Wonderstruck
Chapter 23
Authors' Notes: I'm all ready working on the next chapter and seeing as I finished editing this on Thursday I thought I'd go ahead and post it. I'm trying to get some other things accomplished with this piece but I am planning on going back and editing the crap out of the earlier chapters to match the current flow as well as the minor details that honestly just make me cringe a bit. The overarching story will still stay the same though. I hope you enjoy this next installment and I'll try to have the next one out in a relatively short amount of time. ~ Scarlette
"Sit," Snow stated regally as her daughter and daughter-in-law made their way into her apartments; they were followed closely by Lancelot who dipped his head in reverence to the Winter Queen. The fire crackled in the large fireplace lending an almost ethereal glow to the Queen's slender white draped frame.
"Mother," Emma began only to be cut off by her mother's pale hand being lifted in a gesture she knew meant silence. She pursued her pink lips, looking over at her wife who remained passively at her side. The only real way to tell that she was even slightly upset by this was the small way her hand twitched against Emma's elbow where it rested. They hadn't bothered to remove their winter cloaks. Regina always ran cold so the fur lined ruby red fabric suited her perfectly fine to wear every day. She hadn't even bothered to remove her gloves though Emma had hers tucked into the belt of her tunic. She was glad her Mother had given in and allowed her to wear her familiar leather pants and fur lined vest. It was much more comfortable than the stuffy velvet dresses she had been made to wear to counsel meetings. Plus her wife seemed more adept to the more feminine styles of dress that Emma would much rather stay away from. She liked to think they cut a handsome figure together and she'd prefer to keep it that way.
Emma carefully helped her wife settle on the overstuffed velvet couch before her standing Mother and did the same, taking her hand once they were seated in a show of unity and trust she may not have been 100% certain of but for the purposes of standing up to her Mother, she thought very fitting.
"Blue came to me with some disturbing news. News that I don't necessarily know how to take." Snow began. She folded her hands in front of her and offered the two girls in front of her nothing from her cool gaze or even silky voice.
"She informed me that Rumplestilskin has been skulking around the palace. I'm not unopposed to magicks. I am however unopposed to humes having such magicks as those possessed by the fairies. It started a war several hundreds of years ago and I will not have another like it in this time we live in. We are all ready at war with the Ogres. We do not need another with the Gods themselves." Snow paused, gathering her thoughts before she spoke again. "So you can imagine my surprise when I hear that my daughter-in-law has been consorting with a hume of immeasurable power…corrupted power to be exact."
"Mother…" Emma tried to break in only to be silenced yet again by her Mother's hand.
"I knew when I agreed to this union that your Mother possessed the same corrupted magicks the likes of Rumplestilskin. I thought it wasn't too far of a leap that you possessed the same though I was assured many times over that that wasn't the case. Clearly someone was lacking information somewhere." Snow's cold green eyes stayed focused on the cool brown ones of her daughter-in-law. The girl remained passive, her face a totally blank mask. "I will only ask this once; are you in possession of the same magicks as your Mother? Answer me truthfully child."
Regina's lips remained closed for a moment before she released a small breath. "No, your Majesty. I am not. It caused great strife because I did not. Whatever magicks my Mother may have passed on to me, my body was too weak and too frail to handle. I was born too early and I have struggled with the limitations of my body my entire life."
"If you are lying to me…"
"I am not lying. I have no reason to lie."
"Mother, she's my wife. If she says she is not of a magical inclination then she is not."
"Then answer me this, why would Rumplestilskin come to you?"
"The Dark One has consorted with my Mother in the past. It caused SpringFall's break with the Kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest." Regina offered as an easy reply knowing everyone was aware of the true reason SpringFall broke away and others never bothered to try and bring it under control; too close to the old magicks, too close to Raithewell's rule by fire, too close to the corruption of the Dark One. "He showed very little interest in me whatsoever while I lived with my parents in SpringFall." She added.
"Then why begin now?"
"He came to me on my wedding night. He babbled on and continued to recite an old poem to me. One that I had never heard before; one that is apparently prominent in the North and not known in the other Kingdoms."
