~ Josephine ~

After the wedding ceremony, I talk with a group of men at the reception with Mary and Aylee, telling them that we're very happy to be back at Court.

A boy comes up to me, and offers Mary and I a chalice of wine. "Your Grace, your Grace. Beautiful evening, is it not?" He's Scottish.

I smile. "Yes, it is."

"I am honored to meet you, your Grace." The boy bows and kisses my hand, and Mary's.

The boy lifts his own chalice. "Let's raise a glass. To the happy couple."

"Hear, hear." An older man says.

I raise the glass to my lips, but stop as I remember what the ghost warned me of. "Don't let your sister drink the wine."

I grab Mary's chalice and set the glasses on the table behind me and look over at my ladies as the boy nervously walks away. Lola is watching me very quietly, and with a jealous look in her eye. "Oh, Lola, no."

The boy must be Colin.

I grab Mary's hand and look over to Aylee. "Aylee, I want to go dance."

"You can't dance alone." Aylee protests.

I smile. "I wont' be alone." I walk over to Lola, and Aylee and Mary follow me, with Kenna and Greer joining us.

"Lola, come dance with me. Take off your shoes."

Mary gets the idea. "Come on! Dance with us! Take off your shoes."

We laugh and kick our shoes off, and go to the dance floor, holding hands and dancing wildly. The onlookers clap and laugh along. Some of them even join them in dancing. Everyone dances and I spin in a circle, my skirts flying.

When I stop, I look over and see Bash watching me, a smile on his face. I smile back, breathing hard from all the dancing.

Suddenly, feathers start to fall, and I look up at the ceiling, remembering when Francis and I would jump on each others beds, destroying it and the room. Francis would throw up the feathers, making them rain down on us.

I look over at Francis and he is watching me. Something flutters in my chest, and it feels like butterflies. What is it I am feeling? Francis and I start to walk over to each other in a daze.

"Look, Elisabeth and Phillip are leaving." Lola says as the room starts to clear out.

"It's time for the consummation; the ritual; the ceremony; the mystery. Aren't you curious?" Kenna asks as she grabs my arm and pulls me away.

We find a hidden room guarded by a curtain. "Shh." Someone hushes our giggles.

"You mean, they actually watch them...you know." Aylee says, embarrassed.

"It's a tradition for royals." Greer says.

"Well, we are not allowed." Aylee protests.

Kenna looks to Mary and I. "Don't you want to know what you're in for someday? With Francis?"

I blush, and Kenna pulls back the curtain. A lady is helping Elisabeth out of her dress, who looks like she is about to pass out as her husband comes in.

The bishop does a prayer, and Phillip walks over to Elisabeth. Elisabeth looks over at the people watching them, but Phillip shields her face from them. "We're the only ones that matter here." He whispers.

They begin to kiss softly and inch their way to a bed, where they continue kissing and moaning. The girls watch as the consummation unfolds.

Aylee gasps. "Let's go."

We apprehensively leave the room. After we are back in the main hallway, where anyone could see us, we split up. "Go, before anyone sees us." Mary says to all of us.

We all split up, and I run up the stairs to go back to the ballroom, to find Francis. He is there, talking with two other men. Francis sees me, and excuses himself to speak with me.

"I've been wanting to talk to you." Francis says as he approaches me.

"There's something I need to say to you." I say at the same time as him.

"When you came to my room, I shouldn't have said what I did. There were other ways of handling this."

"Handling what? Me? You do realize that you're going to be married to me or my sister someday, don't you?" I ask him.

"Believe me, I know."

I stop him from saying any more. "I know you had a life before I got here."

"It's not about that." Francis interrupts me this time.

"Don't you think that we all owe it to each other, to our families, to our countries, to give it a chance?" I ask.

Francis sighs. "It's not that simple."

I'm enraged. "Not that simple?! What's not simple?! We've all been 'engaged' since we were six! It's all arranged. How awful you must find us to do this?" I make quotations around 'engaged.'

