Chapter Text
Emma sighed as she slammed the door of the cruiser and looked down at the trail of cars parked outside the allegedly abandoned warehouse. Strains of music boomed from within the structure and multi-colored lights danced across the waterfront from the exposed side. It sounded like a hell of a party; she glanced at the mayor standing next to her.
“You sure you want to do this?” She gestured needlessly. “It’s Halloween; it sounds like people are just having a good time.”
“A good time? They are obviously trespassing and I’m sure there is underage drinking, Sheriff.” She folded her arms over her chest. “And apparently our teenage son is one of them.”
“I don’t know,” Emma hedged. “This doesn’t really seem like Henry’s scene.”
“You’re the one that tracked the GPS on his phone to this location,” Regina huffed, leaving the blonde behind as she walked towards the building.
Emma and Regina had started the night handing out candy at City Hall and the Police Station respectively. Then after eight, they’d shut everything down and headed back to the mansion for cider and candied apples. Emma had stuck with the apples since she half expected that she would need to respond to a few disturbance calls before the night was over. Regina fixed her coffee and kept the cider for herself.
It was a few minutes after eleven and they were halfway through a Halloween movie marathon when Regina’s phone rang; both women expected it to be Henry, letting them know he made it back to the Tillman’s house where he was staying for the night. But instead, it was an unknown number and a voice asking the Mayor if she knew where her son was before hanging up.
It had taken Emma precious minutes to calm Regina down enough to find out what happened as the mayor was already frantically calling their son’s phone. Initially, Emma thought it was a prank, but when Henry didn’t answer and his GPS showed him down by the docks, she’d become mildly concerned. Now, trailing after a pissed-off mayor, she kind of just thought it was uncool that someone was narc-ing on Henry the one time he was acting like a true teenager.
“I guess sneaking out to parties wasn’t really a thing back when you were a teenager?” Emma asked, catching up to Regina and trying to lighten the mayor’s mood. If Regina caught up to Henry before she calmed down, Emma knew she could cause some serious inadvertent damage.
“Well, there was that time I snuck out to ride a horse and see Daniel, which led to me saving your mother’s life, getting my fiancée killed, and becoming the Evil Queen,” Regina snapped out before flinging open the warehouse door with a flick of her wrist.
“Riiigggghhhtt. So then, you know,” Emma gulped and then gamely followed her inside.
The music was an immediate assault on their senses. Emma grabbed Regina by the wrist when she saw the older woman raise her hand, probably to use magic and shut the party down, ridiculously embarrassing their son if he was there. She weathered the glare turned her way. “Let’s just look around first, please.” Henry was already a social piranha outside of his very few friends. Emma held up her phone and the active tracker app. “Five minutes. If we haven’t found him, then you can make with the magic.”
Regina could see the pleading in Emma’s face, and she had noticed that despite the sheriff’s presence, it was her people were moving away from. “Fine,” she grumbled, immediately earning a grin from the blonde. “Go.”
Emma gave her arm a squeeze and began making her way through the crowd towards the other side of the dance floor. Regina flinched as a confetti canon went off overhead and bits of paper and glitter rained down on the crowd. She slowly made her way around the edge of the floor, working her way towards the makeshift bar. She had to admit, everyone seemed to be of age and the few younger faces she saw were wearing some sort of white wrist band. If she was being generous, she would allow that the young people of town really did need something to do and somewhere to go.
The confetti canon went off again right above where she was standing; glitter rained down and when she looked up, the dust in the air made her nose tickle. She struggled not to sneeze, waving a hand in front of her face, and ultimately being unsuccessful. Dust and glitter rained down off her sleeves when she covered her mouth. She glared at the shiny, iridescent material now adorning her clothes and swore Henry would be paying for her dry cleaning for a month. There wasn’t enough magic in the world to combat the insidiousness of glitter.
