Back To Square One

(Daniella's POV)

I had been pulled into engagements all day as mother wanted me to become more involved with politics and matters of state. I tried hard to sit through the endless meetings with the council and pay attention to the words said by the ministers and lords, but my mind were fixed on two things. One of which brought a smile to my face whilst the other immediately turned it into a frown.

When Yvette was busy drawing a bath for me in the evening, I headed to mother's chambers after prying my eyes away from my sister's image in my mirror. I was unsure how to bring up the subject of my father but my worries ended up being unnecessary as the agitated muffled noises behind the closed doors notified me that my parents were arguing inside. I sighed and thought of turning back when the door suddenly opened, letting father walk out. Upon seeing me, he said my name once in a surprised tone. I glanced back at mother, who hastily wiped the back of her hand across her cheek.

I stiffened when father came up to me and embraced me in a tight hug. I looked over in mother's direction but she merely gave me a tired smile accompanied with reddened glistening eyes as she closed the door to her chambers. "Father," I addressed with a slightly shaky nod. He regarded me for a moment, looking up and down and even reaching out cautiously to touch my hair. "You're so grown up now," he mused under his breath.

I sniffed, unable to exactly meet his gaze directly. "I'm sixteen," I corrected. I've always thought that sixteen was such a strange age. I've heard of marriages that have taken place when the girl was only sixteen years old; a child but an adult at the same time. I know that in Storybrooke and the Land Without Magic, one normally finishes their education at the age of eighteen but in the Enchanted Forest, even the most learned of pupils in high society normally finish lessons with their tutors when they are sixteen.

Father drew me out of my thoughts by commenting with a smirk, "So, I hear you're courting someone."

I reddened in a mixture of both surprise and embarrassment that he chose to commence our first private conversation in five years with this matter. Hastily, I suggested, "Can we talk somewhere else? Maybe not outside mother's chambers where there's literally a guard standing here?" I then mouthed a quick, 'sorry' to the guard but father agreed.

As we started walking through the hall of mirrors, I dodged father's question by asking, "What happened?"

"Aurelie fell into a portal without realising that it would lead her to another realm and-"

"No, I know that. I mean, with mother."

Father exhaled and replied to me with glossy eyes. "It's really not something that you should be worried about, sweetheart."

I sighed, knowing that it wasn't right to pry much further either, so I began, "How did you come up with Aurelie's name?"

"Oh, I'm not sure if you remember this, but your sister had golden hair when she was a baby. After a while, her hair turned brown like mine, but I suppose she will always be the 'golden light' of Lena's life."

I asked nervously, "Have you told her yet?"

"Lena and I have begun to explain some things but she worked out herself that I had been with your mother in the past and that you're her half-sister. She knows that the reason why we ended up in New York is because your mother banished us."

I bit my lip knowing that wasn't exactly a good impression, but I suppose it was the truth. Father continued, "She's taking a lot in at the moment and you have to remember that New York does not have portals, magic or so-called 'fairytale characters'."

I cringed at the mention of the latter element and father must have seen my reaction for he reassured me, "Lena knew better than to tell our daughter today that I was engaged to the Evil Queen. Aurelie obviously knows that you and Regina have magic, but I don't think she has worked out how you connect to the 'Snow White' tale yet. Besides, I don't think stories in the land without magic ever depicted your mother as having a daughter of her own."

I shook my head. That much was true. Slowly, I asked, "How does she feel about all this?"

"Overwhelmed, confused and upset at both Lena and I actually but that's understandable considering how much we have been hiding from her. She wouldn't speak with either of us after we explained everything. She hadn't eaten much either but perhaps she was just unaccustomed to the food. My sister didn't eat much either."

Oh right. Hilda. A lot must have happened in Camelot for my aunt also got brought back with us to the Enchanted Forest. Unlike Aurelie, she did know about mother and I. Not as relatives of course, but as the Evil Queen and Princess. Thinking about this fact didn't give me much comfort at all.

I ultimately led father to the infamous apple tree. As I leaned against the ledge surrounding it's roots, father mused, "It feels like an eternity since I've been under the shade of this tree."

"Fourteen years for you, right?"

