A/N: Hey everyone! Only a few weeks left til the new season begins! I hope this little story shortens the wait for you. Enjoy!
Forgotten Truth
When he'd found this particular storybook in between the hundreds of blank books in the hidden library at the apprentice's house - or whatever the place behind the door was - nothing could have prepared him for this. He should have gone to get his mom right away, he knew, however Henry Daniel Mills didn't do things halfway, no matter what. He'd just found a clue to push Operation Mongoose a mile forward and he'd be damned if he wouldn't take the opportunity to surprise his mother even further.
Operation Mongoose was their thing. Deep down it was his way of making up for all the horror he'd put Regina through. He'd meant it when he'd said he was sorry over a year ago when Regina had enacted the curse to bring them back to the Enchanted Forest. If he hadn't pushed her away, if he'd let her explain herself, maybe it wouldn't have come to all this... Fate had had other plans with him and his family though. Now it was time to take matters into his own hands.
The first few storybooks he pulled out of the shelves were empty. Quickly, he thumbed through all the pages, not sure whether he should be relieved or disappointed. The emptiness was good, it meant there were lots of potential stories that still weren't written down. On the other hand... there were so many stories he didn't know of, right? Where were the other stories? His storybook couldn't possibly be the only one, could it?
There were so many stories he didn't know about. What about his father's story? Yes, he knew about how Rumple had abandoned him in order to become the Dark One and take revenge on Hook, but what about his time in England and Neverland? What about Robin Hood and the Merry Men and their stories in Sherwood Forest? They all had their own stories, which had to be written down somewhere. The author couldn't be in charge of the Enchanted Forest only, could he? What if... what if there were multiple authors? What if every realm had its own author? His mind was bursting with theories.
A smile crept over his face, making his body shiver in anticipation. All the potential stories, all the knowledge these storybooks held... this was a gold mine! Now that he had found the office, he was sure they would soon find the author. He couldn't be that far away, could he? Maybe somewhere in between all these blank pages was a clue to where he'd gone.
Henry took another book out of the shelf, a little disappointed to find it empty. But hey, this wasn't so bad, was it? It meant there was a chance, a chance for his mother to get the happy ending she deserved. Henry had to restrain himself from bouncing up and down with joy. Once they found him, maybe the author could take one of these empty books and write his mother a completely new story, a fresh start so to speak. Of course her history as the Evil Queen couldn't be simply forgotten, but Regina deserved so much more, especially now with Marian being alive and Robin Hood torn between sticking to his honorable code or following his heart. This thought made Henry pause.
There was a lot to her story he didn't know. He knew about Regina saving Snow ,and Cora killing Daniel. Page twenty-three even showed the moment the young queen Regina ran away from the tavern and her soul mate Robin Hood, but these pages hadn't always been there. They appeared from time to time.
How long would it take to check these books? Henry let his gaze sweep around, coming to the conclusion it was probably impossible to check them all by himself. He had to talk to his mom, show her what he had found.
The boy was about to head back to the door when his gaze fell on the desk in the middle of the room. A storybook with a light brown leathery cover was resting right in the middle of it, a storybook that hadn't been there moments ago. Henry took a deep breath, stepping closer to the desk. This book looked a little different from the others in this room. Who had put it there? He looked around to make sure he was alone in the library before he touched the cover of the book.
After opening the cover and thumbing through the first two blank pages, he took in a startled breath. There was a picture on the second side, a picture that showed some kind of ceremony. A woman was standing in a throne room holding up a baby, the people around her bowing down on their knees.
"Her name is Regina. For one day, she will be queen!" was what it read right next to the picture. Henry stared wide-eyed at the baby in the drawing. This... this was his mom. He turned over to the next page. This book held his mother's story! He slumped down on the chair behind him, his hands shaking like crazy. Did he dare to read it, to know his mother's deepest darkest secrets? Perhaps it would be good to know her story, to know what happened to her, to get a small glimpse at her life before she became the Evil Queen. Henry knew he should give it a try. He could always skip the parts he felt would be too intimate for him to know, right? There was no way he'd be able to read the book in one night anyway. Perhaps it would help him understand her even better, her motivation and the reasons for her actions - and understand he did as he got further and further into the story.
Xxxxx
The breakfast table was a feast as it was every morning. It was full of fruits, nuts, cheese and delicious fresh bread, still warm from the oven. There were multiple silver tablets with ambrosial pastries and little cakes just because princess Snow demanded them. Regina wondered what would happen to all the food they didn't eat at breakfast, but waved the thought aside quickly. She was the queen, why should she care what happened to their leftovers? Surely a few servants and the people working in the kitchen would gladly take and eat it once the royals were done with breaking their fast.