Emma heard the canon go off a third time and shook her head, tiny bits of paper coated the floor with the only clear path leading straight to the back and where she assumed were the restrooms. Exactly where the tracker on her phone indicated Henry’s phone was located. When she got to the back of the line, she quickly cut to the front, holding up her badge to quickly quiet several yells of protest. Then with an extra bit of resolve, she waited outside the men’s room for a guy to come out and quickly turned him into her deputy of the moment, clearing out the rest of the men’s room. There was no sign of Henry, but when she checked in the out-of-order stall, she found his phone. “A dozen missed calls from Mom.” Now she had to go tell Regina she didn’t know where their son was. “Fuck.”
Emma also knew she needed to get back to Regina because it had definitely been more than five minutes, and if she knew her royal majesty at all, the entire warehouse was probably a few seconds away from being fireballed. With phone in hand, Emma rushed back out to the dance floor and began scanning for the mayor.
As it turned out, she obviously didn’t know Regina at all. She found the mayor, elbows propped up on the bar as she leaned back against it, appearing calm and vaguely interested in watching the dance floor. Emma glanced at the bartender who shrugged and moved off to fix another drink. “Uh, Regina?”
Regina looked over at her, observed the phone in the sheriff’s hand, and reached for the red solo cup that was near her elbow. “You didn’t find him.”
“No. He isn’t here.” She continued to frown as Regina tipped the cup back. “Are you drinking alcohol?”
“Is that a problem?” She snapped and then held out her hand. “Phone.”
Emma handed over Henry’s phone. “No, not a problem, just didn’t think you’d ever drink out of a plastic cup.”
Regina rolled her eyes and cast magic over the phone. It glowed purple in her hand. “Let’s go, Ms Swan.”
“Did you do a locator-” Emma gasped as Regina latched onto her arm and poofed them out of the party and across town. “A little warning next time!”
Regina ignored her, turning slowly with the phone in hand like it was a compass. “Hmm.”
“What?” Emma asked then felt her stomach lurch as Regina poofed them again; she almost redecorated the Tillman’s front yard with her dinner. “Damn it, Regina!”
The sorceress could barely be bothered by her passenger as she walked up to the front door and began banging on it. The porch light turned on as Emma reached Regina’s side. The door opened to a confused Michael Tillman. “Mayor Mills,” he greeted warily. “Sheriff, is something wrong?”
“We’re looking for our son,” Regina snapped as though it should be obvious why they were there.
Emma grimaced slightly. “Are the kids here? Henry wasn’t answering his phone.”
“Uhm, yeah. They’re down in the basement watching movies.”
“Are you sure?”
Michael’s eyes narrowed. “I brought pizza down to them about a half hour ago.” He stepped back. “But if you want to go down there and check you can.”
Regina moved forward to do just that and Emma caught her by her arm. “That isn’t necessary.” She handed Henry’s phone to Michael. “Could you just give him his phone back and remind him he needs to check in.”
“Sure.” He glanced between the two women. “If you want to wait here, I can go take it down to him now.”
Regina rolled her eyes and pulled her arm away from Emma before turning away and marching back down the steps. Emma nodded to Michael. “That’d be great, thanks. We really appreciate it. We’ll just-” she glanced around for Regina and saw her at the end of the driveway, “stay out here. Henry can just give me a call.”
Regina was glad Emma had stopped her from going inside to check on Henry; she’d never tell the sheriff that, but Regina’s overprotective nature rarely took into account how Henry might feel. Despite Storybrooke’s tendency to have strange things happen (to her family in particular), a teenage boy’s mother barging in to check on him at a friend’s sleepover might be considered embarrassing. And while she knew Henry would forgive her (eventually), she didn’t want to cause him any undue shame.
It didn’t mean she didn’t worry and cast multiple looks towards Emma who was finally on her phone, talking presumably with Henry, who was alive and well, watching movies in the Tillman’s basement. And because she was watching Emma close enough to try and hear her conversation, she only caught the shadow of movement out of the corner of her eye. Movement on the road that had her turning away from the sheriff and looking around more cautiously at her surroundings. She peered into the shadows at the end of the small cul-de-sac, the evening light playing tricks, as she thought she saw…
“Hey, Regina! It’s all good! Henry’s fine,” Emma said, joining her. “What cha looking at?”
