Cora's Family Reunion, Chapter Twelve: Voices of the Dead
Author's Note: So, since the last update, "Sisters" happened. I have to say that I believe it was the best episode of Once Upon A Time that has ever been broadcast, and I love a lot of episodes. I should note that in my canon, Regina and Zelena did not meet as children. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and if you do, please follow, favorite, and review.
Characters:
Cora
The Blue Fairy
Belle
Grumpy and the Dwarves
Regina
Snow White
Prince Charming
Robin Hood
Dawn broke into dazzling rays that bounced from one mountain peak to another. Cora rose from her bed (which, according to Happy, had been used by Snow White during her many visits) and looked out of her window at the sight. The dwarves lived in a cottage at the edge of the forest in walking distance of their mines, which were themselves situated at the foot of a mountain range.
The dwarves had provided her with a stone basin and a steel pitcher of water for Cora to wash her face. She looked in the weathered mirror at her tired face.
She had arrived at the mines very late that night, and as she had guessed, Belle had arrived before she did, and was being comforted by Grumpy and the Blue Fairy. Cora embraced her as well, advising her to sleep. Belle agreed, and was escorted to a guest room by the Blue Fairy. Grumpy said that they could all catch up over breakfast.
The smell of bacon began to permeate the cottage, so Cora, careful to avoid bumping her head on the low doorway, went in search of her morning meal. On her way to the kitchen, she saw that the other guest room door was ajar.
"Belle?" she asked, poking her head inside. The librarian was dressed in a simple blue dress and reading an old book in bed. "Good morning!"
"Good morning, Cora!" Belle smiled.
"No need to get up," Cora said, slowly moving herself into a sitting position at the edge of the bed. "You should be relaxing. You've had quite an ordeal."
Belle looked upwards as though thinking. "You're right, I suppose, but I need to get back to Regina's castle as soon as possible."
Cora felt her chest tighten as she remembered her pact with Zelena. "Of course, dear, but I think that you need to stay here and regain your strength first. You were in the woods for days."
"I'm stronger than I look," Belle said indignantly.
"I know," Cora laughed, gently squeezing her friend's ankle. "But sometimes, strength means knowing when to proceed with caution. That, my dear, is when strength becomes wisdom."
Belle looked at Cora with an air of uncertainty. "You have a point."
Cora smiled as encouragingly as possible. "We will have plenty of time to discuss what happened at the Vault of the Dark One. For now, you keep your feet up and read your book."
"If you think it would be best," Belle smiled, leaning back slightly.
"Of course it would be," Cora said, waving a finger. "I always know best."
She took her leave of Belle, inwardly chastising herself for going along with Zelena's plan but still fearing the wrath of a resurrected Rumplestiltskin.
"Here we are," Regina said, gesturing to a large, golden door. "Untouched since he… well, you know."
The tension in the corridor was tangible as she had led Snow White and Prince Charming to King Leopold's chambers. Snow had requested to search through her father's things, and Regina could find no reason to deny her, so she handed Snow White the heavy, iron key ring to open the door.
Snow's hands trembled as she took the key ring. She painstakingly fumbled through the keys until she found the gold key that matched the door. Charming sweetly put his hand over hers and helped guide the key into the lock.
With a turn and a click, the ornate handle was disengaged from its position and Snow White stepped inside her royal father's chambers.
It looked unchanged from the night that Leopold's body had been removed after the treachery of the genie. Snow White had since come to learn that Regina was responsible for manipulating her father's murderer, which made her current presence even more unnerving.
Regina looked around, not entirely sure how to react to this place. Leopold had been the very symbol of her captivity and isolation, and if she was honest, she was grateful for his death. Besides, even her father had participated in the plot to kill him. Still, she truly felt bad for Snow being denied this closure for so long.
"He had very good taste in clothes, didn't he?" Charming said, looking through Leopold's wardrobe.
"He did," Snow nodded, leaning on her husband as they admired her late father's sensible fashion choices.
