Definitley not my best work, but the best I could do when I was running out of time. Hope you enjoy the episode tonight!
A Chill In The Air
Francis, Mary, and Bash stood in the small market, trying a new drink called hot chocolate. Mary took a sip. It was quite bitter, but also delicious at the same time.
All of a sudden there was a call from across the market.
"Francis!" cried a female voice. All three looked up. Across the market stood a blonde haired girl, who was being led by a palace guard. There was a wild and terrified look on her face and eyes.
"Olivia?" Francis gasped, slamming his goblet down on the table, rushing over to her.
He embraced her and they shared a few quiet words, none of which Mary could hear from across the room.
"Who's she?" the Queen of Scotland asked Bash thoughtfully.
"She left a few months before you arrived," he responded.
"Broken-hearted? Mary turned her face towards the king's bastard son.
"Yes," he said frankly, "hewas?"
"He was?" Mary clarified, shocked.
"They were in love for quite some time. Then when you were announced to be coming to French court, to enact your engagement with Francis, she was sent away from the castle. He pined for days before you arrived."
Mary nodded. Though she herself felt betrayed and angry, she couldn't have expected Francis to not have fallen in love before she was even part of his life. But it still hurt her a bit inside, especially the way he was hugging her now. But she shook it off, quickly masking her feelings.
"We should go," she suggested, already walking out of the market, "Give them some privacy to catch up."
Bash followed behind her, silently cursing his brother's idiocy.
Later that day, Bash and Francis rode out to the spot where Olivia had said her carriage had been ambushed. Sure enough, there it was, the horses looking agitated from standing so long. The driver sat in his seat; whip in hand, head lolling to the side. Flies were massing around his face, landing in the blood that dribbled from his chin.
And there, on the ground, was a woman dressed in a red gown. Red to match the blood that had dried on her throat where it was slit. Her eyes were glassy and lifeless.
Francis stood before the court. "So tell us, Francis," Henry started, "Did you investigate the carriage Olivia found in the woods?"
"Yes, I did," Francis replied. "The driver and the passenger were both dead. The driver was simply stabbed, but the woman's throat was slit, just as Olivia said."
"Could you conclude anything else?" This came from Catherine.
"I have reason to believe that the carriage was attacked by pagans."
A gasp rose from the court and the word resounded. Pagans.
The following day, Mary was sitting in the grass, having a picnic with her ladies.
"So tells us about this new Olivia girl," Greer demanded.
"Yes," Aylee put in, giggling, "she seemed to have quite a thing for Francis."
Mary told them what Bash had told her the previous day.
Lola gasped. "What does that mean for you? Has he said anything about it?"
"I haven't heard a word from him since she arrived."
They sat in silence until Kenna cried, "Look!" Coming towards them was Francis and Bash.
"Hello boys," Mary looked up at them.
"I just wanted to tell you that there will be double the guards around the castle and guards patrolling the woods. Don't go wandering anywhere that might be dangerous until we get to the bottom of this."
The five girls agreed. Then they turned to see Olivia standing not to far away. Francis rushed to join her and the walked off together.
"Mary, can I talk to you," Bash said, "Privately."
"Of course," she replied. Lola, Kenna, Aylee, and Greer left, stealing glances over their shoulders as Bash sat next to their queen.
"What do you think is going to happen between them?" Mary asked.
"Don't worry," Bash replied, knowing who Mary meant, "I doubt Olivia will stay for long."
Mary nodded. "I mean I can't blame them for falling in love before I got here. It's not like I was in love with him. But I can't help but feel betrayed."
"Francis has you," Bash said, looking Mary straight in the eye, "why would he look elsewhere?"
Later that evening, Olivia sat in Francis's chamber.
He sat across from her on the divan.
"I want to stay," she said, "If not as your wife, then as your mistress."
Francis didn't respond, and Olivia pressed her lips against his.
The next day, the patrols found something in the woods. They called Francis and Bash out to look.
"It looks like a trap," the head of the patrol said.
The brothers couldn't help but agree. Two people, a man and a woman, hung from the branches of a tree, upside down, blood dripping onto the dirt. Their throats were slit, just like the first woman. Bash cut them both down, lowering their bodies so they could be brought back, analyzed, and then left to lie in peace.
When they brought the news back to the castle, Nostradamus called them to his chamber.
He rifled through the old pages of a book. Soon he found the page he was looking for.
He turned to them. "You have interrupted a sacrifice," he said gravely, "which they will not take kindly to. You could be in great danger."
