Chapter 1:
The huntress gripped her bow, her back pressed against a stone wall. Thunder cracked and lightning blazed across the sky. She shivered, wiping her face against her sleeve. The night had fallen and she was lost in a maze of trees.
Many prided themselves on the strength of their logic, their reason and intellect, but all feared this forest. According to legend, entire armies had disappeared in its depths, and the witch of old had sent them to their graves. But that was nothing but a legend... truly, there were far worse horrors concealed in the trees than a dead Queen.
The huntress had been forced to hide in the forest's depths. Her choices had been death or exile, and she chose to live. Survival was her present objective... for those who had betrayed her, they would meet her blade soon enough.
She rounded a corner, turning her head suddenly. Her eyes darted around, but all she saw was darkness. Quickly, she whipped her head to the side, gripping her bow and pulling back her arrow... but no one was there.
She had been hearing things ever since she entered the forest. A broken branch. Footsteps. Yet nothing was there but darkness. It surrounded her, suffocating her. Still, it was silent. There was not a sound to be heard, not even a bird's song. But the sudden, sharp noises were still there, she would swear upon her life. The shadows were not still. They moved as if to surround her. This forest was driving her mad. Shadows running across surfaces, footsteps that belonged to no one... and then the whispers. She could hear them in her head, yet they felt as though they were right next to her ear.
She fell to the floor. The whispers became shouts, calling for her, but there were too many. She couldn't understand what they wanted from her. It all just blurred into noise. A constant hum of yelling voices. A symphony of dread. She gripped her head, as if it were about to split open.
"Stop!" She cried. "Why can't you just let me be? Why must you torture me so? Just let me be! I just want to live..."
It was then it all went silent... save for one voice.
"You must save us. You're the one, the huntress. The one of legend. The creature lets you be. It knows you're here to liberate the Queen. It's mistress. You must. We are nothing but shadows and it aches. Oh how it aches. We wish to break free, we should not be in the mortal realm. This is a place of life, not death. We suffer, you cannot know how much we suffer. To live in a place that has no need for you but demands your release. We are bound, the creature holds us to this world, it spites us for not being the saviour to it's mistress. Find her and awaken her. Then we will be free and the ache will no longer be."
She stood slowly, gripping her face. "I asked for none of this. I will not be a pawn of fate. I decide what path I choose, not you. I do not care for you or this creature. I will take my leave of this forest and I will live in accordance to my own wishes."
"Then you will die in this forest. You will join our pain and ache, until finally the one does come to release us."
The huntress ran as the pain throbbed. The deeper she fled into the forest, the louder the voices became. Her head pounded. They were begging for her to finally bring silence to their agony, that they had endured for too long and needed the eternal sleep.
Then, silence.
She stumbled. Falling to the ground. Her hand pressed on stone and she looked up. She felt her muscles go slack as a trance came over her. Her eyes traced the beautiful face, that of the Queen. Her heart clenched as anger bloomed inside of her. Why was her beloved stone? Who could spite the one woman she loved?
She shook her head. Love? Surely not. It was simply a statue.
Slowly the huntress stood, her eyes transfixed on the witch's face. She wanted to turn away, to run, but could not. The statue beckoned her. An unnatural compulsion took over. She couldn't explain her actions, but she moved forward. Her legs stumbled toward the statue of their own accord. Before her mind could process what she was doing, her lips were pressed against the Queens. The huntress's eyes opened. Stone cracked away and the Queen fell. Quickly, the huntress caught her in an embrace, holding the woman close.
Slowly, the Queen's eyes fluttered open. Her eyes were captured by the huntress's.
The Queen was baffled. "Who are you?"
The huntress smiled softly. "I am Emma Swan, my Queen, if I may be so bold... what may I call you?"
The Queen stared at Emma, taking in the young woman. She had fair skin and fierce gold curls. The young woman gazed back at her, with so much love that The Queen quickly staggered away.
The Queen brushed some of the dust from her dress. "How did you find me?"
Emma shrugged. "The forest guided me. The trees, they almost seem to move, I think they led me to you."
The Queen raised an eyebrow. "And why would they do that?
Emma smiled. "So I could wake you, my Queen, for I love you." Emma's hands immediately covered her mouth. "I mean I don't... and I do... yet I couldn't possibly..."
The Queen gaze cut right through her. "What do you mean, wake me?"
Emma met her stare fiercely. "You were turned to stone, and I woke you."
The Queen listened in disbelief. "I see. And how could you possibly have broken a spell so –"
"I kissed you," Emma replied quickly.
The Queen gave her an antagonising smile. "Well then, you must be my knight, and I suppose I must be the grateful damsel that falls into you arms, all because of one miserly kiss. This isn't a story, Miss Swan, and I –"
Emma interrupted defiantly, as she felt herself begin to boil. "I never said that. You wanted the truth and I gave it to you. What do you want me to say? Lie and say that you woke after centuries from the rising sun? I never chose to come here and I never asked for you, but I'm never to love another. That, my Queen, is my curse and my burden to bear. If you do not want me, then I shall leave."
The Queen paused. "What? What do you mean, that you –"
"I was cursed as an infant... I never truly believed it possible."
"I see." The Queen looked at her gently. "I didn't realise that would happen. I hoped to avoid causing further harm in a new life. You wouldn't believe how many I've hurt, the lives I have ruined and destroyed. My hands are stained by their blood. Can you love me even then, Emma?"
Emma laughed humourlessly, "Do I truly have a choice?"
The Queen gripped the woman's face, forcing their eyes to meet. "There is always a choice."
Emma's eyes met the Queen's and her heart almost stopped. "Then I choose you..."
The Queen smiled sadly. "Then you may call me Regina."
….
The wind carried an unnatural chill, a biting cold that caused her bones to rattle. Emma watched Regina. She was stunning, with long brown hair and a dark blue cloak protecting her from the cold. Emma's heart wouldn't stop beating. She couldn't look away from the woman. No matter how hard she tried, her eyes always came back to the Queen, tracing her gentle curves. She had never understood the meaning of attraction before. She'd tried to, but no one had caught her eye. It was such a new feeling, and she loved it.
Soon stars blanketed the sky and they sat next to a blazing fire.
Regina paused to look into the blue ones that awaited her. "I don't love you, Emma."
The huntress gave her a small, sad smile. "I know."
The Queen frowned. "Then if you know, why would you follow me?"
Emma leaned back, looking up at the stars. "Because I have nowhere to go and at least when I'm with you, I'm not alone. I'm with someone I care for dearly."
Regina stared at the young woman in disbelief. "How could you care for me? You know what I did... you only love me because of a curse. It's not real. How could you even trust your emotions when they aren't even your own?"
Emma laughed, turning to the woman. "Regina, they are my emotions. I don't care how they got there, or why. They just are. I can't help how I feel for you, but it will never stop. I couldn't if I tried. They are as certain as my heartbeat."
Regina took Emma's hand, softly kissing its palm. "And if took advantage and used you?"
Emma felt her heart flutter, and yet her heart ached in sadness. "Then I would let you."
….
Regina hadn't allowed herself to be held. It wasn't tender as Emma had wanted. It had been rough and hard. Yet she ached for this woman and was true to her word. She loved her more than words could say because of a curse, and she didn't care otherwise. It was real, because she knew what she felt and no one could take that away. Not even the Queen to her heart.
Regardless, she didn't think that the Queen could ever truly love her back.
It was then that the huntress felt a great sadness.
She finally knew what it was to love... and she felt a longing to look into her Queen's eyes and to see nothing but her love returned.