Darkening

Rose Red sat in the music room of her castle, a small fiddle in her hands as she played a calming tune on it, her eyes closed, her fingers working the strings without needing to see them, the bow gliding easily in her hands. She didn't have to be there, in the music room, not now, not this day, her mother had excused her from lessons, but she was on edge, excited, and needed something to distract her and her parents were busy seeing to the other servants to make sure that the castle was prepared and ready for their new arrivals. Well, not NEW arrivals, Snow White and her father had visited them numerous times and she them, but they were coming and she was…anticipating it. She was excited to see her cousin again. It had been six months so far, the longest she had ever gone without seeing her cousin and she…missed her. She missed her terribly.

It could be quite lonely in a castle where you were the only child.

No, that wasn't quite true, it didn't have to be lonely. She had observed Snow throughout her time staying with her and her uncle Leopold, she had seen how Snow was surrounded by so many people, both children of the servants or the knights or other lords, or even the village children. So many flocked to her, wanting to be around her and not just because she was the princess, but because she was just…so kind and pure and generous, she had a goodness in her that attracted others to her.

It was not so for herself. She didn't mind it so much, she preferred being left to her own devices more often than having to endure the endless and mindless chatter of others around her. They cared not for what she might say or think, why should she return the care. No, she knew why, she was the princess, she would one day be their queen and she needed to be able to relate to her people, she needed to be able to care about them, care about someone other than her cousin, parents, and uncle…which was really all she did at the moment.

The village children, the children of the other nobles didn't make it easy to care either. As little as she desired to be around them, THEY were even less so in regards to her. She had a suspicion, a small one, about exactly WHY she was the only child her parents had had. Her mother was still youthful, her father had been the younger of the two brothers, had had plenty of time and opportunity to conceive another child, a second heir, perhaps even a male heir…yet no heir came. She didn't think it was her parents, from what her mother had mentioned to her when she talked with her over what it meant to be a woman and later a wife, she had been conceived fairly quickly after the marriage, likely within the first few nights after. Her father was still smug about that.

Well, she supposed she had two suspicions. The first, less likely, though probable, was that her father had been waiting for his brother to produce another heir. Snow's birth had been hard on Eva, and no heir had come after that. There had been talk that it had fallen upon Eva as the reason why Snow and Snow alone had been born. But, later, after her uncle Leopold had wed again, to a younger, healthy woman, and STILL no heir had come…well, by then her uncle had been quite old so they really couldn't tell on whose side the blame lay. It was entirely possible that her father hadn't wanted to produce more children while his brother had but one and too precautions against it. She doubted her uncle Leopold would have been agreeable or tolerant of that though, the second he found out (and he would have found out), he would have demanded his brother produce him more nieces and nephews to spoil.

Which made the second suspicion more likely though harder to believe. That the people had pressured her father not to have a second child. It was harder to believe in the sense that no one should have so much power as to pressure their lord and king to do something that could very well jeopardize his kingdom if his child died. But…there WAS a danger in ignoring one's people, in purposefully disregarding their fears, they could rise up, revolt, do something that could truly damage the kingdom. Give the iron fist her father used with maintaining the laws, she doubted it would have happened, but then again, that was the father she had NOW, she couldn't begin to identify what he might have bene like nearer the start of his reign or after his marriage.

Still, it was a likely reason why no other siblings had come. The people…she didn't want to say they despised her, she was their princess and they would have to respect her as Queen. They adored her father, they felt safe under his rule, their queen though…she knew people were not comfortable around her or with her ruling them. But they kept silent for the most part, the kingdom had thrived with her father on the throne and had continued to do so despite his choice of queen or the product of their marriage. The people had nothing to complain of and no reason to do anything unless she actually made a ruling decision that put them all in jeopardy or doomed the kingdom, and her father was still king and would be one for many years to come. She could, however, imagine the people not wanting to risk another child from her mother. She knew, had heard whispers, of other people about her. They called her demon spawn when they thought she couldn't hear, they knew and sensed something off about her. She could only imagine what they'd think of a male heir, where women were naturally thought to be more delicate and gentle, imaging a male siren to be their king might have been exactly what would get the people talking about not wanting to risk one happening.

