Chapter Text
PART ONE
A young girl, eight years old to be exact, with long brown hair and deep chocolate-colored eyes, stared through the crack in the door, peering in to watch a man and a woman argue.
“Cora, be reasonable. A prince would be just fine. It will still give Regina a chance to be a part of royalty, and will secure all of our needs, just as you wanted,” an older gentleman stated to the woman across from him. The man had kind eyes, the same color as the young girl, and gentle features, seen in the lines surrounding his eyes and mouth, carved there from moments of laughter in his lifetime. His hair was the color of a stormy sky, gray with white flecks dotted throughout.
The young girl smiled when his face came into view through the tiny crevice. She loved the older man dearly, and often referred to him as “the thing she loved most.”
“Henry,” Cora started, catching the young girl’s attention and pulling her gaze away from the older man. “A prince is not enough. What if…” She paused. “What if he isn’t the first heir? What if she falls in love with the third son of a royal lineage, and not the first one to guarantee her status?” She began to pace across the room. “What if the prince were to die, and then where would that leave Regina?” Cora stopped and began to shake her head fervently. “No. It cannot be a prince. It will not be prince.”
“But Cora…” Henry stated, breaking the woman of her reverie.
“No, Henry. I have made up my mind. Regina will marry a king, and only a king.”
The young girl gasped from her spot behind the door. A king?
“But how?” Henry questioned. “How will she marry a king? There are not many kingdoms surrounding this area. And of those that do exist, their kings are already wed. Some already with children of their own. How will this come to be?”
Cora’s face twisted into a haunting grin. “You just leave that to me. I will ensure that, once Regina is of age, a king will be ready and waiting to take her hand.”
The young girl gasped again, but this time in echo with Henry.
“Cora, please do not do anything you shall regret,” Henry pleaded.
“I will do what is best for my daughter, Henry. I will never regret that.”
And with that, she walked to the far side of the room and out through the open doorway, leaving Henry in the dark room, looking bewildered and heartbroken. His gaze fell from where Cora had exited, and turned back. As his face moved across the room, his eyes fell on where the young girl was hiding. He squinted slightly, and cocked his head to peer towards the young girl’s hiding place.
“Who’s there?” Henry asked, keeping his voice calm but infused with authority.
The young girl didn’t move at first, but left only a few seconds behind her before she pushed the door open so she could step through. As she came into view, Henry’s face softened and his eyes closed as he realized who it was.
“My Regina,” he called out to her as he dropped to his knee and opened his arms to beckon her over with the promise of an embrace. “How long have you been standing there?”
But Regina didn’t answer. She felt tears begin to pool in her eyes, and before allowing them to fall, she rushed to her father and wrapped her arms around his slender frame, burying her face in his shirt and coat. His arms wrapped around her and held her close to him as the tears she tried to hold back splashed to his waistcoat. His hand moved to her head and began to stroke her hair, attempting to calm the young girl.
“Daddy,” Regina started, pulling her face away from her father to look him in the eye. “I don’t want to marry a king.”
Henry looked into his daughter’s eyes, and formulated something of a response in his head before Regina spoke again.
“I don’t want to marry a prince either,” she stated. Henry only nodded his head and tried again to respond to his daughter. But she had one thing left to say.
“I want love, Daddy. I only want to marry for love.”
Henry paused at that, and realized he didn’t have a single response for his beautiful daughter. He stared at her and saw the earnestness in her gaze. He instantly wrapped her back up in his arms and held her close, for it was all he could do for her, and all he would ever be able to do, until she was forced to marry a man she would not love. He had just ten years to help keep love in her life. Only ten years. For in just ten years’ time, she would be someone else’s.
And it was in that moment that his heart broke in two for his daughter, for he instantly knew that she would never know the beauty and the power of true love.
~~~
Ten Years Later
Regina stared at the older man kneeling on the floor in front of her. His gaze was at her feet, so she couldn’t help but look at the bald dome of his head and all the scraggly hair surrounding his ears and neck. How was it that this man seemed to have hair everywhere except on his head, where it should belong?
Then she felt a harsh poke in her ribs, and glanced in the direction of the culprit. Her mother stood next to her, her eyes wide and piercing, and tilted her head towards the man on the ground at Regina’s feet.
“Curtsy for god’s sake, child!” Cora whispered under her breath so just Regina could hear. Regina quickly returned her gaze to the man on the ground and curtsied in front of him.
“Thank you for your visit, your majesty,” Regina finally spoke, doing her part to make the man feel welcome despite his unfortunate hair issue. The man rose in time with Regina, and smiled softly at her. Regina returned the gesture.
