Chapter Six—"Power is Freedom"

13 Years Before the Curse

"It's an honor to meet you, Princess," George's handsome son said, bowing and kissing her hand. Smiling graciously, Regina tried not to grimace. Good looking or not, the boy was only two years older than Snow, which made him six years younger than her.

Not that her mother felt such an age gap was insurmountable, of course. Cora wanted to make her a queen, and as far as she was concerned, this boy was just a means to that end.

"Prince James," she replied, taking her hand back as soon as she could. "Welcome to our kingdom."

The fourteen year old prince in front of her moved on to Snow—who should have taken precedence over Regina in any case, kissing her hand with considerably more warmth. Not that Regina could blame him. Snow was already a beauty, and she was the heir to the kingdom. Not Regina. No matter what Mother is trying terribly hard to imply by having me stand right after her and Leopold in the receiving line. Snow's the real princess here, and Mother just looks petty because she's trying to cover that up.

"Princess Snow. I have long wanted to make your acquaintance," James said, lingering over her hand.

Snow had been raised for this, so she didn't blink or blush, but Regina thought she saw a little bit of color enter her sister's cheeks. Having a handsome prince fawn over her had to be flattering, particularly because Snow was now old enough to actually notice. She'd started giggling about handsome young men a few months earlier, and Regina could tell that James had caught her eye. Judging from the gleam in the young prince's eye, he realized that as well, and Regina scowled at James when her mother wasn't looking. He'd obviously broken more than a few hearts already, and she wasn't going to have him adding Snow to that list.

King George looked equally pleased as the receiving line finally ended and with it their official duties. For the moment, anyway. Regina knew she and Snow would not be able to sneak off for long, not with George looking to marry James off to Snow and Cora looking to snag the boy for Regina. But for the moment, they were free to sit down in their seats on the dais and whisper with one another, particularly because Cora was still making her rounds while Leopold tagged alongside her like a lost puppy.

"You think he's handsome," Regina teased her little sister.

Now Snow did color slightly. "Most princes are. I think that they're enchanted to be handsome while still in the womb."

"Is that what happened to you?" she countered with a grin.

"I never asked." Snow managed a very royal shrug before she burst into giggles, and Regina laughed with her.

"Can you cover for me?" she asked, the words coming out in a rush. Regina had to speak quickly, had to get it out while Cora was engrossed with talking to King George. "Just for a few minutes?" she pleaded.

"Regina, this is a terrible idea…"

"I have to. Snow, please. This might be the only chance I get. Everyone is here, even Mother's closest henchmen…and I have to see him."

Almost five months had passed since Cora had let Regina see Daniel, and although she'd promised to let Regina see her True Love if she behaved herself, that promise was starting to wear really thin. Regina was desperate to see Daniel, particularly if she was going to find herself packed off to become a broodmare for some petty princeling before too many more years passed. There had to be a way to save Daniel, but in order to do that, Regina had to get down there and look at where Daniel was kept, and not when her mother was in control of the situation.

"Regina…"

"Please." She hated begging, but she would do it for Daniel. Snow must have seen that on her face, because her sister sighed.

"Fine. I'll come up with a distraction of some sort," Snow said bravely, bouncing out of her chair and heading over to her father. On the way there, she managed to artfully bump right into some noble from King George's kingdom, tripping him (and his wife, somehow) so that he fell into Cora and George, who were still talking.

Cora snarled in fury, but Regina didn't stay to watch her mother's reaction. Queen Cora would have to be gracious and accept that noble's apology; after all, one could hardly turn nobles into small creatures and squash them when you were a queen. Cora was big on propriety, had always hammered proper behavior into Regina. She could hardly act anything less than the part of the perfect queen, particularly when her 'dear' stepdaughter was apologizing so prettily. Snow was an expert at using those big eyes of hers to look innocent and pure—which she usually was, anyway—and Cora couldn't call her on it in front of an audience, even if she did suspect something. Fortunately, Cora didn't seem suspicious at all, which was even better.

