PROLOGUE

THE CURSE WAS HERE

Daciana hadn't planned for this. She made a promise to Snow that she would help them and all because of a simple slip-up, she let her heart get in the way and may have cost the Kingdom greatly. Pushing aside the guilt slowly eating away inside, she glanced briefly over her shoulder at the looming purple clouds.

With her heightened strength, she was able to push herself further, moving faster than a mere human and the impending curse could. Upon her entry to the palace, she halted her steps to listen in on an indication as to where she needed to go.

The Queen's black knights had already arrived judging by the state of disarray the foyer area was in and the absence of the Royal Castle's own knights. Tuning into distance battle sounds, she unsheathed her sword from its place by her left hip and moved to advance through the west wing of the castle. Swinging them expertly she prepared for an attack, her boots softly tapping against the marble floors and her shallow breathing being the only sound.

Taking stairs two at a time, she soon reached the floor where the nursery of the new Princess was located, and based on the carnage the battle had already been fought. Looking around at the Evil Queen's fallen knights she silently hoped that the Prince had come out on top and the innocent Princess, their Saviour, had been able to get to safety. She couldn't help the regret that filled her knowing that she should've been there.

Two black knights walked out from a corridor to the left of her, presumably on their way to where the Evil Queen and Snow White were. Daciana swiftly repositioned her sword, clearing her throat to gain the knights' attention.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Huntress," one guard spoke, swinging his sword mockingly. "We may have lost the child, but the Queen's going to enjoy seeing you again."

She breathed a brief sigh of relief with the clarity that the child had gotten away, all hope had not been lost. "I'm sure she will," she muttered to herself and stepped forward to meet the first knight's sword with her own. She supposed there was time for one final battle, they wanted to take her to the Evil Queen and she wouldn't go without a fight.

Soon, the quiet corridor was filled with battle sounds and the distant rumbling of the impending curse. Daciana stepped back, narrowly missing one guard, and used his momentum against him to send him to the ground.

Swinging around she swiftly met the other knight's sword as he swung at her from behind. "Rude," she muttered, shoving him back a few paces. Part of her concentration faded as part of the ceiling above her crumbled away causing her to stumble back. She cried out when she felt the sharp tip of a sword slice her forearm, her sword falling to the floor with a clatter.

Placing her left hand over her dominant arm's wound she cried out again as she felt the familiar blade slice her side.

"That's enough. The Queen wants her alive," the guard in front of her said, both of them returning their swords to their sides.

Hissing she held her free hand against her right abdomen, applying pressure to the wound as the guards grabbed her arms and dragged her into the nursery. Her eyes softened when she saw Snow crying over an unconscious, hopefully not dead, Charming who suffered a fatal strike. His white shirt now stained a crimson red. The Evil Queen stood over them gleefully. She had won.

"The child?" the Evil Queen asked her remaining guards. Briefly glancing at Daciana, though her main focus remained on the one thing that could put her success in jeopardy.

Nervously, the guards stood tall tightening their hold on the woman strung between them. "Gone. It was in the wardrobe, and then it was gone. It's nowhere to be found," said one of the guards.

The Evil Queen spun sharply back around to glare at Snow seething, "Where is she?"

"She got away..." Snow let a smile creep onto her face, looking her in the eyes as she spoke, "You're going to lose. I know that now. Good will always win."

Impulsively, the Evil Queen stalked over to Daciana, who had become increasingly exhausted and let the majority of her weight be held up by the two guards. "We'll see about that," she said, digging her hand into Daciana's chest to swiftly remove her heart. The organ glowed a vibrant red encased in a golden aura without a single drop of darkness.

She made little protest, simply lifting her eyes to level a glare with the Evil Queen who inspected the heart gleefully. "I may not be able to kill you, but that doesn't mean that you can't be useful in this new land," the Evil Queen said, forcefully grabbing her chin with her free hand, "Huntress."

"Where are we going?" Snow raised her voice above the noise as the ceiling shattered and the curse took its hold on the room.

Harshly releasing the young woman the Evil Queen walked to the centre of the room, relishing in the smoke slowly filling the space. "Somewhere horrible. Absolutely horrible. A place where the only happy ending will be mine."

Daciana's head dropped as she felt the cold darkness of the curse wrap around her. She had hope, the child got away and one day when fate dealt its cards, she'll return. For now, the curse was here.

Whisking them far away from their world.

To one without happy endings and without magic.

A/N: And so it begins! I'm so sorry that I didn't post this when I said I would. I had something unexpected come up and for my own mental health I had to take a break from online. I'm still not 100%, but I'm back now and working on doing better. In saying that, I hope you are all well and taking care of yourselves!

Chapter 1 is already written and will be up over the next few days. As always, don't forget to fav/follow and comment your thoughts/questions/suggestions. I love reading them!

Thank you for reading :)