Chapter 8

Cora had to be sure her timing was just right. Any seconds out of place and all of her work would be undone, not to mention she would likely end up dead herself. She made a small show of crying as Daniel was taken to the tree where he was to be hanged. He pleaded with her for forgiveness and begging her to explain what was happening, but she could barely face him.

The king stood by her, and she said she had to leave, it was just all too much. He told her not to worry, his daughter would be his judge today. Cora looked up at him adoringly and raced off.

She went to her sleeping daughters room and watched out the window as they held a mock trial for the boy. He wasn't allowed to speak, and the rope was nearly ready now. She let her magic go and was herself once again. She unstoppered the bottle of antidote and poured it into Regina's mouth. She had made sure Rumple made it taper into affect though. She needed Regina to see what was happening, but couldn't have Lorelei popping in and saving the boy.

Regina's eyes fluttered open and she was trying to focus them. Cora smiled and gently eased her to sit up and they stumbled to the window. Regina finally focused her eyes on the scene below and tried to stand on her own, but was too weak. She saw Daniel being lead to stand in front of a hanging tree. She tried to call out, to scream to do anything at all, but she could barely keep her eyes open and her mother held her there.

"This is what happens when you don't obey me Regina, I'm sorry it had to come to this." Cora spoke so sweetly to her. As if she felt anything but victory.

Regina felt the tears falling, but was too weak to even sob. She heard the king ask, "Snow White, is this the man that assaulted my bride to be?"

Snow nodded and with an angry little girl voice Regina heard her condemn Daniel to death. "Yes, papa. He hurt Regina and we sentence him to death."

The king nodded and told her how proud he was that she had made her first royal declaration. Daniel was put in the noose and Regina barely managed to close her eyes as she collapsed on to the floor. She felt her heart shatter and she curled up there with her mother holding her as she cried.

She didn't want her mothers comfort. She knew Cora had arranged his death. But, there was no one else to hold her as she cried. She vaguely had a thought as to where Lorelei and Red were but the heart break washed the thoughts away as she fainted from exhaustion once more.

….

Red was holding herself close to Lorelei. She had barely done anything but grip her side. When she felt the woman twitch slightly under her hands she sprang up to look down at her, holding her breath until dilated silver eyes opened slowly. "…Gina…?"

Red let her breath go and decided not to be hurt that Regina was her first thought. "Lorelei, I'm here. Wake up, we need you to wake up."

The sirens head was swimming. She couldn't think. There was a pain in her chest but she barely registered it at all. She looked up at Red and smiled drowsily at her. "Hi Red."

Red huffed and tried not to let the tears fall, but they did anyway. Those silver eyes brought her so much relief. "Hi Lorelei."

The siren tried to move, but her limbs felt as heavy as lead. She felt a pull, like she needed to go somewhere. But she couldn't actually do anything. The pain stopped and she sighed with relief. Whatever it was, it stopped. She felt Reds lips on hers and smiled as she drifted back to sleep.

…

It took nearly a whole day for Lorelei to sit up on her own. She was clear headed now and furious. She needed to get to Regina. She could feel her pain, but couldn't make her magic take her. It was too much to ask of her exhausted body. "I have to get to her."

Red clenched her jaw, "Lorelei you're too weak to go anywhere. It's been a week now. I'm sorry but whatever Cora had in mind, she's done it by now." Red tried to be patient. She loved Lorelei with all her heart, but not once had she asked Red what she had been thru in that week. Not once has she asked how she got to this shack. All she has done since she woke up is try to move and say she has to get to Regina. "As soon as you can walk, or use your magic, we will get you back to her."

Granny watched the exchange between them and felt pity for her grand daughter. Lorelei had no idea what Red had gone thru to get back to her. What had almost happened to her because she wouldn't leave when granny told her to. Red finally got up and walked outside, slamming the door. Lorelei didn't seem to notice though. She was still flexing her muscles, willing them to take her where she had to be.

"You know, that girl has been laying with you the whole time you've been out." Lorelei nodded and continued working her muscles. "She's been crying for you, and trying to wake you up."

Lorelei looked at her then, frowning, "why was she crying?"

"Because she loves you! I have no idea why, but she does." Granny yelled at her.

Lorelei sighed, "I know she does. I love her too, but…"

Red had come back in, "but Regina needs you."

Lorelei looked at her and could see she was hurt. She finally realized why she probably looked so hurt. She held out her hand and silently asked Red to come sit with her on the cot. When Red didn't move, Lorelei made to try and stand, immediately her knees gave out and Red rushed to catch her, and of course, sat beside her.

Taking Red's hand she gently used her other hand to cup her face and make Red look at her. Once she finally had eyes meeting her own she said in barely more than a whisper, "I love you, Red. If you were gone and I had woken up with Regina, I would stop at nothing to find you again. Nothing could ever stop me from getting back to you. I need you with me. But, Regina is in trouble, I can feel it in my chest. She doesn't have you. She is alone there. She's in pain. I have to get back to her."

Her lip trembled as she wrapped her arms around Lorelei. When she pulled back again she wiped her tears away and nodded, "I know. I'm sorry. As soon as you can walk, we will get back to her."

