David and Granny were replacing the wineskins filled with hot water. Regina had been warming up progressively for the past hour. Her skin had a more pinkish color and her breathing had evened out as she fell into a deep sleep. She needed rest and the pair had decided to take turns taking care of the Queen for the next few days. Her body temperature would need to be carefully monitored and her hands bathed regularly in warm water. As they were tucking her up one more time under her mountain of blankets, the Huntsman knocked and entered the warm chamber.
"Here are the documents you requested, Your Majesty."
David nodded and pointed toward the small dining table. "Thank you. Leave them there." He was about to say more but couldn't bring himself to do so. He was still angry at his friend for what happened although he knew he was mostly responsible for it. The Huntsman had been doing his job by bringing his attention to a problem. If David had been quicker and more vehement in his refusal, Regina wouldn't have left the castle. She wouldn't be at risk of gangrene.
The Huntsman placed the two-foot-high pile of documents on the table and left without another word. Granny couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Light reading before bedtime?"
David sighed. "You could say that. I need to figure out a matter that almost cost Regina her life."
Granny's expression grew serious. She had no idea why the Queen decided to take a ride in that storm but she had the strong feeling that it had to do with the rumors spreading across the castle. "So the rumors are true. You are about to marry. And not Regina."
David gaped at the old woman. "What?"
The King's stupefaction disturbed Granny. "Surely you're aware of the rumor spreading around the Palace?"
David shook his head. "No. I thought this conversation stayed between me and the Huntsman. Yes, we have talked about me marrying to ensure the succession. But we disagreed on who should be my wife. Regina overheard part of the conversation."
Granny's eyes narrowed. "Which part exactly?"
"The part where the Huntsman suggested I should marry a woman capable of bearing a child and take Regina as a concubine."
Granny gasped in shock. No wonder Regina had left. "And you agreed with him?"
"No. But I didn't disagree fast enough. And Regina probably never heard the last part of our conversation. I was going to ask her to marry me that night."
Granny smiled. She had been waiting for that moment. Her smile faded as she realized what had happened. "But she never got the chance to hear the proposal."
David shook his head one more time. "But the Huntsman was right about two things. One, the Kingdom will not accept her easily. And two, she may be unable to produce an heir."
Granny motioned toward the papers on the dining table. "Hence the light reading?"
"Yes."
The old woman readjusted the blankets around the Queen one more time. She wanted to make sure that the woman she had come to love as a daughter would be comfortable for the night. "I'll leave you to it then."
David smiled. "Good night Granny."
"Good night David. I'll be back in the morning to take care of her hands." On those words, she left the Queen's bedchambers.
David kissed Regina's forehead tenderly, trying to pour some of his strength into her. Although her life was no longer in danger, she had a long road to recovery ahead of her. She suffered frostbites on most of her fingers and she would need a lot of care if she were to ever regain full functionality. Next, David reached for the pile of documents and sighed. He would have a long night ahead of him as well. He sat at the table and started reading the Kingdom laws.
David read for a few hours, checking regularly on Regina to make sure she was still sleeping peacefully. He had removed the wineskins and a few layers of blankets. Her chambers were uncomfortably warm but he knew she still needed it. He was about one third of the way through his reading but his eyes were slowly falling shut as the events of the day finally caught up with him. He removed his shirt and lay next to Regina on top of the blankets. He kissed her forehead and stroke her cheek before falling asleep next to her.
The suffocating warmth woke the King a few hours later. The sun was already rising over the horizon, revealing the snow-covered landscape. After checking that Regina was still sleeping peacefully, he gathered the documents and settled on the chaise-longue near the balcony where the cool breeze provided him with some relief. He pored over the documents until he found the text he had been looking for. A smile illuminated his entire face.
ECECEC
Regina was warm. And comfortable. A soft mattress had replaced the cold and hard forest floor. She felt safe, surrounded by David's scent. But there was still pain. Her hands were assaulted by millions of tiny needles pricking into her tender skin. She didn't try to move them but could feel the bandages tied around her wrists.
She slowly opened her eyes. David was sitting across from her bed, reading over some documents. She let herself admire his muscled arms and torso and a longing constricted her chest. He wasn't hers. Soon he would be marrying a woman capable of bearing him a child. Her eyes lingered on his jaw; the slight stumble indicating he hadn't shaved in the past few days. How long had she been asleep?
Regina didn't dare to move; she didn't want to alert him of her wakefulness. She allowed herself a few more instants of peace and dreams that she could be happy with him. A smile spread across his face and Regina felt a pang of sadness in her heart. She would never be able to see him smile at her again.
