Mona was awoken by a hand gently shaking her shoulder. "Lady Mona," a feminine voice called. "Lady Mona, it's time for breakfast."

"Hm? What?" she said groggily before her eyes shot open with the realization that someone was in her room. She sat up and quickly wiped the drool from her cheek, turning to see who'd woken her. She was pleased when her eyes met a familiar face. "Anne! Good morning," she greeted her warmly.

Anne snickered. "Well, you're an interesting sight. Time for breakfast, sleepyhead. The king is expecting you."

"The king?" she tilted her head in confusion before whipping the covers off.

"Yes, the king and the rest of the royal family," she elaborated, holding up dress options for her.

"Uh, the blue one," she stammered out as she strode to the basin of water. "But why?" she asked before bending, splashing water on her face then rubbing off the drool and eye crusties.

"I'm unsure, but he's summoned everyone. Typically, food is brought to each of their rooms each morning, but he wanted all of you gathered in the throne room this morning."

Anne helped her dress quickly. As she was pulling the laces on her corset, they heard a knock on the door. Mona breathlessly looked to her to respond, though they found it not needed when a guard announced the visitor.

"Lord Sebastian for you, m'lady. Are you presentable?"

"She is, yes."

As Anne tied off and tucked the strings, Mona focused on breathing. Sebastian entered, the guards holding the doors for him.

"When did I," she panted, "get my own guards?"

"They were assigned to you last night," he explained. "Are you alright?"

She focused on breathing in through her nose, then out through her mouth, nodding. Anne mouthed 'corset' to him, and he nodded in understanding.

"Lady Mona, if you'll please take a seat?" she gestured towards the vanity.

"Just Mona, please," she walked towards the chair, carefully sliding into it.

"You're officially titled now, it's only-"

"I'd like us to be friends, and friends don't call each other by titles in private, now do they?" she countered.

"No," she smiled. "I suppose they don't."

Bash smiled. "Good to see the new title isn't going to your head. I take it she's already informed you about breakfast?"

"Yes, but she didn't know why," she replied as Anne busied herself with combing and shaping her hair.

"Father tends to play things close to the chest. He's likely going to officially announce our engagement to the family, but I'd bet everything I own that he has something else in mind as well," he warned.

"Lovely," she said sarcastically.

Within minutes, Anne had come up with a new style for her hair, leaving a couple of strands loose to frame her face. After Mona thanked her, she took her leave, with Bash and Mona following shortly after.

As they strode into the throne room, she found herself gripping his arm ever tighter.

"Whatever it is, we'll face it together," he reassured her, placing his free hand over hers.

Both of them took a deep breath before the guards announced them and held the doors open.

"Ah! There she is," said Henry with his arms wide. "Sit, sit!" Henry insisted, gesturing to the two open spots across from Frances and Mary. Her fiance pulled the chair out for her, then took his spot across from his brother.

The king gestured towards her. "I would like to introduce to all of you Sebastian's fiance and the informant behind last night's events, Mona."

"Congratulations, brother! So this is why you've been so preoccupied lately," Frances gave him a playful smirk across the table. "And you! It's lovely to meet the woman who saved my life. Thank you," he nodded respectfully. She could tell by the intensity in his eyes that he meant every word.

"Pleased to be of service, m'lord," she nodded with a smile.

"Yes, speaking of which," Henry leaned forward, "France once again has need of your services."

"My services, m'lord?" she questioned, tilting her head.

"You see, when we searched the ambassador's room last night, we found several letters, all in German," he elaborated.

"And you need me to translate them?" she finished.

"Correct," he gestured to her with his goblet before taking a drink.

"My German isn't perfect, but I'll do my best, m'lord."

"How did you come to learn German? Most peasants only know their mother tongue."

"An old lady in my village taught me. She couldn't fend for herself as all of her family had passed in the tragic fires in Germany."

"Well, isn't that lucky for us, now isn't it?" he smiled, but the look in his eyes made her uncomfortable.

"I suppose it it, m'lord."

"I'll have them sent to your chambers after breakfast. For now, eat!" he commanded them all with a joyous laugh. She mainly chatted with Mary, but couldn't help but notice Catherine's eyes watching her every expression. She felt as though the queen was waiting for her to slip up at any moment. Queen Mary, on the other hand, was kind and seemed genuine. Her warmth was a stark contrast to Catherine's cold and calculating demeanor.

After breakfast, Bash walked her back to her chambers. As the king had said, there were several stacks of letters at her desk, awaiting her translation. She kissed him goodbye, and then got started on the mountain ahead of her. All of them seemed to be complete gibberish, but she assumed the words were in code. She spent the day translating them to the best of her ability, sending them off in batches. She had started with the most recently dated ones and worked her way backwards. She finally finished the last one as she heard a knock on her door.

"Enter," she called absentmindedly as she wracked her brain trying to desipher the last sentence.

