WARNING: Mentions of miscarriage, and character deaths.


The Fallen Queen

When Regina was a little girl, she learned two inevitable truths.

Her family loved her and she was going to marry Daniel.

She'd met him when his father, the stable hand, had to bring him with him as his wife had recently passed. The man had been really nervous about the whole thing. Regina's mother didn't care.

"We're always welcome to company right girls?" Mother had asked.

"Or course!" Zelena had insisted, introducing herself to the boy. Regina had decided it was better to hid behind her mother's leg.

"I'm not going to bite you." Daniel had stated plainly. "My name is Daniel, I love horses."

Regina remembered he had brown eyes, just like her. She really liked his eyes.

"I like horses too." She said softly, coming out.

"Come on Gina, don't be shy." Her sister teased. Regina turned on her heel sticking her tongue out at her older sister.

"It's Re-Gina!" She exclaimed. "Regina!"

Her mother snickered under her breath.

"I think you have a pretty name." Daniel said, blushing as soon as he saw her out from behind her mother, all dark hair in a braid and her pale purple dress.

The boy might have well had said I do, because at that moment, Regina was sure that she loved the son of the stable hand.

XXX

When she was barely 18, she was given a terrible choice. Her best friend was planning on assassinating Katheryn Abigail Midas. It was already in the works. If she didn't do something, she would die. Regina didn't know the girl, just recalling that she was Zelena's friend.

But it didn't matter who she was, Regina couldn't stand around, knowing what she knew. She couldn't let an innocent woman die.

But if Regina told someone, Snow would know. Snow didn't handle betrayal well. She was kind of scary; there were rumors that her mother knew magic.

How else could a miller's daughter marry a king?

Daniel had seen how upset she was, as her fiancée, he swore he wanted to help. So she told him. And he told Midas's guards.

"They'll sweep it under the rug." He assured her. "It's royalty, it's what they do."

She'd never cried so much when she heard what would actually happen after it got out what James had tried to do.

Prince James was hanged. Regina saw it, tucked between her elder sister and Daniel, but try as they might, they couldn't protect her from the glare she felt from Snow.

"You're going to pay Regina." She told her when she passed. "You ruined my life, and now you will pay." Regina flinched backwards and Zelena stepped in front of her. She placed a smile on her face.

"Princess, I don't know what kind of high horse you live on but if you're psycho family comes near my sister, it will be you who will pay." She said sweetly.

Regina didn't understand how Zelena could do that, threaten in such a sweet voice.

They took her home immediately, Regina never returned to court. Her mother and Zelena were the only ones who went now, she just stayed home with her father and Daniel.

"You did the right thing, never forget that sweet heart." He insisted, petting her hair as she sobbed. "He died because he let greed control him. You have a strong heart Regina, the most resilient heart. Everything will be ok."

And for a little while, Regina believed him.

XXX

It was the eve of her wedding, nearly fifteen years later. She'd wanted to wait for her sister, it wasn't right for the youngest daughter to marry before her elder sister. But now she could wait no longer. In a few months' time, Regina wouldn't fit in her mother's wedding dress.

She was glowing with happiness, practicing dancing with her father, Zelena was going over with her mother the final details.

"I'm proud of you Gina." She'd teased, bumping into her as she passed with options for the bouquet. "Don't worry about me sister dear. You know me, resilient as always." Regina was pretty sure her sister had no intentions of marrying, but she'd not dare tell that to their mother.

Regina was so happy.

But then she appeared. Regina spotted her first, a mere child all golden blonde hair and deep green eyes. She watched them briefly, Regina swore she was watching them curiously.

"Can I help you?" The girl looked at her with sad eyes.

"No." She said simply, flicking her wrist, and Regina fell to the ground. Their own personal guards tried to intervene, but the girl blew past them too. She released a plume of fire and before Reign knew it, her home was consumed by flames.

Her father helped her up, coughing all the way.

"You need to run Regina, do you understand?"

She didn't.

"That's the Dark One, Queen Snow's daughter." He explained. "She wants to kill you, do you understand? You must run!" He insisted.

She ran. She ran from her burning home, ran and ran, looking around for the stables. She needed to find Daniel. They needed to run.

"Regina, I'm so glad you could make it!" Exclaimed a familiar voice.

