Huge thanks to always-been-a-pirate and spartanguard for the beta services!
Chapter 1: I'm Late For a Very Important Date
She was going to be late and it was all her brother's fault.
Erin Jones cursed inwardly as she hid in the shadows of an alcove, waiting for the guard on duty to make his next round. She should be at home mentally preparing herself for the ball that was being thrown tomorrow night but no; instead she was sneaking around an unknown castle in the dead of night with nothing but her magic, sword, and sharp wit to protect her. All so her brother could attend the ball on time - not that it would have been good for him to be late. It was a ball celebrating his upcoming wedding, after all.
She was also certain her best friend and future sister-in-law would not have taken kindly to being thrust into the spotlight by herself while her fiance was off stealing a scepter, even if it was for the greater good of the realm.
Which is exactly how Erin ended up with this task. Generally she was the one who received the bulk of the 'retrieve this dangerous weapon from this psychopath' missions, a facet of her life as a royal that she rather enjoyed. She hated being cooped up within the castle walls for long periods of time—the thirst for adventure she had inherited from her father running strong within her veins—and retrievals were almost always fraught with some kind of danger, which she relished. That was a trait her father would insist came from her mother. Having just returned from a retrieval herself and in need of a small break, her grandfather had tasked Liam with securing the scepter while he wasn't on duty for the Royal Navy. Normally it wouldn't have been a problem for him to take on the task but there was an urgency to this mission, a need to get the scepter as quickly as possible that overlapped the timeframe of the ball and it had become apparent there was no way he could undertake it without possibly being late to his own celebration—or worse, missing it entirely.
Liam had begged her to take over the retrieval, calling in just about every favor he owed her, but in the end Erin had agreed to do it simply out of love for her brother. She could see how stressed her brother already was over the impending ball preparations and she knew Elizabeth was terrified of the possibility that she'd be left to deal with the royalty of neighboring kingdoms without the support of her fiance. Enduring a frigid realm was worth it if she could give two people she loved peace of mind.
Only a two day retrieval had turned into four - the wizard's castle was more fortified than they had originally suspected - and now Erin was going to be the one late to the ball.
She was certain her grandmother was going to be livid about that fact. Snow White was a punctual woman who organized events as thoroughly as she commanded armies and this was no ordinary, run-of-the-mill ball. This was a celebration of her brother's impending nuptials, a family affair, and Snow White didn't care what was going on when it came to family - no one was allowed to be late. Even if they were saving the realm from an insane wizard with a scepter that could control people's minds.
She was sure to receive a lecture from her grandmother on the situation and she was firmly going to blame Liam.
At the sound of approaching footfalls Erin sunk further into the shadows, wrapping her black cloak tighter around her to ensure the torchlight didn't reflect off her hair or sword. The guard dressed head to toe in chainmail passed by her hiding spot, eyes trained forward and never once seeing her. As soon as he rounded the corner Erin was moving, walking on the balls of her feet to prevent her own steps from being heard as she made her way to the wooden door that lay at the end of the hall. She had spent the last two days studying the routine of the guards and knew she only had a few minutes before he made his way back around.
Reaching the door, she hesitantly brought her hand forward and wasn't surprised when it grazed an unseen barrier inches from the wood that pulsed a vibrant blue. It was a protection spell, although thankfully not a blood one. Pulling a small bottle from her inner vest pocket, she quickly popped the cork and threw its contents towards the invisible barrier. The protection spell on the door flared brightly for a few seconds before dissipating and Erin sighed in relief when the handle turned effortlessly - apparently, the crazy wizard didn't think he needed to lock his doors as long as a weak protection spell was on them. She quickly entered and shut the door, the latch catching quietly just as the sound of the returning guard's boots reached her ears.
Pushing back the hood of her cloak, Erin turned and surveyed the room. It was modestly sized for its owner's ego, filled with overflowing bookcases lining every wall and cluttered tables spaced throughout that would have driven 'everything in its proper place' Regina mad. A doorway leading to a small balcony to her right showed her the waning full moon hanging low in the night sky and she quietly groaned. She was going to be very late.
She immediately went to the wizard's work tables in search of the scepter. This wasn't the first time she had traveled to the kingdom in the far North to retrieve a dangerous magical object from him - she was fairly certain her last visit two years ago had prompted the increase in guards - and he wasn't a particularly bright man despite his extensive magical training. She was hoping he had just left the damn thing lying around for easy access. She hated the cold land of Narnia with a passion and wanted to be back in warmer climates as soon as possible.
Not that she was going to have any peace once she returned home. Her grandmother had planned the wedding of the century for Liam and Elizabeth - complete with carriage rides, doves, every flower the kingdom had to offer, and a guest list that had made even Regina's eyes widen. It was a huge event not only for the family but the entire kingdom, one Snow White had planned with absolute zeal since Erin had deprived her of planning a large wedding. She had always hated the pomp and circumstance of royal weddings and had refused to have one, choosing to marry Matthew in his grandmother's rose garden instead. It wasn't that she begrudged her grandmother for going overboard with planning the wedding - far from it, actually.
It had been six months since she and Liam traveled back in time to bring the past versions of their parents to the future and save their mother. As far as peaceful times went, the last six months had been the most peaceful the Charmings had seen since Erin was a teenager. No villains to fight, no kingdom wars to prevent - just peace and happiness. Even Maleficent, who had been the proverbial thorn in their sides since before Erin was born, had been quiet. Erin had learned early on that growing up in her family meant enjoying the quiet moments whenever they appeared and she knew at the end of the day that was all her grandmother was really trying to do. The fact that they had a prolonged quiet moment to give her brother and Elizabeth the wedding they deserved was a miracle in and of itself, and her grandmother was just making the best of it. Even if it did mean driving everyone in the family insane. The wedding was a little under three weeks away, however, and Erin knew it would be one detail crisis after another once she returned to Misthaven, and she was not looking forward to it.
