Some smut in this chapter. Hope you like it. (The chapter, not the smut.) (well also the smut).
The sunlight caressed Cora's features, her pale skin shining as it took in the last sunlight it would ever see. It was a strange sight, wrong almost, to see Cora who despised the forest and all its traditions so lying on the funeral pyre. Robin had spent the afternoon building it. Not for Cora, but for Regina, who had pleaded him to give her mother a proper funeral. The others had wanted no part in it, hadn't even wanted the woman that had caused so much misery to be cremated in the camp. So Robin had carried the body of the woman he despised more than anything to a clearing away from the camp, had chopped down tree after tree and had buried the funeral pyre for Cora, as was the tradition in the Sherwood Forest. One medicine woman in camp had answered Regina's pleadings and granted the ointments that were used in traditional burials, had taught Regina how to prepare her mother's body for the cremation. Yet she had refused to do it herself, saying that it would not be proper to clothe someone for heaven who she believed was meant for hell. Regina hadn't known what to answer to that, had simply accepted the help and prepared her mother's body the best she could.
She had been oddly calm during the process: combing her mother's hair until it flowed over her shoulders as hers did. She hadn't seen it that way since she'd been a little girl. It made her mother look younger somehow, reminded Regina that one day she'd been an innocent little girl as anyone else. She figured it should have felt weird to strip the tattered clothing that had once been a dress from her mother's body, but it hadn't. She had clothed her mother in a dress that didn't fit her; white, light and slightly too big for her figure, frail now in death. She hadn't shed one tear for her mother, she couldn't, but she was determined to send of her mother with respect. Perhaps not respect that her mother deserved, but the respect she somehow owed it to herself to give. Robin didn't agree, she knew, but this wasn't for Robin, wasn't for Cora: she needed to do this for herself.
The funeral pyre was ready to be lit: the branches Robin had stacked up expertly already soaked with the fragrant, flammable oil that would make the pyre go up in flames quickly. Cora laid underneath a light blanket soaked in oils that smelled like the wildflowers of the forest. Robin hovered behind her, his arms crossed over his chest as he stayed away from her. Perhaps he understood that this was something his wife needed to do without him. Perhaps he wanted no part of the cremation of a woman such as Cora in his forest.
"Regina dear?" The voice was unmistakable, but so foreign in her ears that it took her a few seconds to figure out who it belonged to. Perhaps it was because he had never said much to her that had mattered, perhaps the memory of her mother's threatening words had driven out his soft words, but it took her a few seconds to recognize the voice that belonged to her father.
"Regina."
She realized that she hadn't replied to his voice, hadn't even turned around to face him yet. She took one last gaze at the funeral pyre, which had an almost morbid appeal, and turned to face her father for the first time in almost a year. Henry looked the same he ever did: frail and older than his years told him to be. He struggled to walk through the uneven ground of the forest floor, looking almost comical next to the ranger that moved so effortlessly and easily next to him. Regina gave a soft nod towards the ranger in thanks and gave a smile towards her father. The ranger disappeared as suddenly as he came, but not before he'd cast a glance at Cora lying on the funeral pyre. Regina didn't bother to gauge his reaction, simply walking to her father and feeling his arms wrap around her. Still feeble, but warm and strong enough to bring her back to times that her father could shelter her against the world.
"Daddy." She breathed out. She smelled the familiar scent that used to hang in her childhood home: the scent of perfumes that were just too fruity and flowery, of wood that was not really wood and the faint smell of the strange that many a man in the city liked to smoke. It was not a pleasant smile, but it brought a small smile to her lips anyway.
"It's so good to see you again." Henry pulled back, his hands resting on his daughter's shoulders as he took her in. Still his little girl somewhere, but so far gone from those times too. His eyes rested on the curve of her stomach. He didn't look surprised, which filled Regina with a combination of anger and relief. She wasn't sure she could deal with her father finding out about the pregnancy at this time, but Cora had told him about the baby and she wasn't sure what she taught about that. She wondered what her mother had said, but quickly decided she didn't really want to know.
