Disclaimer: I neither own Reign, nor profit from this story.
Catherine woke up groggy and confused. Taking a moment to try and gather her bearings, she was at least relieved when she saw that Henry was with her. She was not yet sure where they were, and a small voice inside reminded her that the fact that the King and Queen of France were not where they were supposed to be should be alarming. She did however take momentary comfort in the small amount of leverage he provided her, even unconscious.
Once she was certain that he was indeed only unconscious, she sat up to try and ascertain a little more about their whereabouts as well as to check herself and the King for any further injuries.
Satisfied for now despite the otherwise unknown nature of their circumstances, she tried to get up and continue her inquiry. Unfortunately the moment she tried, her head began to pound uncontrollably and what little strength she had gathered upon waking instantly fled.
Sitting back down heavily she decided to try and wake the sleeping saw horse otherwise known as her husband instead.
Running her fingers along his cheek and speaking his name softly, he began to stir but seemed very disinclined to come to full wakefulness. Groaning and turning over he grabbed onto her hand and tried to pull her around, right along with him.
"Henry, Henry!"
Returning to his back, he grunted again before answering, "Yes Catherine, what is it?"
Sighing at his reticence of returning to consciousness, or the reason for that matter she answered, "Although there are many habits we have returned to in recent months I can guarantee you with absolute certainty that I am no longer as nimble or flexible as I once was. My body will not simply move where you want it to because you desire it."
"Well I haven't had any complaints so far. Are you sure you are not simply desiring to stay right where you are this morning?"
"Henry, open your eyes."
"I think I would rather not."
Sighing again, her husband could be so stubborn, "Henry open your eyes."
Taking a final breath before doing as requested he opened his eyes and realized the reason for her mild alarm, "Catherine do yo know where we are?"
"No, I was about to try and ascertain just that but I believe we have been drugged."
Trying himself to sit up and reach a standing position, Henry had the same difficulty just as Catherine did before and flopped back down, propped up on one arm so that he was sitting almost at a ninety degree angle with his legs left haphazardly in front of him.
"Has anyone come in to inquire of us?"
"Not as far as I know Caro, I have seen no one else, but I have also only been awake a short while."
Looking around it seemed as if their captors did not mean them harm. They were both laid out in what appeared to be a master bedroom on top of the coverings. Both were fully clothed, Catherine's corset had been loosened to a point where it was not uncomfortable in a reclined position, and Henry was free of his shoulder chains which were laid out on a table near him.
"If only you had your cabinet of potions near by, my head is pounding," moaned Henry.
"And mine as well, but it might not be safe to take anything anyway. I believe we have been drugged already and if I were to give us anything the interaction could have some unforeseen side effects," she reminded him.
Sighing heavily Henry pulled Catherine back to him and held her close.
"Henry, what are you doing?"
"Well it seems that we are safe for the moment. No one has come to make demands or threats, and there is nothing else that we can see to give us any other information. Neither of us feels well enough to further explore where we are or what is going on so we should rest, gather our strength and give ourselves time to recover from what is affecting us. I for one, prefer to do that with you in my arms," he finished, this time placing a kiss on her forehead
She opened her mouth to protest, but he simply drew her closer and laid a peck on her lips. Drawing her firmly down with him he laid there until she relaxed into his hold and began to fall back asleep.
When there was nothing to be done, one needn't do anything. At least that was what he was going with right now. And he was too tired to care otherwise.
Hopefully he would not be proven wrong.
-/-/-/-
"Francis I…are you sure this was the right decision? As…unstable as they had become, was it really right that we left the there. We left them to…"
"Mary we discussed it at length with your Ladies, Bash and with Nostradamus. It was the best option for them and we will handle everything that needs to be on this end. They will have everything they need, though the servants and guards will stay out of sight as much as they can. We must allow them time and space to let their bodies rid themselves of the toxin."
"But we, they…"
"Will be fine. Trust Nostradamus to know what he is doing, he has yet to do anything untoward to anyone from our family and has no reason to start now."
Tilting her chin upward to face him directly he inquired, "Why all this second guessing? We both agreed to the plan. It is the best option as they otherwise would have outright rejected any intervention that we suggested."
"I guess I just don't like the thought of them waking so disoriented and being so helpless, even for a short time. Without all that is familiar, without that which they normally would have to defend themselves or use. I suppose I am just worried for them. What if they don't come out of this, what if…"
"If if's and buts were candy and nuts then we'd all have a Merrier Christmas."
As she took a breath to protest his jovial attitude he continued, "And if I had a piece of gold for every time even just the two of us worried or second guessed ourselves, France would be out of its financial problems for many years to come."
Grasping her shoulders to turn her squarely toward him he finished, "Was there anything else to be done with them here?"
"No I suppose not," she conceded.
"Then what is done is done and we must not second guess ourselves. We did this out of love and concern for them, and with such intentions we have chosen this path. Hopefully it will bring about the least painful outcome compared to what could have been, but no matter what happens it was the best option out of those at hand."
"I know Francis," she answered him truthfully, "I just hope that one day they will be able to forgive us for it."
Smiling at his wife's statement he answered, "Yes well, only Mother should even remotely hold a grudge, and I am certain I can persuade her of the necessity. I even have some…evidence that I should think she would like long buried. She will come around."
"So the student has become the teacher?"
"More so that the boy-child she remembers has grown into his own as France's crowned Prince. Whether she likes it or not I have listened to her and all the lessons over the years. On many occasions I have had the chance of bearing witness to several different methods of solving a variety of problems. This was I believe the one that Mother herself would have chose if given the chance."
"Should I be concerned at how keenly you have taken tutelage from she who is known as Madame La Serpente?" Mary asked with a grin.
"Oh absolutely my dear wife. Not to worry though, for as long as I live any efforts by me of employing such methods shall never be aimed toward you unless it is absolutely necessary. Trust me."
"Oh Francis I do, I just wish there were more certainty where your parents are concerned."
As Francis opened his mouth to voice a playful protest she silenced it with a finger, "and don't you dare go on about fish and gold." Blinking back what apprared to be the beginning of a fresh flood of tears she continued, "Please just hold me."
Smiling down at his ever caring wife Francis answered. "Always, I am yours and you are mine. We will do this together."
Closing her eyes and hugging him closer she finished, "Thank you Francis, I love you."
"And I love you."
Standing there holding each other until long after the sun set, they eventually gave into their exhausting and the undeniable pull of sleep and made their way to bed.
Life may never be perfect or easy, but they were feeling more confident about facing it together.