Chapter 17

Battle of the Two Kingdoms

(Daniella's POV)

Several months have passed since Mother declared that we were at war against Snow's kingdom. In these months, Snow had somehow managed to gather an army composed out of our past allies who recently just shifted their alliances. Mother was livid. When there was a war meeting, I would always notice that there was one less member who came out of the room. I could only assume that it was because they were killed as a result of bearing the news that we had lost another one of our allies. Luckily however, the armies of King George and King Midas still stood by our side.

Even though my mother and I would not be physically involved with the fighting, Mother decided that I should learn to handle a sword. Ever since the day when Snow waged war, mother got her knights to teach me how to fight with weapons. I much preferred using my magic but I have to admit, sword fighting was pretty enjoyable. I knew that the knights were going soft on me but it didn't matter. On the day before the battle, I was training in the practice room when Mother walked in, clothed in the armour that she was to wear to the battlefield.

I finished the drill with the knight before turning around to face Mother. I caught my breath and asked,"Mama, what are you doing here?"

"What do you think, dear? I've come to polish my skills. I'm a little rusty with the sword."

My mouth gaped open. "I never knew that you could use a sword!"

Mother smirked, "Of course I can. It's just, I prefer my magic."

Quietly, I replied, "Me too."

Then, Mother put her hand out to the side as a black sword appeared in her hand. Nodding towards the knight who was training me, she said, "Alright, let's go."

I stepped to the side just as my mother and the knight began to duel. I was a little shocked to see my mother fight strongly against the him. I mean, I knew that he was careful not to duel too harshly against my mother...but still!

I grinned, thinking that the battle would run smoothly as planned. However, it didn't go as I thought it would...

(Regina's POV, the following day, night time)

As I overlooked the burning village below me, I heard the sound of one of my knights canter forward. I tugged on the reins and turned Equinox around. The knight hurriedly spoke, "My Queen, we've received word. Snow White and her Prince have defeated King George. His army has fallen. The kingdom is theirs."

What?! "And what of George? What of Midas' army?"

"George's fate is unknown but without his forces, we are now alone. King Midas' army has fled. We cannot defeat Snow's forces on our own-"

"Do not tell me what we can or can't do understand?"

The knight nervously fell into silence. Then, I lowered my voice and asked, "Where is Snow White now?"

"Alone, on her way to meet the Prince."

I grinned, "Excellent. I don't care how many men you lose. Keep them apart long enough for me to find her. I will not let them defeat me."

I snarled and kicked Equinox, making her canter into the forest. Before leaving the group however, I heard Daniella's horse follow me. I looked back saying, "Daniella! Stay here with the knights until I come back. It's not safe in the forest."

Daniella exhaled and asked, "Then why are you going into the forest, Mama?"

"I'm going to find Snow but I'll be fine, you don't need to worry about me."

Daniella looked at me pleadingly but I stared into her eyes to force her to retreat. Indeed, she gave up and retreated back towards the knights who immediately enclosed her within them.

Equinox and I were deep amongst the tall trees for perhaps half an hour before I caught the glimpse of something white running through the woods. I squinted at the figure and smirked. Found you, Snow!

I pursued her and as I got closer, Snow tripped over a rock and fell. My heart hammered with glee and excitement as I dismounted my house, taunting, "Leaving the battle so soon?"

Snow got up and brushed off the dirt on her white outfit. "The battle's over, Regina. Our army is greater than yours. You can't win."

I inwardly grimaced at the failure of my army and seethed, "Well, that all depends on your definition of victory."

"I offer you parley to negotiate the terms of your surrender," Snow began.

"My surrender? Fine, fair enough. My terms are quite simple, Snowflake. Your death."

As I approached her, Snow suddenly looked up and shouted loudly, "Now!"

I widened my eyes as I followed her gaze only to see a glittery blue orb hit my body. My hand was raised but I couldn't move it. Realising that I was paralysed, my head twitched to look at Snow and Charming who were approaching. Then, I muttered in realisation, "It was all a trap."

Snow stepped closer to me and replied, "You should've surrendered when I gave you the chance." The prince added, "We knew you couldn't resist going after Snow. Now, because of your bloodlust, the kingdom is ours. Your reign of evil is over."

I glared at the pair of them as two knights approached me from behind. How did I not realise that there were so many people hiding here?!

Then, Snow indicated towards a caged wagon and said to the knights and the Blue fairy, "Put her in there. We'll take her to the Dark Army first, to show them that they had lost."

