"Since Mary, Queen of Scotland, was a child," "the English have wanted her country and her crown." "She is sent to France to wed its next king, to save herself and her people, a bond that should protect her." "But there are forces that conspire... forces of darkness, forces of the heart." "Long may she reign." "Previously on Reign..." "Don't pretend this faith is so strange to you." "Your mother's blood is our blood." "I practice my father's religion." "As do you." "Mary's presence here will cost you your firstborn." "I will stake my claim on England and I will marry your son, but not Francis, Bash." "Legitimize him and make him the next King of France." "You end up with a king and three kingdoms under your rule, and I lose everything!" "Imprison her." "I never wanted my brother's crown." "So will you take it to save his life?" "You are throwing away everything we had for superstition!" "To the future King and Queen of France," "Scotland and England." "Learn to expect the blade you can't see." "Otherwise, it'll be the last thing you ever learn." "I thought I might find you here." "Enjoying yourself?" "Did you hear that, Alec?" "We're supposed to be enjoying ourselves." "Mm, actually, you're supposed to be in the throne room." "There was a royal audience today, and the Acting Regent usually presides." "Lord Hugo can manage." "Privy Councilors fill in for father all the time." "Bash, there is a reason that your father left you in charge." "He needs to know that you can do the job." "He's gone to Rome to have you legitimized, and if he succeeds, you will be next in line for the throne of France." "Which was meant to be a secret until he got back." "Now the whole throne room knows, and they're just waiting for me to make a mistake." "There is nothing you can do about that except go and do the job." "Mary, the nobles don't care if I'm up to the job." "I'm a threat to every legitimate son in the kingdom." "If a bastard is allowed to take power, suddenly their claim to power is half as strong." "You want me to tell you that the nobles are on your side?" "They're not." "But you won't be the first king that's had to subdue a restive nobility." "You can do it." "So... thanks to my father's lust for England and your need to marry a French king," "I have a target on my back." "Which explains why my mother sent Alec here, my delightful new bodyguard." "Alec, I'm glad you're here." "That makes one of us." "Bash, I know I backed you into this, and I'm sorry but..." "Don't apologize." "I accepted this with my eyes open." "I could tell it wasn't worth but two chickens." "But when I went to milk the goat, she was dry as dust." "And this liar took four of my chickens, good laying chickens, in trade." "I deserve them chickens back." "My Lord Regent... the good man is speaking to you." "He seeks the crown's judgment." "So sorry, Lord Hugo." "My judgment." "My judgment is that I have no way of knowing what this other man promised or didn't." "But I know that if you had tried to milk that goat before you took her, there'd be no issue." "So, we'll have no satisfaction?" "I suppose not." "Unless you eat the goat and the taste delights you." "Well, the Regent has rendered his judgment." "We'll hear the next complaint!" "If I die of boredom while hearing my people's grievances, am I playing into the Queen's hands?" "Stop being so flippant." "Your people are trying to get to know you." "This is important." "My Lord Regent, this man claims his house was robbed by this woman." "What is this about?" "This man claims that this woman broke into his house and stole several items of value." "Search her house and you'll find 'em, I'll warrant." "Two pewter mugs and a fine-looking glass." "Handed down from me mother, they was." "Probably stole 'em to help with that baby she got" " with no husband." " That's a lie." "Ask her why she won't let me look in her house, then." "It's a lie, that's why." "They just want..." "Yes?" "What is it that they want, young lady?" "Does Bash know this girl?" "Nothing." "My Lord Regent... shall I have the castle guard search this woman's house?" "Of course." "Have her held in the castle until her house can be searched." "Who's next?" "My Lord Regent," "I just came to say it's an honor to see you, sir." "We hear talk of this handsome bastard who's ruling while King Henry's away." " Begging pardon, no offense." " None taken." " If I might offer a blessing just to wish you well." " That's far enough." " For the Lord demands the bastard's removal." " I said, that's far enough." "This was meant for the Regent." "It was an attempt on his life." "Come here." " Take this criminal to the jails." " The bastard must die!" "You think Lord Hugo had a hand in this?" "Why, he wouldn't dare without the Queen behind him." " I want this room clear!" " Good luck proving it." "The cat's paw will be dead before she gets to the jails." "Oh!" "Hello, Mary." "I was told that no one should be allowed to enter these chambers, except for guards and maidservants, as per the King's orders." "I can see that the list has grown to include dressers, footmen, cooks, and decorators." "And maybe some Privy