Hello my little flying monkeys! Haha just kidding! Welcome to the latest installment of The Queen and Her Thief! This is a very special request as it is for a very special birthday girl! She requested this fic a while back and I have been working diligently on it ever since! You should see the PM's we have sent back and forth fleshing out this story and making it come to life!
Basically, This is an AU where Zelena cast the curse, Regina met Robin at the pub, and Regina's hair has always been long. Basically, It's Regina as Rapunzel! This is for the fabulous EvilQueensDaughterRapunzel, who has challenged me to no end in writing this! I do hope you enjoy, and as a fair warning, this is a darker little fic than most of the light fluffy ones of earlier chapters. However still OQ and still lovely! (still taking requests! if you have a burning one, please leave it in the comments!)
Prompt: Regina is held captive by Zelena in her own castle and can't escape. Robin is held captive in a cell across from her. Before their were brought there they had a night together. Zelena is so jealous of her little sister and her hair that she shaves it off and makes Robin watch it. In Storybrook Regina wakes up in a small cell in an unknown house confused, bald, pregnant. Will Robin find her and remember? And will Snow and David?
She was a jealous woman, Regina knew that, and it was clear that that envy ran through her veins like poison.
Her sister, who she had only just met was as powerful as she was green. Apparently the wrath of a woman's jealousy was some stronger magic than Regina was initially prepared for. And that was why she found herself, currently trapped inside a cell in her old dungeons, the thief she had been traveling with, locked up in the cell beside her.
"Regina. Regina!" She heard through the haze.
It was Robin, it was the outlaw that she had only met a week ago, the man who, in such a short time, she had come to care for beyond measure. Her soulmate. He had rescued her, quite literally from her palace prison. Her husband, the King, was very protective of his treasures, and whenever he left the palace, to join his men in the crusades, he would order her to be locked up in the tallest of towers for safe keeping. But it wasn't to keep her safe and she knew it. It was to keep her from running away.
There were no exits to the tower as it was sealed by magic.
She would be transported there in the night, and would wake up in the mornings atop of the plush mattress on the massive bed that sat in the center of the circular room.
Most would look at it as a magnificent room. The tapestry were beautifully woven, the intricate designs on the hearth were grand. The bed was adorned with the finest of silks and cottons and the view was unparalleled. But Regina saw it for what it really was. A prison.
She had no free will to come and go as she pleased. Rather she was locked in the fancy looking cell, surrounded by the most expensive luxuries that the Enchanted Forest had to offer, but she was still unhappy. She was still a prisoner.
She had nothing to do but watch the sun rise and set. And that was what she did. The only belongings she was allowed to bring into the room were the ones that Leopold found to be non-dangerous, a storybook and a brush.
After reading the story's over and over, back to back, about valiant princes slaying dragons and noblemen fighting off evil queens in order to save their princesses, she could recite them in her sleep. She had given up reading them and had resorted to watching the sun disappear behind the earth, welcoming the rising moos while brushing her long locks.
It was her one joy.
The feeling of combing her hair. It reminded her of her childhood. The days before she had been wed to the King. When her first love, Daniel had been alive. When she had been truly happy. She would sneak out of her house, find Daniel and they would run away up to Firefly Hill. He had been obsessed with braiding flowers into her hair, saying that she reminded him of the beautiful fairies that roamed that hill, spreading light and love with flowers in their hair.
So she had become enamored with the soothing strokes of a brush. It calmed her. Stroking her long locks, the bristles separating the strands, making them silky smooth.
She did that, day in and day out for years. Now, her locks were known of throughout the kingdom. The vibrancy with which the Queen's hair shined was talked about just as much as, if not more than, her stunning beauty.
But it mattered not now.
Her sister was going to rid her of them once and for all.
She tried not to cry, not to shed one tear. But she couldn't help it.
Though it might just be a few feet of hair for someone else, it was her life. No matter how silly it sounded, it had been with her her entire life, through the good and the bad. Growing with her daily. The day that Daniel had told her that he loved her, when her mother had hit her for coming down to dinner with 'weeds' in her hair, when she had been promised to the King, when Daniel had been killed, when she had been locked in the tower, when she met Robin. Through the good and the bad. Her hair had been her one constant companion.
And now. Now she was going to lose it all.
Her sister had sworn to her when they met that she was going to take away everything that she had. She had thought Zelena meant her husband, her luxuries, her kingdom and her life. She had never thought that her envy went as far as her soul.
