Chapter 3

A Treasonous Act to Kill

JAYNÉ

My vision was limited due to the blindfold covering my eyes. After the conversation I tried to have with my kidnappers, I haven't heard anything from them – no footsteps, no voices, just a harassing silence. I could've sworn that I had passed out a while ago, giving the men the time to leave. Did Mary know of my kidnapping? I could've only prayed that someone had began searching for me, I suppose I could only wish.

After a few moments passed, the door flew open. The air brushed pass my hair, giving me a clue as to how cold it must've been. The footsteps began getting heavier as the man approached me, my breaths began getting deeper. However, I didn't give into his commanding, nor was I going to give up now. I heard the chair creak a bit as he took a seat, I suppose he must've been a heavy man. "So, have you changed your mind?"

I scoffed loudly, "no. I will not give in to your orders either. I may hate my mother, but I am not going to lure her out of the castle." I snarled. I heard the man chuckle at my sentence.

"As you wish. Until you do as I say, you can stay here." He told me. I could hear that he didn't sound too serious, just amused. Perhaps I should've just agreed to what he said, or I could wait it out – hope someone comes to rescue me.

With that, the silence surrounded the room once again. I couldn't tell whether he was there or not, but I supposed I could make some sort of offer, "listen, I will pay you double what Mary had payed you. How does that sound?"

"Oh. Making offers now, are we? Sound good, except I cannot betray my queen. Besides, where could you possibly get gold?" He asked. Expect, he sounded quite enthralled by my offer.

"I have ways. Just accept my offer, let me go and we'll talk. How's that sound?" I inquired. I heard his heavy footsteps approach me, soon I could feel his presence beside me. I could feel a cold, sharp object being pressed against my neck, making its way to my ear.

"Hmm. Interesting, but if I let you go, I would've failed my job. Mary did tell me to kill you I you do not cooperate, so I suggest you do as I say." He threaten me. I scoffed at his attempt to scare me.

"That sounds fun, let's do that. Why don't we have a stab at killing me? I mean, I will not cooperate anytime soon. So, why not?" I teased. Although I had a blindfold on, I could tell he must've been angered by my remarks.

AUTHOR

Although Jayné hadn't a clue as to hold long she was held hostage, Mary had been counting the days. Her younger sister's disappearance had destroyed her heart, it made her question the state of humanity. However, she became more hopeful as a whole search party was sent out to look for her.

Rosa, on the other hand, became more eager to get her daughter out of her life. Bit by bit, she began forging her signatures, her writing, even her use of words. However, despite her efforts to get her daughter killed, she worried about the outcome of these actions. As soon as the door opened, Rosa quickly turned the letter upside down, trying to look as normal as she could.

"Rosa, may we speak?" Mary asked. Rosa immediately sighed before standing to face her, she saw that Mary didn't look so pleased to see her either. "I have noticed your lack of concern for your daughter's disappearance, I cannot understand why you do no care. However, if you do care, please make an effort to help us search for her."

"Of course I care. Except, you sent a whole search party to look for her, so I left it to you," Rosa retorted. She looked behind her, to see the letter she had fully forged. "As a matter of fact, one of the page boys gave this to me." She picked the letter up and handed it over to Mary.

As confused a Mary was, she took it and read thought it. However, she couldn't get the words into her head, hoping that what she read was a full lie, "you aren't serious, are you? Jayné would never meet with the English queen, I know that!" Mary raised her voice. "God I hoped this isn't true."

"You have eyes, dear. You also can read, so it is true. I cannot say am I pleased with my daughter, as not one should be pleased with her." Rosa told her. However, she couldn't help but feel pleased about what she did.

Mary looked back at the letter before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her. 'How could she?' Mary thought to herself as she rushed down the hallway, passing a few oblivious smiles and the gossiping maid who knew everything. Mary felt a resentment towards her sister, a feeling she had never felt before towards her little sister. However, she had betrayed her country, in Mary's eyes.

Mary sat down beside her desk, pondering what to do with her little sister. Telling Henry would instantly put a rope around Jayné's neck, telling Catherine would be no better. Francis would also be a problem, he would insist on telling his parents. Except, Mary had finally realized that she was queen, she could finalize what would happen to her sister.

Bash had set out to look for Jayné, along with half a dozen guards. He had searched most of France, from what he could recall. However, Bash had only decided to look for Jayné to give a better impression of himself to Mary; it wasn't because he cared at all.

