Summary: Regina is the daughter of King Henry the eighth and Queen Cora of Crims, east of the Enchanted Forest where King Charming and Queen Snow White reign. She is overlooked by her once attentive father, abused by her mother – both mentally and physically, and to top it off she has found herself with magic coursing through her veins. Emma was orphaned at a young age with only a blanket with her name embroidered upon it, and a silver perdiot ring on a necklace when she was found by the notorious pirate, Davy Jones. She learned the ways of the Sea, her eternal mistress, and soon became a pirate of her own under the name the Black Swan. After a deal born of hopelessness is made, what will fate have in store for these two women?
Warnings: This is an AU FTL SwanQueen fic that I dreamed up one day because of a friend calling me a Pirate. I'm going to start this off as M because I know I'm going to have Swanqueen Smexiness in this at one point or another
Disclaimer: This will only appear on this chapter because I'll likely forget to put it in every single one of them. I do not own Once Upon A Time. If I did, Regina and Emma would be in a budding relationship, Graham would not have died until a bit later (his death is necessary I understand that), Ruby would be Belle's beast and not Rumple, and Rumple would end up with another woman (though fitting him in another story that isn't Beauty and the Beast is rather hard).
Chapter One: Wishful Thinking
A lone figure stood on the balcony of her family's astronomy tower, gazing out over the beautiful land that her father ruled. The fresh scent of the various plants that had just begun blooming once more permeated the air around the castle. The twinkling lights from the royal gardens native sprites and nymphs gave the ground below her an ethereal beauty. It was a beauty, the woman clad in a light blue silk dress with simple pearl accessories, had come to appreciate more and more as she grew older. The young woman, barely looking over the age of twenty-one, slowly lifted her brown eyes from the beautiful land below her to the heavens above her head.
Allowing the sad expression that had been on her gorgeous face as she looked over her land to return, the woman couldn't help but to lean more against the balcony's railing as a soft breeze made its way past her blowing some of her silky black hair from its tight bun and into her face framing it as she was consumed by her thoughts. She couldn't help but to gaze longingly out at the expansive countryside past her castle, thinking to herself what her life could have been like if she had never been born into this life. The princess couldn't help but let her mind wander to what her life could be like, free of obligations that a lady of her stature must uphold, free of the restrictions the other nobles placed up her with their ever critical eyes, but most importantly what it would be like to be free of her mother, Cora.
Allowing herself to imagine it only for a few seconds, the woman turned her head slightly as she heard the telltale sound of heels clicking against the marble floor leading towards the doors of the astronomy tower.
Walking away from the ledge of the balcony and into the room itself, the princess stood with her head held high and her back straight as the guards on the other side of the oak double doors shifted slightly before opening them. Once they were open, a woman in her mid to late forties stepped inside of the room with a mild look of annoyance marring her features as she took in the observatory, and then allowed her hard brown eyes to focus in on her daughter. Taking in her appearance in the 'simple' clothing, Cora couldn't help but to let her lip twitch downwards once more in a sneer while straightening out her expensive silk gown that covered her body, the expensive emerald jewels that hung from her neck, ears, and wrists the only sound in the room as the princess was scrutinized by the woman she called her mother.
"I've been looking everywhere for you, Regina." The woman began her expression schooled once more into her emotionless mask, her pristine appearance further pressed upon as she folded her hands in front of her.
"What on earth are you doing up here? Your father and I were both worried that you had gone gallivanting off to town again." Cora locked her eyes with her daughters own brown eyes, taking a bit of satisfaction in the fact that she could see the pain within her eyes as she remembered the last time she had went into the town a few months ago. "We don't want a repeat of last time now do we? I do hate having to punish you so severely when you could simply do as I ask."
"No, of course not Mother. I'm sorry that it was so difficult finding me this evening." Regina said in a soft voice, careful not to say anything that could set her mother off like she was prone to doing recently. "After my lessons, I find that it is much easier to relax and reflect on my day when I am up here looking over our land, and the heavens above it." Taking a deep breathe, Regina schooled her features after her admission working on hiding the sadness and her thoughts of freedom in case her mother decided to probe inside of her head.
