Cursed Gifts

(Aurelie's POV)

The haze overtook me and I lurched over, clutching the edges of the railing around the apple tree in a desperate attempt to stabilize myself. The fruit in my hands dropped to the ground with a thud and all I heard was the muffled screams of my sister as she called my name. I wanted to respond to her, but no matter how much I willed my body, I couldn't come out of this trance I had found myself in. Suddenly, I felt hot and my head pounded as if fiery explosives were radiating from my brain to the peripheral of my vision.

When I opened my eyes, my sister was no longer beside me. Fearfully, I scanned my surroundings. I was now positioned a little further back from the apple tree. I took a tentative step forward and gasped when the ground I stepped upon was slightly soft and mushy. Hang on a moment...the apple tree was no longer surrounded by a fence. Actually, it wasn't surrounded by anything at all except grass. I must be standing at the top of a hill as there were two horses galloping up the grassland with two riders on them. The woman was dressed in a teal riding jacket and her hair was plaited into a long braid. The man riding beside her was dressed much simpler, but his hair was brown like dad's. Wait a second...it is him! My eyes widened when I realised that I must be seeing visions of the past.

The pair dismounted from their horses and as soon as they reached the shade of the tree, they came up to each other and kissed. Taking note of the colour of the woman's hair, I immediately knew that it wasn't my mom. No, it must be the Queen.

Suddenly, they looked up in my direction, and I opened my mouth to speak, to provide some excuse but for whatever reason, they didn't seem to take notice of me. In fact, it was as though they saw right through me. I glanced down at my chest and just had enough time to notice how my body was slightly transparent when smoke appeared in the corners of my vision.

I blinked twice, and found myself standing back in the palace. I gulped when I saw the Queen approach the apple tree in loose white fur garbs that hung around her petite frame. Her hand rested protectively upon her swollen stomach and encircled it gently. Then, I saw an elderly man approach her with a strange sort of smile. Her father? No, the man had a crown on his head. The king?! My breath froze when I realised that it was indeed the king. Without giving the Queen much warning, he placed his hand on her backside. Although my vision was slightly hazy, I could see a visible shudder overtake her rather bony shoulders.

Again, smoke covered the scene just as the Queen was about to say something. When it cleared, the skies were darker and I could feel heavy drops of rain fall upon me. I looked around in search of the subject of this hallucination. It took me a few seconds, but I gasped when I saw her. The back of her head was resting against the railing around the apple tree. She was now wearing a beautiful red gown that flowed out from her tightly cinched waist. Cautiously, I approached her as it was clear that she was absolutely distraught by the way that her whole body shivered against the wind and rain. I didn't have the chance to observe her expression as the click of footsteps alerted me that somebody was approaching. It was an old man dressed in black with a matching umbrella in hand. He touched her shoulder but she didn't respond. That's when I noticed that something was glowing red in her hands. I attempted to shuffle forward to see what it was, but after the man seemingly spoke to the Queen, it disappeared after she hunched over as if in pain.

As she stood up, smoke covered the scene again. The following vision couldn't have been more of a contrast. The skies were clear and there were only a few clouds hanging above. I fell back in shock and surprise when a child brushed past me and ran up to the tree enthusiastically. The girl's long dark hair was tied up in a sheer black bow at the back. The ribbon fell down past her shoulders in an elegant manner. It seemed to flutter a little in the light breeze in sync with the movements of her layered skirts. At the corner of my eyes, I saw the Queen approaching the scene with her face turned away from me. Her hair was tied up in a similar way to the girl, but instead of a ribbon, there was a jewelled brooch embedded at the back. The Queen was wearing a black dress, though the ruffled collar standing impressively around her neck had some tints of Red, which matched the front and inside lining of the dress.

My gaze fell back onto the girl who had turned her face so that she was glancing in the Queen's direction. Daniella. My sister must be around ten years old, as she was not quite tall enough to reach the apples nestled in the upper portions of the tree. The Queen helped her up onto the ledge and the pair started filling the basket beside them.

