Regina's heart thudded against the inside of her chest as the frightened little princess tore out of the barn. She stole a quick glance at Daniel before bolting after her.

"Snow! Snow!"

The child whipped around with her hands on her hips. "What were you doing with him? You are to marry my father! You are to be my mother!"

Regina froze. What was she supposed to say now?

"Well, Snow…" She stammered as the little girl looked back at her in disgust. "That man you saw is going to be going away from here and never coming back. All I was doing was giving him a kiss goodbye. I'm not in love with him."

Snow's eyes widened. "Oh. So…so you do love my father?"

Regina forced a smile. She so hated lying to this little girl…this innocent child who was under the impression that she was about to get a mother. "I can grow to love him. And we can be a family."

Snow's little smile broke Regina's heart, and she nearly cried when the child ran over to her and threw her arms around her waist. Regina turned to Daniel and mouthed, "We're leaving now". Then she knelt down in front of Snow.

"There's one thing that I do need to talk to you about, though."

Snow nodded seriously. "Okay."

Regina took the little girl's hand and led her over to a bench under the tree. "Is this about getting back on the horse?" asked Snow.

"No," Regina cupped the chlid's head in both hands. "Listen to me, Snow. Your mother who you lost, she was probably a very kind lady, wasn't she?"

Snow nodded eagerly. "She was the kindest person in the world. She loved me more than anything else ever."

"Well, my mother isn't like that," Regina explained. "Think of her as a woman who's pretending to be a mother. She may seem sweet, but she really loves something else much more than she loves me: power."

Snow's eyes widened. "How could she love power more than you?"

"Because she isn't a real mother," Regina pressed, feeling like this was the best way to explain it to the young child who probably idolized her own deceased mother. "She's a pretend mother. She only had me because she wanted me to help her get what she wanted."

Snow blinked back a few tears and squeezed Regina's hand. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"And there's more," said Regina. She glanced behind her. Daniel was standing in the barn next to his packed bag and gesturing to two saddles on their racks. Regina nodded. Then she turned back to Snow. "Besides not even being a real mother, my mother is also a powerful witch." Snow's eyes widened. "If someone makes her mad, she throws them against the wall with a flick of her wrist or worse." Regina stopped short of telling Snow about her mother's heart-ripping technique, not wanting to scar the little girl for life. "She's very dangerous, no matter how kind she is to you, no matter how sweet she seems, she is just a witch pretending to be a real mother so she can hurt people."

Snow gulped nervously and nodded. "Okay, I'll remember."

"Snow, I need you to promise me that you will never talk to my mother. Don't do anything with her, don't speak with her, if you can don't even look at her. I don't want you to get hurt."

Snow nodded. "I promise," she whispered. Regina pulled her into a small hug.

"And I promise you that as long as you stay as far away from my mother as you can and never talk to her, that one day you will get the stepmother that you and your father deserve and that your dear mother would have been proud of." Regina kissed Snow on the top of her head before releasing her. "Now go along to bed, dear. There's much to be done in the morning."

Snow grinned and ran back to the house. Regina pretended to follow along back to her bedroom. Once Cora was satisfied that Regina was in bed, Regina put on her riding clothes, snuck back out, and ran straight for the secret meeting place half a mile from the barn that she and Daniel had always come to when they needed each other. He was waiting with their two favorite mares loaded up with saddle bags. He gave Regina a leg up and they both nudged the horses into a gallop. This was it, they were finally getting out of their. Regina nudged her mare into an even faster run than Daniel's was in, and as they neared the edge of the property, she turned back to smile at him. The pure joy on her face only lasted seconds before she was flung from her horses back and onto the ground. The horse kept going but stopped when she realized she had lost her passenger. Daniel stopped a few feet away from the edge, too. Everyone had crossed the border of the property except Regina.

"What just happened?" asked Daniel.

"My mother has the borders of our property enchanted so I can't leave without her permission," said Regina tearfully. "I can't come with you."

"Hmm...what a pity."

Regina nearly screamed when she looked behind her and saw a slimy-looking impish little man standing only two feet away from her.

