Here is chapter 3! It's a bit longer than the others. Please review and give me some feedback! Reviews help me write faster :)
By the way, the name Lana in the story doesn't have anything to do with how Regina is played by Lana Parrilla, and everything to do with the fact that I just love that name.
~~~~ 17 years later ~~~~
Regina sat alone in her castle, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Regina had become queen, an evil queen. She inflicted pain and fear onto her subjects. She had killed her husband, the king, years ago and was plotting to kill her stepdaughter Snow White. She was a completely different person than what she was when she had Daniel in her life. She had forgotten the kind and innocent girl she used to be.
Regina sighed, and began to twist her long ponytail of hair between her fingers.
"Good morning, Regina," said a voice behind her. It was her father, Henry. "Good morning father," she said, emotionless.
"Do you know what day it is today?" He asked. "No," Regina said, looking down and continuing to play with her hair, beginning to get irritated.
"Lana would have been 17 today," he said. Regina looked up at him. "I don't have time to keep track of silly things like that. You know I don't like to talk about the past, especially her," Regina said coldly.
"I know. I was just wondering if you knew," Henry said. "Why would I make it a point to remember? She's dead," Regina said, giving her father a look that implied that conversation was over.
"Lana! Come inside!" yelled a voice from the distance.
Lana sighed and closed her book. She stood up, and untied her horse from the tree she had been leaning on. She mounted her horse and rode out of the large field and in the direction of her cottage. That voice belonged to her father, who had found Lana on their doorstep when she was a baby 17 years ago. Lana rode her horse to the cottage, dismounted and tied the lead to a tree, and ran inside.
"What is it?" Lana asked. "Well I've been meaning to discuss something with you," he said.
"What?" Lana asked, sitting down. "Marriage," her father said. Lana rolled her eyes. "Not this again..." She said.
He paused, looking at her. "Shouldn't you be wearing one of those dresses I bought for you? What if a boy sees you in those ugly rags?" Her father said disapprovingly, looking at her outfit. She wore a white shirt with a brown riding jacket, tan riding pants, and brown leather boots. "So what? I like dressing this way," she said.
"Lana, this is important. Almost every girl your age is married already. And you are the most beautiful girl in our village, it's ridiculous that you aren't married yet," he said.
This was true. Lana was the prettiest girl in the whole village, maybe even the surrounding villages as well. She had long, silky dark brown hair that almost reached her hips. She had big brown eyes, with a few light freckles below them and on the bridge of her nose, right above her perfectly sculpted cheekbones. She had a petite frame, she was thin and short, not much taller than 5 feet.
"Now, the man next door is having his nephew come and live with him. He is around your age, and he is a very nice boy with a lot of money, who I've heard is interested in you," Lana's father said. Lana just raised an eyebrow. "Well, tell him I said no thanks," Lana said, in an annoyed tone.
"Lana, you can't just keep denying everyone. You are going to have to pick one, until I pick for you," her father said. "You are already picking for me. I want to chose the right person, at the right time. I haven't met anyone I like yet. Why can't you back off until then?" Lana asked.
"Maybe you would have found someone by now if you didn't partake in such man-like activities," her father said. "Why does it matter if I like to ride horses and hunt? Riding horses, shooting arrows, and reading are the only things I like to do," Lana said.
"Why can't you do things like sew and cook, like what girls your age do? You don't need to be doing unproductive things like riding... or reading books for that matter. I should have never given you an education." he said. "Why not? Why can't you let me make something of myself that's not somebody's wife? What if I want to do more with my life than laundry and making dinner?" Lana said, beginning to raise her voice.
"Because thats just not a woman's place! Why are you being so difficult?" Her father asked. "I'm not, you are. You treat me like a piece of property you can just sign off to a rich man so we can move up a social class," Lana said, annoyed.
"That's not true Lana. That's just how the world works," her father said. "Well I want to make my own choices. And I chose to not have this conversation now. It's not a very good way to celebrate my birthday, now is it?" Lana said, getting up from the table and going into her room, slamming the door behind her.
She sat down on her bed, and began to play with her necklace that she always wore around her neck. She had gotten the necklace when she was a baby, it had 'Lana' engraved on it. That's how she got her name. As she twisted it on between her fingers, she got an idea. There was no way she could stay here any longer. She couldn't deal with all the pressure on her to get married. She could run away and start a new life. Lana quickly packed her leather bag full of things she would need. She heard her father coming up the stairs, so she quickly hid the bag under her bed. Her father opened the door to her room.
