Thanks for the reviews! And thanks to my beta Witchylove14.
This chapter is a little shorter, but it's setting up the next one which will be longer.
The ride back to the castle was silent. Emma looked up at the stoic face of her mother and looked over at the rigid form of her father.
She didn't understand why she was in trouble for making a friend. Regina was nice and had saved her life. Why were they in trouble? Would she ever see Regina again?
James stopped his horse abruptly. "Snow, let Emma down. I will bring her back home. I need to talk to her." He said and didn't turn around.
Snow lifted Emma and helped her down from the horse. Snow gave her daughter and small smile and trotted away on her horse with the rest of the guards.
"Emma." James said and dismounted his horse.
He walked over to his daughter who had her eyes cast down at the ground.
"Emma, look at me." James said and his small daughter looked up at him with big tears in her eyes.
"What did you think you were doing today?" James asked.
"I didn't mean to disobey you dad but I don't understand why I can't be friends with Regina." Emma said.
"She's an outsider Emma. They almost destroyed our kingdom and everything we hold dear. You could have been killed by that ogre. I don't know what I would have done if I would have lost you. I say this because I love you. Someday your mother and I won't be here and we'll need you to carry on in our place. You are a Princess and someday you will be Queen." James said and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"What if I don't want to be Queen?" Emma said and shook his hand from her shoulder, crossing her arms across her chest in defiance.
"That's like saying you're not a royal. It's in your blood, as am I. We are all connected." James said and knocked his hip against Emma and sent her flying forward.
Emma giggled and James took her hand and his horses' reigns in the other.
"Why don't you want to be Queen?" James asked.
"It's no fun. I don't want to give speeches and talk to the boring diplomats with the funny mustaches and I definitely don't want to wear dresses." Emma said as they approached the castle gate.
"It's not all of that boring stuff; most of it is rewarding and outweighs the bad things. When you're older you'll understand your place in this world." James said and walked away from his daughter.
He keeps saying that. Emma thought. As she started walking the perimeter of the courtyard Argo came up behind her and nuzzled her hand to tell her he was there.
Emma rubbed the dog behind its ear and looked around at the servants cleaning and gardening in the courtyard. How much easier their lives must be. Emma thought. Not having to worry about lessons and dress fittings. Not having to think about ruling over an enormous kingdom. Must be nice to live like that, not being a pawn in some big plan. Emma thought as she watched a young blue bird flutter past her head. She ran after it, Argo at her heels. The bird flew over the southern wall and Emma stopped at the wall to watch it go.
She looked down at the vast reaches of the kingdom. Someday this will all be yours. Her father's voice rung in her head. But what if I don't want it. Emma thought and watched the blue bird disappear on the horizon.
Across the land, Cora walked back to a small run down castle.
"Hey pipsqueak." 14 year old Maleficent said as she leaned against the doorframe of the castle.
Cora immediately rounded on the girl. "You were supposed to be watching her!"
"It's not her fault mother." Regina added. "I ran away from her."
Cora turned abruptly towards Regina. "And you!" she said.
"What did you think you were doing? What did I tell you about the Charmings? They exiled us here! And how do you repay them? Saving their bright, bumbling, blonde daughter!" Cora said and advanced on Regina.
"I know they exiled us here mother, but she didn't seem so bad. She was nice and wanted to play kingdom with me. She even let me be the Queen! I thought we could be—" Regina said.
Cora interrupted her. "FRIENDS!?" She let out a maniacal laugh.
"You foolish child. You thought you could be friends with someone like her? That you could befriend her and then Snow and Charming would welcome you with open arms?" Cora laughed again.
"What an idea." Cora said and then it was as if a light bulb went off in her mind.
"That's it! You brilliant child!" Cora said and walked Regina up to the tall tower where she kept her. They were followed closely by Athena, who never quite trusted Cora.
"What mother?" Regina asked hesitantly, used to her mother's many mood swings.
"Don't worry about it now my love. This is something to speak of in the morning. For now I want you to sleep." Cora said and led Regina over to her large red ornate bed.
"Athena." Regina called and patted the bed beside her, and the large dog laid by her side.
"Good night mother." Regina said hesitantly and snuggled Athena closer to her.
Good night. Sleep well. Our true work begins tomorrow." Cora said and closed the large wooden door.
