AN: Warning: Scenes of torture

Enchanted Forest

Many Years Ago

The Evil Queen was sat on her throne in the Dark Palace waiting for the guards to bring in the prisoner. They had captured a woman that had been caught around the perimeter of the palace.

Iago, former master assassin and now the Queen Regina's weapon expert and close adviser stood with his chest puffed out as waited next to her throne. He procured the finest steel for her soldiers, he trained them into the merciless soldiers they were today and all it cost her was a place in her royal court. He had found her shortly after late husband passed away, he mainly kept to himself but held his head up high. He was one of her most trusted advisors. Her had previously worked under the Brotherhood, she couldn't pass on the opportunity to have an Assassin in her court. Not after the last one she had encountered had left her impression on her.

Two Queens guards entered the throne room holding onto a slim figure trying to fight them off her, they had managed to bring her to the bottom of the steps leading to her throne the woman pulled herself out of the guards grasps tried to run until one of the guards hit her across the face making her fall to the hard floor on her knees.

She wore a long purple and lilac robe with a hood over her head. She recognised the robes. Then she saw the red hair that peaked out of the hood. It was her.

The guards picked her up and forced her on her knees in front of the Queen and Iago. Her head was bent forward with the hood still covering her head.

"Show me your face" Regina commanded. The guard to the woman's left gripped the top of her head and forced her head up ripping her hood off her head at the same time.

"Amelia" Regina greeted the woman she remembered from all those years ago with a wide smirk. Her hair was much longer, her greens eyes and pale complexion. She had grown into herself since the last time she'd seen her. Her bottom lip was split open from the slap she received from the guard. But there was something else about her she couldn't put her finger on…yet.

Amelia gave the Queen a wicked smile as she licked the blood from her lip "Hello Regina" she greeted. The guards pulled on her long red hair in punishment.

"That's Your Majesty to you" Igno corrected stepping forward drawing the younger woman's attention

"Iago" she sneered at the man through gritted teeth

"You know her Iago?" The Evil Queen asked her advisor. The man moved back to his original position on the Queens right hand side.

"Yes, Your Majesty. She was a part of the Brotherhood before her father betrayed us" the man informed the Queen

"Lair!" she yelled at the man in anger her voice echoing through the hall. She went to stand back up, but guards simply kicked the back of her knees sending her back kneeling on the marble floor.

"Interesting" she hummed to herself watching the exchange between her advisor and the woman that saved her. She could see the blind rage in Amelia's eyes. She stared at Iago she bared her teeth and breathed through her nostrils. "What are you doing in my kingdom Assassin?" The Evil Queen asked the red-head

"I've come for him, I've come for my vengeance" she never took her eye off Iago, his glare at the woman didn't waver.

"Why should I let you kill him, he's more useful for me alive than dead dear"

"Because he'll betray you the second, he gets, all he cares about is power"

Iago turned the Evil Queen "I assure you my Queen this pathetic excuse for an assassin tells you nothing but falsehoods" he argued

"He'll stab you the second you turn your back on him. Bastardo!" she sent the last word and spat on the floor towards him earning one of the guard's hand across her face. The saliva landing in front of Iago's boot covered foot.

"You are your Father's daughter. I can see it now. How Master Claudius didn't see it, I will never know" he snarled he walked down the steps to stand in front of the younger woman, he turned back to the Queen. "Allow me to punish her for her insolence, My Queen, it will be swift and painful"

The Queens mouth quirked up at her advisor's eagerness to inflict pain on her enemies "I'll allow it"

Iago motioned for the guards to take her outside to the courtyard, she followed him outside as the guards tied her hands around a wooden post. They had removed her thick robe only leaving her in a baggy cotton shirt and breeches. The Captain of the Guards handing Iago his signature brown leather whip. He unfurled the weapon and tested the whip cracking it against the stone that covered the courtyard.