Councilmen?" "Yes, Your Grace." "But the Queen..." "Is terrifying, yes, I understand." "But you need to remember that the King is also terrifying, and he will be home soon." "Oh, Mary, stop harassing him." "I'm still locked in a tower, am I not?" "Someone just tried to kill Bash." "Well, is Sebastian all right?" "I said, tried... to kill him." "Well, is he... injured?" "How did this happen?" "Ah, were you hoping I'd let something slip?" "Some clue that confirmed I had something to do with this?" "Well, is there anyone in the kingdom who wants Bash dead more than you?" "Any nobleman, I'd say, for starters." "Anyone who loves France enough to wish it a proper king." "Didn't Henry say that if anything happened to Bash, he'd have your head?" "Mm." "Even Henry can't execute a queen without trial." "And trials demand evidence." "Are you really surprised that I'd oppose Sebastian?" "Would you do any differently if your children were robbed of their birthright?" "But you know why I can't marry Francis." "I'm doing this to save his life." "Even he understands that." "Which is why he left." "Giving up the throne." "What you're up to has nothing to do with my son." "It's a plot that you hatched with my husband to take over England, so the two of you could rule half of Europe." "Henry gave me no choice and my mother insisted." "That doesn't mean I can allow it." "So you're going to continue with your attempts on Bash?" "Mary, sweet Mary," "I don't attempt to do anything, I do it." "I think not." "I want everything in this room removed." "Every stick of furniture, every rug, every tapestry, and every crumb of food." "Out!" "Not that!" "That's my eye cream." "Be careful." "Could be poisoned." "You, from now on, no servant is to enter or exit, except by my leave, or the leave of one of my ladies." "Violators will face the headsman." "Well, everything out of here!" "Now!" "Bash, I just visited Catherine in the tower." "I'm sure she's the one behind the attempt on your life" " but I can't prove any..." " I think I can." "I got this from the blade intended for him." "There's only one thing'll make a wound do that." "Poison." " Alec, are you all right?" " I've felt better." "But I might manage if this poultice works." "That's why Catherine asked if you'd been injured." "She knew you just needed to be scratched by the knife for her plan to work." "Yes, but that's not why we're here, Mary." "Isabel?" " Your Grace." " What is she doing here?" "Catherine's been busy." "Either she knew her attempt on my life might fail, or she wanted to condemn my memory." "I don't understand." "There's a reason this girl was accused of thievery." "They wanted her house to be searched." "For what reason?" "Isabel's father was a traitor." "Tried and beheaded for his crimes." "A traitor." "But what does that have to do..." "They knew that if they searched her house they'd find proof of her kinship to him and they knew what that might mean to me." "Sebastian, if this girl is pregnant with your child..." "The child is not mine." "Catherine thinks so, I'm sure, but... on that much, she's wrong." "On that much?" "Isabel's father was my mother's half-brother." "No one knows of our true connection, not yet, but if they learn... that a traitor was my uncle..." "You could never be king." "Alec bribed a guard to release Isabel, and since she's only a thief to the jailers, they thought nothing of it." "But breaking her out of the jails... are you sure this is wise?" "Of course it isn't wise." "But what choice did I have?" "They're already headed to "find" the supposed proof that will tie her to her father's treason." "Once they have it, they'll torture her, make her confess her ties to me." "Her true ties, which is even worse than what they believe." "And what do they believe?" "Likely the same thing you thought." "That you were lovers." " Were you two seen together?" " They must've, when I visited her in the village." "There must be some way to fight this." "You are the Regent." "The Regent they're working so hard to tie to a traitor's daughter." "Why do you think Hugo brought her before me?" "He wanted to see my reaction." "He wanted the whole court to see my reaction." "I can't intercede for her, Mary." "I can't show any interest in her case at all." "I'm taking her someplace safe and I'm taking her now." "It's her only chance." "But where is safe?" "I've sent word to my other cousins in Bernay." "They're going to meet us and hide her until they can get her to Paris." "Then she can stay at my mother's." "All right." "But she can't leave the castle looking the same way she did when she came in, can she?" "It's all right, Isabel." "We do this daily for Mary." "It's, um... it's not that, it's just these clothes..." "Are they too warm for you?" "No, I'm..." "I'm just tired and my belly hurts from moving around so much." "When is her baby due?" "The midwives say she has a month or so left." "The midwife is wrong." "The baby is going to come soon." " How do you know?" " I watched the nuns bring a lot of babies into the world." "Then I'll take her straight to a midwife." "Well, you know you can't do that." "The midwives