Chapter Text
The rain was coming down in buckets, threatening to drown the small village, while the wind was trying to pull trees from the ground, roots and all. Or so it had seemed to Robin, as he was riding from one village to this. The way here had been a struggle, which was why he was now sitting in the village tavern, considering staying put for the night. But as he sat, drinking a mug of warm cider, the wind seemed lighter, as it rushed around the houses outside. Maybe it was just that he wanted to get as close to home, as he could before dark, that made it so. But he thought the storm was easing up. His original plan, entering the tavern had been to spend the night there. He had thought that the weather was too bad to keep riding, but now he wasn’t so sure. With the storms he had seen in his past, this at most would qualify as a bit of rain.
“Are you going back out?” The barkeep asked in his thick northern accent.
“I might” Robin shrugged shortly, before drinking more of the cider. It was good, considering the poor state of the tavern. To be honest, Robin would have been willing to drink anything at the moment, as long as it was warm. He was already soaked to the bone and exhausted from the long ride. He still had at least a couple more days to go, but he wanted to get as far as he could in one day. And it was still light out.
It was autumn now and the days were getting colder as well as wetter and shorter. Living as a thief was so much easier during the summer, when you could just sleep under the stars and not worry too much about shelter. But as soon as the cold sat in, it got a lot tougher. Robin’s group of outlaws had grown over the summer, the latest addition had been a mother and her toddler daughter. And of course there was his own son too. Now, Robin could deal with the cold of living in a poorly structured shelter, over the winter. But he would not see his boy, or any of the children for that matter, go cold or hungry. And that was the point of his quest, to find a place for them to spend the winter.
It hadn’t been easy and he had had to travel further than he thought, no one in their local area would put up such a big flock. Or they just didn’t want to risk anyone finding out, they would hang for it, if anyone did. So Robin rode north for three days, hoping that that would be enough to find a place where no one knew them and therefore a place for them to hide. At the same time, he had sent a man east, one south, and one west. That way, hopefully they would find a good spot for them.
The barkeep shook his head at him. “You’d be crazy to go back out into that, doesn’t look like it’ll end soon”
“I have to get home and there’s still daylight to spend – how far is it to the next village?”
“An hour by horse, maybe two in this weather – but you won’t make it that far”
“And there’s nothing in between?”
The barkeep looked as if he was thinking about it. “Nothing that I can think of – except for the castle of course, but no one goes there, so it’s pretty run down. And people say it’s haunted”
“Haunted? “ Robin asked skeptically “By what?”
“Well” The barkeep leaned against the bar, leaning in towards him, like whatever haunted the castle was a secret. Robin got the feeling that this wasn’t the first time this man had told the story. “There are many different versions of the story. But legend has it that many years ago, there lived an evil witch in the castle. And she wasn’t just any evil witch, she was the most evil witch there has ever been. She killed many people and even cursed her own daughter. Some say she ripped the heart out of her son’s chest and crushed it with her bare hands. In the end though, somebody managed to imprison her in the castle. Don’t know how they did it, but that’s what the legend says.”
“And she’s still alive then?” He had to say, the accent, the weather and the tone with which he spoke, made it all sound very convincing. But Robin was still sure that it was just a scary story.
“No no, she died many years ago, but they say she still haunts the castle and rips out the heart of anyone who tries to enter.”
Right – could ghosts even do that? In any case, Robin was not convinced, it sounded more like an oldwife’s tale than a true story.
“In any case, you’re better off staying here”
He couldn’t tell if he said that out of true concern, or just to make more money from him. Probably the latter. Robin finished his cider and took a moment or two to think about whether or not he should risk going out in that weather again. “I appreciate the concern, but I think I’ll risk it” He put a few coins on the counter, before getting up. All the while wondering if he was insane or not.
