A/N I haven't been able to write much lately. My father has been in the hospital for a week and I won't be surprised if he is in their for another, if not longer. With that said, writing is going really slow since I'm having to balance going to work, driving to and fro to the hospital, and taking care of my sister with school. I haven't been able to do much of anything lately as I've been exhausted like an old lady which makes me feel quite ridiculous since I'll be 20 tomorrow. (One more year till legal alcoholllll yayyy. Oh...and I got a car as an early gift! 94 Chevy Camaro! ;) ). I haven't watched the season finale yet, but has anyone seen the FaceBook post about Frozen coming to Once? That scares me a bit actually...that movie was far too good and they don't need to ruin it let alone add more worlds! I still need some more background on other characters!
For those of you that read A Heart in Disguise I'll try and get out another chapter soon. I'm slowly working on it. I don't have enough for it to be a chapter at the moment. I also have a Swan Queen oneshot (maybe a two or three shot actually) that I'm working on set in the modern Assassin's Creed world.
I'd really appreciate your feedback to let me know you're still reading, and it would really cheer me up to see those emails when I'm just watching the clock at the hospital. Have a good one!
This lovely piece of Heaven wouldn't last. Something in the pit of her stomach told her that, yet she basked in it for as long as she could. After a good long five minutes of simply letting herself relax, she reached over towards the small collection of glass bottles she pulled from the cabinet. One of them was labeled with some herb she didn't know how to pronounce and presumed that was meant to clean her cuts.
At the bottom of the green liquid sat a combination of leaves and flowers. She studied it for a moment trying to remember anything she had read about botanicals and potions, yet her mind fell blank.
Shrugging, she poured a small bit of it onto her palm, realizing it was a bit thicker than she had previous assumed, and began to rub it into her cut along her wrist. There was an instant tingling of heat until it vanished and she watched as the bloody, mangled gash turned a light shade of pink.
"Huh…" she said in fascination before turning her attention to cleaning the rest of herself up.
The rush of air against her wet skin made her shiver as she climbed out of the tub and reached for the towel, quickly wrapping it around herself. She walked over to a mirror that stood a few feet away and examined herself. Her golden curls were a shade darker as water beads dribbled down her shoulders and chest.
From the corner of her eye she saw a simple outfit hanging on a rack and got the idea that it must have been for her. It was a relief that it wasn't a dress and she eagerly reached out for the white blouse and trousers.
The kitchen wasn't that hard to find. As she walked down the corridor the smell became more prominent and she veered around the next bend to find a large dining hall. The room was filled with a good handful of the castle's workers and guards minding their own business. Before she attracted any attention she found her way to the kitchen.
There was an older woman with dark, fading hair stirring a pot of something over an open flame. She was mumbling something under her breath as if she were talking to herself.
"Excuse me?" Emma asked a bit awkwardly and the chef looked over, "My name is Emma; I'm—"
"I know who you are," the woman snapped irritably causing the blonde's face to contort, "Your meal is over there."
Emma followed the stretched out finger towards a tray that contained a piece of bread, tea, and what looked to be cold soup.
"Do you think I could get a fresh bowl?"
That was the wrong thing to say. The spoon within the woman's hand stopped and her head snapped towards her, eyes dark and almost lifeless.
"Do I look like your personal caterer, girl? There are countless heads to feed in this castle for me to worry about-"
Pale hands went up in surrender as Emma offered her a feign smile.
"It's cool. Sorry."
She grabbed the tray and hurried off to an empty table, unaware of the eyes that were watching her from the small commotion, but as she ate she became uneasy. The people nearest to her were now whispering and if she were to look up she might have caught a few of their eyes. Nevertheless, she finished what had been given to her, her stomach rather grateful for the meal.
Emma couldn't recall what it was she was supposed to do next, if anything at all. What someone supposed to come for her and bring her to the Queen? The last thing she wanted to do was sit here for another minute especially when she could feel everyone's eyes burning into her as if she were fresh meat.
In need of stretching her legs, among other reasons, she started out an exploration through the halls. Hell, no one was stopping her and it wasn't like she was doing anything wrong right?
The palace was vast and by the time she had turned a few corners she was more than positive she was lost. A curious thought flashed over her face when she realized that the corridors were lined with mirrors here and there of various designs and shapes. Did Regina have some fetish with her appearance that she needed to see herself all the time?
The woman was rather attractive. Emma shivered at the thought of the brunette running her slender fingers down her flesh. Squeezing her eyes shut, she shook her head in order to get a hold of herself. She should focus on more important things like finding Red.
