Chapter Seventeen.

The walk to the throne room was overwrought, as Regina took in the decor of what would soon be her lovers home. Many things would have to be changed out to fit her fiances taste, but that was the furthest thing from her mind. The farther she moved away from Emma, the more the butterflies in the pit of her stomach seemed to flutter. Regina didn't even have to put much effort into making a distraught face, the thought of everything not going to plan was enough to scare the living hell out of her. Her mother's expression was pinched, as they turned another corner before coming upon the throne room.

"The King and Queen have been notified and are awaiting your audience. They have also asked that Prince Leopold be present." A royal guard informed them, before pushing open the grand door. Regina nearly lost her nerve at the sight of Leopold, but her mother firmly grasped her arm and pulled her through before shooting her a look.

"Queen Cora and Princess Regina of the Dark Kingdom." The guard introduced them before bowing lowly.

"Queen Cora. Princess. Pleased you finally had the chance to visit our humble kingdom, even if the circumstances are less than ideal." Leopold smirked, before looking Regina up and down.

"The pleasure is all ours, Prince Leopold. I concur, I wish we were here under other circumstances but now we can only make the best of the cards we've been dealt." Cora replied, curtsying low.

"Yes, long lived the White Princess. The witch whom thrived on borrowed time." Leopold grinned, but it was David's reaction who caught Regina's attention. The man's fist clenched tightly until he constricted blood flow and was left with white knuckles, before he exhaled and released.

"Yes, a pound of flesh for a pound. Wasn't that what you demanded of me, Cora?" Snow raised an eyebrow in a challenging sort of way.

"The pound of flesh your crown stole was in no way replaced with flesh and blood you locked away in infant hood to rot away like a common peasant." Regina bit out, before her arm was painfully squeezed by her mother.

"You'll have to excuse my daughter. This has been quite a stressful time for her, and it seems she forgot to mind her tongue and her place." Cora regarded her daughter with cold eyes and Snow sniffed indifferently.

"How could you feel absolutely nothing from the death of the first child from your womb?" Regina questioned, yelping when Cora's grip became bruising.

"Dear sweet summer child. Death is a farce. As a Queen you must rule with an iron fist, if you ever hope to be respected-" Snow started.

"You mean feared!" Regina spat before she could stop herself. Cora made a move as to push Regina behind her, as if she was pushing her to submission.

"Let her speak." Snow waved her hand amused before she stood up.

"Now, Princess. I'm going to give you the lesson you seemed to have missed during your studies..." Snow glided across the floor before approaching her.

"A kingdom thrives on structure. While we as royals may seem to have this immense amount of power, we are also vulnerable to an extent... You see when the people revolt, lives are lost. Not only the lives of my men, my guards...but also valuable farm hands. Weavers and Peddlers. When a law is put in place that condemns anyone with magical abilities, yet is suppressed for someone of blue blood. Well lets just say the people aren't pleased. Unhappy people, makes for one hell of a headache." Snow chuckled.

"So you have your first born executed?" Regina scrunched up her nose appalled.

"My womb has born another fruit, it was not as if I was without a heir." Snow shrugged.

Emma was positively steaming as she watched her biological mother nonchalantly talk about her supposed death as if she meant nothing. She was startled out of her grumbling by Zelena placing her hand on her shoulder. Roughly she yanked herself away, before sending the red haired woman a glare.

"Emmalyn, we need to be a united front right now." Zelena frowned.

"Go fuck yourself, or have your whore do it for you." Emma bit out, turning back to her mirror.

"Watch your mouth! I am your mother and I more than deserve your respect!" Zelena's nostrils flared, when Emma snorted.

"I think I'm coming to terms with the fact that anyone who has ever held that title has always managed to screw me over in the end." Emma spoke with mirth.

"I-" Zelena was interupted by Elsa.

"Now is not the time. Leave her be." Elsa shook her head when Zelena went to object. Trying to lace her hand with the older womans, she simple glared before stomping off.

"It's not as if me and the girl ever had an everlasting bond. Even as a babe, whenever she didn't want to be strapped to the wet nurses tit, she was under him." Snow made a gesture to her husband.

"I truly don't understand..." Regina mumbled to herself.

"You may think of me as cold and heartless. In some instances you may in fact be right, however I chose the future and peace of my kingdom. I chose the life on many over the life of one. Is that not what a good ruler does?" Snow asked the rhetorical question.

"I suppose in that sense you are a wonderful leader then, Your Majesty. However you aren't much of a mother." Regina scoffed.

"Is that not one and the same? A mother needs to be a leader, to be able to make certain sacrifices to ensure the future of all of her children, not just one." Snow smirked.

"Now I shall admit my weakness was not being able to say no to the King. I should have had her killed the moment she appeared in that white light from the river. But alas, it all seemed to work itself out in the end. Fate has a funny way of tying up lose ends, don't you think?" Snow chuckled, watching Regina purse her lips.

"Why don't we end this lesson off here, Honey." David stood, effectively taking control of the conversation.

"Yes, I suppose this is an acceptable place to stop." Snow agreed.

"What brings you to the White Kingdom, dearest Regina?" Leopold spoke up.

"As you know, Regina is of age to be wed. Since the demise of the White Princess at the last ball, tensions have been high. I worry someone will try to harm her." Cora interjected before Regina could speak.

"That does little to answer the question that has been asked." Snow narrowed her eyes.

"If the White Princess was able to be assassinated under the Dark Kingdoms protection. Who is to say my heir won't be next. Let's face it, as fa as protection goes, your kingdom lacks very little. With our combined forces, I need to ensure my legacy continues on." Cora started, speaking as though she was doing them a favor.

"How do you suppose we go about combining our forces?" Snow looked intrigued.

"Prince Leopold has had his eye on Regina for a while now. In fact he tried to go to great lengths to ensure her hand in marriage. Including killing her father...Now, however, I'm willing to pledge her hand in return for her safety." Cora barely finished speaking before Leopold was speaking.

"Yes! I'll do it!" He nodded wide eyed.

"Wait a moment, Leo! This is something that needs to be thoughtfully discussed. Especially with so much at stake." Snow chastised but it did little to effect his mood.

"If we were to accept your offer, you do realize that Leopold would be the King to the Dark Kingdom correct? My heir must be of my blood, and as many blue bloods know, Leopold is David's son from a previous relationship with a deceased Princess. Meaning my crown goes to Lucia upon my death. " Snow clarified.

"Yes, I know we will not be the only one benefiting from this union." Cora nodded.

"Splendid, well it looks like we have a wedding to plan. It will be set in a fortnight. Something small and intimate. Until then, Prince Leopold shall court her and you both shall stay here as our guests." Snow smirked, missing the displeased look on Regina's face.

AN: 0.o