Emma groaned as a knocking noise invaded her sleep. After a minute it seemed to stop so she pulled up the covers and rolled onto her other side to cuddle up to the warm body next to her. She smiled when an arm came around her waist and she began to drift off when the noise came again. "Mmmm," she moaned in protest, hoping that would cause whatever it was to stop once and for all.
Beside her, Killian nuzzled into the space between her neck and shoulder, and pulled her closer as one of his bare legs slipped between hers. "Go back to sleep, love," he mumbled against her skin. "Tis nothing."
She sighed in agreement. She was perfectly content where she was and had no intention of getting up to investigate whatever was going on. Hopefully whoever, or whatever, it was would get the hint and go away. But the knocking came again, louder this time. Then without warning the door burst open and a woman's boisterous voice filled the room, "Princess, I'm sorry but you really must-" The woman stopped and let out a gasp. "Oh, my!"
Emma sat up, clutching the blankets to her chest as she pushed her long hair out of her face. "Who the hell are you?" She asked.
The woman let out a huff and put her hands on her hips. "Such language," she scolded mockingly. "A princess does not swear." Without waiting for a response, she began picking up Emma's clothes off the floor. "Now, it's time to rise and shine. Their Majesties are expecting you downstairs for breakfast. I'll have the scullery maids bring up the hot water for your bath, and-" she stopped talking when she finally looked back up at Emma. "Oh, my," she grinned, glancing at Killian. "Someone had fun last night I see." She shook a chiding finger at her. "But enough of that, it's time to attend your duties. I'll return shortly." She curtsied once quickly and then left the room with Emma's dirty clothes hand, shutting the door behind her.
"What was that all about?" Emma asked, confused by what exactly it was that had just happened.
"I believe," Killian replied, sitting up and placing a kiss on her bare shoulder, "that was your lady's maid,' he explained. "It seems the Princess has overslept this morning," he chuckled huskily. "Not that I can blame her, after last night." He kissed her shoulder again and looked up at her with dark blue eyes.
"Lady's maid?" She asked, his attempt at charming her clearly having little affect as she was still trying to figure out what was going on. "I don't have a-" She stopped as it suddenly came back to her. "Oh, crap. Dammit!" Emma flopped back against her pillow, covering her face with her hands. "I keep forgetting we aren't in Storybrooke any more."
"No, love," Killian said softly. She let him pull her hands away from her face and looked up at him as lay he back down beside her, head held up by his hand. "We're back in your parents castle in the Enchanted Forest, living out our happily ever after, remember?" He smiled warmly at her.
"Yeah, well, my happy ending involves sleeping in," she grumbled.
"Yes," he sighed, "however it seems we are wanted downstairs for breakfast."
Emma stretched her aching muscles that had been quite well used the night before. She pulled his other arm and brought it around her waist as she snuggled into him once more. "Can't we just stay here?" She asked with a playful grin. "We can have breakfast in bed."
"As much as I would love that, Swan," he replied, leaning in, "we promised your parents we'd have breakfast with them this morning."
"I guess we did" she sighed and gave him a pout. "Spoilsport."
"Rise and shine, love," he grinned, leaning in to give her a kiss before letting her go and climbing out of bed. Emma watched him while he slipped his pants on and gathered up the remainder of his clothes. "I'm going to my chambers to change into some fresh clothes and wash up. I'll see you soon." He leaned over the bed, giving her one more kiss before he left the room through the servant's door. He could sneak back to his room this way without getting caught.
She lingered in bed a few minutes longer, glancing around the large room. She knew this was where she was always meant to have been. But thanks to Regina's curse, she'd spent her life in a whole different world. This one felt foreign and a little lonely at times. She was glad when her parents, and especially Killian, were with her. They made her feel like less of an outsider, but she wasn't sure she'd ever really feel like a princess.
Letting out a heavy sigh she finally rose, grabbing her robe from the end of her bed and slipped it on. She went to her vanity and grabbed a hair clip, pinning up her long, tangled locks before going to her wardrobe. Emma looked at the clothes hanging there, most of which were dresses that had once belonged to her Mother or Grandmother. They were all quite lovely, but Emma didn't think she needed a dress just to spend the day in the castle.
She grabbed a pair of brown trousers, a white shirt and a red leather tunic, and was headed to the bathroom when there was a knock on the door Killian had just left through. It opened and several young girls came in carrying buckets with steaming water. Emma guessed they couldn't have been more than about thirteen.
"Pardon us, Miss," one of the girls said with a strained smile. Clearly the bucket of water was a bit heavy for her. They moved passed Emma into the bathroom and began dumping the water into her tub. The woman who had come in before followed behind them carrying towels and a bar of soap. "Hurry now, girls," she said matter of factly. "We don't want the princess's water to get cold."
The girls met someone in the small hallway they'd come in from, who had clearly brought them some more buckets. The smallest of the girls took her bucket and nearly tipped it over as she attempted to adjust the weight to make it easier to carry. "Whoa! Here, let me help," Emma said, and with a wave of her hand, she used her magic to make the heavy bucket feel lighter.
"Thank you, Miss," the girl smiled shyly and carried her now magically transformed bucket into the bathroom.
Once the tub was full, the older woman pushed the girls quickly out of the room. She turned to Emma who was still staring at the door feeling a little dumbfounded at what it took just fill a bath tub with hot water. "Come now, Princess," she said, gesturing with her free arm that Emma should enter the bathroom.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Emma asked, folding her arms across her chest, not moving.