“Hmm?” Regina stared into the shadows for another moment before tearing her eyes away from the darkness. “What did you say?”
Emma frowned at her. “Henry’s fine. Didn’t even realize he’d lost his phone.” She glanced back down the road again as Regina’s attention wavered. “He even apologized for not calling. What are we looking at?”
“Nothing, I just thought I saw…something.” Regina shook her head.
“What’d you see?”
“Are we ready to go?” Regina spun on her heel, walking away from the Tillman’s house and the shadowy street.
“Regina!” Emma jogged up to her side. “Did you see a ghost or something?” The blonde laughed. “I mean, it is Halloween, after all.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Regina snapped. “Halloween has no special significance for ghosts.” Or what she thought she saw. She offered the blonde her arm. “Let’s go.”
“Wait, ghosts are real?” Emma asked then heard Regina sigh just before she poofed them away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The thundering hooves were closing in on her; they were so close they would surely trample her beneath them. That is, unless of course, the beast’s rider took off her head.
Regina woke with a start, pushing up to her elbows, gaze flashing around her bedroom before she groaned. Screwing her eyes shut against the brightness of the room and swallowing back the threat of rising bile in her throat, she froze like a statue, hopeful the lack of movement would help her regain control of her senses.
A flash of the black rider, his horse rearing up on its hind legs. Drops of blood fell from his sword, hitting her in the face, as the mighty blade slashed through the dark.
Regina scrambled, desperately trying to free her feet from tangled sheets, and make it into the bathroom before her evening’s cider made a reappearance. It was a close call but after several minutes of gut-wrenching heaves, she was able to safely move to the sink. She quickly rinsed out her mouth before daring to lift her head and venture a look in the mirror.
Even knowing how horrible she felt, her appearance still startled her enough that she leaned closer to the mirror in disbelief. She was pale, pasty almost with shadows under bloodshot eyes appearing as though she hadn’t slept at all. She could feel her hair sticking damply to the back of her neck as she wiped away a light sheen of perspiration from her forehead. What the hell was the matter with her? She did not have time to get sick right now.
“Hey, Gina, you up?” Emma’s voice called up the stairs, getting closer.
With a split second’s thought, Regina twisted her hand and magicked her appearance, make-up perfect, hair done, and suit in place. By the time Emma pushed open the bedroom door, Regina stood at her vanity, adjusting her earrings. “Good morning.”
Emma frowned and looked over her girlfriend. “Sleep in a bit this morning, Madam Mayor?”
In her haste, Regina hadn’t made the bed as she saw Emma’s gaze begin to take in the scattered, twisted covers. She twisted her wrist again, causing the sheets, comforter, and pillows to snap into place. Her nose wrinkled at the thought of sweat-damp sheets not being immediately stripped from the bed, but she would have to deal with that later.
Emma cocked an eyebrow. “We’re using magic for daily chores now?”
Regina ignored her question. “Did you have any other problems last night?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
Emma had been called out again after they’d returned from the Tillman residence. Luckily for Regina, Emma hadn’t returned home or she would know exactly how Regina’s morning had started and there would be questions. Questions Regina wasn’t in the mood to answer.
Emma hadn’t officially moved into the mansion with Regina and Henry, but she was there far more of the time than she ever spent in her own apartment. Her jeans and leather jackets hung in the closet next to Regina’s designer suits, and she’d been forced to retire the bug after its continuous oil leak stained the mayor’s driveway. They’d been together for over a year and it wasn’t outside the realm of possible that in the upcoming holiday season, one of them (or possibly both) would finally pop the question.
“Leroy causing problems?” Regina guessed, muscling down a flip of her stomach when she turned too quickly.
“Lost Boys,” Emma said, dropping onto the love seat. “I made coffee, figured you’d need it.” She yawned. “Kind of surprised you’re up to be honest.”
