"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..." " I saw your son's future, his union with Mary." "She will cost Francis his life." "We've been engaged since we were six." " An alliance with Scotland could destroy France." " You don't want to marry me." "You said the potion would make her sleep like the dead." "One glass of wine, and she'd wake with her virtue destroyed." "Colin!" "No!" "He said he was forced." "Colin McPhail is my subject." "I demand to speak with him." "Colin's been executed." "He was beheaded this morning." "You're done for now, boy." "Don't get too comfortable." "Wake up." "Wake up." "Go." "Go." "Who are you?" "!" "Why did you free me?" "Lady Kenna, Lady Aylee and Greer of Kinross, Your Grace." "Thank you, Sarah." "You slept there while Lola slept in your bed?" "We were talking about what happened to Colin." "She fell asleep crying." "I feel for her." "And for Colin." "The French King and Queen said" "Colin's attack on me was an English plot." "But Colin told Lola it was someone here, highly placed at French court." "All I know is it had to be someone opposed to Scotland's alliance with France." "My engagement to Francis." "England wants my country and my crown." "I need the alliance with France to protect Scotland from the English, and I need time before there's any chance of Francis marrying me." "I won't have time if I don't figure out who's against me." "Let's agree... it's a brilliant match." "Madeleine's French, so there's no question of her family's loyalty." " Very wealthy." " But not royal, so they're hungry for power." "They'll pay for it." "It's only right to accept the support of one's loyal subjects." "And she has a giraffe." "Well, Madeleine's widely traveled." "She's come from far away." "By ship." "Do I get a giraffe, too?" "The moment she's your bride." "Francis, to show our respect," "I want you to accompany your little brother to the landing." "Can Bash come as well?" "Charlie." "You know that Bash isn't really your brother." "He's just your father's son." "His presence is disrespectful." "The girl's parents were enjoying Morocco, so they sent her on alone." "Barely." "She was more afraid of meeting her future husband than of pirates." "Well, that's to be expected at age seven." "She'll get in line." "We all do." "Perhaps I can go with Francis?" "I came here, too, when I was a child." "Perhaps I can reassure her." "It's several hours' journey." "Then we'll take food and treats." "I don't mind, really." "On second thought, why don't we greet the girl here?" "We don't know...the journey might not be safe." "They'll stay on the King's road." "A dozen well-armed guards will keep any bandits away." "Prepare a carriage for Mary, Queen of Scotland." "She even smells nice." "I know." "Can I finish my puzzle?" "We'll come for you once the girl's boat has come ashore." "There are too many boats." "That's not a French ship." "Those are English." "Is that a warship?" "Yes." " Guards!" " What are they doing here?" "I don't know." "I think it's a hostile landing." "But England and France are at peace." "Have they come for me?" "Get Mary out of here." "Hide her." " Mary, can you ride?" " Yes." "Get my brother out of here, someplace safe." "Mary, now." "No!" "Wait!" "Don't shoot!" "Stand down!" "There's an English warship." "The English come in peace." "The French ship took on water... it was in distress." "The English were nearby and gave rescue." "How do you know this?" "They sent an emissary on ahead to the castle." "He's being held." "If they're lying, they'll have his head." "Go and introduce yourself." "Hello, Madeleine." "I'm Mary." "I know you've had a very long journey." "But you're safe now." "And you're very welcome here." "Go on, now." "We've sent tents, cots and food to the English fighters at the shore." "And there's Simon, the English envoy." "I've put him up in a guest suite while he's at court, along with the captain of the ship and some of his officers." "There's plenty of English to go around." "Some of England's finest warriors that just happened to be aboard that ship." "Aren't you the kind host?" "Treat them as friends until they prove themselves foes." "They'll be gone in a few days, replenished and on their way." "I would think the English would be among your favorite guests." "Because they hate Mary?" "Well, if only their aggression were limited to Scotland." "But they want France, too." "They want everything." "Thus the alliance with Scotland." "The one you tried to destroy by blackmailing a boy into taking Mary's virtue by force." "Well, if it had worked," "Francis might evade the fate you predict." "How do I tell my son you see his death?" "That his union with Mary will be the cause?" "Francis doesn't believe in prophecies." "He'd ignore it." "I trust your visions and your counsel." "So let us keep our secrets and let them rest in peace with the Scottish boy who carried them out." "You're English, Lord Westbrook, but you say that you