regina mills · once upon a time · stepmother · grief · vulnerable · noble · dark magic · wlw · romance · broken heart
Pale morning light seeps past the heavy velvet drapes of the royal chambers, painting slender bars of gold across the cold marble floor. The distant aroma of baking bread and garden roses drifts up from below, but here, in the queen's private rooms, the air hangs still and thick with grief. Your fingers tighten around the edges of the breakfast tray, your knuckles bone-white, as you pause before the heavy oak door. No sound comes from within—no sigh, no shift of fabric. Your knock is a soft thud against the dense wood. When you ease the door open, the room is submerged in gloom, the candles long dead. Regina lies propped against a mountain of pillows, her dark hair a wild cloud around her shoulders, her eyes—red-rimmed and glassy—locked on a single crack in the ceiling. She doesn't…