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Maleficent is in the middle of a very good chapter of the book she bought off a travelling peddler when she hears a noise best described as an “Eep!” She debates ignoring it entirely, but as Regina is the only other person in the castle, and not frightened easily, Mal decides it would better to go and find out what the issue is.
The sight which greets her upon entering the room which has been unofficially declared as ‘Regina’s’ has her staring in bemusement.
Regina is standing about three feet from her bed, up on the balls of her feet as if worried about too much contact with the floor and staring at the bed in... fear? What could be the problem?
“Did the bed startle you dear?” Mal asks, and Regina jumps about a foot in the air. Mal represses the urge to chuckle. This is a new Regina for her.
“It’s-There’s-“ Regina looks at her but then back toward the bed, wary. “There’s a spider.”
This time Mal does laugh, briefly, and Regina glares. “A spider.” A woman who can mix any number of potions and poisons, can hold fire (though weak) in the palm of her hand, who is training with Rumplestilskin himself... is worried over a spider. “Was it the size of your head?”
Regina looks at her, stung. “It was on the bed. It was very fast. I tried to squash it and it got away. Now it’s in my bedding, just waiting for me to fall asleep before it crawls all over me, bites me, and possibly lays eggs in my skin. So I’ll thank you not to make fun of me.”
That does it. Mal starts actually laughing, because really, the absurdity of this situation is stunning. Then again, so is Regina in her nightclothes, with her hair down and her face free of the paint she applies so carefully every day.
Affronted, Regina begins gathering the few belongings she’d brought with her, haphazardly shoving them back into her saddlebags. Oops.
That calms Mal quickly. “I apologise, Regina. I’ve just never heard of a spider doing the things you mentioned. They’re very timid creatures on the best of days.” Regina doesn’t answer, simply continues packing. Mal curses. “What if it ran into those saddlebags that you’re holding?” That gets a reaction; Regina fumbles and then drops them. Then she glares at the dragon.
“It’s in the bedding,” she says stiffly. “I saw it.”
Mal walks over, pulls back the covers, and inspects the sheets. She picks up the pillows and shakes them. No spiders in sight. She turns back to Regina but the other woman hasn’t budged from her spot. She’s actually quite pale, now that Mal looks at her from this angle with the light from a lamp on her face.
“Well, I don’t see it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still here somewhere. Would you rather sleep in my chambers tonight? There are wards on them to keep pests out.”
“Why don’t you just ward the entire castle then?” Regina asks, but almost immediately answers herself “Too much energy.”
Mal nods. “Besides, insects have their own way of keeping each other in check. I don’t worry about them save for in the kitchens and my sleeping chamber.”
“Can you teach me the wards? Tomorrow maybe?” Ever inquisitive, this young queen. She’d read all day long until her eyes and back ached from it if Mal let her.
Mal nods. “I can.” She walks back toward the door, guiding Regina with her with a hand at the small of her back.
*******
Later that night, when Mal has finished her chapter and extinguishes the lights (and after a small argument from Regina that she could sleep perfectly well on the divan in the room, despite the fact that it’s snowed twice in three days and she’d have been near a window) in the dark, and the quiet, Regina finally says “My mother told me that. About spiders doing things to you in your sleep. She felt that I wasn’t keeping my bedchambers as clean as they could be, so she told me an awful story about a girl who didn’t keep the spiders out and they laid eggs in her skin.”
Mal keeps quiet, swallows her rage at the idea that anyone could be so cruel to their young. For dragons, a hatchling is rare, and a gift, to be treasured and mentored and kept safe and warm. That someone hurt this intelligent, beautiful, courageous woman lying next to her is almost enough to make her want to find a way to Wonderland so she can have words with Cora. Possibly more than words.
“I know the spider is probably gone. But I’d have spent all night looking for it anyway.”
Maleficent shrugs slightly. “I don’t mind the company. Though if you snore in my ear I may light you on fire,” she threatens with a growl that doesn’t even manage to convince her, never mind Regina.
“Thank you,” Regina says softly, nearly asleep now.
“Sleep sweet Regina. No spiders will trouble you while I’m around.” It’s another hour listening to Regina’s deepening breathing (and yes, a few light snores) before Mal can find sleep herself. Before she does, she makes a promise to herself: Cora will pay for the things she has done to her daughter.