For Evil Charming week Day One: Arranged Marriage - Thanks to my lovely friend, Paulina, for her assistance with this. Please let me know what you think!
Regina hated it. Pure and simple. Her mother insisted on watching while handmaidens dressed her in the obnoxiously poufy, white dress. It was heavy, so heavy around her waist, on her chest, her hips… it was too much to bear. And the tiara… She didn't ask to carry this weight. She didn't want to be a Princess destined to be Queen.
Sighing as her mother pulled her to a mirror, Regina tilted her head. It was a beautiful dress, but it wasn't her. But the way her mother was looking at her just then… she looked so proud and for once not entirely disappointed in her.
"Mother… please don't make me do this," Regina tried softly, looking down at where her mother's hand was touching her own gloved one.
"My darling girl, I am only doing what is best for you. Prince James is next to be king, and you can rule beside him."
"I don't want to be queen. I want to live my own life. I want to marry D—I want to marry someone I choose."
Cora shook her head. "The stable boy? Regina that life is not good enough for you. I have sent Daniel to a far kingdom, and if you ever try to see him again, it will be the last time."
Regina's head shot up in horror and her eyes widened. "What do you mean? How did you—?"
"I know everything, Regina. You didn't really think you were sneaking around, did you?"
She sighed, pursing her lips and willing herself not to cry. If she did, her mother would likely punish her for messing up her make-up. "Yes, Mother."
Cora laughed, the tone of it mocking and dry. "So naïve you are."
"Yes, Mother." Regina was cut off from saying anything further by a knock at the door. She looked up to see a castle servant.
"They're ready for you," the girl said, bowing her head just slightly.
"We'll be right in," Cora answered, sending away the servant and the maidens. She looked over Regina, squeezing her daughter's biceps and smiling. "You make a lovely bride, Regina. And you'll be a successful queen."
"Yes, Mother," Regina answered once more. There was no use in arguing, no point in fighting it. She knew her mother would stay true to her word of hurting Daniel if she ever saw him again; she resigned herself to marrying the prince.
The ceremony was over and Regina was standing outside of the ballroom in the castle that was still so foreign to her. Prince James—her husband—was standing beside her, her hand gripping the inside of his elbow as they waited for King George to announce them. She didn't want to be introduced as the Princess, nor did she want to dance on display for half the kingdom and royals from several others. It was too late anyway, and half a moment later they were being announced, with James leading her into the room with his hand covering the one she had on his arm.
He bowed and she curtsied, the appropriate act her mother had spoken of. James led her down the few steps to the main floor, turning to pull her against him for a dance. Apparently that was common practice, but it was one part of her lessons she'd consistently failed at, and discomfort quickly bloomed in the pit of her stomach. He smiled at her, and Regina found herself noticing warmth in the act.
"Are you all right?" he murmured, leading her slowly and pressing his cheek against her temple, his words soft and quiet in her ear.
She waited a moment, uncertain how to respond. Finally, Regina sighed and shook her head. "No. But that doesn't matter now."
James didn't say anything until their dance was over, when he pulled her off the dance floor and began to lead her to the head table that had been placed. "I'm sorry you're unhappy. I know it isn't the best of circumstances."
His words confused her. What did he care? He'd probably continue on with his own lifestyle, bedding half the woman of his kingdom and drinking countless hours away in a tavern every night. She'd heard the stories about him, and she couldn't figure out what his game was.
"No, it isn't." Regina thought of her mother, thought perhaps this was a case in which she should take a page from her book and act cold. "I was named to be Queen. This is my life."
"Very well." He said nothing else about it, though he tried to make small talk throughout their dinner. She was responsive, but curt, leaving her new husband in confusion about what exactly he had done to deserve such short responses.
It was later though, when he led her to his bedchamber, where Regina knew the marriage was to be consummated, that he finally managed to break through to her. Once they were left alone, James pulled off his velvet jacket and pushed up the sleeves of his white shirt. He pulled a dagger off the nightstand and sliced the inside of his forearm, a two-inch cut parallel to his wrist.
She gasped, watching him in horror and wondering what in the world he was doing. But then he pulled back the quilt covering his bed and held his arm over the sheet in the center of the bed. Then she grew angry. Regina knew what was expected of her, was made well aware by her mother how her night was supposed to end. And how dare this stranger, this man who had become her husband, doubt that she was unsullied.
Sure, had Daniel offered to take her, she'd have let him in a heartbeat, but that was beside the point. This man knew nothing about her, and here he was assuming she was dirty. Regina scoffed and took a step back, her arms folding across her chest.
"How dare you?" she said, her tone baffled and angry at the same time.
He looked at her, noting the anger in her eyes and pulling his sleeve back down. "I… what did I do?"
"You assume I've been touched? As though it isn't possible for a woman to remain innocent at my age? And don't even get me started on your reputation! You, who will bed any woman who is willing! And you go and make such an assumption like that!"
"Regina, I—"
She cut him off. "No! I don't want to hear your excuses, James. I don't even want to be married to you in the first place! And clearly you don't think I'm good enough for you, so why even request me? Why bother ruining my life if you think I'm not worthy of being your wife?"
He shook his head, setting the dagger down on the nightstand. "You're misunderstanding."
"What am I misunderstanding?" Regina countered stubbornly.
James took her hand and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed with him. "I didn't do this because I don't trust whether or not you're untouched. Frankly, it isn't really my business. Yes, I am your husband, and yes, at some point, I am sure we'll be required to create an heir, but I am not sleeping with you tonight."
Confused, she tilted her head and furrowed her brow. "What?"
"You're obviously uncomfortable, and I'm… well this isn't something I expected, either. So we will change our sheets as expected, and we will put the bloodied sheets outside the door for a maid to pick up and show my father and your mother. We will then sleep together for the night in here, but I will not touch you, nor will I force you to touch me."
"… Why? Why are you being so kind to me?"
"Because this wasn't the life I wanted either. This wasn't the life I expected. It is a story for a much later date, for when there is a trust between us that goes deep enough for at least friendship, but it is not for tonight."
Regina didn't understand, but she wouldn't push it. She was relieved, really. The loss of Daniel in her life was too recent, and she truly had no interest in sleeping with a man she'd only met twice before they married. But he was kinder than she had expected, and that was something she could be happy about. Standing, she went to the clean set of sheets at the foot of the bed and ripped a strip from them. Regina returned to his side and pushed his sleeve up, turning his arm over so she could see his mark.
"You ought to be glad you used a clean dagger. This wound is clean, so you will heal," she told him softly, wrapping the strip of cloth around the cut and turning his arm back over. She tied it tight around him, hoping to stop the bleeding.
"Thank you," he answered, his voice just as soft as hers.
Regina looked up at him, nodding and giving him a soft smile. "Thank you, too." He smiled at her, the action making his eyes crinkle in the corner and the blue sparkle with sincerity, and she thought that maybe it wasn't the worst thing. No, he wasn't her Daniel, but Regina knew there were far worse men she could have ended up married to, and he deserved a chance with the act he'd performed. However it turned out, it seemed she had a sort of ally in her new husband.