An hour later, when he was back on his horse and out in the rain, Robin decided that he was most definitely insane. The storm was much worse than he had predicted. Apparently the little village had been sheltered by the surrounding mountains, making the storm seem weaker than it was. Because now Robin was having trouble staying on the horse, because the wind was so violent. Not to mention the fact that he had lost all feeling in his fingers and toes minutes after he left the village. So holding on to the reins was quite difficult.
The progress they were making, was slow at best. In the end Robin had to get off and walk beside the horse, leaning into the wind and dragging the horse with him. This wouldn’t do, at this rate he wouldn’t reach the next village until hours after it had gotten dark. And right now he wasn’t sure he could keep going for more than another ten minutes. If he hadn’t been exhausted when he was in the tavern, he certainly was now.
“Come on boy, just a bit further” Robin urged the horse on, maybe just as much to keep himself going. There had to be a place with shelter somewhere, anywhere that was out of the wind and the rain would be more than fine right now.
Just when Robin was about to give up, he spotted a path off of the road. Something that used to be a proper road, if the remains of gravel was anything to go by. But it was now overgrown with grass and other weeds. It clearly hadn’t been used in a long while. But it had to lead somewhere, somewhere run down or some remains of a house, but still some kind of building. Anywhere that could give shelter for a while. Robin could sleep just about anywhere, but he was getting too cold, falling asleep outside would not be a good idea.
He turned down the path and within five minutes small castle came into sight. Small only by comparison with other castles he had seen of course, there was nothing small about this, compared to a house or the tavern he had just visited. It was surrounded by a moat, obviously meant to be impossibly to besiege. He stopped and looked at his horse, as if he was asking it for advice, when he realized that this had to be the castle the barkeep had been talking about. “Well, it’s either this or sleeping under a tree”
He still wasn’t sure if he believed the story or not, but if it was true, the ghost would be ripping out his heart and it wasn’t exactly something he would risk lightly. But if it wasn’t true, then there was a perfectly good place where he could rest and warm up. It might not be warm in there, but at least it would be out of the wind and the rain.
The castle had its only little village next to it. There wasn’t much more than 10 houses, so Robin supposed it was more a gathering of houses, than an actual village. Houses for the people who worked at the castle, in its heyday. People like blacksmiths and carpenters who were needed at the castle, but not important enough to have a room in the building. All the houses were outside of the moat, including the stables. There wasn’t even much of a garden around the castle. Considering it had been someone’s prison that seemed appropriate.
The houses weren’t much to look at, pretty much just ruins of what they had been. But the stables were massive and had held up better to time, then the rest of the houses. There were still holes in the roof in most places and a few spots where the walls were caving in. But Robin managed to find a stall by the end, where the walls were still whole and the roof was too. The stall was bare, not a scrap of hay in sight, but it would have to do. If Arthur, the horse, got hungry, he could always eat the weeds that were coming up through the cobblestone floor. Once he was settled in and out of the saddle and bridle, Robin left the stable and headed to the moat.
The drawbridge was down, although there wasn’t much of a bridge left. Most of the boards that went across it, were broken down or gone entirely. Robin wasn’t even sure if it would hold his weight, but it did. The wind threatened to blow him off it a few times, but before he knew it, he was on the other side. Maybe he should be turning back, but he had come this far already, turning back now would be foolish. Besides, there was a perfectly good shelter just ahead, why should he settle for a drafty stable, when he might even be able to have a fire and dry off. Looking around, his blue eyes didn’t land on anything too ominous. So he tried to shake off whatever fear he still had and stepped into the courtyard of the castle. There wasn’t much to see, except for the tall walls of the building, the cobblestone ground and a few statues, that time had taken its toll on, making them basically unrecognizable. The only thing he could imagine had been just relatively brightening in the dim courtyard, was the, now dead, tree in the center of it. The branches of it had broken off and were scattered around the courtyard. Only about 2 or 3 feet of the trunk were left standing. It truly was a sad sight, but Robin didn’t stay to look at it for too long. Instead he walked across the courtyard and entered the castle.
