A/n I have switched my chapters around as this is what you appear to want to see but it's not a long one as a resilt.
Previously In The Collar
"I will beat you if you derive pleasure from it, as you often do, but not that. Not again. Not you."
Emma standing, still held by the queen, staring into magic filled eyes and lost in them for a long moment.
"Why?" She had to ask although she felt she knew the answer.
"Because I care for you," Regina releasing her grip and turning away, staring unseeingly over the grounds.
"I care for you," Emma admitting, stepping closer as she studied the queen's profile, allowing a darker shadow to slip unseen along the palace wall.
"I know this," Regina huffing. "The way you tended to my welfare in your world proved this to me. The way you ensured my comfort and respected me when you bedded me -. Not since Elizabeth -." The words cut off by an abrupt exhale.
Emma herself inhaling sharply at the admittance before starting an internal panic as she realised what she was being told. Care, yes -.
"You love me?"
"I do."
The words hanging, weighted with truth and utmost vulnerability.
xxxx
"I need you to break the bond!" Regina appearing directly in front of Maleficent, the faye queen startled by her sudden presence. Usually Regina rode through the forest or they spoke via her mirrors, there had never been an unexpected visit such as this.
"Regina? What is wrong, my friend?"
"Break the bond!" Regina snarling as she stood her ground.
"I cannot, it is chosen by the Fates! Only death can break it," Maleficent watching as Regina's magic sparked across her skin, reacting violently to her emotional state, purple lightening crawling over flesh. "Where is Emma? Did she return with you, safely?" The faye aware of Regina's recent trip between worlds but this level of distress -.
"Yes, she is at the palace," Regina inhaling deeply, willing her magic to abate its mission to leave her body in fits of wrath and ire.
"Good, that is close enough for your bond not to suffer," Maleficent relieved to hear Emma had not been left behind, that would have proven to be disastrous for both parties. "Then what brings you here?"
That question was met with a stony silence and gave Maleficent time to thoroughly appraise her friend. Now the magic had calmed it was easy to see the distress and anguished lines drawn deep on usually serene features.
"Is Emma well?" Maleficent deducing that Emma was obviously the source of Regina's upset
"Yes." The reply abrupt as Regina avoided eye contact.
"Then why request that I break the bond? I have already told you how it has bound you together, to break it would kill you both!" Maleficent unable to ascertain the issue.
"I understood but I had hoped -, if one party rejected it that a break would be possible," Regina's energy leaving as her endorphins expired, body slumping in a very unqueenly manner.
"Here, sit," Maleficence ushering her friend over to a bench woven of living branches at the edge of her nest area in the cave she called home. Cave being the loosest term for the arcing space of brilliantly veined stone that surrounded them, Regina the only outsider to have ever been welcomed here.
"Where is Aurora?" Regina scanning the space and only now noting her absence but grateful for it, her outburst embarrassing.
"She is gathering herbs for her potions, she will return before sundown but we are alone for now," Maleficent reassuring her, glad her friend had calmed and pouring them both some faerie mead, passing over a wooden cup that was taken with a smile of thanks. "Tell me what troubles you?" Regina eyeing the drink she was holding and losing herself in the viscous swirls inside her goblet. "Regina?" The prompt jolting her back to focus.
"I am sorry for the force of my arrival, it seems I have been undisciplined and intruded on your day." Regina sighing and only now holding Maleficent's concerned gaze.
"We both know you would not be here had it not been an urgent matter, what has upset you so?"
"I confessed my love to Emma and she rejected it," Regina forcing the words abruptly out although it hurt much more than she had imagined to hear them given voice.
"Oh!" Maleficent stunned by the revelation and after a shake of her head, that caused her wing feathers to rustle, she re-filled their goblets to the brim. Both queens taking a large swig of the mead as they contemplated what this meant.
"Indeed," Regina breaking the silence with a loud sigh, stare now fixed on the view from the entranceway out over the Moors. "She has admitted she cares for me and while in her world she treated me with consideration. I thought -. I do not know if she is capable of love," turning to her friend and confidant, hoping for some insight.
"She may not know how to show how she feels, but your bond is true. Give her time, court her," Maleficent chuckling at the look on her friend's face at that suggestion.
"Court her?" Regina blinking. "How would I -?"
"You've never courted a woman?" Maleficent grinning at Regina's bemused expression.
"Well, Elizabeth courted me, gallantly so," Regina providing, "I was young and a novice in such matters at the time. The others, no. I am a beautiful women, they attempted to court me. I did not have to court you, you fell into bed with me with nary a glance! I've never had to -."
"Oh, Regina!" Maleficent was finding this hilarious, chuckling at the indignation being expressed. "How did Emma behave, in her world?"
"She -," Regina pausing. "She was courteous and respectful, she escorted me when we were away from her dwelling. She cooked sustenance for me -."
"She courted you, Regina. You know she did so why the insecurity? Can you imagine how she must have felt when you confessed your love? Was it was after coitus or in another potentially romantic situation?"
