Hello! For the time being, there's a lot happening in my life and I have not finished writing chapter twelve(which might mean a delay - for that I am sorry), I hope inspiration returns soon. I have a plan for this story and as long as you still want to continue to read this, I'll continue writing.

Thanks for the feedback on my last chapter. It was heart warming, and as always, I appreciate it! Your words make my day, and never fail to put a smile on my face. It means a lot that someone actually likes what I'm working on! I hope you like this chapter ;)

And here's my regular shoutout to my beta Bethany! *kisses*

Regina felt herself grab the hand of Robin as they walked as casually as possible in their situation. Snow had left them behind both flushed and turned on, but the current meeting that was expecting their appearance couldn't wait.

They'd shared a tender kiss before following the princess. Regina was absurdly cranky after someone had interrupted them again. It sucked the fun out of everything. They'd both need it to cool down and of course the rainbow princess had walked in on them. It wasn't fair!

And then there was the fact that this didn't make sense. Regina had been part of the royal court for quite some time now. Major decisions weren't made this quickly, ever. It did not exactly put her at ease, but she bit her tongue. Robin wouldn't do anything but reassure her, tell her to have hope. However, she knew something was different from the first time she walked down these halls to the assembling room. It wasn't some big celebration. At least she had a plan for everything, but she'd put Robin's trust on display. She'd acted wrongfully against the man she… no, she wouldn't say it, not yet.

If something did in fact go wrong, he didn't deserve to be left with those words. He would never give up; he would fight back no matter what. Robin would without doubt protest, wholeheartedly. Regina couldn't have that, not now and certainly not before she was sure everything was alright. All she cared about was Robin, his family and friends. They all needed to be safe.

This was one of the times when she cursed his beliefs and strength. He wouldn't give up on her… She knew she wouldn't have either, if roles were reversed. He surely wouldn't give up - but she had to force him to.

The halls were completely empty, the only thing that roamed the walls were coldness. It sent shivers down her spine. Her eyes landed on the huge wooden door not long before them, it was going to happen no matter how she felt. Robin tightened his grip around her hand, and they walked in through the door.

She'd regretted her decision about magic many times; asked herself a number of times why she couldn't just turn all the nobles into crisps and flee the scenes. She had magic, Phillip did not. But she knew why. Henry wouldn't want her to use dark magic and kill countless men for trying to convey her. Even if she tried to flee the scene, there was no way of actually being sure that all the merry men, Robin, Roland, Snow and her husband would come safely out of the situation. If there was one thing Phillip had shown to be good at, it was at hitting her weak spots.

And yes, Snow might be a weak spot, because of Henry, mostly. But deep down she actually cared a little bit for the woman, not that she would ever admit that out loud. If she wanted Snow to be safe that would basically mean she'd have to take half of the enchanted forest with her. It would have to be a long list of people to make Snow come with her to a safer place, to be honest... The munchkins, Granny, Red, maybe even Ariel. That made her cringe; a huge fish tank wasn't exactly what she had in mind. Well, at least she had the magic bracelet.

Nevertheless, there was only one reason behind her recent choices. Henry. He was always something she considered valuable.

The way Phillip had handled the situation seemed shady as hell that was something she could admit out loud. Snow had only spoken good words of the princess, so why would Aurora be with such a dick? Something was up, something was wrong. And she'd felt it the moment the prince and his court had come to her castle.

She'd also felt it the moment she understood Phillip had *her* entire royal council on his side. Just having her council, gave him huge assets in whatever he wanted.

There was familiarity in the features around the people who were gathered in the huge room. But something wasn't quite so similar. Regina's eyes flickered around the crowd she desperately tried to read their faces to receive her fate. Some people had gentle looks on their faces, whilst others had more tense shoulders. It confused her to the end. What did it even mean?

Her eyes finally fell on Phillip standing in the middle of the room, again. He stood tall with his hands folded in front of him, his court stood by his side, his wife not far behind. She couldn't read him, either. As far as she could tell he seemed stiff and uptight - almost like he didn't want to do what came next. That threw her a curveball. Regina had no idea where this was going, so she swallowed slowly feeling the warmth of her love's hand in hers as they stopped in their tracks not many feet from his majesty.

The prince cleared his throat, Regina found Snow's reassuring gaze and then it broke loose.

"We have made a decision based on the facts. It's on behalf of our court, with the entirety of all the votes," Phillip stated hesitantly.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; the atmosphere was full of nerves, full of uncertainty. The feeling of fright didn't leave Regina's stomach at any point.

