Regina faces moments of trust and distrust, neither of which she finds easy to deal with. She stumbles upon unwarranted enemies and unexpected friends alike. A face-off is imminent.
Regina woke to the crackle of a newly rekindled fire and refused to move. It was warm under the blankets, and soft, and easy - she didn't have to struggle to keep up with a forest-prowling thief twice as fit as herself, nor did she have to be constantly on her guard to keep him outside her defenses.
Her feet ached, and when she tried to move her legs her muscles screamed in pain. Thank goodness for the flat boots, but even those were not enough to keep her feet from developing blisters. It was easier to stay beneath the covers and pretend to be asleep a little longer.
Steps approached, even more cautious than the night before. How long before he decided to shake her awake? Regina half-resolved to open her eyes and force herself up, when iron fingers grabbed her by the arms, yanked her up from the ground and pinned her to the wall, leaving her feet dangling in the air.
Regina gasped. The man wasn't Robin Hood. This one was at least a head taller and strong as a bull. Her arms began to lose feeling as he tightened his hold on her. Her mind raced. Magic would sort him out, hopefully, but with her powers weakened and her arms out of the game, chances were she wouldn't do enough damage.
"What do you want?" she croaked, playing for time, mustering as much anger as she could.
"One witch down," the man spat. "One to go."
Regina's eyes darted from the man's face to his massive torso to his lower body. In a flash, she aimed a two-footed kick at his crotch, full force. The man roared and let go off her, clutching the painful spot in agony. Regina crashed to the ground and started scrambling away from the man's reach, but he was too fast. She groaned in frustration as he lifted her up in the air again.
"John!" a voice boomed from behind. "What the hell are you doing?"
The man whipped around, twisting Regina's arm painfully. Robin Hood was standing at the entrance. His face darkened at Regina's involuntary yelp. He wasn't wielding a weapon and was shorter than John, but somehow he managed to look formidable, and Regina's captor shrunk back a little at the sight of Robin with his eyes flashing anger.
"I caught the witch," he explained with a slight hesitation.
"You're wrong. This is the Queen. Why?" he demanded again.
"So she won't be setting any more villages on fire, like she did the one to the north last night."
"That's impossible," Robin said with a quick glance at Regina. "We've been together the whole time."
The man - John - was still not releasing his grip on her. Her arms were all but numb by now. If the bandit couldn't keep his cronies in check, she would have to take care of it herself.
"Then who else?" the giant objected. "She has magic. She could've slipped out, or maybe she don't even have to."
That was typical - people who didn't understand the first thing about magic were the quickest to make assumptions. Regina was flushed with anger, shame and frustration. They knew there had been a witch here wreaking havoc before Regina had even returned, yet the first thing they do is accuse her of the deed? Well, so much for the alliance. Now she would have to deal with John and Robin. It only remained to hope that her magic had recovered enough.
"I don't think so, John. Let her go." Robin's words came as a shock - a bigger shock than the unjust accusation. Could it be that he actually believed her innocent? "John," Robin said quietly but she heard a note of warning in his voice. If John refused to obey, would there be a fight? "Let her go - now." Regina's feet touched the ground as the giant set her down again, not gently but not too roughly either. Her arms burned and refused to obey. Robin turned to John. "Go and bring some more water for the fire. I'll take care of this." The ruffian gave Regina one more look of pure mistrust, but then did as told.
Regina rubbed the sore spots on her arms carefully, holding back a groan. It hurt like hell.
"Did you do it?"
The thief was fixing her with his gaze. So he wasn't so sure after all. Well, it hadn't been very clever of him to let her go if he had doubts. The intensity of his stare made her skin crawl, which in turn infuriated her.
"Does it matter if I deny it?" she spat but the effect was rather pathetic. She was tired of everything, so very tired. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? "You will believe what you want anyway."
"Did you do it?" he repeated without pause.
For a wild moment she considered conceding. She'd get rid of them all, and she wouldn't have to face that horrible feeling of being misjudged and rejected.
