Regina cast her dark curse during the war, right before she got captured by Snow and Charming. Something went terribly wrong with her curse because everybody including Regina woke up the next day in the Enchanted forest, their memories rearranged.Regina is the Queen but her castle is populated by Snow White, her friends and allies.
Snow wakes up and looks around in her bedchambers. She stretches her arms then she sits up on her bed. She looks next to her. The spot next to her is empty and cold. She touches it gently with her hand. Where is he? Where is...Where is who? Somebody was supposed to be laying next to her, but she can't remember who at the moment. She gets up slowly and when her feet touch the floor the cold floor sends shivers down her spine. She walks towards her window, the view breathtaking as always. The fire in her fireplace is almost out. Snow adds some wood to the fire and gets it going again.
"What are you doing my lady?" one of her handmaidens asks shocked. It's the new girl.
"Just adding wood to the fire," Snow smiles.
The girl takes the fire poker form her hand.
"Allow me my lady. Please forgive me for letting the fire go out."
"It's fine," Snow smiles, "I took care of it. I'm really good with fires."
The girl looks at her both confused and relieved at the same time.
"Will you be joining the Queen for breakfast my lady? Or should I have something brought in your room?"
Snow looks at her hands, they are black with shoot from the fireplace.
"Queen Regina?" she asks feeling a little confused.
"That's right my Lady"
Snow looks at the girl still feeling confused. She glances at the empty bed. There is nobody there. Nobody is there to kiss her good morning and make jokes, and throw his pillow at her and kiss her again and ask her if she really wants breakfast or maybe she'd like to spend the morning in bed instead...Somebody is supposed to be here. She is supposed to be having breakfast with somebody else not Regina, but who?
"Can I ask you a question?" she asks the girl.
"Of course my Lady."
"Am I married?"
"Not that I know of my Lady."
"Right, I'm not married," Snow says out loud trying to put her thoughts in order. "And I live in my stepmother's castle?"
"You've lived here your whole life my Lady, as have I,"
"Right," Snow repeats slowly, "my whole life."
"Are you feeling alright my Lady?"
"I believe so," she says and she nods a couple of times, trying to convince herself."Never better," she says and she glances at the empty bed one more time. Then she looks at her hand. There is a faint indentation of a ring on her ring finger. Like she wore a ring before.
She shakes her head. It must have bee a dream, she decides. He must have been a dream. Because if he was real she'd remember his face let alone his name. What was his name?
Snow White walks in the informal dining room and the footman stands still as she passes by and bows his head slightly as a sign of respect.
"Nice of you to finally join me " Regina smiles.
"Good morning, stepmother," Snow smiles back. "It's going to be a beautiful day, don't you think?"
"If you say so," Regina replies. "I don't pretend that I can predict the weather."
Snow shrugs. "Thank you," she smiles absentminfedly to the footman who serves her her eggs.
Regina sighs. "You don't need to thank him, you don't need to thank everybody. You are going to be a queen one day!"
Snow feels her cheeks flush. She doesn't like how Regina treats the servants.
"My father always thanked everybody," she replies quietly. "Did you sleep well Regina?" Snow changes the subject.
"I did, thanks for asking. How about yourself?"
"I had the strangest dream," Snow frowns trying to recall specific details. "I was married living in a different castle, and it was such a vivid dream I woke up looking for my husband!"
"Well if you are itching to leave us Snow White, that's an easy enough dream to make come true. As beautiful as you are, all you have is to bat your eyelashes to one of the princes at the next ball and you'll be married and in your own castle in no time."
Just then the footman accidentally pushes over a jar full of of sugar cubes.
"Is something the matter footman?" Regina asks and Snow turns around to look at the poor guy about to face Regina's wrath. He is tall, blond, blue eyed, he has the wide soldiers of a knight or a fighter and Snow looks at him longer than she meant to.
"Apologies your Majesty," he replies quietly and Snow notes that his voice is quiet but firm. He doesn't seem very intimidated.
Snow throws a sympathetic glance at him and his eyes meet hers for a brief second before he looks down.
"Anyway, as I was saying...-" Regina's already moved on to the next subject and Snow only pretends to listen while watching the footman walk away.
"Are you even listening to me?" Regina asks sounding quite annoyed.
"Ball at Midas's palace at the end of the month. That's hardly news Regina," Snow smiles because Midas throws the most lavish parties quite frequently.
"Forgive me for trying to help you on your husband quest," Regina tries and succeeds to sound offended.
