The Chance Encounter

part two

Chapter 2

The weeks come and go, yet Tink hadn’t given up on trying to make me believe that I can still meet my True Love. As the days passed, the King and Cora made it a point to have guards surrounding me at all time. Cora know that I’ll do whatever I could to get away. She already caught me once trying to escape with Rocinante.

Now that I’m under watch, its even harder for Tink to come visit me. Snow, the King’s daughter has been appointed to stay in my room with me until the wedding, leaving me with no freedom whatsoever. Sometimes I feel like I despise her and have no choice but to be nice to her. Truth is, If it wasn’t for her, I would have been married to Daniel. We would have managed to escape and live a quiet life together.

I also know that I care to an extent about her. I still feel somewhat obligated to protect her. I know she was manipulated by Cora. I just wish she kept her promise. She’s taking a liking to me, I know she looks up to me. Every night before bed, she shares her memories with me. She talks about her Mom, Eva. It’s nice listening to stories of what a mother should be. Warm, kind and loving to her child. I’m not sure I ever felt that from Cora. I think about this every night. Maybe Cora once was just a warm mother. Probably when I was born. However, as I got older and had enough sense to learn manners, the training has begun. All she ever focused on was making sure I didn’t slouch, I ate properly, I was polite and everything a princess should be in order to land marrying a King.

“Regina?” Snow says quietly.

“Yes, dear.”

“I know you didn’t want to marry my dad, but I wanted to know if you’ll be ok with being my step mom?” I can see she’s anxious and even nervous to see what my answer will be.

“I am okay with playing the role of your mother. I guess I kind of already am doing it. I don’t think I’ll ever be as good of a mom as Eva was to you.”

“You already are as great as she is. You are kind, caring and protective. You saved my life the day I met you, even though you could have really hurt yourself.”

I smile at the memory and then sigh thinking about the rest of the events that led me to this day. The night before I marry the King.

It’s the day of the wedding. The King’s staff sees to it that I’m bathed, dressed, and my hair is done to his liking. My mother comes into the room to make sure that I look more than just okay. I must look like royalty. Afterall, I’m now the Queen.

She yells at the maids for my hair, and uses her magic to ensure that my hair is in a perfect bun so that the crown can be placed on my head with ease during the ceremony.

“My beautiful Regina, you make such a lovely bride” she says in the kindest voice I’ve heard.

I greet her with silence. I don’t have any words to share today. I feel like a shell of a person. I don’t care about how I look or the dress that I’m in. There’s no giddy feeling or excitement for the mere fact that I’m getting married, regardless of to whom, or even to be a Queen. All I really want is for the day to end.

“Thank you, Mother” I say quietly.

“Perk up, dear. You are marrying a King today. Now our family will come out on top.”

My father walks me down the aisle and I hear him softly say “I’m sorry for not being able to protect you.”

“No one can, Daddy. Don’t apologize” I respond back emotionlessly. I can see him looking at me curiously from the corner of my eye. He’s trying to read into my emotion, but I’m expressionless. I know this scares him.

I haven’t seen Tink in days. I know it’s not her fault. I know she tries every night to see me. Between the guards surrounding me and Snow spending the nights with me, its impossible for me to get away or her to sneak in. So, with her gone, so is my hope for anything good to come.

I make it down to the end of the aisle and stand up in front of the King. There’s no positive thought that comes to mind. He’s an old man, not even a good looking one at that. The way he looks at me makes the goosebumps raise on my arms and the back of my neck. It’s not raising in a good way.

“Do you take Regina to be your lawfully wedded wide and Queen, your Majesty?”

“I do” says the King.

I snap out of my daze and the King and I have our arms intertwined and thanking our guests for celebrating the occasion with us. I don’t even remember how we got here, or when I would have said “I do”.... I don’t, I think to myself.