The Evil Queen's Daughter - SEQUEL

Chapter 27

It seemed lots of people were interested in the identity reveal of the mystery thief; quite a crowd had since gathered around the courtyard, and fingers of blame were being thrown around frequently. Nila slipped in amongst the rabble and took a seat on the edge of the well, lifting her feet up so that she wouldn't accidentally kick anybody. There was so much going on that the girl's brain was quite overwhelmed, and the whole situation made her feel just a little lightheaded.

She turned her head, hoping to see her family somewhere in the crowd, but they were nowhere to be seen. Nila closed her eyes to block out the distractions of the light and used all of her power to will her mother there. Within seconds, a cloud of white smoke materialised in the middle of the courtyard, scaring half of the people to death, and out of the smoke appeared the Queen. She was dressed in all black, and the thief was standing beside her.

As she marched towards the centre, people scattered as not to get in her way. She may be different now, but to them, she would always be the Evil Queen. "My," She said, the coldness in her voice sending chills down the girl's spine, "What a nice turnout." Nila noticed the power her mother held in her voice, the way people would drop to their knees and beg for mercy in her presence. She was a powerful woman, there was no doubt.

"One of you has stolen from me." She began, pacing back and forth around the courtyard, "One of you has broken into my vault and stolen an incredibly powerful and dangerous potion. And for that, one of you is going to suffer." There were many whispers and nervous chatters amongst the crowd. "So, is there anyone who wants to skip this whole process and own up? Because I will find whoever did this, and there will be consequences. The severity of said consequences, though, relies on how long it takes me to unveil the hidden truth."

Robin bit his lip. He hadn't seen Regina so wound up like this in a very long time, and if he was being honest, it scared him. She no longer looked as innocent and vulnerable as she had a few months ago, before Marian had got here. No, something was different. She was colder, her makeup darker, and her braids tighter than they ever had been. Still beautiful, nonetheless, but in a different way.

"None of you want to own up?" The Queen continued, the sound of her heels making a loud sound as they made contact with the stone floors. "Fine, but when I do find out-"

"I don't think you'll have to look too far." Came a voice from behind the crowds. Although Regina couldn't see who it was, she could almost hear the smug grin on their face. "Well, you figured it out a lot sooner than I thought you would, so well done. I was starting to think that you wouldn't find the little gift I left you in your cabinet. But, as luck would have it, your little, or not-so-little stepdaughter did as I knew she would and spilled your secret... again."

The woman emerged from the rabble, strutting towards the queen as the smirk only grew on her face. "You." Said Regina, her voice like ice. "You did this. Why?"

She chuckled, "To hurt you, of course, Regina."

It was fair to say that everyone was both completely in terror and in wonder of this woman who was able to stand up to the Queen like that, especially someone who had once been one of them. Someone who had once been no better than they were.

Nila opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She was horrified. It was like the words had been taken from her mouth and all she could do was sit there and gawp at the sight. "Marian?" She whispered, her heart dropping in her chest. Maybe she had been wrong, maybe she would succeed in hurting her mother.

"Hi, sweetie." The woman smiled at Nila before walking closer towards the queen.

Regina simply laughed, "What are you going to do to me? You don't even have magic."

"Yes, but unlike you, I don't need magic to get my revenge. I can kill you with my bare hands." She lunged forwards to wrap her hands around the Queen's throat, more than ready to squeeze the life out of her.

Suddenly, she felt a long, thick vine curl itself around her arms, pinning her to a tree opposite the well. "We both know you're not going to do that."

"What makes you so sure?" Marian tried her hardest to free herself of the vine's grip.

"Because, if you kill me, the people you love will never forgive you." Regina's eyes darkened, as if she was thinking of a sad time in her life. "Trust me, I know."

"Yeah, well. I'm not you." The woman retorted, using all of her strength to break out of the vines. "Let's be honest, dear. This little quest of yours, it's not going to work. Your plan already failed, and now your children will never look at you in the same way again. Robin knows I didn't use that potion, he knows what we had was real. You can't hurt us anymore. You're...irrelevant."

"Not exactly," Marian said smugly, before opening her hand and creating a fireball. The Queen stepped back in surprise. Since when did she have magic? Nila gasped, she may have been annoyed with her, but it was still pretty cool. Since when did she get to watch an epic showdown between her two mothers? Robin, however, was more confused than ever. He had known his wife for many years, but she'd never said anything about having magic? Something was off. Realising that this could end badly, he went to find his son from amongst the crowd. He knew this could end up being a little traumatising for the young boy.

"Not so irrelevant now, huh?" Marian laughed, before using her magic to create her own tree vines which she used to trap the Queen's daughter. Nila tried to fight them, but it was no use. It seemed Marian's dark magic was a lot stronger than the pair had once thought. "Well, Regina. It seems you have a choice."

"And what's that?" She placed her hands on her hips.

"It's simple, really," The woman began, "Surrender Robin and my children to me, and I won't kill Nila."

Regina smirked, "You wouldn't. And she's not your daughter, she's mine."

"Isn't that what Emma said to you? That Henry was her son? I mean, come to think of it, she was right. But you were so adamant that since you raised him, it meant he was your son. What makes this any different? You fought for your child, and now I'm simply doing the same."

Regina scowled; this woman certainly knew how to get under her skin. Something that Marian knew all too well. "So, Regina? What's your decision?" The Queen looked back and forth between Robin and her little girl, who was fighting back tears and now struggling to breathe as the vines around her became tighter. "Mama, please." Nila whispered.

The Queen smirked, "When you've spent as much time as I have with the Charmings, there's one thing you'll learn. There's always a third way."

And with that, Regina plunged her heart into Marian's chest, searching for her heart. Seconds later, she pulled her hand out, confused and almost panicked. "Where is it?!" She yelled, "Where's your heart?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Marian whispered in response.

Before the Queen could say anything else, she heard Robin's voice from behind her.

"Roland's missing."

*AUTHOR'S NOTE - Yes @MerelVanLuik , I do love Cliffhangers. Deal with it XD. I hope you enjoyed, and if you did please leave a vote and comment below. Will try to update tomorrow! xx Ly all!

Sarah xxx