"No," she said quietly. Whatever made her say it and why it lacked mockery or defiance at least was beyond her.
Please, believe me, said a small voice somewhere deep down. She wanted to strangle that voice. But she was that voice.
His eyes bore into hers. Unease overcame her under his piercing gaze - it seemed to reach all the way to the depths of her soul, and she felt panic rise inside her.
"Then that's enough," he nodded finally. "John," he said to the returning giant, "this has been settled. The Queen is our ally, not our enemy."
John looked at her and Regina bore his glare unflinching. Well, his eyes didn't feel like X-rays seeing right through the protective shell around her soul.
"Why are you here?" Robin asked. "You were supposed to guard the post until further notice or an emergency."
"There's an emergency, alright," John replied. "You're headed straight towards it. The Witch's army."
"This Witch has an army now?" Regina would not have expected an army here. If Snow and Emma were to be believed, the land was hardly occupied and all you could hope to send an army against anyway were the colonies of ogres. That had been the case before the New Curse, though.
"They say it's an nasty bunch of flesh-eating monsters."
"People say a lot of things," Regina scoffed. People were so gullible, they believed anything way too easily - she knew only too well. But this bandit, Robin Hood, believed her word now, despite her name in this land. Why would he do that? She gave herself a mental shake - there were more urgent matters to handle right now.
"Has anyone actually seen them?"
"There's been no confrontation so far," John replied, confirming her suspicions.
"Then we'd better avoid them for now," Robin cut in. "Let's continue to the palace."
"We can't," Regina said. "They'll pass too close to Snow White's castle. There will be battle."
John bristled. "We're not going up against Snow White now, are we?"
She actually felt sympathetic now - the idea of suddenly being allied with the Evil Queen had to take some getting used to.
"Of course not," Robin assured him patiently. That certainly was a virtue she could not boast. "We're going up against the Witch." He turned to her. "Will Snow White be coming to meet them?"
That didn't bear much thinking or, indeed, leave much doubt.
"If they know she's coming, yes. They'd never miss a chance to be the hero. Or stand up to a villain." That was a little more than she had intended to say - they were allies now after all. But old habits die hard, and this certainly seemed to be true of both parties.
Robin put out the fire and got the bags. "We'd best join our forces then, before the Witch arrives. Lead the way, Your Majesty."
They came upon Snow White, Charming, and the rest of the party before noon. There was no one else with them, however, not even a semblance of an army. Snow greeted Robin with easy familiarity that made Regina feel a stab of envy, which she immediately snubbed out. Apparently the two of them had been bandits together for a short time. What was it to Regina?
As Charming and Robin shook hands, Snow slipped away and headed to her.
"Everything alright?" she asked with a scrutinising look that made Regina want to withdraw as usual. She nodded. "Regina..." Snow put a hand on her shoulder and took her to the side. What ever was going on? "This Witch, she's spreading word that it's you doing it - burning down villages."
So it was villages now, was it? This morning it had only been one village. Her reputation was not going to soar. Ironically, this time she was not to blame. But, as before, that wouldn't make any difference.
Perhaps some of her thoughts showed, because Snow hurried to add: "We didn't believe it."
Regina's eyes wandered to the rest of the group. It was hard to imagine none of them believed the lie. Snow would have made them go with her own belief, most likely.
Even so, there were now at least two people who had chosen to believe in Regina's innocence. That was more than Regina would have dared hope for.
"Do you know anything about her?" she asked.
"I was hoping you would," Snow sighed. "Nothing in Rumple's books?"
"There wasn't much time to look," Regina admitted. "The Witch is holding his son," she pointed Snow in the bandit's direction, "and other children captive at - my palace." Despite what she had told Robin Hood, this was beginning to bother her, especially with the newly uncovered framings. This Witch had some gall.
"The Blue Fairy told us that. She doesn't know much about the Witch, though."
"Your old friend might," Regina said. "At least he pretended to, when he suggested teaming up against her."