did not come with the warship?" "You reside in France?" "I have a home in Paris, but I often stay at court." "Call me Simon, please." "So we can be friendly and frank with one another." "Not like the French who simply say what you want to hear." "How is your engagement going?" "Quite well." "We're very happy." "Then why haven't you set a date?" "Charles and Madeleine are only seven, but they'll be wed on her 14th birthday." "France's commitment to Scotland is hollow." "They're playing both sides." "If you were threatened, would they really come" " to your defense?" " I believe that is the very definition of an alliance." "But, of course, you knew that." "I know this from one look at you." "You're of age." "You should be married." "Are you proposing?" "Or are you trying to scare me?" "Pack your pretty friends and hopes of salvation and go back to Scotland." "And exactly how long before England attacks in full force if I do that?" "I'm not going anywhere." "Didn't the nuns raise a brave girl." "Sent to them for your protection, as I recall." "How was the porridge at convent?" "We thought it needed a little seasoning." "A little something to make the flavor of our intentions clear." "Darling, you're missing the game." "Antoine's had seven cups of wine." "Every time he hiccups or burps, we must have one ourselves." "Simon." "Back at court?" "And very pleased to be here." "I have another game in mind for you." "What are you doing?" "Don't move." "Don't push me away." "You're shaking." "You can't show them you're scared." "He threatened me here at French court." "He wanted me to know that they tried to poison me at the convent." "He's heard things about my reluctance to marry you." "Then they're aware." "That I don't have your country's protection here." "You do." "You do." "There are dozens of English here, hundreds more camped on the coastline." "I'm at your side." "We'll prove to them our union is strong." "But it isn't." "Well, they'll think it is before their visit is over." "Can you do this?" "Absolutely." "Can you?" "As is the custom the door of the prisoner scheduled to be executed was marked with an "X."" "Yes." "Go on, go on." "In another cell, a second boy, a thief, was being detained and punished." "Tortured, you mean." "Who is this?" "The boy whose cell was mistakenly marked." "It was Colin who was tortured and escaped." "They beheaded the wrong boy and let him go?" "I said he escaped." "He had help." "Someone released him from his bonds." "No." "Colin knows what we've done." "If he tells Mary, she could destroy us." "Especially if your husband, the King, believes his story." "We have to find Colin." "Find him..." "And kill him." " Colin's alive?" " Alive and escaped, I'm afraid." " He had help." " Who?" "Perhaps the English." "But the attack, the execution... it all took place before they arrived." "They're always here, my dear." "Spies and treachery are constant in our world." "But you have our protection." "The guards are out looking for Colin, and he will be found." "There's a picnic this afternoon for Madeleine and Charles." "The perimeter will be guarded." "Perhaps this is a mixed blessing." "And I'll have a chance to speak with Colin once he's found to learn how deep the plot against my person runs." "You said yourself, Colin was a mere pawn." "The informants who pointed at the English fled, fearing retribution." "Have they?" "All I ask of you is that you bring him back alive." "I need answers, and you did regret that he was executed so quickly, not knowing my request." "Colin is a dangerous fugitive." "I cannot..." "We..." "Cannot possibly guarantee that he won't attack the guards and be harmed or killed." "We can promise to try." "I heard you were the first to learn of Colin's escape." "You were seen last night in the dungeon with Nostradamus." "Yes." "I sent out the guards right away." "But you didn't tell me." "I wouldn't want to disturb you in your mistress's bed." "Diane's at the country house." "So, by all means, keep me informed." "Day or night." "Because I want to know whatever that boy has to say." "Look at all the guards." "As if Colin would ever willingly return." "Charles!" " Charles." "Charles." " Charles." " Charles." " Charles!" " Charles." " How is Charles supposed to recognize the voice of his true love if she's so quiet?" " Charles." " Charles." "Your Majesty." "Who's the King talking to?" "Anyone he likes, since he has no use for the Queen, and his mistress, Diane, is away." "Charles." "Do you remember this game?" " Charles." " Yes." "And she's getting" " irritated with him." " Charles!" "He's not listening." "He's distracted by this one and that." "She's impatient." "Like somebody else I know." "You always were." "Never finished a game, never sat through a story." "What is it?" "I wish I could be patient." "My situation isn't easy." "I know that." "You must feel misled." "I feel endangered." "The boy who attacked me, Colin..." "He told Lola he was forced by someone