With Zelena and Cora gone to make peace with Leopold, King Henry was left in charge. That didn't stop all palace staff from going to Regina when decisions needed to be made. At first she forwarded them on to her father, but after a while it became easier to just answer herself. Unfamiliar with being needed for anything and suddenly imperative to everything, she finally lost her temper over which linens to use for dinner. She found the king reading in his library.

"Daddy, shouldn't the servants be asking your permission for these things?"

"Why would they? I'm sure I'd be happy with anything they provided" he turned a page without looking up at her.

"Well, why do they have to approve these things with us anyway? Surely they know the most appropriate dinner service to use and what starters to prepare?"

"Indeed"

Regina sighed and crossed her arms. "Do you want to do any of this?" she asked bluntly.

A small smile curled his mouth as he placed his book down on his lap. He shook his head and looked back at her brightly.

"What?" she asked

"You don't want to make decisions about linens, querida? Tell them that. Do you trust Mrs Tipping to make us a good meal?"

"Of course!"

"Then tell her she does not need to run menus past you. What do you want to make decisions about?"

"It's not my place…"

"Well imagine it is"

A skylark sang outside the tall, leaded window as she told herself she didn't know, whilst thinking about one or two friends she may have made at her ball. Fostering good relationships with Hylas especially could be great for their trade and influence with other kingdoms. She didn't speak but looked up to see her father's eyes, dark like hers, watching her in amusement.

"Make those decisions, mija"

After apologising to the maid who received the linen outburst, she ordered senior household staff to act with more autonomy and accepted her unofficial role as acting monarch. She found she knew more about running the palace and kingdom than she had realised. She approved changes to household arrangements that would reduce fuel wastage. She sent letters of thanks to the attendees of the ball and suppliers who had come from far away. She spent so much time being interrupted wherever she went that by day three she gave up the pretence of not needing an office and sat at Cora's desk for hours. By day four most of the urgent work had been done and she had enough time and energy to see Emma.

"Oh thank gods" Regina sighed as she entered the smaller dining room which Cora would only use for breakfast.

Emma was rigid in her seat at the dining table that she considered to be very long. When Regina entered she stood quickly and stumbled a little. King Henry sat at the head of the table watching her quietly with a small smile that made her sweat even more than she already was.

"You wouldn't believe the kind of day I've had." Regina said as she sat down opposite Emma. Servants jumped into action and food was served immediately. She greeted her father and he replied with a nod.

She talked through most of dinner. Every time a forkful made it close to her mouth she would think of something else she had to share and place it down again. She talked about the way the palace was run and how interesting it was, about how trade was up all over the kingdom because of the ball and how she wanted to do something for the servants.

"Maybe a party, but it can't be here because they would have to cater it. Can you think of anywhere, Emma?"

"Um, maybe a pub in town?" she said, though half her voice was lost to the echoing room and it sounded like a whisper.

Regina nodded and lost herself in thought while she ate food that had been hot when it was served, but was no longer. Henry hardly spoke throughout dinner. Emma answered when she was asked direct questions, but mostly they both just listened to how happy Regina sounded.

The next day Emma was invited to the study and ended up playing chess with the king who was there in an advisory capacity for Regina, though Emma observed no advising. All his attention seemed to be on embarrassing Emma by beating her in as few moves as possible.

"That's a good move" He said

"Really?" Emma sat up to review her pieces properly

"Yes, if you're planning on losing your queen on your next go"

"Excuse me, the queen is mine" Emma tossed back.

She wasn't comfortable but she thought she was putting on a good show of it. She glanced up at Regina who wasn't looking but was smiling as she worked. When she looked back at the king his eyebrows had risen. The smile dropped from her face and she blushed.

He hummed and smiled as he moved his piece. "Check"

Emma grimaced.

"Daddy, you really should be more gracious when you play our guests" Regina said. She shuffled papers together on her desk and handed them to an advisor.

"I don't want anyone to let me win" Emma insisted.

