I am having so much fun writing this fic, and I hope you are liking it. If you have reviews, prompts, or requests, they help me so much. As always, I hope you enjoy!
Leopold had guests from a visiting kingdom over to hopefully forge an alliance. King Midas was staying in a guest bedroom, so instead of talking and meeting them, she would only do so if it was a necessity, other than that, she avoided leaving her room and the palace garden's and tried to stay out of Leopold's way.
Snow didn't follow her around as much, just because Midas had brought his daughter along, Abigail, and the two made quick friends.
Regina watched them frolic in the fields near the gardens. She couldn't tell what they were doing now, but it was still annoying to watch her be obnoxiously happy.
—
Snow sat on a low hanging branch in a tall willow tree, while Abigail sat at the trunk, playing with weeds. They were previously exploring the woods, and had even caught a rabbit, but not for long.
They eventually tuckered themselves out and found themselves in the shadow of the tree, with the leaves and branches swaying in the warm spring air.
"My father would never let me do this back at the castle," remarked Abigail.
"This is the first time I've done it, actually. My father doesn't let me either, but what he doesn't know can't hurt him," she said slyly. Abigail laughed as she continued pulling the weeds from the ground and braiding them.
"Can I show you something?" Abigail asked. Snow nodded. She took a long, thick blade of grass from the meadow below and put it between her thumbs; right on the knuckles. She blew steadily, and a high-pitched squeaking sound came from her thumbs.
"Can I try?" Snow said after a fit of giggling. Abigail found a blade of grass for her and handed it to Snow. She followed her instructions and blew as hard as her lungs could, but it didn't work. She continued adjusting and blowing, and she finally did it.
"This is fun," Snow said. Abigail nodded and continued playing with the scenery around her.
Agilely, Snow jumped from the tree and landed on her feet.
"Let's go back to the castle. I want to show you our library."
—
"Woah," Abigail muttered. She bent her head back to look at the bookshelves raising towards the ceiling, at least a story tall.
In a leather armchair, Regina shut her book thunderously and grinned a tad wickedly.
"Hi, Regina," Snow said, running to her, but Regina layed a hand on her chest, showing she didn't want an embrace.
"Hello, dear," she mocked slightly. Snow nodded and showed Abigail to the lengthy windowsill from which she sat upon, for days on end, sometimes, falling asleep on the pillow. Snow wandered over to the labyrinth of shelves and handed Abigail one.
"If you like reading, I suggest this one," She said, holding up a green hardcover book, titled Her Handsome Hero. Abigail nodded and flipped it open. Snow went to the table where her book in-progress sat, and walked back to the windowsill, climbing up.
Snow was a little on the short side, but she didn't mind, in fact, she loved it when hiding from maids and causing trouble. Her father might've scolded her once or twice for it, but he spoiled her to almost no return.
She had been told, from a young age that she was a reflected image of her mother. Her ivory skin, her curling dark hair, and her generousity, despite her constant pampering and coddling from maids and her father. And also her height. Her mother wasn't short, but she wasn't tall either.
Snow heard Regina turn to leave, but didn't mind as much as she normally would've, she had always been elusive, as she recalled.
Once the maids had gotten them for supper, they both climbed down the bench and to the dining room, where a plate of fresh veggies, roasted beef, and sourdough bread sat.
Snow talked eagerly to Regina, who didn't return the enthusiasm, at least until Leopold looked at her wearily. Abigail watched intently and wisely. She knew love when she saw it, and Snow was most definitely in love with Regina.
As they left the dinner table and went to play in Snow's bedchambers, Abigail closed the door and looked at her knowingly.
"Are you crushing on Regina?" Abigail asked thoughtfully. Snow's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.
"You are!" She exclaimed, "I knew it. Nobody talks or looks or cares about someone the way you do her unless it's love.
"Okay, fine, just don't tell anyone about this. It's our secret, please?" Abigail hesitated.
"Deal." They shook hands and Snow showed Abigail her small collection of porcelain dolls in her closet.
—
"Can you warm a bath for me?" Regina asked the maid. She nodded and bolted out the door. She sat back and laid on her bed, twisting the necklace round her neck.
Ten minutes later, four maids brought up pails of water and gestures towards her lavatory. They filled the tub and laid various soaps out for her.
Once they left, she undressed and eased her aching body into the scorching water. She sighed once fully submerged in water and lounged in the bubbles covering her. She smelled each soap and chose her favourite, scrubbing over each bruise, aching muscle, and handprint on her marked body. She sat back and relaxed as the water began losing heat. She got out of the tub and dried herself off with the fuzzy towels they gave her. She exited and rushed to her room, hoping to not be spotted by anyone in nothing but a towel.
In the confines of her room, she set her towel on the cushioned bench in front of her bed and found a soft nightgown.
After changing, she ran to the door and put her ear to it. Once she heard nobody coming, she dashed back to her bed and reached into her pillowcase, grabbing the spell book from under her.
She stared at it in ambivalence and swept it back under. Maybe Snow White was turning her soft. That she could never admit, especially to Rumpelstiltskin.
—
Snow tossed and turned in her bed. Again, her night would be sleepless. She grabbed a box of matches from her nightstand drawer and lit the candle and lamp beside her. She took out her novel and read.
Snow was lying in bed when the door creaked open, barely enough to see who was behind it. A shadow lurched in and shut the door swiftly. The figure made its way to her bed, and in the candlelight, Regina's face was illuminated. She smiled softly, a smile she had rarely ever seen, and sat next to her on the bed, wrapping her one arm around her shoulder.
"What are you doing, it's the middle of the night," Snow whispered. Regina didn't talk, only moved. She shifted and faced the princess calmly. Carefully, she grabbed her chin and leaned closer and closer, until their lips almost clashed and Snow could feel Regina's steady breaths on her skin.
