If Elijah Mills were to close his eyes and think of his happy place, this would be it. With fresh air surrounding him and dewy thick grass under his feet as he stood out on his family's sprawling estate, watching his sister of 23 three years old riding bareback through a merciless hurdle course, that he fell victim to after he struggled to match the pace his elder sister was setting before his very eyes.
Stood with his father the twenty-one year old young man watched as his sister easily jumped over the various wooden hurdles on her horse with a grin on her face he couldn't help but mirror as and their father cheered her on.
As she came to the last hurdle the Duke's son left his father side to meet her sister's horse as she slowed down her prized steed to meet her brothers approaching form allowing him to take her horses reins.
"That's beautiful, sweetheart" Henry complimented his daughter's skill.
"Beautiful?" Elijah questions his father's words as helped his sister from the horse wrapping a strong arm around her waist to ease her to the ground "It was MAGNIFICENT!" Elijah exclaimed loudly using his new found strength to playfully spin her around making her scream out in surprise as she pushed on his shoulders to get him to let her go.
"Elijah put me down!" she demanded out of her little brother in between her girlish screams and giggles as their father watched chuckling at his adult children's antics. It wasn't hard to see how much they adored the other, the fact they got on so well made him adore his children even more than he thought possible.
"As you wish sister" he granted his sister's request dropping her on her feet to the ground, steadying herself on her feet Regina find their father, reaching out with her arm to give the older man a daughterly peck on his cheek in thanks.
"Thank you, Daddy" she tells him as she embraces him in a half-hug as she heard her little brother not so subtly clear his throat reminding her he was still there cheering her on "Thank you Elijah" she adds to keep him happy.
"Beautiful?" the pair of siblings heard their mother scoff at them look up see a less than pleased mother and wife approach them with Daniel the Stable Boy behind her carrying a saddle in his arms "I'd hardly call that beautiful".
"You didn't like it, mother?" Regina questions their mother as she strokes her horse.
"You ride like your brother" she tells her daughter straight making her son clench his jaw at his mother slight against him in her words as he felt his father's hand gently rest on his shoulder knowing her words would hurt him just as much as it would hurt their daughter's "A lady should be graceful. You should use a saddle".
"I was just having fun" her daughter argues calmly. Trying to ease her brother's mind.
"Well, you're getting a little old for fun" Cora tells her "Who's going to want to marry you when you behave like a commoner?" she goes on before looking to her youngest child "And Elijah, should be thinking about the future of our family. A man your age should at the very least be married to a lady of high standing and starting a family of his own".
"Honey, please leave them alone" Henry tries to intervene.
"Stop coddling them" Cora scolds her husband "She's becoming an old maid. All the other girls her age are married. And Elijah knows better than to spend his days with his head in a book. I had such high hopes".
"Milady, perhaps this saddle-" the stable boy interrupts the harsh conversation only to be stopped.
"I'm done riding for the day" Regina quickly tells him, taking her horse to the stable boy "And don't ever interrupt me and our mother again" she scolds the servant handing her horse over to Daniel to lead away from the family.
"Why do you always have to criticize us?" Regina asks their mother once out of earshot of the stable boy.
"I'm not criticizing you – I'm helping you both" Cora tell them.
Frustrated with her mother's answer, her daughter shakes her head in disappointment and goes to walk past her back towards the stables to get away from their mother and her continued criticism.
"Don't you walk away from me" Cora tells her using her magic to lift her daughter from ground and bring her back to her.
"Mother let her go!" Elijah calls out as his mother only to go unheard as he rushes forward to plead for his sister's release.
"Mother! You know I don't like it when you use magic" Regina called out to the older woman.
"And I don't like insolence" Cora retorts "I'll stop using magic, when you start being an obedient daughter like your brother".
"Why can't I just be myself?" her daughter scoffed at her.
"Oh, because you can be so much more. If you'd just let me help you…".
"We don't care about status" Regina tell their mother "I just want to be-".
At her daughter's continued insolence she uses her magic to wrap her daughter's reigns around her son's neck, taking him by surprise as he feels it constrict his breathing as he falls onto the grass on his knees as he tries to pull the tight leather cord away from his neck to breath.
She always did this, she should've have seen it a mile away as she watched in horror as he gasped in desperation on front of her. Whenever one of them showed any sign of disobedience, she knew their love for the other would always bring them back round by hurting the other. Love was their weakness.
"Cora, please" Henry hastily pleads to his wife again as he see's his sons' face redding as he chokes, using his teary eye's to beg to his mother to let him go only go ignored as the darkness edged its way in his line of vision.
"Let him go!" Regina exclaimed from the air as her brother continued to choke on the ground "Please, I'll be good".
