Chapter 10
Enchanted Forest, about a year before the 1st curse
Regina narrowed her eyes as she looked at the guard standing before her. He was nervous. Though the black mask obscured his facial features, she could tell in the way he moved, the way his hands quivered, the slight shake in his voice.
"What do you mean you had Snow White in your sights?" She asked calmly. Deceptively calmly. "If you had her in your sights, why isn't she standing before me as we speak?"
"Sh..she escaped, My Queen," the man said hesitantly.
Regina swept her long, black train out of her way and sat regally on her throne. "How many men did you have with you, Bruce?" Her voice was nearly gentle—a fact that seemed to unnerve the guard before her more than if she'd shouted. Smart man.
"We had her trapped, Majesty," Bruce said, a pleading note entering his voice. "She was trapped on a cliff; there was nowhere she could go!"
Regina leaned forward intently. "And yet you failed to capture her. Explain to me exactly how that could have happened!"
Bruce's knees actually knocked against each other. "She jumped, Majesty. There was nowhere she could go, but she jumped."
Regina glared. "She jumped off a cliff yet you're not carting her bloody dead body to me. How does that happen?"
"She jumped into the ocean."
Regina got to her feet and began pacing fretfully. How the hell did this girl elude her time and time again? She was little more than a child! A spoiled brat of a princess! She shouldn't have survived two days out there on her own. Yet here Regina stood, nearly two years later, and she was no nearer capturing her prey than on the day that miserable huntsman failed to retrieve her heart!
She wanted to destroy something. Her eyes fell on Bruce. He would pay for his failure! Oh yes, he would pay. She advanced on him, hand outstretched toward his chest. The man quailed before her.
"But I have useful information for you as well, Majesty!" he squeaked in a voice that had suddenly raised two octaves.
Regina stopped, hand still held before her. "Really?" she asked, her head canted to the side. "If that's true, I might just let you keep your worthless life for another day."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Bruce said, bowing. "I've no doubt you will find this knowledge infinitely useful."
She waited a beat and then another. "Well?" she shouted. Bruce jumped.
"The princess fell to the water, and was under for long minutes. It looked as though she would drown, but she was rescued."
"Rescued? By whom?" The imbecilic that had done this would pay. Dearly.
"By a mermaid, Majesty."
"A mermaid? At the surface?"
"Indeed. I believe she gave her name as Ariel. It seems she's fallen in love with a human man. One Prince Erik of a nearby maritime kingdom."
Regina's patience was running thin. What did she care about the love life of a fish?
"After rescuing the princess," Bruce continued quickly, "the pair talked for some moments. It seems Snow White encouraged this Ariel to fight for true love. Ariel mentioned a legend about the sea witch, Ursula. It seems she believes the sea witch grants a wish to one mermaid every ten years. Ariel wishes for legs so as to be able to attend a certain ball this Prince Erik is holding. Snow White has promised to find Ariel a dress and attend the function with her if she is successful in obtaining Ursula's favor."
Regina's eyes wandered to her large bronze bas-relief depicting the sea witch. She'd heard of Ursula, of course. Who hadn't? But unless Regina was completely mistaken, Ursula was no more than a myth, a legend, a story merpeople told each other to explain the unexplainable.
But mythical or not, maybe this silly little mermaid's belief could be used for Regina's purposes. Just because Ursula was legendary didn't mean Ariel couldn't meet her. Regina fingered a leather bracelet on her wrist as an idea began to take shape. Yes, it was time to employ a little magic—and a little disguise.
"You've done well, Bruce," Regina said finally. "I won't kill you yet, but fail me again and you'll wish you'd never been born!"
Waters off the Enchanted Forest, about a year before the 1st curse
Flotsam swam lazily through the murky waters just outside the boundaries of King Triton's kingdom, Jetsam at his side.
"Anything interesting?" Jetsam asked
Flotsam shook his head side to side. "Not so much as a guppy that would interest the old crab."
Flotsam thought about his employer with no small amount of contempt. She was vulgar and coarse and far too full of herself for her own good. But Flotsam knew what was in his self-interest, and he planned to pursue it no matter whose tentacles he had to kiss.
Ursula had power, wealth and far too much laziness to pursue her own ends. Neither Flotsam nor Jetsam was averse to doing the work necessary to get Ursula what or who she wanted, not when it resulted in the kinds of wealth and luxury the witch was willing to shower on them in gratitude.
Flotsam spotted a flowing mane of red hair out of the corner of his yellow eye, and snapped his head in its direction. Ariel! Swimming outside her kingdom's protective borders. Jackpot!
