"Is the King inside?" Alaina came to a halt just outside two massive double doors. On each side stood a guard dressed in French colors, each holding a large spear at their side. Neither men spoke nor did they need to. The sound of Mary's voice rising was a good enough answer for Alaina. She lifted her head high and took a step back as the guard moved to open the door and Mary came storming out.
"What are you doing here?" Mary demanded the moment her eyes landed on Alaina.
"That is none of your concern," replied Alaina calmly.
To Mary, it seemed she did not like Alaina's response so she turned to face her and stepped closer. "I am the Queen of France," she said. "And I have every right to have you banned from this court, so if I were you-"
"But you aren't me," Alaina smirked. "If you were me, you surely would not need France to support Scotland. You wouldn't need anyone at all." And then her smile grew. "And you have no authority at all in France, you are just the queen consort. Had you any authority, I would have been gone weeks ago."
Mary opened her mouth to speak back, "How dare you speak to me like that," she said. "You are no more a queen than I am-"
"That is where you are wrong," replied Alaina, still smiling at Mary.
"Alaina," even though he was still inside the room and some distance away from them, Francis could still hear their conversation.
"If you'll excuse me," Alaina said to Mary as she walked past her and entered the room. "Your grace." She dropped down to the floor and stayed like that until Francis told her she could rise.
Once the door closed, he looked up at her. "She doesn't know what you really are, Alaina," he said as he pressed a white cloth to his cheek. "And I do believe it was you who said it was not wise to go boasting about your new title, am I correct?"
"Yes," she admitted quietly. "But I can't help it. She's like a child who needs to be taught a lesson."
"Mary is no child," he said although he was smiling. "That much I can assure you."
"I do not need to know about your private life, Francis."
"Nor was I going to tell you about it."
"Good."
An awkward silence fell over them. Francis dabbed at his cheek with the cloth and Alaina looked around the room awkwardly while she chewed her bottom lip.
"I've been thinking about him a lot more," Francis said after some time. He pressed the cloth once more to his cheek before setting it down on the wooden table and looking up at Alaina. "Your eyes, he had your eyes."
"There isn't a day that goes by when I don't think of him," Alaina stepped closer. "Mother wrote of how he had your golden curls. I wish I could have seen."
"Yes, there was no mistaking it," he smiled weakly. "He was my son."
"Seems you and Sebastian have that in common," she knelt down beside his chair and rested her arms on the armrest. "There is no mistaking which child belongs to who."
"Lizzie loved him," he whispered softly as he placed his hand on her head. "She was devastated when we lost him. My mother had her brought to the castle just in order to restore her back to good health."
Alaina when quiet as she closed her eyes and rested her head against her arms. She could feel Francis' fingers as he removed her crown so that he could run his fingers through her hair.
"It does neither of us any good dwelling on it," she finally said as she moved her head so that it laid in his lap.
"No," he replied. "However," she could hear him hesitating as his fingers hovered above her head. "I was considering what you said earlier..."
She lifted her head up so that she could look at him. "Francis, what are you talking about?"
"What if," he paused as he looked into her eyes. "What if we have another? Boy or girl, I wouldn't mind."
Alaina pulled back as she sat up, "Francis, it's not like before. Things are different now. You're a king and I'm a-"
"Empress, I know," he took a deep breath and looked away. "And I know that I have John, but it isn't the same..."
"Neither would having another. We could have hundreds of children, but they still wouldn't be Edward."
"That isn't what I meant, Alaina," he looked at her again. "And you know it."
She placed her hand on his leg and smiled softly, "Francis, if you were not married, I would gladly give you as many children as you wanted."
With his other hand now resting on the table, Francis tapped the wood repeatedly as he pondered many possibilities. "Mary wants to live separate lives," he said quietly. "If we were to divorce, she could go be with Conde."
"Conde does not offer her a country."
"No, you're quite right, but his brother could be an ally."
"Did his brother not come to France in need of money to feed his people?"
"This isn't even your country, yet you know everything that goes on here."
"My family lives here," she simply said as she sat up on her knees. "I must know the condition of what my family lives in. And if you ever need troops to defend France, I will send them."
"I know you will," Francis smiled. "When have you not come to my aid?"
"I believe many times, like now for example. You want to have another child and I simply refuse. As do I refuse allowing you divorce your wife."
"That is not your decision."
"The Pope will refuse as well, he does not believe in divorce," she told him. "And I am surprised to hear you do as well, we are catholic."
"The only other way to end my marriage with Mary is to..." he trailed off, not wanting to say it.
"You're not ending your marriage with Mary. Not if I have some say in it."
So... now you know Francis' little secret. You, Alaina, Bash, and Francis. What do you think? Should they have another one? Shout Francis and Mary divorce?
