Chapter 97: Once in a Lullaby
Regina and Daniel arrived back at the stables, following another ride. They dismounted and she watched him take the saddles off their horses.
"Another successful lesson," she mentioned. He smiled.
"Please...you are beyond needing lessons," he said fondly. She smiled coyly.
"Then I guess it's the company that keeps me coming back," she teased, as she put her arms around him. He smiled and put her arms around him, initiating a kiss with her.
"Let's run away," Regina suggested.
"You know we can't," he responded.
"Yes, we can...there's really nothing for me here. A life with you is all I want," she insisted.
"I have nothing to give you but my love..." she reminded.
"And your love is all I need," she said.
"You're a Princess...your mother would never stop looking for us," he warned.
"Then we'll leave the Kingdom and go somewhere she can't find us," Regina replied.
"Are you sure?" he asked uncertainly. She nodded.
"My parents will soon start offering me up to suitors. I'm surprised they haven't already and I will not marry someone I don't love like some business transaction," she said defiantly. He had to agree with her there. It would kill him to see her treated like that and he knew that was the future for most royals.
"Then pack and meet me here tonight. We'll leave just after midnight," he agreed. She grinned and kissed him soundly again, before hurrying back toward the palace with a bright smile on her face. As she passed through the barn doors, she failed to see Zelena there, concealing herself at the entrance, having been spying on them. She had come to summon Regina at her mother's request, only to find her in the arms of the stable boy and hearing him declare his love for her. It instantly made her jealous and she was unaware of the sudden green skin on her neck, as she scowled.
Zelena had long ago known that love wasn't in her future and for the most part, she was okay with that, for her mother had drilled into her that love was weakness. But to find out that her younger sister had already found love and might escape this life of duty and responsibility to be free made her extremely jealous. It caught her off guard a bit, as she realized that Regina being happy while she was decidedly chronically unhappy and likely to remain so didn't set well at all. And as Zelena stormed back to report to her mother, she decided that her little sister wasn't going to get away with her treachery.
Once they got far enough from Longbourne, they stopped by a stream to let Stardust and Wilby drink, while they drank some water themselves.
"Here," David said, as he fished some berries out of his satchel and handed them to her. She frowned.
"I ate some berries the other day and got really sick," she mentioned skeptically.
"Let me guess...blue ones?" he asked. She nodded.
"I'm surprised you're still alive after eating the blue ones, but I promise the red ones are safe to eat," he said, popping one in his mouth to show her. Since he was eating them, she trusted that and had some too.
"So...why did you save me?" she asked. She may have been a bit sheltered, but she knew enough about the world, thanks to Papa Hades mostly, that there were a lot of bad people out there. Like the Woodcutter and more that wouldn't have been able to resist the riches Arawn was promising for her capture.
"It seemed like the honorable thing to do. Besides, you said you're innocent," he replied.
"And you believe me?" she questioned. He shrugged.
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Dreaming Out Loud
Fanfiction"If you could have heard our voices, would it have made a difference?" Based on Snow's comment to Emma in season 5. What if Emma had been able to hear her parent's voices? What if she'd been able to see them in her dreams every night? How would thin...
