"I can't say I'm feeling optimistic about that not having changed," he told Charming, but his tone was commiserating and wholly without bite. He knew better than most exactly how fixated Regina could be. All along it had been about destroying Snow and making her pay for whatever slight, real or imagined, that the younger woman had dealt her stepmother. No matter how the Huntsman had pushed for mercy, for forgiveness, for the girl and not for himself, his attempts had come to nothing as far as he was aware.

He allowed the bartender to trade his empty glass for a fresh one before he spoke again, measuring his words with care. "I don't regret it. No matter all that happened and all I had to do, I would do it again if it meant they were safe." If anything he knows of the man proved true, he thought that David would understand that.