If there was a constant on Emma's life, it was abandonment.
She was abandoned on a dirt road as a new born by her parents. She was abandoned by her adoptive father at the age of six, when he was sent to war. She was abandoned by the old lady who took her after her adoptive father left - the lady didn't abandoned her by will, since death came claiming her life one night, but abandoned her nevertheless. Then, Emma was adopted by a man who abandoned her when he heard the richness the new continent had to offer. And so, fourteen year old Emma ended in Eugene's House for Orphan Girls.
She liked it at Eugene's, she even called the old lady 'Granny' and together with the other older girls, Ruby and Belle, she taught the younger girls all kinds of things. Belle taught them the boring things - which only Belle considered important - like reading, and cleaning, and playing the piano and speaking different language. And Emma and Ruby taught them the fun stuff, like dancing and cooking and sword fighting - which Belle totally disapproved of.
Emma's time at Eugene's was the best time on her life - for the first time in a long time, she didn't have to worry about a thing. But soon, it also came to an end: Granny, too, abandoned her to the God of Death. The house was left to Ruby, Belle and Emma, with the request that the orphanage would still be in function.
The problem was, as it always had been: money. The three girls were short of money, and if they didn't do something about it, the orphanage would have to close the house, and the fifteen girls that lived in it would be on the street. And so, for the first time in her life, Emma was not being abandoned, but she was the one doing the abandonment instead.
"Do you really have to go?" Ruby asked, almost whining, with tears in her eyes. It was not normal for the brunette to cry. In fact, Emma had only seen her crying once before that day, and it had been at Granny's funeral.
"We talked about this, Rubes," Emma said as she climbed her horse, "The Mills estate is offering a good amount of money for this position,"
A little bit more than a week ago, Emma had received a letter from Henry Mills, owner of a large portion of land upstate. He wrote explaining that he had heard about the Orphanage and was looking for a handmaiden for his daughter, someone who could keep his daughter company.
At first, they had thought on sending Belle, since the Mills seemed like a knowledgeable family, but they decided against it, because someone had to run the Orphanage and teach the younger girls to read and Emma and Ruby were no good for that job. Emma was the one who accepted the position at the end, she was more educated that Ruby and far more refined in manners - that didn't offer much relief to Belle but it was their best option.
"But, it's so far away!"
"Just a day by horse," Emma replied trying to make it sound like nothing, but the truth was that it was far away from their house. "I must do this, Ruby. For you and Belle and the girls," she added.
To be honest, Emma didn't like the idea of parting, either. But they were having financial problems, and it she didn't do this, then what she loved the most about the house would be lost: it's people.
"These are for the road," Belle handled her a bag of, what Emma suspected, freshly made bread and an apple.
"Thank you," Emma accepted the food with a smile, "I'll come back in two months time," she added, "On the letter Mr. Mills sent me, he wrote that I'd be allowed to visit my family for a week every two months. I'll also be bringing my two first pays with me," she explained to both Ruby and Belle, "Will you make it on your own until then?"
"Yes," Belle answered, but her voice crackled a bit and a tear escaped her eye, "I'll miss you so much,"
"I trust Ruby will give you enough trouble to keep you busy," Emma winked at her friend and put her hat on, the sun will be up any moment now and she didn't want to get dehydrated, "Say goodbye to the girls, and do tell Grace that I will come back and teach her how to swing a sword before her next birthday,"
And with that, Emma Swan rode away. Away from the first house she called home, the first people she called family, the first place that didn't abandon her in any way. She rode to her new life; no, not new life, just temporary residence - until they made enough money for them to survive on their own.
Sunrise turned into midday, and then noon into evening. And our blonde rider stopped only once to eat and let her horse rest and drink a bit - she didn't want the night to catch her on the road, for she would be an easy target to hit, and even if she was skilled with a sword, she was no match to a gang of bandits.
She reached the Mills Estate as the stars began to light the night sky. And before the moon was fully up, Emma was knocking on the house's door. The door was opened few moments later, by a woman that Emma knew too well, for she had also been a orphan at Eugene's.
"Emma, you are here!"
"Tinker?" Emma asked as the other blonde hugged her.
Tinker's real name was Isabelle, but when she first came to the Orphanage she had a bad habit of carrying few small pans with her, making them bang against each other as she walked. Where ever there was a tink tink tink, there was little Isabelle doing something. And so, Granny had given her the nickname of 'Tinker'
"I can't believe that Mr. Mills actually hired one of you!"
"What are you talking about?"
"When I heard they were thinking on hiring someone, I suggested someone from the Orphanage, I said us girls from Granny's were not afraid of hard work," Tinker explained.
