Chapter 5

So this chapter turned much darker than I planned. I hope it doesn't turn anyone off, I tried to keep the same light hearted banter between them but Regina can't remain an evil queen forever. And Robin can't pretend she's not one either, at least not yet. Thank you to my long suffering beta Slynn6776.

PrincessofSea: I too think leopold by and large was he was kind but that doesn't always mean he would have been a great ruler. This chapter I take even more license with him.
Hurricane Jackson: I hope you like this interaction, it's a bit more serious.
lucerin: Staying in character is very important to me. I am glad you are enjoying it.
Guest: Yes, Roland being around does help soften the queen! Even at her evilest she seemed partial to children. I think it's their unconditional love she is attracted to.
buffypurple122: Oh, get your friends to review too! The squirrel was a lot of fun to write and funny as hell in my head!
phnxgrl: I'm glad you love it so. This chapter is different so I hope you still enjoy it.
: Glad the political talk isn't turning you off!
Anny Rodrigues: Wow what a wonderful review. I work hard on writing this but some chapters come easier than others.
anotherOUATwriter: Heh, hope you enjoy this chapter with the pine cone!
genber0398: Thank you so much. Hopefully it will live up to it's potential.
Tanya Reed: Thank you for the corrections. My beta Slynn works fairly hard trying to correct everything. I'm sure there will be more mistakes to be made, I hope they don't turn you off to the rest of the story!
LauraRoslinForever: So glad to hear you love this!

Regina sat down at her vanity, relieved the day was almost over. It had been a long one and she was on edge, thinking she had finally had a lead on Snow but began to doubt it after she met with the alleged traitors in her dungeons earlier: a middle aged man, his wife and their teenaged daughter. His fear was clear and evident, he wasted little time telling everything he knew about the princess which wasn't much. She had been seen by his family and she helped them with catching a runaway horse. It angered Regina so much she had ordered for his immediate torture and the family could wait for him in their cell.

Now Regina was reconsidering it. She used to enjoy hurting those that provided assistance to Snow but she was finding it unfulfilling as of late. She couldn't put her finger on why exactly. It was like her heart wasn't into it anymore. She couldn't be losing her taste for vengeance, maybe she was coming down with an illness.

She heard the click of her door opening. Regina gripped the corner of chair angrily. She had told the dungeon commander to notify her when the man fainted from the pain, but he was to knock and announce himself. He knew better to enter her chamber without invitation. Standing up, Regina made sure to tie her thin robe around her. She was wearing her more comfortable night clothes and though she didn't care if a mere guard from her army saw her in them, she still appreciated some warning. "How dare you come in un-"

She stopped forgetting what she had to say. There, before her, was Robin Hood, just as brazen and unapologetic as their previous meetings. Her mouth fell open at the sight of him. He was dressed in all black, tight fitting black leather as it happened and Regina's eyes went up and down his body, her mind betrayed into distraction by how well everything looked.

"Your Majesty, you look very becoming this evening." The outlaw sounded almost as shaken as she did. But he was holding himself better.

With as much strength as she could muster, Regina viciously greeted him. "What are you doing here? And how DARE you enter my chambers like you…you…" belong was all that came to mind but it didn't feel right to say aloud.

At her stuttering, he became more courageous. Taking a step forward, "My apologies for inviting myself but it was of grave importance. People's lives are in danger."

Instantly Regina thought of Roland. Who knew the God forsaken place the merry men camped? "Is it Roland? Is he okay?"

"What? Oh, yes, I'm-I'm sorry. It's not him. He's fine, I assure you." Robin was apparently shocked at her concern. Did he really think she could forget the charming boy so quickly? "He would want me to say hello to you, however."

