A couple of months had passed and Regina felt like a prisoner. Although David did not seem to care what she did or when she did it, she felt the watchful and judgement filled eyes of the guards and hired help. Even the people of the Kingdom gossiped about their new Queen, questioning if she was the right choice for their beloved King.
The King that still to this day showed no interest in her. David would go out of his way to avoid her during his time in the castle, though he mostly busied himself being outside or fulfilling his royal duties addressing the council or his army. On the occasion he did look at her, it was as if he didn't even really see her. Like he was looking through her and seeing the memory of his wife on the other side.
Regina chuckled bitterly at the thought as she looked at herself in the mirror. Although she didn't exactly pine for David's attention, she was competing with a dead woman. Instead of wanting Regina who was there and willing, he was choosing to love a memory instead. She couldn't explain it, it wasn't as if she really knew him at all or wanted his affection, but it made her question her self worth.
Cora had told her time and time again how unlovable she was. That she was foolish and naïve and that her only hope in life was to find a man to take care of her. Her mother made it clear that the only thing she had to offer was her beauty; but David did not even want that. She felt worthless.
Not to mention her step-daughter, Emma, who made her life a living hell any moment she had the opportunity. She hated the girl, was filled with rage every time she saw her heart shaped face and blonde waves. Bitterness and resentment consumed Regina at the notion that she should've just let the stupid girl fall to her death from that runaway horse. Her Daniel would still be alive if she hadn't saved her.
Emma viewed her as the young and selfish step-mother who only married her father for wealth and power. Stupid girl. Dark thoughts came to Regina's mind, grasping the handle of her mirror tighter as she stared blankly into it at her own reflection, images of her step-daughter falling from her horse and snapping her delicate little neck making a wicked smile curl her lips. She jumped when the handheld mirror cracked, pulling her from her sinister thoughts and startling her as the power she possessed showed itself.
"Been practicing, Deary?" A shrill but familiar voice caused her to drop her hand mirror on her vanity suddenly to look up in the larger mirror, seeing Rumple's slimy appearance in the reflection behind her. "Wishing you'd pushed Cora into the mirror on your wedding day, after all?"
"What are you doing here?" Regina's eyes narrowed at him, pressing her lips into a thin line. She had accidentally summoned the beast on the week leading up to her wedding to the King, when rummaging through an old book of Cora's, trying to find a way out of the mess that had become her life.
"There is much history between your family and me. History both in the past, and in the future," Rumple gave a flamboyant twist of his arms before picking up a tendril of her hair, toying with it until she frowned and turned around to stand.
"Then can you help me or not?" Regina bit down on her lower lip, hating the fact that she was seeking assistance from someone as morally inept as Rumple. Then again, with the thoughts that had been consuming her lately, was she any better than him?
"You seek power? The death of your enemy…the death of your friends?" He jumped towards her on the last few words with a manic smile on his face.
"No, I don't want to hurt anyone," Regina argued adamantly, though somewhere deep down inside her she wasn't sure if that was true anymore.
"Hard to believe you're from the same family," Her skin crawled when he showed his rotten smile and cupped her face with a gentle touch, "So kind…so gentle…and ooh, so powerful," He shivered before letting go of her face.
"I told you the day of my wedding when you made that mirror appear that I did not want to do magic," She grit out from clenched teeth. The man was relentless and it did not help that the turmoil inside of Regina had her magic bubbling to the surface every time she turned around. It was getting harder and harder to control since being awakened by her pain and grief.
"Ahh, deary, you could do so much if you just let yourself," He studied her appearance, making her cringe inwardly as if he saw right through her into the darkest parts of her soul, "The loss of your love did wonderful things for you," He added, making her blood boil and her face flush with anger, which only caused a satisfied smile to appear on his face.