"You see" Henry said

"I do see" Regina replied, settling on the arm of Emma's tall-backed chair. "Gosh that's interesting"

"What?" Emma asked

Regina smiled "I believe the king had misread your style of play"

"I have a style of play?"

Henry cocked his head and reexamined the board.

"He thinks you're an tactical player, but you're far more oppositional than he has allowed for. By preempting the moves he thinks you will make, he has left himself open. If you survive the next move he could be in trouble"

"No! Where?" He asked

"I can't tell you" Regina said

"No seriously" Emma said "where? I want to win"

Regina laughed and let her head fall back as she did.

"Majesty, the final preparations for review" a voice came from the door.

"Yes, fine, I'll be with you in a moment" Regina answered in a firm voice. "Good luck" she squeezed Emma's shoulder and went back to her desk

For the first time in its history, royal guards stood at the entrance of The Reel. The people inside continued as usual, only slightly better behaved.

The room felt close as half of it had a low, beamed ceiling, like some people could be making very lucrative deals at one end and very regrettable decisions at the other. Anyone dancing on the tables late into the night would have to be careful which one they chose in case they knocked themselves out. The bar area was crowded despite the table service and people passed drinks over the heads of people waiting behind them. Palace reserve guards were posted intermittently around the room, but blended into the backdrop in their dark armor. They mostly went ignored as the population of the pub, all palace workers, were used to walking past them every day.

It was only noticeable that something has changed when Regina arrived. Initially she was flanked by two guards who she sent away once inside and they watched from nearby pillars.

Some prickling discomfort made Emma turn around and she saw the man, the trader who had tried to pick her up a few weeks ago. He seemed to have hooked a very young looking groundskeeping apprentice.

"Hey" Emma said to one of the guards "Not him. Out"

"Hang on mate" the man staggered slightly and Emma caught the stench of rum on his breath. "I'll stay if I want, and you're not the bloody queen" he sneered at her.

Regina turned on her heel, glanced over the man giving him a second to see the crown she wore and let his face drain of blood, looked to the guard and repeated Emma exactly. "Not him. Out"

He was gone in a flash, backwards through the door. Emma heard shouting and scuffling and a thunk that she didn't want to know about. All of that seemed fairly distant as she watched Regina's side profile. The woman she had first met at the palace was still there, only a veil had lifted, as if the thing that had kept her from the world was gone and she was unsheathed, raw, herself. The way she carried herself had changed and though she walked with more surety and smiled more often, she was still inscrutable sometimes, still tentative with her touch and still haughty, demanding the best from everyone. From Emma.

All attention was on Regina was they walked through the pub, though most people tried to pretend they weren't looking. Emma took them over to a spot near the dance floor but not too close. People stared at her too but as she was well used to being an interesting outsider and shrugged it off with ease. The ceiling opened up over the dance floor and it was overlooked by a second floor mezzanine level that held more seating and lead to the guest rooms. Light came in from two large windows at either end and large lanterns hung from the supporting beams for when the natural light would fail them.

"Are they having fun?" Regina asked with a wrinkled brow after a while.

"They would probably be having more if you weren't watching them" Emma replied. Regina gave Emma's arm a reprimanding tap with her closed fan. "You could always put on the glamour you made"

Regina frowned "I don't want to hide"

"I know, and I don't think you should"

"You don't?" Regina looked up with interest, Emma shook her head "what then?"

"How about instead of watching them you come upstairs" Regina pinned her with a look that said she was distinctly unimpressed, though not unamused. "I mean to the balcony, obviously" Emma clarified and cleared her throat

"Oh, I'm sure"

"I have no idea what else you could be referring to" Emma shook her head

"Nothing, nothing at all Miss Swan. Nothing any respectable woman could even imagine"

Emma grinned "Let's go the the balcony. You can spy on them subtly"

"I'm not spying!"

"Ok" Emma held her hands up "What's Lucy been doing?"

