"Since Mary, Queen of Scotland, was a child, the English 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..." "The news of a crisis in Scotland." " The English." " They're massing on the border." "You are supposed to be our ally." "You only have to worry about England." "I have England, Spain, 100 Italian and German principalities." "Mary, I'm sorry." "But I see your struggle here in France." "Say "Yes" and you'll have your man." "He's willing to actually get married, too, which is more than your family is offering." " It's Bash." " While Bash was riding to six different companies, it appears someone loyal to the English rode straight to Calais and warned them." "France can't help." "There are no more troops to send." "You should marry Tomas." "Who designed the target?" "Who knows?" "Well, they say it looks like the castle ghost." "You know, the girl they blame for every servant who runs off or goes missing." "Nice shot, Tomas." "But the object is to hit the heart." "Is it?" "Is he allowed to take another shot?" "Did I take too many shots?" "Technically, yes." "Shall I take another shot, too?" "Take as many shots as you like." "You'll still lose." "Round goes to prince Francis." "Second round, new target." "Does Tomas seem different the last few days?" "A little more bold?" "More intense?" "More mercurial, anyway." "More engaged to Mary, certainly." "But not all the way engaged... not yet." "And how do you feel about that?" "I detect reservations." "Doesn't matter how I feel." "I have to marry who's right for Scotland." "How do you feel if Tomas is that man?" "I feel that we should remember it's still a secret." "At least until King Henry releases me from my engagement to Francis." "That's no answer." "Walk with your Uncle." "Almost agreed?" "You and King Henry have been talking for days." "What have you been discussing?" "The weather?" "These are tricky matters of state." "Your marriage treaty with Portugal doesn't end our alliance with France but changes it." "Still, for Henry's approval, there will be conditions." "I will not beg for an outcome I'm not certain I want." "You will beg." "Because Scotland needs this." "Portugal's ships are all that keep the English from raiding our borderland." "Now, Henry won't offer the same protection, but he's still a King." "And Kings can't be seen letting allies walk freely from treaties." "But Queens can be seen begging release for treaties that go unenforced?" "You'll be Queen of nothing if you don't make Scotland safe from England." "And you can't do that without Portugal's strength, which you can't have without Henry's release to marry Tomas." "Queen Mary's anxious to know how Bash is." "The wound is closing." "But the disease in his blood is spreading." "If the fever doesn't break by tonight..." "He could die?" "So soon?" "You're scaring the poor girl, nostradamus." " Where's your chivalry?" " Bash, how do you feel?" "Close to death, apparently." "Which feels, more or less, like it sounds." "You need rest, Sebastian." "What I need is water." "And perhaps..." "A little bit more of that lovely..." "Worried frown." "I think I can manage that." "So, will you run back to Mary with the troubling news, like her other ladies, or will you stay and look death in the face?" "I nursed two of my brothers into the grave." "Scarlet fever." "And I've known other losses, too." "I'm not scared of death anymore." "I'm scared of being alone." "There's a difference?" "I'm terribly sorry, but this isn't helping him rest." "Every time I look at her, I feel better." "Every time I look at you," "I feel worse." "The prescription is clear, don't you think?" "There's a book of norse mythology over there, if you wouldn't mind reading it to me." "Unless, of course, you wanted to go back to the tournament." "Not at all." "Bull's-eye." "Very good." "So, is it done?" "Are you marrying Tomas?" "The agreement's close, but it..." "It's complicated." "Is anything uncomplicated in France?" "Lord Tomas is the winner." "Will you accept my favor, Mary, Queen of Scots?" "Have I offended?" "Not at all." "Please." "Thank you, Tomas." "I'm honored." "I'm sorry." "That was thoughtless of him" " to publicly offer his favor." " I don't know..." "I think it was very well thought out." "But I don't see the point." "He's already won your hand, hasn't he?" "The treaty is almost complete." "So you're