Flotsam nudged Jetsam with his fin and then nodded toward the feisty little mermaid. Jetsam displayed his usual awful grimace of a smile. "Should we approach her right away?"
He shook his head. "She's far too close to the borders. We could be spotted, and then our mission would be compromised, maybe for a long time to come."
Jetsam merely nodded, as Flotsam knew he would. His twin could always be counted on to listen to and follow his direction. It was the benefit of being the one who'd hatched first, the benefit of being the one with the far superior intellect.
"Let's follow her," Flotsam said. "See where she's going, what she's doing. Might be we can learn something to our advantage."
It was a strategy that had benefited the eels more than once. It was rather amazing what one could discover by simply swimming in the shadows and listening. Merpeople were far too open for their own good.
Ariel looked cautiously from side to side, chewing nervously on her bottom lip. Finally, she nodded decisively and began swimming toward the surface. Hoping to catch a glance of her human prince, no doubt.
The mermaid swam quickly, gaining the surface in mere moments, her head broke the surface, and she impatiently shoved the matted hair from her face. She looked nervous—maybe even scared—but her face showed more determination than Flotsam had seen from anyone in years.
"Ursula!" Ariel called in a commanding voice. "Ursula, I know you're real; I know you're near. Come to me; I need your help."
Elation shot through Flotsam's entire system. This was proving to be one of the simplest tasks Ursula had ever sent them on.
"Come Jetsam," he said, "let's go alert her largeness that she's being summoned."
And then Ursula was there, rising regally out of the water…but it wasn't Ursula. No, this woman with an octopus body was an excellent imitation—but she was far too beautiful, far too thin. What under the sea?
Flotsam listened as the imposter spoke to the mermaid, watched as she gave Ariel some kind of bracelet, gasped as Ariel placed it on her wrist and walked from the sea on two legs. Ursula was not going to be pleased about this!
….
Ursula was not pleased at all. She was going to wipe the smug looks off of those slimy eel faces!
"You had one job!" she thundered, "One job!"
Grabbing a shot glass, she poured herself a stiff drink, downed it, and promptly poured another. She'd spent the better part of last week planning for this, scheming for this, sacrificing her well-earned sleep for this. And for what? For her useless lumps of servants to let it slip through her fingers!
"All you had to do was find her when she was alone and bring her to me!"
"Well, Your Pudginess," Flotsam said, "finding her alone proved to be more easily said than done. Ever since she's begun speaking of this human of hers, King Triton has had his crab lackey more or less tied to her tail. It wasn't until today that she was finally able to shake him."
"A crab?" Ursula shrieked, throwing her shot glass against the wall and shattering it into a million pieces. "You two morons were shown up by a crab!"
"In our defense," Jetsam began.
"He had the full weight of Triton's authority behind him," Flotsam finished.
Ursula swam back and forth, effectively pacing the length of her opulent dining room.
"So it wasn't til today that she was alone," Ursula said, giving the pair the stink eye. "Why didn't you pounce on her today?"
"Too close to the kingdom," Flotsam said.
"And then she was at the surface and 'Ursula' was there," Jetsam continued.
Ursula swore so long and profanely that a sailor would have blushed. Those two sons-of-fishes just idled there, slightly mocking smiles on their ugly faces. Oh, so help her, she was going to turn them into sushi!
Was it too much to ask that she get a break once in a while? Just one little teeny-tiny break? What had she ever done to anyone to deserve this grief? Her glance flitted out the window and onto her garden. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best question to ask.
"Who is she? This witch who impersonated me? What was she after?"
Somehow Flotsam managed to shrug. How did one do that when he didn't have shoulders?
"How should we know Your Portliness?" Jetsam asked. "She said she was Ursula."
Ursula shot a stream of magic at the loathsome creature—only it was barely strong enough to ruffle his scales, and for the first time that day, the anger transitioned over to fear. Her magic was draining and it was draining fast. At this rate she'd be no more spectacular than the average octopus within the decade!
Think! She had to think. There had to be something she could do. One thing was for sure. She would find the wretch who dared to imitate her, and that person would rue the day she crossed Ursula!
Enchanted Forest, present day
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," Charming said, reaching for his goblet of wine.
"Likewise," Philip answered raising his own goblet and raising it to the table in general. "When the guards informed me that a group—a group that contained those skilled in magic—had broken into the castle, I feared the worst."
"No doubt," Charming agreed genially. "Given recent history with the wicked witch and Morgana, a little caution is certainly in order."
"We are certainly at your disposal," Aurora said, looking up from her task of spooning stew into her one-year-old daughter's mouth. "This is your castle, your kingdom, and we have no wish to be interlopers."
