By the time the day of Greer's wedding arrived, Mary was in little mood to celebrate.
The so-called 'rebel symbol' she seemed to have been tricked into wearing during her interview might have (thankfully) gone largely unnoticed by most members of the general public, and she might have come up with the idea to 'casually' mention in a magazine interview that the pin had been given to her as a gift by a child standing in the crowd on the family's last royal tour abroad, in a country where the symbol no doubt meant something different, in order to try to stop any rumours from spreading, but none of this changed the fact that Mary was currently being treated like a child in disgrace.
The royal family had been unable to fully hush up the whispers going around the country as to why Mary might have chosen to pin that particular symbol to her shirt in the first place, and her mother, already furious with Mary after overhearing her argument with Francis, had also started to suspect that Mary and Narcisse had been in on some kind of scheme to disgrace the royal family together.
It hadn't helped that Mary had been unable to identify the guard who had showed up at the television room door and asked her to wear the pin in the first place-it was almost as though he had vanished from the castle completely, and so the finger of suspicion had instead continued to point at Narcisse.
As a result, Narcisse had been 'temporarily suspended' from his role as Mary's Publicist by Mary's mother, much to Mary's fury.
"You are doing Francis's dirty work for him!" Mary had screamed at her mother when the news was first announced, but all of her protests had fallen on deaf ears.
It wasn't as though Mary was particularly attached to Narcisse as a person after only knowing him for a short time, but she had started to rely on him in his role as her Publicist, and now she was concerned that he had gone for good.
After all of this conflict, the queen had not allowed Mary to take part in any official royal engagements over the past week, aside from a couple of tabloid magazine interviews to 'smooth things over', as it seemed that she no longer trusted her not to do more damage to the royal family's reputation in Scotland.
Filming for the matchmaking show had also been put on hold for a few days, and so Mary had instead spent most of the week meeting with a few staff members to plan the logistics of her trip to Edinburgh to take part in Greer's wedding, while her parents and her brother continued to attend to their royal duties.
To make matters even worse, Francis had suddenly returned to France only a couple of days ago, as apparently some sort of 'urgent royal business' had come up at the French castle, and his presence was required at home.
Deep down, Mary suspected that he had simply used this urgent business as an excuse to leave Scotland, and a part of her feared that he might not return, especially as she and Francis had barely spoken since their argument and after Narcisse's suspension from his job.
As angry as she still felt about everything, already, a feeling of regret was starting to overwhelm her.
However, Mary knew that she had to put on a brave face as she walked down the stone steps outside the castle and towards the cars parked on the driveway that would take them all to the wedding, as several photographers were waiting outside the castle to take pictures.
Her long, black skirt trailed over the ground as she slowly descended the steps, trying her best to keep her head held high, and trying not to let her troubled thoughts reflect on her face.
It was still early in the morning, and the air was damp and misty, adding to a general sense of gloom in the atmosphere.
Mary wanted to be optimistic, she really did-Greer was one of her closest friends, and today would be the happiest day of Greer's life, and Mary felt so honoured to be her bridesmaid, but in spite of all that, she felt like the cold, misty weather was more reflective of her mood right now.
She was grateful to arrive at the waiting car, where she was hoping to hide away for a couple of hours and not have to face photographers or journalists for a little while.
A few members of staff were waiting around the driveway, ready to offer assistance to the royal family if it was required. Mary noticed Bash, who was waiting by the car that she would be travelling in. As she took a step closer to the car door, Bash reached out a hand to help her into the car, and Mary took it, managing to smile back at him when he grinned at her. They hadn't talked much since he had revealed to her the meaning behind the symbol she was wearing after her interview, but still, Mary was happy to see a friendly face.
Mary would be travelling to Edinburgh with Lola today, and when she finally got in the car and took her seat, Lola was already sitting down with her seatbelt fastened, watching Mary with what looked like a suspicious expression.
"Be careful with Bash, Mary," Lola told her in a warning tone of voice, the second the car door was closed, "he has feelings for you..."
For a moment, Mary felt confused as to what Lola was trying to say, but then she couldn't help feeling a little annoyed that Lola had felt it was necessary to warn her about Bash like that, and she had to try her best not to frown at her.
Still, she really didn't want to get into an argument with Lola at the moment, not when she was already feeling so angry with everybody else. The two of them had developed a sort of friendship in the short time that Lola had been working at the castle, and they had even watched a couple of episodes of the matchmaking show together in the television room.