She truly wanted to strip her of everything that made her, her. And for the life of her Regina couldn't understand why. She had only met the woman a couple of hours ago.
She and Robin had been traveling along, on their trek to run away from the Enchanted Forest, when all of a sudden a green flash of smoke erupted in front of them and the green skinned woman had appeared.
Regina had taken her for a lost traveler and had begun to explain herself and the outlaw and what they were doing when the woman had captured them, engulfing them in a cloud of smoke and transporting them back to the dungeons of the palace.
Regina couldn't believe it. It had been nearly a week since she had left that place. Venturing out with the fairy that had landed on her window seal the night that her husband had left for the crusades.
She had followed the sprite when she had promised that she could transport her out of the tower with her magic.
They had flown together for a time, down to a little tavern on the outskirts of the kingdom, where the fairy named Tinkerbell had told her her true love resided. Regina had been hesitant at first. It wasn't that she didn't trust the fairy, but it was the prospect of her ever being able to find and have her happy ending again that unnerved her.
After Daniels death she had given up on ever being truly happy again.
But when she had been faced with the choice of either going in or running away she chose to enter the pub.
And that's where she had met him. The man with the lion tattoo. Her soulmate.
They had talked, her mostly. He had wanted to get to know her from the moment that she had walked by, he said.
He had had perfectly blue eyes, like the sky in it's first light of winter. Crisp and cool.
She had found herself telling the man everything about her. About her childhood, her love for riding horses, her knack for shooting arrows. And he had regaled her with tales of him and his apparent crew, or band of misfits, that went around doing good works and helping out the people of the kingdom.
She left out the part where she was the Queen. He left out the part where he was a thief.
But that didn't stop them. They bonded quickly, him requesting that she show him her apparent skill with a bow one day and her agreeing. It was when she was about to leave to make her way back to the castle that he stopped her.
He whispered to her that he didn't want her to think of his as forward but he couldn't let himself watch her walk away without one goodbye kiss. And kiss they did. Soft and innocently at first and then it picked up. She could feel the heat rushing through her, the feel of his strong arms wrapping around her small frame, holding her tight.
She had never felt so cared for, so cherished, so loved.
She knew it had been only a brief time that she had known him but she felt something for him. Something that seemed to pull at her every fiber about him. Pulling her closer and closer to the man, making her want him.
When the kiss became too heated even for the pub standards they broke apart. He had looked at her through hooded eyes, making shivers run through her. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to return to her tower. So she had done something she had never done before. She had asked to stay.
Of course she didn't intend to share a bed with him that night. Just stay with him. Away from her palace and her responsibility as Queen. Away from the tower.
Robin hadn't questioned. It was as if he could see the pain behind her eyes.
He had taken her hand, leading them both up to his room. He had tucked her in, giving her his bed and left her with a kiss above her brow, promising that he would return after he saw his men to sleep.
And that was the first night that she had spent outside of the castle in years.
The next day she had been so torn with the thoughts of having to go back to her old life. They had wracked through her like lightening bolts in her bones causing her to have a bought of sickness.
Robin had been there, soothing every tear, holding her and running his hands through her hair. And she decided right then that she wasn't returning ever again. She asked him to help her run away.
He had been unsure but when she had grabbed him, kissing him with all of her passion he had relented, agreeing to take her with them.
And that was where they were when her sister had found them. About a weeks walk outside of the castle. They had put miles and miles of ground between them and that wretched tower.
He had taught her to hunt and she had taught him to shoot. It wasn't until he picked up a bow and shot down a bird on the first try that she realized he already knew how. He had laughed saying that he had found it adorable and attractive when she had offered to teach him so he decided not to tell her.
And every day she fell more and more in love with him.
It was on the fifth day when they had gotten stranded away from his men. She had gone off in search of berries and he had followed. The clouds that had been following them from above, darkening the sky, decided to pour.
The rain pounded hard on the forest floor sending droplets here and there. She was shivering, alone and scared, until a hand reached out and grabbed her. She found herself being pulled down, into the safety of a small alcove carved into the hill she was on. Suddenly the smell of Sherwood forest overwhelmed her. Robin!
She relaxed into his embrace and huddled close to the man who had saved her. Turning, she felt his hands run over her in the hopes to keep her warm. She found that she rather liked his touch and she leaned back, closing the distance between them.
He had paused, but only momentarily, as if he was asking for permission to continue. She nodded. When his touches became less soothing and more exploratory, she closed her eyes, dropping her head back onto his shoulder, humming appreciatively.