"I'm grateful for your help of course," Snow is quick to reply, "but it was only a dream Regina. If I had dreamed of hunting dragons would you be looking to hire a huntsman to train me?" she asks.
"You have a point, even though dragon hunting is quite entertaining I hear," Regina smiles and Snow laughs.
Every time Snow laughs the footman pauses for just a brief second, but nobody notices. Because footmen and handmaidens and soldiers and cooks all go unnoticed in Regina's castle. Their ultimate goal is to not provoke Queen Regina's wrath or attention. Snow has often stepped in to rescue the poor handmaiden who burned Regina's dress or the cook who added salt instead of sugar in Regina's pastry. That's why everybody loves Snow White, everybody tries to cover for her on the rare occasions when she sneaks out of the castle. Everybody loves her except the Black Knights. They are definitely on Regina's side. And if everybody was not covering for Snow her every move would be reported to the Queen.
Snow waits for the Queen to leave the room and then she returns to the breakfast table. The footman is still in there picking up the leftover platters.
"You must excuse my stepmother, she can be very...-" Snow starts but when he lifts up his eyes and looks at her questioningly she forgets what it was she planned on saying.
"All is forgiven your Highness," he replies, "you don't need to apologize on anyone's behalf."
"But still," she continues struggling for the right words and he looks at her with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
He shakes his head slightly then he looks down. He is aware that he is already crossing lines just by addressing her. His training says to agree and bow with pretty much anything she says. But she is standing there, green eyes, flushed cheeks, hair that wants to fly all over the place held down by a head band and she looks like she needs to talk and there's nothing he'd like to do more than spend the rest of his day listening to her. No matter what it is she wants to talk about.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" she asks and again he looks at her surprised.
"I work here your highness," he replies.
"How long have you worked here?" she asks.
"Forever," he shrugs and then he adds like and afterthought "more like twenty years, your highness."
"Twenty years, you must have started pretty young," she says out loud not really expecting a response. "How come we 've never talked before?" she asks looking at him again.
"Haven't had the pleasure, your highness,"and there's something that doesn't sound right when he says that. She wishes he'd call her Snow, and that he didn't feel the need to put that title in between them every time he replied. The title that like a castle wall keeps them from talking freely to each other.
"You don't have to keep calling me that," she smiles and he raises his eyebrows.
"I'm pretty sure I do, if I want to work here for another twenty years, your highness," he replies quietly.
"Right," she nods. Did he just make a joke? He is right of course. "And do you?"
"Do I what?" he asks looking confused. "I'm afraid I don't understand your question, your highness."
"Do you want to work here another twenty years? Are you happy working here?" she asks and he looks at her. That's an unusual sort of question. Not one that he anticipated answering in the presence of a beautiful princess.
"It's a pleasure to serve you, your Highness," he replies and she frowns. She knows that's a standard response. She looks at him inquisitively, trying to read his mind.
"Sometimes I miss spending time outdoors," he concedes quietly and she nods.
"Hey David, what is taking so long...-" Peter's voice trails off when he notices the princess in the room. "My apologies your highness," Peter adds and Snow shakes her head.
Peter exits the room as fast as he walked in, leaving them alone.
"Your name is David," Snow notes and wonders why she feels the need to touch him and brush her thumb across the small scar on his chin.
It's more of a question than a statement and David is not sure what the right thing to say to that is, so he takes a small bow, as if this was a formal introduction.
"Nice to meet you David," she smiles, then she curtsies back and she exits the room.
He's left there standing, staring at the empty spot she just vacated, his heart beating faster. The room smells like spring flowers and if he wasn't already in love with her, he probably would be now. He shrugs and shakes his head. Don't. Don't even think about it, he tells himself then he picks up the rest of the platters and heads back to the kitchen.
Snow heads back to her quarters. She looks at her empty bed again. She wants to get out of here and clear her head. One of her handmaidens is there to help her change. Snow is happy to see that it's Ruby. Ruby is the one she goes to if she needs information about anything or anyone in the castle.
"I have a question but I need your solemn promise that it won't leave these walls," Snow stares at her intently.
"Nothing you ever tell me leaves this room my Lady," Ruby says and she looks so earnest. Snow breathes a sigh of relief.
"I want to know about...do you know pretty much everybody that works in the castle?" she asks.
"I do, I've worked here for a very long time. Who do you want to know about, my Lady?"
"There is this footman, who spilled the sugar this morning..." Snow starts and the girl smiles.
