Here's an update! Sorry it's been such a long time coming. I've got a rough sketch of the rest of the story, so expecting about 4 more chapters. I hope you like this one (and I know some of you hate Lucy, any guesses who she is?)
Lucy trudged her way up to the palace kitchens through the snow. No one had walked the way from the stables yet so she made her own path, feet disappearing into whiteness with each fresh step. Having been up for hours already, she decided the sun was high enough in the sky to make it time for second breakfast.
"Hey" Ruby was coming down the kitchen steps with a smile that fell from her face when she saw her "woah, what's wrong?" she asked, putting her basket down.
"Nothing" Lucy said, but it was half hearted. Ruby saw right through it.
"Your ass was bouncing off the walls a few days ago, what is wrong?" she persisted.
Lucy stopped walking and turned to the view from the top of the hill. Snow dusted the pine trees like icing on one of Tip's cakes. It was beautiful. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, her horses were happy, she really could not complain. But despite all this she felt a dull ache in her chest, which was obviously showing on her face.
"This is about the dancer isn't it? Emily?" Ruby asked
"Emma" Lucy replied, realizing too late that she had fallen for an age old trick. Ruby's eyes narrowed and she nodded.
"What happened?"
She didn't want to tell her. They shared most things. When Ruby got really sick, Lucy went out of her way to make sure she had everything she needed. When Lucy needed help with her father, Ruby was the one she called on and she never mentioned it afterwards. She sighed and let her head drop into her friend's shoulder.
A few days ago
Lucy's heart raced as she watched the princess take off on Rocinante for the first time in months. She looked like she had never been off him. What were the chances that the moment she stopped working one of The Family turned up asking for her? Her cheeks burned. Was it possible that the two events were related?
She dunked her hand in the bucket of clean water she had been preparing for scrubbing the floors. The remnants of her encounter with Emma washed off easily. She tucked her red curls back into the bun they had fallen out of, drew a deep breath and opened the door to the bridle room.
"She's gone, Miss" she said. Emma let out the breath she had obviously been holding.
"You alright?" She asked. Emma nodded. "You...need anything else? Only I have to get back..."
"Oh no, I don't need anything" Emma said, seemingly embarrassed now. They stood in silence for a moment. She recognised the aching look in Emma's eyes from the night before and everything clicked reluctantly into place.
"You can't help her, Miss" Lucy said. Emma opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Gosh, Lucy thought, she is beautiful. Daft as anything, but beautiful. "Unless you've got friends more powerful than The Queen, there's nothing you can do for her" she said. Emma seemed to be searching her face for something.
"You know then?" Emma asked quietly. She rubbed the back of her neck.
That you're in love with the princess?She wanted to ask I plain as day, and who could blame you?
"Yes, Miss" she replied
Emma put her hands over her face. "Sorry" she said through her palms.
"You've nothing to be sorry for, Miss. I understand, and I know what we are. When are you leaving? Three weeks?" Lucy asked pointedly to show Emma she did understand that they were just having sex. Incredible, athletic, life-ruiningly good sex.
"Two" Emma said, her hands now pushed her hair back from her face
"Two weeks then. That's all you need to manage for" Lucy said, hiding the disappointment she felt. Emma nodded sadly. "Will I see you tonight?" She asked tentatively.
Emma looked up, eyes wide with surprise. "You want to?" She asked
"Well Miss, if just now was anything to go by, you can't go on as you are. You might explode" Lucy said. Emma laughed and Lucy was relieved to see her smile again. "And I can't very well say no to you" she added
"You can!" Emma said, no longer laughing, "of course you can!"
"Don't mistake my meaning, Miss." She said, walking up to Emma. She seemed to be biting her lip. "How did you get straw in your hair? You've only been here 5 minutes" she said, discarding the piece she untangled from Emma's locks. "I could say no to you, but I wouldn't want to" Lucy said
Emma searched her eyes again and Lucy looked back frankly, with half a smile on her lips. She kissed Emma on the cheek before turning to leave the store room. "Now bugger off, will you? I've got work to do" she said without looking back, though she heard Emma's laugh and smiled.
She relayed the story to Ruby, skipping out the specifics about who Emma was in love with.
"Fuck" she stared at Lucy "but you are super into her, like, super duper into her"
"I am not" Lucy pushed her knee away and tried to hide her blush by turning
"Oh please, you we're strutting around like the cat's meow the other day. What did you call yourself? The patron saint of orgasms?" Ruby said
"I…" Lucy began, but she knew Ruby was right. She had been over the moon. "I'm ok with this though" Ruby's eyebrow arched in reply. "I am, it's just, I thought…I don't know why I thought it, now that I think about it she never said she wouldn't sleep with anyone else" Lucy rambled half to herself.
Ruby gasped "No!" she said "who?"
