Quite how she'd come to be sitting beside a fire discussing wedding plans with the Queen of England and her princess daughter, Jess couldn't be entirely sure. She kept sneaking what she hoped were surreptitious glances at the door, hoping to see Becker returning through it any second but wasn't sure she was successful if the knowing smirk curling Queen Elizabeth's mouth was any indication.
Queen Elizabeth.
Elizabeth of York.
Bloody hell.
Though Jess couldn't remember much about the time from her history lessons at school, she did know that the woman sitting demurely in the chair opposite her own was the wife of King Henry VII – and the mother of King Henry VIII.
And that would have been enough to blow her mind, if it hadn't already been blown by the kiss Becker had bestowed on her during their reunion.
That she was still reeling from, along with the revelation that the handsome Captain she'd possibly been on the brink of being able to call her boyfriend had for some reason declared himself her betrothed... which was why she was in the middle of a very marriage-orientated conversation with two women who had earned their place history.
"I am envious of you, Jessica," Mary said with a girlish sigh of longing, resting her chin in her hand as she stared at the flickering flames in the fireplace. "To be able to marry for love is rare."
Wracking her brain, Jess tried to remember what fate had befallen the young girl beside her but was frustrated when the facts wouldn't come to mind. "Oh, I..."
"You know not what awaits you, my love," Queen Elizabeth interrupted, earning a thankful look from Jess. "You may learn to love your betrothed."
"Mine is a marriage of duty, Mother." Mary wrinkled her nose and gave her mother a sceptical look. "Love will play no part in our union."
Queen Elizabeth leaned across to pat her daughter's hand sympathetically. "I, too, married for love of country, Mary, and not for love of man. However," she added, when her daughter turned away from the fire to look at her, "I do very much love your father and could not want for more in a husband nor in a lover."
As Mary blushed at her mother's words, Jess looked at the Queen with a smile on her face. She'd always been a romantic at heart, and inside she was sighing dreaming at the thought an arranged marriage had turned out well for the woman sitting opposite her. Her smile faded a little as she glanced at the young girl beside her and she found herself wishing she could know with certainty that the young princess would be as fortunate as her mother.
"Though you are fortunate, Jessica, that you are able to choose to marry a man you love rather than a man you will hope to one day fall in love with." Queen Elizabeth smiled warmly. "You must be eager to be wed, and to return home with your husband?"
Before Jess could speak, Mary answered for her. "They have no home to return to, Mother," the Princess piped up. "I heard her betrothed say so myself."
"Oh?" Elizabeth's gaze sharpened and she looked at Jess in askance. "May I enquire as to why...?"
"I believe I can answer that, my love." The response came from the doorway and Jess scrambled to her feet, wincing a little at the pain in her soles where the stones and twigs she'd walked over had left their mark, as the King entered the room with Becker and another man – one of the knights from earlier – trailing behind him. "The tyrant who kidnapped our daughter burnt down their home."
Elizabeth gasped, her eyes growing wide. "You have my deepest sympathies."
"May they stay here?" Mary got to her feet when her mother stood to take a stunned Jess's hand in sympathy. "Jessica could be one of your Ladies, Mother, or one of mine..."
"I have already requested that Sir Hilary remain with us and become one of my knights." The King grinned at his wife's approving smile. "The Lady Jessica is welcome to serve either you, Mary, or as one of your Ladies, my Queen."
At King Henry's declaration, Jess stared at Becker, struggling to keep the alarm from showing on her face. She desperately wanted to speak to him in private but, as he was refusing to look at her, she had no way of getting his attention. It took only a few moments before she discovered the reason he was avoiding eye contact.
"They will be wed, of course, at the earliest opportunity. It would be preferable for their union to be made official before God prior to their introduction to court."
As Elizabeth agreed instantly and Mary clapped her hands together in glee, Jess tried futilely to catch her husband-to-be's gaze.
He tried to explain it to her, in one of the scarce moments they were allowed to snatch together. Still chaperoned, of course, as it would be inappropriate for anything else, but outside of earshot of the smiling woman who'd been ordered by the Queen to help Jess adjust to her new role.
King Henry had explained that court wasn't the safest place for an unmarried woman; there were some – though not as many as there once had been in his predecessor's time – who would seize the opportunity at having such a young and beautiful unattached woman around to 'entertain' them. While the King had assured Becker he would do his upmost to ensure Jess was protected, he had advised that if it was his intention to marry her, it would be best to do it sooner rather than later.
