It's Saturday, that means there's another update for you all. Enjoy!

The next morning Mary wakes up to find Francis' side of the bed empty. She supposes that it needs to worry her but somehow it doesn't. This obviously isn't going to be the last lonely night she'll have in this big bed. Being married isn't all that it's cracked up to be as far as Mary's concerned. They haven't even been married that long and they're already in an awful situation and had more fights than she cares to count. It's not that she's worried Francis doesn't love her, she knows that he does. It's just trouble seems to be following her around ever since she came to French court and she wonders how she ever thought being married to Francis would change any of that. They have been feverishly trying to get pregnant for months now, but nothing is happening. It's having them both on edge and she just knows that Francis is avoiding her as much as possible so that they don't get into another one of their heated arguments about her inability to conceive.

"Excuse me your grace, Lady Lola is here to see you" One of the guards normally stationed outside her room enters her chambers followed by an anxious looking Lola. Mary smiles, takes a couple strives towards the door and throws her arms around her friend "Lola, my dear, how are you feeling?"

Lola feels Mary's stiff and static hug and she wonders if this is how it's going to be from now on. She can't help but wonder if things will ever be normal between them again "I'm quite okay thank you. And you, how are you doing?"

The smile on Mary's face is genuine but there's a sadness in her eyes that only the people closest to her can detect
"I'm alright. But I'm guessing you're not here to ask me about my wellbeing? What is it that brings you to my chambers Lola?"

Lola lowers her head for a minute, in the past she would have pressured Mary to tell her what was bothering her but not this time. This time Lola knows what's wrong and she hates that she's partially responsible for Mary's pain. So instead she says "Bash and Francis want to meet us"

Mary just stares at Lola, obviously uncomfortable "Oh" seemingly unable to move, she briefly wonders what would happen if she refused to go.
Lola sees Mary's reluctance "Right now, Mary" she presses.

Mary still can't quite believe this is actually happening. She hasn't been this nervous about anything in her entire life, and that's saying something. Blinking a couple times, she mutters"Okay. I'll come find you". Lola stares at her friend, picks up her skirt and bows"As you wish your grace" Shocked by the amount of distance between them, physically and emotionally, Mary takes Lola's hand and squeezes it gently "Lola, you're my friend, don't you ever call me your grace again"
Lola tries to smile but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. As much as she wished for everything to go back to the way they were, she also knows that's not a possibility "Very well. I will let Bash and Francis know you're on your way"

Mary nods "Thank you, Lola" she sighs loudly when she hears the door close. This is it; they are really going to set the plan in motion. Sebastian will marry Lola and raise her baby as his own. Francis will have access to the baby at all times and Mary, Mary just wishes she'd get pregnant with her own child already.

Rubbing her hands over her face she wonders for a minute what she did to deserve ever being in this situation.

They had been discussing the plan for what felt like hours until finally Mary had enough. Neither Francis nor Sebastian was willing to compromise and it was getting on her last nerve. Mary wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or yell at them, so she did both "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe I was stupid enough to think that we could ever make this work" she yells "Why does everything has to be so hard with you two?" She rubs her hands over her face frustratingly. It wasn't that Mary didn't want to go through with the plan anymore; she knew that was their only option but her patience was wearing thin
"I don't understand why you're still fighting about this" she sighs, angrily wiping away her tears.

"I'm just thinking about how this is going to affect you, Mary" Francis scoffs, angrily looking towards Sebastian. Mary laughs sarcastically and the sound cut through him like a sword "And where you think about me when you were lying in bed with her?" She spits out venomously , pointing at Lola.

