AN: Like I said in the description, this is my first story with an OC, so basically I don't know what I'm doing :D I hope you enjoy.
I intend for the story to be dark and emotional and I hope I'll be able to achieve that. I do not own anything, except for the original characters - Raven and Belghard. Everything else belongs to ABC and the writers of Once Upon a Time.
Enjoy.
Chapter One
The Cruel and the Heartless
The rain was falling hard on the windows' glass, as if it was trying to break it. The Black Queen stood silently next to the windowpane, with a glass of dark wine in her hand. She always loved watching the rain, even when she was a child. It reminded her of countless souls, falling from the sky and ending in the dirt. 'What if it was the other way around?' she used to ask her tiny self. And later on, she made it happen – she made the souls rise from the dirt and reach the Heavens. She had killed all of those countless souls. And she had never asked herself that question again. In fact, she had learned not to ask questions at all.
The fire in the fireplace was fearlessly roaring but she was deaf for any sound, except for the drumming of the raindrops; it was like a melody, created by a thousand untold stories, stories which she deprived of their happy endings.
The crown felt heavy on her head and so she took it off and tossed it on the near-by table. Here, all alone in the study, she could be free from the burden of her duties, even if it was just for a moment. She could be alone with her bitter thoughts, and not playing a queen for a crowd with no applause after the show. She could be herself.
But not even a moment had passed, when the commander of her guard burst in to the room; hand on his chest and slightly bowed his head in her direction.
"Your Majesty," He said. "I bring news from the raid of the lands over the forest."
"Well?" She asked coldly, still looking through the window.
"The soldiers found a woman behind bars and took her with them. They brought her here, in the castle."
"My orders were to find out more about the insolent pests who dare to magically place a castle in front of my door step! And what do you mean by they took her? Since when do we rescue people, Commander?" The queen asked, narrowing her dark gaze. She approached the man proudly, leveling her eyes with his.
"My Queen," he spoke softly. "They brought her along only because they thought that she was an important prisoner. They thought that she was worth a good ransom, that's all."
"And may I ask why did the soldiers presume that she was important?" She inquired.
"Because there were no other prisoners, My Lady. She was the only one." Even when her tone was deadly, he showed no fear and answered with respect, like he was talking to an equal.
"And where is the woman now, Commander?" The Queen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We placed her in one of the chambers for now; the men didn't know what to do with her, for she's unconscious. But you need not worry, Your Majesty – there are guards on watch in front of the door."
"This woman is not a guest here, Belghard!" The Queen said sharply. "She does not belong in a chamber – she belongs in a cell." She stated as a matter of fact.
"Yes, my Queen." Said the man.
"I want her for questioning when she awakens; I believe you already know that." The Queen concluded before sending him off.
She sighed and took a long sip from the glass. Just what she needed: another problem to deal with, another person's life to sell. But after all, what choice did she have? At the end of the day, she remained the Black Queen, and that was what the Black Queen did for a living - she destroyed lives; she ended lives.
Buried in her thoughts, she numbly made her way out of the study, just so she could witness the dragging of the new prisoner towards the dungeons. The Queen meekly chose to ignore the view and continued walking, until she reached the royal chambers, where she opened the big windows, only to let the skies pour its tears over her, blending with her own.
The morning started just as any normal morning would start for a queen – servants rushed in to her room without knocking, brushed her hair and prepared her bath. They would bathe her, and then dress her up, and after that they would do her hair. No words would be said, the ritual would be preformed in silence. She stepped in to the bath, coldly glaring at the maids, who scurried around, but in her heart she was enjoying the warmth of the water.
Everything was going according to the daily routine, until a chilling scream broke the silence.
Intrigued, the Queen stood up from her daily comfort and quickly let her maids dress her up, and then left her chambers. She headed to the source of the scream – the dungeons, anger boiling up inside her.
As she was getting closer, the screaming increased to a louder level, and more and more screams started to follow. The Queen hurried her steps and entered the dungeon corridor, pushing one of the guards aside.
"What is the meaning of this?!" She hissed in the face of another soldier.
Silence fell over the cages and the prisoners stood still, their eyes wide open. None of them dared to take a breath.