Watching her mother give her a curt nod, Regina couldn't help but to inquire as to why her mother was actively looking for her, normally the dark haired would send a messenger to find her and deliver whatever message she was to receive. "Forgive my inquiry, but is there something wrong? You normally send messages to me through a servant."
Cora felt her the corner of her lip twitch upwards in a slight smirk at her daughters words, and nodded slightly as she moved them back to lock with the expressive eyes of her daughters. "I came to personally inform you of a recent . . . agreement that has been reached." She began, her words cold and firm as she kept her withering gaze upon her daughter, almost allowing a smile to come over her face at the dread slowly crept into her daughters eyes. "As you well know, our kingdom has suffered greatly these past few years due mainly because of the war raging on against the Goblins and trolls. Your father and I both agree that strength is what this kingdom needs once more, and to give it that we will need to ally ourselves with another strong country. One that has the resources we need that can help us win this battle against those disgusting creatures, while also lending their aid in keeping our people alive through the upcoming seasons."
Regina felt something grow in the pit of her stomach as she listened to her mother's words. She knew of the war, of course. It had been going on for the majority of her life, after the goblins openly began attacking villages in her father's kingdom, and then killing her father's best general when they moved to parley after a rather vicious attack. What she didn't know was that the war was starting to turn in the Goblins favor a few years back when her father's health began to deteriorate, which was around the same time that Cora had begun practicing magic out in the open unafraid of how it would reflect on the kingdom itself. Nervousness and fear started to build up inside of the woman as she watched her mother draw in another breathe to continue with her news.
"The simplest way for us to achieve our goal is to offer your hand in marriage to which ever kingdom has the best resources for us to use. As of right now, King Phillip and Queen Aurora's son William is our best option. Their own kingdom is thriving and at peace with everyone. They are also strong allies with the King James and Queen Snow, one of the strongest kingdoms in our world." Cora finished, her eyes narrowing as she watched her daughter's body stiffen at the news, expressive brown eyes widening to the size of saucers as she took in her words.
"This can't happen, Mother! Father promised me that he would never marry me off like I'm some bartering tool! He vowed to give me to my one true love, and only to that person!" Regina yelled before she could stop herself, her emotions getting the best of her as she stood rooted to the spot by her mother's piercing glare. Her hands shook at her sides as she tried to digest everything that her mother just said, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Her frantic expression and her loud outburst did nothing but cause a sneer to decorate Cora's normally stoic face, her eyes glowing slightly as magic swirled around her irises.
"I'm terribly sorry, dear, but this isn't up for discussion. Your father is in no condition to carry on with this war, and should the worst befall him, our country will need the support of someone strong and capable of persevering through this war. Unfortunately, if you weren't such a horrible heir, we would leave this to fall into your hands, but alas it is important that we put our faith into your fiancé's hands, which you will be traveling to see in a weeks' time." Cora said as coldly as possible, turning on her heels as she made her way out of the observatory to leave her daughter, if only for a little while. Stopping short of walking out of the door, Cora turned her head to look at her daughter over her shoulder, "And what have I told you time and time again? Believing in True love is a fallacy dreamed up by the delusions of fools who believe it gives you strength. Love is a weakness, Regina. It's a weakness I won't allow a daughter of mine to have. I thought I proved as much when I ripped out that stable boys heart in front of you." With that the woman left in a rush of silk and a click of her expensive heels on the marble stairs leading away from her daughter.
Regina watched as the dark oak doors closed behind her mother, and only when she couldn't hear the clicking of her shoes against the marble floor did she allow her knees to buckle under her weight, collapsing none to gently onto the floor beside the squishy arm chair she normally curled in to read. Regina could do nothing more than to lean into the soft cushions of the chair and cry into the expensive fabric, clutching it tightly in her fingers as if it were comforting her. Her silent sobs went unheard to the vacant room as she poured out her heart into the plush cushions, taking comfort in the softness that surrounded her as she did. As she cried, the young woman allowed all of the pain caused by her mother's words to reverberate through her mind which only made her silent sobs progress to muffled cries of agony.