Happy with her daughter's answer the sorceress lets the reigns fall from her son's neck making him take in a painful gasp for air as his older sister was brought back to the ground.
"Excellent. That's all I wanted to hear" she tells her eldest before the latter turns and runs towards to find solace in the stables while her baby brother was helped back onto his feet by his father as he gained control of his breathing as he looked upon his heartless mother.
"Come Elijah" she prompts him taking not of the mud that caked his riding pants and boots "Come inside and clean yourself up. Mr. Hallward is back. He's waiting to meet you inside" with a hint of a smile on her lips the older woman turned and left knowing he wouldn't dare disobey her.
"Yes Mother" he croaks out as he shook in his father's arms. Not even his father's comforting hands could do anything to ease the feeling of that fear settled into his stomach as he followed his mother dutifully towards the house.
He hated being poke and prodded on the best of days, but this sitting was quickly making Elijah lose his patience as he was combed, shaved and scrubbed down after all evidence his time in the fields with his sister and father was erased from him as he stood in an off-white suit and tie stood in front of the fireplace with his elbow propped on the edge of the mantle piece.
This wasn't the first time nor would it be the last time he would be prettied up for the man stood behind the easel. He had stood for the painter a few times once as an ancient soldier or various romantic figure from mythology. Each one his mother quickly destroyed in distaste for portraying her son in that light. He wasn't a solider nor a figure from mythology, he was a nobleman looking to marry.
Cora needed a masterpiece that needed to showcase her sons masculinity and youth but at the same time told any Lord that they could trust their daughter's future happiness to marrying a man who's mother started out as a mere Miller's daughter. He was a handsome man, took after his father in his youth, but he also took after his soft nature, which frustrated the woman to no end.
At the moment all he wanted to do was go outside as his gaze took him looking out of the widow to pass the time as the painter looked between him and the canvas, adding the smallest of detail of the masterpiece he was creating right in front of his eyes, imagining himself on the back of his horse letting the wind hit his face as he pushed further and further away from the place he had called home for the last twenty-one years. But as the nightmares reminded him at night. he was dragged back each time by an unseen tether, that seemed to be tied around his neck.
He barely knew the man that had been coming and going from the estate over the last few months to paint his likeness for those of richer blood than even he was to choose if the man was worthy enough to marry their daughter. He was being sold to the highest bidder in the name of their bloodline. All he knew was that his mother was a patron of his.
"What was your name again?" Elijah asked the painter breaking the silence between the only two people in the room.
"Basil Hallward sir" the painter answered still focused on his task.
"Have you been doing this long Mr. Hallward?" Elijah continued the line of questioning.
"You mean painting sir?" Basil questioned him making carful strokes of his paint covered brush against the canvas.
"Yes I do. And my name is not sir, it's Elijah" his subject tells him.
"Your mother is my patron sir, and so I must address you as such".
"Yes that is true but without me, you have no subject in which to paint" the young man pointed out to him "If I were to leave you would be without anything to paint and my mother's anger. So if I must suffer through this, I insist you call me Elijah".
The painter couldn't help the corner of his lips twitch at the man's insistence as he answered the younger man's question "I've been painting for most of my life".
"And it's something you've always wanted to do?" Elijah inquired with the man.
"It is" he answered "It's been my passion for as long as I can remember".
"What's that like?" the younger man asked him "Having a passion for something?".
"I suppose it's about having a strong feeling for something. Something you can talk about for hours. Why do you ask? Don't you have one?".
"According to my mother, the only use I have in my life is fathering children with a lady of higher standing".
"Maybe true, but I think you're passion lies for your family. I've seen the way you're like with your sister, and from what I saw the other day. I'd say you die for her and she for you".
"Am I that easy to read Mr. Hallward?".
"If I must call you by your name then I insist you call me, Basil. Because without me your mother will be most unhappy if I told her that you left" he challenged the younger man.
This time it was Elijah that couldn't help but feel the corners of his lips quirk up in a smile knowing what the man had just done. He liked this man. Admired his gumption.
"Okay Basil. How much longer do you need me for or shall I have a place made up for you for tea?".
"There's no need" the painter tells him happy with the progress he had made with the portrait that day "I have what I need for the day. Go enjoy the day Elijah. See you tomorrow".
"Thank you. See you tomorrow Basil".
With the painter's permission to leave, the young man left him to clear up his equipment to take back to his studio and work on unaware that the masterpiece he was creating would be used in the future to hold a curse that would take the young man down a darker path. His Masterpiece would be new friend's downfall.
