Drowning: A Reign Fanfiction

Chapter 5

AN: Ladies and gentlemen, I present Louis Conde . . . (and a not too happy Francis)

"Let me see it," I said to the messenger as I grabbed the letter from his hand.

He bowed and quickly left the chambers, leaving Francis and I to ourselves.

"Conde wrote you a letter?" Francis said with tangible distaste.

"Don't act so resentful. It's just a letter."

I pulled away the wax seal and unfolded the contents of the parchment.

"I still don't like it." He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

I rolled my eyes and looked down at the fresh ink with surprise.

***

Mary,

When you read this, I'll be gone. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye, but seeing you again would have weakened my resolve.

I know I agreed to marry Claude on behalf of France, but I've realized I can't.

My heart lies with another.

I've fallen in love with a queen.

Conde.

***

"My goodness," I mumbled with a short gasp.

"What? What is it?" Francis demanded as he stole the letter from my grasp. "What does it say?"

I furrowed my brows and twisted my mouth as a foul taste pervaded it.

"He can't marry Claude. He won't." My voice dropped an octave lower, and I couldn't stop myself from staring at the letter.

It felt uncomfortable—the idea that a man, other than Francis, could be in love with me. Was I too kind to Conde? Or perhaps I relied on him too much after the attack, while Francis was hunting down the men involved?

"I'll kill him," Francis said with no argument in his voice. He tossed the letter aside. I watched with wide eyes as it fell to the floor. "I swear, I'll kill him!" Francis seethed.

"You will do no such thing!" I commanded, staring my husband dead-in-the-eyes. "He wrote me a letter. It isn't a crime."

"You're my wife! He's trying to seduce you during this vulnerable and difficult time! How is it not a crime?!" Francis shouted.

"I understand where your coming from," I said with the calmest voice I could manage. If I could just calm him down, then perhaps he would see reason. "I wasn't exactly thrilled to read that letter myself. But he shouldn't die for it. Francis," I pleaded. "He's your cousin."

"Exactly," he seethed. "My cousin is trying to steal my wife away from me."

I placed my hand on his chest, forcing him to look at me.

"If that were true, he wouldn't have left court."

Francis scoffed.

"It was an explanation, Francis, not a threat. He left court, and I'm here. With you," I emphasized. "Not him."

"I don't care. He shouldn't have written that letter, let alone sent it."

I averted my eyes from his.

"About that . . ." I trailed off.

"Mary?" Francis raised an eyebrow.

I sighed. "I ordered the messengers to keep any letter that falls into their possession. Once given to them, their orders command that they give the letter to the intended person. Whoever sends a letter, can't get it back—even if they ask."

"Why would you do that?" His voice was pure curiosity. There were no lingering hints of anger.

"I ordered it as a safeguard against Elizabeth and the english ambassadors. If they ever wrote anything and tried to intercept it . . ." I paused. "I wanted to make sure they couldn't."

"That's reasonable and all." Francis breathed. "But I don't see what that has to do with Conde." His name was bitter, coming from Francis' lips. It made my spine shiver.

"He probably did realize what he was doing—at some point, at least. And if he did try to remove the letter, before it was delivered to me, as I suspect he did, he would have been unable to because of my orders."

"Mary, he still shouldn't have written that letter." Francis sighed. "Intercepted or not."

"Yes," I agreed, "but he also shouldn't lose his head for it. Or your respect. He was just trying to help me through a difficult time. If you want to blame someone for this, blame me. If he hadn't helped me find Severin—"

"He aided your search for Severin by my request. Clearly he was unfit for the task."

"But he helped me find Severin!" I argued. "He killed Severin's accomplices from the attack!"

"And he overstepped a boundary, Mary! You don't write letters like that to a king's wife!" Francis shouted, gesturing towards the door.

"Is that all I am to you? An object that's yours?"

"Of course not, Mary. But I certainly won't stand by, idle, when another man writes love letters to you," Francis said, pulling away from me.

"So then what are you going to do?" I challenged as Francis walked towards the door. "Kill him for looking at me? We both know that isn't right. Letter or not."

Francis turned around and stared at me with the eyes of a king, not my husband.

"I don't know what I'm going to do about Conde. But one thing is for certain: he is not allowed in French Court until I say otherwise."

I gasped.

"You can't do that, Francis!" I begged. "This is my fault! Blame me, not him."

Francis raised an eyebrow. Whatever he was about to ask, he already knew the answer.

"Did you encourage a romantic relationship with Conde?"

I scoffed.

"Of course not. You know I didn't." Anger rose in my voice as I glared at my husband.

"Then, I see no one to blame but him."

He walked through the doors of the chamber. They slammed shut behind him with a loud thud.

Furious and alone, I went to the only window in the bedroom and stared out the glass. In the castle courtyard, Kenna and Lola were chatting, while Lola held her and Francis' son, John. The joy on their faces, as they smiled and laughed, added a speck of light to the very dull start to my day.

At times likes these, I wished for nothing more than a simple life of my own. Maybe, if I didn't carry the weight of being a queen and Francis, a king, we would be happier. We would be free to love each other and start a family—without politics and diplomats constantly getting in our way.

But we were the King and Queen of France. We didn't own our lives. We lived to serve.

AN: I don't like it when Mary and Francis argue. But guys, we can have Francis be friends with Louis. That just isn't gonna work. Surely you see why . . .

Do you like Conde?

Anyway, thank you for reading! Make sure to comment and vote if you liked this chapter so I know that you want to see more :) (it helps other people find this story). And finally, I hope that you enjoyed what you've read so far! I don't know how long this story is going to go, but I don't want to stop until it feels right.

-Elly6431