"Momma? Momma!"

Regina woke up suddenly, her heart racing, adrenaline coursing through her veins. The second she saw her daughter was alright, however, she relaxed, briefly closing her eyes again. Lynn happily started to play with her mother's hair. Regina glanced up at her daughter, smiling lightly at her, happy just to feel her daughter's small hands lightly tugging on and playing with her hair. Lynn started to pull her mother's hair out of her high bun, which she always slept in, and she babbled while she continued to pull Regina's long, thick hair free of its clips. Laughing softly, Regina reached up and pressed a hand lightly to her daughter's side, holding her steady. Even seeing where her daughter had tossed, turned, and threw off some of her fur blankets in her sleep, the Queen couldn't help but smile. Too afraid to let her daughter out of her sight, and especially after what had happened just two weeks before, she had kept Lynn co-sleeping with her, a way to protect her even while she slept and be there for her when her daughter woke up, including from the little girl's frequent nightmares.

"Ah, darling," Regina chuckled, shifting to kiss the top of her daughter's head. "Did you sleep well?"

Lynn nodded excitedly. "Happy dreams!"

Regina smiled, embracing her tightly. "Good," She whispered, stroking her daughter's hair. Lynn finished tugging out her mother's hair, and Regina did not move to stop her hair from flowing free. "I won't let anything harm you."

Lynn giggled and hugged her mother. "Can I have pancakes momma?" Lynn stared at her with wide eyes. "With chocolate?"

Regina raised an eyebrow. "How about you eat something healthy, and perhaps we can talk later."

Lynn pouted but nodded. "Okay momma."

"You know I care about your health more than anything else," Regina smiled when Lynn playfully reached to tap her nose. "You've always been my darling little beanpole."

Lynn nodded excitedly. "Can we play in snow?"

"Of course!" Regina scooped her up into her arms and got out of bed, holding her against her hip. "I always enjoy playing with you."

Her smile waned quickly, the doors to her suite being opened suddenly. Regina's eyes narrowed when she saw one of the heads of the guard entering, who bowed deeply before his Queen and the princess.

"Your majesty," He began. "The village you had us stop at before, two weeks prior, does not have Snow White."

Regina took in a sharp breath. "Do you think I am not already aware of that?" She snapped. "Why else would I have demanded a continued search for her in the area? If anyone -" She paused when she noticed Lynn beginning to whimper, scared by the tone of her mother's voice. Regina started to stroke her hair, and softened her voice, though she scowled at the head of the guard before her. "I am sure," She hissed. "That Snow was the one who tried to kill my daughter. If I had reason to kill her before, I have more than enough reason to kill her now."

The head of the guard nodded. "Of course, your majesty."

Regina narrowed her eyes. "Do you have anything else to add? Something of value, perhaps?"

The head of the guard was silent for a moment.

"Having spoken with several other heads of the guard," He said calmly. "We have heard that, perhaps that is, King George knows something about Snow and her whereabouts."

Regina frowned. "Alright, then," She said menacingly. "Prepare my carriage and find my father. I think I should….speak with King George personally about the matter."

The head of the guard bowed deeply again, and then walked out of his Queen's suite, closing the doors behind him.

"Well," Regina said, setting her daughter down on the edge of the bed. "It seems that you're going to be coming with me on a trip."

Lynn's eyes lit up. "Party!"

"Not quite," Regina replied, using her magic to quickly change into an opulent dress. She then grabbed a bag of her daughter's, and slipped her night clothes into it as well. "But you and I will be traveling with your grandfather," She tapped Lynn's nose. "Come now, we need to leave soon."

Nearly the moment the Queen of Misthaven's carriage arrived, King George was aware of it. He had been watching from the highest balcony, and, seeing her begin to be escorted into his castle, he began down the stairs to his sitting room. The orders he had given his guards about where to escort the Queen of Misthaven had been direct, after all. Her own guards, he had seen, were with her, something he had expected and was unbothered by. Their power was equal, and he was well aware of the trauma from her marriage to the former king. The only thing he disliked was that, he knew, she would almost certainly have that child with her. George scoffed at the thought, continuing to walk down to the sitting room. He and his wife cared a great deal for James - whom they would never admit was forcibly adopted - but he would never understand Queen Regina's attachment to the child she had conceived months before she had been crowned as Mistaven's queen.

He ignored that thought, merely pursing his lips when he stepped into the room.

"Regina," He said curtly.

"George," She said, matching his tone with ease. "I don't suppose you know why I'm here."

"I have a handful of guesses," He said, taking a seat across from her. "And I doubt," He gestured to her daughter, who was sleeping in her lap. "It has anything to do with your daughter."

"Not directly," Regina cooly replied. "Though I am sure the person I've come to question you about attempted to kill her a few weeks ago."

King George quirked an eyebrow. "Who would be ignorant enough to try and kill your child? You are many things, Regina, but weak is far from them. I sincerely doubt there are many people in Misthaven or any other kingdom on this continent who would dare try to lay a finger on your daughter."

Regina frowned. "There are more people than you would think," She informed him, soothingly rubbing her daughter's back to help keep her asleep without magic. Lynn had not slept well in the carriage, and her mother couldn't help but be worried for her and her health. The little girl had been shaky, having trouble walking since, and it terrified Regina more than she would ever admit. "I don't suppose," She eyed George closely. "You know about my step daughter."