in the castle." "You mean someone French?" "Highly placed, with the power to threaten him and order him executed." "Those orders came from my parents." "When I spoke to your parents, even your father seemed suspicious." "And my mother?" " Are you accusing her of something?" " No." "I don't know." "I just want to be sure that Colin is returned alive." "And your parents said he would be." "Then he will be." "Or they'll make every effort." "Can you be sure of that?" "You have the word of the King and Queen of France." "I had their word that we would be married." "I'm not sure words mean anything here." " Charles." " Charles." " Charles." " Charles." " Charles." " Charles." "Charles!" "I'm not sure who you fear... the English or the French court." "The English have threatened me for years, but Colin is the only one who knows who, at French court, wants me gone." "And you think the word of an accused traitor will matter?" "If the right people believe him... and I think they might-- then yes." "All right, I'll go." "Best way out of the dungeon is the South keep." "Guards will have a head start, but..." "They're not hunters, and they fear the woods." " Why?" " There is much to fear." "Dark and dangerous times, Your Grace." "But your presence brings light." "I know." "I didn't tell anyone." "Don't worry." "Charles?" "Charles, Madeleine feels like you're ignoring her." "Who are you talking to?" "No one." "Is that quite so?" "All right, I was talking to my friend." "But she wants me to play with her, too." "She gets jealous." "She says that when I'm older, I won't even remember her." "Don't go in there." "She decides when you see her." "Well, that doesn't sound very friendly." "But she knows things." "Because she goes where she wants, and she sees everything, and she knows people's secrets." "This friend, who likes to hide..." "I think she visited me once." "You're lucky, then." "She doesn't like people." "Most of the time, she doesn't really speak." "But I bribe her with things she likes, or play guessing games with her" " to learn things." " This friend... does she have a name?" "Clarissa." "But don't say I told you." "Please don't go in there." "Clarissa?" "I'm-I'm sorry." "I don't know you." "Is that my dress?" "Your Grace, forgive me." "It's so beautiful." "The tailor gave it to me to return, and I..." "I thought..." "I should never..." "My skin is on fire." "My skin is on fire!" " Is something wrong?" " No!" "Stay back!" "It's poisoned." "My skin is burning." "It's burning!" "Guards, someone, help me!" "Somebody help me, please!" "Guards!" "She was right there on the floor." "She was dying." "Where-where could she have gone?" "They took the evidence." "Whoever did this failed in their attempt on you." "Go!" "Now!" "An assassin with a dying girl could not have gone far." "Go!" " Go!" " She was right there." "How could anyone have escaped with her?" "The passageway." "I don't know how far it goes..." "Or where, but..." "Could they have gone through here?" "Shh." "No." "No, they'd echo." "We'd hear them." "These passages are all stone, nothing in them, but I didn't know one connected to this room." "You know about them?" "This castle's been built over centuries." "The passageways-- they connect the older parts to the new." "They're mostly sealed up now, dead-ends." "I'll have the guards check them anyway." "Where were your guards when you came in?" "Well, they-they..." "They weren't here." "I..." "I saw the servant, and I thought..." "I thought it was safe." "They'll be dealt with." "In the meantime, that English envoy needs to be detained and questioned." "Do that." "By all means." "Your Grace." "Had enough sun?" "Or are you blushing?" "Both." "I wondered when I might find a moment alone with you again, as I very much enjoyed our last." "Then I decided a public chat might be the best way to protect your reputation." "I didn't know I, um..." "I'd wondered if..." "If it meant anything to me?" "I can't stop thinking about you." "I wish we hadn't stopped, but..." "But I understand why." "A maiden's virtue is everything." "I want a woman, not a maiden." "As King, I've learned to be very clear about when to state my terms." "Enjoy the festivities." "The English can't do this, not under the laws of diplomacy, not under French law, not in our home." "You can't prove they did anything until the servant's body is found." "Corner the English envoy, torture him if needs be." "He's had no problem torturing Mary." "Simon's having a glass of Sherry with my advisor." "He's well aware of the consequences if we can prove he's behind this." " You're not gonna do anything, are you?" " I didn't say that." "You're just going to keep her here, like some acquisition, a weapon you might never use." "Alliances are weapons." "Her life is at risk over an alliance we may never honor." "End it." "Let her go." "Her life is always at risk." "She first came to us when she was six because the English wanted to kill her." " She's no