Amelia flinched each time the leather whip made contact on the ground. The guards used a knife to cut open the back of her shirt and pulled it back exposing her back to the air. Regina watched as her guards exposed her back to Iago ready for her punishment. But her breath got caught in her throat as she saw the long thin scars that littered her pale back. She remembered the healer telling her and Leopold about the scars on her back, he said most of them had come from a whip. But she'd never saw them. She counted at least twenty that littered her back with more still hiding. She looked at Iago, who wore a wide smile as he lashed out with his whip again with a wide smile on his face.

He'd done this before.

He was the one to hurt her.

Iago stood 10 paces from the back of Amelia and brought down the whip, the whip cracked as it sliced through the pale skin. Amelia bit her tongue not letting him have the satisfaction of feeling her flesh being torn apart by the piece of leather. The older assassin brought the whip down thrice more only for a small whimper of pain escape her lips before they suddenly stopped. It was unusual for him to stop after four lashings.

Before she could contemplate what had happened. The binds on her hands were suddenly cut making her sag onto the wooden post before she was helped up by the captain and turned around.

She didn't know if it was the pain causing her to hallucinate or if she had succumbed to the blood loss and died to see Iago held up in the air with his whip wrapped around his body, restraining any movement. Purple magic encased his form as the end of the whip tightened around his throat, almost cutting off his windpipe.

"W…hy?" he choked out using his eyes to look down at the Queen whose hand was surrounded by the purple magic.

"Wrong question dear" she stated at the whip started to dig into his throat making his neck bleed. "You should be asking if I should make you suffer, or I should let Amelia to do the honours, it was her you enjoyed to torture wasn't it?"

Iago started to laugh as best as he could through the strangulation "Y..ou fool" he choked at the Queen. But this only made her angrier. The whip tightened once again, his eyes bulged out of his head as he desperately tried to breathe.

No, he was her kill.

"Stop!" Amelia yelled as she went to step forward, but her legs buckled making her land on her knees. The Captain of the guards helped her back up as Regina stopped her assault on Iago. He let out a desperate gulp of air as the whip loosened on his throat. Regina turned her head to Amelia letting Iago to fall onto the cobblestones.

"If there's anyone who deserves to end his life, let it be me" Regina let her words sink in and gave the woman a smirk. She waved her hand in the air making his whip disappear from him and end up in Amelia's feet. She felt her back straighten and tighten as her back became strong and she able to stand up straight without the help of the guards. She reached back and felt that the wounds had healed. She gave Iago a dark smile and grabbed the whip from the ground and approach him.

"Hold him" she ordered the guards, they did as they were told and grabbed him by him arms and pulled him up on his feet. As she closed the distance, she threw the whip towards him causing the whip to slide across his cheek making a gash diagonally down is left cheek. She threw the whip again making a second gash on his other cheek. As she got closer the guards let go of him and moved away as she jumped into the air with a balled-up fist and landing a heavy punch on his jaw making him fall onto his knee.

She picked up the whip as she circled behind the defeated former Assassin and started to wrap the leather cord around and around his neck until he couldn't move his head and she held both ends of the whip and pulled. She used her leg as leverage on his back to keep in place. He started to struggle to breathe, she leant down until he could feel her breath on the outer shell of his ear.

"This is for my father Romeo Montague, he saw you as a brother and you stabbed him in the back" she pulled the whip and sharp tugged at his neck until she heard an audible snap.

As she let go of the whip and his lifeless body fell onto the cobble stone her a bright light blinded her vision. She shielded her eyes from the sudden bright light with her arm, the light burned the back of her eyes until is subsided and opened her eyes again. She was in an endless field of white, the sky matched the ground she stood on. She whirled around and saw Iago stood behind her. Alive.

"You fool, do you understand what you've just started!" he yelled at and disappeared into thin air, she spun herself around in search of him but stopped when he spoke again "Just like your Father never thinking of the consequences of his actions"

"You killed him" she growled at him

"He betrayed us first!" he yelled at the younger woman angrily

"For what?"

He scoffed at her "You wouldn't understand"

"Try me" he disappeared again and reappeared behind her

Shaking his head while he held his hands behind him "it doesn't matter now, you've taken the path to ensure our Brotherhoods destruction" the air was sucked out of her lungs as the white surrounding disappeared and she found herself on cobblestones again with Iago's lifeless body still on the ground, the whip still wrapped around his neck. His last words repeated in her head as she bent down to pull his silver ring from his wedding finger before pocketing it.