"It's not either of you." Francis interrupts me. "You're both beautiful and clever and unpredictable, but it doesn't matter. What matters is what's right for my country. France is not as strong as you think, or care, which maybe you don't, but I do. I'm going to be king someday, responsible for my people. And right now, an alliance with Scotland could destroy France."

Something breaks inside me. "You don't want to marry either of us. You don't want this at all."

"Things could change."

"Well, it isn't your decision, it's your father's." I say.

"You don't see him pushing a wedding either, do you? All engagements really do is hold alliances. He's betting we might need Scotland, I'm betting we'll find more support elsewhere. I know it's not what you want to hear."

I look at him in the eye. "But you won't love one of us. You won't let yourself."

"Love is irrelevant to people like us. We, who are so privileged in so many ways, with that. All I'm asking you to do is wait, see how things go."

"See how things go for France. I guess it's simple after all. But you aren't not the only one with a country tho think of." I storm off.

Later in the night, when I'm asleep, I hear screaming next door. Mary's room. I hop out of bed, throw a shawl over my shoulders, and run through the door connecting our bedrooms. There, I see Colin, the boy from the party, straddling Mary, who is struggling to scream for help.

"Guards!" I shout, and they come running in. They seize Colin, and I immediately run over to Mary. I wrap my arms around her, smoothing out her hair as her tears drop onto my nightdress. I continue to shush and calm her, but she doesn't sleep.

The next morning, I almost fall asleep while being dressed. Neither Mary, nor I slept last night. I was up thinking about what happened. It didn't make sense at all.

After lunch, Mary and I go to visit our ladies in our sitting room. Before we enter the room, we hear them talking, and stop to listen.

"How could this happen? Where were the guards? Why didn't they stop him?" Aylee questions, to whom nobody can give a definite answer.

Greer answers. "I hope Mary did if they didn't. They'll question her virtue. If she's not a virgin, then she'll never be the queen of France, and our chances at court will be over, if Josie doesn't marry Francis."

"You don't know what happened, any of you." Lola says, obviously upset.

I walk in. "Tell us."

"I've spoken to him. He's being held. I bribed a guard." Lola says while shifting in her seat. "Colin's a good man; a boy still."

"What did he say? What possible defense could he have given you?" Mary asks Lola, getting angry.

Lola tries to convince me. "He said he was forced. He wouldn't say by whom. He couldn't, he was so afraid. But he said there were people, powerful people, behind this, and he had no choice."

"What people?" My sister asks. She's still shaken up. I've done everything to comfort her, but nothing's worked.

Lola looks to Mary, then me. "Here, in the castle. He wouldn't risk saying more."

I looks at Mary. "Do you believe him, Mary?"

Mary starts to think about the events of last night. "He looked so surprised that I would fight back. That I would even wake."

"That you'd wake? He attacked you." Kenna says, confused.

"The wine." The strange figure I had told Mary about. "I was told not to let her drink the wine. We were warned."

"Warned by whom?" Lola asks.

I look at their faces and consider telling them, but I shake my head. "It doesn't matter now. I believe you. I believe Colin."

"So do I." Mary agrees, linking her arm through mine.

Lola looks at me with pleading eyes. "Please help him."

In the throne room, Mary and I approach Henry and Catherine about the matter. "My sister and I thank you for your protection last night, but we need to speak with Colin."

"Speak to your sister's assailant? Why?" Catherine asks.

"Because he is the love of our dear friend. And if there was any misunderstanding, if I sent the wrong message in my joy at the wedding..." Mary trails off.

Catherine looks to me. "Take care, child. If anyone knew you were even asking this-"

"Catherine, she needs to know." Henry interrupts his wife.

Catherine looks at Henry. "Gossip poisons, too. It can poison a young queen's reputation, her heir's right to the throne, an entire kingdom."

Henry turns away from Catherine. "You may have behaved foolishly, but you are not responsible for your countryman's actions."

"Colin McPhail is our subject. We are his queens, and we demand to speak with him." I say firmly.

"Witnesses have come forward. The boy played a role in an English plot to destroy your engagement and Scotland's alliance with France." Henry continues.

"An English plot, you're sure?" Mary asks.

