Thanks for all the reviews!
Let me know what you think of this one, I seem inspired at the moment so chapters are getting done fairly quickly but reviews always help ;)
I re-read the entire story to try and get the tone right for this chapter and can I just apologise for all the typo's in previous chapters! I beta my own work and seems I keep missing stuff, so sorry 'bout that.
And anyone who has yet to check out my good friend Spookshowbaby's latest fic, Keep Your Enemies Closer, I would highly recommend that you do :)
Enjoy!
xxxxx
"Braxas, monitor the crowd. Viewing remains open until he dies. Send Red to notify me when he does. I'm curious how long he will last," wine red lips curled in a cruel smile as she spoke. Emma caught the look and was disgusted with herself when she found it arousing.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the head guard saluted as the queen swept past.
"Come pet, we have much to discuss," Emma fell into position behind her mistress, head jammed with conflicting thoughts to which she required answers.
The walk back to the queen's rooms was silent. Each woman lost in her own thoughts.
When they had reached their destination Emma stood awkwardly in the centre of the queen's outer chamber, she did this as her mistress had raised a finger, indicating she should stay where she was while the older woman left the room. When Regina returned her pet was standing with her thumbs hooked in the waistband of her pants, leg bent at the knee as she waited, eyes staring sightlessly down at the rug under her boots.
It was a much more casual pose than the slave usually adopted and it was obvious she had a lot on her mind for the blonde's focus to be so off. Regina didn't comment, instead approached her pet and by doing so caught the slave's attention.
"Sit." An elegant finger pointed to the edge of the queen's desk. "Take that shirt off first," the queen commanded, gesturing at the blood stained piece of clothing, stained from the blonde's fight with Greta. Emma did as she was told and winced as she pulled the shirt over her head. The cuts from the young wolf's claws stung like a bitch, they had started to scab over and at least one had bonded to the shirt.
Regina frowned as she examined the wounds. Four parallel gashes across the blonde's abdominal muscles, starting shallowly and deepening as they crossed pale flesh and she knew if they went uncleaned they could easily get infected. Not because Greta's hygiene was poor but because wolf claws carried a mild venom that broke down its victims cells and prevented proper healing. Emma sat bolt upright on the edge of the desk as she was examined, conscious of her breathing, not wanting to distract her mistress.
"Keep still," Regina ordered as she dipped her fingers in the pot of salve she was holding. "Wolf claws have venom, this will neutralise it and help you heal," she explained to her slave, knowing her pet would not know this and be curious.
"Thank you, Mistress," Emma murmured as she watched the queen cover her wounds in a generous layer of the salve, fingers working it into the slices.
"I would prefer it if you did not develop a fever before they healed," the queen replied brusquely, her tone saying 'why else would I be doing this?' "There, as pleasant as the view is please put on a clean shirt. Actually, change completely. You worked up quite a sweat fighting my wolves," Regina smirked as the blonde hopped gracefully down from the desk.
"Yes, Mistress," Emma acknowledged the request with a nod and strode to her room. As soon as the door was in her hand and about to be closed behind her the queen spoke again.
"No. Let me see you," Regina forbade the slave from shutting the door. "We will not be entertaining again today so please choose from the nightwear I have had made for you." The request gave Emma pause, she had never had the opportunity to wear any of the lingerie style silk shifts her mistress had given her. Emma continued to strip until she was naked, making sure that she completed this act as smoothly as possible, knowing the queen was more than likely watching her. A few moments to splash some water on her face and chest, dry off and then locate one of the requested items. In this case a green silk negligée trimmed with black lace, and slip it on. It barely covered her ass cheeks and only half of her bosom but the blonde assumed that was the point.
Regina had taken a seat on her day bed and watched her pet move with smooth efficiency, enjoying the stretch of muscles rippling under pale skin. An inaudible hum as she approved of the blonde's attire, dark eyes fixed on the slave as she re-entered the room and after the arc of a questioning brow took her customary position, kneeling by the queen's chair.
"So," the queen began, "for the purpose of this conversation you may speak freely. Ask any question you want and I will answer truthfully, if I am able to provide an answer for you and it is relevant to the topic of your parentage." Emma's head jerked up at that, surprised about how open the queen was prepared to be. "If I deem it to be off topic I will not punish you," Regina added magnanimously. "But I will not answer."
"Yes, Mistress. Thank you, Mistress," Emma replied, not wanting to mention the fact that it was the least she deserved after being pulled though into another world to be the queen's body slave. But, he would take the opening while it was available. What other choice did she have?
"So?" Regina reclined with the goblet of cider she had summoned. To be honest she was curious what her pet might ask of her.
