I had this chapter written up and then hated it then changed it many times. I've had a stressful week but we're getting there.

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elder441 [chapter 75]: The healers are working steadfastly on that ;)

Guest (1) [chapter 75]: Thanks for loving it! And thank you so much, I hope so too, it's getting too real and frightening but we'll get through it together.

FeliLuna13 [chapter 75]: Thank you so much for your kind words x I'm glad to! It helps me as well as you all :) Here are more moments to bring you in the feels.

"Smell that? That is the smell of fresh air," Francis said, getting off his horse.

Anne gagged. "No, that is the smell of animal excrement and Lord knows what else!"

"You're such a princess," Robin told her as he walked past with logs. "Help me with the fire."

"What will I do?" Rose asked as Anne stepped over whatever she thought was on the ground to follow after Robin.

Francis grinned. "You and John will hunt with me."

"I've never hunted before!" Rose gasped out, going to get her archery set from the horse. "Is there a lot of blood?"

"A lot," John said, making her eyes widen. "Only when you gut it though."

"I would like to try!" Rose said, retrieving a dagger from her pocket. "Mother gave it to me. Said it was from Uncle James."

"Where's mine?" Anne asked, frowning as she looked over. "Why do you get all the good things?"

Rose scoffed. "You're such a princess," she told her older sister. "Look at you - wearing a dress hunting!"

"I couldn't wear breeches could I?" Anne retorted. "There are eyes and ears everywhere and a future queen must always look presentable."

Rose coughed and the next thing she knew, Anne was on her bottom, squelched in horse faeces. Rose grinned, sending Robin a quick wink as she smirked.

"You were saying, Anne?"

Anne scowled, gagging as she gripped onto a ball of faeces and lifted it. "I would love it if you dared me."

"Anne?" Francis called out, coming over to help her out but she threw the faeces straight into Rose's chest.

"Anne!"

"Girls!" Francis cried out.

"She started it!" They both cried out.

Francis sighed heavily, shaking his head as he yanked Anne up, letting her wipe her bottom off. "You have a spare dress packed in the trunk - go and get dressed in the carriage," he told her, turning to Rose. "As for you..."

Rose smiled sweetly. "Yes, Father?"

"Clean up in the lake," Francis said with a heavy sigh. "And no more of these pointless spats."

Rose shrugged indifferently and giggled when Anne stormed past her, sending her a glare. "I think some got on your hair!"

"Oh!" Anne shrieked, lifting her hand to the back of her strawberry blonde locks. "Rose!"

...

"There you all are," Bash said, getting down from his horse. "I didn't know you decided on somewhere further than what we agreed on."

Francis smiled meekly. "It was closer to the waterfall," he explained. "The children wanted to swim."

"And how are they?" Bash asked, looking around. "Anne's not here."

"She decided that sleeping in the carriage would be better for her," Rose told her uncle. "Fewer creatures of the Earth."

"Ah," Bash replied with a click of his tongue. "What are we doing?"

Robin shifted across the log, allowing his father to take a seat in front of the fire he'd made with Anne. "Cards, Father," he said. "Shall I reshuffle?"

"Go ahead," Francis said, handing his cards over as the others did the same to Robin could split it evenly. "Your father and I have never lost a game. Sometimes we'd throw it-"

"In favour of the women we played with - your mothers and aunts," Bash quickly said. "Come on, what game are we playing?"

"I don't think we've taught them how to play glic," Francis replied. "Our father used to play it with us when we were boys. Albeit, we never used money but the best-picked berries of the season."

Bash shared a smile with France. "I remember. I also remember winning and you crying about it."

"I never cried!"

"You did," Robin said under his breath, receiving a light, teasing nudge from Bash.

"I may have cried twice but that's because the berries were so delicious to pass up on!" Francis defended himself. "You know what? Let's play another-"

"Nope, we're playing glic," Rose cut him off. "Now, how do we play?"

Surprisingly, the newly introduced to the game had won with a four of a kind set. Rose collected her berries happily and then begrudgingly shared them out.

...

"...Ease your breathing," Francis coached Anne. "When you are ready, release the arrow."

Anne took a deep breath in, waited a few seconds and released it, releasing the arrow as she did so. She smiled widely when it struck the hare down and she turned to her father.

"Did I do well?"

"More than well," Francis said proudly, kissing her forehead. "Why don't you collect it and I will teach you how to skin and gut it."

"Uh, Rose can do that!"

"If you want to eat, you need to skin and gut your own food," Francis told her, starting to walk away.

Anne scowled. "Fine!" She cried out, going over to the dead hare. She put her leather gloves on and lifted it, putting it away from her face as far as her arm could reach before making her way back over to the camp.

"I have it," she told her father, gaining Rose's attention. "What do I do now? It's so disgusting!"

Rose let out a laugh, shaking her head in disbelief as she struggled to gut her own hare. She tutted and stopped, allowing Robin to show her how to do it properly. She quietly thanked him and scowled at a smug Anne's way.

"You want to dig the knife just enough inside to get the lining on which the fur is on," John said.

Anne gagged and nodded, taking a seat as she accepted a knife from her father and dug it into the hare's chest. She dragged her knife down and yelped when its guts began to spill out.

"Father! I can't! It's too-"

"Give it here, I will do it," John said, taking the hare with his bare hands.

"I guess as Queen of Sweden, you won't have to go hunting with the King," Francis stated. "But then again, he won't be impressed all that much by his French bride. He will tire of your lack of interesting attributes and-"

"I guess I can force whatever bile that wants to come up my throat down," Anne said, rolling her eyes and getting the hare back.

