Sebastian stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, he had went to bed the night before, unable to get any sleep, as he often couldn't when his mind was full, wondering and dreaming. The fatigue of tiredness hadn't come, only a deep sense or confusion and a stronger feeling of resentment (and guilt) towards Francis. The night had also been cold, and he hadn't bothered wearing extra layers, making his warm-blooded body feel numb.

Stretching, and padding over to his bedroom window, he saw the sun had not yet raised, it was early. It was still dark outside; the sound of silence coming from the castle made Sebastian smile. He was a morning person, he enjoyed the time he had to himself before everyone else was to wake, he often spent his morning's strolling or riding through the castle's grounds, it was peaceful. For a short time he could pretend that he was truly happy to be here, felt like he belonged to the place he lived, it was a rare feeling.

Wanting to feel comfortable; he pulled on a pair of black riding boots, a navy blue undershirt and a long brown coat. Heading towards his bathroom, he splashed cool water from the jug over his face, then brushing his teeth with a fresh peppermint paste getting rid of the stale alcohol taste in his mouth. Running his fingers through his brown hair as he walked out the door, he was looking forward to spending some time in solitude among nature.

Mary awoke with a start; she'd had a bad dream. She couldn't remember what it was exactly, she never could, all to know she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, and saw that her room was still dark. "What time is it?" Mary wondered hazily, slowly getting out of bed, shuddering at the cold temperature of her room, the fireplace had gone out hours ago.

She moved towards her window, still not totally focusing on her surroundings, and looked out. It was before sunrise, the sky was still dark, but she could faintly see a sunrise, purple in colour, peeking out of the clouds slightly. Her eyes wandered to the grounds below, the kitchen's vegetable gardens, Nostradamus's small cabin, the horse stables, rolling hills and the woods bordering around the castle… her eyes caught some motion near the lake. She squinted, seeing the silhouette of man who seemed to be walking towards it. Focusing harder she could see the muscular build of him, and brown mused hair.

Mary gasped, recognizing. Sebastian. Her mind was already going into overdrive; he was walking around the grounds, alone, before sunrise? Before she could question herself, she marched over to her wardrobe, remembering Lola's words from the night before, and swiftly picked out a dress.

After some mulling she decided upon a simple purple dress with a golden patterned bodice, the colour she thought was regal, but the cut of it was pretty, and she knew it would be flattering enough to be seen as presentable, without looking as if she tried too hard…

"Never deny the power of a dress," Mary muttered to herself in humour, thinking it was something Kenna would say, and not her. "This should do, however. A Queen must look well in appearance for everyone…" she tried to convince herself of her actual intentions towards looking worthy.

She quickly dotted a pale pink colour on her lips, brushed some peach colour onto the apples of her cheeks and fixed her hair to the side of her head with two diamond barrettes. Tip-toeing towards the door, gently opening it so not to make it creak, she prayed silently to herself that her guards wouldn't be standing behind, not sure of what excuse she would use as to why she was awake at such an early hour of the morning.

Looking out at the abounded corridor, she sighed in relief and made her way down the grand staircase, heading towards the castle's grounds, and Sebastian.

Sebastian looked out at the lake in front of him, remembering memories of himself as a child to when he used to sail his little toy boats onto it with his Father. That was time before he really grasped what he was, who was to society, before he was put to the side, Francis taking his place in the heart of his parents. He felt guilty for feeling jealously about his brother, or was he simply just feeling bad for himself? Sebastian didn't know, but was irritated that his morning walk was being ruined by these unfair thoughts of his.

"Good Morning, Sebastian." Mary called, a little nervously, walking her way towards him. She couldn't help fretting about her appearance, or if she was being too forward, it really was incredibly early, what on earth would she think of her? These thoughts faded when she saw the look on his face though, he seemed genuinely pleased to see her, and she let out a sigh of relief.

Sebastian was overcome with shock of the sight of the Young Queen walking around the grounds. He tried not to gape at her, she looked beautiful he thought. There was a tone of lilac lighting the sky now casting a beautiful glow on her, matching her dress perfectly. Millions of questions were swarming around his head, but he decided she would have a reasonable exclamation as to why she up so early.

"Your Grace, you're up early. Are you also a morning person?" he guessed, feeling this was surely why she was up wandering around.

"Not at all Sebastian," replied Mary smiling shyly at him, and staring wistfully out at the lake just like he had done moments before, "and you must call me Mary…. Your Grace sounds…too Queen-like," wrinkling her nose slightly.

