Chapter 2 The Evil Queen
When she opened the door of the Tardis again, the Doctor found herself in very large laundry cupboard a little light trickled in through a slit of a window situated high in the back wall which judging by the cool breeze filtering through didn't have a pane in it, she took a quick glimpse up and down the long empty hallway on the other side of the closet door before retreating back inside and using her sonic screwdriver to seal the door so that she wouldn't be disturbed then she used her torch to cast more light on her surroundings.
It became quickly apparent that the laundry in this closet wasn't what donned the Royal beds, for the Doctor had surmised that she was inside a castle and that meant that Regina was likely Queen now, she thought of the distraught young woman sobbing in the barn and wondered how Royal life was treating her, she felt in the depths of her soul that Regina had a good heart and hoped that she was making for a good and just queen.
Pulling her thoughts back to her current predicament she glanced around at the neatly folded brown and beige coloured sheets, stacked on the shelves, this was evidently where the servants clean bedding was stored and once more to her delight she found a shelf that contained a pile of freshly laundered clothing, grabbing a set that looked her size she retreated into her Tardis to change re-emerging a few minutes later looking every bit a maid that worked in the castle, then exiting the closet into the still abandoned hall way the Doctor quickly resealed the door behind her, hid her sonic screwdriver in her apron with some napkins that she had taken from a shelf wedged on top to help keep it out of sight then she ventured further into the castle.
It wasn't long before she found herself elbow deep in the hustle and bustle of preparations for what was going to an extravagant party, the ballroom and grand entrance were being garnished with garlands, streamers and a whole host of other expensive decorations while long tables at back of the hall bowed ever so slightly under the weight hundreds of platters of food, three currently empty extravagant thrones sat overlooking the festivities, and a brass band was setting up on a low stage directly across the room from them, the busy surroundings made it easy for the Doctor to blend in unnoticed, She quickly learned from the chatter that they were preparing to throw a ball in honour of the queen's birthday.
When everything was set up and ready to go the servants retreated from the ballroom, most of them would remain out of sight for the duration of the ball itself, only coming back to clean up at the end of the evening, the exception were the serving staff, the butlers on the front door and the royal guard who would flank the royal family. The doctor inconspicuously joined the ever-growing line of servers waiting just outside the servant's entrance until it was time to re-enter the ballroom and quietly flit between guests offering them carefully balanced silver trays laden with refreshments.
It had been a long wait and the narrow hallway had become stuffier and hotter as the time had ticked and it had been to the immense relief of the Doctor that the door had finally been opened to permit them entrance into the hall which was now buzzing with people clad in their finery, up on the thrones overlooking the activity, an aging, balding king and a beautiful young regal queen Regina dressed in a pale pink gown, with a diamond tiara resting on her head and a matching necklace round her neck, sat either side of a pretty dark haired pre-teen girl.
As the night progressed the queen stayed seated, only acknowledging people with gratitude when they approached her throne to offer their birthday wishes, gifts placed on a table that had previously been left empty remained untouched, the king had at his first opportunity moved from his throne to take his young daughter to the dance floor, but much the Doctors dismay he hadn't spared so much as a glance for his beautiful young wife all night.
Regina remained ever poised and elegant but there was a sadness in those eyes, combatted only by the deep seeded boredom that was setting in, 'Saved her my eye,' the Doctor thought as she remembered the brunette's mothers' words in the stable after she had murdered Regina's love. Said mother looked to be in her element, flitting around dressed in red, smiling and nodding at all the right people as she talked animatedly, she too spared no thought for her daughter,
it hadn't taken the Doctor long to figure out that as the Kings wife no one was permitted to dance with Regina but him and he it seemed only had eyes for his precious daughter, and so his wife, sat neglected, rejected, trapped and alone and on her birthday of all days, that was until several hours later when a huge multi-layered cake was wheeled out, only then did the queen get a short reprieve.
The king somewhat reluctantly parted from his daughter and as was tradition took his queens hand leading her down the steps in front of their thrones stopping in front of her cake, there he stood with her while the crowd sang and cheered, then with the candles blown out he led her back to her seat where she would remain for the remainder of the ball, the whole thing made the Doctors hearts break, this was no life for a young woman.
With Regina back in her seat the Doctor had rushed forward offering to serve the young queen's slice of cake to her, she carefully climbed the steps and bowing her head in a mark of respect she held the plate out to her, the queen showed no emotion as she accepted the plate, picking up the little silver fork that accompanied it with dainty fingers,
"Happy birthday your majesty" the Doctor whispered for only Regina's ears to hear as she curtseyed low, her eyes never leaving the queen, so she didn't miss the tiny flicker of recognition in her deep brown eyes as she heard the Doctors voice, but the queen said nothing quickly rearranging her features into a neutral look before offering the Doctor a tiny smile and the smallest twitch of a nod in response before turning her attention to her cake.
