Chapter 2
Thank you all so much for your support! I'm glad you like this story!
I don't own Once or any of the characters
Time for Emma to face the music. Her parents are not happy with her but, with no real evidence that she snuck out except to the stables, what will they do?
As Emma and David approached the palace Emma's stomach began to turn. She knew that she would now have to face both her parents at once. It was one thing to face off against her father in the moment but now the guilt and the reality of what was coming had had time to sink in and it was sending Emma's head spinning. She knew she only had moment to pull herself together or else her plans to meet with Thomas the next day would be ruined.
They stopped in front of the main palace door where Snow was waiting for them to arrive. David dismounted first and then reached up and took Emma down making sure to keep a hold of her arm so she didn't try to run off to her room. He then motioned to the guards that they were free to go and to take his horse with them
"Emma Ruth where have you been?" Snow exclaimed wrapping her arms around Emma
"I was at the stables mom, it's not that big of a deal!" Emma said annoyed
Snow looked up at her husband and they had a silent conversation where he let her know he was not buying his daughters story
Snow nodded and pulled Emma away and looked her square in the eye. Emma knew this was her one and only chance to convince her mom that she was telling the truth.
"Emma...I want you to tell me the truth. Where have you been?" Snow said giving her daughter a final chance to tell her the truth
Emma took a deep breath and looked her mom back in the eyes and responded "I already told you, I was at the stables riding buttercup" and that was the only answer her parents were going to get
"Emma I want you to go straight to your room. Your mother will be up shortly" David said sternly becoming fed up with his daughters blatant lie and with that Emma was more then happy to be off to her room
Emma crossed her arms and turned on her heals to go up to her room. David signaled for one of the guards to escort her and watch over her until he and Snow came up.
"Charming what is going on?" Snow said walking up to her husband and talking in a hushed tone until she knew that Emma was out of ear shot
"Snow I saw that horse, he was way to tired to have just been ridden around the stable pen. Emma was out in the meadow or the woods but I just can't figure out how she got there without being stopped by the guards"
"David what if George or Regina had found her while she was out there?" Snow said as panic began to rush over her
"Snow we can't think that way! She's safe now and we will just have to make sure that she stays safe. She's getting older and starting to try and push her boundaries so we will just have to draw them in much thicker lines." He said pulled Snow close to him
Snow put her arms around david's waist and placed her head on his chest as they both took a moment to think and calm themselves down before going up to Emma's room. Suddenly Snow pulled away from David and look up at him. "The far gate" she said
"What?" David replied not tracking with Snow's thought process
"The far gate, that's how she got out. She snuck out one of the back staircases and exited out of the back gate. That's how she got out without anyone seeing her. David what were we thinking leaving that gate unguarded? I know we locked it but somehow she figured out a way to unlock it and that's how she escaped the palace grounds"
David leaned down and passionately kissed his wife "You are brilliant! Let's go check to make sure we're right before we head upstairs"
Snow just smiled and passionately kissed him back. "Alright, we need to go fast because if we don't confront our little escapee soon we may find her tying her bedding together and scaling down the wall from her bedroom"
"Don't worry, I sent one of the guards up to keep an eye on her for us. I figured that one escape would be followed by another" he said put his arm around her shoulders and leading her upstairs
"I love how you take care of our kids" Snow said leaning into him
"Always" He responded
OUAT
Emma made a b-line for her room. She knew it was only a matter of time before her parents would be coming upstairs. She was shocked when she looked back to see of the guards keeping step with her as she went to her room. She turned back around and rolled her eyes. Her parents would send someone to watch her.
She got to her room and tried to dodge inside and shut the door quickly to keep the guard out but he was fast and had his hand on the door before she could do so.
"I'm sorry princess, I was ordered to watch you" he said
Emma just growled and flung herself on her bed. SHe was already in trouble and now she couldn't even have a moment alone to be angry.
She sat at the foot of her bed trying to find a way to get him to leave her alone when her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her parents voice coming down the corridor
"You're dismissed" David said to the guard as they entered the room. The guard nodded and went on his way "Emma, we need to talk" David started closing the door so that they were not interrupted
"Dad I don't understand what there is to talk about. I told you both already that all I did when you went off to your council meeting was go to the stables and ride buttercup around the stable pen. What is wrong with that?" Emma said knowing that she was in too deep to go back now
"Emma Ruth you stop lying to us right now" Snow said in her voice that let Emma know that she wasn't getting away with her little stunt. "We know that you left the palace through the far gate. You forget that I am the best tracker in the kingdom. Did you really think that I wouldn't check to see hoof prints leading away from the stables?"
Emma just stared at the floor for a moment trying to find a way to legitimize her story but she knew that she was the only one who had been out to the stables that day and that she was caught red handed. Suddenly a thought came to her mind.
"Okay fine, I rode buttercup around the palace grounds. I just wanted a bit more room to ride." Emma knew this was it
Snow and David had a silent conversation. They had to give Emma credit that she really had thought of every way to explain her absence from the palace but they had tracked the footprints past the far gate so they knew she was still avoiding telling them the truth.