Lorelei kissed her gently and ran her fingers thru the wild hair. "I'm sorry, I have not asked how you are. Tell me what you have been thru?"

Red leaned in to the other womans touch and sighed. She finally told Lorelei everything she had gone thru with the men and the carriage. Lorelei's eyes were shining brightly with her anger. "If they weren't dead I'd kill them myself. I'm sorry you had to do that. I'm sorry I fell asleep and I'm sorry that I never broke Cora's neck!"

Red tried to calm her down, but that was really Regina's thing. She'd never had to bring Lorelei down from this kind of anger. Lorelei stood on wobbly legs and started walking around the small shack, refusing to sit again until she collapsed. She was going to get to Regina. Soon.

…

Regina had been fading in and out of sleep since Daniels death. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that child pointing at Daniel and condemning him to death. Cora had been tending to her for a few days. Regina hadn't bothered to try and get out of bed for more than using the washroom. She just laid in bed and cried herself back to sleep.

Cora was entertaining Snow in the garden when the king came to her, "Cora, where is your daughter?"

Cora smiled at him and bowed her head in respect, "she is still trying to recover. Poor girl has never even considered that peasant men could be dangerous."

The king nodded, "I trust she will be well by weeks end?"

Cora nodded happily, "of course. The wedding is the only thing keeping her going."

The king smiled and took Snow away to spend time with him. Cora made her way back up to Regina's room. She was standing, looking out the window. "Dear, are you finally going to get out of bed and be civil to your fiance?"

Regina didn't turn around, she just watched out the window as the king walked away with his daughter. She watched until they disappeared around the side of the house. "I don't want to marry him."

Cora laughed lightly while shaking her head. "Oh my dear, you don't have a choice. No one is going to save you. Wherever Lorelei is now, she is far weaker than even you are. The whole kingdom knows of the wedding and the king would kill us all if we backed out."

Regina shrugged and laid back down. "She will come and save me. Her and Red. They'll be here before it's too late."

Cora sat next to her and stroked her hair. "dear girl, they are together right now. Do you not think Red could have gotten here with your guardian if she wanted to?" She saw the doubt on Regina's face. "Red is in love with her and I imagine she is relishing in her alone time with Lorelei."

Regina shook her head, "no. They are trying to get to me."

Cora grabbed the hand mirror by the bed. She focused into the shack where the two women had been holed up with the old woman. The image was fuzzy and getting worse as Lorelei regained her strength, but visible enough.

Cora smiled triumphantly, "there you see?"

Regina looked at the mirror and saw Red and Lorelei laying on a cot and smiling at each other. She couldn't hear anything, but Red smiled at something the other said and they clung to each other tighter as they kissed.

Regina felt her chest ache and turned away. Cora watched as Lorelei broke away from Red and held her own chest, grimacing. Then they were frowning again, and Cora smiled.

The siren could feel the pain, but not use her magic to reach Regina. Rumple had done well with his potion. He said the sirens strength would be weakened for about two weeks after she woke. Regina saw them during a brief moment of love between them. Usually when Cora checked, they were trying to help Lorelei recover.

The wedding would be over before the siren could use her magic again. Cora smiled and stroked her daughters hair as she cried herself to sleep again.

…

Too many days had passed. Lorelei couldn't wait any longer. She could barely walk but she could walk enough to start towards Regina. Granny and Red were keeping a close eye on her as they slowly made their way thru the trees. It took twice as long as it should have, but as the sun set, they caught sight of the manor house. But something was wrong.

Lorelei sat down heavily on a log. She was exhausted. Red made sure Granny would watch her and snuck her way to the house. Listening from a distance. She heard what was wrong and raced back to Lorelei.

Red burst thru the trees and panted from sprinting. "Regina is getting married right now! Daniel is dead."

Lorelei stood, wide eyed staring at Red, "what? No! How could that have happened?"

Red shook her head, "Cora. That's not the biggest problem, the wedding is in Leopolds palace. It's two days away at best."

Lorelei was breathing heavily, she closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. If her magic didn't work, it would be too late to help Regina. She was already too late to save Daniel.

….

Regina was in a fog. She had held on to the hope that she would be saved. But she wasn't. She drifted thru the wedding in all it's royal glory. She barely registered that it had occurred at all. Now she was being dressed in night clothes by strange hand maidens. Her mother was with her, waiting for her to be dressed. When finally they were done, they left and Cora hugged Regina, beaming proudly at her. "Oh, look at you my dear Regina! You're the queen of the White kingdom."

"Are you proud of me now mother?" Regina asked quietly.

Cora nodded, "yes my sweet daughter I am."

"But I don't love him…"

Cora laughed lightly, "you don't need to dear. You just need to be a good wife for him and a good mother to Snow. Love is weakness Regina. You thought you loved that stable boy and look what happened? He's dead because you didn't listen to me. Your friend Red was in love with you guardian. You pushed them together, helped Lorelei be in love with her in return. Look around Regina, they're not here. They are in love somewhere without you. Love is weakness."

Regina heaved a sigh, resigned to her new life. She made to lie down in the bed but Cora stopped her, "Regina, you should be standing when the king comes for you."

