Chapter 9

It only took a day for Red to get to the palace. She was out of breath, and sweaty, but she made it. She did not however, know how to get into the palace. The guards weren't blind and considering the royalty in the palace, they were pretty good at their jobs. She looked around for a while and finally spied a gap in the patrols. Carefully, she crept in to the courtyard. She was rather proud of herself, until a swirl of smoke turned into Cora in front of her. She considered running, but really, how far could she get. She suddenly remembered the feeling of the shackle on her wrist and felt herself shake.

Cora smiled at her, too sweetly. "Calm down, little Red. I don't want to hurt you."

Red snorted, as scared as she was, she wouldn't let this woman intimidate her. "The guards you had knock me out and try to rape me would say otherwise."

Cora frowned darkly, "they raped you?"

Red rolled her eyes, "no. They tried to. I got that shackle off and killed them."

Cora sighed heavily. "No matter what you think of me, I would never have allowed that. Had I known I would have killed them myself."

Red narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She couldn't quite decide if Cora was being sincere or not. "Yeah well… I took care of it."

Cora smiled at her, "I am truly sorry that happened to you. I only meant to remove you for a few days. Let me make it up to you." Cora held her hand out and was actually a little surprised when Red eventually took it. She smiled and led her into the castle. She stopped long enough to introduce her to the guard captain. Once he knew her, she would be allowed in and out as she pleased.

They rounded corner after corner, went down too many hallways to count. Red wondered momentarily how humans could find their way out of all this. Eventually, they came to stop in front of a chamber door. Cora smiled at her and opened it up, leading Red in.

Red looked around, eyes wide. This room was massive. It was at least four times the size of the shack her and Granny had been in. "My god Cora, is this your room?"

Cora chuckled, "no. My room is fit for a queens mother dear. This is your room. It's one of the smallest guest rooms, but it is the closest guest room to the queens suite."

Red looked around more and found a door to a private bathing chamber. She finally looked back to Cora, "you want me to stay here? Why?"

Cora rolled her eyes, "because… well honestly, you keep Lorelei distracted. Regina must focus on her duties. She's the queen now after all. This past day of Lorelei being physically attached to her has been less than ideal. It's bad enough they sleep together." Cora turned away and mumbled something under her breath angrily, no one would have heard it…

"What did you just say?" Red asked as she stared at the woman.

Cora mentally swore at herself. Wolf hearing… she forgot. "Ah, nothing…"

"Lorelei, what did you call her? A siren?"

Giving up, Cora sighed, "I said, most girls have a teddy bear, my daughter has a god damn siren."

"What's a siren? Where did she come from? Does she have family?"

Cora held her hands up and grimaced hard. She didn't make many mistakes, but this might have been one. "I have no idea. I don't know anything about them. She might be the only one for all I know. I don't care." She crossed her arms across her chest and turned to go. "There's a library here, go read it."

Red watched her leave and then went to wash up quickly. She searched thru the wardrobes. Not much of the clothing was anything she would possibly wear, but eventually she found a decent dress that wasn't so fancy. She checked herself in the mirror and then took a deep breath in the hallway. She caught the scent and was quickly taking turns thru the palace.

….

Regina hadn't wanted to jump into her queen duties on her second day, but mother had insisted she must show her usefulness. Cora knew the marriage hadn't been consummated, and therefore she had to prove her worth to the king. This led to her sitting in the same room as him while listening to the problems of the people. She tried to pay attention but the king being so close to her was making her anxious. Every time he glanced at her she looked down and could feel her nerves rattling. It helped having her guardian with her, but she was distracting too. Whenever the anxiety spiked, Lorelei would tense up and stare at him until he looked away again.

Finally, they were let out for a bit of a break. Regina had to use all of her self control to smile and slowly leave the room instead of run. Lorelei took her hand and gently led her away form the crowd. They came to a hall that was mercifully empty and Regina let go. She wrapped her arms around the other woman and clung tightly to her, burying her face in her neck.

Lorelei held her close and rested her chin on Regina's head, trying to soothe her. She wasn't paying attention to anything but trying to calm her friend. Red came around a corner and came up right behind them. She stayed quiet and just watched as they held each other.

Red felt the sharp stabbing jealousy that she had grown accustomed to. She took a deep breath to calm herself then cleared her throat quietly. She waited, but they didn't seem to hear. She finally spoke instead, "Hey…"

Lorelei turned quickly with Regina still firmly attached. She smiled and look incredibly relieved. "Red, you found us!"

Red smiled at her and then just felt awkward because Regina was trying to dry her tears and pull herself together while still attached to Lorelei. When they finally separated, Lorelei pulled her in for a hug.

