(this is kinda a continuation to one of the 1x15 rewrites I did)
The heel of Catherine Dr Medici's shoes echoed loudly amungst the dim hallway of the royal chambers. The small woman walked furiously, her footsteps rapid and loud, considerable weight stomping from one small leg to the other. The hiss of her breath and the snarl of her wheeze provided a counter beat to the melody of her footfalls. The rustle of her skirts huffed as she stepped from side to side, each noise she made echoing several times down the long, darkened hallway illuminated by nothing but the four torches against the walls. Two tall guards stood at either side of the closed doors to the royal chambers. They stood stoically at their places, two tall weapons in their hands. The dark haired guards in uniform stood staring at the Queen Mother of France, not bowing like she had been accustomed to.
The weaponry fell into a large X in front of the former queen's face as she attempted to push the doors open. She scoffed, scrunching up the letter she had in her hand even more. The harsh puff of anger filled air didn't intimidate the guards in the slightest.
"Step aside," Catherine demanded. "Now!" she ordered when the didn't do a damn thing.
"King Francis requests no visitors until morning, Queen Catherine." one of the guards stated, his chin held high.
"I am the king's mother and I demand to be let in this instant!" she snapped, knowing full well her son was awake. She could hear his own harsh breath through the doors. Something was happening inside the royal chambers, she could hear movement, voices, the russle of fabric. Catherine didn't know why her son wouldn't permit her entry if he was awake. Besides, she held important information for him, him not wanting it was inconceivable to her.
"King Francis requests no visitors until morning, Queen Catherine." the guard repeated in monotone. The Queen mother glared and gripped the guard's weaponry, throwing it aside. The loud clanks were enough of a distraction to both discombobulate the guards and stop the movement inside for a moment, long enough for her to shove open the doors and enter the chambers.
Catherine gasped as she saw the royal bed, lit only by dim candles and a roaring fire. The sheets were askew, a few furs and shrugs shoved to the ground. She followed the trail of clothing like Hansel and Gretel that lead to the bed, her eyes widening as she noticed that the King in question was rather busy at this current moment. Meaning, she could see his and a woman's bare skin on the bed, a gown and suit shoved into the floor. For a moment, Catherine swore that her plan had worked and that her son had found himself a mistress Fleming, but that wasn't the case when the bang of the doors hitting the walls startled the thrusting, moaning and feeling that was happening on the bed. The woman shrieked, and Catherine recognised that shriek, for the had heard it several times. It belonged to not the mother of the king's bastard, but the mother of his dead, unborn child.
"Mother!" Francis yelled, scrambling to cover both he and his wife up with the sheets . "This cannot become a habit, what are you doing?!" he snapped as Mary burrowed into his chest, covered up in what blankets still remained upon the bed.
Catherine answered not to her son, but to his wife.
"B-but you're supposed to be with-" she trailed off, looking at the naked Queen who lay upon the equally as naked King's chest. Francis fumed, whilst Mary simply rose a brow.
"What?" she asked.
"I had reason to believe, legitimate reason, nonetheless-" she added. "to believe that yourself and the Prince of Condé were -" Catherine trailed off.
"You seriously believed that?" Mary cocked a brow after several moments of silence, finally getting over the mortification of her mother in law interrupting her and her son in the middle of love making for the ninth time. "Catherine, come on. If I went through what I did, and ended up not being able to touch my husband, why would I turn to another? I thought you'd see straight through my plan." she shook her head. "Or are you that foolish that you'd believe that I would turn from Francis after not even one year?" she questioned, but spoke before her. "Or are we getting better at espionage?" Mary looked up at her husband.
"Mother, it is true that Mary and Louis have been meeting, but it is with my permission, Vincent and knowledge." Francis started.
"Francis, you're allowing your wife to have another man under your roof?" Catherine scoffed.
"She's not having any other man! It's a plan, mother. Mary and I know that Elizabeth, Condé and Antoine covert the French throne. Mary acts a broken girl, humiliated by her husband and her lady, fragile because of his mistakes, in front of Louis, but it is just that, an act. He uses her to try and pry secrets from her, she uses him try pry secrets and plots towards me. This morning, I was not lying to you."
"But Mary-the constant visits to the chapel-"
"Francis hasn't been feeling well these past few days, I was praying for his recovery as the physicians worked on him and as we try to find Nostradamus." Mary slowly explained.
"And this is-" she gestured to them and the bed, not at all ashamed at the knowledge that she'd walked in on her son having sex.
"Mary doesn't fear being with me anymore, nor does she recoil at the sound of my breath, we we're celebrating. Have been since the night of the wine tasting." he slowly explained. Catherine stepped backwards slowly.
"Well, I am proud that the two of you have schemed so well that I had no inkling of it. However, I would like to be in the loop of information before I act a fool with false information!"
"Mother, we will tell you whatever we deem nessecary if you leave us now." Francis groaned.
"Very well. I will leave if you give me a legitimate grandchild sooner rather than later! I want a Dauphin before I die!"