leaving." "Francis, I wanted to tell you..." "If you mean to tell me that you don't want to go, please don't." "It won't help." "I did everything I could to help Scotland so that you could stay." "It was almost enough, if not for a single spy." "Someone who's probably here with us right now." "I'm so sorry." "What are they telling King Henry?" "It's not good news." "I hope it's not Bash." "What's this?" "Take your hands off me." "I'm lord Simon Westbrook." "I'm the envoy of England." "You're a murderer and a spy." "You slipped word to your countrymen that French troops were headed to Scotland." "You caused a slaughter, nearly killing my son!" "That's absurd." "I'm a diplomat." "I'm here to help keep the peace." "Then you failed your mission." "So your Queen won't mind when I send her your head." " Take him away!" " Majesty, you..." "You're mistaken." "Let go of me!" "I've done no such thing." "Why would I?" "You've got the wrong man!" "Poor Mary." "You feel like the King will never see you." "And you a Queen." "I'm glad that my unhappiness brings you such pleasure." "Your unhappiness gives me no pleasure." "Your absence, however..." "Why do you hate me so?" "If I'm going to Portugal, why not just say it?" "You were kind to me when I was young." "When I look at you, I see death." "I see your country hanging around my son's neck." "I see his men off defending your country, dying." "Well, if I am such a burden, make the King release me so I may be Portugal's burden instead." "I wish I could, but Henry feels that Scotland's been poached from him." "How can I make the King change his mind?" "Well... there is one small thing." "And how may I help France, Your Majesty?" "These English, we keep them at court to help keep peace, but it appears they don't want peace." "Their envoy, Simon, was overheard boasting in a local tavern about his role in the ambush." "How he warned his countrymen of our soldiers' movements." "The trouble is, to condemn a diplomat, we need testimony no nation can question." "A witness whose word is unassailable." "Instead, we have her." "She's a prostitute, Mary." "But a very brave woman." "She came here at great risk to aid The King's justice." "You want me to put my name to her words?" "If you don't, a murderer goes free..." "A man who put my brother at death's door." "What is your name?" "Judith." "Milady." "And you saw Simon with your own eyes, Judith?" "Yeah." "And I heard them call him by name, too." "He had a f... a fine face, and posh clothes, and that medallion around his neck, the one with the sun's rays." "The royal English seal." "Now, you know that this seal means he is a very powerful man, and that he can hurt you, but you came forward anyway." "Why?" "I heard how that englishman talked." "He's a heartless man, playing games with other men's lives." "If I sign my name to her statement, will you release me from my engagement to Francis?" "Very well, then." "Notify the executioner." "The English spy will lose his head at the michaelmas banquet." "Well, it's done." "Mary's engaged to Tomas, and she's leaving." "Your Majesty." "You've gotten your wish." "I never wished for a spy to cause French blood to spill." "And it's unfortunate for you that spy happened to be Simon." "Perhaps he made himself useful so that I would overlook his larger crime." "I will not." "So the end justifies any means." "This will save my son's life." "Unless you tell me your visions have changed." "If anything, it's the opposite." "My dreams are more vivid, more ominous." "Mary's presence here will cost you your firstborn." "The engagement's been official less than an hour, and you're already packing?" "I have no choice." "I'm going to Portugal in two days, right after the michaelmas banquet." "You're leaving?" "What about us?" "You don't want us" " to come with you?" " Of course I do, more than anything." "But you do have a choice." "I can't ask you to come with me when none of you expected to live in Portugal." "You all moved from Scotland to be here in France." "No, Mary." "We left to be with you." "So you'll come with me?" "Of course we will." "I don't deserve any of you." "You deserve to marry someone you love or at least like." "Kings and Queens don't have that luxury." "I wonder whose face you're imagining on that target." "A Portuguese Prince, perhaps?" "Maybe next time." "This time, it's that English