Y'all were so glad for the break I gave them last chapter. Well, now it's over and we're entering another arc of the story. Enjoy guys.
The next morning Emma put everything in motion to speed up their departure. Almost everything was in order, but making arrangements for the injured and the dead were holding them there. Her men had not taken any of Cora's aid while she and Regina had been recovering, for which she was immensely glad. The only way she would take that snake of a woman's help was if they desperately needed it and would die without it. Owing her for Spring Haven was one thing, she wasn't about add anything to that ledger without need.
Her men would have everything under control within a day, her captain assured her. All spare hands were crafting stretchers from the trees surrounding the camps to supplement what they already had. Only a few more were needed before they could move out.
And so Emma passed a day with Regina glued to her side, going through what paperwork they could to set the kingdom back in order when they returned to the palace. She thought over the council, sighing as she read a report a messenger had brought about the effect everything had had on the other parts of the kingdom. A great many people had fled, most of the council really, along with a large amount of the nobility and some of the more well off peasants. The kingdom needed everyone in it to make it work as it should, but she couldn't justify bringing everyone back just yet.
She looked up at the black pieces still left on the planning board from the battle. No, she couldn't do it when the Dark army could level her entire kingdom with just a blink of a few of their mages. It was winter, it was less important that everyone be back in their places. There were no crops to be planted or tended and trade was a slow crawl thanks to the season. The money from Spring Haven would fill the gaps in revenue the kingdom suffered.
Her thoughts flew back to her mother. How in the world she had done this for over twenty years without ripping her hair out she wasn't quite sure. She sighed heavily and ran an ink splotched hand through her hair. She missed her now that everything had calmed at least for the time being. She wished she could ask the woman advice, even if she didn't agree with what was said, it could provide a starting point. What she really desperately wanted even more than that was just a simple hug, but everything along that line was a fool's errand and she wasn't sure why in the world she was even thinking of it. There were more important things.
Her captain cleared his throat behind her, startling her out of her thoughts. She turned around to face him. Things like making sure her soldiers got home all in one piece. Or at least in as few pieces as possible. Yes, there were more important things.
The ride back to the palace happened without a hitch once all the necessary supplies were readied. They made slower time than before, taking three full days to get home now that there were injured men to consider. Emma was never so glad to see the palace walls than she was on the third day. Travelling in the winter was miserable at best and she was rather tired of it. She knew her men were as well. They would all be thankful for a warm fire, a hot meal, and a comfortable bed.
She dismissed her troops as soon as they filed into the courtyard with orders to attend to the dead the next morning. It was cold enough that another few hours weren't going to hurt them now. She knew some of the men lived at the far reaches of the kingdom and the dispatches sent out with their bodies deserved at least one night of good rest before embarking on another journey.
Cora, for her part had remained almost silent through the whole ride back. It unnerved Emma almost as much as seeing the forest of black tents surrounding her palace yet again. She had swept past them as Emma was giving her final orders to her troops, not saying a word to her or Regina. She couldn't decide if it was a blessing or a curse. She hoped the woman would just leave after a few days' rest, but she knew that wasn't going to be the case.
Regina and Emma climbed the stairs wearily to their own chamber. Emma almost wept at the sight of a lit fire in the fireplace in front of their couch. She threw off her cloak and boots, stripping down to just a long sleeved shirt and her leather breeches and collapsed onto the couch, drawling a fur blanket around her and sighing loudly. Oh gods, this was heaven, warm, warm heaven.
Regina chuckled at her antics, sitting down beside her, taking the blanket and rearranging it so it covered both of them and leaned into Emma's arms. Emma corrected her earlier statement, no, this was warm heaven. She let her fingers play with the tip of Regina's braid idly. They stayed silent for a long while, drowsing in each other's arms.
"Thank the gods that that's over," Emma finally whispered into Regina's hair.
"Only one part, darling."
"Small victories count."
Regina nodded into Emma's neck. "They do."
They stayed together until the fire burnt low in the grate. There would be much to do the next day, but it didn't matter then. They would deal with everything then. Only then. There was no need to worry about it until then.
