Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time and characters are the property of the brilliant minds of Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. I am merely using them for the purposes of entertainment.
This is the first story I have published on this FanFiction. I welcome all reviews the good, bad, and the ugly. I have no beta, kinda not sure how that works.
This goes off a little canon with where big Henry is concerned but I'm trying to go somewhere so bear with me.
An ear-splitting scream pierced the night sounding distinctly like those forced from a victim of the torture chambers. However, the gutteral moans and desperate pleading eminated from the King's bedchamber and not the dungeons. The master bedroon was alive with a cacophony of sound and movement all revolving around the young woman laying upon the bed.
The queen collapsed upon the bed, taking short quick breathes. She lay soaked in her own sweat and groaned miserably as she felt the nausauting tightness in her womb began to crest again. It was an unending cycle of pain. Just moments before, her muscles had tighten to the breaking point as she tried to force the child from her pain was almost too much and was only made bearable by the short periods of rest between contractions. The birth was agonizingly long, she was exhausted, and just wanted it to be over.
The midwife spoke what she thought to be encouraging words as she stared intently at the queen's womanhood. The young regal had long since abandoned any sence of propriety or pride the moment the first excruciating pain rippled through her body. The older woman looked up from her spot between the Queen's grotesquely wide spead knees.
"You are doing well my queen. I can see the baby's head. When you next feel a contraction, bear down hard your majesty."
The younger woman did not acknowledge the words. Her mind was racing. Her husband was not present for the birth of their child. A soldier was sent to inform the king when she began feeling the birthing pains. He should be on his way back to the castle from the frontlines of the Orge Wars. Yet the queen could care less if her returned in time to see the baby being born. It would not change the future. He would never be able to raise this child.
Tears stung her eyes. It was happening too quickly. The baby was coming too soon. She had yet to figure out how to break the deal. All magic has its price but this price was too high. The queen was afraid of losing the baby. However, she was more afraid of what would happen to her once the king found out she lost it in a deal with the devil.
The young queen did not remember consciously making the decision or what reserve she tapped within herself to find the strenght. Yet, as another contraction hit and she felt the urge to bear down like the midwife was instructing, the brunette found herself holding her breath rather than breathing out slowly. She gritted her teeth and painfully resisted the urge to push.
'If I just have a little more time. I can figure out how to break the deal. I just need more time.'
The midwife pleaded with her, encouraged her before losing her patience with the stubborn girl and began ordering her to push. The other women in the room offered words of encouragement and urged her to push the child out. The queen, closed her eyes to them and shut out their words with her hands. She remained resolute in her decision and would not bear the child into this world. Not until she figured out her problem.
She did not know how long she lay with her muscles clamped tight against the overwhelming urges to push, her eyes screwed shut, and her hands covering her ears. 'I just need time to think.' When a cool hand lay against her forehead, she opened her eyes to meet the kind dark brown ones of her trusted handmaiden Azura. Azura sat reassuring by her side, in that blue dress she was so fond of, and wiped the sweat from her queen's forehead and neck with a cool cloth. The room was curiously empty of everyone but Azura, the midwife, and her.
Azura slowly removed the young woman's hands from her ears and studied the queen's bewildered face briefly. "I made them all leave, my queen. You seemed to need a moment alone." She answered the unasked question softly. She chose her next words carefully."You seem conflicted, your majesty."
The young queen shook her head adamantly as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I can not. It's too soon. I have not found the solution. This baby cannot come, not now " Her voice pleaded for someone to understand her plight. She could not breathe under the weight of the intense desperation and utter despair she felt. A look into her trusted friends eye told her she knew the queens connundrum.
Azura had been her only friend throughout her entire stay at the castle. She had met Azura the morning after she made that retched deal with the demon and King George, upon seeing that the large chamber he had placed her in the night before was no longer covered in straw but strands of gold, stated that she would marry him immediately. The young woman was in tears by the time her handmaidens entered the room to prepare her for the marriage. Azura upon seeing the future queen in distress, ushered the other women out the room. She had offered the first true comfort after three days of mental torture. For three day she had to relive the memory of her father's sober and deeply apologetic face as she was dragged away by the kings guards. For three mornings she endured the murderous threats from the king as he greedily ordered her to perform an impossible task. And for three nights she brokered beguilingly deceptive deals to ensure she lived to see the next morn. So when Azura offered her hand and sat in silence at her side as she cried her heart out at her impending life sentence with the king as her husband, she found a instant comradarie with the woman.
During her pregnacy, the queen she spent every free moment she had reading and studying magic with the hope that she could think her way out of the deal. King George was too busy with the Orge Wars to notice or even care about his wife's obsession. So for months she feveriously sought all manner of powerful beings, consulted every book, and prayed to every diety to help her absolve the contract. Throughout the whole ordeal, Azura remsined at her side offering a supportive hand. She knew well the stakes so the queen could not understand the reason for Azura's next words.