Instead of her aimless wandering, she switched to looking for any signs of the wolf. She wasn't sure what she was looking for. Guards? A big, bright sign? Howling? Nevertheless, she continued snooping around unaware of the presence that was watching her every move.
She came to a wooden door that caught her attention. Her nosey hand reached for the handle, but a sudden, unfamiliar male voice caused her to nearly yell out.
"Curiosity is a terrible danger, princess."
She looked all around her, but found herself alone until her eyes fell upon a mirror hanging across from her. A blue-ish, smoky man was within the reflection looking at her.
"You're…"
"A servant to the Queen."
"...Okay...I was looking for her," Emma lied and realized that he saw right through her but didn't say a word about it, "She wanted to see me."
He nodded.
"And right you are. Follow me."
"How-?" she was about to say before he reappeared in another mirror a bit further away.
In turned into a game of finding out which mirror he was in and she followed him until they came to a set of intricate double doors. The dark design was that of swirling thorns and upon the handles were a single blood red gem.
"Wait here," he ordered her before disappearing.
Very shortly after, the doors opened by an unknown force revealing the Evil Queen's bedchamber which was far more breathtaking than words could describe. It doubled as bedroom as well as a study.
"Come," Regina said from the far end of the room and once the blonde took a step inside, the doors behind her shut.
Her steps were cautious, almost nervous, as Emma walked towards the woman who was sitting in a chair reading over a piece of parchment. Dark eyes remained trained on the paper as if the blonde were little concern.
"Enjoy your little stroll?"
"I uh…," the younger woman stuttered and when those amber eyes flashed over towards her she froze.
"Well out with it, dear. I know very well you can speak. "
"Yes, I did."
"Good. Tell me," Regina put a dark, manicured finger to her red lips, "how does my palace compare to Lucia's?"
Emma's youthful eyes drifted down to the woman's heavily exposed bosom. Were all of her dresses so revealing? Mindful to the question that was asked and the arch of a perfectly shaped eyebrow, the blonde turned her attention back upward.
"It's...darker and there aren't as many guards."
The brunette feigned a chuckle.
"Still paranoid as ever I see. I wonder if they miss you."
"I don't care," Emma muttered which took the older woman by surprise.
"No? Not even the slightest? Whatever did the two idiots do to turn their own daughter against them?"
"I didn't turn against them," she replied back quickly.
"Yet here you are."
"I wanted answers."
"What a strange way to go about them, my dear." Pushing herself up, the brunette strode over to the pale woman until she was looking down at her. "You have a peculiar fire in you, Emma. I have never seen it before. I'm going to offer you a proposition. You see, regardless what you may have heard, I do care greatly about what is mine. I'm quite possessive of it actually," she began to walk around the younger woman predatorily, "I make sure that my things are well taken care of, clean, in order, and well-fed."
Emma's ears perked up as she realized she wasn't talking about an object, but rather a person...or a pet which caused her eyebrows to pull inward.
"So you have two choices. Both quite simple. First option is that I lock you back down in that damp, cold cell. I won't ever touch you. I can forget you ever existed. The guards can do what they will for all I care. Then when your parents finally realize where you are I'll give you back to them and they can take their withered, diminished princess back home to pick up the pieces."
There was a silent pause and Emma could feel her skin crawling. The older woman was behind her, but the blonde remained in place with her hazel eyes glued to the floor. Regina's words had been dull, almost bored, as if she weren't fond of the words she just spoke.
"Or you can choose the second option," her tone suddenly changed and the dominating power wrapped around Emma like a shadowy cloak, "You give yourself to me, relinquish your allegiance to Lucia. You will have free reign when I don't need you as you did today."
Long fingers extended out to tuck blonde curls behind the woman's ear from behind and she whispered into her ear.
"You give yourself to me and you can have everything your little heart desires so long as you obey me alone and do as I command," a deep chuckle fell from red lips sending a ripple of shivers through Emma, "It's as simple as that really. I'll only hurt you when you deserve it and if anyone else dares to lay a hand on you, I'll make sure they face the consequences. All of this you can have under one condition," she paused and walked around to face her, "You can never leave."
These very last words struck the blonde straight in the core. She had been racing to escape being chained down only to run into a black pit. She would be foolish to choose the first option. The very thought made her stomach churn. She was left with only one other path which didn't seem quite fair at all.
Black manicured nails tilted her chin up until amber gems were burning a hole into blue-green crystals.
"So what will it be, Princess?"