AN: It's been quite a length of time, years in fact, since I wrote anything, so please forgive any errors. The itch to write has been clawing at me for some time now, and "The Stable Boy" just hit the right note to stir that part of me to sing. So, without further adieu, and with great love for the writers of "Once Upon a Time" and the wondrously fabulous, ridiculously beautiful Lana Parrilla for bringing the deliciously evil Queen to life, I give you this AU of Episode 18 for your perusal.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Once Upon a Time" or the characters that are portrayed within the show. I'm merely borrowing them for a while without thought or intent for my own personal gain.

Chapter 1 - The Lonely Forest

The steady pounding of the horse's hooves echoed through the forest all around, a constant reminder of the flight being undertaken. Miles had passed in a blur of tension and fatigue. They had been riding for almost 3 days, stopping only to rest, sleep briefly, feed and water themselves and their horse.

In the blackness of the night, the forest seemed a sinister, prescient, living thing, foreboding in it's dark intensity. Legends of this place spread far abroad, of the Lonely Forest and it's seeming ability to draw out of you the things that you fear the most and make them as real to you as the beating of your heart within your chest or the feel of bark of the trees under the tips of your fingers. It was for this very reason they were agreed not to stop at all until they were through the treacherous mass of living shadows and growling trees.

Their horse sped swiftly down the narrow, winding road, the only path through the supposedly cursed forest. It seemed to Regina as if with each pounding beat of it's hooves, the fears harbored within hers mind were given life by the twisted, gnarled trees and inky blackness. The whipping wind, the hooting of owls, and the rustling branches of the trees began, as the miles past and the night darkened, to take on an ominous, deep, rumbling humanoid voice.

"She knows," one said. Repeating the very words she that were flitting feverishly through her mind. "She'll find us," said another, this one sharper and higher in pitch than the last. Her heart constricted.

"She'll tear the Realms apart if she must," one particularly sinister voice concluded, and as they began to blend together in the cacophony of noise. The echoes seemed to grow in unity and intensity until a single voice emerged. "She'll never stop searching. Her magic is dark and powerful! 'Disobedience is a crime no true parent can leave unpunished,' she always said. She will find us and she will kill us both. Find us, she will, kill us, she will. Find us! Kill us! Grind our hearts into dust!"

The voices reached a terrible crescendo and Regina shivered down to her bones, clutching more tightly to Daniel and pressing her face into the hard planes of his back. But as she closed her eyes, in the chilly night air, she could hear the terrifying sound of her mother's cackling laugh swirling around them. She could see in her mind's eye those familiar sharp, unyielding features and stony brown eyes. She could hear the unmistakably cold voice. "You may run, my daughter," the shrill voice declared. "But you cannot hide from me. I have sacrificed far too much for it all to be thrown away on such frivolous emotion. Love is fleeting. Power is eternal, and I shall have it, one way or another."

Jaw clenched, tears leaking unbidden from her eyes, Regina breathed into the black woolen coat that she had taken from her father's wardrobe for Daniel to wear. "You're wrong," she whispered forcefully in response. "Love is the greatest power of all, and I will gladly pay any price it brings." She lightly rubbed her cheek into Daniel's back as her she forced her mind to replay the events that had transpired to set their flight in motion.

It had been almost two years ago that her father had brought him onto their estate to care for their horses and to give her the lessons she had been so stubbornly avoiding, but desperately required. She was nineteen years old and had just experience the first real loss of her young life. Their previous, long-employed stable keeper, Gerald, had passed away the previous fall of consumption, and it had devastated Regina. He had cared for their horses for as long as she had been alive, and though she so loved the animals, she had never had the courage to learn to ride. However, that did not preclude her from sharing her confidence with Gerald. He became like a second father to her. She shared all the hopes and dreams that she could not share with her father, due mainly to her father's fear of her mother. And so, when he passed, she lost all desire to ever learn to ride. All through the remainder of the fall and that winter, she grieved his death deeply. Her heart, already slightly hardened by her mother's coldness and ambition, turned to stone. Her father's affectionate attention was all that kept her from spiraling into a dangerous abyss.

