The Boy In The Forest

(Daniella's POV)

At breakfast, Aurelie was seated between Lena and my father on the opposite end of the circular table upon which we sat. I only managed to sneak several glances at her but from where I was sitting, I was able to tell that she seemed extremely unwell. Just as I was thinking about how I had given her the forgetting potion yesterday, Aurelie suddenly lurched and vomited onto the ground beside her. Lena and Snow immediately engaged themselves with tending to my sister but as I stood up to go to her, mother put her hand out and bade me to remain in my seat.

"What-" I began, until she harshly silenced me with a stern glance. Lena then escorted Aurelie back to her rooms but father didn't immediately go with them. He motioned mother with his head and simply said, "Regina. Talk outside?"

Though he only spoke to mother, I accepted the invitation too as I sensed that this wasn't going to be good. Father led us to an unoccupied room in the guest tower and slammed the door shut. "You said that the potion would be safe!" he hissed in a disappointed tone. His eyes were searching my mother's expression with such ferocity that I was a little taken aback.

"The potion? You're linking your daughter's illness to the potion?!" mother scoffed. Then, she sarcastically replied, "Act like your gut feeling tells you; don't trust the Evil Queen, your ex-lover who just wants vengeance on the woman who has somehow managed to steal her boyfriend. You're acting like a child right now, and it's insane."

"Insane? More like merely worried. I can't believe that all it takes is a small opportunity to arise for you to use it against me."

"That's what you think? You believe that I'm bent on destroying your little family? You're delusional. I'm in Camelot right now to take care of a rather dire problem that threatens the future of the Enchanted Forest. I'm sure somebody has filled you in on the fact that an heir to Snow White's kingdom may soon turn out to be the next Dark One!"

"That does not convince me."

"Well nothing is going to convince you dear, is it?"

There was a moment of silence, and when I looked up, I regrettably saw that father was staring at me. My cheeks reddened. Under his gaze, I felt the guilt inside me churn in my stomach. I swallowed, knowing that father's false suspicions would surge because of my behaviour. Yet, he simply huffed before storming away. I sat down on the bed in the room with tears in my eyes but mother didn't notice as she exclaimed, "That bastard."

When she turned around however, her expression changed as she came to me and said, "Firefly, your father was over-reacting. This has nothing to do with you. I was there to ensure that the potion was safe and properly mixed."

I wasted no time in replying, "But he saw through me! I know I didn't do it, but he thinks I did. It's because of me that he thinks you want to murder or harm my sister."

Mother sat down next to me and tucked a piece of stray hair behind my ear as she gently replied, "No. You did nothing wrong. It is entirely his fault for taking it the wrong way; the fault is not yours to bear. Please my darling, don't blame yourself for something that you didn't even do." After a sigh, she took my hand into hers and said, "Come on. We need to work on something that will free Merlin from his cursed form remember? That should take your mind off things. Making some kind of potion or spell is priority on Snow and David's schedule. We wouldn't want to disappoint them, should they have successfully fulfilled their part of the quest right?"

I bit my lip and looked down for a few seconds before murmuring quietly, "Can I go for a quick ride instead? I'll be back before lunch."

"A ride? With whom?"

"Oh, I thought Henry would have told you that he's been spending a lot of time down by the stables lately."

"Really? He never told me." After a sigh, she continued, "Alright. You go and keep an eye out for your brother. I'll be in the tower if you ever need me ok?"

I nodded before summoning my magic to take me down to the stables. There was no one when I got there, so I assumed that Henry had already gotten on a horse and went out riding. I hoped that he was able to meet up with Violet, as he had told me that he wished to see her more often. According to him, she was growing more friendly towards him. I was happy for my brother, as he really seemed to be smitten with this girl. I walked up to one of the horses and stroked its mane gently. It first dodged away from my touch but then I whispered, "Hey it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you." After a few seconds of sniffing my hand, the beautiful chestnut mare warmed up and allowed me to pet him. "You up for a ride?"