"See, you've always held much power, but Cora suppressed it with fear. That and the fact that besides her abuse, you've never had anything truly tragic happen to you until the night you watched Mommy Dearest rip your poor Daniel's heart out of his chest and squeeze the life from him," Rumple clenched his fist theatrically in front of Regina's face, causing her to swallow the lump of emotion forming in her throat at the memory, "Now your magic has come to the surface and if you don't learn how to control it…well…everyone will find out that their Queen is a sloppy witch, or maybe they'll even think you insane and lock you up. That is unless you learn how to control your gift…how to use it to your advantage…"
"I don't want to use magic, that's what she does. I don't want to end up like my mother," She frowned stubbornly, meeting him eye to eye in an attempt to make him take her seriously.
"No offense Deary, but I never said you were that powerful," He taunted her with a perk of his eyebrow and she knew he was goading her. She hated that it worked on some level. "I'll let you ponder it until we meet again. Don't hurt anyone," He glanced down at her hands that trembled with her magic and let out a giggle at how she could barely contain it. She opened her mouth to shout at him but he dissolved in thin air, as quickly as he had appeared.
David crouched against the tree in the forest where he had been sat for an hour or two, waiting for the animals to show themselves. Hunting was a way for him to ease his mind, to get out of the prying eyes of the kingdom and enjoy some solitude. He didn't need to hunt anymore since crossing paths with a young princess who had convinced her father to let her marry a shepherd, but it was tradition and something he enjoyed.
He smiled at the memory of Snow White. He'd stumbled upon his spirited wife on a day such as this one, while hunting in the forest. She had turned somewhat rebellious and often dressed up in commoners clothing and went out to explore the kingdom, her parents completely unaware. He had actually caught his wife to be in a netted trap and instantly enjoyed her spunky and spirited response.
They were shocked when Leopold had accepted him into the family, letting his daughter marry a common shepherd was quite the leap of faith. Looking back, David shouldn't have been surprised. Snow had her father wrapped around her finger. Her sweet nature had everyone wrapped around her finger.
Things had been perfect for years until his wife fell sick with fever. He was helpless to do anything but sit at her bedside and beg her to not leave him and their young daughter alone. She fought the fever hard, tried to stay alive but the mysterious illness had taken her from them on one stormy night.
He'd never been the same since the passing of his Queen, although he tried desperately to be a good father for Emma. Still, he knew he was distant and that they hadn't truly connected in years. Nothing was as it should be, especially with the addition to the new dark haired stranger into their home.
Regina was a mystery to him. At times she seemed weak and vulnerable, with a haunted look in her eyes that told him she'd been through something too. Other times he saw a fire within her, a feisty spirit fit for a ruler. Though, he'd never seen her laugh or appear to be having fun in any way. Then again, the castle wasn't the most joyous of places. He rolled his eyes at the thought of what his late wife would do or say if she saw the way he and Emma had been living. Or lack thereof.
Movement in the forest brought him from his thoughts as he quietly lifted up his bow and arrow. It was one of the finest in the realm, sure to kill anything he aimed it at. Not that David would know, he mostly just came hunting to sit in the peace and quiet. If he did kill anything, he gave the animal to the poorer people in nearby villages.
Suddenly a deer came into view, spooked by something deeper in the woods. It trotted at first when coming up over the bank near the pond not far from him, giving him a moment to bring up his bow and get a good aim on it. Before he let go of the arrow, the deer jolted back into a sprint at the sound of heavy hooves behind it.
Irritation shot through him at the thought of someone imposing on the castle land, interrupting his only time alone. He stood only to see one of his own black stallions soar over the embankment with his new Queen atop it. Her dark hair was unpinned and flying freely, a wide grin on her face as she brought the stallion to an abrupt stop when spotting the pond. Her smile was breathtaking but fleeting.
"You interrupted my hunt," David accused when he stepped out of the woods and into the small clearing, not helping but notice the snug fit of her riding breeches when she dismounted the horse. He didn't know why the sight of her aggravated him so much, but it did.
She looked up at him quickly as he stalked towards her and he realized how short she was compared to him with her boots on instead of heels. He could see her mind spinning before her brows furrowed together, "You interrupted my ride." She matched his tone, challenging him.
"I come out here every Sunday afternoon to hunt, I have been for years," David crossed his arms, surprised by her defiant nature.
