Author's Note. This is my first Swan Queen fic. I am going to try and update regulary(ish). i apologize if i wrote some of the emotions here wrong, that would just since I'm autistic. This story doesn't have a beta, so all mistakes are my own. if you want to beta for me just send me message.
It was a week before Emma's 18th birthday, and Emma the Crown princess of Samavia the throne was board to tears. She had just woken up and her mother, Snow, just continued ranting as she had for days on end.
"A princess must Marry for the good of her family. It is Unladylike for a princess to want to be a knight, or to wish to do any kind of fighting what-so-ever. Ladies should only know defensive fighting skills if they know any at all. Nothing else."
Emma groaned at the haggard argument and threw back "and if you only knew defensive tactics than neither of us would be alive because of how you lived your youth. Your went rouge as a bandit and attacked innocents who were just following the laws of a Monarch you didn't think had the right to the thrown."
Snow countered with "I did what I had to in order to survive. You aren't in any danger, so you need not learn fighting skills. Men also don't find fighting women very attractive."
Emma stood, retorted, "I'd rather be able to defend myself if I were in danger, than be found defenseless. It seems the biggest threat to me is you. If I worried about what other people thought I'd give a shite about my reputation, but seeing as you are just planning on selling me to the highest bidder, I'd rather be myself, not a pawn in someone's chess game." and left the room.
Emma went and spent some time releasing her anger by shooting arrows. She would rather have had a sword fight with someone, but due to non-existant practicing, she would most likely loose. Even if she didn't another person would be involved meaning that they might tell her parents about her training.
After spending an hour shooting at various targets Emma returned to the castle for breakfast. When she entered the familiar dining room Snow called Emma to come and sit next to her. She then began instructing, "You need to find love and settle down. Stop dreaming about being a knight and find yourself a husband. That is the life of a princess. You were born a princess, you are a princess."
Emma looked down at her plate scowling, and responded "I don't see why can't I be both a princess and a knight."
Snow looked up and paused, a bit of food half-way to her mouth and insisted "No prince wants a princess who purposely goes around picking fights."
Emma clenched her jaw and argued "That isn't all knights do. They protect the weak, defend the poor, and champion all in their care. They try to do their best for their people. Their duties are similar to the duties of a princess except only princesses are forced to marry. Marriage to knights is somethings they do once they fall in love, and it isn't required. Also who said I ever wanted to marry a prince."
Snow clenched the spoon in her hand interjecting, "Yes, both princesses and knights both try and protect their realms, but knights put their lives at risk while princesses don't. Even though you never said you wanted to marry a prince, you will. It is your duty."
"Back when you were hunted, you put your life at risk numerous times. Princesses also have to help with wars, famines, and plagues. They might not be the front lines, but they still do their duty to serve the people."
Snow leaped onto the small fragment of Emma's argument left open to her and responded, "Well you are a princess. You say you have a duty to the people. Which is true, your duty is to secure the line of succession." With that the conversation over the breakfast table ended, neither wanting to continue verbally whipping swords at each other.
5. 5 times. FIVE TIMES. Five times five different people asked her about marriage in one way or another, and it wasn't even noon. Emma responded harshly to each of the queries, but her tolerance was becoming nonexistant. She had about had it with how people treated her, the pressuring into a marriage, and the refusal to let her be herself.
The day continued on in a downwards spiral. Her lessons on deportment were so dull she was almost asleep, and she still had yet to face the Court of the Nobles. She was expected daily to meet with them until she decided who she was going to marry.
Once her lessons were done, she walked into the court and sat on the dias right under the two empty thrones. Her parents it seemed had either lucked out and had other things to deal with, or hadn't wanted to watch their daughter piss off their very base of support.
Once she was seated, Count Donaldof Muggleswick, the head of the court began the now familiar address, "Princess, you need to get married for the good of the kingdom, the realm and our people, if not for the good of your heart. If, as I suspect, your heart is stone cold, than marry for a political gain of some kind, just get it over with."
Emma stood, furious with the whole situation. She silently stalked forward, and grabbed his shirt collar. She pulled him off his pedestal, and shoved him into a nearby solid oak desk. She leaned down, and growled, loud enough for all in the room to hear, "NO. I won't ever marry for political gain. When I do marry it will be for love, and you people will have no say in whomever I choose. The warmth in my heart affects my dealings with my future subjects. Would you really want me to rule with a darkened heart."
With that she stamped away, seeing that nothing good would come of extending the tenuous situation further. No matter what she said their minds never did waver. In addition to that, she knew that due to the laws of her kingdom, if she wasn't engaged by 18, her parents and the court got to pick who she ended up with.
By late that evening Emma was ready to leave the castle. She had dressed herself in a dark unadorned tunic, and matching black trousers. Emma had two sheathed daggers on her belt, and a dozen more stored in various other places including her pack along with a longbow and a quiver of arrows. The pack on her back contained a forest green tunic, earth brown trousers for her change of clothes, a canvas to block off the rain, and her personal signet ring. She also had as much money as she could gather, a map, and over a weeks worth of food.