"Red, are you alright?" Regina asked finally.

Red nodded and pulled away from Lorelei, still feeling awkward. "Yes, I'm just tired from the trip. We can't all magic pop."

Lorelei grimaced, "I'm sorry I vanished again."

Red shook her head as if it was completely fine. "Regina needed you. I understand." She turned to Regina, "how are you? What happened that night?"

Regina took a deep breath and let it go before answering, "I have to attend more councils soon… I can't talk about that right now."

Red nodded. "Of course, I'm sorry."

Lorelei couldn't figure out what was wrong with the two women. The air seemed to buzz with tension. She finally spoke to break it. "Ah, Regina? Is the king going to be at all the councils?"

Regina stared at her. Did she think she only needed to be with her when the king was going to be close? "Yes. He will attend all of them until he leaves next month."

Lorelei smiled at Red, "the councils will probably last until dinner. Do you need me to show you our room?"

Regina looked away, she didn't want Red in their rooms, not overnight. Seeing them together made Regina think of Daniel, and that isn't something she could handle right now. Red noticed Regina looking uncomfortable and quickly answered, "I actually have my own room. Cora showed me the way when I got here a while ago."

Lorelei looked confused, obviously not noticing the exchange going on. "Oh… okay. Well, will you join us for dinner?"

Red smiled at her and nodded. Lorelei squeezed her hand quickly before taking Regina's hand and walking back to the meeting room.

Red calmly walked back to her room and gently closed the door. Then she threw the first thing she got her hands on against the wall. She was not fine. She was incredibly angry and hurt. Lorelei vanished on her, again. She had to find her way back to her alone, again. She finally got here, and instead of holding her Lorelei and being comforted by her, she was holding Regina's hand and sitting with Regina.

She calmed down enough to fell guilty. Regina needed Lorelei, she just wanted her. They were put together as infants so Lorelei would grow to be her guardian. They might not have know what she was, but they knew that. Red was thrown in the mix by accident because her mother was able to feed Lorelei.

Red closed her eyes and groaned. She just wanted Lorelei to choose her first, just one time.

…..

They sat thru the council meetings until it was nearly dinner time. After it ended, they went back to their rooms to freshen up before dinner. Well, Regina freshened up. Lorelei paced around the room anxiously waiting for Regina to finish.

"Lorelei, why can't you sit still?"

With an offended look, Lorelei turned to her, "from sunup til dinner I have sat still! I have stood beside you and counted the painted flowers on the damn wall!"

Regina smiled at her, "okay. I'm sorry. You actually did very well today. Did you ever consider listening to the people speak? Maybe learn diplomacy?"

Lorelei made a gagging noise and grabbed her throat as if she were choking. "I'm dying… choking on… diplomacy!" She laid on the floor with her tongue hanging out.

Regina bit her cheek not to laugh. "Lorelei really. That is ridiculous. Diplomacy is vital when you consider…"

Regina jumped as the woman on the floor screamed a high pitched wail of a noise. Then she did laugh. She laughed and lightly kicked her friend until she stood up again. "Oh, that was close. I almost was done for. Thank god you stopped talking when you did, I might not have made it!"

Regina shook her head and slapped her arm playfully, "you are the worst person, I swear. There is nothing wrong with diplomacy."

Lorelei opened her mouth as if to scream again but Regina covered it with her hand raising her brows in warning. Finally the woman shut her mouth and gestured to the door. "Can we eat now? Talking about the most boring thing to have ever been put into words is very hunger inducing."

Shaking her head and still smiling, Regina opened the door and they headed for the dining hall. Red was there waiting for them. She watched as Regina was hanging on Lorelei's arm and smiling up at her. She felt that stab again, but tried her best to hide it.

Regina caught Red biting her lip and looking out of place and felt bad that she had taken Lorelei from her all day. She didn't want to let her go, but she did. "Lorelei, I'm going to dine with the visiting nobles. Why don't you eat with Red, maybe show her around for a while before bed?"

Lorelei nodded and eagerly rushed up to Red and wrapped her arms around her, picking her up and swinging her around until Red stopped laughing and demanded to be put down. "I've missed you."

Red blushed, glancing around and finding Regina walking away swiftly. She felt bad momentarily, but then Lorelei was kissing her far too passionately for such a public place. She pushed her back just enough to look at her in the eye, "you need to behave. We're in a palace…"

Lorelei looked around as if trying to find something, "Red, these are just people. I've kissed you in front of a lot of people before."

