Here is this chapter! I couldn't wait to upload it. I felt the other chapter was filler-ish so here something with more substance.

Chapter 9

Mary stumbled her way through the woods and she could hear the horses storm towards her direction. She pushed herself and tried to go fast but she was so weak, all those days without proper sleep and food was taking its toll on her. She whipped her head back to see how far they were and when she looked ahead was met with two hoofs flying at her face. Mary threw herself back on the ground an scram, they caught her.

Mary scrambled on her feet looking for a way out but was surrounded by many horseman.

"Bind her up."

"Aye sir." A solid tall man with read hair that was thinning jumped off his horse and approached Mary who instinctively moved away from him.

"Don't come any closer." She warned. "Please."

"Orders are orders milady." And he roughly grabbed Mary by the arm.

Mary winced in pain and tried to resist him.

"Settle her."

Next thing she realized her vision had blurred because he slapped her hard across the face. She stumbled forward and then she heard screams and the man beside her fell down with a sword sticking behind his back.

"Mary!"

Mary blinked.

"Mary!"

She looked around to see where his voice came from but chaos broke out in front of her and the men were engaged in a fight. Are they being attacked?

She saw someone charge towards her with a sword but the rider was blocked by another horseman. Without another thought Mary instantly began to run blindly through the wood and which was thinning out into a field.

"Mary! Stop!"

She didn't stop and she rushed into wheat field. Mary looked back and saw that she was being chased again.

Mary tripped on her dress and when tried to get up from the ground the nobleman stood over her.

Charles tackled him from his horse and both men fell. Charles punched the man hard in the face to give him to recover while he stood protectively between the man and Mary.

The nobleman grinned and withdrew his sword and mentioned Charles to withdraw his.

"Ah, you must be the husband." He told Charles.

"You are a dead man." Charles said in a deathly tone.

The other man looked at Mary. "You are quite the actress aren't you? Here we were expecting a Spanish whore but we ended with the King's bastard. They've misinformed me. Who would have though you married the bastard Suffolk."

Charles narrowed his blue eyes at the man. "Who sent you?"

The blond bearded man blinked amused. "I'm afraid I can't tell you."And he charged himself at Charles blocked his strike with his sword. The man kept attacking, attempting to separate Charles from Mary but the Duke proved to be more skilled.

Charles blocked another move and pulled the man in and knocked him back with his fist followed by a counter strike.

His opponent recovered fast and made a move for Mary which Charles instantly put himself to stop him but instead he felt the blade enter his abdomen. He suddenly heard Mary scream in terror. Angry he threw a series of attacks and found an opening, he swung his hard at his enemy's thigh and brought him down his knees. When he heard him scream Charles pushed his blade in the nobleman's chest, killing him.

Charles collapsed on his knees to catch his breath and clutched his wound. There was so much blood.

"Mary." He called out. She didn't respond she only stared at body and Charles crawled towards her and grabbed her to snap her out of trance. "Look at me!"

Mary slowly looked up at Charles in confusion and she was in too much shocked to react. He enveloped her in his arms and held her protectively.

It was all over. He let out a deep painful breath before he lost unconsciousness.

***At an Inn***

Charles hissed as the surgeon stitched his wound and he downed another cup of wine without taking his eyes off Mary. Mary hair was damp from the bath she had taken and was looking out the window of the inn while he was being treated. The wound was quite serious and deep. He lost a lot of blood and needed weeks to recover. He sent Sir Anthony and his men to report to the King while Charles and Mary would travel alone to their estate. He was worried about her and what made it worse was they she never said a word to him since he found her, she only cried in the field and since then she has been silent unable to look him in the eyes. Her coldness towards him was killing him and he wanted to ask her what happened, what they did to her.

"You need to rest at least a week before you will be fit to ride." The surgeon said as he collected his things

"How is she?" He asked studying the cuts and bruises on her face.

"She will be fine, nothing time can't heal."

"Why is she not speaking?"

"She's still in shock. Now if you will excuse me sir I will be on my way."Charles watched the old surgeon eave.

He paused for a moment looked to Mary. For a moment he thought he lost her, when his men called him over and he saw the dark hair he felt as if the air had been taken from him and it was painful. However, when he saw that it was Kat he felt relieved and yet guilty to find the young woman dead.

"You haven't said a word."

Mary moved her head and then looked back out the window.

"Please say something." He pleaded. "I was losing my mind when you disappeared ..." Charles stopped reflecting on his feeling.

Charles winced as he hobbled toward her and he touched his side feeling the bandages. He should not be standing or walking but he needed to reach out to her.

