(Daniella's POV)
...continuation from the previous chapter
"Your superpower is barely reliable." Mother seethed. Then, she added bitterly, "Besides, why the sudden insistence that I'm guilty of the massacre, hmm?"
Snow replied, "We were informed."
I held my breath as a thick silence hung in the air. Then, with a voice deadlier than poison, mother asked, "By who?"
Stubbornly, the princess replied, "No, I won't offer their names to you. However, I'm going to give you a little bit of a choice here. Admit what you've done and we'll let you see Henry. Keep your secret to yourself, and we'll keep him from you. Either way, you're going to lose your power-"
"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN ME WITH MY SON?!" Mother roared suddenly. I looked down upon her outburst. Then, she stepped right up to Snow and sneered, "You're in no position to move me. If you do, our kingdoms will be at war once again. And this time, I will crush you. I haven't even wagered anything against you, yet you're calling for conflict."
Emma managed to fit in a sentence, "So you did kill those innocents..."
"I have not admitted to anything, Swan. Besides, I have no motif to rule Wonderland. Whatever my mother does, isn't a concern to me. I'm sick of your accusations. First of being a terrible mother to Henry, and now regarding this massacre dilemma," mother replied with a dangerous glare.
I already knew that the unCharmings were convinced with their outcome. I was worried that a full-scale conflict would arise. We cannot defeat the Wicked Witch and take down Snow at the same time!
Luckily, the heated argument between mother and Snow's little trio ended as heavy footsteps disrupted us. We turned to see a black guard approaching. He bowed towards mother and said, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry to intrude, but we just received a message and it's urgent."
I silently made a sigh of relief, and I could tell that mother was grateful for this interception as well. She gave the unCharmings a pointed stare and seethed, "You will not interrogate Daniella about this. If I hear that you've said anything to her, you'll have to face my wrath." My heart thumped as she gave the guard a nod and started walking off with him.
Snow however made no effort to say anything else to me. The unCharmings left after giving me apologetic looks.
I wasn't in the mood to return to the palace, especially as Snow's followers seem to be lurking around every corner. In the gardens, I would be relatively alone, save for the guards on duty. Besides, no one really dared to go near the apple tree. It was the only place where I could be alone. So, I certainly didn't expect that I would get another visitor so soon.
I put the apple in my hand into the basket and murmured in an unbelieving voice, "Henry?"
He stopped a metre away from me and blurted out rather hysterically with red teary eyes, "Do you want me dead?"
"What? No! What are you talking about?" I spluttered, very much taken back by his blunt question.
He continued, "You want me dead don't you? That's why you took my heart! So that you can...so that you can end Snow's bloodline because then...your...your inheritance, the kingdom, the Enchanted Forest would-"
I didn't let him continue because A. he was making no sense. B. I already had an inkling of what he was alluding to. I gripped his shoulders and said, "Hey, listen to me." Tears were streaming down his face by this point. I had never seen Henry in such a state of internal breakdown. I looked unbelievably at him and said, "Henry, I already told you that I'm sorry about taking your heart. I didn't mean to make you feel scared or upset. Look. It's hard to explain but having magic is hard to control. I'm sorry for keeping your heart."
Henry sniffed as he tried to wipe his tears away and put on a brave face. Then, I addressed the other thing he mentioned. "Also, why would I want to kill you? I know our families kinda hate each other, but you once said that you didn't hate me, right? We were in that mine back in Storybrooke when you said that I was different from Mama...and that I wasn't evil. Henry, you're the only one apart from mother and maybe Maria who I have shared close things with. You're my brother because Mama cares for you. I would never hurt you, nor would I want the power that you will inherit from your family. Besides, I don't really care about all that! I mean, I know our paths are pretty much set in front of us, as we are...royals I. But it doesn't meant that I want what's to be yours. I, I don't even know if I'll be able to rule mother's kingdom!" I added with a sad laugh. I glanced off into the lands below the gardens and commented quietly, "I doubt anyone would stand behind me. Everyone judges me for Mama's legacy. Oh, and my magic I guess."
Eventually, Henry replied. He said in a wavering breath, "You really wouldn't?"
"Steal your crown? No! Why would I do that! I'll have half of the Enchanted Forest, maybe even more, against me."
"But you have magic and-"
"So? If you're thinking about comparing me and Mama...well first of all, you know I don't really like it. And secondly, it wasn't magic that made her do...do those things. It's-"
"It's her past, I know," Henry murmured. I didn't speak, for I wanted Henry to say what was on his mind. I was glad when he finally murmured, "I want to talk to her. I haven't really seen her much recently."