Snow awoke in the morning feeling both lightheaded and jumpy, but in what she would describe in a good way.
She got to breakfast in time to see Abigail off. If they were leaving earlier than expected, that means her father had succeeded in forging his alliance. For Regina, that meant Snow following her around like a dog again. She increasingly grew sick and tired of the girl, but sometimes, she was less cold to her than normal. Snow didn't really care if she was cold to her, she had a bond of undying loyalty to her.
After finishing breakfast, Regina went to the study to work with Leopold, or moreso, watch Leopold work while he didn't take her opinions. Snow began following, Regina had known the light footsteps following her from anywhere.
"Snow, go elsewhere, I'm doing business with your father." She ordered stiffly. The girl behind her sighed.
"But…"
"Go. We have no use for you in the study." Snow quietly walked off and tried not to roll her eyes.
Snow surreptitiously went outside to the tree she and Abigail occupied the morning before.
Not knowing what to do, she ventured into the thick woods, keen on exploiting every inch of the environment before her.
After a short while, she found herself zigzagging through shrubs, fallen trees, and various other obstacles, including a fawn and doe finding the same adventure she wanted.
At some point, she found herself lost. She turned and looked, but could not see the castle through the abundant growth. She looked above her and saw a sturdy oak tree, growing several feet higher than she was, and even above a lot of the trees.
She heedfully began to climb, scaling the tree, grabbing hefty branches and willing her legs to move, regardless of the stabbing pain in her legs.
She neared the top of the tree, were the branches became less resilient.
Once above the majority of trees, she could see the palace above miles and miles of forest. She looked in the direction as she climbed down, not noticing the thin branch she grabbed onto.
It broke when she began putting pressure on the branch, and she lost her grip on both limbs.
She fell eight feet to the ground and landed on her ankle. An agonizing pain shot up her left ankle to her knee and she screamed. Pulling up her dress skirt, she could see she, as well as a broken leg, she scratched both her legs when climbing up the tree.
She looked around on the ground and foundation large stick, about her size, and very wide. She carefully leaned on the stick while standing on her good leg, and tried walking. It was harder to walk with, but it's better than walking on her bad leg. She carefully started trekking back to the castle.
—
Regina emerged from the study feeling miserable. Leopold was barely acknowledging her presence, despite being the only one there with him, other than his head knight.
Feeling irked, she stomped to her bedchambers to get dressed in riding gear; she needed some fresh air.
As the stable men saddled up Rocinante, she heard yelling from the forest near the meadow. After the stable men finished with her horse, she hopped on and urged Rocinante on. They rode at breakneck speed to meet a sobbing Snow holding her leg while limping to them.
"Regina!" The girl called at the edge of the woods. Regina stopped and rolled her eyes.
"Snow, what did you do?" She rolled up her gown and revealed her severely broken and scratched leg.
"Hop on," she said, suddenly feeling a burst of sympathy shoot through her. She helped Snow up to the back of the saddle, and spurred the horse on to the palace.
"Get a doctor, quickly," Regina ordered the maids standing outside briskly. They nodded and rushed inside.
A small man with greying hair waddled outside.
"What seems to be the trouble?" Snow rolled up her leg and revealed her now bruising, scratched, and broken leg.
"Oh dear," he muttered to himself, but Regina internally panicked at his observation,"Get her inside," he ordered. Regina sprung off and half carried Snow inside, where they took her to her room.
"Get her something to help her relax, some tea perhaps," she commanded a queasy maid standing in the doorway. The maid rushed out of the room and Regina once more rolled her eyes. How can people get so sick at blood, goodness gracious. They're the worst kinds of people, she thought.
Snow looked up to Regina apprehensively, and all the latter could do was comfort her. She swept some hair away from her perfect face and played with it, splayed against the pillow she lay on. Snow smiled at her, but it didn't reach her eyes. Regina tried to smile, but couldn't; she isn't able to kill the growing anxiety that is invading her.
Leopold burst through the door and rushed to her bedside. Regina saw his anger and the way his hands shook, she could tell his face of anger from fear, and he was most definitely angry.
"Snow, What did you do," he ordered her answer. She gulped.
"I went to the woods and I couldn't find the castle so I climbed a tree but I fell. Regina got me back to the castle." She admitted panicked. Leopold looked skeptical, but he grew increasingly furious.
"You knew about this? And didn't tell her no?" He asked Regina, as he held Snow's hand firmly.
"No, I didn't know about this, I was out riding when I heard her shouting for me." He grumbled and left without a second thought.
"Thank you," Snow muttered to Regina.
"Of course, though I don't want to see you out in those woods without permission or supervision ever again. Do you hear me? You could've gotten it much worse, there could be dangerous creatures in those woods." Snow nodded willingly and hugged Regina.
"This may hurt a bit," the doctor informed. Snow nodded and Regina held her shaking hand. A loud crack, followed by a blood-curling scream shook the room. Regina winced but Snow stopped abruptly. A maid sped into the room with a tea tray and cookies, and set it down on Regina's lap, where she set it down onto the nightstand.
"Took you long enough," she said to the maid curtly. She nodded and left silently.
Regina offered a cup of something that smelled like ginger tea to Snow, along with a cookie, Regina's favourite with the coconut.
Snow sipped her tea while the doctor finished wrapping up her leg and treated her scratches.
"I'll talk to Leopold about painkillers and medicine." Regina nodded sharply and nibbled on a cookie, paying no attention to anyone running in the room but Snow.
Leopold offered the girl painkillers, which she took without protest and quickly fell asleep in the older woman's arms.