The first episode of the show had focused on the opening ceremony and the ball, with a few interviews given by Mary's parents thrown in, and the second episode had focused on Mary and Francis's walk in the grounds, as well as Kenna's visit to the castle. From what Mary's Publicity Team had told her, the viewing figures were fairly steady, and viewers were definitely intrigued by the prospect of a romance between Francis and Mary, but Mary had a feeling that they would have to do more soon to really engage the viewers-if the show was going to continue at all, that is.
Mary had felt relieved when it was first decided that she could travel to Edinburgh in the car with Lola, as she hadn't really wanted to travel with her parents or her brother and face long lectures from any of them, but now it seemed like Lola was speaking to her in the same way that her mother always spoke to her.
Instead of responding to what Lola had just said, Mary simply shrugged and took out her phone as the car started moving.
Several cars were following behind them, as Mary's parents and Kenna and James would also be attending the wedding, along with several members of staff of James's choosing, like Lola, who would be able to assist them at the event.
Deciding not to think about everything else that was going on around her at the moment, Mary scrolled through a couple of social media sites, trying to discover for herself what the public reactions were to the first couple of episodes of the show.
The photo of Francis and Mary walking into the ballroom hand-in-hand had definitely been a popular one, and many fans of the show had shared it on their pages.
Another image that had proved to be popular was the one of Francis holding on to Mary and helping her up after she fell during their walk in the grounds. The photographers seemed to have captured the moment from a perfect angle, with the two of them looking into each other's eyes, and even Mary had to admit that the picture on its own, with no context provided, looked rather romantic.
In general, it looked like most young fans of the show were supportive of the matchmaking process, and they seemed to think that Mary and Francis would make a good couple. Again, Mary couldn't help feeling nervous that their hopes might be dashed now that Francis had returned to France.
Mary focused on a few more of the pictures that had been widely shared on social media pages, including a few photographs of Mary and Francis standing on the castle steps while they waited for Kenna to arrive.
The way he looks at her! one fan of the show had written about Francis in the comments section of one of the photographs that depicted Francis glancing over at Mary from where he had stood on the steps.
Mary felt a strange rush of emotion as she read the comment and looked at the picture. Suddenly, she could no longer stand to look at pictures and comments anymore. Hurriedly, she turned off her phone, and leaned her head against the window.
Mary realised that she must have dozed off at some point during the journey, because it seemed like one moment she was gazing out of the car window at the Scottish countryside, and the next, she was opening her eyes to find herself in the city of Edinburgh.
As the car headed in the direction of the hotel where Greer and Mary would be getting ready for the wedding ceremony, Mary only half-listened to Lola as she talked about the wedding and speculated as to which guests would be attending. From the glum expression on Lola's face however, and the ocassional sigh, Mary suspected that she wished that Narcisse would be attending.
Eventually, they arrived at the hotel. Mary was led away by several members of the security team towards the private suite where the bridal party was getting ready.
When Mary opened the door to the suite, Greer was standing in the middle of the room wearing a long, silk robe, her hair already styled and a contented smile on her face.
"Mary," said Greer, her tone of voice affectionate as she smiled and waved in Mary's direction.
"Oh, Greer," said Mary, as she smiled back at her.
She practically ran towards her best friend, and the two of them hugged. It had been so long since they had last seen each other, and Mary felt an overwhelming sense of relief to see her old friend again; a sense of relief at getting to see a familiar face-somebody who had known her for a long time-especially when it felt like so much had changed over the past few weeks. She realised just how much she had missed her.
A part of her longed for her school days in London, back when she and Greer had spent their days together; back when they would giggle at Kenna's 'ridiculous' schemes to marry a prince; back when Mary would secretly follow Francis around London, trying to work out where he was going.
The two of them didn't have too long to catch up, as Mary was rushed over towards the hair and makeup team while Greer went to put on her wedding dress, and then Mary was led over towards another team of stylists so that they could help her change into her bridesmaid's dress.
Finally, Mary stood next to Greer in front of a full-length mirror that had been set up in the room, the two of them admiring their dresses.
Of course, Mary loved her black silk, off-the-shoulder bridesmaid dress, but it was Greer's dress that really stood out. Greer's cream-coloured wedding dress was beautiful, with its ballgown style and its intricate details.
Mary had never really thought too much about weddings and wedding dresses before, but she couldn't help gazing admiringly at Greer's dress.
When Greer caught her eye in the mirror and smiled at her, Mary couldn't resist asking her something that she had been thinking about for a little while: "How did you know that Aloysius was the man you wanted to marry? How did you know that he was The One?"
