Our Queen and our Outlaw in the same chapter for the first time! I love me some sass, and these two have more than enough potential there, so I tried to play around with it - what do you think?
The advantage was on his side, clearly. Had she been more circumspect she might have had the moment of surprise in her favour. Then again, it wasn't the first time pride had gotten in the way of reason. Either way, she was far from done with this insolent intruder.
"I do not take orders from squatters and criminals," she spat, though unmoving as yet, bidding her time while her mind worked furiously on figuring out her next move.
"I wonder what gave me away," the man replied with a hint of sarcasm. "And yet you're an intruder yourself. Fancy that."
Surely she had more right to be in Rumplestiltskin's castle than this stranger — although Rumple would probably not miss a chance to sneer at her about that assumption.
"At least I don't go about breaking other people's possessions," she answered. Would the bandit attack if she turned? There wasn't much she could do without knowing his exact position.
"I'd been staying at this castle for months now, unlike you, milady." Milady? His speech wasn't that of a rogue...but looks could be deceiving. If anything, her senses sharpened even more. "The vase was an accident, I thought I'd heard commotion. Would you happen to know something about that by any chance?"
"Not unless you're scared of bats and thunder," she curled her lips mockingly and risked looking over her shoulder. A dark silhouette stood positioned at the wall with a bow drawn and an arrow pointing at her. From what she could gather from the quick glance, the man was tall and well-built. None of that made much difference when magic was involved.
"Since you seem to have such a strong dislike of intruders," the man put extra stress on the last word, "I wonder what business brings you here, then?"
"None of your business, I'm sure." What was he thinking? Who was he to ask such questions? And how had she not noticed his presence upon arrival?
"Are you her?" Suddenly his voice had turned icy and hostile - this was no longer an exchange between two lone wanderers accidentally coming together and eyeing one another with sensible suspicion.
Regina's heart sank - if he hadn't realised who she was until then, now that he did recognise her for the loathed Evil Queen her situation was only going to turn for the worse.
"Where is my son, witch?"
The term stung, as much as she had tried to steel herself against such slurs. Then the actual message registered. "I have no idea what you're talking about...bandit."
"You've been kidnapping children," he retorted with disgust and cold fury. "I want my son back."
"I know nothing about your son," she protested without thought. Either someone was framing her, using the Evil Queen's ill repute, or this bandit was mistaking her for someone else.
Her indignation was overcome by some other emotion, though. Something about the way the man had spoken those last words made her heart go out to him - she knew that desperate drive she'd detected behind them all too well. This was no time for such thought, though. What was wrong with her? Why sympathise with this criminal while being held at arrow-point by the very same person?
"And I'm certainly not interested in any other children either," Regina said icily. Only one child...only Henry. But he was gone. Desperately, she strove to shake off the thought - she couldn't afford to be weak now. "But I do have business here, and I do not wish to be disturbed."
"So it seems we have a problem," the bandit said in a low, silky voice. "I have business here as well, do not wish to be disturbed, and since I was here first, I'm sure you will understand when I ask you to leave."
"I'm afraid you'll find me...unwilling to do that." The man was insufferably cheeky. He matched her retort for retort, and so far he'd had the upper hand by sheer physical advantage. It was maddening, and she would not stand for it much longer.
"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to apply harsher measures."
"Be my guest," she challenged and whipped around to face him.
The string of the bow tightened, and the arrowhead quailed. Regina was ready, the previous exchange having fired an irritation she would utilise: her fist unfurled and revealed a growing ball of fire sitting on her palm. For a brief moment, their eyes locked. Despite the shock called forth at the sight of flames sprouting from her hand, he was focused and serene even as his fingers released the arrow.
It sped towards her in a straight but, she thought with glee, miscalculated line - it would hit her shoulder rather than heart if she let it. That would never happen, of course. Her arm moved automatically and with perfect ease; the arrow froze mid-air. The archer, too, froze in place for a split second, staring in surprise. Regina snarled and waved the arrow away, then immediately moved to attack - the man needed to be thwarted. Strangely, she realised she felt little anger at this point. The wretched man had picked the wrong place at the wrong time, showed a deal of cheek, but she felt more annoyance than anger.
Building up its power briefly, Regina aimed and sent a spell at him. The moment, however, had given him time to recover. Just as the rush of purple was unleashed, he ducked and rolled into cover behind a bookshelf. The magical collision sent splinters of wood and yellowed pages flying, and covered the room in a cloud of dust.
The dust settled. Nothing moved.
Was he dead? The spell would only have knocked him out but the fool had decided to seek cover, possibly meeting his end in consequence. Even so, the little magic she had performed seemed to have required quite a bit of her strength: she felt dizzy and somewhat weak in the knees; she would do better to rest soon. The question was, would the thief be at eternal rest?
A cough soon answered that for her. The pile of rubble moved, sending up another cloud of dust.
"Who are you?" came his muffled voice from behind.
Regina bristled.
"I am the Queen."
The readiness of her response caught her unawares. It had been a while since she really thought about herself as the Queen. Did she now? Was it the land? The curse? The outfit? It didn't matter anyway. The Queen was probably the handiest weapon to handle this situation. Any scruples about reconnecting with this part of her were disconcerting at best. She was the Queen, after all, wasn't she?
