Everything Has Changed

Chapter 14 - Not Ready To Make Nice

The king watched as they advanced on the castle at an alarming rate. For a rag-tag army, Regina's forces were something to be reckoned with. They covered the distance between the forest and the palace faster than he thought was humanly possible. He watched as his wife and daughter rode at the front of the group headed straight for the palace gates at a full on run.

From his window he couldn't see that the queen was using her magic to make her army seem more impressive than it actually was. She was speeding up their advances and had used a glamor spell to hide the fact that they didn't look battle ready at all. She was hoping that it wouldn't come to an actual fight, but everyone around her was gearing up for one as they rode.

"Regina!" She heard him cry out and turned over her shoulder to see him pointing straight ahead of them to where the gates of the castle were opening. She raised a hand to slow the entire party as the King and his soldiers came into view. They were still out of earshot of those waiting so she gave Robin a quick nod and he called out to her army. "Ready to arms! Prepare to fight!"

Regina turned to Snow, she could see the fear in the little girl's eyes, but to her surprise the young princess turned to her aunt, who was riding on her other side and nodded. Regina gasped when a bow and quiver appeared in her hands. The princess dropped her reins and strung the quiver over her shoulder. Riding only with her legs she notched and arrow and prepared for battle as well.

"Snow..."

She met her mother's eyes and though the fear still showed in them, her determination burned even brighter. "I will listen to you Mother, I promised you that, but I will fight next to you if you let me." Her green eyes came up to meet her mother's chocolate ones, and in that moment she saw the purple streaks flashing through them again. "You're ready Mom. We all are. Let's do this!"

Regina nodded and summoned her magic into her right hand, continuing to hold on to her horse with her left. "Alright," she magically amplified her voice so that everyone behind her, and all of Leopold's forces in front of her would hear, "Leopold!" She saw the king look up at the sound of her voice, but she kept talking. "We are returning to the palace of our own free will, but you should know that we will not be doing so under your control. You have been the controlling force in our marriage for far too long, and I won't be subjected to it any longer. Nor will I force our daughter to be." She paused as they rode a little closer so that the King could see that Snow was riding flush with her mother, and they were both harboring their weapon of choice.

"As you can see my dear, we are willing to take this kingdom from you by force if that is what it takes, but I truly don't want it to come to that. No one else needs to get hurt because of you and I." She halted her horse an arrows distance from the palace walls and raised a hand to halt those advancing behind her. "What do you say my dear? Can we settle this peacefully, or must I take your crown by force?"

The king looked furious, he was turning red and she could see that he was yelling at the herald riding beside him. When the horn blasted she knew she had no choice in the matter, and with a flash of her hand her forces raced around her to attack.

Over the clamor of the fight her voice could be heard, still magically amplified as she marched through her forces, helping wherever she could. "If anyone within the palace chooses to side with the Princess Snow White and myself they are free to do so. We only ask that you turn and fight with us now!" To her surprise a good number of the King's White Knights turned and pointed their swords in the direction that they had just come from. Choosing the strong, bright Queen over the brooding and dark King they had been serving since their return.

The battle raged on around them, but the small party of four that had led the army through the woods was advancing on the palace gates alone. They were headed straight for the King. When they got close enough to him all four of their black stallions came to a halt in a straight line. Two archers and two powerful sorceresses were too much for the King to take. He turned and rode back inside the palace walls.