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Gods Regina Mills hated The Day of the Saints Heart.

She also hated the king. So it would definitely stand to reason that she loathed with all of her being spending this particular holiday with her husband.

This particular holiday was a mainstay in all of the Enchanted Forest, a celebration of love and romance it was meant to show your significant other how much you cared for them with poetry, flowers, jewelry, sex… while others offered their true love a ring promising to make them theirs for the rest of their life.

When she was a child Cora would never allow the castle to celebrate this particular holiday.

"Love is weakness," she would remind her daughter firmly everytime Regina requested that the castle be decorated in red roses or asked if they could hold a ball to commemorate the holiday like other castles did. "Why would you want to celebrate weakness?"

But Regina never believed that, her father neither, which is how she always ended up with a single red rose on her bedside from Henry that she knew to hide from her mother.

She only got to celebrate the Saints Heart just once with Daniel. She snuck out late at night as she normally did but rather then go to their secret spot beneath the tree she met him at the edge of firefly hill where he had arranged a picnic and gave her a bouquet of wildflowers he had picked special just for her. After that they made love for the first time, Regina's first time not just with Daniel but with any boy, on the soft sweet smelling grass under the stars and afterwards as she laid wrapped in his arms she told him that this all felt like a beautiful dream and she never wanted to wake up from it.

But Regina would wake up. She would wake up from her dream and be thrust into a nightmare not even five weeks later when Cora crushed Daniels heart in front of her.

Now she was married to a man who was barely six months younger than her own father who paid no attention to her apart from when he wanted someplace to stick his wrinkled stubby cock. It had been less than four months since her wedding day when Saints Heart came around again but it had felt like ten years since Regina had her starlit picnic with her first love.

Leopold though, unlike her mother, did believe in true love and soulmates and all that other childish insanity the Queen at one time believed in, and more importantly he preached that to his insufferably naive daughter so for the first time in her life Regina was celebrating The Saints Heart. Leopold doused the whole castle in pink silk and white lace and red velvet, red roses and pink carnations seemed to have sprouted up over the castle and hearts of every shape and size were pasted on every inch of wall and window not covered by the aforementioned decorations. Real life swans, Snow's favorite type of animal, had been trained to swim in the castle ponds in a heart formation as well.

The display was nauseatingly obnoxious and immature, certainly not the classy decor that Regina always pictured when she pictured her mother decorating the castle of her childhood. She suggested toning it down some, making it a touch more regal and upscale but Snow told her father she loved it so the stayed and Regina was punished by the King with no food for two days for 'trying to undermine the princess.'

There was also to be a ball for all the lord's and ladies in the land, celebrating their love and romance for all the kingdoms to see. They would drink wine, eat heart shaped food, dance, be merry and Regina, meanwhile, would be sitting in the back of the lavishly decorated ballroom being completely ignored by Leopold who would rather spend the whole night dancing with and enjoying the company of his daughter then his nineteen year old beautiful Queen. Where as her last Saints Hearts was spent with happy and glowing with love, this one would be spent being ignored and seething in anger.

Which is why, Regina decided, she wasn't going to celebrate Saints Heart this year. She wouldn't even be at the castle during the ball, it's not as if she would even be missed by the staff or the Royal family anyway. So instead, before her handmaidens came upstairs to dress her, she put on a simple white gown with clear crystals along the bodice and ivy and flower embroidered into the fabric with long white billowing sleeves, a wine colored traveling cloak, made her way secretly out to the stables where her beloved Rocinante was kept, saddled him and rode off into the night.

She rode for an hour or more, keeping on the main road with the star light and moon to guide her. Regina would find some inn to stay at for the night and go back in the morning when the party was over and Leopold was passed out in his bed, too full of food and drink to even find the will to scold her for not being in her chambers.

The road was empty, save for another rider a few yards back and Regina was free to merely let her mind escape from all the horrors that came with being Queen and all that had since happened since she married the king.

