City of Starlight

Chapter 26 (II) - Haunted Nuptials

To alleviate herself of her worries, Regina quickly wound her arm around the King and asked him how his trip was. Her heartbeats only settled when the frown on his face disappeared as he began to talk about the past two months with his family. Or rather, with Snow. The King's head was turned the other way the entire walk to his chambers. Regina was sure she could be crying that very moment and he wouldn't notice. She could be, but she wouldn't. No, things like crying only belonged to the past. 

When the King entered his inner chambers to freshen up, Regina followed. Along the way, she picked up the cloak she had finished embroidering a week ago and showed it to him. There was an exchange of thanks. Otherwise, he merely took a glance at the bundle before placing it onto the bed. Then, in a low voice, he asked the question she had been dreading. 

Of course she didn't miscarry. She couldn't have been pregnant in the first place, as she made sure that her womb would always be barren whenever the King forced his seed into her. She was glad that after dosing Leopold with the forgetting potion, he would no longer mention the past ever again, but it also meant that he would continue thinking she was unable to conceive. Useless creature, he would call her. The King pursed his lips, turning away when she lied and told him she had miscarried. Perhaps it was better than saying she was barren, because it meant her body tried. Still, it wasn't good enough for him. He walked away after changing, leaving Regina lingering in his bedchamber for a moment. After shaking herself out of her daze and recomposing herself, she followed him to the banquet. 

At least he seemed pleased with the festivities. There was a smile on his face when he laughed with his ministers, or when he danced...with his daughter. Regina had cleared her throat, ready to assert herself and ask him if he wanted to dance with her. Before a syllable fell out of her lips however, Snow White approached and the King's attention was gone once again. 

Regina was left with the wives of the nobles and their ridiculous gossip. They cooed over her gown and necklace, which she counted as a win. She thought the rest of the evening might be bearable in their presence until they started to talk about a lesser noble's divorce with his wife because the woman was found pregnant with a bastard child. Regina could feel bile rise to her throat as the women expressed their sympathy for the Marquis and his children, without a shred of remorse for the woman. Perhaps she too had been stuck in a loveless marriage? Perhaps she too had been ignored by all those around her? Though that may have been the case, Regina doubted that the father and the woman's child would have been killed. 

The Queen softened her frown when she caught the inquisitive gaze of Lord Iver's wife. Turning back to the group of women around her, Regina realised that they had begun to talk about the King and her stepdaughter. How gentle the King is to young Snow White; how he dotes on her; how he loves her so very much. Regina excused herself and fled to the powder room in a random chamber reserved for guests. Her shaking hands gripped the back of the chair in front of the vanity, her knuckles bleached white. When she looked up, she realised the paleness wasn't just affecting her hands. With the wave of her hand, Regina made an image of the women appear on the surface of the mirror.

"It's a shame. His Majesty would have loved a son; someone who might succeed him and bring honour to the House of Blanchard."

"I heard she's barren. That's why she hasn't been able to give him any children. They've already been married for four years, I would think she'd have at least two children by now, given her age."

"Ah you see, there has been whispers about her. They say she's a witch. She probably placed an enchantment on the King so that he would marry her."

"Oh don't say that, I doubt she's one of the magic folk, but it's true she probably did something to make him love her."