"I will only ask once, George. Do you know where my daughter is?"
King George rolled his eyes, passing Misthaven's queen a set of scrolls. Their meetings were rarely pleasant, but this, in particular, was gruelling. She was still obsessed, of course, with her damn daughter, and her step daughter. There were two very different reasons for those obsessions, however, which gave him only the faintest bit of satisfaction. It was rather amusing to think about all of the ways Regina might want to torture people, if only because she seemed to be more and more inclined to do so of late. She had never let other people do things for her, either. If she wanted to kill someone, she would do it herself. If she wanted to torture someone, she would do it herself. She wasn't stupid, far from it, but she was micromanaging of her soliders and personal guards to the point of being a true terror. She had always been a dangerous person, he knew that full well, but he had never before seen her quite so unhinged.
Apparently, motherhood could do that to someone.
"Regina, far be it from me to be so suicidal as to keep information like that from you."
That seemed to amuse her, much to his surprise. Instead of becoming irate as he had anticipated, she merely quirked an eyebrow with a faint smirk.
"You're correct in that assumption, George," She said darkly. "But I must request you do more."
"I have no better idea of where Snow White ies than you," He reminded her, taking a sip of brandy, barely remembering it had been in his 'free' hand for the last hour. "If I did, I would certainly let you know, as she has something I want as well."
"Yes, your traitor of a son," Regina scoffed. "I cannot believe he would chase after her. She's worthless, only alive because of my mercy."
George let out a short, derisive laugh.
"You sent her out into the woods to be killed, did you not? In what world does that qualify as mercy?"
Regina snapped her head towards him, her fingers curling.
"Because I have a much better solution for handling her than death."
Despite himself, George took a step back. There was something in the queen's eyes, a glint that suggested there was more darkness in her than he had thought. It was almost unbelievable. He had not been a stranger to her or her worst impulses, not in a long time, but there was something new about this, completely unfamiliar. It was an open secret that the loss of her daughter had unhinged her a little, yes, but this was not madness. There was true vitriol and cruelty in her eyes. He had seen hatred, vengeance, and even hints at a cruel intention in her before, but not in such a consuming manner. It was as if she were possessed, completely and utterly consumed under the spell of resentment. That was new. More concerning to him, however, was the realisation that, without her daughter, this was the woman she would be. Without her daughter, she had no reason to hide under the veil of understanding, of warmth, of care. There was one person in the world who could bring that fully out in her, and that person was her daughter.
Regina was close with and deeply cared for her father, George realised, but she was codependent on her daughter. She loved him most, likely for having been the only semblance of love and recognition in her young years, but she needed her child.
"If I might ask," George watched Regina begin to slowly pace around the table, her fingers grazing against it. "What is this solution of yours?"
Regina paused, her fingers almost fluttering up to rest on the top of a chair.
"Tell me, George," She said, drawing out every word. "What do you find to be a fate worse than death?"
He frowned. "Do you not have a solution? Is this a mere attempt to draw one from me?"
Regina's eyes narrowed.
Malice.
It was the only word he had for what was simmering underneath her skin.
"Have you ever heard of a sleeping curse?" She spoke just as precisely and her voice low. "They're quite…rare."
"That's your solution?" George laughed. "Putting the girl to sleep won't do much. The issue with that, Regina, is that she will wake up."
"No," Regina smiled. "She won't."
His eyebrows shot up in disbelief.
"That is death, Regina."
"No, it is not," She replied without a moment of hesitation. "It is a curse that, simply put, will put one into a sleep which they can never awaken from but within which they are fully aware of what is happening around them. It is a permanent limbo. She cannot die from magic in that state, nor can she live."
"Ah," George said, taking another sip of brandy. "But then, there is of course the question of…how can that be done? I don't believe it ever has been before."
"You're wrong again," Regina said, a bit of amusement entering her voice. "Queen Leah, isn't it? Stefan's wife…"
"Yes?" George watched her closely. "They're the rulers of the smaller kingdom quite a ways south from both of ours. I do not, however, see why they're relevant."
"Haven't you heard about their daughter?" Regina probed. "The one Leah gave birth too…less than a week ago? What's her name…Aura?"
"They haven't had the formal ceremony to name her yet, but I recall this vaguely, yes," George set down his brandy suddenly when he realised what she was implying. "Are you going to test this curse of yours on a baby?"
"I'll be taking my leave, George," She absentmindedly said, sweeping up her cloak and throwing it gracefully over herself. "Do keep a look out for Snow. I'd like my daughter safely with me again as soon as possible."
The stars were beautiful, and the night was a perfect temperature even with the wind. They had found a village standing behind Snow which allowed them to stay indefinitely and with protection. Things should have been calm, and a reprieve.
That was far from the case.
When Snow and Charming came back from a stroll around the village, spending time both alone and with some of the people, Red could barely control Lynn, who was running around the house they had been given screaming. Much to their relief, no one could hear inside the house from the outside, but, the second the doors shut behind Snow and Charming, they regretted it. Lynn's hair had grown since they had first taken her and had been dyed too long, now a stark, chalky white. Between that and the clothes, she looked nothing like the princess. It was exactly what they had been going for. Yet that seemed completely and utterly irrelevant the second they realised she was not only screaming but trying to use magic, summoning little orbs of light, fire, and water in her tiny hands that, thankfully, dissipated after a few seconds. Red was struggling to grab her to calm her down, even with her unnaturally high stamina, speed, and strength as a werewolf. It was absolutely a shock. Perhaps that was why nothing seemed to work. They had all expected her to be different.