When Regina fell asleep against her, breathing deeply against Emma, she debated on just settling down to sleep on the couch as well, but decided against it. A real bed was too good to pass up. She nudged Regina awake once more and led them to bed, stripping off her shirt and pants, not bothering with a night shirt, she was too tired. Being in the palace now after so many days of being out in the cold left her feeling a little warmer than usual anyway. Regina, to her delight did the same thing and soon they were curled, skin pressing together so very intimately, drifting off to sleep once more.
Emma blinked and blinked again and a third time just to be sure. Because what was in front of her shouldn't be happening. Couldn't be happening. But Cora was sitting in her chair at the head of the council table like she fucking owned it and Emma's blood was starting to boil in her veins as she realized that what she was seeing wasn't a trick of her imagination. Oh, no way in seven hells.
"Cora," Emma said with a smile and sickly sweet voice, gliding forward easily from where she had stood frozen in the doorway for a long moment.
The woman glanced up at her, eyebrow arched in a look that was pure Regina. Emma shivered at the comparison. "Yes?" she asked, voice bored.
"How is it that my council has earned the privilege of your presence?" She wanted to snort at the word privilege, but managed to hold it in. Now that Regina wasn't on the verge of dying she could play politics again.
The council for their part was staring at Cora like she was about to take their heads off. They were sitting a few seats down from where they had been in the weeks before, not far enough to seem cowardly, just cautious. Emma didn't blame them at all. She didn't want to be anywhere the witch either.
"I found myself rather bored and I knew that you had this meeting ever day so I decided I might as well do something useful with my time." She shrugged like the answer was of no consequence.
Emma bit the inside of her lip. "And as much as that sounds like a privilege, surely you understand that the inner workings of a kingdom are rather private. Besides, Regina and I have everything under control."
Cora laughed. "Of course you do. Just like you had Spring Haven all under control without me."
She suddenly wished the Regina had taught her offensive magic instead of healing magic. She desperately wanted to just throw the woman out of the room herself.
"Not every kingdom has a battalion of mages at their disposals to lay waste to any enemy that dares face them. We were doing what we could with what we had before you came."
At this Cora sat forward. "And think what you could have if our kingdoms allied. Then you would have a battalion of mages at your disposal, as you put it."
Emma's eyes narrowed at the other woman. Where in the seven hells was Regina to help her navigate through this? She had the horrible feeling that one misstep here and it would be the end of everyone in her kingdom.
"My kingdom would gain much from that arrangement," which was true in its own way. They would gain an army that could actually defend them from any threats and they would gain another trade partner. With the Dark Kingdom being farther north that could be rather lucrative for them, supplying the Dark people with food stuffs that only grew in warmer climates. But… "What exactly does your kingdom gain? I'm not disillusioned. I know on paper this kingdom is worth little more than the land it's on. We have no resources that can't be found elsewhere. We have very little wealth and no access to the sea. Why exactly would you want to form any sort of alliance with us?"
"I would get to see my daughter and help her succeed." She looked Emma over carefully. "And perhaps help you as well. You proved yourself to be much more competent than I thought with the truce between your lands and Spring Haven. You truly thought of everything with little more than a blink. If I allied with you, you could take this kingdom from something that's worth nothing to something that others will drop to their knees for. I could teach you what I know. Gods know that your mother did nothing for you, taught you nothing useful. She didn't understand that you have greater visions for this land than a little farmer's haven. She didn't understand that teaching isn't a process of memorization and regurgitation, but a way to take a seed of an idea that has come before and build upon it. I understand these things."
Half of Emma was screaming for her to run, to get out of the room now, that this was part of Cora's plan to end them all, that she should be so very angry that this bitch of a woman was insulting her mother. The other half couldn't help but be intrigued, to think that Cora was right. What side was going to keep them alive longer? Would any side keep them alive longer? She froze for a long moment, desperately thinking everything over.
"You could be a great Queen, Emma, someone just has to teach you," Cora said, voice softer than Emma had ever heard it.
