**A/N – This a plot chapter with action towards the end. Also, the one I asked you wait to get to before you burn this story. Sets the whole base for their journey to unfold and answers a ton of questions you probably have. Short summary provided of Regina's thoughts at end for reference later.** Fan art for this chapter is on my Tumbler under LittleSwanLover
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Toy
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Regina's hips rolled easily on the one she mounted, muscles responding to the pace of the fair creature between her thighs. Her lips parted to taste the air; fury, fear, and something else. She smiled. A gloved hand stroked a long neck and her horse whinnied at the affection, one she'd had for nearly a year, but still not Rocinante. A sacrifice of love, wasted for a curse that went astray.
One the girl insisted had been cast correctly resulting in a place called Storybrooke. A curious knowledge gained weeks ago from the blonde walking behind her.
That had been such an enlightening conversation as the girl pleaded prettily at knife point for understanding as to why the sudden appearance in the Black Castle was not her fault, but a spell gone wrong. Regina was all too familiar with the effects of magic gone awry. She had learned there was supposedly another version of herself outside the boundaries of this cursed Dark Realm where light never quite reached the edges of the black mist of space surrounding it. Apparently the Enchanted Forest still existed, or so the blonde said.
But Regina knew the truth.
All of the realms had been destroyed the night the curse warped, Rumple had ensured that just as she had ensured his death because of the fact. Everything and everyone in the magical realms had been sucked into the time loop the Dark Realm existed in. Pieces of each had formed the very ground the blonde walked on. The bridge allowing for portals to work severed allowing no one to cross either side.
Yet this girl had found a way, a one way trip through a loop hole.
Regina had been taught by the Dark One himself and read about the edges of realms, destroyed or real or imaginings, sometimes crossing and blurring at the edges called dream scapes, an extremely rare thing. That explained the blonde's blind belief in the reality she'd come from; a fragment and memory of a world that could have existed on the continuum of time had the curse gone the way it should have and that fake reality had brushed against this one. Time was not a continuum here, it spiraled in on itself; a spinning ball of chaotic confusion floating through the universe.
The girl had such hope in returning home and Regina let her have that hope, because the curse would take everything else soon enough. And Regina couldn't stop it from doing so, even if she wanted to and part of her did.
The light in those green eyes did.
That blind faith remained in green pools even at the Queen's discovery of a magic bean the blonde had stashed in the pocket of a foul red leather jacket and she had explained, almost kindly, it had no effect here. A royal hand had tossed the bean aside in proof and no portal formed because there was no-where else to go, no other realm to escape to. The blonde demanded a try and doubt hinted in those eyes when the bean had been so easily handed back and still proved worthless.
I'll find a way home. Pink lips had said.
Lips that made a binding promise; herself for her parents lives. That further sealed her entrapment here and to the Queen who ruled. Once the shadows of the Dark Realm got a taste for the girl's light heart and even more at that selfless promise she'd lost what magic flowed under pale skin, consumed by darkness starved for light. The only magic here belonged solely to Regina.
Those lips said a lot of things.
Here Regina's senses and powers were heightened. There was almost nothing she couldn't do… almost. Blind truths that brushed against what humanity she had left and that scratched an unreachable itch. A part of her wished there was a place called Storybrooke that existed where the girl said she, the Evil Queen, was happy, had a family, friends and even a son named…
Regina swallowed the name forcing it away; another sacrifice of love. Names brought attachments and lonely as she was she would not form one with the girl. How many times would she open her heart only to have those she allowed in ripped from her? Snow had seen to that a few different times.
'But now Snow is contained under my thumb and the girl is here, so maybe… No.' Regina shook the thought away. There was no hope for her, never for her. Self doubt put her thoughts back on track.
Still she had finally gotten her revenge on the White brat at the blonde's bold entry into her court now nearly a month ago. The daughter carried under a White heart for nine months and who had been lost in a spelled tree the night the curse twisted itself into something else. This realm was meant to be the playground for the Dark One, a cursed world no one could intrude upon where everyone bent to his will.
And Regina would not kneel, never again.
She had discovered his scheme and as the edges of the Enchanted Forest fell away she pulled the Imp's heart from his chest and crushed it, ensuring she would rule in his place. Suddenly, as fate or the brushing of a fragmented world would be so kind, the daughter appeared a year later in her castle, fully grown, and spitting stories of a very different place.
