The one she thought was lost

Chapter 11: A lesson in magic

Daniella knocked on Regina's door. She kind of felt nervous. She'd finally taken a choice regarding her magic. After two weeks, she'd finally taken a choice.
Regina opened the door, wanting to know who had disturbed her so early in the morning. When she saw Daniella, she smiled. "Hello, come in", Regina said. She opened the door wider and stepped aside, letting Daniella in. While Daniella walked inside, Regina studied her for a moment. She looked nervous, kept looking at the ground. "Is there something wrong?", Regina asked, worried. She saw Daniella take a breath. "No, nothing's wrong. I just... I've chosen what I wanted to do with my magic."
"And what do you want to do?" Daniella took a step forward and said: "I want to learn how to control my magic, I want you to teach me how to control my magic." Regina smiled slightly and said: "Then I will teach you how to control your magic. But for now, let's go and go to the Main Hall otherwise our favorite princess is going to complain again." Daniella smiled and took the hand Regina offered.
They took their time, talking about everything and nothing not noticing that something was looking at them from outside the castle. It flew a little bit closer before flying away.

She waved her hands, opening the doors and stepped inside the room. It was one of the dark rooms of the castle, one with few windows, away from prying eyes. The floor was covered by a red rug and the whole room was illuminated by candles.
The woman was walking to the centre of the room when one of her pets arrived.
"What have you seen, my pretty?" She walked towards the creature, running her gloved hand over it's fur. The winged beast screeched loudly, it was a hideous noice, but the woman seemed to understand. "Well, well, well. My sister seems to like this girl, if only she knew who she really was", Zelena cackled," if only you knew..."

When Regina and Daniella finally arrived, breakfast had already started (not that they minded, they found it dull anyway.) Daniella saw Robin look at them from the corner from her eye, but ignored him, walking with Regina to sit at the Royal's table. When Daniella arrived at the table, Regina, Snow and the prince were having a discussion.
"You want to throw a ball?!", Regina exclaimed loudly, making a few people turn their heads towards them. "You want to throw a ball. Now. While there's a Wicked Witch out there for my blood, not caring about collateral damange. You realise you'd be giving her a perfect shot to attack, or haven't you thought about that yet", she said more calmly than she did before. Snow and Charming looked at eachother. "We have thought about that and I think it will give the kingdom what it needs right now, hope", Snow said softly. Daniella almost rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop herself from letting a small scoff escape. The Charmings and Regina looked at her, Regina with a small smile, both Snow and the prince with unreadable expressions that quickly turned into questionable ones that forced her to explain her reaction. "Look, I know I'm only sixteen, but honestly? I agree with Regina. If you organised a ball, a lot of people would come right? You'd be risking a lot of lives, you don't know when Zelena's going to attack and how strong the attack would be. I just think it's a very large risk", Daniella explained. She looked up from her hands and looked at the couple. The prince had a thoughtful look in his eyes, while Snow had a stubborn one that made her sigh. "Okay, how about this: you throw a ball, but only invite a small group of guests. Like only the ones you absolutely want to be there. You wouldn't attract a lot of attention and you'll still be able to do it, only on a smaller scale." Regina grabbed her hand and gave her a small proud smile. "You're a smart girl, aren't you." Daniella gave a small smile back as a thanks and looked at the couple again, waiting for their reaction. "Well it's not a bad idea, Snow." Snow looked a bit hesitant, but eventually nodded. "It's a good idea, you're right Daniella." She also gave Daniella a smile and than turned to her husband to plan the ball.
"Regina?" "Yes?" Daniella turned to look at Regina again and asked: "What is Christmas exactly?"

After Regina had explained the whole concept of Christmas, Daniella was on her way to her room to get ready to meet with her again. They were going to start with her magic lessons and Regina had told her to put on some other clothes. So once she was in her room, she put on a pair of trousers, a shirt and riding boots. She braided her hair so it was out of her eyes and made her way to Regina's chambers. She was almost there when she heard footsteps behind her. They were light and quick, and if she hadn't lived with the Prince of Thieves for so long, she wouldn't have heard them. She stopped and turned around to see... nothing. Daniella narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I could've sworn I heard footsteps", she murmered quietly to herself. Shrugging her shoulders, she turned around again. She took a few steps and heard it again. Light pattering behind her. Based on the sound, it couldn't be an adult, then the footsteps would be louder and heavier. She took another two steps... and heard it again, but instead of stopping, she immediatly turned around. When she saw who the intruder was, a large smile lit up her face. She was right, it wasn't an adult. It was a five year old boy with a mop of curly brown hair on top of his head. Kneeling down she wrapped her hands his small body and hugged him tightly against her chest. "What are you doing here, Roland?", she asked. She heard a slight giggle escape his mouth. "I was following you?" Daniella's smile grew wider as she asked: "And why were you following me?" "Because I was bored, Danny!", he yelled as if it were obvious why he did. "Well I was about to meet the Queen.." Roland let out a gasp. "Can I come? Pleeeeaaasssseee", he begged. Oh her little brother was good. One look in those eyes and she felt herself caving. "Fine you can come..." She was interrupted when he let out a yell. "...BUT, you need to be on your best behavior. Can you do that for me?" When he nodded, she picked him up and put him on her hip. "Well then let's go, little brother!"