A singular pair of clapping hands made Amelia look up to see Regina. No. The Evil Queen slowly clapping with an evil smirk across her face. "Bravo, what a performance. Guards take her inside and have her cleaned up before bringing her to me" she orders and spins around and heads back inside the castle

A guard approached the red head and motions her to follow him, she does so leaving Iago's corpse to be dragged away by others.

She was escorted to the dining hall later that evening freshly bathed and was given a deep violet dress almost black and been forced by the maids into tying her hair up on her head red ringlets framed her face and the rest had been tied into a bun. A couple of guards escorted her to the dining room were a long table full of food that could feed an entire village for a week displayed in front of the royal.

Regina saw the woman enter held up her goblet of wine in greeting with a smirk "There you are. Come join me" she motioned to the chair to her right, she clicked her fingers ordering a servant to hold out the chair for the red head who took it. Regina was finally able to look at her features on her face. Her face had become sharper, harsher that the last time she saw the woman, her hair was darker no longer straight but curled, more natural "Wine?" The Queen offered the woman

"Water's fine" Amelia declined the Queen. Another servant came from behind her and poured the water into the goblet that sat in front of her next to an empty plate.

"So why were you after poor Iago" The Queen inquired taking a sip of wine

"Why are you after your step-daughter?" she rebutted. Snow White's face littered the forest she was travelling thought to get to where she was now. Wanted Dead or Alive by the Queen for treason.

"She betrayed me"

"He betrayed me" she quickly retorted, the brunettes eyebrow quirked up as her interest peaked

"That was quite a show you put on out there. You certainly let Iago know your anger towards him, but what I don't understand is why him, he's been here with me ever since the Brotherhood disbanded. What happened to you after you left the palace all those years ago?"

"Enough to bring me back" Amelia told the Queen the servant came back with forth and offering it to Amelia, but she simply pushed him back "I've heard what you've been up to though".

"Oh, you have?"

"Yes, whispers at first but then the Dark One told me more, before I came here"

"What did that imp want with you?"

"We made a deal. He gave my Iago's location in good faith"

"Does that mean Iago won't be the first former Brother you kill"

"I mean's I'll kill them all, until there's no one left"

Amelia heard the Queen hum to herself in contemplation as the thought out her next move with the redhead beside her. Does she simply send her on her way, or can she use her to get to the thing that had been eluding her for months. Not even Iago and his experience could help her in the end. She was growing tired of her weapons expert, Amelia here just hurried what little time he had in the palace before she had enough with him.

The young woman beside her was only a few years younger than herself something horrible must have happened to darken her once light emerald eye's, enough to bring her back anyway with the Brotherhood's collapse all to see by the entire continent. The once secretive creed had been exposed.

And if the skill and intelligence that she had exhibited years ago are something to go by. Together they would be unstoppable. The only thing she was concerned with was how far Amelia would go to get her vengeance.

"Fate seems to have a way of bringing us together" Regina mused as she swirled the red liquid in her glass "I'm down a weapons expert, with an army and the riches to fund your vengeance. Agree to stay with me in the palace I can help with your vengeance against your brothers, and in return you can help me with my vengeance against Snow White"

"By ending Iago's life, I agreed to work for the Dark One any work he gives me, I have to take no questions asked"

"And you can as long as you come back to me after each contract" Amelia stayed silent as she picked up her goblet up and held it in front of her

"I think I can work with that" Regina tapped her goblet against Amelia's to seal the deal between the Evil Queen and the Assassin

"So tell me Assassin. What's next?" the redhead paused as she thought of what she needed to do next to find her former brothers

"You said you had an army?"

"I do indeed" she smirked

"Give me fifty of your best knights and I'll have the Brotherhoods home in your hands within fortnight and then I'll serve you Snow White head within a year" a sickly grin grew on the Queen's face as her servants moved forward to serve the two women at the table.

This would be a fruitful partnership indeed.