The men had stopped as soon as they stumbled across a small cottage, for a very unfortunate cottage, it had a very extravagant carriage parked next to it. Bash ordered his men to stop as he dismounted his horse, a certain uneasiness passed his body. He hastily began lurching toward the almost ruined cottage. It was the fact that it was overgrown by ivy, the windows were mostly smashed, and even then the visibility to see into the house was limited.

Bash slowly opened the door, which made a loud creaking noise as it opened. His shadows almost covered most of the light that entered the room, the rest was darkness. Bash withdrew his sword as he walked in, he realized that there was someone on the chair. They had made no movements, making Bash think that they must've faced their fate. Except, they soon started struggling, trying to break free. Bash immediately ran over to them, he put his sword into the scabbard as he got his knife out. As soon as the were free, he notice that it was a woman, he removed the blindfold to realize that it was Jayné.

"Sebastian?" She was almost as surprised as he was. "How did you find me?" Jayné asked as she stood up, wiping her dress clean.

"What on earth happened to you?" Bash asked. He began looking around the room.

"I was kidnapped by Mary's men, all because I refused to trick my mother into going to England." Jayné said, quite viciously.

"Shall we get going then? Mary will be very pleased to see you, I'm sure if it." Bash told her began he led her out of the cottage. She immediately flinched at the sight of light, closing her eyes as the sun shone into her eyes.

Upon returning to court, Mary was aware and informed that her sister was found. Unfortunately, she knew that Jayné was going to get a quite, unpleasant, surprise when she returns.

As soon as Jayné and Bash dismounted their horse, she noticed Mary standing in the courtyard, looking quite displeased. Jayné's smile turned into a huge frown as she hastily walked towards Mary. "What's wrong, sister?" Jayné asked, obviously.

"It is nothing. Except, the king requests your presence in the throne room, immediately." Mary told her. Jayné looked at Mary, almost pleading for an explanation.

JAYNÉ

Mary led me into the throne room, where Henry and Catherine were sitting. I realized that upon my entering, there were more people there than I had expected. I also realized my mother's smirk, the deadly smile I resented. Mary had stopped near the entrance as two guards began walking beside me, I turned around to look behind me, where Mary was standing, he face looked sorrowful as she put her hand on her face. Francis and Bash entered moments later, along with Kate and Mary's ladies.

Now as confused as I was, I carried on walking. Henry stood up as I stopped, with the thought that I was close enough. Henry cleared his throat as he looked around the room, "this girl who stands before me is a criminal. She is the one who betrayed France and Scotland, yet her face is filled with confusion. Why is that, Jayné?"

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach, I had committed a treasonous act? That was impossible, I was the one who didn't want anything to do with Mary, "excuse me? I did not commit any treasonous acts against the king or queen, I swear by it." I retorted.

"Oh, you do? What is this?" Henry yelled throwing me a letter. As it landed next to my foot, I bent down to pick it up. The words stabbed me in the heart, all of them were lies! Nothing on that piece of paper was true.

"These are lies! My signature was forged, I would never do something like this, never!" I defended myself. However, it was true. My signature was forged, nothing else.

"Of course. Yes, whatever you say," Henry told me with sarcasm in his voice. He walked down the small stairs, getting to eye level with me. "I have a… Proposition for you. See, my son, Sebastian, needs to wed, and I suppose you would be the perfect wife for him. What do you think!"

Without hesitation, I yelled at him, "no way! I will not be told who to wed, ever!" I saw Henry chuckle a bit.

"Refuse this, and your head will be on a pike," Henry threatened me. He gestured for Bash to come to him, I felt my heart stop for a few moments as I realized what was going to happen to me. "So, I suggest that we come to terms with your future."

"Father, this isn't necessary. You do not have have to do this." I heard Bash trying to reason with his father. Except, Henry immediately withdrew his sword and held it close to Bash's throat.

"This is going to happen, whether you both like it or not." Henry snarled. With that, I turned away before storming out of the room. As I walked away, I saw my mother's unforgettable smirk.

I heard footsteps behind me, getting closer and closer as slowed down. I didn't know who it was nor did I want to know who it was; although I hoped to God that it wasn't my mother. I turned around as the person grabbed my arm: it was Mary. I realized how confused she looked, as if she was pleading for an answer, "what on earth was that? Jayné, you're going to deal with the consequences whether you like it or not." Mary almost yelled at me.

