Delirious.

Regina was absolutely delirious with pleasure.

She shut her eyes, tilting her head back as the incredible sensations ran across her entire body.

He licked her softly, gently and teased, never really reaching her aching points. Regina ground her sex against his face, demanding he give her more, zaps of electricity flying from the tip of his tongue.

He answered by placing small bites around her entrance and then suddenly thrusting his tongue deep inside her. Regina gasped in surprise and pleasure as she started rocking herself against him, back and forth, riding his tongue, urging him to fuck her with it.

He quickly drew his tongue away from her and Regina felt his lips twist into a smirk.

She groaned and lifted her sex from his face, supporting her weight on her knees and looking down on him with flaming eyes.

That man was so insufferable; it drove Regina up a wall. He acted as if he was no servant of hers at all and it made Regina feel uneasy, powerless. Of course, she knew she had the upper hand in the situation; after all, his heart was in her possession. But still he taunted her, still he defied her authority.

The thief managed to both anger and arouse Regina with his cocky grins and daring words. She could not deny she felt strongly for the man; she felt enraged by his attitudes, but they also enticed her, made her want to step up her game and get back at him.

Situations such as this, where he had come to her chambers to give her reports from the Eastern searching parties. He had barely managed to deliver one sentence regarding the searches before he stopped speaking all together, preferring to run his gaze about her body.

She had chosen to wear one of her favorite dresses, one she rarely used and, on the occasion that she did, was always paired with a bejeweled cape. Since Regina had been alone in her room she felt no need to wear the heavy piece of cloth. The dress was a rather revealing, red with its sleeveless tight corseted top, the cups that covered only half of her breasts were round and ornamented with precious stones and the skin in between her breasts was sinfully uncovered. It also had a very low cut back, which exposed a lot of skin. The dress' hem reached her feet but there was a rather long slit on the right side that ended in her mid-thigh.

Regina had grinned at his speechlessness and teased him about having seen something he liked. But to her surprise, he answered in his normal tone of voice sounding curious.

"That is the very first dress I do not want to tear from your body the second I lay eyes on it." He said in a conversational tone.

Regina huffed "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that as infuriatingly gorgeous as it already looks, it would look even better on the floor." He said openly, closing the door with a kick of his foot not even bothering to turn around to do so, his eyes ravaging her.

She had not been able to hide her surprise at his bold, bold words. How dare he? And yet, this was exactly what she wanted to hear coming from him, teasing words of challenge that had a compliment hidden somewhere.

"Isn't that a bit presumptuous of you outlaw?" he had approached her but still remained a good five feet away.

"I don't care if it's presumptuous, I know what I want, that's all."

Ridiculous, ridiculous man, so cocky, Regina wanted to strangle him and yet-

"I have a better idea." Regina said closing the distance between them and his smirk turned into a smile that quickly faded once Regina pushed him back forcibly.

The outlaw lost his footing and started to fall but Regina's magic was yet to fail her, she magically created a large chaise lounge and the meaty man Regina longed to devour fell on his back on the pillowed piece of furniture.

It was now his turn to look startled as Regina stared at him helpless sprawled on the chaise, lying on his back.

"The sight of you like that does bring me back satisfying memories you know." She commented looking at him, she leaned her body closer to the chaise and ran both her hands up his thighs "Let's play a game, shall we?" she reached his sex and squeezed him through the fabric of his trousers; he was already starting to harden.

The outlaw gave out a low moan and replied, "If the game involves that-" he gestured to her hand that had remained pressing against his member with a nod of his head "-I'm in!"

Regina moved her hands to the sides of his hips and crawled sensually on top of the man, straddling him at the waist.

"I was thinking more of a guessing game." She ground herself against him and his hands came to grab onto her hips, his grip was biting strong but Regina loved it like that.

"What am I to guess?" he lifted one eyebrow, he groaned as she put more pressure on his sex, hoping to dry hump him into insanity, he continued "What orifice of yours I haven't taken yet? Because we can take care of that right-" she managed to shut his dirty mouth up with another mighty grind.

