New Arrivals

(Daniella's POV)

We entered the ballroom in pairs from the top of the stairs. As mother was a highly distinguished guest because of her cover as the 'saviour', she would enter last. I watched Aurelie's face lit up in a nervous yet excited smile as the man standing beside us announced in an official tone, "Presenting...Lady Daniella and Lady Aurelie."

I took Aurelie's hand and gave it a squeeze. Even though she might have taken it as simply a sign of friendship, it meant much more to me. After finding out who she was, I couldn't help but wish to protect her. She smiled back at me and we walked down the stairs into the applauding crowd. When we got down to the bottom and turned around, she whispered, "I feel like a princess..."

I held back a remark for the man then announced, "Presenting...the saviour!"

The applause that mother received was the loudest. It was clear that they had no idea who she really was. However, I could see that something shifted in her eyes and expression. It was true that the citizens of the Enchanted Forest showed much less enthusiasm at the sight of her or even myself. Recently they haven't been glaring as much as they did before the curse or immediately after, but having some degree of adoration would be nice.

After she came down, festive music started playing. She motioned to the Charmings, including Hook, and said to us, "You should go have fun. Dance with Henry, he seems a little lonely over there." Aurelie nodded and went over in Henry's direction but I stayed behind and said quietly, "Mama you should dance too..."

She raised her eyebrows and gave me a look. "Firefly, you know I don't-"

"The guests would be confused if they didn't see you dance. You have to look like a saviour remember?"

"Daniella Mills. Are you calling me out?"

"Mother!" I exclaimed as I rolled my eyes. She chuckled and said, "I haven't danced in years." Then, I came up with an idea. I took her hand and dragged her over to Henry. He looked at us and greeted, "Hey Dani, hey mum."

"Henry, why don't you dance with Mama for a bit?" I said. My brother gave me a sly grin and I already knew that did the trick. Mother whispered in my ear, "Alright, you win," as she was lead away by my brother. As Aurelie and I watched them dance, she commented, "How does everybody know how to dance so well?"

"It's kinda a custom here or even in the Enchanted Forest. Don't tell my mother I told you this, but the reason why I asked Henry to dance with her is because she was reluctant to get on the dance floor."

Aurelie smirked at me and said, "Well you don't look like you wanna be out there in the spotlight either."

I rolled my eyes and explained quickly, "Well, I need to stay here with you."

"Yeah right," she answered with a wink that made my cheeks turn an unsettling hue of pink. In order to break the silence that hung between us, I decided to ask Aurelie about her parents. It interested me to see how my father has been for the past 14 years it appears. "So umm, tell me about your parents again? You mentioned that your dad works with horses."

"Oh yes, he supervises programmes for both new and experienced riders at an equestrian centre. Mum works in a department store. Sometimes we end up getting discounts if they've overstocked on some products from the previous season."

"That's great," I murmured, thinking how I should somehow direct the conversation back to father. Luckily, Aurelie did that for me. "So you said that your dad also worked with horses? It's a funny coincidence, considering that your name is so close to my own dad."

I sucked in my breath and nodded at the irony. "Yes. He worked in the stables of an estate. He died before I was born though."

"Oh I'm sorry. So you never got to meet him then."

I bit my lip and shook my head. Then, I took a deep breath and said, "Well that isn't strictly true...you see, magic does a lot of extraordinary things."

"Wait, so it can raise the dead?!"

"It can't, no. I mean, the laws of magic is that you can't make someone love you and you can't bring back the dead. I've...briefly interacted with him."

"What's he like?" Aurelie asked.

"Well, he's quiet, doesn't talk much. But he's really kind. Mother looks up to him a lot, even now. She just doesn't want to admit it to anybody."

"Sounds like my dad too." Then, she sighed and said softly, "I just wish I knew what was going on in his mind. He seemed quite distant for the past few weeks. I've asked mum if he's ok but she always tells me to go away whenever I ask those kind of questions."

My mouth dried a little as I replied in a low voice, "I hope it all works out for you in the end."

"Me too, I just wanna see dad happy, but I know something is up. They're obviously from this land. Dad said he wanted to come back here but mum was hesitant. Dani, promise me you won't mention this to anybody ok?"

I nodded and gave her a reassuring smile, "I've trusted you with my secrets so please, don't worry. I know the importance of never breaking a secret." There was a pause before Aurelie began, "I was actually wondering if you could help me understand what's going on. When he was arguing with mum, Dad said that he wanted to come back because of some people he was close with. He said they were 'like family'. Then, Mum insisted that he should stay in New York. She said that somebody might kill me."

I frowned. "Who?"

"I don't know! I don't know what's going on but I'd like to know if someone's out there to kill me or harm my family in any way. I feel like my parents escaped this land for whatever reason, but I can't tell."

"Aurelie, you really shouldn't worry. I doubt anybody would be out there to kill you," I stammered as I tried to reassure her. She was about to reply when a man suddenly came up to us. I recognised him as one of the high ranking knights who were loyal to King Arthur. He bowed and turned to me to ask, "I would like to honour the saviour with a dance. Would you be able to tell me where your mother is?"