Cora walked down the steps to encounter Maleficent and Hook, who were two young orphans that were exiled from the Charmings' land because their parents had practiced dark magic. Maleficent was the only one to actually be interested in learning Cora's dark ways, so Cora trained her.
"So what's your plan Cora?" the young witch asked.
"Regina will befriend the young Princess. She will earn the trust of the family and then when they least expect it she will strike. She will dispose of the Charmings and take her place on the throne as it should have been, before Snow and Charming took her and I out of the line of succession. Regina will be Queen and we will once again rule the kingdom." Cora said and walked towards her bedroom.
"Her training starts tomorrow." Cora said and turned back towards her two wards. "My daughter has a strong kind heart. We will teach her to harden it. The Charmings will have no other option than to cower at her power. I can feel the great amount of potential in her. She will be like no other we have ever seen. When she is Queen, she will rule absolute. She will be the most powerful sorceress this land has ever encountered. That is what the prophecy stated, and I fully intend on making that come true. So tomorrow our true work begins." Cora said and headed back in the direction of her room.
"Stupid prophecy." Maleficent said.
"Bitter are we?" Hook asked.
"Just because that twisted imp prophesized that the child born under the blood red moon would hold great power doesn't mean that we should be overlooked. If Regina hadn't been that child I would have been the most powerful sorceress in the land." Maleficent said.
"Precious Regina gets all that she wants because she is the chosen one. We are just her lowly servants." Hook said as they walked to their prospective rooms.
"I think the thing that makes me the maddest is she doesn't even milk it. She could have whatever she wants; a new dress, the best room, the best of everything. But she stays in that drafty tower room cause she likes to 'see the stars'" Maleficent said in a mocking tone.
"And the only thing she ever wanted was that stupid mutt she begged Cora to let her keep." Maleficent said and opened her bedroom door.
"Well if it makes you feel better my love, tomorrow we get to begin our corruption of dear sweet 'Queen to be' Regina." Hook said.
They both laughed maniacally as they entered their rooms.
Up in her tower Regina nuzzled Athena's neck, and thought of the blonde who she had spent the afternoon with.
"She was so nice Athena." Regina said to the dog. Athena whimpered a small sound, agreeing with Regina's comment.
"She called my beautiful. She's the first person to ever call me that." Regina said and sat up in bed. Athena sat up and joined her.
"She was pretty too. Don't you think?" Regina said and scratched behind Athena's ear. Athena made another whimper of agreement. "Her eyes were greener than anything I've ever seen. They were so bright." Athena nuzzled her face in agreement.
"I don't know why mother hated her so much. She saved me. Maybe I'll see her again someday and we can slay the dragon." Regina said and yawned.
Regina crawled back into bed and Athena laid down beside her. "She was a brave knight." She said. "My brave knight." Regina said through a yawn and snuggled closer to the dog.
Johanna was tucking Emma into bed and Emma wanted answers.
"Johanna, why do Mom and Dad hate the outsiders so much? I know they practice dark magic, but that can't be the only reason." Emma said.
"Well," Johanna started. "It all started with your grandmother Eva. She practiced good magic. But Regina's mother Cora was jealous of your grandmother's power and charms. So she teamed up with your grandfather, King George, who was not a nice man. They tried to take the kingdom from your grandmother. She fought back and won, but the cost was her life. But on her deathbed she prophesized you, child; you are the child born under the celestial blue moon, and you will bring peace to the kingdoms. You will be a great ruler, she said. When your mother and father took the throne after her death they exiled all of the bad people from the kingdom." Johanna said.
"But Regina didn't fight against Grandma Eva. She's not a bad guy. She saved me with her magic." Emma said.
"Yes, but she is the child of an outsider, so she will be trained to use it for evil." Johanna said and stood from Emma's bed.
"I don't think Regina is evil." Emma said through a yawn as she cuddled close to Argo.
"You have a good heart Princess. You do not see the evil in people." Johanna said.
"She's not evil Johanna." Emma mumbled into her dog, "She is my Queen and I will protect her from evil." Emma said through another giant yawn.
"Go to sleep now child." Johanna said and exited the Princess's room.
"That's what brave knights do Argo. They protect the beautiful maidens." Emma said and drifted off to sleep with Regina's purple irises dancing in her mind.
Thanks for reading! Hope to have the next chapter up tomorrow.
Once again, reviews are welcomed and encouraged! Stay excellent.