"No" she lowered her torso to his, nearing their mouths whilst saying, "I want you to guess which artefact of clothing I forgot to put on today,"- She widened her eyes and smiled completing "-with your mouth."

She was so close to him she could see the dimples on his face appear as he grinned, "I already have a wild guess-" he said while one of his hands travelled about her arse and he tried to sneak them inside the slit of her dress.

She laughed and slapped has hand away, "No, no-'' she brought the slapping hand to his face tracing one dimple with her thumb, "-I said you can only use your mouth thief." her thumb found it's way to his lips and he immediately took it into his mouth, sucking it, which made Regina hiss and grind her sex more forcibly against his.

"I was never really good at playing by the rules, your majesty," he said after releasing her thumb "As you remind me of ever so often, I am a thief." he closed the distance between them, capturing her lips in a wild kiss. Regina was only too eager to respond, opening her mouth to him and letting him slip his fire blazing tongue inside her mouth.

Kissing that man felt like fireworks, the more they kissed, the more intense the electricity between them was. It took Regina's breath away, although she would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that. And even though she knew she should not let him indulge in this kind of control over her, Regina never had the strength to fight his passionate kisses off, nor did she really want to.

"Thief indeed-" she purred after breaking the passionate exchange "-stealing kisses from the Queen" she took his lower lip in between her teeth; she released it and completed "Careful one day I'll have your head for your crimes."

"Ah your majesty, you'll only have my head if it's still attached to my body and in between your thighs" he retorted instantly, Regina could not help but laugh, he had some nerve, and she hated and loved that about him.

"Speaking of which-" Regina ground herself against him one last time before she brought her hands to the sides of his face and crawled herself up, stopping just as her knees were next to his neck, she gathered her skirts in both hands, "Let's play!" and with that she hid his head under her skirts.

She was on her knees but was not sitting on him, she felt him shift beneath her.

Two seconds later she felt one large, sturdy, calloused hand on her derriere as the elbow of the other arm supported his weight so he was able to raise his mouth up and slip his very smart tongue inside her folds, which managed to draw small whines of pleasure from Regina.

So there they were, he had been sucking her bud and making Regina see colorful spots in front of her with the thrill of his tongue. But now even though she could not see, she most certainly felt that insufferable smile on her. She lifted her skirts to meet his gaze and was found with the very image of the intolerable grin.

"Did you have a stroke while you were grinning?" she gathered as much control as she could manage to sound superior.

"No, nothing of the sort-" his voice was a bit hoarse, that thick accent turned Regina on more than she liked to admit "I just seemed to have found out what is missing from the royal garb."

"Oh, you have?" she mussed

"Yes-" he started, still grinning "- although I find myself reluctant to inform you which garb you seem to be missing not only today but every day I put my hands up your-"

"Your majesty!"

Both their heads snapped at the direction of the mirror with an equal amount of fury. The hovering head seemed at least to look uncomfortable with the sight that met his eyes, having been bound by magic to inform Regina of her enemies' whereabouts he could no longer control when or where his image would appear to her.

Regina sat on the thief's chest with a huff for the first time, her juices along with his saliva spreading themselves on his shirt. The man beneath her groaned muttering "Fucking hell..."

"Ah mirror, this better be good." she hissed through closed teeth.

"I can assume it is, since I have found the location of Snow White." he said with a smug look on his ghostly face.

"WHAT?" An overwhelming feeling invaded Regina's chest and before she knew it she was getting up in the most unladylike manner and in the process knocking the thief off the chaise. She did not give him a second glance as she headed to face the mirror fixing her dress. "Show me!" she demanded, the mirror had a victorious look on his face as if he was winning her attention from the thief, it was sickening and Regina could not have that. But, at that very moment, she had other more important things to think about, as in the many ways she could kill Snow White.

The image in the mirror shifted and Regina's eyes met the image of a ball, a royal ball nonetheless and there she was, Snow White. She was chatting to another young woman enthusiastically about something. Regina's eyes narrowed at the sight, rage bubbled from her very core. Regina hunted her down and she was in a ball chit chatting about boys with a red head!?

"I don't know Snow, he-" the red haired young woman started "-he wants to take me with him. But-" the girl looked down at her palms "-you know I can't.."

