Daughter of the Queen

One

Dani Mills hadn't been sure about a lot of things in a long time, definitely not after finding out her younger brother, Henry, was adopted. The two were two years apart, bar the couple months difference.

She didn't even know about herself, not really. When Henry had brought home the storybook, she had been skeptical at first, but now she was merely worried; he had brought his birth mother, Emma Swan, back to town.

Propping her chin up on her hand, she watched as her brother poured over the contents, flipping quickly throughout it.

"What is it?" questioned Dani, leaning forward to examine the page he had stopped at.

"You might want to take a look at this," said Henry quietly, scooting over to allow her access as she bent over the book, studying the image of the Evil Queen, the toddler hidden behind her skirts just barely visible.

Carefully, the twelve-year-old trailed her fingertips across the page. "I feel like I've seen this before...." She frowned.

"That's because you have."

Dani's brown eyes flickered up to meet Henry's hazel, and he looked completely serious. "What?"

"You lived it." He sounded absolutely certain. "You're the Evil Queen's daughter."

"And you're her son. So?"

"No, Emma is my real mom." He stubbornly clung to the idea. "She's the Savior. You're not adopted like I am—the Evil Queen is your birth mom. You got swept away in the curse like everyone else, you just have to remember!"

"I kind of figured she was my real mom, Hen." Dani rolled her eyes a little. After all, she was a spitting image of the woman, down to the dark hair, brown eyes, and porcelain skin. "But..." She stopped, feeling a jolt of electricity yet again, and was sucked into the abyss.

"Mommy?" whispered Dani, tugging on her mother's dress to gain her attention.

The normally frightening woman looked down and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, dear?" inquired Regina.

The eight-year-old ducked her head, black curls spilling over her face. "Will you go play with me?"

Regina lightly grabbed her daughter's chin and forced her to look into her mother's identical brown eyes. "I can't right now, Dani. I have some business to attend to." The girl knew better than to pout, so she bit her lip, averted her eyes, and nodded. "Now, how about you go find the Huntsman and play with him?"

The Evil Queen had taken the Huntsman's heart, and he would never dare harm a child. She trusted him far more with her daughter than the guards or servants.

Dani nodded again, voice small. "Yes, Mommy."

Dejectedly, she ambled off in search of her friend.

Dani gripped the edge of the bed tightly, eyes wide and unfocused.

"Dani?" said Henry, shaking her. Nothing happened, and he grew more frantic. "Dani!"

Dani had not really gone far to find the Huntsman before she had decided to see what "business" her mother was up to. She now stood outside her quarters, peering through the crack of the door.

"Tell me where she is," snarled Regina, taking a step toward a very frightened peasant man of whom two guards had hold of.

"I don't know!" squeaked the man. "I-I really don't, I haven't seen—"

"Wrong answer."

The witch slammed her hand into the man's chest and yanked out his heart, a terrifying expression on her face. She squeezed it to dust and he crumpled, while Dani looked on in horror. "Get rid of the body."