Chapter 21

So now it gets interesting! Many of you were very excited with the last chapter. I hope this doesn't disappoint!

"Snow White!" Robin's body froze at the tone in Regina's voice, it didn't sound like her at all. Immediately he compared it to the first memory, at least first known one, when she must have administered the memory potion and he was surrounded by her black guards. Her voice was cool and crisp, maybe even on the edge of icy, but nothing like this. Later when she verbally warned the dark one about mentioning Daniel's name, there was a hint of what he heard now but it wasn't enough to prepare him for this.

He'd never met Snow White before, well, at least he hadn't thought so, but who knows what memories that potion had taken? He didn't have to know her to see that once she recognized the queen's voice, she was scared, more like terrified. Hearing the stories of how she had been pursued for so long, he couldn't blame the princess.

Regina extended her hand and Snow yelped in pain. The queen was magically trying to raise her but the trap was holding her down. Robin reached out instantly. "No, the trap still has her. You're hurting her!"

"I know!" she replied with that terrible voice. Why was he so shocked at hearing it? This was a woman who had stolen his memories. If he hadn't been so overcome with desperation to help Sade and find Roland, he'd have been angrier over the manipulation but there just hadn't been time to confront her directly. Yet…since teleporting him back to Sherwood, she'd been so eager herself to find Roland. Even her reaction to Sade was a contradiction to her title as evil queen.

Then there was her attention to Robin himself. One direct look from him and she would soften. The way she touched him: tender, caring, loving. He'd thought he'd been crazy but Belle had even noted it in spite of her history with Regina. Looking at her now, though, it was like she was replaced with a whole other woman: the evil queen. Judging by the way she was reacting to Snow White, he had to do something!

His men thought so too. John was the first to approach her. "Wait a minute, we aren't going to let you-" He stopped speaking as he was suddenly frozen in his tracks along with everyone else. They jerked around, trying to free their feet from the ground but it wasn't working.

She hadn't stopped Robin though, probably because he was still too shell shocked at the whole situation to remind her that he could be a threat to her. Regina was walking towards the royal outlaw, obviously enjoying seeing Snow squirm in pain and fear. "Here, at last! I finally have you!"

"Your Majesty!" Robin jumped in the way of her and the princess. "I can't let you do this."

She blinked at him, it was almost like she had forgotten him. Was her quest for Snow White's head that great? "You don't let me do anything. You have no idea how long I've waited for this."

A sickening thought appeared in Robin's head and heart. "Is this why you agreed to help? That you knew somehow we'd wind up running into Snow White?"

She appeared hurt at his accusation but recovered quickly. He had a feeling with Snow there she would do anything not to show any vulnerability. "Of course not! You know very well how I feel about-"

"I know nothing, your Majesty! Not anymore! You took my memories remember?" He was screaming now. "And now my son is missing and who do we wind up finding? Snow White!"

Even the merry men were shocked at his outburst. He had his back to Snow, he had no idea what she was thinking but he didn't care. Once started, he couldn't stop himself. Regina tried. "Robin, this has nothing to do with you."

His mind went over the past few hours. What had she and Rumplestiltskin spoken in private? Maybe instead of teleporting her to an area to find Roland, they came here to find Snow White! It didn't make sense but right now nothing did. "Your deal with Rumple, it had to do with Snow, didn't it? You just used Roland to get into the dark castle."

"No! I promised you we would find Roland, but if you think I'm going to ignore that I finally have HER here, you-"

"Is she why I don't have my memories?" He was in her face, but dropped his voice down to a whisper. "I was beginning to think we might have shared something but…now I think it's different."

Tears started to spring in her eyes. "Robin, believe me when I say she had nothing to do with the memory potion. I swear."

He felt himself softening, he had to step back. How did she do this to him? One minute act like the evil queen and the next act like a lost soul? It had to be her magic. Now he spoke loudly for everyone to hear. "So it's just an extraordinary coincidence that Snow White should show up now right when are supposed to be so close to finding those that kidnapped my son?"

She opened her mouth to say yes. She wanted to say yes. She needed him to believe her. But someone else spoke up instead. The last person either of them expected. "Your son was kidnapped?"

