Please send feedback and I hope you enjoy! Also, I'm altering something a little bit again. Snow is fourteen, Regina is sixteen, to make it less weird. I'm sorry this isn't super romantic yet, but I'm getting there, I don't want to rush it like my other stories. :)
I was a good kid. I never spoke out of turn, I always followed my father's rules, and I spoke kindly to others. At least I made it look like I was a good kid when father died. Everything he taught me was thrown out the window once her dark eyes met mine.
"That's a nice name," I said. She cringed slightly.
"I don't like it. My mother keeps telling me it means 'Queen,' but that's what she wants."
"Oh. It's very beautiful, if that helps."
"It does," she said suddenly, looking down and smiling to herself. My chest fluttered.
"So, that drink?"
"Of course." Regina waved over a skinny girl with blonde hair, balancing a tray of empty glasses on her hip.
"A scotch and a juice, please," she told the girl. She nodded and walked off carefully.
"Isn't a scotch a bit heavy," I asked.
"How would you know, you can't drink it yourself. And trust me, I can handle it," she said cockily. I didn't doubt her for a second.
"My father used to drink it. I may have taken a few sips after he died, but no one is supposed to know that."
"I suppose not," she muttered. The familiar red blush painted my cheeks, and even if I looked down, she could see it, smirking to herself. The girl came back with our drinks.
"Cheers, to our princess," Regina said to me quietly, hoping not to draw attention to us. I raised my glass to hers. She took a hearty sip before bringing her glass to the table with a small clutter. She looked like she was about to speak, but she just looked at me, with her gaze fixed on my lips.
"So why did your mom name you 'Regina?'"
"She loves power, and she hopes to give me the same." I nodded along slowly. "Why are you named Snow? I've wondered that since I heard your name when your birth was announced."
"My mother named me Snow, because my skin is white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as dark as ebony. I don't really like it. It's poetic, but I want a normal name."
"I love it. It suits you, she was certainly right," she commented, glancing over my features, checking off each little anecdote of my name.
"Thanks."
We talked all night, disturbed by only the guards coming to tell me to get upstairs for bed and the tavern girl interrupting us with drink refills, but once the third round came, Regina pushes away the scotch. She wasn't drunk, but her words were slurring together slightly.
"Your mother doesn't sound very fun," I said slyly, like she was across the room. In actuality, we were the only ones left in the room. She laughed loudly and somehow gracefully, a sound I could be drunk on for the rest of my life. I hoped I would.
"She really isn't." I tried to stop sleep from taking over, but I was yawning ferociously before she could finish her sentence.
"I'm sorry I've been keeping you up, I think you should go to bed."
"Don't worry about me, I'm not tired," I said. She could immediately hear the exhaustion in my small voice and dragged me upstairs.
"Nonsense, you're very tired. You did so much today, you stopped, what, three riots? You need to sleep. You don't want to fall asleep in the carriage tomorrow, do you?"
"I mean, it has really soft cushions," I reasoned. She only chuckled and continued dragging me upstairs to the room the knights got me.
"You can come in if you want," I offered.
"I can't. Mother will be waiting for me, but I hope to see you again soon, Snow White."
"Me too. Visit tomorrow?"
"Of course. Good night."
"'Night Regina." I threw a smile at her over my shoulder and climbed into bed. When I closed my eyes, her glowing smile was shining back against my eyelids. I went to sleep grinning.
—
Someone knocking on the door scared me awake from the dream of the very woman that made my heart pulse as fast as it was now. I clutched a hand against the base of my neck.
"Come in," I gasped out. Regina burst into the room and sat down. "Oh, I thought you were a guard, I'm not even dressed."
"I don't mind. How did you sleep?"
"Fine," I lied,"you?"
"I slept like a rock." Her face slowly lit up, and I couldn't help but mirror her joy. I stood up and peeled my nightgown off my body, but instead of turning like I thought she would, her eyes drew a line as in her by inch was revealed through the white fabric. My body flushed under her gaze. I walked across the room to get to my light blue dress, and felt her gaze on my backside. I pulled it on and she was right behind me, helping me with the strings of corset.
"Thank you," I choked out. She only smiled and led me downstairs.
"I asked my Mother if you could come to breakfast and she said yes. Would you like to join me?"
"I'd be delighted. Let me just talk to the coachman about staying for a little longer." I escaped the burning heat of the room making my body slightly sweaty all over. A hand fluttered to my abdomen. Nobody has had an effect on me like that. I talked to the guards that were waiting downstairs for me already, but they wouldn't let me go without someone to come with.
"I'll be fine. I trust her, she's barely three years older than me. She's safe."
"You met her yesterday, princess. I just want to make sure you're safe." Something in me snapped.
"I'm aware of that, but I am perfectly fine by myself. She is perfectly safe, and so are my decisions, so please don't butt in and let me go independent."
"But Your Highness…"
"I can take care of myself, remember? C'mon Graham, you taught me how to use a sword in the first place. I'll take that. Okay? Happy?" I had him in a corner.
