Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed chapter 1! Thank you for being patient and waiting for chapter 2! Well here it is! I worked a little longer on this one so it should be more detailed and longer than chapter 1. Please read and review!
"What?" Regina furrowed her brows in confusion, "I have to go back. I don't have anywhere else to go." The reality of the situation hit her and her heart sank. No matter what I do, I'll always be trapped. But, I want to be with Robin. No. She forced the thought down, shoved it to the back of her mind where it would reside until her feelings pushed forward and would overcome her once more.
"Regina, just come with me." Robin's lips turned up in a soft smile as he looked down at her, curled up against his side in the soft grass. She looked beaten down and tired now that he could finally see her, tortured by the hand of cards life had thrown at her. "I can't let you go back to that wretched king and remain trapped in that horrible castle for the rest of your life." He felt her small frame stiffen against him. He couldn't help the anger and fury that immediately emerged inside him towards the king. He would never understand how someone could force a woman as kind and giving as Regina into an imprisonment disguised as a marriage.
Her stiff fingers curled into his shirt and she buried her face gently in the crook of his neck, hiding the tears that slipped from her tired eyes. "It's not that easy, Robin." Her voice was barely a whisper, hoarse from tumbling down the hill.
"And why isn't it?" His words weren't meant to anger her, quite the opposite really. But Regina's eyes flared with a fierce anger. Her fist clenched against his shirt. How could he possibly think any of this was just as simple as running away? How could I...
She pushed off of him until she was sitting up, using her arms to support the rest of her body weight as she leaned back to glare into his face. She immediately missed the warmth she felt when she was near him, but she couldn't get used to it. It couldn'tbe like this. But his scent, his warmth… Everything about him was intoxicating,and she just wanted to curl up next to him in the grass. To hide from the excruciating pain that life insisted on throwing at her again and again, until she just wanted to disappear. But she couldn't.It couldn't be this easy, because it never is.
"It just isn't! Not everything is that simple! Some people don't get to be free and do whatever they want, like you!" Her voice shook with anger, her features pulled down in an angry frown. "Some people have had hard lives! You've gotten the chance to choose your own destiny. Some people don't get that! Some people are forced into things that they never wanted and lose everything!" She was shouting now, her voice echoing offthe hill, but she didn't care who heard. She needed to let it all out. And Robin let her. He took every single harsh word and let her scream and yell and let out all the anger she had built up over her life.
Robin sat up alongside her, his eyes daring to meet hers. She was shaking, her teeth chattering, breaths coming in ragged puffs. "Regina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you I ju-" She held up one of her hands, cutting him off.
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I just needed to let it out. You didn't deserve that." Regina shook her head gently, her long black curls falling into her face. "I understand if you want to leave." She would understand, but it would hurt. Robin reached forward gently, as not to startle her, and brushed the dark hair from her face. Gently tucking it behind her ear, his calloused finger fumbling through the dark waves. It was comforting. She leaned back into his touch.
"There is nothing you could do to make me leave." His hand left her hair where it had begun combing through the knots and fell to her hand where their fingers entwined. "Sometimes everyone just needs to vent out their anger. I've made more than a few Merry Men angry doing so myself." Robin smiled at her, biting his bottom lip between his teeth.
"Merry Men?" Regina raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner, curious to learn about these "merry men". It wasn't a surprise. She had always been curious, meddling in things to figure out how they worked or butting in on a conversation to learn more about the topic. Her mother had scolded her for it.
"They're a group of thieves that live in the forest not far from here. It's where I live." Robin gestured with his free hand towards the large forest to their left, the trees casting long shadows across the hill. Regina hadn't noticed it before. She had been too wrapped up in their on going conversation and the feeling of his fingers fiddling with her hair. She absolutely loved the warm feeling that filled her when she was around him and she loved the feeling of being free. Her mother couldn't scold her, couldn't tell her that a queen should be with her king, not a thief. He is better than Leopold could ever dream of being. Leopold could not lock her away for asking to walk through the gardens. I can go wherever I want with Robin! I am not a child, and I am through being a prisoner! Find another queen, Leopold! I am not a doll, I am not a slave, and I most certainly am not your queen!
"Does your offer still stand or did my yelling take that off the table?" Regina's eyes widened for a moment, worried that he would say no and terrified of returning back to the king.
"Offer? You mean coming with me? Of course I still want you to come!" Robin jumped to his feet, pulling Regina with him. The smile that brightened his features more than usual had Regina wearing a matching smile of her own. "Will you come with me?" His hand squeezed hers gently, his eyes scanning her face. Regina laughed at his eagerness, covering her mouth with her free hand to stifle the noise.