"You can now say goodbye." She meant it. Truly, he shouldn't be here. It had been over a month since she allowed him to travel with her that strange morning. Since then her dreams were frequently featuring him and it was upsetting her to no end. She convinced herself it was simply because she'd gone too long without physical contact, and reluctantly she had to admit Robin was a very handsome man. She'd try to take care of her need by a very eager and horny soldier. But it didn't take long for her to realize it wasn't working and sent the knight away disappointed. Now the man driving that desire stood before her and her bed not twenty feet away, she knew it would be dangerous to give into longings she had seemingly little control over, she could barely admit to having them in the first place. "Apparently my gracious nature towards you has given a false understanding of our relationship."

"We have a relationship?" He started walking towards her, smiling. The insolence of this man! Regina summoned another fireball fully intending to use it but now he wasn't even looking at her. His eyes had gone to the back corner at her vanity. "Is that…is that what I think it is?"

What? Regina turned back to where she had been wondering what he could see, maybe this was a trick of his but her eyes immediately fell on exactly what he saw. Damn.

Before she knew it, he was already over there reaching for the squirrel cone. Regina gritted her teeth. She could imagine what he was thinking. "You still have it?"

"Just put it down!" She said anxiously, trying to get him to refocus on why he was there in the first place. "What were you saying about people in danger?"

But he was still too shocked over Roland's gift. He did set it down but carefully. "I would have thought if had disintegrated by now. If not by you, just naturally."

He looked at her for an explanation. She didn't want to tell him why. But of course he was smart enough to figure it out. His face lit up. "You put some sort of spell on it so to keep it preserved."

"Well, it was mulching!"

He was chuckling now and Regina felt even more irritated that the sound made her heart flutter. When she chose to keep the stupid thing, she never thought he would find out. She shrugged. "It scares rodents away!"

Now he laughed outright. "Do I believe a rat would dare to step one paw inside your castle?"

"You got in, didn't you?" She sneered rather proudly, expecting this to get under Robin's skin, it was her experience such an insult would enrage men such as Robin Hood.

Instead he just laughed harder. How has he managed to stay alive this long? And more importantly, why did she let him? "You know, even Roland wouldn't expect you to have kept this for so long, he'll be so pleased."

He sobered then. Regina's eyes went back to the squirrel cone and how she felt when Robin first gave it to her. It was such a preposterous gift for a queen, even before her life as a young girl, she'd never had received such a shabby looking present. Now as queen, it was routine for gifts bestowed upon her from traveling dignitaries as well as hopeful suitors and rich noblemen. Peasants who had been "encouraged" to thank the queen for her hard work had managed to skimp and save enough to get something halfway decent. But this boy who had nothing for himself and had only known her for a few mere hours had crafted a gift and asked it to be given to her. It was the first genuine gift from the heart she had received since Daniel. Daniel.

"I'm losing my patience at your presence here. May I remind you that you are a wanted man?" She cringed realizing the double meaning.

"True, so I'll get to my reason for being here." He started to walk towards her but Regina had had enough. She extended her hand and his feet were frozen to the ground. He showed momentarily surprise but recovered. He was getting used to this particular spell by now. "It may have gone unnoticed to your majesty's attention but Tripp's Landing has gone under attack by an orc invasion."

Did he think she was a fool? "I'd be a truly bad ruler indeed if I was unaware of the dark threats anywhere in my kingdom."

His eyes arched in surprise. "So you do know of it?"

"Of course," she said, sitting down on a nearby chair, letting her legs show to him as she crossed them. She couldn't help a smirk when she saw it worked, his eyes left hers and went to them. She was regaining control now knowing she had the sexual upper hand. "Please tell me you didn't get yourself arrested for breaking in here just to tell me that."

He waited a beat, his eyes returned to looking at hers. "You aren't going to do anything about it?"

"What is there to do?" She was pleased to see he was on edge.

"Send troops! Send supplies! People are dying!" He was getting angry. Good. He should be angry with her. She was the evil queen.

"No."

Now he reached his breaking point. "No!? What do you mean no?"

"How dare you speak to me like that!" she roared. Who did he think he is? A thief who sneaks in and steals was going to lecture her? "I am the QUEEN, thief! I do not have to explain myself to the likes of you."