The horse seemed to understand what I was saying as it came towards me slightly. I grinned and said, "Ok, let me just fetch the saddle first. I'll be back to let you out of your stall." I went over to the opposite end of the stable to where the tack was left hanging on the wall, and took a set down. However, as I made my way back to the other end, someone walked in suddenly, cutting across my path.

"Oh, Lena-"

"I thought you'd be here," she spat in response. I fumbled with the heavy tack in my hands shakily. Then, I managed to ask in a neutral tone, "What are you doing here?"

"You know perfectly well why I'm here, you wicked girl."

My heart plummeted as Lena's insult hit me. After taking a deep breath and schooling my features, I replied back simply, "I don't understand-"

"You ripped out my daughter's heart and poisoned her. Don't think you can get away with this, girl. Someone saw you, and whilst they are not as brave to admit it to my husband, you can do it for me."

The corners of my mouth twitched in betrayal.

"See? You, confirm it-"

I stuttered quickly, "No, I-"

Lena roughly grabbed my arm and tried to lead me out of the stables, but I tried shaking off her hold on me. "Please, let me go! I don't want to use my magic on you."

"And neither would your father. So come with me and tell him what you did," she hissed back with eyes the slits of a snake. After several more shakes, I managed to get her to let go of me but before she could lunge at me again, I disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared somewhere in Camelot forest. Then, I walked further away, into the refuge of the trees that were bordering the castle. This was all my fault. What if the potion really had made Aurelie sick? I should have never forced her to stay behind with me whilst I eavesdropped on my parent's argument yesterday.

Feeling my own foolishness overwhelm me, I sat down at the foot of a tree and curled up in shame. It was only when my uneven breathing steadied did I sense that something was off. I was scared out of my wits when someone coughed. I stood on my feet immediately, even surprising myself in the process. I looked around, and emerging from behind a tree not far from me, was a boy. He was a head taller than me, but I wouldn't say he was much older.

My cheeks reddened with embarrassment as I tried to smooth out my crinkled dress.

"Are you alright, my lady?"

I was still shocked that he managed to sneak up on me so I ignored his question and asked, "How...how are you here?"

"Oh, I sometimes go hunting in the forest."

"So you're a huntsman?"

"No, it's something I do as a hobby. I find the forest is very calming when you want to spend some time alone."

As I regarded this boy further, I frowned. "Forgive me for saying this, but your face is really familiar. You're not from Camelot are you?"

A grin lit up on his face. I was so distracted by the way that his expression transitioned to amusement that I forgot he was supposed to reply. "No, I'm not. I'm from the Enchanted Forest. My stepfather and I came here to Camelot as this was his birthplace. He wanted to reconnect with his folk, and he took me along with him when I was younger."

"You're from...oh," was all I could say. Nervously, I said, "Have we, met?"

Damn that grin on his face. "No we haven't been properly introduced. I'm just a lowly squire in training of course, your highness."

My breath stopped for a moment as I tried to gather the fact that he was aware of who we were. I swallowed and narrowed my eyes as I stated, "Somebody tried to murder my mother just a few days ago, at the Camelot ball. As far as I know, no one knows who we are. If you tell me that you are acquainted with that knight who I tragically killed, I'll make sure to report you to someone."

"Oh no! I would never! Please believe me, I had nothing to do with that incident! My stepfather made an oath that he would never break. I too, swear by that oath as I'm supposed to follow in his footsteps."

"Your stepfather?" I asked with intrigue.

"You might know him as Sir Headley."

My eyes widened upon realising that I was talking to the stepson of a senior black knight who once belonged to mother's inner circle. I replied quickly, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to doubt you." There was a pause that fell between us. Then, I asked finally, "What shall I call you?"