"Um," Emma frowned, cursing herself for her ineloquence. "Why do you think that those people, the prince and Snow White are my parents?" It was a simple question yet the answer weighted. Regina took a sip of her cider then inhaled before answering, it was the most obvious question for the slave to ask annd one she had been anticipating.
"Because they are the only idiots I know of who sent their days old baby through a magic portal into another world," Regina scoffed at the stupidity of the couple. "What on earth did they think would happen? That little birdies would come and care for the child?" Emma watched the queen's emotions play out as she spoke and had to agree with her.
"Why do you think this is me? That I am their child?" Emma asked, re-phrasing her question in the hopes of getting more information.
"There are several reasons," Regina sighed again, pausing to take another sip, acutely aware of the green eyes observing her. "Firstly, the spell that brought you here was attuned to what I had calculated to be the magical signature of their child. It could never be completely accurate as I did not have any of the child's blood. Only that of her parents," Emma frowned, not quite understanding. Regina adjusted her position, taking pity on the slave's lack of magical education.
"Every being has a life force," Emma nodded, listening intently. "Each individual's life force is unique but a child will have certain elements from its parents."
"Like magical DNA," Emma interrupted with a smile as she grasped the concept.
"DNA?" Regina queried, too curious to reprimand the slave for her interruption.
"Yes," Emma confirmed. "In my world there is not magic but instead we explain how the world works with science," she looked at her mistress to gage her level of interest. A nod from the queen bade her to continue. "DNA is what makes a person or animal individual but the DNA of every person is more or less unique, the exception being identical twins." Yes, Regina was aware of that concept, rare, but it happened and the siblings carried the same magical signature. "But, despite being unique there are traits inherited from both parents. For example eye colour or inherited diseases."
"I see, it sounds a similar concept," Regina mused, mildly impressed by this thing called 'Science' it seemed much inferior to magic but more evolved than she had expected.
"Yes, so I understand that you can deduce who my parents might be without having definitive proof," Emma concluded.
"Indeed, although you are a child of True Love, a rare creature indeed," the queen confirmed. "It narrows down the odds of your parentage by a huge percentage." Emma nodded. "Very few fools find true love, let alone send a baby girl to another world." Regina turned her gaze to her pet, the blonde was biting her lip as she studied the fur rug she was kneeling on.
"You didn't know who I was when I arrived. You said you were looking for a six year old. I'm twenty four. How is that explained?" Emma jumped on the one thing that she couldn't understand, it could mean that she wasn't related to the couple she had met yesterday. The woman who had whipped her could not be her mother.
"I cannot say for certain," the queen paused for another sip of her drink and Emma resisted the strong urge to knock it out of her hands until she had all the answers she wanted, needed to hear. Instead she took a deep breath and exhaled, centering herself, now was not the time to lose control or she may never hear the truth. "It is a known fact to those who cross between worlds that time moves differently in each. I can only assume that is the explanation. It took me nearly six years to perfect the spell and it seems many more have passed for you, dear," Regina placed a finger under her pet's chin.
"I cannot say that I am complaining though," she smirked. Emma didn't pull away when she was kissed, just opened her mouth and enjoyed the feel of the queen's lips on hers, unable to deny the affect the woman had on her. Regina pulled back after a few moments, forcing herself to stay on track and not get distracted by the blonde's many assets. When the queen's calming influence was removed the pressure of the situation revisited the blonde.
"Why?" The word was bitter, carrying years of resentment in its isolated syllable.
"Why?" Regina laughed, the sound startling her pet who looked up,l a scowl marring her pretty features. "Why did they send you away?"
"Yes -, Mistress," Emma added, almost forgetting herself and whilst the queen was showing leniency for now she didn't want to push her luck and end this conversation prematurely. Regina noticed the effort but didn't comment, simply putting it down to her pet's dedication to her current role.
"Because I threatened to curse you," was the simple reply. "But like I said to you yesterday, I would not have killed you. Taken you from them maybe or cursed you to sleep if that had not already been done, I prefer to be original," Regina purred. Despite the topic of conversation Emma couldn't help appreciating the queen's ego.
"I was a handful as a child, rebellious, a tom-boy," Regina was unfamiliar with the term but guessed its meaning.
"Then maybe Red would have had a friend to grow up with," she smiled at the blonde. "I would have ensured your respect but you would have been fed and clothed. Schooled. I doubt it would have been as hard as the life you depict," the queen acknowledged with a tilt of her head and she fell silent.
Emma took a moment to absorb what she was being told. So far she hadn't detected any bullshit, the queen was telling the truth. If her parents had not sent her away she might very well have ended up exactly where she was now but would probably have had a better life along the way.