David took the document and set it aside. He could settle the matter of succession during the next council meeting. One that Regina could attend. He raised his head to check on the woman in question. His smile widened as he saw the two brown orbs staring right at him.
Regina let the tears flow freely down her cheeks. His smile felt like a knife going through her heart. She didn't want to hear what he had to say.
David grew concerned at the tears. He hurried to the Queen's side and sat next to her on the bed, wiping her tears with his thumb. "Regina, how are you feeling? Are you in pain?"
His concerned tone had the opposite effect than the one he had hoped. Regina sobbed, trying to hide her face into the pillow. She didn't want his concerns. She just wanted him to leave her alone. But he wouldn't.
David slid under the blankets and pulled Regina to him. She tensed up at first before relaxing into his embrace and burying her face into his chest. He let her cry. They needed to talk and he wanted to reassure her but there was no point in reasoning with her when she didn't want to listen. He had learned this lesson before. Instead, he would let her bring the subject up on her own terms.
Regina quieted into David's embrace. His scent and strong arms around her were lulling her back to sleep. She was dozing on and off, holding on to him tightly each time she felt herself drift back into slumber, the movement jolting her awake. She was afraid to lose him if she went back to sleep. He may not be here once she would wake.
David felt her struggle and he wanted a calm and rested Regina for the conversation they needed to have. Although he wanted to reassure her that he wasn't going to leave her, he also wanted to tell her how much she had hurt him as well. She still didn't trust him enough. Instead of talking to him she had chosen to run away. And now that he knew she was out of danger, the pain and anger came rushing. "Sleep. I'll stay with you. I'll be here when you wake."
Regina nodded against his chest and closed her eyes, letting sleep claim her one more time. David rubbed her back soothingly and he continued to do so until she woke an hour later. She didn't speak nor move for a long time. David knew she was awake but he was going to give her time. Finally, she broke the silence. "How did you find me?'
"Blue used a locator spell."
"Blue?" Regina couldn't hide her surprise.
"Yes. There are a lot of people here who care about you. And you scared all of us."
He had tried to guilt her and it worked. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not the only one you need to apologize to. Why did you leave?"
He already knew the answer but he needed to hear it from her. He felt Regina tense and her tone was ice cold when she answered him. "I won't be your concubine. I won't be someone's second choice again."
David didn't respond right away. "Have I ever made you feel like you were my second choice?" Regina hesitated before shaking her head. David continued; he needed her to admit she had overheard his conversation with the Huntsman. "So why are you thinking you're my second choice?"
The silence was deafening. David was trying to slow his heart rate, he needed to stay calm. Being angry never solved any problems, least of all with Regina. "I overheard you and the Huntsman."
David didn't answer right away. "And did I say that I wanted you as my concubine?"
Regina pushed away from David and sat up on the bed, glaring at him. How did he dare play on semantics with her? "You didn't deny it!" She yelled.
David sat up. "Yes I did. But by that time you were probably already gone! Why Regina? Why?" He was yelling too. So much for a calm conversation.
"I told you. I won't be someone you can empty yourself into when you need to scratch an itch!"
"And I never thought about you like this! I would never do this to you! And the fact that you think that I would be capable of it does hurt me!" He couldn't stand the heat anymore and stood from the bed, pacing the room. "I don't know what to do Regina. Every time I think you start trusting me, you pull something like this! Do you think I'm happy about the situation? No. I'm not. I never asked to be King! I never asked for the responsibility of it. Like you, all I wanted was to marry for love and live on a farm away from all of this. But do you see me run away? No. I told the Huntsman that I was not going to choose anyone but you. You'd have heard that if you had stayed. I was going to propose to you that night. But instead of trusting me to make the right choice, you ran away. How can you say you love me when you can't even trust me?"
He knew he had gone too far when he saw the expression on her face. But it had to be said. "Then maybe we shouldn't be together. I'm sorry I'm not good enough for your high moral standards."
"All I'm asking is for you to come talk to me when we have a problem rather than run away. If you had come to dinner that night, even angry, we would have talked. But instead you almost died. Why couldn't you have waited just one night?"
Her eyes turned cold and her tone venomous when she finally replied. "Because the last time I waited to run away, my mother crushed my True Love's heart in front of me and I was forced to bed a man old enough to be my father a few weeks after that." David couldn't help the pity to show in his eyes. It only fueled her anger. "That's right Charming! Not everyone had a loving mother and a bandit to save them from their fate. I had to live through my nightmares. I had to watch my mother crushed the heart of the man I loved most. I had to live with the girl responsible for it. But you know what was the hardest part? Trying so hard not to love her despite everything. Do you know how it feels to love the person who killed your True Love?" The words had escaped her mouth before she could think about it. She stopped herself but the expression on David's face told her it was too late.