He started to talk but was struggling to find the right words. Clearly he thought she would simply jump at his mere insistence and an army would be sent. Getting up, she went to the door, it was time to summon a guard. He had to be punished for coming in here.

As she turned the handle, she heard him whisper. "So that's it then. Just like that, you are going to let people die."

No, not just like that but she didn't have to tell him that. She didn't answer. She walked out to the hallway and shouted down to the bottom of the staircase. She knew a guard would be stationed there. She heard his reply and she waited for him. She didn't want to go in there and face him any longer than she had to. The disappointment on his face was enough to probably stop those unwanted dreams permanently now. She told herself that was a good thing.

They walked in together and the guard bound Robin's arms. She released his feet and the guard began to take him away. She heard the door shut and Regina let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She was about to sit down again at her vanity when she saw it. Or more accurately didn't see it.

Running to the door, she threw it open and bellowed, "Bring him back here!"

"You-your…" the guard started, practically shaking. Robin's back was still to her, he hadn't turned around. He didn't need to. He knew why she was upset.

"Just-get out of the way!" With a flick of her hand she lifted Robin up and threw him back in her bedroom. "Wait out here!" she said to the guard.

She walked in and slammed the door behind her. Robin stood up but his arms were still behind him. "Something wrong?"

"Where is it? You took it!"

He was smug now. He shrugged. "Tis true! I am a thief after all. I frequently take-"

He had to stop talking because she had stopped his ability to breathe. "Where's the squirrel?"

He didn't answer but tears had formed in his eyes. The amount of emotion in his damn eyes were overwhelming her, she unleashed the spell prompting him to gasp for air. With a flick of another wrist, she had him twist towards the wall on the other side. She looked and saw a small pouch on his side. Reaching into it, she smiled. There it was.

She placed it back on her vanity. She let his body go and he collapsed on the floor. "You really surprise me, Your Majesty."

She shook her head. She should just throw him out the window and be done with it. But she told herself it was because she didn't like what that would do to Roland. "What?"

"Lives to you are about as worthless as the leaves on the ground. But then you keep pine cones like they are made of gold."

She whirled around at that. "Of course I do. I'm the evil queen."

Shaking his head, "I know you want me to believe that, but I know it's not true, especially now."

"Really? Why?"

"If you were truly evil," he said with sad eyes, "you wouldn't put such a high value on a ragged child's present from the forest."

She should have called the guard in and had him take Robin away. She wanted to. But his eyes, those damn blue eyes, had a lock on hers. With nothing else to say, she began to explain, "Tripp's Landing is a territory leftover from a war that happened well before even Leopold came to the throne."

"I'm aware." His eyes kept staring.

"Over time, due to truces and treaties, the lands around it went to other kingdoms until eventually the landing was almost a land locked island, except in this case, surrounded by foreign territories."

"Which makes it vulnerable." She began to wonder if he was as powerless to look away from her as she was to him.

She shook her head slowly. "No, a liability. Think about it. How do I get troops to Tripp's landing?"

Thankfully the question forced him to break eye contact. "The easiest way is to head over Lake Slynn."

"Which is under King Geoffrey."

Though his hands were still bound behind him, he managed to stand. It was almost graceful. "So?"

"You showed such insight into politics our last time together and yet now it's like you're a child." She crossed her arms. "A foreign army entering Geoffrey's domain without permission would be considered an act of war."

"Not if you permission first-"

She laughed. "How? Send a note with the general asking pretty please let my army of men and dangerous weapons enter your land because I'm going to march past your richest resources to get to a strip of land that's main crop is simply wheat? He'd never believe it."

Robin shook his head angrily. "No, you can send an envoy ahead of the army flying your colors with an official request to his castle. He's had to have heard of the orcs by now so he would know you aren't making this up."

"But he knows like I do that no ruler in her right mind would waste time, men and money to defend an area that is so worthless nobody has ever cared to attempt to take it back from us! I've tried to give the territory away and nobody would have it!"

