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Regina stared up at him with those big brown eyes, soft smile on her lips as they parted ever so slightly to let moans escape. He smiled, feeling his love for her with his whole heart, threatening to make it explode, knowing he'd never felt as connected with anyone before. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him down for a kiss and he obliged, tongue dipping into her mouth and caressing her own.
God, he loved this woman. The world disappeared when they were locked away in their bed chamber, tangled up in each other, nothing but the sounds of their love making as they cocooned themselves under the covers. It was the sweet mornings like this that were his favorite, nothing hurried about it, taking their time and exploring each other's bodies, enjoying each other's presence. She'd become so comfortable with him, had let him in completely and it was unlike anything he'd ever known.
The sounds that came out of her became warm and heated as the minutes ticked by, prompting him to slide his hand under her lower back to change the angle and help her reach what her body searched for. She gasped when he tilted her hips up to him, opening her up to him more and he reached something deeper inside of her wet heat. His free hand pressed into the pillows above her head and he lifted his own to watch her. He smiled breathlessly and she returned the sentiment, face flushed beautifully and lips swollen from kisses.
Her soft legs wrapped around his back, arms curled around his sides, fingers grasping at his shoulder blades. She clung to him as he moved inside of her with gentle but firm rhythm, watching her reactions play across her beautiful features. He wanted her forever, wanted to have babies with her, wanted to grow old with her. She was it for him and he wished he could accurately convey that with words, but he feared it wasn't possible.
"David," She spoke his name in a gasp, her shy little telltale sign that she was about to come. He'd come to know it well, reveled in the sound of it.
"I love you," He breathed heavily, bending his arm to lean on his elbow, curling his wrist so his hand could thread through her hair as he came down closer to her, pressing their bodies together, "Let go, baby." Even now she sometimes needed a nudge to give into the pleasure, to let her body do what it wanted to, to forget how she'd been taught to deny herself.
She whimpered when he rolled his hips up into her with gentle force, her full lips parting wider with a silent cry as her body began to tense underneath him. David kept her hips tilted up to him with his hand underneath her, the other gently gripping her hair as he watched her closely, brows furrowing and her eyes closed. Her arms and legs clung to him, back arching from their soft bed, pushing her breasts up against his chest as she buried her face into his neck and let out a muffled cry when she clenched. He felt her warm tears of release against his skin as he groaned and filled her, fighting to control his own emotion that their connection evoked in him.
A sudden noise in the hall made his eyes come open and his heart sank when he found himself alone in his old bed chamber, staring at the ceiling. He frowned as he felt the tears resting in the corners of his eyes. It had almost been a month that his wife had not come back to him and he found himself dreaming about her each time he fell asleep, waking up painfully hard and heartsick.
He tried his best to keep a sense of normalcy when he saw her, tried to keep up with his daily life and perform his duties as King. Her absence was painfully distracting, especially seeing her walk down the hall to their old chamber, making him want to follow her and beg her to try to remember. Instead he held himself back, not wanting to scare her. She seemed wary of him, almost cold towards him, and stuck close to Cora who had made herself at home in his castle to care for her daughter.
Everyone missed Regina. He could tell in the way Granny watched her when she'd bring her her breakfast, could tell how Emma mentioned with a hopeful expression going on a ride anytime the Queen was near, could tell the way Red would make jokes about the dungeon in a subtle attempt to jog Regina's memory. Ella and Thomas had even been to visit, unaware of the current state of things at their castle and Cora had politely refused when the heavily pregnant Ella asked to see Regina.
His home that had so recently been full of love and life again was now dwindling back to the solemn place it had been after Snow had died. David's own hope was hard to hold onto when he witnessed his wife reverting to the troubled soul she'd been when she came here. She avoided him, averting her gaze for the most part and when she did look at him it was with a blank expression instead of the love he'd gotten used to. It chipped away at his shattered heart, beckoned him to give up hope, to give up trying.
"The weather is fair today, Regina," Cora eyed her daughter sitting in the window sill, "Perhaps you should go for a ride? You'd enjoy that."
She wasn't typically one to worry or indulge someone's sulking, but it's all her daughter seemed to do these days. Ever since the incident a month ago, Regina had refused to eat, had seemed to wallow in her misery at the knowledge of her life that she didn't recall. Telling Regina the news that Daniel had passed had surprisingly rattled Cora when she saw the heartbreak on her daughter's features all over again.
