205An update!
Felt inspired to write this particularly after a guest review asking for an update in celebration of the SQ win on Zimbio, so here we go...2 months later!
Emma tried to struggle against the guards, but they were particularly strong. They carried her down sparsely lit halls until she was thrown none-too-gently in a cell in the dungeon she had first spent the night in this castle.
The door clanged shut and soon enough, she was left alone to wonder if she was truly in for it.
Sidney Glass considered himself to be a capable and competent man. He kept the castle running smoothly and its workers in line so they wouldn't misbehave.
He had learned his trade from the best: Horace Glass - his father.
Horace was a commemorated and well-known Chamberlain who was often tasked with travelling to nearby kingdoms to train new Chamberlains.
But while he taught plenty, he didn't share all of his tricks. The only one who got that privilege was Sidney himself.
"Castles are an utter disaster to run. The monarchs don't much care for your methods, just as long as you get it done. That's why they have Chamberlains, so they don't have to do the dirty work themselves."
And Sidney used each morsel of knowledge to shape this castle to his image.
"But you can't start off doing whatever you please right from the start," Horace had once taught him. "No, first you have to build confidence to show you can handle the job with minimal supervision, and then you can do what you wish without being is when you will begin to feel like you are the true king of the castle."
And that is what Sidney had done. He had been brought in to the Evil Queen's castle when the reigning monarch had just claimed a new kingdom for herself after her banishment from the White Kingdom, and he had built a trust between him and the feared queen. One that, in his mind, had grown into something deeper.
But he was still a Chamberlain first, and he cultivated that trust.
Then, he began to do what he thought best. Like raising the price for freedom to keep his workers rather than having to pay for new ones - which was ultimately more expensive.
But with the arrival of the Queen's handmaiden, any and all training was ultimately useless.
She had his beloved Queen under a spell, he was sure of it. Nothing else would explain how all his tactics as a Chamberlain were failing him. Of course, he knew Jones would pocket the workers' money, but Sidney didn't mind, it kept them from buying their freedom.
But the Queen had never been aware of these things. Until that wretched handmaiden had appeared. He was sorely regretting having insisted on bringing her here after all that had happened.
And of course, the Queen would never believe him. So drastic measures had to be taken.
After what felt like hours, the door to the dungeon opened, and Emma saw the Chamberlain enter. He looked like crap, and she cringed at his bruising.
"Oh don't look so horrified. You did this to me," Sidney said, pointing to himself.
Emma shook her head profusely. "I never touched you."
Sidney let out a low chuckle. "Funny. I remember distinctly that I had demanded answers for all the madness you caused, and in retaliation, you punched me in the face and kicked me in the shins. And while I was dazed, you pushed me back causing me to stumble and crash against a table. You tried to run away, but my guards caught you. And that's when I pieced it all together. You are a spy sent in from the White kingdom in order to gain vital information and dismantle the Dark Kingdom."
By the end of Sidney's story, Emma was shocked into silence.
"And you are going to corroborate that story, unless you want things to get worse," Sidney continued.
Emma gulped and blinked. "Worse?"
"Why yes. See, right now, I'm going to make you spend the month in the dungeon. Once that time is up, I'll be sending you back to Silas. He can deal with you then. But otherwise, you will spend the rest of your miserable existence here. You can decide."
He turned around without another word, and Emma was once again in the darkness.
Regina looked up from her book when Sidney stumbled into her room without the slightest consideration to knock.
"You insolent-!" She paused when she saw that Sidney was in a terrible shape. "What the hell happened to you?"
Sidney grunted, trying to use the door frame to keep him upright. "Your handmaiden did."
That seemed highly unlikely in Regina's mind. "My handmaiden beat you into a pulp? I don't know whether to be shocked or embarrassed."
Frowning, Sidney looked up. "What do you mean? My Queen?" He tacked her title as an afterthought.
Regina put her book aside and stood up, glancing at his bruised face and torn clothes. "You mean to tell me a mere handmaiden bested you so easily? Either she is the most powerful person I've met, or something's not right."
"I swear it, my Queen! I-I was sensing something was off with how things had gone with Jones, and his hand being cut off and all that, so I found your handmaiden and began to question her...well, suffice it to say, she didn't take kindly to being found out - she's an Alliance spy. So she attacked me! Thankfully, my men were able to apprehend her."
"You mean my men, correct?" Regina clarified, face stoic.
Sidney managed a slight grimace. "Yes, of course, my Queen. Slip of the tongue."
Regina gave a small nod. "Take me to her."
"Now?" Sidney asked.
"Yes. If she is an Alliance spy, I will make her rue it." With that, Regina pushed past Sidney, and made her way to the dungeons.