"Maybe, but…" Robin paused, trying to think of something.

Regina was sure he could spend days trying to think of reasons to convince her to do this and not find one reason. "You'll have plenty of time thinking of buts while you're down in the dungeons."

"Wait!" Robin sat down on a nearby chair. "The land might have simple farmers of low income crops but I've been there. The territory has plenty of people. The land itself is vast, the reason it's not profitable is because much of it is untillable, rocky ground and of course thick forest too."

"Perhaps you can go back and gather pine cones for dear Roland." She turned to head to the door.

"Sending an army there, after the battle is over, they could remain there. And the land could be changed."

She approached him. "Changed to what?"

He smiled. "Well you said yourself the crops they produce there aren't worth the time they invest in it. So let's use it for something else. And by sending men and supplies to help them through this you would win their gratitude!"

She laughed. "What is that worth to me?"

"More than you realize. You are always looking for ways to expand your armies. Use Tripp's Landing as a training ground for troops and knights!"

"Are you serious? You actually want me to add more soldiers?"

He shrugged. "Your Majesty, I don't know what is going on but I don't believe these orcs that have risen up and become so bold are a onetime thing. It's better to be prepared isn't it? Plus, I think one loyal soldier is worth ten of your black hearted knights."

She stomped over to him. "Oh you do, do you?"

He remained seated. His face twisted into something ugly. "I really don't think you would approve of many of their methods."

"I told you-"

A knock at the door cut her off. Thinking it was the guard she left out there she ran to the door, swinging it open. Standing there was the dungeon commander. "What?"

"Your Majesty wanted me to let you know when the prisoner collapsed from the pain."

"What?"

"The prisoner who helped Snow White." He shifted uncomfortably.

Her hair stood up when she realized Robin had to have heard. She would have preferred if he didn't. "Okay, leave now. Take the other guard with you."

"But-"

"I said leave!" They scampered away. She shut the door and Regina stiffened before she turned around. Robin was not at the chair. She ran towards it and found the cuffs that had been used on him opened and sitting in its seat. She glanced at the vanity and she was relieved to see the squirrel was still there. But there was only one way he could have gotten out.

Running to the window she quickly opened it. Looking down she did not see him. She was about to use magic to light up the darkness so she could see more but his voice stopped her. "Miss me?"

Turning her head, he was sitting on the ledge, his back to the castle wall. His casual posture you would think he was spending a lovely evening in a garden. "How did you-?"

"I'm a thief! I can get out of your garden variety dungeon shackles!" There wasn't enough light to see his full expression.

"I suppose you heard that?"

He nodded. "That a prisoner of yours has been tortured so much he's passed out? Yes, I did."

"He had helped Snow White!"

Robin nodded, "Right! Obviously a true psychopath that needed to be stopped before he started a crime spree!"

She gripped the window ledge. She hated him. She truly hated the outlaw. How dare he mock her? "Why don't you just go, go back to your son!"

"Wait, Majesty, just-" he was whispering now. "Do what you want with people whom you feel have wronged you. I'm certainly in no position to judge."

She almost laughed. "You're currently in a position to die."

"I'm going to go to Tripp's Landing and help those people. The merry men are no army but perhaps we can save a few lives!"

He couldn't be serious. Why risk his life for people he didn't know? "So what? Roland will become an orphan just so you can play hero?"

Leaning in, the outline of his face was brightened by a moon beam. It had a strange colorless effect. Colorless except for his blue eyes. "Whether I was alive or dead, if you heard Roland was in trouble or hurt, would you want to help him?"

Was he trying to get her to take care of Roland should he die? "Someone should be thinking about him, don't you think?"

"I do!" the outlaw said. "But right now I'm thinking of the hundreds of Rolands and their sisters and mothers and baby brothers that are in Tripp's Landing. I wish you would too."

He was so close, mere inches. Even though they were high up and inside a castle, he still smelled like forest. Her eyes went to his lips, she could see the hairs of his beard and she had the most intense desire to touch it.

