'Dégoûtant.'

Francis kept repeating to himself on the stand as he stared at the noose, his head in another world.

'Any final words?' a deep voice came from behind him.

He shook his head and accepted his punishment with grace and honor.

He felt himself being pelted with various foods by the crowd that watched in anticipation and excitement of his execution. Children stood before the stand who jeered for his death. He finally heard the lever be pulled down, a tight and excruciatingly painful tension surrounding his throat before the bones finally snapped and his vision faded to nothing.

On the current night, Arthur replayed this distant memory in his sleep. He had this nightmare often. Normally it was an exact replaying of the day it happened, him standing in the crowd being forced to watch. This time, however, it was as if he was Francis. He sat up in a sweaty state and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he again pondered what must have gone through his lover's head in those final moments.

Arthur's memories of Francis flashed before him. How his long blonde hair sat in a low ponytail underneath one of his many ridiculous hats, tied off with a purple ribbon. He remembered how his bright blue eyes would look so longingly into Arthur's own of an emerald color. How Francis' stubbly beard would scrape against his bare face as they kissed. His soft pale skin that glimmered with goose bumps when they were intimate with each other… Arthur was getting carried away.

He got out of his bed and stumbled over to an old trunk he kept hidden away in the very back of his cabin. Hesitating for a moment, he opened it with a shaky hand for the first time since that day. He was unsure if he was even ready to go through it.

Arthur winced as he pushed it open. Inside lay Francis' beautiful blue overcoat which was laying over one of his hats. The coat was a bright, opal blue with gold trim and it was embellished with ornate diamond-looking gems, as well as frills around the sleeves and shoulders. It was beautiful, but the hat that he wore with this coat was Arthur's favorite of all the ones Francis owned. And there were a lot. Francis always had the most extravagant outfits and Arthur grew to admire it. The hat was a simple black tricorn, but it was adorned with expensive saltwater pearls and gold chains that draped over it and sometimes hung in front of his face.

The scent of Francis abused Arthur's senses as he held the coat close to him and took a deep breath in. He began to tremble as all the memories of their time together flowed through his mind. He remembered all their hugs and kisses in a dark, private place. All the stories they told each other. All the comfort and peace Francis brought to his life. Anytime Arthur felt afraid or angry, when Francis was there all those feelings dissipated and became nothing but serenity.

'I miss you.', He whispered as he clung onto the fabric and drifted away into slumber once more.

September 1st, 1715

'Send him in.' King Louis ushered to one of his servants who had informed him that a 'Lord Francis Bonnefoy' was at the palace to see him.

The King sat patiently in his parlor as he had a maid pour tea for himself and his guest. The large, flamboyantly decorated double doors opened and in walked the man known as Francis. He stopped and bowed before he sat on the satin sofa across from the King.

'Laisse nous.' King Louis waved the servants in the room away and they walked in single file back to their quarters. Finally, they were alone together.

'It has been a while, Francis.' The King spoke first, taking a sip of green tea from the very expensive cup and saucer. 'Oui, your Majesty. My sincerest apologies. I received quite a worrying letter from your wife. I think she has her suspicions about us.' Francis explained to him as to why he hadn't been visiting regularly. He had gotten a letter from Madame Françoise which stated that she threatened to expose their relationship if they were to meet again. So, Francis had stayed away, until he received another letter signed by Louis which asked Francis to attend an urgent meeting with the King.

'Ah she does. I informed her of my relationship with you many weeks ago, but I did not sign any letter addressed to you. My wife must have done so on my behalf.' The King always spoke with appreciation for his Lady. Francis understood that Louis loved his wife, but he did not think she needed to know. This then meant they had to be even more careful than they were already being.

'I have missed you, Francis.' His Majesty confessed with a bite of his lip. 'And I, you.' Francis felt very strongly for his King. He had never felt these types of feelings for any woman his parents had tried to have him married to. He never experienced that racing of the heart once you see that special person, until he met Louis at a royal banquet he had been personally invited to.

Their scandalous affair started very early on and developed into deep feelings.

The 'Queen' had every right to be jealous and to act out against both her husband and Francis but in all her time of knowing this dangerous secret, she acted as if she was okay with it. What neither man knew, however, was that Madame Françoise had set this all up.

After catching up in conversation, Francis and King Louis got intimate with each other. And Madame Françoise knew this. She had the Kings' adviser burst in the door when she knew this was going on and had soldiers seize Francis, imprisoning him immediately without a chance of trial. They were caught in the act.

She had conspired with the adviser, who was her own brother, to kill the King. Her brother had his tea poisoned. To him, Madame Françoise acted as if it was his relationship with Francis that pushed her over the edge. And to the public, Louis' death was passed off as a severe case of gangrene. The reality of her reasoning, however, was that she was not a queen. And that was all she had ever wanted to be: Queen of France. He was a King by birth right, and yes, she was his queen. But the Kingdom of France did not share the same vision. Their marriage was morganatic. It took place privately and there was no legal documentation ever made of their marriage due to the Madame's poor social status. This meant that she would never be given her rightful title as Queen . Louis really did love her, he also really loved Francis. She only saw the latter and let her insecurity and envy get the better of her.

Francis, while imprisoned, began to resent both her and his lover. He did not yet know that the King was dead.

Madame Françoise came to see him in his cell and sat down, her brother at her side.

'Francis. I do not have anything personal against you.' A lie. Killing him would have given her great satisfaction but there would have to be a public record made of his death and that would raise too much suspicion around her. So, she got an idea.

