Chapter 2.

Snow set the now empty bowl of food she had been handed beside her as she stood, heading over to Stephen, the queen's captain. Emma watched but with a mouth full of food was unable to speak to stop her.

"Excuse me captain." Snow spoke, standing tall, unafraid, and regal. "I would like an audience with the queen." Stephen looked Snow up and down raising an eyebrow and smirking he nodded and turned heading towards the queen's camp fire which was separate from Snow's and some of the queen's men. Snow watched as he approached the red headed queen lowering to speak in her ear. The queen turned slightly to Stephen listening. Snow saw the queen nodding to Stephen as he bowed and walked back toward Snow.

"What are you doing?" Emma asked standing beside her mother. Snow hadn't even heard her approach she so focused on the queen.

"I want to find out who our hostess is." Snow replied to Emma's question.

"You really have no idea?" Emma asked surprised, this was after all her mother's home.

"The Enchanted Forest is a vast kingdom Emma, and many other kingdoms surround it. I have no idea how things have changed since the curse." Snow explained as Stephen came closer.

"The queen grants your request." Stephen said motioning for Snow to go to the queen. Snow moved with Emma moving with her. "Just Snow White." Stephen said holding his hands up to Emma stopping her from going.

"It's all right Emma, we're safe here. The queen won't harm me." Snow reassured.

"How can you be so sure?" Emma asked. Snow simply smiled as she continued on toward the queen, Stephen catching up beside her.

"So you know who I am?" She asked smiling slightly.

"There are not many who do not know Snow White in this kingdom or the next your highness." Stephen replied recognising Snow's royal status. "Your majesty, Snow White." Stephen announced Snow to his queen. Snow looked to the back of the woman as Stephen turned and walked away.

"Leave us." The queen said to the men sat at the fire with her. Bowing their heads the soldiers stood and quietly walked away. As the men left the queen stood and walked to the other side of the fire her back still turned to Snow. "Have you and your companions been treated well?" the queen asked Snow, her face in shadows the fire not helping Snow to clearly see the queen's features.

"We have, thank you." Snow replied.

"Please sit." The queen motioned, Snow obeyed sitting on the log where the queen herself had been seated earlier. The chill of the night air gusted around Snow, wearing only thin tops and scarf Snow shivered. Lowering her head to her chest Snow wrapped her arms around herself rubbing her arms trying to keep warm. "Here." The queen said wrapping her cloak around Snow. "It won't do for you to catch a chill." The queen said her hand resting on Snow's forearm. It was then that Snow saw it, the ring that the queen wore on her right hand's little finger. A ring she had not seen since she was a child. Snow grabbed the queen's hand forgetting for a moment who the woman was before her.

"Where did you get this?" Snow quickly asked shocked by the sight of the red jewelled ring.

"You know where Snow." The queen replied. "Our mother."

"What do you think they're talking about?" Emma asked sitting back with Aurora and Mulan.

"I'm sure Snow White is just trying to discover what has been happening since she has been gone." Mulan answered as she looked on from where she sat.

"Emma stop worrying, the queen seems to be a fair, kind woman. I'm sure all is fine." Aurora added trying to calm Emma's concerns. Emma looked to the two women, nodded in acceptance and tried to relax.

Snow slowly looked up from the ring the queen was wearing, to her face.

"Rose?" Snow questioned, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the woman in front of her. The darks eyes, long red hair, the amused smirk across her mouth that ended with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Hello little sister." Rose said to her as Snow threw herself into her older sister wrapping her arms around her laughing at the joy of having her sister again. Rose tumble back with Snow on top of her, they were both laughing as Rose wrapped her arms around her. The laughter subsided as Snow got up helping her sister stand also.

"But how? I don't understand." Snow finally said as the two sisters sat beside each other on the log in front of the fire. "Father simply said you had gone away, left us, never to return. It was after mother had died and Regina had come into our lives." Snow explained. "Where were you and why did you leave us, me?"

"Oh Snow, I didn't leave you. I never would have. Your father sent me away, back to our mother's kingdom. With me he sent mother's royal ring. Being her eldest child and heir, I was made queen." Rose explained.

"Wait, you said my father, Leopold was your father too Rose." Snow said baffled.

"No Snow, he wasn't and believe me he had great delight in telling me I wasn't his. It would seem mother had an affair with a man before marrying Leopold a fling I believe Leopold called it. He knew, mother had told him, and he agreed to raise me in his household as though I were his. As soon as mother died and he moved on to Regina he felt he could break his word and send me back." Rose explained.

"Regina. Regina must have had something to do with this, persuaded father to do this. So she would have the power of throne after having father killed" Snow surmised quickly, she could not imagine her father being so cold.