Lola gasps, that statement hurts way more than she ever thought Mary was capable of, and she couldn't hide the surprise and hurt on her face "Stop it! All of you!" she yells through her own tears "Mary, as much as I love and respect you, you're not being fair. Francis and I made a mistake. It was a night of comfort, a night we both thought that he would never return to court or see you again. If you want to be angry with someone, be angry with me" Lola reminded "Like you said, I would be the one that would have to face you every day knowing what we've done, not Francis"

"Not to mention the fact that you were engaged to my brother at the time,Mary" Francis adds quietly, obviously surprised by Lola's outburst. Mary and Sebastian share a silent look before she returns her attention to the both of them "Fair enough" she says, quickly regrouping. She has a feeling that this little blame game they are playing isn't going to get them any further anyway.

"So, we're clear on the plan? Mary will let the word out that Bash and Lola have been together for a while and we'll go from there?" Francis questions "We have to make sure that there's no doubt in people's mind that the baby is Bash's and not mine"
As hard as this was going to be, the plan needed a solid foundation for it to have at least a ten percent chance of succeeding. It all depended on how carefully thought out they had planned it all.
Both Sebastian and Lola nod but Mary was deep in thought so she didn't hear Francis call her name until Lola nudged her "Sorry, what?" she asks, redness coloring her cheeks. Francis could see there was still something bothering Mary so he asks "Is there still a problem Mary?"
He looks at her, impatiently urging her to come clean. Mary just sighs again, she doesn't want to get into this but she knows she had to address it before it really becomes an issue "It's Kenna"

As soon as Kenna's name was uttered all three heads focused on Mary "For god's sake what on earth does Kenna have to do with any of this?" Francis questions. Sure, Kenna was one of Mary's ladies, or at least she used to be until she became the King's mistress but that still didn't explain why she had to be brought into this plan
"She knows" Mary says, wringing her hands together nervously. She knows that Kenna could potentially become a threat to this well thought out plan, the more people that knew the harder it would become at keeping it a secret. "Knows what?" Francis questions, the annoyance evident in his voice "That the baby is yours" Mary answers hesitantly, trying not to anger Francis more. Francis looks from Sebastian to Lola and then back to Mary "How –" Mary didn't let him finish and dived into the story "She figured out that you and Lola spend the night together in Paris and put two and two together and confronted Lola"
Raising an eyebrow at Lola, Francis shakes his head "And off course you told Kenna the truth, how unbelievably stupid" He spits out. Lola knew that telling Kenna the truth wasn't the best idea but he couldn't expect her to point blanc lie to her face. Her eyes darken "Francis, Kenna is my friend. Off course I told her. You can't expect me to lie to her" Mary gave Lola an agreeable nod but Francis' angry words echoed through the room "You're going to have to lie to all of them if you want this plan to work"

Sebastian, who has been fairly quiet throughout this entire conversation, finally decides to speak up "What are we going to do about it now?" he asks, clearly annoyed with the anger and hostility in the room. Francis turns his attention towards his brother "You're going to have to come up with a plausible story that it's your baby and not mine" he states determinately"Lola, tell Kenna you were wrong. Tell her you were with Bash before you were with me and that the baby is most definitely his" Lola looked from Francis to Mary "That's never going to work" she says. As much as people believed otherwise Lola knew that Kenna was indeed a smart lady. She was never going to fall for this 'I was with Sebastian first' story. Francis apparently saw the reluctance on Lola's face and took her hand "It's going to have to work" he says, eyes focusing on both Lola and Sebastian. "I hope so" Lola says, tearing her hand away from Francis, it was making her even more uncomfortable than she already was. She knew that if she wanted this to work she was going to have to put up with Francis' kindness towards her behind closed doors. But, that didn't mean she had to like it. Her thoughts are rudely interrupted when she sees a piece of paper being shoved in front of her "What's this?" she asks, examining the paper carefully.

"It's the contract we all need to sign" Francis says, shoving the paper a little more her way. Her eyes gloss over the paper, reading the carefully mapped out plan. She looks sideways towards Mary who in return gives her an affirmative nod. She picks up the feather Francis is holding out for her and after making contact with the paper she looks over at Francis. His eyes alternate from her to the paper and then towards Mary. Lola swallows loudly and glances at Sebastian "We can give you more time if you need" he says, smiling his signature smile.