Snow could have sworn her step sister loved her, would have been happy to spend time with her. Charming had been certain she would be easy to control, not high strung, just an adorable child who enjoyed spending time with real people. People who weren't abusing her. People who weren't using her to make themselves happy, not caring about anything else. Charming said nothing of the matter, but he was absolutely certain that Regina was not only a sociopath but an obsessive mother. She became a mother for all the wrong reasons, used her daughter as leverage, he believed. Then, of course, he had thought Lynn wanted to be happy, not the crutch of a violent woman who used her to make themselves happy. She had calmed down, wasn't crying all the time like she had been when she had first realised she was not at home. But she seemed to act out at every turn. Seeing Snow's breath hitch, and sensing she wanted to cry, Charming reached over and wrapped a blanket over her that had been on a chair by them. He then hugged her, the two of them falling into the same shock Red had resigned herself into. Lynn was still throwing a fit, but she was starting to get tired.
She was overtired, needed to sleep. But the truth was that she didn't like to sleep unless she was bundled up but also somewhat cold. It was hard to pin down.
Everything about her was hard to pin down.
"Lynn!" Snow suddenly leapt out of Charming's arms, managing to pick up the little girl, who, in shock, stopped screaming and throwing a fit, just staring at her step sister. "Shush," Snow sang. "Everything is just fine."
"No!" Lynn whimpered, trying to scream but unable to sustain it much more. "I want tiara!"
"You can't have a tiara," Snow reminded her. "You're in hiding."
"I don't want hide!" Lynn started crying, her arms flailing. "I want momma!"
"Lynn, your mother is dangerous," Red stood up, coming over to her and cupping the little princess' cheeks in her surprisingly soft hands. Lynn didn't react negatively to her, trying to get into her arms. "It's okay," She told her. "Do you want me to play momma?"
Lynn didn't say anything, squirming out into Red's arms.
"Come on, I'm going to give you some potato soup," Red gently scratched the little girl behind her ears, and she started to calm down. It was shocking. Then again, Red was the only person who could ever control her, even for a little. "And some milk."
Lynn still didn't say anything, but she was making sniffling and snorting and whimpering noises while she loosely held onto Red from the cloak over her shoulders. When she and Red were out of the room, Snow and Charming both let out heavy sighs and sat down in front of the fire, opening some of the books they had been gifted in the last village they had been through. This was the first place they had been able to stay long term. This time, they couldn't even remember when they had arrived. They worked in the village, in the fields, and the stores. They took shifts with keeping an eye on Lynn. It was working as an arrangement, one that Snow, Charming, and Red were absolutely relieved by. There was something about being able to be stagnant like this which was wonderful. But it was a daily battle with Lynn. She was either docile and slept a lot, or she was running around, throwing fits, throwing tantrums. Why? Snow worried, every single time she was alone with Lynn. Either she was okay around her, or she was screaming about Regina, and it was either hard to handle to downright terrifying. There were some things she had said in her rambling that absolutely cut her through to the bone. She tried to remind herself that her step sister was only a little kid. Yet, how could she even understand what she was saying or doing?
"I don't know what's with her," Charming said, rolling out kinks in his neck. "She's been okay the past few days. I thought she was doing okay…"
"I know," Snow reached up, brushing aside a rogue tear. "I love her so much, I just wish she could see it. I…"
"She does see it," Charming leaned over and kissed her, something Snow almost hungrily accepted, falling on top of him. "You're," He whispered when they broke their kiss, grinning broadly. "You're a wonderful person, Snow, and everyone who meets you knows that, apart from Regina. Which is a damn shame."
Snow limply rolled over to be laying beside him, blinking back tears and, briefly, closing her eyes to have her thoughts to herself ever so briefly. They were yelling at her. It was as if hell had opened up inside her mind.
"She wasn't always like this."
"Some people are just good at hiding their true selves."
Snow glanced at him from the corners of her increasingly bleary eyes.
"She saved my life…" She said softly. "I don't understand how someone could do that and then…and then…"
"She's not rational, Snow," Charming gently replied. "The one thing that is constant about Regina is that she is a deeply disturbed, and irrational person. At least, that's how she is from my perspective."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Snow said. "I don't want this to be her. I don't want her to be someone I can't recognise."
"That's because you love her, you love everyone," Charming kissed her again. "You're an amazing person, Snow. You see the best in everyone, the good in everyone…but I'm starting to think there is no good in Regina."
"Maybe," Snow said, biting her lip when he brushed the influx of tears cascading down her face. "I can't believe it until I see it…she's done a lot of horrid things lately, and…and she killed my father. But…I can't believe she's irredeemable. Not yet."
Author's Note: hey, everyone! thanks for reading my story! i'm so sorry i'm slow about updating this one; it's quite challenging to write, but it is one of my absolute favourites! thank you for bearing with me.
~~ Cherry