The scene didn't take long to play out, but it was more than enough time for Regina to slip out of the reception and head down to the dungeons. She wasn't supposed to know where these cells were—Cora allowed her to meet with Daniel elsewhere—but Regina had managed to bribe two guards into telling her the truth some weeks earlier. So she slipped down four flights of stairs and into the bowels of the castle, down below where even the most dangerous prisoners were officially kept. The deepest layer didn't officially exist, but Regina knew where to go and had only been waiting for the right time to do it. Fortunately, the way down to the prison was quiet; even most of the guards were off celebrating, and those that did see Regina did not question her.

The final gate was one that even the guards were not allowed to pass; magic brought Daniel food, and the gate was guarded by blood magic. But although Regina might not have known how to work magic, she understood blood magic well enough, and she quickly pricked her finger on a hairpin and pressed it to the lock. The heavy metal door obligingly swung open, and Regina sprinted through to the end.

"Daniel!"

A moment passed before a scratchy voice answered from the darkness: "Regina?"

"Oh, Daniel." For a long moment, she didn't know what else to say; she could only reach desperately through the bars and grope blindly for his hands. Fingers closed around hers before Regina's eyes had a chance to adjust to the darkness, but when they finally did, she could see his face.

He was far too thin and needed a shave, but there was nothing about those features she did not find beautiful. Regina was sure that her smile was utterly stupid and besotted, but she loved him, and she had not seen him in so long.

"You shouldn't be here," he told her quietly.

"I can't just leave you down here!"

"You can't do anything for me, either. The Queen is too powerful," Daniel countered, sounding too defeated for Regina's tastes. So she squeezed his hands desperately.

"I'll find something," she promised. "I love you. I won't abandon you, no matter what."

"I love you, too," he said softly, and Regina felt lips press against her hands. She didn't care if he was dirty—and he was—or that she'd have to wash up before going back to the reception. Any stolen moment with Daniel was worth its weight in gold, and Regina was going to treasure every second. "And I believe in you," Daniel finished.

"I'll find a way," Regina repeated, pressing her forehead against the bars.

"I know."

"How adorable," a third voice cooed, and Regina whirled around, almost tripping over her ornate dress in her haste. "But certainly unworthy of you, darling."

"Mother." She said the word as steadily as she could, but her voice still tried to shake.

"Regina, dearest, the dungeon is no place for a princess," Cora said as if she had no idea why Regina was there, looking far too beautifully put together and regal for the dank and dark dungeons.

"I'm not actually a princess," she shot back, Daniel's presence giving her strength. Fingers squeezed her right hand; Regina had turned to her left, so she'd had to let go with that hand, but Daniel still held her right in his.

"You will be once you marry the prince I have chosen for you," her mother replied serenely.

"I already have a husband, and that stupid prince isn't interested in me, anyway!"

The moment the words were out of her mouth, Regina knew she should not have said them. Speaking of her short-lived marriage to Daniel always infuriated her mother, and Regina had learned three years ago not to mention it at all. Sure enough, Cora's eyes narrowed, and then suddenly her hand came up. Before Regina could even begin to object, a purple spark flashed out of her mother's palm, sailing by Regina and impacting Daniel. The force of the spell ripped his hand from hers and made Regina's beloved howl in pain as he hit the back of the cell hard.

"Daniel!" Regina cried, turning to face him once more as he twitched wildly, collapsed into a ball on the floor. Another purple spark hit him, and Daniel screamed. Almost too stunned for words, Regina wheeled back to face her mother. "Mother, please!"

Cora's dark eyes were unmoved. "You've brought this on yourself, Regina. I did warn you."

Daniel screamed again as another spell hit him, and Regina reached for her mother's arm desperately.

"Please. I'll behave. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hurt him anymore," she begged.

"Regina, don't…" a voice from inside the spell whispered, only to be cut off by another scream as Cora flicked another spark his way.

"Do not interrupt conversations between your betters, stable boy," the Queen said imperiously, and then turned back to Regina, who had almost said something regrettable about how Daniel was a far better person than her mother could ever hope to be, but stopped herself just in time. "Now, darling, we will be missed at the reception if we do not return. Come."

Cora turned to walk away, but Regina was rooted to the spot, staring helplessly at her True Love as he laboriously dragged himself into a sitting position. Daniel tried to smile for her, but the effort turned into a painful grimace. He was breathing hard and obviously still hurting; what had Cora done to him? Regina had never hated magic as much as she did in that moment.