"No, we can't" Francis says, angrily pointing towards the paper "What's more to think about, just sign the damn thing. It's for our eyes only. It's our private binding contract, nothing more, nothing less" Listening to her husband's words Mary could tell he was becoming more and more impatient by the second and a quick glance at Sebastian confirmed her suspicions that he knew it too. Sebastian placed his hands over Lola's and looks up at Francis "Just give us a minute, Francis" he says as he leads Lola away from the table.

"Damn it, Bash. We don't have a minute" Francis mutters, stretching his arms out to pull Lola back. Mary quickly positions herself between the two "Sure we do, let's go take a walk Francis" she says "Please" Her eyes were pleading with him not to fight her on this and eventually Francis relents, letting Mary lead him away.

Before exiting the room Mary silently turns around one last time, looking at Sebastian and Lola in the corner of the room. Sebastian has his arms around Lola and was trying to sooth and undoubtedly calm her down. "They're going to make a lovely couple" she hears Francis say. Mary nods, looking over at the two of them again. They would, and this was the best option, so why wouldn't the knot in her stomach go away then?

"She's ready to sign the contract now" Sebastian's head peeks through the half open door and he signals for both Mary and Francis to come back in.

"Finally" Francis sighs and pushes the door open forcefully almost hitting Sebastian. Mary looks shocked towards her husband and yells "Francis!"

"Just get this over with okay" he mumbles. Lola takes the paper from the table and scribbles her signature on the line and passes it back to Francis "There, it's done" Francis passes the paper towards Sebastian and gives him an evil glare "Your turn, Bash" he says his name venomously and Sebastian simply glares and quickly signs his name. After Mary's signature there's only Francis' left and when the feather makes contact with the paper he looks around the room, making eye contact with them one by one "This is the secret pact between the four of us, and until I say otherwise it stays that way. Understood?"

"Yes" Mary is the first to reluctantly answer, looking at her husband. Lola quietly mutters an "Okay" and once again a silent exchange of looks is passed between Mary and Sebastian before he eventually confirms his agreement. Francis takes a deep breath "Good" he concludes.

Lola looks at Sebastian and carefully takes his hand "Why does it feel like I just signed my life away?" she whispers silently. Sebastian looks at her with a mixture of surprise and compassion "Lola, I promise, I'm going to do everything in my power to make you happy. You have my word"
he squeezes Lola's hand softly. Mary quietly witnesses the sweet gesture and casts her eyes down "Thank you Bash, that means a lot" she hears Lola whisper, kissing him quickly on his cheek. She picks up her dress, bows towards Mary and Francis and leaves the chambers. Francis follows her to the door and then turns around "Are you coming Mary?"

"In a minute" Mary smiles at her husband and turns her attention to Sebastian "Bash, can I talk to you for a second?" Sebastian looks at Francis who silently closes the door behind him, leaving only Mary and Sebastian inside the chambers "Sure"

Mary walks up to him and puts her hand over his "I want you to promise me something" she states, looking him straight in the eye. Sebastian is surprised by the sudden gesture but gives her a smile none the less "Say it"

"Can you promise to try and fix things with your brother?" Her voice is so silent and questioning that he has to really strain his ears to hear it. When the words finally do register with him, he has to swallow "Mary" he utters her name. He thought she was going to ask him to try and make Lola happy, which wouldn't be a hard promise to make since he was already planning on doing that. But, making peace with his brother now that was something he hadn't thought about too much
"Please, Bash" she pleads "I don't like being in the middle of this war the two of you have going on and it's not getting us anywhere. I'm married; you're going to be married soon. Whether we all like it or not we're in this together and we need to stick together" Mary's eyes never leave his while talking. Sebastian thinks about what she's asking of him and he wishes he could give her what she wanted "I can't promise you that" he answers shamefully. When he sees a look of hurt cross her face he quickly adds "I can promise I'll try though, as long as he does too"

Mary breaths out deeply "I'll talk to him" she states, giving him a quick smile. Sebastian shakes his head, takes her hand and gives it a quick squeeze "No, I think it's high time I did" he says before he exits the chambers.