I maintained a blank expression on my face as the Blue fairy put cuffs on my hands, restraining my magic. Then, she released me from the paralysing spell which allowed the knights to take me into the cage. Even though I didn't say a word of protest or defence, my heart beat in fear as the knights locked me behind the metal bars. I hated being trapped; it was both humiliating and torturous. And it also reminds me of being trapped under Leopold's body.

I shook my thoughts away as Snow's army began to move towards my own. As we approached, I suddenly thought about Daniella. Oh heavens. What are they going to do with her?

When my army came into view, there was a look of shock on the Black Knights' faces before it turned to fear. To my embarrassment, they panicked like headless chickens. Whilst some remained standing still, others slowly backed off. However, Snow approached them and shouted, "Your kingdom has fallen, we've captured your Queen. You have two choices; surrender or face the same fate as her."

Fate? That took away my breath. This time, the majority of my army turned around to back off. As the soldiers cleared, there were a couple of knights left scattered in front of us. Amongst them, in the middle, was Daniella. I beamed with pride for I knew that she was forcing herself to look strong...but I didn't want her to die.

"Daniella. Go with the knights."

Everyone whipped their heads to face me. However, I only had eyes for my firefly. She dismounted and shook her head. Then, she ignored everyone's gaze and walked towards me. When she got nearer, I realised that she also had cuffs on her hands. Great. We were both powerless.

Without taking her eyes off me, Daniella turned towards Snow's knights and said, "Put me in there with my mother. I won't be separated again."

The knights guarding the caged wagon obeyed her request to my disappointment.

(Daniella's POV)

When we arrived at King George's castle, which now belonged to Snow and her Prince, I was thrown into a separate cell from my mother. They had stripped me of my armour and put me in a simple brown dress that resembled what I've worn for the majority of my lifetime. I grimaced at the itchy fabric since it reminded me of the life that was never meant to live.

In the cell, I sat down on the hard wooden plank that folded down from the wall. After making sure that there was no one outside my cell, I tucked myself into the corner and cried. As tears fell down my cheeks, I thought about my mother's fate. They won't kill her, will they? ...will they kill me as well?

I shuddered and tried to pry the cuffs restraining my magic off my wrists. However, they didn't budge one bit. Eventually, I gave up and curled back into a ball. That was when I heard soft footsteps patter up the stairs of the tower. I looked up to see Snow peer into my cell. Then, she whispered something to the guard and moments later, the door opened. I took my arms from my legs and stood up as Snow walked into the room.

"Daniella, come with me."

Slowly, I walked towards her but when Snow put her hand on my back, I quickly shrugged it away and gave her a cold stare. After exhaling, she lead me out of the cell and up the flight of spiralling stairs.

When we got to the top, she nodded towards the guards who were standing outside a cell door. They immediately unlocked it and without saying another word, Snow brushed past me and left. I walked through the open door to see my mother sitting at a small table by the window. "Mama!"

I rushed into her arms and whilst the guards locked the cell door again, my mother quickly embraced me into her arms. Whispering, she started to sob, "Daniella, my little firefly..."

"Mama, what did they say? Are they going to kill you?"

Mother averted my gaze and didn't answer. "Mama! Mama! What did they say? Are you going to die? Please tell me that they won't kill you."

My mother brushed a hair off my face as she replied softly, "Snow and her Prince are quite determined to make this my end."

My heart stopped. No, no, no... Tears sprung from my eyes as I sobbed into my mother, "No, I won't lose you again. They can't, they can't do that...they can't kill you."

Mother took my face into her cold hands and looked straight into my puffy eyes. Then, she said softly, "I'm so sorry little firefly. I really wish that we could be together for much longer. This is all my fault; if I knew that I were to lose you again, I would have never threatened Snow into war. I need to avenge your father's death but it should not be at the price of me losing you. I'm so sorry, I...I..."

Mother stopped and swallowed, letting tears trickle down her face. Then, she looked up at me and muttered, "You have to be strong, my little firefly. Strong in the sense that you mustn't seek revenge for what will happen to me. Don't fall down the path that I took. It won't make you happy...I just want you to be happy."

"Mama..."

My mother wrapped me back into a tight embrace as she whispered, "Your father and your mother will always be watching over you from the heavens, you must remember that you're never alone...we both love you, Daniella."

Quietly, I muttered, "But I love you too, and I don't want to lose you."

"I'm sorry Daniella, but some things are destined to happen."

I looked up and spluttered, "Some things? Things like you getting killed and me losing you again?!"

"Daniella, calm down. I won't have you spend your final moments with me in anger."

