Wonderstruck
Chapter 9
Author's Notes: Edited Chapter
"It's beautiful isn't it? I love the cold." Emma offered as they slowly rode along the icy path. The horses were larger in the North, more suited to handle the cold and ice with their thick coats and sturdier legs. From atop the beautiful dappled bay, Regina looked so small like a child. The snow was beginning to fall and the girl's long thick hair was starting to look like stars had lodged in its length. She had never looked more like a girl of the North to Emma then in that moment. She was stunningly beautiful.
"I'm not too certain that the cold appeals to me as it does you your grace." Regina offered. She turned her head, looking out over the trees whose branches were hanging low towards the deep snowdrifts. She shivered a bit and pulled her cloak a bit tighter around her.
"What is SpringFall like then?"
"It's warm."
"Well that's stating the obvious." Emma laughed as her horse snorted and pawed the ground briefly before continuing onward.
"It's warm and the flowers bloom almost year round. Winter is very short and not very cold your Highness."
"It sounds beautiful. I'd like to see it some day soon." Emma offered her a smile.
"I'm sure you'll get to see it your grace as soon as our engagement is finalized." Regina turned to look back at her and Emma offered her a small smile.
"I am sorry…for the part I played in all this."
"It could be worse your grace. At least you're kind to me."
"I will never be cruel." Emma vowed. The horses rounded a bend in the trail and the blonde princess glanced back at their chaperone. Grumpy was anything but happy at the moment. He despised horses. And the way he was swaying dangerously to one side told Emma he'd been drinking from the flask he always carried rather heavily to stay quiet for this amount of time.
She glanced forward once again before making up her mind. "Would you like to go on an adventure?"
"Your Highness?" Regina's brow furrowed as she looked at her.
"There is a place nearby. It was a special place for my Mother as a child. She wasn't always so proper. In fact she and my Father met because of my Mother's need to not be proper."
"So you and your Mother are a lot alike then." Regina observed.
"I suppose so. We have a choice to make now Princess. We can stay the path and go back to the castle to what's proper or we could step off the proper way and go on an adventure. What would you like to do?" Emma's eyes widened just slightly as she begged the Princess to trust her, go with her.
Regina parted her lips to speak and then paused. Emma looked so eager to please her and really despite her coldness the blonde was still being kind to her. She glanced back over her shoulder at Grumpy and then to Emma. "How Princess?"
"Kick your horse. Grumpy can't ride that well. He won't try to catch us but he'll stay away until nightfall to give us time to get back. No one will know."
"You will your grace."
"And so will you Princess Regina." Emma offered her a smile.
Regina stared at her. "Okay."
"Yes?"
"Yes your Highness."
Emma grinned at her and Regina felt her heart begin to beat a bit faster underneath the boning of her corset. She had never had a reaction like that before to anyone.
"On three…One…Two… THREE!" They spurred their horses into action taking off through the trees with only a few paces between them. Regina didn't know where she was going so she held back. The trees thickened now that they were off the path and the snow deepened in banks but the horses remained steadfast.
Emma laughed, her voice carrying on the winds back towards her and unbidden a pretty smile fell across Regina's face. Unknowingly the blonde had given her exactly what she wanted most in the world; freedom.
They twisted and turned so many different times that Regina was certain without the blonde princess, she'd never find her way out again. In time they came to a high hill covered in snow and then ice.
"Why are we here? Wherever here is." Regina asked, looking to the blonde.
Emma swung off her horse and took the reins. She was knee deep in snow. Regina frowned. "You don't expect me to get down do you?"
"Will you please humor me?"
Regina frowned. "I don't like cold your grace," she repeated once more.
"It won't be that cold for long, I promise. Trust me?" Emma held out her hand with a patient smile. Regina looked away and then back at the blonde.
She sighed, "I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this." She took Emma's gloved hand in her own and swung carefully down. It was easier since she rode sidesaddle but she couldn't help but think that riding would be easier if she weren't wearing a dress. She didn't mind sidesaddle of course but jumping and racing her horse through the fields in Springfall was much easier with pants on. Judging by Emma's penchant for men's clothing, she didn't think the blonde would mind.
Her small booted feet slid on the icy ground and she gasped, grabbing onto the taller girl's shoulders for support. Strong arms immediately went around her waist.
"Careful." The blonde princess offered.
Regina licked her lips as she stared up at the other girl before taking a step back with a bright blush decorating her cheeks. She shouldn't have been so close to the other girl given their relationship that would soon become an engagement. Mother would have her head if she knew she'd behaved in such a clumsy manner even if it wasn't her fault per say.
"Uh…" Emma stuttered for a moment just as embarrassed as the younger girl. She took a breath before looking back at Regina. "Will you follow me?"