When she'd killed Daniel she'd been angry at her daughter for going behind her back and had believed she was doing what was best for her. It had been easier for her to harshly discipline her daughter back then when her temper hadn't time to cool. Telling her now of Daniel's death made Cora feel cruel despite how she'd believed it was for her own good, even when she'd amended the story to say he'd been killed in an accident rather than by her own hand.
She buried her guilt as she usually did, for now it was time to do what was best for Regina once again. She'd forced her into this life with the King who was a stranger, wanting nothing more than her daughter to have wealth and power. Regina holding the throne meant she herself would have a certain degree of wealth and power simply by being her mother, something she'd longed for but could not obtain for years. But, despite the well laid plans, the arranged marriage between Regina and David had not went as she'd hoped.
The King was stronger than she'd anticipated and from the small glimpses of him she'd seen, she could tell he was rather controlling. He'd snapped at her on multiple occasions and made her feel unwelcome in her daughter's own home. He'd even sent for Henry to come spend time at the castle, but refused Cora a visit. If he was bold enough to act this way towards her, one of the most powerful sorceresses in the realm, then what was he doing to her weak daughter?
It had eaten Cora alive, the months spent home alone, wondering how her daughter was fairing now that she was no longer allowed around her. She'd taken the stable boy from her and forced her to marry this monster, then wasn't even able to protect her from him. She knew she'd been hard on Regina her entire life, but she'd only been preparing her for what it could bring. Cora had learned the hard way, no one had warned her how heartbreaking the world could be, how cold people could be.
Certainly it was more humane to prepare her soft-hearted daughter for it than just thrust her into the world with hopeless optimism and naivety. So she had done what she felt she must, had steered Regina's path in life to one of power and wealth, only for it to backfire. That's why when the opportunity arose with the Princess and the horse, Cora knew what she had to do.
Regina had been a nurturer since she was a wee thing, sometimes making Cora wonder how she'd ever come from her. She knew that given the chance to save the Princess that Regina would and it would be the perfect opening to change the dynamic at the royal palace. The dramatic teenager quickly gave her the opportunity to arrange it all when she'd attempted to run away the stormy night over a month ago, triggering one of the perimeter spells Cora had put on the castle to let her know the comings and goings.
She knew that the injuries her daughter sustained were nothing that she couldn't heal and the memory loss was something she'd apt not to. Without her memories of the tragic loss of her stableboy and her days controlled by the king, Regina, with Cora's help, could finally rise to be the rightful Queen. Cora could teach her daughter how to be a true ruler, how to protect herself from the cruel people of the world, how to be what she always knew she could.
It had been harder to begin to mold Regina than what she expected it to be after she settled in here in a chamber across from her daughter's. The Queen seemed to fall into a depression without her memories, often seemed lost and occupied in her own mind. She'd become deathly thin, avoiding meals and spending most of her time staring off from her perch in her chamber window. Cora preferred when Regina used to argue with her and defy her, for now she appeared too much like someone with a broken spirit.
"Rocinante, is she here?" Regina asked without looking towards Cora, keeping her gaze towards the forest surrounding the castle lands.
"Yes, darling," Cora made her way towards her daughter, resting a hand on her shoulder and troubling her bottom lip as she watched the girl lack any response, "Go brush her and saddle her and take yourself on a ride. But don't go too far, okay?" She suggested, wishing to prompt her to take pleasure in anything again. Nothing good would come out of letting her daughter waste away in her own misery.
Regina tugged her overcoat around her tighter, surveying the castle grounds as she made her way towards the horse stables. The cool spring was slowly fading into summer and the weather was finally starting to be suitable for outside activity. Her mother had nagged her incessantly to go take a ride and for once she knew Cora was coming from a good place. But riding only reminded her of Daniel and the fact that he was gone from her forever. Still, she'd gotten dressed and decided to go seek solace in her loyal mare, needing a break from her mother and just wanting to be alone.
There was a constant, dull ache in her heart and she felt like a part of her had died with her stableboy. She didn't recognize her life, didn't recognize anyone in the castle but her parents. Her father only looked at her with eyes full of pity and concern, like he didn't know what to say in regards to her not knowing her own husband or her own step-daughter. He allowed Cora to steamroll his conversations, as he always did, and she hadn't seen much of him since she'd woken up.
