Chapter 10

Snow paced the floor in the hallway of the house they had been staying at during their current trip. After a month of traveling around the kingdom, the King and Princesses were finally returning home.

Before they left the town, the Princesses decided they would explore the market to look for trinkets and food to bring back.

Snow knocked on her sister's door. "Amelia, are you ready?"

The older sister then heard movement from the other side of the door, before it opened and Amelia stepped out.

"Yes, sorry I had some trouble with the corset."

Snow chuckled and nodded, knowing very well what that was like. "All right, come on, Amelia. Let's go."

The now fourteen-year-old followed her sister across the hallway to the drawing room then out to the main foyer. Amelia was very much looking forward to a shopping trip with her sister, and then she would be going home. Though she always enjoyed these trips, the Princess always loved returning home. She would be seeing her mother for the first time in weeks later this afternoon and she was very much looking forward to that. The hardest thing about these journeys was that she always missed her mother. It was true it was getting easier as she got older but a part of her always missed Regina.

Sometimes she wondered why Regina didn't come on these journeys but she guessed her mother didn't want to. Amelia could understand that, following her father around the kingdom while he attended to his various kingly duties was boring and Amelia didn't know what she'd do if Snow wasn't there, too.

When they reached the foyer, Snow went over to tell the guard that they were going out to run some errands. They then heard the sound of a nearby door closing and the two girls turned around to see their father come out of the study.

"Good morning, girls," Leopold greeted.

"Good morning, Father," the Princesses said at the same time.

"Where are you two going?"

"To the market for some shopping," Amelia answered and Snow nodded.

"Okay, have a good time, girls. Be back in an hour, I'll be ready to depart then."

"Yes, Father," Snow said.

"Thanks, Daddy."

The two girls then moved toward the door to leave the house when Leopold spoke again.

"And Snow." Snow turned back around to face her father. "Look after your sister."

Snow gave him a nod before walking out the door after Amelia.

After they left the house, the sisters walked side by side as they continued down the path that led to town.

"Snow, does no one trust me enough to take care of myself?"

"Hmm. What do you mean?" Snow asked.

"What Father just said, that you have to look after me."

"Oh, sweetie, he didn't mean you aren't capable of it. It's just you're still pretty young, you know." Amelia gave a slight nod before letting out a sigh, knowing that it was true: she was still young. "Also, you do tend to be a little mischievous."

Amelia raised her eyebrow, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Snow chuckled, "Oh really, because I remember a certain someone disappearing to go explore a village without telling anyone."

"They were having a festival; it was my royal duty to attend."

"And you wanted to dance," Snow said, knowing her sister well enough to know that's what she wanted to do.

"Oh, of course, I did enjoy the dancing," Amelia said, remember that time with a fond smile on her face.

"I know you do, Amelia."

Amelia then took her sister's arm. "You love me anyway, regardless of the times I've been a little mischievous."

Snow chuckled, "You've always been mischievous and yes I do love you, baby sister."

Amelia smiled and then Snow watched curiously, knowing her sister was up to something as she stepped back to try and jump on Snow's back for a piggyback ride.

"Amelia, come on. You're too heavy for a piggyback ride," Snow laughed.

"Just a few steps Snow, for old time sake."

Snow laughed again and carried her sister a couple steps before Amelia knew that any minute Snow would tell her enough, released her grip and landed on the ground.

After that they walked for a few more minutes before they reached the center of town and stopped at the market to pick up some fruit for the ride back. After purchasing some apples and little pastries they continued to look around at the different shops around town until they reached the jewelry store.

"Hold on, Snow. I have to pick up something."

Snow nodded and followed her sister into the shop. When they entered the shop they were immediately greeted by the man working there, who very quickly after greeting the Princesses went into the back of the store to retrieve something.

"So, what did you get?"

"A gift for my mother," Amelia replied.

Snow nodded and gave her sister a smile. Snow knew all too well that her sister missed her mother on these trips. It had become a tradition in recent years for the longer journeys that Amelia would bring a gift home for Regina. She thought it was a very sweet gesture on Amelia's part and felt that her stepmother really appreciated it.

The shopkeeper then returned from the back room and laid out a pouch in front of the Princesses. "Here you are, Your Highness."

Amelia nodded and opened the pouch to reveal a necklace and a matching set of earrings, with purple jewels in the middle of them.

"They're beautiful, Amelia."

"Do you think she'll like them?" Amelia asked.

"I'm sure Regina will love them. How could she not, they're from you," Snow said, putting her arm around her sister.

After Amelia finished paying for Regina's gift, the two of them walked out of the shop and headed back to the house. Soon after they returned they were loaded into the carriage and on the way home.

Amelia spent most of the journey reading or looking out the window but every so often would engage in conversations with her father and sister. She couldn't wait to be back home at the castle, to see her mother and sleep in her own bed again. Maybe she could see if Regina wanted to go horseback riding with her within the next few days. As they reached the castle gates, the fourteen-year-old could feel her excitement starting to build more and more. She almost considered jumping out of the carriage and running the rest of the way home. Instead she looked out the window with a big smile plastered on her face.