That all changed when Daniel arrived. He was, of course, very shy in the beginning, as anyone of his degree of modesty tends to be, and that suited Regina just fine. But as the days and weeks passed, he grew more comfortable around her and her father, though around her mother, he always remained courteously wary. She would be lying if she said she wasn't attracted to him at first sight, but she had been, due to her state of grief, reticent to form any sort of new attachment to anyone. She had her father and that was quite enough.

She often mused, after they had come to know each other better, how confused he must have been of his employer's strange daughter, whose occasional defiance of her mother stood in stark contrast to the shrinking violet she seemed to be around him. Within a space of seconds, she would be two completely different people, one telling her mother she was content to spend time at the stables whether she liked it or not, and the other refusing even basic communication beyond single syllable words when Daniel spoke to her. But he never took her aversion to heart. It seemed to her that when he looked into her eyes, he saw beyond the facade to the hurt that lurked deep within her chocolate brown eyes.

She saw in him, and witnessed in him firsthand through his behavior, a never-ending store of compassion, and he had many interesting stories of horseback adventures with which he happily regaled her at every opportunity. Before 3 months had passed, Regina found that the walls she had build around her heart were, to her simultaneous delight and horror, much less impressive than before. Kindness had been the flowing river, from his heart to hers, that cut through the mountain of impenetrable granite she had piled around her heart. It wasn't very long after her realization that she began to actually respond to him with meaningful words. If for nothing else but his tender patience and friendship, she could hope never repay him, and that is what made falling in love with him so very easy.

She began spending as much time as propriety would allow at the stables, and with her heart beginning to be unlocked, her bravery naturally followed. She began her riding lessons almost a year after Daniel's arrival at the Mills' estate. Being the precocious person that she was - as her father loved pointing out - it came nearly without effort. Even Daniel, who had, as he like to jest, been born on a saddle, complimented that she was a natural. She had always shared a bond with horses, a natural kinship, perhaps due to her yearning to be free and wild, to let her hair fly carelessly in the wind and forget the rules and etiquette that was demanded of a lady of station. When she rode with Daniel, that innermost desire came gloriously to fruition. Every day for an hour or two, Regina could be herself. She could laugh and holler and whoop with delight as she rode at his side. The year of their secret courtship was the freest, happiest time of her life.

Then came Snow White, a little girl on a runaway horse, who stole her heart and shared her secret. It was Snow's innocent insistence that if she loved Daniel, she should marry him that awakened her to reality. A seed of hope that had taken root when she fell in love with Daniel sprung to life at Snow White's unconditional support. Regina was amazed. This was a girl, quite like her, who loved her father with all of her heart and wanted nothing more for him than his happiness. Yet, in the short time Snow had know her, she had loved her enough to want her as her own mother. Even so, this little girl recognized how much she loved Daniel, and Snow's selflessness in wanting such happiness for her had been a true inspiration. In that moment, Regina knew with certainty where once before she had only half-heartedly told Daniel that if they wanted any chance at happiness, they had to leave, and they could not delay a moment longer than necessary.

With tender affection for the girl, she had sworn Snow to secrecy. She had Snow's eyes and searched them deeply, imploring her to grasp the gravity of what was transpiring, and what she saw took her breath away. She knew without a doubt, if she lived to be a hundred and twenty years old, she would never forget what she glimpsed in Snow White's eyes. She saw a purity, bravery, and understanding that belied such youth, and she knew that this was a girl who was destined to do great things and to love great loves. She knew that her secret was safe with Snow and that the brave girl would take it to her grave if necessary.

"Don't worry, Regina," Snow had smiled sweetly, cupping Regina's face gingerly with her small hands. "I'll make sure my Papa understands once we're gone, and I won't say a word to your Mama. I promise." But then Snow's little chin began to tremble and a few tears rolled down her white cheeks.

"What's the matter, darling?" Regina asked her, searching the girl's eyes compassionately, just as Daniel had done so often for her.

"Will I ever see you again?" the little girl asked, both hope and fear warring in her eyes. She sniffled adorably. "I don't want to lose you. I love you."