Mary thought it would perhaps be in bad taste to mention Greer's past relationship with Leith on her wedding day, but she could tell from the look on Greer's face that Greer had guessed what Mary was trying to ask-how, after her years with Leith, had Greer come to decide that Lord Castleroy was the man she loved, and so quickly as well?
"I'll always have happy memories of my time with Leith, Mary," Greer replied, looking thoughtful. "But people change; as we grow up, we find we have different dreams, and goals. Sometimes, when we get older, we realise that the boys we had crushes on as schoolgirls do not turn out to be the same men we love when we are women."
Before Mary could say anything in response, they were both called away from the mirror by the Events Team. It seemed that the cars had arrived to take the bridal party to Edinburgh Cathedral, where the ceremony would be taking place.
Mary headed out of the hotel, lost in thought about what Greer had just said.
The area outside the cathedral might have been packed full of photographers and well-wishers, all of them eager to catch a glimpse of the rather famous groom, and the Scottish royal family as they all arrived at the ceremony, but it was easy for Mary to forget about all of that once they were inside.
The beautifully decorated interior of the cathedral would have been breathtaking in itself, with it high, domed ceiling, its pillars, and its stained glass windows and brightly-coloured murals, but it was the happy atmosphere that truly made the place seem beautiful.
Lord Castleroy beamed as Greer walked down the aisle towards him, looking like the happiest man on Earth.
Greer looked equally happy as she smiled at her soon-to-be husband.
The children all looked adorable in their outfits, dressed up as paigeboys and flowergirls. Many of the guests smiled happily at them as they walked down the aisle.
The wedding vows were heartfelt and emotional, and all the guests cheered loudly when Greer and Aloysius were finally announced as husband and wife.
Even Mary couldn't help being influenced by the happy mood, in spite of everything else that was going on in her life at the moment. She smiled happily as she walked down the aisle as Greer's bridesmaid, and then she felt a little emotional when the bride and groom kissed at the end of the ceremony to another enthusiastic round of applause.
It was easy to get lost in the moment, and to forget about royalty or politics or television shows for a little while.
It was only when Mary was back outside, standing on the Cathedral stairs while Greer and her husband posed for a few photographs with the children, that she fully became aware of her surroundings again.
She looked around at the other guests, including her mother, who was in conversation with Lola, and James, who was posing for photographs with members of the public who had showed up outside the Cathedral. A few of the castle's guards stood close to James as he interacted with the people in the crowd.
Mary hung back, making sure to stay away from the crowds. She was not sure how she would be treated by the public, now that a few rumours were probably going around that she had worn a rebel symbol during her most recent interview, and she wasn't eager to find out if they would be friendly to her or not.
As she posed for a photograph with the bride and groom, Mary noticed that Kenna and Lola were now giggling and whispering together. Mary let out a resigned sigh. Of course the two of them would get along.
Suddenly, Mary blinked a few times in shock when she saw Bash, standing a few feet away from her, in conversation with a few other members of staff. She hadn't expeted to see him here-as far as she'd known, Bash had not been invited by James to attend the wedding.
Suddenly, Kenna walked past her, the skirts of her designer gown flowing behind her as she waved and smiled at a few people in the crowd a few feet away.
"What's Sebastian doing here?" Mary couldn't help asking her, keeping her voice low.
"Oh, didn't you hear?" said Kenna as a not-so-innocent grin crept to her face. "James put me in charge of the staff invites for the wedding, and I decided that after all the good work Bash has been doing at the castle, he would be an invaluable assistant to the royal family today!"
"Really?" Mary asked Kenna, unable to keep the tone of suspicion out of her voice as she folded her arms and glared at Kenna. "That's the only reason you invited him?"
Kenna simply raised an eyebrow and then shrugged at her in response, looking like she was trying not to laugh.
Mary didn't have time to ask Kenna anything else, because the wedding photographers had finally finished taking their photos, and they were all ushered back to their cars so that they could travel to the wedding reception.
The venue where the wedding reception was taking place was just as beautiful as the cathedral, with its ballroom style main room, high ceilings, chandeliers and polished wooden floors, and of course the formally decorated tables.
Mary sat at the head table with the bride, groom and best man, while James, Kenna and Mary's parents were seated at a round table close by, and Bash and Lola sat at another table just behind them with a few of the guards. Every now and again, Kenna turned around in her seat so that she could talk to Lola.
