Before I get started, I just wanted to clarify a few things. First of all, when I call this an AU I meant that certain relationships are not the same as the real story. I wanted Emma to be the adopted daughter of a king, so I apologize if it upsets anyone that I made that king David. I suppose I could've had king Midas be the king or something, but I didn't. Oh well. Secondly, in this story, Emma and Neal are just friends. I think there are some moments where it seems like there may be something more, but there isn't. If you're looking for a story about the two of them, this is not it, this is Killian and Emma. Sorry, I don't mean to be bitter, I just really like this story and I really want other people to as well. I do appreciate the constructive criticism and all the comments, thank you so much! Anyway, here you go!

I could hear Neal and the other boy talking about something as I turned the corner. As soon as I did, I felt both pairs of eyes gazing at me. It was then that I remembered that I hadn't been wearing a dress when I came down earlier, and probably hadn't even looked much like a girl. Of course, Neal had seen me in a dress before, but he always seemed amazed when he did, as if every time was the first.

"Um, it's time for you to see the king..." I hesitated, because I still didn't know his name.

"Killian," he said as Neal unlocked his cell. "You can call me Killian."

I made a small smile at the new knowledge and let him walk past me up the stairs. I still didn't trust him. I gave one last nod and smile to Neal before climbing the stairs myself. I led Killian over to the throne room where I knew King David would be waiting. When we reached the throne room, I walked up to the side of the throne where I normally stood. The king would sit in the throne, and Serena and I would stand on either side of him.

I looked at Killian from my new position, and I realized it was the first time I'd really gotten a good look at him. Before, I had seen him outside in the dark, and then in the dungeon there was minimal lighting, so this was the first time I could actually see him. He was a lot more attractive than I would've thought. Stop thinking like that! I told myself. He tried to kill you! He's the enemy!

King David cleared his throat to signify that he was beginning. "Emma tells me you traveled here alone by boat. Is that correct, Mr. ..." he paused to hear Killian say his name.

"Jones, Your Majesty," Killian answered. "And I did arrive here on my own, but I left with my brother. He didn't make the full journey.

I felt sorry for him for about two seconds. Then I remembered how much I hated him. I wouldn't be so stupid as to feel sympathy toward this person who tried to kill me. I shifted my eyes over to see how David and Serena were taking the news. David looked like he was considering the information carefully, and Serena had her flirting eyes on. I guess she had noticed how attractive Killian was the same as I had. I rolled my eyes. Serena had every boy in the kingdom wrapped around her fingers. She could have any one of them she wanted, and she did. She'd dated almost every boy of noble birth at least once or twice. I had decided to wait for just the right man, or just not worry about it at all. I didn't need a man to complete me.

"And is it true that you threatened my daughter Emma?" King David continued, resuming his kingly attitude.

Killian hesitated, and risked a glance at me. I glared at him. I knew David was going to be on my side in this, and not let this guy live.

"Yeah, I did, but I wasn't really going to hurt her. I was just doing it out of self defense." Yeah right. He totally did not do it out of defense. Nevertheless, nobody usually talked to David like that. They just answered him and nothing more. I was a little surprised that Killian had the guts to defend himself like that, but I knew that David would be even more frustrated with him because of it. I looked over to King David and saw that he was frowning. I smirked, knowing Killian was done for.

Serena leaned over and whispered in her father's ear. He sighed and looked at Killian.

"All right," he announced. "You will be forgiven, for the time being. But you will be on a sort of probation. You will stay in my palace for now, and have your own room and be treated as an honored guest, but if there are any more problems, or any complaints from the staff about you, you will be sent to the dungeon. Serena, Emma, why don't you lead Mr. Jones to one of the free rooms in Emma's hall."

"What?" I yelled. "You're putting him in my hall? Nobody stays in my hall!"

David sighed. "The guest hall is full," he explained.

"What about in your hall? That's where you always put the excess guests!"

"First of all, I don't necessarily want him to be so close to the other guests, and secondly," he lowered his voice, "I don't know if I trust him and Serena to sleep in rooms so close to each other." I looked over to where Serena and Killian now stood, talking together. Serena giggled in her normal flirty way.

I sighed. "Fine." I walked over to Serena and Killian and told them to get moving.

Serena led the three of us up the stairs to my hall. She stopped in front of one door and opened it.

"You'll be staying here," she told Killian, motioning to the room. "And if there's anything you need, all you need to do is find me!" Serena smiled at him.

Killian smiled at her. Nobody could resist Serena's smile. It was mesmerizing, and I noticed the struggle he had to look away, but he did, and shut the door.

Serena smiled and sighed as she started to walk over to her own room. "Isn't he dreamy?" She asked.

"Did you whisper to your father to pardon him?" I asked, worrying more about the important things than how dreamy Killian was. She didn't even know his first name.

"Yeah, and it's such a good thing I did. What a waste of a pretty face it would've been if he'd been put in the dungeon, don't you think?" She smiled and started dancing around the hallway.

"You didn't even worry for a second that he could be dangerous?" I asked. "He did try to kill me earlier today."

"I'm sure he didn't mean it," she breathed wistfully. "I think tomorrow I'll give him a tour of the town. Then we can have some bonding time." She giggled. So she was just going to make him another one of her conquests. What a surprise.

The next morning, I went down to eat breakfast in the main dining hall and was surprised to find Serena and Killian already eating and talking and laughing.

"Emma! Why don't you join us?" Serena called.

I rolled my eyes. This was the only place we ever ate breakfast, so why wouldn't I join them? I didn't really have a choice unless I wanted to eat in the kitchen. I sat down next to Serena across from Killian.

"Killian was just telling me all about his travels. He used to be a lieutenant in the Royal Navy of his kingdom, but he and his brother left to travel on their own. He's been to so many lands!" Serena explained to me, but not looking away from Killian. "Oh! That reminds me! Killian, do you want a tour of the town today? I could show you all the most romantic spots our kingdom has to offer."

It took everything I had not to laugh out loud. Serena certainly wasn't subtle when she wanted someone. I looked over to Killian to see if he was buying it. His expression was nice, but I could tell that he was just being polite, that he wasn't really interested in Serena romantically.

"Are you going, too, Emma?" Killian asked, looking over to me.

I made a disgusted look on my face. "Why would I want to go hang out with you? You tried to kill me, remember?"

Killian laughed. "You're still holding on to that? Come on, that was, like, a whole day ago!"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a banana from the table, standing up. "I'll see you guys later," I said, turning around and walking away. I had this feeling that Killian was watching as I walked away from the table.

I went back up to my bedroom and finished my banana. I grabbed my leather jacket and boots and headed down to the dungeon to see if Neal was busy.

"Hey Neal!" I yelled. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Hey Emma. What are you doing down here?"

"Let's go do something today, I need to get out of this castle for a little while."

He smirked. We hadn't gone and done anything fun together for years, we'd both been busy with palace life so much. "What did you have in mind?"

I held up my bow in answer, hoping the two of us could go hunting like we had done when we were kids. Of course, we were much better now.

He smiled for a minute, then looked around and frowned. "You know I'm not supposed to leave my post, Emma."

I sighed. "We don't have to be gone that long, nobody will know you left. Nobody comes down here anyway."

He glared at me, knowing I had won this argument. Then he smiled. "Fine, let me go grab my jacket and bow."

After we had gotten everything we needed, we ran out of the main palace gates and all the way to the woods that were only about a five minute run away.

So I've got part of the next chapter done, but I don't know when I'll have time to continue writing it. I'll try to post it as soon as I can, though. Thank you so much for reading this far! Please review, let me know what you think!