Hi guys! Just wanted to give you a quick heads up before you read this chapter. I've upped my story rating to T because this chapter includes a slightly violent encounter between Kenna and the King and a flashback to Kenna's abusive childhood. Nothing too graphic (no rape) but I wanted to include a warning in case anyone is sensitive to such topics. If you feel like you shouldn't read this chapter, please don't. I'll include enough of a recap of what happened in the next chapter, without as many details so you can continue to follow the story.

Mary was sitting at her dressing table preparing for bed when she heard the carriage approach. Francis had a late meeting with some visiting diplomats so Greer was sitting up with her until he was finished.

"That must be Kenna and Bash!" Mary exclaimed, "I'm so glad they're back; I've missed Kenna and I know Francis has missed Bash. As much as Francis enjoys my companionship, I'm not his brother. I will be sad when they move out for good."

"So Francis and Bash are on good terms again then?" Greer asked.

"It's taken time, but they're brothers, Francis loves Bash and was ready to forgive him. I feel awful for having helped to drive them apart in the first place," Mary answered before continuing, "I hope Kenna and Bash had a lovely trip. Lola told me that Kenna had confided in her before leaving about her feelings for Bash."

"Oh?" Greer questioned.

"I think that they will come to love each other if they haven't already," Mary responded hopefully.

Approaching footsteps signaled the arrival of Francis and Greer got up to leave. Francis walked in and confirmed that the carriage was Kenna and Bash's.

"They're tired from a day of traveling, they were hoping to arrive sooner but had some delays," Francis told them.

Greer bid them good evening and then slipped out. Mary asked Francis about his meetings while he got ready for bed but once he joined her under the covers their talk turned to Kenna and Bash.

"Bash told me that they would be here at court for several months while the house is being prepared for their permanent residence," Francis said.

"That's nice, I mean I'm glad they have a place of their own, but I'll miss them when they leave," Mary told him.

"They're only a day's trip away, we can visit them and they can visit us," Francis reassured her before blowing out the candle on the nightstand.

Kenna was on her way to see Mary the next morning when he saw her. Kenna heard him call her name and reluctantly turned in his direction.

"Kenna where have you been?" Henry questioned angrily.

"I've been away. With my husband," Kenna responded as calmly and evenly as she could despite the fact that she was scared. He had that look in his eye that made her want to run.

"Ah yes, how could I forget. Your husband, Master of something and something. You can't actually prefer his company over mine though. I suppose that's why you've come back to me," Henry replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm and malice. He pulled her to him forcefully and tried to kiss her.

She turned her face from him and bit out, "Actually, Your Grace, I very much prefer the company of my husband and I've only returned for a short period of time until our home is finished. I certainly have no intention of being with you ever again."

Kenna wasn't sure where this courage had come from, she had never openly defied the King in this way before.

Henry was livid and slapped her across her face, bringing back a paralyzing wave of memories. It was then that the tears began to flow, her strong wall crumbling as she sunk to the ground.

"I will not be spoken to like that! I am a sovereign King and what I want, I get. I never should have wasted my time on you, you silly, worthless girl. You are nothing but a stupid whore," Henry shouted, his rage intensifying. He continued to hurl insults as Kenna crouched on the ground, numb. Every memory of her father that Bash had been helping her to replace came flooding back. A particular memory stood out from the rest...

She was nine and her maid Carolyn, was helping her dress for the day. Carolyn was the one bright light in her life at the time, she was quiet and gentle and a respite from her father. She told her every morning when she helped her dress that she was beautiful and smart and kind and that one day she would marry a prince and become a princess. Kenna clung on to Carolyn's words and dreams for her. That day, unbeknownst to them, her father stood out of sight in the doorway while Carolyn repeated her daily words for Kenna. Her father strode in and laughed, a cold, hard laugh.

"Kenna? My Kenna? Beautiful, smart, kind? Kenna is barely average looking, stupid, and a spoiled brat. A princess? Princesses are nothing but silly girls from made up stories. The closest she'll ever get to royalty would be as a mistress," he spat out. "What did I do to deserve this pitiful girl instead of a son I could love," he muttered under his breath.

Kenna didn't fully understand his words at the time, What was a mistress? she wondered, but she never forgot them. She cried for hours that day and the next day Carolyn was gone. She overheard her father telling the cook that Carolyn filled Kenna's head with nonsense and that Kenna needed to learn to take care of herself. Maybe her father was right about her all along...

The sound of footsteps running towards her snapped her back to the present. "Father what are you doing?!" Francis' voice reached her ears and she collapsed in relief.

When she opened her eyes a few moments later she saw Bash and Francis kneeling beside her, both with worried looks on their face.

Bash's body relaxed and he let out a deep breath when he saw her eyes open, "Kenna, my love, are you okay?"

My love.

Kenna smiled at those words as much as she could manage in her state, worrying that it came across as a grimace, and nodded.

"You should probably take her to Nostradamus, who knows how long she was with Father before we found them. She's starting to bruise," Francis advised Bash.

"Kenna, I am so sorry for what happened. My Mother has been trying to keep the King to his chambers as much as possible in his current state, but he must have slipped out. We'll redouble our efforts to keep him from roaming around, I don't want you feeling unsafe here," Francis continued to her.

"Can you get her to Nostradamus by yourself?" Francis asked Bash, "Mary has a meeting with her advisers in a few minutes and she wanted me to be there."

"Of course, she's light," Bash responded.

Francis apologized one more time before leaving them.

"I'm going to lift you up, please tell me if I'm hurting you," Bash told her as he eased her into his arms.

She gasped in pain but adjusted herself so that he wasn't pressing on any of her bruises. She opened her mouth to tell Bash what had happened, but Bash quieted her. "We will talk about it later, but I don't want you getting yourself worked up, right now just relax."

She closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest and breathing in his woodsy scent she felt safe again. His steady heartbeat lulled her to sleep and before she knew it she was lying on a pile of furs in Nostradamus' medical chambers.

Next chapter will include: Protective Bash, Romance (good heavens, we need some lovin' after this chapter :), and more! Fingers crossed, it will be up either late this evening or (more likely) tomorrow morning.

Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter, I am having so much fun writing this story and knowing that people are enjoying it just makes me want to write more. I finally figured out how I can reply to your reviews individually (I'm new to this okay? :)) so I'm going to work on replying to some of your kind messages.