Anger.

Fear.

Confusion.

Love.

Hate.

Retribution.

It didn't matter. The result was all the same for anything which was unfortunate enough as to cross path with Misthaven's queen in this room. She had forgotten about it, never having considered exploring it. It was almost ironic, she thought, to stumble into it after struggling for - what was it now, months? - any semblance of contentment since her daughter had been taken. Kidnapped. Gone. But this was not a place within which she would find solace. It was the bedchamber of Leopold's first wife, although to call it a bedchamber could be viewed as far fetched. All along the walls were her gowns, all demure, flowery. There were also her jewellery, and a crown so similar to that which Leopold had worn even in his coffin that it pricked something in her. If that damned bitch had lived, Daniel would still be alive. He would know his daughter. He would have his wife, a woman who had wanted nothing more than for them to be able to be a family.

She had never wanted to be queen. That had been forced on her. She took it well, yes, but it was far from what she had always envisioned, fantasised about. Seeing the memories of the man who held her captive, who had on more than one occassion attempted to rape her after she would not consumate their marriage, was too much. He was too similar to her mother, another abuser in her life, and another person to attempt to make her who they wanted. Accepting that she was going to be queen was one thing. Accepting being what a queen was to him was a vastly different task, and one that she had refused to fulfil. Being subservient, a 'dutiful' wife was never in the cards. It wouldn't have been with Daniel, and certainly not with Leopold. She and Daniel would have been equals. Leopold was always going to have control over her, or, at least, that had been his intention.

She smirked a little, letting out a short, dry laugh.

She hadn't been able to kill her mother, but sending her to an impossible to escape other world was enough.

She had been able to kill Leopold, and that had been enough.

It had been enough until Snow had taken her child.

Regina took a closer look at the half darkened room around her.

All of it seemed to be taunting her.

Then, there was one portrait. One portrait which was perhaps the cruellest taunt of them all.

Leopold, Snow, and Snow's mother. Their royal portrait. Snow just a bit younger than she had been when she and Regina had first crossed paths, too.

It was all too much.

It didn't matter if anything in there could be of any value or use to her.

Her fingers curled into fists, her coronation ring and her wedding ring from Daniel briefly catching in the light.

Then, everything shifted.

It was carnage.

The only reason Regina knew she had been screaming in nothing short of wordless agony was because of how hollow and pained her throat felt within a few minutes. The portrait was the first thing to be destroyed. It went up in blue flames within seconds before falling to the floor, nothing but smouldering and broken pieces of the wooden frame left. In the process of it falling, it took out several of the large mannequins holding up fabrics for dresses which were never finished, or the jewellery left atop them. Other fabrics draped around went up in flames, too, before lighting the bed frame and its wrap around canopy on fire. Those, too, collapsed within seconds, and Regina did not wait to watch them burn. It was too much on her senses. Her throat hurt, her lungs were struggling with the smoke filled air, and her eyes stung. She couldn't be sure if she were crying or if it were a reaction to the damn smoke. She hated it. She hadn't thought it through. An instinctive reaction. A hair pin temper. She had heard those plenty of times before from just about everyone.

This was the first time she began to think they could be right.

With magic, the dust settled within seconds. The queen was shaking, barely aware of it when tears kept falling down her face. She walked out of the room almost as quickly as she had attacked it, the voice of her mother suddenly whispering in her head again. Attack it . Seduce them! She hated it. Her heart was racing, her breathing still uneven. Everything her mother had ever told her, but especially that, had been by her attempts to augment her own social status. It had never been about her. It had never been about whatever pain Regina was feeling. It didn't matter if she were ill. It didn't matter if her feet hurt so terribly from the shoes her mother forced her to wear that they bled. It didn't matter if she weren't in love with someone who would augment the family's social status. It didn't matter how alone she felt. All that mattered was the way people viewed them, how much influence they had. The only consolation was knowing that, in becoming queen and escaping both her abusers, Regina became everything they had never wanted her to be.

It felt good. She had never wanted to be queen, but, if Daniel had just gotten away, he would be her king. They would be happy. The life she wanted most was that one, where she was queen, he was king, and they both had their daughter together.

Control of her life had been the one thing she hadn't been able to get even close to for ages.

Becoming queen had allowed that.

Becoming queen was -

"Regina!"

She hadn't realised it until she slammed into the cold, stone floor that she was falling to her knees. She was crying silently, but harder, and one hand fell up to her mouth. Becoming queen had allowed her to do everything but two things: have Daniel, and protect their daughter.

"Lynn's out there, somewhere…" She whispered, finally looking up to meet her father's worried gaze, an expression which hadn't seemed to leave him much of late. "Does she even…does she even know I'm looking for her? That I love her?"

"I'm sure she does," Henry was silent for awhile, unsure of what to say. "She needs a mother to come home to, Regina. Please don't lose yourself in trying to find and save her."

"Your majesties."