Regina gasped as she entered the stables, all their horses were gone. A man was holding Daniel by the throat pinning him to the wall, but most importantly, Queen Snow was standing there dressed in dark silk, practically glowing in dark energy.

Magic.

"Let him go. I'm the one you want." She insisted.

Snow laughed.

"Please darling, if I wanted you dead, I would have killed you, no no, I promised you I'd make you pay didn't I?" She removed an apple from her pocket. "Do you know what this is?"

Regina stared at it, it was perfectly shaped, color bright and ruby like, ever the leaf looked unblemished. Regina knew a thing or two about apples, and that apple was too perfect.

"It has a bit of an extra ingredient, a curse developed by a fairy to try to travel through realms but instead she accidentally made a curse to cause one to sleep for eternity." Snow explained. "There is no cure except for- what was that Huntsman?"

The man turned and looked at her, Regina saw his face. She gasped.

"James how-"

Snow's mock happiness fell a fraction.

"This is David, James's secret twin brother. Say hello David." She said patting the man's hair.

"Hello." The man said. "I hear you killed my brother."

Regina didn't know what to say, she couldn't see a way out of this.

"Now the cure is True Love's kiss." David said simply, looking back at Daniel. "The rarest and most powerful magic of all."

Regina really didn't like this.

"Now Regina, I'm not here to kill you, I'm here to offer you a choice. Prove to me that your love is pure and I'll leave you two alone." Snow stated, moving the apple towards her. "Take a little bite."

Regina moved to do it, she had the apple in her hand when it was snatched back.

"No, actually, I think he should take a bite." She taunted. "I wouldn't want to lose the opportunity to get my revenge if your love isn't all that's cracked up to be." She laughed.

"No!" Regina shouted. "Don't you dare." Whatever was going to happen, she wanted it to happen to her, Snow wanted her to suffer, it was her fault that this had happened, that her family was probably dead by the hands of that demon child. No one else was going to be hurt because of her.

"I'll do it!" She insisted. "I'll eat the apple."

Snow just smirked. Daniel took the apple as David released him. He looked up at her, the same brown eyes she fell in love with staring back at her. He gave her a small smile.

"I love you." He said breathlessly. "Whatever happens, always know that, always know that I love you." And then he took a bite, and then he fell.

Regina remembered screaming , she remembered rushing past Snow, holding her love's head in her lap, trying to get him to wake up.

"To think mother always thought you were so smart." Snow sneered. "Weren't you listening, the only thing that's going to wake him is True Love's Kiss, so pucker up."

Regina looked down at him, at Daniel's too pale skin and too red lips, and then she kissed him. Regina had kissed him dozens of times but this time, he didn't respond to her, he didn't smile into her kiss, he didn't bite softly at her bottom lip, he didn't even breath.

She pulled away and there was nothing, no light show, no sharp intake of breath, there was nothing.

Daniel wasn't going to wake up.

Snow was still laughing. Regina turned to her, not caring that there were tears running down her face, not caring that she was shaking with her agony.

"Wake him up!" she shouted. "Wake him up!"

Snow moved slowly towards her, kneeling down to look at her. "Looks like your love isn't strong enough. I never got the chance to see if my love for James was true, count yourself lucky, you wouldn't begin to understand the agony of losing your soul mate."

She stood back up. "You should probably be thanking me." She snickered, flicking her wrist and she, and David were gone, leaving Regina to the ruins of her home, of her life.

XXX

Regina didn't want to leave Daniel there all by himself, but she was starting to get hungry and thirsty. So she stoned herself and entered her home, stepping through the singed rubble, praying that maybe they had survived that maybe-

The first thing that she saw was her father's body. It made her ill, she didn't know what to do. Snow had left her alive to suffer through this grief, but it was only a matter of time before she came for her.

I can't even bury Daddy.

She then entered her mother's room. She took one look and closed the door. This time she was actually ill. Regina wasn't too sure if it was the sight of her dead parents, of having Daniel enter an immortal sleep and her love for him not being strong enough to wake him or if it was just her baby.

Her baby.

She had to be strong for her unborn child, she had to get what she could and run. Regina stopped in front of her sister's room. She rested her hand on the oak door with her name carved in green, her favorite color.

She just couldn't do it, it would devastate her.

So she ran.

Except the problem was that Regina didn't exactly know how to do that, she didn't know how to hunt or fight, and by the time that the sun set, she was really hungry. Her stomach just kept growling, her dress was ripped and torn and Regina felt entirely broken.