"Rhys," he replied with a bow. Even though I normally hated it when people besides peasants showed formalities to me, I couldn't help but want to keep it up with this boy...just to see if he was actually serious about his manners, or if he was merely making fun of me. However, the thought just brought my attention back to my own self and how my light lilac coloured dress was soiled from sitting on the forest floor. "I...I must look horrible right now," I said with a heavy chuckle as I curled my fists nervously.

"No, no, don't apologise. You'll always look beautiful. Are you alright though? Forgive me if I'm overstepping, but-"

I didn't hear what he said after that. He called me beautiful. No one does that, except behind closed doors in either fearful or jealous whispers. I cut in and said, "No, you're not in trouble. I'm not going to..." I wanted to end the sentence with 'incinerate you', but that sounded too casual.

He didn't interrupt me, which only made things worse. Instead, he gave me that goddamn smile of his. I bit my lip before replying in a murmur, "...be angry with you."

He laugh was deep and rich. "Oh good. For a moment I thought that you were going to incinerate me." My jaw nearly dropped open and when I recovered, I toyed, "So now you're claiming that you know me so well hmm?"

"No. But I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of you, your highness."

A little pull tugged at the edges of my mouth. I decided to answer his original question. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Well then, I'll be off if you'd prefer to be alone." With that, he backed away with the nod of his head. As he started to walk off however, my legs stood up on their own accord and took several tentative steps towards him. He stopped and looked back with curious eyes, "Your highness?"

Nervously, I tested out his name on my tongue for the first time. "Rhys, can I..."

He waited for my response. Even though his manners seems to be stopping him from possibly making fun of me, I still didn't know if I should proceed with my thoughts. I ended up finishing the request rather quickly, "Can I walk back with you?"

"Yes of course," he replied as he waited for me to step up next to him. When we started trudging through the forest again, I asked "How long do you spend in here?"

"Not too long; I have many tasks to complete back at the castle, but on the rare occasions where I get a break, I sneak out here. I suppose I left the castle half an hour ago. I was just taking a hike first, to get warmed up and to look for a trail that a stray deer might have made."

I regarded his expression for a bit and pondered over his words. He must have caught me staring for he smiled and said, "What?"

"I just feel like I've talked to you before, but that's sort of impossible as I didn't make much contact with others when I was younger."

He daringly joked in return, "My my, I'm rather offended that you didn't remember me. I talked to you once at the Midsummer Ball; we were at the dessert table and I was helping you retrieve a piece of apple pie."

I raised my eyebrow at him to conceal my embarrassment as I replied, "You're awfully detailed."

Rhys half chuckled as he explained, "Yes, my stepfather was adamant that if I were to be some sort of use to the Crown in the future, I should make sure that I remember everything I see. He's a bit of a stickler for tradition too, I suppose. After seeing that I had started a conversation with you, he didn't want that to happen again."

I was not entirely shocked as it was customary for other royals of my status to be able to engage in a conversation with me, but I was nonetheless disappointed. "But that's ridiculous! All the pomp and majesty changed after we came back from Storybrooke. Besides, you're not some random boy from the streets. You're the son of a pretty high ranking knight..."

"And you're the heir to the throne."

I took a sharp intake of breath before joking, "Well, Sir Headley would react in an interesting way if he was seeing us now, wouldn't he?"

"Yes, I suppose he would," Rhys replied.

I sighed and after a long silence, said surely, "You're only sticking around because you're trying to uncover my feelings." However, I was only met with a rather smart reply as a response. "Well I would like to think that if you didn't want me to stick around, you would have reduced me to charcoal."

I smirked and decided to test this boy. "I prefer taking hearts than setting people on fire. It's less messy."

He didn't shift, nor even flinch a muscle. Even the normal guard stationed in the halls of the palace normally display some kind of action showing their fear whenever my mother mentions the use of magic. Rhys shrugged, "Whatever you desire then."

I still didn't know whether to let down my guard or not. This boy could just be faking all of this to learn my secrets. Then, he would then be praised for being the one who managed to make the Evil Princess spill.

