As Bash was on his way to the throne room, he saw Narcisse leave Catherine's side and take a spot in the crowd. He entered and stood behind him, close enough to watch but not be too conspicuous. They waited for a few minutes. Mary still hadn't taken the throne and he didn't see Catherine anywhere either. 'They must still be in the hall.' he thought. 'I wonder what's taking them so long.'
Finally, Mary came in, Catherine in toe, looking furious. She took her seat and Catherine stood next to her. She started talking about Francis, trying to clam everyone's fears. Bash didn't really hear much of it, he was too busy watching Narcisse, who was currently staring at Catherine. 'If he had a mustache he'd be twirling it.' he thought. Then he noticed Conde enter the room, eyes fixed on Mary. Catherine glared at him. 'If looks could kill...' thought Bash.
As Mary's speech came to a close, and the crowd started to disperse, Bash couldn't decide if he should trail Narcisse or Conde. They were both conspiring against Francis. He decided to go after Narcisse since he would be investigating Conde and Mary, following Narcisse would be in essence also following Conde. Any information Narcisse got, Bash would too.
As he followed him around the corner, he paused in the hall for a moment before continuing so he wouldn't be caught. Just as he was about to start off after him, he heard someone clear their throat. He turned around to see Catherine standing behind him.
"What do you think you're doing?" she said.
"I'm following him, what does it look like?" he replied.
"I told you to stay out of my business." she said.
"Well, I'm not following you am I?" he answered smartly.
"I can handle Narcisse myself. I don't need you skulking about, mucking everything up." she said.
"Handle him? If you need to handle him, why even be with him in the first place?" Bash asked.
"That is none of your concern. I have my reasons." she said.
"What reason could you possibly have for letting that scum walk all over you?" he said.
"Who do you think you are speaking to me this way?" she started to get angry again, her fists balling up in rage at his relentlessness.
"A person who is more trustworthy than a man who once blackmailed your son and is now just using you to do it again." he said. "I know your smarter than this, why are you letting your guard down like this? Don't tell me you have fallen for him..."
Catherine hadn't really had time to think about it with Francis falling ill and Mary ruining everything. She honestly didn't know how she felt.
"And you continue to poke your nose into matters that are not your place to do so. I do not have to explain myself to you." she said.
"When he said he had you wrapped around his finger, I didn't realize how tightly." he said, storming off down the hall. Catherine stood frozen at his last comment.
'Could he be right, have I let my judgment be clouded by Narcisse's charm?...No, if he was up to something, I would surely sense it. He couldn't possibly say those things, look at me that way without meaning it. There was too much behind it. He wouldn't be so reckless to think he could pull it off anyway, could he? Besides, it's not like I'm trusting blindly, I'm intentionally putting space between us until I'm sure...No, I'm not going to let that bastard's paranoia get the better of me. Why shouldn't I let someone put me first for a change?' she thought to herself.
It took Bash awhile to find Narcisse again after being held up with Catherine. But when he did, he found him with one of his informants again. A different one from the last.
"What have you got for me? It better be good. It's dangerous for me to meet so soon." Narcisse said.
"I was at court anyway, on personal business, no matter. As I was leaving, I just happened to overhear Queen Mary discussing with Lord Conde the possibility of sending French troops to Scotland." he said.
"Just happened to over hear?" Narcisse said with a sly smirk. "So she's going to use Francis's illness to her advantage. This is good news, but not the kind I will share with Catherine. This may solve both of my problems. If Catherine dosen't know, she won't be able to stop her, it'll weaken France and give me the perfect opportunity to swoop in and pick up the pieces and get her to trust me even more. We may not need to even continue with the plan, with Mary digging the hole for us, we'll bury them even quicker."
The man nodded. "Glad I could be of service My Lord." he said and left.
'Time to ruin your plans.' thought Bash. And he went back inside to find Catherine and once more try and talk some sense into her. He entered her room and found her pacing by the fire, worried look on her face. She stopped when she noticed him.
"Oh, not you again. If you say one more word about Narcisse..." She said.
"I'm not here about Narcisse, well not entirely anyway." He said, slowly walking toward her. "It's about Mary."
"Go on." She said.
"I was following Narcisse..." Catherine sighed and turned up her nose. "Just listen...One of his informants told him Mary is planning on sending French troops to Scotland. Only he wasn't going to tell you this. He doesn't want you to stop her. He wants her to succeed so that he can fix it and gain your trust."
Catherine was deep in thought. She was being betrayed on all sides. She would have to stick to her guns and deal with Mary first. It was more pertinent problem and still wasn't sure she could believe Bash.
"I believe you about Mary. You wouldn't say something against her if it wasn't true, but how do I know you're not doing exactly what you say Narcisse is doing? How do I you're not manipulating me because you just don't like him?" She said
"Even if that were true, and it's not, you shouldn't like him either. Look at what he's caused. He is at the core of every problem we are facing right now. I swear to you he's plotting something else as we speak. Why won't you listen to me? Why are you putting us all at risk for a man who doesn't give a damn about you." He said. He struck a nerve with that. He'd unintentionally hit her right where it hurt.
"So you just assume he doesn't care about me. Why? Just because Henry didn't doesn't mean no on else can. Do you think I'm that much of a monster that he couldn't possibly care for real." She said with a mixture of sadness and anger.
"Catherine that's not what I meant. I don't think your a monster..."he started.
"No, you just think that the only way Narcisse would have anything to do with me is he were using me!" She said, emotion creeping into her words. Bash tried to choose his words carefully.
"Catherine, Narcisse doesn't care about you because he's the monster. He only cares about himself...There's nothing wrong with you." He assured. She swallowed and looked away. She couldn't look him in the eyes. He knew he needed to talk to her about Mary, but he didn't want to push matters at the moment. She needed space and so did he. He quietly walked to the door, looking back for just a moment, and then left.