“Regina, King Leopold was told of your grace and beauty, and decided to come see you for himself,” Cora stated. Regina blushed slightly, and the King seemed to notice. But his smile only grew when he saw the color rise in her cheeks. Regina smiled back at him once more, then returned her gaze to her mother.
“His majesty unfortunately lost his wife, the Queen, not long ago,” Cora continued. “She was a lovely woman, and my condolences to you still, your majesty, on the tragic loss.” The King closed his eyes and bowed his head in response. When his eyes opened again, they seemed to find Regina once more, and suddenly Regina began to feel like a fish in a fishbowl.
“As you may be wondering at this point, this has obviously left the King without a Queen to rule with him by his side,” Cora explained, a smile playing coyly on her lips. Regina felt all of her muscles tighten under her skin, her spine go rigid as realization began to dawn on her.
“And aren’t you lucky, Regina, for King Leopold has decided—”
“Where’s Daddy?” Regina interrupted, not giving a care in the world as to how it might look in front of the King to speak across her mother.
“Regina!” Cora shrieked, grabbing hold of Regina’s wrist and whipping her around to face her directly. “You are not to interrupt me like that, ever! Do you understand me?” Cora’s eyes blazed with fury as they stared into Regina. Regina cowered at her mother’s gaze, but was grateful for the King to interject.
“No, no...Cora, I understand. She wants her father here to witness this momentous occasion. I can only imagine how wonderful it would be for her father to see his only daughter on the happiest day of her life. Wouldn’t you agree?” The King said to Cora directly. At his words, Cora’s grip loosened from Regina’s wrist and her eyes settled back into a cool stare.
“Of course, how silly of me.” Cora replied. She turned towards the nearest servant and clapped her hands rapidly. “Go fetch Henry at once! And hurry!” Regina watched as a young man clambered from the room and down the hall to find her father.
Before she knew it, she watched as the servant walked back into the room with Henry trailing behind. Henry’s gaze found King Leopold standing there in his extravagant clothes, with Cora and Regina in front of him. He looked at Regina and she responded with pleading eyes, asking him through sight alone to do something to stop this. He suddenly realized what was about to take place, and that there was nothing in the world he could do to stop it. He walked around Cora and stood on the other side of Regina, taking her hand in his and holding it tightly, as it was the only thing he could do while his daughter was taken away from him.
“Good, now that you’re here, we can continue,” Cora murmured, picking up where she left off before Regina interrupted. Regina closed her eyes, willing what was about to happen to not occur, all the while holding her father’s hand tightly, as if it was the only anchor she had left in a world where she wouldn’t marry for status alone. As Cora explained about King Leopold’s wife once more for Henry’s benefit, Regina felt the tears began to sting under her eyelids, causing her to squeeze her eyes even tighter.
“And, as I was about to say earlier, Regina is very lucky, for King Leopold has decided to take her as his bride and make her Queen.” Cora beamed with pride and prosperity, smiling brightly at the King and holding her head high. Regina took in a quick intake of breath as the words were uttered out into the world, making them real, driving a nail into her destined future. Henry pulled Regina’s hand and covered it with his other, patting it lightly while maintaining a tight grip to help his daughter hold her composure.
“Regina,” King Leopold stated, pulling Regina from her thoughts. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the man that would be her husband. No emotion rushed across her face, no happiness or joy, or even grief. But she looked at the King and waited for him to continue. “I hope you will be happy with me. I can’t offer you everything, but I can offer you a kingdom, and servants. I can offer the trust of a people, and access to all of the world’s treasures. I can even offer you your very own horse to ride at your leisure. I hope you can see it to be happy in my castle with me, for I am delighted to have the pleasure of calling you my Queen.”
Regina continued to stare at the King, and finally gave him a small smile. She appreciated his words, but couldn’t move past the feeling of dread coursing through her veins. She wanted to scream, to run away, and get as far from this land as she could. But alas, she was stuck here, beginning the course of a very long nightmare.
“Thank you, your majesty,” Regina commented. “But if it is alright with you, I would like to retire to my chambers. This is quite extraordinary news, and I feel my constitution is a bit uneasy from the shock of it all.”
“Of course, my dear. Please, rest, and I will make all the arrangements with your parents,” the King responded. Regina smiled at him and curtsied once more, to which the King responded with a bow. But before Regina could walk away, Leopold grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles possessively, then looked up from his position and straight into her eyes. And the look that was there made Regina’s blood run cold. This man could be charming and kind, but there was something about him that caused her spine to go rigid, and she was not looking forward to finding out exactly what that was.