"No, it was after Red had beaten her at my request," Regina frowning and Maleficent trying very hard not to laugh aloud at the look of consternation on her friend's face.
"Well, then I cannot say I am surprised, you really are an idiot!"
"I am not!" Regina retorting with fire (not literally!) and slamming her goblet down on the arm of the bench, contents sloshing dangerously close to the rim.
"Yes you are, you beat your slave then wonder why she does not return your sentiments when you confess to love her. Poor girl was probably too shocked to form words!" Maleficent shaking her head at the utter emotional impotence exhibited, by both parties.
"I jest but sympathise, my friend. Aurora pursued me and I was clueless until her curse was broken. I can only imagine that Emma has put aside your time together in her world, so for you to ambush her like that after such a taxing ordeal -, that makes you the fool, Regina," Maleficent stating calmly, they had been friends long enough for her to appreciate how Regina's emotions were -, repressed.
"I can now see your reasoning," Regina letting out a puff of air as she contemplated the encounter once more. "I -, I may have left rather abruptly," confessing and sliding a sideways glance towards her companion.
"You left before she could gather herself, did you not?" Maleficent trying to withhold the knowing smirk, but not trying very hard and receiving an eye roll for her lack of trouble.
"I did," Regina hanging her head. "I feared what I may do if I were wounded in such a way, to know in one's heart is one thing but to hear it spoken aloud, another."
"You could never really harm her, Regina. To harm her is to harm yourself."
"This I have come to realise," Regina offering a wry smile. "You are an ass but I appreciate your time and insight but there are others who may have born my wrath, through no fault of their own," another guilty confession.
"If either of us is an ass it is you, stubborn headed fool!" Maleficent now teasing, no malice in her tone. "Always so rash and passionate."
"No, only Emma makes me rash. She brings unpredictability to my magic and my life."
"And yet you love her for it."
"I do." The reply immediate and firm.
"Then return to her, give her time to come to you and if she does not, then court her. And free her, Regina. Nothing can change until you free her. Play your games in private but in public she must be free."
"I know this, I just do not know how to proceed," Regina worrying her lip between sharp white teeth. "It is simple and yet it is not. My intent is true but I do not know how Emma will react to having that constant taken away from her," Regina looking to her friend, genuinely concerned about how Emma would adapt to her freedom.
"Are you afraid she will run?"
"No," Regina shaking her head.
"Then what?" Maleficent genuinely curious.
"Emma is -," Regina pausing to convey her thoughts coherently, "she thrives in the palace on the boundaries I have set. To instantly remove those and for her to have no purpose will be strange for her. I know she takes pleasure in pleasing me and our time together can be quiet, those are the times when she fully surrenders to me and I know it sets her at peace."
"Yes, but that is only one facet of your relationship, Regina. I'm sure she chafes against others? Hmm?" Maleficent stretching her wings idly as she waited for a reply.
"Yes, she does but I do not know if I am ready -," panic setting in at the thought of Emma being free to be her true self.
"What troubles you?" Maleficent now concerned by her friend's reaction. "You said she was courteous when you coupled?"
"Yes, it is not that. Emma -, she has a darkness in her. I do not know how that will play out left unchecked."
"She is violent?"
"She can be, yes. She needs an outlet if I am not going to be the one to subdue it, as I have been. There are definite self-destructive tendencies to contend with as well."
"Yet she has a pure heart," Maleficent shrugging, having thoroughly assessed Emma when they had met. "The darkness is there but it is tempered and should not cause problems. Find her a focus and for the love of all creatures just talk to the damn woman!" Maleficent snorting at her friend's convoluted thoughts. "You have set yourself apart for too long, Regina. Embrace Emma as you did Elizabeth, let her see you. Not the one you show to Red or Gabrielle, or even I."
"It sounds so easy but I am not the same as I was before Elizabeth, when I last knew love. He darkened me irreparably," Regina's magic flaring along with her distress and sparking across her skin as she shuddered at her memories, of how she had suffered at his hands. "Elizabeth knew me as I was before and had extreme patience but Emma -."
"I know you are scared and after all you've experienced in life I am not surprised. Loosen your control and in this case you shall reap the benefits. It is going to be one of the hardest things you have ever done but she is worth it," Maleficent laying a gentle hand on her friend's arm that was covered in acknowledgement of the care expressed.
"She is," Regina agreeing in a whisper.
Xxxxx
Next on The Collar
Why did you come back if you're a slave here?" 116 finally asking her most pressing question, watching Mistress Swan, Emma, lean back and look around the gardens before focusing those intense green eyes back on her.
"It's complicated but the gist is that I like it here and I like her, we're very alike in the way we think. You are the only one here who has seen that first hand," Emma ensuring 116 understood the weight of her words before continuing when understanding dawned. I preferred the dynamic in our world but this also has its benefits as you will likely find out soon. I've never met anyone stronger than me before," Emma shrugging as she stated the fact. 116 was quiet for a moment, mind trying to organise her thoughts enough to continue.