Marcellus was his prized steed. A dark brown haired horse with a dark mane and tail. He may not be as agile as his sister's steed, Rosinante, but he was a strong sturdy horse that able to keep up with his rider's sense of adventure as he freely galloped in the spiralling fields keeping his rider entertained for hours as he freely galloped in open field surrounding the family estate.
With the wind on his face and the ground being churned up the dirt underneath Marcellus's hooves, the horse seemed to know that his rider needed his mind cleared as he pushed himself harder with each pump of his strong legs.
Pulling at his reign's Elijah made Marcellus come to slow stop to catch both their breaths and his heart pumped the high of adrenaline he needed to clear his thoughts of his mother's wishes for him and his sister from his mind.
As his chest pumped, he couldn't help but noticed where he had ended up, in the distance on top of a hill underneath a large tree he saw his sister and her love Daniel, the stable boy. He knew about them of course. She confided in him of her love for the stable hand and the love Daniel held for his sister a long time ago. He couldn't help but be happy at the union, he knew it made their lives under their mother's thumb all the more bearable.
He wanted that one day, to be loved by someone like that, but that would never be in his future as long as his mother continued to find a match that would elevate their station even further. A King consort is what Cora would have to settle with if she found the right Princess.
"Somebody, help me!" he heard a young girl call out he saw a a young girl holding on for dear life on a runaway horse.
Without thinking Elijah kicked Marcellus into a hard sprint with a "Yah!" as he flew forward to catch up with the out of control horse. Hearing a horse behind him, he glanced back to see his sister behind him on Rosinante chasing down the runaway with him.
"Come on, please, stop! Help me! Help! Help me! Please help me!" the girl continued to beg as the sibling worked in unison to flank the runaway horse from both side's, keeping the runaway horse on a straight course ahead, before closing in on the horse near enough to help the girl.
"Grab her!" Elijah instructed his sister who acknowledged him with a nod.
"Give me your hand!" Regina called out to the girl who followed her instruction, as she reached over to pull the girl onto her own horse as the runaway horse continues on it's way.
Jumping off Marcellus as he's pulled into a hard stop, Elijah quickly saw that the girl slip off the horse heading for the ground onto to catch her in time, gathering her up his strong arms they both tumbled to the ground, the girl landing on the man that helped save her cushioning her fall as he took the brunt of the hard ground.
Coming to a stop herself Regina quickly dismounts Rosinante to help the girl off the ground, off her brother, back onto her feet.
"It's okay, dear. You're safe" Regina tries to reassure the girl as she pull the girl onto her feet as Elijah quickly follows to see if the girl was hurt despite his best efforts to help her.
"You saved my life" the shaken girl says to the pair in front of her.
"Are you alright?" Elijah asks the girl in haste, ignoring her earlier statement.
"Yes" she tells them "But I'll never ride again" she vows to the pair.
"Nonsense" Regina brushes the girls fear off with smile on a lips "The only way to overcome fear is to face it. To get back on that horse as soon as possible. Take my brother, every time he's fallen off Marcellus, he's always gotten back up, and now he's one of the best riders I know".
"Thank you" the girl breathes out.
"Regina" she introduces herself to the girl "This is my brother. Elijah".
"Hello" he greets her with a gentle smile.
"I'm Snow. Snow White" she tells the pair before throwing herself between the brother and sister into a thankful warm hug that the pair mirrored and they wrapped their arms around the girl they had saved.
Dressed in the suit his mother had picked out for him for his portrait, Elijah stood in front of his full length mirror putting together the final touches ready for the painter to create his portrait. He'd been looking forward to the sitting this time as he wanted to probe the man's mind further from their conversation the previous day.
"You do look handsome in a suit" he heard his mother compliment making him snap his eye's up to see his mother in the reflection behind him with a what he would call a loving smile on her lips "I wish you'd wear them more" she adds.
"They're not very suitable for riding Mother" he dryly retorts fixing the cuff of the suit only for his mother to walk over and take over for him "Besides I don't think Mr. Hallward would be very happy with me if I stood for him covered in dirt" he says making her chuckle.
"Although I'm glad you're finally accepting my endeavours to further your station in the world. I'm afraid this suit do for this occasion" she says waving her hand in the air as red smoke engulfs her son to change him out of the suit for this portrait into a gentlemen's suit that fitted tight against his strong, lean form.
"What about the portrait?" he questions her.
"I sent word to Mr. Hallward to cancel your sitting for today" she tells him taking his hand in hers to guide him away from the mirror "We have a special guest coming to see you and your sister".
"What's more important than your portrait?" he asks her. Its the only thing she's gone one about for the past few months.
"This is, my son. You and your sister have finally done something right. The girl that you both saves is the King's daughter".
