Tuesday's Prompt - 25 oqpromptparty

DOQ

Rated M for Violence and Major Character Death.

(…)

Thus Inez, while her eyes to heaven appeal,

Resigns her bosom to the murd'ring steel.

That snowy neck, whose matchless form sustain'd

The loveliest face where all the graces reign'd,

Whose charms so long the gallant prince enflam'd,

That her pale corpse was Lisbon's queen proclaim'd,

That snowy neck was stain'd with spouting gore,

Another sword her lovely bosom tore.

The flowers that glisten'd with her tears bedew'd,

Now shrunk and languish'd with her blood embru'd.

As when a rose, ere-while of bloom so gay,

Thrown from the careless virgin's breast away,

Lies faded on the plain, the living red,

The snowy white, and all its fragrance fled;

So from her cheeks the roses died away,

And pale in death the beauteous Inez lay:

With dreadful smiles, and crimson'd with her blood,

Round the wan victim the stern murd'rers stood,

Unmindful of the sure, though future hour,

Sacred to vengeance and her lover's power.

- The Lusiads, Luís de Camões

She had left him with three children and an empty heart. Since their second chance had been granted, seldom did they have a minute's rest. They had fled to another land, in search of peace, quiet and stability. But seeing it in shambles, they swore to restore it into its former glory. So they stole the rich and gave whatever they managed to steal to the poor. It was that way for rather some time. People still remembered her from the old days and still thought of her as a threat, in spite of her readiness to help those who were sick and in need. He found out that, even with her flaws – her vanity and pride, mainly – she had a good, generous heart, and soon he fell madly in love with her.

He discovered her gentleness and was bestowed with her unconditional love which was more than he would even hope for.

Soon they occupied the castle she once lived in and made it their home. They even brought some people in. He was so consumed by the fire of his love for her that he had been too blinded to see she still had enemies.

She changed for him, for the better and he couldn't be more proud of her. He changed too, he was calmer around her, not so angered anymore, not so selfish for sure. Soon enough, he realised he could not live without her by her side, so he asked her if she would accept to be his wife. She turned him down. People wouldn't approve of them being married. He was regarded as a Hero and she was still a Villain to many. Robin was persistent. He asked her again and again, trying to tire her into saying 'yes', but as time flew by, the former queen's doubts grew.

She still had a lot to make up for, a lot of people to help before she would consider herself worthy of happiness. The thief accepted that, only to respect her wishes, but he was saddened.

One day, people came to the castle asking for help. A new threat was at their doors and asked for Robin to take over the leadership of the kingdom. He was astonished that people wanted him, a common thief to rule over them. Regina stood silent. She left him with the crowd. Hours later, he found her in their room, sitting on the bed they called theirs, deep in thought.

"It's for the best. I was unfit to rule, I had my chance and I utterly ruined it. They chose you and that has to count for something."

"Do I get a say in the matter?"

"Not this time, my love. The crown is yours, it's the People's wish you take it."

"What about you?"

"I'll do what I'm expected to do. I'll swear fealty to my king."

"If I am to be king, may I have you as my queen?"

Regina wanted to agree, but she couldn't. She knew what the masses would say. She knew her days as queen were over. She preferred it that way. A simpler life suited her just fine. Nonetheless, Robin had other plans. He wanted her as his wife, wanted her to share the throne with him. If he was to be king against his will, he'd at least have her by his side.

"I give you my love, my hand to wed, my body, my soul. Whatever you ask, I'll give to you. My head, however, belongs to those I wronged. A crown was once upon it, it was taken and rightfully so. It was too heavy. I do not want it. I do not deserve it."

They were married in the castle's chapel by a monk in a very discrete ceremony.

Robin was crowned king in a cold spring day, the flag with a golden lion waving high in the sky. Regina was proud of him, very proud. She knew he would be a great king, one loved by all. He would be a fair king, treating peasant and nobleman equally. But for that he has to know his kingdom's needs. He travels a lot and Regina keeps her mind and hands busy in the infirmary they both had built in the castle or studying remedies and cures in the library. It was their reunions that made all that time apart worth it.

The king gets quite the surprise upon one of his returns home. He receives notice that the former queen is not feeling well. He expected the worse, since she spent most of her time amongst ailing people yet she is quick to reassure him. His wife then tells him the news: she's expecting the Enchanted Forest's heir to the throne. Robin is ecstatic! It's in a hot summer day that she gives birth to a beautiful girl. They call her Rose and strive to keep her from the drama of the court and other prying eyes. Their daughter is a lively baby, cooing and laughing non-stop.

Regina is blissfully happy as a mother. And it's not too long before the couple is expecting the second child. By that time, tensions in court are already noticeable.

