Weeks passed by after the encounter between Emma and Regina. Emma returned to her routine of chopping wood.
Winter was close. She worked closer to home as it was, this time building up her own stock of firewood as well as firewood she could sell to townspeople who came to call.
As she chopped, she found her mind wandering back to the noblewoman she couldn't seem to get out of her head.
Emma Swan had rarely found herself occupied with the thinking of others, but for some reason, flashes of brown hair, smoldering dark eyes and olive skin kept pushing into her mind. When her next downward swing of the axe missed the log she was chopping, biting into the stump beneath it with a harsh thump! Emma let go of her axe and dropped to sit on her bottom in the dirt.
She pulled off her leather working gloves and rubbed at her eyes. Her heart ached every time she thought of the noblewoman.
"It wasn't as if we could have ever had a chance." She told herself, aloud. Regina's painted lips flashed into her mind, tilted into a smirk. Emma pushed away the memory.
She stood and found her waterskin. Taking a long drink, she realized, perhaps she might need something stronger. Perhaps a trek into town to Granny's was in order.
Miles away, Regina of House Vonmil and Oren watched from a window as her son climbed a tree, book in hand. He was skipping yet another lesson. Regina had been informed by his tutor. She would be disappointed, however, as it was merely his etiquette tutor, she did not feel the need to scold her son at the moment. She dismissed the man for the day with promises that this would have no effect on his pay.
"Quite the troublemaker, isn't he?" Regina could hear the amusement in Zelena's voice. Regina shook her head.
"The opposite. Otherwise, I would send someone to make him go to his lessons or come after him myself." Regina answered with a small smile. She had hated her own etiquette lessons when she was his age as well. No harm in letting her own son skip a lesson or two.
The two of them watched as the boy plucked an apple from the inside of his vest. He began to eat as he read.
Regina turned toward her sister.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" She knew this wasn't just a social chat. Zelena had come calling weeks before and had not left since. She had yet to reveal why she had come.
Zelena frowned at her.
"Am I not allowed to show interest in my nephew?" Zelena wondered.
Regina held her sister's gaze. They held a battle of wills for quite some time before Zelena finally broke.
"Fine. I am quite concerned, sis." Zelena told her.
Regina was taken aback. "What is this about?"
Zelena pressed on, "You have had 3 marriage proposals in the past 2 years and accepted none of them."
Regina sighed. She shook her head.
"I am not talking about this." Regina turned away, she glanced at her son, enthralled with, no doubt some new fairy tale. She would let him enjoy his afternoon.
Ignoring her sister, Regina walked past Zelena and out of the room. Her sister's heels clicking after her.
A ride, that is what I need, Regina thought to herself. She marched to her room with her sister following after her.
"Zelena," she sighed. "Would you have me accept some nobleman's marriage proposal and a miserable life with it?"
Regina had turned suddenly on her sister with her words. Zelena looked nonplussed.
"Are you not miserable alone?" Zelena dared to wonder.
Regina turned away, her hand on her bedroom door.
"I'm not alone. I have you and Henry." She told her sister quietly.
Zelena watched her as she entered the room. The door shut with a click. She sighed. She needed to do something. A son was good and well but he was definitely not for adult companionship. Zelena laughed to herself, and she was certainly tolerable company at best.
A thought occurred to her. Perhaps the problem was the proposals were all noblemen. Zelena had had her fair share of commoners, even a barmaid. Maybe she should try to set her sister up. She remembered the story her sister had told her the night she had been late to Maleficent's party and a wicked smile crossed her face.
She would simply need to find one of the guardsmen who had been with her that evening. With a plan in mind, Zelena hummed as she went off to make sure her sister did not end up alone.
Emma sat at the bar of Granny's Tavern and Inn. She had partaken in a delicious meat pie and worked her way through her third ale of the night.
Red flirted and teased customers as she served drinks and food. She batted away hands and warned men with a glare that dared to pinch or slap at her from behind. Ruby, known as Red to her friends may have been flirtatious in nature but the reality was, she did not allow anyone to treat her however they liked when it came to her body. She would take their money though.
Red stopped before Emma.
"Still moping over your fancy woman?" Red teased.
Emma glared at her. "I barely knew her. I can't mope over someone I barely knew."
Red laughed. "Oh Em, from the way you told it, there was fire. You can mope."
Red poured her next round of ordered drinks and moved off to deliver them. She passed easily around the room. Emma watched her as she joked and picked up payments.
Red leaned over the counter and plucked the empty glass from in front of Emma.
"You know Em, why don't you just go to the Vonmil estate for the winter?" Red suggested. "I'm sure they could use a woodcutter."
Red gave her a sly wink.
Emma shook her head. "You know I can't leave the Gr-"
"The grove, I'm sure will be fine." Red cut her off. Emma glared at her. "You know Granny told me the previous woodcutter never even visited as often as you do, and he took off during winter. He told her the cold months were too risky to be trekking out to the grove."
Emma's shoulders slumped. Red did make a point. Her master had only gone once every month to make offerings and during winter they had taken time off. During which she had attended some minor formal schooling. Emma had only started going once a week as she got older, drawn to the grove.
She couldn't say why. The grove was spooky, frightening to most people. Yet to her, it was beautiful. The leaves glowed. The trees seemed to almost whisper. She could hear the leaves breathing. It felt so alive in the grove. She could feel it vibrating.
Emma wouldn't dare admit it aloud, but she had once even seen a unicorn in the grove. It was the most wonderful moment of her monotonous life.
She also knew why the previous woodcutter had been wary of visiting in the winter. She had long since taken care of that problem.
Emma waved away Red's offer for another drink.
"I think I'm going to head on home, Red." Emma told her only friend.
Red shrugged. Emma slapped down her payment. She pulled on her coat and headed out of the tavern.
Lady Regina, her life as a woodcutter, the grove, she thought about them all as she rode her way home. As she approached her small cottage she noticed she wasn't alone.
Two men, one she recognized lounged around outside of her home.
Emma looked at the bearded guardsman she remembered with surprise.
"Graham. What can I do for you?" Emma asked him as she dismounted.
Graham gave her a sheepish look. He pulled out a rolled document from a belt purse on his hip.
"I have an offer from the House of Vonmil." He offered Emma the rolled bit of paper. Emma took it, trying not to look too eager.
Her hands shook as she unrolled the document.
The ink was green. Emma didn't think Regina would use such a color but what did she know? She read the offer over.
Lady Regina of House Vonmil and Oren requests the services of Emma Swan, Woodcutter.
In exchange for a winter's woodcutter's services, the House of Vonmil and Oren is ready to offer:
Room and board
750 crowns a month in payment
Services of the house Medical Witch in case of injury or illness
Meals
If it is of interest of one Emma Swan to take up woodcutting with the House of Vonmil, it is requested that she return with her response and her person within 2 days with guardsmen Graham and David.
With Warm Regards,
Regina of House Vonmil and Oren
Emma's heart pounded in her chest. It was an employment offer. Perhaps this was the lady Regina's attempt to pay her back? Or something more? A pretense? She couldn't know unless she took a chance could she?
She thought of the grove. She would have to speak to Regina. Request time to make her offerings. Perhaps….
It was quite a lot to think about all at once.
She looked the guardsman, Graham.
"You are to escort me to the estate?" Emma asked him.
"As well as anything you might need to bring with you." Graham told her.
Emma bit her lip.
She couldn't.
She shouldn't.
She would.
She did.