"Why did you want to curse me?" Intelligent green eyes were narrowed as they observed her and Regina had to force herself to remain still, her automatic reaction would be to flinch if such a personal topic was ever raised, it never was. Until now.
"I did not wish to curse you, as such," the queen explained. "But I wanted to make your parents suffer and what better way to achieve that than to threaten their newborn child?" The words were cool but hearing that she, Emma had done nothing to deserve the life she had lived, caused her anger to rise.
Regina had been expecting this at some point. To be honest her pet had been much calmer than expected so far.
"I was grievously wronged by your mother when I was a young woman, I sought revenge," the queen stated simply. "I could not bear her to be happy," Regina stopped speaking, realising she had said more than she had meant to. Emma stayed silent, something about the tone of her mistresses voice gave her pause. There was obviously more to the story than the queen was telling her.
"In my world there is a story of an evil queen who marries a king with a young daughter. The king dies and the queen tries to kill his daughter but she escapes and live in the forest ,-" Emma cried out as the queen's palm made contact with her face, the shock of the blow totally unexpected.
"Who has been telling you tales? Red?" Regina roared as she held the slave by her throat, fingers tightening in rage.
"No! No, Mistress!" Emma gasped, forcing herself to stay in position and not fight the hold. "Please believe me, it is a story told to children. A fairy tale." she gasped through constricting fingers. Regina had been caught totally off guard by the slave's words and had let her guard down, lashing out to protect herself. Now, staring into green eyes she saw only fear, not deceit and relaxed her hold, slightly.
"What else do they say, these fairy tales?" The queen snarled and Emma tried to focus.
"They -, they tell of a princess who pricked her finger on a spindle and slept for a hundred years. Of witches and cottages made of candy and ginger bread." Emma gasped as she was freed, the queen snatching her hand back.
"What else?" Emma wracked her brain, trying to think of more of the classics, not the Disney versions.
"They tell of genies and flying carpets, mermaids and dragons." Regina had relaxed back into her chair but was listening intently. "Speak to Red, when I first met her I told her of a story I had heard about a girl who fought a wolf that ate her grandmother. The story is called Little Red Riding Hood. I thought it was just a story, that all this -," Emma gestured around her, "was just a story!" She coughed, trying to clear her throat after having it so tightly constricted.
"Here," Regina had heard enough to confirm that her pet had not been lying or baiting her. Emma baulked when the cup of cider was thrust under her nose but didn't stop to question the gesture, just took a sip of the surprisingly soothing liquor.
"Thank you, Mistress. I am sorry if I have offended you. That was not my intention," Emma apologised after she had swallowed and regained her position, correcting her balance and straightening her spine. The blonde keeping her eyes down in an attempt to appease the queen.
"Luckily for you, I believe you," Regina acknowledged, her mask firmly back in place. "But I must discover who has been crossing worlds," she murmured almost to herself.
"Some of these tales are over a hundred years old, Mistress," Emma explained, chancing a look at the queen. "But it makes sense if time moves differently," she shrugged. It was not what she wanted to spend her time discussing right now and hoped that the queen would not get sidetracked.
"It does, but it intrigues me," Regina mused. "You must tell me more about your world, but not now," she didn't the tension leave her pet's shoulders as she spoke.
"Let us say that whilst it seems some of the tales you have heard may be based on fact, the events may not be historically correct," the queen surmised, neither confirming or denying the truth of her own tale.
"Yes, Mistress," Emma bowed her head, knowing that she was lucky to be relatively unharmed after the queen's outburst, let alone able to continue the conversation she was so desperate to have.
However, if the queen's tale was even remotely true it gave Emma pause. Especially given the odd snippet about the queen she had caught from Red and the history of the kingdom. If Snow White was approximately in her mid to late twenties now and the queen was around thirty then the old king, Snow White's father, must have been much, much older than her mistress when they married. Emma wasn't stupid, she knew how things had probably worked and marital rape was as good an excuse as any to cook up a curse or two. Plus, the queen seemed to have gotten past it, Red had said that she was no longer actively trying to kill her step-daughter so she had obviously moved on, Emma reasoned.
Regina watched the thoughts play out on her pet's face, her mask in tatters and the real woman visible. It intrigued her to wonder what the blonde was thinking as she sat there, it was a lot for anyone to take in, let alone someone from another world entirely.
Emma stayed silent while she digested the information she had been given.
"Can you be sure?" The blonde questioned, head tilted to one side in way Regina found incredibly attractive, it brought out a hint of naivete in the otherwise closed off slave.
"As sure as I can be," the queen replied. "The question is, how will this affect you?" Emma frowned, silent as she considered what she had been told.