They pressure Robin to marry a foreign princess and establish trade relations with her kingdom. This made keeping his marriage and family a secret quite hard. It was after he received the news that Regina was expecting a child again that he mustered the courage to face council and tell them about his wife and family.

And as expected, people didn't take the news well. Regina watched it as bravely as she could. Little did the little family know that a conspiracy to free the king from the seductive spell of the Evil Queen was already in progress…

A second child was born to the couple, Richard, a quiet boy. Rose was still too little to understand she had a little brother, but she decided she liked the little baby on her mother's arms. Regina and the children would spend all the time they could together. Robin watched from afar, feeling privileged and proud as matters of state strived to occupy his mind and time.

A couple of years went by. The children grew up, strong and healthy. Rose, who had been a fast learner, perky and witty much like her mother, was walking and talking properly at the young age of three. Little Richard was timid and would talk rarely. He was however, quite adept of running around the gardens. He was content to just play around with twigs and flowers, small insects and the occasional toy his father would make him in his rare spare moments. A third child was coming to join the family. It was predicted it would be born in the beginning of winter. Robin felt he was missing out. Regina had been handling everything concerning the children, so he thought he would ask for a time off from his duties. Peace was restored, the country's economy thrived and order reigned. He was needed only a few times per week. He was going to dedicate some more time to his family.

Little Roisin was born during the night. It was quite the difficult birth. Regina was too tired to keep on pushing and the baby was not in the right position. In the end, all had been well. Roisin was born at the strike of the last thunder of the storm and filled both her parents' hearts with joy.

It would not last long.

Robin returned to the incessant meetings with the council after there was a revolt in a neighbouring town due to the destruction of crops with the storm that had taken place the day his daughter had been born. People were worried they would not get enough to eat until summer.

It all had been a ruse.

In a snowy day of January, Regina was out with the children playing in the snow, Roisin asleep on her arms, Richard and Rose building a snowman. Robins sang above them between the sleeping trees' branches. It was peaceful, yet Regina could feel something coming and held on tight to the baby against her chest, taking in her sweet scent as if it was the last time she would do so.

Then she saw them. A group of men, brandishing swords of shinny and cold steel, moving towards her and the children. She got up, from the marble bench she had been sitting.

"I do not expect you to show me kindness, I do not deserve it. Yet, let me entreat you not to harm my children or punish me in their presence."

The man did not move.

"I beg you'll let me say farewell to them." Regina said, her voice calm and her heart filled with courage. The men acquiesced.

It was the end, her time was over. After calling after her children, she kissed each of them, held them tight and instructed Rose to take Roisin inside. She watched the things she loved the most go with tears marring her beautiful face, knowing they would be alright and taken care of.

Steel cut skin, ripped flesh and so Regina was no more.

Robin found her in the snow, after the children told him, worried, that their mother had still not come back inside after their afternoon in the garden. She was pale, her lips purple from cold, her black hair wet and frozen, her bright blood tainting the white snow and dress.

The king was mad with anguish. His screams were heard all over the kingdom. His tears ran hot, melting away the snow and burning all they fell upon. His love, his soulmate, his Queen was dead. He was missing a piece of himself, the one that was still around when Regina was alive.

He spared no expense in search of the murderers of the mother of his children as well as in the funeral arrangements. Regina would have the burial of the Queen she had been and still was to him. He's starve peasants if needed be to pay tribute to the love he had lost so violently.

He closed himself in their rooms, spending nights reminiscing, crying bitterly, cursing his enemies and rejecting his friends' kinds but empty words.

Robin wanted vengeance. He advanced more funds and paid whole troops to go and search for the criminals. A few months after Regina's life had been taken, the culprits were found. Two of them, at least.

The king, lacking sleep and going mad with grief, relished in the news. The prisoners were brought to him. The sentence was clear. Death! Death to the murderers of his love, the mother of his children, the woman who had helped restore the prosperity of the kingdom, a Queen!

"Regicide! The murder of a Queen! The murder of the King's wife, mother of the heirs of the throne!" he roared, a mad lion out of its cage. "Heartless! Heartless you were by killing her, heartless you will be when you go back to the hellish hole you came from!"

And grabbing his own sword, Robin stabbed on of the assassins and opened his chest, plunging one of his hands inside. A nauseating noise was heard in the silence of the room, a heart ripped; blood spilling on the floor, all noticed the victim still alive, choking on it. Yet, no one stood, no one made a sound. Only the king's agony echoed throughout the room. The other prisoner prayed, cried and begged Robin's forgiveness. The widower's response was a stab to his back.

Two hearts were fed to the dogs that day and great feast was held. Robin stayed back, his bloody hands caressing his dead wife's white tomb. He made her Queen, thousands came to kiss her corpse's hand. Years would be swift to pass, their children grew up, the king remained a shell of the man he once had been, but their love remained.

THE END