Strange, the land the girl babbled about, time must have moved differently in that would be dream world. Insufferable Charming genetics ensured the blonde found her family when Regina had turned her loose from the Black Castle to do so that first morning after feigning sympathy for the confused surly girl. The White Princess cub had led her right to the Snow lion's den. A warded cave spelled with blood magic by the Blue Fairy, in the nick of time before the curse took effect, to draw the Savior in to find them.
The twisted curse had indeed transported all of fairy tale land to a kingdom Regina ruled, a horrible place of shadows where each occupant lived a version of their own fear, catch was the Queen was included, that twist she'd been unable to stop before the Enchanted Forest had been consumed and the Dark One fell at her feet. She lived each day with the realization she would never love or be loved again, a fear she had thought she had let go of in turning to dark magic when Rumple had offered to teach her. Memories were still intact for everyone, but magic existed only at her fingertips as it would have for the Dark One had he lived and ruled as he'd intended, fingertips attached to an iron fist to match her heart. And the catch of any curse was that it could be broken as the Savior was meant to do.
Still, broken curse or not, this realm was all that was left. The occupants could be released from the spell, but not the world they lived in.
But when the blonde had arrived in the ball of light, Regina had faltered for just a moment with that desire. To be able to possibly return from the darkness, to help shift this land to be more like the Enchanted Forest that no longer existed and in doing so, she could somehow start anew. It was a strong pull, but the expense was too great; she would not give up her revenge or the order and control she still had over her life, not when the perfect lure had just fallen into her hands.
Here her will was law and that fed her, kept the hunger for love at bay when nothing else could. Snow's only saving grace against the Queen's will upon arrival to this realm a year ago was fairy magic that shielded the Charmings' in the transport. Blue had managed that and the tree that had saved the girl. The magic, the last of the fairy's reserves provided the White brat and her husband with a place of safety to live in wait for their long lost daughter to find them.
Extracting the reunited family from the cave had been as simple as buttering bread. The girl trusted blindly, at least she had in that first meeting at the castle and again at the mouth of the cave when Regina had come knocking. A prize catch, none the less. And, for all the blonde shared and told, the Queen revealed nothing of the twisted curse, save the name of the place she ruled.
Doing so would destroy the girl and snuff out the light in those eyes, of that she was certain. Though the girl would no doubt break under that truth from red lips when Regina chose to reveal it, she did not wish to keep the Savior broken and she surprised herself with that desire. If she was never to love again, she might be able to have something, some kind of companionship with the blonde. So she had promised to mend the break that would inevitably happen, she was determined to in some way, but the way was not clear yet.
She fell back on old habits, to secure something for herself by taking what she wanted the only way she knew how; through control, games, and pain. There was no other model for it left in her life and that reminder turned her mouth down and she clicked her tongue twice as the memory of early encounters with the girl faded away, horse hoofs gaining a peppy step.
For the speed of the march through the wood that was set, whenever Emma stumbled, it slowed just enough until she gained her footing. After an hour they came to a small round clearing and the Queen dismounted. Emma panted from the excursion, feet sore and moved to where she was led.
"Sit." A finger snapped to the spot at the base of a skinny pine.
'Again with the pet commands… I wonder what she would do if I barked?' Emma thought as she stared at the tree in wonder.
She and her Regina back in Storybrooke had gotten plenty kinky before in the Mayor's bedroom, but nothing like this and as the melancholy of missing home took over she obeyed. Doubt began to invade at that being a possibility any more the longer she was here. This place had a way of eating at her resolve and exposing her fears and she couldn't figure out why. Her biggest fear of not having a place to call home or to belong had begun to invade her dreams and thoughts.
She shook her head, hope still strong. Emma did have a place and it wasn't here…
'Was it?' Another doubtful thought.
The magical rope moved freeing her neck and stretched her wrists around the back of the tree. She had finally given it a name to personify the twisted cord always tied to her in some way. Rope secured her middle, then her chest, and coiled around her forehead like a coronet to the bark. The Queen stood over her, shading her body from the sun's harsh glare. A twig broke under a heel and green eyes flicked up to the breasts that hovered in her face.