safer here than anywhere else." " Exactly." "Where do you think she's going to go, back to Scotland?" "Her mother doesn't want her back, not without a King for a husband." "She's here doing her job, and her job is waiting for me to decide when you should marry her." " She..." " She is not... going anywhere." "She's not just an alliance;" "She's a girl, under your care." "But that's of no matter to you, is it?" "I'm intrigued by how much she matters to you." "All this worry for a girl you claim you don't want to marry." "The English Envoy has been questioned." "He had an alibi for everything." "I'm not surprised." "I hope you know I take your position seriously and I want to help." "As best I can." "As I suspect my brother is already doing." "I saw you talking." "He's gone after Colin, hasn't he?" "Yes." "Are you angry?" "No." "No." "You need more than a show of our support, but it's... it's near dark." "He should be back by now." "You must have given him some lead." "He was following a trail from the South keep." "That's all I know." "Thank you." "We've talked to the last of the servants, and the guards." "No one posted outside any of our doors or in that corridor saw someone leave your room" " with a body or a dying girl." " And they would have." "They must have used the passageway." "Clarissa?" "We can play if you want." "But I need your help." "If you can hear me, come and find me." "Does this mean you'll speak to me?" "I have a guessing game for you." "I'm going to guess something, and if I guess right, you roll the marble back to me;" "if I guess wrong, you keep it, it's yours." "I think you know who's trying to hurt me." "Who is it?" "Is it the English?" "Is it Queen Catherine?" "No, I'm-I'm sorry, I'll ask one at a time." "Is it the English?" "Clarissa?" "Clarissa?" "No!" "I..." "Bash." "Why were you hiding?" "How did you find me?" "You're the one who taught me how to find snapped twigs and imprints in the soil." "Is that Colin?" "Yes, it is." "Let's get him out of here." "He didn't deserve to die like this, and Mary will want to send her subject home for a proper burial." " How did he die?" " Guess the guards got to him before we did." "Our guards hang men by their necks, not their feet." "His throat's been slit." "There's blood running up his face." " He was bled out." " Well, you'll find that the guards play by their own rules, little brother." "Now, help me with him." "What was that?" "Are those the guards?" "You've nothing to fear." "They're under our command." "Those aren't guards." "We take what's ours, not yours." "They're coming closer." "Even dead men answer to the King." "Draw your sword." "What are you doing?" "Lumenick dushkader." "Et sprago faraha." "Ay raynim doluchtai!" "They're leaving." " Let's get out of here." " How can you be so sure?" "What did you say?" "Francis... now." "Your Grace?" "Are you here to see Queen Catherine?" "A private thank you." "She'll see it when she returns." "Of course." "It's you." "But you were poisoned." "There you go, my dear." "Her carriage back to Orleans was delayed." "My hope was to keep her out of sight." "So you admit it." "That you staged her poisoning to terrorize me." "Why would you do such a thing?" "To show me what you're capable of?" "You showed me that at the convent." "England shows me that every time you attack our borders." "You need to fear us here, at French court, because your being here angers us very much." "You threaten me, but it is the English who are afraid." "There are rumors..." "That your Queen is ill..." "And my cousin Elizabeth is the next in line for the throne." "But many say she's illegitimate, bastard born." "And say the next rightful heir to the English throne is you." "But what if I don't want it?" "What if all I want is for England to leave Scotland in peace?" "Show us you're not a threat." "That you are not here to wed the next King of France for his armies." "Armies I need against you!" "Because England won't stop." "We need to crush Scotland so we're certain it won't rise against us." "You'll never leave me in peace." "Someone has to make the first move." "Someone has to instill trust." "Leave France, abandon the alliance." "And trust you?" "You think you can trust the French?" "You have powerful enemies here, and you know it, or you'd be screaming right now for the guards." "Where were yours, by the way, when we went into your room?" "She said yes to both." "You have Catherine's support in this." "Wouldn't that make life for me and the loss of yours so much easier?" "I have thought about your offer." "I've thought about you accepting it." "Do you see that man over there, the one who can't take his eyes off me?" "I believe that's Robert, the viscount of Lorraine." "Well, I need to be spending my time with him or any other available noble." "Men that I might marry, who need to know I'm a virgin, so there's no question whether or not our child is their heir." "Men to whom my virtue matters." "I'm sorry." "I