"I don't know her" Lucy replied, feeling slightly vindicated by Ruby's reaction "I mean, they might not have been, but I was s'posed to meet her last night where she 'bides and when I got there she was dancing with another girl" Lucy said, her eyes filling with tears as she remembered the woman she danced with.
She was the same height as Emma, beautiful and a very good dancer. She smiled as Emma twirled her around then twirled herself under their arms. They had seemed easy and happy. Lucy blamed herself for being early, but her heart just about shredded itself when she saw them together. She drew her own conclusion, but she didn't think this was a hard one. The woman didn't look like Regina, but she did have long dark hair like hers. She self consciously tucked her fiery curls behind her ears.
"Oh Luce" Ruby said, wrapping her arms around her tightly and rocking her slightly "she's no good for you. I know you think she's gorgeous, but she's obviously not a good person to do that to you, after you were so understanding and everything" Lucy swallowed the lump in her throat and Ruby let her go. "Come on, it must be time for second breakfast?" she asked. Lucy smiled in reply and followed her to the kitchen.
"I hope you don't mind Mrs Tipping, we were just out for a walk and Miss Swan has not dressed appropriately for the weather" Princess Regina was talking to the cook as Lucy and Ruby entered.
Her heart leapt in her chest. Emma was with her. She managed to slip into the pantry without being seen. She sat on an upturned crate and hoped no one would come in. She couldn't look at Emma right now, she felt ashamed and embarrassed.
"Of course, Majesty" Tip replied "What would you like, Miss?"
"Oh anything" Emma's voice sent another jolt through Lucy. "Whatever is easiest, I'll have anything as long as it's hot!" she smiled appreciatively as she spoke
"That's what I heard" Ruby said under her breath as she passed behind her.
Emma's head spun to look at her. Regina hadn't heard, she was listening to the list of things Tip had to offer. Emma turned back to her after catching a stinging glare from the woman leaving the kitchen.
"…Stew and bread, could whip you up some porridge-" Tip seemed to be listing everything until Emma interrupted with her choice.
"Stew would be excellent" Emma replied. The bowl was set in front of her in seconds, a few slices of black bread appeared on a plate next to it with the butter dish.
"Oh my gosh, you're spoiling me" Emma said, seating herself on the wide wooden bench at the kitchen table. She dipped her bread in the stew and ate. The noise she made would have been considered indecent in any other context. "This is incredible" she said, before she even swallowed "I've been living on pottage for weeks, this is…" she trailed off to dip and eat more bread. She tried some with butter, then spooned up the stew. Regina stood by, smiling.
"Can I get you anything, Miss?" Tip asked, though she was quite distracted by Emma's uncouthness. She hadn't even asked the princess if she could sit and eat.
"No thank you, Mrs Tipping" Regina replied with a smile
"I have some of your favourite bread" she offered
Regina's mouth twisted before she gave in. "Oh very well then!" she said, taking a seat next to Emma who was just wiping out her bowl with her last slice of bread. A plate with two slices of pinkish bread was set down in front of Regina, as well as a pot of plum jam, a spare plate and the rest of the loaf on a wooden board with a knife.
"Mrs Tipping!" Regina exclaimed "You're spoiling me, how ever will I manage lunch after this?" She spooned jam onto her bread, spread it with a knife and took a slow bite, as though savouring every second. Emma watched her with a grin.
"My apologies, Miss" Tip said, with a smile
"You'll have to go for a long hack, Majesty, work up your appetite" Lucy said, appearing from the pantry with a sack of apples and carrots. She bowed as Regina turned to her.
"Good morning, Lucy" Regina smiled at her "that's not a bad idea at all" Lucy glanced at Emma, who at least had the decency to look uncomfortable.
"Good day to you both" Lucy tipped her head and was off.
"The other plate is for you, Miss Swan, if you'd like to try the bread" Tip said, half watching Lucy run down the path.
"Ah ah" Regina swallowed quickly and pulled the bread board out of Emma's reach "this is mine, you'll have to get your own"
Emma laughed. "Maybe I can just try a bite of yours then?"
Regina scowled at her, playfully. "Fine" she cut a generous piece of her bread and passed it to Emma who smiled in return.
The bread tasted of fruit, and something sharp with a bite, maybe pepper? Combined with the jam, it was heavenly. Emma couldn't remember ever eating so well. She watched Lucy disappear down the hill through the open door and her mind wandered back to the night before.
The night before
"Robin! stop it!" Marion scolded him for showing off "just dance with me, like normal will you?"
"This is normal" he replied, though the withering look Marion gave him stopped his tomfoolery. She let go of him and sighed.
"Emma!" Marion called as she passed on her way to her room "Dance with me? My husband is feeling like showing off tonight."
"Tsk Robin, the point of dancing with a woman is to show her off" Emma detoured to the dance floor.
"Yeah yeah" Robin laughed and plonked himself down at the bar.
"Who will lead?" Marion asked
Emma slid her arm around her waist and took her hand "Take turns?" she asked. Marion smiled and let her lead. Marion wanted to hear about her exploits at the palace. Her heart sank a little.