Turning away, Regina approached the king's desk, which was situated near a window overlooking the courtyard. She opened the top drawer, where she found a bound stack of wrinkled, old parchment. Removing the leather cords that tied them together, Regina began looking at the weathered pages.
"Snow!" she called across the chamber. "I found something that might want to see."
Snow and Charming cautiously crossed to the desk.
"These are letters that Queen Eva wrote to your father," Regina explained, holding up the parchment.
Snow said nothing, but she took the top half of the stack. She began to read, and Charming read over her shoulder.
Regina heard Snow began to sniffle as she read.
"Thank you, Regina," the princess said, placing her hand on her stepmother's shoulder.
"It's nothing," Regina said, attempting a smile.
Snow and Charming took the letters and sat down on Leopold's bed, reading the words of love that his wife composed to him.
Regina was about to leave, but glancing at the desk again, something in the topmost letter (which was dated long before Regina's birth) caught her eye. Looking covertly from the desk to Snow and Charming, she snatched the pile of letters and left the room.
"That was really delicious, Bashful," declared the Blue Fairy.
Bashful blushed and waved the comment away. "It was nothing special," he said quietly.
The dwarves and their guests had finished their meal and were preparing to hike towards their mines with Cora, Belle, and Blue.
"Is everyone ready to go?" Doc asked.
Everyone assented in their own, characteristic way, and they filed out of the cottage.
"Heigh, ho, boys!" Grumpy hollered.
"Heigh, ho!" the other six dwarves cheered in unison. They began whistling and making their way to work in single file. The women followed briskly behind.
"They're certainly enthusiastic about their job," Cora chuckled.
"They take pride in what they do," Belle piped up.
"And they should!" the Blue Fairy insisted. "If it weren't for the mines, my order would not receive its supply of fairy dust."
"And yet, you've done just fine without it for nearly thirty years," Cora smirked.
The Blue Fairy flapped her wings with audible annoyance. "It's been more than thirty. When Regina discovered that Snow White was being aided by dwarves, she gave orders for the mines to be razed. Ever since we all returned to the Enchanted Forest, the dwarves have been hard at work to get things in working order again."
"Say what you will about the dwarves, but you have to admire their tenacity," Belle said earnestly.
"I can certainly relate to that," Cora nodded.
As they neared the mines, Cora noticed several trampled banners bearing Regina's royal emblem, no doubt from the conquests of which the Blue Fairy spoke.
They passed through the last of the trees, where they reached a small quarry with a wooden arch leading into the mountain. The Blue Fairy fluttered ahead to light the torches inside the mine, and the group followed as the passage was illuminated.
The dwarves reached a rack of pickaxes bearing their names, which Cora remembered seeing in the mines under Storybrooke. Each one bore the name of its owner.
"When dwarves hatch, they receive pickaxes that give them their names," Belle explained.
"Really?" Cora laughed. She tried to imagine what her name would be if a pickaxe had chosen it based on some personal characteristic. She supposed, as the miller's daughter, her dwarf name would have been something to the effect of, "Grainy." That would rhyme with Brainy, which would definitely be Belle's dwarf name. She saw the Blue Fairy glittering a bit further down the passageway. And she would be Buzzy.
Cora's internal reverie was interrupted by the telltale clang of iron on stone as Sneezy began hammering on a nearby wall. The mine was soon filled with the musical ringing of dwarf hammers.
Belle sat down on a log that had been dragged inside, likely to function as a bench. She reached into her leather satchel and withdrew a blue notebook and a pencil. Opening to a blank page, she began sketching the dwarves at work.
Looking from the dwarves to Belle, Cora was struck by a rather brilliant idea.
"You're awfully quiet," the Blue Fairy said, flying over to her.
"I was caught up in my surroundings," Cora laughed, trying to seem nonchalant. "It seems like Belle is as well."
"Indeed," Blue nodded in Belle's direction. "She certainly has an artistic soul. I think that the drawing does her good, especially after Baelfire's loss."