But then he disappeared. Completely. She had to blink to realize he wasn't in front of her. She looked down and saw he was flying? No, he was sliding. She looked above her window and was shocked to find a hook with wire? How did he get that to go from here to there? Then Regina groaned. He was an archer! Apparently he shot an arrow out into something as an escape wire. Staring out into the direction he went, his form had completely disappeared.

Like a flash she was out her door and down the stairs. The men had left like she ordered. Of course they would listen this time! When she got the bottom of the stairs, she saw there was a new guard in front of her. Why? Oh, it must have been time for a shift change.

The guard waited for orders but she walked past him without bothering to say anything. No doubt Robin was long gone by now. Taking a walk, she thought of his idea…she could turn Tripp's Landing into a training camp. Now that the outlaw was out of her sight, she could freely admit the idea had merit. She'd exhausted the readied pool in the rest of her kingdom and new soldiers were getting harder to come by.

The problem was with Geoffrey. She wasn't lying when she said it was delicate to send men through his lands. But he'd been hinting strongly at altering their current treaty because he was finding himself low on coal. And coal was something her kingdom had plenty.

Before she knew it, she had found herself by the dungeons. She thought about the prisoner who had passed out. It was common practice to leave the man dangling from chains until he awoke. She had the strongest urge to release him which was preposterous. She never released anyone who helped Snow White, even if it was with a hangnail. But inside the dungeons she went.

She headed into the cells, she had to go through those to get to the torture chamber. Right now they were rather sparse, people were actually behaving themselves for a change. But as the queen made it halfway, she stopped at what was happening right inside the cell.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" An answer wasn't strictly necessary, she could see for herself what was happening.

"Your Majesty!" the guard said. He had gotten to his feet, and quickly was putting on his pants. Regina's eyes weren't on him though, they were on the lady he had been over. She recognized her as the prisoner's wife. The woman was red in the face and crying. Her clothing was ripped. "We didn't expect you down-um, did you want to continue torturing-"

"I want to know what you are doing?" She whirled to the guard and got right in his face. She expected to smell ale on his breathe. Not that it would have been an excuse but at least it might explain why he had the audacity to be so reckless. Unfortunately, he was sober.

"I just…well, you always said that it was important to find out what we could-"

"HOW DARE YOU!" She never sanctioned this. Ever. She couldn't stand to look at him anymore. She flung him straight back and he hit the bars hard. She turned her hand and the bars began to crawl around him like snakes until he was bound so tightly he wasn't able to breathe. Taking a fire ball, she threw it at him, and he lit up so bright she had to close her eyes. When she reopened them, he was gone.

Turning around, she could see the woman had moved away into the corner. Regina realized with horror her daughter was here too. She couldn't be more than 14 or 15. Regina went to approach them but the mother pleaded, "Please leave us alone. I don't know Snow White! Please!"

Regina stopped. She thought of those times she had slept with Leopold when she didn't want to. He had never physically forced her but she never felt she had a choice. It was horrible and she hated it but it was never anything like this! And she wouldn't wish this on any woman, even-but Regina let that thought go.

She left the cell and went in search of the commanding officer. He was going to have a lot to answer for!

I know I ended this on a horrible scene. And of course Robin got a good dose of evil Regina here. For all the moments of the true Regina hidden within the evil queen, Robin must see and hear what she's capable of even now. It should confuse him and disappoint him. But we can get past that. As for the rape at the end, Regina might be capable of many things, but I can't believe she'd ever sanction something like this. Now I know some FF's have taken her nights with Leopold to be rape but I believe if Regina had voiced outloud she didn't want to be with him, he wouldn't have forced himself on her. But she never did because it was expected of her (thanks to Cora). So while Regina I'm sure hated it, she knew it could be so much worse and seeing the guard force himself on the poor wife would help Regina to see what Robin has been trying to clue her into.

Please keep reviewing. It helps me keep going. I think I've hit some record on the amount of chapters I posted in one week.