After a while Regina could see lights in the distance from little homes and inns and taverns, a welcome sight after riding in the darkness for so long. It was Nottingham, a small kingdom just south of her own, full of forests and poor villages and people spoke with colorful accents.

As she continued on her trek another rider came galloping at half speed heading the opposite way. Regina moved over her horse to the shoulder of the road to let the rider pass but rather then ride past her, he stopped his horse right in front of hers. He was a mountain of a man and the horse he rode was bigger than Rocianate and Regina both almost.

"Happy Hearts Day! I believe there's enough room for you to pass," the Queen said with a friendly smile. When he didn't move from his spot her smile fell and her own heart began beating a little harder than normally in her chest. After another moment of waiting a few more moments she smiled at him, this time without it reaching her eyes.

"Have a good evening then," Regina said with all the gentle graceful humility her mother taught her a Queen should have. She urged her horse on but the moment she tried to pass him he shifted his large stallion over, blocking her way again.

Regina swallowed hard as she tried again, only for the same thing to happen again. She forced a laugh from her throat and another humble smile.

"I think someone's had a bit too much to drink. I'm gonna go left, you go right okay? Have a good evening," she tried again, only to be blocked by the large man sitting atop the large horse.

It was only then she realized the rider that had been a safe distance away was now right behind her and also refusing to move. The rider behind her was also a large man, though not nearly as large as the man in front leering at her.

Regina swallowed hard, yanking her horses reins to the side but he was right in front of her again.

"Out of the way," she barked, no longer using that soft grace Cora told her a lady should always use. She tried again, trying to dodge her horse, tried to race past him but he reeled his horse around and with the beast being as large as it was effectively blocking the road.

"I said move!"

"Well that's not very lady like," the man in front of her finally spoke with a dangerous sneer on his face that looked as though it had been roughly carved from wood.

Regina swallowed hard when she heard another set of horse hoods come thundering from the woods and pulled up alongside her, trapping her between the three horsemen and then the solid forest on the other side.

Her lip tumbled as the three riders closed in even closer and Regina could feel the horse beneath her becoming more and more skittish.

"Now what could a lovely lady such as yourself be doing out here on a cold lonely night?" the leader spoke again in that accent that was so prevalent in this part of the kingdom. "It's dangerous for a beautiful lady to be out here all alone in the cold."

Just give them what they want, she told herself when she eyed the sword at the large man's waist. Her voice trembled almost uncontrollably as her hands raised to the sky.

"I have gold, you can take as much as you want," she told them in a small scared voice that must have been amusing to the men because they all laughed at her words and Regina's heart was sent racing.

"Begging your pardon, but I don't need your permission to take your gold." The man reached out and stroked her face, his cold dark eyes looking over her body. "Nor anything else for that matter."

"Get your hands off me!" Regina snapped, raising her hand to strike him which proved a very dangerous mistake because the moment she released the reins the man behind her kicked her horse in the hindquarters as hard as he could, making it rear up dangerously, sending Regina to the cold hard ground with a painful cry and nearly toppling over himself.

It was all the Queen could do to crawl and scurry out of the way of the wild bucking horse who ran off through the woods as fast as his legs could carry him.

Regina tried to follow but the men were too fast and blocked any which way for her to go. Tears rushed to her eyes as the largest of the men jumped down from his horse and approached her, unsheathing a rusted but still dangerously sharp dagger from his waist.

"If you touch me-!"

"See the question isn't 'if' I'm going to touch you…," he told her as the other two men dismounted as well. "It's how much I'm gonna enjoy me self doing it."

Regina backed up as far as she could, unfortunately hitting the chest of one of the highwaymen who grabbed her by the arms and wrenched them behind her back and making the young queen cry out in agony as well as disgust when she felt something hard pressing into her back.

"I'm the Queen!" she cried desperately as tears overflowed her eyes as he stood in front of her. The third man stood guard, looking up and down the road for anyone who might have ridden up on them. "You can't do this to me! King Leopold will have your heads!"

