My Life As The Dauphin

Un Nouvel Espoir

I DO NOT OWN REIGN. ALSO, ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NAMES OF THE FRARY TWINS ARE WELCOME. I HAVE PICKED NAMES OUT, BUT IF I FIND ANY BETTER OPTIONS, I WILL CHOOSE THOSE.

French Court. Kingdom of France. Later that day.

After I had calmed myself down, I quickly made my way to Catherine; who was still overseeing preparations for her grand demise. She was currently arguing with Henry, who was determined to behead the serpent queen without any further adieu.

"Mother, father; I must speak with you." I insisted as they both turned to look at me; not pleased that I had interrupted whatever argument they had been in the middle of.

"We are busy, Francis. Whatever troubles you, it must wait." Henry insisted in return.

"It can't, you don't have to kill mother; she is no longer a threat to me or Mary or your lust for England." I told my father before turning to a confused Catherine. "You have to listen to me: I spoke to Nostradamus. His visions have changed."

"What do you mean?" She asked anxiously, since she took his predictions as the word of God.

"He has seen a future for me and Mary, I will survive if I wed Mary. The Valois line will continue and Mary will give me children!" I exclaimed, desperate for her to believe me as Catherine's eyes went as wide as mine had when I heard the news.

"Children?" She asked in disbelief as her eyes lit up at the thought of having grandchildren.

"So now that your precious seer has told you that Francis will live, now you're willing to leave his wife be?" Henry scoffed in disbelief at Catherine's superstitions.

"Nostradamus is seldom wrong. If his vision truly has changed, then there is no harm in letting them be wed." Catherine said, trying to save herself.

"Why in God's name should I pardon you?" Henry asked as I put myself in between him and his wife.

"Because it would make a splendid wedding present to allow my mother to live." I answered as I played the only card that I really had to play. "You are not putting her to death for adultery, you are putting her to death because her cruel meddling nearly cost you the chance to possess 3 thrones. She understands that her crimes against Mary were wrong, she is sorry, and she will not stand in your way as we prepare to move against England."

"That Medici bitch tries to kill Mary, ruin her reputation, and torments her...yet you beg for her life?" Henry asked in confusion as I knew that he would never make a sacrifice like that. His efforts to kill Bash and Francis in the original timeline where proof enough of that..

"I hate her for what she did to Mary, but I not ashamed to admit that both you and I will need her in the years to come. France has many enemies both foreign and domestic and we will need all the allies we can get." I reasoned as I took a look at the serpent. "Let Catherine's ruthless ways work in our favor for a change."

"A weddings present?" Catherine asked with a roll of the eyes.

"My wife is going to give King Henry the French, English, and Scottish thrones. I think he can do this one thing for me." I remarked as Henry heaved a sigh.

"Fine, I shall pardon my wife for her crimes; but I expect your marriage to occur before the week is out." Henry demanded as he stormed off, leaving a thankful Catherine kissing my cheek in gratitude.

Later that evening.

After I had successfully convinced King Henry to spare the live of his serpent queen, I made my way to Mary's chambers. Luckily, I had managed to catch her just before her maids came to dress her for bed.

"Francis, I received word from my mother. She'll be here tomorrow for the wedding." Mary told me as I leaned in and kissed her passionately. I didn't want to think about how that nasty woman, Marie de Guise was going to trick Henry into speeding up the marriage in order to secure her sinking ship of a reign over Scotland.

"Do you remember when Nostradamus took me aside to talk?" I asked eagerly

"I do." She answered slowly.

"It was because he had a new vision which cancelled out the old vision!" I exclaimed as I held my wife's hands in mine as I tried not to get too overly emotional. "He said that our marriage will not bring about my death. Nostradamus saw you and me living long lives together...with our children." At this, Mary lit up as her beautiful brown eyes began to water.

"Children...he saw that we would have children?" Mary asked as she cupped my cheeks in her warm hands.

"Yes, he said that we would have twins: a boy and a girl." I told her as I couldn't help but lean into the loving touch that she offered me. "The Valois dynasty will be secured and we can finally have a family all of our own."

"I've always wanted to be a mother. Mary told me as we began to kiss each other over and over and over again until it felt like our lips had swollen up.

"Nothing else will matter except for you and me and our kids." I promised Mary as I wrapped her up in a tight bear hug.

"Promise me Francis, promise me that you and I will be better parents than our parents were; that we will let our children be themselves and that we'll never force husbands or wives into them for political advantage."

"I promise we will Mary, our children aren't going to be pawns in some political game." I assured my wife. "They will be our treasures, the most important achievements that you and I will ever have."

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