Chapter 7
A/N: Thanks for sticking with this story and me! As always, I do not own OUAT. :) ABC does! A million apologies for taking so long and thank you to SongForRegina for the review that prodded me back to writing!
The Enchanted Forest was everything that Henry had ever imagined. Its natural beauty and vibrancy spoke to his heart and soul, leaving him with an extra-wide grin on his lips as they walked. Emma, on the other hand, had no memory of her previous visit to this land and walked warily beside her son, looking like she expected the worst around every bend of the dirt-packed road.
"Still don't remember anything?" Henry asked.
"I wish you'd stop asking me that," Emma muttered in reply.
He couldn't figure out why Regina's spell had been so potent on her when handling the storybook had been enough to wake him up. Henry gave Emma a pensive look, then focused on the road, thinking they had to be close to the border of his adoptive mother's lands. He wondered when a sentry would spot them, and who it might be.
"Are we there yet?" Emma asked, her tread heavy.
"Should be, actually," Henry said.
"Are we really in your book?"
He sighed. She's still not understanding.
"Not in the book. We're in the land from where the book gets its stories," Henry clarified. "It'll make sense when you can remember again."
"How's that going to happen exactly?"
Henry looked at her. "I wish I knew, Mom."
They continued along the road and he wished they'd at least cross paths with someone they knew from Storybrooke life. Henry didn't think it would make Emma immediately remember, but it might at least jog her memory.
"Kid, what if we were exposed to something? Like… a chemical or something? And now, we're just out in the woods, in Maine, and not in a story book?" Emma challenged.
"We weren't. The portal was real. We're in the Enchanted Forest now. Not Maine," he said matter of factly.
"How do you know?"
Henry stopped short and pointed. "Because that is the troll bridge. And it's right here in my book!"
He opened his backpack and hurriedly opened to Snow White and Prince Charming's story. Henry displayed the drawing to his mother.
"See? Exact same stone work! There are trolls under it. They-"
"-live beneath the bridge. Right," Emma said.
"You remember?!" Henry exclaimed.
"Henry, no. That's just a story. And… yeah, that looks a lot like the bridge in your book. But, that doesn't mean anything. There are lots of pictures in books that look like real places."
He sighed dramatically, stuffed the book back in his backpack and moved on. At least, by finding the troll bridge, he knew they were on the right path to get to his mom's castle.
"Well, we should almost be there, anyway," Henry said.
"No, you won't."
Henry turned to the sound of the gruff voice behind him. He yelped in surprise as a knight in maroon and sporting a silver mesh headdress, grabbed him roughly. Beside him, Emma kicked and fought at the sudden attack as a pair of knights overpowered her too.
"HENRY?!"
"King George's men!" he exclaimed, trying to squirm out of the knight's grasp.
"Who?!"
Henry couldn't reply. A gag slipped around his head, covering his mouth so that his attempt to explain came out muffled and ineffective. Hands bound too, he and Emma were dragged to the waiting prison wagon. They had been so close to reaching the outer perimeter of guards that Snow and Charming had established, and now, they were being hauled in the opposite direction on the Queen's Road, headed for King George's kingdom. The trolls, of course, made no effort to intercede and stayed hidden beneath their bridge.
Emma gave her son a wide-eyed, terrified look as she righted herself in the hay-strewn wagon. Henry was scared too, but he sympathized for his mother who didn't believe or understand what was really happening. He took in the number of guards, now that he could see those who had ambushed them. It was too many, Henry thought, to try and overcome if they could even free themselves without being noticed.
Emma exclaimed a muffled sound that Henry knew was his name. He looked back to her and shook his head no, trying to look as calm as possible. Then, he twisted around, in search of his backpack. He hadn't gotten it back on his shoulders before they'd been ambushed. Henry scooted to the back of the wagon and stared in dismay. His bag lay on the road and they were moving further and further away from it…
"They're here! They're here!"
Snow startled at Grumpy's pronouncement. Beside her, David paused to wonder how it was always Grumpy who came in as the crier, bringing great or terrible news.
"Who is here, Grumpy?" Snow asked.
By now, even she was losing hope that Henry had been able to understand their shared dream, or act on it. It had been some time since the last dream and when there'd been no sign of him and no word, Snow worried there was really no way for Henry to reach out to them.
"Look!" was Grumpy's reply. Grinning, he thrust Henry's backpack toward the couple.
"Henry's backpack!" she cried out as David gasped. "He's here!"
"No, they're here. Emma too, judging by the boot prints!" Doc explained.
David looked at the dwarves expectantly. "Where are they, then? Why is his bag not with Henry?"
Grumpy looked more like his usual self with the question. Dourly, he said, "Taken. By King George's men."
"What?!" Snow cried. "How?!"
"They were just shy of the troll bridge," Doc reported, speaking quickly. "We found Henry's backpack in the middle of the road and signs of a struggle evident in the soft dirt. He must have lost his backpack in the process. Tennis shoes and boots that were not from this land were among the footprints, along with knights' footprints. A wagon's wheel path was a short distance beyond and the hoof prints we followed led away from here."
Snow and David exchanged bewildered glances. If they'd found a way to make it to the Enchanted Forest, then there was hope of waking Regina from her sleeping curse. But, in order to make that happen, they'd have to save Emma and Henry.
"We'll find them," David said confidently.
"We have to," Snow whispered.
"So."
Henry and Emma stared through the bars at King George, pompous and regal in a long red robe, crusted with jewels on the white fur that trimmed the royal robe. He stared down his nose at them, in their separate but adjacent cells.
"...so?" Emma repeated.
Henry walked closer to his bars and peered out at him. "King George, this is silly. Why do you have us locked up?"
George sneered at him. "Because I understand the importance of having hostages."
"Hostages? Really?" Emma balked. "I don't even know where I am-"
"Mom!" Henry hissed urgently, trying to silence her.
Confused, she looked at her son. He gestured frantically to stay quiet. George watched, smirking.
"It hardly matters what she says, young Henry. Word will travel, if I do not send word myself that I have you both," he said.
"And then what?" Henry challenged.
"Then, your grandparents-" George paused, the word clearly distasteful to him, "-cede their kingdom to me, or I take the satisfaction of watching their heirs die."
"Whoa, what?" Emma snapped, rushing her bars, glaring fiercely at George.
Henry ignored her for the time being, thinking about George's plan and how Snow and David would respond to that. He knew his history; they would stage an escape. After all, they always found each other and he and Emma were part of that tradition too. And, as before, George would be ready for them… which made this dangerous.
Looking smug, Henry said, "Don't you know by now that evil never wins? And that's what you're being right now. Evil. Playing these power games. Holding us hostage. Didn't you learn anything from being in Storybrooke?"
George stepped closer to Henry, expression dark. "Don't speak to me about that vile, pathetic land where your mother trapped us for her pleasure, boy. I should kill you outright to spite her."
"NO!" Emma slammed herself against her bars, a futile move that resulted only in giving herself bruises over her shoulder and ribcage that she'd feel later.
Henry stared back, defiant and brave. He knew that's how he had to be, facing off against George who only knew boldness and aggression. The king saw something in his eyes as he glared back, smirked, and looked at Emma.
"He's just like his grandfather. Bold and foolish. Seems to run strongly in your family."
"You sonofa-"
But, as the curses rattled off Emma's lips, George simply turned and strode away, followed by his knights.
