Her Glass Heart [SwanQueen]

Chapter Four: August 30, 2017 - Regina

"You can go see him now, Princess Regina. But remember, he is very ill, and his mind isn't fully present," The empathetic guard gave her a soft sad smile, his eyes full of heartbreak for the princess. "I just want you to be prepared for what you may see."

Regina nodded, understanding. She may have only been 26 years old, but she was wise beyond her years. The guards and the rest of the southern realm looked up to her with the utmost respect, knowing that with the king's illness worsening with time, no longer receptive to medication, Regina would soon step up to become their queen — a title for which she had proven herself to be rightfully fit.

Regina pushed open the heavy doors to her father's bedroom and made her way to his bedside, kneeling beside him as she held her breath, painfully unable to speak just yet.

She found her words at last. "Daddy, can you hear me?"

She was met with silence for a moment but tried again.

"Daddy? Please. I need to hear you one more time," A stray tear escaped as she plead, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

The now frail king stirred, turning his head slowly to look right up at his beautiful young daughter. "Regina," he choked.

Regina leaned her head against his, "Daddy, I need to say goodbye before you go. I know you don't feel strong enough right now, but I need you to be, just for a little longer. Just for me. There's something I need to tell you."

"Regina, there's something you need to know," Henry muttered, interrupting his daughter's confession, but choking once again.

"What is it?"

"Your - your heart. It is made of glass," he began.

"Yes, I know, Daddy. The sorcerer turned it to glass to save me. Save your strength, let me talk."

"No — you need to hear this," he cut her off and she remained silent, listening intently.

"The man told me -" he took a breath. "He told me that your glass heart has a side effect. You - you need to know. You won't be able to... you aren't capable of love." He coughed again.

Regina retreated, her eyes wide. "No, Daddy. That's simply not true. I do know how to love. I love you, and very much so. I always have." What he was claiming was ridiculous, the product of a brain addled with sickness.

The king looked up at her weakly, his brow furrowing in agony. Regina blinked a few times, her bottom lip quivering. Was her father's illness making him delusional? Or was this the truth?

She began thinking back on her life, realizing the way she felt toward her father when she was a young girl was a different feeling from what it had been for the past ten years. But she had always assumed it was a natural consequence to growing up, to loving her father just a little bit differently as an adult than with the childlike adoration and reverence she used to hold for him.

"And I love you, too. You're going to make a beautiful and strong queen. I wish I could be here to witness it." He reached up to graze her cheek, but his hand fell quickly when he grew too weak.

Regina's tears began to fall again, and she didn't bother to wipe them away. Suddenly, everything became a haze around her as her vision blurred and her mind raced. Had she really never experienced the feeling of love? Was her glass heart a curse rather than the miracle she had always deemed it to be? Maybe it was true, that the way she felt now toward her father was just intense admiration and dependency, but not love. Suddenly, she realized nothing made sense. And she wasn't sure it ever would again.

"No. No. I don't believe that. I know I love you," Regina fought back, suddenly sharpening her tone.

"I hope that to be true, darling. I'm just passing along what the sorcerer told me," his voice was cracking with each word that escaped his lips.

"Daddy, I have something I never told you. I didn't want you to fear me." Regina paused and let out a breath so deep, it expelled any fear holding her back from what she was about to say. She was an idiot for thinking her father could ever judge or fear her for what she was capable of, and a pang in her chest made her realize she should have told him her secret sooner.

"I have magic."

The king blinked once, but his expression didn't change. In fact, Regina thought for a moment that he was frozen. Perhaps out of shock or sudden fear toward his daughter.

"Daddy, did you hear me? I have magic. I can control glass..."

Henry's lips curled up ever so slightly into an eternally soft smile, but Regina would never know her father's reaction to her confession.

"Daddy? Daddy? Father, no!" With hot tears spilling quickly out of her eyes and down her cheeks, she opened her mouth to scream. "Someone please! Help!"

Within seconds, the guards rushed in through the double doors, the castle doctor pushing his way to the front in seconds to reach the king.

Regina froze, her body in shock as she stared at her now lifeless father. All she could feel now was a sense of confusion. She still had so many questions she had yet to uncover, about her magic and about what to do next, but now she was left with even more...