The Ring
"True Love follows this ring wherever it goes, my son. I had it with your father. I've had it as your mother. Now you will have it. Take it. Take it and I'll know, even if I never see you again, I'll know you'll find love. I'll know you'll be happy." Ruth just failed to mention exactly how the ring achieved this.
Disclaimers
Once Upon a Time belongs to Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, ABC, Disney, and possibly others, but not me
Everland, Seaborn, and Seaside were the names of kingdoms used in Once Upon a Time and Again by KayleeThePete
Phrygia is the kingdom ruled by the King Midas in Greek legends
The petitions heard whilst holding court are from The Sims Medieval pc game
Currently rated T. Please advise if you think I am writing beyond the acceptable levels of T and should consider rating my work M
Chapter 3
«Good luck!»
Snow contemplated offering him advice on how to handle some of the more… difficult requests. After all, her father had started letting her offer her opinion whilst he held court from the age of ten and by the time she had reached her majority, she was holding court by herself whenever her father and Regina were both away from the castle. Granted, her father very rarely left Snow behind, and Regina very rarely left the castle long enough to miss it, but she still had more experience than a farm boy could possibly have and…
She found herself flat on the ground. Looking back, she realised that she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings and had tripped on a protruding tree root. That was obviously a sign that she should keep her mind focussed on her immediate surroundings and give Charming the benefit of the doubt.
Besides, she told herself firmly, he was getting married to someone other than her, and it would be beyond awkward if this connection was still in place whilst the newlyweds were… Snow shuddered. She started up a conversation with the nearby birdlife to introduce herself, get a lay of the land, find the most obscure route to Seaside, and, most importantly, try to block Charming out by thinking about anything but him.
«What kind of King steals the gold off a farmer that he dug up on his own farm?»
Of course, he wasn't going to make this easy.
«No wonder Mother keeps cursing the prices whenever she comes back from the market.»
Snow thanked the birds for their kind words and left the path to follow their directions.
«I wish I could tell her how much I enjoyed her music as a child, but what would a prince be doing at a farmer's market?»
She decided it might be best to ask her new friends to keep an eye out for men with swords, especially those wearing black, and started foraging for lunch.
«No, thank you! I have no desire to see a giant statue of King George glaring over the town square.»
Snow almost choked on the grapes she'd just plopped in her mouth at the thought. Luckily, it appeared that Charming had called a break for lunch himself, and she was able to finish her meal without further threat to her life. Her meal ended up being quite substantial too, what with the birds deciding to compete for her attention by bringing her a most varied choice of dishes. She was most diplomatic as she explained her preference for the fruits of the forest rather than the leaves, or the bugs and insects. And it certainly helped her to hold her stance in withholding her thoughts from Charming's perusal.
«I would have loved a candy shop in the outer village when I was a kid.»
Snow rolled her eyes. And here we go again.
«Let the boy follow his own path. Someone should be allowed to.»
Maybe she should ask the birds to direct her to the nearest market so she could catch a ride with a friendly merchant who was making their next stop somewhere to the south.
«Riiight. This guy needs to be locked up for everyone's safety, not to mention his own.»
Yep, she should definitely do that. Anyone who saw her right now would think she was a downright klutz the way she was going. This connection with Charming was getting painful.
«I feel your pain.» Snow froze. Had Charming heard her? Had her barriers fallen? «The loss of all those sheep must have been devastating.»
Her sigh was a mixture of relief and disappointment. On one hand, she was happy that her barriers were holding, but on the other, she wanted to just break down and talk to him so badly she could taste it.
«Just how stupid do you think I am? I can smell the rum from here.»
Mmm, a drink sounded so good right now. Snow wondered how far away this market was that the birds were leading her to. There was no point in asking them. All they could tell her was that she would reach it before the sun went down. How long before, they couldn't say. They didn't understand the concepts of hours or minutes.
«Dear me, how will the kingdom survive after the loss of two whole cabbages?»
Seriously? Surely, it hadn't been that long ago that Charming himself viewed two whole cabbages as the difference between survival and starvation. She really hoped her journey wasn't going to end up being a six-hour hike. The desire to respond to Charming's questions was overwhelming.
«Got any cayenne pepper? Vinegar? Horse manure?»
What in the world? Snow sighed in relief and increased her pace as the trees began to thin out and a settlement came into view. The market itself seemed overcrowded and loud after the peace of the forest. She grinned. Maybe it was loud enough to drown Charming out.
«I would hate to go without your world-famous tomatoes.»
Or maybe not. She shook her head. Oh well. So much for that. And even if it had been enough to drown him out, the sun chose that moment to touch the horizon. The crowd began to disperse. She turned to the nearest stall that had wheels.
"Are you headed to the south tonight?"
"Try the fishmonger."
"Thank you."