Regina regarded her. “And why wouldn’t I be?”
“You had more than a little cider last night,” Emma pointed out, “and whatever the hell you were drinking at the club.”
She drank at the club? Well, that would explain a few things about her morning’s unexpected upheaval. But she didn’t remember having that much cider, and she certainly didn’t remember drinking with Storybrooke’s younger population. Not that Emma needed to know that. “It takes more than a few glasses of cider to put me under the table, Sheriff.”
Emma snorted. “Okay, your Majesty, if that’s the story you want to go with.” She yawned again. “But don’t think I don’t know what’s going on here.”
Regina watched as the blonde got to her feet and began wrestling her way out of her sweater. “And what is it, exactly, that you think is going on?”
“You were in that bed asleep until you heard me coming up the stairs,” Emma laughed and shucked her jeans down off her hips. “You used magic to get ready and look like you’d already been up.” She pointed at Regina. “You’re hungover and trying to hide it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Regina feigned as she tilted her head, eyeing the blonde’s black booty shorts and strikingly toned abs as the white tank top was also thrown off.
“Uh-huh. You want to know how I know?” Emma gathered up all her clothes and ducked into the bathroom to drop them in the hamper. When she came back out, she caught her girlfriend unabashedly ogling her. “Hey. My eyes are up here.”
“I know.” Regina sighed as she forced herself to meet Emma’s amused expression. “Well? What grand deduction do you believe you have made regarding my constitution?”
Emma sauntered closer, fully aware of the brunette drinking in her appearance despite the unmatched bra and underwear set. She leaned even closer, knowing Regina would never back down, and took a sniff near the mayor’s neck. “You smell nice.”
Regina leaned away from her. “And you need a shower.”
“Yup.” Emma rocked from her heels to her toes. “And after last night, so did you, or you’d still smell like that club.”
“I assume you have a point to make.”
“The shower is dry and there’s no steam trails in the bathroom.” Emma grinned. “You used magic.” She laughed. “Just admit it.”
“I admit nothing.” Regina didn’t know why she was trying so hard to deny it, but at this point she certainly wasn’t going to admit anything. “Maybe I took a shower before going to bed.”
Emma frowned for a second then shook her head. “Nice try, you were already passed out on the bed before I left.”
She was? Deciding it was time to flip the script, Regina curled her lip in faux outrage. “And you let me get in my bed with all that…glitter on me.”
“Let you?” Emma backpedaled. She didn’t let Regina do anything. She knew perfectly well she’d get a fireball to the face if it was ever suggested that she let Regina do or not do something. “I didn’t-”
Taking the opportunity, Regina moved back towards the bed and with a few flicks of magic, she began stripping the sheets. Now she was doubly repulsed at the idea of not putting on clean linens before she (or Emma) slept on the bed again. She directed her ball of laundry to fly out the bedroom door and down the steps towards the laundry. She dropped a kiss on the blonde’s cheek as she made her exit. “There’s clean sheets in the cedar chest, dear.”
“Whu-?”
Regina chuckled as she closed the door behind her, leaving her befuddled girlfriend standing in her underwear in the middle of the bedroom, staring at a stripped bed that she’d have to remake by hand. She made it to the foot of the stairs before she heard her name being yelled when Emma realized she had taken the towels too.
It was a rather mixed start to Regina’s day, but sufficient to make her forget entirely about the previous night’s unsettling dreams. That was, until she arrived at city hall and found the burned-out husk of a jack-o-lantern sitting on her desk.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Regina continued to count herself fortunate that Emma had worked all night. It meant that Emma hadn’t witnessed her tossing and turning the night before, and since Emma was now sleeping, it meant she wouldn’t be randomly popping in to the mayor’s office with lunch. This was a good thing in Regina’s book because she was quite sure she wouldn’t be able to hide from Emma just how rotten she truly felt.