"Can I talk to you for a second little brother?" Sebastian's voice echo's, entering his brother's chambers carefully looking around for Francis

"I'm not your brother" he hears a voice call out making Sebastian turn around abruptly. He has to take a step back because Francis is standing so close he can practically count the tiny hairs on his face and it unnerves him "Can we please just talk about this, whatever this war is we have going on?"
Francis angrily pushes Sebastian towards the door, making it evident he had no intention of clearing the air with his brother "No" he spits out.
Mary's plea rings in Sebastian's ears "Please Francis, do it for Mary" he tries. From the look of pure disgust on Francis' face it was obviously not the right thing to say "How dare you bring up Mary in all this"

"Isn't she the reason we drifted apart in the first place brother?" Sebastian states, voicing his thoughts. Francis laughs sarcastically "No, that was all your doing Sebastian, you choose to defy me in the worst way possible and I don't think I can ever forgive you for that"

Sebastian realizes that this conversation can either go one out of two ways. Or he leaves here with a certain sense of closure and a possibility to move forward or he angers Francis so much he endangers the entire plan and possibly even risks his own life "Defy you how?" Sebastian asks curiously, having made the decision to lay everything on the line.

"By falling in love with my fiancée and trying to take away my right to the throne" Francis states matter of factly. He gestures for his brother to sit down making his reluctant willingness to talk evident.

"I never wanted the throne, Francis" Sebastian states honestly. And that's the truth; he was never in it to be the next king of France. For all he cared France could go to hell, it was Mary who asked him and who denies Mary queen of Scots anything? Francis stands up and starts pacing "Exactly my point, Sebastian. You only wanted Mary" he spits out. Sebastian honestly thinks about that for a minute. Why had he said yes to Mary's proposal? "That's not true. I was in this for the both of you. Despite what you might think, you are my brother and it was the only way to keep you alive"

"Keep telling yourself that Sebastian" Francis says harshly, making Sebastian flinch. He never wanted the relationship with his brother to turn out this way. They may not be brothers through blood, but Francis is the only person he could always count on ever since they were kids and he feels like he owes him an explanation "Fine, you want the truth? The whole truth?" he asks, looking towards his brother "Always" Francis states truthfully

Sebastian stands up and walks towards the window "I care for Mary, always have and probably always will" he says, wiping a couple stray rain drops from the window "But, when I first entered into the arrangement it was to save your life and help Mary. Somewhere down the road I got lost in my feelings for her and I actually fell in love and I know deep down she loved me back" He says that last part silently, shamefully. When Francis doesn't respond he continues "We developed a deep emotional and spiritual connection and for a minute after you came back I actually thought I had a chance in winning her from you fair and square" he sighs, thinking back to the time that he really believed they could actually be together "But, when presented with the choice she chose you. Every time in the months Mary and I were together she chose me, except for when it mattered most" Sebastian turns around and looks his brother straight in the eyes "That's how I know she loved me but was in love with you" he finishes, lowering his head and blowing out a deep breath

Francis just looked at Sebastian; surprised by the brutal honesty given by his brother"You still love her?" was all he could ask "Yes, I do" Sebastian whispers, still avoiding eye contact. Francis walked up to his brother and gave him a careful smile "Thank you for being honest with me Sebastian" he says.
Sebastian looks up towards his brother "Now what, little brother?" Sebastian asks uncertain. Francis opens the door "Now, we go about our plan like we discussed"
Sebastian takes a couple steps towards the door following his brother"I mean, what about us? Are we good?" he asks uncertain "I don't think we'll ever be 'good' again, Sebastian. But you being completely honest with me was a good start" Francis states, leaving the meaning of his words lingering in the air.

Sooooooo, what did you think? Reviews are like food, I need it to function!

Xx