"Which rhyme?" Snow licked her lips as she squeezed her hands together, clearly impatient.
"It doesn't matter," Emma cried out. "Mother you can't honestly believe that Regina is a danger to us. She is my wife and I am hers and we are…"
"Silence Emma. If you cannot contain yourself, I will send you away."
"She's my wife Mother." The blonde was desperate. She squeezed Regina's tiny gloved hand, receiving a small one in return though her wife's eyes remained locked on her Mother's porcelain face.
"Did you know of this Emma?"
"What?" The blonde's face scrunched up in that adorably confused way she had when she was trying to figure something out.
"Did you know your wife was consorting with Rumplestilskin?"
"It was hardly consorting." Regina muttered.
Emma swallowed as her Mother's sharp eyes cut to her wife and then back to her. "No, I did not." She forced herself to answer.
"Was anyone witness to this meeting?"
"Other than myself?" Regina asked, tilting her head slightly as though confused by the question.
"Yes, other than you."
"No, your Majesty. There was no one. I can only assume some sort of spell was cast to keep my wife from overhearing."
"You will tell me in it's entirety the conversation that took place between yourself and the Dark One Regina."
"It's as I've stated. He merely babbled on about an old child's rhyme and when I refused to show him any deferential treatment he left."
"Will he return?"
"Not unless I call for him which I do not ever intend to do."
"The Dark One has a way of sensing desperation in a soul. Are you desperate for something?"
Regina's brow furrowed before she shook her head, "No your majesty. I'm not. My life here is good and my wife is kind and treats me well. I cannot ask for anything more nor would I want to."
"And the child's rhyme?"
"Merely the babbling of a maddened creature. I don't believe there was anything more or less than that."
Snow studied her daughter-in-law's face before nodding. "All right. We will not speak on this anymore and if I hear anything remotely resembling you making contact with the Dark One, I will not hesitate to send you far away from here Regina."
"You can't Mother!"
"I can and I will. I will protect my people at any cost."
"Emma," Regina paused in the closed doorway of their bedroom, watching as her wife whipped off her cloak and began to pace, grabbing at her long hair and then releasing it slowly.
"I cannot believe she would do this!"
"Emma, please. Calm down. She has done nothing wrong." The brunette tried to soothe as her wife's lithe figure continued to cut a path around the room.
"She knows you wouldn't do anything as stupid as that Regina and yet she sat right there and accused you of all but committing treason!"
Regina pulled her gloves from her slightly numb fingers and reached for the platinum clasp of her cloak. She undid it slowly and pulled the warm, thick fabric from her body.
She shook her head, curls falling over her back and sighed softly as her wife twisted to look at her. "She was well within her right to question me. The Dark One is dangerous. She was only doing what she believed to be best. Besides I'm sure that damned blue insect twisted it to make it seem much worse than it actually was."
"You really hate her don't you?" Emma cracked a smile at the sucked lemon look Regina's pretty face pulled up into.
"I don't trust her. I don't trust any of the fairies. I never had any reason to and I don't foresee that changing."
Emma nodded, "I'm beginning to understand why." She sighed and twisted on her feet walking towards the thick glass and wood doors that led out to a large balcony. She didn't pull the doors open knowing how cold Regina would be if she did. She merely stared out of the frosted glass at the frozen trees, snow mounds, and ice. Their rooms didn't face the village below; they faced the mountains on the western side of the palace.
"Can you think of any reason why Rumplestilskin might've come to you on our wedding night?"
"Yes, I can but I'm not sure if I'm correct."
"What is it?"
Regina didn't answer. She merely reached under her dress drawing the leather thong up and holding out the small piece of intricately wrapped magicite that danced and swirled in its now normal swirling color splashes. It was happily dancing between pink and yellow, slightly warm to the touch.
"You think the magicite called him?"
"I think he's after the suncryst."
"Why would he want that? He's basically the next best thing?"
"He's not a weapon Emma. He's capable of a great many things but even he has his limits. The suncryst doesn't."
