Thank you for all the support and I am sorry I kept you waiting so long.

Chapter two

"You are in a hurry today" Kathleen observed when she Mary burst through the door. The Queen twitched slightly because Kathleen's sudden appearance startled her,

"You should not do this if you want me to live and make sure whatever you are planning to succeed"

"Do what?"

"Scaring me to death every time you appear from nowhere"

Kathleen frowned slightly and asked with a bit confused tone,

"I am a ghost am I not? It is my job to scare and hunt people" then she stopped and added with a tone that almost resembled amusement "You should have seen the baker's boy when I knocked over the glass. He looked absolutely terrified"

"You are horrible" Mary shook her head and opened her closet searching for what she could wear "You should not scare people like this"

"What about those that I do not like?"

Mary glanced at her ghostly friend and replied,

"Even the people you don't like. You shouldn't sink on their level you know" then she got back to searching for the right dress to wear for the journey towards the French coastline. Kathleen sighed and admitted,

"Yes, I see you may be right but sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. Even a person with such high place as you will have to get her hands dirty at some point"

Mary didn't bothered to look at Kathleen when she responded to her prediction,

"I am aware of that and I intend to make sure that I do all in power to avoid becoming like Catherine someday"

"I do hope you can manage that"

Queen did not reply to Kathleen's comment she rather disappeared behind her changing screen and got dressed in more comfortable clothes. While she was changing she could feel Kathleen moving around the room and humming some strange melody but Mary instantly liked the song even if she didn't know where it came from.

"So.. you are going to greet the littlest French prince's future bride?" Kathleen asked when she was done with the song. By the tone of her voice Mary assumed that she was interested where she was going. When she stepped in her shoes and adjusted her dress she replied,

"Yes I am and Francis is going with me"

"Of course" Kathleen nodded then she changed the tone of her voice to more serious "Can you promise me one thing?"

"Okay… tell me what you need"

"Just make sure you have all the facts before you decide to act or attack"

Mary frowned because Kathleen's words didn't make much sense to her but she was getting used to her cryptic messages,

"I suppose you won't explain it to me if I ask what your warning means"

"You are right. I decided to help you but there are still things you need to do or discover by yourself besides that I am not all knowing even if it looks that way"

"Can't you at least give me a hint?"

"Nope" Kathleen shook her head and disappeared into nothing before Mary's eyes. Young Queen sighed when her unusual friend was gone and focused back on her preparations for the trip.

She didn't get the full meaning of Kathleen's warning until later that day when Sebastian stopped Francis from attacking the English men who disembarked on the French coast. They apparently came in peace and if Francis had attacked them France would be in a war before the sunset.

When they were back at the castle Francis disappeared somewhere, leaving Mary and Sebastian alone on the courtyard before the palace. Sebastian knit his eyebrows and asked,

"Mary do you feel well? You look pale to me?"

With a corner of her eye Mary saw the shape of Kathleen appear by Sebastian's shoulder and the Queen tried very hard not to look at her when she answered,

"I am fine, but I am thankful for your concern it is good to have at least one friend back. Francis has been strangely estranged since I came back"

Kathleen's face betrayed pain and something else which Mary couldn't read but she could see her friend looking at Sebastian with something that looked like affection or even love.

"He will get over whatever is bothering him" Sebastian replied "He is probably still affected by…"

He stopped while his face when blank expressing nothing. Mary bit her lip not knowing what to say because she had the feeling she was standing on a thin ice which was about to brake.

"He is still mourning after my wife… not that I blame him. I haven't come to terms with it myself" Sebastian managed to say before he went quiet again. Mary's eyes widened and she glanced at Kathleen who looked even more miserable than before and back to Bash, connecting the dots.

"I am truly sorry" she apologized "I didn't know"

"I don't blame you… if it weren't for Alex I don't know what I would do. Kathleen was the center of our lives and when she died…"

Mary put her hand on his shoulder in a friendly gesture of comfort,

"If there is anything I can you, just say the word and it will be done"

"Thank you" Sebastian nodded "Just go easy on Francis he knew her longer than I did and she was his best friend for a long time"

"I will I promise" Mary reassured him and then asked "If you don't mind me asking, I assume Alex is your son but I haven't seen him around?"

