DISCLAIMER:: do not own. just borrowing for creative purposes. no profit obtained.
A/N:: thanks for all the feedback from the last chapter! reviews always make me smile. i'm glad this story is so well recieved. it takes a lot of hard work. hope everyone continues to enjoy it. reviews are always appreciated.
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-Chapter 10: Before the Sadness Kills Us Both-
She awoke to soreness in her side. She had expected it of course, after the knife wound the guard had inflicted on her the day before. She opened her eyes and found a head resting on her left forearm. She glanced down and saw Regina sleeping. She was sitting in a chair next to the bed, but her hand clasped Emma's firmly and her head had fallen to rest on the blonde's forearm. It couldn't possibly be comfortable. Emma squeezed her hand and, after a moment, the brunette stirred.
Regina had a moment of that small disorientation most people get when they wake up and then she snapped right to attention, her face lighting up. "Hey." Her voice was gentle, soothing. "How are you feeling?"
Emma, with a slightly stiff effort, slid over in the bed. She pulled on Regina's hand, looking pointedly at the spot beside her.
Regina frowned. "I don't think that would be wise under the current circumstances." She glanced around the alcove, with only its curtains pulled closed to block them from the prying eyes of the seven little men.
Emma tugged on her hand again, more persistently this time.
Regina gave in and got up from the chair, wincing at the stiffness sleeping in that position had caused and slid onto the bed next to Emma.
The blonde, without thought of proper etiquette, curled her body into the brunette's, pulling the older woman close. She could feel that the wound had healed while she slept. Fairy dust was one of the most powerful substances one could possess. It had a long list of magical capabilities, among them several healing properties. But she'd be sore for the ride back to the palace, thanks to her strenuous activity while injured the day before.
"Thank you." She was surprised at how quiet she sounded, her words barely audible even to her own ears.
Regina reached up and pushed a strand of long blonde hair behind Emma's ear, the backs of her fingers brushing over the blonde's jaw as she pulled her hand back. "For what?"
"For everything you've done, and everything you will do that you haven't yet."
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"Do you have any idea who she is my Queen?" Happy looked at her in shock, his normally cheery disposition now a mask of concern.
Emma nodded, glancing over at Regina, who lingered back near the alcove bedroom, not wanting to make the seven men scattered around the great room any more anxious than they already were. "She's Queen Regina, once known throughout the Enchanted Forest as the Evil Queen."
Doc glanced warily at the brunette woman and then let his eyes slide to Emma. He'd been checking up on the pair throughout the night, as he'd been the only one of his brothers who wasn't terrified by the woman's very presence. He had known, from the moment he'd seen them on the horse, how much the Evil Queen cared for Emma. It seemed to radiate out from her in every glance, every smile, every action. She was a woman in love. And by the looks of it, Emma felt much the same. "You know what it is she did then?"
A shadow crossed briefly over Emma's features. "Yes, I do."
Doc stepped up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "And you care for her still?"
Emma nodded, smiling fondly at the brunette. "More than I ever dreamed possible."
Doc nodded, looking around at each of his brothers, unspoken words flowing between them. His gaze settled on Regina last, studying her. Finally, he turned back to Emma. "What's your plan and how can we help?"
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"I don't like this." Regina wrapped her arms around the blonde queen and pulled her close. "I don't want to be apart from you for even a second. What if something were to go wrong, how will I know?"
Emma smiled, turning the brunette's go-to assurance back at her. "All will be well, my love."
"But Hadrian…"
Emma pressed a firm kiss to Regina's lips. "There is nothing Hadrian can do to keep me from you, short of ending my life, and he is much too smart to do that. It is disapproved of for a Queen to rule by herself, without a King by her side, but that does not change that I am the true sovereign. If he wishes to declare my execution, he needs irrevocable proof of some great misdeed."
"Like freeing the Evil Queen from her sleeping curse?"
Emma frowned. "Even that is forgivable. The people did love my mother and I am what is left of her. Hadrian may try to prevent me from leaving if he discovers my plan, but he will not harm me. You, however, are not safe within the palace walls. That is why you must meet me in Port Emerald. You can blend in while I attend to my affairs at the castle."
