"so you're awake" Bash said when he entered Francis' room
"I think I am" Francis replied weakly
"I hardly even see you outside"
"It's because my mother insisted that I should rest, and I've been resting all day and all night, it came to a point when even resting is tiresome" Francis said helplessly
"I can help you escape, if you ask me to"
"My mother will behead you if you do that" Francis said flippantly
"That seems a very harsh punishment, don't you think?"
"My mother is harsh and always overreacting, you should know that by now, I'm the living proof of her overreacting nature, I have a mere ear ache and she assigned guards to assure that I will not escape." Francis said with a half smile
"It's good to hear that you're making jokes about your condition now, a week ago you were so glum, you even look more glum than Nostradamus, by the way, how are things with you and Mary?" Bash said
"I wrote her a letter two weeks ago and she hasn't responded yet" Francis said woefully
"Maybe the letter was just delayed, I'm sure it's on its way now"
"I hope it is, I can't afford if Mary gets angry with me now"
"Have you told her about your condition?"
"No, I haven't, she doesn't need to worry about me, I'll get well soon"
"but she deserves to know, however trivial you think your condition may be"
"perhaps your right" Francis finally said after a few minutes
"Bash, I need to tell you something"
"what is it brother?"
"Nostradamus came to me one night, and he told me that he saw it in his visions that this ear infection will be the cause of my death" Francis said weakly
"Do you believe him?" Bash said the concern clear in his voice
"I don't want to, but just in case something happened to me, please give this letter to Mary" Francis said while handling Bash the letter
"Stop talking like that, whatever it is that you want to tell Mary, you can tell her yourself, you said that this is just a mere ear infection, that you'll get well soon, you can't give up now, Mary will be devastated if she lose you" Bash said convincing his brother
"That's why I need you to promise me that you'll look after for her when I'm gone" Francis said with a trembling voice, Bash crumbled, he has never seen his brother so vulnerable, he can now see that there are tears forming in Francis' blue eyes and he was trying his best to remain strong.
"You can't act like this Francis, please tell me that you won't let yourself be defeated by an ear infection, this is silly! You were born to be a ruler, a king, a leader, you need to be strong, not just for Mary's sake but for the sake of Scotland and France!" Bash said compellingly
"Promise me you would fight this, prove to me Nostradamus can be wrong. If you die like this, I'll never forgive you brother" Bash said before leaving Francis' room
"I've stop making promises I can't keep Bash, I'm sorry" Francis mumbled a few moment after Bash left his room.
~^oOo^~
"Mary, why did you order your servants to unpack your things?" Marie de Guise said to his daughter
"I thought you'd be delighted if I stay here mother" Mary muttered weakly
"Well I am delighted dear but is there something wrong? Has something happened in France?" her mother said clearly puzzled
"Francis doesn't want me to go back yet, he said he'll come here instead" Mary replied
"oh, so you told him that you're pregnant?"
"No mother, that isn't the reason why he doesn't want me back in France, he's making an alibi"
"so how long will you stay?" her mother asked
"I don't know mother, I just don't understand why this is happening. Francis has always mentioned in his letters that he misses me but when I told him that I'll come back to France he suddenly want to stop me, it doesn't make any sense"
"stop over thinking about it, it's-"
"bad for the baby, I know" Mary said finishing what her mother was about to say
"well I'm happy that your staying, but I'm not happy about what's happening between you and Francis, I'm not going to say that everything is going to be alright, because it won't, not unless you do something about it." Her mother said decisively