Chapter 1.

The past months was more and more blurred in my memory, and they felt almost like a dream, a memory of a different life I had lived generations ago. Going from prisoner to queen, leaving behind a life I had lived for most of my existence and, although a horrible and frightful life, a life I had gotten used to and felt somewhat safe in, was harder than I thought. Not that I in any way missed my life as a prisoner, kept in that cold cell with only my handmade dolls as company and the frightening visits from the dark queens brother, just standing there looking at me in the dark. But changing everything was still a frightening endeavor.

I was sitting in my room, the kings suite. A big room with soft rugs on the floor, big windows with satin curtains, a balcony and a huge fireplace with a soft burning fire. I was sitting in a comfortable chair by the fire thinking about my life, now a couple of weeks after my coronation. Fighting for the life of my people and my friends was hard enough, but now that I accomplished my goals I somehow felt empty. Lonely almost. I missed the days of wandering in the forest with the huntsman, being free as a bird for the first time in all those years seeing everything for the first time, through the eyes of a child. After all, I had not been allowed to grow up really in the cell all by myself. I had to grow up fast, and was now in training with some of the men and women of the household to learn all the things a young woman should have learned during the last years of being a girl.

This was a frustrating task - some parts of me had grown up fast in the cell, things like dealing with pain, the sense of responsibility and sacrifice, all which came in handy when you were supposed to rule a kingdom. But I had lost so much when it came to dealing with people, understanding people and knowing how the world worked. I knew that people liked me, even loved me, but it was hard for me to know how to handle these people. Animals where so much easier, they showed you their essence the moment you encountered them. In the world of the animals there were no lies, no manipulation, just curiosity and respect. as long as you saw an animal for what it was, what its essence contained, and showed them respect you were met with the same.

Now my world was filled with information on how to understand the meaning behind words, the meaning behind gestures , and it aggravated me on one hand that my right hand Sir Norris wanted to portray people this way, and on another that I didn't already know enough to question him. I understood that this was an important part of being a Queen, but it still frustrated me.

I heard a soft knock on the door and my handmaiden Lucy came in.

'Pardon me, My lady, but Mr. Huntsman is here to see you.' I smiled nervously. I hadn't seen much of my friend during these weeks after my coronation, and had not spoken to him privately, so I had asked him to come to my quarters this evening to speak about an official business regarding the enchanted forest, partly as an excuse to see him a bit more and wanted to see him alone and ask him a question I had been keeping in my heart for weeks now. Lucy went on:

'The Supper is almost ready My Lady, do you wish to eat in here or in the dining hall?'

'Let Mr. Huntsman in, and I will call on you when I want my supper. I'll eat it here, I have some documents to look over. That will be all Miss.' I dismissed her an moments later Mr. Huntsman stood in the doorway looking a bit hesitant.

'Mr. Huntsman!' I exclaimed, a bit too cheerful for the occasion. 'I hope you are settling well in town, I heard from the duke that you bought property down by the eastern gate.' He nodded and opened his mouth to speak:

'I thought it was time I got a new place after everything. This is much bigger than my old house, and no memories'. he paused and I was painfully reminded of his late wife Sarah, whose memory was probably fixed everywhere in their old house. ' Pardon me, my Lady, but why have you called me here?' there was urgency in his voice as he stepped in and closed the door behind him, and I unintentionally backed away so that we stood facing each other by the fire place. My mood sank and it almost felt hard to breathe. I swallowed and begun:

'There is something I want to ask you, but I'm afraid of the consequences of knowing the answer'

'Then you shouldn't ask! Can't we just leave things where they are, and both be happy?' His voice was nervous and I got the sense he didn't want to talk about this but he definitely knew what I was talking about. I hesitated. I could not force this on him after all, but I wanted to know the whole truth so badly.

'As you wish Mr. Huntsman.' I said biting my lip. 'And the matter of the enchanted forest, I want to bring together a team of three-four men to ride out and examine the changes in the forest. We still don't fully know how Ravenna's rule affected the state of the forest, and how it can have changed since she was killed. My hope is that the forbidden evil parts will reduce in size as her evil powers over the land has been destroyed, but I am not sure that this is the case. My wish is that you, with your knowledge and skills will lead this team, together with men of your choosing, and ride out soon. I will demand yearly checkups of this sort to fully grasp the changes in the land and be able to document these over time.' The Huntsman stood their looking like his mind was left back in the early parts of our conversation, and was now trying to grasp what I was saying. 'What say you?' I asked since he didn't seem eager to answer. He opened his mouth:

'Well, My Lady, I was under the impression that you wanted me here for your protection, but that is clearly no longer the case. I assume you have more qualified guards to do that. I will perform this research, if it's what you will of me, I obviously don't have a wife or a family here to look after anyway.' I couldn't believe it. He was hurt! I had barely seen him since the day after the coronation when I asked him to be part of my guarding staff, and here he was complaining about the fact that I sent him away on an important mission. He continued.

'Since you already know where I live, have all the information sent to me there. I must leave now, I have things to attend to.' He turned his back to leave, and half amused, half scared I grabbed his arm to prevent him. He caught my hand and dragged me closer to his tall frame. His blue eyes tingled with anger, angst and some kind of spark that I couldn't place. He held me like that for a couple of seconds, eyes fixing mine, bodies tight together forced by his hand on my wrist.

It was I who stretched my neck and raised to my toes first to try and catch his lips with mine, but the minute the gesture had started he leaned forward and lightly kissed me. I lingered there, felt the familiarity of the moment. Indeed, this wasn't our first kiss, I was sure of that now.

He leaned his forehead against mine and we stood like that with closed eyes for a minute or two, feeling the warmth of each other's bodies inhaling the scent of each other that was so familiar yet so painfully irresistible.

'I knew it was you. You brought me back to life after the curse. I have felt it for a while, heard your words in my dreams, felt your lips against mine.' It came out as a whisper, and he stood there motionless for a while and then gave out a big sigh. He stepped away and I almost fell forward as he distanced himself.

'My Queen' he begun, 'The right thing here might be just that job you offered me. Some time away might do me some good.' He looked like he was in pain, but seemed so certain of his words that I couldn't muster up the strength to argue. 'Might be the right thing for us both' he continued.

'But...' I really didn't know what to say, I mean there was really no room for this mess in our lives anyway, especially in mine. Could this even happen? would it be accepted by the household, by my politicians, by my people? And if not, would I put the stability of my kingdom in jeopardy because of my own personal affairs? Still, he saved my life. Without him there would be no kingdom of mine, it would all still be under the terror of Ravenna, and they all owed him so much. Maybe time would be the thing that would put this in perspective against all the other things going on in my life.

'Maybe it is best. I will send you the information tomorrow. you will leave next week and return by the end of next month' I said it with a pang of pain in my heart, for this would mean more than a whole month away from him. But he was right. It wasn't meant to be, not to mention the position I would put him in. Better he forget me and concentrated on the job that needed to be done.

'My Queen' Ho bowed slightly and backed out of the room. I closed it and sat down behind it, taking deep breaths. After a few minutes of collecting my thoughts and calming down my breathing I called on Lucy to come with the supper. The task of being queen somehow seemed even more daunting.