There was a moment's silence before she heard him again.
"The Evil Queen? Impossible. She hasn't been seen in this realm since the Dark Curse."
Oh yes, the warm welcome she had been expecting - or would have expected, if she had had given it a thought at all.
"And yet, here I am now," she retorted, and was horrified to hear a note of misery in her own voice. If he had been attentive, if he noticed her waver, it would give him a weapon. She needed to get a grip. She needed the Queen now.
"'Your Majesty' is what you're looking for," she enforced in hopes this would help her regain her footing.
There was a long pause. "Not until now, it wasn't... But perhaps now it is."
"What is that supposed to mean?" If he thought he could catch her off guard by playing tricks on her he was gravely mistaken. "I have no time to play games."
"Neither do I. I believe we could be of use to one another." At that, he emerged from the rubble, slowly and with his hands down and palms towards her in a gesture of, if not surrender, then at least ceasefire. Eyeing him with suspicion, Regina took a while to process his words, and before she could, more came: "As much as it shocks me, I am proposing a mutually beneficial...arrangement."
"What use could I possibly have for a thief?" As much contempt as she could muster was packed into that insult. "I didn't come here to steal."
"Perhaps if you told me what you did come here to do, it would be easier to reach an agreement." He paused for a moment, giving her a questioning yet at the same time amused look.
He couldn't seriously be expecting her to divulge any information at his ridiculous, completely out-of-bounds interrogation.
His mouth stretched into a grin. "No? Never mind. I'm offering you information, an advantage, a form of retribution against the Witch."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, thief. Speak clearly or stop wasting my time." She really could think of nothing anyone, much less someone like him, could possibly offer to her. This was a waste of time, and her patience - never a strength of hers anyway - was quickly running out.
"The name's Robin Hood, incidentally - I suggest considering using that to reduce the repetitiveness of 'thief'," he noted dryly. "There's a Wicked Witch from a different realm wreaking havoc in the Enchanted Forest."
That would be the witch he had mistaken her for earlier, she figured. Her mind rewound to the accusation he had so bitterly, savagely uttered. "And this witch has - kidnapped your son?" She knew all too well how that felt - the anguish, the anger, and the determination they fuelled. Regina tried to push the memories out of her mind, to lock the emotions away - she couldn't deal with this right now.
"Yes," he nodded simply. "I'm tracking her down and getting him back, with or without your help." His eyes darkened at those words, and Regina shivered -everything about the man suggested he would do whatever it took to accomplish his mission. Again, she could empathise with that; and again, she rebuffed the idea - she wasn't there to empathise with strangers, much less criminals of dubious character. "Since you're well-versed in magic, though," he continued, and she forced herself to return to the present moment, "your help would be of advantage, of course."
"And where's my gain in this?" she inquired brusquely. Her time was too precious to dawdle on the likes of this...this bandit. Why exactly was that? What else did she have to do? To hell with the emotional vortex within her!
"The Witch has taken up residence in your palace." The heavy emphasis on his words and his intense look both clearly showed he attributed much importance to this piece of information, and believed it held the key to their alliance.
"Oh, is that so?" An angry shadow crossed her features - an instinct, a jab of pride the insufferable man seemed to be counting on so much. Well, he would be disappointed. The Queen would have taken this as a personal offense, an impeachment on her power - she would aim for total destruction of the offender. Yet now Regina found it didn't really matter to her. Her frown cleared. "Well, she can have it if she is so inclined." Her words had quite the effect on him, and she couldn't suppress a grin. "It's just a palace, thief."
Whatever reaction he had expected, clearly it hadn't been this. "She is claiming reign over the land," he probed again, surveying her with his head tilted slightly.
Regina scoffed. "I have no interest in ruling this land or any other. That will be for Snow White and her husband to sort out."
"Snow White?" he frowned.
Was that a sign of recognition? It could have just been surprise. It didn't matter, after all.
Enough was enough.
"Look, bandit, let me suggest an arrangement that might suit us both," Regina strolled to where his bow lay buried under tattered old tomes, and leaned to pick it up. The thief watched her warily but his stance suggested confidence. "Because I have no time to spare for more argument, and because, in all honesty, I couldn't care less about what happens to any of the treasures that might have survived previous poaching, I am willing to be benevolent and tolerate your presence here." She handed him the bow and after a moment's gauging, he reached to take it. Regina snatched it away. "I require space and no disturbance," she said. "The library and a bedroom upstairs that I have already claimed. The rest you can do whatever the devil you want to do with as long as you're not in the way."
"For someone without a claim to rule, you certainly like to boss people around - in an obnoxiously aggravating manner at that," the man stated dryly. "You need not worry about the bedroom - I will steer clear of it. As to the library, as much as it displeases me, we will have to share - I have business here, too."
Once she would have spurned such a compromise. Now she was willing to concede - and apparently, so was he. Both were highly suspicious. She knew her reasons, of course, but marvelled at his.
"You seem to be adjusting to the rejection of your original offer rather well," she smirked.
"That, Your Majesty," he said with unmistakable sarcasm underlined by an unnecessarily elaborate bow, "is because I do not consider the subject closed yet."
Regina returned a small mock-curtsey without batting an eye. "Believe me, it is."
The men reached for his bow, which she let slip from her fingers, and shrugged.
"We shall see."