Forest of Fireflies

Chapter 83

(Regina's POV)

The tears in my eyes became sharper than shards of broken glass. As I pulled Daniella in, I murmured over and over again, "I'm so sorry, Mama's so sorry." I turned her towards me and shattered once more as I surveyed the bruises on her neck. Although I had hovered my hand over those purple patches, making them successfully disappear, the guilt continued to sit heavily in my abdomen. I had hurt her. I had hurt my little girl.

My hands shook as I cupped Daniella's face. She tried to shrug away but I gripped her with the slightest of force and looked into her eyes. I whispered, "You have to trust me, for real this time. I didn't mean to do that. I'd never ever harm you, firefly. What just happened...that was not me. I love you and I'd never watch you suffer. Mama's so sorry, I really am."

She swallowed but gave me a little nod. I released her face and sobbing in disgust at my own behaviour. How could I have ever mistaken her for Snow? The answer rested uncomfortably in my mind but I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to think about how perhaps I'm the Evil Queen and nothing more.

I breathed in my daughter's sweet scented hair and held her closer, not wanting to let go. She has every reason to lose faith in me, and with my control over the kingdom balancing on a thin wire as well as Daniel leaving me this morning, I cannot afford to lose her. I moved my hands slightly and came across something hard and leathery on her arm. I touched it and as we parted, I looked down. I tugged her arm forth and saw one of those pesky magic restraining cuffs. I frowned worriedly whilst asking, "Who put this on you?"

She replied in a raspy breath, "Snow's guards."

"What did they do to you?!" I breathed angrily.

Before she could reply, the guard who had pushed me over approached us and said, "Your Majesty, if I may intervene...I was meaning to convey the incident to you."

I looked up with a newfound annoyance. "What do you mean, you were meaning to? Does this not concern my daughter-"

"Please...you had ordered that no one disturb you upon your return last night."

My mouth dried up. Indeed I had. My cheeks grew hot so in order to conceal my own mistake, I spat, "In the future, anything that relates to my daughter has to be reported to me immediately. But no matter for now. Continue. Why does she have this cuff on her?"

I waved my hand over the leather band and after removing it, burned it ferociously with a fireball. The guard replied, "Her highness found herself in a meeting between Snow White and her loyal circle. According to the princess, they didn't want her there, but she resisted. Consequently, two of Snow's guards took her out forcefully. Another black guard and myself were walking along the hallway when we saw those two bastards handle her highness without respect. We came forth and they left her in our care. I took her to Yvette afterwards."

I looked up at the guard after a moment and stated, "Go and notify every guard and knight loyal to me. We shall meet in the war room in ten minutes. Make sure that no one else is allowed access, not even to the hallway to leads to the room."

The guard nodded before walking off. I sighed and turned back to Daniella who was breathing heavily beside me. I pressed my forehead against hers and whispered, "If I ever do that again, you'd fight me back with your magic won't you?"

She looked uneasily at me so I gritted my teeth and prompted, "Promise me you will. If I...if I lose control again, don't worry about me. Make sure that you're safe, because that'll always be my priority, firefly."

My vision blurred as she nodded silently. Then, she leaned slowly into me, whispering, "I'm sorry that I kept asking. I shouldn't have-"

I silenced her gently with my finger. "No, you don't need to apologize for anything. This is Mama's fault, not yours. I'm going to explain everything in the war room." As I helped her up, I whispered, "First, I need to wipe the memory of every witness here. I'm afraid the unCharmings will use this incident against me if they found out what had happened."