envoy." "Simon is lucky you're not the headsman." "Or he'd be dead already." "I don't know who's lucky anymore." "I used to think that we were, the years that we had as children, the time we've had since you've been back at court." "Now I feel those days like something sharp in my heart." "Let's not speak of this." "I want..." "I just wish..." "Mary, we can't." "We can't." "The castle." "Maybe we could find some other place." "The lakeside." "At sunset." "Kenna." "Your Grace." "I was surprised when you were announced." "I didn't think..." "You seem different now." "More... willing." "I am." "I wonder why." "I'm leaving in two days." "I want this." "Is that meant to... convince you or me?" "Kenna, are you sure of this?" "Yes." "But it's not all I want." "I want to stay." "Stay?" "Stay as what?" "You're Mary's Lady." "If she's gone, what..." "Position would you hold at court?" "Well, the position you would give me." "As your mistress." "And perhaps in time, I could have more." "Kenna." "I have a mistress." "Diane has been with me for half my life." "We've had decades together." "The heart needs time." "Mine doesn't." "And even if it does, I have no time." "I'm trying to understand how this could happen, but I can't." "We're not at war with the English." "We were careful to send enough men to discourage their aggression but not... not to threaten them." "Which is why you should stop blaming yourself." "I don't blame myself." "I blame Simon." "My instincts were right, and the Portuguese proved it." "As soon as the English saw that Scotland had a friend that would defend them, they stopped their attacks." "If it weren't for that ambush..." "Mary would still be yours." "This is not about my broken heart, mother." "No, it's about your good heart." "I'm not mocking you, Francis." "Your heart is good." "It's good enough to love your bastard brother and to try to love your future wife." "If only your father's heart could do that." "If only mine could stop." "What if Mary's just moving from one waiting game to another?" "Let her go, Francis." "You're worrying over nothing." "You would say that." "You can't stand her." "My instincts say not to trust Tomas." "They were right before." "Maybe it's time I stopped doubting them." "I almost thought you weren't coming." " I've been busy." " I know." "You've been asking questions about Tomas." "It's all over the castle, and if I've heard..." "Tomas will hear, too." "I don't care." "Let him think that I'm jealous if he wants to, as long as he knows that he's accountable for how he treats you." "I hear he's cruel to his servants." "Francis, thank you, but you don't need to worry." "Now, come." "Sit with me." "I've asked my Uncle to be sure of my safety in Portugal." "He assures me it will be fine." "You need more than your Uncle's word." "Mary, if anything happens to you, I feel responsible." "When I couldn't make Scotland safe, I told you to marry this man." "I'm not going into this blindly, and I won't let him hurt me." "There are rumors about his scheming, his cruelty..." "There are rumors about all royals." "You know what they say about you?" "Half of Europe thinks that you're sickly and weak and stunted." "That half-blind portrait artist didn't realize" "I was sitting in a chair while my sister was standing, and now half of Europe thinks I'm a dwarf." "And they say that Bash got all the good looks and passion, and all you have is tedious..." "Tomas." "Forgive me, Mary." "I needed to see you, and I couldn't wait for formalities." "I would like to discuss some... rules, and our lady should hear them, too." "Rules?" "Rules you will live by in Portugal." "You seem to believe that until you're married to me you're somehow free." "If so, you're mistaken." "My Lord, I don't know if I like your tone." "Do you have whipping boys in Scotland?" "Whipping boys?" "Well, s-some use them, but..." "Good." "Miguel is now your whipping boy." "That is for the offense of questioning me." "Tomas, please..." "That is for interrupting me." "Much better." "You're bound by a treaty agreed by your betters:" "Your Uncle, myself and King Henry." "And if you're not impressed by the treaty, maybe you will be by this:" "My ships made your country safe, but..." "I can remove them as easily as this." "Whatever freedoms of actions or thought you were given by Francis, forget them." "When I am King, I