Mary and Francis sat in the war room, working out strategies to deal with Elizabeth, when Bash entered. Francis looked up and didn't see Catherine.
"Aren't you supposed to be watching my mother?" he asked.
"No worries, she's right outside the door. She was wondering if she could speak with you and Mary alone." he said.
"She couldn't have come in with you?" He asked.
"She said; 'If he isn't going to treat me like his mother, then I'm not going to act like one.' She is determined to do things by the book." Bash explained. Francis put a hand to his head, frustrated.
"Tell her to come in, please." Mary said. Bash opened the door and ushered her in. Catherine fell into a curtsey, she didn't say anything but you could feel the sarcasm.
"That...is not necessary." Francis said.
"Well, I wouldn't want to anger your majesty." Catherine quipped.
"What is it that you needed all this pomp and circumstance for?" Francis asked. She held out the pile of papers in her hand. He took it and started skimming over them.
"Letters...these are all to and from Mary. To Conde, some to her mother, her brother. I don't understand." He said.
"This is everything I needed to ruin Mary. Never used...and now they never will be." She said, took them back and threw them into the fire.
"That proves nothing. Elizabeth could have already seen them." Francis said.
"Even if she did, which she didn't, there's no longer any proof. She can't use it against Mary. Here say wouldn't be enough for the Vatican to execute her." She explained.
"How do we know there weren't more letters?" He prodded.
"I suppose you don't. You'll just have to take my word for it." She offered. She stared him down, trying to judge what he was thinking.
"I'll need to think on this." He said.
"Don't bother. If this isn't enough, nothing ever will be." She said, saddened, as she turned to leave. Mary looked at him knowing he'd gone too far.
"Francis..." she said gesturing toward Catherine. He sighed.
"Mother wait." He said. She stopped, but didn't turn around. "I believe you...you would do a lot of awful things for revenge, but having Mary killed isn't one of them." Then she turned.
"Do you really?" She asked.
"Yes. I was just trying to teach you a lesson." He explained.
"Well, you never learn from my lessons, why should I learn from yours?" She asked.
"I have learned. Perhaps I have...taken you for granted a bit. I should at least take your words into consideration. Ignoring them completely wasn't fair." He said.
"I appreciate that." She said.
"I suppose we've all made some mistakes." Mary interjected. Francis turned to Bash.
"You're hereby relieved of guard duty to my mother." he said and turned back to Catherine. "You're free. Please don't make me regret it."
"As long as she doesn't make me regret burning those letters." she said looking to Mary.
"Catherine I know what I did was wrong, and I swear, I will never betray Francis again." Mary looked down at her hands and then back up at Catherine. "Or you." Catherine swallowed her emotions and nodded. "If you can trust me again, then I can trust you too." Catherine nodded after thinking a moment.
"Perhaps we can start by working together on this." Francis said while pointing to the map where they had just been strategizing. Catherine nodded again and walked over to the table. Bash smiled a bit, then turned to leave. "You too brother." he said.
Bash stopped and looked at him and slowly made his way over to join them. He wasn't sure how to act. He hadn't been in this situation yet. He felt odd being in the room with Catherine while they were there. He exchanged a quick look with her to see if she was as put off as he was. She looked back at him as if to tell him not to worry.
A few days later, Francis was heading out to the courtyard to practice a bit with the bow and arrow when he saw same servant he had spoken to back at Bash's chateau speaking with the guards at the gate. Out of curiosity, he went to see what was going on. The servant saw him and curtsied.
"Your Majesty, so good to see you again." she said.
"Is there a problem here?" he asked.
"I was only trying to bring the Baron some of his belongings that he left the other day. His favorite cloak and some other things, and your guards have been treating me like I committed a crime." she said.
"It's alright, she serves my deputy." he told them and they walked away. "I can take these too him."
"You? Forgive me majesty, but you're the king, shouldn't someone else do that?" she asked.
"Even king's can do a favor for their brothers." he said. She nodded. "Tell me, did Anne ever return to the Chateau?"
"No majesty. She never even sent word. It's so strange. Poor Baron. He seemed so in love with her too. Wasn't even bothered by the age difference." she said. Francis gave her a questioning look.
"Age difference? Tell me, what did this Anne look like?" he asked.
When he was done talking to Bash's servant, he went to bring Bash his things. He entered his room and Bash was sitting on the bed, putting on his boots.
"One of your servants brought some of your things from the chateau that you left behind." he said holding them up for him to see and then placing them on a table.
"Well, that was kind of her." he said.
"No worries, I thanked her for you...she also told me that she still hasn't seen or heard from Anne." he said. Bash tried not to make eye contact. "You don't seem too upset...or even surprised...you spend every possible waking moment with this woman for weeks and one day she just disappears ...and it doesn't bother you?" Bash looked up and opened his mouth to speak but Francis cut him off. "Anne...is really my mother isn't she?"
"What are you..."
"I asked your servant to tell me what she looked like. She described my mother exactly, right down to the dress she was wearing when we found her."
"Francis I..."
"You what? Are you going to tell me it's not what it sounds like or make up some other ridiculous story about a huntress in the woods?"
"You're the one who said huntress."
"Are we really splitting hairs right now? For all you knew, you were hiding an attempted murderer."
"No! I knew she was innocent."
"What proof did you have?"
"I just knew. The same way you knew you could still trust Mary after she betrayed you!" Bash looked down. Francis was taken off guard. "Look I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I love her. This isn't just some tryst. I wasn't out to get anything from her, or her from me. We didn't plan on it, but it's real. I'm sorry if that upsets you. It wasn't intended as a betrayal. If you're looking to punish someone, than punish me. Please leave her be. She's been through enough."
Just as he finished speaking, Catherine came in and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Francis.
"Francis, I was just..." she began.
"Catherine, he knows." Bash said simply.
"I..."
"Don't. Please do not try to lie your way out of this." Francis said. Cathrine clasped her mouth shut and swallowed hard. Francis started pacing a little. Bash and Catherine exchanged worried looks. Finally, he stooped and leaned his hands on the table. "I didn't know at first why, but over the last few days I have seen both of you look happier than I've ever seen you." he shook his head. "I won't take that away from you."
"What are you saying?" Catherine asked. Francis walked back over to them.
"I'm saying..." he took Catherine's hand and then Bash's and put them together. "I'm going to let this happen, because no matter how it makes me feel, I want you to keep being that happy. I'll...just have to learn to live with it."
"You mean your not angry?" Catherine asked.
"Irked, but not angry." he said. "As long as you are both happy, than you may continue as you are." Catherine and Bash smiled at each other. "But if either one of you hurt the other..."
"I would never." Bash said touching her cheek while still using his other hand to hold hers, she smiled and kissed him lightly.
"But please...don't do that in front of me." Francis said.
"Fair enough." Bash said pulling back just a little. Then there was a knock and Mary came in.
"Bash, have you seen Fran...cis...whaaat's going on?" she said when she saw Bash and Catherine holding hands. Francis looked up at her and pursed his lips.
"It's a long story. Let's go and I can explain." he said.
"But why are they..." Mary started and Francis ushered her out of the room.
"Let's go Mary." he added as they left.
"I can't believe he did that?" Catherine said.
"It's a bloody miracle." Bash said and then kissed her.
"A miracle." she agreed.
~FIN~