Although there was no sound accompanying the visions, I knew something was wrong from the way that my heartbeats thudded more heavily all of a sudden. When the Queen turned around, I almost let out a whimper of fear. The monarch's eyes were streaked with black and red eyeshadow that was much heavier than what I've seen her wear. Her lips were painted in a dark crimson colour and it even looked as though she enhanced the beauty mark slightly. Her face was contoured with grey and crimson shadows that stood out against her pale, powdered skin. Whilst her makeup was frightening, it was her gaze that embedded daggers into my chest. They were ablaze with annoyance, which complemented the curl of her lips when she addressed a guard who had arrived at the scene.

I gasped when I saw the mirror he was holding. It was silver with iron spiked tendrils resembling vines reaching out from the circumference of the reflective surface. Only that it didn't remain reflective. Blue mist replaced the Queen's reflection and it parted slightly to reveal a face that started to speak. I clasped my hand over my mouth, feeling as though my soul was disassociating from my body. How did I not realise the signs?! The apple tree, the mirror, a Queen without a King, the dark colour aesthetic of the palace, magic and sorcery...no way. The Evil Queen?

The Queen stepped forward and exclaimed something inaudible in frustration. I spared my sister a quick glance and saw that whilst she was just as intrigued about the mirror as her mother, there seemed to be a nervous expression painting her face. I stepped behind the pair to glance properly into the mirror myself. I could feel my lips part when I saw that the face residing between the iron tendrils was now replaced with an image of two figures. A man in a red cape and a woman with blackish hair dressed entirely in white. The man knelt down.

My eyes widened upon realising that he was proposing. The woman nodded eagerly but right before they kissed, I quickly looked over to the Queen. She was visibly shaking with anger and her mouth twitched. Then, her lips curled over in a sneer. Finally, she said a few words into the mirror and dismissed the guard. Then, she started pacing the space in front of the tree, seemingly ignoring her daughter who was arranging the remaining apples on the ledge into the woven basket quietly. Ultimately, the Queen bent over and said something to my sister who bit her lip and nodded as the Queen disappeared in a puff of dark purple smoke.

Nothing could prepare me for this next change of scene. A chained guard was kneeling down before the Queen with two others standing beside him. The monarch was spitting in his face and evidently screaming at him, but what surprised me most was my sister's blank expression. She was definitely a bit older here, perhaps even twelve or thirteen. In her hands, she held an ornate lacquered wooden box. I froze as the Queen strutted forward and somehow threw her hand right into the chest of the guard kneeling on the floor. Horrified, I watched her smile as she took something out. Something red, something glowing...a heart.

I could feel my mouth dry up when I saw her hands exert pressure upon the organ. The man on the floor seemed to writhe over in pain. Then, his head arched upwards, begging for mercy. The man's open mouth indicated that he was screaming and crying out for help. I wanted to tear my eyes away from the scene, but I was rooted to the spot. Finally, the Queen relaxed her grip on the man's heart, making him collapse onto the floor and breathe heavily in an attempt to compose himself. She made some kind of signal with her hands and the guards standing beside the man dragged him away. Then, Daniella handed her the black box. She placed the glowing organ into the box and gave it back to her daughter. I expected Daniella to recoil, but instead, a smile decorated her lips as she held the box close to her.

My vision started to blur. Finally, sounds from each of the scenes were meeting my ears but they came from all directions and attacked my ears at once. I didn't know what to make of it. There were soft voices, weeping sobs, screams of anguish, cries of pain, growls of anger...

(Daniella's POV)

"Aurelie!"

I was confused for we had been picking apples and the next second, my sister blanked out and looked as though some spell was obscuring her vision. It didn't take long before the guard watching over us came to my side and asked, "Your Highness, what happened?"

"I don't know! Aurelie suddenly fell into this trance and now she's unresponsive and completely zoned out!"

Before the guard could reply, my sister slipped and started falling over in my direction. Luckily, the guard was quick to pull her into him so that her weight wouldn't be crushing me. As he laid her down onto the ground gently, he said, "Stay with her. I'll get the Queen."

When he ran off, I magicked a pillow and shakily put it under my sister's head. What did I do wrong? There was definitely magic involved in whatever happened, but surely it can't be from me giving her an apple that I conjured with magic. I put my fingers where I could feel her pulse and was glad to know that she was still breathing. Not wanting to take any chances though, I quickly threw a preservation spell over her. Please be ok...

