Once Upon A Time ~ Book 1

Chapter 61 - The Queen's Heart

Crowds gathered around the Great Hall in the King's palace.
"Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!" called a man from the crowds to the king.
Everyone cheered and clapped fir him at the throne in the room.
At the other side of the room. The Queen sat alone at a table. Watching the king and Snow. Sorrow filled her face.
"No gifts are required to mark this special day." said the King. "For they all pale in comparison to the greatest gift of all......." he drew his attention to Snow standing near by. He held our his hand. ".........My daughter, Snow."
Snow smiled and looked up at him. "Father!" she stood by the throne next to him. "Oh, father, you made me blush." she chuckled.
"Every day I look upon your face, and I am reminded of your dearly departed mother.........."
The Queen listened to every single word from a distance, taking it all to heart.
"..........Who, like you, truly was the fairest in all the land."
Snow smiled at her father.
The Queens eyes filled with tears as she felt the pain of being forgotten and invisible.
Snow put her arms around her father and hugged him and the crowds cheered and clapped again.
In the midst of the crowd the free Genie watched as he saw the Queen get to her feet and walked, slowly and silently away. Her arms folded and her head bent.

The Queen stood by her apple tree, gazing up into the dark blue sky, lit up by the full bright moon.
The Genie quietly walked towards her.
"Not in the festive mood?" said the Genie
The Queen jumped and looked around at him, surprised.
"No one seems to notice my absence." she chuckled sadly looking at him.
"I noticed."
The Queen said nothing, just thought deeply of his words.
"Such a lovely tree." he walked closed to get apple tree.
"Yes, it's from my childhood garden. Well, the tree and I shade something in common." she looked up at the tree. "Neither of us can leave the palace and neither of us truly belongs.......... No matter how hard I try to please the King, he will never loveme the way he loved his first wife........ I am trapped by the memory of a life they used to share."
"I know about being trapped more than anyone."
The Queen drew close attention to him.
"Maybe this will lift your spirits." He pulled a hand mirror from his satchel and handed it to her.
The Queen took it in her hands and gazed at the reflection.
"So you can see yourself the way I see you."
"And how do you see me?" she continued to gaze into the mirror.
"As the fairest in all the land."
The Queen held down the mirror and stared into the Genie's eyes.

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Emma sat in her apartment with Sidney, ruining through box's from the Hall of Records.
Emma leaved through some files. "When did that transfer go through? Does three weeks ago sound right?"
"Yeah. Why?" said Sidney.
"Because those records are missing."
The door opened and Mary Margaret walked inside. "Emma, there's something I'd like to talk to you......" she said quickly but stopped when she saw there was company. "Hi, Sidney." she closed the door.
"Hey, we're just doing some work." said Emma. "I think we may have found something on Regina."
"Interesting work....... Oh, I approve."
"You wanna go by the book? Let's get a warrant." said Sidney.
"And what judge are we going to find that she doesn't own. We're screwed."
"Or, there's my way."
"I want to do this right, Sidney."
"We, what's right is exposing her. Sometimes doing a bad thing for a good reason is okay, right?"
"Yeah." said Mary Margaret from the counter.
They both turned their heads to look at her.
"I mean, maybe you're doing something wrong but if it's what's meant to be, if it's what's right, does that really make you a bad person?"
Emma looked at Mary Margaret, suspiciously.
"Exactly." said Sidney.
"Oh, you two are doing a whole lot of rationalising." said Emma.
"Well, look what she's done to you. To me. To your son. I mean, she's not going to stop. So whatever you do, you got to do something."
"Okay.......... Let's start by talking to her."

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Emma and Sidney stood in front of the Mayors desk. Regina sat at her desk.
"And just what are you and the......disgrace ex-reporter accusing me of?" said Regina.
"Fifty thousand dollars was transferred out of the city account by you." said Emma.
"Well, as Mayor I'm involved in many transactions. Check the public records if you have questions."
"That's the thing. They're missing from three weeks ago. You have any idea what happened to them?"
"Well, if they're missing I properly checked them out as my job often requires me to do. And if they were checked out three weeks ago, well, that means they burned. In a fire. In a fire that, if I recall, got you elected sherif. I have nothing to hide."
Emma stepped forward and rested her hands on the edge of the desk, leaning towards her. Emma stared at her.
Regina stared at her back.
"Okay." sais Emma, finally. "There's nothing for us to do. Let's go, Sidney." she stood straight.
"Emma......." started Sidney.
"No, she's right." interrupted Emma. "We have nothing.
She walked out the door and Sidney followed.

"That was you're plan?" asked Sidney as they walked from the Town Hall. "I thought you were gonna do something."
"I did. I planted a bug." said Emma. "You win, Sidney. Let's do whatever it takes."

Regina sat in her office on her laptop, working. Below the mayors desk Emma had hidden a bug, that would pick up, everything.

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The Genie pushed a pair of double doors open and stepped into a room where the king sat by the fire, a book on his hands.
"You called for me, Your Majesty?" said the Genie walking towards him.
"I have reason to believe my wife's heart belongs to another man." said the King.
The Genie said nothing, guilty. "Well, certainly the Queen would never stray, Your Majesty." he said finally.
He smiled a little and stood up. He walked towards him. "And yet, her diary suggests otherwise." he held out the book, that was her diary.
The Genie took it and read the diary.
"Last night, a man gave me a gift. And though it was but a simple mirror, it awakened feelings in me that I abandoned long ago. Hope fo love, and companionship, even though I am trapped in my husbands court."
Once the Genie had finished reading, he let the book down and closed his eyes a little.
"Sadly, the diary does not name the man who gave her this mirror........ I am not a fool. I realise the Queen is unhappy and yearns for someone to love her the way that I never can. And yet I never imagined that she would betray me like this." sais the King.
"Well, certainly the Queen would never act on these feelings." he walked closer to the king.
"Love makes people do foolish things."
"And why hae you called upon me, Your Majesty?"
"I need someone with your wits to learn the identity of the man who has stolen my wife's heart."
"And what will you do ti him once I have found him?"
"That is my concern, not yours."
He bowed his head.
"Now, tell me, Genie......" he picked the mirror up from the table. ".........can you find the man who gave the Queen this mirror or not?"
He took the mirror and gazed into it as the King walked away.