Contemplating how she could get out of actually wearing a dress to her brother's wedding while rummaging through boxes for the scepter, she stilled when she heard the door behind her open and shut quickly. She had been hoping to get through this without any bloodshed but apparently that wasn't going to be the case. Turning and unsheathing her sword in one fluid movement, she placed the very sharp tip directly in line with the cloaked intruder's neck as they turned towards her.
"Bloody hell!"
It took her the fraction of a heartbeat to recognise the voice. "Eric!" she hissed, instantly lowering her sword.
The hood of the cloak was pushed back to reveal the young pirate captain that was aiding her in her retrieval, black hair disheveled and green eyes wide with surprise.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered. "You're suppose to be waiting for me on the ship!"
A dark eyebrow rose. "And leave you to have all the fun? What kind of pirate do you take me for, Jones?"
"The kind that almost got a sword through his neck," Erin muttered as she sheathed her sword.
"Ah, yes. Tell me, is it a requirement of the Jones women to hold sharp objects to a pirate captain's throat at least once in their lifetime?"
Erin rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure that makes at least three times I've done it to you."
"What can I say, women find me irresistible," Eric replied with a cheeky grin.
Refusing to admit to him that she found him attractive on any level, Erin huffed quietly and turned back to the tables she had been searching. The truth was she could use all the help she could get by the look of the wizard's disorganized stockroom. They only had an hour or two at max to locate the scepter, avoid the seven levels of guards, and climb over snow covered mountains to get back to Eric's ship that was anchored a few miles offshore before the wizard started his daily torture routine.
That, and not be late for her brother's ball.
She watched the pirate captain move to the far corner of the room and open a large chest, his brow furrowed as he rifled through its contents. No matter what she said to him, she really was glad he was here with her. He had made the four day retrieval less lonely, helping her observe the guard's patrol patterns and keeping her entertained when she thought she was going to go crazy from the ever persistent cold aboard his ship. And despite the fact he pushed her buttons at every turn, she genuinely enjoyed having him on these missions. He was a quick thinker, always willing to go along with whatever hair-brained scheme she concocted to get them out of a pinch with minimal complaining, and was an asset to have in any kind of fight.
There was also the fact she had become overtly protective and didn't want him out of her sight over the last six months.
She had felt that way ever since they defeated the Snow Queen. There had been something about walking into the same courtyard where she lost Matthew and seeing Maleficent holding Eric prisoner that had given birth to her all-consuming fear. She was afraid to let him out of her sight and had all but demanded he take one of the empty rooms in the family wing of the castle to keep him closer. Not that she had told him that when she gave him no choice but to move into the castle…
"You want me to what?"
"Move into the castle," Erin repeated, like she were simply asking him to bring her a glass of rum. "There are a few empty rooms on the family wing that are just collecting dust until Neal or Liam have children."
Eric continued to stare at her in confusion, the bundle of rope he had been about to haul onto his ship hanging loosely from his right hand. "Have you hit your head recently?"
"No," Erin scoffed. "I just think it's a good idea."
"Well, I don't."
Erin crossed her arms beneath the heavy winter cloak she had donned before coming to the docks. "And why not?"
"Because I'm not a member of the royal family," he replied, gesturing to himself with his free hand as if his attire alone spoke to that statement.
"So? You're a friend of the royal family."
"It's not the same thing and you know it," Eric dead panned. "Besides, I have the Mermaid's Mist."
"And ships get cold in the winter time. I know, I've spent my fair share of them on board the Jolly Roger." Erin shivered at the memory of trying to stay warm beneath a mountain of blankets in her cabin as the cold night air seeped into every surface the enchanted ship had. "The castle has fireplaces and comfortable beds at least."
"I'm a sailor, Jones. I'm use to the numbing cold that comes with living on a ship during the harsher months."
Erin rolled her eyes. "Can you stop being stubborn for five seconds?"
A barking laugh escaped Eric at her words. "I'm being stubborn? You are the one who came down here and demanded I move into the castle."
"And you're making up every excuse you can not to accept the invitation."
"Of course I am! I'm not a member of the royal family or high nobility, it wouldn't be right for me to-"
"Yes, it would!" Erin snapped, her temper flaring. She had tried to remain calm but the remnants of her nightmare were still playing before her eyes, the image of his heart in Maleficent's hand haunting her even as she stood on the docks. It had been what spurred her to come down here and ask him to move into the castle. She couldn't rest knowing he was so far away, that if some villain attacked she would have no way to get to him or protect him, just as she had been unable to do during the fight with Maleficent a few weeks ago.
"Why in Hades' realm does it matter so much to you that I move into the bloody castle?" he asked and Erin felt her heart hammer against her chest at the question. She couldn't tell him the real reason she wanted him in her home because that would open up a conversation she wasn't ready to have. No, she had to think of another reason. One that was plausible and would get past even her mother's lie detector...
"Everything okay?"
Erin turned to see her grandmother walking toward them, the Queen of Misthaven's white cloak blowing softly in the cold wind that came from the sea and Erin had never been more thankful for the other woman's ability to appear at the oddest of times. If there was anyone who could help her with this, it was her grandmother.