Her mother told her it was for the best that she did not remember the past year of her life and warned her of the dangerous man the King was. She felt sick to her stomach at the fact she could not recall what had transpired in the months when she'd been here alone, without her parent's protection. The man, David, stared at her whenever he saw her and his face would contort, she imagined from irritation, before he would mumble an excuse to leave the room.
He seemed to live a sad life, from what she'd observed. There were dark circles under his eyes and he drank a considerable amount during the rare meals when everyone would be in the dining hall. She heard him snap at people he worked with, heard him argue with his teenage daughter, saw him seclude himself to his wing of the castle for days at a time. The only person he seemed to speak to was a pretty, dark haired woman named Ruby who she assumed was his mistress.
She took a deep breath as she neared the stables, her heart lightening a tad at the thought of seeing her sweet Rocinante. Dread filled her when she entered the building, seeing the blonde Princess feeding a hand full of dried corn to her horse. The girl glanced up, a smile gracing her heart shaped face at the sight of Regina and she wondered why.
"Going for a ride?" The Princess asked her, turning her attention back to petting Rocinante's muzzle. It made Regina itch, made her want to tell the girl to keep her hands off of her friend.
"I was going to, yes," She replied with a cool tone, making her way over to the tack wall, eyes searching for Rocinante's bridle amidst all of them.
"It's right here," She heard the girl say from behind her before appearing beside her, pulling it off of the space on the wall, "You always put it there beside the bridle for father's horse."
"Oh, right," She mumbled, taking it from the girl and flicking her gaze at her, "Thank you," She said quietly before looking down at the bridle in her hands. Everything felt so foreign to her, even these familiar straps of leather in her hands that she'd touched a million times.
"You and father used to ride a lot," The girl added, seeming to enjoy incessant conversation much to Regina's chagrin, "You'd disappear for hours at a time. Granny would always squawk at the two of you for going out in the cold weather..."
Regina glanced at the girl, eyeing her warm expression skeptically, "Your father and I spent a lot of time together?" She decided to ask, seeing the girl's earnest demeanor and trying to decipher if she was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
"You were inseparable," The Princess sighed and rolled her eyes with a sad smile, "Well, it didn't happen straight away. You didn't like each other that much at first when Leopold and your mother forced you to get married, but you got to know each other-"
"When my mother and who forced us to marry?" Her heart skipped a beat at the girls words and how they contradicted everything that Cora had told her up to now.
"Uh," The blonde's expression flickered as if she remembered Regina wouldn't know who she was talking about, "Leopold, my grandfather. He wasn't a very nice man he...well.." She hesitated and it made anxiety rise in Regina's chest, "Anyways, he made a deal with your mother that you would marry my father. And like I said, you and Dad did not get along at first but you eventually fell in love."
"In love?" Her heart thrummed in her ears, breath becoming harder to find. This story was entirely different to what her mother had been repeating to her over and over and she realized now that it almost seemed as if Cora was trying to drum it into her.
"Very much," Emma looked at her with confusion in her eyes, like she didn't know how Regina hadn't been made aware of this, "Your mother didn't tell you?"
"Why should I believe you?" She snapped suddenly, seeing the girl shrink back, obviously not expecting her temper, "How do I know you're not just saying all of this for your father's gain? If we were so in love why hasn't he tried to speak with me?"
"Regina-er, Your Majesty, I..." The Princess stuttered in uncertainty, "You were so scared of him when you first woke up and your mother told us it was best to give you space, as you were terrified and not thinking clearly. Me and Red, Granny and Dad, we've missed you so much but we haven't forced you to talk with us because you didn't seem to want to and we didn't want to make your condition worse. It's been terrible on Father, he misses you so much. We have to force him to eat and-"
"This is a lie," Regina muttered, interrupting the girl's rambling with a shake of her head, "My mother said this was the case, that your father made it appear to everyone we were happy but he-" The bridle in Regina's hands snapped apart suddenly with the force of a purple glow coming from her hands, causing her to look down suddenly with a gasp. "What is happening to me?" She whispered, fear slithering up inside of her. It was magic, she contained magic.