understand your position completely." "I know you don't want to talk about it, but that language that you spoke..." "I told you it's nothing, it's just an old dialect." "It's pagan or druid." "Call it what you want, but it's heresy." "It sounded very much like a prayer that you knew well." "What were you saying?" "I remember some of the words." "Would you rather that I went to a scholar, to Nostradamus?" ""Deep the roots, dark the night, red the blood I will pay""" "It's nonsense, but the Vagrants in the woods believe it." "Vagrants...is that what those were?" "And, Colin?" "Was his death part of this blood oath?" "I found him hanging." "They used him as a sacrifice." "Now you know why the woods aren't safe." "You went into them for Mary." "She's your fiancee." "I felt duty-bound to help her." "Bash, we're brothers." "We could always trust each other regardless of our station." "Let that be the last lie you tell me." "If Colin is dead, then it's over." "I have no proof against my enemy." "I came here to marry you, a marriage that will protect both me and my country." "And it scares the English." "They fear your country's power." "They'll fear it when I'm King, I promise you." "And I would wait..." "For our marriage, for the chance of your country's support..." "If I had some faith that I could survive your mother." " No." " I can't prove it." "I have no one who will speak openly, no evidence that you can hold in your hand." "I have nothing but confirmation from an enemy..." "And someone else, a girl, who I believe more than anyone." "My mother wouldn't harm you." "She has no cause to." "She knows that I won't wed you unless it's right for France." "I can't make sense of it, either... but she did it." "She was behind it all," "I am sure of it." "She terrorized me..." "And it worked." "If your conscience, your politics won't allow you to marry me, then the English feel that they have a clean shot at me with the Queen of France as their weapon..." "And I can't stay here." "Even my mother will understand because I can't bring home any armies and I can't wed any Kings if I'm dead." "Kenna, you remember Robert, the viscount of Lorraine." "Yes?" "Robert, will you take Lady Kenna as your bride, no questions asked, because it's a union blessed by your King?" "As you wish, Your Majesty." "Thanks, Robert." "That will be all." "You needn't worry." "Being in the King's favor expands your prospects." "It doesn't limit them." "Think about that, too." "I hope to be a good King someday, which is why I will never put anything, any love, ahead of the love for my country." "Why do you doubt that?" "What makes you think I do?" "You put a boy to death... two boys... one with the sweep of a paintbrush, a red "X" carelessly applied, a life over, another boy slain in the woods." "Mistakes were made." "We tried to bring Colin back even though he was a traitor." "If he's a traitor, then what are you?" "Who are you loyal to?" "My family, France, you, as they are one and the same." "Because you can't trust father and he can't divorce you." "I mean, you must wonder what he'd do to you if he could, so you put all your hopes, your survival on the favor of the next King...me... but, mother..." "You must understand that my, my marriage to Mary, to anyone won't change my loyalty to you." "Is the pull so strong?" "Yes." "Yes, it is." "But it doesn't matter." "Mary came here in good faith, and now..." "Well, now what?" "Is she leaving?" "It was you." "No." "You need to stop this." "If anything happens to Mary...anything..." "I will suspect you and I won't need proof..." "And you will lose me." "I'll ready myself for bed tonight." "Yes, Your Majesty." "Where did you find him?" "Colin?" "He'd gone into the blood wood, stupid scot." "How convenient for you." "Made him easy to catch and string up." "Like the heretics do in the woods?" "Feet first, just the same." "I see you're doing art now." "Aren't you clever?" "Tricking the guards into killing one boy while you release another." "Were you trying to help Mary, point her to her enemies like some avenging Angel?" "You're no Angel." "If people knew what you really were..." "I believe you." "And I'm sorry for all that you've been through." "I believe that your life is safe here..." "At least from my mother." "How?" "You'll just have to trust me, and I'll have to trust her love for me." "You told her?" "I raised my suspicions, not yours." "Even if putting your mother on notice was enough," "I have more enemies than you can count." "Isn't that why you came here...for an ally?" "And you made it very clear you weren't one for me." "I was wrong." "But your duty is to France." "I'm not talking about our nations." "I'm saying that I will be at your side against foes seen and unseen, as a friend." "As a friend?" "Is that what we are now?" "Well, it's a good place to start if there's to be any real chance between us." "Yes, it is a good place to start." "Then don't give up, don't run." "Stay."