Mary blinked back tears as all the emotional speeches were given, with all of the speakers talking about how Greer and Aloysius first met, and how their relationship had developed, and then she shared a few laughs with Greer about their school days while they all ate the delicious food. For a little while, Mary could almost imagine that she and Greer were back at school together, back before people like Bash, and Kenna, and Lola, and Narcisse had become a significant part of her life-things had been simpler back then, although Mary hadn't realised it at the time.
As she finished her dessert, Mary couldn't help letting out a sad sigh, as she couldn't help thinking about Francis again, and how he had gone back to France, and how she wasn't sure if he would return to Scotland, after everything that had happened. She knew that she shouldn't care so much, but she really did.
Greer caught her eye, a look of concern in her expression, as though she could sense that Mary was upset about something. Quickly, Mary smiled back at her friend-she didn't want anything to spoil Greer's day.
Soon, all the guests had finished eating, and the tables were cleared, and the evening guests started to arrive.
As the lights dimmed, Greer and Aloysius walked hand-in-hand to the middle of the dance floor so that they could share their first dance as a married couple.
The moment was made even more adorable when the children ran into the middle of the dance floor, joining in with the dance.
As Mary watched the happy family dancing together, again her thoughts drifted to Francis. She wondered if he would have asked her to dance, if he had been at the ceremony today.
As a few other couples joined the newlyweds on the dance floor, Mary stood back and observed as her parents danced together, still looking deeply in love with one another in spite of all their years together and all the trials and tribulations that came with ruling a country. Sometimes, in the midst of all the problems that they had to face on a daily basis, Mary forgot just how strong the bond between her parents was.
James and Kenna also danced together, although they didn't seem to be as connected as Mary and James's parents were. Kenna didn't seem to care though-she simply smiled as she took in the admiring (and perhaps also a little envious) glances of other young women in the room.
Finally, the music became more upbeat, and larger groups of guests started to head towards the dance floor. Mary's brother walked towards her and held a hand out to her, inviting her to dance, and the two of them headed towards the dance floor. Mary couldn't help smiling as she danced with James, while Lola and Kenna danced close by. As the music played, it was almost like the two of them were children again, dancing around the castle without a care in the world. It was so rare to see James looking so happy and so carefree.
Of course, the moment couldn't last. Soon, James was asked to dance by other women in the room, all of them no doubt keen to say that they had danced with a future king. With an apologetic-looking shrug, James went off to do his duty.
For a little while, Mary went to dance with Bash, who seemed to be just as surprised as she was by his last-minute invitation to the wedding. Mary simply smiled along with him, trying to ignore the fact that Kenna seemed to be watching the two of them out of the corner of her eye.
Like James, Bash also seemed to have a group of women who were waiting to dance with him, and so Mary stepped aside and eventually ended up dancing with Lola and Kenna. They were soon joined by Greer, who seemed happy to join a group of girls and indulge in a few less-than-elegant dance moves.
Mary realised how rare an event this was, to be dancing with a group of girls at a party, almost like they were all friends who had known each other for years. Kenna in particular looked thrilled by it all, and Mary couldn't help but wonder if Kenna had many female friends to go to parties with. She also wondered what it would be like to do things like this all the time-to go to parties with Lola and Kenna and Greer; for all of them to just be normal young girls sometimes.
Mary was just getting into the moment, laughing with the others as she started to dance like nobody was watching, when Lola suddenly froze in the middle of the dance floor, her eyes wide as she looked in the direction of the main doors.
"Narcisse!" she called out, not bothering to keep her voice down, her tone a mixture of surprise and happiness.
Quickly, Mary turned to look in the direction of the room's entrance. Sure enough, Narcisse was standing right in the doorway with a smirk on his face, looking like he belonged there.
Mary's eyes widened in shock. How was this possible? Why was he here, at the wedding, when he had been suspended from work?
She was just about to say something when Lola smiled and started running across the room towards him, abandoning all protocol while most of the wedding guests stared at her. "Narcisse!" she called out again as she threw her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in for a hug, apparently thrilled to see him.
A few murmurs of disapproval about Lola's behaviour started to echo around the room, but Lola and Narcisse didn't seem to care. If anything, Narcisse seemed to be enjoying the fact that he had made such a notable entrance.
Feeling very confused, and overcome with curiosity as to why Narcisse had just walked through the door, Mary walked towards him, her steps a little slower and more dignified as Kenna fell into step behind her.
"What are you doing here?" Mary heard Lola ask Narcisse as she approached.
