The Enchanted Forest (OutlawQueen)

Chapter 6

A/N: No idea how good this is but I promised to update more regularly and I try my best to keep to my word :) Hope it's ok and not too repetitive! I feel like I'm spending a lot of time on their headspace and not much on action. And I like the idea that there were more scenes that were similar to the missing year than we got but I promise I'm not just going to rewrite the Storybrooke eps! Again, if anyone needs any rants about anything at all my inbox is available. Internet this week is...interesting...and I still have four exams but I will do my best to answer/be useful as soon as I possibly can :)

Once back in her room, Regina sank against the door, tears still streaming down her cheeks but less thickly now. The same question that she had come to associate with the thief was running round her head yet agin: why? Why would he run after her when it was clear everyone in the room would judge him or at least reprimand him for not helping them figure a way out of this mess? Why would he hug her like that, with a genuine want to make her feel better when he saw he'd made her upset instead of backing away because being Queen demanded little to no outward displays of emotion?

The questions span round her brain until she pressed her fingers to her temples, letting out a cry of frustration and thumping her fist against the thick wood of the door. Turning and sitting down at her desk, she was hit with a fresh wave of her failure as she caught her sorry reflection in the mirror. But she fought back her tears on spying a figure outside her window.

"Zelena," she hissed under her breath as the figure landed on her balcony. "How did you find my chamber?" She was surprised but controlled it with practiced ease when a monkey appeared, Zelena nowhere in sight. He (she? it?) had a fairly large sheet of parchment crumpled in its paw. Regina took the paper gingerly, careful not to scratch herself on its ugly claws. There was nothing written on it but Zelena's green face appeared in the middle like her own cheap version of Regina's patented mirror communication.

"So how did you find my chamber?" Regina asked the paper, one eyebrow raised.

"Easy. My beautiful one is an excellent tracker." The monkey let out an ear-piercing shriek. "I took the liberty of borrowing a couple of your gowns from this extensive closet of yours." Her eyes left Regina's face to glance round the room. "Who brought you the dead flowers? Oh, I'm sure they were lovely once, but I think they deserve the bin round about now."

"What are you doing here?" Regina growled through gritted teeth, ignoring the question as she held the top of the paper between finger and thumb, shifting her body so the flowers were hidden from Zelena's view.

"My gift to you is this day. Meet me tonight, at the place my monkeys attacked you on your arrival here."

"And then what?"

"I will destroy you."

Regina couldn't help a half-incredulous smirk.

"This isn't the Wild West."

"No dear. It's the wicked west." With that, Zelena cackled and disappeared, her minion screeching and flying off too, almost breaking her balcony rail in the process of taking off. Regina rolled her eyes at the awful pun, balled the paper, tossed it high in the air and threw a small fireball at it. A small hint of satisfaction came into her smile as the paper burned but it was quickly dampened by a tiny flicker of doubt. Zelena had broken her blood lock. Which not only meant they were related but also that she was incredibly powerful. It took years to master a blood lock, including how to unlock one unless you knew the exact method the original caster had used.

The choker round her neck suddenly felt very tight and heavy, so she reached back to undo the clasp and dropped it carelessly into her jewellery box. The heavy pendant nudged the other jewels aside to reveal something at the bottom of the carved wooden box, something she'd completely forgotten about. Regina gasped. Pulling out the parchment she only had to glance at it to remember every word of the letter that had been her only source of strength through the struggles and frustration of learning magic. Her eyes closed in bitter realisation, shoulders slumping even further.