A/N: Wow, okay, sorry it took so long to update. I start college tomorrow, guys! I didn't have much to do today and I made it my mission to finish this chapter. I hope you enjoy it, I had such a fun time writing it. Please review, I would love the feedback.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

. . .

He's a bloody fool.

Robin had been sitting at this damn table for an hour as the Council prattled on about the crops and the taxes and a dragon that kingdoms in the north had been complaining about and whether or not they should be bothered with it. Robin had long since mastered the art of looking as though he's paying attention when he doesn't give a damn, and it's a good thing too, because all he cares about is the fact that Regina won't look at him. She's sitting next to him with a posture so rigid she looks like a statue, staring with a cold indifference at the opposite wall.

They had been getting along so well considering the circumstances that had brought them together. He took the only good thing to come of this mess and he fucked it up before he even started.

"What do you think, Robin?"

Robin glanced over at Lord Grey to find the older man, and the rest of the Royal Council, staring at him. They were probably all wondering whether the next words out of his mouth would either launch them into beloved infamy or unseat the monarchy entirely.

Robin straightened up in his chair. "I say we leave the dragon alone for now. It's burned how many fields? Four?"

"Three, Your Majesty," Lord Odan said, a hand brushing over his beard with twig like fingers.

"All grain, Your Majesty," Lord Ellison adds.

Robin stifled a groan at the use of his impending title, barely managing to conceal a grimace before he continued. "Write a letter to the King and offer to send whatever grain we can spare from our harvest. That's all we can do for now. Presuming they need help and sending military aid might seem as though we're calling them weak."

All the Lords smiled, and Lord Grey gave him an encouraging nod, as though he were a child who'd answered his first arithmetic question correctly.

Regina did nothing but stare.

Suddenly, Robin couldn't take the silence anymore.

"What do you think, Regina?"

It was as if he had broken a spell. Regina's shoulders slackened and she turned to him, her surprise a mask over the sadness that lingered in her eyes.

She wasn't the only one who looked taken aback. All the men who sat surrounding them looked just as baffled.

Robin examined her expression."What?"

"You want my advice?" She asked.

"Yes."

"The Queen doesn't traditionally have a say in matters of the Council," Lord Grey said.

"Why not? She's here, she might as well have a say. So," Robin said, turning back to Regina. "What do you think we should do?"

He waited anxiously for a heartbeat, then two, and then she spoke.

"Your plan is good." She began. "It will do you well not to insult anyone before you've even been crowned. Have an envoy deliver the letter. It will show more respect and that way we will get his answer faster. If they do need our help, we need to be able to respond quickly."

Robin couldn't help but smile as she finished. "Wonderful. That's what we'll do. Will there be anything else tonight?" He really was exhausted. He had an equally tiring day ahead of him tomorrow and everyday after that. The sooner he was in bed, the better.

"Well," Lord Odan said. "There is the matter of your wedding."

"And your coronation," said Lord Vernon.

"And the honeymoon, as well," added Lord Sparrow. By the time all of them had spoken, Robin felt dizzy.

Lord Grey glanced down at the documents before him. "The wedding, as you know, has been planned for a week from tonight. Your coronation will be the next day. We have raised the taxes accordingly, and decorators will arrive tomorrow-,"

"What do you mean, you've raised the taxes?"

Lord Grey chuckled, but then noticed the expression on Robin's face, and his good humor sobered. "Well someone has to pay for it."

"You're taxing the peasants to pay for royal events they won't even be allowed to attend."

The men around the table all looked at him as though he were the one being ridiculous.

Robin continued. "Do we have no money in the treasury to pay for it ourselves?"

The men around the table shook their heads.

Robin couldn't believe it. Even on his most selfish day, Robin's father had never taxed his people to throw a party. Luxury is your responsibility, he would always tell Robin. Not only that, but Leopold's kingdom didn't seem to want for anything. The roads were well maintained, and bandit free, and as far as Robin could tell the economy was good. The people seemed happy. So where did all the money go?

Lord Grey sighed. "King Leopold-,"

"May he rest in peace," the other Council members echoed.

"-was a kind man and he cared deeply about his people, but…"

"But what?" Robin urged.

When the words finally came out of Lord Grey's mouth, they seemed to drain him. "But that doesn't mean he knew how best to care for them."

Robin had to admit, the Lord's loyalty to the late King was admirable. There were only so many ways you could admit your King didn't know the first thing about the state of his own economy without insulting his memory, but Lord Grey accomplished just that, like the politician he was.

Robin turned back to Regina. "Do you want another big wedding?"

