Sprinting into the stable, Regina failed in blinking back the tears that stung her eyes. She took deep, wallowing breaths before she finally acknowledged the stable boy, Daniel. He smiled at her, but all she could do was grimace.
Then, her mind was set. Then, she knew what she wanted to do.
"Get a horse ready for me, immediately." she commanded.
"But milady—"
"Just do it!" she snapped. While she started pacing— he got to work— the straw scuffled under her boots, which scraped the stone occasionally.
Regina's advantage was the lack of witnesses. Only Daniel would know she had asked for a horse. The disadvantage was that her mother had magic.
If her mother saw her… if her mother saw her, Regina doubted her own mother enough to believe she was heartless enough to hurt her. Or kill her. Regina shoved the thoughts away as her stomach squirmed with fear.
Finally, the stable boy handed her the reins of the finest horse her family owned. She looked up into his understanding eyes.
"Good luck," he told her, confirming her assumption; he had guessed right.
Simply, she nodded, keeping her face blank.
Her knees were so weak with uncertainty that had gradually building up that she could topple over. For the first time since her plan had formed, she felt a flicker of uncertainty. Did she really want to leave a life where she was sheltered, fed, clean? Did she really want to leave it all to a future of stumbling blindly through thorns and thickets?
She gripped the reign harder, and if her gloves were off, her knuckles would be white.
She wanted her freedom.
As soon as she galloped the horse out of the stables, across the wet grass with the damp night air rushing past her face, she felt exhilarated. Light hearted. Not a thing did she regret.
In an absent minded trigger, she laughed while her hair whipped like the sails of a ship. Occasionally, she would bounce a little higher from the saddle, each time feeling like she could soar off it and into the sky. No magical manipulation. No lectures of acting like a lady. No overwhelming dresses and no punishments for wanting to be… her.
A dull ache remained in her mind as she was constantly reminded that she was also leaving her father behind. He loved her, not the bad way Cora claimed to love Regina. He supported her. But it just wasn't enough.
There was no way she was going to marry the king.
Eventually, her parents would find the letter that she had left amidst the clutter of her desk. Would they understand? Whatever they thought, it would never reach her again.
Groaning, Regina's eyes peeled open. All she could see was darkness from the oddly soft ground she was laying on. Along with an object that poked her back uncomfortably.
"What the bloody hell did you do?" a voice hissed beside her. Hook.
Instinct made her lash out and connect her fist with the man beside her, as was fairly reasonable considering their last encounter before blackness had claimed their minds.
After he let out a surprised yell of pain, Regina sprang up and stumbled through the dark. Surely there would be some source of light somewhere.
Like a startled deer, she froze when a rattling sound occurred somewhere to her right.
"Lass, is that you?" Hook whispered frantically.
Words were lost to her as she was too busy trying to distinguish the muffled noises behind the rattling. If she wasn't mistaken, there were people. Talking. Not the stiff way Regina and her mother always did so. In fact, it appeared the two were laughing as well.
Light was normally a good thing. Yet when it revealed itself so suddenly upon her, Regina could say that she would much rather dive like a creature into the shadowy corners.
The light pooled from the door and stretched out to Regina, bathing her into the attention of a woman and a small boy, who were both open-mouthed.
Had Regina not been too tense with anxiety, she would have noticed the odd objects occupying the different parts of the room.
Regina stared— rooted to the spot— at the woman, whose eyes kept darting between her and Hook, who was sprawled on the floor and ominously eyeing the pair at the door. The boy blinked curiously as the woman slowly raised her hand to him, no doubt ready to usher him backwards.
"What the hell?" the woman muttered.
Hook swiftly stood up, backing toward Regina.
"Where's that contraption you took from me?" he murmured as the woman at the door reached for something in her pocket.
Regina's heart jumped to her throat
"You mean the one you stole?" she replied, scanning the floor. An inward part of her desperately hoped she wouldn't discover it in a different condition to how she had first found it.
"It's not like you did any better, lass." Hook retaliated. "Now where is it?"
"Oh no."
That was the object she had been laying on, which had quickly scattered from her mind.
Hook followed her petrified stare to the necklace she had stolen from Hook to return to The Dark One for a deal. One that engulfed her and Hook the moment she began fiddling with it in the frenzy of panic that had gripped her mind as Hook caught her beforehand trying to steal it.
It was broken. They were stuck here, and they had no idea where 'here' was.