"You've always been a cherished member of my husband's court, Gods rest his soul, but he would never allow you to become anything more than a mere woman hiding behind a curtain of illusion.
But today you kneel before your Queen, willing to swear your utmost loyalty to me and my people"
"I am yours, Your Majesty"
"Will you be brave in the faces of our enemies? Will you fight for me, your Kingdom, never backing down in cowardice?"
"I swear it, Your Majesty"
"Will you defend your Kingdom with your last, dying breath?"
"I swear it, Your Majesty"
"Will you to put the needs of your Queen before the needs of your own?"
"I swear it, Your Majesty"
"You knelt before me as a servant of the King, but you will rise as a Knight of the Queen" The flat side of the Queen's sword struck a gentle blow to each side of the woman's shoulders, and then softly on the top of her bowed head. "I dub thee Ser Knight"
The Knight rose and the two shared a subtle, secret grin before the Knight turned the Queen's subjects.
"I present you Ser..."
"...Josephine Jones?"
"Huh? Oh! Yes, which means you're Emma"
The beautiful blonde smiled brightly and nodded as her date stood to greet her.
"It's nice to finally meet you" Josephine offered her a hand, which Emma shook politely, "I was beginning to worry that I've let on" She graciously pulled out Emma's chair, "The internet is, well, and pictures tend to be..."
"Fake, outdated, stolen from a Victoria's Secret catalog?" Emma finished with a chuckle as she was seated, "I get it, you can't be too careful"
"Sounds like you have some personal experience with that" Josephine noted as she sat down opposite Emma.
"The online dating game is tough" Emma shrugged, flashing what she hoped was a charming smile, "But I think it's safe to say we both lived up to our profiles"
A soft, melodic chuckle passed Josephine's pink lips, "I think it's safe to say we did"
Emma examined her date, allowing herself to indulge in the brief moment of fascination.
Josephine's fiery red hair was worn down, flowing freely down her breasts and ending just below her ribs. She wasn't wearing much makeup either, just enough to pull off an effortlessly natural look. The dress was a gorgeous, semi-sheer lace gown that was cinched at the waist and held up by two, thin straps at her shoulders.
For a girl six years Emma's junior, Josephine Jones held a sophisticated air of someone twice her age, it left Emma feeling quite under-dressed.
"Have you lived in Boston long?" Emma inquired after a silent moment.
"You could say so" Josephine said vaguely, bringing the wine glass to her lips and taking a small sip, "I did live in a... small town in Maine for... a long time"
Emma hummed along, noticing how carefully Josephine was choosing her words.
"But it's a small town, kind of out of the way, where everyone knows everyone and everyone has history with everyone" Josephine's upper lip twitched into a disconcertingly amused half-grin, and Emma felt left out on an inside joke. "It was hard to meet new people, so I left. What about you? Forgive me, but you don't seem like the online dating type"
"I wanted to try something new" Emma paused, her lips perusing as she tried to carefully arrange her next sentence, "My last serious relationship ended badly, and since then I haven't had any luck in the real world so a friend of mine turned me on online dating"
Josephine lit up, catching Emma right where she wanted her. Her lips pulling into a delighted grin as she spoke softly, "You're a swell liar, Emma Swan, but you're can bullshit a bullshitter"
Emma suddenly had a sinking feeling that she just put her head into the lion's mouth as her date continued with a low chuckle.
"Now stop me if I'm wrong but you're not actually a bartender. you're a bail bondwoman turned bounty hunter. You're an orphan, left on the side of a road as a babe. You were adopted at three and they had given you back not shortly after. You kept their name, thus staying Emma Swan"
Emma found herself frozen in panic, unable to find her voice as her brain short circuited instead.
"It was actually too easy to find out about your stint in jail for stolen watches, Emma, among other things" Josephine leaned in, her dour expression softening at overwhelming distress in Emma's eyes, "But we're not here to discuss our pasts, are we? We're here because you were offered a large sum of money for my delivery, right?"
