Chapter 6 Broken dreams
The next morning Cora decided to go to her daughter's room to bring the good news. As she turned around the corner, she noticed the maids waiting outside Regina's room. Confusion struck her face as she questioned their presence.
"What is the meaning of this? Why are you all still outside?"
The maids bowed down before speaking, "Your majesty, Princess Regina has not answered our call."
Cora gestured the maids to move aside and decided to knock on the door herself but when she didn't receive any response, she grabbed the doorknob and found it unlocked.
She entered the room with the maids right behind her. She went up to Regina's bed to notice she was still asleep.
Cora nodded at one of the maids to wake Regina up from her slumber. The maid nodded in agreement before stepping up to Regina's bed to shake her away.
This caused Regina to turn over in her bed, facing Cora. "Regina it is past your time to wake," Cora spoke out giving Regina a chance to open her eyes.
Regina sat up and leaned back on the headboard of the bed. She rubbed her eyes off the sleep. And finally decided to look around her to notice her mother standing right in front of her with the maids.
Cora's presence startled Regina out of her bed. "Mother!" she said in shock. She quickly wrapped the nightgown around her body and looked down in shame.
"What is the meaning of this Regina?" Cora asked as she approached her daughter still in her nightdress.
Regina looked up to find Cora staring at her with a questioning look on her face. "I am sorry I overslept mother. It won't happen again."
Cora wanted to be angry but at the same time, her reason for coming over was to share the good news with her daughter. She decided to let this incident go. "Just make sure it doesn't become a habit. It is not very ladylike, Regina."
Regina nodded her head, "Yes, mother."
"Alright, the rest of you can take your leave. I will be tending to Regina today. And make sure no one disturbs us for a little while." Cora addressed the maids, dismissing them right away from Regina's room. The maids bowed down and left the room as quickly as possible.
Once the maids were gone, Regina finally looked at her mother and asked, "I can dress, mother. I'll be downstairs as soon as possible. You don't have to worry about me."
Cora moved towards Regina and put her hands on her shoulder. She smiled a big smile at Regina which confused Regina immensely.
"Don't worry about that, my love. I have very good news to share with you. I wanted some time alone with you this morning." Cora spoke as she sat Regina in front of her dresser mirror.
Cora leaned down to put her face right next to Regina's as she smiled at her through the mirror.
"There is a proposal for you from a very prosperous kingdom." The moment Cora spoke those words, dread crept into Regina's mind and heart. Her eyes went wide with horror. She looked right back at her mother through the mirror with no emotion on her face.
"Mother…I..I...I cca..n't." Regina spoke so low that Cora had trouble hearing her as she had started playing with Regina's hair.
"What was that dear?" Cora questioned as she continued moving Regina's hair from one side to the other. She grabbed the comb off the table and was about to comb Regina's hair when Regina stood up and quickly turned around to face her mother.
"I can't do that mother," Regina spoke with confidence not hesitating this time. Her mind was running wild with the thoughts of Ruby.
Cora completely ignored her statement since the mark on Regina's neck was staring right back at her.
"Where?! Where the hell did you get that from, Regina?!" Cora almost screamed out, so close to losing her temper at the thought of that mark being what she was assuming it was.
Horror struck Regina again and her hand quickly went up to her neck to cover the mark. But it was too late, Cora had seen it and there was no turning back now.
"HAVE YOU BEEN SLEEPING AROUND WITH SOMEONE?!" Cora questioned so harshly that it made Regina flinch and tense up where she was standing.
"NO! Mother! I am in love with someone. Please don't do this to me. I really love her; I want to be with her" Regina pleaded as she got on her knees and grabbed Cora's feet to beg.
Fury filled Cora's mind and body, she kicked Regina off her feet causing her to hit her head on the dresser behind her.
"YOU WILL NOT DO THIS TO ME, REGINA! YOU WILL MARRY TO WHOM I SAY YOU WILL!" Cora screamed at her. Regina couldn't help but let tears pour out of her eyes.
It broke her heart into pieces. This is not how she wanted things to go. She wanted to be with Ruby till the day she dies.
Cora could hear Regina's sobs and leaned down to grab Regina's hair from the back of her head and pulled back until Regina winched in pain with tears rolling down her face.