"We'll ask him, then. Regina," Snow began, and the way she spoke made it clear that she was changing the topic, probably to one Regina would feel uncomfortable with. The awkward pause indicated she was right. "How are you really?" Snow blurted eventually.
"What do you mean? Apart from a receding cold, I'm fine, of course."
Her walls had come back up with the bandit around, and now she wasn't ready to let anyone in. The memory of that brief moment of connection between Snow and her the night of her departure was bittersweet on her tongue. Nevertheless, now was not a time to let something like that reoccur.
Snow surveyed her with a slight tilt of her head, then she sighed and nodded. "Of course."
"Robin!"
A female voice rang from between the trees, and a woman in full armour appeared on the road, followed by a bunch of men. It all clicked now: Regina had seen her in that forest hideaway on her way to the Dark Castle, and John had been there, too.
"Mulan," he went to meet her. "What news?"
"They're coming. Now. They're almost upon us."
"But they were supposed to be miles away!" John exclaimed.
"Well, now they're not," Mulan stated. "Is this all the force we have?" She looked over the moderately small group: the Charmings, the dwarfs, the Merry Men, Granny, Belle, Neal, Hook, Robin, and Regina - at this point Regina believed Mulan's eyes showed recognition and a glint of suspicion. Well, that was hardly new.
"For now," Charming answered. "We're tougher than we look."
"I should hope so," Mulan nodded.
"We need to choose a battlefield," Robin proposed. "And we need to choose well."
"There's not much choice," the fat monk Regina remembered from the hideout spoke. "We can't go back, and we can't go forward. They've cut us off."
"That's just swell," Grumpy grunted. "Seems they picked the battlefield, after all."
"There's a mountain pass in the direction they're pushing us," Charming said.
Mulan shook her head. "We can't let ourselves be ambushed there. They'll shoot us all in a heartbeat."
"Unless we shoot them first," Robin said. "We need to claim the area before they get the chance."
Regina was remotely aware of her feet aching again as they marched their way to the mountain pass, but she dismissed the thought and kept up just like the days before. Everyone else seemed to be doing their best, too, so they made good progress and reached the pass by late afternoon.
The last stretch was steep uphill. Snow fell back somewhat and halted, leaning against a tree. Could she be so out of shape since her bandit days? Even in Neverland she seemed to be doing fine - better than Regina sometimes. She looked around for Charming - he was Snow's husband, for heaven's sake, and forever trailing behind her. But this time he was nowhere in sight, and wasn't that just wonderful. So Regina caught herself retracing her steps to check on Snow.
"I'm fine," Snow breathed before Regina had had time to come up with something to say. "Just a little out of breath. A little...tired."
"Why don't you ride, then?" There were a couple of horses with the party, surely they'd find one to give her.
"I've never been all that fond of riding," Snow smiled wanly, clutching her chest.
That was ridiculous. If Snow had trouble getting there on foot, surely she could take a few minutes' slow-paced ride. Regina looked around for the nearest available horse and saw Charming leading one down the slope to them. Good. He'd take care of his wife now.
"You'll be alright now," she said to Snow, turned away, and resumed her walk uphill.
"Regina, thanks," she heard Snow call after her, but she didn't look back.
Life had a weird sense of humour. After so many years of attempted murder, here they were stuck together, even looking out for each other - no matter how awkward that was proving to be. There was something else to it besides awkwardness, of course, but Regina wasn't ready to admit that yet.
When she reached the top, she found the others examining the terrain. Granny and a few Merry Men were even trying out their aim with the crossbow and bow, aiming down into the valley.
"This is all nice and well, of course," Hook smirked, looking down himself. "But what if they corner us here instead of riding across the valley?"
"Why would they?" Charming, who was helping Snow down from the horse, said with a hint of impatience. "They'll think we're fleeing, not taking on an army ten times our size."
But Regina had to agree. Surely they couldn't just trust the enemy to be reckless enough to fall into their own trap.
Robin Hood seemed to share that view.