He nodded and chuckled, "Its crazy how time works between realms. I don't think I could ever wrap my head around it."

I reassured him, "Neither could I. If it wasn't for Wonderland, I would be older than Emma."

A silence fell between us but father broke it by unfortunately saying, "You still haven't answered my question from earlier. Who is he? Your mother only told me that you had gotten yourself an admirer recently."

"Someone who I don't remember meeting because of the curse," I huffed.

"Wait, so you don't actually know him?" father questioned with a concerned frown.

I immediately replied, "I mean, now I know him and mother has always known of him because he's the son of Sir Headley,"

Father tested Headley's name. Then, he seemed to recall something as he exclaimed, "Wasn't Headley the commander of your mother's armies?"

"No, that was someone else. He was executed when Snow captured us in battle. After that, the couple kept a strong surveillance on us, and we weren't allowed to reform an army. There were major dismissals of the military back then. Anyway, Headley had been a knight in mother's close circle for quite some time now." After a quick intake of breath, I reassured him, "Headley had always been very respectful towards me. I've also spent some time with Rhys yesterday and he seems decent."

Father must have taken my words as an expression of doubt and worry for he said, "No one is pushing you into anything here. Spend some time with the boy and if you like him, you'll know. But as a father, I have to tell you to be careful. There are careless boys out there who might take advantage of who you are."

I groaned, "I know, I've met lots of them. Mostly snobbish princes and nobles from neighbouring kingdoms who enjoy using their titles to make childish demands."

Although father chuckled at my insult, he continued, "It's not just boys of the noble class. I just want to remind you that when your mind isn't in a clear space, you might overlook some things that might otherwise be evident."

"Father..." I drawled as I looked away. Then, I added quietly, "You don't need to worry about me. If anything goes south, I'd most likely have to be the one to convince mother to leave Rhys alone instead of turning him into charcoal."

He chuckled in response but his voice came out serious when he said, "I know she can probably handle anything for you, but just let me promise that I'll also be there for you."

I murmured a quiet, 'thanks' before asking, "So are you staying here?"

Father looked up at the stars and shrugged but when he turned around, he murmured, "I don't want to leave you again."

I hugged myself when he said that and bit my lip, letting him continue softly, "I'm sorry for not being there for you these past few years."

"It's ok," I found myself saying. Was it really ok? Sure, I had grown up without a parental figure for half of my life, until mother took me back under her wing when I was ten years old. What did I want from my father though? A selfish part of me wants him to stay here and be back in a relationship with my mother but I know I couldn't possible speak for the things that have occurred and continue to happen between them. Then again, he has Lena and he has Aurelie.

Whilst it is pretty obvious that Lena hates my guts, I had no idea how my half sister felt towards me. Squaring my jaw, I asked, "Can I meet Aurelie after breakfast tomorrow? I'll come down to you and perhaps meet your sister too."

Father nodded with a smile and murmured, "I think they would love that."

*The next day

After eating breakfast with mother, I went to find Rhys, which didn't take too long as the guards were told to keep an eye out for him. He was alone in the training hall, fencing against a dummy made of straw. I coughed to notify him that I had entered the room. He whipped around in surprise and remarked, "Oh, Your Highness."

"You're practicing early," I commented as I walked closer to him.

"I've come to learn that it can be quite refreshing to train by yourself in the mornings. Without the criticism and judgement of everyone around you."

I frowned, "Including your friends? I mean, you knew people here before you departed for Camelot right?"

Rhys put the sword in his hand back into place and replied, "Yes, of course. But I haven't had the chance to see them yet."

I chuckled. "You should catch up with your friends."

"I suppose I should, though they might pelt me with questions." As an amused grin fell upon his face, he added, "They might even be the tiniest bit jealous; though I would love to see their faces when I tell them that I've had some one on one conversations with you already."

I rolled my eyes and taunted, "Rhys, you should know by now that news travels fast around here. I'm pretty sure all the guards in the palace already know you're a friend of mine so it shouldn't be a surprise that the other squires are aware already."

Rhys came up to me with a smile. "Alternatively, I can introduce you to them now, whilst making my first appearance in five years. Kill two birds with one stone."