"I think she's going to dance, she finished her drink-"

"Yeah, you're probably right" Emma interrupted "not spying"

Regina rolled her eyes and followed Emma up the stairs. She managed to keep a straight face as they passed Emma's bedroom door and Emma coughed loudly. She hadn't been staying there while Cora was away and Regina was essentially ruling the kingdom. No doubt there was talk among the servants but she found that she cared very little. They would have to figure out a more sustainable way of existing, but in the weeks after Regina's emancipation from Leopold she found nothing troubled her as much as she expected. Everything was going to be manageable because she had everything she needed. She had a choice.

Emma had been right about the balcony. It was bright and airy up there and people tended not to look up. The people who dressed the royal family, who cooked their food, tended the gardens, fed the horses, set the fires and kept them safe danced and laughed below them.

Regina relaxed when she saw people having fun. Lucy seemed to spread joviality everywhere she went. Ruby was never off the dance floor with people queuing for a chance with her and Lucy periodically cutting in just to make them stew. Mrs Tipping turned out to be murder with a bow and played alongside an incredulous Pip.

Regina stopped watching everyone and actually enjoyed the music. She was drinking the palace-made sparkling cider but took sips of whatever Emma was drinking too just to try.

"I want you to dance" she said. Her elbow rested on the back of their bench and she twirled a strand of hair around her fingers

"Come with me then" Emma looked up at her from where she was tucked into her side.

"You know what I mean" Regina rolled her eyes "I want to watch you" If Emma choked slightly on her stout, Regina was far too polite to mention it.

More and more musicians came out of the palace workforce until they had a trio of fiddlers who strung up a familiar set. Everyone danced in arms and Regina stood and watched avidly.

"Come on then" Emma said, taking her hand from the balcony

"Come on, what?"

"Come on, your majesty" Emma replied over her shoulder

Regina laughed behind her "No, what are we doing?"

"Were going to dance"

Regina stopped on the stairs and Emma turned to look at her. "I...but...I can't dance to this"

"Of course you can" Emma said

Her head swam a little "I can't dance...here"

Emma climbed the intervening steps until she was one below her and almost nose to nose. "Are you saying you can't dance with them?" she asked quietly "because that's ok, it's a boundary you don't have to cross"

Regina looked through the balusters and out across the room. She spotted Lucy, resplendent in a blue dress, fiery red hair buoyant on her shoulders like she had never seen before. She cackled with laughter as she spun, arms up on the dancefloor. She watched Pip playing his heart out on a flute, she saw Ruby calm a fight between two men as easily as snapping her fingers. They had all gone so far beyond what she expected anyone to do for her, and they did it without a second thought. For her or for Emma, it didn't really matter who they had gone to task for, they had brought her home and she owed them far more than she could repay. She looked down at Emma who was one of them, but she was hers too, the bridge across the gap maybe.

"Do you think it would make them uncomfortable?" She asked looking across the other side of the room. Bim, chief housemaid, laughed at the bar with one of the footmen. The head butler was somewhere in a cloud of smoke near the door with Mrs Tipping who she couldn't really see but could hear.

"I don't know. Maybe at first" Emma said. She glanced behind herself and then behind Regina

"What?" Regina asked with concern

"Something for courage" Emma's smile glinted and she kissed Regina's lips.

Her mouth fell open and she turned quickly to see if anyone had seen. Absolutely no one was looking at them and the thrill of anxiety she felt turned into adrenaline.

"You terrible woman"

"I know" Emma said, leading her down the stairs again

"I can't imagine why anyone would put up with you"

"Very few do" Emma sighed and her shoulders sloped

"Only the most patient? The most agreeable?" Regina played

"The most stubborn" Emma corrected and Regina laughed. She squeezed Emma's hand as they moved through the crowd to where Marian stood watching people dance.

"Evening" Emma said

"Hi!" Marian smiled "I wondered where you'd got to" Her eyes fell on Regina and she bowed her head "Good evening, your majesty"

"It is, isn't it?" Regina replied with a smile that had been loosened by cider. "I trust you won't be doing any business tonight?"

"N-no ma'am"

Regina touched her arm "Excellent, then do you mind if I stand with you to watch the dancing?"