While Regina had been arguing with Robin, her hold on the princess released and the woman had fallen back to the ground. She was still caught, but free to speak if she wanted. Robin was shocked she wanted to talk at all. But she did. "I was following a boy and two men."

Robin whirled around while Regina stepped forward. The merry men tried to follow but still held back by her spell. Robin asked, "You did? What did he look like?"

She started to say something but Regina interrupted her. "Robin, she's lying. She's heard your speech and figured out this is a way she could get away. Trust me when-"

"I've been trusting you for days in spite of the fact that you are known to be evil and unmerciful! But I need to get my son back and I thought you wanted that too, but don't stop the one person who has seen him recently from speaking! I'm going to listen to her!" He knelt down towards Snow but kept his eyes on Regina. "And you're going to let me!"

Regina stepped back. Her eyes were red now and she looked like she was mentally restraining herself. Whether from hurting Snow or the both of them, Robin didn't know. He actually didn't care. He turned back to the princess.

Her eyes were going back and forth between him and Regina. She'd never seen anyone talk to Regina like that, at least not since becoming queen. She didn't know what was going on between them or if it would help the situation or make matters worse. But she had to tell the truth. "I saw a young boy, probably around four or five with two men. The boy was crying."

Robin felt like his heart stopped. "Did he look okay? Was he ill? Did you get close enough to see?"

"He looked fine physically," she answered, her eyes still darting to her stepmother who was glaring down with her usual hate. "But he was scared too. What got my attention was the men didn't act like they knew anything about children. They were…rather hateful to the boy."

"Were they hurting him?" Robin's mind envisioned the scene and it felt just as painful as being there.

She shook her head. "No, they would grab and say something to him. He'd try to stop crying."

Regina had had enough. "And you just happened to come along upon this threesome? Do you have any idea how cruel you're being?"

Snow White looked like she had a dozen different answers for the queen but she didn't take the bait. She turned her head to Robin and spoke confidently, "He's got a mop of brown hair. He's wearing a cloak that is a bit too long for him. He has dimples that are so deep even frowning you can see a glimpse of them."

Robin was convinced, she had seen them. Immediately he began removing her trap. Regina didn't stop him probably because she actually didn't need the trap now that Snow was in front of her.

Once freed, she stood up but didn't make a run for it. She looked over at Regina and then back to Robin. "I was in a pub a few miles away in the village of Quimbley. It had been awhile but I had wanted a hot meal and had procured enough coins to buy it. They were there trying to eat too. A place like that wouldn't pay any attention to suspicious people."

"Which is why you went there in the first place!" Regina stomped around while Snow took a couple of steps back defensively. She still did not run. Out came Regina's hand. "I will not let you manipulate Robin like this." Snow White started choking.

"No!" Again Robin got in between them. "Regina, even if Snow hadn't seen my boy, I'm going to be damned if I'll let you kill her!"

Regina didn't look surprised at Robin's declaration. Of course he would want to protect her. It's who he was. "Robin, she's not an ordinary thief!"

"She's your step daughter!" Robin hadn't even really considered the relationship before. "Did you know I was at your coronation? I remember watching and thinking how sad you looked."

Regina didn't want to hear this story again, especially with witnesses. She whispered, "And I know after the death of your mother you hadn't felt much of anything until you saw me up there. This isn't the time, Robin."

So he had told her before. "It is the time, because I remember Snow White too. You looked so sad, but Snow looked so happy. I remember thinking while I lost a mother, she probably had gained one."

Regina reacted at that. She stared past Robin to Snow who stared back with those pleading eyes. Regina hardened her heart. "It doesn't matter, we all get what we deserve, don't we, Snow?"

Again the young woman didn't run. She stood her ground. Everyone was silent for a few minutes until Snow was ready. "I did manage to hear part of their conversation." Robin leaned in, desperate to hear as much as she could tell them. "They were arguing with each other. One was annoyed about where they were going while the other was saying it was his fault."

"His fault?" Robin repeated.

"Something about him being demoted." Snow paused and looked at Regina who looked like she was ready to have her head on a platter. "I decided to track them."

"You were tracking them?" Robin said, his face lighting up. Perhaps they had finally caught a break.

She nodded, "Something was wrong. That boy did not belong to them. I couldn't just…let a boy travel with bad people. I had to help!"

