"Remind me again why I agreed to them coming over for lunch?" Regina sighed.
"Because, to get a better relationship with Henry you need to at least tolerate Emma and Snow." Daniel said with a grin.
"And how is a lunch going to help with that?"
"It isn't, but you're going to talk to them, while I keep Henry busy. "
"I don't like that idea." Regina said with a whine.
Daniel chuckled. "Oh, come on Regina! It won't be that ba-" he was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.
"They're here." Regina groaned.
She walked over to the door and took a deep breath before opening.
"Henry!" She smiled a genuine smile and ruffled his hair. The smile disappeared from her face when she looked up to Emma and Snow. "Emma, Snow." She said in a business like tone.
Emma smiled. "Did you just use my first name?"
"Yes I did, so?" Regina asked, no emotion showing in her voice.
"We're making progress." She said with a big grin.
Before Regina could deny anything, Emma brushed passed her and into the dining room. Snow gave her an apologetic look and walked in also. "Do come in." She said in a dry tone and closed the door.
...
"So, I heard from David that Whale brought you back." Snow said to Daniel.
"Yes, he did and for some unknown reason Gold pushed him across the border and now he doesn't remember who he is anymore."
"Who was Whale?" Emma asked with her mouth full, earning a glare from Regina.
"He was Dr. Frankenstein! Isn't that cool Emma!" Henry said enthusiastically.
"THE Frankenstein?! The frickin' monster?!" Emma asked shocked.
"Of course not, Ms. Swan. The doctor." Regina said with a role of her eyes which earned her a look from Daniel that said 'play nice'.
"So we're back to the last name now?"
"Well, dear you haven't earned it yet." Regina said with her trademark grin.
Emma chuckled. "Well let me help you clean up then. It's the least I can do after you stopped Gold from killing me and Snow."
Regina felt a soft kick against her shin and looked across the table to Daniel, who was giving her a tiny nod.
She sight, "fine Ms. Swan."
Together they collected all the dishes and made their way to the kitchen.
"You can just put them over there, Ms. Swan."
Emma put the dishes carefully on the kitchen counter and let out a relieved breath, pleased with herself that she didn't drop anything.
She leaned against the cooking island and crossed her arms across her chest, watching Regina who was filling the sink with hot water.
"Lunch was delicious." Emma said, deciding to break the uncomfortable silence.
"Thank you, dear."
"Where did you learn how to cook so well? I didn't think that Queen's were allowed to do peasant stuff."
"You're right, dear. They weren't." Her eyes darkened when she added, "Queens weren't allowed to do much."
"I wouldn't mind, you can have everything you want, live in a castle."
"Oh believe me, dear. You would hate living in a castle, it's a prison. But then again, it would be a familiar environment for you."
Emma decided to ignore the jab and asked. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that as a Queen, you don't have any power at all. Unless of course, you reign alone but that didn't happen very often. Marriages there were different from the ones they have here, back in that land you didn't have the same rights as a man. Especially in royalty, you were always beneath your King. You needed to obey your King." She said as she put the dishes in the water.
"That's messed up. How old were you when you got married?"
"18."
Emma looked shocked. "What?! My mom was 12 then! And he was like 60!"
"I know. But like I told you, marriages were different there."
"That's not an excuse!"
"For him it was. He wanted a mother for his daughter and a replacement for his dead wife. A King always gets what he wants."
Emma felt a bile rising in her throat when a thought entered her mind. "Did you, did you have to sleep with him?" She asked carefully, praying that the answer was no but when she saw Regina's pained expression she knew.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Regina."
"It's not your fault, dear and I don't want to talk about it. The dishes can wait, let's just get back to the dining room."
Before Emma could utter another word, Regina had already left the kitchen.
...
"So, lunch didn't went that bad, did it?" Daniel asked once he had closed the front door.
"Oh, it went great! Especially the part where Snow was staring at you the whole time." Regina said sarcastically.
Daniel chuckled. "Oh, come on. She wasn't staring the whole time."
"Yes she was!"
"Alright, you win. But what I would like to know is what happened in the kitchen."
Regina's smile disappeared from her face. "I don't know what you mean."
Daniel sight. "Yes you do, Regina. Don't close yourself off, you know you can tell me anything."
"Yes, I know. It's just something that Emma said and it brought back some memories."
She said with sadness filling her eyes.
"Would you like to tell me?"
"I, I don't know Daniel. I'd rather not talk about it."
He moved towards her and kissed her hair. "Alright darling, when you're ready."
Regina was grateful that he didn't push her into talking about her past. "Thank you."
I hope you enjoyed it, leave a review! ;)