Well here it is, the chapter completed. I have to warn that it has a little bit of violence. Other than that, enjoy and thanks for sticking around.
TAKEN
From the corner of the room where she was sitting in, Regina observed in silence the way Leopold paced back and forth around the reduced space that limited them.
During the time she has been there, he must have stridden the equivalent distance that divided The Enchanted Forest and The Kingdom and then some more, all within the confinements of the room.
He was beyond angry as he did that and she didn't dare to take her eyes away from him in case he would halt his frantic pacing and lash at her; she was ready for it but so far he hadn't even looked at her.
He was just… walking along. He has been at it for a while now and she wondered how much longer it would take him to remember that she was still there.
Hoping for that to never happen, she kept her eyes on him, noticing that his brow was wrinkled into countless worry lines and his breathing was coming out in forcefully puffs that made him resemble a rabid beast. She was pretty much sure that the air that wrapped around him was ten degrees higher and increasing in intensity rapidly.
He made for an intimidating sight, and after being at the other end of his ill humor for a couple of times now, she was just glad that his attention wasn't focused on her this time, nor was his wrath.
It sounded odd, but the Gods had graced her with Zelena's presence so that his attention wouldn't be on her.
"Why are they not here yet?" His tone sounded low and calm, but Regina could feel the anger it carried well enough. She has been studying him for the past days, observing his mood swings and as of now she could say she knew how he operated.
It hadn't been so hard to figure him out, after all she has been traveling with his entourage for a few days now and if there was something she has learnt was that on top of being very unpredictable, he also had an extremely short fuse.
True, projecting himself very different from the man she thought she knew, he was always in a foul mood that left much to be desired, but even with his apparent never-ending acrid demeanor, there were layers to him.
There were the days when he was approachable even though forbidding and there were other days when everybody tried to stay clear of him. The only person that could somehow appease him was Rumplelstinskin and even him would find most of his attempts to keep the man at bay futile.
Talk among those in camp said that The King was getting out of control, that he wasn't acting his own self ever since The Outlaws first defeated his forces and yes, there was even talk that he was acting that way because he was under the influence of dark magic… magic that according to most has been casted out by the one and only Rumplelstinskin.
Regina didn't know about any of that and she didn't care what motivated Leopold to act the way he was acting, the only thing she knew was that with every day that passed the more she worried about her own well being.
True, ever since she got there she has been worried, but after that fateful night things only got worse.
It went like this, by their second day on the road Leopold started to become overly edgy and suspicious, even with Rumple promising him all was going according to their plain he just couldn't find peace of mind. He felt menacing shadows giving them pursuit and lurking at every turn ahead of them and more often than not Regina noticed him seeking for them in the darkness with his prying eyes.
As irritable as the whole deal made him and despite how perilous he was getting, the young princess was glad that paranoia was eating him whole. Since he had no conscience to bug him at least the Gods gave him something that did.
Now because of his paranoia he was reluctant of sleeping in the open so he did not sleep for two nights in a row. It only made him more deranged, bad-tempered and difficult to deal with, but at least she hoped that in his distressed mental state she could get the chance to make for an escape.
Kristoff had said he was going to help her but since that first night she could not find the opportunity to have another talk with him. Leopold might be too occupied driving himself crazy with shadows that weren't there, but Rumpelstiltskin's eyes were always on her, watching every move she would make.
As time went by she decided that the so called Imp was a problem, and in her mind she played with numerous scenarios to get rid of him. They ranged from the most silly and ridiculous to the outright macabre; none of them would do.
So yes, it was bad, but not to a point were she just lost all hope. At least it hadn't been that way until that morning came and with it something that threw her off completely.
That day The King emerged with renewed good spirits; he has even invited her to ride at his side so he could recite to her his plans of grandeur and glory; plans that according to him they were going to achieve together.
There has been no mention of his outbursts of anger towards her, but he did mention that they should marry as soon as it was possible.
Thing that of course, didn't settle well with her.
But back to what happened that morning, Regina recalled in her mind that to ride with Leopold they had dressed her accordingly to her position as future Queen, with a long sleeve velvet dress colored a deep crimson red that hugged her frame like a second skin. It was embellished at the waist with black lace that ran all the way to her chest, the see through delicate fabric barely covering the low neckline the dress provided.
