The Shadow of a Swan

Part 6

    Two months later...

    After the tiring negotiations about the solution of the people's problems inhabiting the kingdom, she reached her room and closing the door behind her, leaning her back against it and throwing her head back, she released all the tension that had accumulated in her body, which she had not even noticed until now... and sighing, she closed her eyes and gradually slid to the floor. She hugged her knees with both hands, pressing her legs to her chest and lowering her head into her own arms, trying to relax and get rid of the daily burden that lay on her soul and shoulders, forgetting herself in this calm moment of silence and solitude. 
    Since they arrived in the kingdom, being the only one who possessed magic here, Regina took upon herself the solution of the problems which required special intervention in order to repay the hospitality and help. Therefore, in her free time from vegetating in the library, looking for the necessary spell, she was engaged in what she called, in her own words, charity. Regina wasn't thrilled about it, because it was wasting precious time and most people were snobs and a pain in the ass, not to mention that after people spread the rumor throughout the kingdom about a witch who could solve any problem, it didn't take long for crowds of stupid onlookers with their so-called "problems" to make themselves known... for example, some came complaining that their chickens had stopped laying eggs because of an unknown monster that had settled in the forest, others, they say, had a ghost in their house... in the end it turned out that the chickens were only scared by a wolf that was wandering nearby, and a little thief was sneaking into the house at night... and there were plenty of such cases, which sometimes made Regina's blood boil and she could barely restrain her dark impulses, but she had no choice but to swallow it all in silence and move on, because people, as Mary Margaret said, and she was right, were a great source of information, thanks to their natural talkativeness... and here and there one could catch some rumors, but so far they have not helped to find Emma's final location... only some clues...
    Her temples were buzzing with pain and her head felt like it was ready to explode... She raised her head and her eyes showed how exhausted she was from everything that was happening... her gaze, tired from sleepless nights and constant immersion in reading spell books, wandered aimlessly around the room until one object caught her eye.
    Her eyes fell on something familiar and memories about it flashed in her mind...

    One month ago...

    It was early morning; it hadn't yet dawned, but Regina, as always, was avoiding sleep and got out of the bedroom, where Robin was already fast asleep and didn't notice how she left. Her disturbing thoughts, dreams and rebellious mind again haunted her... she walked along the dark corridors of the castle, knowing by that time where each of them led by heart ... her bare feet felt the cold emanating from the stone floors, that caused goosebumps ran over her skin... but it didn't bother her anyway... she just walked further down the halls. Heading towards the exit on her way, she finally met a ray of moonlight, that made its way through the cloudy sky and through a high, narrow stained glass of full wall length window. She sighed and looked with a longing sight on that view, and then turned away her gaze, stepped through the main doors into the fresh chilly air, which caressed herskin lightly . She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply , then headed towards the lake in the gardens near the castle... mild strokes of the grass tickled her feet... her hair, longer than usually and her nightgown were raised slightly in the air by the wind. She sat there on the bank of the pond and looked at ripples of water which mirrored the light of the moon. Regina leaned her back against the tree and just when she relaxed, her pupils began to dilate and her eyelids became heavy, she saw a shadow on the water which was becoming bigger and then she saw it... it was a swan... white, gorgeous bird that made her way to Regina. But she thought it was just a dream and when the vision went blurry she eventually closed her eyes... a small smile spread across her face before she fell asleep.