Becker had done his best to explain to Jess that his reasons for not objecting to the wedding plans being made for them were for her own safety but he'd been unable to meet her gaze throughout the conversation. He hadn't wanted her to know that there was a part of him that was kind of pleased they were going to be married, a part that relished the thought of having their would-be-could-be relationship made official so no one could try and take his place in her affections.
It was stupid, he told himself, to feel that way. Idiotic to have doubts as to her feelings for him. He'd known for a long time that Jess harboured feelings for him – her crush on him in the early days had been one of the worst kept secrets at the ARC, much to her embarrassment he knew. He'd hoped at first that the crush would abate, then had worried that it would when he realised it wasn't quite as one-sided as he'd tried to make himself believe. The longer they spent working together, though, and the more he got to know the woman beneath the Field Co-ordinator's mask, the deeper his feelings for her grew and now…
… Now she was going to be his wife.
For a time, at least.
When they made it home – and he insisted on it being 'when', even in his thoughts, and not 'if' – he'd gladly step aside and let her and Lester take the necessary steps to absolve their marriage if that was what she wanted. Reluctantly, yes, but he'd hide that from her and go along with whatever she wished.
In the meantime, she was going to be his wife and he her husband. They were going to have to pretend to be happily married, at least while they were still the new members of the household with the attention of the Royal family firmly affixed on them. That meant being affectionate with one another, sharing the bed chambers they'd been so graciously offered… and that thought made his cheeks flush and his heart race, memories of the kiss he'd been unable to resist giving her flooding through his mind.
A kiss she'd wholeheartedly returned, he reminded himself, though telling himself that wasn't helping him keep the urge to do it again at bay.
"How do you know the anomaly's closed?" Jess asked quietly, glancing over his shoulder to where the old woman assigned as their chaperone waited with a knowing expression on her face. "Shouldn't we go to check…?"
"Danny gave me the device he was using. It's closed, Jess." Guilt gnawed at him at the sorrowful expression that momentarily arranged her features before she could hide it. "I'm sorry."
Jess blinked at him, surprised. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"I should have found you sooner."
"You shouldn't have come for me at all." She bit her lip and hesitantly lifted a hand, letting it rest on his arm in a gesture meant to comfort. "If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I…"
"Jessica." Covering her hand with his, he entangled their fingers. "Leaving you here wasn't an option. It would never be an option."
For a long moment, they just stared at one another. One, maybe both of them, started to lean in, as if drawn closer by an invisible force…
… An invisible force shattered by the clearing of someone's throat as the woman standing in the doorway all but smirked at them.
Blushing, Jess broke eye contact but made no attempt at moving away. "What about Patrick? Do you know what they're going to do with him…?"
He did, and it wasn't pleasant. If there was a way he could have spared her the details, Becker would. "He's to be executed at first light tomorrow. He kidnapped a member of the royal family, Jess," he reminded her when she looked at him, obviously horrified. "He apparently had plans to sell her to some foreign enemy of her father…"
… And he'd had plans to sell Jess, too, Becker remembered, his jaw clenching. Not to a permanent buyer, Lawrence had explained grimly, but as a passing fancy to whoever would be willing to pay the price he demanded.
Either she suspected what her own fate would have been or didn't want to know about it, as Jess refrained from asking. She pursed her lips and nodded grimly, accepting Patrick's fate even though Becker knew she'd spare a moment to mourn the man's passing, even if only out of respect for his brother.
Refusing to let himself think about Danny and his reaction to his brother's death, Becker kept his attention well and truly focused on the woman in front of him.
"I'm sorry. About the whole marriage thing. I don't want you to be uncomfortable by it but…"
"I'm not." Her answer was quick, and accompanied immediately by another deep blush as she tried to back-track. "I mean, it's not ideal, I suppose, but if it's the only way we can stay together and be safe, then so be it. We can deal with everything else that comes with it later. When we're home."
"Yeah." Feeling a little awkward, Becker was almost relieved when the other woman in the room started to walk towards them. "I think our time's up."
"Come along now," the woman – Mistress Margaret, as they'd later come to know her, gave them an indulgent smile. "There'll be time for sweet nothings when you're wed. In the meantime, we have duties to be attending to."
Willing his cheeks not to go as pink as Jess's, Becker untangled their fingers and stood back from her, letting her hand fall from his arm. He gave Jess a reassuring smile and Margaret a small nod of acknowledgement before his betrothed was escorted from the room.
:)