"A lot has changed since I last saw you." Henry said, his voice so soft that it was easy to miss. Still Regina heard it well enough to hear the regret and grief that hid beneath his smile, laced in with the words that felt so trivial, yet so important. Because it had been near a year since that day, that day that Cora had dragged her daughter from the safety of home while Henry had watched his wife drag his daughter away to what neither assumed to be happiness. His daughter had found happiness, he knew that, saw it shining on her face as she glowed even when the occasion was not one laced in sadness, but it wasn't thanks to him, never thanks to him.
Regina smiled again, taking his hand and softly tracing the tips of her fingers over the old hands that she had known so well, once. He was still wearing his wedding ring; a heavy, jeweled thing that looked like it would put an unbearable strain on the finger. Regina wondered if he'd take it off after the ceremony.
"A lot has." She finally answered and her father let out soft chuckle, the sadness still rimming his eyes. He stared at his daughter for a long while, the silence between them broken only by the occasional cry of a bird. Finally something broke in her father as he grasped her hands tightly, almost painfully and stared into his daughter's eyes with more conviction than Regina had seen in those eyes for years.
"I'm sorry, Regina." He told her, his lip quaking as finally, finally the resolve that Henry had put on his heart a long while ago broke. Cora was gone and the last piece of his heart, the part she'd taken and locked away, was returned to him and he couldn't hold it back anymore, the emotions he had forced back for years because of his wife. "I am so sorry." His voice shook and dropped down to a whisper as tears rolled down his cheeks.
Regina didn't soothe her father. Didn't tell him that it was all right or that there was nothing to apologies for, because her father's apathy in the face of her agony had not been all right and her father had enough to apologize for. She simply stood and held her father's hand as she watched apologies stream from his mouth like tears from his eyes. She had never cared for apologies, but allowed her father to continue anyway. Apologies, after all, were not so much sent for the receiver as for the sender. When finally her father's apologies quieted down, Regina took his hand and turned towards the pyre that was still waiting to be lit.
"Do you want to say goodbye?" She asked softly. Her father shook his head and offered her no further explanation.
Regina turned to Robin and nodded softly, prompting the archer to light a torch and walk towards them. She saw her father eye Robin as he moved past them and only gaze a curt nod to Henry in reply. Regina knew Robin had little respect for her father, as he had for anyone who would just stand by one was begging for help in front of them, but he didn't speak about it. Robin brought the torch to the pyre and as the flames touched the dry, oily wood of the funeral pyre it blazed up in flames, the hot red and yellow tongues climbing up the logs quickly. She felt her father's hand clench tightly around hers when the flames touched Cora's body, a sickening smell that was not in the least improved by the oils filling the air. The baby inside her woke and stirred softly. Regina placed her hand on her stomach without a thought, her eyes oddly mesmerized with the way the flames consumed wood and body as if it were one thing.
It was Regina who finally broke the silence between them. The flames were dying out now, Cora's body no longer visible as it was slowly but surely burning into ashes. She kept her eyes on the pyre, on the flickering of the flames as she asked the question that had lingered in her mind ever since she grew old enough to see the truth about her parents: "Did you love her?"
Henry stared at the funeral pyre for a long while, his body unmoving and his gaze on the flames. When he finally answered it was with a slow nod, as if the movement himself was a burden upon his frail body. "I did, once." He answered on a soft voice, almost a whisper. He sighed, a deep sigh that ran through his entire body. "But I loved a girl with a stolen gown and straw in her hair." Regina knew the stories of how her mother met her father, how she impressed the royals and was granted Henry's hand in marriage in return. Her parents hadn't told her, but the story of the miller's daughter who rose to be a princess was quite a tale in amongst the commoners, so she had picked up quite a bit.
Henry shook his head slowly. "I never saw that girl again."
Regina didn't answer and Henry didn't follow up on his story. Many words hung unspoken between them, but it were words that should have been spoken a long time ago, that had no place in a world without Cora anymore, so they stayed silent. They stayed silent until the flames had consumed the wood and Cora's body both and nothing was left of either but ashes, still simmering on the forest earth. She saw Robin, who had kept his distance during the whole ceremony, walk past her with a small, stone urn. She watched as Robin scooped up the ashes with the jar, filling it with the only earthly remainders of what had once been her mother. When he waked past her, he stopped to press a soft kiss to her forehead.
"You okay?"
She nodded in reply. "Yeah."
