Regina's Queen - OUAT Fanfic

CHAPTER THREE

With a groan, Regina stirred. She disentangled her arms from the covers, trying to shield her eyes from the sunlight streaming through the window. It had taken a long time to cry herself to sleep once she had begun, and she was feeling the aftermath this morning. She felt drained, exhausted, and she wasn't ready to wake just yet. Squeezing her eyes more tightly shut, she tried stubbornly to go back to sleep, but the bright rays of sunshine caressed her face, urging her to consciousness. 

The sunshine... She bolted upright, flinging the covers away in alarm.

The curtains! The window! Both were wide open! 

Not even pausing for her slippers, she flew out of the bed to the aperture, reaching out to touch the drapes in disbelief. Her fingers made contact with fabric, and magic sang through her veins. She snatched back her hand with a gasp. Her protection spell was still there, but it was not the same. Somehow, it was amplified, and there was a second signature of magic underlying her own. She pressed her fist to her chest, unnerved by the steady hum of unknown power. 

Someone, or something, had been in the room with her. A flicker of alarm passed over her fine features. It wasn't possible - no one could have tampered with her spell. Her unease grew; she was breathing too fast, she realised. She took a deep breath to settle herself, and fresh air filled her lungs. It was sweet and clear, but not crisp with the energy of a bright autumn morning, as it should be. Instead, it brought night-sweet scents of honeysuckle and apple blossom, as though the breeze gently bore their fragrances beneath the cool light of a full moon.

  "What the hell is going on?" she cursed. 

She swung away from the window and snatched her phone up off the nightstand. She punched at the keys, and it rang for a long, tense moment.

  "Did you die in your sleep?" she snapped when Emma answered at last.

  "Regina," Emma slurred, her voice thick and sleepy. "Do you know how early it is?"

  "There's been a break-in," Regina said brusquely, ignoring the question.

  "Wh-at?" Emma said, failing to stifle a yawn. "Where?"

  "My house," Regina said. She added softly, "My... room."

  "What!" Emma exclaimed, fully alert at last. There was a flurry of movement on her end of the line.

  "Regina, what happened?"

  "Just get here. Bring Gold."

Regina hung up, denying Emma the opportunity to ply her with more irrelevant questions. She stifled a shiver as she glanced back at the window, somehow flung wide to let in the sea breeze. She took a moment to gather her wits, then pointedly turned her back on it to see about getting dressed.

Half an hour later, there was a knock at the door. Regina, artfully attired in a tailored sapphire-blue and black pant-suit, swept through the hall to admit her visitors.

  "It's about time you got here," she shot at them before the door was even fully open.

  "Pleasure to see you too, dearie," Gold's voice mocked her.

Emma rolled her eyes, foregoing a greeting altogether, and gestured for Regina to step aside and let them in.

  "What happened?" Emma asked as they ascended the staircase and entered the room in question.

  "I have no idea," Regina snapped. "That's why I called you. I woke up this morning and the curtains and window were wide open."

She gestured heatedly toward the guilty fixtures, and Emma raised an eyebrow.