"Later, I have to meet Aurelie, and my aunt," I replied as I wrung my hands together. Though, I let them fall back to my side as Rhys tucked a strand of my hair back, whilst murmuring, "Good luck, though I'm sure they'll love you."

I took his hand gently and joked, "Are you sure? Because in case you aren't aware, it's my mother's fault that they all got kicked out from this kingdom and wound up in another realm." I could feel my chest tighten as I continued in a slightly higher voice, "Technically father and Lena chose to leave the Enchanted Forest, but in any case I'm the Evil Princess, aren't I? I have magic and unlike you, Aurelie didn't grow up in a land with magic so all of this is just..."

"All of it is new, but also the truth. Your sister can chose to accept who you are, or not. That choice is hers alone and no matter how much you worry now, it won't change her reaction." I mashed my lips together and breathed heavily as he continued, "Besides, you're not evil. Don't listen to what the people say."

I looked away and said quietly, "You haven't seen what I can do when I lose control."

"You haven't seen me either when I've lost control."

A little taken aback by Rhys' reply, I gave him a look and inquired, "What could you have done that's worse than tearing people's hearts out?"

A darkened expression appeared on his face. Nervously, I let go of his hand at once. He then sat down on one of the blocks of hay in the room that were used as obstacles, which prompted me to do the same. "You won't feel too uncomfortable if I talk about things involving blood and violence will you?" I was a little scared that he needed to ask such a question in front of me; a girl who has ripped out hearts and seen my mother torture people. But I shook my head and assured him, "I'll be able to handle it."

It took him a few more moments before he began slowly, "Do you remember when I told you yesterday that I was unhappy for a long time when I lost my mother?"

I nodded.

"I didn't take it well, after the grief passed. I was angry that I had lost both of my parents and my step-father didn't really know how to take care of me back then. I mean, I was only eight years old. He did love me in his kind of way, but that entailed conditioning me to grow up to be like him. I was really just a carefree boy back then. The son of a widowed dressmaker. I would never have imagined that I would be expected to fight and be a knight of any kind. I had liked playing with my mother's fabric creations when I was young but my step-father saw it as a girl's profession. He got angry with me one day when I snuck to the royal seamstresses to get some leftover fabric so that I could create and design something. That day, he forced me to watch the beheadings of some criminals."

My stomach dropped in horror and I exclaimed, "He forced you to watch them at eight years old?"

Rhys chuckled, "Well, future knights should be able to stomach that kind of thing right?"

I shuddered for I knew that although mother had overseen some of the punishments and executions herself, she definitely made sure that I would not be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time to witness bloody heads roll from shoulders.

"That's not the worst part," Rhys added.

"I'm sorry?" I breathed.

"Well, the next event that really dug deeper into the hole in my heart occurred a couple of years later. I had long abandoned my interest in playing with things that reminded me of my mother but stepfather caught me talking with one of the seamstresses and had enough. Consequently, I was ordered to behead ten criminals that day."

"Ten?!" I squeaked, my hand immediately flying to my neck which now throbbed a little with a numbing pain.

"Technically he was ordered to execute all the prisoners in the dungeons that day, and he thought he should give me the honours to take care of some myself."

I rubbed my arm and finally said, "I'm sorry but umm, you know it isn't exactly helping when both of us know who ordered your step-father to kill those people."

Rhys' face seemed to whiten a little as he stammered, "Oh, I...I didn't mean it that way."

Upon seeing how the wave of regret changed his previously coloured visage, I quickly retracted my steps and hastily added, "No, don't worry, I'm not accusing you of..." Not knowing what to say exactly, I sighed and asked instead, "Do you hate him for it? For getting you to do those things and kill against your will?"

Rhys sighed and chuckled sadly before giving me a one worded response, "No."

My own reply came out as a whisper, "Me neither." Of course, I was referring to mother. He knew that too. Rhys turned to me and wanted to say something but it never came out. Instead, he cautiously put his arm around me and instinctively, I leaned onto his shoulder. "We didn't have much choice in the past, but the future is ours to make right?" he mused.