It was truly an astounding piece of clothing that fit her royal claim, but it was very inconvenient for riding and for some reason, the rich fabric only made the weight of what was going on settle uncomfortably on her heart.
Rumple said it was how she had to look from now on and he also sent for her hair to be styled upon his request. Now her black hair fell straight down her back while the top was made into an intricate bun. Her lips were colored, the outline of her eyes were marked up and she has been bathed with scented waters and oils.
It reminded her of how the Outlaws prepared her for her wedding night and for some reason that made her feel terrified. After all The King was that day putting a very special attention to her that she didn't like.
Thankfully, other than glance every now and then at her cleavage he didn't do much, he just talked his talk and rode on.
When they returned from mounting the camp was no longer there. And why should it be? Because as she came to realize, while they were gone Leopold had sent for his warriors, under the command of Rumple, of course, to raid a small Outlaw village.
She didn't see it happen, but he made sure she listened to every single detail of what went on. How they killed on sight, only sparing a few that could run from the carnage and report The Council because yes, apparently his only reason to order such a heinous act was to ambush The Outlaws into a trap so the shadows would leave him alone.
He was sure the fools were going to hurry themselves into the village to fight them off, that was at least what he told her; no remorse showing on his face.
All that happened earlier in the day, and now that night was fast approaching and they were settled on the small town he sent to destroy, he still waited, the good humor he had that morning long gone.
The Outlaws were not there, they didn't rush coming by as he has hoped and that made his mood sour. Well… the only one that arrived to the village was Zelena and she was the one Leopold was focusing on.
"This is not going to work, you already succeeded with this shenanigan once and got one of them killed, they are not stupid enough to fall for it twice." The woman responded with her thick accent. "They'll come; but they'll come in silence, quiet as shadows so they can catch you off guard. Who knows, maybe they are already here." She flipped at her hair and smiled mischievously at Leopold.
The man stopped cold in his tracks and stared at Zelena. For a moment Regina thought he was going to hit the redhead as he has done to her the night before when she told him she didn't want to sit with him at dinner.
It has been hard and fast smack and at the end she ended up dinning with him, her chin tilted up high and the food tasting like blood.
But he didn't hit Zelena and instead all of a sudden a sadistic smile twisted his lips. "You think they are near?"
"I can pretty much assure you they are." With a cocky grin she turned her head a little to the side so that she could face her. "They tend to all complains their villagers bring to them. There's that and there's also the fact that they are not going to let go Robin's little whore be-"
Whatever Zelena was going to say was cut short when Leopold hit her across the face. The Outlaw's head gave a violent turn that made Regina wince and as if it has been nothing, Leopold walked away from her and towards the door.
"Robin… I'm going to kill that one myself. Then I'll make them mount his head on a spike on my wedding day. I want to be done with them all tonight so they better be here or else it will be your head the one displayed outside this hovel." With that said he was gone and Regina found herself alone with a very pissed Zelena.
As for her, her mind went automatically to Robin and what Leopold just said, but because she knew she couldn't despair over something that hasn't happened, she tried to focus on the situation at hand.
"And for that you turned on your people, to be stricken and to have your own killed? You are worse than him."
Zelena glared at her, there was blood on her swollen lips and she wiped at it with the back of her hand. There was a mocking grin on her face that made her look kind of mad. "And for what did you turn on yours? For a man?"
Arching an eyebrow and straightening her posture, Regina eyed the other woman contemptuously. "I never turned my back on mine."
As a response, Zelena snorted. "Ask one of the Kingdom's loyalists and they'll tell you otherwise while claiming for your head. How do you think they took it when the news arrived to them that their would to be Queen was bedding an Outlaw?"
Twisting her lips, Regina stood up from the wooden chair. "I did what I had to do for my people."
"Oh come on, you did what you did because you wanted complete power over everything. It wasn't enough for you that this madman of a King wants you as his Queen, but you also had to be married into our Council!"
"I didn't ask for any of this." She replied because it was the truth. Zelena herself saw how she has been a prisoner in both places so it was ridiculous that she believed she has planned all of this just for power.