Emma looked up and met the other woman's eyes. Amazing for all they should look like Regina's eyes, they were the same exact color, they didn't at all. Cora's eyes were harder, darker in a way that had nothing to do with color. Would it be so bad if she went along with Cora's plan if she kept in mind that everything she was doing was to humiliate them and kill them later? If she rejected her help now that would almost definitely lead to her commanding the army stationed just outside the walls to attack. Or would it? Surely Cora had a backup plan that wasn't destroying them so quickly. Regina said she was all about drawling out her wins for her maximum satisfaction.
But what would her next plan be? Would it be worse than the one she was so clearly facing? She fought the urge to run her hands through her hair. That was a sign of weakness and she damn well knew it. She just stared into Cora's eyes hard, looking for any sign. There were none of course. Her face was even blanker than Regina's, an accomplishment in and of itself.
And as dangerous as all this was, Emma wanted exactly what Cora was offering, even if she really didn't want it from the other woman. She wanted someone to teach her. She had managed to lead her kingdom for almost two months, but that entire time she felt like she was just barely keeping everything above water. There was no way she could keep on like that. One wrong move and everyone would be drowning. She needed help from someone that knew everything there was to know, someone that would let her learn and apply the lessons as she wished. Cora wouldn't be that person, she knew, not with the way Regina acted, but she had said all the right words and Emma so wanted it…
"Ok," Emma whispered. She cleared her throat quickly and said in a firmer voice. "I accept your offer."
The smile that Cora offered her was radiant, almost a carbon copy of Regina's. Emma resisted gasping at the sight.
"I'm glad you can see sense." She gestured at the chair at her right hand. "Shall we get started then?"
Emma nodded and sat down, looking at her council expectantly. She would tell Regina about all of this as soon as she could. That would be fine, it had to be. She had made the best choice she could in the situation. Regina would understand that.
She hoped.
Her council stared at her like she had grown two heads while she had been away. Finally Lord William cleared his throat and started in on an expense report that needed her attention and soon the others followed suit, speaking about whatever needed to be to keep the kingdom running.
She felt Cora's eyes on her the entire time and tried not to shift uncomfortably. She was infinitely thankful that the meeting was short. The men bowed to her and Cora and filed out quickly after all business was done and Emma sat back and sighed.
Cora cleared her throat delicately, garnering Emma's attention. "You're far too gentle with them," she said, voice sharp.
Emma's eyebrows furrowed. "I mean I don't think so. Those men are the ones that stayed even when I'd given leave for them to flee in the wake of your army and Spring Haven. They're the most loyal people to the crown there are. The council as a whole? I would agree with you. I would never act like that with all of them assembled. They question my power too much as is without the nicer treatment."
Cora waved her hand, brushing away the words easily. "Dear, it matters not if they are the most loyal or the scum on your boots, you can't afford to be so lenient with any of them. As it is your kingdom is so very unstable, it only takes one of them to think that you're far too kind for there to be an attempt on your crown. And of course you don't want that, do you?"
Emma frowned but shook her head. "Well, no of course not, but these aren't the men who would be planning a coup. I don't see what treating these men any worse than I already am will gain me. Contempt would lead to a coup faster than any supposed weakness. Enough men on the full council resent me that my true allies all just sat in the room with us. Wouldn't being cooler in temperament towards them just lose me what allies I do have?"
The older Queen snorted. "You don't need any allies at all, not truly. People are just something you use for what you need and when they have served their purpose you send them on their way again."
Cora waved her hand and Emma was silenced once again. Her eyes widened and then narrowed to slits. She really, really did not like this particular trick of Cora's.
"For me to teach, dear, you have to let me talk. Let me speak and then think on what I've told you for a time. Try a few ideas if you must to confirm the results. Truly learn what I mean before you start to question it, you understand? If after a few days you have questions then I will answer them." Cora arched an eyebrow and continued on.
