A/N: Hey! I'm a tumblr-based fanfictioner, so these are all from my tumblr blog
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"An arranged marriage? This is ridiculous!" an outraged Emma cried, throwing her shoes across the room.
Snow winced as she ducked the flying slippers. She held out her arms, trying to calm down her daughter. "Please, Emma! At least meet with him! He's a very nice man and his family is-"
"What? Rich?" Emma interrupted angrily. "Are you selling me off?"
Snow's face fell, taking offense by the accusation. "Of course not," she whispered.
Charming, who had been standing by watching his daughter explode, finally stepped in. "Emma, we're not forcing you to do anything-"
"Yeah? Well it sure seems like it!"
Her father ignored her. "We just want you to meet him. Then you can decide for yourself whether he's worthy of your hand. If he's not, we won't make you marry him."
Emma paused and thought about it. That seemed pretty reasonable. "Y- you mean it?" she stammered, her face beginning to redden. She was suddenly embarrassed about her reaction.
Charming smiled softly and nodded. "Yes, I mean it."
"W-well… okay, then." Emma cleared her throat and straightened her dress. "I'll meet him."
Charming clapped his hands together and turned to face his wife. "Good! Then we should make preparations. There's to be a ball in a week and that's when he and his family will be visiting."
Snow grinned excitedly, feeling much better now that her daughter had calmed down and seen reason. "Oh! I'm so excited! My daughter might get engaged!"
"Hey! Don't get your hopes up!" Emma called after her parents as they left. When they were gone, she slumped onto her bed and fell back, staring at the ceiling. "Killian Jones," she muttered. "That's a weird name." She laughed to herself and shrugged, "But I guess it's not as weird as 'Snow White.'"
"Milah, I can't- we can't do this anymore," Killian sighed. Before him, climbing in through the window, was Milah, a rumbustious villager with whom he'd had a dalliance.
"And why not?" she demanded defiantly, clearing the window ledge in one final sweep of her legs.
He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. "Because I'm supposed to marry soon."
"But you weren't going to-"
"That was before Liam died," Killian growled. "Now father wants me to take my brother's place as heir and marry a woman of renown."
Milah tightened her hands into fists. She glared at Killian. "So you plan to leave me, just like that? For another woman you haven't even met?"
He turned away from her. "I'm sorry, Milah. You'll do better without me, I'm sure."
She ran up to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "How can you say that?" she asked, her voice stricken with what was apparently grief. "After everything we've been through? I denied a man who could have saved my family from poverty to be with you-"
"-Even though you knew I could never help while my father is around. If he knew about us- this, he'd exile you for certain." He tried to pull away from her grasp.
Milah held on tight, though, and shook her head, her eyes, which were normally full of pride, were now full of tears. "What ever happened to love? We could leave! We could be together!"
He tugged his arm away and took a few steps back. "I can't do that, Milah. I have responsibilities to my kingdom."
Milah stood in the center of his chambers and stared at the ground. "Fine, Killian." She hissed his name with calculating malice. "I'll go, but you better hope your dirty little secret is safe with me."
Killian's eyes went wide. "You wouldn't…"
Milah smiled, knowing she had the upper hand. "I wouldn't… if you promised to see me every now and again." She started moving towards him, but he was too upset to move away. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he frowned.
"I told you that in confidence. Would you really betray me if I let you go?"
"You'll never need to know, riiiight?" she replied with a coy smirk.
"I- I-" Killian had no choice. If people knew- "Fine…" he whispered.
Milah kissed him on the cheek. "That's my boy," she said cheerfully. "I'll write you!" And with that she climbed out the window and scaled the wall down.
Killian wiped the part of his cheek where she'd kissed him. What he once would have considered sacred he now considered a curse.
"'All for the sake of honor and dignity,'" he muttered, quoting his father.