The evening moved on in much the same fashion as it had begun, the queen remained in her chair as was her duty until the last guest had left, meanwhile the king had dismissed himself earlier in the evening when his daughter had requested, he tuck her into bed, it was when she overheard their conversation that the Doctor had finally figured out where she was,
"I think it's time someone went to bed" the king had chuckled in response to his daughter's huge yawn, the girl had nodded her agreement sleepily
"you'll come with me won't you Father" the girl had pleaded
"You know I should really stay sweetheart after all it is your stepmother's birthday"
'Oh right, so now you remember her' the Doctor thought rolling her eyes,
"Please Father, I want you to tuck me in" the girl pleaded,
"Snow White" the king chuckled fondly "you're twelve years old, I'm sure you can tuck yourself in by now"
But he had followed the girl anyway and left the Doctor in wonder over this new revelation
'Snow White!' she thought 'Am I in a freaking fairy-tale land? But then that must mean…' she looked up at Regina sitting alone on her throne as she followed her line of thought to it's shocking conclusion 'That she's the Evil Queen'
On that final thought the Doctor returned to her Tardis, where still clad in her servant's dress, she proceeded to argue with herself over what to do,
"The Evil queen from Snow White! But how? She seems so sweet, sure she's sad and very lonely, but I know her heart is good I see It in her eyes and I'm never wrong about these things, maybe I'm just being crazy I mean so the girls name is Snow White, but that doesn't mean I'm in a fairy tale does it, sure I've seen weirder things many times, but an actual fairy tale!" She shook her head 'Maybe the girl is just named after the fairy tale princess' she reasoned, but deep down she knew that that wasn't the case, an unknown planet, filled with humans, with unheard of histories, kings and queens she'd never heard of before as crazy as it seemed it fit, but could she really help the Evil Queen, I mean she was a villain, wasn't she? 'I guess we'll soon find out' the doctors thoughts concluded, and she hit the lever thrusting her forward in time once more.
This time when she opened the Tardis door she found herself in a cleaning closet not far from the queens sleeping chambers, the atmosphere in the castle felt very different than before, fear hung heavy in the air and she'd barely closed the closet door behind her when the queen rounded the corner, footsteps echoing loudly as she went, she was flanked by several servants, an older man who wasn't the king and a handsome young man wearing furs, the Queen herself was clad in a black body hugging floor length gown, her hair was pulled into an elegant high pony tail, and a black head piece completed the look, darkness shrouded her like a cloak, the Doctor felt that if she reached out towards Regina its tendrils would reach back and wrap themselves around her binding her in place, the thought made her shudder as head down she fell into place on the tail end of the queen's entourage.
"You failed me again!" the queen raged suddenly turning on the young man,
'I'm sorry your majesty" the man replied blankly
"Sorry isn't good enough" she shouted back fury seething from her every pore as she thrust her hand to the little brown leather pouch that she was carrying,
"I'm running out of patience, if you fail me again" she hissed danger dripping from her tone as she pulled her hand from the bag clenched within it much to the Doctors horror was a glowing beating heart much like the one that was taken from, her loves chest all those years before,
"I won't give you the opportunity to fail me another time" the threat hung heavy in the air as Regina gently squeezed the heart in her hand, the effect was instantons as the man in furs fell to the floor with a yell, clutching at his chest,
"Please Regina" the older man pleaded
"don't worry Daddy I'm not quite finished with him yet" Regina smiled fondly at the older man releasing her grip on the heart in her hand dropping it back into the pouch and pulling the drawstring closed, the man on the floor visibly relaxed his hand dropping from his chest to the floor, but before he could push himself up off of the floor the queen had stepped forward purposefully bringing her foot down on his hand making him wince, then slowly she leaned forward grabbed the top of his hair and yanked his head back forcing him to look up her
"You won't fail me again will you huntsman?" she asked a sickly-sweet smile spreading across her,
"No, your majesty" he replied
"Good" she threw him to one side "Now get up, sort yourself out and go fetch me Snows heart" she shouted before turning her back on him and continuing down the hall leaving him behind alone, crying on the floor.
The Doctor had seen enough, she remained in flank just long enough for the huntsman to find his feet and leave then she too fell back and hurried back to her Tardis.
Back in the Tardis the Doctor was all but ready to throw in the towel, the Regina she first encountered sobbing over her love seemed to be long gone and she still had no idea if or how she could change what happened to the young man in stable, 'one last stop' she thought 'and if I still can't find a way to help, I'll move on' With that she pulled the lever one last time.