Bash paced the halls outside of Mary's room. She didn't know he was there. Neither did Francis. But he had to make sure she was okay. He had to make sure she was safe. Just through the night. When the morning light came, he would be able to see more clearly.
All of a sudden, there was a noise behind him. Where there hadn't been before, there was a boy, sitting in the windowsill.
Bash drew his sword and leveled it at the strange boy's neck.
"Who are you?" Bash demanded.
"We're all around you," was the only response he got from the boy before he disappeared into nothing.
Mary couldn't slep. She tossed and she turned, but the elusive world of dreams never came. Eventually, she got tired of trying and lit a candle. She tried talking to Clarissa, but the fickle ghost didn't want to talk either.
So Mary sat back down, candle and book in hand and read until the morning's light.
She dressed before her ladies came in.
She didn't want to say it to anyone, but the pagan sacrifice didn't scare her nearly as much as it should have. What really scared her was Francis and Olivia. Besides the warning about the guards, Francis had been avoiding her like the plague since Olivia came stumbling back into his life.
Mary sighed. She supposed it was to be expected.
The door to her chambers opened.
"There you are!" she turned expecting one of her maidens, "You're quite late this morning."
But the woman coming through the door wasn't any of Mary's friends.
It was Olivia.
"Olivia," Mary said, very cordially, "I don't believe we've had the chance to be properly introduced." The queen held out her hand. "I'm Mary."
"Yes," Olivia said, sounding mildly amused, "I know. You're the Queen of Scotland. That's why I'm here."
The blonde girl came closer. "See, I wanted to talk to you about Francis."
The two began to talk, exiting Mary's room and wandering around the castle, eventually coming to the gardens.
Mary was uneasy throughout the conversation. Olivia seemed to eager, to willing to be having a conversation about the man she loved with his fiancée.
Soon, they came close to the woods. Mary grew even more uneasy, but she made no move to back away. That was her big mistake.
"We probably should be going back inside," she said as Olivia began to lead her into the woods. All of a sudden, there was the cold steel of a dagger pressed against the inside of Mary's wrist, which Olivia had grabbed, pulling the two closer together.
"Oh, I don't think so," she growled in Mary's ear.
Mary grew incredibly still, moving only when Olivia dragged her into the woods.
"So what are you going to do to me?" Mary asked as Olivia tied her hands, the blonde wench holding the rope as she mounted a horse.
Olivia kicked the horse into a fast walk, dragging Mary along behind.
Soon they came to an empty clearing in the woods.
Olivia untied Mary from the horse, replacing her bonds around the trunk of a tree.
"What are you going to do to me?" Mary asked again and despite her terror, her voice stayed regal and calm.
"You are the last part of the sacrifice," Olivia responded coldly, "The blood of a virgin queen."
"The sacrifice?" Mary repeated. "It's been you all along? Why?"
"So I can become queen," Olivia sneered. "When you're gone, Francis will fall for me fully and I can rule in your place."
"All this because you love Francis? I doubt he would approve of your ways at winning his heart."
"Oh, I don't care about Francis. I care about becoming queen. Once I am married to Francis, the king and queen will have a mysterious "accident". After a discreet amount of time after Francis is crowned, assassins will come in the night to steal my beloved husband. And then when I am the only true ruler of France, the Old Religion can take over." She said the last bit with a sneer and a wild look overcame her face.
Mary gasped. This girl was insane. Olivia raised the dagger above Mary's head. The brown-haired girl was powerless to stop it. She just closed her eyes, praying that Francis and Bash and all her friends would be safe.
There was a cry from the side. Mary snapped her eyes open and both women looked over. Bash stood there, sword under Olivia's chin.
"Leave now," he said, his voice like ice, "And never return. Leave Mary, and Francis, alone."
Olivia snarled like a wild animal and raised her dagger. Mary didn't know who the blonde was going to stab: her or Bash.
Bash lowered his sword and gave a quick swipe, tearing Olivia's dress and giving her a deep, but not fatal, wound in her side.
Olivia gasped and then growled again. She dropped the dagger, her hands covering the wound.
And just like that, she was gone, running off into the woods.
Bash cut Mary loose, the two embracing tightly.
"Thank you," Mary whispered in his ear. Bash didn't respond but dropped his sword and wrapped his arms around her.
That's how Francis found them, holding onto each other for dear life.
Yeah, I know, it was terrible and it's probably going to be very different from the episode, but we'll see. And yes, I did steal the Old Religion from Merlin. hehe.
-Sasha