The Cost of One Dance (Sequel to Matchmaker)
By ReaverPoet
Pairings: Regina/Emma, King Leopold/Regina
Rating: M
Complete?: Yes
Warnings: Lesbian sex (Regina/Emma), unclear consent. Implied magically coerced sex (King Leopold/Regina)
Disclaimer: No copyright challenge is intended. Not distributed for money.
Summary: Magic has a cost—and often that cost is not paid by you, but by someone else. This is a sequel to my story "Matchmaker".
Archive: yes, but do not edit in any way, and keep all headings.
Feedback to: ReaverPoet-da . Flames, trolls, and general meanness will be completely ignored.
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The king walked into the woods alone, having left his retinue at the road with strict orders not to follow. Newly fallen snow burdened the trees and fell thick around him, but he was dressed in rich furs and did not feel the cold. He carried no torch, as the moon was full and bright that night.
The king was a good man, his heart full of compassion, and in all of his reign, there were few who could fault him for anything, and only one who wished him dead.
When he reached the tree where the meeting had been arranged, he stood silently, alert for the approach of the one he wished to speak to.
"What brings the virtuous king to see someone like me, I wonder," said Rupelstiltskin, his skin glistening unnaturally in the moonlight. He walked through the snowflakes towards the king, but the snow did not fall on him, somehow.
King Leopold shivered. The thing he wanted was wrong, and he knew he shouldn't ask for it. He knew he was going to ask anyway.
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"So, you're saying that you tuck them in every night, and lock the door, but every morning they have fresh mud on their tennis shoes? And you want me to investigate?," asked Emma, a perplexed expression creasing her brow as she addressed the woman on the other end of the phone line.
Not for the first time, Emma wished silently to herself that she had a flock of deputies she could send to roost on all the less important problems that were called in to the Storybrook police station. She took a few notes down on her pad of paper, next to the doodle of an elephant.
"Well, Mrs. Lind, it's just that I don't see what I can do…Okay, yes, I guess I could drive by a few times. Stake out your house? All night? Doesn't that seem a little excessive?" she asked. The volume of the caller's voice increased sharply, screaming her vehement opinions on the duties of an elected official. Emma held the phone away from her ear a little, and waited for an opportunity to speak again.
"Yes, OK. I see your point. I'll come by at about ten tonight, and watch your house for a few hours, unless there's a crisis that requires my immediate attention. Yes, that's really the best I can do. All, right, I'll let you know in the morning." Emma hung up and sighed deeply, wishing with all her heart that some crisis would require her immediate attention and pull her away from watching a suburban colonial with a two car garage all night. She took a gulp of the tepid coffee in the paper cup from Granny's, and wondered what normal people did on a Friday night.
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The bell on the pawn shop door announced a visitor with its usual cheerfulness. Mr. Gold looked up from polishing a silver candlestick to see Regina smiling at him over the counter. Regina's smile, though stunning, never heralded good news for anyone but Regina, reflected Mr. Gold.
"What can I do for you today, Majesty?" asked Rumplestiltskin, forcing a grin.
"I needed to ask you if this little gift will function as promised, here in the new world. I know you said magic doesn't always work the same way here, and I don't want to waste it." Regina slowly brought her hand forward, and opened it to reveal a small, smooth cube of red stone, which was carved with a strange symbol.
Gold stared silently for a moment, and then sighed. "Yes, it will work as promised. Set the stone in a fire and say the name of the target. The stone will immediately burn to ash, and the intended effect will occur at sundown. But Regina, you don't need to do this. You shouldn't do it."
"Moral advice from you? " laughed the queen. "Have you forgotten why I have this in the first place? This is justice. This is exactly justice, Rumplestiltskin. And even if it weren't…a debt must be paid."
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"Why don't you ask your bestest genie friend to help you out, Majesty?" mocked the Dark One, knowing the answer already.
The king studied the snow at his feet.
Rumplestiltskin laughed. "You want him to go on admiring you. You don't want him, or anyone in your life to know about this." He came close and whispered into the king's ear, in a parody of stealth. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your one unforgivable evil deed. It'll stay just between you and me."
The king muttered something incomprehensible to the snow.