"And I've been going on a ride every Sunday afternoon since I was small. Your point?" Regina squared her shoulders back at him as she removed her riding gloves. He had to admit he'd much rather her bite back at him in this way than just take his attitude. He knew he could be a prick sometimes and he always felt worse when someone just swallowed it instead of giving it back to him only because he was King.
"Look, I don't know how you did things at your place," He began in a condescending manner that instantly make her perfectly angled jaw tense in a way that triggered something inside of him. He suddenly felt the urge to keep prodding her in this way, "But I sense that your mother ruled the roost there. But here we're a little bit more old fashioned. I am King and you will respect me. This isn't your childhood home where you were allowed to run a muck and get anything you wanted."
Regina's eyes grew wide and she sputtered a laugh, "You're right, my mother did run the show," She stepped up to him and he noticed her hands shook with anger, her fists balling around her riding gloves, "She controlled me for over 18 years and I am not about to be under anyone else's thumb. Is that understood?!" David's mouth dropped when Regina poked his chest to drive her point home and he felt a jolt of energy.
He looked down to where her finger touched him and rubbed the spot. It hadn't hurt, it was just an unfamiliar feeling. When he glanced back up at her he saw a certain amount of fear haunting her expression, letting him know that she felt it too. It intrigued him, forgetting about his anger for a moment after witnessing the sudden change in her.
"Regina," He said when she took a few steps backwards and then took off over the embankment from which she came. He glanced at the horse who meandered near the pond before taking off after her, "Regina!" He called out again, cursing under his breath at the fact he was chasing the wife he claimed he wanted nothing to do with through the forest.
"Go away!" She called out without turning around, running through the deeper part of the forest, dodging tree limbs faster and easier than David could due to her lesser height. He still gained speed on her however, being able to take larger steps and cover more ground quicker. He panted, hearing her own labored breath just steps ahead of him as he finally managed to lunge forward and grab her arm, bringing her twirling around and smashing into his chest.
"Stop it! I don't want to hurt you!" She looked up at him with wild eyes, struggling against his grip on her upper arms. He shook his head, not understanding what she meant, but he could tell that she believed she could. "I don't want to hurt anyone!"
"Regina, calm down," He said firmly, rubbing his hands up and down her thin upper arms, "You're not going to hurt me and I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you."
"Why?" She asked quickly, as if something inside of her was trying to keep itself hidden, "Why now? You've avoided me for months."
"Because I want to know what the hell that was back there. We both felt it," He raised an eyebrow down at her, noticing the scar on her upper lip and wondering for a split second how it got there.
"I don't know what you mean," She started, looking away from him quickly to avoid eye contact. She had a beautiful profile, her nose coming out into a gentle slope, followed by full lips and a smoothly angled jaw line.
"I think you do," He prodded gently, keeping hold of her upper arms but with less force, rubbing his thumb over them through the fabric in soothing circles, "Regina, neither one of us wanted this marriage. We don't expect anything from each other. Whatever is going on with you or whatever that was, you can tell me. And if you're afraid of hurting someone, I need to know why…and I think you understand why I would want to know that."
He watched her visibly struggle with whether or not to admit the truth to him. Something was troubling her terribly, for she was much too young to be so weighed down by life. Her chest heaved as she sucked in a deep breath and slowly looked up at him. The vulnerability was back in her eyes and it struck a chord in him that she was taking a chance in trusting him. She didn't even know anything about him.
"I have magic," She answered him in a small voice full of shame and self loathing, "I didn't know I had it until…recently and now I…I'm not sure how to control it and I'm so unhappy, these dark thoughts are creeping up inside of me and I…I'm afraid I may do something to hurt someone by accident."
David was silent for a long moment as he processed the fact that his new, young wife possessed magic. Something that was both persecuted and celebrated in this realm. Something that could do great things or terrible things, depending on the circumstance. He'd never truly been exposed to it, only hearing horror stories of what it could do and the evil witches who possessed it. But this girl standing in front of him wasn't evil, she wasn't anything that he had imagined.
"You don't like the fact that you contain magic?" He asked her, trying to understand as he considered how quickly she had went from feisty and assertive to fearful and small before his very own eyes. He sensed that her self confidence was all an act and that someone very close to her had taken a toll on her self worth.
