Regina had seen it happen to some of the young women she had considered friends; had seen the symbol that suddenly appeared on their 18th birthday. She had even seen a few of them meet their supposed soulmate. But did that mean she believed she had someone out there for her? No. Her mother had made that quite clear. She was not meant to be loved, she wasn't meant to be anyone's soulmate, she was meant to marry somebody above her own station so her status could climb just as her mother's had.
The very thought pained her, had her stomach twisting into knots days before her birthday arrived. The fact that her mother was throwing a grand ball, a coming out of sorts for Regina, on her birthday only made it worse.
She hadn't been able to sleep that night; she wound up tossing and turning, shifting this way and that in failed attempts to make herself comfortable, to relieve some of the anxious tension in her stomach, but nothing helped. Of course, her mother had been upset by the fact, stating that Regina needed the rest so she could look beautiful for the party this afternoon. Not that those words changed anything, she still had knots in her stomach, so much so that she refused to eat even a bite of food, though she did her best to play it off to her mother that she was making sure she would look presentable in the corseted dress she was to wear to the ball.
It's as she's pulling on her gloves later that night that she notices it, a charcoal grey mark on the underside of her wrist in the form of a bow, but in place of an arrow there is a long-stemmed rose. No color, simply an outline. Though beautiful, it frightens her and confuses her at the same time. What would Mother say if she knew about the mark?
Regina pushes that idea from her mind and tugs her gloves on the rest of the way, more than covering the mark, and lets one of her ladies help her into her dress and heels so she can make her way out to the ball.
Her father announced her, smiling as he leads her down the staircase to the ballroom that's filled with many noble families, perhaps even a few royal family members, mainly men who she assumes will want to court her– or men her mother wants to court her. She does as she knows she's suppose to; makes polite conversation with the men, smiles and curtsies, agrees to dances, only hesitating once.
She notices it as he extends a hand to her, his sleeve inching up slightly, enough to show off the mark of his soulmate; a bow with a rose in place of an arrow. Her heart stutters then and she swallows thickly, eyes wide as she stares at the mark. It's only when he questions her if he's done something wrong that she pulls her gaze up to meet his expression and shakes her head slowly.
"No," she admits as she takes his hand, allowing him to lead her to the dance floor, free hand rising to rest upon his shoulder as his comes to rest against her shoulder blade. "It appears my mother was wrong," she comments a few steps into the dance, "I do have a soulmate."