will rule like most Kings:" "What belongs to my Queen belongs to me." "For Miguel's sake..." "I hope we are clear." "Are we?" "Yes, my Lord." "Quite clear." "You can't marry him," "I beg of you." "Aylee, you heard him." "But you're a Queen." "There must be some other way." "If there was any other option, don't you think I would take it?" "I have to marry Tomas, no matter who he is, no matter my feelings..." "Because I am a Queen." "I have no other option." "Good news." "The fever is broken." " Thank God." " So I can get out..." "I wouldn't recommend it." "You're going to live if you don't tear your wound open, if you keep resting, if you take proper care." "If I have to spend one more minute in this bed..." "I'm going to make us both feel better... and leave." "You promised you'd sneak me some wine, you liar." "You look worse than I do." "It's Tomas, isn't it?" "Lola told me about your... inquiries." "I don't have any proof yet, but everything in me says that he's a monster." "There are whispers in court that he murdered his first wife." "If they couldn't find proof in Portugal, how will you find it here?" "I don't know yet..." "But I have to try." "I can't let Mary..." "But you can, and you must." "You've been asking questions about me." "Did you think I wouldn't know?" "No." "No, I hoped you would." "Why?" "Because your future wife is a friend of France." "Her well-being concerns this country, and always will." "Is that a threat?" "If anything happens to Mary, you'll... what?" "I would hope we won't need to find out." "Wouldn't you, as her fiancé?" "If anything happens to her, it will be up to me." "She's my property now, not yours." "No matter how many touches you steal." "You'll never be more than the powerless princeling who couldn't even send a few men to defend her country." "Francis, no!" "Sit." "Go ahead, say it." "I'm not thinking with my head." "Head, heart, who cares?" "He is a monster, no matter what the pope chooses to call him, and if you won't kill him, I will." "Well, I would never know there was a costume banquet in an hour from the faces I see." "How can you be so cheerful, knowing how soon we're leaving?" "Should I spend my last hours in France with moping and tears?" "Don't forget pining and regret." "Mary's right." "What's the matter with us?" "Why wallow in misery if we have a choice?" "Why not use the hours we have left to seize some pleasure while we still can?" "Yes." "Some pleasure." "Or perhaps some spite." "A lovely wood sprite!" "France will never forget you." "I hope that they won't." "You want to dress up in a footman's livery?" "Yes." "Why not?" "But in case I change my mind," "I'll take both." "What's this?" "The royal English seal." "This is Simon's, isn't it?" "Why would you want me to have this?" "I've been looking for you everywhere." "I know you." "I met you in a dream I had about norse gods and goddesses from that book we read." "The reality's better." "Are you sure you should be swinging that sword?" "You might reopen your wound." "Well, better my sword reopens it than someone else's." "Aha!" "St. Michael, aren't you?" "Better be a real sword if you plan to slay Lucifer." "You had to bring up Tomas?" "I don't understand why he changed so quickly." "Before Mary said yes, Tomas seemed a whole other person." "He was desperate." "He'd been looking for a Queen all over the continent." "No doubt to make sure the pope declared him legitimate." "Of course he'd put on an act if it got what him he wanted." "Well, he got bloody lucky, didn't he?" "If I hadn't been ambushed getting those men off to Scotland," "Mary wouldn't be marrying him." "Say that again." "If our men hadn't been ambushed, then Mary wouldn't need his men, or his marriage proposal." "Simon, I was told I could find you here." "So you've heard." "I'm the entertainment." "Or my head is when it comes off at midnight." "Try not to look so upset." " Why would I be upset?" " I understand you signed the statement naming me as the spy behind that ambush." "I don't suppose you care that I'm innocent." "I might... if I believed it." "Is that my seal stamp?" " Wondered where that thing went." " Tell me, why is your seal so similar to the royal English seal?" "The Queen is a cousin by marriage." "She styles the rose white, we style it red." "Why do you ask?" "A friend of mine was interested." "Thought I might be