It should have felt nice, being out of the wind and the rain. The door stayed on its hinges, barely, but when it closed, instead of feeling relief, Robin only felt dread. The castle was dark and gloomy, everything was covered in dust. You would think that people, like himself, would have robbed the place years ago, but no one seemed to have. Instead time had passed and left its trace on everything. Whether that was mold or moth, making furniture as well as carpets and paintings, slowly fall apart, or just the thick layer of dust that seemed only to have been disturbed by bugs, mice and rats for a very long time.
The feeling of intruding was not new to Robin, but it felt different here. This was an abandoned place, it felt empty, dead even. It felt more like stepping on someone’s grave than breaking into their home.
Robin could have left this place a very rich man, but instead he was more in favor of finding the nearest fireplace, start a fire and get some sleep. In the morning, he’d leave as fast as he could. Thankfully there was a fireplace in the hallway, which was the first room he entered. It was a big room, with doors leading to other rooms on either sides, and a double staircase opposite the entry. Despite the castle being build of grey stones and the interior was the same, Robin could still imagine that it had looked grand, back in the day. But in this gloomy light it just looked sad and abandoned.
There was already wood in the hallway fireplace, very dry and partially eaten up by bugs, but still plenty left to burn. As was the wood stacked in a small pile beside the fireplace. It took very little kindling to make it light up and bless Robin with its sweet, sweet heat. Moving one of the more sturdy chairs closer to the fire, Robin took off his cloak and hung it over the back of it, to dry it off.
Stacking more wood on the fire, Robin sat down close to it, letting the heat seep through his bones and warm him back up. It wasn’t until he stopped shaking, that he realized that he had been. He got the feeling back in his fingers and toes and started praying that he wouldn’t end up sick from this. As his body warmed, it relaxed and his eyes started to droop. He wasn’t planning to go anywhere and there was very little hope of finding any food here, so he was quite content to let sleep claim him, right then and there.
When he opened his eyes again, the room had been transformed. Light was streaming in through the windows and there was not a speck of dust in sight. The furniture all looked new and sturdy, but there was no color. Even the paintings, that he was sure had had colors under the dust before, were now just black and white. As Robin got up from the floor, he noticed that his clothes were dry again, but the fire was still going, in fact it looked bigger now than it had been before. Frowning confused, Robin dusted off his pants, although there was a lot less dust than there should have been.
“Hello?”
Looking around, Robin couldn’t see anyone, but as he stepped towards the center of the room, he spotted a person in a doorway. It wasn’t until she stepped into the room, that Robin could see that it was a woman. A very beautiful one at that – was this the ghost? She surely looked the part in this colorless place, with her long white nightgown and long, loose, dark hair. “Hello” He greeted, clearly intrigued more than afraid, as he stepped towards her. Unlike him, she seemed if not frightened, then concerned, as she took a step backwards, away from him as he stepped closer.
“What are you doing here?” She asked, Robin stopped, when she stepped away from him, so that the distance between them was maintained. “Taking shelter from the storm” He replied “I fell asleep by the fire” But how things had come to look like this in the time he had been asleep, he did not know. Perhaps the place really was cursed.
Her features curled into a confused frown “Storm?” She looked to the window and Robin followed her gaze. There was light coming in from them alright, but there was nothing to see outside of them. Nothing but a white foggy mass. Robin frowned as well, before he turned around and headed for the door in long quick steps. Outside the sky looked the same as the light in the window and when he faced the opening in the wall that led to the drawbridge, the bridge was gone and so was everything on the other side. All had been replaced by the strange white fog. He was trapped. “What is this place?” He whispered, slowly stepping towards the edge of what seemed to be left of the castle.
“My prison” she replied quietly. Robin hadn’t even realized that she had followed him, until she spoke. He glanced back at her, before reaching out into the fog, completely ignoring her instruction of “Be careful”, before he was hit by some form of power and thrown back, landing ass first on the ground.