"What's that, Dearie? Speak up! Tell your dirty little wish to the Dark One, and he'll make you a deal."
"I want my beautiful, young wife who hates me…to desire me for one night. I want just one night. "
"But, Dearie, you don't love her. It's clear to everyone with eyes!"
"No, I don't love her. I just want her. I know she hates me; It's difficult to hide that sort of emotion day in and day out forever. But I've given her everything, and gotten no comfort from it. She sleeps in her own chambers and puts me off with excuses. Aren't I entitled to one night? That's not so wrong. I've been so lonely."
Rumplestiltskin cackled and gave a little round of applause to the night air. "Well, Dearie, that's a lovely speech. Maybe if you repeat it enough you'll believe it. Meanwhile, we have a deal to make."
"What do you want from me, for this?" asked the king, refusing to meet the Dark One's eyes.
"What I want, is for you to do two things for me. First, the queen is going to need lots of alone time after this, so I want you to let her have it. Don't even ask where she goes or what she does. Second, I want you to build a special cell in your dungeon. A magical cell. I'll provide you with the materials and plans."
"That's it? That's all it will cost?"
"Oh my no! That's the price of my involvement, Majesty. However, magic itself also extracts a cost, and in the case of this spell, a very specific one. I will give you a spell that will stir her majesty's blood and draw her to you for one night. But the spell requires that afterwards I give her an equal and opposite sorcery—a means by which at some time in the future she can call the passion forth for one night from one of your blood. Anyone in your family."
The king laughed bitterly. "She'll never use it. She despises me, and I have no son for her to practice this on. It will be useless to her."
Rumplestiltskin grinned, "That's the spirit! Let's get started."
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"I'm sorry to disturb your breakfast, but I have some news I think you should hear."
Rumplestiltskin stood politely at a distance from the booth at Granny's, where Emma was having breakfast with her parents. David and Mary Margaret looked relaxed and happy over their eggs and pancakes, and even Emma had lost much of her perpetually worried look. The smell of bacon and coffee wafted through the air, along with the chatter from the other diners.
"What is it you want, Gold?" asked David, his manner suddenly cold.
"I have a story to tell you all, and I'm afraid it will be difficult for Mary Margaret to hear this—it involves her father, and a …moral failing."
"I don't need to hear anything like.." started Snow.
"Oh, but I'm afraid you do. Because the consequences of what he did are about to become your problem."
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Emma took another sip of the coffee and stared at the house. There were no streetlights on—Emma had been informed that the city power grid was unreliable, and the mayor had never found the money to have it repaired. The house was lit only by single lamp post outside, and one dim nightlight shining out of an upstairs bathroom window. There wasn't even any moon to give her away if the teens managed to slip out of the house for some mysterious purpose.
She was one hour in to the evening's surveillance, and she already thought she might die of boredom. She had offered to stay with Snow, and guard David at Gold's pawn shop, but they had both assured her that the situation was under control.
"Let her go ahead and use the stone, " Snow had said. "It's only got one use, and it only lasts one night. Just leave your handcuffs, and we will lock David up, and Regina will waste her petty revenge spell completely. Nothing to worry about at all. She won't look for him here, and he won't be able to go to her."
Emma had been forced to agree that it was a good plan, and it didn't need her. Which meant she was condemned to eat cold pizza and drink coffee from a thermos all night, while trying to solve the case of the muddy shoes.
It was midnight when her passenger side car door opened, startling her fully awake from the half-sleep she had fallen into. She recognized the spice of Regina's perfume before she even turned her head.
"Lovely evening for stalking, Sheriff Swan. Mind if I join you?" purred the former mayor's voice.
Regina's beauty was a gem best set in darkness. Her skin was perfectly contrasted by a classic "little black dress". Her hair was just ruffled enough by the wind to suggest that someone might run their fingers through it. Emma lost what she was going to say, on seeing the Evil Queen slipping into the seat beside her. She reached for her thermos and took a gulp of bitter coffee, stalling. She'd been thinking of the queen too much since Graham had intervened through his wolf.