Regina was alone in the dining hall. Except for a few servants scampering around and the two knights standing guard at the doors, no one was there. This was good. She hoped to forego a meeting with the king and his annoying little brat of a daughter. The hatred she felt for the child who was responsible for the death of her true love grew with every day she had to look into those big brown innocent puppy eyes. Regina swallowed in disgust. She'd become queen to play nanny for a spoiled princess. It was either this or being left alone in this huge castle when Leopold took Snow on one of his endless journeys, with no one except Rumpelstiltskin and sometimes her father for company. To be honest, she'd come to prefer these days to the times the king was here with her. It meant she was left alone. She wasn't allowed to leave the castle, but at least he left her alone.
"Would you like some tea, Your Majesty?" a young servant girl asked shyly. Regina shook her head, so the girl hurried off. She didn't want tea. She didn't want this, didn't want to be queen. She wanted Daniel. A deep sigh escaped her throat. Even though she didn't feel particularly hungry this morning, she reached for one of the sweet, cherry filled pastries. Her mother was not there to see her, after all, she'd pushed her through the stupid mirror a little more than five months ago, so who cared that she had so much sugar for breakfast? Everything Leopold valued in her was her beauty, so perhaps gaining a pound or two would throw him off. It wouldn't, she knew.
A hand on her shoulder made her flinch and drop the pastry back onto her plate. Regina's head shot up, ready to yell at whoever had the nerve to touch her shoulder, but it turned out to be her husband. A shudder ran down her spine, followed by a sharp intake of breath.
"My... King," Regina whispered, her voice a little thrown off. Why was he awake so early? He usually slept into the wee hours of the morning if he'd requested her presence the night before. The bite of pastry she'd taken a moment ago suddenly tasted like mud.
"You're up early. I thought you'd enjoy some rest after yesterday night," the king mused before he squeezed her shoulder a little too tight and made his way over to his seat. Regina swallowed the rest of her pastry. The little appetite she'd had was gone completely, instead a sickening feeling spread through her stomach.
The king looked at her as if he'd expect an answer, but what was she supposed to answer to something like this? A servant approached him, filling his cup with fresh brewed tea. He was distracted for a moment and Regina took the chance to quietly slip out of her chair only to get caught by the second person she'd wanted to avoid this morning.
"Regina!" Snow cheered. She skipped over to her stepmother to wrap her in a tight hug. The bow in her hair skittered forward. For a second Regina wished she could use her magic to make it wrap around her throat and strangle her. Instead, she pushed the bow back up so it held Snow's hair back from falling forward.
"Good morning, dear Snow," the queen answered with a fake smile on her face.
"My daughter," the king greeted her. "Look at you, you're the fairest of them all. Every day you look just a little bit more like your mother." Bile rose in Regina's throat. "And where exactly, are you going, Regina?"
"I..."
"Sit," he demanded.
Regina glanced from her chair back to the king with his kind smile. His eyes were telling a completely different story. "My King, I..."
"Sit." She did as ordered. Snow seemed oblivious to the tension between her father and her stepmother. The girl reached for one of the pastries, grimacing when she bit into it. She spit it out, more or less throwing the pastry back onto the tablet. Brat.
"I hate the apple ones! Where are the ones with the cherries?"
A servant came running over, apologizing to the young princess, who pouted at her father. The man held the silver tablet with the cherry pastries toward her, explaining the cook had wanted to make something special with the ripe apples from the queen's apple tree.
Regina was surprised the cook had actually used the apples from the small basket she'd sent over yesterday after picking them up from her garden. Although she was still not hungry, she took one of the apple pastries and bit inside, surprised how well the flavors of the apple mixed with the pastry.
"Please tell the cook it's delicious," Regina addressed the servant, who quickly nodded and apologized once again to Snow White.
"Tell me, my child, what are you and Regina up to today?" the king asked curiously.
Regina took a deep breath. This was her chance. "I... I thought maybe we could go to the stables today. I haven't had the chance to ride my mare in a while, so I thought..."
"I don't want to go riding," Snow whined. She looked over to her father who raised an eyebrow at his wife.
"Well then I'm sure you'll find something else to do."
"Snow... is it still because of the incident when your horse took off with you? I thought I told you to face your fears and get right back up the saddle," Regina smiled. She had to try. This stupid kid wouldn't ruin her plans once again today especially not when she was tired of playing life-size doll for her step-daughter like she'd done yesterday and the day before.
"I know, I just don't feel comfortable on Artax anymore, father."