She stood only a couple of feet away from him as he got up, rubbing his backside. “I’m fine” He assured her, as if she would actually care. The woman just rolled her eyes at him “I did warn you”
“You could have stopped me”
“No, I couldn’t. We can’t touch”
“We- what?” he turned to look at her, still frowning.
“I haven’t had many visitors here, but that much I do know. We can’t touch – we just can’t”
Robin still wasn’t giving up the frown, what was this place and why was he here? And why was she here? “What happens if we does? The same thing as the –“ He gestured to the whiteness behind him, looking for the right word for it “fog?”
“Not.. exactly” She sighed and stepped closer to him, before she reached out to touch his shoulder. But as her hand was supposed to connect with his clothing, it just went right through him, he didn’t even feel it. When he reached out to try and touch her, the same thing happened, his hand went right through her. Well, this place just got more odd by the second, but at least that meant she couldn’t rip his heart out .. right?
“What is this place?” He asked again. Was he trapped here now? Was this the curse? Would he ever see his son again? Panic crept into his heart as his eyes searched her stunning features for an answer. He hadn’t failed to notice her beauty, even in this colorless place, but at the moment he did have other things on his mind.
She seemed to hesitate with her reply, but as she looked at him, she seemed to soften and decide to answer his question. “It is the curse of this place .. my curse” She crossed her arms over her torso, with a far away look in her dark eyes. “You’re still asleep” She said, looking back at him. “You will be out of here as soon as you wake up”
“I’m asleep?” She nodded and Robin looked back at the fog “But.. I felt that, I know I did. It hurt” When he looked to her again she shrugged “Part of the curse, you can feel it all, but it doesn’t hurt you. You could jump off the roof or try to hang yourself in the tree, it would hurt, but you wouldn’t die” Robin frowned as she spoke, not because he was confused anymore, surprisingly this was starting to make sense to him. But because she sounded a lot like she had tried her suggestions. What could possibly have driven her to that? Why would she want to kill herself? “How long have you been here?” He couldn’t say why, but he was worried about her, if she had tried to kill herself, she would have to have been trapped here a long time.
“I don’t know. It’s never night here, I have no idea how much time has passed. But many many years” She looked around the courtyard for a moment, it wasn’t until then that Robin noticed that the tree was now fully grown, alive and blossoming. When she looked at him again, she shrugged “I haven’t had many visitors, you are only the second.”
Now he truly felt sorry for her, he already felt trapped here, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like if he had been stuck here for years. “Well, I’m honored” he quipped in an attempt to make her smile. It almost worked, at least he was certain that he saw a slight curl in the corner of her mouth, but it was only a flash of it. But at least it was something and Robin wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. “Who was the first?”
“My stepdaughter” She replied with a frown – not a healthy relationship, he assumed. “I can tell you that time here, doesn’t pass like it does in dreams. It passes like it does when you’re awake… It was a very long night”
“I’m sorry” he smirked a bit, which seemed to rub off on her, no matter how much she might try to fight it. “Well, let’s just hope you’re better company – you might be here a while”
“I promise I’ll do my best” He replied. Knowing that he would only be here for as long as he was asleep, took away his worries for his own safety. Now it was her that he was more focused on. If she was really trapped here and had been for as long as it seemed, he ought to try and make his time with her a pleasant one.
“I am Robin and I apologize for invading your .. home”
“Prison” She corrected him. “I am Regina”
“Regina, a beautiful name. Very .. royal” He smiled at her, wondering why he was flirting with a woman he couldn’t even touch and who, for all he knew, really might just be a ghost.
“Indeed” She raised a slender eyebrow in his direction. As if hinting that he was going in the right direction. “No?”
“Yes” Of course, no one that stunning was a lowlife like himself. If he tried, he could easily imagine her in rich gowns and in a castle far more grand than this one, even as she stood in front of him, in what he assumed was a night gown. “Queen?”