After what seemed like hours of crying, Regina slowly extracted herself from the cushions of her chair, her make up running down her face and her eyes blood shot as she stood on shaky legs and lead herself back to the balcony, her hands clenching the dark wood of the railing until her knuckles turned white. For a long moment, the distraught princess contemplated throwing herself from the balcony, and ending everything so she wouldn't have to deal with this pain any longer. Shaking her head free of those thoughts, Regina reminded herself silently of how doing such a thing would hurt her father, regardless of how distant and cold he had been acting towards her for the past year. She knew the father she loved who was attentive, kind, and would do whatever he could to make his daughter happy was still there underneath it all.
Looking up at the sky as the last of her tears fell from her brown eyes she couldn't help but become enthralled with the brilliance of the sky above her. Allowing her body to relax and stare up at the twinkling of the stars, Regina noticed a single shooting star streaking across the sky and closed her eyes as she did every time making the same wish she had been making ever since she was a little girl hiding in the gardens from her mother's wraith. "Take me away from this place, and let me be free of my mother." She whispered her wish to anyone who could hear it, her hands moving up to wrap around the simple gold ring that hung from a chain around her neck her eyes still closed as she clutched it.
After waiting a moment and not feeling anything different, Regina opened her eyes to see herself still standing on the balcony of the tower, and shook her head as she walked back into the room and shut the door to the ledge with a sigh. Going to the mirror near the door, Regina looked herself over with a grimace before biting her lip somewhat looking at her hand. After debating for a moment, the young woman sighed a little bit and concentrated flicking her wrist ever so slightly in the direction of her face.
After a poof of sweet smelling smoke disappeared from nowhere cleared, Regina now stood looking immaculate as she had when her ladies in waiting first applied her makeup and fixed her hair in her normal high bun.
Nodding at her appearance, Regina straightened her back slightly as she walked to the doors and pulled one of them open, exiting the observatory with her head held high making her way down the stairs and towards the private dining hall that her family normally shared together.
Stopping at the beginning of the hall leading to the dining hall, Regina waited for a moment to regain her composer as she felt the tingles of her magic at her fingertips when her emotions began swirling in accordance to her thoughts. Shaking her head a bit, Regina affirmed to herself for the thousandth time since she had begun studying magic without her mother knowing that she would never become anything like the woman who made her life a living breathing hell.
Regina made her way forward as she steeled herself against any other words her mother could say, and pushed open the doors to the dining room with a fake smile plastered upon her beautiful face. Letting her gaze pass over her mother and land on her grey haired father, who merely gave her a solemn smile in return to her fake one, Regina carefully slid into her seat as if nothing was wrong with her as the food was served to them. During the whole meal, however, Regina felt cold eyes boring into her skull and she could not help but pray silently once more for something or someone to save her from her fate.
Little did the young princess know, a pair of pale eyes had watched her from the moment Cora had left her to cry out into her chair, to the time she had entered the dining room for dinner. A faint smirk was painted over the hidden creatures face before they disappeared as quickly and as easily as they came, a plan formulating in their minds on how to grant the young woman exactly what she wished.
A blonde haired woman leaned back in her chair with a sigh until only two of the four legs of the simple piece of furniture touched the wooden floor so she could comfortably prop her black booted feet upon the surprisingly uncluttered desk in front of her. The woman appeared to be the poster child for laid back seeing as she was clad in worn black leather pants that clung to her like a second skin, a belt kept them securely around her waist as well as serving its purpose for holding various small equipment in its compartments, a sword belt around her waist, a tight white tunic that clung to her chest and cut off just above her pants revealing a sliver of tanned flesh, a red leather jacket over her arms, and her normal black fingerless gloves.