"Grandma! Just the person I wanted to see!"
"I am?" Snow asked, clearly confused as Erin moved to stand next to her.
"Yes! I was just telling Eric he needed to move into the castle and he seemed to think it wouldn't be right for him to do so. Can you please tell him that he's wrong?"
Eric huffed, clearly unprepared for Erin to throw him under the proverbial ship. "Your Majesty-"
"Actually, I think that's a wonderful idea."
Erin couldn't help but smile smugly at the shocked pirate captain.
"Pardon me?"
Snow shrugged. "After everything you've done for this family I think the least we can do is offer you a place in our home, Eric."
Erin sighed internally at her grandmother's response - it was the perfect reason to hide her real motives for getting Eric into the castle. And because it was the truth - he had fought beside them during every villain attack over the last four years and risked his life a number of times - it would slide right past her mother's super power.
Eric shook his head. "But I'm not a member of the royal-"
"So?" Snow inquired, using the same exact tone Erin had not five minutes earlier. "Neither is Will and he has a permanent room. You can take Elizabeth's old room in the family wing - she's been staying with Liam since they no longer feel the need to hide their relationship."
"I'm grateful, truly I am, but I can't-"
Snow's chin tilted up. "Captain D'Harper, are you refusing a direct request from the Queen in whose kingdom you currently have your ship berthed?"
Erin wasn't one bit surprised to see Eric's eyes widen and his back straighten at her grandmother's words. Snow White might have lived a good portion of her life as a bandit and in another realm where royalty wasn't needed, but when she had to, she could be every inch the queen she was born to be. Erin had seen grown men and kings of much wealthier kingdoms tremble when her grandmother used her royal tone and she knew Eric wouldn't argue with it either.
"No, of course not, Your Majesty," he said at length, eyes flickering from Snow to Erin. "I'd be honored to accept the invitation."
"Wonderful! Now that that is taken care of, I'll be on my way. I've got to find another pirate captain who happens to be married to my daughter and inquire as to why my husband woke up with a rum induced hangover in the castle gardens this morning."
Eric's living arrangements hadn't been the only thing to change since Erin began fearing something would happen to him if she wasn't around. In the past, it wasn't unheard of for him to go on small retrieval missions by himself but now she insisted on going with him, a fact he seemed oblivious to. Having him out of her sight in dangerous situations made her anxious, especially if her nightmares had been plaguing her.
Even those had altered since the defeat of the Snow Queen. They were a horrific blend now, Morpheus not only making her relive Matthew's death in excruciating detail but the moment Eric had been held captive by her greatest enemy. The nightmares with Eric were never the same however - sometimes he was cut with the dagger and other times his heart was crushed, but the end result was always the same. She lost him, forever helpless to stop his death despite all the magic and skill at her disposal. She hadn't dwelled on what the change in her nightmares meant or even allowed herself to think about it. To do so would be to admit why the thought of losing him terrified her and just as she had been on the day she begged him to move into the castle, she wasn't ready to admit that yet.
Distracted by her thoughts, she didn't see the heavy lid on the box she had been sifting through closing until it fell onto her fingers. Extracting her hand from the box with a jerk, she let loose a litany of quiet curses that would have made even her sailor of a father blush.
"You okay?" Eric asked, looking up from the item strewn table he had been searching.
"Bloody fine," she hissed, glaring down at the box like it had offended her mother. "We're never going to find this thing, are we?"
"We'll find it, Jones. We just have to keep-"
The sudden jiggling of a door handle had both of them freezing and two pairs of green eyes met across the room.
"Why is this door locked?!" bellowed a deep voice from the other side of the door and Erin closed her eyes in exasperation. What was the damn wizard doing here early?
"None of us have been near the door, Master," came the reply from who she assumed was the guard they had snuck past. Turning, she saw Eric had in fact latched the door when he entered.
"Well it didn't lock itself, did it?!" There was a brief pause and then the wizard snarled, "My protection spell is gone! Who's in there?!"
Before she could even take one step toward the balcony to conceal her magical presence, Erin felt the undeniable push of searching magic flow over her and she knew the jig was up.
"It's that witch again! Break this door down - I want her head!"
"Bloody hell!" Erin cursed, raising her hand and throwing her own protection spell around the door. She knew it wouldn't keep them out forever but it would hopefully by her time to find the scepter and a way out. Spinning around, she threw stealth out the window as she hastily began to toss objects to the floor.
"Eric, we've got to find that scepter!"
Not needing to be told twice, the young pirate captain began emptying chest after chest, kicking and throwing objects to either side as he searched. Not finding the scepter wasn't an option. The wizard was a madman who had come to power through brute force alone and was currently using the scepter's magic to gain control not only of this region of Narnia, but the entire kingdom. And that was something they couldn't allow to happen. Her grandfather had promised the High King of Narnia that they would stop the wizard in his tracks and she was bloody well going to keep the promise.
"That damn thing has to be in here!"
"What did it bloody look like?" came Eric's muffled question from beneath one of the tables.
Knocking a cauldron over and side stepping its contents Erin replied, "Blue, with like gold leafing or something!"
"A-ha! I fou- no, never mind. No gold leafing."