She nodded, hint of a smile on her lips. “And you?” Oh – well, that was awkward. Suddenly he was wishing that he had never asked and just pretended that he didn’t notice her hint. Then they could just be equals, but now. Now she was above him, not that she acted as such. But for all she knew, he was a knight who had come to save her. If only he could, but this had to be some very advanced magic to keep her trapped like this. There was very little hope that he would be able to break whatever curse this was. “Eh.. “ Robin scratched his neck, trying to think of something he could do to stall her.
“Indulge me. I haven’t seen another person in years.. Besides, I can’t hurt you even if I wanted to and you will be out of here as soon as you wake up” He supposed that was true, but still. Telling her could make the next long while very awkward. But then he thought of going years without seeing another human being. He would more than likely go mad, especially if he was kept here. How she was still making sense, was beyond him. But, like she said, he would only be here for as long as he was asleep. She might be here for even more years. Would it kill him to indulge her? No, definitely not. “I’m .. a thief”
Whatever hint of a smile had been on her lips disappeared, replaced by a stern frown, as she crossed her arms across her chest again. “Here to rob me”
“No – No, I swear. I was trying to make it to the next village, but the storm was too bad so.. I snug into your castle and lit a fire, that’s all. And so you know, it doesn’t look like anyone has robbed you – yet” His words seemed to soften her frown, but he supposed she didn’t have much choice than to believe him. It wasn’t like she could check if he was telling the truth. “I’m trying to get back to my son. I’m not here to rob you” To be honest, if he hadn’t met her, he might have come back later to rob the place. But now.. he didn’t want to take anymore from her, than what she had already lost. Of course he didn’t know what exactly she had lost, besides her freedom and many years of her life. Leaving family and loved ones behind. No, she had definitely lost enough.
Regina turned and gestured for him to follow her, as she turned and walked back inside. “Back to your son? .. from where?” They seemed to have gone from the most important questions to just making smalltalk. If that was how she’d like to spend the time, he could certainly oblige. “I was looking for shelter for my … group” He glanced at her, wondering how she’d take that.
“There’s more than one of you?” She asked, smirking a bit. Good, so she wasn’t mad or disgusted. “It’s not what you think. We’re .. fair”
“A fair thief? Now I’ve heard it all” Regina led them back to the fire and to the chairs in front of it. She took a seat in one and Robin took the other. He could feel the warmth from the fire and how the chair moved as he sat down. He still couldn’t believe that this was a dream, it seemed so real. “The current king is … Not a good man, or a fair one, people are starving. The rich are getting richer and the poor are struggling to keep up with the taxes. Me and my group are only trying to even the odds, help those who need it the most” Regina folded up her legs under her and looked to get very comfortable in the chair, as she watched him. There were certainly worse ways to spend the night, Robin thought, than in the company of a beautiful woman who may or may not be a ghost.
“So you’re a hero then..” She smiled a bit again. “I wouldn’t go that far .. I’m simply.. A man with a conscience.”
“If you’re doing as much good as I think you are, you a definitely a hero” He could feel her eyes on him, even as he looked away. He hadn’t always been this way, before things got this bad, before his son, he had been selfish and stolen things just for himself. Never much more than he could spend, but he stole instead of doing an honest day’s work. If he needed new clothes he would just steal more. Not an honorable life, that was for sure. Robin would never call himself a hero. “But you said you were looking for shelter .. from what?” Regina asked, cutting of his train of thought.
“Winter” he answered simply. “It’s winter?” Robin realized that if time didn’t pass here, it would mean that she wouldn’t even know what time of year it was. He remembered the tree in the courtyard and how it had been in bloom. How many years had she been stuck here?
