A/N: So I adopted this story from FaerieTales4ever and this is also my first Once Upon A Time fic, the first 7 chapters have buteen written by the previous author so I make no claim on them.

XXX

Regina ran. She didn't know what else to do. All she could was, 'The King has proposed to me! Me, of all people! And mother had just agreed without my consent! Shouldn't I be the one to choose?! It is MY life!' It was like Regina's worst nightmare had come true. She bolted to the stables and threw open the doors. "Daniel!" She called out desperately. The stable boy immediately straightened from his work and turned toward her, worried at the distressed tone of her voice.

"Regina!" He went to her in quick with confident strides. "What is it, what's happened?"

Regina launched herself at the man, hugging him tightly, never wanting to let go. "Daniel," she whispered passionately, "Marry me."

Daniel held her tenderly, but moved so he could see her face, "Regina what're you doing?" Daniel asked, slightly taken aback. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry her; in fact it was his greatest desire. He loved Regina more than all the stars in the sky. He even had his local blacksmith friend make a ring for her. Daniel planned to propose on her 25th birthday, only three days away. To hear that she wanted this as much as he did, well, it elated him but to see her ask it with such distress and urgency, as if the answer he gave could save her life, that was what troubled him so deeply.

Regina, by this point, was about to break. Her mother had taken everything from her. Her childhood was not a pleasant one; filled with memories of horrible pain and abuse, both physical and emotional. Regina had always tried her hardest to please her mother, but no matter what she did, or how good she was, it never seemed to be enough - she took every opportunity to say so. When Regina was almost fifteen, she seriously contemplated ending it all. She had no friends, her father - though he loved her - barely stood up for her under Cora's rage. She honestly felt she had nothing left to live for.

Then she met Daniel.

Regina had gone horseback riding, the one thing that could still bring her any amount of happiness, out in the pasture on a relatively young steed that was still easily spooked. She was attempting to train him. Usually her father accompanied her, but he had gone out for the day and Regina thought she was experienced enough to have at least one ride out on her own. A deer sprinted across the road in front of them and caused the animal to rear and take off down the path, Regina only barely hanging on. As the raced past a nearby farm, Daniel, who had been fixing the fence outside his mother's house, heard the horse's wild whinnying mixed with Regina's anguished cries. He immediately mounted his family's black Pinto and rode out bareback to rescue her. He caught up fairly quickly, racing ahead of her and pulling tautly at the other horse's reigns. The animal halted, but the girl slid off him and into the grass. Daniel dismounted and went to help her. "Are you alright?" He had asked as he helped her to her feet.

Regina stared at him in awe. "Y-yes," she said breathlessly, "a bit shaken up, but otherwise all right. And I don't think I'll be taking him out anytime again soon, though." She gestured to her chestnut bay.

"Nonsense," Daniel chuckled, "he just needs a little encouragement." Daniel helped her mount and spent the rest of the afternoon coaching her.

When Regina returned home and explained to her father Daniel's heroics and how he'd helped her with the bay, Henry insisted they hire him as Regina's riding instructor. It wasn't long before the two realized they had feelings for each other stronger than just friends.

Looking at him now, she couldn't bear to think of becoming anyone else's wife.

"Did you tell your mother about us?" His gentle voice called her back to the present.

"No!" Regina burst out tearfully, "And now I can never tell her, she won't understand!"

"Why?" Daniel wondered aloud, "What happened?" He hated seeing her like this.

"That girl I saved," she chocked through her emotions, "was the King's daughter! And now he's proposed…to me!"

"What?" Daniel was shocked.

"My mother accepted!" She sobbed, ignoring partly because she was still in shock and part of herself didn't want to repeat herself. She turned away from him, trying to collect herself. There was only one thing she had in common with her mother; she did not like when people saw her break down. Not even with Daniel, not even when the situation was so bad it provided no foreseeable way- wait. "The only way out is to run," she murmured to herself as realisation dawned on her. She turned back to Daniel, putting all the hope she had left into what she said next, "We must leave! We'll be married! We must never come back!"

Daniel wished nothing more than to do as his beloved asked. But, to leave a chance to be Queen, for a life with a stable boy? Did she really wish to do such a thing? "Gina," he warned, cupping her face in his palms, "The life of a stable girl is a far cry from life as Queen."

