We're now in July because I wanted to gloss over the tour. Their official duties to France will now commence and we get a glimpse of parenthood in the next chapter.

By the way, we need a lot more Reign stories going around. Thinking about some if I'm honest, rotational updates and everything. Still working on ATEOTB, it's not what I want to upload just yet.

Replies to reviews:

the girl with the silver arrow [chapter 21]: I live for the drama, haha! You're very welcome and thank you so much! It's great to have you on the journey. Loved the recent chapter of Queen in Waiting, wish Kennash would stop being so full of themselves and get back together, haha.

Quote of the chapter: "They say time heals all wounds, but that presumes the source of the grief is finite." ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince.


Kenna turned to Bash when she noticed that they weren't alone. "Did you ask them to come?"

"I did. I'm sorry, I should have asked-"

"No," she whispered, cupping his cheek with a soft smile. "Maybe I was too hard by saying we should keep it between ourselves. I mean, they've lost a grandson or a nephew or a cousin..." Her eyes darted to where Mary held her newborn in her arms, in conversation with Marie and Kenna's parents who swooned over the little princess.

Kenna felt jealous. Her parents gushing over a baby that wasn't even their grandchild. A great-niece or something, Kenna didn't want to bother calculating what and she looked away and rested her forehead against Bash's chest.

"Afterwards, I'll have a little rest," she mumbled. "The past week has been quite draining."

She didn't sleep properly that night. She had woken up, screaming and crying and she felt awful, knowing that her husband was probably as sleep-deprived as she was.

She avoided him after the photographing ceremony yesterday, busying herself by doing her duties as Mary's head lady-in-waiting. If she was with him, she'd want to cry and hold him and just let the ground swallow them up to they could be unhappy together but that was selfish and she made it up to Mary by gifting her a glass sculpture of a tree. Mother nature for the new mother.

"Uh, we should meet the Priest," Bash said, kissing her cheek.

Kenna nodded and she linked her arm with his, heading to Diane. She stood alone, Henry and Catherine unable to attend as they left for Rennes with the younger children, leaving Charles and Henri in Francis and Mary's care at Fontainebleau as Claude, Margaret and Elisabeth did their own thing.

"We can stay at Versailles for a bit," Bash suggested. "Just for the extra protection as we go through this difficult time."

Kenna frowned. "You think people will still come after me?" She asked quietly.

Bash sighed. "This morning, there were more death threats and stupid messages. Nothing to be concerned about but they're getting creative with how they're sending them. I've increased security and I've got people occupying the estate whenever we're not there. We could go with your parents to Scotland. See your brothers and sisters..."

Kenna's eyes fell. "Yes, anything you say, Bash."

"Kenna, I want you to have a choice."

"I don't have much of that these days," she said, strained. "I mean, I didn't choose to lose our baby."

Bash stopped and turned to face her, holding her hands in his. "I want to protect you but even some matters are out of my hands. I want you to know that I will follow your lead. I'm the advisor, you're the leader."

Kenna hugged him tightly. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear, pressing a long kiss on his cheek. "I want to stay. At home."

"Okay," he whispered back, pressing a quick kiss onto her lips before they finally made their way over to Diane. "Maman."

Diane turned to them, smiling softly. "Are you ready to say 'goodbye'?"

Kenna shook her head. "No. But it's time," she said, accepting a tight hug from Diane.

A while later, Kenna and Bash were left alone, standing in front of the tombstone, arms wrapped around each other.

'Here Embodies the Spirit of Matthias Gabriel Valois-Angoulême-de Poitiers, Loving Son, Grandson, Nephew & Cousin. Gone From the World Too Soon but Never Too Young to Join The Lord.'

"Shall we go home now?" Bash asked his wife, seeing the sky darken.

Kenna shook her head. "Take me to the Seine. The place where we had our first date."

...

Francis placed his phone onto the table between him and Mary, watching his wife breastfeed their child as she browsed on her tablet. He smiled, eyeing their new nanny Nadia Gomez who sat on the other side of the jet, memorising Anaïs's daily activities from sleeping to eating to napping and everything else under the sun.