"The King?" he echoed her words in surprise.
"Yes. And you must go and welcome him with your Father".
Following his mother's instructions Elijah arrived to their front door to find his Father greeting King Leopold with a uniformed page bag behind him carrying a pillow in his hands carrying a ring sat in a small box with a knight not too far behind him as two pairs of eye's fall onto him. His Father's and the Kings.
"Is that him?" the King asks his father.
"Yes, Your Majesty" Henry tells the King becoming his son forward to join him by his side that his follows "This is my son Elijah".
"Your Majesty" Elijah greets the monarch bowing at his waist bowing his head forward respectfully only to get stopped.
"Please that it not necessary Elijah, it is I who should be bowing to you. You saved my daughter's life. There is no way to repay that debt. It's is an honour to meet a man like you, I've heard a lot about you. It is an honour to meet you" the King tells him bowing at the young man before standing back up straight.
"Your presence here in my family's home is repayment enough, Your Majesty" Elijah tells the King as the words easily roll off his tongue in reply.
"Hmm" King Leopold hums to himself seeing the humble man before him "Tell me, are you currently engaged to be married to anyone as of yet?".
"Not as yet, Your Majesty" Henry answered for his son.
"We will soon change that young man" King Leopold tells him "Any young woman would be lucky to be married to man of your character".
"Thank you. Your Majesty" Elijah tells him.
"Please follow us to my daughter".
Leading King Leopold through their home, they find Regina and Cora in the main room with his sister dressed not in her rising gear like he knew she would be for her lesson's with Daniel but in a beautiful dress blue dress and her long black hair sat on her shoulders. The way her brother was dressed had caught her attention as well as he stood in a formal gentleman's suit as his brown hair had been slicked back in such a way not even one hair stood out of place.
Coming to a stop Elijah could see the surprise in his sister's look as she tried to silently ask him if he knew anything about the visit. Gently shaking head 'NO'. He knew as much as she did in that moment.
"Is that her?" King Leopold as the Father and Son as Regina stood with her mouth agape at the King's presence as their mother curtsied to the monarch.
"Yes" Henry confirmed to the King "Regina, honey, this is Snow White's father" her father introduces them as she curtsies at their mother's silent request only for the King to stop her like he did with Elijah.
"No. It is I who should bow to you and Elijah" he corrects her making the mother and daughter stand back up straight to face the monarch. "You both saved my daughter's life. There is no way to repay that debt. It is an honour to meet you". at that the King bow's at the young woman that saved his daughter's life on the runaway horse much to her disbelief.
"Regina, dear, the King's honoured to meet you" Cora reminds her eldest child "Say something".
"Oh! The honour is mine".
"You and your brother are quite lucky to have a mother who looks out for you" Leopold starts "My dear Snow has many things, but a mother is not one of them. We lost her years ago".
"I'm so sorry" Regine replied.
"Since then, I have scoured the land looking for a wife. I've yet to find a woman with an interest in my daughter… Until now" he says turning around to take a ring from the page boy behind him. Going down on one knee the King hold up the ring to Regina to propose.
""Will you marry me, Regina?" King Leopold proposes to his older sister. Both Henry and Elijah shake their head urging for their daughter and sister to say no to the King for very different reasons. Only for Cora to ignore her husband silent pleas to stop the farce in front of them and answer the King's question
"Yes" Cora answered for her daughter taking her hand into hers "Yes".
He couldn't sleep that night. Lying in his bed staring up at the ceiling of his bed, he couldn't help but think of the King's proposal of marriage to his sister, but he couldn't help but feel that there was more to the King's proposal. The marriage was her reward, he had a bad feeling at what his would be. Perhaps a title? Land? A place in his court?.
The rewards open to him were limitless. Perhaps he would get an advantageous marriage to a lady of high station. He didn't want to be stuck with some insufferable Princess or Lady that would bore him to tears. He wanted what his sister had. He saw the sparkle in her eye's each time she spoke to him about Daniel.
His thoughts were interrupted when gentle knock were heard from his door. Furrowing his brows in confusion, he knew it couldn't be Regina, it wasn't her knock. Standing from his bed in a long white tunic and
"Princess" he gasps in surprise quickly check the hallway for anyone that might see her. Grabbing her shoulder he quickly bring her into his room, closing the door behind him before kneeling down to face the Princess that was not in bed "What are you doing here? You should be in bed".
"I know, but I wish to go to the stables and ride" she tells him.
"Snow.." he huffs in annoyance, knowing it was a bad idea to sneak out of the house. He had done it a few times to know what would happen if he were caught. And with the Princess.