"Well," said Narcisse, with a would-be-casual shrug, "it turns out that my presence was required by the royal family after all." He smirked before he continued: "I received a call earlier this afternoon to offer me my job back, with a suggestion that I could perhaps make myself useful as an evening guest at the wedding, in my role as Publicist, of course-if the princess will have me back as her employee, that is..." he added hurriedly with a glance at Mary, as though only just remembering that Mary would have some say in all this.
Mary had no choice but to nod along in agreement-Lola was looking at her as though her future happiness depended upon Mary's decision.
Going by the way that Lola had her arm draped over Narcisse's shoulder, and the way he was holding her in return, in was obvious now that something was going on between the two of them-perhaps they had already shared a few secret kisses in hidden parts of the castle.
All this time, Mary had worried that Lola had a crush on Francis, when really, it was apparently Narcisse who she had feelings for.
After the others had looked away from her, Mary continued to stare at Narcisse, still feeling shocked. She wasn't exactly sure how this had happened. Her parents hadn't said anything about reinstating Narcisse and inviting him to the wedding-it didn't seem like something her parents would have encouraged, especially after all the recent controversy that they believed Narcisse had caused. She also highly doubted that James would have gone behind their backs to make a decision like this.
A thought suddenly occured to her: "Did you have any part to play in this?" she asked Kenna in a whisper as she glared at her suspiciously.
Kenna had been put in charge of most of the wedding invites for the castle's staff, after all. She had already been sneaky in asking Bash, and if Lola had confided in Kenna that she had feelings for Narcisse, well, Mary wouldn't put it past Kenna to pull a few strings to help her new friend out.
However, Kenna shrugged and shook her head in response. Mary could tell from the expression on her face that Kenna had had nothing to do with this-she seemed just as surprised as Mary and Lola were.
"Narcisse! Dance with me!" Lola inisted with a grin before Mary could ask him anything. Lola grabbed hold of his hand and started to tug him towards the dance floor, and Narcisse went willingly.
Mary watched them go. She wasn't sure how she felt about Narcisse's return. On the one hand, she was glad at the prospect of putting an end to some of her recent conflict with her family now that they had apparently allowed her old Publicist to return, but on the other hand, she still wasn't sure if she trusted Narcisse. Something about him made her feel a little wary, and a part of her worried that Francis was right about him. She couldn't help thinking about Catherine's words to her son: "Narcisse must really despise her..." Was Narcisse really working for her, or against her? Mary still wasn't sure.
In the moments that Mary had stood still and watched Lola and Narcisse, lost in thought, Kenna had run over towards Bash. Mary watched in surprise as she eagerly asked him to dance, and Bash nodded.
She was distracted when James appeared at her side. "Let's go and get a drink," he mumbled to her. He sounded relaxed, casual almost, but Mary could tell from the serious, uneasy expression on his face that her older brother had something he wanted to tell her.
Mary fell into step next to him, trying to appear just as casual as James requested glasses of water for the two of them, before they moved away from the crowd.
They found a table in the far corner of the room, as far away as possible from potential eavesdroppers.
James seemed to fidget in his seat, apparently reluctant to start this conversation.
"You're not going to tell me it was you who gave Narcisse his job back, are you? Mary asked him with a raised eyebrow, pretending to watch him suspiciously.
James shook his head, managing a grin of his own. "No," he told her. "You might be surprised to hear this, but the Scottish royal family played no part in this. It seems it was the French royal family who were responsible for his return."
Mary almost knocked over her drink in her shock. "But...why would they do that?" she asked James with a frown. "They despise Narcisse-his sacking would have played right into their hands."
"That may be the case," James shrugged, "but it seems that one member of the family in particular insisted that the show might be in jeopardy if you no longer had your Publicist by your side." He raised his eyebrows significantly at Mary before he continued in a whisper. "Apparently, there were fears you would drop out of the show completely if Narcisse was no longer there to help you. And, well, the other French royals wouldn't risk it-they won't be humiliated on television, not now that they're so far into this. And so the call came into our offices from France this morning, 'advising' us to 'reconsider' his suspension from work. Mother was too worried about a diplomatic incident to say no to them..."
Mary felt like her head was spinning with all this new information. There were so many questions she wanted to ask her brother, but before she could put anything into words, a group of Scottish politicians approached the table, inviting James to come and "talk business" with them. James gave Mary an apologetic look before he left the table.
Mary was left alone, lost in her thoughts. Why had the French royal family insisted on giving Narcisse his job back?