I debated upon telling Henry the truth before stating truthfully, "She wants to see you, but your family is currently accusing her of causing a massacre. Before you arrived, they threatened to not let you see her-"
"What?!"
I looked down, fearing for the worst as I simply said, "You know I'm not lying." A cool breeze blew through my hair and when I was just about to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear, a pair of arms suddenly pulled me in for a hug. I almost laughed at the situation, for Henry wasn't really one to give hugs...especially to me. He didn't say anything and nor did I. I hugged him back and when I tightened my grip, he murmured, "I'm so sorry, Dani. I shouldn't have stopped talking to you, I shouldn't have stood by whilst the class bullied you. I'm a horrible brother-"
I shook my head and replied, "No you aren't. You might be annoying at times, but it doesn't make you a horrible person. The book only gives a depiction of Mama as a villain. It doesn't even mention me. Not everything in there is trustworthy."
Henry gave me a sad grin and asked, "So, how did you feel when you found out that she was your mom?"
I looked up at the castle before closing my eyes, trying to remember that night she brought me back here after almost a decade of being separated from my true home. "It kinda all came crashing onto me. You see, I had blocked out my feelings for many years, ever since...well, ever since the spinsters started treating me differently. In Wonderland, I had heard stories about the 'Evil Queen', so I was afraid of her at first. But when Mama told me about her past, it made things a little easier. I originally also found it difficult to accept the fact that the kingdom fears my mother, or the fact that she has done...bad things whilst searching for Snow White. Yet in a way, I can't help but also admire that side of her. She was the only one who cared about me, so I really didn't care about what she was doing. Besides, she was doing it to avenge the death of my father. He means the world to Mama, and all she wanted was for us to be together. It's true Henry, it's true that because of Snow, father died. I absolutely hate that I fear and distrust her at the same time. I know that simply wishing for her death is stupid because it'll hurt you and so many others. I don't really want her dead...but I just wished that everyone would stop looking at mother as if she's the villain. I hate it when they treat me differently just because they know I'm the daughter of the 'Evil Queen'."
Henry murmured with his eyes downcast, "Sorry, I was probably a part of convincing everyone that you're evil."
"Probably?" I mused as I raised an eyebrow.
Henry sighed. "Ok, ok, I did. I did say your magic is unpredictable and that you do whatever mom tells you to do."
I stood up with my arms crossed but that alone, already made my brother nervous. He quickly said, "I'm sorry Dani! I didn't-"
"It's fine. I...I prefer that you were honest with me," I replied. Then, I turned around and said, "I'll bring you to Mama."
Henry's eyes lit up but was darkened again as he whispered, "How is she?"
I sighed. "There's a lot I can't tell you, and I'm sure the same rule applies for you in terms of things Emma or Snow has said to you...but we'll be honest when it comes to the mother we both share ok?" Henry nodded so I continued, "She's really caught up in something right now. Maybe she'll be a bit less stressed if you talk to her. She asks me about you sometimes but there's not much I can tell her, since you've been ignoring me." Henry's eyes averted my gaze so I sighed and took his hand. Then, I asked, "You don't mind if we use magic to see her? Less people would see you and me together."
Henry frowned, "Why would it matter that we're together?"
I laughed sadly, "I don't want to add to the issues that mother's dealing with already right now. Your family sees me as the enemy, and they'll think that I've put you under a spell or something."
I took Henry's hand and transported us both to the royal wing. Upon arriving outside mother's chambers, one of the guards stationed there nodded and said, "Her majesty is in a meeting at the moment, but I will inform her that you wish to speak to her."
After a short wait, the guard came back out. "You may enter, your highness, but the boy must wait here."
"Does she know Henry's here?" I asked with a frown.
He shook his head so I threw my brother a look. He gave me a nervous glance in return. Then, I quickly said, "I'll be back." The guard pushed open the door a little wider for me. When I went in, I saw mother's chief advisor with her at the balcony. He gave her a nod before leaving the room.
"Daniella, you wished to speak to me?"
"Henry wants to talk to you. He's waiting outside."
The reaction on mother's face was priceless. The initial flicker of surprise was caught up in a smile as she breathed, "Really?"
"Yeah, I'll go get him-"
"No, let me," mother said as she made her way to the door. Henry came in looking quite nervous, which was ironic considering that we all weren't strangers to each other. I raised my eyebrows at him before grinning and disappearing in a cloud of smoke. They needed their time together.