From what her mother said…there was quite a distinction between male and female sirens. If the people thought SHE was off or cold or distant…it was nothing compared to the males. The females were…playful in comparison, they enjoyed luring prey to them, taunting and tempting men and women alike to their dooms, it was a game to them, sport even. They could be seductive and charming, protective of their families, truly a threat, a dangerous, dark threat when their clan was in danger. But the men? Ooh the men. They were more savage in their kills, they didn't lure, they attacked. They didn't play with their kills, but got the deed done, used force. They were cold and distant to every one else save just their mate and offspring, and even then it was in a muted, subtle way, through their song and touches. And if their mate or child was in danger…run. The men operated more on instinct, on a primal instinct to protect what was theirs. They would attack and viciously, almost in a frenzy if their mate or child was harmed, they would tear apart the offender limb from limb while they were alive to feel it, sometimes to the point where their own mate wouldn't recognize what they turned into in the attack.

Truly, the kingdom would likely be right to worry, in their minds at least.

She would have loved a brother.

But her cousin, her sister, was enough for her. She could not miss what she had never had after all.

She looked up, her playing cutting off suddenly as a loud knock sounded on the door. She slowly lowered the fiddle, placing it on her lap as the door opened just after, the servant that was pushing it open, keeping their head bowed, eyes on the floor, seeming very pale and nervous to have interrupted…she must be new.

"Begging your pardon ma'am," the girl curtsied, half in the crack of the door, as though she could run if need be, "You asked to be informed when the Princess had arrived."

"I did," Rose nodded, standing regally, in a fluid motion and turning to place the fiddle on a small table off to the side, walking to it almost as though she were gliding, all too aware that the young maid was watching her with wide eyes.

She had noticed a…change in herself as the years went by, as she took lessons with her mother not just on how to be a queen but equally what a Siren was meant to be. She was more…graceful. Her mother had taught her how to walk on water, with enormous concentration that she couldn't hold for more than ten steps at most, but after learning to walk on something as shifting and changing as water…the hard ground hardly seemed a challenge. It had carried into a gliding motion, she hardly rocked back and forth as she walked, her body almost not moving as she moved, her steps rolling one into the other like waves.

It was very disconcerting to others around her.

And so she enjoyed employing that method of walking enormously.

She made her way to the door, the girl still watching her and tilted her head, "Was there another matter?"

"No!" the girl's eyes widened, "No, no ma'am," she curtsied again, and turned to hurry off, leaving Rose watching her go a moment, her expression neutral at the slight fear and tremor in the girl's voice. Yes, most certainly new.

She shook her head at that and turned to make her way down to the main hall.

"Sigmund," she called, seeing one of the older servants hurrying to direct the others as she reached them, coming down the staircase to the main hall so silently that Sigmund jumped.

"Princess!" he gasped, spinning to face her, bowing quickly, "How may I assist you?"

"Snow has arrived?" she inquired, tilting her head only slightly to the side.

"Yes, my lady."

"Have the King and Queen been notified?"

"Yes, my lady."

"Then where are they?" she could see the servants around them, hesitating a moment before quickly making their way through their tasks. Honestly, her tone hadn't been that hard, had it?

"They are finishing the last of the organizing for the visiting King's rooms," he bowed slightly as Rose nodded.

Yes, only her uncle Leopold was coming to the castle, not his new wife Regina.

"Very well, I shall greet them," she informed him, heading for the doorway, "Many thanks, Sigmund."

"Thank you, princess," he bowed once more, backing away to let her past, one of the other servants rushing to open the door for her.

Rose sighed as she stepped through the door, blinking a bit at the bright sun in the sky before her gaze was pulled to the bottom of the stairs where servants were rushing to clear the way for the carriage that was approaching. She stepped down a few steps to a second landing and waited, her hands before her, keeping her back straight, her chin up as her mother had shown her was proper posture so long ago, something that had stuck. She felt her lips curl into a smile as the carriage drew up and, before the servants could even reach for the door, it flew open, a blur of white and black rushing up the stairs towards her.