"Do I have a choice?" Regina sassed. "I don't know my way back to the castle from here let alone wherever we're going."
Emma frowned, "Well I…I mean…if you want to go back…"
"We've come this far; you may as well show me this place you wanted me to see your grace."
Emma's frown melted into a pretty smile as she took her soon to be fiancée's tiny waist in a form of a strange hug. "Thank you." She said into her hair. Regina breathed deeply for a moment, taking in the smell of leather, cinnamon and something else spicy yet all together the woman in front of her. All too soon the hug was done and Emma was pulling her towards the hill.
"Do you intend to go above it? It looks rather dangerous."
"No, we're going underneath." Emma shot her a mischievous look.
"Underneath? How? There is at least a foot of snow and ice above that." Regina stared at the other girl like she'd grown a second head.
"Trust me remember?"
"I'm finding that rather hard to do when you seem daft in the head your Highness." Regina muttered.
Emma surprised her by laughing, "I can't say as I blame you Princess but you must trust me if you wish to go further."
"Or get back to the castle."
"That too." The princess agreed as they moved through the snow.
The brunette clamped her jaws together, refusing to let her teeth chatter as they continued to move through the icy tundra. They were almost around the hill when Emma started to dig into the snow with her gloved hands.
"What are you doing your grace?" She asked, watching the older girl labor.
"The way in is buried underneath the snow. We need to uncover it to go further." She explained.
"How do we get in?"
"A door."
Regina arched a brow but didn't say a word as she knelt down to help Emma uncover the "door" which was really more like a stone covering that could be pushed aside.
"Come on."
"It's dark and cold. Are you certain this is for the best your Highness?"
Emma sighed. "Regina, do you trust me or not?"
"I'm…. I'm not sure…" The exotic looking younger girl said softly while she bit her lower ruby red lip. The snow was starting to fall heavier around them and she was getting colder.
"Inside there are torches, it's warmer in there too." Emma promised. "It won't be dark for long. Just a few steps really okay?"
Regina frowned. "You really want to do this?"
"Yes, I want to show you."
Regina took a breath and released it slowly. "All right. Let's go before I change my mind."
Emma grinned from ear to ear and nodded. Slowly she led her down the stone stairs and into the heart of the high hill. Just as she'd promised there were torches lit along the walls that seemingly never burned out.
"Are these fairy lights?"
"I think so. I'm not sure. They've never burned out though and they always stay lit. And I'll admit, I've never seen fairy lights like these." Emma offered. The torches were burning blue instead of red and orange. "My Mother said she thought it was some sort of magic down here but I'm not sure about that either."
"Magic." Regina frowned. "Yes, that's possible your grace."
Emma furrowed her brow but didn't say anything about Regina's strange reaction. "This way. Come on."
The blonde led them further down the stairs and onto a smooth stone walkway.
"Was this some of the old mines?"
"No," Emma continued to lead her down the sloping tunnel until they came to a large cathedral like room. Three tunnels branched off in the south, east, and west.
"Which one do we take your grace?" Regina asked. It was warmer down here than it was above the ground. She'd pushed her hood back on her crimson cloak and studied the blonde waiting for her decision. She pulled her gloves off as the blonde did the same before she shed her long silver cloak.
"You can leave these things here. They won't be harmed. We'll come back this way on our way back so we can get them then."
Regina frowned but slowly removed her cloak and gloves revealing her gold gown with it's deep piping and fluffed skirts. She took a breath and looked around as Emma stepped towards her.
"Ready?"
"Which way are we going your Highness?"
"To the west. It's the prettiest route to where we're going."
"And where are we going?"
"You'll see. I promise; you'll like it…at least I hope you will."
Regina opened her mouth and then closed it and nodded, "I'll try."
Emma smiled at her as she led her through the maze of stone corridors, steadily heading down. They passed over a high ledge with holes in the rocks until they came to the top of a precipice.
Regina gasped as they peered over the edge. A large waterfall fell from the ceiling on one side of the rock face, it twisted and turned along the rocks and fell into a large lake at the bottom where a beautiful white castle shot up from the earth. The strange blue flames were scattered throughout the rock face, giving it an eerily haunted look that clashed beautifully against the backdrop of the white and grey. The stones were smooth with age, she noted. This had been here a long time. The castle though looking as though it were abandoned did not appear at all worn down and as she peered closer she thought she saw the strange blue lights moving throughout some of the windows that overlooked the large lake here and there.
"What is that?"
"It's Raithwell's Palace; the ancient Winter King's domain. My Mother found it by accident when she was trying to escape the next ball her mother was trying to force her too. Do you know tales of the insane King of Winter?"