"You know, this would be a lot easier if you eased up a little. You have gotten countless marriage proposals, all of which you rejected and ruined... But surely there has been one man that you liked," her father said, in a softer voice than before. "No. I don't want to get married," Lana said, her back turned from her father.
"It's because mother left, isn't it? That's why you're like this," Lana said. "Lana, don't say that. She left when you were 3, you barely remember her. She has nothing to do with this. Women just have to get married," her father said.
"Well, I don't want to. I'm going to show you that a single woman can do something with her life besides being a wife," Lana said angrily, grabbing the bag from under her bed and storming out of her room. "Lana, where are you going?" Her father yelled after her as Lana ran outside. "Away from here," she said, grabbing her bow and arrows and mounting her horse.
"Lana, you can't just run away!" Her father said. "Watch me," Lana growled. Her father began to get angry. "No daughter of mine will go unmarried. Don't bother coming back until you've found a husband!" Her father yelled at her angrily.
And with that, Lana rode off as fast as the horse would go.
Lana continued her ride on a long, deserted dirt road. She didn't know where it would take her, but she kept going anyway. She saw a merchants cart in the distance, coming towards her. She thought nothing of it until she heard a man scream. "Help! Somebody help me!" He shouted.
Lana quickly rode over to him, to see the man being attacked by a brown bear. The bear swiped at the man, cutting his arm and causing him to fall back. Right before it was about to pounce on its prey, in one swift move Lana drew the arrow on the bow and shot the bear. The bear howled and fell over.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, you saved my life!" The old man said. "No problem," Lana said, getting off the horse to retrieve the arrow from the bears eye.
"Are you hurt?" Lana asked. The old man held up his arm, which had a large bleeding scratch on it. "I'll be ok. Don't worry about me," the old man said.
Lana held up her hand to his wound, and a purple haze came from her palm, and made the wound glow bright blue. In a matter of seconds, the wound was healed.
"You can do magic?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm a healer," Lana said. "Remarkable..." he said, admiring his arm.
He paused. "What is your name?" He asked. "Lana," she responded, smiling. "Lana..." The old man said, appearing to be in thought.
"That is a beautiful necklace you have... May I see it?" The old man said. "Sure," Lana said, holding it up for him to see. He came closer to examine it, and then gasped.
"It can't be... It really is you," the old man whispered. "What do you mean?" Lana asked, confused. "You were left on a doorstep when you were a baby, correct?" He said. "Yes... I was. Do you know my parents?" Lana said excitedly.
"Yes, I do. You my dear, are Queen Regina's daughter," the old man said, smiling. Lana gasped. "Are...are you sure?" She said, shocked.
"Yes, I'm sure. I was the one who put you on that doorstep 17 years ago today. Happy Birthday Lana," he said smiling. "Thanks," Lana said.
"Why don't we sit down for a while? Ill make some tea from my cart, and ill tell you the story," he said. "Ok," Lana said, smiling. She tied her horse to a tree while the old man made a kettle of tea.
They both sat on the side of the road, and the old man began to speak.
"17 years ago, Regina was quite a different woman than she is now. She was kind, and loved to ride horses... Much like yourself. Anyway, her mother, Cora, pressured her to marry someone rich and powerful. Regina was reluctant because she was in love with Daniel the stable boy. One day, while seeing Daniel in the fields, she saved Snow White, King Leopold's daughter, from a wild horse. King Leopold admired Regina's bravery and interest in his daughter Snow, and proposed to her. Cora accepted of course, but Regina was upset. She planned to run away with Daniel that night, so she wouldn't have to marry the king. Cora caught them, and she ripped Daniels heart out and crushed it, right in front of Regina. She was devastated of course, she cried for weeks. What they had was true love. And the product of true love, was you. A few weeks later after his death, Regina found out she was pregnant with you. She wanted to keep you, trust me she did. But when Cora found out, she swore she would have you killed. She had to tell the king that she was very ill to keep her pregnancy a secret. When she gave birth to you, she put that necklace around your neck so you would have a name in heaven. She had about 5 minutes with you until your mother gave you to me and told me to leave you on the hillside to die. When I got there, I couldn't bring myself to do it. So I went to the nearest village, and left you on the doorstep of the nicest cottage I could find," the old man said.
"How do you know all this?" Lana asked. "I was a servant at her estate," the old man said.
"Wow...I can't believe I'm the Queen's daughter. Do you think she would accept me if I went to see her?" Lana asked. "Hard to say. I know she was devastated when Cora took you away from her, but she has changed a lot since then. You know how she is. But it's worth a try," the old man said.
"Thank you, I think I'll go over there now," Lana said. She thanked the old man again and finished her tea, then gathered her things and mounted her horse once again.