The full report had taken nearly an hour to draft and then two more hours of revisions. Regina had learned to be meticulous that way. The neatly penned and exquisitely worded parchment sat unrolled in front of the Dark Lord himself. Regina stood confidently at the opposite end of the long table at Malfoy Manor, pointedly ignoring her mothers cool disapproval, as she recounted one version of the Escape Attempt Incident.
Officially Regina had gone down to the Swan girl's cell to taunt her about the latest fictional news that her parents had been brutally maimed, as this was common practice in her plan to break Emma's will for information about Madame Regal. As she said this, she looked around the room. Casually inspecting the faces of the highest ranking Death Eaters, Voldemort's closest allies. Judging by their expressions Regina knew that she'd guessed correctly; the other Death Eaters would enjoy hearing this cruel psychological angle of her story and snicker contentedly with the lie.
All but her mother who instead tilted her head curiously and narrowed her eyes at Regina. The look she'd adopted years ago that sprouted whenever Regina received an owl from her schoolmate 'Danielle'. A friend who had thick sloppy handwriting and mainly talked about Hippogrifs in the letters. Regina did not like that look.
Nevertheless Regina pressed onward. She told them that when she arrived she'd found the wrecked furniture and two subdued guards. She revived them and they split up to search for the escapee. Then she dueled the escapee long enough for the other guards to find them. This part was all true, you should always mix elements of the truth into your lies.
It was a believable story. She knew this because by the end of her speech she hadn't been either fired nor set on fire.
Regina omitted her plan to halfheartedly look for Emma. She also purposely forgot to mention how when she found Emma -headed completely in the wrong direction- her new plan was to push the girl in the right direction or perhaps just drag her unconscious body out of the castle.
Emma had an annoying habit of unknowingly throwing wrenches into all of her plans. Which is why Regina waited until it was absolutely necessary to see the blonde again. As it turned out that time came shortly after she returned from Malfoy's Manor.
Maleficent, being one of the guards that Emma subdued, felt entitled to an interrogation session with Emma in which she did very little interrogating. Regina was livid. With Maleficent for harming Emma, with herself for forgetting to make up an excuse for why no one was allowed to even touch Emma without the Wardens consent, with Emma for not successfully escaping. Just irrational rage that she could focus on instead of worrying about how far Maleficent would go to exact her revenge.
An agonizing scream echoed through the Western corridor and then replayed itself over and over in her mind. Regina opened the door to Emma's new cell it was slightly larger with a higher ceiling. Within the room she found both blondes alive and glaring at each other. Emma's hands were raised above her head and held there with heavy iron cuffs. The Gryffindor was sweating through her tank top but not showing any new cuts or bruises. The blondes turned to face Regina, Maleficent's face twisted into a malicious smile while Emma's glare intensified tenfold.
Regina wondered how many more times she was going to have to save this girl from torture and then be met with absolute loathing. She deserved it though, the loathing, she knew that much. Regina slipped into her role with less ease than usual, "You forgot to put a silencing charm on the room. Her words came out raw, weathered from their perilous journey past the bile at the back of her throat. "The brat's shrieking disturbs me."
"My apologies, Warden." Maleficent said disingenuously. "It won't happen again."
"Yes, well I needed a break anyway, I'll take over from here. You are dismissed." She informed a pouting Maleficent. Regina stepped to the side to allow the guard to exit and leveled her wand at Emma's throat. All the while avoiding eye contact with either of them.
The door to Emma's cell closed and they were alone. Emma was safe. All of her rage was gone and with it went Regina's energy. She dropped her wand and conjured a glass of cider. It had been a long day and it was about to get even longer.
The guards patrolling outside would expect her to stay in here for at least half an hour. The Escape Attempt Incident was high profile enough within the ranks of the Death Eaters that Regina wouldn't be surprised if a group of them her 'patrolling' the hall outside the cell right now. She certainly remembered passing at least six curious faces on her way down here.
With a flick of her wrist and a mumbled spell the room was silenced from any prying ears belonging to those faces.
"Why are you doing this, Regina?" Emma asked through clenched teeth.
Regina didn't answer until her cup was empty. "It's Warden now, try not to forget." She moved to sit cross-legged on Emma's cot with her back against the wall and magicked more cider into the glass.
Emma was pale. She looked like she was about to faint. Regina used her wand to lengthen the chains and Emma slowly sank to the floor at the foot of the cot. The hard ground was cushioned by a thick layer of hay. Regina guessed that this cell was used to store grain in its past life.
"Thanks." Emma said eying her warily from below.
Regina bit her tongue. She didn't want Emma to thank her for anything. "Shush, now. I'm going to pretend you're not here." She closed her eyes and was perfectly content to merely sit in silence. She'd count the minutes until it was appropriate to make her exit and then... then what?
'Leave the planning for tomorrow,' She mused, 'Emma will surely find a way to screw it up anyway so for now: No plan, just silence.'
Of course, silence could be considered a plan and if that were true then-
"I thought you were dead." Emma said, right on cue. Regina smirked to herself but kept her eyes closed. She rolled the glass tumbler between her palms before balancing it on her knee while Emma continued existing. She was speaking quietly but it felt -everything felt- so loud and so complicated. None of this was supposed to happen. "I thought... because you went missing and I thought..."
Maybe she could try to convince Emma that she'd been hypnotized or that Voldemort used some kind of memory spell on her. Regina took a deep breath. A memory charm. Alright, that's good, it's safer for Emma than the truth. She opened her eyes, they met Emma's for the first time this evening, and the lie died on her lips.
"What would Daniel say if he saw you like this?" Oh that was low. Warranted, given the circumstances, but still very low. "Look, I'm sorry he's gone now but Daniel-"
Regina put up her hand, "-Don't. Don't even. You don't get to say his name, not after what your mother did." The rage was back, not as intense as before but building.
The blonde gaped at her, "You're going to blame my mother?"
"Yes!"
Emma scoffed, "The way I heard it, it was your mother who actually killed him."
There was no warning to it. One moment there was a cup in her hand then next shards of glass were falling into her lap and making tiny cuts in her hand. Neither of them bothered with it though. Most others would have flinched but this was Emma and Regina in the middle of an argument. "That never would have happened if your mother hadn't-"
"So you join the Death Eaters and give the woman who murdered your boyfriend exactly what she wants?" Emma brings her hands up to comb through her hair, "Regina what the hell are you doing? You're not a Death Eater!"
That was it. Who does this woman think she is? Telling Regina what she is and is not, knocking down walls and bringing up the past. "If I weren't a Death Eater would I have this?" Regina pulled up the sleeve covering her dark mark tattoo. "I'm embracing my destiny, dear. My lineage. This is in my blood!"
Emma shook her head as she stared at the inked in skull and snake incredulously. "I don't buy that Regina not for one second."
Curse Emma Swan-White. Curse her, her super power, and her shiny hair too. The Warden stood to tower over her captive. "Do not test me, Miss Swan, for your own safety."
The blonde quickly tired of craning her neck to look up. She rose to her feet with defiance radiating behind emerald green eyes. "Or what? You'll punish me?" Regina faltered, she didn't expect Emma to say that and she definitely didn't expect her body to react with arousal. She'd forgotten how much taller Emma was now and found herself eye level with the younger woman's lips.
Loathe as she was to display any sign of retreat Regina took a step back. She needed space to focus. Regina spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. She reminded herself to speak only of things she truly believed, "You need to understand that I am not that girl anymore. That Regina Mills is dead. This is who I am now."