The leader snickered at her proclamation and held the knife up to her neck. "If you're the Queen then I'm the princess Snow White," he sneered, his eyes traveling over her body once more. "Now then, boys… shall we see what the 'Queen' has under that pretty white dress?"

He went to move his knife up to her gown, meant to cut the dress from the top of the bodice but before he could rip a single stitch, a loud 'twang' came from the forest beside them followed by a 'whoosh' and before Regina could even blink the man holding her arms suddenly fell to the dirt road, an arrow firmly lodged in the back of his head.

Before Regina could even blink another arrow was sent flying out from the trees, hitting the lookout square in the chest and dropping him like hot stone.

No longer sneering, the leader of the group unsheathed his sword, glaring at the dark forest.

"Coward!" he shouted at the darkness, holding both sword and dagger in front of him. "Come out and face me like a man, Locksley!"

There was an eerie silence all around them, neither man nor Queen dared to move. Even Regina was terrified to run, afraid of this Locksley character firing a bow and hitting her.

When a few moments that felt like a lifetime and passed the man's dangerous grin returned with a vengeance as he grabbed hold of Regina's arm and pulled her towards him with a loud scared cry from the Queen.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a black shape flitter across the road but it was gone before she could be sure of it.

"Guess it's just the two of us now, your majesty," he sneered, pulling the struggling and crying queen against his body.

"Guess again," a voice came suddenly from behind the two of them. The leader whipped around, ready to run whoever had interrupted him through with his sword when another arrow was loosed and struck him right in the heart, making him crash to the floor with a thunderous boom, taking Regina down with him. In the spot where she had been accosted, her whole body was shaking and trembling as the man with the bow and quiver of arrows carefully approached her.

"Don't be alarmed, M'lady, I'm only here to help," he told her with an unmatched softness. His accent seemed posher than the men who had attacked her, softer, gentler, warmer. He wore a forest green wool cloak over a dark green leather tunic with a white shirt underneath and dark brown leather riding trousers with tall leather boots.

Regina swallowed hard, shaking as he held out his hand to her.

"I won't touch you without your permission," he assured her, his eyes screaming that he was telling the truth. "I just want to help."

Still trembling slightly Regina reached out and took hold of his hand and he helped her off the ground.

"Thank you," she told him, a tremor still in ner voice. "For saving my life."

"You're quite welcome but there's no need to thank me for that, M'lady. Any honorable man would have done the same." He held out his hand to her. "My name's Robin, Robin of Locksley."

"Regina-." She bit her lip for a moment before she cleared her throat and grasped his outstretched hand. "Regina Cider."

His eyes glinted in amusement before he shook her hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Regina. I apologize that your first visit to Nottingham began with an assault, I assure you the rest of the kingdom is full of far better and honorable men."

"How do you know it's my first time visiting?"

"Because I've met most everyone in this kingdom."

"...And?"

A playful smirk crossed his lips. "And I doubt I'd ever forget meeting you."

Despite this wretched evening, despite the fear still eating away at her Regina smiled at her hero and when he offered her his arm, she took it and the two began the short trek towards the town.

"Not that I'm complaining," she said as they walked down the road. "But what were you doing out here this late at night?"

Robin chuckled softly as he slung his bow over his shoulder. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"You're my knight in green leather armor, I think I deserve to know the reason why my hero was able to save me."

Robin seemed to be waging some internal debate before he spoke. "There was a rumor that Prince John would be riding to King Leopold's castle tonight," he confessed to the Queen. "I had hoped to catch him and politely relieve him of the heavy burden that the sack of gold he was carrying was giving him."

Regina glanced over at her savior as the two of them walked into the small town on the edge of Nottingham, her heart began racing. "So… you were planning to rob the king?"

"The prince," Robin clarified. "As long as his brother lives, Richard is the rightful king. But… yes." Robin stopped and pointed to a rather run down building in the distance, an easy sight for someone with his eyesight but Regina had to squint to see where he was pointing at.