"Don't look at me like that. Contrary to what you might want me to think, I know my life is not in danger right now."

"Well good. Because that's all people seem to think when they're in my presence. And now, my sister is going to think the same thing." A tight knot formed at the back of my throat uncomfortably. The mention of the subject brought tears to my eyes so I hastily sniffed to try and keep them at bay.

"You can't change what people think of you."

"I know that!" I half yelled. Immediately after the words came out of my mouth however, I bit my lip and looked apologetically at Rhys. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scream, it's just I hear that phrase all the time. Please continue, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"That's ok. I was just saying that you can't change what people think of you, even if you feel like you're responsible for whatever reason they're using to condemn you. I know I'm not familiar with your relationship with your sister, but I'm sure she'll come to her senses soon."

"No she won't. Wait, you came here to Camelot soon after the breaking of the curse brought us back to the Enchanted Forest right?"

He nodded, which only confirmed that he knew nothing of the situation right now. "I'm talking about my half sister."

"Oh."

"I'm sure you're aware that the curse broke because of true love's magic between my parents right?"

"Yes, I remember hearing about that."

"Well to simplify things; my father fell in love with another woman and they had a daughter of their own. Her name is Aurelie, and she's grown up in the land without magic. And..." I suddenly paused as my voice suddenly clogged up with emotions.

"Hey it's ok. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But I think I understand a bit better now. It sounds like things are complicated right now."

I nodded. "Which is exactly why I don't want to go back. It's going to be chaos, and I don't want to be caught in the middle of it. I love my father, but I don't understand why at times, he wants to stay with us and at other times, he believes that my mother and I would hurt his family." As soon as I finished that sentence, I turned my back slightly towards Rhys and cried.

After a few seconds , I could feel a hand rubbing my back. Then, I was being pulled gently into Rhys's chest. I mumbled in between sobs, "Stop it."

He didn't.

"Do I need to command you to stand aside?" I said between tears.

"I think if you really wanted me to leave you, you would have used magic to push me away."

I didn't reply. After taking another heavy breath, I declared, "I really have to go back as I haven't told anyone where I've headed." Then, I gently pushed myself out of his embrace and walked a couple of steps away from him. I know he was trying to stay by my side so every time he jogged to catch up, I walked a little faster until he gave up.

When we got to the clearing that stood between the forest and the castle, I stopped in my tracks. "I presume you'll be going back into the forest to finish your hunt then?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Rhys replied before bowing with my hand in his. He planted a gentle kiss on it as a traditional act of friendship. "It was a delight to be acquainted with you, Your Highness."

As he turned to leave, I stammered nervously, "You don't have to call me that."

His eyes glimmered for a moment. "Well then, Daniella, I hope I'll see you sometime later."

My limbs froze, making me stand and watch as he walked back into the forest with his hunting quiver and box slung over his shoulders.

"Who was that?!"

Cursing under my breath, I jumped and whipped around hastily to see Henry standing there with his jaw wide open. I could feel a flush creep up my cheeks as I replied between gritted teeth, "Just someone I met."

"Met recently?! He kissed you on the hand!"

I looked around and hushed my brother with my finger. "Shhh! You should know by now that it's a tradition for knights, or in this case, squires to do that. Don't dramatize what you saw."

"Well then why are we whispering?" Henry snipped back with a cheeky grin.

I rolled my eyes and changed the topic abruptly. "Aren't you going to tell me that I'm in huge trouble and that jeopardy is amidst in the castle?"

With a sheepish nod, Henry admitted, "I was going to get to that. Mum is pretty mad that you've disappeared without telling anyone where you went. You know this kind of thing worries her, especially since we're not in the Enchanted Forest."

"Says the person who ran off to another city to find their birth mother and afterwards, continually snuck out of the house," I quipped jokingly. Upon noting Henry's unamused expression however, I swallowed back my remark and sighed. "Alright, I'll talk to her."