Regina released her hold on Emma's waist. The blonde was right in this. If she was discovered before they made it to the Forbidden Forest, she would be held accountable for her sins. The penalty for all she'd done would be nothing less than death.
Emma swung up into the saddle for the long ride back to the palace. She'd be there by mid-afternoon, enough time to get what she needed and collect her father before setting out for Port Emerald to meet up with Regina.
Regina kept a hand on Freedom's reins and looked up into Emma's green eyes. "When you arrive in Port Emerald, go to the inn near the docks. It used to be called the Three Fish, but the name may have changed in my time away. Ask the innkeep for the deluxe room. She'll give you a key. Ascend to the second floor and turn right on the landing, follow the hall to the last door at the end of the corridor. Your key will open the door. I will be waiting for you there."
Emma nodded. "I shall be there."
Regina reached up and grabbed Emma's cloak, yanking it down until the blonde bent her face close to hers. She pressed a frantic but passionate kiss to Emma's lips. "Promise me you'll return to me."
Emma smiled, caressing Regina's cheek. "I promise."
"If you are not there by tomorrow evening, I will ride for the palace."
Emma nodded, knowing it would be futile to try and change Regina's mind. "I'll be there."
As Emma set off down the path that would lead her back to the palace, she finally let her anxiety come to the surface. For all her reassurances to the older woman, she truly didn't even feel a fraction as confident as she had played off. Hadrian would not harm her in any way, that had been truthful enough, but he would try and prevent her from leaving at all costs. Her departure would compromise his security in the crown. He was a foreigner, from across the sea, and without her at his side, that was all he'd ever be in the eyes of the people. The crown belonged to her and her legacy.
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"Sire." The head of patrol fell to a knee, his head bowed, in front of the throne. "The Queen has been spotted heading this way, coming up the west trail. She rides accompanied by four dwarves and unharmed."
Hadrian waved the guard to a standing position. "Has she been intercepted by one of your riding parties yet?"
The guard shook his head. "No, Sire. We await your orders."
Hadrian frowned. "Prepare a steed; I ride to meet her myself."
The guard bowed and departed to carry out the orders.
Hadrian leaned back in his throne. He had no idea what his wife had been up to these past few days but she would answer for it. He'd make sure of that.
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"My King." She had expected this. He would want to ride into the palace grounds as a happy couple, not the emotionally distant strangers they had become. Still, certain etiquette was to be observed. She inclined her head in greeting. "I hear you've half the Royal Army out scouring the villages for me."
Hadrian's mouth was a rock hard line. "My Queen, your safety is of the utmost importance to me. I feared for it many times over the past few days. No one could tell me what had become of you." He inclined his head briefly to the men riding behind her. "Good sirs, thank you for accompanying my wife."
"I told Daniela to inform you I had gone to the winter palace."
"The winter palace, but it has been unused for many years. What business have you there?" His horse fell in step beside hers.
"My business is my own."
She could see the anger that was coming to a slow boil under the surface of his calm composure.
"You are a royal, your business is first and foremost to attend to your rule." Hadrian could see it, the change in her eyes. Something had happened on this journey of hers. He had no idea what, but gone was the obedient wife he knew, a Queen committed to a life of duty she felt was her burden to bear. In her place rode a proud woman, one who seemed to finally have found a purpose more worthy of her time.
"My business is also my family. My journey was a favour to my father. I trust he is well."
Hadrian shrugged. "I have seen not of him, but the servants bring no news of his death so I am to assume he is as he has always been."
"I instructed Daniela to tend to him upon her return. Has she done so?"
Hadrian shook his head. "Daniela never returned. I assumed she had been in your company these past few days. Perhaps she has abandoned her service."
Emma frowned, for the first time her confident composure faltering. Daniela being absent would complicate their escape, but it would not deter her from her mission. "Perhaps she has. Long has she been in the service of this family, but it is her life to do with as she wishes."
"Listen here, the Queen has now pardoned deserters. My, what has become of my beloved wife in her time away from me?"
Emma glared at Hadrian. "Her life has been her own since my mother died. Her required service ended at that time and has since been voluntary. Do not presume to tell me how to punish my own servants." She spurred her horse forward, the dwarves following suit, all leaving Hadrian in their dust.