"No," she said after a moment, and he knew she meant it. "But it still has to be worthy of royalty. People might wonder if there's a problem if it's anything less than extravagant. Other kingdoms might think us weak if they see we can't afford a wedding. It will have to be just enough."

"My father will pay for whatever we require for the wedding. He'll cover as much of the cost for the coronation as he can, but if we're going to tax the people to pay for it, they should be allowed to attend. We can discuss the honeymoon tomorrow. Now," Robin said, standing up. "Are we done?"

"We are." Lord Grey said, and as soon as he spoke Regina stood and left, the red skirts of her dress brushing the edges of the doorway before Robin even turned around.

He followed her without another word to the Council. She was halfway down the hall and he called her name, and, not surprisingly, she didn't stop. Part of him knew he shouldn't chase after her, that giving her space would be better and that yesterday he didn't give a damn about who his future wife would be, but today he was consumed, and so he ran.

"Regina!" He called again, and this time she stopped, turning and talking the final three strides that separated them, closing the space between them until everything in his world narrowed down to her.

"You think I killed him?"

"Regina, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-,"

"Do you think I killed him, Robin?" She was angry, he could hear it in her voice, but in her eyes all he saw was fear. Fear and pain. Suddenly and inexplicably, Robin felt like her prey. It wasn't that she scared him or that he thought her a predator. It was that what he saw in her struck him so deeply that it felt like some part of him, the part that doubted, had already surrendered.

"No," he said.

"Then why did you-,"

"I know you didn't kill Leopold, Regina. I lost my temper and I'm sorry. I'm an arse for even making you think I believed those rumors for one moment."

He could tell his apology surprised her and she seemed to be teetering on the edge of yelling at him again, so he did the first thing he thought of. Robin reached down and took her hand.

"Please, Regina," he implored. "Believe me."

They were closer than they ever had been. He could see little imperfections in her now: the corners of her lips where the red color had faded and the scar next to her cupid's bow. He was so close that he saw the moment her anger dissipated.

"I lost my temper, too," she murmured.

Robin smiled and he let out a breath of relief. "If we fight like this all the time we'll need guards just to protect us from each other."

That made her smile. Regina's body swayed before him, her front pressing into his for one glorious second before she pulled back, taking her hand out of his.

"Perhaps, if you ever let the guards near you."

He chuckled at that, and even though she turned her head, he saw the smile she tried to hide.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, climbing the stairs towards their rooms

"May I ask you a question?"

She glanced at him and for an instant her gaze seemed wild, as if she was scared of what he would want to know. "Yes," she said.

"With Leopold...Did you really never speak at Council meetings?"

"No. Does that surprise you?"

"You're a very smart woman, Regina. It makes no sense that he would have you sit there everyday just for show."

"It doesn't make sense to you, but it made sense to him," she said, her voice losing the light-hearted timbre of a moment ago.

He had never met Leopold. He had nothing against him, couldn't really, but a man who was considered arrogant and irresponsible to his staff with a disregard for his wife didn't sit well with Robin.

"I want you to know that I'll never ignore you, Regina. I could never ignore you. I may lose my temper and I may be an idiot sometimes, and when I do get like that I want you to know you have my permission to hit me or yell at me or whatever else to make me stop."

Regina had quite possibly the most expressive eyes he had ever seen. As he spoke, he saw wetness gather at her lashes, making her eyes look like melted chocolate. "I think I'll take you up on that. May I ask you a question now?"

"Of course."

"Does it frighten you? The fact that you'll be the King in a week?"

"It terrifies me."

"It's good that you're afraid."

Robin turned to look at her. "How is that a good thing?"

"Because a man who thinks he knows everything never second guesses himself," she said.

They had reached the end of the hall-down one corridor were her chambers and down another were his.

Robin motioned towards her room. "Can I walk you to your room?

"No, thank you," she said, and even though some warmth had seeped back into her eyes, he felt a painful strain in his chest when she declined. "I have to go say goodnight to Snow. She'll throw a fit if I don't. You're tired, anyway. You'll want to be well rested for tomorrow."

"You're probably right. We've got a long week ahead of us. Please tell Snow goodnight for me."

"I will," Regina said, and then there was a moment where they didn't move or speak. Robin looked down at her, hoping that part of her had started to surrender, too.

"Goodnight, Regina."

"Goodnight, Robin," she said. She gave him one last small smile before walking away and when Robin went to bed, he slept soundly.

. . .

When Regina returned to her room, it was enveloped in darkness. Then suddenly, as if by magic, a fire erupted in the hearth and out of the night came a voice she knew too well.

"Hello, dearie."