He wished they could have spent another day at Fontainebleau, consoling his brother and sister-in-law in their loss, but he had to begin his royal tour. They were flying out to Italy first, then to the UK and the USA afterwards with a whole bunch of other countries trailing after.

The tour was supposed to be six months long, but with a newborn who had just got her passport done, they decided three months was enough. For the meantime, Henry and his courtiers ran France as temporary regent.

Francis's new curia regis consisted of Luca 'Luc' Narcisse as his new Head Courtier and Principal Private Secretary, Angelica Dubois as his Head Aide and Private Secretary (she also served Mary), Michel as his Head of Security with his father moving onto serving the former king and queen at Rennes, and Peter Hornswell who was an Englishman and his new Public Relations Advisor.

These four people now served the new King of France, with quite the bonus on their paychecks. There was a lot of movement and change at Fontainebleau with staff moving from Versailles to the other chateau and Francis's sisters being posted at Versailles with Fontainebleau as their official base. Mary had been glad to have Mr Jones resume his duties, now Head of Chateau Enquiries at Fontainebleau. He stayed behind much to Mary's disappointment but she didn't mind their other trusted staff.

"She eats a lot," Mary stated, placing her tablet down and stroking Anaïs's cheek as the baby slept. "So obsessed with my breasts, like her father."

Francis chuckled, not feeling shameful at all as Nadia's eyebrows raised. "We're in company, love."

Mary turned to Nadia and giggled. "I forget, you're not used to our bluntness. Do you need a drink or anything to eat?"

Nadia shook her head. "No, thank you, Your Majesty," she said softly with a smile. "I never thought you would be such kind people. Witty and friendly."

"Wait until you see him hangry," Mary jested.

Nadia chuckled. "I was surprised you hired me. Considering I'm two years older than you both and straight out of governess schooling."

Francis shrugged lightly. "You did exceptionally well in your training and studies, Madamoiselle Gomez. You're Mexican?"

"Born and raised. I moved to France when I was eighteen for university in the au-pair business," Nadia replied. "I hope that doesn't affect anything?"

"Not at all," Mary said happily. "We're all multicultural in our household. Francis and I were hoping to have our children tutored in different languages. If you're with us for a long time, which we sincerely hope you are, we would like it if you can teach Anaïs Spanish?"

Nadia gasped. "I-I thought the Duchess of Orléans was multilingual?"

Mary smiled tightly. "The Duchess is busy these days. Anyway, what do you say?"

"I say 'oui'!" Nadia replied. "Or 'si'."

Mary beamed, reaching over to squeeze the woman's hand. "Thank you so much." She glanced down at the baby. "For now, I'm sticking to breastfeeding but I have pumped some milk for bottle use if Francis and I are occupied. Her sleep times change over the weeks so you will have to adapt to that quickly-"

"I think she knows, love," Francis said, chuckling. "We gave her all those reminders."

"Yes, yes, of course," Mary mumbled, blushing. "Sorry, she's my first child."

Nadia smiled, nodding empathetically. "I've been trained in baby CPR and other many skills in order to give the best care to the Dauphine. She really is a beautiful child."

"All down to her beautiful mother," Francis stated. "Happy Mum, Happy Baby."

Mary blushed even more. "Please, stop."

"She's not as modest as she makes herself to be," Francis whispered teasingly.

"Well, she's doing a splendid job," Nadia said. "I'm glad to be a part of it."

...

"We are allowed to smile, you know?" Bash told his wife as they shared a tub of ice cream.

Kenna cringed. "I don't know. It feels like I'm betraying Matty."

"Matty?"

"Yeah," she said quietly. "Short for Matthias."

Bash smiled, placing the back of his spoon on her nose and leaving some ice cream on it. "That's cute."

"Sebastian!" She cried out, wiping her nose. "I've just done my skincare routine."

"Did you eat whilst I was at Fontainebleau?" He asked, dumping his spoon into the tub and wiping his hands with a napkin.

Kenna nodded a little, her eyes darting back to the tub as she took another spoonful. "Mhm."

"What did you eat?" He asked, getting up from the dining table to go and get her diary to see for himself.