"We should have a plan for such a scenario," he said.
"It's impossible to fight them here," Mulan backed him up immediately. "The terrain is too open, they would come at us in waves, and defeat us by sheer numbers."
"So that means we need to lure them into the pass somehow," Robin nodded, and Regina's mind clicked. She fancied she knew what the man was thinking.
"A decoy?" Neal asked.
The bandit confirmed Regina's assumption: "On horseback. They'll follow in belief the rest of us had taken the same route, and before they see their error it'll be too late."
It sounded like a good plan. Who would their rider be? Someone skilful on horseback, surely, otherwise it could easily cost the person their life, and quite possibly the lives of everyone else, too. Even for the most skilled rider it would be a risky endeavour.
"He'd need to ride close to the walls so the enemy stays in range," Charming mused.
"He?" Regina, Belle, and Mulan all bristled.
"They," Robin rushed to correct. "But we need you up here," he addressed Mulan, "to fight the strays. Your Majesty, any fireballs you can rain on them?"
"Plenty," she assured him with as much confidence as she could muster. The truth was, she still didn't quite know if her magic was ready to bear the strain of such a battle. Well, she'd see soon enough.
"I'll go," Belle said in answer to Robin's look. "I'm useless for fighting, but I can be a decoy." A closer look revealed a slight breathlessness and a tremble to Belle's fingers. Courage she had, but Regina wondered if she was at least a decent rider at all. Robin, too, seemed to have reservations, but didn't elaborate.
"There's our plan B, then," he concluded. "Now let's fan out and prepare for the attack."
Regina sat on a large sun-warmed rock gazing into the valley below. Everyone else seemed to be letting their guard down - it'd been a while and the attack should have begun already, but nothing had happened yet.
"Mind if I join you?"
Regina's eyes darted up and met the light blue-grey ones of Granny Lucas. She didn't exactly desire company but her curiosity was larger than her apprehension. They hadn't really talked much, not even in Storybrooke, apart from the occasionally exchanged phrase at the diner. Granny had advised her about Henry once or twice, though. It had meant more to Regina then than she thought anyone knew. Now she felt a surge of gratefulness at the thought.
She scooted a little to make place.
"How are you holding up?" Granny asked flat out.
"Fine," Regina returned automatically. It wasn't even always a conscious decision to keep people out anymore. It had become something of an instinct.
Granny gave a humourless laugh. "Yeah, I'm miserable, too."
It took a while for Regina to understand. "Oh," she sighed with a ripple of shame at not having noticed earlier. "Where's Ruby?"
"Who knows..." Granny shrugged. "Prowling the woods somewhere, I hope. I haven't smelled her yet, though."
Smelled her? Could Granny be a werewolf like her granddaughter? She had to be.
"I didn't realise this was something you were born with. So it's hereditary?" This was easier than talking about Henry, and Regina's curiosity was in fact genuine.
"Oh, yes," she nodded, meeting Regina's eye. "You're surprised."
"I guess I just never figured you were one, too." The truth was, she had never even thought about it, and even if she had known she wouldn't have cared. It hadn't been an exaggeration when she'd declared once that she'd cared for no one's happiness other than her own. "Then again, I also missed the fact your granddaughter was missing. I guess that just goes to show..."
"...that grief can be selfish," Granny finished for her. That wasn't been quite what Regina had in mind, and the statement had come out less harsh than Regina's own thoughts - something that hardly happened. "Tell me something, Regina," Granny said, and Regina became wary at once. But Granny took no notice, and continued in a relaxed tone. "Do you cry?"
"Cry?" No one had ever asked her that, as far as she could remember, and it took her completely off-guard. "You mean, ever?"
"I mean in the past days."
There had not been a single tear since their arrival. She would have been grateful, even proud of such an accomplishment once. Now it was just making matters worse. Surely she was supposed to cry a whole river's worth of tears after losing her son, so why couldn't she?
Regina kept silent.
"That's what I thought," Granny said softly.