She definitely had a fever; the chills and simultaneous burning up were clear evidence of that. Pressure behind her eyes, a pounding headache, and bone aching fatigue almost had her curled in a ball beneath her desk. Even her secretary had looked at her sideways when she’d noticed the shaky scrawl of Regina’s signature instead of its usual fluid grace. And if her secretary noticed, well, Ms Swan would read her like a dime-store romance novel.
Oddly enough, Regina still wasn’t clear on why she was trying so hard to keep her illness hidden from Emma.
She also hadn’t bothered calling the station to investigate the pumpkin she’d found on her desk. There’d been no sign of a break-in, the alarm had still been set, and the windows had all been closed and locked. As Halloween pranks went, it was fairly harmless and she’d magiced the mess away. The lingering scent of roast pumpkin, however, remained despite her best efforts.
And damn her sense of smell for making her think of things from her past that she’d rather forget.
He’d arrived unannounced and unexpected in the middle of one of her battles. He was a huge man wearing all black armor including a black helm, riding the largest war horse Regina had ever seen. She was in such awe of the horse, she didn’t immediately fireball him when he rode uninvited through her ranks. The horse reared in front of her, and then he began to charge through George’s forces, leaving a swath of decapitated bodies everywhere that he fought. It was only after the battle was won and she was in her tent that she actually met the man.
He called himself, The Hessian.
Her soldiers referred to him as The Headless Horseman.
He claimed he was a Count in search of a worthy queen. She thought he looked more like an ungroomed beast.
“And what makes you think you’re worthy of me?” she asked, pouring herself a goblet of red wine and picking at the plate of roast pumpkin seeds that cook had left. “The only thing I find enticing about you is your horse.”
He was a man of few words. “I will give you blood.” He spoke with a rasp. She’d already noticed the scars wrapping around his neck. “You will be enticed by the amount I spill in your name.”
The Evil Queen rolled her eyes. “Blood is boring.” She sipped her wine, gaze resting on the Shire stallion waiting outside the tent. “Gift me your horse and I will consider your offer.”
“No.”
She slammed her goblet down on her table. “No?!” She was incredulous. No one said no to her, especially no one that was trying to win her favor. “Get out!”
“This time I came to you,” he said. “Next time, you will seek me out.”
The Evil Queen scoffed and considered lighting him on fire as he left, but she hesitated, a rare thing. Something about the man was unnatural, and she got the impression she’d need more than a simple fireball to bring him down. He was dangerous. And not in a way she found attractive.
“I wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt the horse,” she said, mostly to herself as she watched him ride away. She may have reconsidered letting him leave so easily if she’d known then that in two weeks’ time she would, in fact, be seeking him out.
And it was his blood she wanted to spill.
It was late afternoon by the time Emma jogged up the steps to town hall, carrying two coffees from Grannny’s. She was still a little tired but if she wanted to sleep any that night then she couldn’t sleep all day. Plus, she didn’t think Regina would mind having a bit of a pick-me-up delivered to her desk. Despite the brunette’s best attempts to hide it, Emma had noticed Regina had appeared a bit haggard that morning. She noticed most things about Regina these days.
“Oh, good, you’re here!”
Emma was surprised at the greeting from Regina’s assistant. Usually, they just nodded at each other. The woman was crazy loyal to Regina, she’d been a queen’s maid or something pre-curse, and would rarely say much to Emma despite the sheriff’s many attempts to get warnings about Regina’s moods before entering her office. “I’m here?”
“I was going to give her another half hour before saying anything, but I’ll let you handle it.” She opened the door to Regina’s office and they both looked in to see the mayor, arms folded on the desk and head bent over them.
Emma squinted and tilted to the side a bit. “Is she asleep?”
“Aye, and running a fever would be my guess.” She frowned at the blonde. “She should be in bed, being taken care of. Soup. Hot drinks. Not working away behind her desk.”
Emma leaned away from the accusatory glare. “This isn’t my fault!”
The assistant was unimpressed and slowly folded her arms over her chest. “Well. Are you going to do something about it?”
