Chapter Four

A Shattered Past

Thanks for reading! :D What do you guys think of the new season? I just LOVE Cruella and Ursula! I would DIE if they did a scene in place of poor unfortunate souls.

Edit: OMG the day after i wrote that note the episode was "poor unfortunate souls!" LOL

"You have?" The queen choked out, her eyes wide, straightening up, her full attention on the mirror.

"Yes."

"Well? What is it? Tell me you fool." The woman's heart seemed to freeze, a dark side of her heart hoping that the girl's family was dead, that she could keep the child as her own, she could be her savior from the cruel world. "Is her family alive?"

"No." The mirror answered, his eyes reflecting a sorrow, but the queen relaxed, sighing in relief. She wouldn't have to worry about covering up any tracks, things were finally working towards her happy ending. "But-"

"But? What but?"

"The girl's family was murdered." He answered. "A dark sorcerer rampaged their home after a dispute."

"Sorcerer?" Regina asked, shifting uneasily. Normal families didn't have connections with sorcerers.

"Anya." the mirror answered, flashing before and after pictures of the child. "Short for the grand duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, daughter of Sir. Nicholas Romanov."

"You're kidding." the queen asked flatly, her smooth lips agape in shock, her eyes piercing the mirror with her glare. Why could things never just turn out how she wanted them?

"Are you alright my queen?"

"I...I think I need a drink." she sighed, rising from her chair and moving to her nightstand, pouring a tall glass of red wine. The face following along in the mirrors lining her wall.

"The girl's grandmother, Maria Feodorovna was a great sorceress, probably the source of Anya's power since it's not too rare for magic to skip a generation." the queen sipped her wine, staring uneasily at the mirror, already considering how she could present the truth to Anya. If she told it right the girl would want to carry on magic in order to carry on her grandmother's name or contrary she might detest magic due to this evil wizard.

"Who killed them?" she sighed, tossing her black hat onto the nearby bed. After all she was the one who asked to know Anya's past.

"A dark magician named Rasputin." the face vanished, replaced by a black and white picture of a deformed looking man rampaging a ballroom, a noble Czar lying dead at his throne. "Look closely my queen." the mirror continued, the picture shifting, color filling the lines creating a shimmering golden ceiling, revealing a palace to rival her own, but most of all the man's face, it seemed to shift ever so slightly.

"Rumpelstiltskin." the name barely more than a whisper. Lifting a delicate hand to cover her mouth as if afraid to be heard.

"Rasputin was one of his many aliases I suppose. The dark one had made short work of the family but for some reason allowed Nicholas's youngest daughter to survive." the mirror seemed to shrug. "I don't know why."

"Why? What did that bastard have to gain?" she hissed, pacing uneasily around her room. This certainly complicated things. The queen saw her teacher on a regular basis, she was always making deals with him, Anya was bound to meet him eventually and if he triggered any memories for her... "Was anything missing?"

"That's where things get messy, when the royal family passed their kingdom erupted. The castle was seized and many valuables were stolen. There were rumors that the duchess and empress survived but those have just been rumors. I have been unable to clarify if the queen is indeed alive."

"Well that's just great." she hissed, already pouring a second glass. "Any other news?" she snapped, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Just one more thing...it seems that the family had once harbored the criminal Snow White." the queen's eyes sharpened, marching over and placing herself inches from her mirror, the fire of a demon burning inside of her. "As I recall you made a deal with the wizard once to ...pay back any disloyalty caused by their...unwillingness to hand the runaway over." the light left Regina's eyes, stumbling gracefully back she finished her drink and stood, unresponsive for a moment before sending it across the room, the glass shattering against the wall before collapsing onto her bed.

"I...ordered the death of Anya's family."

"It appears so my queen."

Regina could barely breathe, her breath catching in her throat. What was she to make of this? As of now the child was serving as everything the witch had longed for, a daughter, an apprentice, a second chance... but it was all doomed from the start.

"Is everything alright?" a small voice asked, Anya appearing in the doorway, startling Regina. Her childish eyes falling on the shattered glass.

"Everything's fine." Regina forced a smiled, receiving an uneasy look from her mirror. "It was an accident...Just a mistake..."

"Oh...alright." she shrugged, Regina's butler appearing behind her. "Mr. Henry has been helping me take care of Ivory. Do you want to come see?"

"Not. Right. Now." The queen replied, biting her lips, each word coming out somewhat cruelly. Causing the child to withdraw, backing up carefully into Henry's legs. He made short eye contact with his daughter, nodding in understanding before leading the child away, distracting her with discussion of her new found pet.

"Well my queen...what are you going to tell the child?" the mirror asked once the two were safely out of earshot. There was a moment of silence as the queen thought out her options.

"Nothing." she said smoothly. "I don't know what happened to her family and this conversation never happened." She told him, making eye contact with her ghost of a partner. "Do you understand?"

"Perfectly, my queen."