"Bash-"

"Kenna, it's six o'clock in the evening," he stated, turning to face her. "I've been out since nine this morning to look after Charlie and Henri Jr. I don't need to come home and baby you too."

Kenna's face fell. "Don't be like that," she mumbled. "I didn't eat because I was..."

"What?"

"I went to the chapel," she told him. "I went to see Father Claudius. We fasted."

Bash's gaze softened. "Oh, right."

She nodded. "I got home an hour before you and well, I was hoping we could eat together."

"Did you find the answers you sought?"

Kenna shook her head. "Not really. It's unfair," she said, her voice breaking as tears sprung to her eyes. "I feel stupid."

"Don't be," Bash said softly, coming back to the table. "I know we're hurting but can we talk about it?"

"About what?"

"What you said about not having... any more."

Kenna sighed heavily, cupping her cheeks and resting her elbows on the table. "I don't know," she said. "I'm the problem, it's my fault that whatever happened did-"

"The doctor said that you could still go through pregnancies after this," he said. "It was just an unfortunate situation we were put in but we can go on to have a fertile life, babe."

Kenna rolled her eyes. "We'll see. I mean, my body still thinks it's pregnant. I'm milking like I'm a bloody cow and my body cramps terribly..."

Her hands were pulled down and Bash held them, pressing kisses onto them which made her close her eyes and sniffle.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," he mumbled. "I just... I just fell in love with the idea of being a father - we were so excited, sharing the joy with Francis and Mary with our niece... I see us with at least three kids, Kenna. I mean it. Remember what we called them? Anastasie, Robert and whatever we name the third kid... Matthias will always be in our hearts and if he was here, he'd want us to try again and be happy. He'd want us to be happy, Kenna. We'd have a bébé arc-en-ciel."

Kenna opened her eyes and stared at him. "That's beautiful," she whispered. "Rainbow baby." But then she sighed heavily. "Non, mon amour."

"Kenna-"

"Have the staff donate everything from the house," she said, getting up and heading to the fridge to get some leftovers. "I mean it, Bash."

"Including my childhood rabbit?"

Kenna paused by the microwave. "You can keep that. But I don't want to see it."

"No one will ever replace Matthias, Kenna," he said firmly. "We can still have more kids-"

"Sebastian, please," Kenna begged him, gripping the edges of the counter tightly. "Please." She couldn't do this.

Bash got up and nodded. "Fine," he said shortly. "I'll get rid of everything now."

He left the kitchen and Kenna sighed, covering her face to stop tears from falling.

...

Leith wrapped his arms around Greer's waist, planting a soft kiss onto the back of her neck. "Where are you going this late?"

Greer smiled sadly, eyeing him through the mirror as she did her makeup. "Lola and I are going to see Kenna and Bash. Do you want to come?"

"I'll drag the guys along," Leith replied, unwrapping his arms and heading to his wardrobe. "I can't believe it's been five days since they lost the baby."

"Me neither," Greer muttered, doing her blush. "I don't know how they could stand and smile at the coronation as if they weren't dying inside."

Leith pursed his lips, rifling through his tees. "Do you want children?"

"I guess I do," she said. "But we should hold off until we're ready."

"What if I was right now?"

Greer sighed. "So soon after what happened?"

"Good answer," he called out to her. "I'm not ready yet, but one day we'll have a family, yeah?"

Greer beamed happily. "Yeah," she said, putting some gloss on her lips. "So, what will you and the guys do when we get there?"

"Get out of your ways, have some drinks, talk... I don't know, anything to cheer de Poitiers up," Leith replied. "He's been there for me all of these years, it's time to repay the debt."

"That's nice," Greer said. "I just hope that they're and Mary and Francis are okay."

Leith returned to the bathroom. "I'm sure they will be, darling."

When they arrived at the gated estate, they found the gates opened and a moving van transporting baby furniture and the like from the house. Greer spotted an expensive buggy that she gifted them and she got out of Leith's car to stop the delivery men from taking it.

"Where are you taking all of this stuff?"

"The charity, Ma'am," a man said. "Duke's orders."