"He ended the Ogre wars before. In Starsflow; they don't have any problems like we do with the ogres coming down from the Northern mountains."
"Something is coming Emma. Something bad and I think that's why this is happening. I think that's why the dark one is seeking out something."
"You said he continued to speak on the old rhyme?"
"About the holy city yes."
"I don't know much about the holy city but I do know that it's an ancient place long dead if it even existed at all."
"You think the rhyme is fake?"
"I think it's an old wives tale passed down to entice treasure hunters and the like."
Regina fiddled with the magicite, not daring to look up at her wife. "What if it's not?"
Emma pulled back on the base of her arrow, notching it into place and taking aim at the target placed several feet away. She blew out a breath, relaxing her stance and focusing intently before she released the arrow, watching it sail and not hit anywhere close to where she'd been aiming. Cursing quietly, she pulled another arrow and drew it back.
"Your troubles are showing in your ability to aim Princess." Lancelot's steady voice spoke beside her.
Emma cut her eyes at the dark skinned armor clad man. "It's hard to focus on something when you are the object of focus by another."
Lancelot smiled, his even white teeth flashing in his face. "I have been watching over you since you were a babe Emma. Why would it bother you now?"
"You watch over me at my Mother's behest. You have no real feeling towards me one way or another. It's only loyalty to my Mother that has kept you at my side."
The warrior frowned cocking his head to one side. His dark eyes studied the woman before him. "I have very little honor left Princess but what I do have is mine alone. Loyalty and honor they go hand in hand. I am loyal to your family for all the times your Mother has helped me in the past. I wasn't able to save your Father though I tried as hard as I could to get to him in time."
Emma lowered her bow, releasing the tension on the arrow as she pointed it towards the hard frozen ground.
"I swore an oath to your Mother that day that I would protect you as I failed to protect your Father. I take that oath seriously and I will fight to my dying breath to ensure your safety."
"What about my wife? Is she owed the same safety measures as I?"
"You love her very much."
"She's my wife Lancelot. Will you protect her the same or not?"
"I would without hesitation."
Emma dipped her head before pulling the bow back up, she lined up her shot and released the arrow, feeling the tension drain from her body as it sailed straight at the target and landed in the red bulls eye. "Good."
"Your Highness may I have a word?" A low voice, creaking with age spoke nearby. Regina looked up from the book she wasn't actually reading. She had merely been resting her forehead in her hand thinking a warm bath and a nap may do her some good before she attempted to tackle any more of this Tsenoble business.
"Venar right?"
"Your Highness does me a great honor by remembering her humble servant's name." The man attempted to dip into a bow and she hid a cringe not liking the sounds of his joints popping to accommodate the gesture. He still looked as bedraggled and worn as before she noted. It appeared as though that wouldn't change.
"You said you wished to speak to me Venar? On what subject?"
"If I may make a brief request."
"Of course you may," She still found the little man so strange but the oddity of him didn't throw her off this time as it had the first though she'd admit there was something off about him that made her uneasy.
"May we retire to the wing of the palace I watch over? I would prefer our conversation be as private as possible."
"The older part where no one goes? Are you planning to murder me Venar?"
"Nothing of the sort your highness. I merely wish to help you."
"Help me with what?"
"Your research. You are looking into something and you haven't been able to find it. Perhaps I can be of assistance."
"How long have you worked in the palace Venar?" Regina felt the hair on the back of her neck raise at the offer. Something was off and she didn't know whether to accept it or run from it.
"Long enough your Highness; I've learned things…things that not many people wish to acknowledge. And I would like you to be able to use my knowledge for your own benefit." He dipped into another low bow and she eyed him for a moment.
"Tomorrow? May I come to you tomorrow? I find myself cold and with a touch of pain in my head. I wouldn't be able to focus today." She made up an excuse, not entirely certain why but she didn't think she needed to explain her distrust fully yet.
"Of course your Highness. I will be available any time you wish to see me."
"Thank you Venar."
"Your highness." The man lowered his head and shuffled towards the exit of the library, his brown robes leaving behind a strange cloud of dust on the otherwise pristine white marble floors.