"Nonsense" Snow grabbed the girl's hands in her own "Talk to him. Tell him the truth; if he truly loves you he won't care Ariel!"

"I can't tell him that I'm really a mermaid Snow! Ursula's gift will only last for so long-'' the girl reasoned "-how can we be together when there's a fin between us?"

"You'll find a way Ariel, you both will." Snow smiled that excruciatingly annoying smile of hers "But you have to be honest with him, you cannot build anything with him based on a lie."

Regina noticed the dresses they wore were a far cry from what she was used to seeing in her kingdom and the ones that surrounded it. Snow had travelled far, she was by the sea, if Regina was not mistaken that had to be the kingdom farthest east in the Enchanted Forest. How had she even gotten that far?

Regina also noticed with satisfaction that Snow's dress exposed an ugly pink scar on her left shoulder.

That must have been the Outlaw's handy work.

Speaking of which.

She turned around to face him and he was no longer on the ground where she had left him but standing 3 feet right behind her. He looked back at her with a rather irritated look on his face.

"Go get me Rickon and his second, I want them here at once." she snapped at him.

The outlaw huffed but didn't say anything, he bowed to her in a very unnecessarily exaggerated way and headed for the door, Regina could have sworn she heard him mutter, "That woman is going to be the death of me" when he reached the corridor but she could not be sure.

Grinning nonetheless, she turned her attention back to the mirror where the two young women conversed.

So, Snow had befriended a mermaid. Maybe Regina could use her newfound friend to get to Snow, show her that no matter how many friends she tried to collect, Regina would always make them suffer because of their association with her. In no time nobody would want to help her, nobody would want to shelter her from Regina's wrath and, sooner or later, Regina would have her long awaited revenge.

Looking at Snow's pale complexion again Regina could also spot there was a thin but long line on her face, another scar that adorned her right cheek. She was glad the girl did not emerge from the fight with the outlaw unharmed. Although it had been only two weeks since the encounter, how had she healed so fast?

This smelled like fairy work to her and Regina did not like it in the least. She would turn that unnerving Blue purple if she could.

The hot headed bandit reentered her chamber, still with a distasteful look on his face, accompanied by Rickon and his second in command, Ivan; they both looked uneasy.

As they should.

After all, they were in charge of the eastern parties to search for Snow White and there the girl was, treating herself to going to royal balls.

The outlaw stayed behind them as they approached Regina with uncertainty and bowed respectfully keeping their heads down.

"Care to explain to me how Snow White is treating herself to parties in the eastern kingdom while your man should be looking for her there?" she raised a perfect eyebrow, her cheeks had been flushed but a few minutes prior but now her face was a white mask of distaste.

"Your majesty, we did pursue her there, me and Ralph." Rickon explained, "It's all in the report." He looked back at Locksley who did not even bother to meet the man's eye; his gaze was fixed on the image in the mirror that still played of Snow and her mermaid friend.

"I could not give a damn about a pile of report papers Rickon!" Regina bellowed, "If you did pursue her, why isn't she in shackles kneeling before me?"

"Yes, we did pursue her to a hill top; she ended up running into a dead end. There was nowhere for her to escape, she was to either come with us or jump from the high cliff into the treacherous sea waters."

"And let me guess-" Regina started, she was way too nervous to be playing guessing games "-she jumped?"

"She did." Rickon said, "We saw her sink deep and it took a great number of minutes for her to emerge again, that-" he pointed at Ariel's image on the mirror "that woman brought the body to the surface, the red haired one." Mulok gestured with his hands trying to explain "But she looked dead your majesty, the girl's body looked dead."

"So you did not even bother to follow the mermaid?" Regina hissed dangerously, so much anger now, that idiot had had Snow so close to his reach; Regina felt her head burst with a pounding headache.

"But she looked dead, your majesty." Mulok tried to defend himself.

"No-" Regina said making up her mind as to how to show her man failure was not an option, her hands simmered with magic and a bow and arrow appeared on the outlaw's grasp, he looked confused "Dead looks more like this-" she could see the outlaw got her message and readied the arrow in the bow "Locksley?"

