First of all, I just want to say that this Robin Hood character is completely from my imagination, therefore, he's an original character. Also, you must know that I am a hardcore Snowing shipper, so even if it might looks like this is a romantic ship, Robin Hood and Snow White are, in my head, nothing but an OTF (One True Friendship), hopefully you'll get a better sense of that in the next chapter.
In a Land Full of Thieves…
INT. EVIL QUEEN'S PALACE. THRONE ROOM.
The majestic wooden doors open abruptly. The sound of the bam echoes throughout the no shorter than enormous room, surrounded by icily white walls, just like its precious marble floor. The doors are dark in contrast to the walls, and they reveal the figure of two soldiers carrying a man by his arms. They walk through the dark carpet leading directly to the where the Queen stands, superiorly seated on her silver throne. The men stop at the beginning of the steps which make the evil one conveniently above them. She stands up gracefully, and walks -no, floating would be more proper- in the same manner, stopping at the edge of the deck. The Queen would never stay at the same level as a peasant, not like that, anyway.
"What do we have here." She says triumphantly, a mischievous smirk across her vivid red lips. "Robin Hood, the thief of Nottingham. What a lovely surprise."
"We found him at the woods in the outskirts of the realm, my queen." Says the guard from the right. Any other person would be at least showing a hint of fear before such a situation. But Robin Hood wasn't like any other person. He was looking directly in the queen's cold eyes, his hazel ones steady, showing nothing but courage. Through his eyes, she could see his heart. And realized how much she wanted to acquire it. It would fit perfectly in her collection.
"Was he alone?" She asked.
"Yes." Both answered in unison.
"What was he doing?"
"What do you mean, my queen?" Asked the one from the left.
"What was he doing when you caught him." She repeated slowly, not hiding the annoyance in her tone.
"Oh, he was… He was in a horse. Riding outside of our borders, I believe."
A smirk crossed Robin's lips as he dropped his gaze to the floor, muttering. "Ask how many of them did it take to catch me."
The Queen frowned, narrowing her eyes as she glanced at the prisoner. "What?"
"You heard me." He repeated, lifting his head calmly back at her direction.
Instead of repeating his words, she gave both guards a look as an indication of such. They were silent for a moment, probably pondering over how to answer that. "Just us two my queen."
"A bit more than that." Said Robin, his tone bolder at each word.
"Four- there were four of us." The other guard corrected.
Robin tilted his head to the side, giving him a knowingly look. "Are you sure?"
"Just say how many already!" The Queen demanded.
"It was a party of eight, your majesty."
A shadow of anger crossed her features, but she rearranged herself before continuing. "Well, you were able to get him, and that's what matters." She said sharply. She shot another look at the man being held prisoner, seeming to notice the fact that he was standing for the first time. That insolent smile on his face. Typical filthy thief he was. The revolt was clear on her expression, for the same filthy peasant dared to say yet another sentence.
"Is there a problem?"
"You haven't bowed yet." She answered, trying to imitate his teasingly ways.
"Bow before the queen." One of the guards ordered, charging the spear he was holding towards Robin, but Queen Regina held her hand up, which made the man instantly stop his gesture. "Don't." She said, sharing the penetrating look with Robin.
"I want him to do it because I demanded so."
"That's a shame." The bold man replied.
Nobody would ever know the Queen's response to such an act of insolence, for as soon as the last word rolled out of Robin's witty tongue, the access door behind the throne opened, drawing everyone's attention in that direction. Out of it, walked a beautiful brunette. Dark hair, skin as white as snow, and sweetness you could recognize just by landing eyes on her. Robin certainly did, for he bowed instantly.
"What is happening here?" Asked Snow White, her magnificent green eyes travelling around the room trying to absorb the scene. They landed upon the man who was now down in sign of respect.
"We got a prisoner." Answered the queen in her sharp manner. Her attention was drawled back to Robin Hood, who was now doing what she'd told him to. Problem was, he was certainly not bowing before her. If Snow White had never entered, she suspected the man would have never paid such respect.