"Who are you?" demanded Daniel.

"Someone who has a way to help you leave the property and make sure that Cora never finds you." Then he laughed a creepy little laugh before waving his hand, creating a sort of tunnel of air along the border of the property. Then he snapped his fingers, and little puffs of smoke surrounded Daniel, Regina, and their horses for a few seconds.

"What have you done to us?" asked Regina.

"It's a protection spell. I've made it impossible for your mother to use magic to ever find you!"

"But all magic comes with a price."

"Not this time, dearies. Let's just say...I'm invested in your future. Now go! Before it's too late!"

Seeing no other option, Regina ran off the property, jumped back on her horse, and continued on her way with Daniel.

The Following Evening

"Father? Why are we leaving?" Snow's eyes shone with disappointment as her father and his servants packed up the carriages.

King Leopold sighed. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, child. But Regina has decided not to marry me." His heart broke when he saw the disappointment in his daughter's eyes "Nobody has seen her since last night. She's gone."

"Oh." Snow wouldn't have known. She'd spent most of the day hiding under the bed and then in an empty carriage. "I'll bet I know why she didn't want to marry you, Father." The king didn't say anything, he just gestured to one of his footmen to load up a trunk on top of his carriage. "She must have been afraid the evil witch would hurt me."

"What are you talking about, Snow?"

"Regina told me that her mother isn't a real mother, she's an evil witch who doesn't care about anything but power!"

That didn't make any sense. Cora had never done anything to him that was even the slightest bit impolite. Maybe Regina and Cora just didn't get along as well as Regina had let on and Regina had just run away to defy her mother.

Then again…Regina hadn't even been the one to accept his proposal. Cora had. Maybe Regina hadn't wanted to marry him in the first place. But why would any young woman turn down an opportunity to be queen? To be Snow's mother?

"Your highness?" the king turned to see Lord Henry standing meekly behind him. "I'm truly sorry that this has happened."

"Don't worry about it," King Leopold assured him. "If she'd be unhappy living with me, it's best that I find that out now."

Lord Henry nodded. "Thank you for your understanding. Is there anything else I can get you? Perhaps a horse from my stable? I have a small and very well-trained one that might suit your daughter, if you think it would ease the disappointment she must be feeling."

The king smiled. "That would be perfect, actually. Why don't you have him brought out and I'll take a look at him before I give him to Snow?"

"Sure," Lord Henry bowed. "If you'll excuse me one moment I'll have to get the horse myself. Our stable boy hasn't shown up today, either."

And, Henry suddenly realized, he seemed to have made off with two of their best horses.

Three days later

The stable boy and his bride-to be had come to rest in a vacant barn in the middle of the woods. Their saddles and bags lay in a heap near the door, the horses were tied up near a wall, and Daniel and Regina were asleep on the saddle blankets.

"You could have at least left a note, Regina."

Regina's eyes flew open. There was Cora, surrounded by purple smoke. She laughed her terrifyingly little laugh. Regina coughed, unable to see anything.

"You foolish, foolish girl."

"Mother…NO!"

Regina shrieked as Cora threw her daughter up against the wall of the barn. She walked over to the two horses frantically pulling at the ropes tying them in place, and with a wave of her hand, froze them. She then marched over, ripped out their hearts, and crushed them. Their heavy innocent bodies thudded onto the ground.

"This is what will happen to you and your lover if you don't return and marry King White!" screamed Cora as she flew over to Regina in a rage. "You're mine! Mine!"

"Regina!"

Regina's eyes flew open. Daniel was wide awake and trying to hold her against his chest. She realized she'd actually been crying and screaming. The horses had backed up against the wall and were eyeing her warily, they hadn't seen her like this before.

"It's okay," whispered Daniel. "It was just another nightmare. You'll be safe, Regina. We never have to see her again. The nightmares will go away."

Regina held onto him tighter, secretly feeling certain that the nightmares would never go away. Daniel wouldn't know that. He'd had a mother who'd held him when he was scared instead of scaring him so much that any demons that could have appeared in his nightmares would have paled in comparison.

