Disclaimer: I do not own Reign!

Chapitre 1

She couldn't bear to look through the castle gates any longer. It was too painful to continue watching him ride off. She had to turn away because she couldn't stand to see her husband parting from her.

She never could stand seeing him leave, but this time was worse than their previous goodbyes. The disappointed look upon his face when she ordered the gates to be closed would forever be engraved in her mind. It tore away at her heart and would probably haunt her until he returned.

If he returned.

He was the king of France, and he left without any hesitation. He followed his own desires, instead of his country's needs. He risked his own health and safety leaving the castle. Who knew if she would ever see him again? He left alone, making himself vulnerable, in addition to having a strong chance of contracting the plague. Feeling uneasy and worried, Mary quickly headed back inside the castle.

As soon as she entered, Catherine appeared next to her and her eyes were searching around frantically. "Did you inform Francis about the plague? Where is he?"

"I told him, but he still left," Mary said softly as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"My dear, what kind of nonsense is that? Where was he going? For what reason would Francis endanger himself, especially as the king of France?" Catherine asked, her voice growing in anger.

Mary looked at the ground in an attempt to hide the tears that were threatening to spill out. "Because…" she began. "…Because Lola is giving birth to his child."

Catherine's eyes immediately widened. After a brief moment of silence, she took a deep breath and spoke again in a more calm voice. "Did any of the guards go with him?"

Mary shook her head.

Catherine sighed. "After all I have done for him to see him upon that throne, he risks throwing it all away for an illegitimate child," Catherine stated mournfully and then paused a moment to take another deep breath. "I suppose I'll just have to coerce some guards into finding him and bringing him back. We'll just have to pray he hasn't been infected," she said and then stalked away.

Mary just stared blankly at Catherine's retreating form before deciding to head back to her own chambers.

As soon as she stepped into her room, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Right as she did so, she allowed the tears that had been forming in her eyes to pour out. Her worry, concern, and confusion had completely overwhelmed her.

Francis left the castle and risked being infected by the plague. He was acting so reckless, so foolish! How could he not think of his country and his people?! How could he not realize that she couldn't even bear the thought of ever losing him?! That being away from him for even the slightest moment brings her great torment and pain?

But then she thought of the reason why he did leave the castle.

Because of the birth of a child.

His child.

He was going to finally have a child, and while it unsettled her to think about it, it could be his only child. Of course he would want to be there for the birth. Who was she turning into? How did she no longer realize the importance of love and family? How she did become so obsessed with power and what was considered the proper thing to do?

The tears continued to stream down her face as she crumpled to the floor.

How did she become so cold?

He probably thought her to be so heartless now, after shutting him out of the castle. He probably found her uncaring for telling him not to go and inconsiderate of the fact that he was about to become a father.

She didn't want to be like this. When she first returned to French court, all she wanted to do was follow her heart. However, as her duties and burdens grew, so did her desire for power, leaving less room for love.

She was becoming a person Francis wouldn't love. How could she have let that happen?

Don't grow harder, he had told her. Share your burdens.

Wiping away her tears with the backs of her hands, she stood up and began pacing about the room.

Mary, you said you felt yourself growing harder, he had said before he left. Don't let it happen.

His words played over and over in her head.

Don't grow harder. It almost felt like he was beside her, whispering to her.

She told him she didn't want to become a woman Francis wouldn't love. She had promised that to herself as well. But what was she doing? Why was she still in the castle then and not with her husband and her friend?

She had to go. She must leave the castle and go to them! She must prove to Francis and to herself that she can follow through with her promise…that she can return to being the woman she once was, one who cared more about following her heart.

She quickly began pulling out her riding clothes. She didn't care who tried to stop her. She was going, no matter what.

As she was gathering her clothes, she heard a small knock on the door. Mary put down the clothes on her bed before going to answer it.

As she opened the door, she smiled slightly when she saw that it was Greer.

"Mary, I-" Greer began, but noticed that Mary's eyes were red. "Are you all right?"

"Greer," Mary began before taking Greer's arm and pulling her inside the room, shutting the door behind her. "Lola is giving birth at this very moment and might not survive. I just received a letter from her…I'll show you." Mary explained as she went over to her desk and picked up the letter. She handed it over to Greer.

Greer's eyes quickly scanned over the note and had a look of surprise on her face. She looked up at Mary. "Did you tell Francis?"

Mary nodded. "And he has already left to be with her during the birth. I plan to join them."

"What? But Mary, there's the plague! And you won't be safe going out on your own!" Greer exclaimed in protest.

"I must go. Our friend may be dying…and my husband is about to have a child. I have to be there for them," Mary explained.

Greer, knowing Mary to be a stubborn woman, realized it would be a lost cause trying to convince her not to go, especially when it's a situation concerning her husband. "How will you get out of the castle? The gates are already being closed."

"I doubt she's had the passageways blocked off yet," Mary stated as she sat down on a chair to put her riding boots on. "I'll try one of those and go to the stables, get a horse, and go."

Greer sighed as she sat down in a chair across from Mary. "Just be careful, Mary. Please, be careful."

"I will, Greer. I promise," Mary replied.

XxxxxxxX

Once Mary finished putting on her riding clothes, she found she was still able to get through the passageway that connected her room to outside the castle. She ran straight to the stables and mounted her horse. Mary then had her horse gallop away from the castle, towards the village where Lola stated she was located.

The closer she got, the more Mary felt her heart swelling with joy. It felt as if a weight was slowly being lifted off of her shoulders. She finally felt like she was doing the right thing.

After about a mile of riding, her horse suddenly came to a stop. He reared back at the sight of a snake on the ground, resulting in Mary falling off the horse and onto the ground, where her head hit a rock.

Upon impact, Mary passed out, and her horse took off.

A/N: I have a feeling this will be long...apologies!

This was kind of a rash decision of mine to post this. I know I'm not the greatest writer, but there's a disturbing lack of Frary fics out there. Plus, there's not many fics about what happens post season 1. So these plot bunnies just come at me from no where and I'm just like, "I wish people would write this!" but no one does so then it's left to me to write it because the bunnies won't go away. So I just write for fun...I don't really have a goal to be a creative writer or anything. It's more of a "Fine, if no one will do it, I will!" kind of a thing.

So I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! I sort of have this story (which should be a short one-I'm thinking less than 10 chapters) planned out, but still have some kinks to work out so I'm just nervous I've posted this fic too soon! I usually only write oneshots, so I'm also nervous I'm going to lose the drive to finish it, but I'm feeling very determined to complete it! I'm going to do my best to update this on a somewhat constant basis. If it somehow ends up being a long time since I've updated, do not hesitate to message me and tell me I better update! I like encouragement :)

I'd also like to note that my knowledge of Reign might not be perfect. It's hard for me to remember everything and I haven't been able to go back and rewatch episodes. I can't even remember if it was even revealed to Greer and Kenna that Lola was having Francis' baby, but I'm assuming they were eventually filled in on the matter or they assumed it.

Anyways, reviews are also very encouraging and greatly appreciated! :) Hope you liked it!