Chapter 11

Bash and Francis had come up with some sort of plan to scare Tomas or to threaten him. I, unfortunately, was the bait to this plan. I tried my best to dress warmly since the cold still hadn't gone away. It definitely felt colder in the forest than it did anywhere else, maybe because of the dark feeling the forest already gave off. My many layers of clothing felt like nothing as the cold crept up my body, causing my body to shiver.

Standing here with only my small lantern, that only produced a limited amount of light, gave me time to think about how ridiculous this plan was. We brought Tomas to this location so that no one could see us talk, but if talking doesn't work Bash and Francis are going to threaten Tomas. If that doesn't work? I'm sure violence will be used. Francis and Bash were waiting behind trees to see if I could work this out with Tomas without them before they came in with their swords. I would much like to settle this without violence but I don't see how Tomas would listen to me. He didn't before, why would he now?

The moon's dim light reflected into the heavy fog that planted the ground. The lantern's small light created an almost eerie look in the fog. This whole location scared me. I held the lantern close to my body as if it were to protect me from the evils within the forest. Suddenly, one of those evils actually did appear. Tomas. Out of the fog came Miguel and Tomas, they each were holding a lantern close to their person.

"Quite a place to meet," Tomas said with his fake smile. I almost wanted to slap it off of him, but I controlled myself. "You wanted an answer by tonight, so here I am."

Tomas nodded. "So you are." He took a step forward, his lantern swung side to side from his sudden movement. "And what will it be?"

I smiled, just as Tomas. "No."

His smile quickly disappeared and I could tell Miguel was scared for Tomas' next move. "No, is not an option. Remember?" Tomas said. He took a step toward Miguel and grabbed his collar. "Do you know that Miguel has a family?"

Tomas' lantern fell to the icy ground. Then suddenly Tomas grabbed the sword that hung in his belt. He placed it onto Miguel's neck. Pure terror covered Miguel's face.

I took a step forward and raised my hands. "Tomas. Everyone knows. They know that you threatened me. They know that you planned on ambushing the French men going to Scotland."

This wasn't true. Only Bash and Francis knew, but they would soon know after this.

Tomas' eyes widened and he tightened his grip on Miguel, his sword getting deeper into Miguel's skin. "You think anyone would believe a weak queen like you? You are their prison and you didn't even know." Tomas laughed loudly. "You rot in that castle all day while your country is in need. France is not your ally. They are your enemy."

"France sent men to my country without threatening me." I shot back.

I heard slight cry escape Miguel's lips. My eyes widened when I saw blood trickle down his neck. "Let him go, Tomas!" I shouted. I wanted to do something, anything just to get Miguel away from Tomas. But I didn't need to do anything. Suddenly, Tomas threw Miguel to the side and charged toward me. I stumbled back, not ready for this sudden change. I could see Francis and Bash behind Tomas, attempting to reach him before he reached me, but they wouldn't get him in time. I wasn't willing to take another hit, especially not from a man like Tomas. When he was within range of me I threw the lantern as hard as I could into his face. The metal cracked into Tomas' cheek, creating a loud cracking sound. I couldn't tell if it was from the lantern or from his face, either way, I didn't care. From all the force I used to throw the lantern I fell to the ground, alongside Tomas. He was shrieking and scratching at his face. "You bitch!" Tomas shouted, his deep voice echoed throughout the empty woods. Francis and Bash towered over Tomas, they both clenched their swords tightly in their hands. They were baffled by what just happened before them, but when they finally snapped out of it Bash leaned down and pushed his knee against Tomas' body. "We know everything, Tomas. You getting legitimized with the pope and how you need a queen to seal the deal."

My eyes widened. That was something I didn't know. I just thought the man was desperate. Bash grabbed onto Tomas' arms and tried to put them behind his back so that he could tie them together. But without warning Tomas broke free from Bash's grasp and he reached for me. He grabbed onto my leg and yanked me toward him, my body dragged through the sticks and sharp rocks. I shrieked with pain but attempted to compose myself to get away from Tomas. He reached down with his other hand that wasn't holding onto my leg and pulled out a knife from his belt. I tried to kick him away with my other foot, but I wasn't able to get away from him. Francis leaned down and grabbed hold of Tomas, forcing Tomas to let go of me and put his attention onto Francis.

Francis lifted Tomas and slammed his body back down on the ground, causing Tomas to slam his head into the hard ground. Francis didn't stop after doing it once. He continued to lift Tomas and force him back down. Every time it was like you could almost hear Tomas' skull hitting the rocks below him. I slowly dragged my body away from the mess Francis was creating. Bash wrapped his arm around Francis' chest and pulled him away. "Francis, that's enough!"