"I couldn't agree more," Cora said, still appraising the intently focused bookworm.
Regina sat on the bench in the courtyard, placing the stack of letters next to her. Snow and Charming were still in Leopold's high chamber, and they were unlikely to disturb her. If they did, she would hear them coming.
She drew the topmost letter from the pile and began to read.
My dearest, darling Leopold,
My sisters and I are staying at King Xavier's palace, and as far as I'm concerned, it cannot end quickly enough.
King Xavier is a man cursed with a tremendous ego and vastly depleted coffers. As he cannot impress us with material, he decided to give us a lengthy, horrid tour of his entire palace. It would not have been so bad if I enjoyed hours and hours of discussion about architecture, dead kings, and old wars.
King Xavier has a son, Prince Henry, who is a nice enough fellow. He never seems to get a word in when he is in a group though. In addition to being a tremendous bore, I think that his father is a bit of a bully. He was clearly angling for us to arrange a marriage between his son and one of us. Fear not, darling. I am ever faithful to you. I think he hoped to join our kingdoms, though I believe that this desire springs from empty vaults rather than any sort of admiration.
King Xavier, however, wasn't even the worst part of my trip. As we were approaching what I deemed to be the third hour of the never-ending tour, guess who stumbled through the palace holding two bags of flour?
It was none other than that horrible woman Cora. She must have recognized me immediately, because she pretended to stumble in my direction and dumped one of the sacks of flour all over my new slippers. So much for forgive and forget!
After ruining my slippers, she called me a wench and accused me of tripping her before King Xavier and his entire household. He made her apologize to me and kneel before everyone until we moved away. At least he did one thing right.
I take comfort in knowing that Cora is now living far away from our kingdom, and she is living the miserable life she deserves. I am sure that she will never trouble our happy lives again.
Missing you with all of my heart,
Your Eva
Cora had already told Regina about the circumstances surrounding Zelena's birth and the termination of her youthful engagement to Leopold at Eva's hands, but hearing the story from Eva's pen had made her quite ferocious. Cora said that Eva sabotaged her engagement, but she had expected that to be a cold and impersonal political act. The letter showed Eva's cloying attachment to Leopold, which further angered her.
She heard footsteps behind her and she quickly sent the stack of letters to her personal chambers in a small cloud of purple smoke. She turned around and, to her displeasure, saw Robin Hood sauntering towards her.
"You shouldn't be alone out here, Your Majesty," he said. "You never know when the Wicked Witch will show up."
Regina rolled her eyes. "How long will it take you to get it into your bark-smelling head that I am quite capable of taking care of myself?"
Robin raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to offend you. I was only being considerate."
Regina scoffed and stood, beginning to stomp towards the interior of the castle.
"It must be very hard for you to be here."
Regina paused.
"It must be like returning to prison."
She turned to look at Robin, who was sitting on the bench facing the forest.
"I know prison better than most people. I was locked up for a long time for my early sins. I thought that I would never see sunlight or trees ever again. That's why the forest always calls me home. It goes on for miles and miles, untamed and unchained."
Regina looked out at the verdant expanse blowing gently in the breeze. Henry loved the woods of Storybrooke. She wished that he could be here to see the forests of her childhood. Feeling tears welling up inside of her, she quickly returned to her practiced, steely persona. "You can't live your entire life in the wilderness. Not if you want your life to matter."
Robin turned and looked at rather defensively. "I don't live my entire life in the wilderness. And I'm here, aren't I?"
"I'm sorry," Regina said quickly.
Robin Hood cracked a smile. "Now how often do those words leave your lips? I feel like I've been given a rare honor," he chortled.
Narrowing her eyes, Regina stalked off to her bedchamber. However, before she left the courtyard, she turned back to see Robin Hood staring off into the forested expanse of land that lay before her palace. For a moment, she did long to take off into the anonymity and safety of those swaying oaks.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's always nice to catch up with our beloved Regina. If you enjoyed this, please follow, favorite, and review!