"That orphanage in the distance" he explained. "Was taxed to the point some of the children starved, all on the princes order. I was going to give them the gold I stole, every last cent."

Regina looked at her hero, this thief, and saw the truth shining as bright in his eyes as the candles burning in the windows of the homes beside them.

A playful smile rose on her lips. "Who knew a thief had honor?"

Robin returned the smile, something else in his smile that made butterflies that had laid dormant in Regina's stomach begin to flutter again like they had just done a few short months ago when Daniel would smile at her.

The pair began walking again and Regina found herself clutching his arm tighter and walking closer. "So if you'll permit me to ask, what would make a beautiful woman such as yourself ride alone at night?"

"I was heading to the inn, actually," Regina admitted.

"So you're not so alone then?" Seeing the confused look he continued. "A beautiful woman typically doesn't go to an inn late at night on Saint Hearts alone."

The way Robin called her beautiful, the effortless way he complimented her, something neither her mother nor her husband ever bothered to do, sent the already fluttering butterflies into more of a frenzy.

A soft smile rose on her lips as she shook her head. "I'm not meeting anyone, I swear." She wasn't sure why it was so important he knew that she wasn't meeting anyone but the butterflies definitely felt it was vital that he knew. "There was a party at King Leopold's castle and I really didn't wanna go."

Robin gazed at her in confusion. "You were invited to a party at a palace and you choose not to go?"

Realizing what she had said Regina cleared her throat and nodded. "Yes. I- I'm the Queen's handmaiden. I really didn't feel like working tonight."

A glint of amusement flashed in his eyes that she missed. "Oh really?"

"Mmm."

They stopped outside the inn that was fairly crowded with lovers getting drink and food before they headed up to their rooms they rented for a night of romance.

Robin held open the door and offering his hand once more indicating he wasn't quite ready to leave his new traveling companion just yet.

Regina bit her lip as a shy grin overtook her face and she slipped her hand into Robins as he assisted her up the rickety stone step and into the inn. He led her to the bar where he was greeted with a friendly smile from the barkeep and several other of the patrons, patting him the back, challenging him to a game of darts and thanking him for one charitable act or the other by buying him as many drinks as a man might possibly be able to drink in one night.

"You're certainly a popular man," Regina laughed as several mugs of ale were placed in front of him, one of which he slid over to the Queen. Robin chuckled and nodded, holding his mug aloft and motioning for Regina to do the same.

"That's what happens when you save children from the brink of starvation. Cheers," he said clinking his glass against hers.

A hint of a flirty smile brightened Olivia's face. "A bragger huh?"

"Just telling truths, M'lady. But you were telling me all about being a handmaiden in the Queen's service?"

Regina looked at him rather confused for a moment before she remembered the lie she told, that she was just a handmaiden looking to get out of work. She took a sip of ale in hopes of covering her hesitation and confusion. "Oh. Well… She's as normal as a Queen can be I suppose. The king would have ignored her all night anyway and I know her Majesty would want to be alone tonight to deal with that fact."

"...The Queen would prefer to be left alone?" he asked with a slight cock of his head. Unseen to Regina he put his feet down on the floor beneath him, ready to get up and honor her wishes but rather she surprised them both truthfully with a slow shake of her head.

"No. I think if she met someone willing to listen to her she would enjoy their company."

Robin nodded slowly, taking a swig of his ale without taking his eyes off Regina. "I see." He set the drink down on top of the faded wood of the bar. "But why do you think the king would ignore her?"

"Because he hardly looks at her apart from when he wants someone to warm his bed," she muttered. "Not that she minds, mind you. She can barely stand the sight of him, his insipid daughter either."

"Well from what I've heard, the king landed a queen far more beautiful than all the stars in the sky. Leopold should be counting his blessings nightly, I'd say. It actually buggers belief how a man that soft and old found himself worthy of being with someone so enchanting."

"He isn't worthy," Regina assured him with a heavy swallow of ale. "As bitterly low as the Queen's self esteem is, even she knows she deserves better then him."