Erin looked up in time to see said blue scepter without gold leafing get tossed from beneath the table and hit the stone wall, shattering into hundreds of pieces. The guards were now hammering on the door with a large object, their efforts rattling the old wood in its iron hinges and she knew they were running out of time. Her protection spell wouldn't hold for long, not against the likes of this wizard, and if they were still in here when he came in, it would be a magical battle she wasn't prepared for. Emptying the last chest on the table she had been searching, she started to move to another when something caught her eye. It was a rectangular wooden box with gold runes etched into the wood and it immediately reminded her of the box Regina kept a wand in. Flipping the lid open, she saw that the interior was lined with red velvet and inside lay a foot long scepter. Its surface was dark blue and had gold leaf running down the length of it with a large and circular diamond embedded into its top. Was that….
"Out of the way, you fools!" came the wizard's sudden sharp demand and the hammering against the door ceased.
She knew instantly upon picking up the specter that this was what they had come for. She could feel its magic pulsing in her hand and although her magic detection skills were still rudimentary compared to that of her mother or Regina, she could tell the magic imbued within the scepter belonged to Aslan, the White Sorcerer of Narnia.
"Eric, I found it!"
The young pirate captain scrambled from beneath the table he had been searching under, a huge grin appearing on his face as he looked at the scepter in her hand. Before she could say another word though his eyes moved to something behind her and the smile disappeared from his face.
"What the bloody hell is that?!"
Turning to see what had caught his attention, Erin's eyes widened as she saw streaks of lightning slowly seeping through the doorway, their blue color vivid in the torch lit room. With her focus no longer on the scepter she could feel the wizard's magic in the air, her own humming just beneath her skin in response. Securing the scepter onto her belt she spun around and all but shoved Eric toward the balcony.
"We have to get out of here - now!"
Bursting through the doors that led onto the balcony, Erin's breath caught momentarily as the cold hit her, her light cloak doing nothing to shield her from the freezing wind. It was the kind of cold that seeped instantly into the bones and muddled the mind, her body shuddering as it fought to retain its heat and she swore if she made it out of this alive, she would never again complain about visiting her Aunt Elsa. She moved as quickly as her rapidly numbing body would allow to the stone railing, green eyes taking in their surroundings. The wizard's castle sat high on the side of a mountain, almost precariously placed and ready to topple over with nothing surrounding them but the looming peaks of Narnia's most dangerous mountain range. The storeroom they had raided was at the very top of one of the castle's towers and the balcony opened into thin air, no crevice or stone structure anywhere in sight for them to climb down - not that her freezing body could have attempted that route anyway. Peering over the railing and squinting against the freezing wind that battered her face, Erin estimated the drop to the snow-covered floor below was at least 1,000 feet - another exit they couldn't take.
"What was that?" Eric asked, coming to stand next to her as she leaned back from the railing and having to shout to be heard above the wind.
"This wizard specializes in lightning magic," she explained, trying in vain to ignore the way her teeth were already chattering. "If he finds us it will only take one wave of his hand to incinerate both of us!"
Eric stared at her for a long second, clearly wondering why she hadn't divulged that piece of information before now.
"Right, then we best get moving."
"And how exactly do you propose we do that?" Erin inquired, her arm dramatically jerking to their surroundings. "We didn't bring rock climbing gear!"
"Can't you just…" Eric pulled one of his hands from inside the cloak he was feebly trying to hold closer to his body, mimicking the hand movement she did when using magic. "Translocate us out of here?"
"Not unless you want to end up in two different places. I still can't do it properly."
"You did it six months ago when Maleficent attacked!"
"Don't you think I bloody know that?" Erin snapped, her toes curling in her boots from the cold. "It's the one and only time I've been able to do it. Mom has been giving me lessons for the past six months and all I've managed to do is translocate half a vase into the courtyard fountain."
"Oh, bloody hell!"
Ignoring Eric's curse, Erin tried to focus on the situation at hand and not the biting cold that felt like it was turning her blood into ice. This was not how it was suppose to go. They were going to find the scepter, sneak out the same way they had come in, and retrieve their cold weather cloaks before making the trek back to his ship - not become stranded with no escape route and freezing to death. To make matters worse she could sense the wizard's magic growing, her protection shield around the door weakening with every second.
She was not going to die on the bloody side of a mountain. She was a survivor, dammit - she had lived through countless curses, time travel, a kidnapping - this wasn't how it was going to end. Maybe she could magically create a rope for them to climb down…
A loud explosion rocked the tower and Erin gasped at the sheer force of magic that flowed over her as the wizard blew the door apart. They were out of time - and options.
As she heard people rushing into the room behind them her mother's words from her first magic lesson echoed back to her. Magic is about emotion, Erin. No matter how much you may want to complete the act without emotion, it won't ever happen. Looking to Eric, she knew what she had to do. It was risky and could possibly get them killed, but it was their only option. Moving forward she pushed Eric's hands away from where they had been holding his cloak closed and grasped the front of his black vest, her hands so numb from the cold she couldn't even feel it's leathered texture.
"Wrap your arms around me."
"What?" Eric asked in confusion, doing as she bade nonetheless and pulling her to him until there was no space left between them.
Craning her neck so she could look into his eyes she whispered, "Do you trust me?"
Without hesitation, he answered. "With my life."
As the forms of the guards appeared at the balcony doors and the wizard's magic surged through the air Erin tightened her grip on Eric's vest and threw all of her weight to the left, sending them both over the railing.
"Do you think Erin and Eric are okay?"