"Emma we are very disappointed in you" David said crossing his arms and staring straight down at his daughter "We tracked you all the way past the far gate so we know that you snuck out"
"What were you thinking?" Snow said "King George or Regina's black knights could have come after you and we never would have known what happened to you. We have rules in place for a reason young lady"
Emma was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. She couldn't understand why her parents were treating her like a child. She was almost thirteen and she deserved to be free to do as she pleased and she decided it was time to tell her parents that
"I am almost thirteen years old and the future ruler of this kingdom, I should not be treated like I'm Neal's age! I want to be treated like an adult!" Emma blurted out
"Emma do not raise your voice like that to your father and I" Snow scolded "And frankly if you don't want to be treated like a child you should stop acting like one. Adults do not purposely put themselves in danger and run off without telling people where they are going"
"And a ruler understands that ruling a kingdom comes with certain limitations, one of which is that there are always going to be threats that have to be addressed and sometimes those threats make it so they can't just do whatever they want but instead have to put the good of the kingdom before themselves" David added
"I wasn't putting myself in danger! I knew exactly where I was going and I can outrun any of George or Regina's men." Emma countered
"Emma stop it right now" David said "The more you refuse to admit that what you did was wrong the more childish you are acting and until you start acting like an adult we will have to start treating you like a child. From now on you will have a guard assigned to you at all times"
"DAD!"
"Do not use that tone with me young lady. We can't trust you to not put yourself in danger then we have to take certain precautions"
"STOP TREATING ME LIKE A CHILD!" Emma yelled
"Emma Ruth" Snow scolded "We gave you a chance to have more freedom. All we asked was that you do not leave the palace walls unless accompanied by two knights but you decided to go against our orders and not only left the palace walls but the palace grounds without so much as a note to let us know that you were gone. Not only that but you made poor Sophia worried sick"
Emma just sat on her bed with her arms crossed as tears started to fill her eyes
Charming sat on the edge of the bed and placed his hand under Emma's chin forcing her to make eye contact. "Emma what is really going on here?"
"Nothing" She said angrily
"Emma this isn't like you" Snow said coming around the other side of the bed.
"I really don't want to talk about this right now" Emma said not making eye contact with either of her parents
"Have it your way Emma" and with that Snow and Charming started walking towards her door. Snow stopped and turned around to look at Emma "Emma, because of your attitude, on top of your new chaperone, you are also grounded to the palace for the next two weeks"
Emma simply looked up and glared at her parents as they walked out. How was she going to meet Thomas tomorrow?
OUAT
In the morning Emma got up remembering her punishment. She suddenly had no ambition to get out of bed. She was so embarrassed that she was going to have a guard following her everywhere that she went. She decided that maybe she could just avoid it by staying in her room all day. However he plans were foiled by the knock on the door
"Don't come in" Emma groaned
"Princess?" Came a voice from behind the door
"What do you want?"
The door opened to reveal the guard that would not be Emma's keeper
"Princess your parents have summoned you to join them in the dining room for breakfast and I am to escort you"
Emma groaned "And if I refuse?"
"Your parents said that you may say that and said that they would assign a second guard to your watch if you refused"
"I'm up" Emma said "Can I at least have a moment of privacy to get dressed?"
"Of course your majesty" and with that the guard shut the door. Emma knew she was going to have to get creative if she was going to meet Thomas again
OUAT
Snow and Charming were sitting at the dining room table with Neal with Emma walked in escorted by the guard
"Good morning Emma" Snow said greeting her daughter
"Whatever" Emma replied plopping down in her chair
"Emma, watch the attitude" her father warned
"Daddy what is that guard doing here? I could protect Emma!" Neal said feeling a bit offended by the guards presence
"I believe you could buddy, but I think it is best to let the guards do what they do best okay?" David said feeling touched by Neal's love for his sister
"You could just make me a knight then I can do it best!" Neal said
Snow gave him a sympathetic look at his simple thought process. SHe found his love for his sister so enduring but she also knew that his sister wouldn't think so.
"Maybe when you are a bit older okay son?" David said messing up Neal's hair
"Can I be dismissed now?" Emma said as she finished shoving all of her food into her mouth
"Emma you need to slow down" Snow said a bit shocked by her daughters inhaling of her food
"I'm done" she said getting up and making her way toward the door when her father's voice stopped her in her tracks
"Sit" he said in a commanding voice
Emma immediately turned around and sat back in her seat as she felt her cheeks turn red
"Emma I'm sick of your attitude. You need to apologize to your mother and I and start acting like the adult that you claim to be"
Emma gave it a minute before she realized she was only making it harder to go see Thomas by not just giving into her parents requests, even if she didn't necessarily mean it
"You're right dad. Mom, Dad, I'm sorry for my actions. I shouldn't have snuck out of the palace walls and gone riding without being escorted. I shouldn't have done that because I was putting myself in danger which is not what an adult would do. Please forgive me" Emma said. She didn't mean a word of it but she was hoping her performance was convincing enough to get her parents off of her back.