"Please stop hurting him," she whispered.

"Oh, I have," Cora replied dismissively, looking over her shoulder. "But let this be a lesson to you. I obviously cannot trust you to behave yourself without proper motivation, so any further acts of defiance will be punished accordingly."

"It's not Daniel's fault!"

"Of course it isn't. It's yours. Now come along, unless I need to repeat the lesson."

"No." The word was a broken whisper, and Regina followed her mother back to the reception.

The next morning, October 27th, dawned gray and foreboding, with storm clouds gathering overhead to match her mood. Regina woke stiff, sore, and grouchy; finding reasons to reject David's advances was growing more difficult by the day. His cursed memories insisted that they were more or less happily married, but Regina knew that the man in her bed (dressed in pajamas, thank you very much) was her brother-in-law and the love of her little sister's life. She wasn't sure she could forgive herself for what had taken place between them under the curse, but Regina knew she'd never forgive herself if she slept with David now that she knew.

Not that she wanted to. Strong, heroic princes had never been her type, even when they were the identical twin of the actual cocky prince that David had replaced some years ago. Of course, that little tidbit had been late in getting to their disjointed family. George had seemed to think he could easily substitute one for the other since it had been years since anyone in Leopold's kingdom had seen James, but Snow and Regina had both noticed the differences immediately. They just hadn't known why "James" was so different than the first two times they'd met him, with self-absorption replaced by modest and actual charm. There had been an immediate spark between the new James and Snow, which had meant Regina did her best to step aside, despite her mother's plotting. Regina had liked him a great deal better after the swap, too, even if she'd still been holding out hope for Daniel, and she still liked him. As a person. Not a lover, and certainly not as her husband.

As far as Regina was concerned, she didn't have one of those.

Those thoughts kept her mood foul throughout the morning, and the fact that the door was locked when she dropped by Gold's shop on the way to work only made things more annoying. She needed to talk to Rumplestiltskin, so where the hell was he? Thankfully, his car had not been outside her mother's house when Regina drove past—and that was a relationship she wanted to know absolutely nothing about, thank you very much—but the bastard was nowhere to be found. It wasn't rent day, and he never slept in, so what was he doing? Regina needed advice, and he was supposed to be the one running this damn show. Except for the fact that he wasn't around.

So, she headed to work in the same crummy mood, snapping at worker bees in a fashion that was certain to make her mother proud. She'd forgotten her lunch at home in her rush to get out the door in time to talk to Gold, but Regina chose not to drive back and get it. Instead, she walked out of city hall and headed towards the center of town. The weather had improved remarkably since storms had threatened that morning, and now the sun was starting to peek out of the clouds again. It was a nice day for a walk, and she could always stop by the damn imp's shop again and strangle him while she was out and about—

Movement caught her attention, and Regina turned her head idly to see what it was she had spotted out of the corner of her eye. She'd figured it would be a car or someone walking by, but what she hadn't expected was the cute, dark-haired little boy darting out into the street after a ball that he'd clearly dropped. It was small and blue, and rolling too quickly for a three year old to keep up with, try though he did, his short legs pumping to catch up. There was a truck coming, too, a big red pickup that she was pretty sure was owned by that obnoxious deputy sheriff, Keith Law, and its owner was equally oblivious. As usual, Keith blew through the stop sign, and no one was doing anything while his truck bore down on a little boy.

Without thinking, Regina rushed forward, grabbing the boy and pulling him aside even as Keith's truck sped by. She had to fling them away so quickly that Regina tripped on a pot mark in the pavement, breaking the heel of her shoe and tumbling to the ground. She didn't quite manage to let go of the child as she fell, but at least she took most of the impact, groaning while the little boy yelped in pain. By the time she managed to sit up, the boy was staring at her with wide eyes and a blonde man was standing over both of them.

"Are you all right?" he asked. He seemed to be asking both of them, but Regina's voice caught in her throat.

"Uh huh." The boy nodded, and the man swept him up in a hug, holding him close for several moments.

"What have I told you about rushing out into traffic, Jamie?" the man said in the tone of someone who had just almost lost everything they'd ever loved. "Next time, I'll get your ball. Don't you ever do that again!"