"I'm sure we will find another horse you'd feel comfortable with, Snow," Regina offered. The stables were crowded with horses. There surely would be one horse that fit her wishes.
The girl still didn't seem happy with the idea of spending her day at the stables. She felt like the king was just about to demolish her plans once and for all, when a sudden smile spread on Snow's face. "I think I won't be afraid if I'll be riding Rocinante, Regina."
No. No, no, no, no, no! "But Snow, Rocinante is my horse, you know that." Regina tried to stay calm but there was a desperate tone in her voice.
"Yes, but I like Rocinante," Snow insisted. "If I can't ride Rocinante, I won't be going to the stables today." Regina's mouth dropped open. How dare she! How dare that little piece of filth talk to her like this!
"You've heard her, Regina. It's your choice," the king answered, slightly amused. She gave him a glare, wincing when he raised an eyebrow, his lips forming into a thin line. Oh she would pay for this later, she knew she would.
Xxxxx
Henry stared at the pages, more than angry with his grandmother for behaving like this. Snow was the apple of her father's eye, and got everything she asked for. Yes, the girl had lost her mother, but did this justify her turning into a spoiled princess? Whenever his grandmother had talked about her father, he'd been a kind and understanding man, loved by each and every one of his followers and subjects. According to this, however, she'd been painting the wrong picture. He was simply an ass. Henry had skimmed a few parts of the story, not wanting his rage over the way Leopold treated his mother to make him rip the book apart, but right now he slammed it closed. He needed a break from his mother's story, his mother who'd suffered enough up to this point and Henry knew what was yet to come.
The ringing of his phone was a welcome distraction. Speak of the devil.
"Hey Mom!"
"Henry, where are you? We've been looking all over for you," Regina answered, a slightly worried tone in her voice.
"Don't worry, Mom, I found something. Do you think you and Emma could meet me at the apprentice's house?" His eyes wandered to the storybook.
"Of course, Henry. Stay where you are, we'll be right there," Regina promised before she told him she loved him and hung up.
Henry bit his lip. Perhaps he should wait before showing the book he found to his mother. Something told him Regina probably wouldn't let him continue to read it once she saw it.
Xxxxx
The stables were mostly empty. She'd asked a servant earlier to make sure Rocinante's saddle and snaffle would be ready for her once she arrived. To the question of whether she'd like the stable boy to curry and comb Rocinante, she told him she'd do it herself. If she didn't get to ride her mare, she'd at least like to spend some time alone with her beforehand.
Here she stood, curry comb and horse brush in her hands, brushing along the fine brown hair in the direction of the hair growth. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to visit you, but the king wouldn't let me."
Rocinante turned her ears, her snout nudging Regina's side. "Sure thing, all you care about is the sugar in my pocket," she laughed, before she took one piece of sugar out of her pocket and held it toward her horse, which happily licked it off.
"I don't even get to ride you today. Snow's still a little scared of horses and she thinks riding with you is safe." The young queen hesitated a moment before she leaned in closer so her face was almost touching Rocinante's nostrils. "Don't tell anyone, but I wish we would have let her fall from that horse and break her neck back then."
She kissed Rocinante's snout before she continued currying, trying to push away the melancholic memories of the times Daniel and she were getting their horses ready for the riding lessons.
Regina just finished saddling her horse when Snow entered the stables, dressed in a new riding outfit. "I'm ready, let's go. Can I ride Rocinante now? Is she ready?"
"Calm down, Snow," Regina smiled. "You first have to make sure you're acquainted with her. It may take a little time for the two of you to warm up to each other. She doesn't know you very well."
"But she saved me. Of course she knows me," Snow insisted.
The Queen sighed, more than annoyed at how this riding lesson was turning out already.
"Well, you must be patient, Snow. Here, give her one of these." She gave Snow one of the sugar cubes.
A while later, both were sitting on their horses - Snow on Rocinante and Regina on a beautiful tall dapple gray stallion - riding slowly down to the part of the meadow with the obstacles for horse jumping.
"Why don't we go out into the field, Regina?"
"Well, Snow, I think it's better if we stay close to the castle for a while until you feel confident enough to ride on your own. We should take it slow," she explained.
"Can I jump the obstacles with her?"
"Have you ever jumped one before?" Snow shook her head. "Well then I think it's better for you to stay down here and trot around them, understood? Maybe another day we can start with small jumping exercises. But by then we should make sure you're not afraid of other horses anymore, okay?" The girl nodded, clearly not satisfied with Regina's answer but she didn't say anything. Instead, she spurred Rocinante and rode different circle figures around the obstacles. Regina followed her, correcting the position of her feet and posture, giving her a few hints how to make riding Rocinante easier for both horse and rider.