Later
When we arrived at the dining hall, father's spot was naturally empty. However, that wasn't the most worrying thing. I eyed the note in mother's trembling hands and said quietly, "Mama? What does that say?"
"It seems like the Greenie wants to have a witch fight the day after tomorrow right here in the castle."
"So soon?! Are we...ready for that?"
Mother put her hand on my arm and said gently, "I doubt she's giving us a choice, but we should be fine. I'll have to inform the palace guards after dinner. Meanwhile, I'll get your grandmother to train with you, so that you're adept to your powers once again. How confident are you with your light magic right now?"
I held out my hand and created an orb of bright white light. Mother nodded with approval. After that, we didn't discuss anything else related to the Witch for the duration of dinner. I was thankful for that as I didn't want to be reminded of an aunt who seems to be dead set on destroying my family.
Next day
I threw a fireball at my grandmother, who deflected it lazily with the flick of her hand. "Try to use your light magic, sweetheart. It'll be more advantageous to you."
I frowned in concentration and sent another wave of magic towards her. Whoops, that was dark magic too. Seeing her expression, I gritted my teeth and said "I've got this, just-"
I closed my eyes and thought about the fact that I'll meet up with Henry later today. I let emotions of happiness and excitement weave through me. Afterall, I was content about our...semi-fixed relationship. That's when I heard a thud.
I opened my eyes and gasped. Then, I rushed over to grandmother, who was lying on the cold marble floor. "Grandma! I'm so sorry!" I said quickly as I reached out my hand to help her up. She waved me off with a smile, "I'm not that old. Anyway, that was brillant, my darling. Whatever you were thinking of, I want you to have that thought at the back of your mind tomorrow. Your mother and I will try to keep you safe but just in case either of us are temporarily stunned by Zelena's magic, you have to fight for yourself."
I nodded and murmured, "I don't know if I can do this..."
Grandma put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Yes, you can. You have the most powerful magic out of all of us. You've inherited dark magic from your mother and you've also inherited light magic because of true love."
"But Grandma, I wasn't exactly thinking of father just then..." I said quietly.
There was a frown on her face so I said quickly, "I was thinking about my brother. We've decided to meet up every night and I'm looking forward to that. I'm glad that he's treating Mama better now. Maybe one day, you can meet him..."
She chuckled in response, "Yes, it's a shame that I'm unable to get closer to Henry. I'd like to get to know him. Anyway, I suspect that it's time to eat soon. You should run off; go spend some time with your father and mother."
I nodded and teleported to the dining hall. As per usual, the spot that was reserved for father was empty. I felt a tiny shudder through my body as I looked around for any trace of him. It brought a pang to my chest to see that he was sitting with his friends again. I didn't really want to approach them because there were people I didn't know. Seeing that mother hadn't arrived at the head of the table however, I didn't want to sit there by myself either. Of course, there was a little break in the middle of the long dining table. On one end, there would be Snow and her family and the other, mother and I.
After a moment of contemplation, I decided to head in father's direction to ask him if he wanted to join me. I didn't want our little family to fall apart just before Zelena shows up to kill us. When I approached him, everyone's eyes turned towards me. Father turned around and smiled gently. "Daniella."
I began quietly, "Umm, sorry for interrupting, but do you want to come over? Mama's not here yet, and I don't want to eat alone."
There was a little pause and I knew that a billion of thoughts were going through his head so I continued quickly, "She's not mad at you, I swear."
"You should go with your daughter," I heard someone say. I turned in the direction of the voice and to my surprise, it was the pregnant servant who said those words. I looked away just as father took his plate and stood up. I smiled and gave him a hug around the middle. "Thanks, daddy."
He chuckled in response, "Ok, you can let go now. I'll drop my dinner if you keep hugging me like that." I let go and we walked over to the opposite end of the table. Mother still hadn't arrived, but there were a few guards seated in their normal spots. They nodded to me when I sat down. Seeing that father was there, they resumed their conversation without addressing me. A servant came over and placed my food in front of me and I immediately dug into it. I was quite hungry as I haven't had a snack in the afternoon. As I chewed, father asked, "How's your mother?"
I frowned and replied in a confused tone, "I thought you would have talked..."
"We have," he replied simply before continuing in a slightly more detailed response, "Daniella, I'm sorry that you heard all that. I didn't mean to mention that you weren't brought up properly...I wasn't thinking when I said that. Please don't take it to heart."
I nodded and looked down at my food. Then, I heard the familiar clicking of heels behind me. I turned around and saw mother approaching. She gave me a kiss on my cheek before setting something down onto the tabletop. I took the two compact mirrors in my hands and exclaimed, "You did it!"
