Her lungs felt like they were going to burst every time she ran. Her throat felt so dry no matter how much water she drank. She felt starved no matter how she ate. She felt alone even with the little princess with her. Aurora was so quiet most of the time, but almost in an unnerving way. She rarely cried, only when she was hungry or thirsty, and she held onto Snow only loosely. They had been walking, running, occasionally resting for days on end. Charming - no, James, her mind immediately corrected - was nowhere to be found. Was he still alive? Was he safe? Those guards…they hadn't been Regina's, or, at the very least, that was not how they appeared. She tried to keep her mind rational. His father had been hunting him down almost more ferociously than Regina had her hunted down. He viewed him as a failure, a betrayer of a son, and was imbued by fatherly upset, anger. That was the most likely scenario. From there, he would find a way back. He was too strong not to. He was too clever not to escape from anything which could make him feel anything less than happy. Loved. Worthwhile.

Though she knew she was, in part, projecting, she wanted him with her for those same reasons.

She walked on. There was nothing else she could do. It was getting late. For hours, she had been trying to find the village Leah and Stefan had told them about, the village on the edge of their kingdom that would be more than hospitable to them. She could only hope they were right. Staying as far away from Regina as possible was the most important thing, now. Aurora needed to be safe. They both needed to be safe. They had to. For Aurora's parents. For themselves. For Charming. This wasn't something to take lightly at all. It was a live or die moment. Snow looked out towards the horizon closing in, and what appeared to be a small village drawing nearer. Snow tried not to run, knowing she would fall over. She wasn't sure if she would get up. It was a difficult thing. It was something she did not want to think too much about. It was getting closer and closer. She could see the village gates. She didn't know how long it took, and she didn't know how or why, but, sooner than she could even imagine, she was inside.

The people came, all cooing over the princess.

They honoured them both.

Snow could barely believe it. Since she had managed to escape death by Regina's hired killer, no one had treated her quite like this. Leah and Stefan had come quite close, but, even then, they had not been this way. The princess and Snow were brought to the noble family's manor atop the village, an honour she had not been granted since she had much younger. It felt good, but it also was a painful reminder of all she had lost. Unaware of how many seconds, minutes, even hours had passed, Snow eventually found herself brought to a guest suite. She laid Aurora down in a warm bassinet. The servants of the manor would be in and out to take care of the princess through the day and night. They were meant to take the time to recover. Snow could barely feel anything when she laid down in the bed after bathing, in the clean, soft clothes she had been provided. The bed was so much lighter, so much more stable than the ground. Stable. She pushed the word away. It connoted too much. Instead, she tried to focus on the feeling of being in this place. A place where people could tell she was doing the right thing. A place where she could safely care for the little princess she had been entrusted with. A place where she could try and find Charming, ensure his safety.

"I'm so sorry, father…" Snow whispered, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. She rolled over on the sheets, curling up into something of a ball. "I wish I could have stopped her from hurting you. You…you and mother were such good…kind…true people. I don't know what happened to her but.."

Snow broke off into sobs, struggling to even finish her thoughts. She wasn't sure if she were thinking aloud or only in her mind. It was too much. All of the horrors she had seen had been because of Regina, it seemed. Everything except for the loss of her mother. She tried not to think about how little surprise she would feel if Regina had a hand in that.

"Why…" Snow wrapped a hand around her locket, which held within it a bit of hair Charming - James - had put in it for her when he gave it to her. "Why do you have to keep destroying everything I love?"

She got no answer.

She would never get an answer.

"I came here to offer you a bounty that would be well worth your while, George, but it seems your men have done that work for me. You surprise me. I'm rather impressed. Sorry to drop in on you."

Regina strutted into one of the expansive courtyards of George's palace, smirking a little. He stood up from his throne where he had been sat to watch his son's execution, in complete disbelief. There was anger there, too. She didn't care. Not terribly far away were Lynn, Fenella, and Sherry, with her father and Red in a manor of the queen's which George had conceded to her at the loss of a gamble. They were all safe and, in Red's case, under close watch. Nothing would happen without her knowing about it. Most importantly, they were all perfectly safe. Between that, and the enjoyment she innately gained from imposing on another monarch's authority, she was having quite a good day. Though she did not see it, Charming, still held in position to be beheaded, was still in disbelief at what had happened. He was covered in water, his neck hurt, and he couldn't figure out why. His mind was almost completely out of control, and he couldn't find a single way to make it better. When he heard the female voice that had spoken again, however, everything made sense. Everything made terrible, horrifying, sick sense, realising whom had prevented his execution.

"Regina," George said shortly, the two monarchs meeting each other halfway, just near the guillotine where his 'son' was restrained. "What do you want?"

She laughed, almost as if the question were stupid on the face of it.

"I want the man you pretend," She drew out the word. "Is your son."

George frowned.

"And," She went on, still smirking, amused by the situation. "I am willing to pay any riches Midas promised you in return for him."

