Chapter Text
Regina kept her eyes trained on her teacher, ready to move her rapier and dagger to block his next move. Daniel, for his part, underestimated her - as he always did - and moved forward with his rapier to jab her, aiming for her chest, but she swerved backwards, using her dagger to lock his rapier in place, and pushed her own rapier to his throat.
“Looks like I win yet again,” Regina said, all smiles. The midday sun was beating down both of their backs, the exertion making their chests heave to take in big gulps of air.
Daniel laughed, darting his eyes to look to the door at the newcomer. “Yes, and if my eyes don’t deceive me, it will be for the last time.”
Regina whipped around to look towards the entrance of the courtyard, where her handmaiden Marian stood, a letter in her hand. Regina’s smile grew wider and more vibrant if possible. Her father was at long last coming to bring her back to America, after she spent nearly a decade in Spain to get properly educated. Of course, fencing was definitely not part of the curriculum, but Regina thought herself a modern woman, and what her father didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.
As Regina made her way to the other woman, her smile began to fade. Marian, who had been as excited to return as she was, now held the solemn face of someone who had bad news. She glanced at the letter in Marian’s hand once again, and saw that it was open. If Regina had been a traditional aristocratic woman, she would have scorned her handmaiden for reading her letters without permission. But she would never do such a thing to someone she considered a friend, so as soon as she was close enough, she asked, worried, “Marian, what’s wrong?”
Marian began to open her mouth as if to explain, but then found that words failed her. She opted to just hand her lady the letter wordlessly. As Regina began to read, her heart sunk with each passing word.
Daniel, having noticed the mood change drastically in both his pupil and her handmaiden, approached the pair. “Everything alright?”
Regina turned to her teacher, tears in her eyes. “My father is dead.”
“What?” Daniel asked, shocked. “How?”
“He fell from his horse,” Regina said slowly, biting her lip to try to stop herself from crying. She could hardly believe what she was reading.
Marian looked at Regina with a pang of deep sorrow. For so many years, Marian cared for Regina as if she had been her own family. When she had left California with her charge, Don Henry Mills had made Marian promise to be there for his daughter, no matter what. And she had followed that promise to the letter, never letting a single worry or fear stop Regina from becoming a fiercely independent woman, who knew right from wrong, and was kind to everyone, no matter their station in life.
And now, to see Regina so broken up about this, it made Marian want to curse the world and the fates for robbing her charge of the chance to see her father again.
“What are you going to do?” Daniel asked.
Regina sighed, glancing at the letter again. “I don’t have much of an option. I need to go to California, and resolve my father’s estate. It says here my presence is requested for ‘delicate matters’. I wonder what that could be about?”
“Most likely to finalize everything, burial matters, and the like,” Daniel said, shrugging. “I would offer to go along, but I have matters to attend to here, nor would my family be very receptive to the idea.”
Regina nodded. “It’s not a problem, you’ve already done more than enough.”
Daniel nodded and led the pair out. “If there is anything else I can do, please write to me.”
Marian could tell that Regina wanted to say her final goodbyes privately, so she murmured a quick excuse and walked to the carriage, letting them speak, not that she was worried. Daniel had a handsome and boyish charm about him, and if Regina and Daniel’s romantic preferences lied elsewhere, they might have been attracted to one another. As it was, Daniel was very happily married to his husband, and both he and Regina were content to just be friends as teacher and pupil.
As she sat in the carriage, she grabbed a stack of tarot cards and shuffled them. As she saw Regina make her way to the carriage, she pulled out three cards. The first two cards were understandable, speaking of great change and sorrow. As Regina entered the carriage, Marian took a look at the third card - the Queen of Swords, and she frowned.
“Everything alright Marian?” Regina asked, looking at her friend.
“Yes, it’s nothing.” Marian quickly put the cards back in and put them away. She didn’t generally lie to Regina, and the latter could tell that Marian wasn’t being entirely truthful, but she was too tired to press, and for that Marian was thankful.
The Queen of Swords generally spoke of vengeance, and justice. But she couldn’t understand what this had to do with Regina. Don Henry had died of natural causes, as the letter stated, so what was the injustice? Could it be…?
No, there was no reason to think like that, Marian was sure that there was nothing more to the matter.
Nonetheless, there were far too many questions, and Regina didn’t need to be further worried. So Marian settled back in her seat and let the driver take them back to the house to grab their bags in preparation for their trip.