Hey guys, sorry for the long wait but as a reward made sure it was a decent sized chapter! Hope you guys are still enjoying this story. Let me know if you'd like to see anything in it maybe I'll be nice enough to fit that in.

Chapter 14: Adventures and Treason

Neverland

"Wake up, you lazy sailor," Regina Mills said while slightly kicking the sleeping male figure on the floor of the cave by the remains of last night's bonfire.

"Huh?" Alphonse woke up in a sudden movement by sitting up straight as soon as the brunette kicked him. His eyes were still adjusting to the light coming through the cave from a new day and he yawned very slowly and very wide open.

Regina simply stared at him with some disgust. Lately men every day have been less and less appealing to her. "Sun's out, we need to move. I have to find my children."

"Hold up..." he yawned again, "...children? I thought we were only looking for a little boy." Soon he started stretching himself and a waking himself up by gently slap his own cheeks.

"Yes, change of plans. We are saving my son and my daughter," Regina said very sure of herself as she stepped out of the cave.

Alphonse just stared at her with a sleepy face, he was so not in the mood to start taking the whole world head on so early in the morning, but obviously miss Regina calls d the shots in here. Before he had the chance to just lay back down, Regina looked over her shoulder to give him a warning look and that was more than enough for the sailor to finally be fully awake. "Let's go!"

The mayor was quite satisfied with herself that her look alone sometimes would get things done. Being back in the enchanted forest always brings her mixed feelings. It was a please of a lot of hurt and a lot of evil, but also a lace she called home for lots of years and a place of a lot of power.

"So, miss, who is your daughter?" The sailor casually asked as he brushed dust off his clothes.

"Fiona. The archer girl."

"Huh?...The wild girl?! But miss she tried to kill you!" Alphonse voice definitely sounded a bit desperate, because he didn't want to face that girl ever again. She had wild eyes. She seemed to have no problem taking down whoever she thought of as her enemy.

"That was just a silly misunderstanding, let's get going." Regina carried on with her fast paced steps into the forest, she needed to find her children again.

"A misunderstanding?! How is attempted murder a silly misunderstanding?!" Alphonse voice cracked into a high pitch tone. He couldn't believe what he was hearing but nothing could change the woman's mind. "I can't believe we doing this...ugh, wait for me!" He hurried his steps so be could be closer to Regina. Now that he knew she had magic, he'd be glued to her 24/7.

"Wake up, Fiona...wake up, wake up," Daniel annoyingly whispered into the teenager's ear. He didn't want to be rude and shake her or anything like that, so he thought a gentler way of waking up would work. It was daylight already, so that meant starting their journey to find their mothers. Daniel doesn't want to waste any time, especially knowing that his brunette mother is so close to him now.

Fiona eventually began to stir up in her sleep but she swatted at Daniel's face like he was an annoying hug that kept coming close to her ear, but Daniel kept moving his head away in time and then back in to carry on whispering. It got so annoying that she just slammed her hand to her ear, catching Daniel's head on the way and smashing both their heads together.

That definitely woke her up. Both now, presumably siblings, were groaning and holding their heads while staring at each other with almost a child-like frown.

"What the hell, Daniel?"

"It was your fault! You hit me first."

"Because you kept being annoying, what do you want?"

"I'm not annoying,"he puffed out his cheeks, "we need to get going and find our mothers!"

"It's too early for this, kid. We will get to it in awhile, just wait," Fiona groaned and just dropped herself back on the bed to carry on sleeping.

Daniel stared at her in shock and how quick she was to fall back asleep. For someone so strong and clever in the forest, she really slept very carelessly. It reminded him of his blonde mother, she was the same in her sleep.

So the only thing he thought of waking her up was simply doing what he usually does to his mother when he really wants to wake her up. A glass full of water. He didn't have any glasses but Fiona still had her flask and just in a matter of a minute, Daniel was pouring water over Fiona's face.

