Regina looked up at the dark sky and waited for her guards to get themselves organized. She stood outside of the castle just under her mother's hovering shield from the rain over me. A carriage was standing by to take my mother and I to the field where all villagers are gathered.
"You did well, my daughter," Cora was proud of her since the marriage with King Leopold, she has given her own kingdom and became Queen by King Leopold and they took the White Kingdom from the Charmings for them to move into the kingdom. Everything is going well with Enchanted Forest is under her fingerprints.
Regina didn't reply but simply nods even though she does not agree one tiny dealings she made with King Leopold and Enchanted Forest. King Leopold joins them at the bottom of the steps then put arms around Regina, "hello, my dear Regina."
"Leopold," she brings a small smile on her face.
"I think I need something stronger than a hot drink," Queen Cora waited for the guard to open the carriage door, hates the rain. All three of them sat in the carriage towards near out of the kingdom, but the rest of the soldiers and guards walk since it's only a short distance for them.
King Leopold whispered to one of the guards, eyeing Regina, "You are not to let her slip, do not let her fall; do not get her wet. You are to protect her."
"Yes, Your Majesty," the guard bows before him and stayed close to Regina.
Regina looked around at the soldiers and at the villagers who were heading in the direction of the field. She wondered if they knew what awaited them. Would it make any difference if Regina told them to run, to escape? More than likely she would get them killed and herself. She turned to an old friend, Cedric, he's a sweet man who always been with her since before Cora became Queen, "it's going to be a wet day, Cedric."
"I'll live," Cedric smiled.
"We're going to be sloshing through the mud."
"I know, but if need be, I will carry you," makes a little joke when Regina chuckled softly.
Regina involuntarily shuddered at the impending deaths. The thought made her sick to the stomach, the execution of innocent lives. I couldn't look at my own mother when she was standing with King Leopold waiting for all the villagers to gather together. Orders were being barked out by King Leopold who held the sword close by.
Emma and her mother, Snow White, walked toward the field. As she looked around the small farming community, Emma carefully watched her fellow countrymen assembling as they were instructed. They were subdued. Memories arose of balmy summer nights walking along in the White Kingdom with her friends, especially her beloved father, Leopold. He was taken and controlled by Cora when she tried to kill her, so she ran away and hid. Those were memories of carefree days as the villagers stood around her to help hid her in the crowd, hoping King Leopold and the Evil Queen doesn't spot her in the crowd.
Emma's attention shifted as a group of soldiers passed by. She wondered when the nightmare would end. The Enchanted Forest was a stubborn people who refused to surrender when all was lost. When they rose in power, they were getting to know that the Enchanted Forest is not going to be subjugated without a struggle, without exacting a hefy price from the force.
The town gathered has become a regular occurrence with King Leopold. My mother only told me that she used to live on the dark throne with her father, but only told me so little about it. Emma glanced around her at familiar faces, faces that betrayed their fear. She saw old men and women barely able to stand, huddled in the rain. The young children clasped their mothers' hands. Some were too young to know what was to come, but they know one thing, they want Snow White. She felt sick as she glanced at her own mother, who had her eyes closed and was silently praying.
"I love you, Mama," Emma whispered. She took hold of Snow's hands.
Snow White opened her eyes and smiled. "I love you so much, my Emma. Have faith, Emma. Whatever happens, remember we always find each other. We will be all right," she said and leaned down and kissed the top of Emma's golden curly hair.
Regina hears a lot of awful sloshing noises among the villagers. Mother has shielded us from the rain and the mud. Assembled was a large group of women and children, their eyes darting back and forth, uncertainty and fear written on their faces while refusing to look up into my mother's face. She could not look at them; she felt their fear and wanted to call out for them to run, but there was nowhere to run. She kept her eyes straight, not daring to look anywhere else for she knows King Leopold and Cora is expecting her to stay by their side.
Regina is now freezing cod. The icy wind penetrated deep into her bones and she shivered uncontrollably. The wind had picked up and occasionally would turn people inside and out. Several soldiers laughed at some people when they slipped in the mud, which only sickened Regina even more. She could barely breathe as she slowly made her way to where King Leopold told her to stand, right next to him.
Regina swallowed and closed her eyes while King Leopold's voice screamed orders as he came closer to the villagers while Cora feared them with magic, fireball magic in the air. I know they are enjoying the terror they are inflicting; she could hear it in their voice.
Regina opened her eyes and focused on the villager that stared back at her - the girl that called her cripple. Fiery green eyes met hers. Defiance stared back at her, daring her to do something, but Regina was just as helpless as the girl. The young girl's hatred was palpable- it almost reached out to her and defied her to act. Regina looked away, unable to watch the heart-rending scene that was to unfold before her. She doesn't want to see anything but the ugliness she was going to witness.
Emma's gaze fell on their much-despised King Leopold and the Evil Queen when he emerged through the crowds, his pristine gray and black hair neatly creased. Emma looked at the mud, then back at King Leopold, but refuses to look at the Evil Queen. Snow White is the only person who bravely looked at both of them, and I can feel her heart breaking as I held her hand. Emma was about to go down and collect some dirt properly welcome him and fight, but Snow's hand took hold of Emma's arm.