Minutes later, I heard the rapid click of mother's heels. I turned around and as she came up to me, she asked with a frown, "What happened to Aurelie?"

"I don't know! We were just picking apples when she suddenly fell into this weird trance. When we were still walking through the gardens, I conjured up an apple and gave it to her but the fruit came from this tree and aren't they completely fine for consumption?"

Mother nodded and put her hand over Aurelie's forehead. She gasped and murmured, "She's burning up, I think she has a fever." She then paused for a moment, which made me prompt, "Mama? What is it?"

"Did you tell her anything before she fell into this state? As in, any secrets or information that may have shocked her and triggered her curiosity?"

I swallowed before replying, "Well, I did mention that King Leopold was a brute, but only with reference to what he did to me. I accidentally let slip that he also had another daughter but I never mentioned any names."

Mother frowned and decided, "I'm going to take us to a spare room in the West Wing. Stay with me for now, alright? I want you to be there when Aurelie wakes up."

She then surrounded us in smoke that took us to one of the spare guest bedrooms. Aurelie appeared on the bed with mother and I on either side of her. Quietly, I suggested, "Should I go and get father?"

Mother said quickly, "No. I'm going to confirm my suspicions first."

"What suspicions?" I shakily asked. To my annoyance, mother ignored me. Instead, she put her hand over Aurelie's face and started to infuse magic into her body. Mother paused for a moment but before I could ask her what was wrong, she murmured silkily, "Well well, your preservation spells are improving, but it might be helpful if you were to undo it for now."

I bit back a smile upon hearing the compliment and flicked my hand to remove the spell. When I withdrew, magic radiated from mother's hand once more. With furrowed brows, she hovered it right about my sister's heart. Seconds later, Aurelie's eyes suddenly snapped open, bidding me to lean forward. There seemed to be a moment of recognition when she saw me but when she looked over in mother's direction, she suddenly sat up and hit mother's arm away. No sooner had mother expressed her shock, a look of terror, fear and guilt descended upon my sister's eyes. The momentary silence that hung in the air was disrupted when mother asked softly, "Aurelie, you saw visions didn't you?"

Aurelie simply stared at the both of us and kept shaking her head. My gaze met mother's for a brief second in understanding. Aurelie wasn't denying that she saw visions. Rather, she was afraid. I was about to repeat mother's question when she said, "Aurelie, I'll fetch your parents. Meanwhile, Daniella will stay and make sure that you're alright. Am I correct in assuming that you saw visions of the past?" Aurelie merely looked between us with petrified widened eyes.

Mother sighed and murmured as she turned around, "I'll explain everything later."

When she left, Aurelie merely inched away from me. Visions of the past. Whose past?! Well, it as a stupid question really, as there was only one reason why she would suddenly be reacting this way towards mother and I. Sighing, I got up from the edge of the bed and walked over to the floor length mirror in the room. I hugged myself with my hands crossed and gripped my elbows. Then, I requested quietly without looking at her, "Please tell me what you saw."

No response. When my gaze flicked up to look at her in the mirror's reflection, she immediately dipped her head. My thoughts were disrupted by the sound of thundering footsteps outside in the hallway. My hands fell by my side as Father, Lena and mother entered the room. My sister's parents immediately encircled Aurelie but mother came to a stop at the foot of the bed. My sister returned Lena's hug and held onto her as if letting go meant something life threatening. Lena demanded, "What happened?"

Mother gave her a brief glare before clearing her throat and stating, "I believe Aurelie has a gift, or rather, the curse of hindsight."

Lena's eyebrows shot to the top of her forehead as she exclaimed, "What?!" Understandably, father was expressing an equally confused expression. Mother continued, "Essentially, those with this gift can do the opposite of seers who of course, possess powers that allow them to see into the future. In contrast, your daughter can see the past and more specifically, snippets that give her explanations to things that she ponders. The condition is that she must be touching something deeply connected to the subject she is thinking of. Before you ask, the magic she performs is light and therefore harmless. It will only take a toll on her if she sees things that she cannot emotionally cope with."