The arrow flew so fast it startled her, in less than a second Rickon had an arrow buried on his neck, it hit the man in the jugular killing him instantly. His limp body dropped helplessly to the floor as the other guard looked upon Regina with utmost fear. Regina regarded the dead body with disdain and looked up to meet Ivan's fear filled eyes.

"Congratulations Ivan, you are now the captain of the east party. I trust your men won't fail me again."

"No your majesty, never" the man stuttered, "Should I send more man after Snow White then?" he asked in a tentative tone, trying to please Regina.

Fool

"No" Regina responded, "It looks like I'm going to have to be the one to go after her after all."

...

The mermaid was as gullible as her eyes and smile had betrayed her to be when Regina first saw her through the mirror. The plan was rather simple, to deceive the mermaid, make her think Regina was Ursula and have her seal her dear friend's doom imprisoning Snow in her fin; Snow would be helpless to escape Regina then.

Regina had delighted herself in disguising herself as the sea witch that had not been spotted for thousands of years, she was most certainly a myth, but tonight Regina would make her real. As she changed her hair color to white and her skin grew a few shades next to a light lilac, the outlaw had entered her room and tried to hold back a laugh at her camouflage.

"Something funny?" she had asked, annoyed already by his presence.

"Oh no." he replied, having the nerve to sit on her bed. "It's just I think you might be coming down with something your majesty" his cheeks were turning a soft shade of red showing he was holding back the laughter meant for her cover.

"UH! You are intolerable!" she gestured her hand towards him and his body fell back on the bed, ropes appeared out of thin air and bind the outlaw's wrists to both the posts on her bed, she continued, turning around to face him, "You are so lucky you are a good fuck thief-" she took several more steps in his direction, she stood in between his legs that dangled from the edge of the bed and continued, "-otherwise I would have killed you long ago."

He did not look surprised or offended on the very least, quite in the contrary, his expression was self-satisfied as he replied, "Well then, it's a good thing I'm fucking you right then."

She made the ropes tighten on his wrists, made them pull on his arms stretching them, his expression changed into a pained one but he refused to let out one sound of agony "Don't push your luck, thief."

Regina watched gladly as he clenched his teeth, it took him a bit but he retorted her comment "The only thing I will be pushing is my cock up your-"

Before he could finish his dirty comment, she waved her hands and he was engulfed in purple smoke. A beat after he disappeared Regina could hear the distinctive sound of a body being dropped in water coming out her window. She knew he still took nightly baths in that sordid river, so she figured he could use a daytime washing as well.

A satisfied smile filled Regina's lips at the thought of him being dropped inside the cool water fully clothed.

Insolent animal

It would serve him right

But then her smile turned a tad malicious at the thought of him taking her once more.

…

It was almost laughable how easy it was to fool the little mermaid. It seemed that all you had to do to win these young women's trust these days was to promise them a happy ending, a chance at true love.

Gullible pathetic lot.

Never thought of consequences. The girl was quite willing to condemn Snow to a life under the sea, not thinking that maybe, this would not be the best option for her dear, dear friend.

But Regina could not care less.

The sun was rising on the horizon, darkness giving into daylight little by little. The weak rays of the rising Sun played in the surface of the water painting a multi colored canvas in it. The view was beautiful and breathtaking but Regina only had eyes for one single thing.

The dark haired young woman who stood at the deck wearing the most atrocious set of clothing Regina had ever laid eyes on. The mere sight of Snow made Regina's blood boil, she looked very different, and not only her clothing but also her manner had changed completely.

No longer was she the delicate flower Regina had practically been forced to raise but she stood tall, head held high, face devoid of any make up, tangled long black hair. She also now sported an unattractive scar on her cheek to match her new garments, but that infuriating spirit of hope and positivity never seemed to leave her.

But not for long.

The red haired girl came into view, she was clutching the bracelet on her right hand and now Regina watched from afar as she placed the accessory on Snow's wrist.

Regina's cheeks hurt from smiling as she watched Snow lose her balance due to her new set of.. well, her fin, green and filled with scales. Regina had to admit she had not in her craziest fantasies about killing the girl, pictured it coming to pass like this.