Recovering herself, Emma fixed Regina with a particularly stern look. "You might as well go home, Regina. David isn't here, and I'm not going to slip up and tell you where he is in the course of clever banter. "
The Queen looked surprised for a second. "David? Why would I.." she asked, and then the answer dawned on her and she laughed, her smile bending her lips into a perfect, deadly bow. "Sheriff, I assure you the charming Prince has nothing to fear from me tonight. He is not my target."
Emma was poised to ask who the target could possibly be, when her eyes met the Queen's eyes. After that, she knew.
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Leopold watched the little cube fizzle and turn to ash as soon as he lit it with a candle. The smoke smelled of cinnamon cakes and also of less innocent pleasures. He didn't even have to wait an hour before the knock came at his door. There she was, breathtaking in the flickering candlelight, dressed in a thin, red robe that barely hid her curves. The hate in her eyes had not diminished one bit, but there was a new and predatory hunger there as well—the king knew Rumplestiltskin had given him full value for the cost.
His heart ached with guilt, but his hand opened the door all the way and let the Queen into his bed chamber.
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Emma shivered with the realization that the spell had been cast on her. Staring into Regina's eyes, she could feel the wicked magic working its way through her body, crawling over her skin. She felt paralyzed as she watched Regina's hand reach over and stroke her cheek. The contact sent pleasure through her body like a firestorm through a forest. When the Queen pulled her into a deep kiss, she couldn't make herself fight it, and when Regina moved away to breath, Emma heard herself cry softly in protest.
"Poor thing," mocked the Queen. She drew her fingers through Emma's hair and then pulled her in for another kiss. Emma moaned and reached out to embrace the former mayor. Regina's lips seemed unbelievably soft, and Emma knew her kiss was clumsy with desperate need.
Regina finished the kiss and trailed her lips over to Emma's ear. "You belong to me, until the sun rises, Sheriff Swan. I'm not going to waste one minute of it taking you elsewhere. You're going to join me in the back of this car, and pray that nobody in this quiet neighborhood has trouble sleeping." Emma could feel Regina's hand slipping down her shoulder and over her breast. She cried out as the hand brushed over her nipple. "Quiet, now. You don't want to wake anyone," whispered the Queen. "Step out of the car, and get into the back seat."
Emma obeyed without even thinking about it. How could she fight magic? She got in the back seat of her car and moved close, until she could feel the warmth of Regina's body.
The Queen reached out for Emma's hand, and placed the Sheriff's fingers on the top button of her blouse. Emma could see her hand shaking. She fumbled at the button, finally working it open. Regina caught her hand, kissed her fingers, and put them on the next button. Bit by bit the blouse fell open to reveal black lace and enough soft, pale flesh to make Emma realize how wet she was becoming. Regina shrugged out of her shirt, and put her own hands on Emma's buttons, slowly exposing Emma's body to the night air. With an unexpectedly practiced hand, Regina reached around and flicked Emma's bra open. She kissed Emma slowly and artfully, and then looked her in the eyes, smiling a truly beautiful, truly evil smile. "Take it all off, Emma," she commanded. Emma felt the words in every nerve in her body.
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The first birdsong of the impending dawn woke Emma. She expected to be alone, but found she was held softly in the Queen's arms, lying on a bed of both of their clothing. Emma pulled away as Regina stirred awake. She was stiff and her back was bruised where it had rubbed on something sharp over and over again last night-she hadn't cared at the time.
"It wasn't real," accused Emma, rummaging to find clothing. "Nothing I felt, nothing I wanted was real. It was all the spell. " She pulled on her shirt and started buttoning it.
"Wasn't it, Sheriff?" answered the Queen, smiling sleepily. With grace Emma envied, Regina shimmied back into her dress and zipped it up. She reached into the assorted clothes still lining the car seat and withdrew the sharp object that had left its mark on Emma's back, handing it to her. A small red cube, marked with an arcane sigil.
Emma held it in her hands, and stared at it, as the Queen ran her fingers through her hair, stepped out of the car, and walked away.
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Regina found the wolf in her orchard, relieving itself on an apple tree.
"That's as far as I'm going. I've paid my debt to you, and it's over. If she wants me, she can chase me," said the queen.
The wolf trotted off, looking as smug as it is possible for a wolf to look.