"Who?" The princess asked again, eyeing the man whose face she couldn't identify from where she stood. "You can get up, sir." Robin stood slowly, trying to conceal the amount of admiration that rushed through him at the moment, afraid it would be seen the wrong way. Why did he feel that way about the princess? No royal had ever had such effect over him.
"You are Robin Hood." The princess blinked, walking down the steps that told the royals apart from the people –which she found utterly unnecessary.
"Yes." Robin answered. His tone was hardly the same as he used on the queen. It was as if that wall he had up was completely down, at Snow White's mercy.
"How would you know that?" The queen's voice echoed throughout the room, earning Snow's attention once again.
"I know him from the wanted posters in Nottingham. From the last time Father and I went there. He grabbed one out of the walls and showed it to me." She glanced back at Robin, expressing admiration through her words. "He said that even though he was Prince John's enemy, the man was a true hero."
"I'm sorry about your father, my princess." Robin said, completely out of subject. Honestly, he didn't know how to behave before a princess, and so grabbed the first opportunity to express his sentiments before it was too late. Though that wasn't much of a cue. "My heart goes out to you."
Snow gifted him with a warm smile, gently touching his arm. Both shared a meaningful look, a silent conversation fully understood by the two parts. "Let him go." Snow muttered, gaze still locked on the prisoner's. The guards didn't answer. "Let him go." She repeated, pulling her hand back and giving the right guard direct eye contact.
Regina might be the queen, but she didn't hold the guard's affections as much as Snow White did. If the princess asked for something, they would do it without hesitating. If she demanded something the way she did Robin Hood's liberation, well, they would do it in the blink of an eye.
"What are you doing? He is a thief, Snow White! A filthy, despicable thief that deserves to rot in our cells!" Asked Queen Regina, her tone clearly altered.
Snow White turned to her and took a step forward, as if to reinforce her will. "This man is a hero! He tries to make amends for the people in Nottingham. Those who are starving to death because of Prince John insanely high taxes for no particular reason but his own amusement!"
"He steals from the crown."
"Not this crown. He never took a penny from us. Father admired him, and so do I. He protects the people, and I surely won't be the one to keep him from them because of something they think it's wrong. He is the good man here. And even if you don't think so, you will respect my father's memory by letting him go." Snow demanded. She turned back to the men behind her and said back in her velvety voice. "Thank you, guards. You are dismissed now." They nodded and left the room in a hurry, none willing to stay when the queen decided to unleash her wrath.
Robin was taken aback by her words. He had no idea there actually were Kings who admired him, who knew him. Respected what he did. And Snow White… she saved his life. "I-" He muttered. "Thank you."
The Queen stormed out of the room, seeing the cause was hopeless already. It made an amused laugh escape Robin's lips, and he was soon followed by Snow.
"I'm sorry you are going to have to face this." He apologized, indicating the space the queen previously occupied with his eyes.
"I'm used to it by now, don't worry about it." She shrugged.
"I cannot thank you enough, my princess." He said, for the first time feeling that the form of treatment towards a royal wasn't wrong.
"You don't have to, Sir Robin Hood. Just go back to your people and do what you do best."
Robin leaned forward slightly, arching his brows in a knowingly manner. "Steal."
"From the rich to give to the poor." Snow White completed, perfectly aware that he didn't mean her to. She earned another smile from the thief, and he took her hand, kissing it tenderly.
"Precisely. Thank you for saving my life, Snow White. I won't forget your kindness."
"I'm sure you won't, Robin Hood."
This was a brief introduction to how Snow and Robin first met. You might have noticed that I took the liberty of giving the Evil Queen the same name she has in Storybrooke. I just figured she'd keep the same one since she's the one person who knows it all, also I didn't feel like writing "The Queen" or "The Evil Queen" when referring to her. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! :) Feel free to write comments and such. I'm all ears! :D