"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:" " You're holding me prisoner?" " Guarded, day and night, or at least until I'm back from Rome." "Sebastian, if this girl is pregnant with your child..." "The child is not mine." "No one knows of our true connection." " But if they learn that a traitor was my uncle..." " You can never be king." "There's something wrong with Isabel!" "Promise you'll care for the baby." "Find her a home and a family." "Hide her existence among the other children you care for." " I'll say nothing." " Did you see the baby's foot?" "It's a mark that pagans sometimes put on their newborns." " Will the mark fade?" " Eventually." "Let's pray that eventually comes soon." "Thank you, Jeanne, for taking care of her... and for keeping quiet about it." "I'm sorry I can't tell you the mother's name, but a child born out of wedlock..." "I understand." "Poor lady, she'd be disgraced... but I've kept the baby well-hidden in the stables." "Could you give us a minute alone, please?" "Of course, Your Grace." "Hi..." "The mark is fading." "In a few days, it will be gone, and then we can take her to a convent." "Meanwhile, that little mark could lead to questions we can't answer." "What if they put this together with Isabel, if they learned she was my cousin?" "Once, my pagan ties only put me in danger, but now... imagine the response to a heretic king on the throne." "We'd both be targets." "I don't like putting you at risk." "Every day this baby's in the castle..." "It's going to be all right." "I talked to Agnes, our wet nurse's mother." "She's been helping care for the baby." "She agreed to take the child to her village for a few days." "By then, the mark will be gone and Agnes can take her on to a convent." "Francis would have offered you a life without these risks." "We're being careful... and we're lucky." "We only have to protect the baby from servants' gossip." "Henry is away in Rome," "Catherine is locked in her tower, and you are the regent." "My lord, my lady, news..." "Henry's back, and they say he's brought Medicis with him." "Oh!" "My family!" "Oh, Francesca." "Oh!" "Pietro." "You got my letters." "I'm horrified, my dear." "I know." "But now I have you to thank for making this place fit for a human being." "My darling girl, we bring mixed tidings." "As you urged in your letters, our family has thrown its considerable weight against this annulment of your marriage to Henry." " And were you successful?" " Yes." "Under our pressure, the Pope refused to see Henry." "Excellent." "So Henry has returned here with the aim of killing you." "He can't." "He has no legal justification!" "He's accused you of adultery." "That's a treasonable offense." "If found guilty, you would pay with..." "They say one or two of Henry VIII's wives practiced laying their head on a block, so they could face the end with dignity." "But, of course, it will never come to that." "Absolutely not." "We will be here to see any charges are fairly disputed." "And we've arranged that you may leave the tower, under guard, to prepare your defense." "But, just in case..." "This is ridiculous." "Who am I accused of being adulterous with?" "You meant it, didn't you?" "If I say these things at the court, you'll find me a suitable husband?" "Yes, I promise." "Now try to concentrate." "Were they naked?" "Not entirely." "Well, that wouldn't be believable, would it?" "And how do you know how far they went?" "The Queen screamed in pleasure." " Lady Kenna, I'm not sure..." " No, no, no." "I like that." "Let Catherine scramble for her dignity." "Catherine tried to poison me once." "You could tell them that in court." "No one cares, Kenna." " That part's true." " My dear Henry's only interested in offenses against himself." "Aren't you supposed to wait outside the door, so I can conduct my defense privately?" "Off with you, child." "You've killed me enough for one day." "Did you miss me?" "This is judicial murder, Henry." "We all know how this plays out when a king tries to cast off a queen." "I'll have a line of witnesses to your adultery a mile long, all eager to say whatever I want them to say." "Nobles, servants, stable boys, the man who clips the hedges in the garden, it doesn't matter." "Twist and squirm all you want; you can't outlast them, because I'll have another, and another." "All to wed Mary to your bastard son, and get her to stake her claim to the English throne." "It won't look good, Henry." "You're doing all this for England." "You're