She was headed across the farthest boarder, since her parents would look their last. She planned on taking her horse along with two spares. The trip would take her about four days to ride out of Samavia and another two or three days ride to reach the palace of Formigny.
In the stables Emma saddled her horse DeathBringer a medium sized bad tempered black mare with a few dark brown splotches. Emma then cover DeathBringer 's hooves in dark cloth, then did the same to the two spares she had prepared as well as to stop the sound of clacking hooves on the cobblestones from alerting anyone to her early escape. Emma then carefully covered all her visible skin in black, and secured a scarf around her blond hair. She activated a spell she had stolen that would keep her disappearance from being noticed and made her untrackable.
Once she was mounted, she put on a peasants cape, and then Emma and the three horses silently left the stable, and then the castle all together. Emma didn't even spare a glance for her former home as she urged her mount onwards and away to her freedom.
The morning later, Emma, DeathBringer and the two horses Emma had decided to call Bigheart, and Fury were well away from the palace and traversing down one of the countries main dirt roads. It was nearing ten morn when Emma sensed someone coming up from behind her on the path. She carefully led Fury and DeathBringer into the woods a bit a ways and told them the keep quite. She then unsaddled Bigheart, a delightfully sweet white mare with reddish brown mane and tail, allowing him to rest.
A few minutes later, a pair of Soliders came around the bend. They stopped when they got to where Emma and her horse were resting. They held out an image of Emma and asked, "You seen her. Shes got golden hair and four horses. She would've come down this rode as fast as possible."
Emma kept the cloak around her, with the hood up as she took the drawing. She replied, "No me lords" imitating the peasants who came to court to ask for favours, "Me hav'nt seen any group with four horses. What 'appened 'er."
The guards looked at each other. The bigger one said, "I dont know what happened to the princess. Me captain just told us to go do this. She looked to 'ave made a run for it. Good day." With that they rode off down the path leaving Emma in the dust.
Once she had waited a bit longer as to make sure that they were gone, before she went and retrieved her other mounts. Once she was back in the saddle and on the move again, she let her lips curl into a little smile.
Emma ate lunch in the saddle that day and during all her breaks to rest the horses, she practiced her knife fighting.
By dusk she was almost half way to the boarder, and in dire need of sleep having been awake for over 36 hours. She found a nice place off of a side trail, where she picketed the horses, took the saddle blanket and pulled it over her. She then went right to sleep.
The next two days went on in mostly a similar fashion, with few sightings of other people who all kept their distance, and kept working. It was late on the third day when Emma noticed that the woods had gone silent and that her spine was tingling. She carefully strung her bow and nocked an arrow, waiting.
She had been sitting on DeathBringer for what felt like an hour, though it was probably on about ten minutes when a man slide out of the tree cover. He than ran at her with a sword, but fell as an arrow pierced his eye. Two more men came out and each got hit by arrows, but not as cleanly as the first. She kept alert for more attackers but herd only the sound of a few people retreating.
Emma searched the three fallen men. The one hit first was dead. He was only carrying a few coins and a religious pendant. The second corpse she searched was also carrying only a few coins, but he had a pack on his back that held three books, all in languages Emma couldn't read. There was also a bright red stone. The third body had joy of being still partially alive. Emma didn't like that someone could have seen her and escaped. She paused considering his condition, and used a dagger to cut a long deep gash through his belly. She knew that he'd suffer a long and painful death. With that done Emma through his things and found a gold ring along with more coins than the other two together.
Emma stripped the them of all the coins, valuables, and weapons. The bandits provided her with two well used swords, three daggers, a hunting knife, and a mace. She then retrieved her arrows, and left the scene.
Two days later, Emma reached the border, the river Drumclog Moss. Emma paid a ferryman to carry her and the horses across. Once she was on the far shore, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was free. She slept on the side of the road, and the next morning, she continued, following the road to the capital of Formigny.
Around mid-afternoon, she began to see a group of riders ahead. They spotted her at about the same time, and a man was sent back from the riding party. He dismounted and approached on foot. When he was near Emma dismounted and went over to speak.
The man was well armored in black, and said "Why are you following our party."
Emma frowned at the accusation of her harming someone for no reason. She responded as truthfully as she could with "I am a diplomat and I come to talk to Her Majesty, the Queen Regina."
The guard scowled and muttered, "Come with me, and we'll see what she has to say. You are to leave your horses and all weapons with one of the other guards."
With that Emma followed him over to the camp, and obediently followed his instructions. Before her pack was taken away she removed the books and the bright red stone, then knodded that her horses could be taken over to the other mounts wandering around.
The guard lead her over to the side of the road, where a large tree sat, with someone regeally posed at its base. He bowed deeply and heralded, "this is who was following us your majesty. She says that she is a diplomat come to talk to you, but she came with no guards, or servants."
A velveteen voice commanded, "Move forward my dear. You'll need to give a better reason than that for being here."