"But you sure as hell enjoyed it. I can see through you and I saw how much you loved having Robin and the rest of them wrapped around your finger; that must have made you feel like everything was going your way. But guess what? Now you lost everything and the best part is that you will always know that it was because of me. The only regret I have is that you were not there to see how everyone back at The Enchanted Forest is so sure you escaped to join The King on your own accord. Robin, particularly is not too happy."
Zelena laughed at that and Regina couldn't help but to close her hands into fists; she felt the sudden urge to hit the woman, but she tried to maintain herself calm.
"Now it will be my turn to shine. Who knows, I may even take Robin for myself."
"So what, are you doing this hoping that everything I'm leaving behind will automatically fall in your hands?" She scoffed, trying to process that information. "Maybe they don't know it was you who betrayed them, but they will, Zelena, they will. As for Robin, that's not going to happen. You are no one and you will never fill my shoes."
Apparently not liking her words, the blue eyed woman snarled her lips. "I wasted half my life in The Enchanted Forest; I was even paying up my dues to become one of the Council's owns." She laughed bitterly. "It was all for nothing, because you came out of nowhere with your pretty face and your claim as a princess to ruin everything. You ruined it! I earned my spot, you took it."
The woman was mad crazy, just as Leopold was, but by then Regina knew how to push her bottoms without having to put much effort on it.
So she walked closer to her and circled her, her eyes never leaving the redhead while a mocking sneer took possession of her lips. "Wait, you did all this because you are jealous of me?"
"I'm not jealous of you."
Regina forced out a laugh. "Of course you are, dear, your green is showing. But guess what? In or out of The Enchanted Forest you will be nothing but a lackey and my second best."
Groaning out loud, Zelena reacted angrily at Regina's words and slapped her hard on the face. That would make twice the times she had struck her and the Princess wasn't going to let it slip away. Last time they ended up burning her prison room down so she wondered if this time something of the sort would happen.
So she hit the woman back, right on the spot Leopold had done minutes earlier. It tore a yelp from the taller of the two and before Regina could consider her inexplicable savage manners, she was being pulled by the hair.
"I hate you." Zelena shrieked and before she could do something to retaliate, Leopold was back in the room.
"What is going on here?"
The young brunette turned to see Leopold standing by the entrance and Zelena took the opportunity to shove her hard. She ended up falling down on her rear.
Once she was down she didn't think it twice to react and later on she might be sorry, but not now. Now she was too mad to be thinking about consequences.
"She's ambushing you, My King, she's still with the savages and will turn on you." She was amazed at how easy the lie came out of her mouth and how her voice didn't even tremble.
The King's flaming eyes turned from one woman to the other. He looked like a maniac and now she started to wonder if she just did the right thing. He walked closer to them. "Is that so?"
Unable to utter a word, Regina saw how he unsheathed a sword she didn't even remember him having and she just had to swallow on dry, her eyes huge as plates as time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl.
Leopold was right between them and it could go either way, he could strike her as easily as he could strike Zelena.
"She's lying!" The wicked woman defended herself but from her place on the ground Regina could see how she started to back away, almost as if she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
"No I am not. She wanted to kill me right now because she knew I was going to tell on her." As soon as the words were out of the brown eyed, Zelena's own eyes widened in disbelieve as she looked down at her.
Turning ever so slowly, Leopold put the sword back where it belonged but then with an agility she wouldn't have believed if it wasn't because she saw it herself, he turned towards the Outlaw and before either one of them could blink he had his hands on her throat and he was squeezing.
Regina gasped as she looked at what was happening and only one thought ran through her mind.
'I'm killing her."
She might have not have her hands wrapped around the woman's throat so she could block her air passage, but she was the one who made it happen.
And Leopold… the man was sadistically taking his time, she knew because a man his size would have easily snapped Zelena's neck long ago, but she was still very much alive, red faced, scratching at his hands and searching frantically for air.
Witnessing such a scene made her react out of instinct and because his back was to her, she took that moment to get to her feet. Once up she took a piece of pottery that rested on top of a nearby table and she broke in on Leopold's head before bolting out of the room.