"Shaking already? Poor dear. We are just getting started."
Regina moved to the saddle bag of her horse and returned with a water sack. Taking her time with a long drink, eyes locked on the girl at her feet and she knelt down to put the flask to a wanting mouth, barely brushing the damp rim to flesh before pulling back in a tease.
"Would you like a drink?"
"Yes… Please."
Fire dimmed now that she was tied, splayed, and thirsty. She watched the Queen take a great pull and those red lips engulfed her own as cool water poured in. Twisting away, Emma ducked her face, blushing at the closeness. A tingle shot down her spine from that kiss, one she'd tasted before in another life now so far away, and from the words that followed.
"Time to begin." The flask was stored away and another summoned into a gloved hand in its place. Regina enjoyed the way that pale brow wrinkled and the way pupils dilated when she uncapped the flask and poured the contents into her hand.
"Is that…?"
"Blood? Yes dear. Don't worry, it is not human."
'As if that makes a fucking difference!' Emma shouted in her head, the metallic scent filling her nose. "Noooo!" A shout when it was smeared across her throat and chest.
"A lamb for a lamb."
The rest of the liquid in the flask was poured in a circle around the tree where she sat, splashing against her feet and calves. The leather pouch vanished in purple smoke and new gloves appeared on royal hands, meticulously tugged into place as if that was all that mattered.
"I'm not a lamb!"
Heels moved back to the nickering stead.
"I'm a person!"
And mounted.
"Wait! Where are you going?" And when no answer came, panic did. "You can't just leave me here!"
"I may do whatever I like, girl, simply because it is my pleasure." Regina gave the blonde a once over, face expressionless, but something poked at the back of her mind at the plea for recognition radiating from green eyes. Such beautiful eyes… and she did something she rarely did, offer a choice. "Answer correctly even one of my two questions and I will untie you, take you back to the castle, and you may simply feel my cane for your insolence today."
Panting and hopeful not to be left as food for whatever lived here, and maybe that she had somehow chipped away with her own chisel at the hard heart she knew beat beneath a breast. "And if I don't?"
"I will leave you to your fate. The gamble is entirely yours."
"What do you want to know?"
"First question; what is your name?"
Emma clenched her jaw, fighting to hold back the answer pulling at her mouth. The Queen appeared indifferent to her struggle.
"Last question, last chance; what is my title?"
Easier, but she would lose just as much ground giving into that one. Teeth chewed her inner cheek and her nostrils flared in anger and pride; that much, she'd gained back. And that gave her hope and some grit. She didn't want another taste of the cane, but she also didn't want to be a sitting duck… or, swan.
"Queen."
A double edge of the same sword, Majesty and Queen, a clever play on words that meant the same thing. 'Precision my ass. Queen is your title, look up what title means in the dictionary.' Emma thought and smiled inside at her small win.
Regina blinked and rolled her neck back as velvet laughter echoed around them. Maybe this girl had some wit after all and that intrigued her, still she was not yet accurate enough.
"Touché' girl. Majesty is a title used when speaking of or to a sovereign, usually preceded by the word 'your' or another pronoun, which you have yet to have picked up on. I would expect the most basic attention to protocol from a Princess. Still a failure, none the less, no matter how clever you think you are."
It was Emma's turn to blink and as the horse began to back step away from the tree she realized the Queen was calling her bluff.
"REGINA!" The scream would cost her, but in the moment those brown eyes met hers it was worth the fraction of comfort they unknowingly offered.
Hoofs rode away and with it Emma's sense of safety. She was alone in the woods as dusk approached. Bound and with fresh blood coating her body. The wind came first and on it the singing of a wolf's distant howl.
"Shit!"
Cursing more than the woman that left her Emma struggled against Rope and in response it tightened. The slack she'd been afforded was lost. Lungs strained against the fibers that cut into her skin.
Hours passed as she breathed and tried not to cry in between. She wondered if the Queen would return and something itched inside her at the want of that thought. Was she being punished or was this a new lesson?
The howl came again refocusing her, closer this time. Something shifted in her peripheral vision; a black flash. She closed her eyes, hot tears leaving as she heard the ground shifting behind her. Panting, not her own, then a swipe of wet heat against her instep. Cracking her right eye, a shriek wanted to come, but nothing did when a great set of yellow eyes met her own.
