They made their way down the brick road with their packs somewhat heavier. Both women had added their respective nightshirts to their pack; both hoping they would come upon another abandoned cottage with which the nightwear would be appropriate. However, they were both also carrying a few jars of preserves each as well.
Emma turned to look at her companion who was casting quick, and in Emma's opinion, paranoid glances about them. "Is your Spidey-sense tingling?"
"My what?"
"You know, like Spiderman? Spidey-sense. Like the DC comic."
"Marvel."
"I know." Emma smirked having caught the woman once again displaying her knowledge of pop culture. Regina rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Miss Swan, call it what you will, but I feel like we're being followed."
"But I would have heard-"
"I don't hear anything: I feel it." She emphasized as they continued to walk.
"What makes you think we would be followed? So far, I think we've gone under the radar."
"The magic that was expended to get us here must not have, however." The brunette explained. "All of the minor magic I have been performing would not register. But a big blip like the one that must have popped up when we got here would have tipped even the most novice witch off."
"So you think that they know we're here? Does that make it more important to move quickly or to refrain from magic?" She asked but suddenly Regina stiffened and whirled her head. She watched as the brunette glanced around desperately and then grabbed her wrist in a strong hand. "Regina?"
"Hush!" the woman snarled and dragged her toward the edge of the woods.
"Hey!" Emma shouted, pulled off-balance by the woman's urgent tugging.
"Silence!" she hissed and then gave an almighty wrench, sending the blonde into the bushes and tumbling down a steep embankment. Her pack slipped off and rolled several feet before her. The brunette followed quickly afterward, stumbling down to land beside the blonde lying on her back.
"What the fu-!?" Emma began angrily and started to stand. But Regina suddenly barreled down on top of her; straddling her hips with her thighs and pinning her hands over her head with one hand. "Regina-" Emma began again but the woman clamped a hand to her mouth and pressed her body low over hers.
"I said quiet." She said and then raised herself, eyes scanning.
Emma heard hoof beats coming from opposite directions. She watched Regina's face as it darkened in watchful contemplation. The riders stopped not far from where they had just tumbled and Emma lay still in the leaves with Regina's body pressed close to hers. As the men began talking, Regina gave her a warning glance and moved her hand from her mouth slowly; but she continued to pin her arms above her.
"Cork."
"Sir."
"Have you found any traces of magic?"
"No, sir."
Emma could hear the horses stamping and supposed the men were circling one another; steeds tossing their heads at the limited movement.
"Her Majesty will not be pleased that her guards have not found the source of the open portal detected."
"Yes, sir. I know, sir." The man named Cork answered with a tremble in his voice.
"You know how…angry the Queen gets when she is dissatisfied with her service."
"Yes, sir. I do."
"Perhaps this will give you an incentive to keep looking?"
"Of course, sir. I will not rest."
"Then get on with your patrol, Corporal."
"Yes, sir." They heard the horse snort and toss as the rider spurred it down the road. It seemed the other man hung back before turning and trotting off in the opposite direction.
Emma looked up at the brunette again, expecting her to move off of her with some smart comment. But Regina sat gazing up at the spot of the encounter with a dazed expression on her face; as though she was lost in thought. Her hand still clutched Emma's wrists above her head and the blonde wiggled her fingers and arched her brows.
The brunette looked down and realized she still sat astride the prone blonde. A shiver snaked its way up her back as she gazed down at her; realizing the woman was at her mercy. The thought thrilled her more than it should have and she released her wrists and stood up; stepping back.
They climbed the embankment cautiously and then stepped back out onto the road. "What the hell was that?" Emma adjusted her pack as the woman dusted off her dress and picked leaves from the tights on her legs.
"What?"
"You couldn't have said 'Oh, by the way, I hear horses, let's tumble into a ravine where I'll straddle you into submission'?"
Regina arched a brow with an enticing smile on her lips. "Well, dear, I suppose because I knew you wouldn't like that idea…or that you would like it too much." She smirked and strode ahead unable to refrain from goading the woman a small amount but unwilling to admit just how much she enjoyed it.
"You could have said something! For a second there I thought you were going to kill me or…" Emma trailed off, unwilling to state the other thing that had been on her mind but Regina smiled knowingly at her.
"I reacted. I apologize that I put you in such a compromising position." She said without a trace of remorse in her tone. "Had I remembered you were such a prude, I would have simply knocked you out instead of restraining you."
"I'm not a prude!" Emma hissed sideways at the woman. "You're not the first woman that has straddled me!"
"Then I see no reason to complain. You had a beautiful woman pressed against you; I see that as a win-win." She smirked again. "But the encounter did give me some valuable information."
The smart comment and husk in the woman's voice gave Emma pause; what had she given away? "What?"
Regina's eyes cut to her suspiciously. "That there is a monarch and that she knows magic." Came the tense reply.