killing me for England." "When you go back to the Vatican all set to legitimize Bash, you need to give them a fig leaf." "You need the appearance of fairness." "So that you and the Pope don't look like the power-hungry bastards you are." "Oh, my hands will be clean." "I'm keeping a distance." "The evidence against you will be collected by my old friend." "You remember Viscount Richard Delacroix?" "It takes a special kind of vindictiveness to kill a woman over a petty slight from years ago." "Petty?" "You exiled me from court." "You should never have referred to your queen as an "Italian horse."" "I didn't." "I called you an "Italian mule."" "I'm sure you never stopped to notice, but you have made a lot more enemies than just me." "And now the time's come to pay." "Your Majesty." "Your Majesty." "Your Majesty, you're back." "Your Majesty shines like the sun upon our humble..." "Yes, Bernard." "Where are we?" "Gervaise has taken back his request to dedicate his new play to you, for fear of offending the king." "Martin assumes his dancers are canceled, and is preparing to move on to Padua." "Everyone!" "Your attention." "The queen of France wants it known that nothing will be canceled." "The money will continue to flow." "The arts in France live, as long as Catherine de Medici lives, and I intend that to be a long, long time." "Now, let's not make that a lie." "Ah, Charlotte, a word." "Is it bad, Your Grace?" "It's worse than bad." "Henry will have my head, and I can't win if I fight him legally." "Then I trust Your Grace has another strategy." "Well, my best chance, my only chance, is to destroy Sebastian." "That way, Henry will have to turn to Francis as the next heir and there'll be no need to kill me." "There must be something I can use to destroy the bastard." "We've watched him, Your Grace, as you ordered." "Janet says that for the last few days," "Bash and Mary have spent an unusual amount of time in the wine cellar." "Danielle told me that she saw Mary talking to the wet nurse, and the wet nurse going down to the stables... several times." "The physician said to leave the bandage on for another three days." "Do not remove it until then; not for any reason." "When the burn is healed, you can take the child to the Convent of St. Clare." "Have no fear, Your Grace." "Babies are nothing new to me." "I've delivered dozens in my time." "Be on your way, Agnes." "Your Majesty, I'm surprised to see you here." "Yes, I thought a ride might clear my head." "But you're not wearing your riding habit." "Oh, how foolish." "I should have changed." "What... a beautiful baby." "Grandchild, Agnes?" "Orphan, left at the castle door." "Agnes is taking her to the convent." "Isn't that right?" "Yes, Your Grace." "Babies are such a sign of hope in dark times." "Oh, I hope nothing's wrong, is there?" "Jeanne, dear, go away." "Queen Mary and I need to have a little talk." "That's a pagan child." "No doubt the mother was pagan as well." "I'm not sure what you're imagining." "So what would this make Bash in the eyes of the nobles?" "The fact that he's kept that mark secret... the timing of the birth, which will foster suspicion." "Half of them don't want him as their king as it is." "Rumors are deadly to a man in that position." "Rumors are deadly for a queen as well." "Yes, I'm a good object lesson, aren't I?" "If Henry can cut off my head based on rumors he creates himself, imagine what would happen to Bash with actual evidence." "One look at that baby, and Bash's enemies will say," ""Where there's smoke, there's fire."" "At best, they'll pull him off the throne and you'll lose the alliance." "At worst... well, by the time they're finished... you could end up on a stake beside him, my dear, if you aren't careful." "I'm not threatening you." "I'm giving you a chance to run home to your mother and let Bash be what he's always been, a playmate to Henry." "Otherwise... well yes, then I am threatening you." "It will be hard to destroy us both, when you are without your head." "So it's to be a race, is it?" "Well, I seek to pull down Bash from the perch he does not deserve." "You can help Henry trip me into my grave." "Which one of us will crush the other first?" "I wonder." "When the ax falls on your neck, I will be there... with Bash... the next king of France." "Hello, old friend." "Too bad you didn't see this one coming." "Somehow I never see anything coming that could help me." "So, we're lovers now, are we?" "Well, Henry was never very