A/N: Tada, here is yet another chapter. I needed a little Reign kick since I couldn't watch it last night, due to my lack of cable. Hopefully you continue to enjoy this; I thank each and every one of you for your reviews. Please, keep them coming. They brighten my day.
Disclaimer: I do not own Reign.
Francis was gone when Sebastian woke up in the morning. Bash probably would have been worried if it was anyone but Francis, but he knew his brother was an early riser. He was probably already working on some plan he had managed to come up with in order to help Mary, to release her from her engagement to Tomas.
Bash took his time getting dressed, sitting on his bed to carefully pull on his boots, his side still protesting when he bent over, skin rubbing on skin and all it did was irritate the area. Once his boots were on, Bash took a moment to breathe, his hands on his lap as he took a few deep breaths. As he sat there, his eyes caught sight of the head dress Mary had presented him with the day before, a sign of her favour for the tournament. A smile spread across his face at the intimate memory, alone in the hall, with her so close that he could smell her.
He closed his eyes as he thought of Mary. The kind yet wild Queen of Scots. Who couldn't love her?
Love, what a notion for a Bastard.
Sebastian shook his head to clear it, pushing off his legs in order to stand tall. He took a breath as his side stung, but quickly made himself move through the pain.
When he left his room he had every intention of looking for Francis. Surely his brother had a plan or two in the works by now. Perhaps he needed help, you could never be too sure when you plotted against another member of Court, people who held power had spies, and you never knew where those spies might be hiding. That was what Bash was for, he was the one who sniffed out the spies and then snuffed them out, and making sure they didn't ruin any of Francis' plans. Bash wanted Tomas out of the picture just as much as Francis, if not more.
The halls were empty as he walked by, no doubt because most people were busy eating their breakfasts. Bash had never really been a breakfast kind of person, he always preferred to just go down to the kitchens and snatch up an apple or some other piece of fruit. It was all he really needed to get himself moving in the morning, he chose to eat larger suppers instead of stuffing all kinds of food in the morning. More than anything he found that a large breakfast made him feel sluggish.
As he came to the end of the corridor which led to his chambers, he found himself walking into someone. "My apologies," Bash bowed before he was even sure who it was he had knocked into. It had been almost a conditioned response, regardless if he was the King's son, he was the bastard son and he wasn't very highly thought of in court. It was like Queen Catherine had said, most people thought of his presence as disrespectful.
As he straightened up, Bash found himself cursing. Well wasn't this just his luck. As he straightened up, he found himself looking at the sneering and very angry looking Tomas, his fellow royal bastard.
"Going somewhere?" questioned the almost crown prince. He sounded very much like your typical bully from your childhood. The ones who knew they were bigger than everyone else and they used that size to their advantage. However, in this case, Tomas' confidence was purely ego induced as Bash was very much his equal when it came to size at least.
"Looking for my brother," Bash replied tightly. He didn't bother with any of the formalities that he might usually when in the presence of members of Court. He didn't think Tomas' deserved the respect, besides; he was just the same as Bash. He was to be the next King of Portugal, however, the Pope hadn't said anything yet and until then he was still a bastard, just like him. However, unlike Bash, Tomas was ungraceful about his station, he had an ego and he was an angry man, which Bash could only assume was due to his anger at being illegitimate. Bash could understand why he was so angry; however there were other ways to deal with the anger.
"He's been asking around about me," Tomas responded. Bash could have rolled his eyes, however he held back.
"Has he? Well if you have a message for him, I'll be happy to pass it onto him," Bash told him. he would rather play the role of messenger boy instead of having to find Francis in some sort of duel with Tomas. He was sure his brother could hold his own against Tomas, that he would have no problem probably winning in a fight, Francis used his head while Bash was certain Tomas allowed his rage to control him.
"You tell your brother if he has a problem with me, he should take it up with me as a man. If he's bold enough to ask about me in Court, he should be more than secure in accepting my challenge," to emphasize his point, Tomas' hand went to the hilt of his sword, pulling it an inch from its sheath.
Bash narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists at the thought. Tomas, the illegitimate son of the King of Portugal was really challenging his half brother, the future King of France. "Why Francis? Why not direct your challenge as me. I fully plan on aiding my brother to end your engagement with Mary. Why don't we work this out, bastard to bastard?" Bash attempted make sure he didn't sound like he was attempting to protect Francis. People needed to respect Francis, not think him some sort of cautious little boy who had his big brother to protect him.
Besides, Bash would be lying if he said that he didn't want the honour of taking Tomas out himself.
It seemed his ploy had worked because Tomas' eyes narrowed and his spine straightened, which Bash suspected was some sort of tactic to make himself appear bigger and scarier, of course, Bash was unfazed.
"Very well. I accept your challenge; we will meet tomorrow, after sunrise in the court yard." Tomas declared before turning with a flourish of his lavish cloak and stalked off down the hall. Bash's shoulder sagged a little once the man was gone, wrapping a hand around his midsection, continuing his search for Francis. His brother had beet have a plan if Bash had just challenged an able bodied man when he was still having difficulty walking through the castle.