When she felt his breathing slow down and his hands roam lower, she shifted. He sucked in a deep breath, his heart beating against her back. She turned, angling her body to face him in the small cave. His whole face came into view. Placing her small cold hands on his warm cheeks, she felt him shiver at her touch, closing his eyes.
When she placed a kiss on his soft lips she felt him moan softly, as if he has been waiting a lifetime for her touch. And then he kissed her back. Taking ahold of her, pulling her up to him so that he could wrap his arms around her fully.
As she felt him kiss her, leaving trails of his love across her cheeks and down her neck she wondered how she had ever lived without him. He was so gentle and so kind yet passionate and honorable. Everything about him was a truly commendable quality. And it was then that she discovered how much she had come to care for him. How much she loved him. And she decided to show him.
They were stranded there for the next five hours as the rain pounded down outside covering their moans in the soft pitter patter.
It was the next day that her green skinned sister came across them. The woman, Zelena, had disguised herself as a common beggars wife and proceeded to ask them if they could spare any food. Regina had taken pity on the poor woman, offering her half of her bread and a warm place to sleep. They had talked for only a moment when the woman had taken an interest in her hair. She had asked about it, commenting on its beauty and length. Regina smiled, truly flattered. The woman had been insistent, asking to touch it and comb it. When Robin had come up, joining her in admiration of Regina's hair, the woman however seemed to change. Her overly joyful manner switched to something of a darker nature. She was overcome by something akin to jealousy and mistrust and Regina watched it all happen. Thinking that the beggars wife did not trust Robin she began to explain who he was and what they were doing when suddenly the woman in front of her transformed. Her hair changed from the tawny brown it had been into bright red locks. The soft eyes she had turned sharp and cold. And the dirty ivory skin that she had sticking out of her ripped clothes turned the most vivid color of green.
Regina had gasped. She had heard of this witch before, one so envious and wicked that she had turned her own skin green. The Wicked Witch of the West.
But before Regina could draw a bow or think to warm Robin and his men in any way, the witch had produced a cloud of green smoke which bundled them up and transported them back to the palace. And that was where she found herself now. Locked, in one of the dark and damps cells of her dungeons. A place that she had foolishly spent her last week in hopes that she would never see again.
Zelena had come through, not moments ago, dressed in her full fearful glory. She looked nothing like the kind woman Regina had seen just before in the woods. Her red hair was wrapped up in a regal style, a very sharp and pointed black hat placed atop her head. She carried a sinister looking broom and was dressed in what Regina realized to be one of her gowns. It was a silk slate grey, embroidered with black roses that led up to a grand feathered collar. It had been made for Regina as a present from her step daughter, the princess, Snow. She had said that black was the color that Regina should wear as it highlighted her hair and skin and made her look fairer. But now, seeing the beautiful creation on the wicked woman, she saw how evil it made her look and suddenly felt felt sick to her stomach.
Then the green woman had proceeded to tell her that she was her long lost sister. Regina thought that she was going to lose her mind. How could it be that she had a sister? All her life she had grown up, under the thumb of those who sought to control her. First her mother, Cora, who had raised her with a strong hand and magic behind it. Breaking her down to keep her in check, feeding her with lies to make her believe she loved her. Then she had been married to the King who used his power and position to make her obey him. And through all of it she was alone. She instantly began to wonder what her life would have been like if she had had a someone, a sister to go through it all with.
But she couldn't change the past. And now it was hurting her again.
Zelena explained how their mother Cora had gotten rid of her. Ashamed that her first daughter could not give her what she wanted so she cast her out into the cold wrapped in a small blanket as a tornado rolled in. That was how she came to Oz. That was how she came to hate her younger perfect sister, Regina, that was how she came to be known as the Wicked Witch. As Regina listened, she cried, her heart reaching out to the abandoned baby that had been cast out into the world when she was no more than an innocent child. Regina had always known her mother was a cruel woman. She had known but she had also loved her. But now, knowing what Cora had done to her first child, her sister, she felt nothing but hatred towards the woman. She expressed her sorrow for the life Zelena had to lead to but her sister would have none of it.
She said it wasn't Cora she was mad at any more. It was Regina. For taking everything that she had wanted, a home, a family that loved her, a life of royalty. She had taken it all and Zelena had gotten none. And now, now that she had her precious little sister locked up and helpless, she was going to take the one thing that the people admired most about her, the thing Regina held most dear. Her hair.