I squinted past the moving crowd and looked for any sign of the pale pink sparkly dress that mother wore. It seems like she was still dancing with Henry. I pointed to where she was and said, "You might have to cut in at the next dance, but I'm sure my brother wouldn't mind." With a nod, he thanked me. Instead of a simple 'thank you' however, he winked and added, "Your highness," with a slightly threatening tone. I froze and wanted to call him back but he had already disappeared into the dancing crowd.

Unfortunately, Aurelie picked up on his address as she whispered, "Your highness?"

"Don't worry about it," I replied quickly with a frown. Nobody was supposed to know that I'm a Princess! Could that man possibly know who we are? And what if Arthur knows?!

I turned back to Aurelie and said, "Can you wait here for a moment? I need to check on something."

I didn't even wait for her nod of approval. First, I tried walking through the middle of the dancing couples to where mother was, but the constant shifting movements of the crowd made me give up and go to the edge of room. There, I moved faster but as I kept an eye on the knight and Mama, I noticed something strange. They had stopped dancing and mother looked as if she wasn't quite comfortable. I cut across the dancers again but at just a few metres away from them, I was knocked over by a couple. They gasped when they saw me on the ground but I wasn't concentrating on that matter.

Many things happened that instant and I didn't know where to look. Directly in front of me, the knight suddenly drew out a sword and held it out towards Mama. I barely had time to react before something bright shone from the corner of my eyes. Whilst Mama moved back from the sword, the knight was temporarily distracted by the light but then before I could realize what caused it, a male voice shouted, "Regina!"

Within the blink of the eye, the knight and a man dressed in clothes from the Land Without Magic was wrestling on the ground. The onlookers immediately cleared off, with people running to the edges of the hall. I stood up and glanced at mother who was frowning with fear. Then, I saw the sharp end of the sword penetrate through the man's body. The knight stood up and roughly turned his victim around so that his face would be visible. I gasped. No! Before the knight could make another step with his blood stained weapon towards mother, I thrust out my hand without thinking. As he fell to my magic, I twisted my hand and a crack sliced through the air.

"Daniel!" Two voices shouted at once. Then, I saw two figures rushing towards my father; mother and Lena.

Whilst they fought to tend to him, I could only stand in silence and shake as I watched. Behind me however, I hear another strangled cry, "Mom! Dad?!"

This time, mother looked up, to see Aurelie running towards the scene. However, she was unanswered as Lena screamed at my mother, "You fix him with your magic!"

"I'm trying!" she half hissed, half roared back. Her hands shook as they hovered over father's unconscious body. Although purple light was radiating between her fingers and the wound, it couldn't heal. Finally, I was able to get over my shock and move to the scene. As I knelt down, I ignored Aurelie and Lena's expressions and tried to foster magic of my own. It didn't work. As mother's hands left the top of father's body, I reached for the sword that had wounded him. Before I could pick it up however, mother shouted, "NO! Don't touch it!"

She came over and waved her hand over it. Then, she murmured shakily, "This sword was enchanted to kill anybody with my blood. My magic can't save him, nor can yours, Daniella."

"So that's it?! He's just going to die?!" Lena's voice shouted. We both turned to her direction to see her face both in anger and desperation. At that moment though, Arthur came forth with two of his knights. He said in a collected voice, "We have some of the best medics in the land at the castle, we'll do our best to heal him-"

"Your best?!" Lena replied in fury. Arthur looked taken aback as he said, "Now, I have no idea who you are, but we're healing him because of our saviour, not for you."

"Saviour? Who?"

We all turned to look at mother who said to Arthur, "Please, we need to move him to a quiet space first...in my rooms perhaps." As the knights placed him on a stretcher however, Lena replied, "No way is he going into the rooms of the woman who wounded him in the first place-"

Mother seethed, "Me?! It was that man with the sword who put the blade through his chest!"

"Well he's in this state because of you-"

"Enough!" Arthur said definitively. When he has caught all of our attentions, he asked, "Only his family may go with him."

Lena made a triumphant smirk as Arthur continued, "Who is his wife?" She stepped forward whilst pulling Aurelie with her. Despite the surprised look on Arthur's face, he said, "Go with him then!"

As they started to walk off, Mama came to me and said, "No, we're going with them." We started making our way to follow the knights as they carried father away but Arthur stopped us with his arm and said, "Just let them be-"

"He is my daughter's father," mother replied simply. After a long hard stare between them, he finally nodded and let us go. When we caught up, mother fought to be right behind him, but that only agitated Lena. Aurelie and I fell back as we watched in silence and worry at the tension brewing between our mothers. I couldn't imagine what could possibly be going through my poor sister's head.

"Why are you still here? Your magic is useless."

"He's my daughter's father, you idiot! Besides, you were both supposed to be gone!"

"Well thanks to you, we're back. Firstly because he's convinced that you're in danger and now because you've kidnapped our daughter!"