"Your Majesty, it's the woman." Said the guard and bowed his head down in respect.
"What are you talking about, boy?" The Queen's tone was colder than ice.
Another guard awkwardly walked over to her and whispered in her ear, "One of the prisoners claims to know her, My Lady. He said that his master would pay a pretty price for her."
"And? What's with the screaming?" She asked.
"She awoke with a scream, Your Majesty," explained the guard, quivering for a second when their eyes met. "And then the man in the opposite cell started shouting something about how he knew who she was and he also spoke of revenge. The other prisoners followed."
"Revenge?" Mockingly repeated the Queen. "On me?"
"No, My Lady. On her." He pointed at the end of the corridor.
She stood quiet for a moment, and then turned to the soldiers again.
"Execute the prisoners. Leave only the ones you find useful to me." The Black Queen ordered, while from the end of the corridor, in the darkness of the cell, a pair of dark eyes were watching her. Compared to the soldiers beside her she looked more like a child, than a ruthless ruler. With her dark hair loosely falling down her back, and her gown completely shielding her body, it was like she came out of a fairy-tale. Just like her.
"Bring her to the throne room." Was all the young woman said and left the dungeons.
She was sitting on a throne of pure silver, her dark gaze wandering in the hall. The castle was full with soldiers and servants, every one of them rushing to perform their duties. And not a soul would stop and even look at their Queen, for they all knew that if the Queen looks back at you – your days are over. They knew better not to speak unless spoken to, therefore the castle was silent. She had countless of armies with the best of soldiers that knew no pain, nor fear. She had servants for all of her needs and yet, she felt more alone than ever. Because she was alone.
Two guards brought the new prisoner in, making her jump out of her bitter thoughts. They tossed the woman on the floor at the bottom of the throne stairs, and stepped back, waiting for orders. The woman stood from the marble floor and looked up proudly at the Queen, as if she was royalty herself. In front of her she saw a young girl, standing tall above all. She saw a face with high cheekbones, red lips and dark smear around her eyes. Even if it could be said that this Queen was tall - to the woman she seemed small under the crown on her head; she seemed… worn out.
The two of them watched one another with anticipation for a few seconds, before the Queen spoke.
"Did they remove your tongue over there?" The arrogance in her voice suited her appearance perfectly. "Speak up!"
She looked down the chained woman as if she was nothing more that a stain on her gown. In fact, the Queen looked at everyone like that - they were all beneath her, and they knew it well.
"I don't answer to you, little girl!" Was the woman's sharp response. She was looking at the Queen up there on the throne, with pure malice in her eyes. This insignificant creature didn't have any idea of who she was dealing with. This spoiled brat thought that she could give her orders, when she probably got all of her power on a silver plate. Probably the girl didn't even move a finger to earn any of this - unlike her. She had to fight her way up, she had to become the worst person she ever met to achieve what she wanted. And when she finally got it all right, when she had the chance to change for the better and was forgiven for all of her crimes – everything was taken from her. She lost it all. And she didn't have anything left to lose, for she had nothing for a long time.
"Mind your tongue, filth!" She said through gritted teeth. "You're talking to a Queen!" One of the guards stepped forward, raising his hand at the prisoner, but she gestured him to stay in position.
"So are you!" The woman replied coldly.
"A Queen, you say?" Sarcastically said the Queen. "And where, if I may ask, is your kingdom?"
The other Queen gave no answer. Instead she clanged her fists and shot a fearsome glare at the young girl, sitting on the throne.
"If you do not wish to talk, I can always make you." She inserted and smiled ominously at the prisoner's direction. "I can see that my boys had already given you a welcoming."
"Believe me, if they did – they wouldn't be standing here right now." The other Queen stated.
"No, your Highness!" A guard interfered. "We didn't touch her, I swear…"
"It's true, your Majesty! We'd never…" The other soldier spoke, but she silenced him with a brief gesture of her hand.
"Enough!" She said sharply, glaring at the men. "I believed that I'd know if a prisoner is tortured by any of my men. It turns out I was mistaken. Disappointing." The Queen turned to the prisoner, "I know the sound of their games."
