Disclaimer: I neither own Reign, nor profit from this story.
"Be quiet Henry!," came a small voice somewhere off to Mary's left.
"You're the one that's shouting!" came another.
"Shhhhhhhh! You're going to wake them!" came a third.
Mary rolled over in bed as she groggily wiped her eyes to try and figure out exactly where the voices were coming from.
She and Francis had gotten in right before the younger one's bed time, just in time to say good night. Apparently Francis's siblings had decided that coming to see them first thing in the morning was how they chose to convey how much they missed her and her husband over the past several months.
It was endearing if a little early considering the length of their trip, but how could she say no to the eagerness she found in their small faces.
They had been away from both their parents and the Castle for a little over three months now and she could not blame them if they were feeling homesick. Although Elisabeth was surely taking good care of them there was no place like home…Mary knew that all too well.
When three little faces appeared at the side of the bed Mary couldn't resist their silent plea.
Nudging Francis awake so that he wouldn't be completely startled by their trampling limbs Mary alerted them to his siblings presence before inviting them up.
They tried to be quiet, they really did, but they were a combination of young and excited and it didn't quite work. The five of them spent the first half of the morning telling stories and giving and receiving comforting cuddles.
The children of course asked after their parents and 'if they were still kissing each other.'
Mary and Francis were equally amused and embarrassed by the question,to have ones so young concerned about such a thing. At least they had good news to report. In fact the King and Queen were still getting a bit of a kick out of the stir that their renewed commitment to each other had created. To imaging, a King and Queen who were not just cordial but liked each other, it was virtually unheard of amongst royalty.
Francis and Mary hoped that their own love would span the years…perhaps not in quite the same way, but span them all the same.
Some of the decisions they had been required to make during their brief tenure as Regents still made them ill, but they had survived and would simply do their best to forget about what they had witnessed, at least for a time.
Their time would come, but now more than ever they wanted to enjoy their relative innocence while they still could.
-/-/-/-/-
Catherine was going through her wardrobe and trying to decide if she would need new shoes to go with her gown for the upcoming gathering when she found a pair of Henry's boots partially hidden in her wardrobe. She rarely went though that particular section as she usually used it to set aside clothes that she was considering getting rid of.
If she hadn't touched a gown in a year's time her Ladies were welcome to claim it for themselves. Once on a while she would bestow a gown on a particular Lady, but usually she left it up to them to deliberate and discern this amongst themselves.
It was something that Henry's Step-Mother had done while she was still alive and Catherine decided to continue on with the tradition.
All of her Ladies were required to appear before her in a respectable enough manner, and they were paid according to the work for which they were hired. However, she knew that it was at times at quite a high cost depending on how large their families were and their specific needs.
She of all people knew all too well that life could be cruel at times, and contrary to public opinion she did care for the commoners, especially those in her direct service.
Returning to the question at hand, she could only come up with one probable conclusion, Henry must have placed the boots here himself. He had been acting a bit unusual lately. Giving her sidelong glances that seemed to lead nowhere, being attentive one minute and disappearing the next.
It was not his usual pattern so she didn't worry about his eyes or interests wandering, but it was a bit confounding and there was enough of that going around already. She really did not need anything more to puzzle over.
Deciding to leave the boots for now, she returned to her original task and simply resolved be more observant of her husband's increasingly strange behavior. He seemed to have acquired at least the sense of treading lightly, but in doing so he would accomplish many things in halves, which often seemed to lead to nothing at all.
She had to admit though that it could be quite amusing to watch. He was absolutely terrible at being discreet.
Once he even gave her an anniversary present three months early because he couldn't contain his excitement, and then got her another one for the day of because he felt like he couldn't not. She had always been the mastermind behind all of their more brilliant plans, especially ones that spanned across a longer period of time. On many occasions even bis advisors had been suitably impressed while equally loathe to admit it.
In his younger years he had recounted tales to her of meetings with his advisors quite enthusiastically. Once in a while when they were being particularly trying, he would made them admit their admiration to her face.
Those were very amusing advisory meetings.
It was after one such meeting that Richard had begin to, well to court her for lack of a better word.
Initially it was just a minor infatuation. A flirtation that they both enjoyed and which began innocent enough. He was charming and took her mind off of matters of of course of…Henry. They were still on speaking terms back then, but Henry's indiscretions had begun to become less discreet and her younger self had no idea how to handle the situation.
As her seeming inability to conceive persisted she became more and more adept at hiding what she felt from everyone else…especially Henry, but try as she might Richard always seemed to see right through it.
He could reach her when everyone else just saw the Ice Queen, impervious to all that might try to breach her nearly impenetrable walls.
To Richard she was an enigma, a multifaceted puzzle that he slowly began to piece together. As he was a friend of Henry's she initially thought nothing of it, and neither did Henry. Then as things progressed they began the facade of antagonizing each other to avoid suspicion. This amused her husband to no end and so things progressed.
Apparently they were more convincing than they needed to be because he clearly never suspected a thing,
Richard had been especially enthralled by her ability to encompass all of the playfulness of a carefree girl in private while still maintaining her Queenly facade in public. To the rest of Court she was seamlessly impenetrable, but to him she was just Catherine. He had told her of his admiration much later, once they were already engaging in more illicit endeavors.
Catherine just appreciated having a friend and confident that didn't want anything in return…well not at first anyway.
By that time she found herself so in love with him that she didn't have the heart to say no. He was heedless of Henry's wrath and was just so happy to have her so close, even in such a limited capacity.
Speaking of whom, Richard hadn't been around in a while…understandably so, but he and Henry once were the best of friends. Perhaps she would see if Henry would be open to having Richard back to Court, at least for a short visit. He left on much better terms than…well just the fact that he had been allowed to leave with his head in tact was an improvement, but that was another matter best left buried.
She was fairly certain that she only had to approach it in the right way, though Henry rarely needed much convincing lately when it came to any reasonable request she made.
This might take a little more effort than usual but it had been nearly a year since he had had found out and had released Richard, and now was as good a time as any. It was nice not have to be so subversive in her efforts to get what she wanted accomplished. Cajoling and coercing would always be a part of her job, even with Henry, but it was her massive schemes of manipulation that had driven him away in the first place. She had no intention of doing that to him ever again if it was within her power.