"Fuck!" The teenager cursed out and quickly sat up while gasping for air. For a second there, she thought she was drowning. But all there was, was Daniel sitting on the bed with a sheepish grin while holding her flask behind his back that he clumsily tried to conceal from her view. "That's it! I'm done with you blonde," she angrily said while standing up from the bed and grabbing Daniel by his legs to drag him out.

"Ah! Wait! What are you doing?!" Daniel yelped and shrieked, trying his best to get out of her grip, but she was too strong for him. She eventually had managed to drag him out of bed and pick him up, under her arm, carrying him to the 'door' of the tree house. "Wait, Fiona!" She opened the door, ignoring his pleads and decided to just drop him but quickly caught his ankle just in time.

"Are you going to stop being a little prick?" Fiona asked him while swinging him. Daniel just kept screaming at the top of his lungs and clutching the water flask against his chest. "Don't ever interrupt my sleep, Dani!" She shook him slightly.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Daniel was pleading and looked up at her with tears in his eyes and that's probably when Fiona figured she might have taken this a bit too far. But hey, they were all a bit like wild children on this island with no adult supervision.

"Good, come on up," she groaned slightly at the end of her words because of the force she was using to lift him back up. He was a small child for his age.

Once he was finally up on his feet, he let out a big relief sigh. Now he isn't so sure if he actually wants a sister. Henry never put him through situations like this. Maybe the sisters were more dangerous. "OK...thank you for not dropping me..."

"No problem kid, sometimes you just need to know your place," she ruffled his blonde hair before walking back to the makeshift bed.

Daniel opened his mouth to protest but decided that probably wasn't a wise decision. He waited a couple of seconds just to observe how Fiona's mood would change but she remained calm, so he figured now would be a good time to tell her about his plan. "We should get ready for our adventure. Do you have any food saved here? Oh and we are going to need more water..." he felt a bit nervous mentioning the water.

Fiona rubbed one of her eyes with a clenched fist while rubbing the back of her neck with the other hand. "No, I don't have any food here and we can get water from a waterfall not too far off from here," she told him while starting to look through her things now, counting how many arrows she actually had, because one was gone now for sure and she wanted to have enough.

"Okay, cool! We can pick up some berries or something, maybe fish in the waterfall? I don't like hunting..." he mumbled his last words because all the other kids made fun of him for not being able to hunt without feeling bad or literally vomiting while cleaning the animal. He didn't want Fiona to make fun of him either.

"Yea, that sounds like a good plan, we don't have to hunt. The waterfall has some fishes but they are small, so we might need to catch a few." She picked up her gear and put it around her figure.

Daniel smiled, happy that she would go along with his plan. "Okay! So ready to find our moms?!"

Fiona frowned slightly at that. "Mom, singular, not plural." She wasn't even a hundred percent sure of doing this with him, but he was the only clue she ever got so far about the photo of the blonde woman she had been carrying for years.

"But...I have got two. I want to find them both, and I don't want you to hurt my mom again, " he pouted with a frown.

Fiona sighed out and walked to the edge of the tree house, where a rope was waiting for them to just slide down. "Listen, we will cross that bridge when we get there. I can't promise you anything." The reason why she couldn't promise that is because in her head that brunette woman was the evil queen and she had a father. She had vague memories of a male parent that got killed by the evil Queen. She saw it happening with her own eyes, she ripped his heart out, or did she burn him? Fiona wasn't absolutely sure, her memories were always a bit confusing and sometimes they felt like dreams she had instead of an actual life she lived.

"No! You have to promise me! She is good, not evil, she won't hurt us, so you can't hurt her!" Daniel complained as he stomped his small feet while making his way towards her.

"Fine!" Fiona groaned out, its too early to be arguing with a kid. "If that will stop you whining about it, I promise I won't do anything," Daniel smiled, "IF she keeps her hands to herself. The moment I see that anything funny might happen, I will take her down," and now Daniel pouted again. Her last words seemed a bit too threatening, he didn't like that, and the worst thing is that Daniel was right to feel unsure about her tone, because if he looked into Fiona's eyes, he would've seen some dark rage burning inside her. Hiding but desperate to come out.