imaginative." "You've read books on pagan law." "You probably understand more about it than anyone who isn't a pagan themselves." "Tell me, have you ever thought Sebastian might know more about what goes on in the forest than a good Catholic should?" "He seems well-informed." "But then, he's a woodsman." "He hunts game there." "It's reasonable to think he might see things." "Are you aiming to use Bash as your way out of this?" "Are you keeping your own counsel because a man marked for questioning might betray your secrets?" "I'm sorry our friendship has made you a target." "No harm done yet." "They've only given me a look at the instruments." "Ah!" "The guilty couple together again." "It isn't funny, Henry." "It might be a little funny, if you're the only one who suffers." "Nostradamus..." "I've come to offer you a deal." "If you'll say that you and my wife have been having an affair," "I'll show mercy." "Instead of death, your punishment will be exile from France." "Is that so bad?" "You can pretend to tell fortunes in" "Germany or Spain." "I think not." "Well, there you are." "Loyalty's an odd thing." "Heaven knows how you engender it, my dear." "You must see how frustrating this is." "Clearly, you're in Mary's confidence." "It was your own mother who took the baby away." "You must know where they've gone." "The Convent of St. Clare, Your Majesty." "Yes, but we've been to the Convent of St. Clare, and there was no baby." "Where else would they go?" "Where does your mother live?" "I dislike leaving you in the hands of my family, Jeanne." "Sometimes they lack my patience." "But I simply don't have the time to cajole the answers from you." "The risks Catherine talked about are real." "You could marry me, and I could be pulled down from the throne." "Or we could try for England and both lose our heads." "Do you want to withdraw?" "Give up our plans, the legitimization?" "No." "No." "I'm committed." "But I want you to commit." "I have." "Politically." "Is a political reward enough to justify the risks?" "It's not for me, and I don't believe it is for you." "Mary... since childhood, you were told that" "Francis... was your destiny." "Have you ever considered what might have been, if I were the Dauphin when you came to court instead of my brother?" "If you came with your heart open... ready to love me?" "Oh, Mary, it's terrible." "Jeanne, the wet nurse..." "We were gentle, as you wished." "Our men simply stretched her a bit on the rack." "And?" "Her mother lives in Peronne." "I've already sent horsemen." "She's all right now." "I saw her in the infirmary." "But she said to tell you that she's worried." "She said, "They know where my mother took the baby."" "They'll have sent men already." "We must get there first." "The Medicis don't know this countryside." "They'll have to follow a map, go by road." "We'll cut over the hills." "You're going to get what you deserve." "You and Nostradamus." "Who are you, ghost?" "Why are you here?" "Come out into the light." "Where we can all see you!" "I haven't accepted the king's offer." "I won't betray you." "I wonder if you've already betrayed me." "Tell me about the castle ghost." "Who, contrary to what you've repeatedly told me, is not really a ghost." "You've seen her?" "And touched her bony little arm." "Well, she has a grudge against me, and you, too, it seems." "But you knew that, I'm sure!" "Her name is Clarissa." "She's forged a bond with Mary." "Sees herself as Mary's defender." "So, of course, she sees me as a threat." "And yet you have been hiding this danger from me." "How long has she been lurking in shadows, listening to God knows what?" "!" "I feel responsible for her." "It was the year of the great storm." "My father came home through the floods with a newborn in his arms." "He wanted to see if he could correct her face." ""Correct" it?" "As the villagers said," ""She was kissed by the devil."" "You mean she had a birthmark?" "Going up along one cheek." "The mother insisted the mark be removed." "And my father... liked to experiment." "He tried to remove it." "First, surgically... then with potions." "He managed to peel and dissolve some of the stain, but the... the wounds putrefied." "By the time he stopped, she was horribly deformed." "He didn't tell the mother this?" "As soon as it went wrong, he hurried to cover his failure." "He told her the baby had died." "Of natural causes." "And he ordered me to expose the child in the woods." "Why did you disobey?" "Perhaps I know what it's