"Regina?! No, never. Regina and I were such close friends, being that much closer in age we were practically sisters. Leopold did not appreciate that. He also did not want a person in his kingdom that was not of his line. He did not want a 'pretender'." Rose finished shaking her head at the memory of it all. Snow stood and began to pace in front of Rose. "Snow please, if I could have come back to you I would have but Leopold had made agreements with the high council of my kingdom to stop me from leaving and returning to you. I wanted nothing else than to let you know everything but I couldn't. I was being trained to be a queen and watched closely. Then Leopold died, Regina turned to dark magic and everything changed." Rose continued.

"Why didn't you come then, when Regina started to hunt me? I needed you then more than ever." Snow looked down to her older sister, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. Snow was hurt and disappointed.

"I wanted to come to your aid Snow, help you and help Regina. I couldn't believe what she had become! But I couldn't, my own kingdom was in the midst of a bloody war and I had to be the queen my kingdom needed to survive." Snow turned away from her sister. "I tried to keep apprised on all that was happening but it was so difficult with our own battles as soon as the war was over and I was able to come back to the castle it was too late. Regina had all ready cast the curse, you were all gone." Rose finished. Snow still stood with her back to her sister wrapping her arms around herself again in comfort and to keep the night's chill from her. Seeing this Rose stood, picking up her cloak and draping it over Snow's shoulders to try again to keep her little sister warm.

"No!" Snow shouted as she quickly spun and shoved Rose pushing her over onto her back. Seeing and hearing this, the queen's men with Emma, Mulan and Aurora rushed towards them. Two of the queen's guards pulled Snow back whilst Stephen helped his queen to her feet.

"I'm all right, everything is all right. Let her go." Rose said brushing the mud off of her clothes.

"Mary Margaret!" Emma called but was blocked by soldiers. Rose looked over to them and called to her men.

"It's all right, let them through." The soldiers moved allowing Emma, Mulan and Aurora to run to Snow's side.

"What happened, are you all right?" Emma asked checking Snow and looking over to Rose, her eyes daggers for the queen. Rose met the stare and did not shrink away from it as many may have.

"I'm fine Emma, really."

"Then what the hell was that all about then?" Emma demanded looking between the women.

"Watch your tongue woman, when you address the queen." Stephen said stepping forward.

"It's all right Stephen, men, please everything is fine. Go back to your fires, leave us, please." Rose looked to Stephen he bowed and motioned for all of the men to disperse back to their fires.

"Snow, what has happened?" Aurora asked placing her hand upon Snow's shoulder. Snow stood straight finding her resolve and looked squarely to her sister who matched her posture with slightly a more regal edge.

"Everyone I'd like you to meet Queen Rose Red, my older sister." Snow introduced. Emma's eyes widened as she turned to look at the queen.

"She's your sister?" Emma asked stunned.

"And your aunt." Snow replied.

"Her what?" Rose asked confused, stepping forward.

"I think maybe this is a private, family matter." Aurora said taking Mulan's arm pulling her away as they left the family alone.

"Yeah she's my what?" Emma said still looking at Rose.

"You know how family trees work Emma." Snow said.

"Have you seen our family tree recently?" Emma quipped.

"Rose Red is my sister which makes her your aunt and Emma your niece Rose." Snow looked to her sister. Rose was at a loss for words, she knew that her sister was pregnant, that news had reached her it was also the last of the news to reach her, the rest after that was patchy at best.

"How is this…" Rose began motioning to Emma. "Possible?" Rose finished her sentence. "You look to be the same age." Snow looked to her sister tilting her head. "Snow, what did Regina's curse do?"

"What didn't it do?" Emma quipped as she sat on a log warming her hands to the fire. She knew this conversation was about to get long and complicated. The two sisters stood throughout Snow's explanation of what had happened the past twenty-eight years, Rose would simply pace stopping to ask questions every now and then. Then there was silence as everyone sat around the fire. Snow beside Emma, Rose opposite them. "I have a question." Emma spoke up, her mother and aunt looked to her expectantly. "Why haven't you aged?" Emma asked her aunt. "Mary Margaret and everyone in Storybrooke has been gone for twenty-eight years, they haven't aged because of the curse, but what about you and people here?" Snow nodded looking to Rose, it was a good question, why hadn't her sister aged?

"I can only surmise it is because of the curse or Cora." Rose thought out loud.

"Cora?" Snow asked. "What did she do?"

"From what I am told she cast a protection spell to block out the curse so that only your kingdom was affected. By doing so it would seem to have slowed or paused the aging process I suppose." Rose shrugged. "Magic, it always comes with a price." Rose ended as she stood and walked away from Snow and Emma. "We'll speak more in the morning." Rose said as she went. Snow watched her older sister go as she stayed seated, still wrapped in her cloak. Emma watched the queen leave and then to her mother.

"So, that was your sister that you never told me about. Does anyone know about her?" Emma asked. It seemed strange that a woman who so adored her family had never mentioned her.

"David does and Regina of course, I suspect Rumplestiltskin does, he seems to know everything." Snow sighed turning back and looking in to the flames of the campfire.

"What happened?" Emma gently asked knowing there was something more going on.

"She left me and never came back." Snow rested her head on her arms as she hugged her knees close to her.