are all in the village, that's the first place that Hugo will look." "If you let them catch you together, you're lost." "Well, we can't stay here." "No, you have to leave." "And take me with you." "Mary... no." "Bash, this is my fault." "If I hadn't pressed you to take the throne, you wouldn't have this target on your back, and neither would Isabel." "This is my risk to take, for my family." "She's a girl who could give birth at any moment, while your bodyguard could collapse from his wounds just as soon." "You are not equipped to deal with this alone." "Mary, are you sure?" "Think:" "this the only way to keep Bash's hands clean of this." "If I leave in a carriage with Isabel, Bash can ride in a different direction and meet us later." "No one will know that he and Isabel left together." "Catherine and Hugo can think what they want, but they'll have no witnesses." "How does she look?" "Like some awful baroness." "I'm no worse than you, you gussied-up fop of a future king." "I think you look perfect." "Take her through the passageways." "The path to the stables is still marked." "Please." "Every moment we wait, she is more at risk." "The hardest job, really, is yours." "I'm leaving you in charge of Catherine." "In charge of her?" "How?" "She needs to remain cut off." "With no messages to go to or from her." "And we need to find something, anything, that ties her to these plots against Bash." "The only thing she fears is threat of exposure to Henry." "Can you do that for me?" "We'll try." "Be careful." " She's dangerous." " Oh, really?" "We hadn't noticed." "You're the one that needs to be careful." "And quick." "Now go." "Servant!" "Where are my servants?" "!" "I am hungry," "I have a chamber pot to be emptied, and the longer I am made to wait, the more creative I will become in my retribution!" "Be quiet." "Do you want the whole castle to know your humiliation?" "If you want to rule again, you'll need the castle's respect." "If I want to rule again," "I will need you to stop bungling." "How did the bastard not die from that poison?" "His mother sent him a bodyguard." "Well, how have we not bought that man?" "He's only just arrived." "And the price of new friends has gone up since Mary reminded the guards to fear Henry." "It was awfully expensive to buy my way in here this time." "It will be worth the investment, I promise you." "You're sure?" "I'm beginning to fear Henry myself." "Only a fool would fear Henry more than that bastard." "Do I have to remind you, Lord Hugo, what happens to your lands, your title, your power, once Henry has changed the rules of succession?" "I am with you, My Queen, so long as I have your protection from Henry." "Well... with the bastard gone," "Henry will have to keep the line intact." "And you will be safe, and every future king will be in your debt." "Is that good enough for you?" "Has Sebastian tried to escape with the girl yet?" "The bodyguard has broken them out of the jails." "They should try to make their escape soon." "Well, they have to be found together, both dead, so their bodies can tell the tale." "The King's half-wit bastard and his secret whore, the traitor's daughter, set upon by thieves." "You do understand, don't you?" "They will be followed at a safe distance until it is night." "And then it will be done." "Properly, this time." "Very good." "Oh." "Next time you come, can you please bring me some proper food?" "All Mary's left me is this hideously stale bread and I'm famished." "The next time I come," "I'll bring you a crown." "Bash was right... the villager with the poisoned knife is gone, and the jailer has no idea where she went." "Into the lake, no doubt, with rocks in her pockets." "Greer?" "Queen's guards were seen riding out in the same direction that Mary went." "Don't they know plotting against the King's son will get them killed?" "Henry won't stand for it." "Well, that's why the Queen's in the middle of it." "She must be promising them her protection." "But Mary asked us to find evidence." "What if the Queen hasn't left any?" "Then we at least have to slow her down." "Let's let the horses rest for a spell." "I'm going to check the roads, see if the castle guards" " are still back behind us." " I'll come with you." "Two sets of eyes are better than one." "Alec... stay here with my cousin." "I'm not going anywhere." "Need to find herbs to refresh this poultice." "Will you be offended if I take all this off?" " It makes me feel..." " Trapped?" "I know the feeling." "I'll help you get out of it when we get back." "How can you have an uncle that no one knows about?" "I'm not the first bastard to bless my family." "My mother's father had a bastard son, too." "His name was Jonathan Durand." "Isabel's father." "I never knew him." "Our families weren't close." "When he was executed," "Isabel came to live with my family, secretly." "And how did the Queen find out about the connection?" "No doubt one of her spies saw me visiting her." "Were you taking her money?" "And food." "And a lot of unwanted advice." "She was supposed to marry the baby's father, but he passed away in a border skirmish a few months ago." "You're like