Notes: I'm back before long. I'm really happy with the feedback I got for the first episode, thank you very much for your support. I'm so glad you're a part of this story. ❤
I hope you like the chapter, enjoy!
In the previous chapter
She was so angry that she hadn't been able to get out of this trap for years that she increased her walking speed more and more, she felt that her breath was not enough anymore. Daniel... Her father, who was separated from her by her mother... Her youth, her happiness... Everything was taken away from her, her whole life. Her mother and her the happy expression on her wedding day appeared in her mind. And Snow White's hideous joy, King Leopold's eyes full of interest...
She couldn't pay attention to the stone in front of her as her thoughts choked her. "Ah!" Her hand automatically went to her possibly broken wrist as she fell onto the cold floor. As she took action to use her magic, the voice behind from her prevented her to relieve her pain.
"Milady, are you okay?"
Regina turned her head to look at the owner of the voice. The first thing that caught her attention was his blue eyes, which sparkled despite the distance between them. His dark blonde hair was neatly styled. He was wearing a cream-colored shirt and brown pants. The green cloak made the young man look like a part of the forest. He threw the bow and arrows at the ground and bent down beside Regina.
The Queen had forgotten to answer as she observed the man before her. The fact that he didn't know her meant he was a stranger. Thank god!
"You must be in a lot of pain." The man said softly while grabbing her wrist. "Do you hurt anywhere else?"
"I am good." Regina said coldly. She was still staring at his eyes, which were shadowed by his lashes. Despite the pain in her wrist and the intensity of her thoughts, a pair of eyes had cured the restlessness that she had not been able to relieve for hours, but the queen would not realize it yet. She immersed herself in the comfort of the fingers that swept over her skin.
"It's swelling." He moved her wrist slowly, trying to understand the extent of the damage. "Probably broken."
Regina cried out as pain radiating from the wrist that man's holding, to her entire body. "Ah!" She involuntarily turned her eyes to him. "What do you think you're doing?! If you knew anything about a broken bone, you wouldn't move it like that. So let it go!"
The blue-eyed man did not take the woman's rude attitude seriously. He knew how angry people who were hurt can be. Still, he couldn't help answering with the same sarcasm. "If you knew anything about a broken bone, you would be careful where you step. I think it would be in your best interest to be nice to me, as there is no one else to help you in the middle of the forest but me." He said, but then turned into a gentleman speaking to a beautiful woman who needed some help. "I just checked, sorry to hurt you… Ceasefire?"
He had affected her. Indeed, someone had managed to impress the cold, mean-spirited queen in just a few minutes. She chose not to respond to his daring words, she wanted to get to know him. She took the man's outstretched hand and lifted her head, placing her usual superior gaze on her chocolate eyes. "Ceasefire."
"Now, there must be plants here that will do well."
Regina didn't want to do anything to her wrist, which she could magically heal, despite the pain. She watched the blond man get up and look around, while waiting for him to return with a few bits of grass. She liked that he was taking care of her, and wanted to see where this would lead. She had at least that much right in her boring and miserable life, right?
When he returned with a handful of herbs, her fingers were circling over her wrist for ease the pain.
He crushed the herbs he had brought with a stone, and tore a piece from the end of his shirt.
"When I wrap these up, it'll make it through to a doctor. You'll have to hold on." He said, carefully wrapping her wrist.
The scent of the forest filled Regina's nose, but this time it wasn't coming from the environment. It was more intense, more impressive, more striking. This man smelled of the forest.
"You wouldn't even say that if you knew what I could stand. I will get over it."
Looking straight into her eyes as if he were going to pierce them, he squeezed the end of the piece of cloth as if he says 'Oh is it? Well then.' Regina frowned but remained silent.
He replied with a big smile. "I forgot to introduce myself. Robin of Locksley at your service." He said, bowing slightly.
"Regina Mills." She said, squeezing the hand outstretched to her a second time. She wasn't going to ruin this brief moment by saying she was the queen. Her skin burned from where Robin had touched her.
"I should have guessed you were a queen." Regina frowned again. Despite her best efforts, did he know her? She should have known that adjective would destroy this one too, it was destroying everything good in her life in one fell swoop. Did she really believe she could run away from this?
But Robin said something that surprised her even more.
"Queen is a fitting name for you." He smiled.
Regina took a deep breath, trying to hide her surprise. He was talking about the meaning of her name, of course. From the meaning of her name, which is not known to many people. Still, she should have guessed. If he had known her, there was no way he could have acted so casually. He wouldn't even come close to her.
Instead of answering, she tried to stand up, but was not very successful.
"You can't walk like that. I can take you where you want to go." He wrapped his arm around her slender waist to get her up.
"I can't see a horse, or anything else I can ride."
"I can hold you if you don't mind."
Robin was praying that the most beautiful woman he had ever seen would accept his offer. He didn't want to leave her this early and without knowing anything about her. At that moment, he would do anything to be closer to her, to spend more time with her. If he had to beg, he would.