"We only wish for everyone's happiness and safety, that's why when we found another witness at the last minute, we simply had to hear him out," one of the snobs announced. He was one of the men who had visited them at the camp; she remembered his face well enough. It still disgusted her. It was almost as if she could feel the alcohol smell under her nose.

Who was this witness, though? A new person being brought into this didn't sound good to Regina's ears, no matter who it was. This could possibly be another person she'd have to protect, or it could be someone entitled to reveal their deepest secret.

"He has proven to be one of Robin's most trusted men, thus we allowed it," Phillip continued, she let out a relieved breath, but too soon did she relax.

The doors opened just then, revealing the latest witness they'd approached. His face was well washed, and his clothes looked less dirty, but it was the last person she'd want to testify on her behalf.

Shit.

Now they were both going to hell.

...

Avery looked amused to no end. Finally he'd got his wish to testify in front of the court. Robin clenched his vacant fist and looked over to Regina on his other side. She'd gone pale, he could only imagine the fear she must be facing.

The very fact that this man had bothered to show up at the castle, had proved he was indeed out for blood. Or out for the woman Robin imagined a future with. Either way, he was going to be in for something bad as soon as this meeting was over. Not only had he disobeyed everything they'd agreed on, but he had just put everyone's lives at risk.

Avery was certainly going to have his ass beaten blue.

All eyes went back to Phillip as he cleared his throat again, and the prince walked towards Avery and shook his hand.

"This man has assured us of what the truth really is, no matter how convincing everyone else's tale was," the prince said loudly, but the way his fingers shook gave him away. For the first time since they'd first looked upon his royal face, Phillip looked nervous and out of his element.

Only then did Robin notice the circles under his eyes, the way he carried himself didn't look the same anymore. Nothing seemed the same anymore.

If Robin hadn't been so focused on the prince's words, maybe he would've even noticed the way his wife gasped in surprise further back into the hall.

"Avery's words truly cleared things up and forced us into something we don't wish to do," Phillip said and paused, looking around the room. "Somehow the former queen has affected everyone's testimony, we don't know how, but we know why. She hasn't changed one bit."

Regina opened her mouth to speak, but the prince held his hand up to silence her. "I am not finished yet," Phillip uttered harshly. The woman next to him clenched her jaw, but held her tongue for the time being.

"Snow White seemed to be under the impression that the evil queen has changed. We have reason to believe that they were all under a spell, except Robin Hood, of course," the prince explained and everyone in the room started protesting.

"ENOUGH!" one of the nobles behind Phillip screamed in rage, the room quieted down and the prince found his voice again.

"I have never before in my life seen someone so wrapped up in a lie like this outlaw. He truly seemed to have feelings for the queen, no one under a spell can portray that kind of emotion," Phillip said, and Robin frowned confused. How much knowledge did this prince even have about magic and the like?

"No, you are right," Regina's threatening voice chimed in his ears, his head turned quickly in the direction of her. She slowly started moving from her spot next to Robin. He couldn't possibly hide the surprise from his face, what the hell was she playing at?

"Am I?" Phillip lifted an eyebrow and Robin watched a smirk form on the former evil queen's face, something was definitely not right with this situation. He didn't like it at all.

"Oh, yes. Yes, your highness," she mocked and rolled her eyes. "Being under *a spell* can't possibly act that well."

Regina moved until she was inches away from the prince's face, and Robin swore he saw the man gulp. Her arms went over his chest, and then his eyes widened in horror.

"If you have a human heart, you can make a person do anything," Regina whispered, just loud enough for Robin to hear a few feet away. It was then that he got what she was playing at, he wouldn't allow her to do that. Not now, not after everything they've gone through for the past days. No way in hell was she doing this for him - sacrificing herself for him.

"I see," the prince growled and tore his gaze away from Regina, it then fell upon Robin. He felt exposed to the prince as he was studied from top to toe, but he just couldn't do it anymore, he had to speak up.

"I think you're at a loss, your majesty. Because I have mine perfectly placed in my chest," Robin announced, a playful undertone to his voice.

"Is it?" Regina chimed and her lips curved into a devious smile, but he saw it, the glimmer of regret and sadness. He had felt slightly hollow during the previous day, but that didn't mean... Or did it? Robin planted his gaze onto the woman not far away from him, he took her in as the seconds went by. He swallowed and closed his eyes in defeat, damn this woman.

"You'll find what you need behind some books in the chambers you interrogated me in earlier," Regina spoke and he swore he could feel his stomach drop to his feet, this was insane. "If you will excuse me, I'd like to go back to my room."

"No! You are staying here until some guards have gone to fetch the object," Phillip barked half-heartedly.

He sent some guards out to the halls, the room still heated up with all the words spoken, and unspoken. Clearly this was not the way Phillip had intended it to go, but neither had Robin. He had planned to take this woman home with him and let fate take them wherever it took them.