"Please Elijah" she pleaded with him "Regina says that I need to get back on the horse, and that you've done it so many times that you're now one of the best riders she knows. I wish to be one as well. You can save me if something happens again".
She thought the world of his sister.
"Fine" he relents much to her glee, holding a stern finger in front of her to keep her from anyone hearing her "We'll take Marcellus, but you must do everything I say".
"Of course" she agrees throwing her arms around his neck, taking the man by surprise and he catches her smaller frame in his hold as she hugs him, hugging his head and neck as tight as he could "Thank you Elijah. You are my best friend".
"You're welcome Princess".
Carrying the girl's saddle in his arms, Elijah and Snow slowly walked down the track towards the stables where Marcellus would be waiting for them for the late ride. It wouldn't be the first time he had done this, there had been many times where he would be restless during the night only to walk down the same path as they were now to find a way to make himself tired enough to sleep. But as he was endlessly questioned by the young Princess, but he didn't' seem to mind to answer them as best he could.
"Are you really one of the best riders?" she asks him, remembering what his sister had told her when she fell off her horse.
"I'm okay" he hummed to the girl "Although my sister is better" he says as the Princess hear the adoration for his older sibling in his voice.
"Will you miss her once she marries my father?".
"I suppose I will. She's my best friend" he tells her "Well at least one of them" he adds giving the young girl a playful wink of his eye making her smile up at him.
"Does that mean you'll visit?" she asks him.
"Of course" he replies "I'll visit as often as I'm able to" he answered her. He wasn't sure how often that would be if he were being honest. As soon as his sister had a ring on her finger their mother attention would be focused on him to find a wife.
He hadn't been blessed with his mother's gift of magic, nor would he want to ever dabble in the craft in the future if the opportunity presented itself to him, seeing how she used it against her children.
"You'll come to see me too, right?" the Princess suddenly ask him as they neared the stables.
"Of course" he tells her giving her a flash of a smile down to the girl "If that is what you wish Princess".
"It is" she confirms as they turned to enter the stable only to come to freezing stop when the young Princess saw her future step-mother in a passionate embrace with a man she didn't know. With mouth agape, Elijah felt his breath leave his body having exposed his sister's secret to the young princess and his mistake for not being more careful
He must've dropped the saddle in his hand from the shock of situation as it thudded onto the ground, separating the lovers from their kiss to make them look at the entrance to see Snow and Elijah stood there
"Snow!" Regina gasped seeing the young girl there with her brother "Dear, what are you doing?".
"You said to get back on the horse and..." Snow tells her only to look at the man she was kissing "What are you doing with him?" she questions her future step-mother.
"Snow, I can explain" Elijah tries to speak for his sister. It was his mistake, he needed to fix this. Reaching out to touch her shoulder the young girl evades his hand to run back the way they had just walked.
"Snow!" he calls after the girl to run after her leaving his sister and Daniel to watched him run after the girl. Blinking out the shock of the girl catching them and what would happen if Elijah wasn't able to talk some sense into her before she told anyone.
"No, no, no. Snow! Snow!" she called after the girl running out of the stables to stop the girl from telling a soul about what she had just seen.
All he could see in his dark surroundings was the the cape on the Princesses coat billowing behind her as she ran as fast as she could from the the Mill's siblings
"Snow please, let me explain!" It's not what you think!" he tried to call out to the girl only for it to go unheard as his sister called for the girl behind him as she chased after her brother to find the upset Princess.
"Snow! Snow! Wait!" he head from behind him as not even his long strides struggled to keep up with the girls quick feet that made her fly up the path they had just walked down, only for her quick feet to get caught up in her sleeping gown as she tripped and fell flat onto the ground allowing Elijah and Regina to catch up to her.
"Snow!" they called out in unison in concern as rounded the crying girl on the ground to crouch down with her as the Princess grabbed his hand and arm to pull herself up from the ground like he was her only source of comfort.
"Snow! Are you okay?" the youngest Mill's sibling gently asked the crying girl as he help her up from the ground.
"No. No" she cries out to him before looking up to his sister "Why were you kissing that man in the stable? You're to marry my father. You're to be my mother" she cries throwing herself into Elijah's comforting arms as she cried into his shoulder.
Looking to his sister he silently told her she needed to be the one to explain to the girl what she had just seen, not him. T
"Oh, Snow, please. Listen to me" Taking her brother direction the elder sibling coaxes her away from him to take her smaller hands into hers to explain what she had just seen, making her looking into her eyes
"Hey" she breathes out to the girl gently nudging her chin up so that her eye's met hers "Your father, King Leopold, he's a kind and fair man… But I don't love him" she tells her.
"I don't understand" she tells Regina "Why not?".