An amused chuckle had Emma looking up from the latest kingdom report she had been reading while in bed to see her husband of twenty-nine years walking into their bedroom. Time and the effect of so many curses had been kind to him, touching his handsome face with only a few extra laugh lines and adding streaks of gray into his hair right at the temples, though she had begun to notice a few silver strands elsewhere on his head over the last six months. He was in his trademark leather pants and the black vest that was cut and styled similar to the red one he had worn for centuries. His hair was even more disheveled than normal which spoke to the fact he had lost the battle with their granddaughter and had spent the last hour telling her more bedtime stories than he had originally intended.
"They're in Narnia, love," Killian replied while making making his way towards the fireplace. "The biggest threat they face is Erin pushing D'Harper over a cliff when he complains about the cold one too many times."
Emma raised an unamused eyebrow at her husband's back as he knelt to stroke the fire. Spring had finally arrived in Misthaven after a rather brutal winter, but while the days were cool and no longer required wool lined cloaks, the cold remnants of winter still stubbornly clung to the nights and forced them to light the fireplaces. Not that she minded. There was something to be said for watching your husband make love to you as the fire painted his skin in shades of amber.
"You're only saying that because you hope she does."
"It wouldn't be the worst scenario that could come from their trip," she heard him mutter and Emma had to bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing. Killian Jones may be able to accept the fact his daughter had fallen in love with a pirate and even begrudgingly respected the younger pirate captain, but that didn't mean he liked it. Deciding to get her husband back for his little quip the other day about their son's nightly activities with his fiancee, Emma carefully schooled her face into a blank mask and cleared her throat.
"Or she could decide the best way to beat the cold is to share body heat."
A thrill of victory shot through her at the choking sounds Killian made and it took every ounce of control she possessed not to burst into a fit of giggles when he stood and turned towards her in one movement, a horrified look on his handsome face.
"They wouldn't."
"Why not? We did while we were there and if memory serves that lead to a rather vigorous round of-"
The indignant sound her husband made in the back of his throat finally set Emma's laughter off. Honestly, it was almost too easy to get him worked up. When her laughter subsided a few minutes later she saw Killian still standing in front of the fireplace, hand and hook on his waist and a very unamused look on his face.
"That wasn't funny, Swan."
"I thought it was," she said, wiping the tears that had gathered in her eyes as she laughed. "Serves you right for your little comment about Liam's inherited stamina in the bedroom."
Killian huffed and Emma couldn't keep the smile off her face as he walked to the water basin, mumbling under his breath about traitorous wives who like to give their husbands heart attacks. The teasing banter between them had always been an aspect of their relationship she loved. It spoke to how comfortable they were with one another and that their relationship had been founded on mutual respect and trust, becoming a staple in their marriage and an unlikely tradition. She always teased him about being jealous of himself and even thirty years after the fact, he was still cracking jokes about her almost marrying a flying monkey.
That had been fun to explain to the kids once they were old enough to understand.
The thought of her children had Emma looking away from Killian as he began cleaning the kohl from his eyes to the pile of parchment that lay on her nightstand. She was rather concerned about Erin. She always worried about any of her children when they went off but the reports they had received on the wizard who possessed the scepter kicked her maternal side into an even higher state. Ethics and morality were not part of his vocabulary and he'd fallen further into the realm of madness over the last few years, making him unhinged and his actions unpredictable. She hadn't wanted Liam to go either but as the Sheriff of Misthaven and a decent human being, she understood why it needed to be retrieved. Erin was always careful, but all it would take was one wrong move for her daughter to become a madman's prisoner….
"Are you truly worried about them?"
Tearing her gaze away from the very reports that had sent her daughter to the far North, Emma looked up to find Killian still standing at the water basin, a dry towel in his hand and those perceptive blue eyes locked on her. Of course he'd be able to tell how worried she was.
"A little," she admitted. "I read the report on the wizard and he's become even more volatile since the last time Erin went and retrieved an object for him."
Killian nodded in understanding, the towel he had been drying his hand on tossed to the edge of the water basin. "He has but Erin knows how to protect herself. She's our daughter and a very resourceful woman when it comes to getting out of tight situations... And as much as it pains me to say this, she also has Eric. "
Humming in agreement, she gave her husband a teasing smile. "He's growing on you."
"I wouldn't go that far, love," he muttered, walking across the room towards their large wardrobe. "I just sleep better at night knowing he'd give his life to protect my daughter."
It was a bold face lie and Emma didn't need her super power to know that. Deciding not to call her husband out on it, she steered the conversation towards a subject that had unfortunately become a daily part of their lives over the last six months.
"Has there been any news on Maleficent?"
"Nothing new," Killian replied, gracefully kicking off his boots before undoing the buttons of his vest with practiced movements. "The last reports we received still have her hiding away in her castle."
Emma nodded, not the least bit surprised that there wasn't a new development where Maleficent was concerned. Physically penetrating the Dark Forest that surrounded her castle was impossible, the blackened trees and overgrown thorns magically protected by the Dark Fairy's magic and even in her weakened state, it was still strong enough to repel the Blue Fairy's attempts to enter. They had been left with no other option but to send Blue to the edge of the Dark Fortress multiple times a week to sense out her kin's movements and physical strength. There had been no change in the weekly reports until just a few weeks into the new year when Blue returned and told them that Maleficent had finally regained her strength. For the last two months they had been waiting, soldiers on standby and Emma and Regina constantly testing the magical barrier they had recast after sending their past selves back in time but no attack had come.
"Maybe she's finally given up on this vendetta against us," Emma thought aloud, surprised she had finally voiced the thought that had been niggling at her for the last few weeks. Why else would Maleficent be fully healed and not coming after them?
Killian instantly shook his head at her words. "She hasn't given up."
"You don't think so?"