a big brother to her." "A proper big brother wouldn't have gotten her into this mess." "You didn't get her into this mess, I did." "Mary... stop blaming yourself." "I would like to, but when you say that you feel trapped, I can't help but wonder..." "But I don't feel trapped by you." "I feel trapped by the politics, the rules, the formalities." "What I feel about you is..." "You don't have to explain." "Our engagement happened so fast, we haven't had time to..." "Here come the guards." "Let's go." "If those are the Queen's men, they've already tried to kill you once." "They won't worry about bringing you back alive, or Isabel." "There's a fork in the road just ahead." "The one they expect us to take is shorter, it skirts around the forest." "But the other one..." "It goes through the Blood Wood." "A road they wouldn't want to follow." "Is this really necessary?" "The Regent ordered you not to pass messages inside the castle." "You defied his order." "I see." "So the three of you have come to buck each other up, because I'm so frightening?" "Or did you all just want the pleasure of seeing me brought so low?" "I suppose a little bit of each, actually." "I guess you're a bit starved for entertainment, Kenna, now that the King's rejected you." "You're so beautiful, I marvel to think at how grating and tedious you must also be to achieve such a thing." "Leave her alone." "Greer of Kinross." "Oh, you're so plucky and brave and ripe and ready." "Coming to court to sell yourself to a noble in order to salvage your father's failures." "I hope your flesh isn't too weak to safeguard your virtue, as it's all your family has left." "You can stop bullying everyone now." "The reason we came here is to tell you we're the only three faces you'll be seeing for a while." "No more guards, no more servants, no one else you can threaten or bribe." "So you're the strong one." "Are you also the smart one, Lola?" "If so, you'd know you've already let your queen down." "You three coming here tells me she's not in the castle." "Otherwise, she'd have delivered this message." "It also tells me she's probably off helping that bastard and his escaped lover." "And you saying so tells us Mary was right." "You've had a hand in every plot against Bash, including the one on his life." "And if you've left a scrap of evidence, we'll find it." "Run, little girls, run away." "Her water's broken." "My baby's coming." " And soon." " How soon?" "The labor can take minutes or it can take hours." "Either way, we won't be getting out of the Blood Woods before it's dark." "We can't go back." "The Queen's guards will catch us." "And even if we could turn back, she can't give birth in a moving carriage." "Both she and the baby could die." "Here, at least she has a chance." "There's a tent in the carriage." "We'll have no fire, and the moment this baby is born, we get back on the road, day or night." "My muscles hurt so much, I can barely move." "Have you had anything to drink?" "Some milk yesterday morning." "Why?" "I've seen this before." "And the muscles clench without enough water, and it might have brought your birthing pains on early." "Bash?" "There's a stream just north of here." "Alec's outside." "I won't be long." "You must think very little of me." "Pregnant, with no husband, no job, no way to feed a family." "Not at all." "Bash told me you lost the baby's father." "I'm sorry." "You're awfully kind." " I can't quite believe it." " That I'd be kind?" "That I have a queen wiping sweat off my brow, like, I was the Queen, not you." "Do you really think royals are so different from ordinary people?" "Well, just look at you." "What about Bash?" "He could be king someday soon." "And married to you, I hear." "Is that so hard to imagine?" "The married bit, no." "I've seen the way he looks at you." "The king bit, though..." "You can't imagine your cousin as a king?" "Don't kings have to make awful decisions sometimes?" "Betray their friends for the good of their country?" "Don't they have to be nice to people they'd much rather hit with a shovel?" "Sometimes, yes." "Then, no, I can't recommend him." "The pains are starting to come in faster now." "It's almost time." "Lovely Kenna, as long as we're stuck here together, you on guard duty, me under guard, let's speak frankly, shall we?" "My advice, if you want it, is to leave Mary's service as soon as she leaves France, and go someplace far away from politics." "You're not smart enough to survive at court." "But you are pretty enough to land a good husband and to lead a nice quiet life." "You're awfully confident." "Why shouldn't I be?" "Sebastian is already captured by now with the traitor's daughter, or else if he's foolish enough, he's gone into the Blood Wood." "Either way, my problems are soon to be solved." "Are you sure you want" " to be sharing one of your plots with me?" " Do you think I care what the King's former bed thing chooses to gossip?" "Spoken words aren't evidence." "They vanish like smoke in the wind as soon as they're spoken." "Surely, all the King's promises taught you that." "You're so very right." "Thank you." "Where are you going?" "I'm not