A few of James's words played over in her head: "...it seems that one member of the family in particular..."
Had Francis been behind Narcisse's return? Was it even possible? Why would he do that?
Another thought occured to her, one that seemed even more impossible: Was this some kind of peace offering on Francis's part? Was he trying to make amends? Or was this simply wishful thinking on her part?
Unsure what to think, Mary watched the guests who were dancing. Lola and Narcisse were slow-dancing together, in spite of the fast music, their arms wrapped around one another, looking like they were lost in their own little world.
Greer and Aloysius were also dancing together, huge smiles on their faces as the children danced close by.
Bash and Kenna were still dancing together, to Mary's surprise. The two of them laughed at each other as they induldged in a few comedy dance moves that Mary had always imagined Kenna would think of as being beneath her.
Mary was used to Bash's constant smirks, but something about the smile on his face as he danced with Kenna seemed so much more...genuine. His laughter seemed real, this time. It was obvious that he was really enjoying himself. And Kenna, who Mary had always thought was a little stuck up, seemed to be having no trouble letting her hair down at the moment.
Then there was James, who continued to walk around the room, sharing formal conversations with millionaires and politicians, looking every inch the future king and apparently oblivious to the fact that his future wife was dancing close to Bash, only a few feet away from him.
They all seemed so...comfortable. Like they all knew who they were and what they were supposed to be doing.
More than ever, Mary felt like an outsider, watching them all from a great distance. She felt like an outsider even in her own country, alone and observing everybody else as though from afar.
The room felt too hot, too enclosed. The table in the far corner in the room wasn't far away enough. She needed some fresh air; she had to move; she needed to get out, if only for a little while.
Trying to be as discreet as possible, Mary got up from her seat and slipped out of the room through a side door.
She walked aimlessly through the corridors of the building for a little while, darting around a few corners to hide whenever she heard the sound of footsteps, before heading outside through one of the exit doors.
The night air felt cold and sharp when she stepped outside, and Mary couldn't help shivering.
At the sound of more footsteps, Mary hurriedly closed the exit door and ran further down a narrow alleyway that seemed to be located around the back of the building.
Feeling a little out of breath, she leaned back against the nearest wall, looking up at the sky as she tried to calm her thoughts and control her breathing.
"Mary?"
At the sound of the voice, Mary turned her head to look towards the door.
Bash had just stepped outside, a look of concern on his face.
Mary almost wasn't surprised that he had followed her-he must have seen her slip out of the room, somehow; he must have been curious about where she was going.
We are so alike, in some ways...Mary thought to herself as she watched Bash approach her. We both know how to sneak around and keep secrets.
"Mary?" Bash repeated as he got closer to her.
Mary realised that she still hadn't offered him any sort of response, and he was clearly worried about her.
"Are you all right?" Bash asked her, as he took another step closer to her.
Mary took another step closer to him, allowed him to place a hand on her arm.
She could kiss him. Take that last step and close the gap between them. Do something to shock everybody; to get back at them all for the situation they had placed her in; to let them know that she was more than the person they expected her to be; to show them all that she would not just blindly follow royal orders-her parents, her brother, the camera crew, her Publicity Team; to let Francis know that she wasn't falling apart, just because he had left...
It would be so easy. Bash was handome-all the other girls thought so, and even Kenna seemed to be taken with him. And Lola had already told her that Bash had feelings for her. He would have been just her type, back at school, when she was a little younger. He would kiss her back. Perhaps it would help to ease some of the hurt and the confusion that she had felt over the past couple of weeks...
As though coming out of a daze, Mary suddenly took a step back. No. She couldn't do it. It wouldn't be right. Greer's words about teenage crushes and Lola's warning about not toying with Bash's feelings seemed more significant now, in this moment. It would not be fair to start something with Bash when her mind was so full of thoughts about Francis. She wasn't even sure how exactly she felt about him yet, and she was still so angry with him after their argument, but still, he seemed to have played a starring role in her thoughts and her dreams ever since he had re-entered her life.
She knew that she had to work out her feelings for Francis before she allowed anyone else to interfere with this royal matchmaking process.
"I'm fine," Mary insisted as she looked Bash in the eye and tried to look calm and composed. "I just needed a little fresh air, that's all."
Bash nodded, and a more guarded expression slowly appeared on his face, too.