Mother spared Aurelie a quick glance before turning back to Lena and hissing, "I have no idea what you are talking about-"

"Of course I do. You want to ruin my happiness by killing somebody my husband and I both care about!"

"Don't be ridiculous! I banished all three of you for a reason! And for the past five years, I haven't paid attention to any of you."

"Oh, how do you expect me to believe that? That you've suddenly redeemed yourself from your old ways? That you're not spying on us in that evil mirror of yours?!"

I held my breath as mother's voice dropped to a low tone and growled, "Hold your tongue, peasant. I have no idea what Daniel saw in you-"

"Well nor do I, witch."

"You will not talk to me in that way! Do you forget who I am?" mother hissed. Lena straightened herself and replied, "No, I will speak to you however I wish to. You are not my queen anymore. Everything I do now is for my husband. The man who has chosen me."

I held my breath as I eyed mother's hand glow with magic. I could tell she was trying to to snap Lena's neck right then. Noticing that she may have overstepped the line, Lena swallowed and didn't say anything else. That however, didn't promise anything so I gripped mother's arm and pleaded, "Mama, don't. Please."

We stopped walking in the middle of the deserted hallway, but Lena took that chance to continue following the guards as they entered the stairwell that led up into the towers where our rooms were. As I watched them leave, I saw Aurelie try to make eye contact with me, but Lena kept calling her back. Once they had left, I whispered, "Mama?"

Her eyes glowed with fury and at that point, I felt my own heartbeats thumping horribly against my chest. "Mama..."

She closed her eyes and exhaled. I took her hands into mine and said quietly, "Father saved you. Come on, we have to be there in case he wakes up."

After a couple seconds of breathing heavily, her watery eyes then looked into mine. I could feel the pulse of magic radiating from her slow down a little. Then, she waved her hand around us, teleporting to the room directly. When we got there, they had just set father down onto the middle of the bed. Aurelie jumped back in shock when she saw us arrive through a cloud of smoke but I averted my eyes from her gaze as mother and I sat down on the other side of father. Before leaving, one of the knights said, "A medic is coming very soon."

When he had left, mother waved her hand over father, creating an aura of magic around him. "What's that?" Lena asked, with a tone very different from the one she used to scream at my mother.

"A preservation spell to keep his body in the same condition so that the injury doesn't worsen." After a short pause, she added under her breath, "The same spell I used to keep his body from decaying all those years ago. He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my magic." She almost spat that last sentence in Lena's direction. None of us knew what to do next. I didn't dare say anything, and even though Aurelie must be the one with the most questions, she didn't utter a single thing either. Then, I realised that whatever happened between us all didn't matter. For the present moment, we just needed father alive and well again.

I swallowed as I observed his face. He seemed much older but of course, I had to take into account the many years that has passed for him. I felt my eyes cloud with tears and against my will, they dripped down onto the sheets. I hastily wiped them away and looked to a side, not wanting to let Lena or Aurelie see my teary eyes.

Luckily, I heard the patter of footsteps which alerted me to the doctor's arrival. When I turned around in the direction of the door however, I was a little surprised to see that it wasn't the medic at all. Emma, Hook, Snow, David and Henry came bursting in. Upon seeing them, mother stood up and addressed Emma, "Please, you have to use your magic to save him-"

Hook quickly replied, "No, she cannot. If she does, she'll give into darkness and we can't let that happen."

Snow added, "Regina, you know she cannot-"

"I'm not asking you. I'm asking...I'm asking her." Then, she dropped her voice and said, "I won't watch him die again."

Emma whispered almost inaudibly, "You still love him."

I didn't dare look in the direction of Lena's broken glare as mother answered in a very quiet voice, "I'll never stop loving him."

Surprisingly, Emma as she came forward and ignored the disapproving looks on the Charmings' faces. She hovered her hands over father's body but nothing came out of them. She murmured, "I can't-"

"Yes Emma. You can," mother replied rather sternly.

Emma tried again and seconds later, magic radiated from her fingertips. It slowly drew the blood away and closed up the wound. Then, with a jolt, father's eyes snapped open. Lena, Aurelie, mother and I all shouted at once. "Dad!" "Daddy!" "Daniel!"

Taking that as the cue to leave, the Charmings gave us reassuring glances before they left the room. When father scanned us with his tired eyes, they seemed to rest on mother. His voice was weak but he managed to utter, "Regina...are you-"

"I'm ok," she said simply. However, I saw something cross her face. It looked too much like guilt. As she stood up, father said, "Regina, wait!"

With her back turned to him, she murmured, "No, stay away from me."

"Regina-"

Mother disappeared into the air, leaving behind trailing wisps of smoke. I returned my gaze to father, who was looking between Aurelie and I. A half smile lit up on his face. "You're safe," he whispered to the both of us. Then, he fell back onto the pillow. I got up and shook him gently, "Father?!"

"Leave him to rest," Lena said as she too, stood up. It was only too obvious that she'd rather I wasn't there. I bit my lip as I briefly glanced at Aurelie. Then, I said to Lena, "Don't speak of us too poorly when you explain everything to my sister."

Then, I left the room without a second glance.