She had been handed an impressively weighted manila envelope, given a name and told this was a matter of national security.
No questions asked, payment in full when the job was done, as simple as that.
Sure, it was a little sketchy that these two men hired a bail bondperson for something that involved national security that involved a hopelessly young woman, and offering a ridiculously large sum of money just for the girl's location.
But who was Emma Swan to argue with Twenty Grand in cold, hard cash?
"Emma, look at me"
Emma's met Josephine's vibrant, annoyingly understanding eyes.
"I'm not trying to be the bad guy here but-"
"Then tell me what the hell is going on!" Emma demanded, an open palm striking the table, "How do you know all of that?"Her raised voice caught the attention of some nearby restaurant goers but a stern glare from Emma had quickly turned them away.
"I do understand it's your job to find people but that really doesn't give you an excuse to lead me on, now does it?" Josephine snapped back, her patience eagerly dissipating into anger instead, "You'll have to excuse me if I'm not being forthright with a woman payed for my kidnapping"
Emma had the decency to look a little embarrassed but she still managed to hold her date's steely eyes.
"Whatever they told you isn't true. Whatever they said I did, whoever they said they were, none of it's true" Josephine scoffed as she leaned back into her chair, an exhausted sigh leaving her lips, "Trust me when I say you're better left as far in the dark as you can get about this, they shouldn't even be concerning outsiders with this anyways"
"Well I'm involved now, start talking"
"I think you're forgetting whose in charge here" Josephine said with a wry chuckle, "But since you need reminding, you're going to do something for me; the next time you're contacted by your employers, you're going to tell them that your bate didn't work and that I fled to the other side of the country" She allowed a coy smirk to raise on her lips, "They'll believe you, since I know just how convincing of a liar you are, and then you can go on with your life like the last few months never happened"
Emma clenched her jaw, refraining from standing up and telling Josephine Jones exactly where she could shove her instructions. She knew she was in the wrong here, and no matter how much she tried to tell herself otherwise, her gut was telling her that Josephine was the innocent party in all this mess.
"They aren't gonna be happy when I tell them I spooked you off" She finally spoke, muttering tersely.
"These men are bound to an oath, of sorts, not to hurt people" Josephine watched as Emma's expression became rightfully skeptical and added, "The safety of others isn't something my... type of people take lightly, it's me they want not you"
Not a lie, not even a half-truth had yet to pass her lips and Emma found it immensely annoying that she couldn't find a fault in the girl's words. "Are you seriously not going to elaborate on anything you just told me?" She bowed a perfectly shaped eyebrow, "There are people throwing large sums of money around just for your most recent location, and you're talking about oaths and clans like it's normal" Emma finally caught up, the unforgiving epiphany lighting up the situation, "This is a religious thing, isn't it?"
A small laugh bubbled past Josephine's pink painted lips, "You would make a great detective Emma, but it's still none of you business"
"You're made it my business" Emma argued, "I can't let this go, let you go, knowing all of this. You need my help-"
Josephine's exasperated groan cut Emma off, "I don't need a White Knight, Emma! People have gotten hurt– died –because they got too involved." She regretted the words as soon as they passed her lips. The admission had given too much away and the desperation was clear in the high pitch of her voice. "Please" She added softly, "I don't want anymore blood on my hands"
Emma's curiosity burned deeply but she bit her tongue instead. Whatever Josephine was tangled into, the logical part of Emma to run as far away as she could from Josephine Jones and her life.
"Okay" Emma shoulder's sagged in defeat, "I'll tell them you left"
Josephine didn't gloat like Emma expected she would but she did smile, albeit sadly, as she stood, lifting her jacket off the chair "You've made the right decision"
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry"
Josephine relieved expression faltered, the unexpected apology only digging the hurt deeper. If only you were one of the good guys, we could have had a lot of fun together. "Thank you" She murmured.
Emma watched as Josephine started to walk away, only to stop and rest a gentle hand on her bare shoulder.
"Oh. Happy birthday, Emma"
And then she walked away.