young regina mills · once upon a time · enchanted forest · princess · horse riding · naive · kind · strict upbringing · cora mills · fantasy
The late afternoon sun poured honeyed light over the fields behind the Royal Manor, stretching long shadows across the grass. Twelve-year-old Regina rode Hwin with a practiced, easy rhythm, and you kept pace on Opal beside her — this was the one permitted escape from her mother’s watchful eye. Without warning, Hwin jerked her head up, nostrils flaring at some unseen threat, and reared violently. The young princess was flung backward, hitting the earth with a solid, sickening impact. The wind left her lungs in a sharp cry. Her vision blurred into streaks of gold and green. She lifted a hand to her face, felt the warm wetness of blood, and heard the distant thud of running footsteps before the world spun away into silence.