Snow was almost disappointed when she found the fishmonger's stall. It was a caravan with plenty of room in the back for cargo, or an extra passenger. The fishmonger himself appeared to be on his own. A passage with him was almost guaranteed. But she was overwhelmed by the smell before she even came close.
«No! Then he'll be back asking to erect that statue again!»
She took a deep breath and stormed ahead. "Are you headed to the south when you finish here?"
The man didn't look up from his task of packing the unsold specimens back into their protective coverings. "What's it to ya?"
"If you are, I was hoping to barter passage."
This got the man's attention. He looked up and gave her a piercing look that soon travelled downward before turning into a leer on the way back up. "One night with you and you got yourself a deal, sweetheart."
«I wish I could marry my sweetheart, too.»
Snow drew herself up and eyed the man coldly. "I'll walk first." She turned on her heel, but was halted in her steps by a hand on her shoulder.
"No you don't, princess."
Instinct took over. She elbowed his solar plexus, stamped on his foot, spun with a quick jab to his nose, and kneed his groin. He collapsed in a gratifying heap at her feet.
"Are you okay?"
Snow spun towards the sound of a female's concerned voice. "He'll be fine." She looked pointedly down at the man who was still bemoaning his abused nether regions. "And maybe he'll know better than to treat a woman that way next time."
"That one never learns." The newcomer glared down her nose at the man in question for a moment before her gaze softened and came to rest on Snow. "But I wasn't talking about him. I meant you. Did I hear that you need a lift to the south?"
"You did."
"Well, you're welcome to share my wagon to Toriel, if you don't mind getting in the back with the pineapples."
Snow had stopped listening at the word 'wagon'. "That sounds wonderful." She had been on her feet for weeks. It would be heaven to take a rest for the night.
"I'm Margaret, by the way." Margaret turned and began to lead Snow towards her wagon.
Snow followed, so thankful for the woman's kindness that she almost forgot herself. "I'm Sn- Mary." She cringed, hoping that Margaret hadn't noticed her slip.
"Nice to meet you, Mary."
The woman had her back to Snow, so she couldn't be sure, but her tone of voice didn't sound like she suspected anything, so she let herself relax. "Likewise."
"Come on. I'd like to grab some grub before we start. Hungry?"
Snow picked up the pace so that she could walk next to Margaret. "Famished."
It was almost midnight when an exhausted David let out a sigh of relief as he was finally left alone in his chambers. He changed quickly before collapsing with yet another sigh on his most welcome four-poster bed. «Now this is what makes it all worthwhile.» For some reason, his thoughts suddenly turned to Snow, and he wondered if she had possibly found a bed anywhere near as comfortable for the night.
«Do you have to enjoy your comfort so loudly?»
David sprang up at the sound of Snow's hiss of irritation. «I guess that answers that question.» He instinctively moved over to make room before he realised what he was doing. Smirking, he sank back down again. «Rough day?»
«The day was fine. I had a great walk with good company and didn't have to run from anyone once.»
The thought of her finding good company with someone other than himself disturbed him deeply. «Good company? Like whom? And why didn't I hear about it until now?» Come to think of it, he hadn't heard anything from her since…
«Since you got caught up with holding court and stopped thinking about me?»
…«Actually, yeah. How did you know that?»
«Because even though you couldn't hear me, I could still hear you.»
«That doesn't seem very fair.»
«Neither does you getting to sleep in a canopy bed surrounded by pillows whilst I get a wagon bed surrounded by pineapples.»
David had to concede that was true. «So why can I hear you now?»
«Because I want you to.»
«And you didn't before?»
«Nope.»
«Why not?»
«Because we can't be together. And this link will get that much more painful once you're together with…»
«Hey. Have faith. I will find a way for us to be together.»
«I wish we were together right now. At least in the forest, I could at least clear a space so I could sleep with some degree of comfort. I could move anything that was poking me out of the way. Or I could move myself over. This wagon's too small, and even though Margaret has her pineapples tied up in sacks, the pointy bits are no less pointy.»
David sent out feelings of comfort her way. He closed his eyes and imagined her being in the bed beside him, feeling the softness of the mattress under his back and the pillows under his head.
«Mmm, I don't know how you're doing that, but don't stop.»
Quite suddenly, David felt fingertips trailing down his right arm. He gasped. «I can feel you.» His left hand grasped her very real fingers and, not daring to open his eyes, he allowed his own fingers to trail up her arm to her shoulder. Her right shoulder, it appeared, and the act left him leaning on his lower right arm as he leaned over her, his face hovering somewhere in the air above hers.
«I can feel you, too.» He felt the fingers of her left hand lightly brush his nose and he leaned closer to kiss her palm. She giggled. Her hand moved to cup his cheek and gently hugged him closer.
Their lips met hesitantly at first. «How are we doing this?»
«Who cares?» Her hands took a firm grasp of his collar and slammed his lips down on hers.
That was the end of coherent thought for the night.