Which is just what she wanted. Regina realized bitterly.

Just to top off her misery, it started to rain, drenching her quickly and completely. She eventually lowered herself, trying to cower beneath a branch to lessen the downpour over her.

She held her eyes tightly shut refusing to cry, refusing to allow her to be the one to make her cry.

But she really wanted to cry.

She didn't know at what point she fell asleep, just that she woke up shivering in the dirt, with something wet on her face.

Correction: something was licking her face.

Regina shot up from her spot, shoving it away. It took a moment before she looked at the creature. It was a black wolf, it hadn't reacted by her outburst, simply taking a step back, cocking his head as she moved. It was just watching her.

"Just great. I'm going to be eaten by wolves." She reasoned, dropping her face into her hands. "Might as well, I'm going to die out here." She nearly sobbed. Regina just really didn't want to cry.

"Don't worry; you're not going to die." Said a voice. Regina snapped to look at the wolf, fearing she was going crazy, because judging by the way it looked at her...she thought the wolf was talking to her.

"And he's not going to eat you. Are you bud?" Regina looked up at a very real human voice answering her. He appeared from the woods, sword at his hip dressed in village clothes, smiling smugly. "Now, how did a very beautiful woman wind up in such a state out here?" He asked, offering his hand to her. She took it, not like she had a choice.

"I was driven out. Please, I need help." The man's smug look faded, he simply looked at her and nodding.

"Of course, come on, my cabin is only a short walk from here." He responded.

Mother always told her to be warry of gentleman offering to help a woman in distress; she said that there were 5 men with bad intentions for every gentleman in existence. Regina just hoped that for once, the odds were on her side.

"The name's Keith, by the way, Keith of Nottingham."

XXXXX

He was a kind man…at times. Occasionally, Keith would exhibit a temper, but not one towards her, never towards her. Slowly, he became her friend but nothing more. In the weeks that followed their meeting, he invited her into his home, extended his house to give her a separate room. He taught her how to shoot a bow and arrow, helped her haul in her first catch.

She appreciated that kindness, especially when she began to show signs of her pregnancy that even he noticed.

So she told him, about the Queen, about Daniel, about her child. He was sympathetic of course, offering her a shoulder to cry on, but she couldn't. She refused to cry.

Regina had no idea why.

He offered to wed her that next morning, but she refused. Out here in the woods, her reputation didn't matter. She wanted her child to know Daniel, not to think this man was him, was their father. Keith understood that, respected it even. He spoke of having a family once, a woman he fell for, but she'd fallen for another. It was the reason why he had isolated himself. Heartbreak was a curious thing.

For a moment, Regina thought she'd be ok. She thought she found someone to help her, to depend on, to be there for when her child was born, so they would have someone if she passed. Child birth was dangerous in the best occasions.

But things for Regina were never easy.

It was a little over two months since her family had died, but this morning, Regina woke up to blood. She was bleeding. She thought nothing of it at first, because fate wouldn't choose to take the only thing she had left, surely they weren't that cruel. Her baby was safe, her baby would be just fine.

Before long, it started to hurt, her lower back ached so badly she could barely move and there was so much blood. It was early in the morning and Keith was out checking the traps. She was all alone.

"Please Daniel." She begged. "Please don't let me lose the last piece of you I have left."

Regina woke up in an elderly woman's home after having fallen unconscious from the blood loss. She was frantic, looking around, studying faces to get some understanding as to what had happened.

"I'm so sorry." The woman said, it was all she needed to say. Regina could not hold onto her denial.

It was then that Regina broke down and cried. When she realized that she had indeed lost everything, she cried. She cried until Keith returned with flowers and some food.

Food. Like that was going to give her back what she had lost, like it was enough to make up for the loss of her parents, her sister, her love, and now her child. Like it was going to help her forget that all of it was her fault, she'd told the secret, she'd gotten Snow's man killed and so Regina's entire family paid the price. It wasn't fair.

When she said such to the man, he revealed another item he'd procured. A bottle of whiskey and a sorry smile.

She had her first drink that night.


This is just part 1 of Regina's backstory, which is pretty dark. I feel like any Regina backstory had to be pretty sad. But it will get better,

Guest Review:

andria: I'm glad you liked it!

~Luna