"I know she hasn't because I didn't." Shrugging the embroidered black fabric from his shoulders and letting it fall to the floor he continued, "I was once blinded by that same need for revenge, love. That level of hatred, the kind that settles into your very soul and is the only thing you breath and eat, doesn't die because one plan failed. Rumple surviving his Dreamshade poisoning certainly didn't make my thirst for vengeance disappear."
Emma gave her husband a hard look as he pulled the flowing shirt over his head. "You were not like Maleficent, Killian. You had a viable reason to seek revenge against Rumple - he did kill Milah. Maleficent has always blamed us for Lily's death when she was the one who pulled the trigger out of a need to make my parent's pay."
"Revenge is revenge, love."
Emma scoffed quietly, ignoring her husband's raised eyebrow as he began to work on the laces of his pants. He was nothing like the Dark Fairy. He never made excuses for his years spent lost to the darkness, always taking ownership of the actions he had made to get his revenge. Whenever they stumbled upon someone he had wronged during that time he was remorseful and sought to make amends no matter how big or small. He had spent every day since he turned his ship around becoming a better man - Maleficent had never done any of that. She had never accepted her part in Lily's death and had left a path of unapologetic destruction in her wake, not caring what scars she left on those she touched - their daughter being the one who carried the deepest of those scars.
"It's definitely odd that she's regained her physical strength but hasn't attacked us," Emma noted, watching with more than a passing interesting as her husband stripped off his leather pants and donned a pair of black cotton ones. Any other night he would have forgone the pants entirely, but with Erin in Narnia, it was almost a sure bet that their granddaughter would find her way into their bedroom, again, at some point in the night.
"Which fills me with unease rather than relief, I must admit."
"Because a quiet fairy is more dangerous than an active one?"
Nodding, Killian picked up his discarded clothes and tossed them into the depths of their wardrobe before shutting the large door and turning towards her. "She's up to something."
"Wouldn't be the first time," Emma said with a sigh, admiring the shifting muscles of her husband's toned upper body as he walked to his side of the bed. "The last time she was this quiet she had planned and executed Ingrid's release to terrorize us."
"And we all know how that turned out," Killian muttered, loosening the straps on the brace that held his hook. Emma nodded, needing no reminder that by releasing Ingrid, Maleficent had set into motion the events that lead to Emma being put under a sleeping curse and trapped in an ice coffin while her younger children risked their very existence to go back in time to save her.
As Killian set his brace and hook on the nightstand, a habit from his pirating days he had never been able to break, she started to ask, "So, what do you-"
"Now, Swan, that's enough of that," Killian said suddenly, crawling across the length of their king-size bed with more speed and agility than a man of his actual age should possess. Before Emma could question him on why they were no longer going to talk about Maleficent he had reached her side and captured her lips in a passionate kiss.
Surprised but not complaining about her husband's sudden actions, she answered the slanting of his mouth over hers like she had a thousand times over the course of their relationship - instantly and with her tongue darting out to meet his in a well-practiced dance. She gave as good as she got, quick gasps of air taken before they dived back into each other with both fighting for dominance. When the intensity of the kiss grew, she reached for him, her right hand sinking into the gray and black strands of his hair while her left grasped his firm bicep. The reports she had been reading when he came in fluttered to the stone floor below as she shifted to be closer to him, internally cursing the large comforter that blocked her from his warm and semi-naked body.
He broke the kiss as suddenly as he had started it and her eyes fluttered open to find him staring at her heatedly. The coil of desire flared hotly within her stomach at the sight of his darkened eyes and kiss swollen lips.
"What was that for?" she asked, voice breathless and every inch the sound of a woman who had been thoroughly kissed.
"Because we've done enough talking about that blasted fairy for tonight," he murmured, nose brushing against hers sweetly as his breath puffed warm against her lips. "There's something I've been aching to do all day."
"Oh?"
Killian hummed, his lips dipping down to ghost along her jaw before moving to her ear. "You denied me the pleasure of having you this morning, Swan."
His sensual words sent a shiver of desire down her spine and a moan slipped past Emma's lips as his own fell to latch onto a sensitive area of her neck.
"Kind of hard to have me when there was a six year old sprawled between us," she panted, fingers tightening in his hair as he sucked and laved at the spot he knew drove her wild.
"Precisely why I'm taking advantage of this time," he replied once he released her, nose skimming up her jaw before raising his head to look at her again. "I'd very much like to ravish my beautiful wife before our granddaughter comes in and takes up residence."
Emma felt rather than saw his hand pull at the neckline of her sleepwear, the deep v-cut of his pirate shirt instantly exposing her left breast as the material slid halfway down her arm. Keeping his eyes locked with hers he slowly traced from her collarbone down to the slope of her breast with the tips of his fingers, her core throbbing with desire as his blunted nails scraped deliciously across her hardened nipple.
"What do you say, love?"
The hand that had been using his hair as an anchor dropped to where he was already hard for her and a smirk pulled at her lips when he groaned indecently at the contact.
"Lead the way, Captain."
Later that night, Killian waited until she wrapped herself in her winter robe and stepped onto their balcony before he opened his eyes.
Their bedchamber was shrouded in shadows, the fire he had attended to after making love to Emma still burning within its stone confinements and chasing away the full darkness of night. From his position in their bed, he could see the slightly waning moon hanging low in the sky through the balcony doors, his knowledge as a sailor telling him it was closer to the witching hour than it was to dawn. His head turned on the overtly soft pillow when he heard Emma's trembling sigh from the balcony, just barely able to make out his wife's form through the darkness and see-through curtains as she stood at the railing that overlooked the sea.