Running her hand through her golden locks, which actually looked well taken care of despite her occupation, the fair skinned woman pulled a pouch that had been tied to one of her belt loops off and poured the contents of the coin purse out into her lap.
Twisting her lips as she thumbed through the various jewels, coins, and other knickknacks that had fallen into her lap and sighed in sheer boredom, something she had been doing for the past three days since she locked herself in her quarters. Grumbling to herself, the woman picked out the jewels from within the pouch and put them on her desk for a closer inspection before stuffing the coins back into the leather pouch before simply throwing it behind her where it landed in a clatter of gold beside the three treasure chests that already resided there.
Letting her hands fall into her lap with a dull thud, the blonde allowed her hazel green eyes to close. The young woman tried to relax as she listened to the crashing of the waves, and the gentle rocking motion that was created from them. Letting her mind effectively settle, the hazel eyes opened once more to peer around the room with a more relaxed expression on her face. To the right side of the door there was a two large bookshelf built into the wall housing various books from war strategies to poetry to the history of Fairytale land. Besides the books that sat upon the shelves, various keepsakes laid before them a few in particular catching the blonde's eye. On the top shelf laid a mirror crafted from the finest gold that had been given to her by a Genie she had found and set free a few years ago when visiting Agrabah. It was enchanted so that the genie would appear in it if she ever looked into it to aid her in whatever way possible if she were ever to need it.
Moving her eyes down a few shelves, the blonde caught sight of an enchanted conch shell that was given to her by the crown Princess of Atlantis after freeing her from the clutches of a fellow pirate with fewer morals than others and couldn't help but roll her eyes at that thought.
'Keep telling yourself that Emma. You may not go around pillaging villages and causing unnecessary harm to those who don't deserve it but a pirate will always be a pirate. If you are ever caught by that damned guard they won't hesitate to string you up nice an' pretty in the middle of the square. You aren't any better than Hook in their eyes, curse the bloody bastard for even sailing the same sea as me.' Emma huffed to herself as she allowed her eyes to stray from her bookshelves and past the many maps littering the wall to land on her favorite part of the room. In the back of the spacious room sat a queen sized bed made entirely of goose feathers, silk, and fur. Emma moved her gaze away from her bed and over the pile of jewels, gold, treasure chests filled to bursting, and over to her weapon rack smiling a little bit as she stood going over to it and picking her favorite sword from it.
Running her fingers over the dragon carved into the handle, Emma couldn't help but to think of her friend she had gotten it from and tucked it into the spot saved for her sword. 'I wish something exciting would happen, damn it. I'm growing stale just sitting here.' Emma thought to herself after adjusting the sword on her hip walking to the door and exiting her quarters for the first time in a long while, she headed up the short set of stairs to the deck of her ship, the Black Swan.
"Aye Captain, finally decided to come join the land of the living once more, and here I thought you were wasting away in your comfy room while we slave away up here." A heavily accented voice joked from her right side once she had fully exited the door way and out into the moonlit night.
Turning with a slight smile on her face, Emma looked at the well-muscled man who sat upon the edge of the ship without a care in the world. "Unfortunately, you cretins don't know ass from tit when I'm not on deck, so I have to make sure you haven't completely ruined my ship, Graham." Emma countered with a grin painted across her beautiful face as she looked at the scruffy man, her eyes gentle and kind as she focused on one of her closest friends. "Speaking of which, who is manning the wheel?" She questioned her arms crossing under her chest.
Graham chuckled a little bit as he leaned back against the shrouds, the ropes cushioning his back somewhat as she looked up at the sky, "Don't sound so serious, it's not like you ever made up your bloody mind on where we were going next. If you had we wouldn't be sailing around like chickens with their heads chopped off." He accused pointing a finger at her playfully as he grabbed the ropes stretching for a moment, his white shirt exposing some of his tan muscular flesh.
Seeing her dark glare coming in to place, the short haired man rolled his eyes a bit, "Who do you think? There are only two people on this ship that can get away with steering wherever they want while you're brooding in your quarters. Both of whom are at the wheel now acting like the children they are." He teased seeing her eyes lighten up ever so slightly.