He glared after them on the brink of rage. So much for riding in as a happy couple.
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Regina had no clue why Emma had insisted on sending her with a guard. She had her magic to protect herself. It was odd to her how different using magic seemed in this time. Magic among humans hadn't been common, even in her time. It was where her rule stemmed from after all. She ruled in fear. Her subjects were terrified of her powers. But now, in this time, they seemed to have remembered their backbones. According to Emma, unless magic practitioners were registered into the service of the royal family, they were executed, sometimes privately, or if they were to be made an example of, publicly. This world it seemed, had drifted from its original foundations.
"You are in love with her, aren't you?"
She broke from her thoughts to look over at the dwarf known as Doc. The other two who had accompanied him were the mute one, Dopey, and the narcoleptic one, Sleepy.
"I am."
"How far do you intend to run? How long?"
Regina squared her shoulders. "However long it takes. I can't live without her." She was surprised she was being so open, but Emma had changed something in her. It felt good to admit that there was something she felt was worth fighting for.
"Getting away from the King won't be difficult. He has no power without her by his side. He's from across the sea and he is liked enough among the people, but hardly loved. If she wanted to unbind their marriage, she could, though the consequences could mean war. But he won't hurt her." Doc frowned. "But once the realm becomes aware of your presence... The scars left by that time have faded, but they are hardly forgotten."
Regina nodded, forlornly. "The past always catches up with us it would seem."
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Emma took the stairs to the tower at a run, going up and around the spiral staircase until she reached the room at its peak. She pushed open the door. The room was not how she'd last seen it less than a week before. All the pictures of Snow had been taken from the walls. They were in a neat, or as neat as could be managed, stack off to one side of the bed. The bed itself was made. It almost looked as if it were a normal, albeit sparsely furnished, bed chamber.
"Father?"
A quick look around the room and the en suite bathing chamber told her that he wasn't in the chamber. She crossed to the window and looked out. She could just make out his form down in the garden. Of course that would be where he'd go once his stupor had been broken. She turned from the window and raced back down the stairs.
"Father?" When she reached the normally locked door to the small private garden within the bigger garden, it was open. She slipped inside.
James was crouched at the feet of Snow White.
"Father?"
He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes pained. "Emma, I'm so sorry."
She crossed over to him and helped him stand. "What are you talking about? Sorry for what?"
"For leaving you when you needed me most." James gripped her shoulders and stared into her eyes apologetically.
Emma felt tears sting her eyes. "It's okay. You lost her. It's okay. I forgive you." She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
He squeezed her back just as hard.
Finally, she pulled back. "Listen, we have got to get out of here. I have someone waiting for us, and we need to go."
He looked at her, clearly confused. "When?"
"Before dawn, in the cloak of darkness, before Hadrian wakes. We must go."
James shook his head, still confused. "Why?"
"Daddy." It was a name she hadn't used often with him, but it had a profound effect when she uttered it because of its rarity. "I'm in love with someone. I fell in love, but it's not with my husband."
"So we will unbind your marriage."
Emma shook her head. "To do so could mean war; it would divide the land. And… the person, the woman, I fell in love with… she… it's complicated."
"It's her isn't it?"
Emma nodded, not needing any confirmation of the her he was referring to. "I love her."
He looked sadly at her. "I know." He took a deep breath and released it. "Very well. We will go. Meet me here before dawn. Pack light, you don't want to draw attention to yourself."
Emma nodded and once again threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you."
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A knock sounded at her bed chamber door. "You may enter."
The door opened and Hadrian slipped in.
Emma sighed. "Not tonight, I am weary from my travels."
"That is not what I come for. I'd like to spend the day with you tomorrow, just us." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "I feel as if we're growing distant. I know our marriage was never one of love, Emma, but we used to be friends. How did we get so far apart?"
Emma bit her lip. "Hadrian… our entire marriage is a lie. It's always been about using each other and you know it. Don't you ever get tired of the denial?"
Hadrian's eyes flashed briefly but he swallowed whatever it was he was feeling. His mask slipped into place once more. "Be ready an hour after dawn. We will have breakfast together and then maybe a nice hunt." He turned and exited the room before she could raise an objection.