"Being Queen means nothing!" She insisted, "All I care about is you."

She looked at him with such earnest, such warmth, that Daniel couldn't help but smile. "Well," he said, "If I'm going to marry you, lets do this properly." He went over to her saddle, which he had been polishing when she found him, and unhitched a simple gold ring from it's hiding place. He beamed as he came back over to Regina who gazed lovingly at the jeweled band as he placed it on her finger. Then they kissed, long and passionately.

Suddenly, Regina heard a thud in the hay by the stable door. She turned to find a little chesnut brown haired girl in a nightgown standing there, tears streaming down her face.

Snow.

"Dear, what are you doing here?" Regina asked, slightly alarmed. What was the girl doing out so late? It was nearly half past 12.

Snow's lip quivered. "You- you said to get back on the horse so-" she trailed off looking from Regina to Daniel and back again. Regina recognized that look. A look of extreme pain and confusion, a look that had stared back at her through the mirror many times over after her mother had abused her. She felt wronged, she felt betrayed.

"Snow, I can explain," she pleaded. But before she could say anything, the princess turned around and stormed off into the night. Regina threw Daniel a fleeting look and took off after the distressed girl

"Snow, Snow!" She called frantically. She was a few paces behind the princess, but she was a fast runner. Regina caught up to Snow when she tripped on the road, unable to see through her tears. Regina rushed and helped her to her knees.

"Are you all right?" Regina asked, and then silently cursed herself. 'Of course she's not all right! Look at her!'

"No…no," Snow managed between her sobs. She couldn't bear this. She had lost her mother only one-year prior, and since then her father had been scouring the land for a new wife. At first, Snow wanted nothing to do with this. No one could replace her mother. Everyone Leopold brought to the castle was a duchess or another noble. They were far too proper for Snow's taste. They tried to be nice to her, but Snow knew they were only trying to win her father's affections. They did not really care about her. She could not see herself able to live with these people, kind as they may or may not have been.

She could not envision calling them Mother or baking cakes with them or them playing games with her. She certainly couldn't imagine them protecting her from the violent things her father had tried to do to her since her mother passed. At first King Leopold was just quieter, sadder. And then he was sterner. He raised his voice at her for the first time a month after Eva died, and it scared her. Sure her parents had scolded her before, but never by yelling. They were always calm, trying to explain to her why what she had done was wrong and how to fix it. Snow was sure one of the servants heard, but no one had the courage to question the King. Her nursemaid Johanna had comforted her afterward, assuring her that her father was only like this because he was grieving. But he yelled at her almost every day following, for every little thing she did wrong. At first, Snow was deeply wounded by this, thinking that grieving over her mother's death must have somehow caused her to turn into a bad child. As months passed though, Snow grew used to her father's now quickly escalating temper, avoiding him as much as possible.

Then there was the hitting. It was her father's birthday, and all she wanted to do was bake him a cake. The servant's agreed to help her and she caught on quickly. When she went to bring her father the cake, he was having tea with ambassadors from other kingdoms to discuss an alliance for a coming war. She offered them cake as well, but the ambassadors mistook her intentions, appalled that the King would make his own daughter a servant. They promptly left before her father could explain.

He'd slapped her across the face and knocked her to the floor.

This upset her much more than any amount of yelling, but her father demanded she keep it hidden. He seemed to regret his actions, but warned her if she told anyone, it would happen again.

She told Johanna.

The hitting became more frequent after that, the yelling habit now all but a distant memory, replaced with a much more violent one. Yet, even that became commonplace for her.

One night, King George had come to visit. Snow had had a particularly awful run in with her father that day. He'd been drinking heavily and as a result been more violent than ever before, calling her Eva and asking why Snow's mother had left him alone. Then he beat her to a point of near unconsciousness. She tried to get away, or call for the servants, but nothing worked. Johanna found her just as her father was leaving the room, but the image of his face was engrained in her mind. His eyes glazed over as if he was in a trance, as if he was portraying another's actions. That's what it seemed like to Snow, that he was another man at those times. That he was so lost in his grief for Snow's mother he became someone other than her father.