"Thank you Emma. We forgive you" Snow said giving Charming a look that let him know that she wasn't buying a word of it "You may be excused"
"Thank you" Emma said before getting up and heading back to her room
Once the door had closed David looked at his wife "That was the worst 'confession' I've ever heard"
"Agreed" Snow said adding, "You know she's doing to go try and sneak out again"
"I already prepared and placed a guard under her window"
"I love you" David said leaning over and kissing his wife
"Gross" Neal said placing his little hand over his eyes
The couple just broke into laughter. Raising two kids was going to drive them crazy but at least they had each other
OUAT
Emma got to her room and the guard was about to follow her inside when she turned around and placed her hand on his chest "I'm going to change. I'll let you know when I'm done"
"Okay princess" the guard responded as Emma shut the door.
Emma knew she only had to come up with a plan if she wanted to see Thomas. She finally decided that her best option would be to go out to the stables and take buttercup out on the palace grounds. All she would have to do is shake the guard and use the hidden key to escape.
Once she had changed into her riding clothes she opened the door and began to walk toward the palace door.
"Where are we off to princess?" The guard asked
"We're going to the stables" Emma answered as confidently as she could
"I'm sorry princess but I can't allow you to do that" The guard said taking a hold of Emma's arm
"And why not?" Emma said trying to pull away
"Your father gave me strict orders that you are not to leave the palace" The knight replied leading Emma away from the door
Emma had overlooked that little bit of her punishment but she wasn't going to let that stop her.
"That's fine" she said moving toward the kitchen. She remembered that there was a small bathroom by the kitchen that had a window she could climb out of. "I'm a bit hungry, I'm going to go to the kitchen"
"As you wish princess" the guard replied and continued to watch over Emma.
Once she had eaten some fruit she decided it was time to make her move
"I need to use the restroom, I'll be right back"
"I'll be here princess"
Emma got into the bathroom and locked the door. She found the small window and unlocked it shoving it as far open as she could and pressed her hands into the windowsill to launch herself out side. Once she climbed out she looked around to see that there was no guards in sight.
She immediately headed toward the stables to get buttercup so that she could make her escape and meet up with the boy thomas.
As she rode to the far gate she saw a single guard standing where she had hidden the key. SHe immediately jumped into action and dismounted buttercup. She knew if the guard saw buttercup running on her own that the guard would be forced to leave his post and begin looking for her.
She quickly made sent buttercup off with a slap to her hide and ran for the edge of the palace wall where she could see the guard but remain unseen. She watched as the guard came up to buttercup and started to calm her down. The guard looked around to see if Emma was anywhere in sight and then began walking the horse back toward the stables.
Emma emerged from her hiding spot and went for where she had hidden the key. She was relieved that it was still exactly where she had left it She quickly unlocked the gate and took off to find Thomas.
OUAT
"Princess" the guard said knocking on the door after a few minutes "Princess" he called again. He finally broke down the door and saw the open window and realized that the girl had duped him into getting her way. He immediately went to find the King and Queen and alert them to the princesses disappearance
"Your majesties" the guard said walking in to the sitting room where the king and queen were enjoying a cup of coffee. "I'm sorry to interrupt but your daughter had escaped me. She climbed out the window in the kitchen bathroom. I have alerted the other guards and they are out looking for her and one has reported finding her horse out by the far gate but no other signs of her have been found as of yet"
"She is asking for it" David said standing up. "Thank you for the information. I'll head out to find her right away. I'll bring her back home" David said turning to Snow and kissing her on the forehead before following the knight out to find Emma.
When they rode up to the far gate they saw it had been left wide open. David's heart began to race as he began to think of all the dangers that lie beyond that gate for his daughter. He immediately began to ride not caring if the rest of the men were keeping up with him or not. He had to find Emma before something happened to her
OUAT
Emma made it to the small creek where she had met Thomas the day before and saw the young boy with his horse.
"Thomas!" Emma cried as they got closer
"Mary! You came! I was afraid you wouldn't"
"Of course I would, I wouldn't miss it. How are you?"
"I am well, and yourself?"
"I'm well."
"Where is your horse?"
"I came on foot today instead"
"That must have been a long walk" Thomas commented
"What do you mean?"
"He means you are a long way from home young lady" Came a gruff voice from behind her
Emma turned around to see king George coming towards her with a slick smile on his face that made her stomach flip
"What...what are..." Emma couldn't get out her words as fear seized her
"Oh, didn't Thomas mention me? How could he have missed such a large detail? Oh yes...because I asked him to. Talking about meeting a small blond girl in the woods I couldn't help but notice the similarities between 'Mary' and my granddaughter Emma and had to come see for myself"
"I'm not your granddaughter" Emma spat back at him
"Whatever you are to me is no matter. All I care about is ruining your father's happiness...starting with you" George said as he seized Emma by the arm. She now understood what her parents had been so scared of when they had asked her not to leave the palace un accompanied. She hoped that somehow her father would find her