There was a moment of silence. As Lena rubbed circles on Aurelie's back, father inquired, "Why does she have this power? Neither Lena nor I have an ounce of magic in our blood!"

Mother's neutral expression turned into an amused one and I could tell that she was deciding how to best phrase her reply. Father pushed, "Regina?"

Mother placed one hand gently upon the other and looked at no one in particular as she explained, "There are two reasons. Both or only one of these explanations may be the source of her powers. It depends entirely on the monopoly of magic and fate. The first reason is that the children is born from an unnatural pregnancy."

The horror in Aurelie's eyes was apparent, but mother continued, "And by that, I mean that her birth had been tampered by dark magic." With a pointed look at father, she said, " I'm sure you remember how the Wicked Witch of the West sped up Lena's pregnancy so that she would give birth in a matter of days after conception. I suppose this first explanation accounts for giving the child some magic as a means of compensating the family. Of course, having the gift of hindsight can be useful in many circumstances, including exposing the secrets of wicked witches. In this case however, Aurelie wouldn't have to worry about that, as Zelena was bested by the combined efforts of Daniella and her now deceased grandmother."

With a sly smirk in father's direction, she added, "Oh, that's right. You missed seeing that interaction. It really was quite epic that our ten year old daughter defeated a witch three times her age."

I shifted in my spot uncomfortably when I noticed how a flicker of pride crossed father's eyes before it was replaced with guilt. Meanwhile, Lena looked positively infuriated as she pushed, "And what is the second reason?"

Mother licked her lips. With an amused snarl and a piercing gaze upon Lena, she said plainly, "That, my dear, would be adultery."

The room was silent. Whilst Lena visibly shrunk back, father commented with a frown, "You're making the second one up."

"Actually I'm not," mother snapped. "I can take you to the library and show you several books on magic which talks about this phenomenon. You can even ask anyone with magical knowledge in this realm and they'll give you the same reply. Tell yourself what you will to relieve your guilty conscience, but I assure you, I am telling nothing but the truth. Accept it or not; it's your choice." After a satisfactory pause, mother reassured in a calmer tone, "Aurelie will be fine. I imagine the first few episodes of experiencing this power will come as a shock to her, but it should get better with time and practice."

To my surprise, Lena dared to ask in response, "Can't you get rid of this gift with your magic?"

Mother raised an eyebrow and tilted her head up as she replied, "No."

Father leaned over and begged, "Please, this gift is a burden for Aurelie and it isn't her fault that she has to deal with it."

Mother softened her expression slightly. "No, not because I'm unwilling but because there is nothing I can do given that I am not related by blood to Aurelie. Alas, your daughter will have to live with her powers. However, I must warn that she'll have to learn to control it well. Otherwise, it will become her undoing."

Mother sighed and lowered her voice as she turned to speak to Aurelie. "Don't worry, there is no harm with having the gift of hindsight for most cases. In fact, it may help you understand many things if you know where to look. Be wise when you use your gift. You will slowly learn know how to control your visions and stop them before they overwhelm you. If you choose to use it however, remember that magic always comes with a price and there are things that are best left to reside in the past."

As my sister nodded unsurely, Lena pestered, "Is there really nothing you can do? No spell? No incantation?"

"My, my, you are desperate," mother murmured as she rolled her eyes whilst simultaneously straightening herself.

Father broke the pause that followed by questioning, "You said you can't do anything because you aren't related by blood to Aurelie. How about Daniella?"

I widened my eyes as all the attention in the room shifted to me. Mother warned, "I don't want my daughter cleaning up this mess but if you choose to proceed with it, it will be a burden to all of you here, including her."

I crossed my arms and frowned. "What is it? What do I have to do?"

"You have to trade an innocent life with Aurelie's." I held my breath as mother continued, "You must find another girl the same age as her, rip out her heart and transfer the gift to the recipient. However, as the gift is not meant for the new carrier, they will die whilst Aurelie walks free."

I carefully put my hand over my other arm and whilst ignoring the horrified look on Aurelie's face, I muttered under my breath, "It's not like I haven't ripped out a heart before."

Mother shook her head strongly. "Daniella, I don't want you to take part in this ritual, but if-"

Lena cut in before mother could finish her sentence. "But that means we're responsible for condemning an innocent life, right?"