There was a weak smile on Sebastian's face when he answered,

"He is traveling around with my mother. I figured that he needs something to occupy him and things got quite depressive here"

"I can only imagine but when he is back I would like to meet him"

"Of course" he nodded and there was still a ghost of a smile on his face "I am sure he will like you straight away"

Mary smiled warmly and then let him leave inside probably looking for Francis or someone else to take his thoughts off his dead wife. When he was out of sight Mary turned around expecting to see Kathleen standing behind her but she wasn't. Queen could see her few yards away walking through the garden with stone expression on her face.

Mary joined Kathleen on her walk through the beautiful garden. There was a silence between them because Mary did not know what to say and Kathleen looked like she was lost in her own world. After a short time Mary broke the silence,

"You could have told me that you were once married to Bash maybe I could have help somehow"

Kathleen shook her head and stopped walking forcing Mary to stop walking as well.

"There is little, almost nothing, you can do for me right now and Bash is better off not knowing that I still linger around I know that he finds peace in knowing that I have gone off to a better place and if he knew that I am still stuck here… let's just say that I wouldn't help him to move on"

"You don't know that" Mary argued with soft voice "Maybe that is exactly what he needs to move on and get some closure. By the lack of details I assume that details of your death are not well known"

She saw a corner of Kathleen's lips twitch before she answered,

"Everyone knows the official story not even I remember what exactly happened to me that night" she paused and closed her grey eyes before she continued "My family and friends were told that I was killed by the bandits that kidnaped me. They never got my body back and I can feel that something is off…"

"French court is a deadly place to live" Mary sighed "I would rather live with the nuns like I did before I came here. It was much more peaceful and quiet… I didn't have to worry about being stabbed in the back"

"You don't have to worry about it. I am watching over you and if someone wants to hurt you they will meet a terrible end"

Mary's lips turned in a smile,

"Thank you. You don't know how good it feels to have someone that I can trust completely. Someone that wouldn't judge me because of who I am and treat me like an equal"

"I know what you mean" Kathleen agreed with warm voice "I only wish I knew you when I was still alive"

Mary nodded her head and dropped her eyes on the bush of still closed roses. Before Kathleen dissolved into nothing she touched the roses and the second her fingers connected with the closed bud it blossomed. Mary's eyes widened but Kathleen was gone before the Queen could ask her what happened.

Later that night, when Mary was getting ready for bed she was looking around the room and waiting for Kathleen to appear form nowhere as always, but her elusive friend never showed up. For a moment she even thought that something might had happened to her but then she remembered that Kathleen was a ghost and you can't kill a person two times.

With a sigh of disappointment the Queen climbed on her bed and was ready to blow out the candles when she remembered that she can try one more thing. She put down the candle and called,

"Kathleen? Where are you, I really need to speak with you"

She waited for few moments before a cold breeze filled the air around her and seconds later she saw Kathleen standing beside her bed looking even sadder than before. Her grey eyes were tired and she had dark circles under her eyes.

"What do you need of me Mary?"

Mary blinked not sure what to say but she quickly found a simple explanation,

"I wanted to see how you were doing; this afternoon can't have been the easiest for you"

"No it wasn't but I am fine. You shouldn't trouble yourself with my well-being when you have a lot on your mind"

"You always know what I am thinking about don't you?"

"Yes I have a pretty good idea and I am only confirming your own suspicions. You must be wary of the Queen. Never turn your back at her because she will stab you if such chance offers itself to her"

Mary frowned and thought about what Kathleen had said. Ghost seemed to know almost everything that went around the castle yet she was cryptic about her advices. Mary knew she should count herself lucky that Kathleen even spoke with her.

"I know what you mean I am not ready to trust the Queen or anyone at the French court just yet"

"A wise choice which will probably keep you alive for a little longer" Kathleen agreed. She hadn't moved from the spot for whole time they talked but if Mary thought about it she rarely saw her move around.

"Thank you for being here for me. It really means a lot"

"You are welcome but don't fool yourself, I am doing this for myself too. It is not just you at stake here"

Mary raised her eyebrows but she wasn't offended with the lack of politeness in Kathleen's words. Sugar-coating the truth wasn't her style.

"This is about the plan you don't want to share with me, right?"

"Yes. Not that I don't want to it is just… I can't share it with you yet. First we must find something more about how I died and where my body stayed"

"How are we going to accomplish that? I figured out that you are a bit of a sore subject around here. Not many people want to talk about you"

Kathleen looked right in Mary's eyes and the Queen could swear that she saw a tiny sparkle in Kathleen's eyes before the ghost replied,

"That is not entirely true. My mother in law is coming back next week and with her we shall start"

I hope you like it and thank you for reading.