He looked at her guilty and touched her hair but she moved away from him.

"What did you do with her body?" She whispered finally.

Charles leaned against the window sill and grimaced. "They are taking her back to her family."

Mary closed her eyes and nodded. "What about the man I stabbed? Is he dead?"

He hesitated before answering. "Yes."

She choked back a sob. Charles made a move to comfort her but she raised her hand to stop him.

"Mary," Charles began. "He wasn't a good man. You did what you had to be done to survive."

Mary shook her head not accepting his words. She was going to hell.

He stared back at her for a long moment, taking her in. She looked exhausted and so small to him, it was then he was reminded how young she really was. But sometimes he forgot that she was 17.

"How could this have happened?" Mary finally said.

"It was my fault. Everything, her death and..." He buried his face into his hands.

Mary gazed at him a part of her was horrified at the situation and the lives lost as a result. However, she also felt betrayed by Charles and though Mary did not expect him to be faithful especially with their marriage as it was not a real one she couldn't help but feel angry. Maybe she thought Charles would be different because he seemed so genuine with his feelings for her. Or perhaps she really wanted to believe he would be good because it would be too painful if she opened herself to him.

"I don't blame you for having enemies Charles. It's inevitable in our world." She finally said. "I understand this more than anyone."

Mary looked down trying to fight the tears that were welling in her eyes. "I believed for a moment you would be different and now an innocent person is dead. She's dead Charles and the only reason why she was there is because of you."

Charles stared at her with a shameful face and he could feel his heart break hearing her words. He knew this would haunt him and he hated himself even more for his vices. "Mary..." He was losing his words. What could he say? To forgive him? He couldn't even forgive himself.

"I hate what you did.' Mary admitted. "And I am sorry for feeling betrayed and angry. Maybe I wasn't truthful to you or myself about my feelings."

"What about your feelings?" He pressed feeling his chest constrict in anticipation.

Mary backed away from him, wide eyed. "Nothing" She whispered.

Charles hobbled closer to her. "Tell me." His face hardened but his blue betrayed his yearning for the truth.

Mary felt paralyzed for a moment and before she could think she made a move for the door. She needed fresh air but as soon as she pushed the handle Mary felt his hand on her arm to stop her.

"Let go."

"I cannot think to let you out of my sight."

"Something you should be accustomed to." She responded as she roughly pulled her arm away.

Charles flinched at her words.

Mary immediately regretted her words and wanted to apologize but she couldn't.

He stayed silent for a moment keeping his eyes trained on the ground.

"I hated every moment." He finally said looking up to face her.

They stared at each other for a long time. Mary didn't dare break her gaze from his blue tired eyes. He appeared pale and sweaty, clearly in a lot of pain. She was sure Charles could loose consciousness at any moment. She couldn't decide whether to hold him or slap him but she felt sorry for him. Mary was angry and she could barely trust herself to speak, she did not feel like herself at all. But the man standing looked defeated and must of went through hell looking for her.

"You should rest." Mary said looking away choosing to ignore what he said.

Charles frowned at her words.

She inspected him carefully and made her way to the bed.

Charles followed soon after and as soon as he adjusted himself in a way that did not agitate his wound, Mary immediately turned to her side leaving as much room between them as possible.

He looked over at Mary and sensed the tension between them. Normally he was good with words but not this time he realized, there was nothing he could say. He was sure if Mary could she would run away from him, let alone would not be in the same room as him.

She immediately shut her eyes and thought of Kat. Regardless of what she's done to Mary, she was not a bad person and she did not deserve to die.

Mary trained her eyes at the wall beside the bed and blinked a few tears. Those few tears led to a flood and she hugged herself tighter. The guilt, the betrayal, the anger and the fear was crashing in on her.

Charles could feel her tremble and he reached out to touch her, wanting to comfort her but he hesitated, his hand closed to a fist. He clenched his jaw and stared hard at the ceiling, he despised himself. He knew he was a despicable being.

He did not know how many hours he was laying there awake but he could not sleep. Maybe it was the pain and the effects of the remedies were wearing off but Charles decided against taking more. Charles grimaced as he touched his wound gingerly but he felt cold fingers on top of his.

Charles cocked his head and was instantly met with ice.

Mary gazed at him she did not know why she reached out to him after their conversation. But at this moment she was alone and afraid, the whole ordeal broke her down in so many ways that she never thought could be possible. She did not even think more about her next action.