"Just how is it you came to occupy this castle, dearies?" Rumple asked.
Philip shrugged. "Ever since your party returned to the Land Without Magic six months ago, the castle's been unoccupied; there's been no official ruler of this kingdom. With reports of more and more people settling in the Enchanted Forest, it seemed prudent to visit, make provisions for a ruler of sorts to be found."
"Wise idea," Charming agreed.
Charming took a bite of his stew, enjoying the savory, slightly spicy flavor. He was more relieved than he could say that they'd found allies rather than enemies in the castle. It was bad enough they were looking for a kidnapping band of pirates; they certainly didn't need a new super-villain intent on taking over as well.
Philip glanced around the large table in the dining chamber, surprise and something else…confusion?...in his eyes. "I must say, I understand why the queen, the prince and even the Dark One found it prudent to come to the castle and determine its occupants, but I confess to being puzzled by the appearance of outlaws."
"It turns out," Regina said, breaking her silence for the first time since they'd sat down to dinner, "it's because of the outlaws that we're here in the first place. Their group was attacked about three days ago and…and Robin Hood was severely injured and his little boy kidnapped."
Charming shot Snow's stepmother a sympathetic look, feeling for her. The pain and anxiety was more than obvious when she spoke of those she loved being in danger.
"Three days past?" Aurora said with obvious surprise. "There was an outbreak of violence in the Enchanted Forest a mere three days past, and we didn't know about it? How is that possible? If we'd known, we'd certainly have provided soldiers to assist you."
Little John shrugged. "They attacked at night, and it was all over within the hour. A band of marauding pirates, it seems."
"Pirates attacking a village of outlaws? On land?" Philip asked, his eyes widening. "I've never heard of such a thing."
Regina made a strangled sound and a small, imploring gesture with her left hand. "It's my fault," she said in a tight voice. "They wanted to get to me, so they harmed two of the people I love most in the world."
"No," Charming said firmly. "Whatever you've done in the past, you are not responsible for what these miscreants did. You have a problem with someone? You confront that person; you don't kidnap an innocent child, try to kill an innocent man to harm them. That's nothing but base cowardice, and I won't stand for you blaming yourself for it, Regina."
The queen looked up at him, surprise and pleasure in her brown eyes. "Thank you, Charming. I appreciate that…especially given all our history."
"History," Rumple said under his breath, "that's a diplomatic way to put it."
Charming shrugged. "You're welcome. You've changed Regina; we're allies now as well as family. You do know Snow and I will do everything in our power to save your true love and his son, don't you?"
She dropped her eyes. "Yeah, I guess I do know that. Thank you; it means a lot to me."
"The question," Mulan asked, "is just what are we going to do to save them and defeat their attacker?"
Philip got to his feet, a look of determination on his face. "What you're going to do first is retrieve the remainder of your party and take up residence here where you belong. Then we meet to discuss strategy." He placed a gentle hand on Aurora's arm. "My wife and I wish to do everything we can to assist you."
Charming stood and offered Philip his hand. "You have my gratitude."
…
Regina's stroked Robin's lifeless hand, grateful for the cool breeze flowing from the bedroom's window, for the soft, comfortable bed, for the servants and healers. In short, she was grateful to be back in the castle where Robin had his best shot at recovery.
Regina dipped the soft, white cloth into the basin of water on the nightstand, wrung it out, and gently laid it on Robin's forehead. His fever still hadn't broken, nor had he shown any signs of coming out of his coma. How long would she have to endure this agony? In her darker moments she wondered if the man she loved would ever awaken, or whether he would just slip from them step by step until he was finally gone forever.
The door opened and then closed softly. Regina turned her head and saw Snow stepping toward her, a sympathetic look in her eyes.
"How's he doing?" she asked, taking a seat in the straight-backed chair beside the bed.
Regina ran her fingers through the hair draping Robin's forehead, caressed his stubbled jaw. Finally she shrugged, looking over at her step-daughter. "About the same, I guess."
And then she crumbled, tears coming to her eyes. "The truth is…I don't think he's doing well. I sense he's slipping away from us."
Snow's hand came to rest on Regina's arm. "Don't give up. As long as there's life, there's hope. We've got the best healers in the realm tending to him. We may get a miracle yet!"
In the past, Snow White's optimism had often gotten on Regina's nerves, but not now. Now she was grateful for it; it almost gave her hope that things really would work out—that Robin would wake up and recover, that Roland would come back safe and sound. It gave her the strength to fight on. Regina smiled and nodded.
"So," Regina said, pulling her thoughts with difficulty from the issues that had been consuming her since her return to the Enchanted Forest, "how did the strategy meeting go?"