'Louis is dead. And as you know, Lord Bonnefoy, the punishment for arson, bestiality, heresy, sodomy & witchcraft is to be publicly burned. But since you are a noble, you would be decapitated by sword.' She explained.

Francis tapped his foot agitatedly, processing the news. He was unsure of how to handle this grief and loss so he tried to tune out her voice. He knew his punishment already, but wasn't the death of his lover punishment enough? Couldn't she see this?

'I loved The King and he had a high regard for you. Because of this, I have made it so that you will not be killed. You have hereby been stripped of your title as Lord as well as your estate. You are to be exiled to England and have been assigned as a swordsmith to King George, whom you will serve with no complaints. Should you ever return to France, you will be hanged.'

Francis looked up at her in confusion as she stood up. He knew there must have been an ulterior motive, but he didn't dare question her after she let him live. Before he could say anything or thank her, she walked away with her brother.

Down at the docks in Calais a few weeks later, members of the Royal Navy stood in full uniform awaiting a certain cargo that was to be escorted safely to England. There was a royal agreement made with King George to pardon Francis for his crimes in English exile once he served the Crown as a swordsmith. King George sent his most trusted friend and colleague to collect this cargo, Captain of the Royal British Navy, Arthur Kirkland.

Arthur rolled his eyes as he checked the pendulum clock in his cabin on the ship. 'Are the French always this late?' he grumbled to himself as he swung on his jacket and left the cabin to exit the boat and wait. His loyal naval soldiers saluted in a single file line as he walked past them to the end of the dock where he finally saw what, or more like who, he was bringing back home.

'Your highness.' He bowed to Madame Françoise as she stood with a satisfied smirk on her face. Francis stood beside her in, what was the fanciest outfit Arthur had ever seen. The Frenchman was dressed in a bright blue coat with expensive gems. He wore a hat with god-knows how many pearls and gold chains on it. 'Well, what's the occasion? Why in god's name are you dressed like that? He joked, mistaking Francis for a peasant trying to dress rich.

'Captain, this is the best swordsmith in all of France. He will serve your King and Army immaculately.' She insisted, shoving a piece of paper into Arthur's hand which the title of read 'Francis Bonnefoy', and walking away with no further information given. 'Well lad, I am here to bring you safely to England. I don't know or care about who you are. I was simply given orders and am following them. I don't want any issues once we get out to sea so if you have any trouble, state so now.' Arthur told him in a slight rude tone and Francis shook his head. He was annoyed that the King called him his friend yet refused to tell him what this job was really about. King George simply said it was urgent and should be done in secret. Francis held out his hand, 'My name is Francis. It is a pleasure to meet you.' He finally was properly introduced. Arthur failed to stifle a giggle as he read Francis' last name off the paper, 'Well, 'Bonnie-foy', it absolutely is a pleasure to meet me.'

Francis already disliked this arrogant Englishman, 'It is pronounced Bonne-fois.' He hated when people, worst of all English people, mispronounced his name.

'Okay, 'Bonnie-foy', whatever you say. My name is Arthur Kirkland.' He grabbed Francis' hand and shook it with purpose, acting incredibly high and mighty to show off his place as Captain, 'But it's Captain Kirkland to you.'

Francis wasn't sure how he felt about Arthur. He 'checked him out' in the subtlest way possible. His eyebrows were distastefully large and bushy, and his hair was Blonde like his own except short and choppy. He wore a decorated and long navy-blue overcoat with white pants and a very high but wide hat that looked too big for him. Even though the two seemed to be the same height, Arthur must just have a small head. Francis felt like that was a huge contradiction to his personality.

'Like what you see, eh?' Arthur interrupted Francis' thoughts. He sarcastically winked and posed for him. 'And what if I told you I do?' Francis responded with a smirk, knowing this joke would get to him. This caught Arthur off guard and he almost completely sank into himself and blushed, but this was very short-lived, 'Shut up you prat.'

Arthur strutted off in a strop back to the ship and Francis followed slowly. 'This will be an interesting experience.', he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Arthur locked himself in his cabin and was dwelling on what Francis had said. 'Just who does he think he is?' he mumbled. He brushed it off eventually and threw himself into paperwork.

That night, however, he lay awake pondering if it really was just a stupid joke…

Dégoûtant - Filthy

Laisse nous - Leave us

Hi! Finally here is the first proper chapter. I have said before that I want to upload more regularly but with this one 'regularly' will probably be every few weeks or maybe once a month. Just because I strive for as close to perfection as I can get. Every story has its flaws of course! I just want this one's perfections to exceed its flaws, as does every writer. There is a lot going on in this chapter so I will explain a bit further here. After this chapter, explanations will be intertwined with the story so it's more of a full experience. It's just because it is the introduction to both characters, there is so much information it almost feels kind of crammed, so once the story is finished I might come back and edit it a bit more bc it's kind of all over the place.

Firstly, Madame Francoise. Her whole entire character is altered for the story. IRL her and King Louis XIV loved each other, got married in secret with no legal proof but she was not made queen properly bc of her status. This has no intent of slandering her or any historical figures at all, it's just fiction. King Louis died of gangrene at age 76 on the same date in the story. Yes, in this, he is also 76. You have to remember in these times a king got what a king wanted. Obviously homosexuality was a sin and illegal full stop but that didn't stop it from happening privately. Even if Francis wasn't interested, if the King asked, he would have to do it. Of course, he was interested. Love has no age limit 3 ( 2 fully grown adults love, nothing else). Arthur's character is displayed as quite obnoxious and arrogant. This is NOT meant in the same way as APH America, it is merely a nod to old english nobles / the posh english.

Hope you enjoy!

Xox, Cat.