"Snow!" she cheered, feeling her smile grow wider as she hurried down the last few steps to meet her cousin halfway, Snow White nearly barreling into her in a tight hug that almost got lost in her long white cloak.

"Rosie!" Snow White beamed, hugging her cousin so tightly that, in her swaying excitement, she nearly toppled them both over to the side, "I've missed you!"

"And I you," Rose pulled away to look at her cousin, "It has been far too long."

"I know!" Snow giggled, letting go of her cousin only to take her hands in her own, "We must convince our fathers that 3 months is as long as we shall ever go without meeting."

"My thoughts exactly," she squeezed Snow's hands, looking over her shoulder at the elder man approaching them, "Uncle Leopold," she gave a small, minute curtsy to him.

"Oh none of that, none of that my dear," he laughed, reaching out to pull her into a hug, "My how you've grown," he assessed her as he stepped back, taking her in, his expression soft as he observed her fitted, yet modest deep red dress that appeared to have roses embroidered on the hems with black thread, shaking his head at that, "Is my brother still dressing you in reds, Rose?" he teased, Snow having told him about her irritation with her name and even Snow's.

"As you dress Snow in the palest of whites," she returned the remark, making Snow roll her eyes.

"I happen to like white," Snow defended, looking at her white dress and gloves, "It's pristine, pure, unblemished…"

"Easily dirtied," Leopold murmured under his breath, before reaching out to take Snow's cloak from her, turning it so she could see a faint stain of her bum on the bottom from where she'd been fidgeting in her seat the last half of the trek and gotten the fine fibers of their carriage cushion stuck to her cloak.

Snow blushed rose red this time.

Leopold laughed at that and looked at Rose, "I must ask where my wayard brother is!

"Not quite so wayward, brother!" her father's voice called behind her as he approached the stairs with her mother, "Leopold, you old dog," he made his way down to hug his brother.

"Snow White," her mother greeted, nearly floating down to her other side, reaching out to take Snow's hand, "You look lovelier every day," she remarked, "As beautiful as your mother."

"Thank you," Snow smiled at that, tears in her eyes that she always got when she was compared to her beloved mother.

"Rose," her father spoke, "Why don't you and Snow go for a stroll?" he suggested, "I'm sure she would enjoy stretching her legs after such a long ride and you must have quite a bit to catch up on."

Rose nodded, looking to Snow for confirmation, "Ooh let's!" Snow beamed, reaching out to take her cousin's arm, "I have quite a lot to tell you too!"

Rose glanced at her father, "We shall make for the village, for the market, before returning back," she informed him.

"Take your time," he smiled at her, "Enjoy yourself," she could see him open his mouth to add more before he closed it, clapping his brother on the shoulder before turning to lead him and her mother into the castle.

She knew what he was going to say even if he hadn't said it. He thought she hadn't really enjoyed herself much the last few months that she had kept mostly to herself. She would be willing to say she enjoyed them much more than she would have if she had been forced to spend time around the other children her age. She hadn't wanted to, had come up with excuse after excuse not to go out of the castle or be around the market or other places those her age went. Equally the others hadn't tried to seek her out and if they saw her, they often went in the other direction, leaving her to her own devices as she wished.

But now she had her cousin and that was enough to brighten her mood exponentially, "Come," she smiled at Snow, turning to lead her towards the village.

~8~

The catching up took quite a while, if Rose had to describe it, though it was mostly on Snow to fill in what had happened in the last few months and Snow had QUITE a few stories to share with her, tales and talk of her step mother, of her father, of her servants subjects, of her lessons on ruling, even on a small party she was planning for her father in just a short month for his birthday. There was so much Snow had to share that it had taken their entire walk to the village, and their third stroll around the market for her to finally take a breath.