The last she saw of the man was how he went down to one knee while he let go of Zelena.
Once outside she grabbed what she could of her dress and then she ran. She ran as fast as she could, knowing very well that she couldn't stop even if she wanted to because Leopold could be at her heels and it wouldn't do to get herself caught by the man after what she did.
So she ran, and as she ran she tried to remember what house she had seen Kristoff taking. She had made sure to notice just in case. But right in that moment she couldn't remember which one he was in, so she ran distractedly, her mind reeling out of control as realization hit her.
Leopold was going to kill her.
Turning in a corner so she could get out of sight, she kept moving because she knew she just couldn't stop. At that hour, some of the warriors that were outside stared at her and she knew she must be an image, running in her high couture dress, her hair flowing and wild eyed as if the devil was at her heels.
But she didn't care, she could now remember where to look for Kristoff and that was where she was heading to. When she got to the house she went in unannounced.
As she hoped he would, the young warrior was there, but he wasn't alone. Regina got a bit apprehensive as she saw that the man who accompanied Kristoff was clad head to toe with a hooded black cloak that hid all his features so she halted on her tracks, her breathing shallow and her heart beating frantically.
"Princess, what happened?" It has been Kristoff the one who spoke, but the one who walked to her was the other one, the one with the cloak.
Taking a step back and getting ready to flee again, she began to turn but the man grabbed her arm.
"Regina."
She recognized the voice at once and feeling somehow relieved, she faced him. He took that as his cue and pulled the hood from his head and to reveal himself.
Nodding and pursing her lips but not really knowing how to react, Regina took in a deep breath. Last time she saw the man they didn't exactly end up in the best of terms, but at the same time he was a familiar face in a moment when she needed someone. That's why she ended up hugging him back when he wrapped his arms around her.
She didn't ask him though the questions that were now in her mind, the what was he doing there and what side was he actually on? Instead she decided to deal with the problems at hand first.
"I need to get out of here." She said while pushing away from him. "He'll kill me."
Graham ran a hand through his hair and stood in silence for a short while. "All right, Kristoff go get two horses and meet me at the back of the church, no get three, you are coming with us."
Kristoff nodded and left.
"Tell me what happened?"
Regina told her childhood friend all of what happened in a rush. When she was done he took her by the hand and walked to the door. "I hope you are still a fast runner because the church is quite far. And I can't be caught anymore than you can so we better do this right."
For a moment her memories betrayed her and she remembered how they used to do this when they were kids. It was by the time her mother prohibited her to mingle with the boy so they would to sneak out and hide as if their lives depended on it. It never ended up well for them, but it was only him the one who ended being beaten because of their escapades.
Now, by a macabre twist of fate, having their lives at stake was their reality so she squeezed his hand and gave him a slight smile.
"Then we better hurry."
So they went out and they ran; just as before no resistance was made by any of the warriors that were still outside, it was suspicious but she had no time to think about it.
Now, as Graham had promised, their path was long and when they where half the way she was already out of breath.
She kept running anyway, she had to keep up with Graham as he was dragging her along the way. But all of a sudden he stopped on his track and she collapsed against him.
She was going to ask what was going on, had Leopold or even Rumple finally found them? But then she looked up front and saw him. It was not The King but a dark haired man she had met not long ago and also, when she has been running.
Graham guarded Regina behind him and as if on cue a commotion broke somewhere in the distance.
"I'm not armed." Graham raised his arms as if to prove he was not lying.
The other man grinned and let the sword he was carrying drop to the ground. "Good, I would like to say the same but…" He lifted the arm with the hook in the air and shook it. "I would be lying. I do however, love a one on one, especially with a double traitor."
Looking from one man to the other, Regina gasped. This was wrong and in the situation they were in, Hook definitely shouldn't be going against Graham. "No, Hook you don't have…"
"Oh you shut up." The blue eyed man said to her in disdain. "You shouldn't have sneaked on us to join this people."
"I didn't sneak out-"
Regina started to say, but instead of waiting for an explanation Hook moved forward and hit Graham right in the jaw.
"Hook!" She yelled but Graham retaliated by punching him back and in a matter of nothing they were fully engaged in fighting each other. "This can't be serious."