"Love doesn't work that way" she answers her question gripping Snow's hands between hers "Love, true love, is magic. And not just any magic – the most powerful magic of all. It creates happiness".
"And that man in the stables… You love him?".
"With all my heart" Regina tells her making Elijah smile to himself seeing how happy his sister truly was with the man she loved.
"And you knew?" Snow asks Elijah making her sister look over to him with the question.
"Of course Snow. My sister is my best friend. Of course I know. There is no other man I trust my sister's heart with than him".
Hearing this from her new friend the girl smile warmly up at him before looking back at his sister "Then you must marry him. I will go tell Father right away" she says standing to leave with the intention of finding her father only for the Mill's siblings to quickly follow to stop her.
"No, no, no, no. You can't" Regina pleads to the girl.
"Why not? Surely he'll understand" she reasoned with Regina.
"Perhaps. But not everyone will. Our mother, for one. She'll stand in the way".
"That's why you're running" Snow easily deduced, looking between the pair. The youngest sibling tried his best to keep the hurt from his face that his sister did see hearing that she was going to run away with Daniel. Leaving him behind to face their mother's rath. This wasn't how she was going to tell him, he was part of their plans, she wasn't going to leave him with her.
"It's the only way our love can survive" she tells the Princess "Snow, do you know what a secret is?" Snow nods "If you really, truly want to help me…"
"I do" Snow eagerly tells her.
"Then, what you saw, what I told you – you must keep it a secret. Can you do that?"
"I think so".
"I need you to be certain. You can never speak of this. And, above all, you mustn't tell my mother. Will you do that for me?".
"Yes, I promise" pledges to Regina before throwing herself into her arms in tight embrace leaving Regina to look at her younger brother to see the relief wash through his mind that she and Daniels relationship would be kept a secret.
Apparently the Kings proposal to his sister wasn't enough for their mother. No, she anted to ensure their future as well as their present, by proposing a betrothal of marriage between himself and Snow White when she is old enough to wed. To Elijah's utter disbelief, King Leopold agreed.
Having heard the way his daughter spoke about the young man was enough for the monarch to ensure his daughter's future happiness in the man once she was old enough. And now not only did Cora get what she wanted for her daughter, now her son would be a future consort to a future Queen.
"Mother she's a child!" Elijah's angry voice echoed through that halls of their home as he confronted her about the agreement "You cannot expect me to marry a child".
"Betrothal's like this are made all the time Elijah. It's nothing new and in a short few years she won't be a child anymore" she tells him.
"And what am I to do for the next few years? Wait idle by until the King finally agrees to marry his only daughter off to a son of a Miller's Daughter!".
The resounding slap echoed through the room as his cheek stung from where his mother had struck it only moment ago, silencing his protests about his betrothal to his mother for good as he paused letting the daze that washed through him each time his mother struck him like that, only for the older woman to harshly grasp his lightly stubbled chin and jaw in her hand holding him still.
"Your job is to stand by your sister as she becomes Queen. Support her as a loyal subject and brother should until the day your future wife becomes Queen and you her King. You should be more grateful, you have something most betrothed couples do not have in your position. Time. Time to make her fall in love with you. Father her heirs and secure our family's future as rulers of this land".
"And if I cannot love her?" he rebutted. He wanted to fall in love, he wanted what his sister had with Daniel. The Happiness that went with someone loving you unconditionally as his siter was describing only last night. The sting of her intentions of running away with Daniel without him as passed to leave a bitter taste in his mouth he thought he would never taste.
"Love is weakness" Cora quoted to her grown son, as her tight grip lessened as her thumb brushed the reddened patch of skin from her earlier strike, like she was trying to ease the sting "It's not uncommon for a married man to look for affection away from his wife".
"No Mother" he protested snatching his head away from her hand "If I were to ever marry I wish it to be someone I truly love and raise a family with them and only them. That is what I truly want. Is my future happiness truly not important to you?" he questions her.
"No" Cora told him plainly "Not after everything I've done to get us where we are, on the verge of being what we deserve to be".
"What if I don't want that? I want what Regina already has" the words slipped from his mouth quicker than he could stop them
"What do you mean, something that Regina already has?" Cora questions her son narrowing her gaze at him.
"N-nothing Mother" he tried to brush his mistake off. He should've kept his mouth shut as he turned his head away from her only for her hand to quickly catch it and turn it back to her.
"Oh my sweet Elijah" she almost coos to him, reaching up to stroke his long dark hair that fell onto his shoulder's "Always trying to protect his sister. Even when you were smaller you always acted like you were as tall and strong as you are now. It's okay to want something what your sister has for herself for yourself. It's only natural" she encourages him.