"Sorry, Daddy," the little boy—Jamie—answered.

"I'm just glad you're all right," he breathed, and then looked down at Regina. "I'm sorry. I've completely forgotten my manners. Thank you. You saved my son's life. I can't ever repay you."

"I…uh, it was nothing," Regina managed to say, struggling to her feet and finding that balancing on only one heel was difficult. She had to look a frightful mess by now; her business suit was dirty and she'd managed to skin one knee, but the man was still looking at her like she was some sort of angel. "I have a son, too," she said with rather more composure. "And he did the same sort of thing at that age."

The blonde man smiled. "I think I did, too," he admitted, then shifted Jamie over to one arm and held out his hand to her. "I don't think we've met. Errol Forrester."

"Regina Nolan," she replied, accepting his hand to shake and wondering who he reminded her of. She was certain she'd never met Errol Forrester before, and she had no idea at all who he really was, but he seemed vaguely familiar, somehow.

"I think everyone knows who you are," he said with a sheepish smile, but at least it wasn't one that said he hated her for who her mother was. Cora wasn't a popular mayor; people feared and respected her, but no one actually liked her. Not that it mattered. They all remembered electing her anyway.

"I'm sorry," Regina said automatically.

"Don't be!" Errol protested. "I just meant…ah, hell, I'm terrible at this."

"Daddy said a bad word," Jamie interjected helpfully, and that seemed to break the ice. They laughed together as Errol went a little red in either frustration or embarrassment, and a traitorous part of Regina's mind thought he was rather cute when he did that.

"Yeah, Daddy did do that. You're not supposed to notice that, kiddo," Errol laughed, and then looked back at Regina. "Now that I've thoroughly shoved my foot down my throat, may I buy you lunch?"

"I couldn't," she tried to say, but he waved her off.

"You just saved my son's life. Buying you lunch is the least I can do," he pointed out, and Regina found herself smiling in response.

"Oh…all right," she gave in. "Though I think I may need to go home to get new shoes first."

"Who needs shoes? If Granny argues, I'll just tell her that we won't put out her next kitchen fire. Happens pretty often when she lets Ruby cook," Errol replied with a huge grin.

"You put out fires?"

"Yeah. It's kind of what firefighters do." He gestured at her shoes. "C'mon, live a little. Just take them off and come along. I'd offer you Jamie's shoes, but I think they're a bit small for you."

Regina couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so freely, or when she'd been so daring—or so improper!—as to walk into a diner without any shoes on. By the time she was done with that, her stockings were going to be ruined, but Regina found she just didn't care. Errol's grin was infectious, and he did indeed threaten not to put out any fires at the diner if Granny complained about Regina's lack of shoes. Under normal circumstances, Regina was quite certain that Granny would have made an issue of it, but Errol seemed more popular there than Cora was hated. Surprisingly, Granny let it slide, only giving Regina a half-hearted glare and telling her not to let it happen again.

Regina promised not to, and found lunch surprisingly pleasant. Jamie was downright adorable, shyer than Henry had been at his age but still a very engaging child who loved to draw on any placemat at the table. Errol was sweet, funny, and altogether too grateful to Regina for doing what any mother would have done…and she felt something flicker inside her that she had thought dead and gone. She knew it was foolish, and even dangerous—the man sitting across from her was under the curse. Whoever he was now as much of a lie as her marriage was, and for all Regina knew, he might have been an axe murderer back in the Enchanted Forest. Or a stable boy.

Pushing that traitorous thought aside, Regina concentrated on her lunch and somehow still managed to enjoy herself. But she couldn't indulge herself too far. The Dark Curse was still plenty strong, and she had introduced herself as Regina Nolan. She and Errol were both living lies, and their paths would probably never cross again.

Her unplanned lunch date made Regina reach Gold's pawnshop much later than she intended. She was damn glad that her mother had an afternoon full of meetings scheduled, otherwise Cora might have noticed that her daughter/chief administrative officer was absent from city hall. But Cora always held all of her meetings on Fridays, and that meant Regina had considerably more freedom than usual. Pity I'm using that freedom to visit Rumplestiltskin, she thought wryly, but with no real rancor. Rumplestiltskin had always been there when no one else was, and although there were times that she burned to ring the imp's gold-flecked neck, Regina was glad she wasn't the only one awake.