"You know I can't talk about it" she said and twirled Marion effortlessly.
"Oh come on. Are they all as stuck up as people here say? They seem to hate the queen" Marion said, stepping away from and then back to Emma.
"So I hear" Emma replied and turned them both, making sure to give Marion enough space for her dress to flourish between them.
"Boring" Marion said and smiled "I heard you found yourself a little love interest up there though" Emma's heart stopped. "The girl with red hair, or was that just a rumour?" Marion asked, unsure about Emma's reaction.
"Oh, Lucy, yeah" Emma said "she's coming here tonight" she twirled Marion again and turned herself under their arms.
"Oh good!" Marion smiled "maybe she'll have palace gossip to share."
Emma smiled "Don't count on it" she said and the song ended. "My turn"
In truth, Emma had been looking forward to seeing her. She felt less guilty now that Lucy knew they were just having fun, and it would be nice to be around someone she didn't have to be guarded against. She never showed up and Emma went to bed alone in the room she was supposed to share with her now incarcerated brother.
The morning after the night at The Reel
Regina concentrated on breathing normally, on not running to the rehearsal room, on fighting the beaming smile that tried desperately to shine out of her. All she could hear was the music from The Reel playing non-stop in her mind, all she could see was Emma's smile and very dangerous dimples, all she could feel was the memory of Emma's lips on her own. She threw open the door, but there was no one. A few minutes later a maid greeted her.
"The Queen has asked for me to accompany you to your final dress fitting, Majesty" she said with a curtsey.
"Oh" Regina replied, surprised. "Did she say anything of my dance lesson?"
"No, Miss" Something was wrong. Cora knew, she was sure of it. What could she do but go along?
"Very well" she said, following the maid to the fitting room.
"I can't believe mother is letting you wear black" Zelena said as she entered.
"It's not black, it's grey"
"Grey is just black but weaker"
"Ashley what colour is this?"
"The fabric colour is Gainsboro, Majesty. We also have it in Cinerous and Rose Quartz if you would prefer those, Miss" Ashley answered and went back to pinning the dress. Regina looked at Zelena with raised eyebrows
"Are they all black as well?" Zelena asked. Ashley swallowed nervously.
"No need to answer my sister, Ashley. This is the colour I want"
Regina did as she was told, hoping they would finish the dress soon so she could go looking for Emma. She tried to think of explanations for her absence but her thoughts were continually interrupted by Zelena updating her on the state of her boredom.
"Why are you here?" she asked eventually, risking rudeness out of frustration. At that moment The Queen entered. Zelena sat up in her chair immediately. The servants stopped what they were doing to stand and curtsey. Regina stood still where she was, trying to decifer the odd look on her face.
"Girls, I have some sad news" she said, sweeping her hands together in front of her dramatically. Regina exchanged a look with Zelena. Her first thought it that their father must be ill.
"As you were" Cora sad to the servants, who returned to their tasks quickly. "Regina your dance lesson was cancelled this morning" she said, looking over at her sadly "Your teacher was in a...tragic accident. A trader in the market overturned their cart. I believe she was helping them when a second cart joined the collision. I'm very sorry dear"
Regina heard her, but she couldn't process what she said. Emma, who was fierce and strong and full of life was, what?
"Her body has been returned to her family. I have offered them a generous compensation for her work here, which they have accepted graciously"
"Pip?" She asks. That didn't sound right. emma had told her last night she had no family but Pip, and he was supposed to still be in jail somewhere. Cora's eyes flashed to Zelena whose lip is curled in distaste.
"Gosh, that's horrible" she said "I suppose there's no time to find Regina a new teacher?"
"No there isn't, but the ball is only a few days away now."
"Her...she's gone back to Pip? Does that mean he's out of jail?"
"Really dear, you do concern yourself with the most offensive details" Regina blushed "It is all taken care of"
Cora stayed a moment longer, chatting with Zelena. Regina wasn't listening. She was thinking about Emma's eyes as they danced watching her, about her strong shoulders as they got dressed together, dancing as they went to the music downstairs, about her laugh when Regina pulled her into a spin instead of the other way round, about her outrageous dimples. All gone?
"That's it, your majesty" Ashley said, bringing her back to the world. Cora and Zelena were gone. "You can step down, I'll see to the dress if you stand still"
Regina turned to her, hearing her words but comprehending nothing. Tears balanced on the brim of her eyelashes. Ashley's empathetic face sends them over.
"Oh Miss" she said, catching her hands as stepped down "I am sorry to hear about your teacher" Regina's only response was to wipe her tears before more fell onto the fabric, darkening it in tiny spots.
"Oh dear" she said, wiping them away "I'll ruin this dress before the ball starts" she changed the subject and shook out of the dress quickly. Anything to get out of the room before she let herself feel what she had been told.