Forest of Fireflies

Chapter 13

(Regina's POV)

I sat at my vanity, looking at the box that currently imprisoned my father. What was he thinking, returning the heart to Snow?! I would have killed that wretched girl and all of this blood lust would be over! I would be enjoying my life with Daniella right now if it wasn't for him. Doesn't he want me to be happy?

I was too distracted by my thoughts to notice my mother enter the room. I jumped a little when her voice asked, "Where has your father run off to? I still owe him a thank you for spoiling your birthday surprise."

I stood up with the box and faced Mother to answer, "I've already dealt with him." Then, I slowly opened the lid to reveal my father. "Say hello to Daddy."

I watched Cora's face light up in a way that would have made my childhood much more bearable. "Oh! You've impressed me, sweetheart."

I grinded my teeth and shrugged off the comment. If I never got your approval as a child, why should your comment be genuine now?

Instead of pondering my thoughts, I changed the subject and said, "You know, Daddy may have been wrong to ruin my revenge, but he was right about you."

My mother frowned as she scoffed, "when are you going to get it in that thick head that I do everything for you? Especially the things you can't do like Snow's heart. How long have you been trying to get it? Because it only took me a day."

Immediately, I replied, "and it only took you an hour to lose it....when I get my revenge, it will be my victory."

I saw my mother open her mouth to reply but a series of loud running footsteps approached us. I turned around towards the hall of mirrors to see a guard walking rather quickly towards me. The black netting underneath his helmet had been taken off so I clearly saw that a nervous expression was etched across his face. With a brief glance towards my mother, he turned to me and said quickly, "Your Majesty...sorry to disturb but please, may I speak to you privately. I'm afraid this is quite important."

I nodded and without turning away from the guard's direction, I said, "Mother, please leave."

"I'll be back."

At the corner of my eyes, I saw my mother disappear in a cloud of dark crimson smoke.

"Yes?"

"It's the Princess. She's in the gardens, unconscious and injured next to your apple tree."

My heart plummeted. "What?!" Then, I immediately waved my hands around myself and the guard to transport us down to the gardens. I sprinted to the apple tree and ran towards Daniella, who was lying on the ground beside the low brick fence. There was a cut on her forehead and a trickle of blood ran down the side of her head. The small gathering of maids cleared the way and I knelt down beside my daughter. Whilst shaking her gently, I frantically whispered, "Daniella. Daniella! Can you hear me? What happened?!"

I put my fingers on her neck to feel her pulse and to my relief, I could still feel blood pumping through her body. I turned my head around to the guard who informed me of this situation and asked, "What happened?"

The guard, who looked quite young replied softly, "My Queen, a Prince around the same age as Princess Daniella ran to me and said that your mother scolded them both and in doing so, used magic on the Princess. The Prince also told me that he was accompanying the Princess on a walk in the gardens when she suggested to go get an apple from this tree. Your Majesty, I believe that this was when Cora found them and punished them."

"Who was the Prince? Was it King Midas' grandson?"

"Yes, I think so. But since his family was leaving, I told him to go join them. My Queen, I don't think the boy was intending to harm the Princess."