"Of course I'll come with you! I wouldn't want it any other way!" Robin's bright smile immediately returned and he let out a joyful laugh, picking her up and spinning her around. Regina let a laugh of her own match his. When her toes met the grassy earthen floor again, Robin leaned forward, his face was inches from her own, that sweet smile still gracing his face. Regina's smile widens as his hands gently run through her hair and his lips fall to hers. Regina's own hands find their way to his shoulders and she uses the strength in her arms to pull herself up until she is a bit taller. She ignores the ache that shoots through her feet as she balances on her tiptoes, eagerly trying to match his height. Robin gently pulls back after a minute only to lean in a second later to place one last kiss on her lips. The kiss is sloppy, the smile on her lips prohibiting it from being anything less than sloppy. But that's ok. Robin doesn't mind.
"I must say, m'lady, you're quite a good kisser."
"You're not so bad yourself, thief." The title is meant as a tease. She would never call him thief in the wrong intention of hurting him. Regina stares at his lips a second longer before her gaze travels to meet his eyes. She's trapped in the blue depths there. It isn't until he gently nudges her arm that she realizes he's been talking to her.
"Hmm?" Her murmur is barely audible, she'sstill distracted by his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you"
"I know," he laughs. "I said, are you ready?" He squeezes her hand gently, comforting her. This is the biggest decision she will ever make in her life, but no decision has ever been easier. She leans forward with ease and bumps her nose teasingly against his.
"Lead the way, Locksley!" Her smile is reflected in his own face as he gives anexcited bounce on his toes. He is walking forward, his strides long and fast. Regina stumbles after him, the unexpected tree roots and tufts of grass littering the ground and tripping her every few steps.
"You'll love them! The Merry Men that is! They're great, and you'll never find a group of bandits as kind as them, though I suppose bandits aren't normally kind anyway." A pondering look crosses his face for a mere moment before he continues rambling. "There's not a safer camp, either! No one has ever found it! We've made sure of that, hiding it in the deepest parts of the forest and such. I think you'll like it. I think you'll like the merry men, too, though sometimes they are quite loud and can be rather smelly, but you'll get used to it. There are the rowdy ones, well actually most of them are quite rowdy but once you get to kno-" Regina halted them. Robin paused in his long rambling speech to turn and look at her, the puzzled look returning.
"Robin, they sound wonderful." And she meant it. Robin pulled her forward gently, pressing his forehead against hers.
"Regina, how are you so perfect?" Regina snorted a laugh.
"Trust me, I'm far from it."
"Well," Robin placed a gentle kiss the tip of her nose. Regina closed her eyes, a blissful sigh filling her lungs. "You're perfect to me."
"Robin, what if they don't like me?" The trek through the forest had been long and Regina's legs ached from stumbling over gnarled roots and clumps of moss. Scratches ran lengths up and down her legs where briars had snagged and tore at her skin. She was adapted to the smooth riding hills and plains of horse pastures, but she certainly wasn't used to this. Robin smiled.
"You have nothing to worry about, love. They'll love you." Robin squeezed her hand again. It seemed to be a habit of his, squeezing her hand when she was nervous or scared.
"What about this stupid dress?" her voice was questioning as she gestured the dress she was wearing. The fabric that was white, once upon a time, was stained by the earthy forest floor. It wasn't as if she was fond of the dress, in honesty she despised them. She would much rather switch the silky white fabric for a simple outfit comprised of pants, boots, and a simple shirt and vest. But,she also didn't know the standards these people held for one another.
"Regina, nobody here is going to judge you on what you're wearing." He pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. The tension and worry immediately melted away.
"Good, because I never liked dresses anyway." The smirk that pulled at her lips caused a laugh to slip from Robin.
"Now c'mon, my queen. Come meet the merry band of thieves." Regina slammed her elbow into Robin's ribs, causing him to grunt in pain. A laugh played at her voice.
"It's Regina, yo-" Regina's mouth fell open. Robin had guided her off the path and now before them sat a large clearing. Moonlight filtered through the tall tree branches, illuminating the large wooden "houses" that sat among the branches. Long rope ladders fell from each tree house, leading to a trapdoor in the floor of each one. There wasn't a single building on the ground, the only sign that the area was inhabited by people was the large campfire protruding from the ground in the middle of the moonlit clearing.
"Robin! This is amazing! How d-" Regina's sentence was cut short by a chorus of loud deep shouts from the tree houses above them.
Regina looked up at Robin to find he was already looking at her, a reassuring look softening his eyes. "Ready?"
"Yeah." She breathed. Her shoulders were stiff with worry and she stood straight and regal as if her mother were meeting her and not a simple group of thieves.
"Here we go." Robin's fingers tightened around hers, causing her to grin as she examined the heads popping out of windows to examine the clearing below.
