OutlawQueen One Shots

Eloping

For her birthday, Regina just wanted to be left alone. No crude mother storming into her chambers during the early hours of the morning, demanding that she must be dressed in constricting dresses. No useless father to mope around, without any real power to protect his daughter from the life her mother inflicted upon her. Most of all, Regina did not want to see her husband. The title itself made her stomach twist, but there was nothing she could do. Cora had married off the 16-year-old girl to a king four times her age not long before, and his spawn was already growing in her womb. A disgusting thought, that a man who could very well be her grandfather, had turned the young girl into a future mother. That was the role of a queen, Cora used to tell her. Regina was just a trophy for Leopold to brag about, she must not have any opinions or voice her thoughts.

The night before her birthday, Cora punished her daughter. The child was beginning to feel the joy of her nearing birthday, signifying that she managed to stay alive for another year and the ones around her did not succeed in breaking her. It was a careless thing for her to do, Cora admonished. No queen should leave her chambers so late at night, especially for the sole purpose of finding food that had been denied since a few days prior because of her disobedience. The bell right next to her bed was meant to bring a maid to her room in mere seconds, and yet Regina still insisted that she did not want to wake them at such a late hour. So, the girl took the candle from her nightstand and began the long journey to the kitchens. The cold castle made her skin bristle and wrap the blanket she grabbed from the bed even tighter around her small bump. Even though Regina hated the King from the bottom of her heart, the baby growing inside her was loved more than words could describe.

Regina had almost reached the last stairs when she stepped on the hem of the nightgown, which made her trip and smash her kneecaps against the dark marble. It took seconds before Cora materialised herself in front of her daughter. The slap to her face went almost unnoticed, as did the grip on Regina's hair to bring her to Cora's level.
"You stupid insolent girl, do you realise that you are endangering the king's heir?" the older woman screamed at her daughter.
Regina did not even flinch. Over the time, she understood that fighting back or trying to stand up for herself only ended with her having to endure even more pain. It took a few more moments for Cora to inform Regina that the birthday was not to be celebrated anymore, and her presence outside of the chambers will not be required. Oddly enough, it was the most soothing thing she had heard in a long time.

The next morning, however, a maid entered Regina's bedchamber and informed her that Cora requested her daughter's presence at breakfast. When the maid did not smile, Regina knew that the breakfast would be far from a celebration. The young queen quickly put herself together, gathering the long black hair in a simple up-do and changing the nightgown for a loose blue dress. Regina knew that her mother would protest against her choice of wardrobe, but the baby seemed more and more insistent on making itself known to the world. Although Regina was only a few months into her pregnancy, her petite frame and young body combined made her show early.

When the Queen entered the dining room, Cora had already made the servants fill the table with every kind of food she could think of. The only thought that went through Regina's mind was that she could have fed half of her kingdom with the food her mother had requested for a mere breakfast. Still, Regina sat down on the chair opposite from the older woman, but kept silent. The annoying flicker of hope still made Regina believe that her mother forgave her for falling the other night, and would at least wish her a happy birthday. A small smile crept upon her lips when Cora's eyes met hers and she began talking.
"Your punishment for being so careless last night is for you not to touch any of the food on this table," Cora said.
As if on a cue, Regina's stomach managed to let out a grumble before the girl could stifle it by contracting her abdominal muscles. It was such a practiced move, Regina did it almost unconsciously.