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French Court. Kingdom of France. 2 days later.
What I feared had come to pass, I suffered nightmares of Tomas. His screams of fury, his look of anger and betrayal, his blood and brains splattered on the ground beneath my balcony. I suppose it was only natural to feel some kind of guilt over taking a life; even it Tomàs was a wife beating shit face. I was just worried about when I, when Francis became king. I would have millions of lives in my hands and as much as I wished it wasn't, killing was an avoidable necessity in these dark ages. However, I was determined to not let it become a habit. Murder, while necessary, had to be a last resort.
However, a bigger problem was that for the next while, I would be flying blind. Now that Tomàs was slain, the next episode was altered. It was supposed to be about how Francis and Mary revealed Tomàs to be evil. Now...I didn't know what was coming; what would take place at the Michaelmas banquet. I didn't know what to prepare for. It was one of the hardest parts about flipping the script.
I tried to push these thoughts out of my head as the powers that be kept an eye on the crisis in Scotland. Unlike the original timeline, Bash returned to court safe and sound. The 6 companies were en route to the front lines in hopes of getting Bloody Mary to cut the Scots some slack.
"Our men will have gone north to the channel." I explained as Mary and I looked over a map of the territory in question. "Calais is in English hands, so our men will take ship at Outreau. It will take them 4 days to reach the port at Campbeltown; barring incident."
"Hopefully, England will back down when they realize that France stands behind Scotland." Mary replied with a grin as I held her hand.
"I promise you that they will and then, once the crisis is averted...we can convince my father to allow us to wed." I remarked as Mary planted a kiss on my cheek.
"I would long for such a miracle to pass." She said as she left me with the map. As I watched Mary walk away, I decided that we needed a moment together; just me and her. No drama, no bullshit, no threats from England or Catherine. But if I wanted to pull this off, I was going to need help.
I made my way down to the kitchens and by the way the servants reacted with , it was clear that royals rarely came down here, if ever. After wading through a crowd of stunned servants, I found Leith Bayard cutting up vegetables.
"Excuse me, Leith?" I asked as he raised his head up to look at me with the same shock that I saw on the faces of the other servants.
"Your Grace!" Leith exclaimed in surprise as he bowed his head. "I must confess, I'm surprised that you know who I am."
"Greer of Kinross speaks highly of you, she said that your expertise on picnicking is 2nd to none." I lied as Leith couldn't help but feel proud.
"I'm glad to see you, I require your assistance in a very important matter." I said as I took his knife. "You see, I'm taking Queen Mary on a picnic and I need someone who knows about food."
"Well, for something to not spoil your dinner...I would suggest a fine loaf of bread, some goat's cheese, and some delicious apple tarts." Leith explained as I had to trust his judgment; since I didn't really know anything about medieval food. Since I'd been here, I'd been dining on large feats of meat and poultry, but it all blended together
"That sounds lovely Leith, do you think you could prepare it for me as quickly as possible?" I asked.
"Of course, your Grace, come back in a hour or so and I shall have your picnic ready." Leith answered back as I went to fetch my betrothed.
Later that day.
"Francis...can I please open my eyes now?" Mary asked desperately as I led her by her hands outside the castle.
"Not yet." I said with a smirk as i led her onto the grass where Leith and I had set out the food upon a blanket. "All right…now!" Mary opened her eyes and a smile appeared on her face.
"Francis…what is this?" Mary asked as I sat down on the blanket and motioned for her to do the same.
"After everything that's happened with England and Scotland…and Tomàs…I wanted us to have a moment without drama…just us." I explained as Mary's cheeks turned bright pink.
"Francis...thank you, you don't know how much I've wanted this." She insisted as I sliced up a couple pieces of bread and cheese for us. After we'd devoured the bread and cheese, we sunk our teeth into the apple tarts. I had to tip my hat to Leith Bayard. That dude could cook like Betty fucking Crocker. Once we had eaten our fill, Mary and I laid next to each other on the grass and watched the clouds as we rested our bellies.
"Mary?" I asked as we held hands.
"Hm?" She asked in return as our eyes met.
"I wanted to thank you." I said as she looked at me curiously.
"Thank me, for what?" She inquired as I drank up every image of her. "You're the one who's been doing so much for me."
"The crown is a heavy burden, you of all people know that. When I'm with you, I don't feel like the next king of France…I feel like, me." I admitted as she smiled and pressed a kiss to my lips.
"We can be that for each other. We don't have to be prince Francis and Queen Mary. Let's be just Francis and just Mary." She spoke as I gave her an Eskimo kiss with my nose.
"That sounds wonderful." I replied as we began to kiss passionately and the clouds were forgotten.
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