She sat down with a wink and replied, "It wasn't that complicated. Now, you can communicate with Henry wherever and whenever."
I pocketed the two mirrors and murmured, "Thanks Mama."
For the duration of dinner, my parents actually managed to talk to one another coherently. I couldn't really sense that anything was off. In fact, they had somehow managed to start talking about the past. I listened with a smile on my face when they mentioned a memory of sneaking out of the estate in broad daylight. My grandparents never found out but mother had nearly gotten recognised by a passerby. I wanted to stick around and continue chiming into their nostalgic conversation, but when I glanced over in Henry's direction, I saw that he was getting up.
"Mama, Daddy, can I go? Henry's just left."
Mother nodded and smirked, "Don't get up to too much trouble, or I'll have to fend off the sheriffs of the Enchanted Forest."
I pushed back the chair and chuckled, "I'll try not to." Then, I teleported to the fencing room. Just as I had suspected, there was no one there. I eyed the practice dummies lined up on one end of the wall and smirked. Since I was by myself for the time being, I practised my magic on them. Soon, a little pile of charred straw heads rolled at my feet. I knew I should probably be training my light magic, but given the complicated things that have happened between mother and father recently, dark magic has been much easier to wield. Besides, I've always been more used to dark magic. It was what Mama taught me magic afterall.
I was so engrossed in my magic that I didn't notice Henry as he walked in. He cleared his throat which made me jump and turn around. I suddenly felt self-conscious about the burnt dummies littered on the floor. I sheepishly waved my hand and they started repairing themselves. "You're late," I commented. Henry rolled his eyes and replied, "I got lost." Then, he changed the topic by showing me the sword on his belt and saying cheekily, "Would you be able to create the same amount of damage without magic though?"
I crossed my arms and laughed, "Seriously? You want to duel? I've heard that you've only recently begun lessons with a real sword."
Henry pulled it out with surprising agility and replied, "So? Could you use a sword?"
I smirked and summoned magic to surround my body. When the smoke had dispersed, I was wearing a white chemise and brown leather pants. I could see Henry eyeing the black sword in my hand. "Wait...you know how to fence?!"
I nearly wanted to twack my brother on the head. "Mama got her knights to teach me. I might be a bit rusty on some techniques, but I'm up for the challenge."
Henry groaned, "Great, you're gonna beat me-"
I drew my sword from its shield and held the handle out towards Henry. "I'll let you have this one. It's sharper than your sword, so technically, you'd have an advantage."
"What if I-"
"Mama enchanted my sword so that it cannot cut into anyone sharing her blood. I'll be fine." Henry nodded as he accepted my offer. I took his weapon in my hand and weighed it. It was much heavier than mine. "Ok, you ready?" I asked with a smirk. Henry pointed his sword at me and declared, "En garde!"
Our swords met with a clang and I giggled. I obviously went soft on Henry but I could tell that he was going full out on me. In between breaths, he commented, "Jeez, I thought you wouldn't know how to use a sword."
I poked out my tongue in both concentration and as a way to tease Henry. My back was faced towards the door but as we were sparring, I could hear them open. I thought that it was just my guards so I paid no heed to that direction until I saw Henry's distracted pale face. The voice behind me shouted in sync with rapid running steps, "Stop!"
I turned around lowered my weapon immediately. Snow indicated to the swords and asked with a look of fury on her face, "What are you two doing?!" Then, she quickly took my sword from Henry's hand and examined it. I held my breath as she rounded on me and questioned angrily, "How can you give this to Henry?! These aren't toys...they're weapons! Daniella, did you suggest this?!"
Henry replied quickly in my place, "I swear, it wasn't her! I brought my sword with me and asked Dani if she wanted to duel with me."
Snow replied rather hysterically, "Henry, surely you didn't think that it's appropriate to fence unsupervised and untrained!"
Henry argued rather harshly, "I'm not untrained. Grandpa's been teaching me! Why are you here, grandma?"
There was a moment of silence before she replied, "I came to give our guests from Wonderland a tour of the castle."
I eyed Henry and whispered, "Guests?"
Snow turned to me and said sternly, "Daniella, please go back to your chambers."
I crossed my arms in defiance. Before Snow could tell me off, we were disrupted by the sound of footsteps in the direction of the door. I turned around to see Emma enter with a group of three women. They skittered to a stop when they saw me. My blood ran cold.
The closer they walked, the more shocked their faces were. A shiver ran down my spine as I stared at the spinsters who had once 'taken care' of me.
They were here, all three of them. Linota, Lyra and...Irene.