Robin answered with a soft smile and a nod towards Henry, before he walked off with the urn to cast the ashes away from the world. Regina wondered if he'd cast them into the valley of the gods, or if he didn't want to cast something once so dark into a place so full of light. She hadn't asked, she wouldn't ask.
"He's a good man, isn't he?" Henry broke the silence, his eyes following Robin as he disappeared into the depths of the Sherwood forest. Regina smiled softly and nodded.
"He is. A very good man."
"Do you love him?" Henry turned toward her, taking both his daughter's hands in his own, his eyes filled with both fear and hope. He couldn't bear the idea of his daughter carrying the child of a man she bore no love for.
Regina smiled again and squeezed her father's hands. "I do. Very much."
Henry sighed in relief at her reply and a smile lit up his face. "I'm glad you do, Regina. The thought-"
"Shhh." Regina shook her head. She wanted not to hear apologies or fears about what could have been. Instead she moved her father's hand towards her belly.
Henry stilled when his hands felt the curve of her stomach beneath which his grandchild laid hidden; safe and warm. Regina held his hand against her stomach as she moved his hand gently in hopes of waking up the baby. When finally the baby stirred and gave a firm kick towards Henry's hands, she saw the tears sprung to her father's eyes.
"Regina …" He spoke her name on a single breath, his other hand coming up to cup his daughter's cheek. She was still so young, still his little girl and now she was to become a mother herself. He had known, but seeing it was something different than hearing the stories. Words left him, because there was so much to say but no words to voice them with.
"No." Regina told him softly, wiping away her father's tears. "Don't."
Henry gave a smile and nodded in understanding, because she was his little girl no longer. He stepped forward and took his daughter into his arms again, hugging her tightly, holding her for what seemed like an eternity, yet felt far too short too.
He only let her go when Robin neared them. He surprised the forest lord by bowing deeply to him, before walking up to him and taking both Robin's strong hands in his frail ones.
"Thank you, Robin, for being good to my daughter, for giving her the happiness she deserves."
Robin raised his eyebrows in surprise for a second, but quickly schooled his face back into a look of calm afterwards. "It's like you said, sir, it's what she deserves." A small tension was laid in the words, Regina knew, but she made no mention of it. Robin's eyes met hers for a second and his gaze softened, a smile playing around his lips when he turned towards her father again.
"Your daughter is truly a wonderful woman, sir Henry. I hope you will allow me to continue to love her for the rest of her days."
He was asking her father's permission, Regina realized and warmth flowed through her at the notion. She knew that Robin probably didn't care that much about whether her father approved of their marriage or not, yet he asked; Robin, the lord of the Sherwood forest asked a frail old man permission to love the woman that he had already long since taken for a wife. She laughed softly at the realization, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as love presented itself as fresh as the day it had first been born. Her baby seemed to sense the fluttering inside of her, stirring inside of her as if it danced with the butterflies in her tummy.
Her father smiled at Robin's words. "I wouldn't think of doing otherwise, Robin." Henry turned towards his daughter, a smile on his face and rue in his eyes. "If she is happy here, this is where she should be." He gave another slight bow to Robin and walked towards his daughter. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, his hands braced on her shoulders. "Goodbye darling."
Regina took her father into a warm hug, feeling his arms wrap around her and pull her as closely as her tummy would allow them to. "Goodbye daddy." She whispered.
The ranger escorted her father away from the camp only a short while later. Robin had assured her that Henry would be able to visit whenever he wished to, but Regina knew it might be a while before she would see her father again. Her father was not made for the forest, for the long ride on horseback and the trudge through muddy paths to reach the encampment. Perhaps he would visit her after the arrival of his grandchild, but no earlier.
Robin wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to the side of her neck as she watched her father disappear from sight. She felt tears sting in her ears at the sight of him, tears both for him and tears for her mother that she hadn't shed yet, because in a sense she'd said goodbye to both her parents in one day and despite everything, it weighed upon her heart. She sighed and took Robin's hand in hers, anchoring herself to her new life while her old one dissipated from her. The new life inside her stirred and she leant back towards Robin, closing her eyes and smiling at the promise of the new morning.