"Robin's back!" A rather large man with a curly brown mop of hair shouted from the top of one of the rope ladders. A chorus of voice joined in his shouts. Regina watched as the doors in the floors of the cabin flew open and feetpopped out from the openings. After the feet came the rest of the men asthey descended down the ladders, skipping over rungs as if they were invincible and wouldn't plummet 30 feet to the hard forest floor if they fell. Regina found her hand stiffening in Robins grasp, fear for the safety of the rambunctious men was eating away at her.
"Wow, they really like you here, don't they?" Regina still hadn't caught her breath from the excitement of seeing the camp and her voice hitched slightly.
"Well I am their leader." Robin answered with a laugh as he looked around at the men descending from the ladders. They were making their way over to the pair with loud shouts.
"You're their leader?"
Robin didn't get the chance to answer before the large man who had shouted earlier was pulling him forward into a massive bear hug. Regina gasped as Robin's fingers were forced to untangle from hers as she was forced back by the crowd of men to the edge of the clearing.
"Robin, where have you been? You said you'd only be gone for a few days! Not a week!" One of the men shouted.
"Yes, well," Regina caught a glimpse of Robin peering over the crowd searching for her as he answered the man. "Plans changed." He wasn't very focused on answering the pondering questions, just getting through the crowd to Regina.
Regina was fuming. She was new here! She was confused, had no idea where she was, and the only person she knew was Robin! And these men had the nerve to shoo her aside like some pet!I will not be a pet here as well!
"Hey. Excuse me." She tried to keep her voice calm, she really did, but she couldn't stop the edge of annoyance that accompanied each word. "Please, I need to get to Robin." She tried to push through the outer edge of the group but arms and shoulders shoved her back until, once more, she resided at the tree line of the clearing. That's it! Regina clenched her fist, her blood boiling.
"HEY!" Regina screamed. Her teeth clenched, breaths heavy with anger. She hoped nobody had noticed the spark of electricity that had erupted from her fist and traveled up her arms for only a moment. Magic. They can't know I have magic. They'll all hate me… If they don't already. No one seemed to notice the electricity, but all eyes were on her. Not one person had noticed her standing there and mouths fell open and the noise in the clearing died down when her voice rose above the rest. Everyone stared at her as if she were a ghost that had waded through the forest and had appeared out of nowhere. Well, all eyes except Robin,who stood in the middle of the crowd grinning at her like an idiot. "I need to get to Robin, and the next person who pushes me out of the way is going to pay for it!" Regina wasn't tall and she wasn't particularly noticeable, but when she wanted to, she could scare just about anyone. She had learned that from years of persecution from the royal teachers. Ever since she was young, her mother had insisted that she must be taught by only the finest teachers in the land. All of them had scolded her harshly and yanked her hair or shoved her shoulders, telling her that her posture wasn't correct, her hair was too messy, her dress to wrinkled. On her 12th birthday, one of her teachers, a young women whom Regina loathed, had pushed her and told her that she needn't slouch, for it looked improper. She had snapped, screaming relentlessly at the women until her teacher had run from the castle room. She never had trouble scaring anyone after that. Another shoulder bumped into Regina, bringing her back from her thoughts. The former queen flipped around, eyes flaring with fury that yet another person had pushed her, only to find it was Robin. During her anger she hadn't noticed him push his way through the crowd to her side, his hand was now gently rested on her shoulder.
"Well, everyone, this is Regina, and she'll be staying with us from now on. She isn't used to this so please be kind and let her get adjusted." Robin's hand that was resting on her shoulder had calmed her and she was able to properly scan the crowd before her. Amongst the men,and there were probably around twenty of them, stood about 10 women. All of them seemed to be around the age of twenty or younger, the youngest looking around 15. Regina herself was only 17, but it seemed her bout of anger had earned her the respect of almost everyone there. Everyone's respect except for one woman at the back of the crowd. The women had olive skin, her black hair only a few inches past her shoulders. If looks could kill, Regina would be dead. This woman wore a look that could intimidate anyone with a single glance. But not Regina. Regina wasn't the slightest bit afraid of this girl. Peeling her eyes from the women, Regina looked back up at Robin. Apparently, he had been speaking to the crowd while she scanned it because everyone seemed to be dispersing now on a path back to their own tree houses.
"C'mon," Robin tugged gently at her hand. "I'll show you where you'll be living." Regina didn't budge. Instead, she gripped tighter to his hand, forcing him to turn around and face her. She met his eyes, determined.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scream at them like that. I was just pushed around at the castle and I don't want the same thing to happen here." She looked straight into his eyes. She was tired of being the scared little girl that hid in the corners of the castle. She could be herself here. She could be the bold, courageous woman she had been before her forced marriage with Leopold.
