the princesses suitor

Chapter 2

convincing
word count: 3677

~*~

"Your majesty?" The Queen heard from the opposite side of her bedroom door. "May I come in?" The voice was soft and quiet, Regina could only assume it was one of her maids.

"Come in" She said, standing up from her place at her vanity, placing down her brush. She was in her morning dress as she had just woken up a few moments prior.

The maid hurried into the queen's bedroom, holding out a letter. "This came for you," she said simply, giving the letter to Regina. The young girl watched as the queen's eyes scanned over the envelope and added, "it's the princess' ball invite. She turns 18 this year."

Regina hummed and glanced up at the maid. "Yes darling, I can read" she said, causing the maid to look down silently. She raised an eyebrow ; clearly, hiring a younger staff was a bad idea. "You may exit," Regina said, watching as the maid scurried off. "Oh, sweetheart?" She said, causing the girl to turn back around.

"Yes?" The maid asked, turning around in the doorway.

"If you pry through my mail again, you'll be sitting in a dungeon cell until execution day." The Queen warned, watching as the girl's cheeks went pale.

"Yes your majesty, my apologies" The maid said hurriedly before leaving the bedroom quickly.

Regina rolled her eyes to herself and sat down on her bed, opening the invitation. She got one every year and every year, she did not attend. Attending meant she'd have to put on a fake smile and say hello to all the people she hated or simply did not care for. Not to mention having to be nice to Snow White and Prince Charming. She had no intention of putting herself through that. Her eyes scanned through the letter, everything the same as usually, but then a sentence caught her eyes.

"The Princess will begin her search for suitors to merge the kingdom with another and form allies. Please bring the next heirs of your kingdoms if you wish to align."

As Regina read the words from the invitation a plan was set in her mind. For 17 years she had tried to figure out a way to get her revenge on the Charmings. She could've cast the curse, but she would've lost her father, and she wouldn't lose him. Not anytime soon, anyway. Many years ago, she realized she was going at it all wrong. She needed to create a long term plan, something that Snow and Charming wouldn't expect, possibly something that would surprise even herself.

Regina sat on her bed for a few moments, mentally formatting a plan before getting up and waving her hand, magicking herself dressed. She then left her bedroom and went to the library, searching for her father. He was typically reading in the morning time, trying to keep his mind young. Neither of them spoke of it but they knew Henry was getting older and older. He was starting to lose his memory, and of course when the time came Regina would find a way to help her father, but bigger things were now appearing.

"Daddy?" Regina asked and sat down next to him on the couch in a reading area, next to a warm fireplace.

"Yes, my dear?" Henry asked and looked up at his daughter with a gentle smile.

"I'm going to attend the Princess's ball next week." She smiled and took her father's hand. She knew he had always preferred when she wasn't evil, and once he had entered an old age, she had decided not to be so cruel around him. Especially if he only had a few years left.

"Really? But I thought you didn't want to see any of the Charming Kingdom again?" Henry asked with a frown.

"I don't, but the princess is 18 this year. Which means other kingdoms will be there. Our kingdom is going to fall daddy, we need more allies." She smiled as her father squeezed her hand nodding.