Once she made sure Snow had Rocinante under control, she decided to take her chances with Upan la Jarte, the horse she was riding. It turned out he was very skilled and well trained, jumping obstacles with an ease that surprised her. For the first time in a while Regina finally felt the pressure in her chest weighing off, felt what she could at the moment describe as being as close to freedom she was allowed.
She was just about to get ready for another jump when she saw Snow galloping straight toward one of the highest obstacles on the meadow out of the corner of her eye.
"Snow, no! Stop, it's too high for you! Turn around! Snow!" Her eyes widened in horror when Rocinante shied at the obstacle and the princess fell out of the saddle. Regina jumped off her horse, running over to her stepdaughter to see if she was okay. She was lying on the ground crying, rubbing her side.
"Snow, are you okay? Why did you not stop? I told you not to jump with Rocinante, especially not one of these high obstacles."
"It hurts," Snow cried. "I just wanted to impress father."
If the shock of Snow falling off the horse hadn't been big enough, Regina saw the King followed by a few knights hurrying toward them, his face wide with rage.
"What the hell happened?!" he demanded to know, although Regina knew full well he'd seen the whole incident.
"I fell, father. The horse shied at the obstacle and then..."
"It was your damned horse, wasn't it?" he asked Regina angrily.
"I..."
"Guards! Take the damned horse and cut its head off so it shall never hurt my daughter again!"
"No," Regina and Snow screamed in unison. "My King, I can assure you..." Regina started but Leopold wouldn't listen. He knelt down to his daughter to wipe away her tears.
"Father, it wasn't the horse's fault. Regina told me not to jump, but I didn't listen. Please. Please don't make the horse responsible for my mistakes. I just wanted to impress you. Please don't let them kill the horse."
Leopold looked at his daughter stunned, before his eyes wandered over to Regina, who was biting her lip. She was close to crying. Rocinante was the only thing to keep her from going insane in this golden prison and she could see the king would love nothing more than to take this away from her, too.
"Father, please," Snow whispered in her special voice, which she knew would get her anything from her father. "I'm not even that hurt, it's just the shock."
"Fine," Leopold finally agreed, before he called the guards back. "Leave the horse. Carry my daughter back to the castle."
One of the white knights came to pick Snow up, who triumphantly smiled at Regina. The queen could say what she wanted about her little brat of a stepdaughter, but she'd just saved Rocinante's life.
"I'll deal with you later," Leopold whispered low before he turned away to follow his daughter back to the castle.
Regina swallowed hard. One more thing she knew she'd be paying for, come night.
Xxxxx
When the evening came, the queen was lead to the king's chambers by one of his white knights. He took up his position right next to the door, waiting for her to knock. Regina heard a muffled voice coming from the inside before she pushed the door open to step into Leopold's bedroom.
"You asked for my presence, Your Majesty?" Regina asked. She damned her voice for betraying her in this particular moment. The king turned around, his ever-smiling face set in a stony mask. The cold stare he gave her made her shiver and wrap her arms around her body.
"I disliked the look you gave me at breakfast this morning, Regina."
She sucked in a breath, knowing what would come next. "I... I know. I am sorry. I shouldn't have glared at you, I... I promise to be in control of my emotions from now on."
"Also, I make you responsible for Snow's accident. You're lucky she asked for your precious horse to stay alive, otherwise I'd have had its head cut off and fed the rest to the dogs."
Regina gasped. "It wasn't my fault. I told her not to jump the obstacles, I..."
The king came closer, making it hard for her to resist the urge of going backward. He took one of her shivering hands, which was still wrapped around her upper body, a cold smile on his face.
"I don't care. She was in your care and it was your horse that hurt her. Don't you dare to speak ill of my precious Snow."
"I'm sorry," Regina whispered. She felt sick.
"I know you'll be in control of your emotions from now on. I will show you what control is." His grasp around her hand tightened which made her wince in pain. "Now on your knees."
The young woman shook her head, desperately trying to pull away, but the old man was stronger. He pulled her forward so she almost stumbled against him, staring up to his face with tear filled eyes. "Please don't make me do this," she whispered bitterly. "Please, I promise."
"On. Your. Knees."
Xxxxx
"No!" Henry shut the book close before he was able to read one more word of the gruesome scene, shoving it off the bed with the flashlight. His breath came out in shallow breath and only now he realized his shirt was drowned in sweat.
Tears were brushing down his face as his mind kept replaying the images of what he just read. This... this couldn't be true, this... Oh God.