"I don't; I only know basics of what happened back then. There were four Kings. Winter, Spring, Fall, and Summer."
"Yes, Raithwell was the Winter King. The oldest of the four brothers that ran the four Kingdoms; he was also completely unhinged. Supposedly he damn near wiped out the fairies and the dwarfs in building this place."
"Why would he build something like this underground? Why not keep it above ground?" Regina asked, her eyes trailing over the white walls. "Can we go down to it?"
"Yes, but it's not easy to get down there." Emma offered. "There is something else. I've never seen it nor has anyone else but my Mother told me about it when I was a child after she brought me here."
"What?"
"Have you ever heard of a creature called a Gigas?"
Regina's brow furrowed, "No; I can't say that I have your grace."
"It was one of a kind and apparently Raithwell had it."
"What was it?"
"A ghastly creature that was part man part beast. Supposedly it had ram horns and four arms. It was a strange creature. No one has ever really seen it. It's been gone for hundreds of years so the accounts are all different but everyone seems to agree that the creature came from the heavens."
"From the heavens?"
"Yes, supposedly the Gods had created the Gigas to guard the gates of the heavens itself but the beast was so hideous they refused him his task and the Gigas rebelled against the Gods. When the rebellion was done, the Gigas was cast from the heavens. He found a new task in doing Raithwell's bidding."
"And the Gigas was willing to obey man over the Gods?"
"The Gods didn't give him his intended task. Raithwell did."
Regina frowned, "All of this sounds like a child's story."
"I thought so too until I went into that." Emma pointed towards the castle. "There were some strange things in there. That place hasn't been touched since Raithwell's time other than when my Mother came here as a girl and she wasn't willing to go into the castle. I don't have her sense of self preservation."
"Did you find the Gigas?" Regina asked.
Emma shook her head. "No, but I did find some interesting things…statues and the like. They were mostly destroyed but one of the pictures of Raithwell had large claw marks through it. And one of the statues looked like it had been grabbed and crushed to dust."
"So you think the Gigas did it?" Regina asked with a small smile.
Emma laughed, "You don't believe me?"
"I think you're trying to scare me your grace. Hoping I'll fall into your arms and beg your protection."
"I hate to inform you of this Regina but women of Wintersend don't stand behind their partners. They fight with them, side by side."
Regina frowned, "Is that what you would wish me to do?"
"Strength is valued here; women don't play traditional roles neither do men."
"So women fight on the battlefield your grace?"
"Yes," Emma answered seriously. "My Mother never hid behind my father or the high walls of the palace. She was out in the thick of things right by his side."
"I cannot fight your grace. I was not taught."
"I'll teach you myself." Emma promised. "I'll teach you everything."
Regina stared at her for a moment before she turned back to the castle. "Why do you think this was built down here really? Not just that the Winter King was mad."
"I don't know."
"Do you think he was buried here?"
"It's possible but I've never discovered his sarcophagus if it's here."
Regina smiled softly. "Perhaps we'll have to look for it."
"And why is that Princess?"
"If I were Raithwell even in madness, I would want the Gigas guarding my body even if it was rotting in the earth."
Emma frowned, "No one knows where Raithwell rests. It could be here or it could be elsewhere. It's been lost to time and memory for many years now."
Regina shrugged, "It's what I would do."
"But you're not mad."
"No, I'm not your grace."
"Did you want to go down there?"
"Not today your grace. Perhaps after we are married we can come back and you can show me all the secrets to this place. For now, I think it's best if we let the ghosts here lie in peace."
"I don't think anyone died here Regina."
"You don't know that your Highness and neither do I. There's something here…something old…I feel it in my bones."
"You sound like an old crone Regina. You're younger than I am."
"That may be but I've always been rather…sensitive to the energies of places and this place has a strong presence and I don't rightly like it."
"Now who's trying to scare who Princess?"
Regina shook her head and looked back at the smiling blonde Princess. "Perhaps you're right. Still…we should go. It's getting late and I'm sure no matter what you say about Grumpy…right? He's been through enough because of us and we should allow him to rest and get his belly full of ale."
Emma laughed, "He'd like you for that."
"He deserves it if he didn't get us in trouble."
"And if he didn't?"
"Well then he deserves no ale nor any rest."
Emma snickered, "You are a cold one Princess Regina. Come, I'll show you the way back."
"I trust you to make certain I don't slip."
"You won't. I'm here and I'm rather sure footed."
"Thank the Gods that one of us is."
"Indeed."
Regina glanced back at the strange white palace before Emma drew her around the corner and down another passageway. The sound of the rushing water slowly faded from her ears as the heavy feeling slowly left her.