"Consequences? What did I do? Enlighten me. I was kidnapped, not doing whatever the hell you're punishing me for." I yelled back, defensively. She was practically making no sense whatsoever,

"Do not play dumb with me, it is very unappealing. You know what you did. You had deliberately went behind my back and wrote to the English queen, making plans to meet up." My heart had skipped a beat at her sentence. Lies, all lies.

"W-what?" I stuttered. "I was kidnapped, is that too difficult to understand? I was kidnapped because I refused to write to her." I retorted, raising my voice as my vision began getting more blurry due to the tears building up in my eyes.

"Right? Tell that to everyone else, there is a letter to prove what you did. So, you will wed Bash. And you will also be happy, whether it is false or not." Mary warned before she left me to stand on my own.

Of course, as I walked back to my chambers, I heard the maids already spreading the new rumors they had heard. I couldn't listen to it, honestly. It seemed as if they had nothing better to go than to gossip, didn't they have a job? Or were they hired to stand around and gossip, all of that was just beyond me.

I spent the rest of my day in complete silence – nothing but the sound of birds chirping by my window and the fireplace. I felt safe, alone and more happy, just being on my own cheered me up a small bit. I spent my time stitching little, but colorful, patterns on the blunt piece of tapestry.

I hadn't heard from anyone the whole day, due to my isolation. Except the silence was ruined by my mother as she barged into my room, I didn't stop what I was doing nor did I look at her. Her voice build up unbearable anger inside me, "Jayné, I honestly cannot believe you would do such a thing. As a mother I am ashamed."

"Oh, is that so? I am sad to hear it, honestly." I told her with a hint of sarcasm. It angered me to know that my mother was acting as if she was the innocent one.

"Do not use sarcasm. Being angry at me for something you did is honestly annoying me, show more respect." My mother scolded me. I sighed as I closed my eyes, I stood up slowly before I opened my eyes again.

"Do not patronize me, mother. You are treating me like a child, it is honestly quite tiring. Especially since it was you who forged my signature!" I yelled. I saw how my mother's face changed in a matter of a few seconds.

"Me? How dare you? I am your mother, do not accuse me!" She shouted, defensively. Mother put her hand over her heart, is she even had one, as she spoke.

"Get out! I do not want to see or hear from you." I yelled, pointing at the door. Fortunately for me, my mother obeyed and walked out of the room.

AUTHOR

As evening approached, Henry thought it be best to make Jayné and Bash wed tonight. He had made his orders clear and told his guards to seize control over Jayné and bring her to the throne room. It happened while Jayné was reading her book, the guards barged into her room, grabbing her arms and pushing her out of the room.

Jayné tried to fight it – kicking and screaming, although it didn't help much. The was pushed into the throne room, where Catherine and Henry say. Catherine wasn't pleased with Jayné nor was she very pleased with Henry, the whole marriage didn't seem right, even to someone like Catherine.

Bash stood still, with a despondent frown on his face. It looked just like Jayné's frown. Jayné walked over to Bash, still not looking up at him, she felt the guard's presence behind her – daunting her as she stood facing her future husband. Henry cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention – Mary, Francis, Rosa, Kate, Lola, Kenna, Greer and Aylee.

"On this, tragically unholy night, we stand before Jayné Navarre and Sebastian Baron, the unholy couple who will be wed." Henry snarled, making his way down the stairs.

"I cannot wed him!" Jayné yelled in protest, tears running down her cheeks.

Henry withdrew his sword as he held it next to Jayné's arm, "you will do as you are told!" Henry's voice filling the whole room, making others fear him. Jayné let out a small yelp as the sharp pain hit her arm. "As a I was saying. You will sign your contracts, and your marriage will be approved. Sebastian and Jayné, I am, not so, pleased to announce you're husband and wife."

Jayné let out a cry as everyone around them began speaking. Mary looked at Rosa, noticing the never ending smile she had on her face. Mary turned to Francis, "I hate to say this, but I do not think that Jayné actually wrote that letter to Mary."

"What do you mean?" Francis asked, clearly confused as to what his fiancée had said.

"Look at her mother, she looks too pleased at this." Mary told him. Francis immediately looked at Rosa, realizing what Mary had meant.

"It is too late to do something now. Besides, we cannot prove anything." Francis informed her. Mary's heart sank as she had realized that she didn't believe her own sister, yet believed Jayné's mother.

So, hope this chapter was really something! I mean, I wanted to get to the whole plot. Hopefully, you enjoyed this and till next time…

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Give me some of your ideas and I will try to fit it in, even your characters are accepted, I will try to include them in future chapters. Thanks for reading :)