His door opened, letting a small flash of light through the crack. "Henry?", his mother whispered in a sweet sleep-filled voice. "Henry are you okay?"
All he could say - everything he could have said was drowned in a deep sob. Regina pushed the door further open, her morning robe loosely falling around her small frame. Without a second thought she sat down on Henry's bed, wrapping him in a tight hug. She was almost thrown off balance, when her son threw himself against her, his sobs muffled by her hair and the crook of her neck. Trying to comfort him by rubbing soothing circles on his back, Regina swayed their bodies forward and backward, never letting go of her son who held onto her like she was his last grasp on reality.
"Shhh, I'm here, my little prince. Tell me what is wrong," Regina whispered soothingly. Henry shook his head, his grasp tightening around her. "Did you have a nightmare, honey? Whatever it is, it's all right. I'm here. You're safe."
Her reassurance made him cry even harder. His mother had always been there for him, had made it her highest priority to keep him safe, while she...she had had no one. She'd been alone. All the cruel things people did to her and she had been alone.
"I'm s-s-so s-sorry-y," Henry cried, leaving his mother confused and frightened.
"What's wrong, honey? You can talk to me."
Regina slowly entangled him from the hug, framing his tear strained face with her shaking hands. His eyes were puffy and his cheeks wet. His lips were shivering as he tried to talk but didn't seem able to do so.
He loved his mother. There'd been times when he hadn't always been sure how he felt about her, but after everything she'd sacrificed for him, he knew she loved him more than anything. His mother's life had been harder than he could ever have imagined. She didn't deserve this, nobody did. Regina had suffered enough in her life, more than anyone he knew, had suffered under the hands of a power hungry mother, an abusing husband and a selfish teacher. After taking all these things into consideration it was no wonder she'd chosen the evil path.
"Oh Henry, please tell me what's wrong," she pleaded, trying to calm his sobbing body down. Carefully she wrapped him once again into a hug, her hand running through his hair. "It's okay."
"No-o. It's not." The boy finally took a deep breath. "I'm s-sorry, Mom. I... I didn't know."
His room was still mostly dark, the only source of light coming from the flashlight on the floor on the other side of his bed. He felt her confusion, how she tensed when he pulled away to wipe off the fresh tears with the sleeve of his pajama.
"What are you talking about, Henry?" Regina leaned to the side to switch on the small lamp on his nightstand. She looked tired and addled, her hair tousled from her sleep and still damp from the shower she'd taken before going to bed. Still, the concern for him in her eyes made his heart beat incredibly fast. Her smile was encouraging, her touch soothing.
"I know... I know what King Leopold did to you."
This statement left her baffled, her eyes widening in shock for a second, before she put her mask back in place. "Honey, he married me because he wanted a mother for Snow. It... it wasn't all that bad, you know? Living in a castle did have its advantages."
Henry shook his head, unwilling to let his mother play it down. "No, Mom. I know what he... what he did, this... this bastard!"
"Henry, how...?"
"Because I read it!" He turned away from her to launch his body over the side of the bed to pick up the storybook he'd found in the library.
Regina's eyes widened in fear, her breath caught in her throat. "I... Where... What is this? Where did you get this?" She took the book from him, turning page after page in pure horror.
"It appeared. In... in the library when I first found it. I was looking for other stories, for a clue to where the author is and then I found this. It's your story. All of it. From the moment you were born and your mother told the people one day you would be queen to the moment you cast the curse and woke up in Storybrooke."
"And you read it?!" she asked horrified.
"Not all of it... I... I couldn't read the parts where he..."
"Oh my God," Regina whispered. Her face was blank, she looked sick to her stomach. With shaking hands, she shut the book and put it aside. "Henry, I never wanted you to read any of this, I... Why didn't you come to me in the first place?"
The boy's eyes once again filled with tears. "Because I knew you wouldn't let me read it. I... wish I hadn't. I'm so sorry for what happened to you, Mom. Nobody deserves this. I wish... I wish I could have saved you."
"You did, Henry. I love you with all my heart. You did save me." Now small tears were straining down her cheeks, too. Henry once again threw himself into her arms and together they cried. He, for the horror the king and Snow had put her through, she, because she'd never wanted her son to find out about this particularly dark chapter of her past.
The next morning, Henry promised his mother to get rid of the book, promised her to never read a passage from it again, ever. He knew what to do.
Xxxxx
In the afternoon, when Snow White started to read the book with Regina's story which Henry had dropped off earlier, making her promise to read it because it would help her to understand his mother's motives to chose the path of evil, her world fell apart.