"I am well aware of her," He said mildly. "In no small part because of your disgust of her. Though I admit, the times she has crossed into my kingdom, she causes nothing but trouble."

Regina frowned. "So you're saying that you have seen her in your kingdom?"

"Not in quite awhile," George said flatly. "It has been several months since then. Last October, I believe….so about five months ago."

Regina pressed her lips together in a thin line.

"I've heard," She said, standing up with her sleeping daughter draped over her arms and beginning to pace before the fireplace. "That you are more than aware of where she may be now. Or," She turned towards him, eyes sharp and critical. "That you may have a decent….hunch as to where she is."

"Is that so?" George watched her, his hands clasped in his lap. "I have to say, I'm unsurprised by you, Regina. You have always been highly perceptive and shrewd."

"I didn't come here for you to flatter me," Regina coldly replied. "I want to know whatever you have about Snow's whereabouts."

"It isn't much," George warned her. "But…."

Regina scowled. "But?"

"My son, James," George began. "Before he….disappeared recently," He may be dead, but his twin will be here soon, a replacement son, now that he has defeated what James could not. The stronger, ideal son. "Came into contact with her," He cleared his throat. "At the edge of the forest, on the border of my kingdom and yours. She had been with another woman, though this woman….from what I heard, I wouldn't call her a woman."

Regina wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Do you honestly believe I care about that?"

"She was burly, in male clothes," George elaborated. "Snow was too, though hers, apparently, were far more proper, more femmine. Obviously she hadn't lost her….tie to her love of the finer things. But by all accounts this woman with her was the opposite of a woman, apart from being physically so. Had a tattered cloak, but that is about all I know."

"By the border…." Regina mused, shifting her daughter in her arms when the little girl started to squirm in her sleep. "I will have to expand my search, then," She said, smirking. "Hmm...thank you."

"May I have a moment?"

Red and Snow startled when the raspy but clear voice of the village chief float in from the entrance to their tent. Her face was tired, and the furs she had wrapped around her were half-shrugged off. She shivered slightly, snow bouncing off and into the dark curls of her hair, and Snow and Red waved her into the tent. She stepped in, closing it before sitting down on one of the small pillows and blankets on the ground. She looked between the two young women, tapping her fingers against each other out of her nerves. Red was drinking warm coffee from a wooden cup, and Snow stretched out her arms, moving then to sit more comfortably on the ground. The three of them were quiet, listening to the wind carrying the still falling, evening snow around. The chief looked between them, studying them closely, but then, after a few minutes, cleared her throat and began to speak.

"The rest of the village does not know, and I will not tell them, but I know you are Snow White," The chief said, bowing her head towards Snow, who startled a bit. "I have great respect for you, princess, and I feel it important to let you know about something that happened about a month ago, shortly before your arrival."

Snow felt her stomach sink. "What is it?"

"The Queen stopped at our village, while she had been riding with her Princess Lynn," The chief said heavily. "As I'm sure you know, we are not far from the royal palace, something else I feel I should impress upon you is dangerous."

Snow and Red exchanged a brief glance.

"We won't impose on you for much longer," Snow reassured her. "We only needed to pause for a little while, to prepare to continue our journey."

"Do not worry, princess," The Chief respectfully replied. "I am more than willing to harbour you both indefinitely. After all, I am sure you won't….ever have to stop running."

Snow chewed at the inside of her lip.

"Thank you so much," Red said, reaching over to pat her hand, "We appreciate it."

"I have more to add," The Chief said, letting out a heavy sigh. She looked up to meet Snow's eyes. "I want you to know - need you to know - the Queen is under the impression that you attempted to murder her daughter by shooting arrows at her on the road."

Snow shook her head. "My quarrel is with Regina, not her daughter. And I would never hurt either of them. I want to resolve this, not cause more carnage."

The Chief nodded. "And that is quite admirable, princess. I am sure your father would be proud of the young woman you have become. You will be a good queen come the time."

Snow looked down at her hands.

"At his funeral, Regina comforted me," She softly spoke. "I thought she truly cared about me just as much as her own daughter. I don't know why she wants to kill me now, wants to ensure I can never become the Queen."

"She's angry," Red bitterly remarked. "And I do believe she killed your father as the first step in her moving to reclaim the monarchy as hers….after having been forced into a loveless marriage, after all."

The Chief took in a sharp breath.

"The Queen is….many things," She said slowly. "But she would never have killed her husband, even if she did not love him."

Snow said nothing, but Red straightened up, something Snow noticed; a sign of her friend's dual nature as a woman and a wolf.

"She absolutely killed him!" Red exclaimed in disbelief. "Her daughter isn't his to begin with! She had no emotional attachment to him, none at all!"

"I do not disagree the Queen has acted horribly and rashly of late, and especially with regard to Princess Snow," The Chief paused. "But," She turned to Snow. "With all due respect to you and your friend, the Queen was faithful to her husband and his death was a tragic accident. She had just given birth only a few months before, was still sick, physically weak. She could never and would never have killed King Leopold, may God rest his soul."

Snow wiped aside tears but nodded shortly. "Of course," She quietly lied. "Pardon our outbursts."

The Chief kindly smiled and lightly touched her shoulder. "Absolutely, princess."