Had she been alone, looking at the faces of old friends and family who didn't know her, Regina was sure she would have gone mad. Five days into pretending that she to be just Regina Nolan was hard enough.

"This grand plan of yours is growing distinctly unpleasant," she announced by way of greeting. Behind her, the door clanged shut, the little bell jingling merrily.

"Well, I'm ever so sorry to make you uncomfortable," Rumplestiltskin replied with all of Gold's sarcasm. "But I did warn you that this wouldn't be easy."

"Your explanation was a little short on actual details," Regina snapped, and waited for the annoying, trilling giggle that never came.

She had never expected her old mentor to be so different here.

"Need to know, dearie, and you didn't," he answered. At least he was still maddeningly vague. Her mother's curse might have made Rumplestiltskin human, but knowing some things were the same was definitely a comfort.

Still, she glared at him, anyway. "Yet I'm the one with the Savior staying in my guest bedroom. So, what's the next step, O Mastermind?"

Rumplestiltskin chuckled softly. "First, we have to make her believe. Has young Henry shown her his book yet?"

"How the hell do you know about that?" Regina had toldHenry to be careful, and she thought he understood that if Cora got the Book, everything could go up in flames. Had Henry misunderstood and shared it with half the town already?

Rumplestiltskin only smiled, and there was the imp lurking in his oddly normal brown eyes.

Regina sighed. He wasn't going to answer, so she went on: "Of course he showed her. I think he started talking about the curse before they even got to Storybrooke. She doesn't believe him."

"Of course she doesn't. Does she believe you?"

"I haven't tried." She scowled. "Emma is as stubborn as a mule. Believing in 'fairy tales' is not going to come easily to her, and as much as I'm usually a firm believer in shoving the truth down peoples' throats, I think that'll be counterproductive here. Hell, I'm still worried that she'll leave at the end of the week."

At least that finally made Rumplestiltskin frown. "You can trust the curse to keep her here. It wants to be broken," he said contemplatively. "The trick is making her want to."

"There's an opening for a sheriff's deputy." The idea hit Regina like lightning, and the words came out before she even thought about them. But there was an opening. Graham only had one deputy, and the law said he could have two. And Emma didhave a background that actually made her qualified for the job. "I'm having lunch with Graham tomorrow."

"The idea has merit," he mused. "But don't forget that your mother has his heart."

How could she forget that? Regina had been present for that travesty. Still, this was Storybrooke, not the Enchanted Forest. There were advantages to being in the Land Without Magic. "Graham doesn't know that," she pointed out. "I think he'll like Emma, too, once he gets to know her, and besides, Mother is far more interested in you than him these days."

"Indeed." Barely a flicker of discomfort flashed across his face, but Rumplestiltskin could handle himself. They also both knew that a more distracted Cora was far safer for everyone, so Regina didn't comment. It was his business, anyway. Every day that she failed to realize Emma could break the curse was a victory.

"I'll put the bug in Graham's ear, then."

"You should also set her up with somewhere to live other than in your house. Get her to put down roots, become an upstanding member of the community and all."

That made Regina grimace. The thought of sending Emma elsewhere was not something Regina wanted to contemplate. Oh, her niece drove her absolutely crazy and they'd already had several explosive spats, but at least Regina could keep an eye on her this way. She'd failed to save her little sister from her mother, and she would not do the same for Snow's daughter. The least Regina could do was protect Emma, and that was far easier with Emma under her roof. Still, Rumplestiltskin was right. Emma wasn't a child—even if it was odd seeing her a bit older than Snow—and she needed a place of her own. Cora would even notice her far less if she didn't live with Regina, and that was reason enough. Gritting her teeth, Regina asked:

"Do you have any suitable apartments, then?"

Now the crafty old smile resurfaced. "I understand that Mary Margaret Blanchard is looking for a roommate."

"She is?"

"Her bills are quite piling up."

"And whose fault is that?" Regina demanded.

"I trust you're not blaming me for situations your mother set up with the curse, given your own present position," he retorted smoothly, making Regina's scowl deepen.

