A/N: Thanks to Crystal-Rose-Lover, fanfictor40, Buckskinangel, impureevilregal, SwanQueen4055 and VampWolf92 for reviewing/favouriting/following! Here's the next chapter!
The next day, Regina announced that she would be gone for a few days on some personal business, which caused some surprise. However, more surprise came when she told the King, Snow and Talulla that the latter would not be coming with her. This was followed by tears from the young girl, who had never been away from her mother for more than a day.
"Why, Mama? I no want you to go!" she sobbed, clinging onto the bottom of the Queen's cream gown.
"Hey, hey, I'll only be gone for a few days," the Queen soothed, bending down to the toddler's height and softly squeezing her arm in reassurance. "Snow and Abigail will look after you while I'm gone, and if you're a good girl, I'll take you for another ride on Rocinante and we can have a picnic in the fields, how does that sound?"
The young toddler still didn't look convinced.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I truly am, but I must do this. It's very important to me, and I know you won't understand now, but you will when you're older. There are some things we feel we must do in life. Unfortunately, this is one of them."
Regina watched the three-year-old's face as she tried to get her head round what her mother was saying.
"When you be back?" she asked finally.
"In a few days. I don't know exactly, sweetheart. However, I promise you that it will be no longer than a week." She smiled ruefully at her daughter, hoping for a small one back, but she was in no such luck. Talulla's eyes filled with tears before she turned and ran into the waiting arms of Abigail, sobbing her heart out.
Regina could only stand up and watch uselessly as her maid comforted her daughter. Yet, she consoled herself with the fact that what she was doing was not only for herself, but for Talulla. She wanted to bring Daniel back. That was why she was learning magic. She wanted her daughter to have her father. And that was what she wanted to do that week.
"Well, my Queen, do you want to talk to the guards about organising a carriage to… your intended destination?" King Leopold said, interrupted the awkward silence.
"No, I shall be getting there by other means," the Queen replied, slightly grateful that her husband had been the one to interrupt. "I do not wish to draw attention to myself in my task."
"But, my dear, you're a Queen, surely you don't want to be mistaken as a commoner?"
"Where I am going, it will not matter for there will be no one there who doesn't know who I am. They will not care if I arrive in a carriage or not."
"May I ask who it is you are going to visit?"
"An old friend," Regina replied, not wishing to tell the King his identity. "He was a friend of my mother's and there is a favour I wish to ask of him. One that needs to be asked face to face," she added as Leopold opened his mouth to interrupt.
However, then Snow did something very unexpected and it only took a moment for the Queen to understand why. She knew that she was going to meet Rumpelstiltskin!
"Regina!" The young girl ran up to her stepmother and flung her arms round her, much like she used to do before Talulla was born. Then she leant forward to whisper in Regina's ear, making it look like she was just hugging her. "Please don't see that man. If my father found out what you were doing, he would take no mercy," she uttered desperately.
Regina ignored her. There was no reason for Leopold to find out what she was up to. Snow was just being… well, Snow. Instead, she forced a smile at her stepdaughter and patted her back.
"I'll be fine, dear," she said out loud for everyone to hear. "There's no need to worry, I'll be back again soon."
"You pwomise?" Talulla's small voice popped up from over where she and Abigail were standing, making Regina jump before her face softened.
"Of course I promise, and when have I ever broken a promise to you?"
The little girl thought for a moment before she came toddling back over to her mother, pushing past Snow so she got all the attention. Regina complied, picking her up and cuddling her.
"Miss you," Talulla told her, looking forlorn.
"And I'll miss you too, sweetheart, but isn't it your bedtime?"
"No! I want be wiv you!" The toddler threw her arms round her mother's neck and held on.
"You must have your sleep, Tallie, otherwise you won't be well-behaved for Abigail. And if you're not well-behaved, then there'll be no ride on Rocinante and no picnic when I get back."
Talulla sighed. "Okay, bedtime," she said as her grip relaxed round Regina's neck and she rested head against her mother's shoulder.
"Good girl," the Queen murmured and took her leave, climbing up the stairs towards the child's bed chambers.
The next morning, Regina was up bright and early, before anyone else was awake. She wanted to leave before there could be any hassle made. The only part she didn't like was not telling Talulla she was leaving. When the young girl awoke and found her mother had left without letting her say goodbye, she would be heartbroken and no doubt there would be a huge tantrum. However, there was nothing the Queen could do. If she woke her, then she would create a huge fuss and wake the rest of the castle.
Creeping quietly into Talulla's room, she went over to where her daughter was sleeping peacefully, a smile across her face, and leant down, gently pressing her lips to the toddler's forehead.
"Goodbye, Tallie," she whispered softly. "The next time I see you, I may have a visitor in tow. One I know you desperately want to meet. I'm sorry I have to leave you, but I'm doing this not just for me, but for both of us. You'll see."
She swallowed away the lump in her throat before quietly slipping out of the room, taking one last glance at her daughter from the hallway before carefully shutting the door behind her.