Regina was scared of a lot of things, but at night it was mostly the noises in the walls.
She knew what they were and all. A few weeks ago, Daddy had shown her the secret passageway behind the door behind the tapestry in her room. He'd told her that the noises were only people, and that when he was a child he used to run through the passages with his brother so they could avoid their tutor or steal sweets from the kitchen.
But Mother told Regina she was never to go into the passages, and that was that.
Regina sat in bed tonight, hugging the blankets around her and listening. She hadn't told Daddy what, exactly, she heard every night. Mother, as usual had gotten it out of her, and then told her sternly that she was wrong. That she sounded crazy.
Yet there it was again. Light footsteps like Regina's own, not loud enough to belong to a servant or any sort of adult. And then, after a quiet moment, the sound of someone crying.
Mother told Regina that it was ridiculous, that she knew she was the only child here, and she'd whipped Regina as punishment for telling lies.
She wasn't lying. She wasn't crazy. Regina slipped out of bed, pulling a robe over her nightgown and stepping into her soft slippers. The candle shook in her hand as she drew near the tapestry and pushed it aside.
She could try to be brave this one time. She could get proof for Mother.
Regina opened the door slowly, and the crying stopped with a gasp as soon as the candlelight showed through. She took a deep breath as she peered around the doorway, ready to flee back to the safety of her bed at the first frightening thing she came across.
There was somebody there, that was certain. Regina stepped into the passageway, walking forward slowly with the lightest steps she could manage. She held the candle out in front of her, edging closer and closer to the shadowy figure until she'd finally cast enough light on it to see it.
It was a girl. It was a girl, and Regina wasn't crazy. "Are you all right?" she asked softly, and the girl looked up. Her face was stained with tears, surrounded by a mess of red curls. Regina studied her for a moment, noticing how dirty the girl was and the rough material of her dress. Not even servants were allowed to dress so poorly.
The girl just stared at her, eyes big and shining in the candlelight. Regina set the light between them and sat down near the girl, not quite sure what else to say.
The girl wiped her nose on her sleeve, and Regina flinched at the motion. And then the girl reached towards her with her other hand and gingerly touched the rich fabric of Regina's robe. "Are you cold?" Regina asked, wondering if the girl wanted the robe from her, but then the girl reached up to stroke Regina's thick hair, still shiny from her nightly brushing.
"You're Regina," the girl finally said. "You must be."
"How do you know my name?" Regina pulled back from the girl's hand. "Who are you?"
The girl was skinny and so hunched over as she sat in the passage that it took Regina a moment to realize that she looked to be the older of the two. "She's told me about you," she replied. "I'm Zelena."
Regina didn't know the name, but she forced herself to remember her etiquette like Mother would want. "How wonderful to meet you, Zelena."
"You're just as beautiful as she said," Zelena replied, continuing to look Regina over. Her hand hovered in the air as if she wanted to touch again.
"She?"
"Mother."
Regina nodded. She must be the child of one of the servants, then. "Are you lost?"
Zelena shook her head. "I know the passages. I come here every night." She smiled, a thin smile but incredibly pleased. "I never thought I'd see you."
"Every night?" Regina could not imagine that such a child was left to run freely through the passages at night. She herself was hardly allowed to run freely during the day. "Who are you? Who is your mother?"
Zelena's smile twisted a bit, making her suddenly look almost crazy, or perhaps that was Regina's imagination. "Cora," she said, eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm your sister, Regina."
Regina scrambled to her feet. "You're lying. I don't have a sister."
"Just ask her," Zelena insisted, standing up herself and revealing just how she towered over Regina. "Just tell her my name."
Then Mother would know that Regina was crazy for sure. The younger girl cast one last look at Zelena before running back to her room, slamming the door shut and dragging a chair to block it. She dove back into bed but didn't sleep, all too aware of the girl behind the wall. A girl who wasn't crying anymore, but laughing.
Regina didn't speak a word of her adventure. And she never heard noises in the walls again.
"That's not possible," Regina said, glaring at this woman who had stolen her castle and her dress and had the gall to mock her mother's memory.
The Witch drew closer, uncomfortably so, and looked Regina in the eye. Despite herself, Regina shivered. "Do you remember, little sister? How much I frightened you?" She circled the Queen. "I was the monster who kept you up at night until Cora sent me away."
Regina stared at the Witch hard when she finished her circle. The woman was green, and Regina certainly had never met anyone green before in her life. But if she ignored the garish skin, she could see it. The girl in the passage with hair just like this, who had touched Regina's fine clothing so much like the Witch wore her old dress. The girl she'd forced herself to forget. "Zelena."