Regina and Daniel got up, calmed and saddled up the horses, and began making their way through the wood once more. Regina pulled her horse to an abrupt halt. "Daniel!" she whispered. "I hear someone!"

Daniel came up to her closer. "It's a royal carriage parked at the side of the road. There's a little girl playing next to it with some servants."

Regina backed her horse a little off the path and felt Daniel's hand grasp one of hers when he noticed she was shaking uncontrollably. She tried force herself to breathe steadily and stroke her hose.

"Papa! Papa, look! It's a marigold!"

Regina sighed with relief. "That's not Princess Snow."

"Will you touch it for me, Papa? Please!"

Regina leaned to take a closer look at the king and princess. The little blonde child set her flower down on a rock and stepped back, and to Regina's astonishment, the flower immediately turned to solid gold.

"Oh, thank you Papa!" she squealed.

Daniel blinked his eyes and looked a little dizzy for a moment. "Did I just see what I think I saw?"

Regina nodded. "That must be King Midas."

"Papa, how long until we get home?" asked the young princess.

"I already told you. To get home from King George's kingdom, we need to pass through King White's kingdom first."

"Oh."

"We're almost there."

Regina sighed with relief. At least they were out of the kingdom now. And they knew where they were going.

She nudged her horse forward. Daniel followed behind.

"How did that man turn a little flower into gold? I don't understand it."

"My mother did that kind of thing all the time, actually."

Daniel didn't say anything. He knew Regina didn't like talking about Cora very often.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," she whispered.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Because I wasn't strong enough to stand up to my mother, I've taken you away from your life."

He reached over and squeezed her hand. "No, Regina. You are my life."

Tears filled Lord Henry's eyes as he stepped into Regina's bedroom, frozen in time. Even the blankets were peeled back from when she'd gotten out of bed, the wardrobe still open with a few clothes sloppily yanked out. She hadn't brought a single dress with her, he realized. Just sleepwear and riding clothes. So like Regina…

And then it hit him.

It wasn't hard to do the math. One barn, minus two horses, two saddles, two bridles, one stable boy, and one devoted young horsewoman. How could he not have realized this before?

On Regina's bookshelf, two porcelain dolls with cloth bodies in wedding attire sat collecting dust. Henry picked them up and felt them, memories flashing before his eyes.

"What's that, Daddy?"

"A little something I bought for you in town."

"Oh, thank you, Daddy! These are beautiful! I'm gonna use them to plan out my whole wedding!"

"Aren't you a little young to be thinking about getting married, Regina?"

"Not too young to start planning! I'm gonna get married here on the farm in a dress just like this doll has, only with flowers on it. And if Mommy lets me, I'll be getting married in a horse pasture. The aisle will be made out of a beautiful pink carpet and…Daddy, lords are allowed to perform a marriage ceremony, right? You can get me and my husband married to each other!"

"Regina, darling, it would be an honor."

Henry had to blink back tears as he set the two dolls back down on the bureau. He froze when a shiny little object slid down the leg of the bride doll. It was the engagement ring from King Leopold.

Of course she'd had to leave it here. If she'd tried to sell it to someone, a knowlegable jeweler might have recognized it as King Leopold's and used it to track her down.

Frantically, Henry grabbed the ring and shoved it into his pocket. He would get it back to the king before Cora did anything with it. She was more irritable than ever these days, mostly because using magic to track down Regina was proving impossible.

Then he hesitated and took the dolls, too, and some other things he'd given to Regina over the years or that he knew had meant something to her. Then he headed back to his bedchamber. He and Cora slept in separate rooms with an adjoining door and hadn't been so much as nudged open in years. He hid everything he'd taken in a bag in the back of his closet where Cora wouldn't think to look for it. Not that he would be with her for much longer.

He heard a tap on the door to his room. "Come in, Cora."

His wife stormed in. "What do you think you're doing inside? I swear, if you don't have a full army of men ready to search for our daughter ready by dawn, I'll announce to the whole kingdom that King Leopold's fiancé has gone missing so that he has no choice but to send his soldiers out after her to spare himself the shame of a runaway bride."