"I don't fear you, your Majesty." She said, with her chin high and looked the Queen right in the eye. This self-confidant child thought that threats could scare her. 'Trust me, dear. Where I come from, torture is your last problem', she thought.
The Queen narrowed her eyes at her, as if she had read her mind. But before she could say anything, a soldier run in to the hall and stopped next to the chained woman.
"My Lady, I bring a message from over the forest!" He said panting. The prisoner's eyes widened in horror for only a brief second, but she quickly regained her confidant posture.
"Oh, it was about time, don't you think?" The Queen said satisfied. She rose from the throne and descended down the stairs. "Let's see how much do you worth, shall we?"
The soldier obediently took a folded piece of parchment out of his pocket and gave it to his Queen. She blankly unfolded the paper and moments later, she stopped in her tracks. The letter was nothing but a three worded sentence.
'I've got you!', it said.
She turned to the guards.
"Bring me Belghard! Move her to the study!" She commanded. "And bring me the one who claims to know her!"
She stormed off, with the letter still in her hand. She rushed to the royal study with the soldiers and the chained woman following behind her. She ordered them to leave and found herself alone with the woman, who – in fact – stood smirking at her direction. The Queen grabbed her by the hair and jerked her head backwards. She stood inches away from her face; she could feel the prisoner's breath against hers. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by guards who pushed a chained man on the floor. She noticed that his lower lip was bleeding. He stood up, smiling at her.
"Start speaking!" She ordered him.
"I'm glad that after all this time of imprisonment you finally decided to spear some of your precious time to talk to me, Love." He trailed. "I see you've got yourself a message here."
"What do you know of it?" Snarled the Queen, moving away from the female prisoner.
"I know that my master finally got what he wanted." The man said with a satisfied smile on his face. "The name's…"
"I do not care about your name, filth!" Interrupted the Queen. "What does he got… your so- called- master?"
"Your attention, Love." Purred the man in front of her.
"You start talking right now, or I swear…" The Queen threatened, but he cut her off.
"You'll do what? Kill me? In fact, I expected to be dead along with the others this morning." He said. "But no worries, now that we're all here, we can chat. Tell me, Love, what do you want to know?"
"What do you know of her?" The Queen asked.
"Her? This heartless creature is the one responsible for my faith. She and her armies destroyed everything I had; they killed every one of my people and left nothing… only ruin." The man said in a low voice. "She is pure evil…"
"Is she now?" Mockingly inserted the Queen and looked over to the other woman, who smirked at her. "How come she's a prisoner, then?"
"The same way you are about to be." He said. "She," he pointed at the other Queen, "she's not only an important prisoner, Love. She's bait. And you took it without questions asked. And now he's coming for you both."
"I've had enough of this!" The Black Queen hissed and with a gesture of her hand, the man fell dead on the floor. Seconds later his head rolled off his body at the other prisoner's feet. A dark chuckle escaped the Queen's lips and she looked at the woman in front of her. "You! You tell me the meaning of this before I rip your heart out!"
The woman gave her a glare before speaking. "There's nothing you can do to me, which was not done before - I have no heart."
"We'll see about that…" The Queen said and raised her hand, but the doors to the study burst open once again and Belghard, the commander of the guard, stepped inside. He hurried to his Queen and caught her hand just in time.
"What do you think you're doing?!" She demanded and freed her hand from his grip.
"My Queen, my apologies, but you can not kill her! At least not now!" The commander said. There was worry in his voice.
"And since when you tell me what to do?" The ruler raised her voice. "I will have you punished for this!"
"Your Majesty, please! Hear me out!" He pleaded. "You're in danger, you have to leave!"
"You're the one who's in danger, Belghard!" She growled at his face.
"In the name of the Gods, will you just listen to me?!" He said desperately.
"I am the Queen of this lands and I will NOT let anyone, even you, to speak to me like this! Think of a punishment, Commander, or I will!" The young woman spat out at him.
She then moved away from him and headed to the door, but he caught her by the wrist and spun her towards him. Behind them the chained woman chuckled.
"Raven, please!" He whispered, looking her right in the eye. "Listen."
