Francis

In his ever growing concern for his old friend's whereabouts, Francis had begun to seclude himself. The fears of not only losing a Queen on French soil, an alliance and the possibility of war weighed heavily on his mind. He had attempted to talk to the Scottish guest - the four ladies of Mary - but they were not comfortable speaking to him. In the world of court there were many people to fear - especially to novices. The court was filled with Englishmen who had arrived to help form an engagement between his young brother Charles and an English Noble.

Francis paced his chambers in a bid to remain calm but to no avail. All he could think about was the last time he had saw her.

The small queen had hidden in her room for hours after receiving the news. She was leaving for a convent. Francis had barely understood why - knowing it was the only way to keep her safe.

"Mary!" he had whispered through the door that linked their rooms.

"Leave me alone." The sobs had replied.

But after what felt like hours the young girl had let the prince in. He had tried to make her smile. But in his heart he knew what she was going through couldn't be fixed so easily. He had pulled her into a hug and felt Mary relax in his arms. All he wanted was for her to remain with him.

"You are strong Mary. You will survive this." he had declared, "And soon you will be back here with me, for evermore."

It had been the children's last conversation before she had left the next morning. Francis had watched from a window as it would have hurt too much to have had to stand in front of everyone. Tears fell as he sat alone in his chambers. All those innocent feelings of love he had had towards her, the promises of being with each other forever as king and queen - he was now backing out of every promise he had ever made to her. And she was missing. What would she say when she found out the truth?

Mary

Even though the two women had never worked like this before, they found it to be enjoyable. Thy had been entrusted to care and teach a young girl called Cateline. Her parents had been intrigued by their extended knowledge but , due to Madeline's quick thinking, believed that they had been taught by their last 'family'. Madeline had woven a tale of two former ladies of an English lady who had lost work due to their 'Mistress' losing all of her money. It was so believable that Mary herself would have believed it - if she did not know the truth.

Mary had grown fond of the child. Cateline's light blonde curls reminded her of Francis while she had eyes similar to her own. Madeline had been quick to point out that she could be what her future heirs could look like. Mary had pondered over this. Although it was her duty to provide heirs, she had never truly thought about it. Would her children look like her or Francis? She smiled at the idea of having a blonde curly haired boy - just like Francis.

"Anne, when will we be arriving?" Cateline asked eagerly.

"I don't believe it is much further." Mary replied as she looked out of the carriage window.

May's stomach twisted. She hoped that Madeline had planned this far ahead. As she looked at her sister with concern, Madeline only nodded. As they sat in silence with the child in between, it was as though she could sense the fear.

"I don't know what is scaring you so much, you don't have to do anything - well except look after me!" The cheeky six year old had laughed.

Even in this great time of terror, the two elder girls laughed - until the the carriage sharply halted.

"Open in the name of the King!"

Mary wrapped a protective arm around Cateline as Madeline pulled back the thick curtain to look into the dark night. As she opened the carriage door, Mary took a sharp breath. She held her breath as she watched her sister step into the darkness. Giving an encouraging smile to Cateline, they too stepped out of the carriage. They all stood with their backs to the carriage, the chill of the evening air making Mary shiver. She saw in the dim flame light that they were outside the gates of Court.

"What is the meaning of this!" Cateline's father had cried.

In all of the confusion, Mary had failed to notice that the child's parents had emerged from their own carriage in front of their own.

"We must search all who enter to see if they know anything about - a missing guest."

Mary gasped as she recognised the voice. It seemed so familiar - and yet so different. She kept her eyes pinned to the floor as the guards made their way towards the three girls. She was determined not to let them see any sign of weakness.

Madeline

Damn

Madeline had not anticipated that they would have been stopped at the gates. She cursed silently at not predicting this - to them, Mary was still missing. As she watched Cateline's parents argue with guards, she focused her attention on a blonde gentleman walking towards them. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that her companions had lowered into bows. Confused she copied her partners until he spoke.

"Excuse us but we heard rumours that your carriage was traveling near the site of an attack. Do you know anything about it?"

As Madeline rose she realised that the man had asked Mary. She noticed that her sister was shaking - but why? Did the man know - it was at this moment when Madeline realised who the mystery man was. Prince Francis. Madeline was certain it was from the descriptions given by Mary - she had never met him as she had stayed in Scotland with James when Mary had previously been in France.

"We heard nothing of it." Madeline lied to save Mary from the risk of being exposed.

Even if Francis had recognised Mary in that moment, it was not safe. It could been have been seen as misleading to take advantage of the Crown if no one believed Francis - he had not seen her for many years. It was safer to wait for James to arrive.

However, it seemed that Francis had taken an interest in Mary as he had not moved on to inspect the rest of the group. Confusion was prominent in his eyes - it was at this moment that Madeline knew that her sister was at risk.

"What is your name?" he demanded.

"Anne - Marie."

Silently, Madeline smiled to herself. Even when her sister was facing dangerous situations, she still had the confidence of a Queen.

"What brings you to court?"

Mary opened her mouth to reply but Cateline beat her to the point.

"She is my tutor and carer - why shouldn't she be here?"

Much to the horror of both Madeline and Mary, Cateline continued to act disrespectfully to her prince. Francis was also clearly shocked at the response but recovered quickly. As he backed away from the girls to speak to the rest of the party, Madeline relaxed and turned to check her sister. As she waited to climb back into the carriage, she noticed that Francis was looking at her. Madeline looked towards the the gates of court with anticipation.

Mary was safe from the English - but she was not so sure she safe from Francis

Hello!

Hope you have been enjoying the first 3 chapters, I have many more planned for this story. Please review because I love to see what you think of this idea!

Hope to see you back here for the next chapter, Bye!