The Secret

2

   Cora sat in Regina's mayor office, spinning in the chair. She really wanted to surprise Regina, no matter the reaction. Yes, Cora has always been tough on Regina, but its always been for good cause. Right? I mean, she got her to be queen. However, to do that she had to trick Snow into telling her about Regina's secret love Daniel. In return, Cora killed Daniel. But it was all in Regina's best interest. If Cora had let Regina be with Daniel, she would have been married to a stable boy. There's no power in that. She knew Regina had been and was, much happier as a queen. Atleast, that was what she had originally thought. Through the years however, Cora had seen Regina's actions as queen and the broken emotion in her eyes. Her aurora was always filled with devastation. Yet none of that should have mattered to Regina, because she had power. Yet, maybe power didn't matter to as much to Regina as it did to Cora. All these thought were going to through Cora's head. They were driving her insane! She really didn't know what to process anymore. That's when she heard the door open. Cora sat up straighter, not wanting Regina to see her doubt herself. She needed Regina to trust her, she needed her daughter back.

   "Hello Regina" Cora said fake smiling as she slowly turned the chair around to face the door. However, it wasn't Regina standing at the door, it was some one Cora hated with a severe passion that still burned inside her like a never ending torch. Snow White.

Snow stared at Cora, unable to form words. She had to be hallucinating, this couldn't possibly be real. Right?

"It's not my daughter," Cora said with surprise making her way towards to Mary Margret.

"How?" Mary Margret asked, not able to forge any more than one word, it took all of courage just to say that. She didn't want to show it, but she was scared for her life. Her body was shaking with fright, her bones felt as if they were going to crumble to dust.

"Oh, you're shaking. I guess it is drafty in here," Cora said pretending to shiver herself. She knew full well why Mary Margret was shaking, and it made her fill with joy! "As for the other part, I find it's better not to ask any questions," Cora said putting on her signature smirk.

"Answer me, how are you alive?" Mary Margret said gathering all her courage. "I-I killed you," she said her courage quickly faded into an invisible nothingness. Crap, she shouldn't have said that. Even before she knew what Cora was truly like, Mary Margret was terrified of her. Cora always carried this aurora of power and leadership, that could send shivers down anyone's spine.

"Oh, I remember quite vividly," Cora said chuckling. Snow stood up straighter, she wasn't that scared little girl anymore. She had to stay strong.

"I gave you your heart back, shouldn't you be good, or atleast not evil?" she asked squinting her eyes at Cora. When Snow had killed her, she did it indirectly. She had use a two sided candle that was filled with dark magic. Cora always kept her heart outside of her body and inside her family's vault, because Cora thought that love is weakness.  So Snow found the heart, and used the candle to curse it. She then used Regina's life time dream of wanting to finallh be accepted by her mother, to trick her into placing the heart inside Cora's body. This action took Rumples life ending injuries of poison, and placed them into Cora. Rumple lived, but Cora died. In Snow's defense, all she was doing was protecting her family because Cora was threatening it. She doesn't use that as an excuse though, she regrets killing Cora and she thinks about it often with immense grief. Snow wasn't like that, she had talked herself into believing that the only way to defeat evil, is to use evil as well.

"Yes, you did, and I can actually love and feel now. That's why want my daughter back. However, having that ability doesn't mean you are automatically good. I wouldn't necessarily say I'm evil, but I'm willing to take whatever measures I need to get my daughter back. Something you should understand, or even admire," Cora said with fake consideration. Her hands were folded behind her back. Cora also carried a regal air around her, one that screamed royalty.