"You're-" Regina bristled, then cooled down again at the sight of Granny's lined face, "not implying I don't miss him enough." Regina understood that somehow, though she couldn't have said if it had been Granny's voice or eyes or something else entirely. She only knew the woman wasn't judging her or accusing her.
"No," Granny confirmed as much. "You miss him too much, dear."
The word sounded different when spoken like that - Regina wouldn't go as far as to call it affectionate but she had no other word for it either.
Granny looked straight at her for the first time in a while. "It will get worse before it gets better."
"You seem to know a lot about grief," Regina muttered.
"I lost six brothers and my father to the wolf that marked me."
"What became of the wolf?" Regina knew what she would have done, and Granny could be fierce when challenged, and could hold her own rather well.
"I married him later," Granny chuckled, and this time there was warmth in the laugh.
Now, that Regina hadn't foreseen. How little she knew about the people she had cursed and lived around for almost three decades since. "I'm sorry about your loss."
"The trick is finding something to hold on to."
"Apparently I've always done that the wrong way - chosen the wrong things. Except for Henry."
"Now you're being unfair. Cut yourself some slack. You're here now. You're fighting - in a healthier way than before. I call that progress."
"It doesn't feel like much of a fight," Regina said, staring at her hands. Would Granny guess about the hollowness that seemed to be occupying most of her, and how she felt it threatened to fill her every pore, until maybe she'd grow so light and empty she would float away one day?
"Maybe it doesn't now. But you're a fighter."
Regina pondered that. It was true - she had never been one to lie down and die. She might just consider choosing her battles more carefully in the future. With Henry she had made her best choice ever, even though there had been mistakes as well. Once again, she remembered that time at the diner with a crying baby Henry, and Granny's advice on how to soothe her little prince with just the power of her voice. Well, now was as good a time as any...
"You know, I never thanked you for your advice - about Henry." Looking up at Granny, she saw a warm smile reflected in her eyes. "When he was a baby and I didn't know what I was doing and there was no one to ask..."
"We're all more or less clueless with the first one. In many ways we remain clueless even after a few," Granny grinned and shook her head at some distant memory. Then she looked back at Regina. "Just for the record, you could have asked."
That was too much for her to process. Overwhelmed, Regina averted her eyes.
"I hope Ruby's alright out there somewhere," she said quietly.
Granny patted her hand a few times. It felt good, and not even a little scary. This was new. Perhaps it was worth exploring.
A horn sounded from among the trees, and everyone stirred.
"They're coming!"
Regina sprang to her feet.
For a moment she heard nothing but the rush of their own group as everyone moved to take up arms and get into position. Granny held her crossbow at the ready and scanned the valley briefly before she turned towards the forest. The attack was coming from there. Charming, Mulan, and Robin drew their swords. The Merry Men and the dwarfs created a human wall behind them, with a few paces between each of them. A little distance behind this barrier, Snow was nocking an arrow, and a few remaining Merry Men including the monk called Friar Tuck waited with their bows drawn. Hook and Neal stood either side of them, each carrying a sword, in case the attackers broke through to the archers.
A sinister rumble rose from among the trees. Joining the group of archers and Granny, Regina scanned the trees for the first enemies. A flash of yellow among the leaves, and a dozen men gushed out into the clearing, launching into an incomprehensible battle chant. They were giant and armed with massive clubs, but that was all Regina could make out before their charge broke on the defensive line headed by Robin, Mulan, and Charming. Then the two sides clashed and all turned into no more than a blur of swarming arms and legs and blades and bludgeons. Belle broke into a run towards the saddled horse tied at the opposite edge of the forest.
A second line broke out from the trees and ran onto them. Arrows swished in the air in an arch over the fighters' heads and flew at the newcomers, taking down half of them. Another two brutes went into a wild frenzy as their yellow clothes caught fire. Regina cackled and aimed another fireball. It was essential to vanquish as many as possible before the enemy reached their front line. The archers, Regina, and Granny could not effectively engage the ones already in close combat for fear of hitting one of their own.
