The hands working so expertly at Snow White's waist tensed. The sound of a pin falling to the ground halted the chatter that had filled the room throughout the day. Snow White had been lost in her thoughts. She was too far into them to notice the shift in the room's conduct.

"Leave us," A voice said, cutting the tension it itself had created. The hands working at Snow White were gone in an instant. The Princess' back was turned away from the threshold of her bedroom, she was facing the window that overlooked the courtyard. She had been watching the proceedings in silence on a pedestal designed for the seamstress making her gown for the party. There were dozens of people moving back and forth bringing things into the castle. She let her mind wander as she watched them. Each one of these people had a story. They all had a life.

Snow White wondered how alike these people could be to her. She questioned if her story was truly unique as she wished there was someone in her shoes to offer some guidance. There was only one person who knew what was going on and even so there was no way the Queen knew how Snow felt. The Princess could barely understand Regina. She hadn't the slightest idea what was happening to the Queen.

There had to be something in common within the two girls, something that had pushed them together in such a way. Snow White had decided. There was no one else, not a single Soul that was experiencing anything even close to what she was battling. It made the Princess crave Regina more. Snow thought she could learn so much more about herself from Regina, she wanted to be able to do the same for her Queen. Heeled steps approached her. She was finally in the presence of Regina again, the day was late and the sun was falling and all of Snow White's wishes seemed to be coming true.

"I said, leave us," Regina's voice was further into the room now. Snow was so accustomed to Johanna's presence that she had not realized that her care taker was standing firmly by her side. There was a flash of anger in her brows. She stood with her back straight, defiantly.

Snow White heard Regina hiss, at the corner of her eye she saw Johanna flinch. A shroud of darkness filled the room as if the clouds were suffocating the falling sunlight. But the darkness had a purple tint to it. Johanna was shaking, but Snow White did not dare turn around to see what had her so scared.

"I don't like repeating myself," The Queen said calmly. Snow watched Johanna's head shake in quick agreement. Before she left her mark she squeezed Snow's arm. The Princess was not sure what Johanna was trying to communicate to her but she thought of it no longer as she felt Regina come up behind her and take the stop of her seamstress.

"You really are the fairest of them all," Regina said. Her voice was husky. Snow White had noticed the change. When the air first meet there was a lightness to her tone, as if each of her words were veiled in something reassuring and bright.

"Don't" Regina commanded as Snow white tried to take a step down from the pedestal she'd spent her day on. "Please don't turn around. I can't stand the sight of you."

The Princess froze in her spot. She was barely wearing a dress at all. Her body was covered in loss pieces of fabric all intricately pinned together. She felt so exposed and also to safe guarded. She wanted to let her knees unlock and just fall backwards into the arms of her stepmother. She wanted to fall into Regina and fly and be kissed. She wanted to look her in the eyes for long enough to be able to ask why does this pain feel so good.

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But the Queen was the one talking. She had stepped even closer to the girl. The Queen was much taller than her stepdaughter yet in her raised position Regina reached up to her shoulder blades. The younger girl's back was bare. Once complete the baby blue dress would reveal several of the Princess' freckles. It was a far more revealing cut than the dress usually ordered for the girl. Someone had to have purposefully adjusted the dress in lieu of the upcoming birthday party.

Regina had her hands on Snow White's exposed back before she could even figure if it was the correct tactical decision. Her words flew out of her mouth without being checked. Something was coming over her, the Queen hoped it was her magic.

"Do you think your suitors will care to appreciate the birth marks on your back?" as Regina spoke lazily her fingers played across the pale skin. The sight before Regina was as if the stars could shine in the sunlight, dark marks across fair skin. Snow White fought off a shiver as long finger nails traced out the pattern in her freckles.

"I hope a Charming Prince will." Regina continued. There was a deep dark violet hue emitting from her finger tips. Regina could feel her hands summoning each individual pin to fall to the floor. But the Queen checked herself. She was playing game, and it required a strategy. It required patience. Mostly, Regina chimed to herself, it required discipline. There would be no better way to toy with the girl than to keep in a state of wanting.

"Regina," Snow whispered in a shy breath. The Queen saw the girl's knees shaking. There was an obvious build up within her craving to be released. So the Queen pressed herself into Snow White's back, eliciting a sharp inhale from the younger girl. Regina thought about the book she had just read from cover to cover. It had made her think about the times she had felt love in her life, and what those scenes would look like if she was the third party watching from a far.

In her deepest moments of young love, parental love and true love there was always one common denominator. It was an embrace. So Regina moved slowly, each of her joints bent delicately as her hands went from the girls back down to around her waist. Regina pulled the girl closer as she pushed herself deeper.

Regina ignored the slight sharp pains that nipped at different parts of her body as pins pierced at her skin. The Princess' hands crossed her arms around Regina's and pulled at them, asking the impossible. To be closer. The Queen rest her cheek on the warm flesh of the Princess' back and held the tight squeeze.

"We can't" She said in a whisper. The contact felt real to the Queen, she had to remind herself that it was all orchestrated. She reasoned that her body related this contact to love and could be easily confused. But her mind was not a fool and it had chosen its words wisely.

Regina removed her cheek and her lips took its spot. She placed a kiss on dark beauty mark, and without lifting her lips continued. "I won't"

Snow White was holding on tight, not just to the embrace but to what Regina was meaning to deny her. Regina smiled at the hold Snow had on her, instead of letting go she just vanished. Leaving Snow alone, with the sensation of a few pins prickling at her back.

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