I DO NOT OWN REIGN.
Craigmillar Castle. Edinburgh, Kingdom of Scotland. 3 weeks later.
When I told Lola that I had renounced my claim to the French throne, she was stunned, but assured me that I had made the right choice for my marriage.
"If you had gone back to France and Mary had stayed in Scotland, your marriage would have not survived. Long distance relationships rarely work out." Lola insisted as I saw the truth in her words. To be honest, holding onto my marriage was the main reason that I had decided to abdicate. With that simp Bothwell a constant presence at court, I feared that he might get Mary to find comfort in his arms; it had worked for Condé.
Luckily, we were given a distraction in the form of Francis's or I guess my, birthday. Apparently, the real life Francis was born in mid January. In the world of Reign, Francis's birthday was in the summer. Mary pulled out all the stops to celebrate my birthday in style. She held a huge celebration at Craigmillar, complete with dancing, jesters, days of games, and most of all, a shit ton of food and a delicious looking cake. It was like going to the county fair and for the first time in months, I truly enjoyed myself.
I took part in all of the events. I won some of the horse races and almost won others. I did better than I expected to at the archery tournament, and I only got knocked on my ass in the joust; as opposed to being maimed or killed as Henry was in the original timeline. All of the events were fun, aside from the English flag burning. As it turns out, Francis's birthday was not the only thing being celebrated. Bloody Mary had kicked the bucket at last and now Elizabeth was on the throne. This helped Mary gain more allies, because instead of 2 Catholic rulers vying for the same position, it was a Catholic queen vs an Protestant Queen.
By far, my favorite part was eating the massive honey cake that Mary's royal chefs had baked. Mary and I took turns feeding each other cake as if we were at our wedding all over again. Seeing Mary feeling such joy, being happy, and sharing that joy and happiness with me, it renewed my love for her. After we stuffed ourselves full of the honey cake, Mary and I took to the ballroom and shared dances without number. Dancing with Mary was nowhere near is good as taking her to bed, but it was pretty damn close.
"No man can ever say that my Queen doesn't know how to throw a party." I told Mary after the celebrations had ceased for the night and we were on our way to our bed chambers so that my birthday could go out with a bang; pun fully intended.
"I wanted to make it perfect for you. After you gave up your chance to be king of France for me, giving you the most wonderful birthday is the least that I could do." Mary replied as she pecked my lips with hers. Unfortunately, our happiness was soon shattered when David Rizzio came rushing over to us; his face white as a sheet and his lungs nearly out if breath.
"Your majesties, Catherine Di' Medici has sent a letter to King Francis." David said as he handed me the parchment with the broken seal. I wondered what could have David so scared, but then I read what the letter contained and I knew immediately. I dropped the letter and I looked at Mary with shame and grief.
"Francis...my love, what is wrong?" Mary asked as she took my face in her hands. It took me a few minutes to be able to put my words together.
"Mary...I have brought death to your door." I replied fearfully.
"What are you talking about?" She asked as she took my hands. "Please Francis, you're scaring me."
"Henry knows that I renounced the Dauphinship and now he means to return me to France by force of arms." I said as I tried to fight back the tears. "France has declared war on Scotland. Catherine said that Henry is sending a force of 3,000 soldiers to invade, capture me...and kill you so that Henry can claim Scotland for his own. The force will be led by a powerful noble named Lord Stephane Narcisse." Mary was stunned into royal silence as she tried to make sense of what I had just told her.
"My God...Henry's finally thrown the alliance away." Mary said as she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her cheeks while she fell to her knees. I knelt next to her as I took my wife in my arms.
"Mary...I'm so sorry, please forgive me!" I exclaimed as my tears matched her own as I knew that the shit was hurting the fan because of me. I'd fucked all of Scotland over because I was worried about losing my wife to some Scottish prick. "if I had thought that Henry would use my abdication as a pretext to invade Scotland, I never would have done it."
"Francis...I don't blame you for this...but we face death!" Mary declared as she wailed. "This could be the first of more invasion parties. Henry is mad enough to send every able bodied man in France to our shores."
"If he does, he will not find you alone. I will ride along side your army and I will die fighting for Scotland if need be." I assured my wife as I leaned in and began to gently kiss her tears away.
"Francis...I'm so afraid." Mary whispered as she looked into my eyes.
"So am I...but I feel braver when I am with you." I assured Mary as I kissed her deeply and passionately.
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