Wolf eyes.
Luminous with hunger. These same eyes eclipsed, like a reptile blinking, and something flashed across the golden orbs. Impossibly long fangs bared and a growl rumbled through the wood.
Sweat slicked her skin in sheets and try as she did to be still, her shaking seemed to irritate the beast. Those teeth came at her throat, but instead of a bite a lick was given between nicks of teeth. As the great muscle worked the blood from her neck, then chest another chip fell away, another piece of the vessel keeping her mind intact.
The wolf growled again and it vibrated against Emma's cheek. She nearly wet herself until…
"Is that anyway to greet your Mistress?"
A soft whimper followed; from both beast and girl.
Dried blood clung to the muzzle of the black wolf as it pulled back heels approached crunching over dirt. A hand, bare this time came to rest atop her head and the other itched the scruff of the canine relative. Emma caught a flash of ruby, many of the stones in a gold ring around the thick furry neck.
"I see your first play date was a success."
Green eyes bugged, realization flooding her features between wild beats of a heart. "Play date… Like a damn chew toy!? For t-that thing?"
"She," Regina corrected, indicating the wolf that smiled at the blonde, "needed some fun along with a good run and today you volunteered. Lucky you."
Emma wrinkled her nose at that twisted logic, finally relaxing against the tree when she realized she was not about to be dog kibble. She wondered if this wolf might just be a friend in animal form.
"Meet my pet, Red." Another affectionate scratch was given and in response a pink tongue licked a nose over a sharp fang. "She outranks you and make no mistake to whom her loyalty belongs to. One word or gesture from me and she will make sure you know your place."
Emma filed away another lesson learned and she realized she'd forgotten; titles and pronouns, possessive ones, were important to Regina. In her fear and anger she dismissed what she shouldn't have and in stubborn pride forgot what Regina had said the night she proposed, hearing those words now clear in her mind.
'I am your best friend Emma, your lover and your life partner and I am willing, for you, to be a wife, but not yours... in that way I belong to no one.'
Veiled in shadows, this Queen she butt heads with was still Regina at the raw bit of heart that beat under iron and she loved Regina, all of her. So she said and promised she could when the brunette had asked if she was sure years ago.
If it was true that there was not a way home… 'but there has to be…' then Emma was left to prove that promise.
And even after what she'd went through today she was still sure of her words and that scared her. Here, a few words proved to be life and death important, and an overgrown fur ball now held the other end of Rope after a regal hand. And Emma wondered if it was the only hand she would ever know again.
Regina smiled almost kindly when her words of warning that followed were anything but. "Take heed girl. My title better return to your vernacular the next time you dare speak. Or the next set of teeth at your throat will be mine and I am not so distracted by blood."
And Emma knew then without a shadow of doubt she was royally fucked.
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A/N - Summary of beginning points if it was tough to follow OR for a quick reference point as the story moves along:
-Rumple added a twist to original dark curse so he could rule a Dark Realm and everyone in it.
-Regina killed him right before it was cast – dagger and body of Dark One absorbed in curse.
-Curse fragmented splitting into versions of reality that could have existed, but are not real (think dream scapes) and all realms were destroyed and reformed into Dark Realm (DR)
-DR stuck in time loop, no one ages, their memories in tack since the curse fragmented the ones Regina planned them to have became lost, forming the dream scape Storybrooke Emma is from.
-Charmings banished to far corner of DR, but safe due to Emma's sacrifice.
-Baby Emma escaped in time where she grew in said dream scape, but a rare loophole allowed her one way entry to DR
-Regina is cursed too (live out worst fear) and gets some hope to change her life here when Emma arrives, but is unable to shift her mind there (curse)…. Yet.
-Emma is beginning to succumb to curse as well, her fear; no place to call home or sense of belonging
-Regina is only one with magic and told Emma nothing of the curse yet, just that Emma is in DR.
-Emma has not told the Queen they were to be married and still thinks there's a Storybrooke to go back to, but it never was real to begin with and there nothing, but this realm left.
-That leaves Henry, which will be addressed later….
**Make sense? J Also please review – this helps me gauge interest and the reception to this piece and if I should continue. I also take requests/ideas for interactions between these two.**
Thank you!