Sebastian laughed at this, "Why, but you are a Queen… Your Grace." He winked at her, overcome with the feeling to flirt with her. He knew he shouldn't but he wanted desperately to see her smile.

"That is true, but I prefer my friends to simply call me Mary. It makes me felt more at ease."

Sebastian knew that if by calling her Mary made her feel comfortable, he would certainly do it. And did she just call him a friend… Sebastian grinned down at her, overcome with embarrassing happiness at the thought.

"Mary," he started, not exactly knowing how to choose his words, or where to draw the line to them, "I noticed that you didn't seem entirely comfortable at the banquet yesterday, are you coping alright… with everything?" Sebastian said this with kindness, though they had only just met, he already felt a duty to keep his future Queen happy, and content. Mary had also just stated they were friends, which made his loyalty grow even more.

Mary looked at him, surprised. He certainly was a perspective one, she hadn't thought she'd been too obvious with her forced happiness yesterday, but perhaps she had been. She blushed slightly, hearing the caring tone of his words, she had not been wrong when she told Lola he was kind.

"I suppose I am at a bit of unease. I have much to think about here, the French Court I must admit is still a slight mystery to me still, I still don't know completely where I am to be perfectly honest!" she laughed in spite of herself, Mar y felt comfortable telling this to Sebastian. She knew anyone else would most likely take advantage of her state, but for some reason she felt safe with him, like she could tell him anything. "I probably could…" she thought, eyeing the bastard from under her lashes, blushing slightly.

Nodding, "I understand Mary; intimidation is a great source of power here. You may have already picked up that, you are in somewhat a competitive time at the moment; there are many Royals here, all wanting very much the same thing… I have lived here all my life, I can say I have never felt truly at ease, but I promise you do learn to live with the feeling, learn to cope with your surroundings." Smiling gently at the Young Queen, he was pleased to see her turned to him, her face expressing something of admiration. Being a bastard, he was often pushed to side when it came to his opinions; he felt a happy twinge to know that she was listening to him.

Mary certainly had been listening, and was very much taken with his words. She could hear the honesty, the personal viewpoint, but also the pain behind them. She believed him, and was suddenly overcome with a feeling of contentment. Mary felt that if Sebastian had lived here all his life, surely she would be able to do so as well.

Sebastian and Mary spent the next hour talking quietly, making their way slowly round the castle grounds always slightly out of sight, he confessed to her stories about his childhood, and she told him about the ways of the convent, complaining and laughing about the antics she got up got to know each other, and were both finding similarities between each other, common understandings and thoughts. By the time the sun had risen, Mary and Sebastian were completely comfortable with one another, they were friends, allies. Sebastian knew he would always be loyal to her, and Mary knew she could trust him, they were happy.

Privately, both were more than happy with each other, but they knew they couldn't (at this time) act on those feelings. They smiled at each other warmly.

Mary looked towards the door that opened into the Castle's Kitchens. She was feeling quite parched after her long walk with Sebastian. "Thank you Sebastian, for this morning. I really enjoyed myself, but I feel I must go have breakfast now before my Ladies wonder where I am..." Mary fought to keep the disappointment out of her voice, now that there walk and conversation was coming to an end.

Sebastian was also sorry to see it come to an end; he had thoroughly enjoyed talking to Mary. He knew the minute he set eyes on her that she was special, but after having a long conversation with her, he was in deep admiration of intelligence, humour and caring nature. He had no doubt she would make a worthy Queen one day.

"Thank you also Mary, we must do it another time." He winked at the Queen, glad to see a faint pink on her cheeks, she was stunning. "I'm afraid I'm going in the opposite direction, my father often demands my presence at the moment, to talk about politics and such…" rolling his eyes, politics was one subject he deplored, but his father seemed to think was extremely good for him.

Mary laughed at that, she also felt that politics could be rather stale, but as a morning topic, it was no wonder Sebastian felt indifferent. She shyly waved at Bash, as she opened the door to the Kitchen's, feeling very elated by her morning.

Sebastian also walked away, with a sense of contentment and happiness, something he hadn't felt in a long time. As he continued on the way back to the main area of the castle, he tried to ignore the thoughts that were now swimming in his head, thoughts he tried to not think about… it was in prevail though. The minute it entered his brain he was overcome with a feeling of guilt, what had just done? These emotions he was feeling were unlawful; it was against everything, mixed emotions were now swirling, making Sebastian feel uneasy.

Falling in love with the Queen of Scotland was not something that would ever be taken lightly.