The sun was setting behind the stables by the time Regina had calmed herself enough to have an actual conversation and David must have sensed that she was ready.
"What was his name?" He asked as he ran his fingers through her hair...that she wasn't exactly sure when he had unpinned. They were on the hay covered ground; David's back against the wooden door of Lana's stall and Regina laying on her back with her head in his lap, staring absently up the ceiling.
"Who?"
"The man who gave you the ring that you always fidget with." He nodded towards her left hand. "You wear that ring like a security blanket."
She took a deep breath. "His name was Daniel. We were engaged but he was my family's stable boy. My mother didn't approve." She started to spin the ring as she spoke. "While Daniel and I were out riding one day, I saved a little girl on a runaway horse. That little girl turned out to be Snow White." She spat out the name like it was poison. "As a thank you for saving his precious daughter, the King asked for my hand and my mother accepted on my behalf without even discussing it with me. Daniel and I planned to run away together but Snow found out about us. She told my mother, and she, well...let's just say that my mother introduced my family to dark magic long before I came around. She ripped out Daniel's heart and crushed it in front of me."
The hand that had been stroking her hair reached out and took her left hand in his own, bringing it to his lips. He laid a kiss against Daniel's ring before releasing her hand and returning his own to her hair. "King George isn't my real father. I was one of two twin boys born to a shepherd and his wife. My real parents traded my brother, James, in exchange for saving the family farm. James ended up as the son of King George and his wife. When James died unexpectedly, my family's farm had again fallen on hard times. I agreed to take his place as the King's son to save it."
Regina suddenly understood why David had been so upset by Snow White's theft of her engagement ring. It hadn't belonged to the late Queen, it had belonged to his real mother. The woman he loved enough to give up his future for. She found herself feeling not only love for her fiance but also kinship. They had led two completely different lives but neither one of them had had it easy. Neither one had ever truly been in control of their own destinies.
"We will get your mother's ring back." She found herself promising once again.
"I know. I trust you, my darling." She glanced at him to find a warm smile on his face as he looked down at her. "Are you feeling any better about the situation we find ourselves in?" He asked gently.
She shook her head in his lap and chuckled. "I still don't like being forced into marriage and having children but...I'm feeling much better about you."
"Good," He ran his hand along her cheek. "We may not have a choice in all of this but I will treat you and our children right." He promised.
Even though the thought of having children still made her a little sick to her stomach, Regina wholeheartedly believed him.
"I trust you too." She admitted and then took a chance. "David...do you think that it's possible that two broken people could find happiness with each other? Maybe make each other whole again?"
David pulled her up into a seated position and cupped her face in both hands. "I think that it is more than possible." He told her before softly kissing her.
Above the kissing pair stood Lana the horse. The only living soul to have heard the Evil Queen and the pseudo-prince that his subjects had nicknamed, Prince Charming, share their deepest secrets. The only one to witness the unlikely pair give love a chance. Lana was one lucky horse.