"Jefferson will you be careful!" scolded Regina as the man raced around her basement like an excited child. "I swear, if you break anything, I will break you!"
"And then how do you plan on carrying this out?" he asked, returning to his investigation of the room.
Rolling her eyes, Regina chose to ignore him and moved to the corner of the room, where she removed the sheet that covered the huge floor length mirror that she had spent the past few weeks working on. She jumped when the hatter's voice was suddenly very close to her ear.
"You carried out all the preparations I suggested?"
"Yes," hissed Regina. "Although I'm sure not all of them were necessary."
"Better safe than sorry, Regina," smirked the hatter, shifting to inspect mirror. He ran his hands over the frame, carved and painted with runes and magical symbols. "I'm impressed. Although you have fairly taken your time over it."
The former Evil Queen narrowed her eyes at the man. "It is rather difficult to fit such delicate work in around the Sheriff being home."
"Ah yes, I'd almost forgotten you two love birds now nest together," he said chuckling to himself. "So, shall we move on? You still have the hat?"
"What remains of it, yes," confirmed the witch. "You still think burning it is the best option?"
Regina was still coughing as she helped the hatter put the ashes around the frame of the mirror. That hat had produced more smoke than a thing of its size should be capable of when burning. "So this should create a boundary for the portal?"
"The hat was the original boundary, so yes, in theory at least," replied Jefferson. "Then with your containment spells, it should be enough to stabilise the frame of the mirror as the portal boundary. And then, we only need your very special ingredient."
Regina nodded. "That we'll get to tomorrow. I only plan on casting the necessary spells today."
"I'm intrigued, you Majesty," said Jefferson as he continued to work. "You seem very eager not to over exert yourself."
"And you may remain intrigued, Jefferson," she replied. "My reasons for what I do are my own, and while I appreciate your help, I do not appreciate your prying. I intend to take my time in the casting of these spells. I'm sure you can appreciate that I do not want to take any chances in the creation of this portal. I would never forgive myself if something happened which I could have prevented."