As soon as the Storybrook residents and the Merry Men were comfortably settled into the castle and a light supper had been consumed, Charming had suggested they all meet in the war room and discuss their way forward. Regina, reluctant to spend any more time away from Robin, had declined feeling slightly guilty. She should have been involved in the strategizing, she knew she should have, but the thought of Robin suffering alone tore at her.
Snow White shrugged. "You didn't miss much, really. Philip and Aurora don't have any better idea who's behind this than any of us."
"It doesn't make any sense," Regina said reflectively. "Why kidnap a little boy and then go completely silent? Shouldn't someone be making ransom demands—or, I don't know, demands I surrender to them or something?"
"It is weird," Snow agreed. "We can't seem to make any sense of it at all. Maybe when Emma and Killian get back we'll know more. Maybe the people in Camelot have some new information."
"Yeah, maybe," Regina said, turning back toward Robin, turning over the cloth so that the cooler side lay against his skin. "So nothing new?"
"Well, Philip and Aurora offered their soldiers to help guard us and to help scout for information. That's something, I guess. Other than that, really all we can do is keep our eyes and ears open for more info on this guy—that, and wait for the kidnapper to contact us."
Regina nodded, despising the helpless feelings engulfing her. The last time she'd felt this powerless was the day her mother killed Daniel. Back then, she'd reacted by embracing darkness, ruthlessly amassing power, and adopting a single-minded determination to get revenge. This time—none of that was possible or even desirable, really. She was no longer the Evil Queen, she had turned her life around, and she had no desire to regress.
"I should have been with you," Regina said so softly Snow had to lean forward to catch her words. "Maybe I could have helped—contributed something. I just couldn't bear to be apart from him. Not when," she took a deep, ragged breath, "not when I can't be sure how much time I have left with him."
Snow sat on the bed beside her and gave her a hug. "It's okay, Regina," she said. "There'll be plenty of time to strategize. Besides, we all get it. We all know what it's like when your true love is in danger."
And then Snow gasped. "Your true love," she said, eyes wide. "Robin is your true love!"
"Well, yeah, I've no doubt he's my true love," Regina said carefully. "I hope I'm his as well."
"Of course you are!" Snow said excitedly, getting to her feet. "This is perfect!"
Regina watched her stepdaughter with uncomprehending eyes. "What's perfect?"
"True love!" Snow said with her trademark intensity. "Don't you see? You can heal him! Give him true love's kiss!"
Regina's heart stuttered and then started racing. True love's kiss? Was it possible? She got to her feet and began pacing. "I'm not sure," she said in a voice that wasn't quite steady.
"What's not to be sure about?" Snow asked, watching Regina closely. "You love each other. It's the perfect solution."
Regina stopped pacing, dropped her eyes, and voiced one of her deepest fears. "What if I'm not his true love? What if it doesn't work?"
Snow was silent for several moments, and Regina finally looked up to meet the younger woman's eyes.
"There's only one way to find out," Snow said gently. "Don't you owe it to Robin, to yourself, to at least try?"
Regina stood still for a long moment, hope battling with fear. Finally she nodded. "Yeah. I guess you're right."
Snow stepped outside, giving Regina privacy. Regina took back her seat on the bed, swiped once more at Robin's hair, and then leaned down.
"I love you," she whispered, and then closed the final distance between them, pressing her lips firmly to his.
She felt—nothing; no flash of light, no surge of magical power. All she felt was her love for this man coursing through her, the stirrings of desire that kissing him—even in his inert state—awoke.
Regina sat back and looked at him, waiting, praying for him to open his eyes. Nothing happened. Maybe I didn't do it right; maybe I have to focus more on our love.
She tried again, focusing all her thoughts, all her emotions, all her magical abilities on the man before her, on her feelings for him. She waited for long moments. Robin never stirred.
The tears began to fall unchecked now as a deep pit of despair opened within her. It had failed. True love's kiss had failed!
Notes:
-What? WHAT?! Regina tried TLK and it FAILED? Now before you kill me, just keep in mind: all of the major TL couples (Snowing, Rumbelle, Captain Swan) have had a failed TLK at some point in their relationship, so don't count Outlaw Queen out yet.
-In the "year before the 1st curse" section, basically, I'm just bringing some events from 3x6 into my own little AU OUAT world.
-Up next: Around 30 years ago in the Enchanted Forest, Anne Teach decides to go off on an adventure on her own. She ends up meeting a character well-known to OUAT fans. In the present day section, Emma, Killian and the knights make their way back to the Enchanted Forest.