I DO NOT OWN REIGN.
Tower of London prison. Kingdom of England. 1 week later.
While the living conditions in our cell were still horrid, having Lola with me did raise my spirits. I now had someone to talk to, as opposed to talking with myself. She let me rant when I needed to about out current situation and she did what she could to raise my spirits.
"The day before I left, Mary gave permission for Claude and Leith to get married. Your sister truly loves him Francis, She shed tears of joy when she learned that Leith had escaped Inchkeith." Lola informed me while we ate our evening portion of bread and water. Claude and Leith had clearly been interested in each other before the French invasion, and I was glad to hear that Mary was supportive of their romance. Claude had been so miserable as a French princess: having to deal with Catherine who blamed her for the deaths of her younger twin sisters instead of Diane De Poiters and people treating her like a problem. She would be happier as the Duchess of Montrose; especially with Leith Bayard as her husband.
"That is a comfort, Leith and Claude both deserve a loving marriage." I replied with a smile as Lola downed the remainder of her water.
"I hope they have it." Lola said wistfully with a sad smile on her face. I could tell that the thought of Claude and Leith's impending nuptials caused her to think of her own ill fated romances. I was wracked with guilt since I was responsible for both of her relationships falling apart. Lola had nothing but a good friend to me, (blackmailing episode aside), and I had messed with her love life and aggravated her deep rooted jealously of my wife.
"Lola...i'm so sorry for everything that's happened to you and if i'm being honest...it's my fault." I admitted with shame.
"Francis...why would you think it's your fault?" Lola asked sympathetically as she took my hands in hers.
"I bribed Colin to get away from France after Catherine forced him to take part in a plot against Mary and I matched you with Lord Julien...Remy." I explained as Lola looked shocked.
"You knew about Remy and how did you know that Catherine forced Colin to harm Mary?" she asked anxiously as I knew that I had to tell her the truth; as much as she could handle anyway.
"I am not Francis de Valois...my real name is Nolan Ayers and I am from the future." I said slowly as Lola pulled her hands away from mine.
"What are you talking about?" she asked nervously as I could see in her eyes that she thought that my weeks in the tower had driven me to madness.
"I am from the year 2023. I honestly don't know how it happened, but one night I went to sleep and when I woke up...it was like my soul had been transferred into Francis's body. I've studied French history and there were so many tragedies that Francis and Mary endured; I knew that I had to try and spare them as much pain as I could." I rambled as Lola tried the best she could to comprehend my words. I didn't dare try to explain to Lola about Reign and what TV was. The idea of streaming services was so freking complicated that i probably would have lost her for good.
"It...makes sense...your anger towards Catherine, your need to protect Mary...why you were willing to throw away your claim to the throne of France just to serve as Mary's consort. You didn't care about being king because you have no claim." Lola reasoned as she finally understood my behavior over the past year or so.
"I was trying to do what I thought was best for Mary. I didn't care about the crown or about France, I just wanted her to have a better life in this timeline than she did in the original." I admitted as Lola put an arm around me and pulled me close to her.
"Nolan...you are so good. You're risking your life to protect Mary, to protect Scotland..." Lola stuttered as I chuckled in spite of myself. I was honestly amazed not only that Lola believed me, but by how well she was taking the news that I wasn't really Francis.
"Yeah...I tried to do some good and I ended up making shit even worse. I guess the road to Hell really is paved with good intentions." I remarked as I threw my hands up in the air.
"You can't blame yourself." She assured me as she caressed my cheek. "You were trying to save Mary as best you could, we can't always predict how our choices will turn out; we can only do the best we can."
"You want to know something messed up...in the original timeline, you got married to Lord Narcisse." I informed Lola as she looked at me with disgust.
"My God...I must have been bloody mad to have married that bastard!" Lola exclaimed as she genuinely seemed troubled by the idea of her ever being in love with a shit sucker like Stephane Narcisse.
"He manipulated you into being his wife." I replied, not wanting to go too far into the details of their toxic union.
"Honestly...I feel relieved now that I know you aren't really Francis." Lola admitted as I was a bit taken aback by her comment.
"How do you figure?" I inquired.
"Because I've loved you for so long and I felt guilty for loving Francis when he belonged to Mary." Lola admitted sheepishly as she looked me in the eye. "But I don't love francis; I love you Nolan."
"Lola...if i could give you the love you deserve, I would, but even though I ain't Francis...I still love Mary and i'm loyal to her." I replied as felt conflicted about loving Mary, but also caring deeply for Lola.
"I know and i'm not asking you to betray her. I just wanted to be hinest with you about my feelings." Lola replied as she squeezed my hand. "You were honest with me, so i wanted to reciprocate." I nodded as I held her close, wanting ti show here that i care for her as a friend; since I couldn't care for her as a lover.
REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED.