Love for the girl began to swell inside of Regina's chest so quickly she thought she might burst into tears herself. Her heart, it seemed, lacked room inside her body. "Oh, darling," she sighed, gathering the girl into her arms. "If there are any happy endings in this world, this will not be the last time we see one another. I will find you, Snow White, somehow, some way. Do you believe me?"

Pulling back slightly, Snow peered sagely into Regina's eyes, searching. When the silence had stretched for interminable seconds, the girl grinned from ear to ear having found what she was looking for. Then she threw her arms around Regina's neck and whispered in her ear: "I believe you."

And so with her heart hammering in her chest and tears gathering in her eyes, Regina had then gathered herself and took Snow White in her arms and carried her back to the stables where she instructed Daniel to gather some changes of clothes for himself that he kept packed away in the stables and to wait for her. She and Snow then returned to the manor where she escorted the raven-haired little girl to her room and tucked her into bed with a hug and kiss and reassuring promises that they would meet again.

Then, with quite haste, she began to surreptitiously gather the supplies she was mentally calculating they would need and could carry on a long journey by horseback. She began in her rooms, gathering two changes of clothing for herself and her favorite sky-blue winter coat and white cotton blanket to shield her, at least partially, from the cold nights to come. Carefully, making as little noise as possible, she then crept into the room her father kept apart from her mother and took his favorite black woolen jacket, then left the room, closing the door behind her, and crept toward the stairs.

As she approached the staircase that lead down to the foyer of their home, she was startled still by voices, and paused around the corner out of sight. She recognized them easily. Her mother, father, and King Leopold were chatting amiably as they walked about the upcoming nuptials and Regina could not help the slight revulsion that passed through her. However kind King Leopold was, she did not love him and she knew she never could.

For a moment, she was afraid they would head into the parlor and sit and chat and continue their well laid- out plans for her future. But they passed on through the foyer and into the hallway that lead to the wing of the manor opposite of her rooms, and where she knew they would not hear her leaving. After the noise of their laughter and chatting faded away, Regina did not hesitate. She arose and headed quickly down the stairs, and made her way to the kitchen.

She found it thankfully empty - for the staff had hours before retired to their chambers - and packed food items that would last at least several days or longer: fresh bread, baked cookies, and what fruit she could find that had not yet ripened. She found several fresh skins of water and wine hanging on the wall across from the cupboards and stuffed them into a pack with her clothes, then headed out of the kitchen and back into the foyer, where she opened the front door and slipped out into the night unseen and unheard.

Delight and excitement filled her with equal measures of fear and terror. She had defied her mother before, but never like this, never in such a brazen and permanent manner. Her mother's heavy hand had always been the most steady influence in Regina's life, even beyond her father's love and compassion. It seemed at times that she could never escape the reach of her mother's iron hand and ever watchful eyes. Molded since birth to become realize her mother's own machinations for power, Regina had never known what it was like to live her life for her own pleasure. All she ever did was for her mother's sake and at her mother's convenience.

Once she turned 16, however, Regina's stubborn streak made itself known. Without fail, she had always to do her chores and lessons, clean her room, turn her bed down, learn how to ballroom dance, learn how to eat properly as a lady does, learn how to sit as a lady does, and she had always to dress herself appropriately for every occasion. Little acts of defiance had been hammered down with fury unequal to the transgression and always with a demonstration of her mother's growing magical powers.

There was one particular time she had cleaned her room, but left to the stables to visit Gerald before she had turned her bed down. Her mother lashed her palms until she couldn't bend her fingers and sealed her magically in her room for a day with no bread or water. She never left her bed unmade again. But there was always something to try her mother with, some act of rebellion, however small, with which she could assert herself. Punishment was always swift and severe, but never a total deterrent. Her mother could never completely kill the spark of independence that Regina clung to with all of her might. Now, finally, she was letting that independence reign, and after knowing the true freedom of love, she would never again suffer herself to fall under her mother's authority.