"Hard work? I was told I would be the Lady's maid,"
"Well, Miss Mills is hard work," Tinker commented and giggled.
"Tinker! Granny would be ashamed of hearing you talk like that about our patrons!" Emma reprimanded her, but more because she was afraid of someone eavesdropping on their conversation. "Please, show me to Mr. Mills's office?" she meant it as an order, but it sounded much more as a question.
Tinker nodded and motioned Emma to follow her upstairs. Emma climbed in silence.
On her way up, Emma studied the house. It looked clean, but the lack of dirt didn't make it look new. The wallpaper's colour was worn out, other than that, it looked impeccable. The mirrors were clean, the chandelier that hung from the roof had been dusted off recently and the floor was polished so neatly that Emma could see her reflexion - their mirrors at the Orphanage where more opaque mirrors that the floor.
"This is Miss Mills's room," Tinker pointed at a closed door as they walked down the hallway, "This is Mr. Mills's room, his wife passed away two years ago, so I guess she won't be joining us for dinner any time soon," she joked as she pointed at another door that they passed by. She passed a third door without commenting anything about it, and then stopped at the forth and last one, "And this is Mr. Mills's office,"
"What about that door? Where does it lead to?" Emma asked, pointing at the door that Tinker had skipped in her small house-tour.
"That's a forbidden room for us," Tinker explained, looking at the closed door, "I've never been in, and I've only seen Miss Mills -,"
But before Tinker could continue with her gossip, the mysterious room's door opened and a petite woman walked out of it, closing the door behind her and laying against her body as she took a deep breath unaware of the company.
Emma looked at Tinker, silently asked what to do. But Tinker had no idea how to act, she tried to avoid Miss Mills as much as Miss Mills tried to avoid every living person on Earth. They had never exchanged more than a 'Good-day' or 'Good-night,'
"I'll see if Mr. Mills is ready to see you," Tinker whispered, and after knocking the door entered into the office.
The knock seemed to alert Miss Mills of the present company, she raised her eyes and saw Emma with piercing black eyes - straight into the soul. Emma shifted the weight of her body from one leg to the other, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in her own skin.
Miss Mills waited for Emma to say something with an eyebrow raised.
"Um - nice to meet you," Emma said, when she found that her voice was still working, "I'm Emma Swan, I'll be your -,"
"I'm well aware of who you are, Miss Swan," Miss Mills interrupted her, "As far as I am concerned I do not need a handmaiden or a companion; however, if my father has decided upon hiring unneeded help, who am I to argue," she added, stepping closer to Emma.
Under the lamp's light Emma could study the other woman more in detail. Her cheekbones were prominent, in a beautiful way, but also in a way that showed that she was not eating properly. Her eyes were red, probably from crying; and she had dark bags, accentuating her dark eyes. It was clear that whatever was in the room had upset her.
"Nonetheless," Miss Mills continued, "I'll set some ground rules. You may not talk to me unless I seek your company, you may not ask questions about my life and you may not, under any circumstance, enter this room," she pursed her lips and Emma noticed a small healed, scar on the top lip, "Did I made myself clear?"
No talking, no asking, no swooping around.
"Crystal clear, Madam," Emma replied, noticing that Miss Mills had taken advantage of the time Emma had used for thinking and the closeness of their bodies to also study the other woman, her eyes stopping at Emma's lips.
"Good," Miss Mills nodded, her eyes moving from Emma's lips to her eyes, "Good night, Miss Swan," she added before turning on her heels and leaving Emma to the empty hallway.
Emma looked at Regina disappear into the room that Tinker had presented as 'Miss Mills's room.', then her eyes roamed through the hallway's doors, stopping at the door that enclosed so many mysteries that Emma wanted to solve.
What could be hiding behind the door? Maybe the entrance to a cult's altar, or a closet filled with creepy looking toys, or maybe a torture chamber. Emma shook her head; Belle was right, she had to start reading something lighter than her usual mystery books.
"Emma!" she heard as she saw two fingers snapping in front of her. She blinked couple of times "God, you were really gone," Emma saw Tinker smile at her, "You're alive, so I'm guessing your talk with Miss Mills was alright," she explained, "Mr. Mills is ready to see you," then, she leaned in and whispered to Emma's ear, "Don't worry, he's nicer than her,"
Hi, guys!
Um - newbie talking... thoughts?
Side notes: First, rating might go up to M, it won't be very graphic, but I don't want to hold back if I feel like writing something more detailed. Second, I'm not a native speaker, so if anyone wants to beta, please, be my guest! :)