Once the door banged open, Emma looked up to see a furious Regina, and Emma gulped.
With a flick of her wrist, Regina had Emma's cell door opened. She stepped in to stand in the middle of the room, and Sidney came to stand on her right.
"Stand up," Regina ordered, and Emma rushed to comply.
"Did you attack him?" Regina asked, gesturing to Sidney.
Looking at Sidney right in the eyes as if actively challenging him, she said, "No."
Regina hummed, and then asked, "Are you a spy?"
Now, Emma looked at Regina and repeated, "No."
"Care to explain this?" Regina asked, turning to Sidney.
Sidney looked furious as he thundered, "She's lying!"
Regina looked up and down at Emma before facing Sidney again. "Take your sword out."
Both Emma and Sidney were terrified of those words, but for entirely different reasons, and as Sidney did as he was ordered, the air was tense. Emma wasn't even sure she was breathing.
Regina inspected the sword that Sidney held. "Pray tell. If your sword works so well, why wouldn't you have used it to defend yourself?"
Sidney spluttered and put his sword back in its scabbard. "Don't tell me you actually believe her?"
Regina stayed impassive as she said, "Here's what I see. I see my Chamberlain beaten to a pulp with a gleaming sword that looks like it has never seen a day of battle, and a handmaiden who, apart from looking a bit worse from wear from some rough treatment by the guards, doesn't seem like she was in any sort of scuffle. So yes, I am inclined to believe her."
"You cannot! I refuse to believe she can still have you under her clutches!" Sidney yelled out.
Time seemed to slow down then. Sidney began to advance, hands curling into fists. Whether he was advancing towards Regina or Emma was unknown, but Emma felt the need to move, and she hunkered down and went straight for Sidney's sword, ripping it out of the scabbard and then facing him, sword poised and ready.
Sidney scoffed. "Now do you believe me, my Queen? Look at what she is doing!"
Regina took a few moments to assess the scene. Yes, Emma was wielding a sword, but her entire poise showed that she was aiming her wrath at Sidney. She walked around to stand to the side, between Emma and Sidney, like she was a spectator watching a friendly joust.
"Why are you holding a sword, Emma?" Regina chose to actively ignore Sidney's look of indignation at such a casual manner of addressing her handmaiden.
"Because I will not be taken advantage of. He wants me to lie or risk getting sent back to Silas. I don't care for the consequences, but I will not lie. I am not a spy, and I will not apologize for defending and helping a friend," Emma's didn't break eye contact with Sidney as she said that. Regina could tell Emma's words rang true and determined. She wasn't going down without a good fight.
But Regina saw that there was no need for bloodshed. "Please put the sword down, Emma."
Emma chanced a glance at Regina, and began relaxing her hold on the sword.
Sidney seized at the opportunity, wrenching the sword from her hands by grabbing on to the blade. He hissed as his sword sliced his palms, due to Emma's tightening grip on the sword again.
"You witch! I will have you hanged for this!" Sidney bellowed, trying to pull the sword towards him.
Emma grunted. She pulled on the sword.
"Enough!" With a wave of her hand, Regina made the sword disappear from their tussle, and into her hand. The blade was bloody and the monarch was just staring at the two people in front of her, both of whom fell back at the disappearance of the sword, landing on their backs.
Without wasting a beat, Sidney scrambled up and tried to rush at Emma, bloody hands and all, until a swift sword move by the Queen stopped him.
Stopping seconds before contacting his throat, Regina aimed the edge of the sword with an expertise that promised that she had everything under control. "Cease this madness otherwise I will finish spilling your blood with this sword myself."
Sidney gulped and nodded slowly, feeling some of the hair on his beard scratch against the blade.
Emma slowly got up meanwhile.
Once Regina saw that no one would be killing in that immediate moment, Regina pulled the sword away from Sidney's throat. "Guards!"
Two guards who had been standing outside the room, both scared and curious as to what could have been happening inside, slowly made their way into the dungeons.
"Please arrest the chamberlain and take him to the cell over there," Regina ordered.
"No!" Sidney screamed, before being apprehended and taken to an adjacent cell.
The door clanged with an air of finality, and Sidney was livid. "You will rue this decision," he screamed at Emma. "I will make you pay!"
Regina just sighed, and with a comforting hand on Emma's shoulder, she magicked them both away from the dungeons.
Shorter-ish chapter, but at least Sidney's out of the way!...for now.
Anyway! I'm writing a fic for the SQ Supernova, and once I finish with it, I'm planning on a sprint of updates for Her Stable Girl!
Love to hear your thoughts, as always!