Author's note: First of all, thank you guys for the reviews on the first chapter. I apologize if there are any mistakes at the text, English is not my first language, and sometimes I might make some mistakes. I want to make clear that this story follows OUAT's original storyline, but the curse never happened, so Emma was created as a princess in the castle by her parents and Killian never met Milah or lost his hand.
Emma was in her room reading a book trying to forget her worries for a while. And she was avoiding her parents, still angry at them.
"Your highness?"
"Come in, Joana"
Joana was a servant for her kingdom since when her mother was a child. She was like a second mother for Emma.
"Won't you come down for dinner? Your parents are asking. Should I bring it here?"
"Yes, please, I want to stay a little bit alone"
"Okay, I'll bring it here, your highness."
Joana was about to close the door when she heard people scramming.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know, your Highness."
They went to see the view from Emma's balcony. They seemed to be…The Evil Queen's guards? They were terrorizing her people.
"We have to do something!" Emma said, worried about her people.
"I suggest we go to the basement"
The castle had a basement that was some kind of shelter and hiding place to keep them safe in case something bad happened, like what was happening now.
No. She needed to help their kingdom.
"Joana, please, we gotta help them!"
"No, I'm afraid we can't, Your Highness. I need to keep you safe. King's orders."
Emma realized she couldn't discuss, so they went there.
They finally reached the stairs to enter through the secret passage; the door was opened by a guard. The place was full of servants for the castle. There were cooks, guards, maids, butlers, and a bunch of other people. Emma located her parents, who looked very concerned.
"Mom, dad, I'm here!"
They both looked at her.
"Emma! Are you okay? Did anything happen to you?"
"I'm fine, dad" She said giving them both a hug.
"But…what's happening?"
"Regina is. She sent her guards here just to threaten our people and scare them. She wants to make us leave the kingdom by terrorizing our people." Her mother said, with a guilty look.
"Snow, it's not your fault. It's our kingdom. She was the one who stole it from us, and we got it back. End of story."
"No, you don't understand. I know Regina and she's going to keep threatening our people until we leave the kingdom. And she has magic! She might kill us all!"
Emma had never seen her mother so worried and scared before. She was always the one to have hope, even in the darkest moments.
"Emma, take care of your mother. I'm going there."
"No, David, it's too dangerous!"
"Dad, please, let me help you! Let me go with you!"
"The guards are going with me. I'm just going to check out. I need you to be here. I can't lose you both; you're too precious for me." King David said and kissed Snow quickly and hugged Emma. She heard him whisper on her ear "It's going to be fine, baby." Then, he left the shelter.
Wish I was hopeful like him.
They had been waiting for almost an hour. Emma was sitting on a chair by her mother. Their hands were clasped tightly together on Emma's lap. She could feel her mother's hand trembling.
"Mom, it's gonna be alright, you know. We will find a way." Emma tried to talk like her mother always did.
"I know, sweetie. I'm just a little worried with our people and your dad."
That was it. Her parents loved each other so badly that they hated to be apart, even for some hours. It was true love. She wanted that, but was it possible? Would she ever get that, just like her parents?
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Michael, the guard rushed to open it.
"You may return to your posts. We took care of situation, everything is fine." It was her father's voice.
"David!"
"Dad"
They three hugged.
"So? Any conclusions?" Snow said, afflicted.
"Yeah, but first let's get out of here, shall we?"
They were at her father's office, basically a place where the king (sometimes with the help of the queen) solved The Kingdom's problems and made decisions.
"You were right, Snow. Regina is threatening our people to reach us."
"Did she kill anyone or something?"
"She wasn't here, or at least we didn't see her. It was just her guards, a bunch of them. They hurt some people, but it was nothing too serious. I had a reunion with the guards and we think it's not over yet." Emma's father said, concerned. "We think that some other attacks might happen."
"Oh no, what do we do?" Snow was so worried. She loved her people, and she was happy because that love was mutual, they trusted her as the Queen with their lives. How would they after that?
"We are going to find a way. This is our catchphrase."
Emma was just observing them and thinking.
"They will have something to entertain them, so they won't be scared of the Evil Queen's threats to our kingdom."
Now she understood her fathers' words.
Being a princess was not easy, sometimes she had to do things she didn't want just for the good of the people. Imagine being a queen.
Her father was hugging her mother, trying to reassure her.
"I'm going to rest a little. Dad, can we please talk later?" She said, actually wanting to give her parents a little privacy.
Emma was walking the halls of the castle trying to ponder about what had just happened. Her parents were concerned. The Evil Queen was angry. Threats. People were afraid.
The Selection.
But would it really entertain her people?
Questions wouldn't shut down.
"Dad?" Emma knocked on the door of her father's office.
"Come in, Emma. You wanted to talk to me, right?"
"Yes, if you are not occupied."
"It's alright. Your Mom is resting a little, she's worried, you know. But it's okay. Spit it out"
"Well…I want to make clear that I don't intend to get married soon or doing a selection, but I understand its importance for the welfare of our kingdom."
Her father smirked. "Now you're talking like a queen."
"After everything that happened…I finally agreed with you."
"Go on."
"I agree in being a part of this entertainment. But as you said before, if I can't find anyone suitable, we stop the whole thing. No marriage or princes."
He looked in her eyes.
"Emma, you know how important this is, don't you?"
"Of course I do."
"Especially in this delicate situation we're living."
"I know." Emma said looking serious, being well aware of how serious that was.
"I won't let you down. I can't promise that I'll fall in love or something, but I promise I'll try my best to do this wisely and to help you and our kingdom."
"You swear you at least try?"
"We have a deal."
"Okay…I'll tell your Mom and we'll be announcing it to people soon."
She hugged him.
"Thank you, Dad."
She left the room.
Emma took a deep breath wondering what she had gotten herself into. She was admired that some common boy would feel brave enough to try to be the prince and get married to her. But she would not go easy on them.
To be continued…