"Clever," said Henry quietly. "But if you do that, King Leopold will dismiss me as his lord and we'll have no power left. Is that what you want?"

"If it gets us to being the parents of the queen, yes."

Henry stood up. "I'll have the army assembled by morning. But we need to have one thing clear, Cora. If they fail, you're not allowed to punish them in any way up to and including ripping their hearts out."

"Don't you think that's a little unreason-"

"No."

"Fine," Cora relented. "Get to work."

Henry marched outside and went to the barn to saddle up his own horse, letting the tears roll down his cheeks. That deal had been necessary mostly because anyone he hired to look for Regina would be getting very strict instructions to fail. Because if Regina really had run away with that stable boy, there is no way that either one of them would survive Cora's wrath if they were found. And if the price to pay for Cora never seeing Regina again would be that Henry would never see her again either, then so be it.

He knew he would never see his baby girl again.

But it was okay.

Because for the first time in their lives, he finally had a way to protect her.

Two days later

A small village inn was Regina and Daniel's next resting stop that didn't involve a blanket on the floor and the horses tied to a tree.

"We don't have very much money," said Daniel apologetically. "We can sleep in the barn with our horses, if you like."

"Nonsense!" declared the friendly innkeeper. "I have a small room open for whatever you can afford. It's not much, but there's a bed big enough for the two of you."

Daniel smiled. "Thank you, kind sir."

"Hold it!" the innkeeper's wife walked over holding a stack of dirty dishes. "Are you two married?"

Daniel glanced off to the side. "Well…um…"

"We're going to be married." Regina held out her hand bearing the makeshift engagement ring as evidence.

The innkeeper's wife clicked her tongue sternly. "No one shares a bed in our inn without first saying their vows."

Regina and Daniel glanced at each other with disappointment. There was no way they could afford two bedrooms.

The innkeeper smiled. "You know, I used to be a soldier in King George's army. That makes me qualified to perform wedding ceremonies. How would you feel about saying your vows tonight?"

Not two hours later, Regina was dressed in a simple white dress she'd borrowed from another guest at the inn and holding a bunch of flowers some children had picked for her. Daniel was wearing his best coat and had combed his hair.

"Do you, Daniel, take Regina to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"Do you, Regina, take Daniel to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"You may exchange rings."

Daniel had found his own gold band identical to the one he'd given Regina. She slid it onto his finger. She was already wearing hers.

"You may kiss the bride."

Cora was walking down the hallway towards her bedroom when a strange feeling suddenly enveloped her. The feeling that she was being watched by a certain someone.

"It's been a while, Rumpelstiltskin," said Cora before she even turned around.

"It has indeed. The last time I saw you, Regina was just a baby. And as I seem to recall, you owe me a favor. A favor that I was to come to collect on her wedding day."

"Well, her wedding day has been delayed," snapped Cora bitterly. "She ran off several days before she was to become queen."

Rumpelstiltskin's smile widened. "That's not entirely accurate."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the reason I'm here is because this is your daughter's wedding day."

Cora froze.

"What did you say?"

"Didn't you know? Regina just married her true-"

"Of course I didn't know," Cora seethed. This was the angriest Rumpelstiltskin had ever seen her. And he had seen her pretty angry before. "Who is she married to? Is he powerful?"

Rumpelstiltskin shrugged. "Powerful over the livestock he tends to for a living."

Cora sucked in her breath, and then let out a loud scream as she hurled a fireball at a painting of Regina that hung in the hallway, then at a houseplant, then at a glass sculpture. Rumpelstiltskin just chuckled.

"Don't you think a more productive way to channel your anger would be helping me with that favor you owe me?"

Cora swiveled back around, her usually perfect hair disheveled with anger. "And what exactly is that?"

Rumpelstiltskin smiled. "Something I think you'll be quite happy with." He opened his palm, revealing a scroll. "A dark curse that will give you the opportunity to exert power over everyone and everything in this kingdom. Forever."