That was when chaos erupted all around her because while Hook and Graham fought each other, out of nowhere even more Outlaws warriors emerged from their hiding places and started to fight off Leopold's men.
In the blink of an eye everything turned a mess and she was right in the middle of it; there were men all over the place and in her distress she could not tell who was friend and who was foe.
There were arrows flying all around, men were battling with swords or with their mere fists, there was even one with a spear and when she focused her eyes on him she saw it was one of The Outlaws.
She didn't know what to do or where to go, she was confused and at a complete loss.
"Go Regina, get out." That was Graham and taking a few steps away from them, she did as she was told.
So she moved, she knew Robin must be there somewhere and the idea of looking for him amidst all the commotion was disrupted when an arrow brushed her leg. She yelped, because even when it hadn't even touched her properly, it has been close.
It made her realize how dangerous it was out there and she knew that before thinking about finding Robin she had to look for someplace safe. It was then that she remembered the Church and Kristoff being there and she decided to head that way. She just hoped that Leopold wouldn't get to find Robin before she could warn him.
Along her way she saw in horror that Charming was fighting some young warrior, he was swinging his sword expertly but there were a couple of arrows sticking out of his back and she couldn't help but to think of Snow waiting in The Enchanted Forest for news of what happened. But there was nothing she could do about that so she decided to look away and keep running.
It was as she turned from that scene when it happened, she has been distracted so she didn't see him until she collided forcefully against him.
Then, before she could properly react or even come into full knowledge that she just ran into the King she felt it, a piercing stab at her side. She looked down in astonishment to see that there was a small dagger there and Leopold was holding it still inside of her.
Blinking slowly, she moved her hand towards it and touched the dagger touched where it met her flesh, her fingers came out bloodied and she held her hand in front of her face, not quite believing what was going on.
"You should had known better than to turn on me." He held her for a while and then he pushed her.
Regina staggered back and went down to knees. He went down with her, grabbing the dagger once again and pushing it even more into her.
"We could have been great. I could have made you into the greatest queen there ever was. It was our destiny, our path. Now you ruined it."
Her vision was blurring and she had problems focusing. Whiteness seemed to be taking all that surrounded her as an excruciating pain took over her.
She closed her eyes, wanting to give in, to let the whiteness take over her and carry her away. She could feel her life's essence slipping away from her and down her side; this was going to be it. She thought of her father, waiting for Graham to finally get her home, of her mother back in the Enchanted Forest, of her three ladies, all alone in this cruel world. But more than anything she thought of him, her favorite savage… and it saddened her that she would not get the chance to look at his face one last time.
It also made her feel overcome with anger over the fact that she was being robbed of her opportunity to live so she opened her eyes and clinging to that feeling she stared right into the Leopold's evil eyes.
"What have you done?" Regina recognized Rumple's voice and noticing how it edged in desperation she sneered. "This is not how it was supposed to go down! Now everything is lost."
"I had to do it. She gave me no choice.
Despite the excruciating pain, Regina tilted her head to see how Rumple was looking at them in horror while he pulled at his hair. "Everything is lost, everything!"
She wanted to say something, anything that would add to the realization that all his plans crumbled at his feet, but before the words could form in her mind an arrow came out of nowhere and implanted itself in Leopold's forehead.
She saw it out of the corner of her eye and turning fully to it she just watched with an eerie calmness as his lifeless body fell to the side. She wondered why did he get to die so quickly while she was left agonizing?
The Gods must hate her that even a quick death was denied to her.
As she mused about that, she felt someone grabbing her and lifting her up. The motion sent pain all over her body and she grunted her discomfort away. Pain forced her eyes closed and she listened to someone mumbling at her, she didn't understand a word.
"Regina, look at me."
Could it be death calling on her? Was it Rumple? She opened her eyes, and when she focused them she realized that no, it wasn't Rumple. The man didn't have such beautiful blue eyes.
Oh but she has seen those eyes before, she has seen them numerous times. Blinking, she lifted a hand and ran her fingers over his cheek. Then she closed her eyes and the light that came to her was not white, but black, and it swallowed her whole.
TBC