"I think I've been too far from home without realizing it. I don't want to be a hindrance." Please insist.
"It's not a problem for me, it's an honor to help you."
Thank god!
Regina let him to hold her in his arms. She put her arm around his broad shoulder and held on.
Robin inhaled the scent of vanilla mixed with apples. Why did this woman affect him so much? Her sarcastic words, her eyes, her little smile that rarely adorned her face. He was suddenly ready to kneel before her and beg her to meet again. But no, he shouldn't have thought of such things, he couldn't be so rude to a woman he had just met and needed help. He was more honorable than that.
"Are you a guest in the Enchanted Forest or just arrived?" Regina said for break the silence.
"It's been a few days, I'm visiting my friend. He lives at the entrance of the forest."
"What made you go this far in an unfamiliar forest?
"Let's call it my free spirit." He smiled. Regina's heart suddenly decided to run. Fortunately, Robin shifted her focus from his smile. "You?"
"Me?" Regina, who had not yet calmed her heart, said.
"Are you from here?"
"Yes, I'm even from here too much." She didn't want to tell someone she would never see again, the truth she hadn't told him until now, but she also didn't hide her true thought either. It's been a long time since she was enjoying chatting with someone so much. It didn't feel right to lie to him, but she wasn't going to defile that day and that man she would remember for a lifetime with her title.
"I heard this forest is too dangerous to wander alone. What drove you away from home? A lover or a husband?"
The dangers Robin heard were all her own making. He was talking about the measures she took to control the kingdom, about the spells. Never mind, he was asking her if she had someone in her heart. That would put everything behind her, even her own evil.
She gave a short laugh. If you wanted to leave a lasting impression on someone, you had to always leave something for them to wonder about. And she knew now that she had succeeded. Regina didn't answer his question, just laughed.
"My childhood was spent in this forest." She just said. "According to you persisted despite what you heard, your free spirit is also brave, isn't it?"
"To know a place well, you must first explore it. Just like getting to know a person." He said. "Cowardice deprives us of beauty."
Robin took his eyes off the road to meet Regina's in his last sentence. How beautiful her eyes were, like the earth being reborn in spring after winter. Dark but alive, as if the whole meaning of life was loaded onto a pair of brown orbs. Come on Robin! Stop this! He continued to warn himself.
"Which way?" He asked to distract himself when he came to a fork in the road.
They had approached the palace, the fairy tale ended here. That was the end she avoided.
"Are you familiar with magic?" Regina asked.
"Hm, are we in the Enchanted Forest?" His lips curved upwards again.
While the Queen rolled her eyes, she did not neglect to command her heart to stop.
"I've witnessed it a few times." He said finally, stopping the teasing. "Why did you ask?"
Regina nodded. Robin grabbed her arm gently as she lunged to get off his lap. A faint cloud of purple smoke floated in the air as Regina bent and ran her hand over her wrist. When the pain ceased and her wrist was more healthy than before, and she was away from the man's touch, she was finally able to breathe deeply and comfortably. She untied the cloth that Robin wrapped and stood up straight.
"W-What? How?" Robin pulled back slightly.
"I can do magic." She admitted, it was her turn to smile. "Thank you so much for getting me this far, it was a pleasant conversation."
Regina stared at him intently, as if trying to memorize that face. Her eyes met with blue ones for the last time. She never wanted to go, but she had to, her dungeon would not wait for her.
She never liked goodbyes, she wasn't a woman crying over someone's back. If I have to say, she didn't have anyone to say goodbye to anymore. So she quickly turned around and took a few steps in the direction of the palace.
Robin couldn't say anything, bewildered by both the magic and this indifference. If she could heal, why had she let him to carry her? Why did she look him in the eyes so expressively if she was going to deprive him of even a sincere farewell?
"Regina!" He ran to her and grabbed her arm. "Why didn't you do this in the first place?"
There was little distance between them for their breaths to collide. Regina felt her heart beating as if it was about to burst out. What was happening to her? She was a queen, she had a son. Most importantly, she had a revenge waiting to be taken. Her only love was Daniel, there would be no second love. She had to bury all her innocent emotions in darkness again and reveal her heart of stone.
"You didn't let me." She said, shrugging.
Was she mocking him? "You must be kidding." Robin laughed. "I carried you this far."
"Thank you already." Regina said with the same tone. Please let me go, I can't stay with you any longer.
"I brought you here in vain, at the risk of getting lost, and is it just a simple thank you? If only you had the decency to tell me how to get back."
Regina smiled smugly. "Cowardice can deprive you of beauty, but at least it won't make you lose what you have, like courage. In where you don't know, don't trust people you don't know, Robin." She said. "Good luck finding your home."
He called after her before Regina disappeared into the trees. "I'll see you again, Regina."
Regina laughed to herself. Her mind was completely cleared, this walk felt really good.
Notes: I love these two! I like it when they make fun of each other. Please let me know what you think.
See you soon!