When the carriage finally came to a stop, Leopold exited first then proceeded to help his daughters out of the carriage. After her feet hit the ground, Amelia's eyes drifted to the front steps and to her surprise, Regina was not there waiting for her.

The teenager knitted her eyebrows and started to feel very confused, her mother had always been there before and suddenly she wasn't.

"Johanna, where's my mother?" the Princess asked when she spotted her nanny.

"I'm not sure, dear, but I'm sure she's around."

"But why isn't she here?"

"Amelia, maybe she just forgot we were coming home today. How about you go look for her?" Snow suggested.

"But…she never forgets," Amelia said in a hushed tone so they couldn't hear her.

While Johanna and a few of the other servants were unpacking her things Amelia took her sister's suggestion and went in search of her mother. She couldn't believe her mother wasn't there to greet her when she returned home as she had always done before. Regina must have forgotten they were coming home today. That was the only possible explanation the Princess kept in her mind as she approached her mother's room. The door was closed as usual, so Amelia knocked twice before poking her head into the room.

"Mother?" Amelia called as she walked into the center of the room. "Mommy, I'm home."

Amelia began to feel disappointed when she heard nothing in reply until she heard the Queen's voice behind her.

"Amelia." The teenager turned at the sound of her name to find Regina walking over to her, dressed in a dark blue dress.

"Mommy."

Regina opened her arms for her daughter as Amelia ran into them. She closed her eyes, feeling relieved and so happy that her daughter was finally home after a month away.

"Amelia, I've missed you."

"I missed you, too," Amelia said, continuing to hug her mother. Then after a couple more minutes she let go and looked up at Regina.

Regina smiled, taking in her daughter's appearance. She felt Amelia had grown a little since the last time they were together. It was clear that Amelia was not a child anymore but instead was becoming a very lovely young lady.

"Oh, sweetheart, I missed seeing your pretty face so much," Regina said, putting her hand underneath Amelia's chin to hold it up.

Amelia chuckled, "I missed seeing you, too. It's hard to believe I was gone as long as I was, it feels like I never left."

Regina gave her a small smile, she was still a little angry that Amelia had gone with her father and sister for the extended time for the second time in the last two years. It was even harder when Amelia returned home and she could see how much her daughter really missed her.

The two of them then moved to sit on the sleeping couch together.

"Well, I'm glad you're home now and I hope you enjoyed the trip," Regina said, trying to hide her growing bitterness from her daughter.

"Yes, it was very nice. I liked seeing parts of the kingdom we don't typically travel to."

Though of course Amelia didn't mean anything by it, it still hurt Regina that her daughter actually enjoyed these trips. She was truly a princess; it only felt like Amelia was her daughter when they were together. Regina didn't know how to fix it. She was tired of her daughter leaving to perform her royal duties. She was mad with the King for taking Amelia away from her and for trapping her in this castle. She was angry with Snow for ruining her happiness in the first place.

Amelia watched her mother's face change slightly while she looked to be deep in thought. "Mother, are you okay?"

The Queen took a deep breath to prevent her anger from getting the best of her and then she met her daughter's worried eyes.

"I'm delighted to hear that, my sweet girl," Regina said, calmly. "And yes, I'm all right.'

For now Regina would do as she always had done, enjoy the time she had with her daughter when she could, though she wished things could be different.

The next day, Regina walked into her room after breakfast and was heading to her closet to change into her riding clothes when Rumplestiltskin appeared from behind a corner. The Queen sighed upon seeing him.

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked. "We didn't have a lesson planned for today."

"Yes, yes, I know," Rumple said, in his usual tone as he started to walk around room some more. "I was around and thought I'd stop by. How's the Princess? She came home yesterday, didn't she?"

Regina opened her mouth and realized that she hadn't told him that Amelia was coming home. "Wait. I never told you when she was coming home."

"I make it my business to know these things."

Regina smirked then repeated her earlier question "What are you doing here?"

"It really is a shame," Rumplestiltskin said, ignoring her question.

"What is?"

"Why, the Princess of course. It's a shame you get to spend so little time with your daughter."

Regina averted her eyes away from his gaze having been very affected by her teacher's words.

"Aww, I see I've struck a nerve." Rumple watched as Regina's eyes glared up at him. "The truth of the matter is, dearie, is that the King and Snow White know your daughter better than you do. So sad."

"That's not true," Regina snapped.

"Is it?"

Regina sucked in her breath not knowing how to respond, because on some level, she did feel that what Rumplestiltskin was saying was true, though she didn't want to believe it. She could feel her anger and pain building with each passing second as these thoughts ran through her head.

"Your rage is showing, Your Majesty. You best get that under control." Rumple let out an irritating laugh before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Regina turned around and as she did so she threw a fireball at the mantel of the fireplace before breathing deeply in an effort to get her emotions back under control.

Thanks for reading!

Uh-oh, do you guys think Regina is entering into Evil Queen territory?

On a side note: Sorry it took me so long to update. The last month of the semester was crazy but I'm officially on winter break now so updates will be quicker.