Chapter 14
Regina walked towards her slowly, a slight smile on her face. As she reached Emma, she opened her arms to her and the princess eagerly walked into them. She felt the warmth of her Queen's body against her, the fast beating of her heart, and her shallow breathing. Regina ran her fingers through her hair and began to rub her back.
"I won't let you go, my dear," Regina whispered in her ear. Emma could feel a lump forming in her throat. She needed that reassurance. She needed to know that, no matter what, Regina would be there for her.
"I made a mistake, telling you to go like that," she continued. Emma could hear the slight tremble in her voice. The blonde wrapped her arms around Regina and held her close, knowing that she needed the same affection Emma craved.
"But how could you ever love me?" Regina whispered. Emma blinked slowly and pulled back to look in Regina's eyes. She saw pain and longing.
"I think I already do."
The expression on the Queen's face changed dramatically to a sour, condescending frown. She took a step back and began to laugh.
"Of course you don't," she said. Something was different. Something was wrong with her voice. It seemed higher, more singsong. "I kill everyone who I 'love.' What makes you think you'll be any different?"
As Emma watched in horror, blood began to drip off Regina's hands, forming a pool of deep red beneath her. It flowed towards her, wrapping itself around her ankles and holding her in place. She tried to move forward only to fall on her hands and knees. She saw black, leather boots move in front of her.
"And now the princess is bowing to me. How sweet."
The Queen kneeled down in front of her and Emma saw her eyes change from chocolate to ice blue. Her entire body began to morph into that of Maleficent and a small scream escaped her lips as the blonde witch viciously raked her fingernails across Emma's cheek.
"Get out of my head," Emma nearly growled, surprised that she could sound confident.
"You silly girl," Maleficent said through a smile. "You're mine now."
Emma jumped awake only to hit her head on a cold, stone wall. Her breathing was heavy from her nightmare or…whatever that was. She tried looking around only to find that her neck was incredibly stiff from sitting in an uncomfortable position for so long. Her wrists were attached to chains that were welded onto the wall. Her legs were trapped in the same fashion. There seemed to be just enough give so that she could easily sit or stand but never walk around or lay down.
After she had stretched her neck out and her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she regretted looking around. Instruments, the next appearing more painful than the last, lined the walls of her quite large cell. There were spikes, cat-o-nine tails, and a wooden table sitting in the center. A single, small door was on the opposite wall.
The door opened slowly and silently. Light flooded in and gave her the view of a silhouette.
"Have sweet dreams, Emma?" Maleficent asked.
Emma remained silent and glared at her.
"Dreams are my specialty," she continued, not bothered by the girl's silence. "Why do you think I put Aurora in her sleep? I could ravish her over and over again and she could never get away. Just like you will never escape me."
"Regina will come for me," Emma said.
"Will she?" Maleficent said as she quirked an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, you walked out on her. I see no reason why she would have any interest in saving you."
Emma knew Maleficent was right. None of this would have happened if she hadn't left the palace. She could have gone back to her room to sort things out by herself. What she did was on the verge of irrational. But what Regina had done to her former husband and her father was also irrational. Killing them without any mercy, it was horrible.
"If she doesn't come then my parent's will."
"How will they even know you're here?" Maleficent asked with a horrible smile. "And, if they do, are you so sure they'd want you back? You've been seduced by the Evil Queen herself. You've felt her dark magic and have been tainted by it. Anyone with the slightest bit of magical aptitude would be able to see her magic all over you…inside you. Even if she didn't do it on purpose, she has claimed you as hers. And I intend to break that claim."
Emma tried pushing herself further into the wall, wishing that whatever "magic" Maleficent could sense on her would help her get out of this predicament.
"Did you know, princess," Maleficent began as she slithered towards Emma, "that you have left Regina just like everyone else has? Her love, who promised to stand by her side forever, was killed by her mother. Your own mother broke her promise to Regina to keep her secret love quiet. Her husband raped her night after night and, when she went to her father for help, he shrugged her off."
The words were making Emma sick. It all explained so much. All of this pain, everything that had been broken, this was why Regina was the Queen.
"And now, we have you," Maleficent continued. Emma looked back into her eyes and saw the cruel amusement there. "You told her that you were hers and she believed you. I know how she hoped that you would stay with her forever in her Dark Palace. But you've just disappointed her like everyone else has."
Tears were forming at the corners of Emma's eyes. She knew this witch in front of her was absolutely right. In this moment, she felt as though she and Regina were two sides of the same coin: one so smothered by her parents that she could hardly breathe while hers could hardly care if she was breathing. Regina was the darkness and Emma was the light.