"And what were you going to do?" Regina said mockingly. "Sing to them?"

She now took a step towards Regina. "I've learned a few things, Regina. I can take care of myself."

The queen folded her arms, shaking her head. "Or let others take care of you is more like it."

Robin looked around their surroundings. "You were tracking them now? They could be nearby?" If they were anywhere close to them, they would have had to have heard the commotion.

"No, I'm afraid not," Snow's eyes cast down as she answered. "I lost them."

"What a coincidence!" Regina said and approached her. "Enough of this, let me take care of this situation and when I get back we'll go look for Roland."

The merry men started shouting at the queen. Robin did too. "She saw them, Regina! Like it or not she's a part of this!"

"I will not let Snow White get away!" Regina shouted so loudly he expected the dark one might return and ask them to keep it down.

Taking her by the arm, he led her away. Before coming, she reached out and gestured to Snow White. Robin stiffened but relaxed when he realized she had just frozen her feet to the ground. She was still safe.

Yanking her arm away, Regina glared at the thief. "Robin, you can't expect me to-"

"Regina, if you had just a moment of time, this very minute, what if you had no limit to your powers. What would you do?" His voice was cracking because he already knew the answer to the question.

Regina's eyes shot away from Robin and over to Snow. "Kill her."

He had been expecting her answer but it didn't limit the disappointment he felt. "So you wouldn't try to save Roland." Shock overtook her expression, her mouth dropping. She began to protest but he reached out to stop her, ignoring the conflicting feelings he felt. "I can't stop you from killing her, Regina. Not really. But if you leave here with Snow White, don't come back. I don't think I want the evil queen helping me anymore, no matter how much she can help." In admitting this, Robin's own eyes filled up with tears.

He started to walk away but Regina grabbed his arm. "That's not fair, Robin. You don't know how much I…want to help Roland. You need to think about him. I can help! Put his needs first." Her plea was genuine, Robin could see it for himself. It amazed him, how could she exhibit such sinister intentions while masking such vulnerability?

"Then you do it too." He pointed at Snow. "Let her help!"

A tear fell from her cheek but she looked away. Robin realized it wasn't to hide herself from him, but to make sure the others didn't see, especially Snow. "She doesn't know anything, Robin."

"We both know that's not true."

She kept her face turned. She was staring off in the distance. Was she going to agree? "She will run away, when we are focused on the boy she will escape."

"Probably, I have to admit there is a good possibility of that." Robin glanced over at Snow who was watching them intently. He didn't know her well enough to guess what she was thinking, judging by her expression she was confused. He knew he was. "But there was also a good possibility that she can help before she does."

Regina sighed, for all her hatred of the princess, he suspected she believed Snow wanted to help too. "After she does, she will be gone, and I'll have lost her again."

He reached for her then. Placing his fingers below her chin, he moved her to look at him. He needed to see her eyes. He was becoming quite adept at reading them. "Would saving Roland's life be worth losing her?"

She shuddered then, he could feel it. Reaching for his hand, she put hers in his. "Yes. I want to save Roland too." He started to smile, but she then squeezed his hand rather hard. "But when we have him back, you promise you won't stand in my way. Snow White is mine!"

He gulped. He didn't want to agree. But he had to get Roland back and he knew she could help. He knew she wanted to help. And Snow White could too. He nodded. "You have my word."

Regina glared at Snow from across the fire. Now that she was part of the search party and everyone was already up, they decided to eat an early breakfast then try to pick up the trail the princess had been following until she lost it.

Snow had claimed she had lost their tracks because they had crossed a creek and she lost them on the other side. Regina wanted to comment a dog could have taken them that far but one look from Robin, she decided to stay silent. It felt like the hardest thing she ever had to do. More information from Snow had confirmed that one of the two men was the dark elf. He had been tall, very skinny and bundled up. Regina informed everyone that was to hide his colorful skin, even the residents of Quinbley would get suspicious at a blue skinned man.

What Snow had to say about the other man was most interesting. He was a man, a human. He was someone of good physical form but he walked funny, like a limp. He had on a generic cloak but Snow did see a sword on him, one that she recognized. The kind issued to a black knight.

