Sadly, the princess' premonition came to pass, or so she was led to believe. She received word that her love's ship had been captured by pirates, leaving no survivors. The princess was devastated. She locked herself in her chambers for weeks, leaving only for meals and to take care of her beloved horse, Rocinante. In spite of what she had heard, she still had a small kernel of hope in her heart when she looked into Rocinante's eyes that one day her stable girl would come gallivanting across the field in finery above her station, but as time went on, that small kernel of hope continuously diminished until she swore that she would never love again. When five years later, as she had also predicted, her mother betrothed her in marriage to Prince Leopold, the princess had lost all faith that her stable girl, her Emma, had miraculously survived and would make good on her pledge to save her. She had resigned herself to her fate.
"No! That can't be true! Emma's still alive, and I've never known my mom to go down without a fight," Henry declared. "Maybe Emma was right, and this book really is fake."
"Hold on now, young man, have you forgotten so quickly that it correctly predicted Emma breaking the curse? Or that this book is how you found your grandparents? I can't explain this story...the idea of my daughter being the True Love of the Evil Queen is positively ludicrous...but that doesn't mean the entire book is fake," David argued.
"Mom told me her mother killed her first love, who was a stable boy, not a stable girl. She would've told me if she liked girls, right?" Henry asked, suddenly not as sure as he had first felt. His mom did talk about Emma a lot, and she did look at her when she thought he wasn't paying attention, but that was just because Emma was his birth mother...or was it?
David was uncertain, "Well, Henry, that type of thing wasn't really talked about back in the Enchanted Forest, especially by the nobility. I mean, this is a new fairytale in the book, so maybe your mom's story is being rewritten since we've been living in Maine for 29 years, where everyone is more open-minded."
Instead of responding, Henry elected to continue reading the tale, "Prince Leopold introduced his betrothed to his subjects….
"Behold, the Princess Regina."
The princess descended the stairs and began to walk amongst the commoners, who immediately went to kneel before her. She blinked back tears, moved by their devotion, praying it would fill the emptiness in her heart. Though her mother and Prince Leopold assured her that she would grow to love him once they married, she knew that she was not capable of giving her heart to another. By the time her mother came to get her to return to their keep, she was relieved to be out of the spotlight.
Soon after, she rode Rocinante into the forest. Feeling nostalgic, she sported the same outfit that she had the day her love had left, save for one small exception-she had donned one of Emma's tank tops under her riding coat, one of the few items Emma had left behind when she began her journey. Regina wasn't really paying attention to how long she was riding and rode deeper into the forest than usual. She no longer recognized the landmarks and so was not unhappy that she heard voices calling to her from below. She gently tugged on the reins and gave Rocinante the signal to stop so she could identify those voices.
At first glance, they appeared to be travelers and not ones she recognized. One appeared to be a small giant-almost a contradiction in terms; his clothes coming apart at the seams. The second appeared to be a female Spaniard of low birth and quite physically fit like her Emma. The third looked to be the leader of the party based on stature and attire. The raven-haired woman wore rich colorful fabric that had yet to fade in a style that Regina did not recognize from her land. If Regina had not been so distracted, she would have seen the sword at the woman's side.
Snow recognized the princess immediately as the one chosen by the man who had made her grow up a bastard and cast a shadow on her mother's reputation. She had watched the engagement ceremony from afar, waiting for this very moment to take her revenge on Prince Leopold. She spoke glibly, "A word, my lady? We are but strangers here. Would you know if there was a village nearby?"
Answering honestly, Regina offered, "Not for miles."
"Then no one will hear you scream," Snow smiled as her comrades advanced on the princess, knocking her from her horse. With barely the hint of a scream, the princess lost consciousness from her fall. Snow gestured to Tiny to carry their prize back to their boat, but not before sending the princess's horse draped with a banner of a neighboring kingdom's crest back to the stables to distract the prince long enough for them to get away with the princess.