"Are you okay?" It wasn't the first time he asked the question that day, but somehow it sounded different now that it was ushered in the warmth and safety of their tent. When he'd asked it before it had been on a panicked, confused voice, his eyes widening as he took in the sight that was both peaceful and savage at the same time: the trees he knew well surrounding his wife, leaves no longer covering their stark black branches. Rags of dress hanging from the branches and wavering calmly in the wind. Cora's body lying on the ground surrounded by leaves of gold and wildflowers of violet and yellow. His wife sitting up against the tree, her gaze on the body of the woman that had nearly cost him everything. He had not been calm them and his voice had not come paired with gentle touches mapping out her face as it did now.
Regina nodded softly and pressed a light kiss to his mouth. "Yes." She answered confidently. She had never wished death upon her mother, but her heart could not find it to mourn for the woman that had caused so many so much grief already.
Robin nodded in understanding and kept his fingers in soft touches in her face, mesmerized by things Regina couldn't imagine. He bit his lip and cocked his head as he asked the question that had been lingering on his mind since she'd encountered his wife in the strangely serene scene in the meadow: "What happened?"
He had asked it before, of course, but Regina had only told him that her mother was dead and she'd need to be buried. Her mind had still been dazed at the time with the sight of her mother dangling in the grasp of the forest. She still didn't understand it very much, yet she answered:
"She tried to hurt me, the forest protected me."
"The forest?" Robin asked on a breath of astonishment. He had always called the forest their protector, but never before had it risen to help anyone of them, not even when the men of the forest had come with their swords and axes to bring her down. He could only remember once time that the trees had come to life and it was not a time that his eyes had seen; it was a story about the Sylvan who could call the trees to life, but he'd always figured it to be a myth. Regina took in the furrow of his brow as he seemed deep in thought and stroked his hand with hers as she spoke hesitantly.
"I… I think it was the baby, Robin."
"The baby?"
She smiled at his astonishment, the confusion and intrigue shining in his eyes. "It felt like magic, like that warmth that magic brings. I can't explain it … But when I used it, it came from my heart." She brought up one hand and Robin expected it to land above her heart, but Regina placed it gently against the curve of her stomach. "But this time it didn't. It came from there." She shook her head and laughed softly. "It might be silly, but …"
"It's not silly." Robin cut her off, his eyes meeting hers for a second before resting on her stomach, mesmerized by the child that had protected its mother from inside the womb, his child that commanded the forest before it was even born yet. He gaped in astonishment, both hands rubbing her stomach and coaxing kicks from the child beneath his fingers.
"Thank you, baby." He murmured. He heard his wife's soft chuckles, but ignored them, pressing a series of kisses to her stomach that made Regina's heart flutter so wildly that she might think it would run out of control completely. "Thank you for taking care of your mommy. I love you so much baby." His hands never left her tummy, but he moved his mouth away to meet her mouth in a passionate kiss.
"I love you so much, Regina." He repeated his declaration, meeting her in a kiss again before she could return the notion. His hands finally abandoned her stomach to grasp her hair and pull her closer to him. His kisses were soft and caring as they ever were, but there was a hint of desperation to them that Regina did not miss, a taste of the fear of losing her on his lips, the words of anxiety he hadn't spoken lingering on his tongue as he kissed her deeply. His fingers trailed down her hair towards her shoulders as he pulled her so she was sitting on the bed, making the access to her body slightly easier with the obstacle of her belly between them. Regina quickly complied by moving herself into his lap and wrapping her legs around his hips. Teeth clashed as they attempted to execute the awkward movements without breaking the kiss, which filled them both with laughter that made the kiss even more difficult until they were finally forced to pull back.
"You're so beautiful, Regina." Robin rasped, his fingers moving down her shoulders until he met the curve of her breasts. He hadn't intended for it to go this way, didn't even know if it was considered appropriate after the events of the day, but when she moaned into his mouth and pressed herself tighter against him, his consideration flew away from him and he let out a groan as he clumsily tried to remove the sleeping gown from her body without letting her go too much.