That evening, she had successfully skinned and gutted her dinner, a shiny brand new dagger in her possession from her beloved father.

...

"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned," Francis said softly. "It has been six months since my last confession. Since then I have lied. So blatantly and to those I love."

"Go on, my child," Pope Clement said.

"I tell them that I have accepted death - that I am not afraid of dying but in all honesty, between you, me and God, I am," Francis told him tearfully. "Of course I am. I am no stranger to knowing that kings die young or kings do not even get the chance to be kings and I became king when I was barely a man. Sixteen or seventeen, a young man with hopes, dreams and a future. Until the future was made bleak with no light on the other end. I do not want my children, my wife, my siblings and my mother to suffer but they will when I die. I can only hope they receive all the support they can get and my death does not make more repercussions for them as it has already. I want to live, so badly but I know my end is near. How can I be strong for them if I can't be for myself?"

The Pope sighed heavily. "So it is true? The King of France is dying?"

"I am, Your Holiness."

"It is a shame," the Pope replied. "There have been good kings before you, some who have lost their way and found it once again and some who never did in the first place. I had faith in you, Francis, after your father's death. I saw a victorious future coming your way but as you said, it is made bleak with this unfortunate situation. The only thing you can do now is, to be honest. With yourself, with your loved ones and with God. I cannot give you more comfort in your time of need other than tell you that God will welcome you with open arms, my child."

"I hope so," Francis whispered. "I have done many bad things. In favour of my family and country - I always do the things I do for my country."

The Pope nodded. "And your sins, forgiven," Pope Clement said before smiling sadly. "I too have wondered how close to death I am. But it is with God's strength I am able to carry on and be there for the Vatican. You will find your strength, once you set yourself free of your burdens."

Francis frowned. "What burdens?"

"The past is such a terrible hold, is it not?" The Pope asked. "Things you believed long since resolved, they come back to restrain you, to prevent you from passing on. Forgive those who do you harm and God will forgive you. Or have you forgotten your Bible studies, Francis?"

Francis let out a soft chuckle. "No, Holy Father, I have not."

"It is a sin to lie," Clement told him with a small smile.

"I am already damned, asking for forgiveness," Francis replied cheekily. "Matthew chapter 6, verse 14."

"Ah, you do remember."

"I can never forget," Francis whispered softly. "I have too much time on my hands."

Clement smiled wryly. "'But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.'"

Francis furrowed his brows. "Even if they... hurt my son? Almost kill my brother? Poisoned my father? Raped my sister? Poisoned me?"

"We are not accountable for the actions of others," Pope began. "Nor can we be part of their redemption but we can let go of the past and accept that we can't save everyone. If we had it our way, no brothers will be killed, sons abused, fathers poisoned nor sisters raped. And we would be happy but God had put us on this Earth for a reason and the things that make us who we are today, they will either make us or break us but we should never let them break us. Do you understand?"

Francis nodded. "I do, thank you," he said. "We should get ready for the christenings."

"Sweet, sweet children," Pope Clement said fondly. "They are blessings not to be taken for granted. Your heirs, your legacies carried on. You can only wish for your daughter to grow up knowing her father was one of France's greatest kings. I wish you and your family all the best."

"Thank you," Francis whispered.

As Caterina and Sophia were being christened, the Pope's words swirled in Francis's mind. He barely listened to the service, only giving signs of life with mere nods of the head and small smiles when godparents were announced and prayers were said before going back to his mind once more.

"What plagues your mind?" Mary asked as she got him ready for bed that night. She was to go to her own bedchambers, Catherine was coming soon to take her nightly vigil.

"Nothing," Francis said, kissing his wife softly. "I can't wait to take you without exhausting myself. That's all. You are looking quite delectable tonight."

Mary blushed and smiled, reaching up to cup his cheeks. "Soon," she whispered. "You are getting better..."

"But it's not permanent," he finished her unspoken words.

Mary looked conflicted but she held her tongue. "Sleep well."

"I never do."

"Francis?" Mary asked in alarm. "Do you need something from Ambroise-"

"Without my wife by my side," Francis cut her off.

Mary replied with a shaky breath, resting her forehead against his. "I want nothing more than to be asleep by your side but I can't hinder your recovery."

"It's been months-"

"Painful as they are," Mary said. "But soon."

Francis kissed her deeply before pecking her nose, cheeks and forehead. "I will miss you."

"And I, you," she breathed out easily, kissing him once more before leaving.

As she passed the large windows, she spied a little princess outside, sitting on the grass under the night sky with a lamp by her side. Mary sighed and retrieved her cloak before making her way outside to join the princess.

"What's that?" Mary asked her, gesturing to the item in the girl's hand that she was flicking open and closed.

"Papa's dagger," Anne replied softly as if her voice could wake the whole castle this late and even outdoors. "It has his initials - F. V. A Regnum."

Mary kissed the side of her head. "It's beautiful."

"Gold handle, sharp... Great for skinning and gutting," Anne told her mother. "A perfect fit."

"Well, kings and queens are always a perfect fit," Mary told her daughter. "You will be fine, Annie. I swear it. I was not as scared as you to marry young but I still had my reservations."

Anne nodded. "And did you get over them?"

"I think six children are as much evidence enough for that," Mary replied with a bright smile.

"Oh, of course!" Anne giggled.

"Head up, shoulders straight," Mary commanded. "And a cool and steady mind. Behind every great man, there is an even great woman."

Anne gave her mother a wide smile. "I love you, Mama."

"I love you too, darling," Mary said, pulling her to her side. "Let's find Rose. I think there are some chocolate and strawberries for us to eat this night."

Anne stood and pulled her mother up as well. "Then, what are we waiting for?"