A/N: This is an AU so keep in mind that it won't be following everything on the show exactly to the T but it will for the most part. For the sake of this story Emma is in her late teens/early twenties. The first few chapters will be a bit short but they'll get longer as the story continues.

Life in the kingdom wasn't as exciting as one would think, at least Emma didn't think so. See she was a princess, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. But despite that she never felt like the role of princess really suited her. She'd much rather be going on wild adventures and traipsing across the vast lands all around her.

Her mother said it was possible to do both, she had even claimed to have gone on many adventures back in her day. Emma was never quite sure if that was true or whether that was just an attempt to make her feel better. She often felt she didn't quite fit in the way she should here.

Speaking of her mother, the two were just getting back from their weekly horseback ride around the castle grounds. They made their way down the castle halls dressed in riding gear and boots. Emma much preferred this clothing over her fancy gowns she was usually forced to wear.

Despite enjoying the ride as she usually did, it always felt much like the same thing all the time. Nothing ever seemed to feel like it changed much around here. She would walk past the same halls with the same people everyday, same old same old.

But this time there was something new that caught her attention, an unfamiliar face in the castle. Amongst the knights that had congregated in the hall was a young man not much older than her, tall, with wild brown curls and a rather scruffy face. Her mother, noticing her daughter had suddenly stopped walking, looked over to where her she was now staring at.

"Who's that?" Emma asked turning back towards her mother. Pausing a moment, Snow remembered something that her husband had brought up the other day, "Your father mentioned something about a new knight, that must be him."

Becoming a knight was a very difficult task, it was quite rare to get a new one joining the ranks very often. One must be incredibly skilled in the art of combat to become one. Most knights were older fellows, usually in there late 20's or 30's. Many of which came from noble families so there were some who carried an air of entitlement about them which Emma wasn't fond of.

But then again, there were also a few older gentleman among them, most who had been quite skilled back in their day but now stuck around more for their knowledge or simply as a thing of honor. They were in peaceful times after all so there wasn't much fighting to be done.

Her father James, or Charming as her mother had both teasingly and lovingly nicknamed him many years ago, was standing before the group of knights. Noticing his wife and daughter, he waved them over to where he was.

"My darling Snow and Emma. I'd like to introduce you to the newest knight to join the rankings. He is a huntsman with some very impressive skills." The young man bowed his head to the two of them. It was actually customary for a knight to bow fully to ones knee before the royal family. This amused Emma that he didn't follow the proper tradition, the other knights however were not so amused over it and gave him a nudge from behind as he fell into the rightful position. Annoyance flickered across his face a moment before returning to its blank state.

"We thank you for your allegiance in protecting us and the kingdom good knight." Snow said with a small graceful bow towards him. Emma followed in suite with a similar gesture, though hers was much less graceful than that of her mother's.

When he stood back up Emma made eye contact with him for the first time, his blue eyes were intense and almost wild in nature. She'd never seen anyone with eyes like that before. It sent a small chill up her spine.

Once the introduction was over, James turned back towards the knights. "That will be all gentleman, you may return to your training." And with a flick of his wrist the knights dissipated and returned to what they had been doing prior.

As Emma and Snow headed back to their rooms to change, Snow gave her daughter a small nudge on the arm. "He's kind of cute isn't he?" A tinge of red crept into Emma's cheeks at that statement but she quickly covered it with a scoff. "Who the knight? Please, of course not." Snow grinned largely as she watched her daughter squirm, it wasn't often she got to see her react like that. "Just an observation." Snow said smoothly as she tried to hide her amusement from her now annoyed daughter.

~~~~ooooo~~~~

"Was the first part of your mission successful?"

"Yes, I succeeded in joining the knights."

"Excellent. And you do remember what you are supposed to do, correct? You get me what I want and in return you will get to keep the thing you want."

"I understand."