The Queen's mother, Cora, had decided to make herself absent at court following her daughter's embarrassing excursion. She had realized that it wasn't worth the accusatory glares she received from the nobles and the King. Also, the possible allegation of Cora's involvement with Regina's treason loomed in Cora's mind, and she was much safer locked away in her room. She hoped that the less she was seen, the more that her existence was forgotten.
Rumplestiltskin hadn't shown his face when Cora had summoned him, which left him under Cora's suspicion of helping Regina. She would murder the irksome imp the second she got the chance for allowing Regina to humiliate her this way.
But, she didn't need Rumple's help with the magic she was preparing. The spell was a very difficult one, that no one below Cora's level of sorcery could ever hope to cast. But she was confident. Most sorcerers died before they reached Cora's level of witchcraft. Rumple was the only person in the land of Mistahven that could compete.
The enchantment required familial blood, and lots of it, but Cora was smart enough not to use any of her own. She had slipped a leaf into Regina's father's tea and waited until he drifted into a sleep that would last weeks, long enough for Cora to get the amount of blood that she needed and long enough for him to heal substantially (with the help of healing magic) before he woke up. Henry was treated like a fool at court, so no one would miss him.
Besides that, she needed pixie dust, and she had no problem stomping on a couple of fairies to get what she needed. And then she had rummaged through Regina's rooms to find the last ingredient, a belonging of Regina's. She chose a cerulean smock and a riding cap.
Cora sat in her room with the ingredients for the spell in her lap and took her time casting, chanting the Latin phrases as she dumped the clothes, blood vials, and dust into her fireplace. She held a little silver embossed mirror in her hand that she would use to conjure the images of Regina's whereabouts.
The images were foggy at first but grew sharper as a few moments passed. She could see Regina, in her brown riding vest and slacks, looking happy as could be as she pranced through the forest. Cora wished to swipe the ignorant smirk off of Regina's face with a sobering slap. The anger that she felt at her own daughter's insolence kindled within Cora's soul, a type of anger that Regina had never awakened in her though she was generally a disobedient child. And what made her anger worse was the blatant stupidity and nonchalance that Regina was showing on her face. Had she no idea of the mayhem she had created?
And then, Cora noticed another woman walking along beside Regina. Cora could tell that the woman was lower class by the clothes that she was wearing and the way that she carried herself. Her blonde hair was also repulsively unbrushed.
But, a glowing orb in the mirror brought Cora's attention back to Regina. The orb was golden and located toward the bottom of Regina's stomach, almost at her pelvis. Cora did a double-take. The orb was so small it would have been easy to miss.
Her heart leapt and Cora felt her rage begin to extinguish. There was only one thing that the glowing orb could represent when seen through a magic mirror. Regina was pregnant. And the golden hue of the glowing sphere could not be mistaken. It was a son. The King's son.