Mary has just finished crying when she rushed to her mother's room
"Mother, I'll go to France now, I've already told my servants to pack my things"
"oh darling, you look awful!" her mother said while wiping the tears of her face
"mother, have you heard what I said? I'm going to France now" Mary said with urgency
"but Mary you can't, there's a storm coming"
"but I need to go to France now! Francis needs me" Mary said firmly
"and I need you to be safe, wait until the storm passes and then you'll go to France with my blessing"
"by that time, it might be too late" Mary said helplessly
"What are you talking about Mary? I don't understand, I know that your husband is unwell but you don't need to rush to see him, I'm sure he isn't going to appreciate you risking your life for him."
"the storm hasn't come yet, I'll go now"
"Mary you're not going anywhere!"
"My husband is dying mother and the more time I waste here, the less chance I'll see him alive"
"how would you know that he's dying? You haven't even wrote him a letter yet"
"I received a letter from him days ago, I refused to open it because I was still angry with him. I just read it and it says there that he may not survive. Now please mother, he might never know that I'm pregnant with his child, let me go to France" Mary said with tears now forming in her eyes, her mother couldn't hide her sympathy for her daughter. They hugged for a moment and finally her mother spoke
"you can go to France but in one condition, bring the midwife with you. She'll make sure that you and your baby are safe. You're almost six months pregnant but there's still a chance for miscarriage."
Mary smiled for a bit and spoke
"I'll be very careful mother" and with that she's gone. Her mother prays that her daughter and her grandchild will be safe.
~^oOo^~
There it is again, the pain, he thought he would already get used to it but he doesn't. He tries to keep himself from screaming because if he screams, his mother and brother will rush to his room looking hysterical. He grabs a pillow, buries his face into it and screamed, the pain is unbearable, he's been tossing and turning on his bed for three straight hours and the pain is still there. He puts his hands in both sides of his head while whispering
"Make it stop, please make it stop"
Then he finally admits it to himself, he doesn't really want Mary to stay in Scotland, he doesn't care if she sees him like this, he just wants her here.
"Mary please, I need you" were the last words he utter before he screams in pain.
~^oOo^~
"your grace, I'm afraid we have to rest for now, I'll go find some inn for us to stay for the night" Leila, her midwife said
"I'm not tired yet, I can still travel, and we're already in France, we can't stop now"
"but your grace, the storm is already here, if we travel by carriage it would be dangerous, there would be floods on our way"
Mary looked at Leila carefully, she knows she's right but it pains her to delay their journey
"we'll stay for one night and when the storm passes we'll travel right away"
"yes, your grace"
~^oOo^~
"how are you feeling, brother?" Bash said to his younger brother
"the same way I felt yesterday, and the day before that and the day before that" Francis said with a half smile
"you haven't been sleeping are you? You look exhausted"
"Ironic isn't it? I do nothing but sleep and yet I look exhausted" Francis said almost jokingly, Bash remained silent
"don't look at me like that Bash" Francis said
"like what?"
"like I'm going to disappear into thin air any minute" Francis said but Bash still remained silent the worry in his eyes noticeable
"I don't need your pity Bash, I need you to be strong, not for me but for Mary" Francis said calmly
"how many times will I tell you brother? Don't talk like that, you'll get better, and you'll see Mary again"
"Bash, your optimism is unbelievably high" Francis said while trying to remain cheerful
"sometimes I wonder, if only Mary chose you over me, she wouldn't me in pain right now, she wouldn't be alone in Scotland, because you can always put her first… if I've known that this would happen, I wouldn't have come back here and break your engagement, if you married Mary, she would be happy. Knowing that I was the cause of her agony pains me even more than my ear infection." Francis said with defeat in his voice
"did you hit your head with a rock brother? Because all the things you just said are far from true, I'm not telling you this to comfort you but because this is the truth. Mary chose you because she told me she loves you more, she chose you willingly and I'm sure that if she were given the chance to go back in time, she will still choose you. When you left, I thought Mary and I would have a chance, that maybe, just maybe, she'll love me the same way she loved you, but she never did. She never looked at me the same way she looks at you, I never made her smile the same way that you do. I thought she loved me too but it was only you in her heart all along. You might bring pain to your wife now but you're her one true source of happiness. Don't ever forget that." And with that, Bash left the room leaving Francis astounded.