Marian breathed out "Not at all, ma'am"

Regina slid in between Marian and Emma. Someone brought a chair for her but she asked them to put it back and signalled for a guard to tip them for the consideration. Hidden between her dress and the fabric of Emma's tunic their fingers found each other and tangled together. Absolutely nobody cared to watch them when there was dancing to watch instead.

A tune started and Emma stiffened next to her. Two pipers played a lively song and a fiddler joined it.

"Do you know this one?" Regina asked

"Yes!" Emma answered "I love it"

"Ah come on dancer!" Lucy appeared and took her hand. Emma was pulled from the edge of the floor to the centre of it.

She laughed and spun Lucy before taking her arm and dancing. People joined in around them and Regina watched, smiling wide. If she was jealous of Lucy no one could tell by the smile she gave the pair. The dance seemed to be one lots of people knew. They broke from groups of two into groups of four. They skipped and ducked under each other's arms in a formation she didn't know, it was chaotic and beautiful. They formed two circles going opposite directions. The footwork looked complex until the music sped up and the circles broke down into laughter. They split off again and Bim took Lucy's hand, much to her delight by the looks of things.

Emma took Regina's hand and before she had a second to think or object she was in amongst it all. Emma had been right, she could dance to it. She was well-led, of course, but the music was so lively it made her want to move. She was light on her feet and the flashes of familiar smiling faces around her made it easier, not harder.

The song morphed into another which was lighter. A few people left and Emma's style changed. It became softer and her movements became more fluid. She twirled Regina and kept her close. She let her arms relax a little as they closed around her. They turned together and Emma didn't look around her, only at Regina.

"Chin up, Miss Swan" Regina said and Emma's dimples made her heart flutter "strong arms"

"They are strong" she pulled them closed together

"I don't believe you're concentrating"

Emma's only reply was to grin though her eyes seemed softer than usual. Regina found she didn't mind being silenced by her outrageous dimples anymore.

They didn't speak again for the rest of the song and when it ended they stepped away from the dance floor. Drums struck up and Regina saw Pip grinning at Emma.

Robin burst into the light, kicking and stamping as well as he had the first time she had seen him dance at the Reel. He danced right up to Emma, arms out, tapping like lightening on the floorboards. The crowd cheered and Emma shook her head at him.

It was a clear challenge. He stepped back and worked even harder than before, feet almost a blur.

"You sure you can keep up?" he shouted at her as he went "Dancing with Marian is one thing, but I'm faster"

"Aw" Marian said with faux-sympathy "That's not something to brag about sweetheart"

The tips of his ears redenned and he made a show of pretending he hadn't heard, swinging his arms around in a way that was probably intended to add flare but just looked a little absurd.

"I'll do my best" Emma said with a cocked eyebrow.

She squeezed Regina's hand and let go. She walked around the edge of the dance floor watching him. He was so smug, she couldn't wait to dance better than him. People always underestimated her. Regina had. Cora had. Every man she had ever met had. And now Robin had made the same mistake. She savoured the look on his face for one last moment before she wiped it off.

"G'wan hen!" Lucy shouted from somewhere in the crowd.

She sprung into action as the chorus to the song ended and her verse began. She had watched him carefully and got the general gist of his movements. Fast. A lot of taps. A lot of holding his arms out. It was quick but boring. She could do better, and she did.

She flew around him, wide glancing steps forward, when she jumped she spun and when she held out her arms it was with one hand on her hip and the other eliciting a cheer from the crowd. When she had chosen her surname she did it for a reason. Swans are elegant, they're big and fierce and eminently graceful and that was the dancer she wanted to be. She watched Robin's smile falter, watched Regina's grow and let the flutter in her chest direct the rest of her movements.

As the dance ended and everyone clapped Emma made her way to literally any surface she could find. Regina went to follow her but felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Majesty, if you wouldn't mind, could I say something?" Marian asked, eyes wide watching for her reaction

"You may" Regina replied with interest.