And she did. She heard distant roars, she heard millions of footsteps getting closer to the castle; she heard war horns filling the air; she heard orders, flying out of someone's mouth – orders to attack. Not letting go of her wrist, Belghard dragged her to the nearest window. The imprisoned Queen followed.
"Looks like you have guests." She inserted.
The Black Queen widened her eyes at the view: countless armies were surrounding the castle.
"Gather the armies!" She turned to her commander, panic rising in her voice. "Prepare the men for battle!"
He stood still in front of her.
"We don't have time for that, My Queen." He whispered.
"He's right." The prisoner agreed. "They'll be dead before the day is out."
"This is all your doing, you filthy creature!" Snapped the Queen and stretched her hand towards the woman, but the commander caught her again. "It's you they want! And you they shall have!"
"No, My Lady!" The commander implied. "We have no time for this, you must run."
"What!? I do not run away from a battle!" She refused firmly.
"This is a fight you can not win." Said the woman. "You heard the soldier – I'm the bait." She was not smiling anymore.
"Explain!" The Queen ordered.
"Why do I need to tell you anything? I don't care if you live or die." She answered coldly.
"Because you don't seem eager to go back there, are you?" The commander cut in. "Tell us what you know and The Queen will let you go."
"Belghard?!" The Queen protested. "And how do we know that she is not his ally?"
"Since when did you forget to read people, my Queen?" He told her softly. "Did you not see the look on her eyes when you said you were planning to fight? Do you not see her bruised features? She is not his ally – she's a prisoner."
"Excuse me, Commander, but no, I failed to see her bruised face, because I was too busy looking at the bloody armies outside of my castle!" She snapped. "Alright, you are not his ally. Now tell me what you know, and I shall consider letting you go."
"A deal is a deal – I tell you about his plans, you release me." The woman said firmly.
"Fine!"
"Fine! His plan all along was to capture you – that's why he placed his castle so close to yours. He wants your power. He does not care for your subjects – he's after what you hold most dear – your magic. That's what he does – he collects magic to gain more power. He is the most powerful creature I've ever seen. You can not escape him, and you can not win a war against him."
"And how can I be sure that this is not one of his tricks? That you're not here to lure him closer to me?" Spat the Queen.
"Didn't you hear anything his soldier told you?!" Exclaimed the chained Queen. "Of course, I'm here to lure him to you – I'm the bait! Your only chance of surviving is to run."
"I will not run from a battle! I will not be seen as a bloody coward!" She argued.
"Do it for me. Please." Uttered the commander. "I'll stay and fight, I'll defend the kingdom."
"He is not after the kingdom, you fools! He's after her!" Inserted the prisoner.
"And he shall have her!" The commander snapped at her and turned to his Queen. "I will not let history to remember you as a coward, My Lady. I will give him a fight, you have my word."
"Belghard? Are you meaning to shape-shift and take my form?" Asked the Queen, the concern was visible in her voice.
"That is your only option of escaping. That is my plan, yes." He said quietly and looked her in the eyes. He wasn't gripping her hand anymore – he was holding it.
"Are you really going to do this? For her?" Asked the other Queen astounded.
"I'll do anything for my Queen." He said.
"Then what would you have me do?" Inquired the Queen.
"Take as many weapons you can carry and go north. Travel by horse, do not draw attention." He advised her. "Now go, you don't have time to waste."
"Belghard…"
"Do you trust me, my Queen?" Asked the commander anxiously.
"You know that I trust you, Belghard." Was her quiet answer.
"Then go. Run!" He insisted and rushed her out of the room.
"I don't want to leave you!" The Queen protested. "I can not go all alone!"
"You won't be alone." He assured her and the chains of the other Queen disappeared with a gesture of his hand. "She'll come with you. You have a better chance with someone who knows the enemy…"
"I can't go with her." Said the woman.
"Why not? You wanted freedom – your freedom lies with the Queen. If you stay here, he will seize you." Exclaimed the commander.
"He has my heart. I can not go without my heart."
"You will have a better chance retrieving it when you have your freedom, not when chained." He assured her. "Now go!"
Screams could be heard in the distance. The battle had begun.
"Belghard,…" The Queen whispered, but the commander cut her off.
"I know." He said softly and took the crown from her head.