Either way, the little blonde boy decided to just ignore it and get on with their adventure as possible siblings.

Evil Queen's Castle

Emma stood in front of a large mirror as she looked at herself in a very expensive dress. It was extremely uncomfortable for her and she was still questioning whether the tight corset that lifted up her assets was necessary. When the Queen said that she'd really be a different kind of slave, she wasn't lying because not too long after Emma was left behind by the Queen in the Tower, three maids came to her and basically forced her into a bath and the dress. She wouldn't complain about the bath if they didn't scrub her so hard and her wounds were stinging like they were on fire, but the women told her they had to clean her wounds very well and cover them up, by Queen's orders. But how was she supposed to heal if they put a corset so tight? She definitely felt some wounds splitting open again, but she didn't want to show any pain just in case the brunette woman got off of that. Which she probably did.

"Come, you have to serve the Queen now," one of the women told her, while another basically grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the main kitchen of the castle. She couldn't understand why they were being so hostile towards her, but maybe it's because the Queen is giving her extra care compared to everyone else? She noticed their gowns weren't as fancy as hers.

Once they got to the kitchen, the blonde's stomach growled, all the smells and sight of food only made her body remember how hungry it really was. She hadn't been fed anything for more than a day, other than a week-old bread left last night for her. "We will serve her majesty's food and you'll serve her wine, understood?" the older maid figure in the kitchen seemed almost as terrifying as the evil queen and Emma could tell she wasn't wanted here. So, she simply took the jug of wine with both of her hands. "You'll probably taste her majesty's food as well, so prepare yourself for that. It's an honour to protect her majesty."

"I'm sorry, what? Taste her food?" Emma asked, deeply confused.

"Yes child, taste her food. We never know who might poison our Queen, so we have to sacrifice ourselves for this Queendom," the older woman almost barked those words at her and folded her arms in front of her chest as she eyed Emma up and down.

"Poison?" It was all Emma could say as she looked at the woman with a 'you joking, right' face. The older maid basically dismissed her clueless state and decided to just get on with her duties.

Emma was left alone, standing on the same spot while still holding the jug of wine for ten minutes before every maid and the chef started moving towards the door. She figured that it was her cue to follow them, so she did.

As expected, the Evil Queen was sitting at the head of a huge long table, by herself. The maids placed the unnecessary number of dishes for just one person on top of the table and Emma just stood there, watching everything in a bit of awe. It was pretty impressive how this was actually Regina's life. Emma now wonders what the brunette really feels when she is the one cooking one dish back at her mansion. It's definitely a downgrade from this. – Once the food was placed and presented by the chef, the older maid looked at Emma and gave her a look basically to come forward and subtly pointed at the food...fuck, so this was the time for her to taste it. What if someone really poisoned her? Would she die right here? Just like that? By a piece of beef? It wasn't a bad way to go in her mind, but still.

The elderly maid mouthed at her to just go on with it and Emma took a deep breath before approaching the Queen. Once she was close enough to the table, she put the jug down, as gently as she could and bent slightly forward to reach out for the fork and knife and the first dish that looked more delicious to her. She was trying really hard to also avoid looking at the brunette, despite the situation, her heart and brain were still playing tricks on her.

The Evil Queen remained very still on her regal chair with her hands on top of her lap. She was used to this routine every meal, so nothing really amazed her about the food and now she was just waiting for her usual maid to taste her food. However, long locks of blonde hair basically cascaded by her side and so easily caught her sight, she follows the blonde path all the way up to a pale, concerned but very focused face. She decided to admire those features a bit longer. She was glad that her maids had really done proper pampering to her new slave. Emma looked absolutely stunning and that very obvious cleavage didn't go unnoticed and the Queen made sure Emma would see her looking as well, because eventually, the green eyes took a side glance and noticed that the Queen was basically undressing her with her eyes. Emma got very flustered and simply looked away while the Queen got a very smug smirk across her face.