interested, too." "Mary?" "Come here, please." "Good evening, my Lord." "You look like a huntress." "I chose my costume for you." "I know that the bow is your favorite weapon." "My second favorite, but thank you." "Your grip is a little tight, my Lord." "No tighter than your former fiancé's, I'm sure." "I'm sure I don't know what you mean." "Must I send" " for your whipping boy?" " Let go of her." "You've forgotten our talk." "Mary is my fiancée now." "You came here almost a crown prince, but not quite." "You needed a Queen to seal your deal with the pope." "And when Mary needed troops sent to her country, you were suddenly there to help, because my men were ambushed." "On a tip from a spy in court." "A spy we assumed was Simon." "When Tomas had a far better motive." "If you're accusing the next King of Portugal," "I hope you have proof." "We'll have proof soon enough." "In the meantime, let go of Mary." "Are you all right?" "Yes." "You said you'd have proof?" "Did you mean his valet Miguel?" "Tomas could not have acted alone." "He hates his master." "I think he'll help us if we can protect him." "We will." "I've sent guards to find him." "If Simon is innocent, and the woman whose words I signed my name to lied, she's a pawn in this King's game as much as I am." "She might help us, too." "Otherwise, if Simon dies wrongly, we will both have war with England." "And we can't let that happen." "Miguel wasn't in his chambers, but a footman said he saw him leaving with Tomas, headed for the game trails." "Hunting... now?" "Tomas must want to kill Miguel before anyone talks to him." "Is there anything my Lady wants?" "Keep your voice down!" "You're a kitchen boy." "If anyone catches you here, you'll be flogged." "Did you leave this costume in my room, or didn't you?" "Yes, but we have to be discreet." "My family is depending on me to bring home a title and lands, to marry someone who's better than me." "Why not just celebrate michaelmas?" "What does that even mean?" "Saint Michael." "He slew Lucifer who sewed vanity, pride and shame, which is why we wear these masks." "So on this one day, no one's better than anyone else." "We're all the same." " What lies!" "Why would I?" " I'd say for the money to buy that new cloak and those boots, and to get a ride out of town on that vegetable cart." "And for this." "To make him stop hitting you." "I got that from a patron." "When I signed your statement, you told me that you saw Simon clearly." "His face, his clothes, his medallion." "What was the color of the rose on his medallion?" "I'll make it easy for you." "Was it red or white?" "It was white, the seal of the English crown." "Simon's seal is different from England's." " His rose is red." " Please leave me be." "I'm so scared." "The King will have your head for your lies." "But he may show you mercy if you tell me who made you lie, and tell me now." "He swore he would kill me." "He wasn't lying if he's who I think he is." "Just tell me this." "Would you know this man if you saw him again?" "Get her on a horse." "We don't have much time." "And you made sure the prostitute left the village?" "I gave her the extra gold, like you said." "I told her to leave today, or you would visit her again." "Good." "You've served me well, Miguel." "I'll always remember." "I'll make sure your family remembers, too." "My family?" "Well, you understand you can't serve me while you still live." "My Lord, please!" "It's not "My Lord" anymore." "It's "Your Majesty,"" "because, thanks to you, I'm going to be a King." "No!" "Run, Miguel!" "Don't kill him." "We need his confession." "I'm trying very hard not to." "Miguel!" "You're alive." "Don't worry, we can get this arrow out." "I'm afraid of him." "You're going to lose." "You never learned how to take, like a bastard learns." "Take a crown, take a woman, take a life!" "You can't do it!" "If you kill me, you'll have war." "But if you let me go with Mary, you'll have peace." "When they take off your head," "I'll remember the men you killed." "And Mary." "Can you ride?" "We need to get back before they execute Simon." "Killing isn't supposed to be easy." "If your hands weren't shaking, you'd be him." "What's going on?" "It's time for Simon's head to come off." "Where's Mary?" "Where's Francis and Bash?" "They're going to be too late." "Your Grace." "I'm begging you, please wait for your sons to