His entire body was shaking in anger. He couldn't look at her any longer. Did he know what it felt like? Oh yes, he had a fair idea. The guilt and the shame of it all. He couldn't stand being in the same room with her so he grabbed his shirt and left, barely conscious of crossing path with Granny on his way to his chambers.
The old woman watched the tear-strained face of the King and sighed.
ECECEC
Granny entered Regina's bedchamber without knocking. The woman was too startled to protest and her anger evaporated when she saw the woman she grew to love as a mother. She wanted some comfort and she knew Granny would provide it to her. The old woman placed the pot of warm water next to Regina and looked at the Queen. She definitely looked healthier despite the red eyes and the tears flowing down her face. She rubbed Regina's arm in comfort. "Would you care to tell me what happened?"
Regina tried to contain her sobs. "David."
Regina didn't say more. Granny sighed. "Since I left him here yesterday worried sick about you, I figured that much. What happened between the two of you?"
"We had a fight."
Granny frowned. They fought before. She wondered what was different this time to send both of them into such despair. "Regina, what happened?"
Regina fell into Granny's embrace, hugging the other woman tightly. "I overheard him talking with the Huntsman."
"About him taking a wife?" Regina pushed herself off Granny and looked at her questioningly. "He told me last night when we were taking care of you. He said you overheard their conversation about taking you as a concubine but probably not the end of it."
Regina shook her head. "When he didn't try to defend me, I left."
"He seemed genuinely sorry about that last night. What happened?"
Regina took a deep breath looking away from the woman toward the snow-covered mountains. "He told me that if I had stayed I would have heard him say that he wanted to marry me. But I chose to run away instead of talking to him. That I didn't trust him."
"He may have a point. You should have talked to him or at least one of us. Not scare all of us to death." Regina's head turned back abruptly. How could Granny betray her this way? Her expression turned cold. Granny had seen her like this before, when she was still dealing with the Evil Queen. "Don't give me that look, child. You and I both know you owe him an apology."
"No."
"Regina…. Deep down you know he is right. After everything that happened between the two of you, you at least owed him the right to give you an explanation."
"Maybe very deep down." Granny smiled. This was as much of an admission that she was going to get. Her smile faded as the Queen continued. "It doesn't matter anyway. He may have forgiven me for running away but he won't ever forgive me for what I said."
Regina collapsed in Granny's embrace one more time and wept in her arms. The old woman rocked them back and forth on the bed trying to calm the sobbing Queen but to no avail. "Regina, honey, I'm sure he'll forgive you. Just give him some time to calm down."
"No."
Granny didn't like the finality in her tone. "What did you tell him?"
Regina kept crying on Granny's shoulder. In-between sobs, she told Granny everything. The old woman kept comforting the Queen as best she could but she also had her doubts about David ever being able to forgive Regina. She had known for some time that Regina had loved Snow like a daughter at the beginning. But the years spent in Leopold's court had hardened her heart. If Leopold had been able to provide some love to his new wife, perhaps their lives would have turned out differently.
Granny waited until the Queen somewhat quieted. "He loves you and I will talk to him but you need to promise me to stay put. To not run away. Can you do that?" Regina nodded against her chest. "Good. And I also want you to talk to him about Snow." Regina didn't move. "Regina?"
"Fine."
Granny waited a few more instants to make sure Regina was calm enough so she could take care of the frostbites. "I want to have a look at your hands."
When Regina nodded, Granny helped the Queen lie down on the bed and unwrapped her hands. She bathed them in the warm water. Regina took comfort in the physical pain. She deserved it. Granny bandaged her hands and pulled back the cover on the Queen. "You need to stay warm."
Regina just nodded. She was about to close her eyes and drift back to sleep when the Huntsman knocked on the opened door. She looked up toward him and tears pooled in her eyes when she saw the sorrow in his. "His Majesty sent me to recover the documents he left here this morning."
Regina nodded and motioned toward the chaise-longue. The Huntsman gathered the documents. The text on top caught his attention and he sighed. He didn't know what had transpired between the two but whatever it was had nothing to do with Regina being unable to produce an heir and David being confronted with a hard decisions regarding the future of the Kingdom or his own happiness. David had apparently found a way around this. This made what he had to do much harder. He turned toward Regina and tried to keep his voice even. "His Majesty just left to attend Princess Abigail's wedding. He will be back in two weeks time. He tasked me with alerting your Father of your arrival as soon as you're able to travel."
He didn't stay long after that but the wails of the Queen could be heard in the entire wing.
I will go away now...