like to be a freak." "I found a couple willing to take her in." "Paid them what I could." "And yet, she ended up here." "Some of the villagers said she was marked by the devil." "Children tormented her." "They laughed, threw stones." "Then one day, she broke." "She tackled a boy, and nearly beat him half to death." "So you brought this... wretched, tortured savage here?" "To live in the shadows?" "The shadows are the only life she has." "I hear tomorrow's a big day for me." "There was another option... you rejected it." "My hands are tied." "Who ties the hands of the king?" "Other than a select lusty few?" "You know..." "I feel better about this all the time." "Really, Henry, is this the best you could do?" "Adultery, with the court seer." "Even the way I put you to death... fails to meet your standards." "Well, perhaps you're right." "It's just hard to picture you in the arms of anyone you're not obliged to sleep with for reasons of state." "You're incapable of love, I know that well enough." "So that's the lie that you tell yourself to justify all this." "However our marriage began... we came to love each other in those first years." "Don't pretend that we didn't." "Yes." "That was a charming illusion you created... until you tired of it and pushed me away." "I pushed you away?" "!" "Who brought Diane back to court?" "Who had her pointedly in his lap during that meeting with the German ambassador?" "Yes, I was childish." "I was young, and a man doesn't respond well when his wife uses him as a studhorse to sire offspring." "I was saving my life." "Ten years without a child!" "How many queens have been tossed aside, or beheaded for not providing an heir?" "!" "My family warned me ahead of time..." "Oh, let's not bring the damn Medicis into this!" "You are the one who wanted me to perform with quack medicines from half the doctors in Europe, but without the slightest hint of tenderness, or even liking." "I hurt your feelings." "The man who would have had me killed and found another queen was annoyed because I'm trying to..." "I would not have killed you!" "Or put you aside!" "I was in love with you." "Could you not have trusted me?" "Trust you?" "You're killing me now!" "We are not the same people." "Maybe I had something to do with that." "Trust does not come easily to me." "I was always taught that love was delusion." "That people love what you can give them, and a queen... what's the use of might-have-beens?" "It's too late." "Those two naive children are dead now." "We killed them." "Did we?" "Let down your hair." "Let me look at you." "Welcome, Your Grace, my lord." "This is my nephew, Andrew." "Are you here to see the baby?" "She's in the next room." "I just got her to sleep." "Oh, she's still here!" "Of course, my lady." "Where would she be?" "No one's come asking about her?" " No, my lord." " Oh, we're in time, then." "Agnes, we're here to take the baby away, and it might be a good idea for you and your nephew to leave, as well." "Just for a while." "If you don't, then... you... you might be questioned." "There are people searching for the baby, and if they don't find her, they might think that you can tell them where she is." "Questioned?" "Who would want...?" "At least six horses." "Medicis." "If they find us, they won't need the baby." "They can kill us here, now, where no one will know." "And won't that solve all Catherine's problems!" "Agnes, do you have another door?" "Or a window in the back?" "Somewhere to hide, then?" "There must be somewhere." "If those men find us," "Queen Mary and me won't be the only people to die here." "They'll have to kill you and your nephew." "You'll be witnesses." "I don't want to do this to you." "Then don't." "We've come for the baby, old woman." "Where is it?" "I don't understand." "Who are you?" "What's in there?" "Sacks of grain and apples to store through the winter." "Open it." "My son has the key." "He's not here." "There were two horses outside." "Yes, my son and daughter-in-law are in from town." "They're visiting the farm on the next hill." "What's that, then?" "I guess you were telling the truth after all." "Go." "Tomorrow's witnesses have been canceled." "The inquiry is postponed." "It seems" "Henry's had misgivings." "He needs time to think." "Thank God." "It may be only in a temporary reprieve, but at least I've achieved that." "At the price of convincing the devil you're married to that you love him." "I do love him, Richard." "I had to speak the truth." "There are