Red blushed as a servant raised a brow at them, "palace people are more… sensitive… to things like that." Lorelei gave her a disbelieving frown so Red just laughed at her again and took her hand, leading her to a small table where they could eat in relative seclusion. They ate quickly, the way they always did. Red wanted to see the palace so Lorelei took her by the hand and they ran thru the halls, much to the displeasure of the palace staff. Red wasn't really seeing anything except the woman holding her hand, but she didn't really mind either.

Stopping so suddenly Red ran into her back, Lorelei spun and asked quietly, "where are your rooms? Can I kiss you there?"

Red blushed again and felt a rush of heat as she led her to the rooms she had taken. They entered and Lorelei immediately started touching everything. Red just sat on the edge of the bed and watched her.

Lorelei finally got bored of the room and turned to see Red sitting there. She smiled at her and slowly approached her, she licked her lips as she put her hand on her shoulders and gently pushed her to lay back on the blankets.

Red was breathing heavily as she stared up at the woman hovering over her. When Lorelei kissed her she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling her closer.

They worked their way up to the head board, laying next to each other. They were whispering and giggling and in between sharing tender kisses, they were letting their hands roam each others clothes.

"Lorelei…" Red whispered thru her heavy breathing. When the woman met her eyes, something seemed to shift in them both. It seemed all at once that clothing was being tossed to the floor and they moaned together under the sheet as their skin touched for the first time in a way that was very much not friendship.

The first time Red heard her name being moaned by the other woman, she knew she never wanted to hear it any other way from her. Hands were pushing and pulling and feeling every inch of their bodies. Lorelei seemed to be frustrated in what she needed to do, but Red had a pretty good idea.

Red took her time looking down from her position above the siren. She memorized the wide eyed stare that the other woman had as Red moved herself lower down her body. She nearly came undone herself when Lorelei called out her name not long after, gripping the bedsheets in one hand and Red's hair with the other.

Shaking with adrenaline and emotion, Red moved back up the womans body to kiss her and hold her as she came back down from her high. She had never been more proud of herself than this moment. Lorelei was the strongest person Red had ever known, but under her hands, she was completely vulnerable.

It only took a few minutes before Lorelei regained herself and flipped them over. She explored Red as thoroughly as she could, first with her mouth and then her hands. She leaned her forehead against red's and shared her breath as her hand worked to make Red cling to her, nails digging into her shoulder in the most wonderful way.

They had been under those sheets that now were damp with sweat and their love making for nearly two hours. They were now just holding each other closely and gently kissing as they caressed each other softly.

….

Regina ate and spoke kindly with the nobles around her. The king had chosen to dine with his daughter in their private rooms. No one questioned why they queen hadn't been invited. Cora appeared shortly after the meal and took Regina out to the gardens. They were beautiful by moonlight.

"Regina dear, not that I'm complaining, but where is your guardian?"

Regina's jaw clenched just for a second before she shook her head and released her jealousy. "She's with Red. If I need her, she'll come to me."

Cora nodded and sighed, "well, at least that wolf is good for something."

Regina frowned at her, "mother, you know Red is my friend. I love her like a sister."

Cora nodded impatiently, "yes I know. I just mean that giving Lorelei something else to do is convenient."

"Lorelei was perfectly behaved today. She sat with me thru all of the council meetings."

"Yes, but she was bored beyond all reason. The only reason she forced herself to stay was because she thinks the king is some kind of threat to you."

"He is."

Cora noted the hatred on her daughters face and smiled. Yes, this would serve well in the future. "Well, I understand but I think you're being ridiculous. You must lay with him in order to produce an heir."

Regina grimaced, "I don't think I will mother. Besides, Leopold has an heir. Snow White."

Cora was slightly taken back by the hatred that poured thru her daughters teeth at speaking the childs name. She smiled again because this was going to be easier than she had thought. "But if some terrible misfortune should befall the child… well… it's best to have a back up."

Regina looked at her mother and was going to ask her to explain what she was talking about, but something in a palace window caught her attention. She squinted, looking up at the window. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. It was Red and Lorelei, kissing and smiling as they ran thru the halls.

Cora followed her gaze and put a hand on her shoulder whispering to her, "Regina, darling. Lorelei needs someone like Red to keep her company and help her burn off all that energy."

Regina frowned and turned away from the window. "I just wish I could keep her to myself. I feel horrid because I know they… love each other… But…"

Cora interrupted her, she was having trouble pretending to feel bad about it all. "Regina, you can't expect a dog to stay on the porch year round if you don't feed it on occasion."

Blinking rapidly, Regina stared at her mother, "what the hell does that mean?!"

