I DO NOT OWN REIGN.

FACE CLAIMS

SIR KIAN DUFFY- ALFIE ALLEN

Craigmillar Castle. Edinburgh, Kingdom of Scotland. 2 weeks later.

Once the letters had been sent out, Mary put out the call to her nobles to raise up as many men as they could for the defense of Scotland. The Catholic nobles eagerly provided what men they could for our cause. Thankfully, the protestant nobles also sent men to fight with us. Even reverend John Knox ceased his constant preaching against my wife and began to preach hellfire type sermons against Henry; referring to him as a "soldier of Satan". I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride at the fact that in his mad quest to own Scotland, Henry had managed to unite the Catholics and Protestants against him.

Even better news was that we had received reports from France that our plan had worked. After we sent the news of the mad king aboard, France exploded on violence. Pope Paul IV had put out a papal Bull, calling for Henry to abdicate in favor of my brother Charles; however, not everyone agreed with that. After receiving our letters and spreading the word, Prince Louis of Condé and Lord Tanneguy both made claims for the French throne and had began to get her supporters to their causes. Even more messy was when the Duke of Guise and General Pierre Renaude and their respective mercenary armies had also risen up to push claims of their own.

By this time, Bash and Leith, along with Kenna and Claude had arrived at Scottish Court. One of the perks of being dukes was that Bash and Leith now had potential soldiers to recruit and had brought hundreds of troops with them. The odds were still horribly against us and we knew it.

"We recruited as many men as we could, but we have very few professional soldiers or veterans." Bash said as we had all gathered with Mary in her war chamber; even more troublesome as the presence of Lord Bothwell.

"Most of our recruits are peasants who've never held spears in their lives and we didn't have time to give them even basic training because we needed them so urgently." Leith added as I took a drink of wine to steady my nerves.

"How many men do we have ready to March?" Mary asked as Bothwell looked over the figures he had.

"About 3,027 soldiers are ready to face the enemy; as ready as they can be." Bothwell replied in a grave tone of voice. "Out of the men we've recruited, only about 1,500 are trained soldiers or have any military experience."

"I've heard plenty about Stephane Narcisse. The man keeps plenty of trained soldiers at his disposal." I said, going off of my knowledge of that evil son of a bitch from the show. "He's going to come fully prepared for whatever resistance we put up."

"The foul dog scut may have the advantage in skill, but we have the advantage in terrain." We all turned to see a red haired man dressed in Scottish armor walking into the chamber.

"Who might you be?" I asked as the man bowed his head to me and my wife.

"Sir Kian Duffy, knight of Scotland." He said as he raised his head. "I was knighted by Marie De Guise and have served my nation honorably. Narcisse's soldiers may be better trained, but he's fighting on our soil."

"He has a point, the Scots know the land better than the French." Leith agreed with the ghost of a smile. "If we use their superior knowledge of the land scape and develop a strategy, we may be able to turn the tide."

"There is 1 more thing we could try: we could reach out to England. See if Queen Elizabeth will help us." I offered as Mary looked at me with disbelief. I knew that Elizabeth was Mary's greatest rival, but Narcisse was too great a threat not to pull out all the stops.

"Francis, she wants my throne!" Mary exclaimed in anger as I couldn't blame her for blowing her top.

"France is just as much of a threat to England as we are." I argued as the other men were in turmoil about whether to back me or not. "Henry's hatred of the English is well known. Elizabeth must realize that if France takes Scotland, Henry's next act will be to launch an invasion of England. With Scottish troops from the North and French troops from the South, Elizabeth would be fighting a 2 front war."

"It would be in Elizabeth's best interest to ally with us while Henry is a threat." Bash reluctantly admitted as Mary glared at him.

"At least write to Elizabeth and tell her that Narcisse will be on the isles soon." I pleaded as I raise my hand to her cheek. "This could be a chance to broker peace between our 2 nations." Mary was silent for a few moments before she answered.

"Fine...I will inform Elizabeth of the invasion...and pray that she will side with me this once."

The next day.

Our scouts had reported that several French vessels had been seen nearing the Firth of Forth and were making way for a small island called Inchkeith where he meant to prepare his forces for an invasion of Edinburgh. Our ships were preparing to make way for Inchkeith island and our men were being shipped out.

As I was decked out in Scottish royal armor, I looked to see Bash and Kenna passionately saying good bye to each other. I also saw Leith and Claude sharing a private goodbye. As I hoped, their friendship had blossomed into a romance; although they were trying to be discreet until Leith had gained my permission to court my sister.

When I had told Mary that I intended to lead the Scots into battle, she was vehemently opposed; but after an hour of arguing, I convinced that it would boost morale to have 2 Dukes and the king consort leading the troops. She found me and wrapped her arms around me with all the strength she had.

"Please don't go." She begged with tears in her eyes.

"We talked about this, it's best for the troops." I reminded my wife.

"But I need my husband...and our children need their father." Mary said as she placed my hand on her belly. I was stunned into silence as the light bulb went off.

"Are you...?" I stuttered as she kissed me deeply.

"I am with child. I've known for a couple weeks. I was going to tell you, but then this happened." Mary admitted as I held her close.

"This is the incentive I need to return alive. I will return to you Mary and our children." I swore as we kissed deeply. After a last minute make out session, I bade Mary farewell as I went to my horse; only to find Lola waiting for me.

"Francis...I just wanted to bid you safe travels." Lola said as she came up and embraced me.

"The sentiment is well received." I said as Lola leaned in and kissed both my cheeks tenderly. It seemed like she was going to kiss my lips for a second, but she then drew back. I took the opportunity to mount my horse and ride off with Bash and Leith to face Lord Narcisse at Inchkeith.

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