Catherine speaks next. "You must know if he'd been successful in his assault, you'd be unfit to marry our son; to marry any royal. Josephine would have to marry him instead. My dear, this was not an act of passion. It was treason."

"But it's all settled now." King Henry says. "Colin's been executed."

Mary and I are horrified. "What?" We ask.

"He was beheaded this morning."

"There was nothing we could do. We were too late."

Mary and I have approached Lola and the others later in the night. We told them that Colin was beheaded, and Lola is in tears. "He wasn't a traitor. He wasn't a rapist."

"They said he was involved in an English plot." Mary says.

"We don't know who to believe or trust. We- we're so sorry, Lola." I apologize.

"You're the reason he's dead. Anyone who's close to you lives in constant danger. We're disposable, all of us." Lola stands up.

"No, you're not." Mary says to her.

I step forward. "We need you. You're our friends."

"Kenna's my friend. Greer and Aylee are my friends. You both are my queens, and we're your subjects. We're here in service to you, whatever that means, whatever it costs us." Lola is angry.

"We will protect you." I say.

"You can't even protect yourself."

Mary stumbles for words. "We'll do better. We promise."

Lola looks me in the eye and sits down next to the others. She begins sobbing, and is comforted, Mary joining them. I take in a deep breath and leave the room, just for time to myself.

Before I can break down, I see Bash with Stirling on a leash. "Stirling! You found him! Oh, Stirling. What did I do?" I bend down to hug my dog tightly, then realize that Bash is still there. "I'm sorry. It's just been so hard."

"I know." Bash says.

I sniff. "So much harder than I thought it would be."

"You're not alone here."

"I have my friends."

"I'm not talking about your friends." Then Bash's tone suddenly changes. "I meant I want you to be well, Your Grace."

I stand up. "Thank you, Sebastian. Truly." I walk down the stairs, seeing Bash's mother in the corner.

The next day, after breakfast, I stand out on the lawn, watching the lake's water move in the breeze, exactly like my skirt. This is peaceful.

"You defended a boy they found in your sister's bed?" It's Francis. "What was he doing there? You can tell me. I think I know already."

I turn to face him, sort of hurt. "You think she was with him to get back at you? Because you think I told her everything?"

"I think you're impulsive and prideful-"

I don't let him finish. "He's dead. Leave it be, I beg of you." I turn away.

"You can't behave like this. Not at court. Can't you see what's at stake here?" Francis asks.

I face him again. "Because you and myself or my sister are engaged? But you have no intention of marrying either of us. What if I told them that? Then this would be over."

"You wouldn't do that because it's not true. I-I might marry you. Or your sister, perhaps."

"Someday, maybe, if." I start to raise my voice.

"You said that you and Mary had a country to think about. Were you thinking about Scotland during any of this?"

"I was thinking about myself, my friends, mine and my sister's safety-" I begin, but don't get to finish.

Francis steps forward. "You could have ruined your sister's reputation so that I couldn't marry her, and possibly ruined yours, even if things go the way we want them to."

Did I hear his words correctly? I realize it, and so does Francis.

"'The way we want them to?' And how would 'we' want things to go? If you weren't the future king of France, and I was just a girl, not the queen of anything, would you want this?" I ask, not thinking of Mary, and our faces get closer. Is he going to kiss me?

"I can't do this. I won't." Francis turns away from me, and leaves.

I stand there, partly confused at what my heart is telling me. I want to love Francis, but I'm not sure if I can. I'm sure if Mary can.

Later that night, after supper, I grab a dark cloak from my closet and pull it over my dress. Through the passageways, through a route I remember, I find myself outside, where thunder is booming. A storm is coming.

Looking out onto the lake, I hear footsteps crunching behind me. It must be the mysterious figure.

"I don't know who you are, or why you hide, but your warning saved my sister. Danger surrounds us here, and we are in your debt." I say, knowing that the figure is behind me.

Thunder crashes, causing me to jump. "Are you in danger, too?"

I remove my hood and turn around, where the figure has disappeared. Putting my hood back over my head, I turn back to the lake, the sun's final light disappearing over the horizon.