England

In the palace

Lady Mary stood with Catherine De Medici in the privy council chambers. Lady Mary knew very little of what Catherine was planning, but she trusted the French Queen. They had summoned all of the privy council members into the chamber for a meeting. As they all sat down one lord said," What business does the Queen of France have in arranging a council meeting?"

"Well as the mother of your Queen's husband I have business with England all the time," Catherine said in a polite tone with a small smile.

"Your majesty, your son is dead, and so is Queen Mary," The Lord said, not in a mean tone, but in a rather upset voice.

"No he is not," Catherine said simply," But that is not why I am here. After the supposed death of my daughter-in-law, you all flocked behind Elizabeth like scared sheep! Now I beg you, good lords of the land, how has this treated you? Have you enjoyed watching Elizabeth run this nation into the ground in order to stop a 'dead' queen? Or did you think it was spectacular how Elizabeth sold your country to Spain in order to threaten the English people with all of Spain's might?"

"What exactly are you saying?" One of the lords said, and honestly Lady Mary wanted to know the same thing. Catherine was firing at Elizabeth, but she mentioned nothing about revolting for Mary.

"What I am saying is simple. You all blindly supported the bastard queen because you saw no other option. Well my lords, I am here to show you another option!" Catherine said then pulled Lady Mary next to her," Lady Mary Grey, Great-Grandaughter of Henry VII, sister to the Queen Jane Grey, and Mary's chosen heir behind the deceased Catherine Grey. Now my lords I leave you with that, think this over. Elizabeth has failed you, but Lady Mary is ready. Council session ended."

After all of the lords left Lady Mary looked at Catherine," What the hell was that? We are supported Queen Mary, not me! What good has this done?!"

"Dear child do not underestimate me. It is human nature to support the person already in power, this means that when Mary retakes England, the privy council is still instinctively loyal to Elizabeth. However, I have planted the seed of doubt in Elizabeth's rule. So by the time Mary gets here, there will be. A power vacuum they Mary will fill."

Lady Mary nodded, this all made sense. In some twisted way, but it made sense." Well you said that is step one, what is step two?

"We need to offer Philip a deal, that would make an alliance with England," Catherine said as she told the servant to summon Philip.

"And what deal would that be?" Lady Mary asked and sat down in one of the chairs.

"An engagement to an English princess," Catherine said, knowing this would upset Lady Mary.

Mary stood up a bit, trying to figure out what Catherine was saying," There are no princesses. The only people you could be talking about are my sister and I. But Catherine is already married, and I am engaged to Charles, your son!"

"You do not actually need to marry the king, once Queen Mary is back on the throne we will call the engagement off," Catherine said trying to calm Lady Mary down," Do not worry, you will marry Charles, that is a promise."

"It better be," Lady Mary said and sighed. She didn't like the idea of being a pawn in this war of nations, but she knew it was her duty. However she couldn't help but second guess all the decisions she'd made since Mary Tudor had died. Lady Mary's sister Jane had lost her head because she got to involved in politics. Mary promised never to get to close to royal affairs, yet here she was, about to make a fake engagement with the King of Spain in order to turn the tides of a succession crisis.

Outside the Palace

Francis and Edward Seymour were mounted on horses and watched as the battle raged on. Arrows were being shot out of the palace was it was almost like they were raining down on the Scottish and French troops. A siege on a palace was very difficult to win, sometimes it could last a long time. Francis was hoping that the soldiers defending the castle would realize that fighting for Elizabeth was not worth it and they would surrender.

"Do you think we have a chance of winning this your majesty?" Edward asked Francis.

"God is with us, that I know. He has put everything in motion for today to happen, I know we will win this battle," he said but that was a total lie. Francis was not all that religious, so he couldn't fathom that God was micromanaging this battle. However he knew what Edward needed to hear.

"God willing, Mary will be restored to her throne, I am loyal until the end," Edward replied. As soon as he finished the sentence he fell off his horse. Francis dismounted to see if he was ok, but he saw an arrow had hit Edward, and the wound was fatal.

"Edward you'll be alright, don't give up," Francis said as he waved for a medic to come over, he didn't want Edward to loose hope.

Edward waved medic away," No, I am dying, I know I can't survive this. What better way to die than defending the rightful queen? Tell my wife, I love her more than anything. Long Live Mary, Queen of England, Ireland, and Scotland." Then Edward slowly died and drew his last breathe.

Military Camp

Queen Mary, Lady Catherine, and Marie de Guise each exited the tent when they heard that Francis was returning from the battle field. Mary could see the white horse in the distance, accompanied by other horsemen holding the English, French, and Scottish flags. As the horse neared, Mary's eyes instantly went to the body they were transporting. Tears welled in her eyes," No, Francis, no." Mary put her head in her hands, not bearing to look.

Then Marie grabbed her hand," No. My daughter I see Francis, your husband is alive!" She said and pointed to the white horse, which as it got closer was revealed to be carrying Francis.

Then Catherine Grey said," Francis is not dead, Edward is," she said, to stunned to even cry." My husband is dead," she said as the horses finally arrived. She fell to her knees and cried." My husband is dead," she wailed.