done abusing you." "You're taking away my only amusement!" " We need more water." " I'll be right back." "Mary, no, you mustn't!" "They're here!" "I saw their lights in the woods, and they've set up their symbols outside." "Bash, look." "It's the same as the one they used to mark me for sacrifice." "Those hideous pagans." "Hideous pagans?" "You mean the Blood Cult?" "What difference does it make?" "They're bloodthirsty heretics." "Not every pagan is bloodthirsty." "That's enough." "If they are outside..." "They tried to mark us for death." "They put their symbols up outside the tent, but I tore them down." "You did what?" "You don't understand." "These pagans..." "Bash, tell them, tell them what they..." "Bilkemen." "Unay." "Ari-aye mondana." "Bilkemen." "Unay." "Ari-aye mondana." "Bilkemen." "Unay." "Ari-aye mondana." "Bilkemen." "Unay." "Ari-aye mondana." "Bilkemen." "Unay." "Ari-aye mondana!" "They slaughtered one of the horses." "They're gone now." "We're safe." "We're safe?" "You think after what just happened we're safe?" "They would have slaughtered all of us, but they heard our prayers, and they chose one of the horses instead." "They spared us because they thought we we're pagans, because you are pagans, all of you." "That's what you've been hiding from me." "You're a heretic!" "What I am is alive... and so are you." "Mary." "Mary, wait, please." "Listen to me." "You're the one who hung the medallion on the tent, aren't you?" "You put this horrid symbol up, so they would kill something else, because we were one of them!" "You don't understand." "This is why you didn't want me to help with Isabel." "This is why your uncle was put to death!" "He was a pagan, a heretic, wasn't he?" "Mary, calm down before you say something you don't mean." "You lied to me!" "You hid this horrible shame!" "What shame is that, exactly?" "You're just like them." "The monsters... who killed this animal." "Who sacrifice people and revel in their blood!" "Well, why aren't you saying anything?" "!" "Why would I respond to such ignorant cruelty?" "The pagan is calling the Catholic ignorant?" "To begin with, I'm not pagan, Mary." "I'm Catholic, same as you, same as my mother." "Those were pagan prayers!" "You told me that!" "They're just words." "I'm not even sure what they mean." "I learned them as a small child visiting Isabel's family." "I heard them repeated, the way a child hears the Lord's Prayer, so I know them by heart now." "And Isabel?" "And Alec?" "They are believers." "Isabel learned the faith from her father." "And she clung to it even more tightly when he was beheaded for defending it." "The same way anyone would." "The same way thousands of Christians did, when their families were martyred." "Most pagans are just like us, Mary." "They live and they pray and they struggle exactly as we do." "They just happen to see something different when they picture God." "And what of the monsters who slaughtered this horse?" "Those devils come from a branch of the faith, some violent sect that makes no sense to me... or Alec or Isabel." "What is this sect?" "All I know is they worship a deity I've never heard of." "They believe that they're serving some thing, a beast in these woods that craves human blood." "The baby!" "Come quick!" "Come on, Isabel." "Just one more, one more." "Just push, push." "It's all right." "It's almost here." "Come on." "One more time." "Good girl." "Uh!" "Oh!" "Is he all right?" "It's a she!" "She's more than all right." "She's beautiful." "Lola, you're back." "Apparently, last time I wasn't unpleasant enough." "I just came to say thank you." "For what?" "I thought having Kenna outside your door might provoke you, and it did." "You boasted that spoken words were like smoke in the wind, useless as evidence, and that gave Kenna a brilliant idea." "Kenna?" "A brilliant idea?" "The evidence we needed against you was written words." "You must recognize your own seal." "I do, but I don't recognize these letters." "This one contains your instructions to hire a villager to attack Bash with a poisoned knife." "You are holding one of Greer's practice letters." "She does a good job with your hand, don't you think?" "Why would I ever put this on paper?" " It makes no sense." " Does it matter?" "We have this letter and we have the knife." "If those are enough to make Henry investigate, can you trust that none of your guards will confess under torture?" "What do you think Henry will do when he learns you were working to undermine his favorite son?" "To sabotage his plans for England?" "Don't you want to know what the second one says?" "Not particularly." "Well, you should thank us for this one." "This one shows that you are selfless, kind and benevolent." "You've ordered your gold stores be used to pay for a public banquet in honor of the Acting Regent, Bash." "Wine, ale, musicians and 50 roasted pigs." "No expense to be spared." "You... huh." "Lord Hugo did look taken aback when he read it, but he's already ordered the preparations begun." "This first letter..." "Who has seen this?" "Well, that's up to you." "If any harm comes to Mary or Bash, or any of us, Henry and