The firelight cast flickering shadows across the four of them and caught the glint of David's sword. Regina held up her hands, "I can explain. We're travelers from a far off realm and lost."
But even she knew these two weren't possibly that dumb, "Which one?" Snow asked with a raised eyebrow.
Regina racked her brain for one that these two weren't likely to know, "Arendelle."
David scoffed, "Do you think we're so unsophisticated not know what people from Arendelle dress like? Not enough reindeer pelts."
Regina was about to say yes, she did think that, but Henry spoke up. "My mom and I aren't who you think we are."
"I don't know who you are, young man but I know the Evil Queen when I see her," David answered.
Regina sighed and gestured to her clothes, "Do I look like an Evil Queen?"
Both of them answered, "Yes."
Henry added, "That was probably not the right argument, mom."
"This is another of your tricks Regina. Or are you forgetting that I've run into you like this before. At least the last time you used your magic look like someone else." She kept the arrow trained on her and David took some rope from his satchel.
She looked at Henry and sighed, holding out her hands. "I'm not who you think I am and if I were the rope would be pointless."
David smiled as he bound her wrists, "I'll take pointless for the moment, Your Majesty."
"Henry everything is going to be alright. They're not going to hurt us," Regina reassured him, but Henry looked conflicted anyway. After all this was his grandparents and the Enchanted Forest... but this was his grandparents and his mom in the Enchanted Forest.
Snow put out the camp fire and nodded to David, "We should keep moving and get back to the others. They walked through the night, David keeping his sword drawn on Regina who seemed more bored than threatened, and deeply annoyed, and Snow by Henry, "I know the Queen is scary, but can you tell me where your real family is? Where did she get you?"
"You know you guys are really bad at taking prisoners. If you really think she's the Evil Queen and I've been calling her mom shouldn't you have my hands tied?"
Snow looked confused, "You want to be bound?"
"No I'm trying to get you to figure out that my mom and I are telling the truth."
"Like when she claimed to be from Arendelle?" Snow asked confused.
"Okay, that was a lie. But that we're not who you think we are."
"So who are you?"
He glanced at his mom and she shook her head slightly. Henry decided to keep quiet. If his mom was letting them take them somewhere she must have her reasons. It was almost morning before they reached the old mines that the dwarfs had opened up for them.
Red came up and hugged Snow, "Oh I was so worried, we heard she got to the village before you and she's been laying waste to the North Woods for days..."
Snow hugged her back and sighed, "We were tipped off just before we got there and avoided the trap, but met someone interesting in the woods on the way back here."
She glanced back, and the dwarfs all stood from the table they were sitting at reaching for axes.
Regina sighed and showed her bound hands.
"Like that would stop you," Grumpy said. Regina made an exasperated gesture and Henry could actually imagine the thought going through her head.
"Where did you find her?" Red said confused.
"We came upon her and this boy at a camp fire last night."
Red was even more confused by that, "But Snow, she burned a village not far from here his morning."
Charming shook his head, "You mean her knights."
"No you idiot she actually means me." Henry winced at the slip. "If I were the Queen," she added unconvincingly.
"Put her in one of the deeper mine caverns and set a guard. I want to talk to the boy."
"I'm not letting you separate us." Henry said firmly.
Regina shook her head, "You'll be safe Henry. They're many things but Snow would never hurt a child."
Snow looked at her again with a hard stare but nodded for the dwarfs to take both of them deeper into the mine.
Once they were alone Henry looked at his mom, "Okay so when do we escape."
"We don't." Regina said quietly.
"But don't we have to find some way to get home?"
Regina smiled, "Of course we do, but at the moment I'm... the Evil Queen... is out there burning villages in a rage and we're the one place I know she isn't."
"Because you never caught Snow White."
"Because I never caught Snow White. It's safer to stay with your grandparents for now. And besides, I need to figure out a way to fix how we've already changed the timeline by encountering them."
Doc brought them food a few hours later, some sort of lentil soup, but said nothing just kept an eye on Regina. She picked up the spoon between her bound hands and tried to eat but after a moment gave up in frustration. Henry glanced at the door, "You could untie them, eat and I can retie them?"
"I'm all for farce Henry but that might be a little much even for me."
"Or I could untie them," Snow said from the door. "While you tell me who you are. Exactly."
"I told you we're travelers."
"You're Regina," she raised an eyebrow and knelt down to untie her hands, "But somehow you aren't the one I know."
"That's implausible," Regina said.
"Not more implausible than you being in two places at once. I just saw the Queen on the road not far from here."
Regina grumbled.
"She's still sore about the fact that she never caught you." Henry said. "We're from the future. I'm her son and we're trying to get home."
"Henry!" Regina said exasperated.
"We need to try something new, mom." He shrugged, "We are from a far away land. There was this Wicked Witch from Oz and she wanted to..."
"Stop Henry!" Regina said firmly, "We can't change things..."
Snow looked between them. "So you are telling me that you are Regina... but Regina from the future."
"I'm not telling you any such thing."
"But I am." Henry added. "You don't have to be scared of my mom. She's a hero."
Snow raised an eyebrow and looked between the two. "This is a surreal conversation."
"Some version of hell for my many sins," Regina grumbled. "But he's not lying. We're from the future and we need you to let us go so we can find our way home."