"Yes, Your Highness." I grinned a victorious smile and ra back up the stairs.
"I can come, and I even got out of having a guard come with," I said after crashing through the door ecstatically. She jumped in surprise and grinned.
"Great. I'll take you."
"Lead the way," I said. She walked out of the room, but I stayed behind for a second to adjust my sword onto my hip, covering it by the folds of my dress.
"How do you walk in that," Regina asked.
"I'm used to it. This is one of my smallest dresses. My father loved giving me fluffy pink ones." Regina broke out into unbelieving laughter.
"You? In a pink floofy dress?"
"There at the very back of my wardrobe right now. I don't like any of my dresses, but I'm not allowed to wear my riding gear or castle clothes outside of castle grounds."
"I hate it," she groaned, gesturing to her own lilac dress. It was thin and slightly see-through, with a white fabric under the sheer purple.
"May I just say it fits you gorgeously," I said timidly. She blushed and giggled to herself.
"Come through here," Regina said, leading me by the hand through a gap between houses and to a dirt road.
"Walking? We have to walk?"
"Oh, you'll be fine, princess." I laughed. She didn't let go of my hand, only held it tighter between us, swinging them with every other step.
"So, where do you live?"
"Well, it's a little ways from the village, but we still go to events." I nodded understandingly.
"The country out here is pretty," I said thoughtfully, barely taking my eyes off of her face to gaze at the swaying weeds and flowers around me.
"I've spent as many hours as I could out here."
"What's your father like," I asked randomly.
"He's a very kind man. He loves me, very much, but he's…well, you'll see." We passed a cluster of trees, and suddenly, a castle replaced them; not as big as ours, but close enough.
"Regina, is this-"
"Yes. I'm afraid I'm all too fond of your life," she sighed. I heard the hint of displeasure and understood completely what she felt.
"So are you…you know, royalty?"
"Not technically, but my parents are important. They don't tell me anything, though. I think they're a viscount or viscountess or something. I'm not sure, but I know I don't want to be a part of that," she said, laughing like it was impossible.
"I can see you being a powerful ruler," I said sincerely. She smiled and laughed once more. She led me through a large, black iron gate with swirls in the middle and over the top.
"Very fancy," I muttered impressed. She rolled her eyes and scoffed. A cobblestone path swerved to the right and led to the wide stairs at the entrance of the palace. The path wound from around the stairs back around to another gated entrance. A carriage was just leaving on the other side of the path.
"Who was that?"
"I don't know. I'm not really keen on finding out," she huffed lightly.
"Me neither." She let go of my hand quickly as the same woman with her hand on Regina's shoulder yesterday had appeared.
"Regina, dear, you're late."
"I'm sorry mother. I wasn't thinking about the time. Is breakfast ready?"
"Now now, don't get ahead of yourself. Introduce me to your friend."
"Snow, this is my mother, Cora, and my father, Henry." A man with greying hair came out from behind Cora standing in front of the door to shake my hand.
"Very nice to meet you, Sir."
"Call me Henry," he said. "Come in, breakfast is ready." He brushed past Cora, glaring at him. I snuck in beside Regina and gazed up at the high ceilings, the floors so shiny I could see my reflection, and the winding marble stairs. Regina grabbed my arm and wound it in hers, pulling me along into the dining room.
Fruits, pancakes, meats, and breads were laid out on the tables in fancy dishes in the middle. I hesitated in the doorway, barely feeling my feet under me move with Regina pulling at me.
"What's wrong," she asked, concern lacing her voice and inside her brown eyes.
"Nothing." I sat down beside her, and it was hard to remember my manners, harder than it usually was. I dished up a small plate. Cora did not join us, instead storming past the dining room to some part of the palace.
"Please, take as much as you want," Henry offered,"we have plenty." I smiled and nodded gratefully, peeking a glance at Regina biting into an apple slice with confidence. I smiled softly and reached for a bowl of oranges.
—
"This is my room," Regina said, opening her white door. It was spacious and warm. Her bed was against the left wall, dressed in lavender sheets and matching pillows. A nightstand stood to the right of it, with a book with bent pages marking her spot. A windowsill with purple cushions was opposite to me, with throw pillows decorating the seat, and another book sitting on the cushion. A bookshelf stood beside her windowsill, and near that, a desk with something sketched onto it. A large armchair was sat in front of a grey brick fireplace.
"This is so pretty," I muttered. She grinned.
"Purple's my favourite colour," she said shyly. I laughed.
"Mine's white."
"Because of your name?"
"No, it's just…pretty." She nodded and shut her door. I walked over to the desk.
"Did you draw this," I asked, holding up a slip of paper with a blue bird sketched on it.
"Yes, but I'm fairly bad."
"No, this is beautiful. Better than I can do."
"If you like…you can keep it, I guess." I smiled.
"I need a signature, I think. It wouldn't be fair if you didn't get to claim it as yours." She rolled her eyes jokingly at me and scribbled a signature on it. She turned back around and stood less than a foot away, with our noses almost touching.
"Here," she said coyly,"it's all yours."