Everything was far from what he'd imagined.

...

Regina waited in anticipation for the guards to return, with Robin's heart. She felt his gaze practically burn into her, and she could no longer meet his eye. Therefore she ended up staring down at the stone floor, the room was as silent as a graveyard, but something was under the surface - she was just waiting for it all to blow up.

Once the guards return and everyone understood exactly what she had done, or what she wanted them to think she'd done; she'd be wanted for treason.

Not only had she lied to the royal court, but she had seemingly manipulated a handful of people. This was the only way to make sure no one else suffered or got punished for what they'd done. This was her choice. She wanted to die as Regina, just like she had said back when destruction threatened Storybrooke. But that was a lie, she didn't want to die nor did she feel like giving up.

Before she could dwell on her recent choices, the guards returned with her black bag in hand. Her eyes looked up and found them handing it to Phillip. His hands opened it up, and allowed him to take a look inside at the glowing heart. She could almost hear the strong heart beats, she could hear that his heart was pure. The prince reached inside the bag and grasped the heart, she stood staring at it - she could feel everyone's eyes on her. It was almost as if they held their breath, waiting for what would be happening next. She realized her breathing was unsteady as well. Her hand found its way over her chest, feeling the heart. Regina took slow breaths in and out.

"Can you return it?" Phillip questioned, his voice a warning. She clasped her hands together, feeling the sweat from her palms. This was a role she couldn't let go just yet.

"And just why would I do that?" Regina replied challengingly. Her tone was clearly mocking him, as she had been doing so for the past day. Not even five seconds went by before she heard swords being pulled and pointed at her. Her eyes flickered around the room, and then her gaze settled into something calm and unimpressed. She slowly lifted an eyebrow and chuckled lowly at his attempt to scare her. Though he had found her weak point, it appeared that he really had not learned just whom he was dealing with.

Phillip stared at her, probably considering his next move through thoroughly. She had all the time in the world to wait for the moron's battle plan.

"Well?" she said in a light voice, pretending to be impatient.

"I might be a prince, but I'm no fool. You haven't changed, but I know you do care about some people in this room," Phillip threatened while she bit her inner cheek. Damn, he was good, but not good enough.

"Oh, I see. I have clearly manipulated the entire royal court because I care. That makes perfect sense!" she laughed darkly, but stopped to glare at him. He had no idea what she was capable of, but he might just find out.

"Return the heart, or the outlaw's son dies. Roland, is it?"

Regina swallowed slowly, she couldn't let that happen. Even if she pretended not to care, they might hurt him. She needed to make a decision quickly, but before she could, the guards pointing their swords at her let them connect with her skin. If she as much as moved an inch, they'd nick her skin. No matter what, blood would spill.

"Remove those ridiculous pointy sticks of steel. I'll do it," Regina spoke loudly and the guards looked at one another, before taking a few steps back. For the first time since she'd started the major act, she dared to take a look at Robin.

His gaze was anxious, but the anger behind his eyes was visible. Her brown eyes, met his blue ones. She saw his face protest, but then she took the heart out of the prince's hands and shoved it into Robin's chest. She hoped deep down that he'd understand why she was doing this, why she'd made these choices. Maybe one day he would.

Something shined in his eyes, and she knew he now remembered what she'd done during their break at the meeting in the morning. He finally understood why he'd felt so shallow and strange for the past hours.

Robin remembered how she'd pulled his heart out the second they'd rounded that corner. She had told him that she needed to talk to him, but that was another lie.

His heart had been in her hands, he had stared at her confused and she'd cried silently. "I'm so sorry," Regina had whispered, and then repeated. "I'm so, so sorry, Robin."

After that she'd used a spell to redo her makeup. His heart in her hands made her superior, so the memory potion she had made him drink, worked just fine. He didn't remember anything - until now.

Strong arms pulled her back from his touch, but Robin reached forward to pull her into his embrace. He couldn't. As if they'd predicted for him to move, guards flew to him and held him back. Regina was struggling with two men holding her completely still, but her eyes didn't move from Robin's for one second. He didn't look away, either.

It was a secret, a silent understanding between them. She was so sorry for causing him pain and forcing this to happen, he knew that. And she knew how furious he was with her for lying to him and leaving him out of her plan. That didn't change their feelings, however.

"Regina Mills, I sentence you to death for treason and destruction against the kingdom!" Phillip announced, and death may have shaken her to the core, but losing Robin to death was exactly what made a single tear slip from her eye and fall down her cheek.

She really was sorry. So, so sorry.

Angsty! *hides behind a rock*