Mother took a deep breath as if she needed to take a minute to gather herself and not roast Lena on the spot for interrupting her. Then, she turned around and growled, "As I've said to all of you before, all actions have consequences. Your task now is to ask yourselves whether or not you want to do something you've always found evil and revolting. Whether you are willing to sacrifice an innocent life for someone you love deeply."

Father and I dipped our heads at the same time. Whilst I can imagine mother doing a victory dance on the inside, I knew just how much this interaction literally poured buckets of shame upon father and Lena. Satisfied with how the conversation ended, mother turned to leave. When the door to the room clicked shut, none of us knew what to say.

After a long moment of silence, father cleared his throat and murmured, "No, we cannot."

Lena immediately replied, "But this gift, this curse...it will ruin our daughter!"

"Yes, but we will be condemning an innocent life to death!"

"Daniella is the one who will perform the rite, not us!"

I held my breath. Whilst Lena wasn't wrong, I gritted my teeth as she clearly didn't have any regard or thought of how this would affect me too. Luckily, father articulated my thoughts and said, "I'm not going to let my daughter use dark magic and kill someone! In case you haven't realised, she's only sixteen!"

Lena eyed me for a second before countering, "She's used dark magic before! And besides, she said she can do it."

"But as her father, I'm not going to allow her to."

"So you're willing to condemn our daughter to this dark and twisted fate just because you won't let Daniella do something she's used to doing?"

Father bellowed, "She's not used to doing it! Also, didn't you hear Regina's words? She said that as long as Aurelie learns to control her powers, it won't affect her. In fact, it could be useful to her in the future."

"Daniel! Magic isn't natural! Especially magic like this! I do not want our daughter to bear the burden of this whole 'magic comes with a price' condition! If you care for Aurelie at all, you would let this rite commence! We have all the things we need; we just need Daniella to do it!"

I stepped back as the argument escalated without consideration that Aurelie and I were still there. I spared my sister a quick worried glance which was returned for a brief nanosecond. Father argued, "Not all magic is bad! There's light magic, there's dark magic, but this isn't about that. This is about the fact that you're essentially saying that you're willing to be the reason why some innocent girl out there has to die just so that our daughter can be rid of this gift. A gift which might not even be detrimental in the long run! Lena, this is not the way to deal with the situation at hand!"

Lena's eyes were practically ablaze as she questioned, "Then what is, hmm? Leaving Aurelie with the chance that she will be destroyed with magic?! There is no way I want to let magic touch her again, and because of you and your insistence in keeping the magic bean, we're now in this mess."

Father immediately roared, "Do not place the blame on me! If you would only calm down and think about what you're implying; because you're saying that it's alright to trade an innocent life for our daughter's and this means she and all of us here will have to live with that thought forever!"

Lena was shaking as she growled in response, "Daniel, since you got us into this mess, you're going to co-operate and get us out of it!"

Father's silence as he rounded up on Lena scared me. Finally, he barked, "I got us into this mess? Why don't you think about how you were the one who approached me when I was already in a relationship!"

Lena stood her ground. "Oh, so now you're placing the blame on me? You were miserable. Do you remember that? You looked for me. You loved me. You came and sought comfort with me after that woman used you to keep her bed warm!"

I flinched and placed my hands on my elbows as father growled, "You distracted me. You knew very well what your actions would amount to, and what it means. Yes, I wasn't in my best state of mind, but you were, and you took advantage of me just because you couldn't bear the sight of your childhood crush having a future with a woman he loves!"

My hand flew to my mouth. Loves.

Lena's screeching voice interrupted my thoughts. "You said that you didn't love her anymore! And now you want to crawl back to her?! Do you know who she is and what she's done?! She's a monster!"

I shrunk back into the shadows of the room as father pointed his finger towards Lena and bellowed, "Don't you dare talk about Regina like that! YOU don't know who she really is. In case you haven't been paying attention, or you've been too stubborn to admit, she's merely done exactly what you now wish to do with Aurelie. She's sacrificed innocent lives, yes, but for people she loves. Think for a fucking moment before you call her evil!"