Snow looked horrified and Regina found there her cue to make her presence known to the two naive young women. She decided to make a grand entrance via purple smoke and with a flicker of her wrist; she appeared right in front of her helpless now half fish stepdaughter.

"My, my! Look at the catch of the day!" Regina beamed, joy was almost bursting through her chest, she vowed to enjoy this as much as she could.

Snow looked up at her with her annoyingly big green eyes, her fin moved a little and she mouthed "Regina" in defeat.

"Ursula!" Ariel called her attention; she turned to face the red hair "Oh Ursula thank you so much! Your bracelet worked, now I can go on and meet Eric and-"

"Oh Ariel" Snow interrupted the once mermaid "This is not Ursula" she looked back at Regina "This is the Evil Queen, Regina, the one I told you was out for my blood."

"What?" Ariel looked perplexed and confused looking from Snow to Regina "But she helped me. I have my legs now." The look on her face was quite funny, she was genuinely trying to hold on to the belief that Regina had been Ursula.

Poor unfortunate soul

"Yes I did give you your legs." Regina addressed the young woman, "So show some gratitude and get the hell out of my sight!"

Regina waved her hands dismissively "Go meet your prince, be happy or whatever it is that you young women seem to crave so much for nowadays." she turned her gaze back to Snow, "Me and my lovely step daughter here have some unfinished business to attend to."

Without any warning Regina used her magic to lift Snow's heavy fin burdened body from the ground.

"I can't let you do this to her!" Ariel defied Regina who was starting to get rather annoyed by her presence.

"I'm not going to tell you a second time, mermaid." Regina made sure to deliver 'mermaid' in between her clenched teeth "I gave you those legs and I can very well take them away from you!" Regina did not spare the girl a single glance, her eyes fixed on Snow, helpless and without hope.

"But she's my friend, I can't walk away from her now, especially since I know you're going to kill her!" the girl stood her ground.

"Oh really?" Regina looked back at her "And what are you going to do about it, hun? Sing me a song and try to persuade me I should let her live?" Regina laughed, "Spare me your heroism fish. Go now and meet your prince, live your dream but most importantly, leave me ALONE."

The girl looked down at her own hands; she was fidgeting with her fingers and biting her lower lip. She looked at Regina with pleading eyes - and Regina was more than ready to make smoked salmon out of this girl if she uttered another word - but then she looked apologetically at Snow and finally said in a tearful tone, "I'm so sorry Snow"

Snow had the nerve to reply, "It's alright Ariel. You get a chance at happiness and true love and that's something the Queen-" Snow turned her gaze to Regina "-will never have."

Snow's words filled Regina with rage, she could make out the once mermaid walking away from them towards the island, but all her concentration was now in the spell she was using to strangle the life out of that brat.

HOW DARE SHE?

How dare she say those words? She knew fully well it was her fault alone and no one else's that Regina's life had turned out this way. SHE had crushed Regina's chance at happiness and true love to pieces and now Regina was going to squeeze the life out of her body if it was the very last thing she did.

Regina's vision became red, rage, fulfillment as she saw the color leave Snow's already pale complexion. A wide smile spread itself on Regina's lips; her heart was fluttering with excitement, beating erratically on her chest.

Finally

Finally the brat was going to pay

Just a little bit more and the life would leave the girl's body and Regina's need for revenge would be sated, Daniel's death avenged. She had waited far too long for this moment; her eyes grew impossibly large with fulfillment.

Regina's senses were numbed, so it was too late when she noticed that the red haired young woman had come up from behind her and drew her attention for a moment, startling her.

The whole thing must have lasted seconds, but Regina could see the scene playing out in front of her in slow motion. How Ariel had come back and was clutching what looked like a fork on her right hand, aiming it in Regina's direction. How a second later the girl's expression changed from determination to pain to desperation as the sound of a stinging shot hitting its target reached Regina's ears. How the girl halted her moves and released a pained noise, dropping her fork. How simultaneously Regina and Ariel looked down at the girl's middle to find a single arrow sticking out of her belly, it's point crimson with blood. And how in between all those things Regina's attention had diverged from Snow making her spell that held her in the air come to an end. And how Regina only realized this after hearing the noise of something quite heavy being dropped into the water.

