Regina stared at Charming with vehemence; the idiot Prince was just as bad as his simpering wife. Both convinced of their utter righteousness and yet stupidly blinkered to the world around them at the same time. They seemed to believe everyone was good at heart and could be trusted, well, everyone apart from Regina that is. He would obviously take the word of a thieving rapist over her own. It was at times like these Regina wished she hadn't taken such a dark path in life then just maybe someone would believe her, even though she felt she had no choice. But then again if she'd have done the 'evil' thing and let the young Princess be murdered she would be free right now and making her escape through the forest. It was all because of that troublesome child, why didn't she just let them kill her? She knew the answer in her heart though she was loathe to admit it. That little girl was the first one in years who acted like she gave a damn about her and that awakened emotions inside of her that Regina had long thought dead.
"Put me down!" Emma yelled, struggling in her father's grasp.
"Emma, be patient sweetheart, I'll get Johanna to take you to your room so you don't have to be in the same place as this criminal for a moment longer." Charming said to his daughter, struggling to keep a hold on her tunic as Regina looked on, her brows furrowed in anger.
"I don't want Johanna," she whined, finally getting free of Charming's iron grip and rushing over to Regina. "Father, Regina saved me! That horrible man was going to stab me and she was fighting him and his friend to try and make them let me go."
The Prince regarded his daughter with absolute horror.
"Oh my God, what has she done to you Emma? My little girl. She's bewitched you! You're going to pay for this Regina I swear on my-"
"I'm not bewitched father! It's the truth," the young Princess exclaimed, trying to get through to him. "She's innocent in all this I promise."
"That's the enchantment talking Emma, I know you don't really believe that. If she did nothing then why is her cell door wide open and two of my guards unconscious on the floor? And why are you even here, you know this tower is forbidden. This woman is evil Emma; she only seeks to hurt us."
The young Princess' lip started to quiver as she tried to hold back tears.
"She's not evil father she's not!" Emma proclaimed, setting herself between the Prince and the Evil Queen." And I'm not enchanted, don't be stupid and say I am."
"Emma!" Charming barked at his daughter, outraged at her cheek as Regina held in a small smirk.
"Well it's true! She can't do magic cause you put that metal collar thingy around her neck. Those men have been stealing her food and being horrible to her for ages father."
Charming regarded the brunette suspiciously she looked straight through him whilst his daughter spoke. Regina didn't care what the simpleton thought, he would get his, of that she was certain.
"I was walking by the tower and I heard shouting so I came upstairs. I know I'm not allowed but you and mother taught me I was to always do the right thing and help people in trouble."
Regina raised an eyebrow in amusement at her comment. Maybe there was hope for the little Charming girl after all, using her parent's own words to justify her rule breaking, she was clever this one and definitely didn't take after her father when it came to smarts. The Princess evidently had more than two brain cells to rub together which was more than could be said for Charming. Somewhere a village was missing it's idiot. She was snapped back into the present by the Princess' next words.
"They were hurting her father," Emma continued, sniffling. "They were hitting and hitting her and wouldn't stop and they were grabbing her here," the young blond finished, gesturing to her own flat chest.
Charming's face blanched at his daughter's implications. Thankfully she didn't fully realise what they meant. He shifted his gaze to Regina who couldn't hold eye contact for more than a few seconds and turned her face away, her cheeks colouring with anger and with shame.
"Emma, go to your room." Charming said quietly to his daughter as she waited on his response.
"But Fa-"
"I said, go to your room Emma. I am your father and you will obey me. Look," he continued softening his tone. "I believe you ok. I just need to speak with Regina alone to clarify a few things. It's grown up stuff and I don't want you involved sweetheart."
The young blonde looked like she was about to protest when she felt a soft hand pressing gently on her shoulder. Emma turned round to face Regina who gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head.
"Fine..." the Princess replied suspiciously before continuing, "but if you make her sad I will never forgive you," Emma stated quietly, staring her father in the eye before she ran out of the room and down the stairs, her footsteps echoing throughout the tower.
Charming sighed as he rubbed his temples with his fingers. Sometimes he wished his daughter wasn't so strong willed. It would eradicate many a headache, but who was he kidding, Charming loved his daughter and would much prefer Emma's knack of causing trouble than a daughter who was obedient and her mind vacant with no thoughts of her own.
Both the Prince and Regina were startled by the sound of feet pounding up the stairs. Snow White bust into the small tower room, the air being expelled from her lungs in ragged breaths at her exertion. She regarded the situation with more than a hint of confusion and was about to grab for a weapon when her husband's voice stilled her.
"Snow, Emma is fine, she's back in her room."
At this the young Queen visibly relaxed, the main cause of her worry over but she did not forsee the explanation that was to come, as she seldom did.
"Emma heard shouting and came to investigate. She found the guards harassing Regina and then they turned on her and tried to kill our daughter. Regina tried to stop them and apparently she succeeded" he said, gesturing to the unconscious guards. "And that's when I came in with my guards. Emma has verified everything Regina said and by the look of her I believe she is telling the truth."
"You believe I'm telling the truth?" Regina snarled striding forward only to be held back by Charming's retinue. "Let go of me!" she shouted, lashing out until Charming gave the command to stand down. " I have been starved on and off for weeks, been beaten regularly for entertainment and raped one after the other by your so called Prison guard and his little friend and all you can offer me in apology is you believe I'm telling the truth?" Regina laughed with incredulity, its shrill sound piercing the air as Snow White stepped back from her horrified.
"As usual Snow my dear, you fail to acknowledge the very horrors that go on right under your nose, just like with your father. He was no different in many respects. He didn't beat me or starve me but he treated me like dirt and took me whenever he felt like it, even though I was only eighteen. Just a few years older than you, his darling little girl, except I had no one to protect me."
Snow gave a little sob of horror as she sank to the ground holding her head in her hands.
"Regina stop this at once!" Charming snapped, moving protectively in front of his wife.
"Stop what dear? Enlightening your beloved to the truth? To be a good ruler you must be aware of everything that goes on in your palace and I mean everything or how can you seek to control your staff?" The former Queen had recovered herself somewhat and moved back to her cell, sitting on her straw pallet the exhaustion written plainly across her face. "Now, I suggest you do whatever it is you have decided to do to me. However, before you send me to my fate I would quite enjoy a bath as I have months of filth to wash away and I don't just mean the physical kind." The brunette finished, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall as Snow and Charming recovered from learning the horrible truth about their Prison staff. Regina sighed to herself, calming her nerves with the feel of the cold stone flags underneath her feet. Really, was a bath too much to ask for? The truth was she wasn't expecting freedom, she knew that much and she knew the pair in front of her would always hold her accountable for the hundreds of lives she had destroyed or ended, but she was hoping their guilt would outweigh their anger and they would let her relax in a warm bath, even if it was just for a minute. Then she could stop thinking. Stop thinking about those men, her past, her anger and rage against the world and the most confusing of all her changing feelings. She no longer was content with simply dying or fading away, Regina had a renewed sense of determination. She would get out of here and make them all pay. However, she knew deep inside that a tiny corner of her heart had turned away from rage and revenge and opened up to something else entirely.