I gave no reply save for a small nod. Quietly, I asked, "Do you want to be a knight? Do you want to...fight?"

He took a deep breath and replied steadily, "If it means no one will hurt you, yes."

"But if I can take care of myself?"

"I still want to be the one to stick a sword through the heart of anyone who attempts to harm you, Princess."

I blushed a bright hue of pink and before I could say anything in response, he continued, "It would be a dream if I could find some way to feel close to my mother again. At the same time though, I've gotten used to this lifestyle now and I must admit, I've become rather competitive with my peers. The whole experience with the beheading changed me."

"How so?" I questioned with greater interest now.

Rhys looked slightly hesitant to speak and although I was prepared to remind him that he didn't need to say anything unless he was feeling comfortable, he murmured, "I wanted to find favour with someone. I wanted to please my step-father. He was satisfied with my efforts after a while to become more like him, but I told myself that if I didn't continue being the son he wanted, he wouldn't care for me."

I licked my lips and flexed my fingers discretely at my side as I asked in one breath, "You've killed since then, haven't you?"

A pause, followed by a nod. "And you?"

I shouldn't have been surprised with the question but it nonetheless made me falter a little. My voice shook a little as I recounted the time when I was sent into the home of the Blind Witch with the goal of retrieving the poison apple that mother used against Snow White. At the end of my tale, Rhys remarked, "Doesn't the witch eat children though?!"

My gaze settled on the opposite wall of the room, where a huge banner bearing the royal crest was hanging. "Yes, but coming to think of it, I think mother was still in control the entire time."

Rhys chuckled and said, "There's no doubt about that. She probably wanted to prepare you for circumstances where you have to defend yourself with your magic."

I nodded slowly before realising that I was supposed to be answering his question. "The witch's heart was the first I crushed. I was ten years old."

"Ten?" Rhys breathed with widened eyes. With gorgeous, brown widened eyes the colour of the wooden furniture in my bedchambers.

I shrugged myself from the embarrassing thoughts that came to mind and replied, "I think I realised from a young age that the world wasn't just a mixture of sunshine, rainbows and unicorn stickers. My grandfather did yell at my mother for a while after the incident and refused to speak to her to make his point. She must have ultimately felt bad after that as she doused me with gifts to make up for the fact that she forced my hand."

"The first kill always tends to eat at us the most, doesn't it?" Rhys pondered.

I nodded in consideration of how I barely even thought about the time where I accidentally crushed the heart of the boy back in Storybrooke for making comments about mother and I. For my own sanity, it is probably a good thing that I've forgotten much about it, but I am aware that it isn't exactly morally right. Before my thoughts could spiral though, I felt Rhys' hand make gentle circles on my back. I turned around and looked into his eyes which were smiling back at me. "Does anyone else know that Sir Headley forced you to do those things when you were young?"

Rhys shrugged. "My step-father's colleagues probably knew. My own friends knew that something shocking occurred in my life but I never told them about it. Well, I did tell my best friend, Oliver, but otherwise, we never really mentioned it. Afterall, it's a rather grim topic, even amongst other black knights."

I nodded slowly in agreement. To my surprise, Rhys spoke up with a slight underlying tone of worry in his voice, "I hope I'm not boring you with such talk."

"No you aren't!" I exclaimed immediately. Wringing my hands together, I murmured after a moment of hesitation, "You don't feel forced to talk to me, do you?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Rhys questioned with a rather confused expression on his face.

I stammered nervously in a quiet whimper, "Well I mean, I hope this doesn't feel like an arranged match for you."

With a frown and expanded eyes, he replied, "No, of course not."

I blushed as I felt stupid for asking such a question, but in all honesty, I still couldn't comprehend how it is possible that someone could feel comfortable enough to share such private moments of their life with me. I was drawn out of my thoughts when Rhys commented lightly in response to my inquiry, "In any case, I certainly pray that it doesn't turn out to be like one. Most arranged matches don't end particularly well, do they? Though as this one seems to be arranged by fate rather than human intervention, I am slightly inclined to place more hopes in it."

