My dearest Regina,
Today has found me rather unpleasant. I am unable to sleep much or eat due to our upcoming nupitals. I grow more impatient by the day as time seems content to make it's slow march onward. Each night the Sun God's chariot pulls the sun from the sky is a blessing for it means I am one day closer to having you at my side once again. Sometimes I find myself watching the moon and wondering are you looking at Selena and thinking of me?
Grumpy says I'm acting like a lovesick fool. He says I should get my head together and that you will be back soon and our wedding will continue as planned. Mother took me with her to the mines yesterday. She said I needed to select diamonds for the bracelets that are going to be locked around our wrists when we are married. I also intend to give you something special as well, as a sign of my fidelity to you. No other woman shall grace my bed but you. You, who is to be my wife and the mother of my children, shall not share my affections with anyone but our children. For of course I must have deep affections for them.
I eagerly await the day when you are returned to my side where you belong. Despite my godfather's insistence that the day will come, I cannot find it in me to not eagerly count down the moments until your arrival.
"Regina," Her Father's soft voice called, making her look up from the letter.
"Father, is something wrong?" Regina immediately set down the scroll she'd been reading and turned her full attention to her Father despite the fact that the unabridged letter from her fiancée was calling to her like a siren to a sea captain. It was rare for him to come to the tower where her Mother insisted she stay. After her latest attempt to gallivant across the countryside, Mother's words not hers, she'd been regulated to the tower where only a servant brought her meals and one handmaiden attended her.
She stood from her window seat, a small thing really, but then she was such a tiny girl that it was no problem for her to take a few pillows and blankets from her bed and set them into a proper fashion to make herself comfortable against the dull gray stone, and moved across the room to her still panting Father. It was cooler in the towers, the short sleeves and lower square cut necklines favored with lace to cover their modesty now uncomfortable to wear in the stone room that didn't even have a fireplace. She'd been regulated to thick blankets and the velvet gowns she'd worn when they'd visited Wintersend. Nights were the worst; it was always so cold and she had to curl into a tight ball underneath several blankets to try and stay warm. She was shocked that she wasn't showing some signs of illness for her body wasn't truly suited for icy temperatures.
She pulled her deep gold colored shawl tighter as a small shiver shot up her spine. She was surprised when her Father had brought the letter from Emma to her without showing signs of the seal being broken. Her Mother screened all correspondence she sent to the Princess of Wintersend and made sure the contents were appropriate for her to write.
Given Emma's sometimes bawdry comments, her Mother often chose to burn the letters and stand over her, telling her what to write based on the contents contained within the letter. This was the first letter she'd been able to read in it's entirety since coming back to Springfall and only because her Mother was distracted dealing with courtly matters when it had come.
"No, child nothing is wrong. I just wanted to know how you were doing up here." He frowned as he stood back to his full height. He hated that his wife did these things to his daughter. He hated that he wasn't strong enough to stop Cora from treating their daughter as she did.
"I'm as well as can be expected. Has Mother decided when my wedding is to take place?" Her small cold hands slid up and down her forearms, trying to keep herself warm. Despite the tepid temperatures of their lands, the stone didn't hold the heat in, instead it kept it cool and rather damp.
"She has been talking to your fiancee's mother in the hopes of reaching a decision that is favorable." He said softly, choosing his words carefully.
Regina frowned, "She is putting it off again?"
Ever since Cora had heard that she wouldn't have access to the diamond mines she sought, there seemed to be trouble brewing about the subject of her impending nupitals.
"Your Mother only wants what's best for the Kingdom…" He began and she shook her head.
"No, Daddy, she only wants what's best for her."
"Regina," He started and she held up a hand.
"I know why she wanted me married off to Summerslanding and now to Wintersend. I've known for a long time that I'm nothing but a breeding mare to my future spouse and a bargaining chip for Mother to ensure her magicks are kept properly." She took a breath through her nose and released it slowly. "Though it hurts that I am nothing more than a pawn to my Mother, I have long since resigned myself to being just that. She may think me a simple, simpering fool but I am her daughter whether she wants to admit that or not and I see more than I am often given credit for."
"I'm so sorry, my child." Tears filled his eyes as he lifted his hands to embrace her.
"Being Queen to some foreign monarch is the best I could hope for. At least my future spouse seems to respect me. I cannot ask for more than that." Regina looked down as her Father drew her smaller body into his arms. She was still so tiny and most likely always would be.
She had been very needy and sickly as a babe and then as a toddler. Her Mother had often handed her off to wet nurses and governesses finding her weakling daughter didn't suit her needs. It wasn't until she was eleven that she was presented to her Mother for her monthly inspection did the woman take interest in her.