Miranda exited the home and gave Greer a warm smile. "Lady Seton-Norwood, welcome."

"Can you order the men to stop?" Greer asked her.

"I can't," Miranda said sadly. "The Duchess argued with the Duke about it. She requested that everything leaves the house."

"How about I take them?" Greer suggested, heading to open the boot of Leith's car.

Miranda paused, eyeing the front doors nervously before nodding and retrieving her husband. "Very well. I'll give the driver your address."

Leith got out of his car to help. "They'll regret it," he said to them.

"Doubt it. The Duchess is adamant that they will not have any more children," Max said, handing Leith a bottle steriliser.

"I know my best friend," Leith said. "He'll manage to change her mind, just wait."

...

Kenna walked passed the nursery, stopping to see that it was no longer a nursery. The staff had put up the guest bed up again with a set of drawers and nightstands with table lamps. It was like they never were having a baby.

The walls had wallpaper slapped on neatly and the windows were opened to air the room out and dry the solvent. She turned her head to the side when she heard voices downstairs and she left the bedroom, heading downstairs to greet their friends downstairs.

"Why are you guys here?" She asked, hugging them and kissing their cheeks.

Lola gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "We bought alcohol."

Kenna smiled a little but she shook her head. "Not really feeling it," she said. "I'll settle for some tea, don't stop on my behalf."

"Alright," Greer said, her and Lola leading Kenna into the kitchen as the men headed to the house bar.

"How have you been?" Lola asked cautiously, sharing a brief look with Greer behind Kenna's back.

"I've been getting there," Kenna told them. "I went to the chapel today."

"How was that?" Greer asked her.

Kenna shrugged. "Alright."

"Mary and Francis made it to Italy earlier on," Lola told her. "They went to see Francis's grandparents."

"How lovely," Kenna mumbled. "The King and Queen of Italy?"

"Yes," Lola said. "They were excited to meet their great-grandchild, hosted a ball and everything."

Kenna nodded. "That's nice," she said quietly.

Greer swallowed deeply. "So, how about we have a makeover?"

Kenna smiled a little. "No, thanks."

"Do some online shopping? Versace is calling your name!"

Kenna shook her head. "No, thanks."

"How about we just sit and drink some wine or tea in silence?" Lola suggested.

Kenna turned to her. "Yes, please," Kenna said, her voice breaking as she gripped their hands tightly.

...

"Why didn't you name her 'Caterina' after your mother? Your grandmother and I spent two weeks choosing a name fit for a queen," Francis's grandfather, Lorenzo de Medici asked before he sipped his wine.

Francis chuckled a little. "Mary and I were straying away from repetitiveness."

"She will be Queen Marie of France," his grandmother, Madeleine, stated. "Marie Antoinette and many others..."

"Yes, but she will be regnant, not consort," Francis told them, leading the older couple away from prying ears. "What do you think of my wife?"

Madeleine beamed. "She is a descendant of the Bourbon dynasty, the good line mind you. As are you, piccolo."

Francis blushed. "Grandmama, not here."

"You may be king, but you are still our favourite grandson," Lorenzo said, tapping Francis's chin lightly. "You chose wisely. Maria is a wonderful woman, so respectable, caring, loving and kind. Hold on to her."

"I will," Francis promised them, looking over to his wife who showed off their daughter to his many maternal relatives. "I was hoping to buy an estate in Italy. As a surprise for her giving birth to our daughter."

Lorenzo beamed. "I will have my most trusted on the case. The Queen of France deserves gold and diamonds and nothing less, piccolo. Walk with me."

The men left Madeleine to join Mary, leaving the hall. Lorenzo placed a hand on Francis's back and sighed heavily.

"Your mother told me that you will stop relying on Italy for funds," he said.

Francis nodded. "That is correct, Your Majesty."

"You are my grandson, Francesco," Lorenzo said. "This may be a difficult conversation but never call me that when we're alone."

"Yes, Grandfather."

"Still too formal," Lorenzo said with a chuckle. "Your mother's doing?"

"And my father's."

