. He is chained below in the jails, with a sentence that will likely be brought for sorcery and treason against this family. Your beloved seer is locked away!" Spittle flies from his mouth, his distaste for her plotting evident.
He approaches her, closing the short distance between, and the realization of Nostradamus' fate dawns in her eyes. In his anger, Francis draws himself to his full height and towers over her, glowering. He shoves his signet finger, reminding her of the power he will one day possess, in her face.
"You took her from me. I am hers and she is mine - it has been so since we were six! You took her from me. You had no right!"
Catherine sees her son's heart break once more before her, his struggle to keep himself in check sliding toward failure. He is about to become unhinged, but she grasps for a thought, any thought, desperate to divert his attentions.
"She is just a girl, Francis! You speak as though you were already married!" She reaches for his arm but he pushes her away.
"Perhaps in the eyes of God we already are."
She does not expect his words, this blow. Nostradamus' words return to her and her surprise cannot be hidden at the knowledge the two have already been united. He pauses, discovering an unexpected sense of calm at his admission, before he tells his mother what will be required of her.
"When Mary returns, we will wed and you will no longer be here to stop it."
"She is still the one who left, Francis!" Her pleas form her last effort to convince her son to reconsider his position. "Surely, you can't believe that she loves you!"
Any last bit of compassion toward his mother vanishes from his eyes. Mary's words do not leave him. They never will.
I want you to know ...
He realizes his mother has no remorse whatsoever. There is no turning back for either of them now.
"It doesn't matter, Mother. I love her, despite all that she has done."
He feels the last bit of control vanishing with his compassion. His urgency to leave heightens, but there remains one thing to be said.
"I have not yet told Father." A look of relief crosses his mother's face and tempts him to pity her. "I have not yet, but I will come tomorrow morning. I suggest you leave before then." He pauses, expecting protest but hearing none.
"He will not show you the mercy I have. You have lost him England and you have lost me Mary. There is no longer a place here for you at Court."
He turns to leave. There is no goodbye. He escapes through the door and past the guard. As the door closes, he hears glass break and the clatter of something heavy crashing to the ground. Assuming she has upended a table in frustration, he walks away.
He finds his father the following morning, comfortably resting in the throne room, with no one present save a handful of guards.
"Francis! I didn't expect to see you this morning. Have you seen your mother?"
The question expected, Francis ignores it, trusting that they will arrive at its true answer later.
"Not since yesterday, Father. I do, however, have an inquiry to make of you."
Francis' demeanor is not lost on his father. The mixed and mounting emotions read easily upon his face. Henry motions for Francis to continue.
"If Mary were proven to be not at fault for her actions, would you reinstate the treaty and permit our marriage?"
This is not a question Henry expects, though he realizes quickly Francis has prepared for its asking. He clarifies, "You must mean, of course, if she can be found?"
His son nods in assent.
"And who, then, do you believe to be at fault for this diplomatic debacle before the Church and my court?"
The moment has come and Francis has indeed planned well for it, though a small piece of his heart pangs with pity for his mother as the recipient of his father's wrath.
"The responsibility rests upon the seer, Nostradamus, and upon my mother."
Author's Note: So much great feedback and so many wishes for me to continue! Thanks, everyone - I'm excited to have a little something to fill my time over the hiatus. This won't be particularly long as a fic, as I don't want to be too overreaching into the storylines to come (it's all already outlined, because I make a mean outline).
It will be equal parts speculation and wishful thinking, which is what us Team Frary folk are known for (and if you haven't realized by now that I'm a complete Frary fan, then you haven't been paying attention to anything else I've written). Hopefully, you'll enjoy it! :)
Disclaimer: I may have forgotten to mention this in the prologue, but I have no ownership of "Reign," its characters or its storylines. Any similarities when the show returns in January are either rooted in images or brief words from the promo for the show's return and/or are purely coincidence and unintended. I have no inside pull or 1x08 would have ended with a wedding.