Chapter 7

Snow White and David didn't approve of my knightly activities. Tracking down criminals, in fantasy land or not, was still my best skillset - certainly more entertaining than wearing corsets and playing princess. I enjoyed the ballgowns, but not when I couldn't breathe. For what I really wanted, the leather trousers and slim chainmail were more useful, and without magic, I didn't have to worry about underestimating my power. And I had definitely improved with a sword, now that my gun had run out of ammo.

Our target today was the infamous Captain Hook.

For weeks, since I'd learned my parents were keeping secrets from me, I'd become a bit - for lack of a better word - obsessed with Hook. I'd heard stories of this great and terrible pirate, of his womanizing ways and complete disregard for capture. Rumor had it that a fortnight ago he'd drank ale with three black knights and then snuck into Regina's castle. Stole mountains of gold and laughed when she'd shot fireballs at him. How much of the stories were true, I did not know. But he'd done enough. First, he'd attacked Snow and now, he'd stolen from my kingdom, this time a target on his back that I wouldn't miss.

Graham and I led the group, ensuring that they remained effectively hidden. We faced a hiccup when Graham once again disliked my tactic of distracting male criminals.

"He's a player, Graham - a womanizer. Of course the way to trick him is to use a woman," I insisted. "He'll never expect it."

He rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, I know."

So I let down my hair and smiled when Hook came into view through the leaves. The more we had tracked him, the more curiosity took me. Captain Hook. Great villain of the high seas. A legend of centuries in the span of a few years.

I strode up to him. He was tall and had dark hair, I could tell. And the closer I got, the more the pit of my stomach fluttered. They couldn't keep this secret from me anymore.

"What's the great Captain H-"

He turned around and the words caught in my throat.

"Oh, an admirer, are you?" he said, head cocked to the side.

There was a standstill in which I saw recognition light up his eyes. And the denial on the tip of my tongue. This couldn't be Hook. This was Killian Jones, respected lieutenant in His Majesty's royal navy. But as I took in his eyes, smudged with liner, and the stubble on his beard, I dreaded the moment when I would see the answer. Because there on his left wrist was a silver hook.

"You were dead," he exclaimed, stepping away and pointing that silver hook at me. "Everyone - they all told me-"

"No!" I raised my sword and stood in front of him when I saw a knight pull back an arrow, an arrow about to fly straight into his heart. In doing so, I brought attention to his surroundings. To the hidden knights in six different locations, all of which he now saw.

His sword pressed straight across my throat, body pinned to his.

"You're an imposter," he hissed, moving us in circles so none of the knights could fire without injuring Snow White's daughter.

It was difficult to speak, but I managed to say, "Because I caught you, Hook? I'm just that good. And it's been a while because you forgot."

He laughed. "About what?" He slowly moved us from the clearing, getting closer to the maze of a forest.

"About this." With a small breath, I jabbed my elbow backwards at his ribs and he lost his grip enough for me to step on his foot, then punch him in the throat. He collapsed onto the ground and I kneed his stomach, grabbed his wrists and pulled them over his head.

He grinned and I saw a hint of good boy Killian Jones.

And then he ruined it.

"Love, I don't mind if they watch."

"A little help here?" I called.

It didn't take them long to tie him up and get him on his feet. I stepped forward and removed the silver hook, eyeing it in my hand.

"Why do I have the feeling I won't hear this story?" I asked him, raising the hook between them.

He scowled at me. "Because such personal matters are not for strangers, love."

This was Captain Hook, enemy of the kingdom and the one who had threatened my parents. But there must be an explanation. Something that kept this pirate the man I knew. Even if there wasn't, I couldn't help but smile.

He was alive.

I pressed the tip of his hook to his chest and said, "I bet your chest hair has legends of its own. But let's show a bit of modesty for the Queen." I felt his eyes bore into me as I buttoned up his vest, pretending I wasn't dying to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him and ignore everything I'd learned about the villain he'd become.