I swallowed as my mother stood up and lead me towards the bed that hung from the wall. She sat down and patted her lap saying, "Here, lie down here and get some rest."

"You want me to sleep?!"

"I want you to know that I love you. I'm going to tell you a story; the story of your father and I. Hopefully, you can relax a little."

Hesitantly, I lied down on the hard wooden plank and put my head onto my mother's lap. In the flickering warm light of the candles in the cell, mother took me to slumber with her soft, soothing voice. I closed my eyes, feeling her hand gently rub my back. Maybe this is just a dream. Maybe things will get better when I wake up in the morning.

(Next morning)

I was woken up by the clink of metal armour. Slowly blinking open my eyes, I saw the door of the prison cell swing open. Wait..what?...oh. The realisation hit me like the arrow that struck me weeks ago. I felt my voice fail me so instead, I shook my mother's resting body. She groaned with a frown, indicating that she hadn't actually slept. In fact, her eyes looked so tired and worn. When she sat up, she wrapped her arms around me tightly. Then, we both looked up to see four guards storm into the cell.

"Mother?" I stammered in fear as they walked towards us.

The guards ripped us apart roughly and whilst two of them fastened chains around my hands, the other two did the same to my mother. "Mama..."

"What are you doing?! Are you going to kill my daughter too?" Mother shouted with disbelief as she tried to reach for me.

One of the guards grunted a reply, "No. Only you die."

"Then why are you putting chains on my daughter, you bastard?"

Chuckling, the guard said, "Its His Highness's orders that your daughter will be there to witness your execution."

My mother's face paled. "She's a child! You can't do that. Leave her here, she can't watch her own mother being executed!"

Before I could say anything, the guard said simply, "I'll watch that tone if I were you. You're not the queen anymore."

Mother didn't reply but she glanced nervously at me as we were both lead out of the cell and out of the tower. We emerged into the castle courtyard and my face drained, seeing the large crowd that had gathered there. They were all jeering at my mother and I, demanding for our deaths. Just when I thought I couldn't handle it anymore, I spotted a face in the crowd that made me gasp. Oh no, no, no. Teagan was here.

The crowd cleared a path as my mother and I passed by. I deliberately averted my gaze from the dreadful stake that had been set up in the middle of the square. At the moment, I was only able to hear the rush of blood in my ears, that were in sync with my quickening heartbeats. I began to shake when I was ordered to stand on the sidelines, right in front of Snow and the Prince. I tried to glare at their faces but I couldn't bring myself to do so as I didn't want to miss my mother's last moments. As they tied her to the stake, I felt my legs give away and I fell onto the cold cobblestone floor. The guards beside me heaved me back up as they grunted.

The crowd suddenly became quiet. A cricket had flown up to my mother and he must have communicated something for she answered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Yes. Yes I do."

I looked briefly at the crowd and spotted grandfather. He gave my mother a reassuring nod as she glanced between him and I. Her eyes seemed to linger on mine for a while. I saw just a sliver of a sad smile before she took a deep breath and began, "I know I'm being judged for my past, a past where I've caused pain, a past where I've inflicted misery, a past where I've...even brought death. When I look back at everything I've done, I want you all to know what I feel, and that is...regret."

The crowd murmured. My own mouth gaped open as my mother continued, "Regret that I was not able to cause more pain...inflict more misery, and bring about more death. And above all else, with every ounce of my being, I regret that I was not able to kill...Snow White!"

My stomach plummeted to the ground as the Prince stood up behind me and shouted, "Arrows!"

Then, the knights next to my mother blindfolded her. Before they did so however, my mother locked her gaze with me in a sad, loving way. The Prince continued to speak, "Take your aim!"

I whipped my head around and looked at Snow pleadingly. She glanced at me and then looked back up towards my mother. I turned back around and held my breath. Then, the Prince said the final word. "Fire."

I watched as the arrows soared through the air but when they neared my mother, there was a scream, "Stop!"

The arrows were stopped in midair, by the Blue Fairy.

Charming behind me uttered, "Snow?"

I turned around to see the Princess shake her head and step down from the podium. "This is not the way." Then, she walked through the crowd and out of the courtyard. The knights had begun to untie my mother from the stake. Surprisingly, I felt the chains on my hands disappear. At the corner of my eye, I saw a speck of blue hover behind my back but I didn't care to thank the fairy who had released me from my chains. I immediately ran towards my mother and before the guards could tear me away, I plummeted into her. We held onto each other without saying a single word. It wasn't until the guards tore us apart, did we separate.