NO!

Regina looked back at where Snow had been hoisted by her magic but now there was only white foam on the surface of the water, where she fell, only a faint glimpse of a green tail in sight now, going under and under.

"NO!" Regina screamed, she turned back to the deadly harmed red hair "YOU! You did this, you foolish girl!" the girl had dropped to her knees and had her hands about the arrow sticking out of her flesh.

"She didn't deserve to die," she said weakly.

"That is NOT up to you to decide!" Regina roared, not touched in the very least by the gravity of the situation the girl found herself in. She could have walked away, been happy with her Prince, but instead she chose to intervene; Regina had given her a change, she had just been too foolish not to take it.

And there were no second chances when it came to Regina. Since she was not given one, no one else should.

Regina could hear some noise coming from the waters and realized three mermaids had surfaced from the salty waters and were staring at her accusingly.

"What?" Regina spat at them "I did nothing to harm your sister. Here-" Regina used her magic to push the girl's body to the water towards her mermaid sisters "-take her out of my sight. I've had quite enough of you lot for a lifetime!"

"We know you did not harm our sister" one of the mermaids told her, she had long blonde hair and was wearing a seashell crown on her head.

"But your lover did-" a dark skinned mermaid told her.

"What?" Regina was confused, lover? It could not be-?

"-he did it to defend you" another mermaid informed her as she motioned with her head none other than that damned thief, Robin of fucking Locksley, walking up to her on the deck bow in his hand.

"But however noble his intentions were or not to defend you-" the first mermaid to speak told her.

"-you will now have to face the wrath of Ursula for harming a sea creature in her own land" the dark skinned one completed her sister's sentence.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Regina said infuriated "Are you threatening me? Do you have any idea with whom you are dealing with? How do you even know that he's my-?"

But Regina stopped mid sentence as the black in all the mermaid's eyes turned white and the sky began to darken at an unnatural speed. The thief reached her side just as the three mermaids said in unison

"The skies will close and the Gods will weep for this affront. The water that falls strips you of all power, the animals run wild, as a life is lost."

"What the hell are they on about?" the thief asked her slightly out of breath due to his run, he did not seem to really be much affected by their words.

The three mermaids along with the bleeding body of Ariel sank inside the water, as they did not utter another word or blink, their eyes still white.

Regina turned to finally face the outlaw.

"You complete IDIOT!" she roared at him, the skies were dark but not as dark as her penetrating and enraged gaze was.

"A simple 'thank you' would suffice" the outlaw retorted.

"What should I thank you for?" Regina was not thinking straight, she was going to place the blame on anybody if it meant she could lash out at somebody for having had Snow escape on her AGAIN.

"Oh, I don't know-" he raised his voice "-maybe saving your ass from that petty red hair?"

"Oh, so I'm supposed to be thankful to you because she did not stab me lethally WITH A FORK!" Regina was screaming now.

"Gods, you are the most infuriating person I have ever met!" Robin met her screams.

"Because of your bloody attack I got distracted and Snow swam away!"

"Because of my bloody attack you did not get stabbed in the neck!"

"WITH A FORK YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

"I DID NOT FUCKING KNOW IT WAS A BLOODY FORK YOU LUNATIC!" he screamed back at her pushing her back "From the distance I could only see a silvery pointy object making its way to your bloody neck, damn it."

Regina huffed, he was right, she knew he was right, but she would be damned if she ever gave into that man "What are you even doing here? Are you following me now? Hoping to get a quick fuck in between my evil plans?"

The thief seemed to grow angrier at her words and let out a rage-filled scream as he kicked mightily a stray wooden bucket that ended up landing on the now moving sea waters. The sky had turned very dark, as the mermaids had warned them but in the midst of their heated discussion, the change went by unnoticed until the pair noticed how the sea waters had started to move more quickly when only moments ago it was peaceful and almost unmoving. Their gaze accompanied the motion of the bucket that suddenly got sucked into the dark waters, their eyes met at the sight.

