A Mother's Love

11.

Cora couldn't believe it as Zelena told her about Snow's affair with their stable boy and Regina's affair with the thief. She would make sure they would never see their lovers again. Regina wouldn't get away with this. She went to Regina's room and waited there for her stepdaughter to enter. She would teach her a lesson she would never forget. Love was weakness. She had experienced it first with Zelena's father who made her believe he was a prince only to sleep with her and then leave her pregnant and ashamed.

Then there had been Snow's father who seemed like a good man at first but it turned out she wasn't the only woman in his life. She was just the second choice.

And then there was Henry who truly had been the love of her life until he died of a weak heart. Cora aparently wasn't meant to have love and so she decided her daughters wouldn't have it either. Especially not Regina. Not after what her mother had done to her so many years ago.

Regina went to her room after another secret meeting with Robin. She was very happy and had a bright smile on her face but her expression changed as soon as she saw her mother sitting on her bed. "Mother? What are you doing here?" She asked a bit confused and ran a hand through her extremely long hair.

"You seem very happy, dear. Is there anything you would like to tell me?" Cora asked in a sickly sweet tone and looked pointly at the young girl.

Regina gulped. Her mother clearly knew something. Had Snow spilled her secret? She knew Snow couldn't keep her mouth shut but she had hoped it would be different this time. After all she had trusted Snow. She couldn't believe her sister would betray her like this. "Uhm, no, Mother. " she answered simply and avoided her mother's sharp eyes.

Cora got up and lifted Regina's chin up to make her look at her. "You and I both know that's a lie. You've always been a terrible liar, dear. " she said with a gentle smile though her tone was laced with venom. "I know about you and the dirty thief. I will make sure you'll never see him again. " she whispered and looked into her eyes.

Regina got teary eyed when she heard this. Robin was right. They should have run away when they still had the chance. Now her mother would never let her go. She shivered slightly when her mother suddenly reached out to wipe her tears away and flinched, ready for the slap that never came. Instead her mother reached out to stroke her hair almost soothingly before she suddenly grabbed a fist full of it.

"You will never leave this house again. I'll make sure of it. " the older woman growled and kept holding her hair tightly.

"Mother, you are hurting me " the brunette whined and tried to get out of her mother's grip. Her mother was too strong though. It was almost like she was ripping her hair out as all of sudden a pair of scissors appeared in Cora's hands. "Please don't " Regina pleaded and her body was in full alarm mode. This wouldn't end well.

Cora was blinded by rage as she dragged Regina to the vanity and pushed her into the chair. She pulled the long thick hair over the girl's shoulder blades and began to hack it all off to shoulder lenght. She had made a dumb promise to Henry before he passed away to never cut Regina's hair since it was supposed to contain some powerful magic but she didn't care now. She just wanted to make Regina hurt and she knew cutting her beautiful hair off would do the job just fine.

When she was done Regina's hair was a little uneven since the hair had been chopped with so much rage. The floor around the chair was covered in hair. Cora waved her hand and the hair suddenly appeared in her hand, neatly woven into a long braid. "Let's see who'll love you now." She said coldly and left the room, locking the door behind her.

Regina's small frame was wrecking with violent sobs. She couldn't believe this. She needed to leave. She needed to get to Robin before Cora got to him too.

She wiped her tears away after some time had passed and decided to pull herself together. She needed to escape quickly.