"It's alright darling, you've earned their respect." Robin smiled down at her and meant to continue across the clearing, but again Regina didn't budge.
"Robin, I mean it. I don't want them to see me as some helpless little girl. That's not who I am." Her voice was stern. Robin looked down at her, his smile a little gentler but never ceasing.
"I know. None of them will see you like that. I've seen the real you. I've seen the bold and audacious woman that was forced to hide behind a cruel king. I have never, and will never,doubt your strength, and if anyone does, well, they'd be a fool." Robin smiled, the dimples in his cheeks deepening.
"Thank you. For everything." Now it was her turn to gently squeeze his hand.
"Anything for you." His voice was so kind. Regina had missed the feeling she got when someone spoke to her like she was a real person and not a trophy to be put on display. "Now, come on.I want to show you your cabin!"
"I- I get my own cabin?" Regina's eyes widened and her heart skipped a bit.
"Of course!" Robin pulled her forward across the grassy clearing, excitement causing his steps to bounce a little more than he would have liked.
The pair stopped in front of a tall rope ladder. It was longer than the others, the house in the tree higher up than the rest, it was barely visible through all the branches that grew from the wide oak.
"After you, m'lady." Robin gestured towards the rope ladder dangling in front of them. Regina smiled and climbed up the first two rungs of the ladder until she was heightened evenly with Robin. Leaning back, she placed a gentle kiss to his lips. Robin closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, kissing her back gently. Regina pulled back with a tight smirk.
"Now we're the same height." She laughed, still in a daze from the gentleness of the kiss. Robin smiled.
"What is it?" Regina had paused her eyes traveling to the clearing behind Robin. There stood beside a tree the women that already had a deep hate for Regina. The woman's face was pulled up into a snarl.
"Regina?" Regina shook her head and looked down at Robin.
"Hmm?"
"What's wrong?" he asked again.
"It's nothing." Regina turned her attention back to the ladder. Wrapping her fingers around the next rung.
"Regin-"
"It's nothing." There was a finality to her voice. The conversation was over. Robin had enough to worry about, without having to worry about someone disliking Regina already. There were bigger problems to worry about. Scaling the ladder quickly, Regina crawled through the door, followed quickly by Robin. She gazed around the large room in front of her. There was a large crate in the corner, clothes spilling over the sides. A large bed was in the other corner and a piece of furniture that resembled a couch sat beside it.
"Thi- this is mine?" Regina questioned. She stepped cautiously across the wooden floor until she settled on standing in the middle of the room, where she could get a view of everything around her.
"Do you like it?" Robin's voice was hopeful his gaze matching his tone.
"I- I love it! This is amazing!" It was amazing. Regina hated the polished, uncomfortable furniture of the castle. She loved the cozy little space of the cabin, the soft bed, and, well, she had thought the furniture piece beside the bed was a couch but she wasn't exactly sure what it was anymore, but she loved it as well!
"Robin," Regina turned and grabbed hold of his hands. "This is perfect." Her eyes were squinted in pure joy, her smile reaching as high as it could.
Robin pulled her closer and kissed her hairline gently, his hand drawing circles on her back.
"I'm glad you like it." He pulls away a bit to look into her eyes. "And you know what the best part is?" Robin pulled her over to a large door on the wall she hadn't noticed in her excitement. Opening it, Robin pulled her out onto a balcony where a large bridge stretched out to the balcony of another tree house that was nestled in a tree beside hers. "That's mine." Robin pointed the tree house across the bridge. "So we can see each other all of the time."
Regina let a gasp of joy slip from her mouth. She had never felt so loved in her life.
"Well, I'll let you get settled. Just yell if you need anything, alright?" Regina nodded, letting Robin's hand go as he stepped cautiously out onto the bridge. "And Regina?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
Regina gasped, her feet stumbling a bit. "You- you do?"
"More than you'll ever know." Robin threw her a smile before he turned and walked the rest of the way across the creaking bridge. It wasn't until he closed the door to his own cabin that Regina let herself turn and stumble back into her own cabin. She closed the door and sank back against it, replaying the words over and over in her head. I love you. I love you. I love you. A blissful sigh filled her lungs and a joyful tear slipped down her cheek. This, this is home.
But as she curled up into the sheets on the bed and breathed in the sweet smell of forest, she realized that she had forgotten to tell him that she loved him to. And she did. She loved him more than anything. I love you, Robin. And then her eyes fall closed and sleep takes hold of her.
Well, what did you guys think? You'll learn more about Regina's past, who the mystery woman that hates Regina is, and a little more about Leopold in chapter 3! Please review!
Also thanks to my amazingly awesome beta almister12!