Royal Blood

Chapter Thirty-Two: Major Setbacks

After two days of trying to break free, Regina started to work. She had easily lit the candles that surrounded her chambers but had struggled with the beginning of dehydration. Most of her time was spent huddling over the magic book, learning new spells and annotating important information. The time left was spent laying in her bed, weak and sickly.

The first spell Regina tried to conjure was a simple spell to summon what she needed most- food. With her strength regained, Regina figured she could be strong enough to cast a spell that would break her free from her mother's enchantment. Muttering the spell under her breath, Regina watched as a platter of food appeared beside her.

Barely able to hold back, Regina had eaten in under ten minutes without detecting the odd taste that went along with her food. In the hour that followed, Regina found herself retching into her bedpan after realizing that the spell had been improperly cast. And with that, she spent the rest of that day sitting on the cool tile bathroom floor with a sheen of sweat lingering on her skin as her stomach churned.

A few more days passed and Regina became sickly, pale and thin. She laid in bed, studying spells and trying to recast the same nutrition spell. But most times, Regina ended up in the same spot on the bathroom floors. Until one day, Regina slept with only dreams of the millions of feasts she had attended as a child. When she woke, Regina could still smell the roast meat her father always insisted on and the sweet scent of pastries that their head chef would place out once everyone had finished with their second course.

Opening her eyes, Regina was shocked to realize that on a long table in front of her bed sat the very feast she had imagined. She ate with caution, only taking small portions to see how her body would react, and was pleased to see that she could safely eat the food without becoming sick.

Next, Regina spent her time mostly on a transportation spell. Something that would get her out of the bedroom she was trapped in. But when she flicked her wrist to disappear, thinking of the stables, pain ripped through her body, causing Regina to crumple to the ground.

***

Hatred swallowed Regina's good nature, taking over her actions and thoughts. Her mother was the one who had insisted of Robin being tortured. The who had locked Regina away to rot so Cora didn't have to deal with her problems.

Regina sat on her bed, flipping through the large leather bound book that laid on top of her lap. She had sat like this, aimlessly flipping, for most of the day- or night, seeing that Regina didn't have any way to tell time- while her thoughts consumed her strength.

Not only had her mother locked her away, but she had probably done the same to Zelena. Regina was not sure if Zelena held the same powers as herself and only wished someone somehow was taking care of her.

She hoped that once Regina escaped, she would be able to band together a group of her loyal staff to help find Robin and to heal him. She had been reading about different healing spells she'd be able to use on him once he was back to safety. Spells she could use so that he'd recover faster and would be able to hold her close again. Regina hated to admit it but the final words she had said to her mother still rang in her ears. I love him. And it was true.

It scared Regina to think that she was in love with a man whom she didn't quite know. Who didn't grow up the same way as she had and who had completely different experiences. Who even had a son.

But at the same time, her body ached to feel his strong arms wrapped around her. To wake up in the middle of the night only to hear his low voice in the distance, chuckling with some of the Merry Men or telling Roland to go back to sleep. She wanted to watch as the skin around his bright eyes crinkled every time he smiled. She wanted to kiss him without drawing back and being afraid.