After this brief exchange of eye contact, the brunette finally realised what Emma was actually doing. "Stop." She raised her hand.

Emma stopped, still with a slight blush over her pale cheeks.

"Why is one of my own personal ladies doing the tasting, Beatrice?" She asked with a stern glance at the head of the maids.

"Y-your majesty, I just assumed, because she is new, that she would do it like we've all done it before." The older maid, now named Beatrice, responded.

"Bold of you to assume that she would be another average maid like a lot of you. Don't you see that she is different?" Brown eyes started to show a bit of disgust.

"Y-yes, your m-majesty. I apologise for such assumptions," she made a deep bow, hoping that'd save her.

"You can apologise by tasting the food yourself."

"But your majesty-" Usually it was only the younger maids that did this task.

"Are you defying my orders, Beatrice?" The queen raised a very delicate eyebrow, giving the other woman a sceptical look.

"N-no, my grace," she bowed again and approached the table to taste the food.

Emma was simply standing on the same spot watching everything unfold in front of her. She knew the easiest way to get out of this place was to keep her mouth shut and mind her own business. However, she would love to have asked what the brunette means by Emma being 'special'. She called her lady, as well, which was something she hadn't done to any of the other workers.

Eventually, Beatrice began to eat a small piece of each dish and, so far, everything was fine and, despite Emma not being much a fan of the older woman, she was relieved nothing happened.

Beatrice bowed again after doing the tasting and took a step back from the table, but before she could go any further the queen spoke, "the wine."

Emma figured that was actually her time now, so she poured the wine into the tall glass. Beatrice looked quite defiant about taking the wine and that didn't go unnoticed by the queen. "Go on, drink it," she pointed at the glass.

"I'm sure it's fine your majesty, I poured it myself," Beatrice spoke in a bit of a shaky tone and when the queen didn't bother to move or say anything other than stare at her, she figured that was it. She had to drink the wine.

She did and in just a matter of seconds, she began to cough furiously and wheeze, gasping for air while dropping on her knees and holding onto the desk while stretching out her hand towards the Queen, hoping she'd save her. Of course, that didn't happen.

Emma gasped, "W-Wait! Help her!" She said while rushing to the older woman's side, completely forgetting about the jug of wine she was holding. It was now in different pieces, shattered on the floor, wine flowing everywhere over the wooden floor.

Beatrice was gasping for air and scratching her own throat as she fell back on the floor.

Emma was right by her side holding her head and wondering what she was supposed to do. The Evil Queen could definitely help her. She had strong magic. Emma knows how strong she actually is so she could save this person in time. "Why are you just sitting there?! You got magic! You can help her!"

The brunette simply watched the whole thing unfold very unbothered but with slight annoyance because Emma was causing a scene and she didn't like it when her slaves shouted at her or ordered her around. "Do I need to show you your place again, pet?" She clicked her tongue and waved her hand in a way that her guards knew it was for them to approach her. "I'm not saving a traitor."

Emma frowned and clenched her jaw as she stared deep into her dark eyes. Still felt a bit surreal how this woman is the same one she knows and loved and loves...but this is cruel for her. She knows that even she herself gets a bit temperamental and doesn't mind going for a fist fight on occasion, but death is a step too far. "How do you even know she is a traitor?!"

"Because she admitted it herself, she said she poured the wine herself. She wouldn't try the wine if I didn't tell her to do so when she knew she had to taste the wine. She has been with me for years. So..." looking over her shoulder, she ordered, "...take this traitor out of my sight and give her body to the family. If the poison doesn't kill her, a spear through her heart will."

Beatrice was starting to shake in Emma's arms, foaming at the mouth. The poison would definitely kill her.

"N-no, wait-" Emma looked up as five guards came up to her to retrieve Beatrice's body from her grasp, but despite everything, she still wanted to save this woman.