Rose had smiled along with the tales, listening intently, trying to keep Snow talking actually, not wanting her to hear some of the whispers that rose up whenever this happened, whenever people saw her and Snow together talking amicably. She heard them though, her hearing a little better than a human's thanks to her mother. She could hear them remarking on Snow, wondering how such a sweet girl could stand to be so close to a 'thing' like her, how she could bear to link arms with her and talk to her. She heard people wonder if there was something wrong with Snow, if, perhaps, she wasn't as pure as she wanted others to think, not as innocent or warm. And the whispers about herself, she could hear them wondering why she was smiling, commenting on how unnatural it was for her to do.

There was no winning with the villagers, she had resigned herself to that a long time ago. If she stayed away from them, as they seemed to want, for her to rule them from the castle and not interact, then they called her cold and distant and hard. If she tried to be there, to have a presence, to even smile, they wondered if she was plotting something, why she was around them, what she was going to do. If she held no expression, she was emotionless. If she smiled, she was unnatural. If she stared at someone that made a joke, she was stoic, if she laughed, she had to be forcing it.

She didn't want Snow to hear them, because she knew her cousin would fly off the handle about it, demanding what was wrong with those people to treat her the way they did…and as amusing as that would be, she didn't want her cousin to incur their ire either. And, really, what other way could they treat her? Accept her warmly despite not being comfortable with her or her mother? She wasn't around the people enough for them to know her as well as Snow did, she didn't trust them enough to let her guard down as she did around her cousin. They didn't know her, and so they could only react to her from what they saw and knew. Not everyone had as much faith that everyone was an inherently good person as Snow did.

Unfortunately, despite how long Snow had spoken for, it hadn't been long enough to complete their last trek around the market and start to head back to the castle. Snow had tapered off just as they were turning towards the main gates that would lead back to the castle.

"So tell me," Snow smiled, "What has happened with you Rose? Have you learned any new instruments? Written any new songs? Found someone to inspire such songs?" she teased, nudging her cousin on that last one.

"No," Rose smiled at that, "I fear not, on all counts. I have merely been…practicing my instruments and songs."

"And a boy…"

"Does not exist," Rose cut in, "I am sorry Snow, but I do not subscribe to your belief that everyone has a true love out there. It is a rare thing to find one."

"Well I think you'll find one," Snow remarked as they stepped out of the gate.

Rose shook her head, "I believe it far more likely that you should find love of such legendary proportions, Snow, not I."

"If I get a true love, then you do to," Snow said firmly, "It's as simple as that. You are my cousin, Rose, we already swore we'd do everything together, remember?" she squeezed Rose's arm, "If we are to have children and raise them as close as we are, we shall need men to help us create those perfect children. And for that to happen…we need to find you your true love."

"You really think SHE's got one out there?" a voice said behind them.

They paused and turned to look over their shoulders at one of the village boys, a year or two older than they were, sitting on a barrel in an alley they'd passed, a piece of wood in his hand, a knife in hand as he whittled it.

"Yes," Snow stuck her nose up, "I do."

The boy snorted, "Only love she's gonna find is a vile creature."

"How dare you!" Snow pulled her arm out of Rose's hold despite her cousin trying to keep a grip on her and stormed over to the boy, who merely smirked at her, "How dare you say such things?!"

"Only saying what everyone thinks," he shrugged, "She ain't ever gonna find true love 'cept with a monster as dark as she is."

Rose's eyes narrowed at that.

"You, on the other hand," the man eyed Snow up and down, "You…I bet scores of 'true loves' will flock to you, Princess. And I'll be the first in line."

"I would never accept a man like you as my true love," Snow defended, "Rose is my family and you've insulted her! Why would I ever want someone like you?"

"So you can have a new family?" the man shook his head, "So you can get away from that one," he poked his knife forward, at Rose, not threatening, but…there was an edge to his voice that made her hands curl into fists.

She couldn't react though, she couldn't, she had promised her parents she would be better, that she would control it, that she wouldn't do it again…but this man…he was insinuating such terrible things, he was trying to antagonize Snow, and she would NOT let him hurt her.