George raised an eyebrow, and then glanced towards his guards. He shortly nodded, and they began to release Charming from the guillotine and restrain him themselves.

"What do you plan to do with him?" George pressed, scepticism laced in every word he spoke.

"Oh, I promise he'll suffer," Regina replied, her enjoyment with every word becoming clearer with each second that passed.

She did not notice or did not care, but George's guards shuddered, flinched, and murmured in fear. To them, there was something about Misthaven's queen that unsettled them, that made them feel nothing but pure horror. She was terrifying.

"Far more than some swift and simple beheading," Regina sent George a pointed look that startled even the other monarch. "Of that, you can be absolutely certain."

George stared at her, taking in each and every movement she made, however subtle. There was nothing she didn't do, in those few seconds, that he didn't see. Reading people, and other monarchs in particular, was a skill he had cultivated quite well in the decades he had been in power. It was a way to know what they would do. What made each of the other monarchs tick was valuable information. He did his best to guard his own. Amidst a kingdom nearing bankruptcy, however, he had been forced to let that down. Regina was well aware of it. She was so well aware of it that it was physically painful. There had been few times where all the monarchs of the continent had sat down and spoken together, but there had been one about three years prior. Himself. Regina. Leah and Stefan. Midas. Of the four, she was undoubtedly the most powerful though she had the least amount of land. She had also been the one who unsettled the others, in a way none of them could compare. The then-newlywed Leah and Stefan had expressed to Midas their fear of Regina which, ironically, would prove to be well founded for them personally. Midas had said nothing but remained as far away from her as possible. George had focused solely on business. This, however, was not just business. This was personal.

"How?"

Regina took a small step towards him while his guards dragged Charming up towards them. George showed no discomfort, though it bubbled in his chest.

"By using him to destroy his one true love," She hissed. "By using him to put an end to Snow White."

"No!"

Without hesitation, and without fully realising it, Charming shouted, breaking free long enough to lunge at Misthaven's queen. Unable to step out of the way in time, he managed to tackle her to the ground, snatching her wrists, and holding them above her head. The guards began to move in on them, but George deftly raised a hand to stop them. Regina struggled under his weight. Her wrists bound, there was little she could think to do by magic. He kept her pinned down, his legs pressing into her chest, and a feeling of nothing but pure, righteous anger filled him. This was the woman who had killed her husband just because she didn't like him. This was the woman who feigned love and support for her step daughter before sending her out to be killed. This was the woman who abused her daughter, using her as nothing more than a crutch to hide the fact she had nothing but hate in her heart. She was cruel. Merciless. This was the woman who cursed a baby for no other reason because she felt angered by the parents feeling sympathy and admiration towards Snow. The look in her eyes now was one of pure contempt for him. It did not surprise him in the slightest. What did surprise him was the sudden realisation that his 'father' had not let anyone intervene. He did not release her. She kept trying to kick him off and get his hands off her wrists, but she was stuck.

"Snow is innocent!" He finally got out, panting, and keeping her down. "How can you find any pleasure in this? How can you want to do this? How can you blame someone completely innocent for your failings? How can you abuse your daughter over it? How can you live with yourself?"

"She is not innocent," Regina barely got out, still painfully struggling under his weight. "And neither are you! Both of you manipulated a young woman into taking my daughter from me, all so -"

"So you found them?" Charming's temper broke again. "What did you do to them? What are you doing to your daughter? What did you do to Red?"

"I am keeping my daughter safe, healthy!" Regina tried to scream but couldn't. "It's not your concern what I've done to that young woman!"

"So you killed her?" Charming stared at her in horror when she did not respond. "You really are heartless."

"I don't know how to love very well," Regina hissed. "But I do love my daughter, my father, and my few friends. You don't know me."

"Snow thought she did," Charming shook his head, his grip briefly slackening. "You proved her wrong in the worst way possible. You really are the evil que -"

He let out a pained yell when Regina, able to, in those few seconds when his grip loosened, get him off of her, snagged him up and bound him up with rope using her magic.

"I was always the queen," Regina caught her breath, shaking, her eyes narrowing. "It was you who added evil to my name."

Replies To Reviews:

barrattajennifer: anytime! i love to hear what people are thinking, and providing my own thoughts in tandem. i'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it!

jasouatfan: Snow definitely has tunnel vision; that's not to say she hasn't been through hell and back, but she hasn't felt loss, pain in the same way Regina has, in part because she is not yet a mother herself. though she did have motherly feelings towards Lynn, it was nothing like how Regina felt because, of course, Lynn is Regina's daughter through and through. and, yes, Lynn getting better is a great thing, given how much she's been through. for Regina, too, seeing her daughter not only alive but getting better is absolutely invaluable. that's her baby girl, and she, like all parents should, will do whatever it takes to ensure her safety, and to ensure she knows she's cared for and loved.

Sammii16: there's a whole lot more to come, so, don't worry, there is plenty more to unfold.