A/N: I hope no one has gotten lost with the timeline in relation to the show! I've tried to keep it close enough that you can keep track of what other plots would be happening at the same time.

Mary breathed in sharply. Everything had gone so far wrong in such a short time. Her plan with Louis had gone off without a hitch and she had the hope from that instance that everything else would be fine. She had such hope.

After her late-night conversation with Louis about how their plan had gone, she was expecting to find guards, ordered there by Francis awaiting them outside the cottage that had become their staple for their extra-marital encounters. When no guards ever came and their conversations drifted toward the more intimate, Mary found herself feeling sick to her stomach.

To lie to a man she loved was one thing. To lie to a man she had feelings for, on behalf of a man she knew now that she truly loved, while trying to stay loyal to her duty as a queen was almost too much to handle and her head started to feel a massive ache coming on. Louis had been pressuring her for more and she felt such a strong attraction to him that she almost gave in. Then she remembered the feeling of Francis that morning. Had it really only been that morning? How they had worked together almost like they had all the previous year. It was such a comfort to her. Now, she could barely stand to be in Louis' arms. Add that to her ever-growing worry about the lack of guards to arrest Louis as Francis would have surely ordered to happen and that left Mary with one very anxious night. They had stayed up all night talking, with Mary hedging around the important topics and Louis' advances.

As morning broke, Mary pulled her cloak about her shoulders and prepared to depart. As she walked out of the door, she was met with Lola, with bloodshot eyes.

She learned quickly that Francis had fallen ill and wasn't waking up. She should have been there. She should have been able to be there for him, even if it wouldn't help.

Now she found herself sitting at Francis' bedside, desperately trying to call out to him. Praying so despondently, as though all hope had gone from her world. In a sense, it had. She would always be the Queen of Scotland, by her birthright, but her position in France, where she had resided for most of her life, was completely dependent on Francis. And her heart. Her heart was completely dependent on Francis as well. She found herself muttering promises and indulgences at him. Rubbing her hands over his and burying one hand in his hair, she implored, "Francis, come back to me. I love you. I know we fought and that things have been rocky for us, at best, but you must return to me. I need you. I once shrank away from your breathing, but now I cling to it as though it's as necessary to my survival as my own. Please, Francis, wake up."

Catherine had entered the room and heard the last of Mary's pleas. "How touching. I almost believe you." The scorn dripped heavily from her voice. Mary stood up rapidly, dropping her hold on Francis' hands. Catherine swept across the room, despair apparent in her features. "The prophecy said that you would be the cause of the death of my firstborn. We all assumed that it meant Clarissa and that everything was fine now. Even if I was still expecting you to be the cause of my son's death, I never would have expected it to be because you broke his heart." The venom was heavy. It was clear that she despised Mary.

The shock, however, was clear on Mary's face. "A broken heart? You really think that's what has caused this, Catherine? You really think that he would collapse because of heartache over me? I gave you far too much credit!"

Catherine recoiled at Mary's words, but she mustered the vitriol to keep going. "I know that is what happened, Mary. He was standing just fine when I came to talk to him about you. I had news delivered to me just last night about you leaving for Scotland. I came here to try to persuade him to speak with you about your abdication of your crown here in France. It was then that he collapsed! Do you have a better explanation? You are his wife. You should be keeping better tabs on him. Even if you aren't on good terms it is still your duty to know how his health is! You are failing and I have no sympathy left for you, dear."

Mary had heard enough. "Catherine!" She cut off the older woman before she could really launch into a tirade. She threw her hands up and then lowered them as though she were strangling an invisible person in front of her. "Would you, for once in your life, accept that possibly there are things that you don't know? Would you accept that maybe deals have been struck, agreements have been made, and you know nothing about them? For once, can you accept that you are not the most informed person in the room!?"

Mary's outburst seemed to have rendered Catherine unable to speak. Mary strode forward and grasped the Queen-mother's hand, hauling her, against her protestations, toward the concealed door of the secret passageway that connected to Francis' room. Once they had gone deep into the tunnel, Mary paused to listen for signs that anyone else was in the passage.

"Mary, what the devil-"

"Shhh!" Mary cut off Catherine as she was about to raise her questions. She needed this meeting between the two of them to remain a secret. She paused for just a moment longer, struggling to hear the mark of anyone else being in the darkness with them. "I have something to tell you and you need to be the only one who hears it. I will not have the plan Francis and I have put together unravel because of carelessness."

Catherine straightened her back and waiting in silence for Mary to continue.

"Francis has known of my infidelity since the start. He granted me permission in exchange for information. We have been making contingency plans. I assure you, he did not collapse because of any betrayal on my part. He knows that I am not going to go to Scotland without him. The letters found by your agent were from me, but they were sent with Francis' permission and full knowledge. He and I will be the ones going to Scotland. Or, at least we will be if he recovers from this. Catherine, I'm scared. I never wanted any harm to come to him."

Momentarily frozen, Catherine soon came back to herself. "Oh dear child, after everything you've been through." Catherine extended her arms and Mary fell willingly into them. "I know now is not the time, but I'm so proud of you two for not only coming up with these plans, but being able to keep them such a secret that even I didn't know about them." She pulled back and smiled at Mary, "It shows that you have come so far from the scared girl who came back to us from those nuns. The one I had to teach about secrets needing to stay a secret."