Another nightmare had awoken her only moments before, whatever twisted vision she had seen causing her to sit up and gasp for air as if she were drowning. In the stillness of their bed chamber he had practically heard her heart hammering against her chest and it had taken everything in him not to end the charade of him being ignorant and reach for her. He had thought for the briefest of seconds as he pretended to still be asleep that she was finally going to turn to him, had even felt their large bed dip as she moved towards him, but just as she had every night since they began, she pulled away to seek solace on her own.
He knew full well how debilitating and lonely the remnants of one's time in the Netherworld could be. Nightmares had plagued him after his own encounter with a sleeping curse and he had turned to her for help in banishing them. It had taken almost a year of her gentle touch to coax the thoughts he had buried for centuries to the surface, her love finally easing the inner regrets that had fed his Netherworld visions.
But in the six months since she had awoken from the sleeping curse and started having nightmares, Emma had yet to tell him she was even experiencing them.
Logically he understood why she hadn't. While his wife had come a long way from being the guarded women he had met three decades before, old habits died hard. The visions of her loved ones expressing her regrets would have brought up feelings she thought long ago buried, and Emma's response to dealing with unexpected emotions had always been to withdraw into herself until she could get a grip on them. She had done it after Ursula kidnapped the twins and took them to Neverland but she had told him, voicing that she was working through something and then coming to him when she had figured out her emotions.
It was clear to him, however, that she wasn't making any progress on sorting out the emotions her nightmares were constantly churning up. The period between her waking up from one and coming back to their bed had steadily lengthened more and more as the months went on, and he had instantly noticed a shift in her behavior when it came to falling asleep. His Swan had always been a hard worker but she was spending longer days in her study, pouring over the same kingdom reports to prolong having to go to bed. They used to enjoy afternoon naps together, be it on the Jolly Roger or in a sun-filled study, but since the nightmares had begun she had stopped joining him in their lazy tradition, perhaps fearful that she wouldn't be able to continue to hide them without the cover of darkness.
He had contemplated confronting her over the nightmares a million times but Killian knew his wife. He knew that if he pushed, she would only pull away more and the last thing he wanted to do was prolong her torture by making her feel like she was being backed into a corner. No, he would do as he always had and wait for her to come to him, enduring the sleepless nights by her side silently and without complaint...
The sudden jamming of a small knee into his ribs pulled him from his thoughts and Killian bit his lower lip to to keep from grunting. Moving his gaze from where Emma still stood on the balcony to the bed, he could just make out his granddaughter's form in the light of the fire. Hope had, as expected, crawled into their bed not long after they had fallen asleep, kneeing and elbowing her way in between them like a tiny kraken. She was currently on her back, the limbs that weren't digging into his body spread out wide while she used his left arm as a pillow, her angelic face turned away from him as she began to snore softly.
Once upon a time he had thought that only blonde princesses could hold his heart and then the raven-haired one next to him entered his life. Being a father and stepfather had always filled him with happiness but there was something about being a grandfather that made him absolutely giddy, filling something in his centuries old soul that he never knew had been missing. She was an absolutely delightful child - when she wasn't partaking in the pirate gene - and that was all because of her mother. His daughter had turned into a magnificent woman, strong and resilient, enduring the same sorrow he had but not letting it pull her into the darkness…
Killian frowned as a thought occurred to him. Erin's nightmares, while not the side effect of a sleeping curse, were nightmares nonetheless and she welcomed whatever comfort he could give her when they arose - but he was the only one. She didn't speak of them to anyone else, not even her mother or brothers despite the entire family knowing she had them. What if he wasn't the one Emma needed to overcome this, just as Erin turned away from everyone else but him to combat her nightmares? It had never occurred to him before that one of the regrets Emma may have involved him, which would explain why she hadn't even mentioned the nightmares. Not that he could think of anything in their relationship she would need to regret. Even when she pushed him away with both arms during the Zelena crisis she had never done anything that would constitute…
A familiar whooshing sound had his eyes moving from Hope's sleeping from to the balcony just in time to see the white cloud of Emma's magic dissipating. She'd translocated herself, more than likely to the lower levels of the castle to start her nightly sojourn of wandering the halls until she came back to their bed exhausted. Killian sighed heavily at the thought, his heart and jaw clenching at the knowledge that the woman he loved more than life itself was suffering quietly when she didn't need to be. As Hope's knee dug further into his ribs he ran an agitated hand through his hair and cursed quietly.
It was time he brought their children in on what was going on with their mother.
Free falling through the air was about as much fun as traveling through a time portal, she decided.
It was that same feeling of being weightless yet also still able to feel gravity's weight, the sensation causing her stomach to roll dangerously. The world around her blurred, disorienting her sense of direction until she wasn't sure if they were falling head first or feet first. The freezing wind that had been relatively discomforting on the balcony was now unbearable and stabbed at the exposed skin of her hands and face until they were raw. Breathing was almost impossible, the speed with which they fell preventing her from taking more than quick gasps. What breaths she did manage to take were painful, the cold air tearing down her throat to settle into her lungs like daggers and she was certain ice had actually begun to form on the tips of her pointed ears.
Her magic hummed beneath her skin, ready to be used with a wave of her hand but the image of where she needed to take them kept flickering or disappearing altogether when her mind slipped back into awareness of just how cold she was. She knew if she attempted to translocate them without a clear picture of an end destination it would be disastrous. It had been the first thing her mother told her when they started her lessons and was the reason she had only been able to translocate half a vase. No matter how many times she had visualized a place the image always altered at the last second, causing her to panic but unable to stop the forward press of her magic once she began.
