Before You Go

2

Mary's Point of View
I'm sitting in the carriage on the way to French Court. "Mary you can't possibly be that okay with this." Greer said "I really am, I have to marry for alliances and power, not love. I can't give myself false hope by thinking a boy waited for me since we were 7 to come back from a convent. That's just silly." I said, the carriage stopped "Maybe he did." Kenna said, I gave her a 'are you serious?' look. "Maybe Mary is right." She said to Greer. "Mary how did you possibly mature so much living with actual nuns?" Greer asked "Well I am the Queen of Scotland, I had to grow up and run a country. Also there was women at the convent who had lost their virginity before marriage and well, they educated me." I said blushing. The carriage door got opened from the outside, Kenna and Greer got out. "Her royal majesty Mary Queen of Scots." The pager announced, I got out and stood next to my ladies. "Mary is that Francis? He's very handsome." Kenna asked "No, that is Henry's son with his mistress, Sebastian." I replied "Mary I think that's him." Greer said. I saw Francis walking across the lawn. My only memories of him are as a boy with long legs and a full head of curls. Now his legs suit him, he's very tall and muscular, he is just so handsome and masculine. As he got closer my heart beat more and more. "Don't blush too much." Kenna laughed "I'm not blushing." I said, he finally reached me. "Hello, it's great to see you again." I said "It's great to see you as well." He said "You've aged well." I said "As have you, country live seems have to done you well." He said "Yes, but I'm glad to be back." I said, he smiled "Should we go see your parents?" I asked "Um yes, please follow me." He said, he lead the way towards his parents. This is so uncomfortable. We reached his parents after what felt like hours of awkward tension. "King Henry, Queen Catherine." I said, with two curtsies. "Mary, we are so happy to have you at court." Henry said "I'm very glad to be back, no view beats the hills of France." I smiled "Well Mary now we have another thing we agree on." He laughed "Yes I suppose we do." I smiled. "Mary it's wonderful you're back, your presence brings light during these dark times." Catherine smiled, putting one hand on my shoulder. "That is very sweet of you, I'm glad to get back to life at court." She smiled "Come, we should get inside, it looks like it's about to storm." Henry said. The four of us walked inside. Two men, presumably nobles, came towards Henry and began whispering. "Mary I'm so sorry but I have business to take care of, I'll see you at your welcome ball tonight." Henry said "It's quite alright. If you could have some one direct me to my rooms that would be great." I said "Francis, take her to her rooms." He said "Okay, come with me." Francis said, I followed behind him. We walked in silence. "So how was the convent?" He asked "How good can life be at a convent?" I laughed "So you didn't enjoy shoveling shit and praying ten times a day?" He laughed "Unlike most people, I didn't enjoy it." I laughed "Wow, I would have loved it, being away from all this." He said "What do you mean?" I asked "Being alone in a cabin in the woods, chopping wood and walking through nature." He said "Being alone sounds great until you realize that means not being able to see the ones you love." I said "But you don't have well- you don't have a family." He said, not making eye contact. "Francis, I lost my blood family. But I have my unofficial family." I said "You're different than I expected." He said "How is that?" I asked leaning against the doors of my rooms. "I don't know, I just thought you would be immature and hopelessly in love with me." He said "Why would I be in love with someone I haven't seen since I was a child?" I laughed "I guess I just thought you would be." He said "Francis, I'm not an idiot, I know how royal marriages work. I'll pop out a couple sons for you and you'll sleep with whoever you want. We don't have to be in love but we can be friends." I said "You don't have a problem with me sleeping around?" He asked "Francis you have your life style, I'm not going to ask you to change it for me. We are going to be forced to marry, we can't possibly love each other when we don't have a choice in the matter." I said "My thoughts exactly." He said "I need to get ready." I said "Yes, you probably should." He said "I just ask one thing." I said "Of course." He said "Please try to keep your life between the sheets low key, I don't want to be embarrassed." I said "Of course, I'm glad we are on the same page." He said, I smiled and nodded, I went into my room and closed the door. That was good, right? I don't plan on falling in love with him. My goal is to better Scotland, not get hung up in some boy. I won't get romantic feelings involved.