He saw her move closer to him and carefully took his hand into hers and pulled it to her chest. Charles slide towards her but did not touch her afraid she would turn away from him.

Something in her eyes told Charles everything.

Right now he was seeing the little girl who was easily cast aside from those who were supposed to love and protect her. The little girl who was ashamed of herself because she was abandoned and left to wonder what about her was inadequate.

Then it hit him and at the moment Charles inwardly cursed himself. How could he not know?

His infidelity, the kidnapping and Kat's death reopened the wound that left her crippled for a long time. The kidnapping reminded her that she was disposable, Kat's death exposed her once again to her helplessness and his infidelity after she opened a little of she to him freshened the feeling of never being enough.

Charles gripped her hand firmly as he vowed to never put her in that position again.

****At the Suffolk Estate****

Mary ran her fingers through his dark hair and inspected every inch of his face. How could he change this much?

He frowned against her touch and she immediately pulled her hand away afraid to wake him. She heard him make a little moan and switch sides. She could only smile and decided it was time she left the little boy alone but in the few weeks she was home Mary spent all her time with Henry. Day and night they were inseparable and though he had asked her when she was away for so long, Mary would try tell him the truth. Though she was sure he did not understand the idea that the King ordered her away. He asked her if the king hated him which shocked Mary who would ask him why he thought that.

You and papa are always gone because of him.

She gazed at him and leaned over to him one last kiss on his temple before retiring. As soon as she closed the door behind Mary bumped into his chest and looked up at Charles alarmed. Charles groaned painfully as she agitated his wound.

"Did I scare you?" He whispered when he caught his breath.

"Yes. Are you well? Shall I fetch one of the nurses?"

Charles shook his head touching his wound gingerly.

"Forgive me." Charles gave her a sheepish grin and bowed his head slightly. "Is he asleep?"

They stayed silent for a moment; their relationship has been strained since Scotland. It was sad and for Charles it was something that burned him everyday. Things were not the same between them. Mary was always civil and friendly but she was no longer open. She avoided being left alone with Charles. Though it wasn't difficult to hide from him as he usually was in his chambers recuperating. So he decided to give her space. However, it proved difficult for him because he didn't want to leave her alone especially now since they are all reunited again after so long. The ironic part of this situation is that she was so distant from him and yet so close to hi. Just when he was gaining her trust and her heart she already had his.

"What is it?"

"I," He paused. "I am leaving for court."

Mary stiffened her face instantly fell to the floor. "When?"

"Tomorrow, things are falling apart there."

"He sent for you,"

"Yes."

"I understand. You should be there, he will need you." Mary nodded.

Charles stood staring at her seriously or a moment. "Will I lose you if I leave?" He finally asked.

Though her face remained stoic her eyes betrayed her bewilderment.

He stepped closer towards her. "Will I?"

Mary stood paralyzed still trying to grasp what he said. She felt his hand against her cheek his eyes were intense.

"I don't know." She whispered simply.

"Things have changed between us." He stated.

Mary broke away from his stare nervously as she opened her mouth. "What we mean to each other has changed perhaps that is why things are difficult."

His face became serious and stared deeply into her eyes. "Yes." He told her firmly.

Mary flinched at his response and stunned at how he said it so simply. How one word could hold so much power?

"Mary, I love you." Charles said with finality in his voice. "I know some part of you feel something for me as well."

She was tired of thinking about her feelings. She didn't want to feel anything anymore. She was still grieving her mother, dealing with the guilt of Kat's death and her anger towards Charles. It always overwhelmed her and to cope she push her emotions down. She didn't want to care anymore.

She shook her head. "Charles." Mary began. "What do you want from me?"

He blinked back in surprise.

"I." She trying to conjure the words. "I do not know what to do. Because if this is how you love, it's painful."

Charles backed away from her unable to meet her gaze. "Goodnight, my lady." he bowed and then he disappeared in into the dark.

***Days later***

Behind the heavy wooden doors were bountiful of people drinking and dancing. In her mind she could picture the women beautifully adorned with jewels laughing, flirting and dancing. Men talking politics, bragging about how much the king favours them, lands they have, women they bedded and of course scheming. It was something so familiar to her yet so new, when she was a child she would run through the many subjects straight into her father's lap. Where he would kiss her cheek affectionately, call her his little pearl and let her stay until she fell asleep. Mary never felt so safe and loved than in his arms but now those memories seem like a lifetime ago. So much has happened and now she entering the lion's den with no friends but her husband. Did he know she was coming?

:O :O ...do we dare dream? I will leave it to you guys to figure out where she is LOL

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