“Have you met her?” Emma argued. “Do you really think she mentioned she wasn’t feeling well?” Emma had just thought she was hungover.
“She’s certainly not going to mention it to anyone else.” The assistant gave her the once over and went back to her desk. “Just take her home, Sheriff. I’ll lock up and take care of her schedule.”
Having been thoroughly dismissed, Emma turned her attention back to the mayor. She quietly closed the door behind her and approached cautiously. She was concerned, of course, for Regina’s well-being and she couldn’t remember Regina ever getting sick before, but she was also worried about startling her. Waking Regina up anywhere besides her bed usually led to a handful of flame or a hand around the throat before the sorceress fully regained awareness, a lifetime of trauma and paranoia would do that to a person. Emma had learned to take precautions or make Henry do it, something about his presence would always permeate Regina’s consciousness ahead of anything else.
Maybe she should call him. No. Regina wouldn’t want him to worry. Emma should definitely call him, tell him to stay at the loft for the night. She took her phone out and began texting him. He certainly didn’t need to catch whatever virus could bring Regina down so far that she was asleep at her desk.
Speaking of, Emma really needed to wake her up. That position couldn’t be very comfortable. With a sigh, she started to pocket her phone when it gave her an idea. With a quick glance around the office, she went and ducked down behind the couch and safely sent a text to Regina. Mentally congratulating herself, she heard the mayor’s cell phone ping, and peeked over the couch. No change. She would have to call. She hit the phone sign and waited; an unexpected song refrain started playing and luckily Emma heard Regina’s office chair jostle and roll slightly.
Regina cleared her throat and silenced Sympathy for the Devil, answering, “Emma?”
“Don’t be mad.” Then Emma peeked over the couch, phone held to her ear even though it was obvious Regina could hear her.
“Emma?” Regina frowned at her, confused, then belatedly set her phone down. She cleared her throat again, but she still sounded hoarse. “W-what are you doing here?” She began straightening a few papers on her desk.
Emma would honestly be amused if she wasn’t worried. Regina was like an embarrassed cat, trying to pretend there was nothing to see. “Oh, you know,” she picked up the coffee she’d brought with her, “thought I’d stop by with a coffee for your hangover.”
“Oh. Well, thank you.” She accepted the offered cup, holding her girlfriend’s gaze, willing her not to notice how her hand was shaking. “This doesn’t mean I admit to being hungover.”
Emma dropped into the chair across from her desk. “No, you’re right, I don’t think you’re hungover.” She sipped her coffee, letting the statement hang between them, watching Regina pretend not to fidget. “You feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” Regina said immediately, wincing internally since they both knew it was a lie.
“Uh-huh.” Emma nodded slowly. “Cause, you’d tell me otherwise.”
“Of course.”
“You’ve got a paperclip stuck to your forehead.”
Regina immediately swiped a hand across her forehead; she dislodged the offending office supply and felt the sheen of sweat she wiped through as well. Her gaze found Emma’s still watching her.
Emma raised an eyebrow. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”
Regina exhaled, sagging against the back of her chair. “I think I’ve got the flu.”
Emma waited. “And?”
Surrendering, Regina took a breath. “And, I woke up feeling awful after barely sleeping, but I think maybe I started feeling off last night because I thought I saw something last night that couldn’t be possible; I had terrible nightmares; I don’t even remember getting home. I should’ve told you all of this this morning, but I didn’t. And then there was a burned-out pumpkin on my desk when I came in this morning that I didn’t report to your deputy.”
Both women stared at each other.
“Uhm,” Emma started, then closed her mouth, exhaled, tried again. “Okay. We’re going to circle back to that ‘you should’ve told me’ bit later.”
Regina didn’t like the sounds of that but had expected worse. The headache pounding between her temples made her care less than she probably should have.
“But for now,” Emma said, getting up. “Why don’t we just get you home and into bed?”
“I can’t,” Regina winced, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I have a meeting at three.”