Her stomach turned suddenly at the knowledge of the wicked power that bubbled within her, beyond her control, and she ran to the edge of the stables, heaving up the tea she'd had for breakfast earlier with violent force. Her hand gripped the edge of the rough wooden wall as she doubled over, tears coming to her eyes as she finished. "Go away!" She cried when the girl followed her.
"Regina, what's wrong? What is it?" Emma pestered, arm wrapping around the Queen's waist to help her stand on her shaky legs.
"Magic," Regina looked down at her trembling hands, "I have magic, like my mother," She realization hit her like a ton of bricks and her stomach twisted in knots, though nothing remained in it to come up.
"Of course you do, father built you the room in the tower so you could practice," The girl spoke softly, keeping an arm wrapped around the Queen's shaking shoulders, "Have you not seen it since you woke?"
"No," Regina hissed, swallowing at the lump in her throat as she turned to look at the girl who gazed back at her with greater understanding in her expression, "I didn't even know I contained the curse of magic."
"Let me show you something," Emma took her hand into her own, "Trust me?"
"Why should I trust you?" Her legs were shaky, body feeling weak and mind emotionally exhausted.
"You did, at one point," She offered before gently pulling at Regina's hand and she allowed her to, started to follow her with slow footsteps.
The girl led her across the courtyard and around to a side of the castle Regina had never been before. They slipped in a back entrance near dark stairsteps and she began to question what she was getting herself into. But she was too weak to argue, too confused to know who she should believe and who she shouldn't, so she followed her up one staircase after another.
"You okay?" Emma looked back at her with concern and Regina forced a nod, feeling a little light headed after the third staircase. "You look rather pale," She murmured, reaching out to touch the back of her hand to her forehead in a gesture much too close for comfort. Why was the Princess so concerned with her well being? Why did she feel so comfortable with holding her hand, with worrying over her color and checking her temperature?
"I'm fine," Regina sighed and averted her gaze, "Where are you taking me?" She shook her head and watched Emma glance at a small door in the hall where they now stood, reaching out to open it.
"Go ahead," The Princess nodded towards yet another staircase beyond the door and Regina stepped through the archway and began to take the steps, shaky hand on the railing. When she reached the top of the steps she was breathless again, but from a whole new reason. There were tall shelves lining the walls, full to the brim of books, trinkets, potted plants and bottles. There were a few skylights in the arched ceiling of the tower, letting natural light in, shining down on the dark wooden furniture. A large table stood in the middle of the room, prompting Regina to move towards it in curiosity.
There she found open books, scribblings of her own hand writing about certain spells, study notes, results of certain magic she'd attempted. A vase stood in the middle of the table with wilted flowers, dried and crumbling petals over her work. Her eyes settled on a piece of parchment underneath the remains of the flowers and she reached out to brush it with a flick of her fingers so she could read the words. Counting the hours until I come home to you tonight. All of my love, David.
Her mouth ran dry and she swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Would a monster leave her such a sweet sentiment? Did an uncaring and cold-hearted man build this room for her? Had he been so terrible if he'd known she had magic, yet didn't seem to hold it against her?
"You used to tease him when he was working in his office by blowing out his candle with your magic when you learned how," Emma said from her position near the top of the staircase, "We would stand by the door and watch him get frustrated, not understanding what was going on, until he saw us and chased us down. That was generally my cue to leave when he caught us, I didn't have the stomach to witness you two canoodling," She chuckled then and rolled her eyes.
Her life here began to lose the sickening edge with the way the Princess painted it and the note she gazed down at, signed by the King with love. From Emma's account it sounded like she'd been happy. "If this is true, how has no one brought it to my attention before?" She questioned the girl, gaze flicking up at her across the room. Why would Cora lie to her about her life here if she'd forced her to marry the King and was actually happy? It didn't make sense.
"Your mother has uh..well..you know how she is...she hasn't really let anybody speak to you on the odd occasion that we'd try and we've all been scared of upsetting you any more than you already have been..." Emma's small shoulders shrugged and she smiled weakly.
Regina's head spun with confusion. Not knowing who to trust or believe. Each story seemed to contradict itself in one way or the other. Why would Cora discourage her happy life here if she'd wanted her to be Queen? Why hadn't anyone here treated her as if they'd known her if she was close to them? She knew to find the truth she could no longer allow people to tell her how or what she felt. The only thing she could trust here was her own intuition.