King George had noticed the princess's plight and, in her chambers, offered Snow an herbal tea he claimed to have brewed from a plethora of the most powerful healing herbs of the realm. Snow accepted it gratefully, letting the warm liquid spread throughout her body slowly.

But the pleasurable sensation didn't last long. Soon the comforting sense of heat; as though she was drinking hot coco on a cold winters night, transformed into a white-hot searing pain specifically targeted at her lower abdomen. She remembered many nurses bustling around her chambers, but everything was distorted. After awhile, she fell into a fitful sleep. Since that night, she had asked Johanna to move into her chambers saying she needed her reassurance. It helped, nevertheless Snow felt that ever since then, something about her was different, though she had no idea what.

She had hoped that a new wife would make him happy and she wouldn't have to worry about that other side of her father any longer. Although she couldn't imagine ever meeting such a woman to make them both content again.

Until Regina.

When Snow met Regina her warm demeanor, so similar to Eva's, immediately comforted her. When she told her father what the woman had done for her, Leopold was in awe of her and went to propose to her right away. When he'd told Snow Regina had accepted, she was ecstatic. Regina would never be her mother, but she could see herself loving the kind, gentle, woman almost as if she were.

And then she had gone to the stables. How could Regina do this to her, to her father? She had to know.

"What were you doing with that man in the stables?" She asked between shaky breaths. "You're to marry my father! You're to be my mother!"

"Snow, listen to me," Regina begged. "You're father, he's a kind and fair man, but I don't love him."

"I don't understand," Snow said. Why would Regina accept her father's proposal if she didn't love him?

"My mother accepted for me," Regina confessed. "Love, real love, true love; it's magic." Regina smiled genuinely at the little girl, who was finally looking at her. "It's the most powerful thing in the world."

"And this man, in the stables," Snow asked, "you love him?"

"With all my heart," Regina admitted shyly, her face glowing.

Snow gave her a faint smile as she dried her eyes, "Then- " her voice hitched slightly, but she wanted Regina to be happy. "Then you must marry him!" She declared.

Regina beamed and the two hugged. Snow turned to walk back to the stables, but the woman grabbed her arm, "Wait!" she cautioned, fear lacing her voice.

"Yes?" Snow said, turning back to face her friend.

The raven-haired beauty bit her lip. "Do you know what a secret is?" She finally asked.

Snow shook her head.

"Then what you saw, what I told you, you must keep it a secret." Regina implored

"Why?"

'How best to explain such a thing to an innocent child?' Regina wondered. "Because…because there are people who don't want Daniel and I to be together." That was the simplest way she could think to put it.

"But…" Snow was confused again, "you're in love. Why would anyone want to keep you from being with those you love?"

Regina laughed a breathy laugh, "I don't know, Snow. But if certain people found out- if my mother found out-"

"You're mother? But why would you're mother care who you are with, if they make you happy?" Snow was thinking of her mother and how she would've done anything to make sure her baby was happy.

Regina sighed. 'Why must things be so complicated?' "My mother-" She tried to select her words carefully. "She believes I should focus on raising my social stature-"

Snow cut her off again, "Surely if you just explained what you felt for him-"

"No!" Regina panicked, startling Snow. "Dear, please, you must understand me. My mother must not know. It doesn't matter what her reasons, but she will harm Daniel and I if she knows."

Snow's eyes widened and she shook her head violently.

"Can you keep my secret for me?' Regina asked.

Snow nodded determinedly. "I promise."

XXX

Two days later Snow sat in her chambers, deep in thought. Last night, Regina's mother Cora had come to talk to the princess in the greenhouse. She had paid Snow many compliments, saying she enjoyed how close Snow and her daughter had become. Then she asked Snow a strange question. "Why is my daughter pulling away?" She'd wondered.

Snow, concerned, asked her what she meant and Cora had said that she missed the days when they were close and she didn't want to lose her daughter. That had struck a cord with the princess, who believed no one should lose her mother. Snow begged Regina's mother to call off Regina's wedding to her father and let Regina be happy.

Cora was instantly more alert. "I would do anything to make her happy. Come dear, you can tell me," she'd said causing Snow to heave a sigh of relief. But then Cora had combed back Snow's bangs and said, "You must tell me."