I brought my hand up to my lips to hide a snigger. "You're thinking of the one that got us all into this mess in the first place aren't you? Normally they're not that bad. I know Snow's parents were arranged into one, and the entire line of Kings before that too. Mother made me learn the histories of all the important royal families and houses in the Enchanted Forest. It was quite boring, but the family dramas made it somewhat interesting."

"So they have family trees of all of you guys?" Rhys questioned.

I nodded, pausing for a moment as I pondered whether or not I should go into details here. Eventually, I gave in and begun, "I'm pretty sure everyone knows my father is not the King, but official records state that I'm his adopted daughter. In the strictest sense, I have no claim to this throne by blood. I do however, have a claim to the throne that belonged to my great-grandfather, King Xavier, but my claim is very weak as my grandfather was his youngest son. In official dynastic logs, the Blanchard line ended with Snow marrying Charming and as the adopted daughter of Leopold, that's how I inherit this throne. I think it's fair to say though, that this hiccup in the line of succession means mother effectively established her own ruling dynasty."

Rhys looked a little stunned so I nudged him gently and commented, "I thought you would know all this!"

"We weren't exactly taught to question any of that," he replied.

"True." After thinking for a moment, I asked, "You go by Headley, don't you?"

"For practical reasons. My actual surname is Turner but I suppose Headley does have a rather noble ring to it, right?"

"Better than Mills. It's only too obvious that my ancestors worked at the mills," I chuckled before adding quickly, "Don't tell anyone that though. I don't want to have to save you from punishment for treason or something."

"Trust me, I won't say anything that you tell me to anyone else."

"Hmm," I merely replied. As a comfortable silence settled between us, it occurred to me that I was supposed to meet up with my sister. I gently unwound myself from Rhys' grip and said, "Sorry, I really want to spend more time with you, but I have to go."

Remembering what I said earlier, Rhys replied hurriedly as we stood up, "Oh, yes. I apologize for keeping you up."

I quickly shook my head. "No uh, I actually feel a bit less nervous now."

His eyes squinted slightly to accompany his smile when he replied, "I'm happy to hear that." I was about to leave when I heard footsteps coming towards the entrance of the hall. I just had enough time to create a respectable distance between Rhys and myself when no less than six squires came through the doors. They paused in their tracks and so did I. I snuck Rhys a quick glance when they clumsily bowed in my direction. I mouthed to him, "Do you know them?"

"Yeah, they're my friends," Rhys replied with the slightest tinge of awkwardness in his voice. I smiled as one of the boys remarked, "Rhys!"

He came over to the squires and greeted them in a manner which told me that nothing seemed to have changed to their friendship in the past five years. After initial greetings though, the attention turned onto me naturally. Before any of them could say anything, I came up to Rhys specifically and placed my hand gently on his arm. "Meet me at the large water fountain in the gardens later?"

He nodded and gave me a knowing expression with a subtle glance at my hand. I disappeared in a cloud of lilac smoke after that, satisfied that I had marked what is mine. I hope his friends wouldn't tease him too much for it.

Father was already waiting in the study by the time I arrived. "I'm so sorry for being late. You weren't waiting for a long time, were you?"

"Only for around ten minutes." I must have cringed visibly as father reassured me, "Don't worry about it. Were you seeing the boy?"

I blushed.

"I thought so."

"Father!" I exclaimed as I looked away in shame and embarrassment but I merely received a hearty laugh in reply. With a wink, he elaborated, "I could tell that you were with him from the way you dress, but then again, I suppose you're like your mother. You would never be caught dead without wearing something nice."

My hand instinctively went up to my necklace but I shook off his comment and asked, "Has Aurelie agreed to see me?"

"Yes, she's in our apartments right now with her mother and aunt. I did tell Lena to come out and say hi, but she can leave after that if you prefer."

I nodded and said very quietly, "Yes."

Father beckoned me to follow him but whilst we were walking to the guest quarters, I noticed that there was a guard trailing us in the distance; slipping between the shadows and the pillars to avoid being too visible. When we got to my father's rooms, there was another pair of guards at the entrance. I could feel my heart hammering against the bones of my ribcage. I swallowed and tried to maintain a smile as I came into the reception space. To my surprise, there was yet another guard in the room. I ignored the judging gazes of the women seated before me and asked father, "Has he always been there?"

