Day 27 of Femslash February: Help

Tw: Mentions of past miscarriage & child death.

Snow attempts to reach down and curses herself when pain shoots up her leg. She sits back on the feather bed, moaning a bit. They still don't know where they're going, but she hopes there's a mattress like this waiting for her.

"Did you change it?"

Snow looks up at Regina in the doorway. In the past few days, the scent of death has improved somewhat. Maybe she's just getting used to it. "It still hurts." She frowns. "Wolves are supposed to heal fast. What the hell is going on?"

"It's probably the arrow the hunter used. I did a bit of research on it."

Snow tilts her head. "You did?"

"Of course. Anyway, it's charmed specifically to hunt the supernatural. We're lucky it only wounded you and didn't kill." Regina walks over and kneels before her, fingering the hem of her nightgown. "Do you mind?"

Snow gestures. "Go right ahead."

Regina gently rolls it up and carefully removes the dressing. Grabbing onto to the bucket of water and sponge first, she carefully clears the wound. Snow hisses, clamping the bedding between her fingertips.

"You could've changed me," she says. "Why didn't you?"

Regina chuckles darkly. "You don't beat around the bush, do you?"

"I don't have the time."

Regina puts the sponge down and grabs hold of the antibacterial. It stings like a hornet's nest as she pours it onto the open wound.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, sorry, just keep talking."

"You could bite me right now. I mean, there's a wound right there."

"It's not bleeding," Regina points out, biting a bandage off the roll.

"Still. The scent has to be alluring."

"Do you want me to bite you?"

"No. I'm just curious."

Regina patches it up and quickly corks up the antibacterial. Snow looks down at her handiwork.

"You could be a nursemaid."

"I wanted to be. Before…well…"

"You never told me how…"

"And you don't need to know."

The sharpness in Regina's voice silences Snow. She carefully inches back on the bed. Regina sighs. Her icy skin comes in contact with Snow as she lifts her leg to be elevated once again.

"I only bite those who deserve it," Regina explains.

"And I don't?"

"Despite how horrid you smell, no."

Snow briefly smiles. "Who was worthy?"

Regina looks past her, a haunted gaze taking over. Snow frowns, hoping she didn't push too far.

"I was in love, in my mortal days. A beautiful boy. The stable hand. My father was the youngest of seven boys," Regina explains. "No chance he or I would ever take the throne. My mother wanted me to marry for wealth. I wanted love."

"That makes sense."

"Have you ever been in love?"

Snow pauses. She can't think of anyone. Sure, she loves Ruby as a sister. She loved her mother. There hasn't been much time for love. There was the demigod, but that was more puppy love than anything else. It never would've worked out once he completed his labors.

"I suppose…no. I haven't."

"Well…I was. Daniel, that was his name." A whisper of a smile comes across her face. "We'd go for moonlit picnics. Horseback ride. I used to daydream of the life we could have with each other."

"What happened?"

"My mother wanted me to marry this king. I told her no. She didn't take it well. What Cora wanted, Cora got."

"So…"

"She killed him. Daniel. Ripped his heart out of his chest, literally." Snow's eyes widen. Regina's eyes grow dark. "It turned to dust in her fingertips." Her voice turns to a hollow whisper. "We were 18."

"Regina, I'm…"

"I married the king anyhow."

"But you loved Daniel."

"When someone like him asked you to get married, no wasn't an option." Regina shakes her head. "We were married nearly a dozen years before I turned. That was nearly a century ago."

"Wow," Snow whispers. "I didn't…I mean, what happened to him?"

"What should happen to a 50-year-old man that marries a teenage girl."

Snow's stomach sours at the very thought.

"I'm sorry, Regina. You didn't deserve that."

"No. I didn't. And it took a long time to realize that. I used to think, it was my fault Daniel died. I had the nerve to stand up to Mother but now…" She shakes her head. "I can't imagine doing that to a child."

"Did you and the king ever have any?"

Regina purses her lips. "There were several miscarriages and then…a boy. An heir."

Snow's ears perk up. "You had a son?"

"For a year. And then…he got sick."

"Regina…"

"I went through every cure, prayed to every God I'd read about. And it wasn't enough."

Snow grips her frigid hand. Regina looks at her, tears sparkling in her chocolate eyes.

"His name was Henry," Regina whispers. "After my own father."

"That's a beautiful name."

Regina clears her throat. "Anyway, um, after that…I made sure I'd never have kids again. Even before I turned. There was a potion."

Snow nods. "I've heard of it." Regina frowns. "Not for myself. My mother and Anita took it after me and Ruby were born. They didn't want a chance of a male heir stealing the matriarchy."

Regina chuckles in spite of her tears. "They sound like my kind of women."

"I just can't imagine what you went through to decide that."

A sharp tooth bites her red as blood lips. "I never wanted a child with the king, but it was expected. After Henry, I just couldn't imagine losing another. The miscarriages were hard enough. But to hold a child, love them and then have them ripped from you…well, it's enough to turn your heart dark."

Regina stares at her for a few moments, her mouth opening and then closing a couple of times. Snow gestures for her to continue but Regina shakes her head.

"You rest. I'll find Tink. See if she's found us passage yet."