Lena suddenly got up from Aurelie's bedside and before I could comprehend what she intended to do, her palm swept straight across father's cheek. I had already raised my hand in response and was milliseconds away from using my magic against her, when Aurelie shouted a strained, "Stop it!"

A second ticked by. Then, she took off, banging the door behind her when she fled the room. Immediately, I ran around father to chase after her. To my disappointment, my sister was much more athletic than me. I huffed as I ran around the corridors and shouted, "Aurelie! Wait!"

She ignored me and kept running. I was just rounding a corner when I tripped and fell straight onto the hard stone flooring. The helm of my long dress must have gotten stuck underneath my heels. I took them off and hitched up the fabric with my shoes in my hands. I thought I had lost sight of Aurelie but I saw her enter the stairwell at the end of the corridor. I concentrated and teleported right to the bottom of it. She stopped in her tracks upon seeing me. When she attempted to push past me, I grabbed her arm.

"Let me go!" she hissed.

I shook my head and said firmly, "Aurelie, we need to talk."

"No, leave me!" she screamed. I held onto her arm but she was squirming, so I was forced to release my grip on her. I watched helplessly as she ran in the direction of the gardens.

After giving her a few minutes as a head start, I started to head down in search of her. When I passed the large fountain however, I stopped in my tracks as Rhys was already waiting there, as per my request this morning. "Princess!"

Shyly, I bent over to put on the shoes in my hands. I bit back a smile as Rhys took them gently and lead me over to the edge of the fountain where he sat me down. As he unclasped the buckles on the straps of my heels, he asked, "What happened?"

As Rhys slid my shoes back onto my feet, I explained all that he needed to know. Finally, I finished by lowering my voice and mumbling, "I should have never brought her to the apple tree."

After lowering the skirts that I had pushed to one side back into place, Rhys sat himself down next to me. As he put his arm around my back, he replied, "It will take some time for your sister to take in everything but after the shock settles, she should be ok."

I looked up at Rhys and raised an eyebrow. "But Aurelie isn't like you. She hasn't been exposed to magic before and she doesn't know what it can do. What I can do!"

Rhys' hand tightened around my arm gently as he replied, "Once Aurelie gets to know you, she won't see you for your magic. She'll come to realise that beneath the powers you possess, there lies a good person."

I huffed but didn't reply. Rhys inquired, "Does your father and Aurelie's mother know about this?"

"I was going to get to that. They're conflicted over whether or not this magical gift should be taken away from Aurelie. In order to take away her gift, it has to be transferred to someone else, but that person will die in the process. My father doesn't want to get rid of her powers, but Lena is quite the opposite."

Before Rhys could respond, I added, "By the way, the ritual involves me ripping out a heart of an innocent girl around the same age of Aurelie."

Rhys grimaced. "Does it have to be you?"

I nodded and explained quietly, "Only someone who shares Aurelie's blood can do it, and since I'm the only one with magic and relative experience in the field, it has to be me."

Rhys immediately replied, "You don't have to do it, if you don't want to."

I shrugged and admitted," I don't want my sister to have to deal with the burden of having magical powers, but father was pretty adamant that this should not go ahead. Besides, I don't think Aurelie is thrilled with the idea of sacrificing somebody's life."

"Hang on, how does your sister have this gift? Surely her mother doesn't have magic, does she?"

I chuckled sadly and explained the reasoning. When I mentioned the adultery factor, I could see the corners of Rhys' mouth lift. He seemed to have difficulty controlling his smirk so I added, "Its ok. You can laugh about it. To make matters worse, it was mother who explained this in front of everyone, including my father and Lena. I suppose that might be one of the reasons why Aurelie is upset right now."

"Well, that's the height of dark humour, if I may say so myself," Rhys murmured.

I nodded and said quickly, "I suppose I'll just have to wait to see what they decide to do. Anyways, how did things go with you and your friends?" An amused grin decorated Rhys face, so I nudged him and questioned, "What happened when I left you to your peers? I do hope they were nice to you."

"Yes, it's good to finally be able to catch up with them, but I felt like I was being pelted by hail. Actually, it took me a few attempts to shake myself from their questions in order to come out here."

I chuckled. "I hope you said good things about me."