Snow and Charming nervously bowed before the king and queen before them, only comforted by the knowledge that they did not have any more love for Regina than they did. That was especially true, they were sure, after hearing what Regina had done to their child. It had been the only thing the people of the kingdom had been able to talk about while they helped escort them to the palace. For her own protection (and, though she didn't say it, health and happiness), Red had tailed them with Lynn by her side, the two of them not associated with Snow and Charming. That would have to change soon, she knew, but it would be after Stefan and Leah were willing to support them. Lynn was exhausted, and her hair had been slowly starting to fade back to its natural, dark brown for awhile, now, and was beginning to emphasise just how pale the little princess was. She looked even paler because of how often she was sick these days. But it wasn't all bad.

Red couldn't help but smile whenever Lynn babbled to her, or when Lynn curled up against her at night, kept warm by both her fur blanket which Red had so delicately preserved and, of course, Red's cloak falling over them both. In this moment, Lynn was just tired, occasionally yawning, but mostly clutching onto Red, her tiny hands wrapped around the edges of her cloak tied around her and waterfalling over her shoulders. She was a little cold, but, for the most part, Red was sure that Lynn was kept warm enough by her own body heat. Being a werewolf, apparently, had some benefits, and, her cloak on her body at all times preventing her from shifting, it made her happier than she could even begin to reckon with. She wasn't hurting anyone. She was doing her best to take care of someone, and take her back where she belonged. It hurt every second she remembered she was the one to personally take Lynn. She wasn't even sure why she had agreed to all of this in the first place. It had always been horrible, she realised. Monstrous, even.

The last thing Red had ever wanted to be was a monster.

And that was why it hurt so much.

Lynn needed her, but she wished that she never had to need someone other than her mother.

"I know we may not be welcome," Snow began, still not meeting Leah and Stefan's gazes out of deference to their status. "But, if you'll have us, we also want to stop Regina from hurting anyone else. She's harmed - even killed a few people - trying to kill me."

Stefan frowned. "That I would not put past her," He said shortly. "She is cruel, and vindictive."

"We also ask for this," Charming put in, briefly setting a hand to Snow's back. "Due to the fact we have Princess Lynn. Our friend, Red, is bringing her. We don't want to risk Lynn being taken back to Regina. She's - we're sure - abused Lynn, and -"

"Say no more," Stefan raised a hand to silence them. "We are willing to help you in that. When should we expect this friend of yours and the princess?"

"Within the hour at most," Snow replied.

"Look up, child," Leah said in her slow, deliberate voice. She smiled when Snow met her eyes, but only for a second. Then, she suddenly approached and embraced her. "I apologise for this," She said, still embracing the young woman. "It is only because we have lost so much because of Regina."

"Lost so much?" Charming pressed, eyeing Stefan oddly. "If I may pry, what does that refer to?"

Stefan took in a sharp breath, clasping his hands behind his back and beginning to pace.

"Regina showed up, unexpectedly, to our daughter's formal introduction to society, shortly before some of the fairy folk arrived to bestow gifts on her. They arrived after Regina left."

"Did she…" Snow's face fell in horror. "She didn't kidnap your child, did she?"

"Worse," Stefan's voice hardened, his hands tightening around each other behind his back. "She cursed her."

Snow and Charming both fell into stunned silence in shock, their hearts briefly racing and sheer horror the first thing they felt.

"Why?" Snow breathed, her throat suddenly dry. "Why?"

Leah paused, cupping Snow's face in her hands.

"She didn't like the idea of our daughter being like you. A kind, gentle, beautiful soul."

"Do not blame yourself," Stefan added, and Snow weakly nodded. "You have done nothing wrong. You have always tried to be a model of what it means to be royal, to care for and tend to others ahead of yourself. You are truly selfless. Regina's actions were uncalled for, disgusting, and -"

"An absolute tragedy," Charming paused, clearing his throat. "My apologies, your majesty, I am only jaded towards Regina for her treatment of Snow."

"It is more than understandable," Stefan shook his head. "She is nothing short of selfish. The opposite of yourselves. All she has ever cared about is being queen and controlling people. Perhaps that is because she does not understand that she must control herself. Impulsivity is her greatest weakness. That and her inability to love. She cannot love anyone, from my point of view, and that includes herself."

Leah turned towards her husband, one hand still gently cupping Snow's cheek.

"In the few times I have interacted with Regina up until she cursed my child," She said, her already slow voice taking on a commanding but calm presence. "I have seen her as one thing: sad. I once heard her say 'of course it saddens me that my daughter will never know her father who loved her. Who wouldn't that sadden? It's only that I've seen so much that I am so quick to protect her.' That stuns me to this day, but I think it shows that she only values Lynn as a memory of her father."

"I do think she genuinely loves her daughter," Snow said quietly. "But not in a way that supports and nurtures her. She loves her father, too, but they have a normal and healthy relationship. She has a dependence on Lynn, and that is not a healthy love, that is using her as manner by which she pretends she is in the right, justifying just about anything as a way to protect her daughter."

"It's horrible, it truly is," Leah let out a sigh when she saw a woman in a red cloak, holding a child in her arms, approached them. "And it's all a shame."

"This is our friend," Snow said when Red finally was within a few feet of them. "And, of course, Lynn."

Stefan and Leah shared a look but then nodded.

"Come," Leah said. "She can meet Aurora, perhaps they'll be friends. And you are all safe with us. That is a promise, and one are more than capable of keeping. Regina will not think you here. Of that, I am certain."