She took a long drink of the ale in front of her and turned to look at him. "Her mother accepted the proposal for her, she didn't even have a chance to say no," Regina explained. "After the proposal, she and Daniel, the stable boy she had been seeing, made plans to run off and get married in secret. The king's daughter found out, told the Queen's mother and… her mother murdered Daniel in front of the Queen."

She wasn't quite sure what made her speak about Daniel to this man, to this stranger truthfully. She hadn't spoken a word about Daniel to anyone in the year since she watched Cora crush his heart into a pile of dust at her feet. Rather it was to protect Snow White from knowing what she had caused or to protect herself from the stabbing pain that accompanied her thoughts about him or something else but for whatever reason; she hadn't spoken his name in over a year.

But with Robin that ache in her heart lessened to a dull roar when she talked about him. She barely knew him, he was a self admitted thief who stole from royalty, of which she very much was. But she felt a certain comfortableness she never felt with anyone before, not even Daniel. She could trust him with her secrets...

Robin bowed his head for a moment before he picked hi head up, blue eyes finding brown.

"I'm sorry." He spoke softly, gently, like it would have made him ill to speak harshly to her. "I didn't-... No one deserves that. Least of all a woman such as yourself."

Regina blinked away the tears that accompanied his name, even that warmth Robin was exuding wasn't enough to make her completely dry eyed when she spoke about her first love, and cleared her throat.

"Thank you. But is there any chance we could go back to pretending you're dumb enough to not know what the Queen looks like? It was rather enjoyable just being Regina Cider the handmaiden for a while," she confessed.

Robin laughed, the deep joyful sound sending shockwaves of happiness through her and she smiled at the man, any thoughts of the king or that bratty little princess long gone.

"Of course, M'lady. Now then." He raised his glass and took a drink, looking at her overtop the rim. "Why don't you tell me more about our Queen? If rumors are to be believed, she's one of the fairest women in the land."

As hard as Regina fought to stop it the furious blush that painted her cheeks crimson returned. She looked at him, fighting a losing battle to bite back her smile.

"Well what else have you heard about her?" she asked with a subtle flavor of flirtation.

That almost smug grin that made it appear like he was in on some grand joke that no one else seemed to be in on made its way to his face again.

"I heard she was stunning, in every way," Robin answered, his eyes soft and gentle and warm as he looked at her, truly believing every word he was saying.

As he spoke his hand just so happened to find it's way over to the edge of Regina's chair but rather than rest his hand on her thigh like most men would do he simply grabbed hold of her hand and gently squeezed, the first gentle touch she had since that short kiss she and Daniel shared before they were supposed to leave.

Regina could scarcely breathe as she gazed into her heroes eyes; kind and gentle and soft with the same shade of blue that Daniels had been.

After a moment Regina cleared her throat and pulled her hand away, blushing a scarlet red that made Robin chuckle at the sight of it. "Forgive me, M'lady, I did not mean to make you blush."

"No I'm sure you didn't," she answered with a rather cheeky grin. "But you flatter me, Sir, with all this knowledge about our Queen."

"Do I?"

"Mmm. If she were here she would be quite flattered as well, I assure you. In fact…" She gnawed at her lip for a moment before she reached out and placed a hand on his leather covered putter thigh, drawing a raised brow from the man sitting across from her. "I would say she would be very flattered as a matter of fact…"

He bit his lip to fight back a smug grin as he reached out and buried a calloused hand in her soft dark colored hair.

"She would, would she?"

"Mmm…"

"So flattered that Her Majesty might permit a no good thief to kiss her in a rather seedy bar?"

It was the first time she had been asked permission for anything regarding her body since the day she walked down that aisle...

Regina grinned and leaned in close. "I can most assuredly say, she would absolutely permit that."

Without wasting another second, Robin closed the last few inches of space between them and pressed his lips against hers.

Gods Regina Mills loved The Day of the Saints Heart.

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