"Now these people on the council aren't your friends. Why councils even originated was so that the monarchs of a kingdom could keep track of those families that were in a position that they could possibly use to overthrow them. A literal manifestation of keep your friends close but your enemies closer, if you will. Of course some men were promoted to the council through their friendship and service to the crown, that's how any reward a monarch can hand out works, really. The thing you haven't quite learned about politics, dear Emma, is that wolves in sheep's clothing are everywhere you look. Just because these men sit in support of you now doesn't mean at least one of them isn't planning on overthrowing you when they have gotten close enough to do so. In politics the long game is much more important than the short game, and everyone is always trying to take the Queen. Treating these men with a little more…distance, coolness, what have you, won't allow them to get close enough to do so."
Cora stood up from her chair. "Think of that, dear, I'll be in my chambers until dinner if you need me." And with that Cora waved her hand once more and swept from the room.
Emma slumped back in her chair in the empty room and sighed loudly now that she could make noise once more. What in the gods' names just happened? Emma wasn't exactly sure, she wasn't sure she wanted to be. Cora's words shouldn't have made sense at all. She was a crazy tyrant. But yet they had and Emma was scared about what that meant about her thinking.
She got up and finally walked from the room. She needed to see Regina. Now. Regina was the only one that would be able to talk real sense back into her. Cora was a snake. She was manipulating her. Emma knew that. She knew that. She really did.
She ran her hands through her curls as she wound her way through the palace halls, grabbing a heavy cloak on her way. Regina was out in the courtyard delegating who would go out to the villages with the bodies of their fallen comrades. Emma didn't envy her in the slightest, didn't really want to see the damage that the war had wrought on her kingdom first hand, but she needed Regina more. Her head needed to be in the right place for them to outwit Cora and protect her kingdom and she wasn't anywhere near the right place right now.
The fresh air brought a breath of life into her. She closed her eyes for a second, inhaling the cool air. As much as she hated staying in the cold for a week or more the outdoors still calmed her even now. She looked around and found Regina not far off, standing in the middle of the training yards, walking among the dead carefully. Emma picked her way over to her wife, swallowing hard against the images of Regina lying there with the rest of the dead instead of alive and healthy.
Regina looked up at her, the sound of her boots crunching across the packed down snow alerting her to Emma's presence. "Emma, what are you doing out here?"
"I need to talk to you and I couldn't wait. I needed out of the palace. Regina…" she trailed off not even sure where to begin now. Was there even a right way to tell your wife that you had agreed to let her abusive tyrant of a mother teach you about politics? No, there probably wasn't.
She dove in head first and hoped for the best. "Your mother was sitting in the council chambers when I walked in like she owned the place."
She heard Regina's intake of breath clearly even in the noisy courtyard. "What did she want?" Regina asked in a strained voice.
"That's the thing…it was weird. She didn't demand anything ridiculous, like repayment for her services or for us to submit to her rule. She wanted an alliance with our kingdom, but I really think that might have just been her opening salvo." Emma ran her hand through her hair again. It was going to be a tangled mess by the end of the day. "She said she wanted to teach me about politics, to teach me how to be Queen."
Emma took in a shaky breath and looked Regina in the face again. The other woman's face was unreadable, but the fingers gripping the clipboard in her hands were starting to rip the paper underneath her gloves.
"I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if saying yes or no would be better. You weren't there and I tried to think it through but there really didn't seem to be a good option because her teaching me is about as good an idea as armor with breast cups and holes but so did saying no to her because her army is literally right outside our gates and I just—" Emma gasped in a breath. "I said yes because that seemed like the best option that would keep us alive for the longest so we could formulate some sort of plan. But I'm not in any sort of mindset to do that right now because she got into my head, Regina. She said all the right words and I didn't want to say no to her, even though I knew that should be a perfectly valid option considering who and what she is. And now I really think it's a bad idea that I agreed because gods know if she could do that in one meeting who even knows what she could do in time, but I don't see a way out of it." Emma swallowed, tears pricking at her eyes. "I think I just royally fucked up, but it was such a catch-22 I don't see how I couldn't have."
The sigh that Regina let out was long and loud. She had gone pale again, like she always did when her mother was brought up in conversation. "It's—It's ok Emma." She reached out to Emma with shaky voice and hands. "You were right, this is the option that will give us more time to think of a plan to thwart her. You picked the best option you had. It may be a fucked up situation as you put it, but that is nowhere near your fault." The grip Regina had on Emma's hand now was starting to really hurt, but Emma didn't protest.