Regina paled, "he's coming here?"

Cora smiled at her, "you're not really his queen until he consummates the marriage. You know what to do. Just let him do what it is he wishes and he'll leave you be."

Regina was trembling now. She hadn't thought ahead to this point. The last thing she wanted was for that old man to be sweating on top of her. Touching her anyway he wished. She nearly fainted when she realized she didn't have a choice. She belonged to him now. He owned her now.

Cora heard a soft knock and bowed out the door as the king entered. He frowned as he took in Regina's state. She was pale and trembling, obviously scared to death. He sighed as he began removing his wedding suit.

Regina turned her eyes away as he started removing his clothing. She was breathing hard and her heart was pounding in her chest. She was completely terrified.

The king stopped undressing as Regina got worse. He slowly moved towards her, eventually reaching for her arm. She jerked away from him and he tried to remain patient. Snow's mother wasn't this difficult. She had wanted him to touch her. "Regina, you're my wife. Sharing this moment is the last step in becoming married. Just, relax. I can be finished quickly if you cooperate."

Regina tried to calm herself but it wasn't working. Usually Lorelei calmed her just by being near her. She hadn't seen her in ages. She no longer thought she would come to her aid. The king reached for her again and she couldn't help it. She pulled away again.

Out of patience, the king decided to take what was his. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her close to himself, forcing her to meet his lips with hers. She was crying and that just irritated him more. How dare this girl not want him? He was the king of the greatest kingdom in the realm. She should be thanking him for wanting her.

He pushed her onto the bed and trapped her hands above her head with one of his hands and used his free hand to grope at her chest.

A violent crack of light was all the warning he had. A violent crack of light and he was bouncing off the far wall. He landed in a heap on the floor, unfortunately not dead. Lorelei staggered and her knees buckled. She fell on the floor by the bed, breathing heavily.

Regina grabbed her and pulled her up to hold her against herself. She was crying and shaking and Lorelei was trying to stay awake. Several minutes passed before they both calmed down. Lorelei looked up at her, raising a shaky hand to her cheek, "I'm so sorry… I couldn't…"

Regina sobbed hard and pressed her hand against her face, relishing in the contact of her friend. "Shh, I know. I know. It's not your fault. It's ok. Don't leave me again, please please."

Shaking her head slowly, the siren looked into Regina's eyes and swore, "no. I won't, not ever. I'll never leave you again. I swear it Regina."

They held each other until the king stirred against the wall. Regina started shaking again, scared Lorelei was too weak to protect her. But Lorelei stood and focused hard on looking fine. The king stood and leaned against the wall, staring at the two women standing across the room.

"I'll have you both killed for this."

"You won't. You're going to leave this room and never come at Regina again. Your daughter wants a mother, afterall." Lorelei spoke quietly, but her eyes flashed with her anger.

The king sneered at them, "you expect me to just pretend you didn't attack me? I'm the king."

Lorelei stepped towards him, thankful her knees did not give out on her. "You should be thankful I didn't kill you. You leave and never approach her again and your daughter gets a mother. You threaten Regina once more and your child gets to be an orphan."

The king hesitated now, thinking on it. "You would kill me just for claiming my wife?"

"I would kill you for splashing three drops of water on her."

The king swallowed. "Fine. She will do her duties and tend to Snow. If she does her job, I will leave her alone and we will pretend this marriage has been bound."

Lorelei looked to Regina, "tell me Regina. Is this good enough? I can take you away from here right now if you want me to."

Regina thought about just running away but the vision of that child sentencing Daniel to his death was all she could see. If she left, the child would never learn her lesson. She nodded her agreement. "I'm staying."

Lorelei's face conveyed her sadness to her friend, but she turned back to the king. "Fine."

As soon as the door closed behind the king, Lorelei wanted to collapse, but as Regina hugged her firmly, it turned to keeping her standing as Cora walked thru the door. The old woman stopped sharply, staring at her daughter and her guardian. Lorelei's eyes flashed violently and she tried to step towards her but Regina stopped her.

"Lorelei…. Don't hurt her. Please. I just want to go to sleep." Regina held her friends face and pleaded with her, watching the anger fade away to a more manageable level.

Cora swallowed hard but turned to leave. "Good night Regina."

"Good night mother." Regina replied quietly.

Once she was gone, Regina guided Lorelei to the bed and helped her lie down. She looked ready to fall asleep immediately. "Where's Red?" She didn't think Lorelei heard her after a few moments of no answer.

"I don't know. I hope she comes to us. I had to get to you." Lorelei mumbled sleepily.

Regina settled in tightly against her guardian and smiled for the first time since Daniel died. She didn't care what her mothers mirror showed her. Lorelei would always come for her. She was more important than Red. It made her feel guilty for thinking it, but it also made her feel safer. Lorelei loved Red, but Regina had to come first. She couldn't survive long enough to teach Snow a lesson without Lorelei. She wondered briefly what would happen when Red did show up, if she did. Regina wasn't going to sleep alone. She was terrified to be alone. What if Red wanted Lorelei for herself? No, she wouldn't do that to Regina… she hoped.

…..