It was then that Robin had spoken, shaking the two ladies out of their world. He had yelled at Zelena, telling Regina that it wasn't true, that someone so wicked could not be related to someone as pure and kind as her. He had gone on a tirade until the green woman had silenced him with a spell. It appeared that her magic was holding him up off of the ground by his neck, choking him until his breathing stopped. Regina screamed. Zelena turned at the sound of agony that came from her sister. Her green face contorted in the most nastiest of ways, her thin lips curling at the ends making her look utterly villainous. She choked Robin harder, his eyes shut as his hands tried to tear at the invisible hold on him.
Zelena stalked towards her sister, reveling in the pain that she caused. Regina had begged again, trying to offer anything that she could to spare his life. Zelena had scoffed. She had said she couldn't believe a Queen could fall for a thief like him.
And Regina's heart stopped.
Everything from that moment on seemed to move in slow motion. Regina looked up, her eyes making contact with Robin's who stared at her through he bars of the cell. She hadn't told him who she really was, not wanting to taint his view of her. She wasn't pure, nor perfect as he had called her many times before and after their night together. But now he knew. He knew she had lied. She wasn't a poor common girl. She was a Queen, and not just any Queen, his Queen! And a married one at that. Though it was a loveless marriage, she still hadn't told him. And that made her a liar. But it appeared that he hadn't been honest with her either.
A thief, Zelena had called him. An outlaw. A man who would steal from the rich and justify it by giving to the poor. Someone who had no honor, and no morals. A lying man. Regina's heart clenched again.
Zelena let out a devilish cackle as the two lovers stared at each other, a shocked and utterly hurt expression mirrored on both of their faces. She released Robin, letting him fall to the cold stone floor of the cell in a heap.
She had left with the promise of Regina's demise upon her return.
Regina's eyes burned. She could feel the tears swarming behind her closed lids.
Everything that she had always shunned herself from hoping for, escape, happiness, love she had received tenfold that week. She had never dared to believe that she would ever be able to escape the confines of her lonely tower. She had never thought even in her wildest day dream that the stories in her books of happiness and joy could ever be true for someone like her. And she had never dreamed that she would meet a man as kind and loving as Robin. And never would that man fall in love with her.
But she had. She had had all of those things. And now they were all coming like the walls around her heart, crumbling down.
It was only then that Regina registered Robin gasping across the cells.
He was alive! Regina felt her heart soar before it suddenly came crashing back. He had lied to her. He was not a good man like he had said. He was a thief. Someone who lived outside of the law. Someone who did not have to tell the truth. Someone who couldn't love her.
She felt the tears burst out of her and was helpless to stop it. Droplets came cascading down her face like waterfalls, drowning her in her sorrow.
She could hear Robins voice. Yelling at her, trying to get her to open her eyes, to see him. Trying to stop her from slipping out of his grasp. But she couldn't, she wouldn't. She let her emotions overwhelm her. Spiraling down, down into the pit that she was in until there was no differentiation between the ground or the sky. She couldn't find her way out of the darkness. She felt her heart beginning to disintegrate until all she had left to do was let it harden.
And it did. She could fell the newly formed lump in her chest like a rock replacing her heart. It was heavy and lifeless. And that was when her sister returned.
Zelena came in, flicking her wrist to activate her magic, now brandishing a cruel form of a razor in her viridescent hands.
Regina didn't plead. She didn't beg. She just cried, letting her body lay limp as her sister magically entered her cell and pulled back her hair. The witch ran her long green fingers through the locks, lifting them to her nose and smelling them before gripping them hard. And Regina felt it. She felt it all, piece by piece, strand by strand, falling from her head as the razor ran right over her, shaving her clean. Every good thing that she held dear to her. Her life. Her love for Robin. It all fell like the strands of her hair. And suddenly it was gone.
Robin's screams were drowned in her mind. Zelena's victorious cackle muted. All she could see was darkness, swarming behind her closed eyelids like a sea of black. And then the world stopped.
She never saw the cloud of green smoke coming into the dungeon, flowing through the cracks in the walls. She never felt herself being wrapped up by its dark magic.
She never knew how she had arrived in Storybrooke, Maine. All she knew was that she alone, cold and bald.
Rolling over, she realized she was in a bed and felt a kick from inside her stomach. She opened her eyes to examine her belly and let out a gasp. She wasn't only in an unknown room, not sure of how she got there, but judging by the silence she was very much alone and judging from the roundness of her normally flat stomach, very much pregnant.
hold your breath! part 2 is coming next! leave your requests & thoughts in the comments! x