Royal Blood

Chapter Fourty-Nine: His Choice

Daylight washed over the green fields, illuminating the armor that her men wore in training. The only noise the faint sound of clinking and grunting as the Royal Army trained below. Among them was her son Roland. He was three times the age of what he first was when Regina had met his father, permitting Roland the new experience of training with her best soldiers. Regina couldn't remember how many times she had protested against his involvement in the matter and only relented with the assurance from both Locksley men that Roland wouldn't push himself too far. That her own men wouldn't get in the way of Roland's well being.

It was true that Regina's only soft spot lay with the men in her life. For Roland it was protection and for Robin it was preservation. And today like no other, Regina sat on the balcony of her library watching the mandatory practice unfold.

Without warning, a hand gripped her shoulder, pulling the queen back into the dark confinement of the library. Regina's heart slammed against her chest as she began to sweat, her eyes working hard to find her attacker.

"We meet again, dearie." Rumplestilskin's voice echoed off the tall ceilings. "And this time, it's not just one witch I see. It's two."

"Don't talk nonsense. Our work together is in the past."

"I'm not here to make a deal with you but to warn you of what is to come. It's not your own protection you will seek but that of your child."

"Roland is a young man now." Regina reasoned. "There is no attack that will ever face my son. And if this is some sort of threat-"

"It's a pitty that you think so low of me, my dear." The dark one giggled as his big eyes reflected what little light shone through the cracks in the door. "And a shame you insist on calling that peasant your own. For I speak of someone greater. Someone that will rise above you- and your lover's boy- if you're not careful. Her power will lead to a grave future, one even I would not condemn. She is on her way now. Can't you sense it?"

Regina paused, taking the time to asses her surroundings. It was true. While she could feel the pull from Rumple's dark magic, there was something else. Something centering her magic, making it stronger.

Two hands grasped Regina's belly, long nails digging into her skin. "You must choose to lean from the light and into the dark so that we can be saved."

Regina sat up in the dark, gasping for air as her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Sleep washed away immediately as fear took its reign. Regina flung herself out of bed, scrambling to her desk in order to light a candle before lifting her nightgown over her waist. Pain seeped from the sides of her stomach like warm blood pouring from an open wound yet it stabbed her with it's knife and drove panic deep into her soul. Regina peered down at her creamy white skin, taking in the eight slight indentions at her hip. The Magic that once coursed through her veins with calm purpose flooded her system, making the queen feel uneasy.

It was just a dream, Regina reminded herself, turning back to her bed as the adrenaline slowly wore off. Knowing she couldn't return to the thief asleep in her bed and aware that he couldn't be found there when Katherine came in to start the day, Regina closed her eyes, imagining the room Robin was supposed to stay in. The bedroom a floor under Regina's own room. With a flick of her wrist, Robin and Roland disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

***

The morning sun bore hot and heavy down on Robin as he sat in the high grass, watching as Roland chased a single yellow butterfly. The hill they were on overlooked the valley bellow, the forest separating Robin from the castle. After waking up in his own bed, Robin had taken the hint that Regina needed to be left alone, leading Roland outside for some fresh air.