Another knight pulled him onto his feet. Hook and I weren't alone, and I was afraid what would happen if that one knight left.

"Modesty gets you nowhere, I've learned," said Hook.

I snorted. "Oh re-" The way he looked at me stopped my words and I swallowed them.

Another knight approached and so distracted was I, that I didn't realize it was Graham until he took off his helmet.

"That was quick, Emma," he said.

"I'm only letting that go because there was no tone of surprise," I said.

He laughed, still looking at Hook, who appeared more bored and inconvenience than worried.

"Well," added Graham, "looks like we have another guest in time for the wedding."

"Wedding?"

Unfazed, Graham took Hook's restraints and attached a rope, looping it to the back of our carriage. "From your tone, I'm assuming you did not get us a wedding present. That's quite rude."

When I was younger, one of my foster homes had a dog. The sweetest dog. Big but without a mean bone in its body. All of the foster kids loved her, until one of the boys went to pet her while she ate and her fangs clamped on his hand, blood everywhere. I never thought I'd see that expression of total and utter shock and betrayal until I saw Hook stare at me, Graham's words lingering in the air.

Once Graham left to help Gregory with his saddle, Killian frowned at me. "Oh, I see why Snow's army appealed to you, alright. Enough to help you betray old friends."

I stared at him, then glanced over at Graham. My fiancee. "You held a sword at my throat."

That vest of his was opened enough to still see chest hair and a silver necklace. Obvious that he hadn't shaved in days, that stubble traveled all the way down his neck. He was so hot I wanted to claw my own face off. But this eyeliner-wearing pirate was someone beyond my understanding because the Captain Hook I'd heard tales of was ruthless and harsh, and most definitely not my kind, honest Killian.

He was alive. But Killian Jones. . . .

"What happened to you?" I asked.

He leveled my gaze for several moments. "You died."

I ignored his words and climbed into the carriage, where I tried focusing on something else. Anything else.

Like that necklace of mine he now wore around his neck.

We entered the castle with Hook in tow, me beside him and holding his restraints. We'd sent a message ahead of us and were now headed straight for the throne room.

"Straight for execution, I see," remarked Hook. "The Queen always thought me devilishly handsome. Maybe my face can hang on her bedroom wall."

Snow and Charming rose from their thrones once their knights entered. As ceremony demanded, all knights except for me kneeled and bowed, their heads remaining low until Snow commanded, "You may rise."
Hook watched me curiously, an eyebrow raised.

"Emma," continued Snow, voice strained, eyes moving quickly between me and Killian. "If you will."

I hesitated. Felt the frayed ends of Hook's restraints.

The throne room contained two thrones, one for its Queen and one for its King. But all children of the king and queen were meant to stand by them, between their thrones as an indicator of the kingdom's future rulers. So I took my place and spoke to Hook in my most dignified voice:

"Captain Hook of the High Seas, you are now prisoner of this kingdom for so long as deemed necessary and fair. Queen Snow, King David, and I will contact all neighboring kingdoms to collect the full extent of your crimes and charges. As of now, you are a prisoner of this kingdom due to your robbery of one of our oldest relics, a gift from Camelot that we will have returned. Currently, four of our knights are on your ship, searching for -"

Hook laughed so hard I wondered if the rope would cut off his circulation.

"This is no laughing matter," spoke David. "Control yourself."

"I just-" Hook broke off laughing again, only to look at the knights for some sort of indication that this was a joke. "What kind of joke is this? Emma, you're not even from this world."

"She is our daughter," yelled Snow, with enough force to echo off the walls, "and you will treat her with the same respect you are failing to show me."

That wiped the grin off his face and he turned to me again to sarcastically say, "I do apologize, Princess Emma Swan."

Without missing a beat, I added, "Erzsebet and I will prepare the dungeons for our prisoner."

She and I left the throne room, and the moment those doors closed behind us, she turned to me and snapped, "Were you keeping us from Hook, Emma?"

