The Enchanted Forest (OutlawQueen)

Chapter 3

A/N: I'm back!!! Got home yesterday from an amazing month in Cambodia and Laos, and I had two more ideas while I was away. Don't know how long it'll be before I end up posting them, or even if I will but I guess it depends on my muse for the ones I have ongoing at the moment, and how much time I have to actually write. I'm starting my last year at school (help!) in September so it'll be work work work from then on but I will do my best. :)
Oh and can we talk about that deleted scene? So heartbreaking! Makes 3x01 "I ruined your life?!" so much more poignant </3

Not long after she'd given Robin the arrows, she was brushing her hair out after a particularly stressful day when she heard a small noise coming from the direction of the wardrobe. Instantly on her guard, she walked slowly, silently, stealthily towards it until she was standing right in front of the large wooden furniture. Throwing open the door she was greeted by a yelp of surprise and a small body stumbling out of the forest of long dresses. Mother's instinct kicking in she caught the boy before he hit the ground; it was Roland. The boy she'd had no contact with since she'd saved him from the monkey. She suspected she had the distrustful Merry Men, especially Little John, to thank for that.
"Roland? What are you doing in there?" Her annoyance at his invasion of her privacy evaporated when his cheeks dimpled with a smile.
"I came to see you." He bowed so low his curly locks brushed the floor; it would have been funny if he weren't so sincere in his reverence. The nightgown he was wearing underneath his cloak made it even more endearing.
"Aren't you supposed to be in bed? How did you find my chamber?" The room was concealed in a private part of the castle, no one else knew where it was.
"I followed you. Papa thought I was asleep, I heard you go by my room and I followed you. You're sad. I thought you might want cheering up." He brought his hand out from under his cloak to reveal a small bunch of flowers. They were just wildflowers, slightly limp and probably picked at the roadside earlier in the day, but she was touched that he'd thought of her. She couldn't remember the last time anyone got her flowers. Turning away to hide the tears that suddenly threatened to spill she rummaged round in a cupboard for a suitable container. Finally finding a small, dainty vase, she tipped some of the water from her glass by the bed and arranged the flowers in it. She took a long time over this to suppress her emotion; she didn't need another Locksley holding a position of leverage against her. Though she suspected Roland didn't even know what the word 'leverage' meant.
"Thank you, Roland, they're beautiful." She dipped him a graceful curtesy, and he bowed again. "Come on, your Papa will be wondering where you are." She held out her hand to walk him back, but he held his arms up to be carried, his little face so full of trust it made her heart clench. He reminded her so much of Henry at that age. Nevertheless, she picked him up under the arms and settled him on her hip.
"Your hair looks pretty when it's long," he said absentmindedly, playing with a lock of it between his fingers. She had no idea what to say to that so she simply carried on walking, down the many corridors to where the Merry Men were lodged.
"Which one's your room?" she asked, but she needn't have as Little John came bursting out of one of the doors, making her jump.
"Roland!"
"John!" The man's face instantly creased in a frown as he saw in whose arms the boy was. Stepping forward, he nodded tersely at Regina before taking Roland firmly from her and striding back into the room he'd come out of.
"Goodnight, Gina!" the boy called just as the door slammed.
Regina was left standing there, not even bothering to stop the tears as they spilled down her cheeks.
"Your Majesty?" The voice she found she'd been longing to hear sounded from behind her. Her hand moved of its own accord, in a frustrated wave-like gesture of resignation. "Are you all right?"
Dashing the tears away with the back of her hand, she swept past him with a muttered "Excuse me". He caught her wrist but she wrenched it away, shouting to leave her alone before walking quickly along the hall, hoping he wouldn't try to be a gentleman. But when she heard his footstep behind her and his concerned voice call her name, she lost it. Breaking into a run she just made it all the way back to her room before lung-rending sobs escaped her, and she curled up on the bed, not even bothering to take her dress off.