"We were told that he had to be in here."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and said to the guard instead, "You may leave now."

As I expected, the guard protested. "But, Your Highness-"

I squared my shoulders. "They're my family. This is hardly necessary."

I knew whose orders the guard was on, but I didn't care. If mother didn't like me dismissing the guard, she'll have to speak to me instead. After a few seconds of a stare down, the guard finally started to leave but before he could walk past me, I ordered, "Oh, and tell the other two outside the door to wait at the end of the hallway." After the guard left, a momentarily silence fell between us. I didn't really know what to say but luckily father intervened by coughing his throat and addressing Lena. She looked a lot older than she had been when she was still a pregnant laundress. She gave me a clipped smile and said with a nod, "Daniella."

"Lena," I replied flatly. Beside me, father said, "Ok, you can go now if you wish." Before she left, she went up to Aurelie and gave the girl a squeeze on the shoulder. Once she disappeared into an adjacent room and closed the door, father then introduced me to Hilda. She did look a lot like father, except she seemed much older, and more tired. Evidence of which was found in the lines around her eyes and the few stray strands of grey hair. I couldn't tell how Hilda felt about me at the moment, but there was definitely a shadow of hesitancy in her eyes.

Finally, father introduced, "And Aurelie, this is Daniella. Daniella, this is Aurelie...your sister."

We looked at each other for a moment. I knew it was rude to look each other down, but that's exactly what we did. Unlike me, Aurelie looked a lot more like father. Her hair was a light chestnut colour, and unlike me, her facial features were much softer. However, I did see elements of my eyes look back at me when I met her swimming gaze. "Hi."

I snapped out of my thoughts. Aurelie's voice was quite light and youthful, which suited her overall appearance. "Hi," I returned. Then, I looked at father nervously. His smile helped a little as I turned back to Aurelie and cautiously stepped forward. I raised my arms, inviting her into a hug and she too, came up to me. When we touched, a strange inexplicable sense of familiarity surged through my body. I had only held Aurelie once when she was merely a new-born infant. And now, she's obviously a teenager with her own memories and life experiences. When we parted, it was her smile that prompted me to loosen up. I bit my tongue in an attempt to conceal my urge to laugh at the absurdity of all of this, but it was her giggle that made me parallel her response. Father's voice sounded behind us, "Should we sit down?"

When we sat down on the chairs beside the fireplace, I tried to get a conversation going. "I hope this place isn't too gloomy for all of you. If you don't like these rooms, you can check out the others and see if they're more to your liking." An awkward silence followed but Hilda saved it by saying, "That's ok, the castle in Camelot was quite drafty. Besides, I think Aurelie has found this land quite intriguing." Hilda then nudged Aurelie who replied simply, "Yeah, its very different from New York."

I folded my hands together and rested them neatly on my lap as I replied, "I can imagine, but you'll get used to not having a phone or wifi reception after a while. It might take a bit of time, but I have to admit, I wish there were TVs in this realm."

"Wait, you know what they are?!"

I glanced at father, "Oh, you haven't mentioned Storybrooke?" He shook his head. Of course he hadn't as that entailed talking about the curse and about mother as the Evil Queen. I attempted to mend the hole I had started to dig around myself and said, "I was caught up in your land for a short while actually."

"Oh, so travelling between realms is possible?"

"Its more common between realms that have magic. To travel to a land without magic is difficult and requires certain types of portals."

Father nodded and explained, "Yes, Aurelie fell through a portal using the magic bean that we had taken as a safe-keeping measure should we need to go back to the Enchanted Forest. This one here did a little bit of snooping."

Aurelie looked a little embarrassed at father's comment. I let my curiosity lead my questions as I asked, "Where was the magic bean hidden?"

Sheepishly, Aurelie replied, "Under a floorboard, along with umm...well, I'm not exactly sure what it was."

I frowned but father quickly clarified, "The medallion."

"Medallion?" Oh right, the investiture medallion. The one that made father a Prince. Hang on...if he stays, does it mean he has his title back? Well, perhaps he might, but that depends on whether he's back in a relationship with my mother.