"Oh, no, is his head still attached to his shoulders?" Ruby smiles.
"Don't joke like that," Snow cringes.
"Good, because his head is lovely and would be a terrible waste," the girl retorts.
"So you do know him," Snow replies and when the girl's smile gets brighter Snow looks at her all confused.
"What's so funny?" Snow asks and the girl giggles.
"I just got you to admit that the footman is good looking. That counts as a victory in these here parts. You are referring to David of course" she giggles and Snow can't stifle her smile.
"You are terrible," she mumbles as she lets the girl help her take her dress off.
"I am, thank you for noticing my Lady. So, what do you want to know about David?"
"Does he have a family?"
"Not that I know of. As far as I know he is alone. All the girls are after him but he either doesn't notice or doesn't care. He is incredibly kind."
"Not that you know of?" Snow asks for clarification.
"Well, as you well know your stepmother is prone to mood swings. Some people feel that it is safer not to tell anyone who they are involved with so it cannot be used against them."
"Really? Has she done that before? Punish somebody's wife or girlfriend for something they did?"
"She had Thomas' wife Claire, sent home back to the Eastern forest when he talked back to her..."
"What! You have to tell me those things! I can't help if I'm not aware of them. Can we get her back?"
"I'm afraid it's too late my Lady. She was with child and as soon as she reached her village she went into labor and she didn't make it."
"What!" Snow sits on the bed, her hands shaking. "Is the baby alright? How is Thomas?" she asks quietly.
"The baby is well, leaving with his mother's family, Thomas is as well as can be expected," she replies.
Snow feels her heart break for Thomas, his wife and their baby. "It must be so hard to keep on living once you loose your spouse. Is there a lot of people pretending not to have a family in the castle?" she asks again. And then without waiting for a response she adds "Can we sent Thomas home to be with his child? Pay him wages in advance for the next two years?" she asks.
"That's a lot of money, we'd have to talk to the treasurer, my Lady."
Snow nods. "Can you have the treasurer come find me later?" she asks.
"As you wish my Lady."
Snow looks at her bed again. Somebody was supposed to be there, she wasn't supposed to wake up alone. She wasn't supposed to dealing with any of this alone.
"Have you ever had a dream, that was so beautiful that it hurt to wake up from it?" she asks quietly,
"Can't say that I have, my Lady. What did you dream about?"
"I was living in a different castle, I was married and my husband was so..."
"Handsome? Swashbuckling? Heroic?" Ruby offers and Snow has to stifle her smile.
"Yes, he was all those things, but he was also funny and kind and it was so nice to be with somebody like that, not be alone...-" Snow's voice trails off.
"It's good not to be alone, but might I suggest you look further than the footmen for potential husbands?" she asks a wicked twinkle in her eye.
Snow feels her cheeks blush. "What! Those are two completely different subjects!" she states and she realizes that her intense reaction is only proving Ruby's point.
"Of course my Lady," Ruby smirks "forgive me for daring to suggest otherwise."
"Oh stop it, don't go all groveling on me," Snow mumbles and the girl laughs. She could see that Snow was both shocked and sad over Thomas and she is glad her little teasing joke got her mind off of things.
"Although," she adds smirking, " a footman might be a fun adventure before you meet your prince..."
"Stop it! I would never do that!" Snow says quite firmly.
"Of course not, my Lady. A footman is quite beneath you, a horse groomer perhaps, or a cook?"
"No, that's not what I meant. I would never do that because it wouldn't be fair."
"What do you mean my Lady?"
"It's not a relationship if the other person is not allowed to say no to you...-"
The girl looks at Snow and nods slightly a deep appreciation in her eyes. She wonders if Snow knows about the Black Knight Regina has been sleeping with since forever really. Then she shrugs. "Who said anything about a relationship. A roll in the hay perhaps..."
"That's no different. It's equally unfair..." Snow exclaims loudly, then she turns to face the girl. "What's gotten into you today?"
"Just trying to make you smile, my Lady," Ruby laughs. "Didn't mean to shock you...Is everything alright? Is something bothering you today?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Snow tries to smile and Ruby walks away.
Snow looks herself in the mirror. She is wearing a white shirt, her brown riding pants and her knee high boots.
Nothing is right, she thinks. She is part of a broken kingdom, her stepmother abuses everyone and Thomas' wife died when Regina sent her away out of spite. And there's a quiet handsome footman working somewhere in this castle. A man who wishes he could spend more time outdoors. A man Snow shouldn't even think about because it wouldn't be fair to him...