Married But Alone

Francis woke up in the middle of the night with an excruciating pain in his right ear; it’s as if someone’s drilling inside attempting to penetrate his eardrum. This has been happening for three consecutive nights and so far, tonight is the most painful. But he must admit that all this physical pain is nothing compared to the emotional pain that he is feeling brought by Mary’s absence, she’s been in Scotland for an entire month now and he’s been hurt by the fact that they parted on painful terms.  He tried to hinder Mary from coming to Scotland when he discovered that someone was planning to kill her and yet she didn’t listen, thank God she arrived safe. He wanted to come with her but his duties to France obstructed him, he promised Mary that he’ll follow her after two weeks, but to his dismay, he’s still in France, lonely, sick and feeling utterly useless to his wife. He pulls out the letter Mary wrote her one week ago, reading it again somehow wipes the pain temporarily.

My dear Francis,

I’m sorry if it took so long for me to write to you, I have just been so busy here in Scotland, we managed to stop the uprisings and my main concern now is to help my country to recover. My advisers told me all the things I need to learn here since I grew up in France and not in my own country.

But enough of that, I wrote to you mainly because I was becoming worried, you told me you’ll follow me here and yet it has been three weeks and I have yet to see your face, has something happened in France? How is your father? I miss you, I wish you’re here with me, come to me when things in French court are all under control. I’ll be waiting.

Love,

Mary

Francis folded the letter and hid it somewhere safe, he already wrote her back and he hated to let her know that he won’t be coming to Scotland anytime soon; he was also angered by the fact that both Nostradamus and his mother hindered him from reuniting with his wife. He recalled his conversation with Nostradamus yesterday morning because he still can’t comprehend why he was forced by Nostradamus to stay.

“Nostradamus, I came here to ask if you have a medicine for an aching ear, the pain kept me up all night and I can’t seem to focus on anything but the discomfort.” Nostradamus was shocked upon hearing Francis, and as much as he tried to hide it, Francis already noticed his odd reaction.

“Is everything alright? Have I said something wrong?”

“Pardon me your grace, I didn’t quite catch what you said”

“My ear is painful and I need medicine for it, do you have one?

Nostradamus knew from then on that his end is near. If Francis dies, he’ll die with him. The queen will not let him survive for wrongly interpreting his visions, for not seeing Francis’ death beforehand. He told the queen that it is alright for Francis and Mary to be married because the prophecy was fulfilled when Clarissa died, but just after the wedding he saw another vision that indicates that Francis will die because of an ear infection. And that’s what happening now, he must keep Francis alive if he wish to stay alive as well.

“I have something to relieve the pain, but I’m afraid the relief will only be temporary”. Nostradamus said as he handled the small bottle to Francis.

“It’s okay, I’m sure the pain will go away soon, I’ll get another bottle before I leave for Scotland, just in case”

“Your grace, I’m afraid you’re not fit to travel, not with your condition”

“condition? Nostradamus don’t be silly, it’s only an aching ear, I’m not in the brink of death”

“but I still need to observe your condition your grace, you might get worse, let me at least examine your ear to understand why it’s hurting”

“you worry too much Nostradamus, I’ll be fine”

“your grace, I’m afraid I’ll still have to inform your mother about your condition”

“If you must, but you can’t hinder me for long”

Until now, Francis still doesn’t know why Nostradamus panicked over a mere ear ache, but worrying about him is not his top concern, he needs to make sure that everything’s under control in France before he can go to Scotland and be with his queen.