They were so parallel to one another that it was nearly impossible for her not to feel something for the older woman. The way butterflies seemed to fly about in her stomach when Regina was near her, the electric current that flowed between their lips when they touched, the way her heart skipped a beat when Regina gave her a small smile when they were alone, and the way her heart was breaking at the thought of how so many people had betrayed her, this feeling could only be love. But it was not the love she was accustomed to. Her parents had a pure love. It was perfect, calming, and reassuring. The love she had for Regina, if it was in fact love, was far darker. Everything about them was rough, passionate, nearly violent, but Emma knew she could never trade this for anything else. She knew the Queen was manipulative, she knew there was a darkness inside her that she could never truly understand. But, if she let herself, perhaps she could come to accept that and fully immerse herself in their blood-red love.
But first, Emma had to escape the cold woman in front of her. She had to get back to Regina. She had to show her she wasn't alone and hope that the Queen would take her back.
As she looked back to Maleficent, she set her jaw in place and put a determined look on.
"Hmm," Maleficent said with a smile. "You will be fun to bend to my will. I did have half a mind to put you to sleep to do this, but I think keeping you conscious will be far more rewarding, don't you?"
"You'll never break me," Emma said.
"We'll see about that."
Maleficent waved her hand to release the chains imprisoning Emma only to pin her up, by the throat, against the wall.
"Your majesty!" Regina heard through her dreams. "Your majesty!"
She sat upright in her bed, looking for the sound of the yelling. As she turned towards her mirror, she saw Sidney swirling around in blue mist, looking more apprehensive than normal.
"It's Emma," he said. "She's gone."
"You know this already. Why did you feel the need to wake me up for something as trivial as this?" she said. But, it wasn't trivial. Not in Regina's mind. It had taken every fiber of her being to tell Emma to leave. She didn't need to be reminded that she actually did go.
"She's been taken, your majesty. By Maleficent."
"Show me," Regina said as she swung her legs over the side of her bed. She watched the scene play out before her. Emma looked at the small pond she was watching through and gave a small smile. Then Maleficent appeared. She was almost surprised when Emma protested going with the witch, thinking that she wouldn't mind getting as far away from the Queen as possible. But she did. Regina couldn't help but feel a small amount of pride in the girl as she kept a determined look up until the purple mist engulfed her.
Anger began to well up inside Regina. Emma was hers. They were bound together by the curse. She wasn't about to let Maleficent do whatever she wanted to her.
"Wake the Captain," she practically growled to Sidney. "Send him here."
Regina turned from the mirror to pace her room, figuring out the best way to take care of this overly annoying reptile.
After a moment, the doors burst open and the Captain walked in, taking a brief bow.
"Your majesty," he said in this thick accent. It was obvious he was still groggy from sleep. "I'll bring the princess back."
"No, that is not why I called you here," she said curtly. "I wanted to tell you to watch over the castle. I should be back by dawn."
"But, your majesty, are you certain you should go?" he asked tentatively.
Regina turned towards him slowly and arched an eyebrow. "Do you think I can't save her?" she asked dangerously. "I'm the reason she left so I'll be the one to bring her back."
"No, I think you're quite capable," he back tracked. "It's simply that perhaps I may be better equipped to deal with-"
The Queen swung out an arm, her eyes glowing purple for a moment as the Captain crashed against a wall.
"Better equipped?" she scoffed. "If there is one thing I have learned, it's to never send a Huntsman to do a Queen's job."
She turned her back towards him and changed her clothes with the blink of an eye. When the mist had cleared, she turned to look at herself in the mirror, taking in her leather pants and black boots underneath her black and silver overcoat. As she turned back to the Huntsman and began to walk towards him, she felt the bottom portion of her coat billow behind her and she smiled. It was always a necessity to look one's best when going to confront the enemy.
Regina held out her hand and a black sword appeared in it. The hand guard was fashioned in the form of two black wings. On one side of the hilt, a ruby heart was inlaid while, on the other, the same insignia of an apple tree on her throne rested.
"Lilith," she whispered to it. The sword seemed to hum beneath her fingers. She hardly had use for the weapon anymore, but she still enjoyed the feeling of it in her hand. It was almost like an old friend.
She sheathed Lilith in the scabbard she conjured from thin air. The Captain was looking at her with awe, noting how fierce and determined she looked. He hadn't seen her like this in a long time.
"I will be back shortly," she said. "Don't let my kingdom fall apart."
With that, her eyes began to glow and she disappeared in a wisp of black mist.
A/N: Guys! I did it! I got it up and I didn't even have to kill anyone! I love reading your reviews, I really do. That's why this chapter got up so quickly. If you'd enjoy having the next one up soon, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!