"Don't," Snow whispered. "You are going to get us killed."
Emma rolled her eyes and clasped her hands together instead, fighting the urge not to stand and fight. A wry grin formed on her lips as she envisioned applying the mud herself and scare the daylights out of them. She was abrupt brought out of her daydream when the sound of the horn made her jump.
"As you have all heard by now, we do not have a carriage line. The reason you are here is that I want you to send a message to them."
Emma's attention shifted from the murderous, ranting king to the woman standing tall like a regal. Emma turned to Bae, "that's her, the cripple," she whispered as she gazed at the woman, the most beautiful woman she ever laid eyes on.
Regina's long black cloak covered most of her body and luckily for her, she's protected from rain and the mud on the ground. Emma shivered as the rain pelted her in the face, soaking wet. Her coat had long since been soaked. She kept staring at Regina, and she was surprised when Regina turned her gaze towards her.
Their eyes met, and Emma glared back in defiance. She was almost tempted to reach down and pick up the rock that she could feel under her boot. The woman just stared, didn't move, or even blink. She just stared at Emma.
Emma jumped at the sound of fireball through with laugher. To her utter horror, this time she aimed was not in the air but directed at the feeble old man. In the blink of an eye, the old man crumpled to the ground, the fire burnt all over his clothes and dropped dead. His eyes glazed up into the sky, unseeing. There was no rhyme or reason to the execution, and Emma wanted to disappear, to hide from the utter senselessness.
The villagers panicked, but couldn't escape, as the field was surrounded by Evil Queen's militias. Emma watched in horror was the young and the elderly fell one by one searching for Snow White.
"Give her to me and you will be rewarded," Evil Queen had said several times in a row, telling them that they will be given riches and rewards for handing Snow White. Then the unthinkable happened. King Leopold stopped in front of Emma and her mother and looked at them. Blue eyes met green for a very long moment. Snow put her arms around Emma and held on tight and afraid that he will recognize her, but she looks different than younger Snow that anyone can hardly recognize her anymore since she's been living on the farm. All Emma could hear was the sound of the beating of her heart. All she could see the look of utter hatred in King Leopold's eyes.
"As you can see, each one of you will die for the soul of every of my troops killed," King Leopold was saying, but Emma could barely discern what he was talking about, the sound of her heart was thundering so loudly in her ears.
Emma's gaze shifted to Regina, who had once again turned and was watching her. Emma could almost hear a voice in her head telling her to keep watching; don't look away. She swallowed her fear as King Leopold came within inches of her head. She could feel the cold sword on her skin, but she doesn't move. Emma didn't look away from Regina, who was starting back at her and missed the fact that King Leopold was right beside her.
Emma wanted to hide her face from this madness but didn't. She never surrendered; never a coward; it wasn't the Charming way. Emma held tight to Snow and hoping against hope.
"Mama!"
Emma felt Evil Queen's magic, flicking her hand when Snow's arms released their grasp, and to her horror, she saw her beloved mother slump to the ground. The madness continued around her as she held her dying mother to her chest. Oh, dear God, Mama!
Emma's soul shattered in an instant. Everything that was, everything that she was going to be, crumbled just as her mother's life ebbed away. She held Snow, who was trying to talk to her, trying to tell her everything in those few seconds that they had left.
"Be brave," Snow said in a raspy voice.
"I will take care of her," Bae and seven dwarfs promised as they knelt beside Snow. The seven dwarfs always stayed with Snow since she ran away from the throne, from Cora's grasp. They were always in the area, watching over her. Unknowing to King Leopold and the Evil Queen that woman she killed was Snow White, King Leopold's daughter.
She was oblivious to everyone except Snow, but then a sound, something odd to the pain and death surrounding them, made her look up. To her horror, Emma heard a woman's laugh, snickering. Emma could not believe that someone would laugh when her mama was dead in her arms. Emma looked around and see no other woman present except for Regina Mills and didn't notice there was a woman behind her. She is an assistant and good friend of Cora Mills, Cruella de Vil.
In that instant, between life and death, Emma's purpose in life crystallized, the Evil Queen and her fucking daughter. She looked down to find her mother's once vibrant eyes had closed. Emma cradled her mother in her arms and rocked her back and forth. "I promise I will kill them. I will," she repeated over and over. Nothing else was going to be more important than avenging her mother's murder. She was going to exact her revenge for Snow White's death and kill the woman that laughed as her mother lay dying. "I promise you, Mama, I will kill them. I promise," Emma's kept repeating as Snow passed away.
"Emma."
Emma opened her eyes to find the named honorable person in the village, Henry Mills, in his black robes covered in crimson stains after attending to the bodies of the dead, looking at her. "You can let go now," he gently said as he tried to pray the dead woman from Emma's arms.
"No!" Emma shook her head. "No," she murmured while he gently separated her from Snow White's body. He picked Emma up, cradling her in his arms and Emma curled up against his chest. She buried her head against his neck and sobbed.
"She's not dead, Emma. I promise she will come back one day," Henry Mills whispered while she sobbed, not hearing what he said.