A/N: To be honest, I almost scrapped this chapter all together because it was giving me so much trouble. But I needed it to set up some things for the next chapter. This chapter wound up being bit more Emma centric than I intended but whatever. On the bright side, because this to took me so long to finish, Chapter 5 is almost already done, which is actually my favorite chapter I've done so far.
Once again thanks to all of you lovely readers for sticking with my story! It is very much appreciated.
"Emma, your father and I were just looking for you." Snow called to her daughter from the doorway as Emma was walking down the hall. She then proceeded to follow her mother into the study.
As she stood there, Emma started thinking back to see if she had done anything wrong, because usually this is where these conversations tended to lead. Much to her surprise it wasn't the case this time.
"This weekend we're going to visit Frederick and Abigail." Her father announced as he stood up from the chair he had been sitting in previously.
Emma was actually rather fond of Frederick and Abigail. She even referred to them as Aunt Abigail and Uncle Frederick because of how close they were with her parents. The two ruled over a nearby kingdom a couple of towns over.
Emma and her parents didn't get to visit them as much as they used to but there was one thing in particular she really enjoyed when visiting them. Frederick being the skilled swordsman he was, would give her lessons on sword fighting from time to time, though her parents never knew about it.
She nodded in response to their statement. "But we'll mostly be discussing kingdom related things our first day there, just so you know." Charming informed her.
"Anything I can partake in?" Emma asked, though she already knew the answer to this one, for it was the same answer every time.
"Sorry Emma, your still a bit to young to be involved in the politics among kingdoms." Her father said once again, as he shook his head.
"But you can always hang out with their son Alfred." James suggested to her.
Emma look appalled at the suggestion, practically gagging in response. There was one thing in particular she dreaded about visiting them, and that was their son Alfred. She couldn't stand the prince, he was by far the most egotistical spoiled royal she had ever met in her entire life. How people such as Abigail and Frederick wound up with a son like him made virtually no sense.
"Can't I just come up and meet you guys on the second day?" Emma pleaded. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the whole day with Alfred. She was already coming up with ways to get out of it if that turned out to be the case. Faking a cold seemed like the easiest solution.
Snow knew full well how much Emma disliked Alfred, to be honest she herself wasn't to fond of the boy either though she'd never admit it. Which was why she approved of her daughter's suggestion. "I think that's a good idea."
"Really?' Father and daughter asked simultaneously as they looked at Snow. She nodded. "Yes. Emma is old enough to stay at the castle by herself. There will be plenty of guards to ensure her safety. But there will be some ground rules." Snow said firmly.
Emma frowned instantly. "You are not to leave the castle grounds," Snow sighed before adding, "But... if for any reason you do find yourself in a situation where you have to, there must be a guard with you at all times. Do you understand?" Emma nodded. Snow knew better than to try and keep her daughter restricted to much.
James seemed like he was going to argue otherwise but a sharp look from Snow left him rather defeated so he finally agrees. Emma grins widely "Thank you!" She exclaims.
Charming sighs. "Where do you get all your stubbornness from?" From behind him Snow mouths out "Your father." Emma tries to suppress a laugh as James turns around to look at his wife who is now suddenly playing innocent.
~~~~~~oooo~~~~~
The next morning arrived and Emma said goodbye to her parents. "Now Emma, we expect you bright and early tomorrow morning." Snow reminded her daughter. Emma nodded in agreement, "I know." She hugged them both and waved to them as their carriage started down the path.
Emma was almost never was left to her own devices while her parents were away. Maybe this meant that they were finally starting to trust her more. Now that she had the freedom to do what she liked she actually wasn't sure what to do.
As much as Emma wanted to get out of the castle as soon as she could, the fact that her parents had trusted her enough to leave her alone made her rethink the idea. With little to no work today for the help, she decides checks out what the various staff of the castle are doing.
A few knights are practice fighting in the courtyard, but when Emma goes to watch them, they tell her it's best a princess not watch this sort of thing. Next she tries the cleaning staff who are playing a game with dice but when Emma shows interest in playing, they tell her it's but a simple peasant game that the princess needn't waste her time playing. She lets out a sigh.
Despite the castle still being full of people, she somehow feels oddly alone. It's then she wonders where Graham might be, she hasn't seen him yet this morning. Emma decides to check out the Knight's Hall to see if he might be there. As she heads down the stone staircase the voices of two knights stop her from going any farther. They appear to be having a conversation.
"So what do you think of the new guy?" The first knight asks the other. "He's skilled I'll give him that but what a weirdo. I hear he was raised by animals or something." The other knight snorts. "If it's true that explains his personality."
It's then Emma finally understands why Graham is rarely ever in the Knight's Hall. Because they treat him like an outsider, like he doesn't belong. She hates the way their speaking about him, but since she's eavesdropping she can't exactly confront them.
Emma is about to leave when she hears them suddenly mention her. "The princess has taken a liking to him." The second knight says to the other. "No surprise there, she's always taking in strays."
When Emma was younger she'd often take in stray injured animals she'd find around the castle grounds until they healed up, much to the annoyance of many castle dwellers. The animals tended to wreak havoc about the place at times. Once, a deer got loose and knocked over numerous ornate vases throughout the castle.
Her parents never minded that Emma took them in, they themselves were rather fond of animals. After all, James was once a shepherd and Snow had spent much time in the forest herself. It's just that the two of them spent much of their time apologizing to the various staff members for the messes the animals would cause.
"It's hard to believe she's the one who will be leading the kingdom at some point. She's not exactly Queen material." The other man lets out a hearty laugh "Tell me about it!"