Despite the lightening of her eyes, Emma continued to act aloof as she nodded and made her way up to the short flight of stairs leading to the wheel and couldn't help but to stop and smile at the sight that greeted her. A tall brown and red haired woman dressed in an off white shirt that clung to her chest before flowing out over her reddish brown pants, a red cloak with intricate designs tied around her shoulders, and having the most radiant smile on her face held the top of the wheel steady as a young boy, who couldn't be more than five or six, held the bottom of the wheel with smile could melt even the coldest of hearts.
Breaking out of her long moment of staring at the pair, Emma made her way over to the two, "Seems my ship has been in the best of hands while I've been down below." She remarked, pulling the two out of their thoughts with her voice and making them both look at her.
As soon as the brown eyes of the boy met Emma's, he quickly launched himself at her and squeezed her around her waist as tight as possible, conveying just how happy he was to see her simply through that gesture.
"I take it you missed me then huh kid?" Emma said softly stroking his head only receiving a nod in reply. "I wasn't gone anywhere Henry, I was just in another one of my moods. You could have come down to see me if you wanted." Emma continued feeling the warmth spread from her chest that only the little boy could create. Watching him closely, Emma couldn't help but smirk as he bit his bottom lip – a habit he had acquired from her, Emma mused – and tried to back away from her hug thinking that he shouldn't act as happy as he was, but couldn't since the strong arms around him tightened in response to keep him exactly where he was.
"I wasn't scolding you Henry. I missed you too while I was brooding down stairs." She assured him as she moved kneeling down to his level to give him a proper hug before letting him go, and walked over to the beaming brunette with Henry not leaving her side. "Thank you for watching after Henry, Red. I owe you one."
Red rolled her eyes slightly as she looked at the pair before her with her beaming smile, "I'll just add it to your tab, Ems. Besides you already know it's no problem to watch him. I prefer his company to most of these brutes on your ship. All you have to do is indulge in his curiosity and give him things to do so he feels like he's being helpful. What better way to help than to be right here guiding the ship with me? He's going to be a wonderful captain one day." Red pointed out as she leaned her full weight against the wheel keeping it steady as the waves gently rocked the boat, carrying it easily across the water. "Speaking of which, did you decide where we are going to make port, Captain? We are getting low on supplies, and I'm sure more than a few of your men are getting cabin fever. I'd hate to break more hands than I normally have to if we don't give them some form of cheap entertainment soon." Red pointed out mindful of her words when Henry was before them.
Emma rolled her eyes a little bit at the woman before her, but inwardly she agreed with everything she said pulling out her compass as she faced the mast. Taking a second to glance up at the starry sky for a moment, the blonde noticed a shooting star crossing through the heavens above and closed her eyes for a moment. Making a silent wish upon the star, Emma allowed herself to faintly smile before opening up the compass and looking down at it.
Curiously, Emma watched as the hand spun around in a clockwise motion three times before slowly making its way to point southwest of their current destination. Moving to address her first mate, Emma stopped her words from slipping out of her mouth when she noticed a faint pull around her neck. Reaching into her right hand between her breasts, Emma pulled out a simple silver peridot necklace, blinking a bit as the stone in the center glowed a light green, and seemed to be lightly pulling her to go east instead of south west towards the Pirate Cove.
Going completely still for a moment while she silently debated on which one to follow, Emma closed her eyes slightly clutching ring to herself before nodding to herself. Turning to face Red, the woman leaned back on the guard rail behind her, "head due Northeast, we will be making port in a few day in Crims to renew supplies and moral before heading off to the cove." Emma said finally as she caught Red's eyes, who nodded a bit her eyes curious before turning the ship in the direction the captain asked without a fuss. Red was never one to doubt captain's decisions, after all it was one of those decisions that had Emma saving her life.
a/n: I hope that you guys like this story :). Tell me what you think.