Sighing, Cora motioned for them to sit down on a bench, "Lorelei isn't human dear. She's a siren." Regina looked shocked and full of questions, but Cora hushed her with a wave of her hand. Since Red already knew, she wanted Regina to be in the know too. "There's a library, read about it. The point is, Lorelei and Red have that in common. They are both creatures with animalistic needs. It's not surprising they are drawn to each other."

Regina blushed at the realization of what her mother was implying. "You can't possibly be suggesting I have sex with Lorelei?"

Cora shrugged, "if you're going to grind your teeth every time you see them together, that's the only thing you can do."

"That is out of the question. I feel nothing of the sort for her. I'm quite sure she feels the same."

Standing with a sigh, Cora smoothed her dress and looked at her daughter, "you are obsessed with feelings Regina. When you want something, you use what you have to get it. When I wanted to marry a prince, I used magic. If you want to keep the woman to yourself, you need to use your body."

Regina watched as she walked away. She sat and thought for a while before heading to her rooms. She was disappointed to see that Lorelei wasn't there, but no matter what her mother thought, she wasn't going to get romantic with her guardian. She had a better idea. Her mother used magic to get what she wanted, Regina could do the same.

….

At some point in the evening, Red and Lorelei had fallen asleep holding each other. It was after midnight when Red jumped awake as Lorelei vanished in a flash of light. She didn't need to wonder where she went. So she just pulled a pillow in close to herself and tried to go back to sleep; no matter how empty her bed felt now.

Lorelei found herself standing naked next to Regina's bed. She looked around quickly, but no one was there. She sat close to Regina who was mumbling in her sleep. When she got closer though, she realized her friend was crying and her hands were fisted tightly. She was having a nightmare.

Lorelei gently shook her and said her name until Regina's eyes shot open and she looked around in a panic. Lorelei eased her back down to the mattress, "Regina, you were having a nightmare. You're alright. I'm here with you, and I won't let anyone hurt you."

Regina was still shaking from her nightmare and couldn't stop herself, "you're here now! You couldn't be bothered any sooner though could you?!"

Lorelei pulled back in hurt shock, "but, you told me you would be alright. You told me to go with Red."

Regina calmed a bit and closed her eyes, running a hand thru her hair. "I'm sorry. I know you and Red needed time together. I just thought you would be here before I fell asleep. I have never had nightmares when you're here with me."

Lorelei smiled at her and crawled over her, making her grunt loudly when a stray elbow caught her stomach. "I'm here now. I didn't know you were expecting me."

Regina smiled but then sat up to look at her friend fully, "why are you naked?"

Lorelei glanced at herself and remembered she was naked. "Uhm… well… I didn't have time to dress. My magic brought me here when you were having your nightmare…"

Regina blushed furiously when she realized where Lorelei had been at this hour. She picked up her pillow and hit the woman with it repeatedly until she stood up again, eyes wide with confusion. "You insensitive ass! You left her there?"

Spreading her hands out, Lorelei backed away from her unusually angry friend. "I didn't leave! My magic brought me here!"

Regina threw her pillow at her and pointed to the door, "I had a nightmare. You should have woken me, said goodnight and gone back!"

Lorelei bolted out the door, servants squealing as the naked woman ran thru the palace. Regina groaned loudly. Great, now she was encouraging Lorelei to leave her alone. Oh, and, the whole place was going to hear about the naked guardian sprinting thru the halls. She quickly put on her robe in time for her hand maidens to rush in to check on her.

Lorelei could have Red and she would find another way to protect herself when her guardian was… well, preoccupied. She would just have to work harder to make everything work for everyone.

….

Red was just about to give up on sleep to read instead when Lorelei burst thru the door, slamming it behind her. Red stared at her from the bed. She was still naked, and breathing heavily. "I didn't think you'd be back…"

Lorelei carefully approached Red; after Regina's pillow beating, she wasn't trying to move too quickly. "I didn't mean to leave you. My magic pulled me. Regina was having a nightmare and I woke her. We spoke and then she threw me out and I ran back here."

Red watched Lorelei creep back to the bed, sitting on the very far edge. "She threw you out?"

Nodding slowly, Lorelei scooted a tiny bit closer to her, "yeah. She yelled at me for leaving you and threw a pillow at me."

Red laughed quietly. Perhaps Regina hadn't turned away from her as much as she thought. She finally realized why Lorelei was creeping. She thought she was going to get another fluffy beating. Red grinned at her and let the sheets fall away from herself. She sat with her back against the head board and blushed as she watched the other woman tilt her head and stare at her chest.

Rolling her eyes Red snapped her fingers until Lorelei met her eyes again. She loved her goofy smile, "are you going to come back to bed or stay down there?"

Lorelei jumped at her and they spent the rest of the night enjoying their new relationship.