From the day she'd met him, a part of Mary had hoped, rather than truly believed, that being with somebody like Bash would be easy, straightforward-a lot less complicated than dating a prince. But deep down, Mary knew that this wasn't the case-she thought about how Bash had mysteriously appeared in her local village, and at the castle, at the ideal time-just when the matchmaking show was getting started. She thought about how skilled he was at sneaking around, staying hidden, climbing castle walls and attending secret meetings. She thought about how he'd recognised the rebel symbol that she'd worn right away-how he'd looked so worried about the repercussions of her actions.
Bash had something to hide; he had secrets of his own. Mary wasn't yet sure what they were exactly, but she had to admit, if only to herself, that kissing Bash would bring about just as many complications as kissing Francis would. Every man would bring complications to her life, and she would bring them to theirs. Perhaps it was simply a matter of deciding who would be worth overcoming the complications for.
She had just reassured Bash yet again that she was fine when the exit door suddenly burst open. Kenna stepped outside, her movements almost giddy-looking as a smile crept to her face.
"Bash? Will you not dance with me again?" she asked, apparently not noticing just yet that Mary was also standing outside with Bash.
Kenna's words reminded Mary of Olivia, standing on the grand staircase inside the French castle two years ago as she spoke to Francis.
Mary felt a familiar rush of irritation, only this time, it was not directed at Kenna.
She was jealous of Olivia. She just hadn't realised it, until now; she hadn't understood why it always upset her so much whenever Francis mentioned her name.
But then, if she was jealous of Olivia, did that mean that she wanted to be Francis's girlfriend? Mary frowned and shook her head. Everything was so confusing. If only she had thought about all this before Francis returned to France.
It didn't take long before Kenna realised that Mary was also outside, still standing quite close to Bash. Her smile seemed to freeze on her face; she stopped in the doorway and looked from one to the other, her expression almost suspicious, and maybe even a little hurt.
"Oh," Kenna mumbled, as she aimed a glare in Mary's direction, "it's you."
Bash looked at Mary almost questioningly, as though checking that she was definitely okay, and silently asking her permission to go and rejoin the party.
"Go and dance," Mary told him, attempting to smile and look relaxed. "I'm fine. I'll be back inside in a minute."
With a final reassuring pat on her shoulder, Bash walked back through the exit door.
Kenna, however, did not move. She continued to stand in the doorway with her arms folded.
"You are on a matchmaking show with the future king of France," she muttered, her tone of voice surprisingly firm. Clearly she wasn't happy about the fact that Mary had been hanging around with Bash outside, away from the party.
"And you are engaged to the future king of Scotland!" Mary snapped back at her. She would not take this from Kenna, not when Kenna had no right whatsoever to be posessive over Bash.
"You will fit right in with the French royal family," Kenna told her, cryptically, with a raised eyebrow, before she turned around and headed back inside, slamming the door behind her.
Mary glared at the closed door for a few seconds before she let out a sigh of frustration. Then, she turned and started to head in the opposite direction, deciding that she would take a quick walk on her own before she went back inside.
She had only taken a few steps when somebody jumped out in front of her in the darkness, blocking her path.
Letting out a gasp of fright, Mary quickly turned around, as though to run away in the opposite direction, but the person was too quick for her. They moved to stand in front of her, and then a fist slammed into the wall only inches from her face.
The figure was tall, menacing, dressed all in black, and they seemed to be wearing some sort of balaclava, as Mary couldn't make out their face.
Mary remained rooted to the spot, frozen in her terror, barely able to catch her breath, let alone let out a scream. There were no guards around, no one she could call out to...
"You are being watched," the person muttered slowly in a deep voice, their words no less threatening than if they'd been spoken as a loud shout or an angry cry. "Be very careful about your next move..."
With that, the figure quickly moved away from her and vanished into the night.
Francis Valois paced up and down the ramparts of the Scottish castle, his phone held to his ear.
His mother spoke to him on the phone, updating him on everything that had gone on in the French castle in the hours since he had left and returned to Scotland. Francis replied to her politely in a mix of French and Italian-a precaution in case anybody was eavesdropping-but really, he was only half-listening to what she was saying.
He felt a little guilty for not paying much attention to the conversation, especially in light of recent circumstances. Nobody in the Scottish castle knew it yet, but Francis had been called back home to France because his father's health had deteriorated in recent weeks. There had been genuine fears among the French royals that he wouldn't make it through.
Francis stopped his pacing for a moment as he took a few deep breaths. His father might have recovered, this time, but still, Francis couldn't help feeling uneasy when he thought about how close he had come to being declared the King of France almost overnight.