"Damn you," she swore, and then nodded grudgingly. "Fine. I'll point her in that direction.

"And while you're at it, may I suggest that you take the opportunity to reacquaint yourself with your sister?" Rumplestiltskin said with a thin smile. "After all, you or your 'husband' will undoubtedly take Henry over to visit his birth mother from time to time."

Damn the man, he was brilliant. Regina hated him as much as she trusted him sometimes, but the genius of his plan was obvious. They both knew that people would begin inching towards their true selves the longer Emma was in town. That meant that timid Mary Margaret would slowly become more like Snow, and David would undoubtedly be attracted to her. True Love always wins out, after all, she thought with a pang of pain. Still, David falling for Mary Margaret could free Regina from her awkward false marriage, and let her spend time with the sister she missed so much. That wasn't even counting the many benefits of acquainting Emma with her mother, which would be good for all of them in the long run.

Maybe she'd even be able to put her shattered family back together.

Someday.

13 Years Before the Curse

"Rumplesh... Stilts... Rumpleschtiltskin, I summon thee."

The words reached him immediately, and although he would usually have ignored someone who butchered his name so thoroughly, Rumplestiltskin had been waiting for this call for far too long. Originally, he had expected it over a year ago, but the future did have a habit of changing. So, he appeared in a swirl of purple smoke behind the dark-haired princess, saying:

"That's not how you say it, dearie, but then...you didn't have to say anything."

She spun to face him, shocked and curious all at the same time. Regina peered at him, looking fascinated. "What are you?"

"What? What? What? My, my, what a rude question. I am not a what," he tittered, pretending to be offended just to see how she would react. Cora would have thrown her chin up and answered arrogantly; her daughter flushed with embarrassment. But her eyes were kind, perhaps too kind.

"Sorry. I don't really know what I'm doing," she admitted.

That made him smile and offer her an exaggerated bow. "Allow me to introduce myself: Rumplestiltskin." He rolled the word off his tongue to make it sound even more exotic; there were times when having such a showy name was its own reward. Other times, it was just annoying. But after this long, he was used to it, and Rumplestiltskin would use whatever tools he had at hand.

She curtseyed, bless her innocent little soul. "And I'm—"

"Regina. I know."

"You do?"

"But of course." Let's see what she makes of that. Which parent did she inherit her intelligence from? Looking at the girl was a bit bittersweet; perhaps that was why he was toying with her so. But Rumplestiltskin wouldn't ever forget that Regina might very well have been—should have been—his daughter, had Cora not broken their deal. He would have loved her, he thought. That smile would probably have done him in as a parent.

"Because of my mother," she replied immediately, and yes she was indeed sharp. "Cora. You taught her?"

That made his smile sharper and less playful; thinking of Cora's betrayal still burned over twenty years later. Still, Cora had taught him several valuable lessons, and he had intended to have his revenge upon her through the girl in front of him. Then, of course, Regina had managed to change that by running away, although Rumplestiltskin had thought he could get things back on track until this very moment. Looking at her, however, told him otherwise. He could probably corrupt her, but—no. Instead, he swallowed his fury and twirled his hands in a flourish. "My legend precedes me!"

"People say I look like her when she was younger," the princess offered, a little hesitantly.

"Really?" he said slowly, studying the girl who he had once been so certain would cast his curse…and now he knew would not. She wore her broken heart on her sleeve, Regina did, though she had no idea how much strength that gave her. Yet. "I don't see it."

The silly girl—strong though she was, she didn't know that, and thus her courage sometimes failed her in ways her mother's never would—looked a little disappointed. Still, she asked boldly enough: "What do you see?"

I see Cora casting my curse, Rumplestiltskin didn't say, pushing aside the images dancing through his mind. He could look at the future later. For now, he needed to influence the future.

"Power," he answered honestly enough, prowling a circle around the princess and then giggling, just to see if it would unnerve her. "Yes, yes. You'll do."

"I'll do for what?" Cora's daughter demanded, sounding distinctly like her mother. "I called you here to ask you for your help."

