DISCLAIMER:: do not own. just borrowing for purpose of creative expression. no profit obtained.

A/N:: spent the morning finishing this. very happy with how it turned out. working on the next update. it'll be posted when finished. enjoy and review as always.

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-Chapter 28: You Don't Have To Feel Safe To Feel Unafraid-

"Good morning my love." Regina reached over and brushed a strand of blonde hair behind Emma's ear as the younger Queen opened her eyes. She was resting on an elbow, affectionately watching the blonde as she had slumbered.

"Well it is morning, that much is true, but I'm not sure I'd call it good." She leaned in and kissed Regina softly. "Where's Savya?"

Regina looked sad. "She's having breakfast with your father. He wanted to be the one to explain to her why he won't be coming with us. It's important that we be there today when it all happens and we need to make sure she does not call out for him. If they know that she knows him, disguises will do little to protect us from them."

Emma nodded. "Where will the Huntsman be joining us?"

"A league or so outside the city. It would be suspicious if he were seen leaving with us; they have kept him under close watch due to his connection to your mother. Word went out to Hadrian this morning that he left unaccompanied and your husband has let his guard down somewhat. We must make our own way out and meet up with him. Before we reach him I will drop my disguise, but leave yours. You will be Velia until I deem it safe. I will not risk any harm coming to you."

Emma smiled. "You're so protective of me, why?"

Regina sighed. "I have lost almost everything I treasured. Even as the Evil Queen, I thirsted for power, fear, admiration. My power is nothing compared to what it once was, though I feel it growing steadily. The fear and admiration is scattered among what remains of my followers. They are a measly remainder of what they once were. I am a woman long forgotten. But I look at you and I simply do not care. If I must lose everything else at the expense of keeping you, I shall gladly forfeit all that I have." She stroked the blonde's cheek. "Your value to me cannot be measured Emma."

Emma grabbed the collar of Regina's dress and pulled her over on top of her.

The brunette didn't object, moving her skirts to straddle the blonde's torso. She reached down and lightly grasped Emma's chin, stroking her thumb across the blonde's lower lip. "I feel as if I should be afraid of being so addicted to you, to your body, to your heart, to your soul. But fear is the last thing I feel when I look at you. Something just settles… here." She grasped one of the blonde's hands and brought it to the valley between her breasts, over her heart.

Emma looked at her hand, placed firmly upon the chest of the older woman. Regina's heart. It occurred to her that this was Regina's way of letting her claim possession of her, not physically, for she had done that many times since their first night together, but emotionally. The Evil Queen was relinquishing ownership of the one thing she'd spent the majority of her adult life guarding. It was all at once the most profound and the scariest thing Emma had ever felt, as her love for the woman, staring at her with such conflicted and contradictory emotions, only grew even more. She had to remind herself that this was not Regina as everyone knew her, this was a piece only she was allowed to see, and the knowledge made her feel special, important in a way even her royal title never had. She would trade being Queen Emma just to be simply Regina's Emma any and every day. Tears stung the edge of her eyes.

Regina dropped her hand to rub the offending wetness away before the tears even got the opportunity to fall. "What is it my darling?"

Emma shook her head, a sad and disbelieving smile appearing. "I was raised to believe in fairytales and true love. My parents were the quintessential example. All they'd been through to be together and find each other… how could they not be the prime example of true love at it's finest, proof that evil and darkness could always be kept at bay or even contained. But I never accepted a word of it. In the tales, what Princess ever suffered from a curse such as mine? I wanted to believe in their words, but experience can be a cruel teacher and in the other world, well true love doesn't really exist." She threaded the fingers of both her hands through Regina's. "And then, I saw you under that glass and I knew… my fairytale may have taken some time to catch up with me, but I was going to get one. You're my fairytale ending, my happily ever after. Whatever hardships we must face, it matters not, because I know where the story ends… and if the tales are anything to go by, the ending is always the most beautiful part, it makes the journey worth it."

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They were behind schedule. Savya had been inconsolable after James broke the news to her. It had taken an extra hour to calm the little girl down. Explaining to a four year old why she wasn't going to be seeing one of her most favourite people in the world anymore was not an easy task and it gave Emma a newfound respect for the years of single motherhood Mayor Mills had to go through in the other world. It couldn't have been easy, especially for someone wound as tight as she was.

But they'd finally eased her sorrows and Velia had scooped her into her arms and cradled her the whole way to the market behind Madam Zolta and the cart.

Savya played with her little rag doll next to the cart as Velia and Madam Zolta maintained the appearance of selling their wares from their little cart. Velia was just making a sale, of some of the very oil she'd sold plenty of to Radley the day before, to another guard when it happened.

"Get back here!"