But…she'd promised her parents…

The man either was oblivious of her internal struggle, or all too aware and felt secure in continuing, "So you don't gotta call HER your family and sully your own name by tying hers to yours…"

"Snow!" Rose shouted when Snow struck out and slapped the man across the face.

It was a blur after that, it truly was, for all parties involved.

One second the man was rearing back from being struck, the next he'd grabbed Snow and shoved her against the wall of the alley, his whittling knife at her throat, a glare on his face...and the next…he was on the ground, his back arching, veins bulging in his neck as his eyes rolled back into his head, his body tensing and seizing, a scream caught in his open mouth with blood starting to drip out of his ears…and Rose juts a foot away, her mouth open, a deadly glare on her face directed at the man on the ground.

"Rose!" Snow gasped, rushing to her cousin's side, wincing and trying to keep her hands over her ears even as Rose's voice echoed in her ears, "Rose stop it!"

But Rose was either deaf to her words or ignoring them as she stepped closer to the man, the note that was ringing out of her getting louder as she drew nearer, the man starting to gasp for air.

"Rosie!" Snow tried to get near her, only to fall to her knees as it got louder, "Don't!"

Rose let the note die, cut off from continuing, more from catching sight of Snow on her knees out of the corner of her eyes than the fact that the man before her was nearing death. The man collapsed back onto the ground, panting, his head lulling but fighting for consciousness.

Rose panted a moment, glancing between Snow and the man, when she saw a small trickle of blood on Snow's neck and turned, stalking to the man and crouching down, smirking at how he tried to flinch away and scuttle back but his body was too spent and agonized to do it.

"You breathe a word of this to anyone," she threatened, her voice low, nearly hissing at him, "And not even my cousin will save you next time," she eyed him, "Understood?"

He managed a single nod, unable to do much other, but it wasn't that that reassured her he would be silent about what she'd done…it was the fear in his eyes as he stared at her.

She stood, looking down her nose at him before she turned on her heel, her skirts in a flourish, and made her way back to her cousin. She leaned down, helping Snow to her feet and guided her out of the alley, though she couldn't help the thumping of her heart as she headed for the castle.

Snow was completely silent.

And that never happened unless she was deeply upset.

And she knew…SHE had caused it.

~8~

Rose intently focused on the small cloth she was using to dab at Snow's neck, making sure the scratch she'd gotten was clean and would heal properly. She had just turned to dip the cloth in a small bowl of water and dab more, even though it was truly cleaned by now, when Snow reached up and gently grabbed her hand, lowering it to hold it in both of hers resting on her lap.

"Rose…" she began, looking at her cousin in concern, "What was that?"

It had been…shocking, to see her cousin as she'd been, her expression so raging, her eyes so deadly and focused, the girl so intent to take the man down. She had noticed something was…different about her cousin, the moment she'd spotted her from the carriage, standing on the stairs of the castle, too rigid, too poised, too…cold. She had looked more like an unmovable, unfeeling statue than her smiling cousin. She knew she'd had to take that distant feeling off her and had run to hug the daylights out of her. Rose had seemed to snap out of it then, smiling and hugging her back, looking just like the cousin she knew.

But in the market?

She hadn't expected that reaction though…she DID know it was a possible one given what she'd seen and heard of her aunt whenever her uncle or Rose was in danger. Still, to see it happen? It had startled her and…it scared her just a little. No, not scared her in the sense that she feared for herself if Rose should lose control or turn on her, it wasn't that. Because Rose had done that to protect her, she had full control of her magic or at least a great deal more than when they had been children, she would never turn on her for no reason. She wasn't afraid for herself…but for Rose.

If that had happened IN the market, if other saw? She could only imagine their reactions to it. She honestly wasn't even sure what her own reaction was, she was fairly certain she was still in shock from seeing her cousin turn into…whatever she'd been only moments ago.

"He was harming you," Rose said simply, "So I stopped him."