"My name is Kat, your highness," the woman answered. "I'm your lady's maid. I'm in charge of making sure you are up, dressed and you appear where you need to be on time. And right now, you are going to be late for breakfast with your parents if you don't get a move on."
"Kat, right. Sorry," she apologized. "But, I'm pretty sure that I can handle most of those things on my own. So-"
"Nonsense," Kat insisted, and moved to Emma, giving her a slight shove in the direction of the bathroom. "Now, come along. Into the tub with you."
At a bit of a loss what she should do, Emma allowed herself to be pushed into the bathroom. She took off her robe and climbed into the tub. This was weird, and she made a note to tell her mother that she really didn't want, or need, a maid.
"That's a good girl," Kat said, with a smile and handed Emma the bar of soap she'd brought. "Scrub good now, especially your intimate bits. Don't want anything from that young man lingering behind, hmm?" She gave Emma a knowing look.
"Excuse me!" Emma exclaimed. "But, I don't believe this an appropriate conversation for us to be having." Seriously, what kind of place was this? Was everyone so intimately involved in everyone's private life?
"Yes, well," Kat smirked. "Never can be too careful, especially with them sailor types. Hurry up now. I'll be in the bedroom with your clothes when you're ready." She put the towels she'd brought next to the tub and left the bathroom.
Emma watched Kat leave and stared after her a few minutes. What was happening? A few weeks ago, she'd been living in her parents her loft in Storybrooke, Maine. Sure everyone in town had turned out to be a bunch of fairy tale characters, but she'd gotten used it over the years. They were family after all.
Sure, the occasional villain or monster would attack, but otherwise things were quiet. They had family dinners at Granny's, or at Regina's. She and Killian would go on dates and with the exception of a stern look or two from her father, no one questioned her about why she hadn't come home the night before. It wasn't perfect, but it had felt like home.
Now, thanks to yet another battle with a villain everyone was back in the Enchanted Forest. It seemed Regina's curse had once and for all been reversed and they had all been sent back, luckily with all their memories intact. The first couple of weeks had been great. Everyone just seemed happy to be back in the world they all knew. Her parents had given her time to get used to this world, and she'd mostly spent her days with them or Killian. Her father was teaching her how to ride a horse, and Killian taught her more sword fighting. But it seemed her parents had decided it was time she start acting more like a princess.
She sighed, and leaned back in the tub. The warm water did feel nice on her sore muscles but Emma was already missing showers. Still, she closed her eyes, relaxing a few minutes before grabbing the soap. She lathered up, not bothering to wash her hair. She'd done it a few days ago and discovered the only way of getting it thoroughly dry was for her to sit in front of a fire. Seriously. Not only did she miss her showers but she missed electricity and her blow dryer.
"Would your highness like me to help you dress?" She heard Kat call from the bedroom. "I picked out a lovely morning dress that I pressed and laid out."
"Oh, uh thanks Kat," Emma replied, rising from the tub, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her. "But, I'm more of a pants girl, you know. And I really don't need your help getting dressed. I'm perfectly-"
"Nonsense," Kat replied, very matter of factly, popping her head into the bathroom. "You're a Princess and pants are not appropriate, at least not for breakfast. Should you go riding later, you can come back upstairs and change."
"But, what if-"Emma began to protest but Kat grabbed her hand and pulled her into the bedroom.
"No buts," Kat insisted. "Now let's get you dressed."
Much to Emma's surprise the woman clearly didn't understand the meaning of personal space, because she took it upon herself to dry Emma off. Then Kat had Emma slip on a pair of bloomers and a camisole before she held up a corset. "No!" Emma said, holding up her hands to fend the woman off. "No way am I'm wearing a corset. I can't breath in those things."
Kat sighed. "Princess, you cannot go about without all the proper undergarments on. It wouldn't be proper, and your dress is designed to be worn with a corset. Now, turn around."
"If I could just wear the tunic I wanted to wear, I wouldn't need the corset," Emma insisted, still not budging. "So, why don't you just-"
Kat placed her hands on her hips, and stared down her nose at Emma. "You're mother was just as stubborn and she never won an arguement when up against me," she told her. "So, shall we just save ourselves some time, mmm?"
Emma wanted to protest but somehow the look the woman gave her left little doubt that she was between a rock and hard place. Fine, she would give in but after today she was going to do something about this dress and corset situation. "Alright," she sighed and turned around. Kat placed the corset around her, and began tighten the laces little by little. Emma could feel her ribs constricting and was pretty sure she could feel her spleen pressing against them. "Okay, I think that's-mmmph!" She moaned as Kat gave another tug. "I think that's tight enough."
"As you wish," Kat sighed, and next took the large hoop skirt, sliding it over Emma's head and tying it at her waist. Then she picked up the dress she'd picked out for a Emma, gathered up the material of the skirt to the bodice and held it up. "Arms up," she ordered, and Emma held her arms above her head, letting Kat slide the dress of her head, and down. Emma slipped her arms into the capped sleeves and pulled them up and onto her shoulders. Kat moved behind her again to button the back of the dress, and then smoothed down the skirts.
Once Emma was dressed to her satisfaction, Kat dragged Emma to her vanity and had her sit so that she could work on Emma's hair. She asked her to keep it simple, but like everything else, it too had to be perfect. Her head was pulled this way and that, and poked with pins so what felt like an hour later, Kat stepped back to admire her work.
"Perfect," she smiled. "You look like a princess. Now, off to breakfast with you," she said shooing a breathless and slightly bewildered Emma out of the room.