They heard a crash and then several pairs of boots running in their direction. Madam Zolta stepped in front of Savya, blocking the little girl's view with her cloak.

James came tearing around the corner of the lane, running as if his life depended on it, which knowing Hadrian, it very well might. They'd discussed how this would play out but Velia felt her reluctance even as he approached the pre-determined spot. He didn't look at her, he knew better than that. She could feel Madam Zolta's eyes on her back, willing her to make her choice now.

"Stop that man!"

The guards shout seemed to break her doubts and she stuck out a booted leg. James hit it full force and went flying, landing with a heavy thud in the dirt. He grunted at the impact just before the guards caught up to him.

"King James, you are ordered to be detained in the name of King Hadrian for crimes of treason against the throne and the kidnapping of her Royal Highness Queen Emma."

The guards pulled James to his feet and he stared at Velia with nothing but contempt. Finally the glare was broken when they hauled him away.

The officer who had mentioned his accused crimes stepped up to her. "Many thanks mi'lady for your service to the crown." He pressed a bag of coins into her hand. "For your assistance in apprehending the crown's most sought after fugitive."

The gold felt like lead in her hand as she watched him walk away and knew she may have just had a hand in her own father's demise.

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"The Lady Velia, daughter of Lady Ciana and a gypsy of the Nixies River." The page boy stepped aside and allowed her to enter the large meeting room.

She stepped forward and curtseyed before the King. "Your Highness."

"Mi'lady." Hadrian inclined his head. "It is my understanding I have you to thank for the capture of the former King."

She blushed. "It was nothing sire, truly. I merely had an adequate amount of time to stall him so your guards could successfully apprehend him. I was a distraction, nothing more. It is your men who deserve the credit."

He studied her, rising from his throne and walking in a wide circle around her.

She forced herself to be still under his scrutiny.

Finally her walked back before her, stopping a few feet away. "You are a fair creature Lady Velia, has anyone ever told you that?"

"Beauty is the curse of the gypsies sire."

He smirked. "I don't doubt that."

She felt her skin prickle. Was Hadrian… flirting with her?

If he was, he immediately dismissed the playful banter, letting it go no further. "My guard gave you some of the reward earlier, but here is what else is due you." He waved another guard forward who set a small chest at her feet.

She shook her head as she stared at it, wide eyed. "Sire, it is too much."

He waved it off. "Hardly. You have done me a great service. This is the benefit of my gratitude." He smiled. "I was also led to understand that your grandmother and your daughter are also in attendance with you."

Velia nodded. "Yes sire. We leave town this afternoon back for the encampment."

Hadrian shook his head. "No, you mustn't. I insist you have supper in my company this evening, all three of you. Share my table so that I may know you better."

Velia hadn't anticipated this. But to refuse would be madness. What excuse could she possibly offer up? So, instead, she nodded. "It would be a great honour to dine in your company Your Highness."

"The honour is mine Lady Velia."

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"We weren't supposed to dine with him!" Regina put the coins into the panel in the wall and magically sealed it over, making the wall look whole and unbroken once more. They would take a couple of the small handheld bags just in case they needed to purchase supplies along the way, but it would be suicide to take so much coin into the Forbidden Forest, where even with Regina's magical abilities, they'd be targets for looters and thieves.

Emma sighed. "And just what was I supposed to do Regina? Refuse? Oh yes darling, please tell me how I should have declined the King's offer because that wouldn't have been the least bit suspicious?"

Regina pursed her lips. "You're right my love. To refuse him would only have drawn his suspicions. But we must tread carefully this evening. He will be watching your every move, listening to your every word. He is paranoid my love. A few days in the city with not a word and out of seemingly nowhere your father appears, as if purposely delivered before him. He knows it was meant to distract. Or rather, if he's smart he knows. This invitation could be a cover to root out his suspicions of any involvement you may have. Either that, or he wishes to bed you, for which I can hardly blame him."

Emma took Regina's hands in her own and wrapped the older woman's arms around her, kissing her cheek. "If there is one person in this land that I've learned how to deal with, it is my husband. Ten years has made me an expert at faking it with him, and not just in the bed chamber."

Regina smirk fell into a scowl. "Can we pretend no one ever touched you before I came along?"

Emma nodded. "That will be easy since no one ever did, not truly. There has only been you."

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"Ah, Lady Velia, your presence warms this establishment." Hadrian stood as she entered.

She curtseyed. "You honour me with your kind words Your Highness. May I present my grandmother, Zolta, and my daughter Savya."

Madam Zolta made no move to acknowledge the King's station, but Savya managed a lopsided curtsey, causing both women to grin fondly at her.

Hadrian held out a seat for each of them in turn, Velia to his right, Madam Zolta and then Savya to his left.