~~~
Nine Months Later
Regina ran from the room, pushing her way through the doorway that lead to the maze of hallways weaving through the castle. As she ran, she heard her mother’s voice calling out to her, but it was diminishing as she drew further away, giving her strength to run as far from that room as she could. It had been too much, she just couldn’t stand one more moment of it any longer. She couldn’t marry that man, and this had been the last straw.
Running from the castle and finding the stables just to her right, she ran straight for the stall with her beloved horse, the one good thing that came from this arrangement with the King. Already saddled and ready for the ride she was planning later in the day, she jumped aboard his back and pushed off, gathering speed as she sped away from the castle, watching it grow smaller and smaller behind her. Turning around to inspect that no one was following her, she returned her gaze to the road and allowed herself a small smile to form to her lips as she thought about her escape and what she would do with her newfound freedom. She thought about how she should have done this ages ago, but knew it was because she had not wanted to leave her father. But knowing he would understand had turned into her saving grace, and the last thing she needed to push herself to do this. Now that she was speeding closer and closer to her freedom, she knew it had been the right thing to do. She would find somewhere to settle, and maybe a place with food and lodging that she could secure in return for work. But in that moment she realized that all that really mattered was that she was free. That she was free to be her own person, live her own life, and find her own love. And that thought was the true culprit of the widespread grin that suddenly spread across her beautiful face.
But suddenly, Regina felt herself be whisked up from her saddle, coming straight off her horse and seeming to suspend high in the air between the trees. She felt grips tight as a vice clasp onto her arms, wrists, and legs. She turned to the side to inspect the event occurring around her, and saw the branches of the trees stretching and splintering to hold her frozen. The branches had sprung from the wood and grabbed onto her form, pulling her from her safe escape. As she righted herself, her thoughts grew dim, realization dawning that this was her mother. She had been too slow, too quick to celebrate her escape, and too dumb to think that it would have ever worked. The magic that flowed through Cora was tough to beat, and Regina realized how foolish she’d been to think she could evade it. As if on queue, her mother’s voice broke her musings behind her.
“What a silly thing to do, Regina,” Cora said. Regina was held so tightly by the limbs of the trees that she couldn’t turn around to face her mother. But even without seeing her directly, Regina could envision the smug look across her mother’s face as she continued to speak. “Did you really think you could escape? Did you really think I had not noticed your unhappiness, or the way you looked at the King with such disgust, that I didn’t have any inclination that you’d be plotting to desert me?” Cora laughed. Regina felt dejected. How could she have ever thought this would work?
“Ah, child,” Cora continued. “I have known everything about you since the day you were born. I have known your every dream, your every desire, even your every nightmare. I know how you work, I know how you think. I have been one step ahead of you your entire life. That’s what it is to be a mother.” Regina cringed at her mother’s words, knowing that they were true. “You could never escape me, and you will never escape the King.” Cora paused, letting the limbs drift towards the ground so Regina could set her feet on solid earth, instead of staying suspended in the air. Cora walked around to face Regina, keeping the restraints tied tightly together while she continued to speak.
“I have dealt with the King. He will not remember your fleeing, nor will he have any recollection of your behavior during your courtship.” Regina breathed heavily as she listened to her mother. Cora looked up from the dirt and straight into Regina’s eyes before continuing. “You will marry the King in two days. You will become Queen.”
“But momma, I don’t want to marry the King,” Regina pleaded, giving it one last shot. “I don’t want this life!” Cora only stared at her daughter. Seconds ticked by while silence droned on between them. Then, with a sudden snap of her fingers, Cora released Regina from her binds. Regina almost fell to the earth but was able to sustain her balance. She rubbed her wrists, trying to coax feeling back into her hands and fingers. Cora walked around her once more to return to the path leading back to the castle.
“I suggest you come with me and return to the castle. There is no escape for you here.” She stopped in her tracks and turned towards Regina. “There is no escape for you anywhere. This is the life you will lead. You will become Queen and rule alongside Leopold. No more of this nonsense, Regina. That is final.” And with that, Cora turned back to the path and continued her stroll back to the kingdom. Regina knew that she was trapped for certain this time. Her mother’s tone had taken on a new level of manipulation. She understood that Cora would stop at nothing to ensure this nuptial would take place, and that no one would stand in her way. Not even her own daughter.
