The Wrong Princess

2.

Regina woke up the next morning in her tower like usual and got herself ready for the day, getting dressed into her favourite light blue gown and then going about brushing her extremely long hair. She spent about an hour brushing her hair and then she braided it before having breakfast. She then started cleaning the tower which kept her busy for at least a little while.

The young girl got bored very easily as there wasn't much she could do in the tower besides cleaning and reading and some painting. She mostly just waited for her mother to visit her.

---------------------------------------------------

Zelena was still very confused about the girl in the tower and why her aunt visited that girl. Was that girl really her supposedly dead cousin? She needed to find out exactly what was going on. After breakfast she went to Cora's study and knocked on the door.

"Come in" Cora said and looked up from the paper she was just reading and smiled as Zelena entered the room. "Zelena, darling. What brings you here?" She asked curiously and went to sit with her niece in front of the fireplace. She looked over at the clock and sighed. It would soon be time to visit Regina.

Zelena wasn't quite sure how to go about this but she decided to just ask. "I saw you yesterday in the woods. What were you doing at that tower? Who was that girl?" She asked her aunt and looked her directly in the eyes.

Cora gulped when she heard Zelena ask that. She didn't expect that at all. She had been caught. "Well that girl was your cousin Regina." She decided to answer. She hoped that would satisfy Zelena and that she wouldn't ask any more questions.

Zelena nodded. "So she is actually alive? Why did you tell everyone she is dead? Why is she in that tower?" She continued to ask. She had just so many questions right now.

The older woman sighed. She knew she couldn't lie to Zelena but she also couldn't tell her the truth. She needed to go about this delicate matter very carefully. "I keep her in the tower to protect her from the outside world. Bad people tried to take her from me when she was born and so I had no other choice but to keep her away from everyone. Even my own family." She explained to her niece and tears gathered in her eyes.

Zelena listened carefully to her aunt and sighed. "But Father could have helped you to protect her. Can I meet her?" She asked. She was really curious about this girl and wanted to meet her cousin.

Sighing, Cora nodded slowly. "Fine. I'm about to go visit her so you can come with me. But your father can't know about any of this. And neither can your sister Snow. " she told her niece and stood up to grab her cloak.

Zelena frowned a little. She really didn't understand why this was such a big secret but she decided to go along with it for now. She nodded and went to get her cloak too and rode with her mother to the tower.

Cora tied the horses to a tree and walked over to the tower with Zelena. She looked around to make sure no one was watching this time since she couldn't risk anyone else finding out about Regina. "Regina! Let down your hair!" She called out to her daughter and waited for the long braid to drop down. She instructed Zelena to climb the hair and followed after.

Zelena was very unsure about this as she guessed that must hurt Regina to pull a whole human up with her own hair but she did what her aunt told her.

Regina frowned when suddenly a girl entered the tower along with her mother. "Mother?" The young brunette asked confused and unsure as she had never met anyone beside her mother.

"Hello, my darling. This is Zelena. Your cousin. You know, I have told you about her before." Cora reminded her and gave her a short hug and stroked Regina's hair carefully.

"Oh yes, princess Zelena" Regina said softly and did a small courtsey and looked at Zelena.

The young princess was actually shocked when she saw Regina. She was beautiful but didn't look like Cora at all. She actually noticed a great resemblance between Regina and her own mother Eva and her older sister Snow. She actually never met her mother because she died when she was born but she had seen portraits of her and the resemblance was truly uncanny. She needed more answers from Cora. She detected there was much more to the story than Cora revealed to her so far. "There is no need to bow, Regina. We are family. " she said softly and smiled at the brunette.

She seemed really nice and Zelena couldn't understand how her aunt could have her cousin locked up in that tower for so long. The tower really didn't look like a home. It was so bare and just overall looked like a prison. She felt really bad for Regina.

Regina nodded slowly and played slightly with her long braid. "Would you like some tea?" She asked since her mother usually had tea when she visited the tower.

"Of course, dear. Like usual. " Cora said and took her cloak off and went to sit down in front of the fireplace.

Regina nodded slowly and went to get the tea, preparing it just the way her mother liked it.

Zelena frowned. Regina seemed so shy and very submissive, almost as if she were scared of Cora. She had to find out more about Regina. She needed to get to know her. The princess went to sit next to her aunt and looked around the tower some more and noticed some paintings and sketches hanging on one wall. So Regina liked to paint. From what she saw Regina seemed very talented.

Regina soon served the tea to Cora and Zelena and sat down on a small chair next to her mother and began to chat with Zelena. She was so curious since she never met anyone besides Cora. She hoped her and Zelena could be friends.