"Ah, Henry," Lorenzo said. "Your father never wanted the crown. We all expected your namesake to wield the responsibility. But his death was tragic and your father was not the same afterwards. I know your parents' marriage is unconventional but they do care for each other."

Francis frowned a little. "He never loved her."

"No, but they were friends," Lorenzo replied. "I know my daughter had a child out of wedlock and I was surprised to see that your father respected that. He funded her education."

"He did what?"

"Your father may be the most stupid man in the world," Lorenzo said firmly. "But he has a kind heart. He does stupid things but makes up for them in secret, expecting no rewards."

Francis was surprised. "Well, that takes a lot of guts to be in his position."

"Indeed," Lorenzo said. "You are hereby relieved of Italian debts. Let's hope your government are smart enough to retrieve flourishing deals."

"I have faith," Francis said, stopping and turning to seal the deal with a handshake and hug. "Thank you, Grandpapa."

"There we go," Lorenzo beamed. "Now, let me introduce you to your half-uncle, Alessandro. He's not been able to stop gushing over his nephew becoming the new King of France and surprisingly enough, neither can your grandmother and I."

...

Mary giggled when Francis attacked her back with kisses, his fingers unzipping her dress as she bit her lip and waited for him to remove it. "Is our baby asleep?"

"Nadia has her," he whispered, kissing behind her ear. "Stop worrying about Annie."

Mary turned in his arms, kicking off her dress and leaving it on the ground as she pulled him towards the opulent bed they were staying in for the night. Francis undid his tie and buttons to his shirt with one hand, kicking off his shoes as he let himself be pulled to the bed.

"Your grandmother adored me," she said happily.

"Well, you share a relative," Francis told her. "I can never get out of my head how we're related to the Bourbons."

"Well, they don't matter right now," Mary said, kissing him and wrapping her arms around his neck as they fell onto the bed, with him on top and laughter escaping their lips.

Mary moaned when his lips trailed down to her pulse point, shifting down to her collarbone and pressing against her nipples underneath her lacy green bra. She felt his hand slide behind her back and unlatch the strap, yanking the strapless bra off to continue kissing her soft skin.

"Can you..." She breathed out, feeling his hot breath above her belly button.

"What?" He asked teasingly, continuing to go lower.

Mary's hips buckled. "You know what I want."

"No. I'm not clairvoyant, wife."

Mary smiled a little. "Kiss me."

He headed back up and pressed his lips against hers. "Done."

"Not there," she said. "Down there."

Francis gripped the side of her matching underwear. "Here?"

"Yeah," she breathed out. "Take it off."

Slowly, he pulled her underwear off, giving her a feigned puzzled look. "Whatever for?"

"Francis!"

"Mary..." He grinned before attacking her inner thighs with more kisses. Instead of going up, he went down and reached her ankles. He paused thoughtfully and took his loose tie off his neck. "I'm going to try something. You can stop me at any time but do you trust me?"

Mary nodded with a smile. "I do."

"Okay," he whispered before tying her right ankle to the bedpost before retrieving another tie and doing the same for the other one.

"B-Bondage?"

"Oui, esclavage or as we're in Italy, servitù."

"Esclavage sounds sexier," she breathed out, using her elbows to sit up curiously. "We won't do this all the time, right?"

Francis shrugged. "We can just see where this goes. Do you want to try it?"

Mary nodded. "I'm safe with you," she said. "Go ahead."

Francis smiled "Okay. Right, I'm going to leave your hands for now. Baby steps."

Mary returned the smile. "Baby steps."

...

"How was the apartment?" Lorenzo asked the next morning over breakfast.

Francis shared a blushed with his wife. "Splendid, Grandpapa."

His grandfather shared a knowing look with his wife. "We put you there for a reason. Your mother and father conceived Margherita and Elisabetta there. Who knows? Nine months time, your daughter will be an older sister just like you were an older brother."

Mary choked on her juice as Francis spat his food out. His grandparents burst into laughter, leaving the younger couple red-faced as Francis's relatives laughed at their expense.

"We're still getting used to one baby," Mary said. "We're waiting until the next."