Rhys shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? Besides, I don't know you long enough to say anything bad about you." I crossed my arms and with a laugh, he continued, "I told them a bit about Camelot and the effects of the curse. You know, they're insanely jealous."

I raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware there were that many people interested."

"Mmm" Rhys mumbled as he pursed his lips and held me a little tighter. I was sure that a light blush painted my cheeks. After a moment of silence, I cleared my throat and began, "It's funny that I haven't really had the chance to interact with them yet, even though they're technically supposed to serve under my reign when I'm Queen."

"If you would like, I can introduce you to them," Rhys suggested.

"Was this morning not enough?" I sniggered.

"You know, we can have some fun with this," Rhys replied with a smirk. "They're extremely terrified of you, but also incredibly interested...with regards to how we're together, I mean. It would be funny if you made an impromptu appearance sometime."

I rolled my eyes and placed my hand upon his. Squeezing it, I promised, "Alright, fine."

(Hilda's POV)

My brother stormed out of the room furiously once Aurelie had disappeared into the bathroom to prepare for bed. After giving Lena a glance, I stood up and assured her, "I'll talk to him."

I decided to give Daniel some space so I trailed him from a distance but he must have known that I was following him for when we reached a quiet part of the palace, he whipped around and exclaimed, "Will you please just leave me?"

"Daniel, we need to talk," I began.

"No we don't!"

I never liked getting involved in my brother's business, but this was different. I squared my shoulders and countered, "Yes, we do. Do you remember when father died? He brought all three of us; William, you and me to his bedside and made me promise that I would look after the both of you." I lowered my voice with shame as I continued, "Perhaps the brokenness of our family is my fault, but please let me help you."

Frowning, my little brother stubbornly replied, "I do not need your help, Hilda!"

I inhaled sharply which made him look away. Yet, his gaze was transfixed upon something as his head didn't move, not even when I walked closer to him. When I joined his line of sight, I realised that he was staring at a huge painting of the Evil Queen in all her jewels and finery. Beside her, was the girl who was apparently related to me by her father's blood.

Slowly, I began, "Daniel, I do agree with you that swapping a girl's life so that Aurelie would not possess this magical gift is too extreme, but you have to talk to your wife about it instead of abandoning her to her thoughts."

Daniel looked at me with a bewildered expression and questioned, "How have I abandoned her? We have been fighting ever since Aurelie returned and stopped talking to the both of us!"

I huffed and restated, "What I meant was, you need to assure her that you're on her side. You need to comfort her and be with her."

Daniel looked away with a frown as he glanced back at the portrait. I swallowed when I caught sight of the tear that was rolling down his cheek. Taking his silence as my cue to speak, I said plainly with a strain in my voice, "I don't know how to say this, but you have a wife. A daughter with Lena. Don't do this to them if you love them."

Without meeting my gaze, my brother mumbled something. "What was that?" I inquired with heartbeats thumping violently against it's bone cage. He cleared his throat and when his reply met my ears, I was rooted to the ground. "I also have another daughter," he gritted out.

"Daniel, please listen to me. Aurelie needs you and so does your wife. And I know Lena; she loves you with all that she has. In fact, if you hadn't gone off to work in the stables, you would have most likely proposed to Lena. You know that."

I thought I had made myself clear to him, but all he did was sigh and turn the other way. At the sight of him walking off, I shouted, "Daniel! Lena is where your loyalty lies!"

"STOP IT!"

I flinched, for Daniel's expression wasn't one that I had seen before. It was etched with so much fury that the man before me couldn't have possibly been the brother I knew. He continued in a growl, "Stop putting words into my mouth when you don't understand anything!"

Though he scared me, I found myself arguing, "I do understand enough to know that whatever you're doing now and however you may be feeling now is because of one thing."

"What thing?" my brother questioned with fire in his eyes.

I huffed and glanced around me before turning back to him and stating plainly, "Because she, the Evil Queen, is controlling you."

After a momentary pause, he roared, "That's the most absurd thing I've heard come out of your mouth, Hilda. You do not know a thing about Regina, so you are not to assume anything about our relationship, in the past or in the present."