Everything else seemed to have fallen apart over the past few weeks, and he and Mary had barely spoken recently, and to add to all the chaos and confusion, he had almost faced the loss of a parent, along with a new role that he still felt nowhere near prepared for.
He had avoided being declared king, for now, but he had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before his life would change.
Francis let out a sigh as he stared out at the horizon. He wondered if Mary had returned from the wedding in Edinburgh yet.
In other circumstances, he would have stayed home in France for a little while longer, just to make sure that everything was definitely okay, but he had returned for her, and in the hope that maybe there was some chance he could make up for all of their recent disagreements.
In spite of everything, he wanted to try to work things out between the two of them. He just wasn't sure how exactly to go about it. He had always felt so clueless whenever he was around her. He could only hope that his most recent decision had been a step in the right direction and not a huge mistake...
He had asked Narcisse to return to his role as Mary's Publicist against his better judgement. His opinion of him hadn't changed, and he would continue to mistrust him, but he had sent Narcisse to Edinburgh as a peace offering, in the hope that the gesture might help a little to smooth things over between the two of them.
Already, he had seen how Mary was starting to rely on Narcisse, and how she really believed that he was helping her to get through the television show. He'd also had a feeling that their recent argument would never be resolved if Mary believed that Francis had in any way played a part in the dismissal of a member of staff she considered to be her employee. She would no doubt worry that this would set a precedent for any future they had together. He could tell that she would never have chosen to date a prince if the decision had been left to her, and a prince who attempted to influence her decisions would definitely be dismissed from the matchmaking process.
As much as the idea filled him with dread, he knew that he would have to trust Mary to make her own decisions about Narcisse. If not, Narcisse would continue to get between them.
Francis's mother continued to talk to him on the phone, but Francis was barely listening. He was too lost in his own worries.
Recent events had served as a painful reminder to him that he would have to be more honest with Mary about the situation in France-namely the reality of the role as queen that awaited her if she chose to continue with the matchmaking process.
Already, Mary had no doubt seen for herself over the past few days that Francis's royal duties often got in the way of other things. He had not been able to attend the wedding of one of Mary's closest friends, and things like this would happen over and over again in the future, even if they were married. He would not always be able to be by her side, in the way that other men would be able to be. Mary herself would have to miss out on important events sometimes, when duty required it, if she chose to take on the role as queen. Would she ever accept that kind of lifestyle?
Then there were all the other things he would have to be honest about-perhaps most importantly, the reason why Francis's father had put him forward for the matchmaking show in the first place. Francis couldn't help feeling that now-familiar feeling of dread when he thought about all the secrets his father knew about the Scottish royals-all the potential the French royal family held for blackmail and manipulation. They were the main reasons why Francis had been so reluctant to participate in the show in the first place; why a part of him wanted to run, to do whatever he could to protect Mary.
He was also certain that it was only a matter of time before she asked him directly about his history with Narcisse, and he would have to tell her.
There were so many secrets he didn't want to share, but, if he continued to push her away, if he told the French royals he wouldn't be a part of this process, he would lose her. There would be others waiting to date her, if and when the matchmaking process fell apart. He had already seen for himself how Sebastian felt about her, and recently, he'd also heard rumours that other men-royals and politicians and celebrities-had taken an interest in Mary since she'd stared to appear on television every week.
As though she could read his thoughts, Francis's mother suddenly muttered over the phone, "You know that Conde's been sniffing around in France, trying to find out how well the show's really playing out. It seems he's taken an interest in meeting Mary..."
Again, Francis sighed. There were so many obstacles and people working against them, so many ways they could be driven apart...
Suddenly, he was distracted by the sight of Mary, who seemed to appear almost out of nowhere on the castle roof.
Her movements looked frantic, and she seemed to be struggling to catch her breath as she ran.
Apparently oblivious to his presence on the roof, she stopped and leaned against one of the stone walls that overlooked the gardens, and then, to Francis's surprise, she burst into tears. He could hear her sobbing from where he was standing only a few feet away.
"I have to go," he muttered quickly to his mother, hanging up his phone before he could even think about what he was going to do next.
Automatically, he started to move towards her, feeling overwhelmed with worry, all of his own misgivings about the matchmaking process suddenly forgotten in light of Mary's distress. He didn't know what was wrong, or if anything bad had happened, but he wanted to do anything he could to help.
He couldn't help it-no matter what, he would always run to her; he would do anything to help her-and that was the very reason why his father had attempted to take control of this process in the first place...