Oh, she was brave. That was good. Regina wasn't bitter enough, despite her True Love's imprisonment, to fully embrace darkness. She loved her sister too strongly, and Rumplestiltskin had joined the game far too late if he wanted to craft her into his perfect monster. No matter. Cora would do well enough; she had been the one to derail his original path, anyway, when she'd married Leopold. Let her play the Evil Queen. He didn't particularly want to use Cora, but Rumplestiltskin had always known that he would have to be flexible to pull this off. Regina would fill a different role; he was starting to See that already.

"Of course you did, dear," he replied with an excited little wiggle. At least this wouldn't be boring, and it was revenge on Cora, too, of a sort. "Let me guess. You want help freeing your Twuu Luv."

"How did you know about that?" the princess demanded hotly.

He shrugged. "I know your mother."

And he did. The only thing Cora would have viewed as lower than a stable boy would have been some miller's son. Rumplestiltskin remembered her telling him some story about the first boy she'd fallen for. His father had owned a stable, and his family had been relatively well off. Compared to being the daughter of a drunk miller who hardly ever met his quotas, that boy's circumstances had seemed like paradise to a fifteen year old Cora, and she'd tried hard to win him. Of course, when the stable owner went to talk to her drunk father, the miller snored through the conversation and did Cora no favors, which meant the boy she'd wanted wound up marrying the second daughter of the local innkeeper, and Cora got nothing. Daniel had nothing to do with that—he wasn't even from the same kingdom—but she'd still hold that against him. Cora was good with grudges.

"Oh. I was actually going to ask for your help in getting rid of the enchantments put on my stepfather," Regina said softly.

My. That was interesting! Regina had indeed come to love that little stepsister of hers, the one girl he had foreseen Regina swearing vengeance upon in a future that would now never happen. That certainly changed things, changed Regina, and Rumplestiltskin made a snap decision to tell the truth. Or most of it, anyway.

"I can't help with that, Princess. Those spells have been on King Leopold for too long and are in too deep. Your mother holds their strings, and there are precious few ways to release him short of killing her."

He half-hoped Regina would jump on that, but not this gentle girl. She blanched. "Surely there has to be another way!"

"Not at a price you're willing to pay," Rumplestiltskin answered, then swung to point a finger at Regina. "But I can do one better than that, and maybe even give you the chance to save your stable boy as well."

"How?" she demanded, all focus and determination. And power. Oh, there was a lot of power there. Regina would rival her mother someday, if she let herself. If he could convince her to.

"Your mother wants you to learn magic, no?" he asked, bouncing forward to look her in the eye, his face close to hers. Regina recoiled slightly, but whether that was because of his looks or what he had said, Rumplestiltskin did not know.

"I don't like magic. Magic hurts people." And that was a yes to his question if nothing else was.

"It doesn't have to." Odd how he found himself reassuring the girl, but it was necessary. She wasn't his daughter and never would be; Regina was just another puzzle piece.

"Mother wouldn't teach me anything that doesn't," she pointed out.

"Of course she won't. That's where I come in," Rumplestiltskin replied with a smile, stepping back and giving Regina space to think. "Tell your mother to teach you. And then I'll fill in the gaps that she leaves."

The princess bit her lip, and spoke hesitantly: "Do you really think it will help me rescue Daniel?"

"You never know."

Of course, Rumplestiltskin would have bet nearly anything on Cora not allowing her daughter's True Love to escape under any circumstances, but stranger things had happened. Regina had enough potential that she could possibly take her mother on and win, someday. Provided she was willing to risk her stable boy to do just that, of course, which Rumplestiltskin didn't think she was. Anything could happen, but at the moment, what was important was that she learned magic. Everything after that was a jumble he'd have to sort out later. But Regina was going to be his wildcard—he knew that much already—and for that, he needed her to become a sorceress.

Author's Note: Wow! This is the longest chapter yet – so much for me trying to keep them short for this story. Also, thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed! I'm glad you're enjoying reading as much as I'm enjoying writing. Now here's my question to you: what *do* you think has happened to Daniel in the past? And how is Snow having met James before David going to change things?

Next up is Chapter Seven: "Where You Belong", in which Cora calls on an old acquaintance for assistance, Emma wakes up in jail, and Rumplestiltskin's plans start to bear fruit. In the past, Belle meets the Huntsman.