There is nothing like a mother's embrace
For my darling twin, the amazing Jessie, I’m offering this Missing Year piece where Regina meets Robin’s parents and finds that she has quite a lot in common with her Thief. Part of the Nightmares verse (see Nightmares, Cracking a smile, You can’t fight dragons on your own) but can stand on its own. Thanks to Manon for her feedback. FF link.
Regina found him without having really looked for him. Lords from all over the realm were arriving that day invited by the Charmings for a great Council about the newly rebuilt kingdom and its neighbours’ safety and the already overcrowded castle was buzzing and bustling with the added activity and the comings and goings of its inhabitants as they tried to have everything ready in time.
She had no intention of participating in any of it and she’d chosen to retreat to the courtyard that was the furthest away from where the preparations were going strong. It seemed that Robin had had the same thought.
She thought about him more and more as ‘Robin’ these days instead of the various synonyms of “Thief” and “Outlaw” she had come up with since they met, and she wasn’t sure she liked what it meant. He had certainly seen more of the woman behind the corseted dresses and elaborate hairstyles than she had ever let anyone else peek at, apart from her own son, but that was a whole other can of worms she couldn’t even think about opening when she was still trying to keep herself together months after letting Henry go.
He was seated on the stone staircase leading to the courtyard, watching his son play with the Friar. They were fast approaching winter, the colder air forcing them to add warmer layers of clothes outside, the hours of sunlight diminishing with each day that passed. She shivered when the chilly wind hit some exposed skin and wrapped her cape closely around herself.
“I thought I would be the only one trying to avoid this messy affair. Aren’t Merry Men supposed to like putting their noses in all kind of businesses, mostly those not concerning them?” She asked as a greeting, frowning when she caught his blank gaze, blue eyes appearing dull, lacking their usual spark.
“I will take a pass on this one,” he replied, still looking ahead.
She didn’t add anything, just stared at him, puzzled by his attitude until he sighed.
“Have you seen the guest list?” He asked, finally turning towards her, and she tried to ignore the disappointment she felt when he failed to look her up and down in that appreciative and quite flattering way of his.
Her brows furrowed deeper. “I must admit I didn’t. I wasn’t particularly interested in the first place.”
“Well, if you had, you probably would have noticed the name of one Robert of Locksley on it,” he told her, the first flicker of emotion appearing as his eyes hardened and his jaw clenched.
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