My heart sank. "Present?" I murmured. Daniel seemed to realise the mistake in his choice of words but took every second in the next passing moments to affirm it. He squared his shoulders with clenched fists and merely glared at me.

I threw a quick glance in the direction of the portrait beside us. As I took in the luxurious clothing the Queen was wearing, including the huge display of red diamonds between her exposed cleavage, I said to Daniel, "This is a mistake."

"No it is not."

I shook my head. "Have you even heard half of the things about her? I'm not just talking about the rivers of blood she has spilt. I'm talking about her morality." In a lowered voice, I added with conviction, "That woman knows nothing about loyalty."

"And apparently neither did I when I left Regina for Lena."

Frustrated, I spat, "But you knew Lena first!"

"And I loved Regina first," Daniel countered. I was about to reply when he added, "For your information, I never married her. I. Never. Married. Lena."

The warm breath in my chest evaporated from my lungs. "What?" I breathed as I blinked twice.

Daniel's angry frown turned into a tired crease as he nodded and said, "We were paired up together because of a reckless action that occurred overnight."

"But the deed was from love," I argued.

"No Hilda. They were from betrayal. Because I betrayed the woman I love and now I'm in this mess with you discouraging me after every word I say!"

I huffed. "You don't know who you love."

Daniel rounded up on me and spat, "Yes I do!"

I stood my ground and replied firmly, "No." After a short pause, I decided that it was enough. "As for my point about loyalty, you really don't have any idea do you?"

"I think I d-"

Before I could think of the consequences, I blurted out, "Every knight you see in that woman's close circle has bedded her in the past!"

A wave of emotion crossed Daniel's face but he pressed with narrowing eyes, "How do you know?"

"Lena told me."

"Lena might be wr-"

"She used to work here in the palace so I think she'd know. Besides, everyone is aware besides you and perhaps her daughter if she's discreet about hiding it from the girl. The Queen wasn't just unfaithful in her married life with the King, who, she killed. Daniel, have you heard of the Huntsman?"

Daniel shook his head, which elicited a dry laugh from my lips. I continued, "If she truly loved you, she wouldn't need to hide anything. She would be comfortable to explain what she did to the Huntsman because she would know that your feelings towards her wouldn't change."

Daniel growled in a low voice, "Who is this Huntsman you're talking about?"

In an apologetic tone, I answered flatly, "Her 'pet'." At the sight of Daniel's confused expression, I explained, "It was the name she gave him. He not only did her bidding by executing those she didn't like, but also came at her call to give her pleasure whenever it suited her."

My little brother's voice shook as he stammered, "No, she would never force someone to do things like that. Not when the King-"

"Ask her yourself," I merely said with a shrug.

Daniel shook his head repeatedly and I took the opportunity to say in a calmer voice, "I know rumours are rumours, but you can get any member of the staff who worked in the palace prior to her curse to confirm this. It's likely they won't tell you because I'm sure that they would prefer if their heads stayed on their shoulders, but it's true. The Queen is not the same woman you think you know. Daniel, do you really want to be with someone who treats attractive men like playthings? With someone who discards them once she's done with them?"

Daniel's mouth twitched but nothing came out of his parted lips. After several breaths between us, he poorly defended, "Then tell me why she kept Daniella. Why she dotes on our child if all she wanted from me was to satisfy lust?"

Wasn't it obvious already? Sparing a glance at the portrait beside us, I replied, "She needed an heir. The girl strengthens her power and ruthless grip on the throne. That's all."

My brother glared at me and murmured, "No, she loves our daughter."

I was determined to have the last word in this conversation so I stated, "The point is that from day one, she has been using you. Now, if you can prove me wrong, I'll listen. But if not, go back to Lena. Go back to Aurelie."

I didn't wait around to see Daniel's reaction. I walked around him and left the hall, eager to get out of sight of the royal portraits that were no doubt looking down disapprovingly at me for my blasphemous words.

Author's note:

How did you like this chapter? I realise that the past couple of chapters might have repeated arguments that already occurred in Camelot, but hang in there! I just needed to bring the Huntsman into the general picture. (Ok, that's all I'll say for now!)

If you would like to hear more of this story, please keep leaving reviews! Your comments mean a lot to me!

Coming up next: Strangers To One Another