times when lies... lack sufficient power." "Richard, no man has ever cared for me the way you do." "You left court to throw off suspicion, and now you've returned... to take up a task you despise, and all to protect me." "And for myself." "I dared not let Henry appoint someone else to prosecute you." "Who knows what they might have found?" "Don't pretend to be self-interested, my dear." "You never could pull it off." "Catherine, all these years without you, imagining you in Henry's arms." "Can't you lie, and say you love me best?" "I will always love you best," "Richard, my heart." "You're the one man I have never lied to." "Unless this is a lie." "For years, Catherine was unable to get pregnant." "She felt rejected by the king, humiliated and frightened, I'm sure." "A queen who can't produce an heir?" "So, she turned for comfort to someone else." "Who?" "I never saw his face." "But the notes, the secret letters that flew back and forth as the time came for her to give birth." "The orders to her ladies-in-waiting, the fear the king might find out." "She slapped one of the ladies, told her to be more careful." "Servants are invisible to the highborn." "They think we aren't even there." "But we are." "I saw... how scared Catherine was." "Because it was the lover's child, you see." "Not Henry's." " And you'll testify to this?" " I will." "Mind you, I'm not one to wish my lady harm." "If she hadn't done such wickedness to my daughter..." "Yes." "We all must protect those that we love." "Have you no evidence beyond notes you say were exchanged, notes you never read?" "I thought you wanted to convict the queen." "I just want to be sure of the truth." "Well, that's new." "Why should you think the child wasn't mine?" "What color were its eyes?" " I can't say." " My lord," "I'm afraid the witness doesn't seem that helpful." "I could take her and question her further." "I barely noticed the eyes, for the birthmark over half her cheek." " Birthmark?" " The child was born with a port-wine stain just above her lip." "The queen reacted unfavorably to it." "The girl was handed off to Nostradamus's father, the court surgeon, and must have died soon after, poor thing." "It's not here." "The pagan mark isn't here." "What baby did you take?" "This is the same child." "She was with the midwife." "She's useless to me!" "Useless!" "What do you want me to do with her?" "What do I care?" "Send her to a convent." "The king wishes to see you." "Richard, my old companion." "How many taverns did we shut down when we were younger?" "I remember how that birthmark runs in your family." "You were the first of my friends to grow a beard, weren't you?" "You're going to kill me, aren't you?" "What do you want me to say?" "That you're sorry!" "You were my friend, and she was my wife." "I'm sorry I couldn't save you." "A short good-bye, I know." "If you need more time together," "I can have his head delivered to your chambers within the hour." " Always generous in victory." " It is victory." "There is enough for the ecclesiastical court to render a guilty verdict." "And then you can have your way unobstructed." "And put the son of your choice on the throne." "Pagan sympathizer though he is." "What?" "Oh, I could be wrong." "He might not be a pagan sympathizer." "He might simply be a pagan, like his mother." "How dare you make these wild, baseless accusations?" "You have no proof!" "I'm sure this is familiar, Henry." "Diane kept it in her chambers." "Oh, it's just a charming, decorative sculpture." "If you had ever cared to read" "Nostradamus's books on pagan lore, you would know that this represents the soul of its owner." "It's meant to be kept in the lover's home, so the lover's soul can be kept close to one's own." "It's very pretty, if heretical." "Huh." "Diane's soul." "Lovely, if a bit lightweight." "Father, let me speak." "Silence." "You'll have your turn." "CATHERINE Let's face it, Henry." "What good is a Catholic claim to England when heresy abounds here in France?" "The rumors alone could splinter your realm and destroy your entire legacy." "Father, she's lying!" "She planted the evidence." "Silence!" "I've been betrayed sufficiently for one day." "Go on." "Yes." "I can see how you might suspect I had planted the evidence." "But as it happens, you've had two guards accompanying me wherever I go." "How ironic that they are now my witnesses." "Bellows?" "Is it true?" "Did you see the queen find this object?" "Yes, my lord." "She told us to come in and