His mouth went dry when she was finally bared to him. He had loved her breasts before, even if Regina had felt doubtful about them, but pregnancy had made her curves and breasts fuller and Robin could not approve of it more. His mouth met hers in a toothy kiss that only lasted for a few seconds, because then his mouth found a path to her neck and kissed her, the feeling of her pulse thumping wildly beneath his mouth dragging a muffled groan from him. He surprised her by adding just a bit of teeth to his kiss. Regina's reaction was immediate; a throaty gasp escaping her mouth as she bucked against him, her fingers digging into his back as she pulled him as close to her as the her swollen belly would allow. Robin let go of the skin on her neck and moved his hands over the peaks of her breasts, so sensitive now that the lightest touch made her gasp, whereas any stronger one made her cringe. It was a delicate task to find the pressure and movements that would please and not pain her, but the result was so worth it. A breathy gasp escaped Regina as her husband's thumb trailed circles her nipples and trailed his mouth down towards her breasts. He let out a frustrated groan as the angle prevented him from reaching his destination, but quickly retaliated by bringing his mouth up to hers and kissing her again on a deep groan. His fingers continued their torturous dance on her breasts, making goose bumps run over Regina's skin and wetness pool between her legs as she rocked against him.
"Robin." She rasped, his fingers digging in his back as she attempted to pull him closer to her.
Robin understood what she wanted without hearing the words. He quickly moved one hand down to the boxers as he took them off and flung them into the room with almost comical carelessness. She let out a low moan as she felt his need pressing against her, but he didn't move, simply waited for her to finish what he had started between them. And she did. Their position was somewhat awkward as Robin had to lean back and brace on his elbows to allow Regina's to settle in comfortable, but when Regina lowered herself upon him slowly, nothing compared.
Regina slowly rolled her hips against him, breathy moans leaving her as she felt him strong inside of her, tension building in her faster and more heavily than she was accustomed to. Robin watched her with wide eyes and a series of groans in his throat. "God you're so gorgeous Regina." He groaned as he took in the sight of her above him; all soft curves and shining skin, her mouth opened and eyes closed as pleasure ran through her body. Her hands found their way down his body as she bowed her back and fisted her fingers into his hair, the new angle making her moan in a tone so deeply that it made Regina wonder if it was really his wife making the sinful sound.
"Say it again." She commanded him, biting her lip as her hands fisted his hair and pulled it so tightly that it nearly hurt. Robin was only too happy to comply, moving one hand down while he spoke on a raspy voice.
"You were always beautiful Regina, but god, now while you're carrying our child, you're just plain irresistible." He let out a deep groan as his free hand came up to cup her breasts while his other found the sensitive spot between her legs that made her let out breathy moans. "Your breasts, Regina, god.." His mouth went dry, his ability to form coherent thoughts rapidly leaving him as Regina clenched tightly around him. "Exquisite. I love you – so much, Regina." Her moans were a distraction, her clenching around him to tight that it made thought nearly impossible, let alone speech, but she needed it, begged for it with every essence of her body.
Robin dropped his voice down to a husky voice as he spoke the final words he could think of. No declarations of love, no praising of her beauty or stories about their children, but a command that was so brutal, so primal that it was nearly a growl when it left his mouth. "Come for me, dear."
And she did. Her fingers fisting in her hair as she bowed her back and let out a sound that was a scream, a moan and a groan all packaged into one sound that still was unable to voice the pleasure running through her body. The sight of her writhing and letting go above him hurled Robin into his own release. He had the clarity of mind to move his hands away from her breasts and fisted them into the sheets, but after every sense of place or time was abandoned for a while.
She was out before he was. When he opened his eyes as he came back to the world from his pleasure, she was already collapsed next to him, pressed against her body the best she could. Robin watched her for a while, mesmerized by the way her face was slacked in sleep already, her mouth open as she was already slightly drooling on their bed. Finally he had the clarity of mind to cover up his wife's body as he took an extra blanket and draped it over her instead of her nightgown. He didn't want to risk waking her up from her well-deserved sleep by trying to clothe her in the gown. She had been so alive and awake above him just minutes ago, but Robin knew she was tired and he wanted to grant her all the sleep she could get. He gave a soft kiss to her forehead and pulled the blankets up over them, taking care to cover every bit of Regina's body in the process. He wrapped his arms around her and it didn't take him long to fall asleep as well.
He dreamt of the little girl with the ebony hair.
Please review :-) Also: to celebrate 100,000 words of this story, I'm answering questions and headcanons etc. about this story on my tumblr: .com. If there's anything you're wondering about or you're confused about, you can ask me there.
Thank you for reading, your response has been so overwhelmingly kind 3.