Her small frame was just beginning to show signs of fertility with her budding breasts and slowly forming curves. Despite her size, she was nearly a half head shorter than the servants children she'd sometimes see, her body was slowly catching up. She looked much like a newborn foal, with her inward turned knees and sharp elbows. The baby fat in her cheeks was slowly fading away as well.
Her Mother had watched her with her usual sharp eyes when she'd accidentally bent into a curtsy too deeply and almost fell over in an attempt to right herself. The movement had exposed her newly developing breasts but she'd failed to notice as she was trying to catch herself.
"Still fat." Her Mother mused, and Regina hid behind her hair as tears formed at the corner of her eyes. It always hurt to hear such words from the Mother she'd desperately sought approval of as a child.
"Her body is developing though which I'm honestly surprised at given her sickliness as a small child." Her Mother continued. She blinked at the words; it had been rare up until that point that her Mother spoke to her at all. Instead, she would talk as though Regina weren't even in the room.
"Let me know when she bleeds."
"Bleeds?" Regina remembered her eleven year old self-squeaking.
"Yes, my child. It's when you'll actually be worth something to me."
She blinked, shaking her head to rid herself of the cruel memory and bring her back to the present as her Father's words broke through the haziness of her memories. She wondered if he'd been talking for a while and thought her rude for not replying. A proper lady never allowed herself to be driven to distraction after all. She was attentive and soft spoken. She straightened her spine and paid close attention to her Father's next words.
"You can ask for many things Regina. You deserve many things. You deserve a much better Father than me." He hung his head as his daughter's arms finally came up and embraced him.
"Oh Daddy, I couldn't ask for a better Daddy." She promised, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "You're the kindest, sweetest, most loving Daddy in the world. It's not your fault that Mother possesses such strong magicks." She shook her head, her dark loose curls flying around her before settling on her shoulders. She dipped her head, resting it on her Father's soft shoulder.
"Emma may not be who Mother thought I should marry but I think I can at least content myself with her. I'm not allowed the same comforts as others." She was trying to comfort her Father while he was trying to do the same. What a sad state of affairs their lives were if they were to draw comfort from one another on a subject of her leaving the palace as a bride for another Kingdom.
"Regina, you shouldn't have to do this. If I had my way, you'd be allowed to marry for love."
"You did what you thought was best Daddy. Emma respects me and won't abuse me like Prince Charles would."
"By all accounts Prince Charles is a fair boy." Her Father said carefully but his face looked as though he'd sucked a lemon.
"It's why you chose to give me to Wintersend and not Summerslanding." Regina pulled back with a small smile. "You chose the lesser of two evils and for that I'm grateful."
"You're right but it doesn't make it any easier to know I'm about to lose you."
"Why would you lose me? Emma will surely want to us to build our palace in between so that both lands may be easier to access."
"You will spend a lot of time in Wintersend my dear. The rumors are that once you and Emma are married, Queen Snow will abdicate the throne. You'd be Queen Consort of Wintersend."
"And that's what Mother's been after all along," The young girl gasped as she thought on it. She looked up at her Father. "The Imp? Does he still appear?" It had been a while since she'd seen the gold scaly looking creature that her Mother sometimes consorted with. He would often eye her when she was close by but he'd never made a move to speak to her. But the interest he'd displayed in her from his strange looking bug eyes was keenly felt in the shudders that sometimes wracked her frame when they passed each other in the hallways of the Spring Palace.
"I haven't seen him in a long time child." Her Father offered. "He stays mostly to Darkskeep and we both know how impossible that is to find."
"Only those desperate to find him will find Darkskeep." Regina recited easily remembering her Mother's words all those years ago when she'd first encountered the strange little being.
Regina licked her lips, looking back at the scroll left on the window seat. "I will write to my fiancée but will it be too much to ask that Mother not see my letter?"
"Of course not. I'll make certain it gets to her without any interference on your Mother's part."
Regina nodded and offered her Father a small but warm smile. "Thank you Daddy. I'll have it ready when you return."
"I cannot promise you much Regina but I promise you this…everything I've done for your engagement to White Family has been for your own good. I wouldn't do this to you if I didn't see any other way to get you to safety."
"I know Daddy, don't fret anymore. I'll be all right." She reached up, pushing a loose lock of hair behind her ear.
He smiled back at her and dipped into a small bow. "I will come back for the letter soon."
She moved to curtsy as was their tendency. They always acted a little more formal when they said goodbye to one another. It was familiar and comforting.
"I will have it ready for you my King."
"Daughter."
"Father."
She watched as he left before turning back to her small desk tucked into a corner. An empty scroll all ready set at the ready just in case her Mother decided to appear. She reached up twirling a lock of thick hair around her finger before grabbing Emma's letter.
"Must you always be so informal?" She mused aloud as she sat down and picked up the white feather quill. Dipping it into the ink pot she took a breath before she began to write in her elegant script.
My darling Emma,