Their words hit her hard as they sink in. Did everyone really think that about her? That she was unfit to be Queen one day? She started to wonder if that maybe her entire life people had just been appeasing her and that they never truly believed she'd be a capable ruler someday.
Fists clenched, she storms up the stairs and down the hallway, blowing right past Graham and nearly knocking him over in the process. "Princess?" He calls, drawing her out of her focus. "I told you call me Emma!" She snaps. That last thing she wants to be called right now is princess.
Realizing what she's done, she lets out a sigh before apologizing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I was just… It's nothing." Emma knows better not to care about what some guards think of her but she still finds herself hurt and angry over their comments. Whether she acts like it or not she wants to be a good leader for her kingdom.
He tilts his head some as he looks at her "Are you sure?" She nods feverishly "Yeah I just, need to get out or something." Irritation is still pulsing through her. Part of her wants to run or just hit something.
"I think I know somewhere that might help."
Next thing she knows they're headed into the woods. Emma walks out ahead as Graham trails behind her some. She's practically running but he doesn't have a problem keeping up. Branches and leaves brush against her as she rushes past them, she's far to annoyed to even care though.
He doesn't press her on what's wrong, he knows she'll talk when she's ready. Asking her again before then would only make things worse.
After a good few minutes she finally stops and sighs. "Do you… do you think I'm a joke? That I'm an unfit princess?" Emma asks as she turns back to look at him. She shifts nervously waiting for a response. For her to react like this he realizes that must be a constant fear of hers.
Graham stops and looks at her, then shakes his head. "No. You have the most important quality that a ruler should have, that you care for the people of your kingdom. Without that quality, only then is someone unfit." He tells her gently.
Emma smiles and suddenly all her built up tension vanishes. She can tell he's not just saying that to appease her like other people would, he genuinely means it. Graham doesn't treat her like everyone else does. She feels like she can be herself around him. That she doesn't have to be Princess Emma, she can just be Emma.
As she breathes in the fresh air she feels even more relaxed. The scent of trees and flowers grace her nose. She's come out to the woods many times but she's never really noticed just how nice it truly is. Normally she's to busy exploring it to actually appreciate the serenity of it all.
"Why did you take me here?" Emma asks him out of curiosity. He looks around the forest before answering "This is my world. I grew up in these woods. I've always found them a good place to be to release your tensions."
The sound of rustling leaves suddenly becomes apparent as Emma looks around her. From a nearby bush, a white wolf with one red eye and one black eye emerges from it.
"Woah! Is that a Wolf?" She involuntarily moved closer to Graham as the creature approached them. Graham let out a small laugh, but reassured her "He won't hurt you, he's a friend." Emma hesitantly reached her hand out so that the animal could smell her scent. It looked over at Graham who nodded and the wolf then proceeded to rub it's head into the palm of her hand.
"Is he yours?" She asked turning back towards him. Graham paused before answering "Not exactly." He's chooses not to elaborate further on the matter. Most people don't take to kindly to a person being raised by wolves. Though she probably wouldn't judge him for it, he finds he doesn't want to tell her and take that risk. He finds that her opinion of him matters to him for some reason.
Emma scratches the wolf behind the ear and animal starts to wag his tail. "I think he likes you." He tells her. She laughs "I think he does too!"
Graham whistles and wolf makes his way over to him. He pats the creature on the head and throws him a few scraps of food he's been keeping in his satchel. The wolf scarfed it up in a matter of seconds. Kneeling down in front of him, Graham tells the animal "Be safe." as the wolf then returns back into the forest.
After wandering around for a bit, Emma then mentions "I have a spot back at the castle where I like to get away from it all too. Want to see?"
They head back to the castle where Emma leads him to the second floor down a long seemingly empty hallway. She suddenly stops midway down the hall and faces the wall beside her. Then Emma placed her hand on the wall between two candle holders that hung there. The spot where she touched suddenly began to glow dimly and the wall begins to lift up revealing a large staircase. Graham was a bit taken a back by the spectacle. She waved for him to follow her.
"What is this place?" Graham asks looking around as they descend down a long winding staircase. Despite it being dark Emma has no problem finding her way down the steps. After a minute they finally reach the bottom of the stairs and are now in a large somewhat dusty room.
"This is where we store our magical objects. Well... not all ours exactly. They're kept here so they won't wind up in the wrong hands again." Emma explains to him. She probably shouldn't be showing him this place but he doesn't strike her as the type to have much interest in the stuff. Not to mention even if he did, he can't access it without a member of the royal family.
Its then Graham realizes this must be the place that the Queen was referring to. He's finally found the room she needed him to find, which now meant he will soon have to complete the other task he was sent here to do. Cutting out Snow White's daughter's heart, Emma's heart. Graham finds his stomach briefly twist some at the idea.
Her voice shakes him from his thoughts. "But I don't come here for that. I come here for this." She walks towards the back of the room and pushes aside a pair of long sweeping burgundy curtains to reveal a huge glass window. Light from the outside filters in and illuminates the once dark room.
Stepping forward he peers out it to find a beautiful vast landscape that is the entire kingdom. He grew up in the forest so he never really saw much beyond that, so to see not only the woods but the whole kingdom in all it's glory was quite the sight to behold.
"Makes you feel small doesn't it?" Emma says to him, he nods in response. As she stared out, she realizied that one day she would be ruling all of that. She'd have to show all those who doubted her abilities just how wrong they were, and she'd make the people who believed in her like Graham proud.