"Now…" Regina trailed off. "Now you'll just have to be strong. She's a master manipulator. It's easy for her to get into people's heads. It always has been. I've seen her bring hardened war veterans to tears. You just have to keep in mind that she's using you the entire time. You can't ever lose sight of that or we're lost. Do you understand me?" Regina shook her just a little, a slightly unhinged look in her eyes.
Emma nodded. "Ok," she said in a meek voice.
Regina stepped back. "Ok, alright, good. Because if you fall under her influence…" She swallowed visibly. "Then she'll have us both in short order and we won't see the final blow coming, let alone be able to plan for it." She paused again, struggling with her words. "I never have been able to rid myself of her influence completely."
"So this plan of hers to crush us completely and humiliate us and then kill us, it starts with this, getting us both under her thumb," Emma said, wishing with all her heart that somehow this would be a nightmare she'd wake up from any time now.
"That's part of it, yes. I don't know what else she'll do, whether she might be happy with having us completely under her control, or whether she'll kill us. Or perhaps she might keep us alive for a while and then kill us. But who knows how she'll kill us. I just don't know. Emma," she reached out towards Emma again. "I don't care what she does to me, but you can't let her get to you. You're too good. I love you too much to see you end up under her control. I just can't."
"How do you think I feel every single time you cower in fear of the woman," Emma answered, voice quiet. If I make the promise to you that I won't let her get to me, you have to make the same promise. The only way we'll get through this is if both of us are all here. I went into a panic without you there to help me make a decision when she was there. I came directly here afterwards to straighten my head out. Without you I can't."
"Gods," Regina said, closing her eyes. "Ok, for the both of us then. We have to meet with the council to inform them of everything without my mother knowing. How we'll do that I have no idea. Now that she's in our palace nowhere is safe, nowhere at all. Though if you met with them with my mother presence I'm quite sure they're smart enough to figure out at least some of it on their own. Page boys will be our best bet for communication, but the messages will have to be mixed without other documents of course. And even then there's no guarantee."
Emma swallowed. "Well, there's a guarantee we'll be dead if we don't try, so."
"Yes, I suppose you're right."
"What about that page boy who served you during the tournament? He loves you. He'll carry any messages we want without question," Emma said quietly.
A pained look crossed Regina's face. "I don't want to put him in harm's way. He's just a boy."
Emma cocked an eyebrow. "So are all the page boys Regina. That's kind of in their job description."
"I don't want to use him then. He's a good boy. He doesn't deserve to be used as a pawn."
"Regina, you just basically said we can trust no one. That boy worships you. He wouldn't cave to Cora if she offered him a treasury full of candy and all the toys he could want and a guaranteed knighthood. I know you've almost become a mother figure to the boy and you don't want to use him because of that, but what choice do we have? We don't know where any other page boy's loyalty actually lies."
Regina let out another long breath, closing her eyes and turning from Emma. "Gods. Just, gods. If I hadn't lost my faith a very long time ago I might be inclined to pray." Her voice was barely a whisper in the wind. "Go, find him and send him to me. I'll send out the first round of messages with the reports on how the dead are being delivered home and the supplies needed to do so."
Emma stepped forward and squeezed Regina's shoulder. "I'm sorry Regina. I don't want to get a kid involved either, but there are a hell of a lot more kids in this kingdom that are counting on us to keep it together and come up with some sort of plan. It's war even if there isn't a clear battlefield."
Regina hummed quietly. "You do not know war, Emma. This has been child's play so far and I'm quite afraid if we have to start compromising and sacrificing lives now just to keep ourselves in the game then who knows what in the world will happen later. When will it stop, when will we say enough and admit defeat? Do you know Emma?"
"I can't know something like that, Regina, it all depends on the situation and the variables we have to play with. We won't know something like that until we're living it."
"No, I don't suppose you can. But at some point our trying to save the kingdom might end up destroying it."
And with that Regina started to walk away, leaving Emma standing alone in the middle of a field of dead bodies, completely floored.
