"Charming, get in here!" Snow waved a hand and the image of Regina running through the forest vanished from the mirror. She gritted her teeth and stalked across the room to the window, the leather of her black dress dragging across the floor behind her. She reached up behind her back and began unlacing the back of her gown, allowing the fabric to slowly slide off her shoulders.
The door to her chambers flew open. She whirled around and saw, to her disappointment, that the man before her was not the prince, but one of her guards. She barely skipped a beat, smothering the heat that attempted to rise into her cheeks with a threatening glare aimed at the man before her.
"Where is Charming?" She hissed, dropping her hand away from the back of her dress and turning again towards the window.
"He-. Um-. He's escaped your majesty."
"Again?" She sighed irritably. This had become a regular occurrence as of late and it was growing increasingly annoying.
"Um. Yes, your majesty."
She laughed, a cold, wicked, menacing laugh that she knew would send shivers up the guard's spine. "He can't escape, I have his heart. Fetch it for me and I'll order him back."
There was only silence in response.
"Say something you incompetent fool." She whipped her head to face the man again, her voice booming.
"We have searched your vault, but his heart appears to be missing."
"What?!" Her eyebrows rose up her forehead and her whole body clenched. That man knew more of her secrets than anyone else in the realm. No one with that much to hold over her could be let to run free. Her eyes bore into him and he shivered. "Where is he?"
"We don't know."
"Is he really gone? Have you searched the entire castle and the grounds?"
The guard nodded and gulped. "No one is sure how he did it, but he's gone."
"Did I ask you to explain?" Snapped Snow. The hair on her bare shoulders was prickling with her anger.
The guard quickly shook his head and looked at the floor.
"I don't want you to explain, I want you to rectify your mistake." She stared hard out the window. "Now leave, and don't come back unless you have him."
The guard turned and started to walk away.
"Wait!" Snow shouted. "Bring him to me alive."
The guard scuttled nervously out the door, leaving Snow alone again.
She let her dress fall all the way off her bodice and stepped out of it, covered only by her black corset and underskirt. She walked slowly over to the mirror and stared, her nostrils flaring in fury. "Where the hell are you?" She growled, flicking her wrist in the mirrors direction. A rippling reflection appeared before her and she saw his face.
She watched as his crystalline blue eyes searched for something, she wasn't sure what. He clenched his chiseled jaw and gripped the railing of what she now recognized as a bridge. He bit his lip and brushed his fingers through his hair, sucking in the fresh air and allowing himself to smile.
She felt her eyes burning with tears. He looked so much like James it killed her. Her whole body trembled with anger and grief.
She would have him back at her side before the sun was set and determine his punishment then.
"I will find you." She whispered menacingly to the mirror.
"I will always find you."