Resigning to her fate and the hell her life was about to embark on, Regina began to follow her mother back to the castle in the distance, back to the a life of prison and forced decorum, of loveless companionship and unfulfilled destinies. And as Regina watched the castle get closer, she vowed to never feel anything for this kingdom, for nothing in this world would ever make her feel love in its truest and purest form.
~~~
Regina stood lifeless in the large room as servants fluttered beneath her feet and danced around her in circles. She was glad to not have to engage with them as they pinned the beautiful white dress, fluffed its skirts and train, and tended to her every need in preparation of the wedding. Regina stared straight ahead, her eyes unfocused and hollow, possessing nothing but emptiness. She felt a servant raise her arm as her train was fastened to the side of her corset, but she made no sound when the pin struck through and punctured her skin. She knew it had happened, but felt nothing - no pain, no anger to the servant, no emotion at all.
Regina had been living in this state since her mother had prevented her escape. All in the castle had taken notice of her new behavior, but no one had attempted to understand the change or even rectify it. The King seemed pleased that Regina was less evasive, not realizing that her motions were made mechanically instead of in response to her possibly having feelings for him. Even Regina’s father had held back from trying to help his daughter because, reluctantly, he knew there was nothing he could do. Cora had kept close to Regina since her attempt to flee, holding a watchful eye over her in order of preventing a second rouse. But Regina knew there was no way out at this point, and didn’t see the point in fighting against her mother, the King, or her fate any longer.
Regina continued to stand on the pedestal while the servants readied her for the fast-approaching ceremony. She looked at the dress in the mirror, but couldn’t admire its beauty. To her, the dress was her captor, strangling the last bits of freedom from her body as it enveloped her and marched her towards her new life. She couldn’t look at the dress without feeling dread, so she returned her gaze to a spot beyond the mirror, and stared blankly at it once more, in order to prevent her true emotions from emerging. Before she knew it, the servants had finished, and one of them called to her softly.
“Your majesty?” Regina looked over at the use of her new title. She hadn’t wed the King yet, but the servants had begun addressing her this way more and more in the past few days. Despite her lack of interaction as of late, the title still took her by surprise each time, and a chill ran through her bones when she was made to respond to it. “Your majesty? Are you ready? May I help you down?” The voice of the servant broke through Regina’s thoughts, and she took the hand held out in front of her as she stepped off the pedestal.
Two servants picked up her train as she descended and walked towards the door leading out of the large room. They trailed behind her as the servant held her hand steady and led her through the door and out into the halls. As she exited, Regina could hear the commotion coming from the royal ballroom where the ceremony would take place. Just a few doors away, she would meet her father and enter the ceremony, only to exit later on as a Queen. She felt her heart start beating wildly in her chest as the magnitude of her upcoming reality became all the more true. But she held on to her composure as she approached the foyer of the ballroom. Her father stood to the side next to her mother, and they both looked upon her as she approached.
“Oh Regina, you look lovely,” Cora said, crossing to Regina and taking her hand. The servants readied Regina’s train directly behind her and fluffed some of her dress skirts, then removed themselves from the scene and left the family to themselves. Regina bowed to them as they left as a token of gratitude, then returned her gaze to her mother. “Are you ready for the happiest day of your life? Oh sweetheart, I couldn’t be happier for you and Leopold. He will make such a wonderful husband and father to your children—” Regina held her hand up to her mother, interrupting her mid-sentence.
“Mother, I have agreed to go along with your setup,” Regina started, lowering her hand back to her side. “And I have stopped attempting to run away from this hell you’ve so selfishly put me in. So for the sake of both of us, please don’t try and make this into something it is not. I will not talk with you about how ‘lovely’ I may look, or how ‘happy’ this day will be, because if we’re being honest, we both know it is not the case.” Regina stared at her mother and felt tears threaten to pool. But as she watched her mother stare at her, her eyes growing more wide with each enunciation falling from Regina’s lips, Regina held strong against the onslaught of emotions at that last occurrence of bitter truth that she would share with Cora.
Cora only blinked at her daughter and said nothing.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Regina stated as she walked to the front of the foyer and stopped just behind a set of tall, wooden double doors. Henry walked over to meet Regina and held out his arm, to which she placed her hand through and settled ontop his forearm. Her father reached over and patted her hand gently, and she took a moment to look over at him. She was met with his kind eyes staring back at her, and for one brief moment, Regina felt at ease. The one thing she could count on, even after going through with this sham of a marriage to the King, was the support and kindness of her father. He was the one remaining beacon of light in her life, and reminded her that love could exist for her, even if it can only be the love shared between father and daughter. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, relishing in the moment of quiet and the first feeling of contentment she had experienced in weeks.