The Evil Queen is probably right that she is a traitor, but it's not like Emma could just let a woman die in her arms, not if she can do anything about it. "Wait!" She shouted at the guards while stretching out her palm over the older woman's body and concentrated all her magic on that spot. Emma still had the anti-magic collar around her neck but maybe if she tried really hard it could work.

It did not work. If anything, it backfired. A white light formed on her palm and that made the Evil Queen quickly stand up and stretch out her own arm, preparing herself to strike Emma if she needed to. But she didn't, because Emma's own magic stroke her first. "Ah!" She yelped in pain as her arm quickly shot back. It was a burning sensation that just went right up in her arm.

The guards looked over their queen just to confirm if it was safe for them to do so and the brunette woman still had her hand stretched out to the saviour's direction. This was the time they took their chance and quickly removed Beatrice's convulsing body away from Emma before walking out of the room to do their job on this matter.

"Aren't you awfully bold for a slave?" She asked with a tone of annoyance and her lower lip slightly up.

"I couldn't let a woman die," Emma struggled to speak those words while holding her arm. It was still very painful.

"That woman was going to kill me, she poisoned that wine."

"Well I..." Emma didn't have many words for that.

The Evil Queen began to approach her with her hand now down but still ready for anything. "You mentioned before, more or less, that you and I shared a past together that I have no recollection of. However, it gave me the impression that we might have cared a great deal about each other. Am I right?"

Emma looked up at her with a slight frown as she slowly stood up, keeping her arm pressed to her chest, cradling it. "Yea, you could say that." Emma didn't want to give out too much information about them, she already let a few things slip. She needed to be more careful.

"Then, I ask you, my slave," she said with a sassy tone, "wouldn't you have protected me in this situation? Would you have let someone poison me?" The Evil Queen was now just a couple of steps away from Emma. Due to how close they were, this forced the regal queen to raise her head slightly to look up at the green eyes that stared at her like they had seen so much of her before.

Emma bit the inside of her cheek, trying to control how nervous she felt about this closeness. "I...I guess I wouldn't, no."

"So, if she succeeded in her plan, you would have killed her, wouldn't you?" She pressed her fingertips under Emma's chin, her long red nails slightly digging into pale skin. "You'd be blinded by anger, wouldn't you?" Her goal with this questions was to try to figure out what type of relationship the both of them actually shared, if she knew that, she'd be a step closer to the truth.

But Emma didn't crack, she kept her jaw clenched tight and her breathing controlled, or so she thought, because the movement of her chest was betraying her. "I can't answer that." But she would. Deep down Emma knew that she'd probably have killed Beatrice herself if she had succeeded with her plan. Since the time of being the dark one she was never the same again and occasionally she would feel so angry to the point she wanted to hurt someone badly if they hurt her loved ones.

The Evil Queen just stared at her eyes for a few more seconds, trying to find the answer herself because she already knew the blonde wouldn't tell her anything. "I've never had such a loyal slave before, this will be fun," she grinned and curled up her fingers, scratching Emma's chin before turn around. "Anyway, this whole event killed my appetite and because of your misbehaviour I have things to do, so come." She started walking out.

Emma closed her eyes tight for a second once her chin got scratched but finally very relieved that she had her personal space back. "Huh, what?"

"I have to punish you, my dear. There's a long list of reasons why. For starters, you haven't addressed me with the respect you are supposed to. Secondly, I don't know if you weren't actually involved in all of this-"

"I would never!"

"Don't talk back," she clicked her tongue, "thirdly, you used your magic when you know you aren't supposed to. Quite amazed you still managed to do that. Anyway, and lastly, to talk back, of course." She looked over her shoulder and gave the blonde a smug smirk. "Oh and you broke one of my jugs." She pointed at the broken mess left on the floor.

Emma cursed herself before accepting her fate. The quicker they get this over and done with, the better. She wants her gown and corset off. Her wounds had been hurting with every movement, so even if she got whipped again, they could clean up everything again and perhaps she wouldn't have to wear the corset again. "Back to the tower, I assume." She said while starting to follow the queen.

"Oh no, dear. We are going to my private chambers."

Fuck.