Without delay, Regina raced as fast as her legs could carry her to the stables, and she and Daniel wasted no time. They took her favorite horse, knowing him to be a healthy, hearty, dependable steed - one whom she could not bear to depart from, for her father had personally chosen him for her - choosing to travel on one horse to extend provisions. After sharing a brief, but loving kiss with Daniel, full of hope and promise, she took one last glance backward to the house she had been born and raised in. And then Daniel spurred the horse forward and they were on the road. That was three days ago, though it seemed like three lifetimes.

They had spared themselves only scant hours of sleep on the journey, hasting to put as much distance between them and her mother as possible. She relished every second of being wrapped up with Daniel under the stars, the thin, white cotton blanket she had the foresight take with them their only cover. She found she could, with little effort, become lost in his blue eyes and be swept away be the irresistible tide of their love for one another. After three nights sleeping wrapped up her once pure, white blanket, it was mottled with brown and green, stained by grass and earth, but to Regina it was the color of love and freedom, and nothing could have possibly been more beautiful to her.

They rode on and on through the night, but though she could still hear her mother's voice in the back of her head, she was no longer listening. And as they rode continually onward, exhaustion and the steady rhythm of the motion of the horses gait finally overtook her, and she fell into a fitful sleep.

When she awoke some time later, Regina immediately noticed that dawn was breaking over the horizon and that the horse had slowed from a canter to a lazy walk. She could see pasture land stretching out for miles before her, horses running freely and cattle grazing. In the distance to the east - for they had been traveling northward - the snow capped peaks of the Dire Mountains could be seen, on the other side of which the Ogre tribes dwelt. They had at last emerged on the other side of the Lonely Forest. It was the natural border between the Kingdom of King Leopold and the Kingdom of King George, and few journeyed through it except on occasion of great emergency and even then with great trepidation. It then occurred to her with no small amount of relief that they were no longer in her sovereign state, and with the Lonely Forest between them and home, they were out of her mother's reach, however temporarily. For the first time in days, they could spare the time to truly rest.

"Daniel?" she asked. "Are we going to stop soon?"

"Yes," he replied, turning his head slightly so she could see the smile forming on his face. His eyes were glittering with happiness. "Soon we will come to a small village called Arennd. It's a fortnight southeast of where I grew up. I have some family there with whom we'll find shelter and provision."

Regina smiled herself at this welcome news, craning her neck to kiss his cheek, thick with stubble. In their flight, he had no time shave and they spared only the briefest moments to bathe wherever they found a river or lake deep enough. "You never mentioned you hailed from Ephraya. I suppose, though, it does make sense. It is, after all, the land of horses."

Daniel chuckled softly, then his face grew suddenly sad. "True enough, though increasingly our mastery of the horse has been utilized for war rather than peaceable pursuits. King George has grown harsh in his latter years. I fear for Prince James' future." A far away look appeared in Daniel's eyes as they continued on down the road. The little village he had mentioned was visible now on the horizon.

"It pains you to speak of home," Regina replied sadly, coming to know all too well the ache that accompanied leaving something behind that you love, even though you are also leaving behind something you loathe. "I'm sorry. We won't speak of it anymore." She reached with her hand to brush the hair over his ear. "Just know you can tell me anything. I want to know whatever you're willing to share. I want to be a part of your life, even the painful parts. That's what it means to be a wife or a husband, is it not?"

The sadness in his eyes fled at her words and the glimmering returned, along with that beautiful smile that had done so much to melt the icy exterior she had often worn. "That it is, and I promise, I will share everything with you. I'm not hiding from you. I just want the beginning of our lives together to be full of happiness. I don't want to dwell on the past."

Regina nuzzled her nose into Daniel's back once again. "Nor do I, my love. For now, we'll only look forward to the future, where hope dwells unrestrained and untainted."

Leaving one hand on the reins, Daniel took one of her hands in his and stroked the delicate skin of her wrist with his thumb. As they rode on for almost an hour, he held her hand against his chest off and on, the feel of her skin against his fingers always bringing him a sense of comfort. It wasn't long until he peered hopefully before him as they entered the village of Arennd.