2.

Cold. Sweat. Wood. A bit of... mint?

Regina was starting to blink her eyes as she gradually regained consciousness. She could hear some whispers and muffled sounds in the background, but she couldn't quite see where they were coming from exactly. As she started regaining a better hold of her vision, she realized she was in a room which walls, ceiling and floor were made of a deep brown wood. A dim light was coming from some candles and a fire crackling in the fireplace under a bronze pot from where a delicious smell was coming from.

"What am I doing here?" Regina thought. And as she tried to get up she felt a strong pain on the side of her head.

"Ouch!" She winced and put a hand on where she felt the pain. Someone had put a bandage there.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Regina looked to her side when she heard the voice and felt a hand resting on her shoulder trying to lie her back down. A young man was knelt down beside her. He had the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen and golden met light brown in his hair. He smiled when he saw her looking at him. "That smile though." Regina thought, dazzled. "No, Regina! Get back to your senses!"

"Wh..Who are you? What am I doing here?" The girl stuttered as she tried to pull away from his touch.

The boy stood up and went to the table on which was put a steaming bowl of, what Regina supposed, was probably some soup. He took the said bowl and got back to her. He handed her the bowl and finally spoke up as she didn't make any movement to take it. "My name is David. I was gathering some wood and I saw you fall." The boy had a dazzling voice as well. "How can that be even possible..?" Regina asked herself. "Now you should drink this. It's a mint tea. It is all we have for now. Tomorrow I will go buy some herbs that will be more effective on your health."

"Tea huh? So I was wrong... anyway." "Th..thanks." Regina said shivering.

"You are freezing! Drink it up, it'll do you much good."

Regina didn't let him repeat it twice. She took the hot bowl from David's hand and started blowing on it before sipping the liquid. He was watching her drink and that made her feel a bit uneasy. When she had done drinking he just extended his hand and she gave him the empty bowl. She felt less cold but her head was aching. She put a hand to the side of her head and winced at the touch. David, who had seen her wince, approached her again and sat next to her.

"May I?" He asked gesturing towards her head.

She thought for a moment and then nodded. David delicately and carefully removed the bandage from the girl's head. Although it was not a very large cut, it kept bleeding a bit. He got up to fetch some ointment that he put on the wound. As he did so, Regina couldn't help but observe him closely. He had a mature yet still chubby face, like if he had just left childhood years behind him. "How old can he be? He seems so easy at everything." Regina thought.

"I am sixteen." David talked as if he had heard her unsaid question. "By the way, what is your name?"

"R..Regina." She replied astonished.

"There. Done." David said as he put a new bandage on the cut.

"Thank you." It then hit her. "Did you say tomorrow?! What time is it? I need to go."

David's brows furrowed. "It is the middle of the night and it is freeing outside. I cannot possibly let you go in this weather and in your condition."

"I am fine. Thank you for tending me but I feel fine. I can totally leave." She made an attempt to get up but as she put a feet on the ground she started feeling dizzy. She decided to ignore it and got up. Immediately she regretted it. She had not made three steps that she felt like everything was turning around her. Was that floor moving? Last thing she saw was two worried blue eyes before she fainted.

xXx

"Is this some kind of joke?" Regina mumbled as she awoke slowly.

Not far from her, someone chuckled. Her eyes fluttered wide open at the sound which caused the light to hurt them. Was it morning already? Sunshine was coming from two little windows that she hadn't noticed before. As her eyes were readjusting to morning light, she heard more sounds around her.

The voice she had heard was not that of the blue-eyed boy from the night. Had it just be a dream then? It had been the voice of a woman. Now that she could see clearly, she noticed the woman from which it had came from. It was a short elderly woman with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, as if she had smiled a lot, and her hair was still an almond color with shades of grey on the sides and the top of her head. She was beautiful.

She was sat behind a loom but, as soon as she felt the girl's gaze on her, she looked up and smiled. Regina felt at ease seeing her smile at her but she didn't know the woman and it still made her slightly uncomfortable.

"Who are you? Wh..Where is the boy? David.." Regina asked with a bit of anxiety in her voice.

"Don't worry. He should be back s.."

"Mother? Is she … Oh! Good morning Sleeping Beauty." David laughed as he entered the house with a basket full of fruits, herbs and little phials from what Regina could see when she turned to him. "I see you already introduced each other." He added while kissing the woman on the top of her head.

"We were about to do so darling." The woman explained smiling while he went to put everything in order.

"Oh, go ahead then."

"I am Ruth, David's mother."

"Oh! I am sorry if I was a bit unpleasant earlier. My name is Regina." Regina apologized slightly ashamed.

"Don't worry dear. Seems like you back from far away!" Ruth gently told her. "How are you feeling?"

"Better I guess. I think I don't have a fever anymore but my head still hurt a little." Regina answered as she unconsciously finger-tipped the bandage. "How long have I been...out?" She asked David who was preparing some mixture. He looked up to her frowning.

"It is the afternoon..."

"What?!" Regina exclaimed in shock. "You can't be saying the truth..The afternoon? Are you sure?"

"Yes I am sure", David chuckled sightly but then he turned serious. "I was very worried actually... You were boiling hot with fever and you were shivering. I was truly afraid you wouldn't make it." David sighed lost in thoughts. After ten seconds nevertheless he looked at her and smiled. "When the fever finally went down I took advantage of it to go fetch the herbs I told you about yesterday." He paused and then added "I am so glad that you are alright now. Here, take this, it will do you good." He said while handing her a bowl of soup and a piece of bread.

Until then, Regina hadn't realized how hungry she was. As soon as the delicious smell of the soup reached her nose, her stomach made a loud and weird sound making mother and son to laugh cheerfully, and the girl to blush. She took the bowl with both her hands, smiling as she inhaled the delicious smell of its content. She didn't wait any longer and ate it all delightfully.

Hello everybody! So here is my second chapter! Hope you enjoyed it. :) I quite know where i want this fic to head to but don't know yet how to get to that...if that makes any sense. ^^ As i'm moving in two days i'm sorry i won't be able to update very soon. But i'll try to, at least, write more chapters so that when i finally can upload, you won't have to wait too much. Do tell me what i can improve and how you feel about it. Talk to you soon! :D -Sarah.