The Scottish Princess

Twelve

Francis' Point of View
I sat with Mary at the feast, she had barely spoken to me the whole feast and seemed very distracted. "Mary are you ok-" I almost got my sentence out before she cut me off. "Do you think my Father and Lady Isla are together? Romantically?" She asked not breaking her gaze on them. "She seems to be being very flirty, but he is the king that's not shocking." I said "It is here, everyone knows how much my Father loved my Mother, he hasn't been with any woman since she died. And he is flirting back." She said "Mary, stop giving them the death stare and look at me for a minute." I laughed a little. "I'm not giving them the death stare." She said looking at me. "Really? What would you call it then?" I asked "Not a death stare." She said "Would it really be the worst thing if they were together? He deserves to be happy." I asked "Yes it would be." She said "Why? Is she married?" I asked "No, her husband died many years ago." She said "Is she cruel?" I asked "No." She said "Is she nice to you?" I asked "Yes she has been very kind to me since I was a child." She said "Then what's the problem?" I asked "The problem is I asked him if they were together and he told me no." She said "I would have told you no too based on this reaction." I said, she frowned. "What if she is trying to get with him for power? Or money?" She asked "Yes that is a possibility, but what if she just loves him." I said "Do you think I'm being crazy?" She asked. She is just a bit. "No Mary of course not. Just be a tad more open minded." I said "It's just so hard to imagine him with anyone but my Mother. The way he would speak about her made it seem like he could never love anyone else. And It's always just been me and him. I don't want anyone else, I can take care of him." She said "Mary, whether you like it or not in the next year you're going to get married, and you're going to go live with your husband. Meaning go live with me in France of course." That made her blush. "And you won't always be here to take care of him. Just because she is in his life doesn't mean you're getting replaced. You're his daughter, you'll always be above any other woman to him." I said, she turned and looked at them. "He looks really happy, like how he is when he tells me about my Mother." She said, I held her hand. "Maybe I'm being a little crazy." She said "I don't think I should agree with you." I laughed "Probably not." She smiled "Well I was going to have it be a surprise, but you need some cheering up. Guess what's for dessert?" I asked "What?" She asked "Apple dumplings, your favorite." I smiled "What? I never told you that." She said "Not recently no, but when we were children you lived off them." I said "You remembered that?" She smiled "Of course I did, I remember everything from when we were little." I said "Do you remember the time you called me slow so I pushed you in the lake?" She laughed "Yes, not my manliest moment." I smiled "I have another question. You don't have to answer if it upsets you." She said "What is it?" I asked "Were your Mother and Father ever in love or did they always hate each other?" She asked "You don't think they love each other?" I asked "Oh no of course I do." She said "Mary I'm joking." I laughed "Francis!" She hit my arm. "To be honest I can never remember a time that they both seemed happy except for when my mom had my brothers. But it never lasted long." I said "That's really sad, i'm sorry you had to see that." She squeezed my hand. "You don't have to apologize to me for anything." I lifted up her hand and kissed it. "Do you remember when we would sneak out at night to go catch fireflies?" She asked "Yes I do, I was taller so I could always catch more. You would get so mad." I smiled. I like that we knew each other when we were younger, back when we didn't care and weren't trying to impress each other. It's also fun to look back on. "Oh my god Francis they are leaving together!" She said "Your Dad's getting lucky tonight, don't ruin it for him." I laughed "Don't say that!" She hit my chest "Abusive much?" I smiled "Come on we're going to follow them." She stood up and began walking out, I followed after her. "Are you sure this a good idea?" I asked "Yes now shush." She said, she held my hand and led me down the hall way. This is sweet. We walked down the stairs towards her Father's rooms. She peaked down the hall way then let out a loud gasp. I pulled her towards me and put my hand over her mouth. "Did you hear that?" I heard James say. "No what was it?" Isla asked "Nothing probably, let's go." He said. I lifted my hand of Mary's mouth. "Way to almost blow our cover!" I whispered "They were kissing!" She said "Oh God, I'm sorry Mary." I hugged her. "Do you feel this way when you see your Father with someone that isn't your Mother?" She asked "No, my Dad will sleep with anything with breasts and a heart beat." I joked. "Let's go to my rooms, I don't want to think about this anymore." She said "Let's steal some dumplings first." I said "Good idea." She smiled