Prologue
True Love Survives

Cora had taken Daniel from Regina, unaware that True Love had found a way to survive her Evil but more importantly, that he had left a part of himself behind to help fight against it in the future.

Love is a weakness... but more often than not, it's a strength.

And Regina needed all of the strength she could muster to stop her mother from hurting her again, so she had asked the Dark One to teach her how to wield enough magic and power to keep herself and her father, Henry, safe from harm. To protect what was left of her family.

FAIRY TALE LAND
The Enchanted Forest

About three weeks into her marriage to King Leopold, Regina had began to feel unwell and was tired a lot of the time.

In her mind, it couldn't be anything other than the devastating stress and heartbreak of watching her mother kill the love of her life, Daniel Colter. He had proposed to her (quite sweetly in the stables, of which he was the stable boy, on her family's estate) and they were to be married as soon as possible, in private, because Cora had already offered the teenage Regina's hand in marriage to the King of the Enchanted Forest.

Their King, whose wife Queen Eva (and the mother of his young daughter, Snow White) had unfortunately died so unexpectedly about a year and half earlier.

A man her mother knew only too well, as he had proposed to her many years before but it was to be a potential union unceremoniously thwarted by a surprise pregnancy to the future Kings gardener, Jonathan, and Cora's desperate need to disappear until no-one could remember who she was; just a lowly miller's daughter.

Cora had always wanted to be more, to have unquestionable status (and power, over the inhabitants) in their land but if she couldn't be... then her daughter would. And she would do whatever she could to achieve that for Regina (the name she had chosen was aspirational to the extreme), maybe even kill for the opportunity to further the possibility of her desired objective.

Cora wanted Regina on a throne; so she could live out her fantasy, of being a Queen to as many adoring realms-folk as possible, vicariously through her.

Regina was finding it difficult to keep food down and was constantly on the verge of being sick, not that the distracted and naïve King Leopold would ever notice, what with his precious Snow around to monopolize all his attention. Regina didn't care, of course. She was too busy learning magic from the Dark One so she could stop her mother, Cora, from ruining the rest of her life.

Rumplestiltskin suddenly appeared in a swirl of black smoke, as he does, shocking the hell out of Regina in the process.

She was relaxing on her purple chaise lounge, after a particularly unwelcome bout of sickness.

Snow had heard her through the door and asked her father what was wrong with her new mother, hoping she wasn't about to die too, which prompted the King to call for the Palace doctor to check in on his young wife. Regina had told the wrinkly old man that she was fine and to tell the Leopold the same.

Regina had just sighed a breath of relief as the Doctor left without getting close enough to examine her. She couldn't ever remember being ill in her entire life, and wondered if that was because of her mother and some spell or just good fortune on her part. She closed her eyes, briefly, at the horrible thought and then looked over at the Dark One.

Rumple was casually but increasingly unnervingly strolling towards her... the expression on his ugly, envious face changing to one of confusion. He had detected a change in the air, something that had escaped his knowledge when he was here for their first lesson together, just four nights ago.

"I'm grateful you're finally here, Dark One"

"Something is wrong!? Tell me!" Rumple immediately demanded, barely able to control his growing anger.

The Dark Ones eyes were suddenly characteristically dark, curious and calculating and there was a slight mischievous smile pulling at the corners of his wicked mouth. It frightened Regina but she wouldn't let it be known to him. She worried that he could use that deep rooted fear against her if he wanted to, if it struck his fancy. Rumplestilskin was flighty and dangerous, that's why Cora had never wanted her to know about him but Regina was industrious and had found her mother's grimoire one day, not too long ago. In fact, it was just before Daniel had died. It was a curiosity from her mother's past then but quickly became a source of hope, for Regina, that she might be able to keep herself from being a pawn in Cora's twisted games.

"It's nothing. Please, let's continue with my training..." Regina said, holding her ground and fear at bay "I think I've really figured out the cloak-" she continued, while rising from her comfortable spot on the sofa by the roaring fireplace.

"No no, you're different..." Rumple waved a hand over her stomach with his usual over the top flourish "I can't see... what it is. Oh! Well, this is a twist I didn't see coming"

Regina pushed his intrusive thin leather clad arm away, walked over to her antique dressing table and sat down, watching him through the mirror as he paced around her impressive and palatial bedroom. She and the King weren't sharing a bed, it was a surprisingly mutual decision that was made the day Regina moved in three days before their wedding.

"What are you talking about?"

"There's..." Rumple mused, quietly, to himself "a child"

"Excuse me? That's impossible! I... I've only had" Regina stammered, embarrassed and unsure if she had heard the Dark Ones mumbling correctly.

"Trust me, dearie, sometimes it only takes the once!"

It finally dawned on her what this mysterious illness was. She was nineteen years old, and had only had sex... the once, with Daniel. She was pregnant and now completely terrified that her (and this miraculous child's) life would be over if someone found out.