Snow frowned at that, the way she'd said it, so blandly, so unconcerned…it was jarring. Rose sounded like she truly didn't care the harm and pain she'd caused the man so long as he'd been stopped. She swallowed hard at that, the worst thing, to her, was for someone not to care about another, no matter who they were, "Did you have to do it like that though? With your magic?"

Rose looked at her a moment, "I will do whatever I must to keep you safe Snow."

Snow let out a gentle breath at that, "But they are your people, you can't attack them or they'll turn on you."

"He shall not dare speak of what occurred," Rose said, "Snow," she knelt down before her, "He shall never harm you again either."

"I don't think he intended to in the first place," Snow remarked, "I slapped him first, Rose, it was his right to defend himself against that, no matter if I'm a princess or not. I shouldn't have hit him first."

"He should not have drawn blood in payment for a mere slap," Rose defended.

"I don't think he realized he had," Snow tried again, trying to get through to her, to make her see that she may have reacted FAR too strongly and powerfully to something so small as a scratch, "It happened so fast Rose, we couldn't even see what his reaction to it might have been. For all we know he would have been horrified and begged forgiveness."

"Or he would have tried to harm you further," Rose shook her head, "Not all people are as good as you believe them to be Snow."

And that was just it, her cousin saw the best in people. She had been around those villagers enough to know that not all of them were kind or good people. Snow was so…innocent like that, wanting to see the good in the world, to ignore the darkness in it. But SHE saw it, and if her cousin couldn't or wouldn't, SHE would just have to be there to protect her from it.

"I still think we should have given him the chance to realize what he'd done and apologize," Snow sighed.

"To do a deed like that, Snow, to harm another person as he had. It does not ever stop with one person. He would have done it again, to others, I am certain."

"Well, I'm not."

"As you wish," Rose shrugged, "You may think the best in him, that it was a mere accident that he harmed you, but I disagree. He harmed you and for that a punishment was dealt. Forgive him all you like for imagined apologies, but I will not, nor shall I ever," she sighed, seeming to realize how she was starting to sound by the small frown on Snow's face, and squeezed her hand, "But know that whatever the two of us feel or think of his guilt, he shall never harm you again. I will never let anyone harm you Snow."

And Snow realized she was trying to reassure her. She shifted a bit, this entire situation was making her terribly uncomfortable. Rose…she truly didn't care about that man, just because he'd harmed her. She knew that the other villagers whispered about her cousin, she heard some of it here and there, was sure there was much more she missed, would she begin to not care about them because of that? Would she start to not care about other people just because they'd harmed her? What if they didn't mean it? What if they had been driven to it or manipulated or…

She shook her head at that, she knew how Sirens reacted when their loved ones were in danger or threatened. It was a natural reaction, Rose couldn't have helped it. But to not care afterwards? She had seen it in her aunt once or twice before, how little she cared for what she'd done so long as her family was safe after. She supposed she'd hoped that Rose would be a bit more…human, like her uncle in that she might feel a tad guilty, or try to forgive. To be so unfeeling…

She took a breath, making a vow to herself right then and there, she would just have to care and forgive enough for the both of them. Perhaps if Rose saw HER forgiving others and letting go of past hurts, she would have no reason not to do the same. Yes, that sat much better with her. If Rose would not forgive others, SHE would. She would show her cousin that people could change, do better, BE better, if they were just given the chance to do it.

"Now," Rose's voice cut in, "Shall we retire to dinner?"

Snow shook her head at that, at how Rose had just turned the conversation away from a very serious discussion to talk of dinner, as though what had happened hadn't even affected her...which, she supposed, they hadn't.

If they'd been children, her cousin would have been crying for the fact that she'd harmed someone with her magic, fretting and fearful that it was turning her into something dark or evil. She would have reassured her, of course, that it wasn't so, that it had been an accident and she hadn't meant it. But now...now her cousin was standing before her, nearly an adult, not even shedding a single tear, her expression holding no remorse or fear or concern for what she'd done at all. She was older now, she was...she wasn't the child she had been. Of course she would change, mature, understand her magic more. This time her cousin couldn't regret her actions, because she had chosen to do them, in full control of her magic, she'd made the choice to attack the man. She was sure, at first, it was instinct to get him to stop...but she could have released him earlier and she hadn't, she'd chosen to continue.