Francis will see it." "If not..." "One of Mary's ladies turned out to be a spy, the other a forger." "And Kenna... well, let's be kind and call her a seductress." "What are you?" "A few months ago, you killed a man I loved." "Ah, Colin." "So, you're bitter, then." "No, I'd say that title falls to you." "You justify what you do to protect your son, but where is he now?" "You've driven him away." "You're bitter, and alone." "I had my reasons." "I don't care why you abuse your power." "I just want it taken away from you." "Forever." "If we ride out soon, we can be home from the rendezvous by nightfall." "Bash, I wanted to apologize." "Last night" " I said some things that..." " You were scared." "We all were." "Forget it." "I can't forget it." "And really, neither can you." "What do you mean?" "When your father gets home, if the Pope agrees to his terms and makes you the next heir, things are going to start moving very quickly." "Henry will want us married immediately." "And the moment you say yes, the moment we are married, you will be the King of Scotland, and not long after that, the King of France." "You will have hundreds more enemies, far more than you have now." "People endlessly seeking your vulnerabilities." "My family's secrets, you mean." "I mean your family's importance to you." "You would do anything for them, in spite of the risk to yourself, or to your crown, and I see that now." "And you think that's irresponsible." "I think it's noble." "Which is why I think you may not want this, in your heart." "And I want you to have a choice." "If you don't want a crown... if you don't want to marry me, I will understand." "There's something wrong with Isabel." "Please!" "Isabel... what's wrong?" "Look at me." "Oh, no." "What?" "What is it?" "She's still bleeding." "And it won't stop." "Bash, I've seen this happen before." "Then we'll get her out of here." "Find someone who can help her." "Bash..." "Promise you'll care for the baby, the same way you always cared for me." "Find her a home and a family..." "Don't talk this way." "You'll care for her yourself." "Promise me." "I will." "On my word." "Isabel..." "Isabel." "Isabel." "Isabel." "You look so like your mother." "If you have half her heart, you'll add plenty of joy to this world." "Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh." "Please take this child to the court nursery, but use discretion." "Hide her existence among the other children you care for." "I'm caring for two new ones and a duke's visiting niece." "She'll fit right in." "If anyone asks you where the baby came from, you found her at the castle door." "That's all you know." " Do you understand?" " Of course." "I'll say nothing." "Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh..." "Did you see the baby's foot?" "It's a mark that pagans sometimes put on their newborns, to distinguish the baby in the eyes of their gods." "Isabel must have put it there." "Who knows of this tradition?" "Any pagan would." "Some villagers might." "Will the mark fade?" "It should, eventually." "Well, let's pray that eventually comes soon." "We wondered where you had gone, My Lord Regent, when you disappeared so suddenly." "I went hunting, and I found this fugitive." "I asked her why she fled the jails, and she... threatened me with a knife." "I..." "The Regent was forced to kill her, my lord." "She fought him, but he made quick work of it." "Well, it's no wonder she threatened you." "When we searched this girl's home, we found not only stolen property, but proof that her father was Jonathan Durand, a well-known traitor." "Never heard of him." "Oh, he was part of an uprising 15 years ago, after the crown burned dozens of heretics." "He was suspected of being a pagan himself." "Well, whoever he was," " now his line is ended." " Is it?" "I seem to remember that this girl was with child." "This is the way I found her." "She must have delivered her baby and left it behind." "We can only hope the wolves ended the child's life quickly." "Indeed." "The unwanted child of a criminal deserves no better than the unwanted criminal herself." "Just as the cowardly plotter deserves no better than his hidden puppeteer." "How is your friend, the Queen?" "If she's too cold and lonely in her cell, we can always find her some company." "No." "Thank you, but" "Isabel's people don't put cut flowers on their graves." "Flowers wither away, and adorn death with more death." "But how are we to properly mark her grave, then?" "I know that it must have been so hard for you to present her body to court like she was some kind of criminal." "There is another tradition, but... you won't like it." "What is it?" "Please." "We owe our bodies and lives to the earth, so pagans give thanks with what is most vital to us." "Mary..." "I've thought about what you said." "I never wanted a crown, but if that's my fate, I'll accept it." "I'll learn to wear it." "But you need to know something:" "I'm not Francis." "My duty will never be to some country, some land, some throne." "If I'm married to you, you'll be my family." "I'll be in it for you, and only you." "And if that's not what proper kings do..."