"God works in mysterious ways, signorina," Madeleine told her. "For two years I was barren after Lorenzo and I married. Over the years, I had miscarriages. Until nine months after I miscarried one baby, your mother was born. Nine is a lucky number in my life."

Mary smiled softly. "Well, never say never."

Francis turned to his grandmother who gave him a wink. He mouthed, "Thank you," to her to which she replied with a coy smile as she sipped her tea.

"The closer they are in age, the better."

"I agree," Mary said, not going against the Queen's words. "Closer bonds and it's easier to rear them because they will be at similar stages."

"Very smart," Madeleine said proudly.

Lorenzo nodded. "La mia adorabile moglie, today signifies the newfound relationship, strong and steady, between France and Italy." He raised his cup. "A Francesco e Maria."

"Francesco e Maria!" Everyone chorused, making Mary and Francis smile brightly.

...

"Hello, my name's Mckenna, this is my husband, Sebastian and we..." Kenna paused, looking down at her hands. "We lost our son eleven days ago to stillbirth."

The grief counsellor, Bertrand, nodded. "Is there any reason you both decided to come now?"

Kenna shrugged. "I don't know," she said quietly.

Bash sighed, taking a sip from the water beside him. "Well, some people suggested it but I don't know either."

"Are you currently grieving the loss?" Bertrand asked.

"We are," Kenna whispered.

"And you want to do what with this session or potentially more?"

"Get over it," Kenna stated. "Not like that but move on, I guess." She turned to Bash. "He wants more children, but I don't so. I think I'm the problem. Like, I can't let go of Matthias and ever love another baby like that again."

Bertrand nodded thoughtfully. "How many siblings do you both have?"

Kenna frowned a little. "Five, two half-brothers, one brother, two sisters."

"Twelve," Bash said. "Half-siblings, no full. Both sides."

"Do you think your parents had experiences like you did?" Bertrand asked.

"We don't know," Kenna replied. "But they did suggest it so..."

"They might have?" Bash said, sharing a glance with his wife.

Bertrand nodded. "If they had, do you think they stopped wanting the idea of having children? More or otherwise?"

"Well, my father had a vasectomy due to health reasons," Bash said. "If he could, he would have more and his wife wouldn't have minded. They're good parents to my younger siblings. As for my mother, I don't know, I'm her youngest."

"Right," Bertrand said. He looked down at his notes. "Let's talk about what you went through in Sweden."

Kenna faltered. "Why?"

"Well, the chateau's medical team forwarded both of your medical files to me. Do you think what happened in Sweden links to your fear of becoming a mother again?"

Kenna sank in her seat. "I don't have an answer for that."

"You do."

"Well," she began, swallowing deeply. "Being stalked, threatened and almost killed does put things into perspective. I couldn't save Matthias because I was stressed out from the going ons in my life. If we have another child, I won't be able to protect them. I couldn't even protect myself..."

...

The weather in England was lovely. July was hot and the sun was out. Schools and universities were mostly quiet, dealing with the straggling exam period before the long summer break and new beginnings in Autumn.

Mary and Francis met the Queen, introducing her and the Prince to their newborn before they met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and other senior royals of the UK throne.

The USA was boring. The President invited the couple to have a tour around the White House and to a Basketball game and 'Football' game. They smiled politely and waved and signed their autographs and took photos, but Francis and Mary knew that they would not return to the States anytime soon for business reasons. It seemed that the country did not know how to host royal families, their private entertainment businesses doing far better than the government.

Here France was, treating visitors of importance to trips down the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame and many other great places of historical culture and entertainment. France was rich in history, from their palaces to their landmarks and the history behind every town, city and province.

The couple also had South Africa on their list, Diane inviting them to stay with her for their duration in Africa. It was only a brief visit before they toured Japan and left for Norway and Sweden.

Sweden was their last stop and the King of Sweden expressed his happiness that all was well and he was glad to be part of helping the French get justice for what had happened earlier in the year.