She could tell, what her cousin had feared as a child was starting to happen, she was...darkening, just a little, just a little. She still saw her cousin before her, she still saw her baby cousin, she doubted she would ever see her as anything but. She certainly would NEVER see her as a monster as Rose had feared so many years ago. Her cousin was half-Siren, she would always be different, she would always be a little darker than others, it would be obvious the older she grew and more she understood about her magic and what she was. She would never condemn her for something she had no say in or control over being, it was who she was.

All she could do was be there for her, help to try and balance her...be the light to her dark. And she would, because family never turned their backs on each other.

"I am a bit hungry," Snow offered tentatively, standing and following her cousin out of the room.

No, she would never turn her back on her cousin.

~8~

King Leopold let out a long breath as he looked at his brother and sister-in-law, the three of them having been informed by one of the guards that had been sent after the princesses to ensure their safety, a recounting of the events that had happened in the market, what his niece had done. In defense of her cousin, of course but…the damage, the agony, that the guard had described her as inflicting so coldly and intensely upon the man…it was alarming.

"Ethan…" Leopold turned to his brother as the man excused the guard, "I know it is not my place," he began, "And you know that I love and adore Rose as much as any other…but have you considered that...that her magic…"

"Might be dangerous?" Ethan finished, "Of course I did. I knew, the moment I took Ilayda as my wife," he looked at the woman in question, sitting primly and quietly beside him, taking her hand, "That our children may inherit her magic. We took precautions."

"I taught her the ways of the Siren," Ilayda explained, "I am teaching her to control her music…"

"I think that might be the problem though," Leopold argued, "What she did in the market…it was controlled, Ethan," he looked as his brother, "She chose to do that, to use her magic like that."

"That man was threatening YOUR daughter," Ethan defended.

"And I am forever grateful she stopped him, I am," Leopold nodded, "But the manner it was done in," he shook his head, "Ethan, to be able to do that, with just her voice? It is a truly…" he sighed, "It is a dark magic she possesses."

"And I am a dark creature," Ilayda eyed him, "I know not what you mean to imply. I am dark, my magic is dark. Rose is my daughter, her magic would be dark. Why do you sound surprised of this?"

"I'm not I just…" he shook his head, "Is it wise to allow her the freedom to use it in such a manner?"

"What else would you have us do, Leopold?" Ethan squeezed his wife's hand, "Banish her? Forbid her from using that which makes her special? I will not condemn my daughter to hide her magic as though it makes her evil or a monster."

Leopold nodded, considering his words, "Have you considered…finding some way to remove her magic if it's possible?"

Ethan and Ilayda fell quiet at that, glancing at each other a long while before Ethan sighed and bowed his head a moment, his eyes closed as though is next words physically pained him to admit, "We did…and we tried to, once, a long time ago," he looked up at his brother, his eyes so haunted by the memory of it that Leopold couldn't bring himself to ask what happened.

All Ethan could muster, was a deeply regretful and guiltridden, "We tried to take her magic from her once before...and it nearly killed her."

A/N: Ooh...I can say what Ethan is speaking of...it was not good, at all :'( But...we WILL see a flashback chapter about exactly what happened one day }:)

I wanted to sort of show how times change us, how situations and life changes our views and reactions. Here, Snow sees her cousin consciously and purposefully using her magic to harm someone, with the full intent to cause them pain, and she tries to understand and reassure Rose that it doesn't make her a monster, she's young, she's not experienced anything with the Evil Queen yet. In the last chapter, Snow sees her daughter unconsciously and accidently use her magic and have it cause harm to someone, not meaning to or wanting to and trying NOT to...and she reacts with outrage and almost horror at what Emma did. She's also starting to express more and more outrage and horror at some things she's learned that the Pied Piper has done, she's really struggling to balance who her cousin was and who she is now, and reconcile her views of darkness and evilness.