Unfortunately, it seemed like even Hilda was interested at this topic of conversation. It surprised me that it seemed as if neither Aurelie or Hilda knew much about the past. I left father to answer when Hilda commented, "Daniel, I haven't heard you mention anything about a medallion." There was a moment of silence before he responded by saying, "It was part of the investiture ceremony. You were the one to pin it on me, weren't you, Daniella?"

I nodded. I remember the moment very clearly and the sea of people who had come to see father crowned as Prince. I noticed now that Hilda was looking at him weirdly, clearly wanting to ask him more questions about it and what it meant exactly. The same suspicions must have crossed father's mind for he turned to me and suggested, "Daniella, why don't you take Aurelie on a tour around the gardens? I think she would be happy to see the rest of the palace."

I nodded and made a gesture. Aurelie gave me a smile and we left the room. We fell into silence for a moment, but she was the one who took the liberty of breaking it by saying straight forwardly, "This is crazy."

I laughed. "Believe me, this is crazy for me too. How much have your parents filled you in?"

"Only the basics but I mean, wow. I remember watching Harry Potter a few days ago, and thinking how it would be amazing to live in a world with magic. And now...my parents just told me that they've come from this land."

I smiled in response to Aurelie's slightly adorable portrayal of magic. "It only gets crazier from here," I warned. "You should be prepared for greater surprises, though I can't exactly guarantee that everything you learn will be pleasant. So umm, what would you like to know? I imagine there must be a lot of questions in your head."

Indeed, I could see how she mentally sifted through the many thoughts that were clouding her head, but she settled with one that thankfully wasn't too difficult to answer. "Dad said that you can perform both light and dark magic. He only went so far as to explain that dark magic is hereditary, so anyone can have it, as long as there was some source of it in their blood."

I nodded, thankful that he doesn't seem to have mentioned that I had a preference for using dark magic. "I do have magic...would you like to see?" My sister's eyes grew as wide as saucers, which made me snigger. I extended my hand and prompted her to take it. She did so with anticipation, and I merely said, "Don't let go, ok?"

She gripped my hand tightly, and I waved my other free hand, letting purple smoke surround us. A second later, we reappeared in the gardens. After she blinked several times and looked around at her surroundings, she exclaimed, "Omg, I just apparated didn't I?"

I assumed that it was a term which meant the same thing as teleportation. "Yeah, are you feeling ok? Sometimes people faint after teleportation if they aren't used to it."

She nodded and responded enthusiastically, "It must be so convenient to have magic." I tilted my head from side to side in response and explained, "That's true, but something that all magic practitioners should know is that magic always comes with a price. Especially dark magic."

"Oh, what does that mean?"

I averted my gaze slightly as I replied, "The more you use it, the more dependant you become. Its addictive, and once you fall down the rabbit hole, you're more likely to keep using it, even in the most simple of situations."

"That sounds difficult. How often do you use magic?"

I shrugged. "A couple times each day, maybe? It comes in handy whenever I want to be alone, but it drives the guards crazy. Technically, I'm always supposed to be within the reach of one for security reasons and it annoys them when I disappear off somewhere and it takes them half an hour to locate where I am."

Aurelie chuckled and then said carefully, "Can you show me other things you can do? I'm sorry, I hope I'm not annoying you."

I laughed, "No, it's actually the first time that someone has ever been so interested in my magic." Other than Rhys.

"Oh, but isn't magic still kind of rare here? Mum said that you're pretty powerful."

My eyebrows shot up to the top of my forehead as I dissected what Aurelie just said. She didn't seem to give any indication that she understood the power as a negative thing though, so after another passing second, I tried to shrug off my concerns and instead, pondered over what I could possibly show my sister.

"Hold out your hand," I said softly. My sister did as I asked and I waved mine over it, making an apple appear in her hand. Her eyes widened as she turned the fruit around in her hand. "You can just make things appear?"

"Well technically, everything comes from somewhere. I merely retrieved this apple from my mother's apple tree. I don't think she would mind if I stole an apple or two. You can eat it if you want. She spends a lot of time caring for the tree so the apples do taste better than the other ones from the trees in the orchard."