One of the guards cracked the door open, poking his head in. "M'lady, Lord Sebastian has requested you attend supper with him in his chambers this evening."

She looked up from the page, blinking in surprise. "Uh… tell him I'll be along shortly, please."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, closing the door behind him.

"Turtle! Schildkröte!" she announced excitedly as she scribbled the translation of the last sentence on the secondary paper. She folded her translation inside the original, added it to the stack, bound it in twine, then presented them all to one of the guards.

"Please tell the king this is the last of them," she dropped the stack into his hands, to which he nodded. "Now, where is-?"

"Next door on your right, m'lady," he answered before she could finish her question.

"Thank you," she curtsied before heading in the direction he'd indicated. After a guard had announced her arrival, she walked through the door as he held it for her. She nodded her thanks, then turned her attention to her beloved at the head of the dinner table. What puzzled her, though, was the company that was already present. Bash gestured to the open chair to his right. She strode over to sit beside him whilst she gave a quizzical look to her brother, sat at his left.

"Father's insistance on a meal as a family this morning sparked the idea. I thought it might be nice, once in a while, for the three of us to get together," Bash explained.

"Ah," she nodded with a smile. "I'd like that."

"Definitely beats eatin' in the kitchen," Leith admitted, "and I get to tell him all your embarrassing stories," he snickered, to which her face flushed.

"No nononono," she panicked, immediately reconsidering her stance.

"How else am I to get to truly know my future wife, hm?" Bash teased, holding his hand out to her, which she accepted.

She smirked and shot Leith a mischievous smile. "You tell him mine, I'll tell him all yours."

He leaned in with a grin. "Challenge accepted."

The siblings went back and forth, making a competition out of who could tell the most embarrassing story about the other between bites of food. Bash found his face having a dull ache from laughing as much as he had that evening.

"There she was, drenched to the bones, looking like a drowned rat!" Leith said, recounting the time she'd tripped and fallen into a puddle face-first. Bash burst out laughing mid-sip of his wine and found it coming out of his nose. He groaned from the uncomfortable sensation, quickly bringing a cloth to his face as he set his goblet down.

"You walked home like that?" he asked, chuckling.

"As if I had any other option!" she replied, throwing up her hands exasperatedly. "What about the time you tried to sneak out to see Marie?"

"Oh come on!" Leith objected.

"You told him about the puddle, I tell him about the fence," she smirked. "So," she continued, looking to Bash to ensure he'd recovered before she went on, "Marie was this girl that lived right beside us. Her property bordered ours with only a fence between his window and hers. Romeo here had the brilliant idea to try to climb across from his roof to hers, trying to steal a kiss. It all sounds very romantic, that is, until he slipped off the roof and landed on the solid fence below."

Bash winced in pain.

"Straddling it," she clarified, which had both of them crossing their legs, Leith from the memory and Bash just from imagining what that would feel like.

"Alright, you win this one," Leith conceded as she beamed triumphantly.

"Do you think Prince Frances would be interested in joining these dinners of yours? You've heard more than enough about my most embarrassing moments, I'd love to hear some of yours," she smirked at Bash.

"Oh, he certainly has plenty of them," he chuckled. "I'll ask him."

After a servant collected their dishes, Leith bid them a good night and bowed out.

"I wasn't serious about that, you know. I'm sure Prince Frances is far too busy to bother with the likes of me."

"I was. He's my brother and we're engaged to be wed, of course you'd want to get to know your future inlaws. It's only natural," he assured her, pulling her into his arms. "He may be the prince, but he's also my brother. He'll make time if I ask him to."

"Oh! Could he bring Queen Mary, if she's not too busy?" she asked hesitantly.

"That's a given. I saw how you two were giggling together at breakfast. I think she'd be open to the idea," he smiled. "Now," he kissed her forehead, "you've had a very long day and I'm sure getting through all of those letters was quite taxing. Off to bed with you," he ordered.

"Yours or mine?" she smirked, a playful light in her eyes.

He took a deep breath in, looking to the heavens for strength before returning his gaze down to meet hers. "Just you wait, my soon to be wife. Don't expect to sleep the first night of our honeymoon," he leaned down to kiss her passionately, pulling her in by the waist. Her head spun as their tongued intertwined, slipping past each other. When the kiss broke, she was gasping for air.

"Now, off to your chambers," he commanded more firmly this time, releasing her with a swift smack to her behind to which she let out a small yelp, then dissolved into a fit of giggles. She stumbled off to her room, feeling like she was floating. Feeling for the spot where Anne usually tucked the strings, she pulled them out and gave them a tug, undoing the bow in an instant. Working from the bottom and moving upwards, she reached back and was able to undo enough of them that the rest loosened with ease. After undressing, she slipped a nightgown over her head and crawled into bed, falling asleep to the memory of that kiss playing in her head on repeat.