“It’s autumn, winter will be here soon..” She nodded silently, thinking god knows what. To repay the favor of distraction, he continued “We’ve been living in the forest over the summer, moving from place to place every time we thought the king’s men had found our hiding place. But there are children in my group. Including my own son and they can’t spent a winter in a camp. We don’t have much food and adding the cold might be fatal for them. So we’re looking for somewhere to hide. Somewhere hidden, preferably cheap, or.. “ Robin looked around as an idea dawned on him “haunted – somewhere people wouldn’t come looking voluntarily”
It was brilliant really, hiding in plain sight. Or well, it was still far from their current camp, but no one would think that anyone would live in a haunted castle. Right? But then he thought of its current state. It needed a lot of work before it would be able to work for them. But then, if they fixed the bridge, they might even be able to keep the king’s men out, should they ever find them. It could truly be a safe place for them. At least over the winter. “I thought you weren’t going to rob my home”
“I’m – we’re not.. I just thought we might .. occupy it for a while. Just until spring, until I can make sure the children are healthy and it’s safer to sleep under the open sky.” She didn’t look happy about the idea and he couldn’t exactly blame her. This might be her prison, but if it was the place she had stayed for so long, it had to be a home for her too. Of course she didn’t want a band of thieves to invade that. “I don’t know how this.. curse works, but isn’t it possible, that if I stayed here, that I would visit you every night?”
“I suppose” She said, seeming like she was thinking about it. He hoped that having company one a regular basis, would be a good thing. Unless she found him annoying, or didn’t want a thief hanging around her.
“You would be doing me a great favor, but it is your choice. You’re in charge, my queen” Okay, so maybe that was layering it on a bit thick. But for the possibility of staying in a place this sturdy, Robin was willing to put on his best charms. It seemed to work though, as she fought to kill a charmed smile.
“Even if I didn’t want you to come here, it’s not like I could stop you” he supposed that was true. “Except I’d have to face a very cross you every night, and I don’t think that would be very fun for either of us.”
“But wouldn’t it be worth it? For you I mean” he thought about that for a moment, looking into the strange black and white fire. “Yes” It would and there was no point in lying. This place might need a bit of work, but it was the best place he’d find before winter really kicked in. “But I’m sure we can find somewhere else, where we wouldn’t be stepping on any toes.”
“You’d do that? Risk your son, just so you wouldn’t ‘step on my toes’?” Robin shrugged “It’s your hom – Prison” He remembered to correct himself, before she did.
Regina frowned at that and pulled her legs up under her chin, looking into the fire. “It doesn’t look like I’ll be escaping any time soon, you need a place to stay and .. well, your company isn’t as appalling as .. some” Robin grinned at that, he supposed that was a compliment. But she wasn’t smiling, even as she glanced at him.
“It’s not that I wouldn’t love to have a bunch of thieves in my .. prison. It’s just .. I’ve been alone for so long, I’m used to it now. I’m not sure having company would make this curse easier or .. not”
“Oh ..” Robin had only thought about how it could be when he was there. But what about during the day? And would it make it worse, if Robin kept her up to date with what was going on outside of her prison, so she knew just what she was missing? He could certainly see how it could make things harder for her, which was the last thing he wanted. “Well I suppose I have a few hours to convince you” He smiled at her, hoping to get a smile back, but it was in vain.
“Apart from the stealing thing, I really am a decent guy. I don’t bite my nails or burp … much” He chuckled, that really wasn’t the way to make himself look good, but it did manage to make her smile, just a little bit. “What else .. uhm.. I’m good with a bow and arrow and horses”
“Me too” She smiled a bit more and it was a beautiful thing. “Bow and arrow?”
“No – horses”
“Ah – well, we have something in common then. Apart from the slightly creepy dreamworld. Too bad you haven’t got any horses here”
“Mmm” Regina agreed, nodding. “It’s just me here, no mice, no rats, no birds. Just me”
“And me” Robin leaned towards her in the chair, almost wishing that he could put a hand on her arm or something, anything to make her feel less alone.
“For now” She locked eyes with him for a moment. “Only if that is how you want it” he replied softly. They fell quiet for a while. Robin didn’t want to push her into deciding or nag her, by continuing to talk. So while she thought, he looked into the fire, leaning back in the chair and stretched out his legs in front of him.