He was a lot like his father. Weak. Thinking with his heart than his mind. If he thought he was helping his sister, than he would tell him what she needed to hear.
"Regina cannot marry the King. He is not worthy of her love. I cannot marry the Princess if Regina cannot the King. Their marriage is the only reason for my engagement".
"Elijah you aren't making any sense" she tells him her brow's furrowed in confusion at his words.
"She love's another" he blurts out "She cannot marry the King because she loves someone who is worthy of her in everyway. And they plan on running away. "Tonight".
He had never felt this feeling before in his short life, he didn't know what to call, it, guilt, grief. Maybe both but as he made his way to find his sister after his final sitting with Basil Hallward the feeling grew in his stomach that made him want to throw up with every step he took until he found her being fitted in her white gown for her wedding to King Leopold.
He thought he was helping her, by telling their mother about Daniel and their plans on running away, but his good intention came crashing down when his siter burst into his room that night in a fit of hysteria and grief to tell him that their mother had killed Daniel in front of her.
As his sister wept in his arms, he wept alongside her until the early hours of that morning before he was pulled away to sit for his portrait once again. Despite its reason behind it now mute, he had decided for the artist to continue his work and to finish it to use as a reminder of a time where he lived unburdened with the guilt of being the one that had cause his sister's fiancé's death.
Finding his sister stood in the centre with seamstresses working for the palace around her putting the last few alterations to the beautiful dress she wore. He however had been beaten by Snow White who had reached his sister first to look in awe of the garment she was to wear for her wedding.
"Wow… You are most certainly the fairest of them all!" Snow gushed over the older woman.
"Thank you, dear" she replied to the girl barely turning back to look down at her.
"I hope for my wedding day I will be as beautiful".
"I'm sure you will be" his sister replied knowing that one day this girl would be her sister-in-law.
"I know you and Daniel will be so happy together" Snow continued mush to Regina and Elijah's shock.
"What?" his sister gaped at the girl as he felt his heart beat harder in his chest.
"Well, I just knew your mother would let you marry him" Snow went on "Once she knew how happy it'd make you, once she knew how much you love him. You and Elijah have such a wonderful mother. She would do anything for your happiness".
It felt like a punch to the gut as she stumbled off the platform as the seamstresses quickly picked the train of her dress from the ground as she walked towards the young Princess.
"Snow…" she trials off dismissing the servants around her to speak to the firl privately "Did… Did you…tell her about me and Daniel?" she asks the girl.
"Yes" she confirms.
"But I…told you" Regina snapped at her trying to contain her rage making the young girl flinch in fear "…very specifically not to".
"I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to lose your mother. Like I've lost mine" Turnign away from the girl with a mouth agape in disbelief and anger that she had never felt before in her life that added to the heartbreak for felt "Are you mad?" Snow's voice reached her voice.
Putting on a straight face Regina turned back to answer her "No. I'm not mad at all" she forces herself to tell the girl "You were just trying to help me. However, I'm not marrying Daniel. This dress is for your father" she informs her.
"But… I thought… You were in love".
"So did I. But I was wrong. Daniel has run away. What I had with Daniel wasn't real. It was an infatuation" she managed to say with a straight face "You see, that's the thing about love. It can come in the most unexpected places. Your father and I have something even more special, because it's not just about the two of us. It's about all of us" she tells her smiling down at the girl responsible for Daniels death "We're going to be a family".
"We are?".
"That's right. I'm going to be your stepmother, and one day, when you're older you'll be my sister when you marry Elijah. I couldn't be happier".
"Me, too" she replied before stepping forward to hug her future step-mother.
"Snow" Cora made her presence known to her daughter and soon to be step-granddaughter "You need to go to your room and help with the packing. Your father wants you ready for the journey, and we're heading to your castle first thing in the morning".
"You're both going to love it there" Snow tells them looking in-between the pair to see the smile on Regina's face.
"I know we will" Cora replied before Snow left them to pack her things.
"Well-played, dear" Cora praised her having seen the whole thing herself "You're learning".
"I should change" she tells her mother "I wouldn't want to ruin the dress before my big day" turning to leave Cora says something that make her stop.
"I am so proud of you" Cora tells her taking her by surprise "Of you and and your brother" she adds making her daughter turn to face her to see through the smile on her face.
"You knew the King was traveling through our land, didn't you? That steed with Snow on it… It didn't go wild on its own, did it?".
"I have no idea what you're saying" she says brushing her daughters questions off. But her silence afterwards was all she needed to know what their mother had planned for them in the end as a knowing smirk grew on her face before she turned to leave once again only to utter words that her brother would hear as she walked past him.