"Understand this Regina, you will agree to this proposal and live with it. No other options. Understood?" Cora inquired as she yanked on her hair again as Regina forced herself to nod her head in agreement. Cora threw her on the bed and turned around to leave.
Her hand grabbed the doorknob and opened it. Before Cora left, she turned towards Regina and spoke in the calmest of the voices, "Get dressed and be downstairs in 15 minutes."
Tears poured out of her eyes; she didn't know how to stop herself. The pain in her heart was so strong. She felt as if she was dying on the inside. After a couple of minutes, she forced herself to get up and get ready. She didn't want to make her mother angry more than she already had.
Ruby's day started out the opposite of Regina's. She had to endure a little bit of the wrath from granny but overall, it was bearable. No physical pain or damage.
She was currently on her way to go see her best friend that she hadn't seen for a couple of months now. Of course, she had to make up an excuse to leave Granny's side. But after many tries of failure, success was achieved. She lied about wanting time along to herself to work on her skills to tame the wolf. At first Granny didn't buy the excuse but after so much coaxing from Ruby, Granny gave in.
She left the cave with a big cheeky grin on her face, having accomplished her mission. She had been running through the forest for a while now. She knew she was almost at her destination. She had so much to share with her best friend. She couldn't wait to inform her best friend about Regina.
As she neared their meeting spot at a cliff of a waterfall, she finally spotted a figure, moving about wielding a sword. She stopped in her tracks noticing the figure land neat strikes with the finest sword a swordsman could ask for.
She dashed towards the individual as they were about to strike another blow. But Ruby didn't realize the individual was quick on their feet and before she knew it the sword stopped right at her neck.
'Whew! That was a close one' she thought as she looked at the person in front of her.
The person quickly retreated, sheathing the sword. "Ruby, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"Hello to you to Emma." Ruby greeted as she rubbed her neck spot where the sword was. Emma just glared at her.
"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad," Ruby spoke as she gave Emma a big o smile.
Emma couldn't help but give in and greeted Ruby with a smile of her own. "Don't do that next time. I could have cut off your head." Emma stated with concern on her face.
"Eh, you worry too much Em. You do realize I'm a werewolf. I have amazing reflexes." Ruby reminded her.
"I know. I know. But still, I worry for you, my friend." Emma said as she embraced Ruby in a hug.
They stayed like that for a little bit. Once they let go of each other they stared at the scenery in front of them. They were on top of the waterfall, watching the water splash down and run along the river. The view was amazing. They could also view Emma's parents' kingdom from this cliff.
"I am sorry. I haven't come to see you Em." Ruby apologized feeling guilty for neglecting her best friend.
Emma put her arm along Ruby's shoulder and pulled her closer. "Don't worry about it. I am just glad we are finally seeing each other. We have all the time today to catch up on each other." Emma smiled at Ruby.
They decided to find a nice spot under one of the trees, once that was done both decided to lay there as they casually discussed different things that transpired in the last couple of months. Before they knew it, it was starting to get dark. Emma decided to build a little fire to keep them warm from the cool breeze.
They both sat around the fire, feeling the warmth of the fire. "I met someone" Ruby blurted out, out of nowhere."
"Okay…" Emma said with confusion on her face. She looked at Ruby to say more but noticed her blushing bright red. That's when she understood what Ruby meant by that statement.
"Oh..man…that someone!" Emma said still shocked at the fact.
"What's her name?" Emma asked trying to pry for information. Ruby finally composed herself to answer. "Regina, her name is Regina." She said as she got lost in her thoughts of Regina and her inescapable beauty.
"Man, look at you. She already has you wrapped around her fingers." Emma said as she burst out laughing at the daydreaming look on Ruby's face.
Ruby snapped out of her daze at Emma's laugh and grabbed a pebble to throw it at Emma which Emma blocked effortlessly.
"Okay..okay…I won't make fun of you." Emma declared as she still snickered. Ruby still didn't believe her but backed off for now.
"On a serious note, I am happy for you Ruby," Emma said offering a soft smile as a truce. Ruby then decided to share more about her relationship with Regina, how it started and how it was going. The whole time Ruby talked about Regina, Emma noticed the happiest smile on her face which made her happy as well to see her best friend in love and very content.