I watched as Aurelie carefully bit into the apple. After chewing for a moment, she gave me a rating with a smile. "It tastes sweeter than I imagined actually. Thanks for it."

I thought for a moment, before saying, "Come, I'll show you the tree." As we headed back up to the upper parts of the gardens, Aurelie commented, "I really like your gardens and the castle in general. It reminds me a bit of the fancy ones you see in European castles."

I bit back a smile for most people see the Dark Palace as a somewhat terrifying architectural building suited to mother's reign. Yet, they often forget that it had been built by King Leopold's father and not my mother. Before I could reply to Aurelie's words, she questioned, "So how many people work here exactly?"

I thought for a moment. I knew that in recent years, mother had increased the number of servants as we've hosted more events than we did in comparison to her reign prior to the first curse. "I'm not sure, but enough. The servants' quarters are at the back of the palace on the ground floor, and my rooms are on the fourth, so I don't really see them often. The second floor mainly consists of painting galleries, lounge areas and rooms for receiving audiences and guests. It's also where the throne room and ballroom is. I'm not sure if you've noticed but you're on the third floor. The guest rooms are there, in addition to the rooms of some important members of court, or distinguished knights. The royal wings are located on the fourth and fifth floor."

"Oh, so is the entire fourth floor yours? Wouldn't the Queen's rooms be on the fifth?"

I laughed. "No, even though the floors get progressively smaller the further up you climb, the entire landing is still quite expansive. The fourth floor is separated by the North, South, East and West wings. My mother's chambers face the main courtyard and they're in the south. Mine is in the north and there's a passage that connects ours together. The East wing is a kind of common area between our rooms. It has our dining room, a library and a study. The West wing is just more rooms, but no one inhabits them now. My grandfather used to occupy a room there, but he was quite modest and didn't really use up the space."

"So what's on the fifth floor?"

I couldn't blame my sister for her curiosity, but I had hoped that she wouldn't ask this question. I replied simply, "That's the King's chambers. He's not around anymore."

"Ah, I'm sorry." I paused in my tracks. Clearly father and Lena have neglected to tell my sister much about my mother's story, though I figured that she would find out about him anyway, and I would rather that she thought of him as an evil ruler instead of a kind man like most of the kingdom still thought he was. I gritted my teeth and clarified, "He did try and have me killed."

Aurelie turned around in alarm and hurriedly corrected herself, "Oh, I didn't know! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you with what I said."

I laughed and replied with a shrug, "Well, I'm clearly not his biological daughter, so it would be wrong to have a bastard appear to be second in line to the throne right?"

"Wait, so who is first in line then?"

Cautiously, I replied, "His firstborn and only daughter. But she's now married and ruling in another kingdom, so that places me first now." I could see that there were many questions in my sister's head so I clarified, "You're not wrong to be confused. I mean, there were a lot of hiccups after the King's death but here we are, I suppose."

Here we are indeed, for we had arrived at the foot of mother's apple tree. I figured that Aurelie would come to realise what fairytale character mother and I were, very soon, but perhaps getting her to piece it together is better than just saying to her face that I am the daughter of one of the darkest sorceress in the Enchanted Forest who also happens to be a queen. "Oh, is this the tree?" she breathed in awe. I nodded and went over to the side where a basket was waiting. I brought it to Aurelie and said, "You can pick some if you want."

When she started picking the luscious red fruit, I glanced behind me. As expected, there was a guard standing a modest distance away. I was about to ask Aurelie how she was going with the apple picking by tapping her gently when a spark seized the air between my finger and her shoulder. Alarmed, I stepped back, but a mysterious haze seemed to have clouded my sister's eyes when I stepped around to face her. "Aurelie? Aurelie!"

Author's note:

I wanted to show private moments between Daniella and the other characters in my story in this chapter, so I apologize if there isn't much action yet. Stay tuned for the next chapter though. As you might expect from the cliff-hanger, there will be more drama and twists/turns in the next instalment!

I hope you've liked this chapter and as always, it is lovely to hear from you so please leave a review if you've enjoyed my work!

Coming up next: Cursed Gifts