The advancing men were stopped just before they reached the fighters - but only just. Meanwhile, twice the number had spilled out of the woods. Patches of bright yellow danced before her eyes like reflections of the sun on water as the battle continued. Arrows whizzed and blades rang in unrelenting tempo, and patches of grass had gone ablaze as those Regina's fireballs had hit struggled to put the flames out and failed miserably. But clubs crashed down in increasing numbers, sending splinters of wood flying. There were too many of them. They needed to get the enemy into that valley. But where was Belle?
Taking aim again, Regina felt a shock of exhaustion, and saw with horror that the flames in her palm wavered. Hurling no less than two simultaneous fireballs, Regina looked around frantically. Robin and Charming were holding their own against a bunch of attackers but the other swordsmen were slowly being pushed further back. One of the Merry Men staggered under a heavy blow and fell to the ground. Neal and Hook were busy keeping the archers safe by engaging the odd soldier who'd managed to get through the front line.
At last Regina located Belle. She had been cornered by two rogues, and was trying to fight them off with a quarterstaff. Mulan had jumped to her aid and knocked one of the brutes aside. Belle threw herself out of the way, but apparently something went wrong: a club rolled onto the grass as Belle yelped and clutched her ankle. She would never make it to that horse now.
Regina, on the other hand, saw a clear path before her - provided she blasted a few men out of the way, but she trusted herself to accomplish that much yet.
The decision was born in no time. A shock of energy shook the ground and a handful of yellow-clad soldiers rocketed skyward. Regina reached the nervous horse in a few heartbeats.
"Good girl," she addressed the grey in a calm voice as she fumbled with the knot. The horse raked the ground with a hoof and snorted. Fighting was something the mare was used to, so Regina guessed it must be the fire making her nervous. "We'll be out of here in a minute," she assured the horse, having finally dealt with the knot.
As soon as she was in the saddle, Regina felt a surge of confidence. This was something she was good at. Perhaps she was supposed to do this from the very beginning - not Belle, not someone else, only her.
Regina tugged at the reins to turn the horse around, and surveyed the battlefield briefly. If this was supposed to work, she needed to make them notice her leaving. Whether they would follow or not was another question. The heat of the battle should suffice to make them make a rash decision, but first she'd have to provoke them somehow, make herself a more attractive trophy than the rest of her group. Well, that should be no problem - antagonising people had never exactly been a problem for her.
The restless mare responded without hesitation to the sharp kick of Regina's boots, and shot forward. Regina steered her straight into the scrambling knot around Belle and Mulan, hurtling through them like a cannonball and leaving the yellow-shirts scattered and stunned.
Begging for her powers to oblige her one more time before failing her completely, Regina built up a blazing fireball with her free hand. The mare squealed in fright and shied away from the flames. Realising escape was impossible, she did what Regina had hoped for: she reared with a mighty scream, making Regina, who had only one hand clutching the reins, slip in the saddle. Heads turned at the sound and eyes grew wide. Holding on almost effortlessly, Regina threw her head back and laughed: mounted on a rearing, raging mare kicking the air with rock-hard hooves, she appeared to them an awe-inspiring black-clad sorceress, who threatened to send them all ablaze with the roaring flames sitting harmlessly on her palm.
"If you can't stand the heat, you should not play with fire!" she thundered. "Now, roast!"
With all her strength, she sent the giant ball flying over the heads of the dwarfs and royals and Merry Men. Red and yellow flames swept enemies away until the ball exploded into dozens of smaller fires and began to feed on the trees on the edge of the forest
Without hesitation, Regina spurred the mare into a gallop and disappeared into the trees.
Thoughts on this? I don't have much experience with writing action, and there will be a lot of that in the next chapter, too, so I'm quite anxious to see how it all works out. As to the scene with Granny, it just had to be written, although I wasn't sure whether to leave it in in the end but just couldn't let it go.
What will happen to Regina now? Are you ready for the ride? ;)