"We should've let her die on that horse".
"It is you best work, Basil. The best thing you have ever done" the young Lord Henry Wotton praised his friend as he stood in his friend's studio looking over the artists masterpiece. In the centre, clamped to an upright easel, stood the full length portrait of a young man of extraordinary personal beauty, and in front of it, some distance from, was sitting the artist himself Basil Hallward.
A smile of pleasure passed across his face and seemed to linger there as the man whose careful brushstrokes had created such a treasure, only for the man's eyes to droop in sudden tiredness at the fatigue he had felt at the hours he had spent perfecting the image in front of him.
He couldn't help but to think back to the last time Elijah Mills had stood from him. He seemed. Different. Like a light had been switched off in the back of his eye's. Instead of the young man full of questions, counting the minutes to leave and go outside, stood a man that had nothing to live for. Even when he congratulated him on his sister's upcoming wedding to King Leopold, he barely acknowledged his friends words. Instead he just stood there, stoically looking getting lost in his own thoughts.
"The only place this portrait is going is straight to the palace of King Leopold" he tells Lord Henry.
"The palace?" he questions his friend.
"Yes. His elder sister is to marry the King".
"A shame, to be wasted on that old fool. A portrait like this would set you far above all the young men in the realm, and make the old men quite jealous, if old men are ever capable of any emotion".
"Even if I had the privilege of keeping it. I wouldn't exhibit this for I have put too much of myself to it" he admits to the young Lord.
"Too much of yourself in it!" the man laughed " My dear Basil, I didn't know you were so vain, and I really can't see any resemblance between you and this young Adonis, who looks as if he made out of ivory and rose-leaves. He is Narcissus and you- well have an intellectual expression. But beaty, real beauty ends where and intellectual expression begins".
"You don't understand me, Harry" answered the artist "Of course I'm not like him. I should be sorry to look like him. It is better not to be different from one's fellows. Your rank and wealth Harry' my brains such as they are-my art, whatever it may be worth; Elijah Mill's good looks - we shall all suffer for what the gods have given us, suffer terribly".
"Elijah Mills? Is that his name?" asked Lard Henry asked walking across the studio towards the artist.
"Yes, this is his name" the artist confirms "I didn't intend to tell it to you"
"But why not?".
"Oh I can't explain" he exasperates as he thinks of the reasonings behind his decision to keep the man's name a mystery " When I like people immensely I never tell their names to anyone. It is like surrendering a apart of them. I have grown to love secretly. Take Elijah, last we spoke at length we spoke of passion, my passion of my art and his lack of one, but he has one Harry, he may not see it yet, but when he does it will be a force even the devil would wish not to trifle with".
The artists words made the young Lord look back at the portrait before him
"Ah! I remember now".
"Remember what Harry?".
"Where I heard the name of Elijah Mills".
"Where was it? asked Hallward with a slight frown that his friend noticed "Don't look so any Basil. It was a few years ago, I knew his mother. The Millers Daughter. She tried her best to peak my interest in her eldest daughter, wanting to introduce her into a court life. I saw her intentions a mile off, but I did hear about her son. I was told about a wonderful young man, and that his name was Elijah Mill's. They never told me told how good-looking. I wish I had known it was you friend".
"I am very glad you didn't Harry".
"Why?".
"I don't want you to meet him".
"You don't want me to meet him?".
"No" the painter tells the Lord as his butler steps into the studio.
"Master Mills is here sir" said the butler announced to the painter much to his chagrin. A grin grew on the young Lords lips at his luck that the young man he wished to meet was only in the other room, like fate had intervened for him to finally. meet the man in the painting.
"Ask Master Mills to wait, Parker; I'll be a few moments" Basil instructs the servant. Bowing the butler turned and left the two men alone as the painter stood from his seat to speak plainly to the Lord.
"Elijah Mills is a dear friend" he says to the young lord "He has a simple and beautiful nature. Don't spoil him. Don't try and influence him. Your influence would be bad. The world is wide and has many more marvellous people in it. Don't take away from me the one person who gives to my art whatever charm it possesses: my life as an artist depends on him. Mind, Harry. I trust you" He spoke slowly as the words seemed to wrung out of him almost against his will.
"What nonsense you talk!" exclaimed Lord Henry, smiling taking Hallward by the arm, he almost led him out of the studio to find the young Elijah Mills waiting for him to meet.
AN: New Chapter! New Year! No Problem!.
Apologies for the delay on this chapter. But here it is!.
Like I have said before my other story does get priority over this one as it's getting closer to ending. But I'm hoping to get into Season 2 for this story by February. Can't wait! Yay!.
Hope you enjoyed it!.
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