She had to do it, though. If she didn't her insane last minute escape plan would be for nothing and her and Eric's broken bodies would end up at the bottom of the snow-covered mountains. Pulling on every ounce of discipline her parents had instilled in her, she pushed all thoughts of the cold to the back of her mind and conjured the image again, letting her mind's eye map out every piece of wood. When she had the full image again she started to move her right hand, her magic already surging towards her fingers but at the last second her mind registered the cold and the image blurred.
Tears gathered behind her closed eyes and frustration nearly drowned her. She couldn't do it. She had hoped that by putting her life in danger it would help her focus, forcing her to do what she hadn't been able to in the calm of her home. But it wasn't working. She couldn't stop thinking about how cold she was and she knew she was running out of time. They were plummeting closer and closer to the ground with every second that passed and it would only be a matter of minutes before they reached it. It was impossible…
Suddenly, Eric tightened his arms around her and above the coldness that had become her entire existence in the last few seconds, she felt his warm breath brush against her left ear.
"You can do it, Jones."
Warmth that didn't come from her magic washed over her at his words and she clung to it, focusing on how it started in her chest and spread to the rest of her body. She could still register the cold but it was now a distant sensation compared to the warmth. Tightening her numbed fingers around the labels of his vest, she conjured the image of his ship once again and the clarity with which it entered her mind nearly took her breath away. It was all there in perfect, unwavering detail - every piece of rigging, the expanse of deck, even the mark she had notched into the railing while fighting those damn water sprites years before.
This time when her right hand released its hold on him the image remained and with a wave of her wrist her magic surged forward, the familiar tingling racing up her arm as she felt smoke engulf them.
The world around her shifted as her magic transported them, the force of the air they fell through instantly dropping and the cold lessening, allowing her to breathe properly for what felt like the first time in decades. It took her a second longer than it should have to register that although they were no longer falling in the depths of the mountains, that they were still falling. Before she could begin to figure out why Eric turned them in mid-air so that his body was below hers, and then they were crashing into a hard and unmoving surface.
The impact of Eric's back to the deck of his ship jarred her despite the fact not a piece of her own body touched the wood, a shocked gasp escaping her chapped lips as Eric grunted painfully. Her stomach churned at the sudden stop and she had to swallow against the bile that rose sharply within her throat to keep from retching. Taking a few deep breaths and ignoring the ache in almost every joint she possessed, Erin opened her eyes and looked up, an almost hysterical laugh escaping her at the sight of the Mermaid's Mists' familiar rigging towering over her.
"Eric, I did it!"
A pained groan sounded from below her. "That you did, Jones."
Looking back down, she was about to ask him what the problem was when it hit her - Eric had turned them as they plummeted toward the deck and had taken the full force of their landing. With her heart pounding at the prospect of him being seriously injured, Erin quickly scrambled off him.
"Shit, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Eric answered, wincing as he rolled towards her and planted his hands on the deck. She helped him sit up as best she could with her own stiff movements and the tense set of his biceps beneath her hands didn't go unnoticed.
"Eric, are you sure you're okay?"
He nodded but another groan slipped past his lips the movement. "Just feel like I've been smacked full force by a boon is all." Rubbing gingerly at the back of his head he looked over her kneeling form. "Were you hurt?"
"A little sore from the abrupt landing but you took the brunt of it when you decided to be all chivalrous mid-air."
Eric chuckled. "Well, I couldn't let you get hurt, Jones. You did kind of translocate us about ten feet above the deck instead of on it."
Erin rolled her eyes at his playful ribbing as she pulled the scepter they had risked their lives for from her belt. "Yeah, well, just be glad I managed to get us over the ship and not in the bloody sea."
"How did you do it?"
Caught off guard by the question, Erin looked up from admiring the scepter's large diamond to find Eric watching her intently.
"What?"
"I was just wondering what made you able to translocate us," he clarified with a stiff shrug of his shoulders. "You said on the balcony that you hadn't been able to do it successfully since Maleficent's attack."
"Oh."
Erin's brow furrowed as she thought back to when they had been falling through the air. She could pinpoint the exact moment awareness of her surroundings had faded and the image of Eric's ship had finally become stable in her mind. It was the unexplainable warmth she had felt after feeling like she was going to fail that had allowed her to focus long enough to get them to safety. She hadn't thought much of its origins in that moment, just thankful that something had happened to get the mental image to stabilize, but with Eric asking it forced her to analyze its source.
"I- I guess survival instinct kicked in and helped me concentrate long enough to keep us from plummeting to our deaths," she replied. A thought struck her and she chuckled, her blonde hair swaying with the movement of her head as she shook it. "Dad always says I do things better under pressure - guess he was right."
The image of her father's proud and smiling face had Erin looking out over the sea that bordered Narnia's southern border. Amid the glaciers that floated far into the horizon she could see the waning full moon and it's position made her groan.
"We should start heading home. Even with the wind in our favor we're going to be cutting it close getting back before Liam and Elizabeth's ball - and Hera help me if I miss it. Grandma will have my head and chain the Jewel to the docks until after the wedding."
Forcing her aching body to stand, Erin headed towards the guest cabin she had claimed for the trip. She was so intent on putting the scepter in a safe place and getting home that she never saw the dejectedness that filled Eric's eyes at her explanation.