The night before
The music in the tavern held everyone rapt, which was just as well, Regina thought. She and Zelena both wore glamours of their own creation so she wasn't worried about being recognised. She was still nervous about being in public without the usual guard. Should she have let Zelena talk her into this? Now that she was there, it seemed absolutely ridiculous for the two princesses to sneak into town unguarded so Zelena could enjoy the attention of a squire who seemed to interest her.
It was warm inside but she kept her hood pulled down just in case. She followed Zelena and the squire to a well-hidden spot and sat down. She realised the man playing the flute was Pip! He looked so serene as he played.
She sat back on the hard wooden bench and listened with her eyes closed. The music filled her mind with the image of a bird circling in the cold air of dawn, just before the sun comes up. She felt a misty chill, the sensation of soaring wings and a wild landscape under a slowly brightening sky.
She had never heard anything like this, she wanted to soak it all in. Suddenly a fiddle started up and she felt the sun burst over the crest of the hill.
She opened her eyes to the sound of heavy shoes hitting the wooden boards of the tavern floor in a unified rhythm. There were people dancing like she had never seen before. Their feet were so fast that they kept time with the music easily. They danced in a strict formation, arms at their sides. Suddenly they began to turn and move around each other. They joined hands and spun in a circle as the drum beat built to a heavy roll.
She was almost scared by how thrilled she was by it. They moved in perfect unison. The women wore a style of short dress that Regina had never seen. You could see their legs clearly as they swung in complex routines. The tempo built and the thundering feet on wooden boards seemed loud enough to bring the whole place down.
One man flew onto centre stage and danced to the vigorous music. He skipped the perimeter of their makeshift stage, leapt and clicked his heels behind him. He held his arms out as his feet hit the floor like lightening.
The people of the crowd cheered and clapped for him. The rest of the dancers began again behind him, all exactly on point and all smiling. Regina was overwhelmed by how much she enjoyed the peculiar spectacle.
The dance finished and flowed into a slower, softer song of fiddle and guitar. Regina looked around the crowd, people were smiling, talking, arms around each other. She had never seen people behave like this. She could hardly imagine a friendlier place. Everyone seemed to know and like each other. She looked at their scrubby faces, their poor clothes, their genuine and long lasting laughs. She drank them in. This was The Kingdom as she never saw it.
"Isn't that your dance teacher?" Zelena hissed. She turned her attention to the woman dancing. No it couldn't be. She was wearing a green dress that clung to her body and brushed her thighs as she danced in soft shoes. Her hands stayed by her side as she turned on her toes in the centre of the floor. She turned too quickly for Regina to see her face properly.
She did look just like Emma, though. Regina's heart stopped when she realised it was. She stared open mouthed at the woman who held the attention of the entire room. She looked so different.
That envy feeling crept up in her again, if that was what it was.
She wanted to take as much of this in as she could, to consume it or commit it to memory. The way her loose curls bounced on her shoulders, the speed with which she circled the dance floor, one hand confidently on her hip. Her feet moved just as quickly as the man's had in the previous dance only her steps were light, not heavy. Regina couldn't believe what she was seeing, couldn't believe the grace with which she danced, as though she weighed nothing.
Her footwork was light and intricate. She crossed ankles and tapped her toes and kicked with seemingly such ease. It was mesmerising. Regina stopped thinking to take it in. The crowd applauded certain moves or steps that looked particularly difficult. Emma broke into a wide smile and raised her arms, hailing a huge cheer from the crowd.
The music seemed to rise in challenge and she met it, increasing in speed and fluidity of movement if that was possible until the song ended in a dramatic crescendo.
People were off their seats cheering for her. Regina remained bolted to hers. Emma skipped away from the crowd as the next song began.
Regina couldn't move. Overwhelmed was an understatement. She was frozen. Even Zelena was applauding, she noticed and slammed her mouth shut, realising it had been hanging open the entire time.
The vision of Emma's legs danced again in her mind, the shape of her calves, the lightness of her feet. It was nothing like the firm, masculine strength she presented in her lessons. She thought of her tiny waist, always hidden by shirt and buttons, but not in the green dress that lined her. Her entire shape was seared into Regina's mind.
She didn't know how much longer she could ignore the way her stomach clenched at the sight of her. Her smile as the crowd cheered for her flashed into Regina's mind every time she closed her eyes.
The atmosphere seemed to change dramatically to the warm finger picking guitar and instruments that clipped a rhythm.
Regina watched the new dancer. She was elegant and her red dress clung to her skin all the way down to the small of her back where it suddenly billowed out in a clamour of beautiful ruffles that she swished about her like they were an extension of her body.
She curled around the music, swaying, stamping and wrapping her arms around the different layers of it. The music descended into the clapping rhythm of the band. The dancer curled back over herself and still somehow undulated with the music. Regina was fascinated until she caught a glimpse of Emma nearby. She sat on the floor at the edge of the circle and seemed to be getting her breath back.
Someone passed her a cup. She drank and passed it back. Regina realised everyone here knew each other. Emma's full attention went back to the dancer.
She was mesmerised by the dancing woman. Her eyes followed every swish of her dress and every flourish of her hands. She smiled at the angles at which she threw out her arms were so masculine and yet she was so feminine.
Regina felt her heart sink. Emma would never look at her like that. She wondered if her sister's envy was rubbing off on her. It was normal to crave the praise and attention of your mentor but the feeling in her stomach felt much stronger than just that.
The dance was over and Emma was gone. She felt sick.
The music returned to the flute, drums and fiddle. There was an elegant man dancing in shoes that clipped pleasingly on the floor. He seemed to be matching the drumbeats. He began pulling people on to the dance floor. Everyone seemed to know the dance. Their feet flew and stamped and kicked the air in unison. The music built furiously and the thundering of shoes on the floor boards almost hurt her ears.
Regina could feel the vibrations of their feet hammering on the floor. She felt shaken to the core. When the dance finished she tugged Zelena's cloak, wanting to go home.
"Who are…oh, is it you?" she asked, obviously so absorbed in the attention of the handsome squire who had convinced her to come here that she forgot Regina was there too in disguise.
"Yes, please let's go" Regina pleaded, and they did.