Chapter 7

Regina sat at the head of the table, looking at her guests. Emma sat to her right, looking around nervously. Regina smirked but identified with Emma's situation. The first time she met any of the other reigning monarchs, she was nearly shaking in her heels. Of course, by that time, she had been schooled in how to hide her emotions even when it felt as though they would overtake her.

"Would you prefer butter or gravy?" Regina asked the man sitting on the other side of Emma. He was tall and his skin was dark. His black and red robe clung to his body and he spoke in a slightly nasally voice.

"Butter," he said. Regina asked Emma to "be a dear" and pass the butter. He cut into the substance with his knife and piled it onto a mound of mashed potatoes which he proceeded to shovel into his mouth. Regina looked to Emma to see her staring at him with her mouth open, obviously appalled. She kicked her, quite hard, under the table, making Emma jump and looked back at Regina.

"Perhaps you should slow down, Jafar," said a round woman who was sitting across from him. Ursula wore shades of dark blue and had short, white hair. Her lips were bright red. Regina always found it interesting that the woman could adapt so easily to only having two legs when she chose her human form over being an octopus. Her vast knowledge of contracts was nowhere near that of Rumpelstiltskin's, but it was still not something to be trifled with.

Jafar merely grunted and continued to rudely stuff his face.

"This," said a woman with blonde hair and a sickeningly sweet voice began, "must be Emma."

Emma jumped at the mention of her name and looked towards a woman draped in various shades of purple. Her smile was predatory, offering a glimpse into what Regina knew was a twisted mind.

"How old are you?" Maleficent asked, still smiling.

"19," Emma mumbled.

Maleficent's face lit up and she leaned in closer to Emma. Regina knew that the younger woman was exactly Maleficent's type: green eyes, blonde hair, innocent...well, mostly innocent. The Queen remembered when the little sleeping beauty, or "my Aurora," as she often hear Maleficent call her, had slipped through Maleficent's fingers. After she had fallen in love with the young prince instead of the witch, Maleficent had gone quite insane.

"Perhaps you could come visit me in the Forbidden Fortress sometime," she said.

Emma smiled, causing a pang of jealousy to run through Regina.

"She will not be traveling anywhere for a very long time," she said through clenched teeth. Ursula laughed as she looked between the three. Maleficent leaned back and smiled appraisingly at Regina while Emma looked startled. They sat in silence for a moment.

"This is delicious," Jafar said through a mouth full of potatoes.

"Really?" said Regina with an arched eyebrow. "I would've gone gravy."

"Wh-" began Jafar. Before he could finish even the word, he slumped forward, landing face first into his plate, not breathing or moving.

"Thank God," Ursula said. "I thought he'd never croak."

"You...you just killed..." Emma tried to get out. She looked from the deceased man next to her back to Regina who was smiling.

"Well, we can't have people with manners like that roaming around. Guards!" she said. A pair of guards came in and cleaned up the mess made by the guest and carried the dead man out.

"That is very true," said Maleficent as she speared a piece of meat.

"You killed him because he can't eat like a normal human?" Emma asked, still horrified.

"Oh my dear, sweet, child," began Ursula. "She killed him because he was going to kill her."

"He was planning on going rogue," Regina explained. "He was planning on murdering me so he could take my seat in this little alliance we have," she said as she gestured around the table.

Emma was staring at Regina as she took a small sip of her red wine. She seemed so calm about murdering someone, but she couldn't help but see the necessity of it.

"Won't someone miss him?" she asked.

"I've sent a replacement back in his stead. He looks and sounds exactly like the old Jafar, except he will be much more reliable in the information he gives us. Agrabah can be a very dangerous place, so someone competent is needed. And I hear the sultan's daughter is about the age to be wed. I have given instructions to the replacement Jafar to attempt to woo her," Regina said.

Emma stared at the Queen. She admired her cold and calculating demeanor in this moment and smiled. Intelligence was always something she found attractive and this, along with Regina's undeniably good looks, made it very hard for Emma to resist her.

Emma snapped her head back down to her plate at the thought. She couldn't be falling for Regina like that. Not so easily anyway. But she couldn't deny the constant pull she felt towards the woman. And, somewhere deep down, she knew it would be easier to simply give in, to allow herself the pleasure of lusting after the powerful woman.

Regina noticed Emma staring at her plate and eating absently throughout the entire dinner. She wondered what she was thinking. The Queen knew she could easily rip into the princess' mind, but something was holding her back. So she ate, making idle conversation with Ursula and Maleficent and continued to think about Emma.

"Has there been any sort of mobilization?" Regina asked as she finished her dinner.

"Triton had not moved his armies when I left earlier today. And I haven't gotten any word from Flotsam or Jetsam to the contrary," Ursula said as she laid down her fork. "But I honestly don't see why you believe any but Snow and Charming would move against you."

"She knows how vengeful someone can be," Maleficent said.

"No. I just know that Snow will do anything to get her back. That includes calling upon all of her allies to take this castle. I wish to have my guards ready when that happens," Regina said.

"It's only been a day," Maleficent said, eyeing Emma. "Give it a month or so."

Emma dropped her fork and it traveled beneath the table. Before Regina could stop her, the younger woman dived after it.

Regina sighed and agreed. She knew her army could easily take Charming and Snow's, but if any others joined their cause, she would need to call upon her allies. That would mean she owed them something and she was not in the habit of owing anyone anything.

As Ursula began talking about Triton's youngest daughter, Regina felt a hand run up her leg and warm breath tickle her. A tension formed in her lower abdomen and she could feel herself becoming aroused.

Emma popped back up and sat in her chair. A button had come undone while she was cavorting around under the table, showing off her cleavage. Regina caught herself glaring at her while Emma smiled back, knowing full well what she was doing to the woman who thought she had so much power.

Throughout the rest of the time at the table, Regina attempted to focus on the topic at hand, but found herself distracted. She couldn't forget the soft touch that promised of more things to come. Emma leaned over the table, giving Regina the perfect look down her shirt.

As time went on, Regina became more and more aroused. But the Queen wasn't the only one who noticed Emma's sudden change in demeanor. Regina saw Maleficent give Emma long looks, lingering on her chest. Something welled up inside Regina. Emma was hers and no one else would ever have her. She wanted to out Emma in a room, preferably her own room, and keep here there doing whatever she pleased to her. Maleficent had no right to her. Only Regina herself did.

"I think it's getting rather late," Regina said suddenly. Maleficent looked at her and gave her a sly smile while Ursula merely frowned. "It's been very nice having everyone, but I'm exhausted from today's activities."

Regina rose, prompting the others to follow suit. After pleasant goodbyes, everyone left except for Emma who seemed to be sizing up Regina.

"Did you enjoy yourself, dear?" Regina nearly hissed.

"Oh, yes," Emma said as she arched an eyebrow. "Very much so."

Regina began to storm towards Emma who kept her ground. "What in the hell do you think you were doing under that table?" Regina said.

"Just getting my fork."

The Queen smiled and took another step towards her, firmly pressing herself against Emma. She saw the blonde run her eyes down her body and she did the same to Emma's. They both licked their lips and smirked at each other.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist me, princess," Regina whispered in Emma's ear. The war breath sent tingles down Emma's back directly to her core.

"Just like you can't resist me, your majesty?"

"Are you sure you want to play this game, dear?" the Queen said.

"Positive."

"Then let's get on with it."

A/N: Oh snap! Well, I hope everyone is still enjoying this because I'm loving writing it! Tell me what you think pretty please! Remember to review and feel free to message me or whatever if you have a question about anything. I'll answer you as soon as I can!