“Yeah, I think Pepper Potts out there already took care of your schedule,” Emma said, circling the desk. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Pepper who?” Regina stalled, but Emma gestured impatiently. After all, they both knew that Regina knew exactly who Pepper Potts was. She sighed, shut down her laptop, got her purse from the bottom desk drawer, and pushed back from the desk. She stood up. “I don’t need-”
Regina blinked when she felt a cold compress pressed against her forehead. Emma was sitting over her and she was lying down. In her bedroom. At the mansion. “What happened?”
“You stood up, and then you fainted,” Emma said. Regina groaned and closed her eyes. “You’re burning up, Regina.”
“Mm-hmmm.” She didn’t trust herself to say much more than that. “Henry?”
“With my parents,” Emma reassured her. “If I leave to go get some medicine, will you stay in bed until I get back and then actually take the medicine when I return?” She’d learned to be specific; Regina could be tricky about taking care of herself.
She had no desire to move. Ever. She gave the smallest nod she could manage. “Go. Please.”
“I’ll be right back.” She kissed the back of Regina’s hand. “Fifteen minutes, tops.”
Regina was asleep again before Emma was out the front door.
“Your Majesty, I have news.”
The Queen looked up from her war table surrounded by her generals. Most of them looked uneasy at the interruption, likely fearing for the man’s life. He was a good scout; they liked him, but barging in to the Queen’s tent unannounced…that was a death sentence.
“Leave us.” She slammed her hand down on the table, toppling pieces, when no one immediately moved. “All of you! Now!”
The generals scattered like foot soldiers; the scout stepped out of their way and remained. Regina stood, poured a goblet of wine. “Well?”
“He’s made another attack,” he said simply. When she turned to him, he elaborated, “Another village, your Majesty. Destroyed. In your name.”
Snow would surely use that little tidbit of knowledge to her advantage. She took a deep drink from the goblet. “How many?”
“Fifty-three souls lost.” He looked down, unable to keep her gaze. “All beheaded.”
“Survivors?”
“None.”
“Children?”
The scout knew this was the part when his own life was in the most danger, yet he did not dare to answer anyway but truthfully. “There were children among the dead.”
Two vases near the entrance of the tent exploded; the war table cracked down the middle. The smell of ozone thickened the air and energy practically crackled around the Queen’s form. The scout dropped to his knees and bowed his head. “He’ll reach the next village by sundown tomorrow.”
“Ready the Queen’s Guard. We ride in an hour,” she snarled. “I want his head on a pike before sundown tomorrow.”
Regina heard her name being called from a distance. Emma had returned, entering through the front door, but when she’d gone upstairs, she had not found Regina where she’d left her. Regina stood at the edge of the backyard; her head was pounding and she knew her girlfriend was going to give her absolute hell for being out of bed, but she hadn’t been able to stay there. Not after she’d heard the horse’s cry. Not after she’d dragged herself to the window and seen the hoof tracks crisscrossing the yard. It was why she stared into the woods; it was the only place he could have run to. He was in there; she knew it. He was toying with her and she didn’t like it.
The back door slammed open, bouncing back off the house as Emma ran out of it. “Regina!” She’d seen the brunette from the upstairs window. “Regina!”
Regina barely stirred when the blonde slid to a stop beside her; the warm hand of white magic wrapping unintentionally around her bicep. “He was here.”
Emma’s eyes widened and tried to look where Regina was looking, but she saw nothing in the shadows of the woods. “Who was here?”
Regina shook her head. She would not speak his name.
Emma glanced around again, looking for clues and saw nothing; she saw Regina shiver. “Okay, let’s get you back inside.” She gently took Regina by the arm and guided her back towards the house. “Get that fever down.”
A few hours later, Emma sat by the bed watching as Regina twisted and flinched in her sleep. The medicines hadn’t made a dent and Emma was beginning to worry that this wasn’t simply the flu. It was the middle of the night, but she was already narrowing the list of who to call in the morning if Regina wasn’t better.
A dragon or a witch.
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