I feel like Snow will say something so much she'll try to believe it. Like the secret she harbors in the second half of the season, telling herself over and over that it was for the greater good and not an evil thing to do, till she believes it. Here, I feel like Snow sees her cousin turning into this darkened person and she's trying to convince herself as much as Rose that she will always love her and trust her and see her as her cousin no matter what. She wants to believe if, to believe Piper won't ever do something that she can't look past or reason away. And as she's growing older, she's starting to see that she may say it and try to believe it, but there will be challenges coming that will really force her to confront whether she actually CAN do what she's said so much in the past :(

Some notes on reviews...

Oh I know exactly who Maid Marian is ;) I don't post a story till after a season's over to make sure I'm not writing myself into a corner with certain twists I'd like to do ;) I actually mention it in the first chapter, as an A/N that there's something keeping Piper from realizing who Marian really is, but we won't find out what till later ;)

I never really understood the Snow Queen's plot either, it was so weird but I think it might have been the writers I blame for that. Like they build up the Shattered Sight curse to be this epic thing, the town will tear itself apart, people will kill each other, just so that the only three left are the Snow Queen, Emma, and Elsa...and then no one dies. At all. I feel like it would have been more threatening if a few people HAD died, it would have had more of an impact. Having it end as it did just made the entire Snow Queen plot feel a bit pointless to me :( Which is probably a little evil to say that I wanted a few characters to have died off screen, but that was the point of the mirror :/ I can say that the Author won't be messing with Piper's memories so she will be affected by the rewrite, he sort of struck me as having actually rewritten an entire new story so there wouldn't be any memories to erase if that's how it was 'in the beginning' ;) But I can't say what Piper's happy ending might be just yet ;) Regina's a bit absent as this story follows more Piper's POV, and Piper's more around Gold and Emma than Regina at the moment, but Regina will feature more in the next half yup ;) I actually took Emma's actions in the finale to be more a sort of guilt thing than romantic, but it was just my interpretation. If felt like a majority of Season 4 was Emma screwing over Regina's happiness like Snow did, and then, when she joins the operation, actually realizing just how much Regina's life sucked and how little happiness she did have and realizing that Snow and herself had caused it, especially the twist with Marian sort of just making her feel worse and blaming herself and her sacrifice came across, to me, more like I'm not going to let another horrible thing happen to her after all that I (and my family, even Henry to a degree really drove a knife in Regina's heart at times) have done to her. To me it felt more like that was her way of trying to really absolve herself of the guilt in that she finally got to really save Regina and give her a shot at a real happy ending (though I think Regina will feel guilty she did it and not be able to focus on being happy till they save Emma). Piper will have interesting relationships with the Queens :) I can say Cruella won't be able to control her though, mind magic and not being an 'animal' and all :) People like to call Piper a 'fish' at times, but she's still half human and that would protect her more ;) Ursula and Piper will have a bit of a butting heads relationship for a reason I can't say just yet ;)

I've been toying with what Henry should call David and Gold as they're both grandfathers to him, I think it'll probably be grandpa for Gold and just gramps for David eventually :) Gold has suspicions what will come from the ribbons, but in a way, it's a benefit to Emma because, even if it might tie up her magic, it protects her from the Shattered Sight curse too, so it's partially protective and not harming to her. And he also has failsafes and backups that Piper will be made aware of to keep more people than just Emma safe }:) The hat would definitely go against Gold and Piper, but I can say there's a twist for that moment coming ;) He will care for her more than that yup, at the moment he's still sort of suffering the loss of his son and seeing the woman that was in love with his boy but is now chasing after a pirate isn't really letting him feel the care fully. Somewhere in his head he's seeing it as, his boy, that she claimed to love, is dead and Emma's moved in with the snap of a finger to Hook...the same man that sold his son out to Pan, so he's not pleased with her relationship with Hook like Piper at the moment lol :) It came through, I responded to it in the last chapter ;)