Finally reaching home on the 7th of August, Annie was seven-weeks-old and almost ready for her first official doctor's check-up at eight weeks. Mary couldn't believe how much she'd grown, all of her newborn outfits no longer fitting her as they travelled from country to country, place to place. She kept the clothes for just in case situations, re-using clothes rather than throwing them away. She could have given them to charity, but she would admit that she and Francis were in the process of trying for another baby.

Just as she was about to take Anaïs to hers and Francis's bedroom, Mary was stopped by Claude who walked with her towards the bedroom.

"Can you convince my parents to let me get married?"

Mary sighed. "What about Lissie and Margo?"

"Margo's busy with preparing for university and Lissie's taken up a charity project. Neither are actively looking for suitors," Claude explained. "And Enzo and I love each other."

"You lie about the love part."

"Yes, but I feel awful that he has to wait until we're married to pursue any relationships," she said. "If we're really having to wait, he has a friend in the Duke of Valencia. Says he is attracted to Lissie. A lot."

Mary gave Claude a wary look. "I shouldn't be the one-"

"You're the Queen of France, Mary Valois," Claude said. "You have the power to organise marriage proposals."

Mary scoffed lightly. "Yes, but we all know your parents deal with anything regarding their precious children. Don't get me out of favour with them, please."

"If you'd drop it in a conversation," Claude suggested. "Whisper a few sweet things into their ears, transfix them and convince them."

Mary gave her a short nod. "Fine. We're having dinner at Rennes tomorrow. I'll suggest it."

"Wonderful! His name is Duke Philip Aviz-Habsburg."

Mary winced. "Isn't he twenty-nine?"

"Your point being?"

"Not saying that older men are controlling but-"

"Elisabeth can hold her own," Claude said. "And Philip may be overbearing, but Philip's very smitten with Elisabeth already. Kept eyeing the poor soul during your wedding."

Mary eventually decided to just go along with it. "Yes, fine. You've convinced me. I like how you all come to me and not Francis."

"Francis is a king now," Claude stated. "Your point is?"

"Your parents?"

"Your point still is?"

"I'm busy being a queen and a mother?"

Claude laughed hysterically. "Yes, your 205 euro per hour nanny is really great value for money! You should look into those finances."

"I will," Mary said jokingly. "Honestly, it is so much work. Francis and I have this military service we're attending on Saturday with Bash."

Claude nodded. "Very busy indeed. You barely have enough time for a break. That's only tomorrow."

"I don't know how your parents did it."

"Well, they didn't look after us hands-on," Claude replied easily. "They'd rather royal duties than child-rearing."

Mary clicked her tongue. "Speaking of children, did you visit Bash and Kenna at all whilst we were away?"

"They were quite closed off," Claude said. "I only saw them once. They invited Enzo and me over for dinner to get to know him better and well, apologise for sending him off at the baby shower. They kept their answers short and concise, didn't seem interested at all in the dinner."

"We're going to Church on Sunday, perhaps they'll be there."

"Doubt it," Claude replied when they finally reached the bedroom.

"Why do you doubt that? Kenna's religious, more especially at difficult times in her life. She'll seek guidance from God," Mary said.

"Well, that's the thing," Claude said. "Last week, they went to Scotland. We found out from Michel when we were planning to visit with some gifts. Their grief counsellor suggested a trip away from everything and to be honest, they came back even more depressed than before."

Mary sighed heavily. "I'll call them later then," she said, stopping and turning to Claude. "Would you like to hold Anaïs?"

Claude's eyes widened. "Hold... a baby?"

"You've never held a baby before?"

"Only once or twice when the younger girls were born," Claude replied. "Terrible experience."

Mary chuckled. "You will have to give Enzo children, Claude."

"Go on then," Claude tutted, opening up her arms.

Mary gently placed her child into her aunt's arms and smiled when Claude immediately knew what to do. "Who says you're not an expert?"

"Well, it comes naturally when you're one of the middle children of nine."

"God, I'm so tired," Mary said, yawning. "I've sent Nadia off for a week, she was the best during the tour. Would you-"

"Oh, hell no!" Claude cried out. "Who do you take me for? Free labour?"

Mary grinned. "Worth a try."

"Let's go find that brother of mine," Claude said, walking on. "And you can tell me all about the tour!"