"The child must be born, Milady."
"No!" she screamed. "He will take it. He will take everything." The words were whispered so softly that Azura had to strain to hear the queen's words.
"It's not healthy, for either you or the babe, to hold it in like that. There is still time and you will figure out a way to save the child but right now she must be born." Her word were calm as a sage's speaking an obvious truth.
The queen sobbed. 'How can she speak with such conviction?' For months, the young queen had been agonizing over how to break her hastily made bargain with the imp. At the time, she did not know that she would become queen or that she would bear the king's child. She simply did not want to die in that straw covered grave. So when she saw a way out of that prison she took it. Looking back, she knew her own greed was ultimately the reason for her current plight. On that third night, she promised him her first born not out of desperation but out of hubris and weakness. True, she did not want to die by the kings hand and that the green and gold man was her means of salvation. However, he was also a means to create her own happiness. She had an idea. That third night, when he appeared before her in that straw laden chamber, instead of asking him to spin the straw into gold, she asked that she be given the power to do it herself. She reasoned that he would not always be at her beck and call should the king continue to demand she spin straw into gold. Should he stop today and let her go as promised, she would live in a constant fear that any day he may asks the impossibe of her and the imp would not be around to save her from the kings wrath. She was tired of relying on others for help. So the miller's daughter asked for power.
As she strained against another contraction his words from that night echoed through her mind. "I will grant you the power you seek for a price deary. All magic has its price. For this, no mere bauble or trinket will suffice. Promise me, if you should become queen, to give me your first child as payment." She had agreed and that night he taught her how to spin the straw into gold.
Agony rippled through her back and pelvis as her muscles began to tense involuntarily. She clenched her fists in the bedding.
"I CAN'T! I made a promise." she was sobbing now. It was only a matter of time before he would come and her life would end. All those months back, she thought she was saving herself from death by making those deals when really they were just prolonging the inevitable.
Azura looked the queen firmly in the eye,"Milady, all promises can be broken."
Another intense pressure began to build and the queen could not resisted it any longer. She bore down with all her strength and, with a heartwrenching scream, discharged the child from her womb.
Collapsing heavily against the pillows, the young queen tried to catch her breath. Only the sound of herown labored breathing could be heard within the large room as she lay spent against the soiled linen. She waited.
Silence can speak volumes to those who listen carefully. There was a distinct absence of sound within the room that seemed deafening to the queen. There was no cry to be heard and as she opened her eyes she could see the midwife working feverishly over the tiny bloody bundle. She closed her eyes to the sight.
"My queen, are you alright?" Azura ask in a voice that was soft and hesitant, she was wary of upsetting her the queen. The queen, however, felt a strange sensation. A surge of relief flooded her so suddenly it rocked her to her core. As seconds quietly slipped by without the distinct cry of a babe, the young woman could feel the weight she had carried for all these months lifting. In the silence lay the answer to all her problems.
Maybe the gods were finally smiling down on her and chose once again to spare her wretched life. Her husband would be upset when her found out but she was fertile and they could have more children. That little green and gold bastard would not have the child he bargained for all those months back. Finally the cards of fate had dealt her a winning hand. So she waited as a bubble of glee began to rise in her hopeful heart. She waited, in silent anticipation, for the midwife to turn back to her and utter the words that would be her salvation. She closed her eyes and waited to be told her first born was dead.
A thin wail filled the room. Quiet at first but slowly began gaining steam and volume. A herald of her eminant death. The queen felt terror's vise grip seize her heart. She screwed her eyes shut and tried to escape from the sound. All she wanted to do was curl into a small hole and die. Anything would have been this; better than knowing she had just bore the catalyst of her doom. No matter how the cards of fate fell, she had always been on the losing end of this deal. This child's life would end her own.
The wail became louder as the child was brought to her side. She turned her back on the child. There was no warmth, no love in her heart for this creature, this cancer. It's just as well the child would be gone soon.
"My queen, your daughter cries for you?" Azura held the small perfect little girl in her arms. The queen only burrowed deeper. Azura redirected her attention to the baby. With a stroke of her finger down the babe's soft cheek she quieted the screaming child. The little girl had a thick cap of dark brown hair and beautiful brown eyes that seemed to try to take in the whole world. This child was special. Azura could feel the power emanating from her tiny body, pure and unrestrained. 'No wonder the dark one wants this child.' she thought as the baby settled contently against her.
"No, little one, I'm not your mother." Azura stated quietly. Her mother, however, had turned her back on the child. "What will you name her, Milady?" she asked the queen.
"I do not wish to have anything to do with it. You name her if you seem so inclined to call her something." Bitterness colored every word.
"What shall we call you little one? A name befitting a little princess." The child stared intently into Azura's eyes as if anticipating the answer. Azura nodded as if the answer had been whispered in her ear. "Regina. We shall call you Regina."