A/N: This was written for the Forbidden Love prompt for Outlaw Queen Week. It started out as an AU where Marian died before she had Roland and turned into... this. This is dark, people! Very, very dark. You have been warned.
The queen and the outlaw make a pact in secret.
They say that it was struck in blood, but even if that story is false, it might as well have been. They were certainly tightly bound enough, from that moment on. Entwined together in a way that neither are able to deny— nor do they wish to.
The queen and the outlaw make a pact in secret, and in doing so they condemn the world.
"It's sealed by blood magic, Sheriff," the voice says.
The Sheriff of Nottingham tugs at the door uselessly one more time before giving up, wiping away the sweat that has formed on his brow. He swallows once, turning slowly twisting his face into a sneer at the outlaw. The man has to audacity to sit in his chair, looking as though he isn't in the heart of enemy territory.
"You're bluffing," he scoffs. "You don't have that kind of power."
"You're right," says a velvety voice near his ear. "He doesn't."
The Sheriff is whirled through the air in sickening burst of light and feels his stomach turn even before his head smashes against the wall. Something cold trickles down his spine as he spies something stalking towards him— like a wraith in the night, with claw like hands that sink into his chest and make him writhe in agony. He can't even scream, though, as though someone has ripped out his voice box.
"It's yours," the creature purrs. Before he blacks out, the Sheriff sees it pass the outlaw something glowing and red.
"It's a political maneuver," she breathes against his lips, snaking a hand beneath his tunic. "You can think of it that way, if it makes you feel better. She'll be distraught at her father's death. Perhaps even she will believe it was only an accident."
The two both glance at the body on the ground next to them, their faces reflecting bitter amusement.
"I suppose," the man murmurs, "that our brief alliance would end after that."
She continues to skim the muscles on his stomach, reaching up with her other hand to grasp his jaw. "That, dear, is entirely up to you."
So the man greedily— angrily— draws her mouth to his. Neither of them are willing to admit (or deny) the way the contact makes them hot and then cold. Regina bites into his lip and draws blood, letting the taste of it flood both of their mouths. She will never tell him how possessive she feels of him already, since she got a good look at his wrist two days after they first met.
"We destroyed the father," she gasped once she broke away, shuddering at the open-mouthed kisses placed at her throat. "The daughter shouldn't be that much harder."
They never quite mean for their 'business meetings' to get as out of hand as they usually do. Regina understands the pull that they have towards each other only too well. Robin does not, but he is drawn further and further into the swirl of chaos that surrounds her. The ink stain that floods her heart spreads to his mere months after their pact is made. He even lets her tear it out to look at it one day, not making a sound of pain.
He is not, however, able to prevent a gasp from escaping his mouth when she presses her lips to it, her eyes never leaving his.
(It is months before she lets him do the same, and he is pleased to see that they could easily be swapped; both are black as coal.)
Snow White dies from an arrow to the heart.
Hunting accident, it's said.
Regina wakes alone, and a small part of her feels cold at the thought.
They both know why he can't stay. She has made more enemies in the recent year than in all the years before the death of her husband. If anyone believed that she treasured someone other than herself, they would be quick to take advantage of that fact. Until she can completely secure her dominion over this land, they have to be discreet.
Even if 'discreet' means coupling in the darkest hours of the night.
Robin's merry men turn against him eventually. It's only a matter of time when his willingness to give mercy turns to a strange desire to kill. He's furious, pacing Regina's chambers while he rants about it. She's hardly paying attention to his words (betrayal is something that she understands too well), and instead is admiring him. He is so much more beautiful with hatred on his face.
(It is only after the two of them rip his old camp asunder and watch it be devoured by flames that she asks him to marry her.)
As all those twisted by vengeance are, they become convinced that they are saving the land. Their delusion is a world where they derive their joy from the suffering of others. Their marriage stays a secret to all, but rumor eventually begins to spread. There is talk of a rebellion, and meetings begin to take place in the early morning hours (everyone knows that the night isn't safe any longer).
When Regina discovers this, it's almost child's play to find out when and where the next meeting is taking place. Then she goes and slaughters every single member for daring to threaten her husband.
Later, when the Blue Fairy begins to hatch a plan to destroy the Evil Queen once and for all, Robin Hood finds her and pulls her wings off. The only fairy he spares is one dressed in green, who stares at his wrist in horror.
He doesn't think to ask why, but he doesn't care.
It's true love. It's the darkest, most impure form of true love that there ever was, but true love nonetheless. Any magic from their kiss would cause a curse, not break it. There are stories that any child produced by their union would be a demon.
They love one another so deeply that they feel the pain of the other. They love one another so deeply that they would commit any number of horrors in the other's name. There are even those who believe that they swapped hearts so that they would never have to be parted from one another. The queen sits on a throne made of blood and bone, and Robin builds it more and more every day.
But it is true love. The most powerful magic of all.
Who can stand in the way of that?
The queen and the outlaw made a pact at the very beginning. At the very end, they burn the world beneath their feet.
And they live happily ever after.