It was a different experience for her dining with Hadrian as Velia. Queen Emma had grown tired of the monotony and awkward silences that filled their dinners, so she had often spent them away in her own mind, musing over what was going on in the other world. But as Velia, she saw him like she did in the beginning, back in the days when their lives were still separate enough that they could talk about their interests and not utterly bore each other. It was refreshing, but it just reminded her that while he had been a suitable man, he had never made her happy. The topics, such as matters of diplomacy, that he talked about with such sparkle in his eyes, were of little interest to her. She found herself, on several occasions, staring past him to the little girl who couldn't seem to figure out which of the three forks went with which course of the meal, the conundrum causing much frustration in her four year old mind.

"Will you leave on the morrow then Lady Velia?" Hadrian raised an eyebrow at her as the dessert was served.

Velia shook her head. "We shall depart after dinner."

"So soon?"

"We weren't planning on staying in the city long, just passing through to visit an old friend."

Hadrian smiled. "The Huntsman. Have you known him long?"

Velia was surprised that he knew of her brief encounter in the inn with the man, but was not fool enough to show it. She noticed that beyond Hadrian's turned back, Madam Zolta had gone still. "He and I had a small affair years ago. It is of little consequence now."

"You bring your daughter to the city to visit an old lover? It makes me curious as to her origins."

Velia frowned. "She's not his if that is what you're implying sire."

"Is she not?" Hadrian looked curiously at the little girl and then back at Velia and shrugged. "There is a resemblance there, but perhaps you just have a type."

It wasn't meant to be insulting, but Velia took it as such anyway. She turned back to her dessert, pushing the frozen pear concoction around on her plate, suddenly at a loss of appetite.

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It would be almost nightfall before they reached the Huntsman. Hadrian had kept them overmuch for supper, almost as if he was stalling. Madam Zolta was suspicious of a trap, Velia just believed the man loved to hear himself talk. But finally, they'd been allowed to leave.

The walked the cart towards the southern gate and the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. No one watched them go or eyed them suspiciously. The gypsies were a free race, not commanded by the laws of the city or either the Enchanted or Forbidden Forests. A long and arduous war, one that had left the gypsies nearly extinct, had been fought to earn the right to call themselves a free people.

There were two Royal Army officers standing in wait just inside the gate. They looked bored until they saw the small procession of women coming towards them.

"Begging your pardons, but I believe you've gotten yourselves turned around. This gate here leads to the Forbidden Forest. That's not a place for ladies such as yourselves to be going, especially not with night so close at hand." The right guard was a tall man, with a messy cut of bright red hair, his young face smattered with freckles all over his pale skin.

His companion was a buff brute of a man, standing well over six feet and muscular. He was also pale skinned, contrasting with his dark blonde hair and hazel eyes. A scowl covered his face but he said nothing.

Madam Zolta raised her walking stick and poked the younger red headed guard in his plate with its tip. "I have seen more of danger in the past month than you have in all the years you've been off your wet nurse boy. Gypsies do not fear the dark, they sink into its embrace, nor do they fear a forest for only its name. Stand aside or would you deny an old woman and her family passage home?"

The guard stared at her with a curious glance as if she were mentally handicapped. He looked to his more muscular partner, who studied the old woman in front of him. Finally the man spoke. "There is a place beyond the edge of the world where once we all were born and one day we will all return."

"Never shall I hope to see that place than on the happiest day of my life and I wish much the same for you." Madam Zolta answered him back with a challenging glare.

The muscular guard nodded. "Let them pass."

Velia waited until they were half a mile from the gates, already closed once more and far enough that even if she were to shout the guards wouldn't hear her before she spoke. "What was that?"

"There is a scarce known gypsy legend about a place beyond time and… well, and existence really that we all come from when we're born and we all go to after we die. It is told like a bedtime story within the encampments but hardly told to a soul outside." She frowned. "He was verifying our authenticity. Hadrian must have sent word."

"But if it's only told within the encampments, how did you know of it?"

Madam Zolta frowned, a far off look crossing her eyes. "I spent some time with the gypsies once. I learned a great many things about them."

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Regina dropped her disguise after another mile. She looked back to Velia who had been pushing the cart and with a flick of her wrist the heavy load disappeared. "Graham has our horses. He'll ride Mary Brave until such time as his services are no longer required."

Velia nodded. She understood Regina's unstated meaning: don't get your knickers in a twist when you see Graham riding your father's horse.

Savya held her arms up to Regina and the brunette scooped her up easily into her long arms. "Shall we Princess?"

The little girl nodded and rested her tired head against Regina's shoulder.

Velia smiled at them. They made quite a pair, those two. Savya had taken to the Princess treatment quite easily, almost as easily as Regina had taken to motherhood. She was meant to be a mother and Velia was happy that if, when this was all over, they couldn't be together, at least she'd have that.