But it was quickly shut off as she heard the crescendo of music stream in from the ballroom.
It was her cue.
The moment was finally here.
She could hold it off no longer.
Regina raised her eyes to look at her father once more, and he smiled at her, a reassuring smile meant to convey that she could do this, that he knew she could go through with this task. She soaked in his confidence, fueling her own body to take the brunt of this event head on, and turned towards the double doors. They magically opened before her and her father, and they started their procession down the aisle towards the altar. Regina felt her father grip her hand against his arm, and she appreciated him immensely in that moment. But as she walked closer to where King Leopold stood waiting for her to become his wife, her resilience wavered, and she soon felt the cold darkness of emptiness seep into her veins once more.
She and Henry arrived at the spot where Henry would grant Leopold Regina’s hand. As she turned to look at her father for the last time, his eyes shone with such despair to give her away to this man. She grabbed her father’s hands and squeezed them tightly, attempting to convey to him that she would make it through this. He gave her a weak smile, then kissed her cheek fervently before turning around and finding his seat next to Cora in the first pew.
Regina turned and saw Leopold standing next to her with his arm outstretched. She bowed her head and moved to slip her arm through his, and he led her to the front of the altar where the priest stood to perform the ceremony. As soon as Regina raised her head to look at the priest, all of her senses turned off.
The ceremony progressed, but Regina heard none of it. Throughout the blessings and verses, all of her efforts were put into not running from the room, or sobbing uncontrollably before the entire audience behind her. Regina soon realized this was her very first test on how she would be able to hold up in situations with the King by her side. She made it a point to succeed in playing a part of a content bride and wife, and decided she would not let this man completely deflate her spirit. If she would go on living, she would not allow the King or anyone in the kingdom to see her be weak, despite the rabid screaming going on inside her now. She would always appear strong, if it was the last thing she ever did.
Suddenly, the priest turned to Regina and bowed his head to her. Then he turned his gaze to Leopold and began to speak.
“Leopold,” the priest began, and Regina realized it was the exchanging of the vows. She watched the priest ask Leopold if he would honor and cherish her, care for her when she was sick, and love her until death parted them. She watched as Leopold respond with the proper words, assuring the priest and all those in attendance that he would honor Regina and their marriage.
Regina began to feel sick.
But she took a deep breath and set herself right, preparing for the moment where she would have to provide the same responses.
The priest returned his gaze to Regina and began to speak.
“Regina,” he began, and Regina readied herself for the next few moments. “Do you take Leopold, to be your wedded husband in the eyes of the Church, to share your life openly, standing with him in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and love forever more?”
Regina blinked at the priest and took a big breath. She felt time suddenly slow to a snail’s pace, and could feel each string of air enter her lungs, filling her body with sustenance to push through this starting line to the rest of her life. As she calmly blew the air from her body in its exhalation, she opened her mouth to respond.
“I do.”
The priest smiled at her and returned his gaze to the audience, finishing up the ceremony to make the announcement of proclaiming she and Leopold as man and wife, and she as the new Queen of their kingdom.
Regina took a moment to herself and closed her eyes, blocking out the light and the sound around her. She had done it, she was now the Queen and married to a man she would never love. Her life would never be her own, and she would forever live in the shadow of what might have been possible for her if she had been granted the freedom she had always wanted. She felt her eyes sting with the presence of tears, and allowed herself this one moment to let them fall.
“I now introduce you to your new Queen. Presenting Queen Regina of Misthaven!” The priest shouted across the ballroom, encouraging applause and cheers from the crowd.
Regina lifted her head to the people of the—her—kingdom, and boasted a tight smile as the priest placed a crown on her head. She curtsied and took Leopold’s arm when offered and they walked from the altar and down the aisle to return to the foyer of the ballroom. Regina watched as Leopold waved to his kingdom and its people, and kept her own smile on her face. But as soon as they pushed through the tall double doors, she immediately separated herself away from Leopold and tore down the hall. She rushed to her room down the hall, clutching her chest and holding back the tears that threatened to spill. She pushed through her chamber door and closed it shut behind her with a loud thud, stumbling back into her room as the clang from the door rang out throughout the castle. She backed into a side table and used it to lean against for support, feeling her resolve crumble to pieces and tears begin to flow down her cheeks. Wrapping her arms around her own body, she shivered at the knowledge that she was now Queen, married to Leopold, and caught in a life not her own. It was then that Regina closed up her heart right then and there to any happiness this world could possess, for she knew in that moment that she would never have the privilege of living a life with a true happy ending.