"I hate it," She admitted with a tremble to her voice, shifting her eyes to the side, "My mother has magic and she does nothing but torture and hurt people. I don't want to end up like her."
David saw the torment in her eyes at the mention of this Cora person he had yet to meet face to face. He sensed something happened between them that made Regina seem so much older than only eighteen years old. He sensed a maturity and wisdom about her of someone that had been through a great deal, "Your mother, did she hurt you?"
"Only when I disobeyed her," Regina squared her shoulders as if she were attempting to retain some of her pride as she admitted to being abused by her own flesh and blood.
"She'll never be able to hurt you again," He found himself promising before he even realized it, but he meant it. Whatever this woman had done to his bride had shaken her to her core, and he felt a duty to protect her. "If there's one thing you expect from me, it is that I will never let that happen."
She looked confused as she stared up at him with warm brown eyes so full of pain. Eyes that were much older than her age and had seen more than someone of her age should. When he was eighteen his life was at the tavern drinking with his pals and chasing girls, such a contrast to the responsibility that now weighed on her.
"Why would you do that for me?" She asked and the sincerity in her question hit him in the gut. Was it that abstract of an idea for her to believe she had someone to look out for her? Had anyone ever taken care of this woman? Loved her?
"Regardless of how we feel about it, we are husband and wife," He looked down at her seriously, reaching for one of her hands, "I took an oath to protect you and I intend to…Not only that but, just because we didn't enter this marriage with love doesn't mean we can't be friends. And friends help one another."
He heard her take an audible, shaky breath as emotion flooded her. Her eyes welled with tears and he felt the urge to hug her, though he felt it'd be too awkward just yet. "Thank you," He heard her finally say and he sensed that she was emotionally spent.
"Let's go find your horse, shall we?" He nodded once, keeping her small hand in his and feeling the energy from her magic in his palm, though it didn't scare him. She was gentle and just needed guidance. She allowed him to lead her back through the wooded path to the clearing in a comfortable silence as they approached the black stallion she had rode here.
"You picked a good horse for a fast ride," David nodded as he let go of her hand to grab Midnight's reins and hold him in place for Regina to mount him.
"Yes, his spirit reminded me of my Rocinante's," She replied as she ran a hand over the stallion's neck with a yearning expression.
"Rocinante? Where is she now?" He asked, watching Regina run her hand through Midnight's black main with gentle care.
"At my parents home," She let out a breath, "Mother said I didn't need a reminder of my past when I came here," Her lips pursed as she seemed to push away the memory and put one of her feet into the stirrups, lifting herself up onto the stallion with ease. "Do you…want a ride back to the castle?"
He saw that she was taking a leap of faith by extending a kindness to him. She was his wife, for christ sake, it shouldn't be that big of a deal to share a horse with her. So he nodded, watching her remove her foot from the stirrup for him as he slipped his own in in order to get up into the saddle.
"Here you go," She kept her face forward as he slid into the saddle snugly behind her, holding the reins up for him.
"It's all right, it's your ride," He reassured her, sensing she was used to always having to give up control to more domineering personalities. He watched her give the reins a gentle tug as the horse trotted into motion, forcing him to wrap an arm around her waist when he swayed backward.
"Is this okay?" He asked quietly near her ear at where his arm and hand came to rest. Her bottom was pressed tightly into his crotch thanks to the angle of the saddle, his chest brushing against her back no matter how rigidly straight she kept hers. His right arm had instinctively wrapped around her waist, resting on her flat stomach and his hand curled around her left side.
"It's fine," She nodded once, keeping her head facing their path. Her hair smelled wonderful and her body was warm against his. After a few minutes they both relaxed into the horse's motion, her back coming to relax more against his chest. He supposed with the comfortable silence between them she had allowed herself to forget his presence and just enjoy the feeling of him. He sensed she was as guarded as he was, so he certainly didn't mind.
They rode back to the castle in silence, their bodies warming each other with the lowering sun. When they arrived back at the stables and dismounted they exchanged knowing glances that something had changed between them; that they could now consider one another a friend. There was no harm in that, after all.