witness that everything was above board." "That thing was in a chest on the table." "Queen Catherine didn't plant it there." "Would you be willing to testify to this publicly?" "I will speak the truth, my lord." "Ah." "And you?" "Did you see anything?" "No, my lord, I saw nothing." "You don't need to teach me how rumors work." "I know it, and I know the time to quash them is when they're still in the seed." "You're letting your lust for England blind you!" "I've had a lot of time to think about that, well before England became a possibility." "As it happens," "Diane chose to share her secret with me." "It took some years for her to trust me." "I'm glad she did." "She wanted to put her past behind her, to have a new life with me." "I'd hoped once the same might be true with you, that you could put your family behind you and we'd grow closer, but every year shows me how deep your Medici blood goes." "You wouldn't have minded my Medici blood if the hurt of my betrayal wasn't stinging you right now." "I know how that feels." "Well played." "Lesson for the day: next time you see a threat, large or small, you cut it down like a weed." "Understand?" "Yes." "You've disgraced yourself and our family." "By what, adultery?" "How many of our family have taken lovers?" "Including the Popes." "You've disgraced us by losing." "Yes." "I can attempt escape." "With our money, I can fashion a bribe like no other." "You can give me refuge in Italy." "We can give you this." "I saw the way you looked at the execution block." "This is kinder than the ax." "And less vulgar in the eyes of the family." "Safe voyage, Queen Catherine." "Queen Catherine is just the first, isn't she?" "I suppose my cousin Elizabeth is on that list, too." "That's the deal I made with the king." "Mary, claiming England means nothing to me." "I was only interested in claiming you." "If you want to change your mind..." "Henry will never permit it." "The decision is yours." "And if Henry stands in the way," "I'll kill him for you." "Did you hear his advice today?" "To cut down any threat?" "He put my head on the chopping block to threaten you." "Anyone who threatens you or terrorizes you or harms you," "I will cut down." "Even my father." "You're always saying that you're not Francis." "I can see that now." "Yes." "My brother is more civilized." "He plays by the rules." "Bash?" "Yes." "You frighten me sometimes." "And exhilarate me, and challenge me to do things" "I never thought I could." "You don't have to be Francis." "You're sure?" "Because there'll be no turning back." "You asked me if things might have been different if I had come to you with an open heart." "My heart is open." "Oh, don't overreact." "The guards are outside the door if you want to shout." "Meanwhile, there's no one to see you in your altogether except me." "How are you allowed to wander around the castle?" "Well, I told them I was preparing an appeal to be lodged with the ecclesiastical court." "Of course, we all know how pointless that would be." "Don't call out." "This is madness." "A few days ago, I'd have thought so." "Now I have no alternative." "We both must die." "You've already lost." "You have nothing to gain from killing me." "I'm a mother." "And a mother who won't be here to be sure that her children are safe." "But I can give them one thing." "I can remove you before I go." "I mean your children no harm." "What do your good intentions matter?" "I kill you, and the marriage with Sebastian is gone." "My children's inheritance restored." "I kill you, and ensure that you can never be the cause of Francis's death." "It's the best legacy that I can offer." "I hope you'll excuse the choice of poison." "I know death takes a bit longer." "But I didn't want to be cruel." "I promise that you'll feel no pain." "Who goes there?" "Your Grace?" "!" "Wake up, Mother!" "Wake up, Mother!" "Open the door now!" "Wake up, Mother!" "Wake up, Mother." "No." "They told me you were dead." " Open the door!" " You should be dead." "And so should I." "But I'm saving you." "Get away from me!" "Go!" "Get out!" "Wait!" "Don't touch them." "They might be poisoned." "Mary." "Mary." "Are you all right?" "What happened?" "Catherine tried to kill me." "Take her away." "Chain her up like the animal she is!" "You should have left France while you had the chance!" "He's a man with secrets." "You've made a choice that will be your ruin!" "I know who he is." "And I've made the perfect choice." "Because together, we have killed you."