𝐇𝐎𝐀𝐗 | tvd & reign oneshots

- 𝐢'𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥.

— mary x francis, reign
— " you must wed again. you must love again. "
— " i... can't. i will never love anyone the way i love you. "
— " i pray to god that you do. "

...

traditional scottish music played as mary made her way down the aisle, all the eyes in the room turning to her. the queen of scots' face was set in stone as greer set her train on the floor, joining mary's half-brother and mother-in-law as they witnessed her and darnley's holy matrimony. mary wanted to laugh out loud at how ironic it was; it was her wedding. she was supposed to be happy. however, although she forced herself to make the best out of an incorrigible situation, only feelings of fearful, melancholy remorse floated to the surface.

she was beyond grateful for the dim lighting, that she was certain of. mary passed her bouquet to one of the ladies-in-waiting on her future husband's side. darnley held out his hand for her, but mary didn't take it. firstly, she looked into the sea of faces for the ones of those she truly trusted: greer, james, and...catherine.

large, beaming smiles adorned their faces, similar to the rest of the attendees. yet, somehow, mary could recognize the twinge of sadness under those veiled disguises. they wanted what was best for scotland, and so did she. if there was any other option at all, she'd take it in a heartbeat. she didn't want to fall in love all over again and then have that taken from her---and she didn't want to marry some self-entitled lord she didn't even know.

it's all for scotland. it's all for scotland. it's all for scotland.

before taking her to-be husband's outstretched hand, mary glanced back at catherine for clarity. the former queen nodded ever-so-slightly, indicating her approval of the union for the woman she'd come to love as her own daughter.

the queen of scots took another glimpse at the crowd, hoping...just hoping, for any sign telling her to run away, and she would. she'd jilt him and scorn him and leave him at the altar, not caring what anybody said. she could disguise herself and escape, to ireland? norway? denmark? maybe she could go back to france, where she spent so many days in her girlhood surrounded by everyone she loved. it was insane; how she could go from a carefree teenager in love to the ruler of an entire country and stuck in an arranged marriage solely for the good of her homeland in only one year.

and just as she thought of that, her eyes settled on a familiar figure, and mary's heart stopped.

it was francis.

it couldn't be.

he looked the exact same as he did a year ago; he was still wearing the clothes from their fateful day in the woods. sadly, he smiled at her and nodded, giving her his permission to go on. the next second she blinked, and he was gone.

she took a deep breath and finally held out her hand after darnley's had dropped. after the prayers, the blessings, and the ceremonial proceedings, they were pronounced husband and wife.

there would be no reprieve.

in the distance, mary heard the sound of the bells ringing and the cheer of the villagers. everyone in the room bowed to the new queen and king of scotland.

when mary looked over at her husband, the power-hungry smirk on his face matched that of his mother's elated expression. she immediately knew that this would be a decision she'd come to regret later, but it was her duty as a ruler.

her duty was to reign, but this very marriage would be her undoing.

and she would have to watch her kingdom fall.

-

um... i published a draft of this forever ago and it was so bad, so i just updated it a little? yeah, mary queen of scots in real life actually DID love darnley, even though they were cousins (the norm of the time) and even called him the "lustiest and most well-proportioned long man" she had ever met during their honeymoon?? (i don't know if these were her exact words, but still---i guess that was a compliment in 16th-century lingo.

update: that was not it. i searched up "long man" on urban dictionary and came back with:

i. the act of ejaculating inside a sailor's bloody anus.
ii. a longman is a man/women who takes overly long at any given situation with total disregard for responsibility.
iii. just a truly awful human being

there's more, but it's traumatizing. just search up "longman" on urban dictionary. however... he was physically and emotionally abusive and ended up being the death of her reign. so, yeah, reign got that one right.

anyway... keep reading, keep writing, keep dreaming... v