Eventually she sighed and got up from her chair. “Come on. If you are going to live in my castle, I might as well show you around” Robin grinned and got up quickly to follow her.
~*~*~*~
They spend the next hours walking around the castle, while Regina told him what she knew of its history, which wasn’t much. Apparently she hadn’t known anything about the place, before it became her prison. The more she showed him of the place, the surer he got that this would be an excellent hideout. Of course he didn’t know the actual state of the place, but he could check that out in the morning, before he left. There was only one room that she asked they didn’t enter. Her bedroom. She didn’t say why, even when he asked. But it was the one thing that she was unwavering on. Other than that, she didn’t give him any instructions, other than asking that they didn’t touch the painting of her father, that hung over the fireplace in the library. It seemed more than fair, even her wish that no one entered her bedroom. So Robin agreed of course and when he did, she allowed him and his group to take shelter in the castle.
“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to repay you?” Robin asked as Regina led the way back into the library. When they were there before, Robin had spotted a chessboard. It seemed that he could touch and move objects like in the real world, it was only her that he couldn’t touch. And of course that was already getting on his nerves, making her the only thing he wanted to touch. “Go to bed early? Sleep in late?” She asked with a crooked smile, as she took a seat on one side of the chessboard.
Robin smiled back, sitting down opposite her. “I’ll do my best, but I do have a four year old, sleeping in is a rare thing. Early nights I might be able to do.”
“That’s fair” She nodded, before gesturing at the chessboard “You start”
Robin had never been the best at chess, it was too much sitting down and sitting still. Plus he was more a brawns than brains person. Not that he was stupid, but he certainly wasn’t a scholar either. It took three games, before he was anywhere near beating her and even then she won. But he did find that he liked the game, if only because it was a good excuse to sit close to her and be able to study her movements. Maybe it was just the circumstances they had met under, or the fact that he couldn’t touch her. But there was something about her that he couldn’t let go of. He couldn’t imagine waking up in the morning, if he remembered all of this, and not get to see her again. There was more about her that he wanted to know. And he knew, if he didn’t see her again, he would always wonder what would have happened if he did.
In the few hours they had known each other, he already cared about her, he needed to come back. And if he could, he would find a way to save her, from whatever curse was keeping her here.
“This time I’m going to beat you” Robin said as he made another first move.
“Such confidence” Regina murmured, smirking, before making her own first move.
But when Robin shifted to make another move, he noticed that he could see right thought his hand. He looked to Regina for an answer, only to see the smile fade from her lips. “You’re waking up” She explained. Oh. He hadn’t realized that that much time had passed. That had to be a good thing, that he liked her company that much.
“Come back soon, you still need to beat me at chess”
“I’ll do my best, but it might take me a while to sort out everything and make it back here” Regina didn’t reply but just looked at him with a cheerless look on her face.
“I will be back.. I promise”
“I know, but you get to go..” Robin wanted to reply, to say something to cheer her up. But before he could say anything, he was opening up his eyes to the colorful, but old and dusty castle. Thankfully he did remember every single moment of the night. Although he still didn’t understand most of the how and whys. But right now the how and the why didn’t matter. He had found shelter for his group and more importantly, he had found her. And there was no doubt that he would be back, no matter what shelter the other men might have found for the group. He was the leader after all, he had to have some say. Even if it was just to see her again.
Robin took a while to do a quick walk around the castle, just to check that the roof wasn’t gone anywhere and the walls were still standing. Apparently the castle was of a far more solid build than the houses on the grounds. Making it back to the hallway, he walked towards the door, Robin took a moment to look back into the room. “I will be back” He had no idea if she could hear him, but that didn’t matter, it was a promise and one that he intended to keep. Then he turned and walked outside. The storm had passed and the sky was now blue, in that weather he would be able to get home soon and back even sooner.