return... they think they can prove Simon innocent." "So I've been told." "But if I let justice wait for every last effort to prove a man innocent, there'd be no justice." "Is that what the Queen says?" "No." "The Queen says waiting makes me look weak, like less of a King." "And she says it to everyone." "If anything, I think it makes you look more like a King." "Wise and fair and strong." "A King we can believe in." "You finally covered yourself up." "I couldn't think straight, seeing you before." "I hope that thinking straight helps you make the right choice, and wait." "Before.." "When you said your heart didn't have to wait..." "That was brave." "Most people, especially here..." "Would keep their hearts hidden." "Foolish is more like it." "But thank you." "If we do leave tomorrow," "I don't mind you knowing that I'll think of you." "Maybe..." "Maybe foolish is something else." "Maybe foolish is Diane endlessly shopping in Paris, leaving your King with..." "No one to share his burdens." "Maybe foolish is the Queen endlessly undermining your King's authority." "Maybe foolish is not baring one's heart." "What are you saying?" "I want you to stay." "Whatever that means for Diane or Catherine." "I want you, kenna." "Make way!" "This is your spy." "We have witnesses." "Two of them." "Lord Westbrook, are you pleased that England has made you their new envoy to Portugal?" "He's pleased Portugal paid him a King's ransom to stay quiet about what Tomas did to him." "Well, with respect, I'm pleased to be leaving here alive, Majesty." "Please thank Portugal's King for the sacrifice of his son Tomas, who gave his life to protect our son from a stag's horns while hunting." "As to The Vile Rumors." "Tomas plotted against France, tell the King we will ignore them if he will accept our sentiments." "Since Portugal's King had no knowledge of any plot, I'm confident he will accept." "The matter will be forgotten by all of us." "And history, too, no doubt." "You surprised me, Majesty." "Most royals won't admit a mistake, let alone save a man's life to fix it." "Well, I hope that saving your life wasn't my second mistake." "Mary, Queen of Scots," "France is pleased to reinstate our marriage treaty with your country." "As soon as negotiations..." "Thank you, Your Grace." "Scotland is pleased as well." "Especially since, this time, you and my Uncle will be allowing me to guide negotiations." " For God's sake." " Mary, I don't think..." "In the view of the role Scotland played in resolving your troubles with Portugal, and in preventing the wrongful execution of a diplomat, we not only staved off war with England, but also spared our ally France considerable embarrassment." "Which is why I am sure you will want to improve the terms, committing enough strength to keep your ally safe against England." "Yes." "Of course." "Let's continue." "As to the matter of lands for your dowry, there is" "Scottish crown property which" "France finds of interest." "Well done, Mary." "You got practically everything Scotland wanted." "Soldiers and ships and armaments." "Well, they got a few things, too." "Our best timber, some farmland." "But give it a few days, and we will have a far better treaty than before." "Am I interrupting?" "You." "You have tormented me long enough" " with waiting." " I completely agree." "That's the kind of talk I like to hear from my mistress." "I like it here." "It's very nice." "Well, I like it here." "Be gentle." "I will." "The first time." "You killed a man to protect me." "I'm not really sure what to say to that." ""Thank you"?" ""Thank you" doesn't cover it." "You were right." "Your heart was right." "I suppose you always were." " How so?" " I told you to take your time, be careful, make the right choice for France." "And even last night, when we were so desperate to lose ourselves, you understood..." "Why I couldn't go too far." "You know what my heart says now?" "It says that I should forget about politics and be with you, no matter what." "You're a true Queen, a Queen that any King would kill for." "But your head says differently." "I understand." "Your instincts were right." "They'll make you a great King someday." "Clarissa?" "I don't know if you're there, but thank you." "You saved Simon's life." "And I suppose you saved mine." "I used to feel so alone here." "I don't anymore." "And I hope you don't, either."