Francis pulled against Bash, trying to finish what he started but Bash held Francis tightly. "He deserves to die!" Francis shouted angrily. I've seen Francis angry in the past, but seeing him like this now was new and terrifying. He wanted to kill Tomas no matter what Bash said to him. Bash forced Francis to face him. "Francis, he's had enough. He will be executed for the crimes he's done!" Francis finally began to calm down, but he kept hold of Bash. It seemed like the adrenaline that was used on Tomas was now fading from Francis' body.

I watched as Tomas slowly lifted his body upward. It looked like he was finally surrendering, but then I saw he still had the small knife in his hand. "Francis!" I screamed. Francis and Bash slowly turned but weren't fast enough. I stared in horror as I watched the small knife thrust into Francis' hip. Francis cringed and grabbed onto his hip. Blood began to stain his clothing. He let a small gasp escape his lips as his legs gave away, slamming into the ground. I couldn't move. I wanted to run to him or even scream at the sight, but my body wouldn't allow me to do either. It wanted me to watch what was before me. Francis on his hands and knees as he attempted to hold onto the knife that was buried in his body. Bash backed away from Francis in shock but quickly recovered. He grabbed onto his sword and roughly shoved it into Tomas' chest.

Even as Tomas' body fell to the ground I still couldn't move. But when I saw Bash crouch next to Francis I found my body finally moving. I ran over to Francis and lowered myself underneath him so that his head was in my lap. My mind was going in all different directions, making it difficult for me to even control myself. I tried to cover the wound with my hand, forcing the blood to stay in his body but even with my hand covering the wound, blood continued to slowly flow out of the wound. It began to stain his white shirt, the one I had seen him put on only this morning. The one I grabbed, trying to get Francis to come back to me.

I could start to feel tears roll down my face and my body began to rock back and forth. "Francis." I cried. His eyes were fighting with themselves as he tried to keep them open. "Francis, please. Stay awake. Look at me." I attempted brushing his curls away from his face, only to have them spring back. Bash put his hand on my shoulder. "We need to get him to the castle. Even if it's a small wound he could still bleed out."

I knew I heard what Bash said, but my body continued to rock as I stared down at Francis' face. He was now unconscious, but you could see his breath due to the coldness. "Mary!" Bash shouted at me. I whipped my head up to find Bash in front of me. "We need to move. Now!"

Bash began lifting Francis' body off the ground. He wrapped Francis' arm around him, then suddenly Miguel came over and got his other arm. They started to walk in the direction of the castle, but I was still frozen. I watched as Bash and Miguel attempted to walk with Francis on their shoulders. Was this my fault? If I would have just trusted Francis to begin with, would we be in this mess?

Bash quickly turned around. "Francis is bleeding out! If we do not go now he is going to die! Now move!" Bash shouted at me. My eyes widened and suddenly my legs were moving, even though I didn't tell them to. I could feel my leg screaming at me, but I continued to walk.

When we made it to the castle Francis was taken away by doctors and Bash and Miguel were questioned. I was too much in shock to talk to anyone right now.

I slowly walked toward Francis' chambers to find him surrounded with people. Servants, doctors, Catherine, and Nostradamus. They were all talking, but no one was talking to Francis. His eyes were wandering from one person to the next. Their talking overlapped each other and it was hard to keep up. I silently stepped inside and made my way to Francis. When he saw me his face lit up. "Mary." He whispered. The servants next to his bed made way for me and the conversations began to dwindle. "Francis…" I almost cried. Even though he was stabbed he was smiling and acting like he was seeing me for the first time in a long time. He extended his arms and I quickly fell into them. I could no longer contain my cries and let them loose.

"Come, everyone," Catherine said. "Let us take our leave."

Catherine began pushing everyone out of the room and when they were all gone she closed the door behind her, leaving only Francis and me together.

"I didn't know what to do. I was scared, Francis. I thought I was losing you." I croaked. Francis slowly rubbed my back as I leaned against him. "Apparently the knife was too small to do any major damage. I just passed out because I couldn't handle the pain." Francis laughed a little. "I'm pretty weak."

I shot up and glared at him. "You are not." Francis smiled and placed his warm hand on my cheek. "I'm here, Mary. Besides this is nothing compared to what you had to deal with." I ignored him because to me this was worse. Watching Francis get stabbed was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. So many dark things were going through my mind, things I never wanted to experience again. "Will you lay with me?" Francis asked cheerfully. I still couldn't understand how he could be so happy, but it was better than him being gone. I obliged and slowly lifted my legs up on the bed. "Mary! Your leg!" Francis said. I looked over to find a large, but not deep cut on my left leg. "Call the doctor back in." Francis pressed. I shook my head and placed my head onto Francis' chest. "Not now. Please. Just let me lay here with you for a little while."

I could tell Francis was reluctant, but he agreed. I laid closed to Francis, my head on his chest. I could feel his heartbeat against his chest and to me, it was the greatest sound in the world.