And Snow had.

Now looking back on it, Snow wondered if she'd done the right thing. "You must tell me." It sounded so…possessive. Regina had said her mother didn't approve of Daniel. The conversation in the greenhouse made Snow doubt that Regina understood her mother, but now she was beginning to question her judgment.

Snow heard a crunching on the cold grass outside her window. She looked out to find Cora strutting toward the stables with a sinister look on her face. On a hunch, the princess threw on her cloak and followed the wealthy woman.

Just as she suspected, Cora headed to the stables. Snow hid by the side of the door and crouched down as Regina and Daniel were halted by Cora's menacing form.

"You could've at least left a note," Cora said, stone-faced. Snow winced as Cora used magic to fling the fleeing couple onto the warm hay of the stables, throwing them backwards with a jolt. The door's shut behind them with a metallic 'Clang!' just as the princess crept inside and ducked behind barrels of hay.

The look on Regina's face was one of pure terror and it pained Snow to know she'd caused it.

"Mother, I-"

"Don't." Cora spat. "You sneak out of my house in the dead of night and think I won't notice, how dare you?"

"You're impossible to talk to," Regina said, finding her voice, "just listen to me! I want to be with Daniel."

"You don't know what you want," Cora scoffed indifferently, "I do. I didn't get you to the cusp of greatness to become the wife of a stable boy."

"But it's my life!" Regina argued. Snow couldn't believe what was happening.

Cora laughed a bit insanely, "Oh you silly, foolish girl. It's mine. The things I had to do. The deals I had to make to get this life and you want to toss it away?" Regina looked seconds from breaking.

"Stay strong," Daniel murmured.

'Fight for the magic' Snow thought. 'True Love is the most powerful thing in the world.'

Regina faced her mother. "You nor your magic can rip us apart," she asserted, "I love him."

"And I love her." echoed Daniel.

"I know," said Cora complacently, "but I love her too."

"If you loved me you would let us be together," Regina protested.

"If you loved me, you wouldn't try to run." Her mother countered.

"I'm sorry," Regina apologized, "but this is my happy ending. We're going."

"No, you're not." Regina's mother stated matter-of-factly. Snow wondered if she was the only one who noticed the magic sparking off the woman's fingertips.

"So what's your plan?" Regina retorted, "You're going to keep us here forever? Because that's what you'll have to do."

Snow saw the change in Cora. She knew her current tactic of intimidating her daughter had lost the edge the princess knew from intuition it must've once had. Regina had found her courage, something Cora thought had been squelched long ago. She was calculating now, forming another course of action. Snow got a sinking feeling in her stomach. She could only hope Regina saw her mother as she did. But, eying Regina, she could see the only thing the ebony haired woman saw in her mother's silent pondering was a fleeting wisp of hope that she might finally understand.

Cora spoke again, "So this is you're decision," she asked her daughter. "This will make you happy?" Snow could see it was a trick, but Regina was too busy clinging to that last bit of faith she had that she wouldn't have to lose her mother to gain her fairytale ending.

"It already has." She whispered contently.

"Then I'm not going to stop you," Cora said.

Regina went and wrapped her arms around the older woman. "Thank you mother."

But Cora was looking past her, at Daniel. Snow braced herself.

"Daniel," the older woman walked toward the stable hand, who looked at her expectantly. "If you want to have a life with Regina," she told him, "then there's one important lesson I want to give you. It's how do be a parent. You always have to do what's best for your children,"

"I know," Daniel smiled.

"Good," Cora said, "then you'll understand why I'm doing this."

Snow, who, sensing that if anything was going to go wrong, Daniel would feel the brunt of it, had crept closer to him. She saw Cora's deception coming a second before Regina did.

Two shouts of "No!" and "Mother!" rang through the stables simultaneously. A second before Cora's hand could lodge itself in Daniel's chest, the princess leaped in front of him, gasping as Cora's cold hand gripped her heart and started sucking all the life out of her.

Just as Snow thought she was taking in her last breath, she could almost see her mother, waiting for her. She could be happy. She would no longer be abused or neglected. Regina would marry her true love and Snow would finally have her mother again. Suddenly, a voice screamed "NO!" Cora's hand released her heart just before everything went black.