"I swear that sometimes I wish I could push you into a vortex like that." the outlaw said looking at her, obviously still pained by her previous words.

She huffed, unimpressed – as always – by his half threat "Was that supposed to be a threat? Am I supposed to be frightened that you'll push me into the water?"

They exchanged a long angered gaze, each holding the other's eye in challenge, not moving muscle. Suddenly big droplets of rain started falling from the sky slowly, but their exchange did not break.

Heat and anger were practically bursting out of Regina's chest and she could sense that the feeling was most certainly reciprocated by the hotheaded outlaw. After a few moments the outlaw finally broke the silence saying in a defeated yet annoyed tone.

"Fuck all this-" he turned his back on her and started to walk away. The heavy droplets were succeeding in getting the pair wet but neither of them seemed to care or notice.

"Don't you dare walk away from me!" Regina roared and lifted her hand in order to use her magic to bring him back to face her. But although Regina could feel her power running through her veins she was not able to use it, hence the outlaw continued to walk away.

Regina felt terrified, she tried to summon her fireballs - that were a second nature spell for her already - and nothing happened. She looked horrified at the palms of her hands and took off the black leather gloves she had been wearing and tried again.

Nothing happened.

She had been indeed stripped of the capacity to use her powers.

She looked ahead at the outlaw who was almost reaching the island, walking blissfully unaware of her situation, walking away from her. As so many had before him. And now, even her magic had left her.

Regina felt a strong pang on her chest, so strong she instinctively clutched the spot of her heart with her hand. She screwed her eyes shut as the pain continued and Regina felt hopeless and so very alone. It had been the longest time since she had felt so strongly because of her loneliness.

What was happening?

You are being weak dearie. That thief is making you weak.

No! The thief is making me nothing! The thief might make me horny but that is IT! Regina retorted to the impish voice

And right you are at being horny! You deserve to be satisfied! The Queen sporting only black thigh high stockings still lounging on a chaise told her.

Regina shook her head to try to get rid of all those irritating voices in her head. She was now soaked to the bone and for the first time actually acknowledged that it was raining and it did not look like it was going to be a passing thing.

She looked ahead and spotted the outlaw's frame, he had now reached the island and was making his way towards the forest. He walked with his head down, his paces were not hasty - as one would expect another to take in such a weather.

Regina had very little choice but to follow him. She cursed her choice of attire, her tight leather skirt was doing nothing to assist her reaching the outlaw, plus Regina knew that the whole outfit had now been ruined thanks to the exposure to all this water.

Just my luck

Huffing and still very much infuriated by this whole situation Regina put one foot in front of the other and marched towards the outlaw. Despite of Regina's best attempts to reach him she did not succeed and had to resort to something she deemed quite beneath her

"OI!" she screamed feeling her cheeks burn hot.

The outlaw's head snapped back in her direction almost instantly as he stopped walking, Regina made her way towards him trying to maintain the little poise and composure of a Queen she was able to muster. He sported a surprised expression on his face which was a relieving change from smug smirking he seemed so fond of doing.

"Do my eyes deceive me-" he started, he had to half shout since the rain was pouring quite heavily at this point "- or are you really here soaked to the bone?"

Regina glared at him but said nothing, the droplets of rain falling from her lashes made her eyes itch and her humor drop a thousand more points.

"I would have assumed you had already done your puffy thing and gone back to the castle, your majesty." he continued, his eyes squinting a bit due to the rain "I would have never judged you for being one who enjoys the benefits of a good rain shower-"

"SHUT UP!" Regina ordered closing her eyes whilst speaking, she reopened them and he was looking at her, smug smirk back on his face.

"You will escort me to my castle thief-" Regina started pointing her now gloveless finger at him "-and God help you should anything happen to me during the journey."

His mouth opened to retort but then closed it, he crossed his arms and regarded her for a beat, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, before responding.

"Alright-" he looked rather puzzled at her request but Regina would be damned before she would give him any sort of explanation.

Without another word the thief led Regina into the woods that surrounded Prince Eric's castle, she was thankful for the silence but still silently cursed her choice of foot wear. This was going to be a long day...