Instantly the merry men started shouting at Regina. That this was her plan all along. They got so agitated, she conjured a fireball to get them to back off. Robin stepped up and Regina was worried he would accuse her again of somehow scheming away his son to catch Snow White. But he surprised her by saying he believed she was there to save Roland, same as the rest of them. After all, he reminded everyone, she could have just taken Snow White and left. The last comment pacified the men got noe.

Earlier, when Robin asked her what she would do with limitless powers was an unfair question. Had he asked it earlier, she would have no doubt said Roland. But after years of chasing Snow White to capture her now when she wasn't even looking, asking such a question of course she would answer it like that! Until then, she had dropped everything to help him find Roland, she had even left her castle at a moment's notice.

Feeling almost sick, Regina stood up and walked away from camp. Robin seeing her leave, called out. "Where are you going?"

"I just need a few minutes, I'll be back!" She cringed at the amount of emotion in her voice.

Several yards from the camp, she tried to gather her thoughts. To sit with Snow not a few feet from her was taking its toll and Regina wondered if she might go insane. Looking up, she concentrated on the moon. It would be daylight soon but the moon was still out. She always enjoyed when you could see both the sun and the moon at the same time.

Hearing noise behind her, she stiffened. Robin would be following her of course. He no longer trusted her but why should he?

"Did she get enough to eat, your Majesty?" The voice was not Robin's. Regina turned around to see Friar Tuck. She had been surprised that the friar had come along. She couldn't imagine him being that helpful in dealing with a dark elf. But his presence did help to calm the men.

She turned away from him. "I'm fine, Friar. You can go back and tell everyone I'm not about to set them ablaze."

He chuckled. "Nobody suggested that." Off her look, he amended it. "Okay, Little John did but he tends to be a pessimist."

"Most are when it comes to me." She glared at the older man. "Why are you out here then?"

He shrugged. "I think it's time I apologized to you."

"Apologize? For what?" Had he been drinking?

"I was hard on you, since all of this began. When you first showed up and stood over Sade, I said some bad things. But the truth is, I saw with my own eyes how you tried to help Sade. You cared for him." He came closer.

She turned away from him. "For all the good it did. My magic couldn't stop his fate."

Tuck nodded. "Dark magic couldn't stop stronger dark magic."

"What do you know of it?" She had a hard time believing the religious man was a magical expert.

He shook his head. "Not much, certainly not as much of you. But I know enough that there is another kind of magic, light magic. I wondered how one came to practice that instead of the dark?"

She snorted. "It depends on the person and their emotions. If you are a bad person, like me, then dark magic is what you can control."

She wasn't looking at him so she couldn't see his face. "What about a good person? Or a good child?"

Now she turned to him, eyes widened at his question. Was he talking of Roland? "Are you…do you mean Roland?"

"I spend a lot of time with Robin's boy while he's away. He can see things." The friar paused, glancing around him. He was clearly not comfortable talking about this with the others. "I remember once someone saying that there were two kinds of magic, dark and light. What I've seen of Roland, he was dreaming and before he woke up, a white light appeared. It disappeared so quickly I thought I had imagined it. But after seeing you earlier, it reminded me of that except…"

"Except it was white, not dark and purple." Regina looked past the friar towards Robin in the distance. She could tell he was on edge, still so scared for Roland. Turning towards Tuck, Regina answered, "I don't know much about it. Only my mother and Rumple had magic and it was as dark as mine. I know nothing of light. I'm sorry." She truly was.

Tuck shook his head. "No, no, it's okay. I just wanted to ask. Right now the important thing is finding Roland."

"Yes," she agreed.

He turned to go but paused. Turning around he added, "One thing though, you calling yourself a bad person. I don't think that's true."

Good grief, is this where Robin got his attitude? "And why would you believe that?"

"Because I also remember Lucille. And you with Sade. And now you are putting Roland first. If you really were just the evil queen, you wouldn't have been here in the first place." At that he was gone, leaving Regina alone in her thoughts.

Things are moving along now. Some have asked why Robin hadn't confronted Regina about the memory potion. I think Roland (and Sade) pushed that issue to the backburner but in writing this chapter I felt like he was a bit forced to confront her, or at least let some of the anger out. I hope you agree (or at least can still enjoy the chapter). Please, now review! I love reviews!