Marian breathed out "okay, wow, okay. It's about Emma" Regina's brow furrowed and something like the rumblings of fear crept into her mind. "She's a good person" Marian continued

"I agree" Regina said slowly

"Ok, and" Marian took another deep breath and twisted her wedding ring

"Please dear, just say what you mean"

"Emma means a lot to me and you seem to really care about her" Marian said all in one breath. Regina still did not know what was happening. Her mouth opened and closed again. "She never had a family and she wants one, but she can't just be someone's kept woman -I beg your pardon, ma'am-" Marian swallowed and lifted her chin to meet Regina's eyes "I don't want to be indelicate, but I know the laws of this kingdom...you could never marry her"

The penny dropped. Regina's chin lifted and lowered again slowly as she understood.

"Ah, I see. Well you are correct about our laws…" she watched Marian's lips thin as she nodded along "but what's the point of being queen if you can't fix injustices like that?"

Marian was mid-nod when she froze and looked up at her. Regina held her gaze without expression for a moment and let the corner of her mouth curl slightly up. Marian burst into a smile and grasped Regina's arms. She didn't speak, she only squeezed, laughed and turned away. Regina was unsure of what just happened. She was startled from being grabbed. She didn't really understand what it had meant but she took Marian's gesture to be a good one, whatever it was.

Emma dropped into a hard wooden bench with a thud. She panted a little before she sat up. Sweat glistened on her chest and her cheeks were a rosy pink.

The music started up again and different people began dancing. A swish of red and the sound of castanets signalled Marian.

"How was that?" She asked when Regina appeared at the table

"You're an enormous show off" Regina said as she smiled down at her "but it was very good"

She placed a tankard on the table in front of Emma and wiped the residual water from her hands with more grace than Emma had ever seen used in a public house before.

"Where did you get that?" Emma asked sitting up to take it.

Regina's eyebrow quirked "The bar?"

"You ordered it? Do you even carry money?"

"Well as their que-...as the heir to the throne" she corrected as her face flushed with warmth

"Uhuh" Emma gulped fresh water down and her eyes glimmered over the rim. "Well, heir to the throne, would you like to sit with me and watch Marian? Her dance is incredible"

Regina turned to look "yes I remember"

Emma's eyes widened for a moment "oh yeah, of course, here I'll move up"

Regina sat on the bench and took the tankard from Emma's hands.

"This is truly something" she said taking a sip and watching the people around them laugh and share with so much genuine affection she almost couldn't take it in. She laughed when she noticed a drunken Ruby standing head and shoulders above Mrs Tipping, but arm around her nonetheless as they talked and watched the dancing.

"Very appropriate that this all ends with a dance, huh?" Emma said sadly

"Ends?"

Emma took the tankard and placed it on the table. She stroked it with her thumb for a moment before turning to Regina, eyes cast down.

"Well, you don't need a dance teacher anymore" the corners of her mouth tugged down and her jaw clenched

"No I suppose not" Regina replied.

She pictured their dingy room at the far end of the castle, the forgotten part. She remembered how she hated Emma when they met, how rude she was. She thought of their walks in the grounds when she felt like she could breathe again and their dance in the great hall when she certainly couldn't. She had danced all night and had proven she could dance once more. Once she had Emma back she had never considered it ending.

Emma's bottom lip was tucked between her teeth. Her fingers traced the wood grain of the bench back. Regina watched until Emma couldn't avoid her gaze any longer.

"I don't need a dance teacher"' Regina said. Emma shook her head slowly "how about a dance partner?"

It was unlikely that the inhabitants of the pub could have left without their notice, that the musicians would have downed tools and the dancers stilled, but that's what it seemed like in their protected little booth.

"What?"

Regina touched Emma's cheek and smiled as her eyes widened.

"This isn't the end, dear. This is just the beginning"

The end!

Thank you so much to everyone who followed this from the start, especially those who waited the long months towards the end for updates. Please let me know what you thought, this was a real labour of love and a real learning experience that I started as a really really new writer :)