"What? No. I helped capture him."

"You and Hook certainly appeared closer than I would have ever guessed."

"He used to be a lieutenant," I said. "Went by Killian Jones. Now stop accusing me of fraternizing with some criminal and let's get to work."

She grabbed my arm, stopping me from walking away. "We're talking about this later, Emma."

At the dungeon entrance, we instructed the guards to create a half cell, smaller than any we've used for a criminal before. As they bolted metal into place with the help of magic, Erzsebet and I created a new schedule of guards. Two at the entrance to the dungeons, another three at the end of the hallway leading to the castle, and one by Hook's cell. We then mapped the castle grounds, arranging ourselves for that night. The dungeons were located half a mile from the castle, beside the ocean, so we had to strategize for both the dungeons and the castle using limited knights.

It was hours before Graham brought in Hook, who bowed as best as he could in his restraints and greeted, "Princess."

"I'll take him to his cell," said Erzsebet, who exchanged glances with Graham, so quickly I almost missed it. "You two should probably join the king and queen for dinner."

As soon as Graham joined my side, I asked, "Do you think he'll be executed?"

He cupped his hand to my jaw and kissed my forehead. "Judging by the number of crimes he's committed in several other kingdoms, not to mention the other realms he's-"

"Wait," I interrupted, mind racing. "Just wait."

"Emma, are you alright?"

"I know why my parents kept Hook a secret."

"Why?"

"Because he has a way back to my land without magic - that ship."

It was so clear now. They'd let me believe he'd died, along with any chance I had of returning to the land without magic.

"Just wait here, please," I rushed, already walking away. "I need to talk to him for a moment and I'll be back, I promise, please just wait."

Erzsebet and Jackson returned from jailing him and gave me looks as I continued into the dungeons.

I'd thought of him over the past years. Asked about him. But they always told me the same thing: he was at sea, he was lost at sea, he had most likely drowned at sea. Lieutenant Jones was no more.

This was not the man I had trusted so soon after giving birth. So desperate in postpartum to connect with someone, anyone. And I'd found my perfect match: Killian Jones. Not this man locked in the underbelly of my castle.

The cells were dirty. Rusty bars and cement floors covered in dirt. The walls were jagged from attempts to break out, as though anyone could make it through five feet of brick and rock. It was here where I found Hook, locked away in the smallest cell. He sat with his back to the wall, a knee propped up against the bars. I'd sent away the knight guarding his cell.

"You can have this back," I told him, poking his hook through the cell bars. He hesitated before taking it. "I dulled the point."

"A bloody princess!" He stood and twisted it back onto his brace. "Swan, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Easy. Piracy and women and all that. Oh wait."

He grinned. Leaned against the wall. "Ah, so you're jealous. Fear not, love. They all looked exactly like you." He reconsidered. "Well, some of them."

I grabbed the bars and pressed my face through an opening. There was so much I didn't know about this man. There was so much I already knew. Even now, when he smiled, that eyebrow quirked the same way it always had.

"I missed you," I declared.

He sighed heavily. Didn't take his eyes off the ground or uncross his arms.

"I have always loved you."

I blinked back tears and thought of what I'd been robbed. Five years with Killian. Five years outside the castle, among people and with friends.

"You tried killing my mother," I said.

At this, Killian's head snapped up. "Whoever told you such a thing?"

"Everyone knows it. Two summers ago. At the summer palace."

He smiled crookedly. "Is that who I am to you now? What the rumors consist of? Tell me, Swan, is it pirates or civilians who run from me?"

"How else am I supposed to know you?" yelled Emma. "I thought you had drowned at sea! Do you have any idea how many times I wrote to your king, asking for the slightest bit of information? Anything. And I received nothing!" Pausing, I covered my mouth and looked down, breathing heavily.

"You never looked for me."

"Don't judge me when you had freedom to search for me while I was chained inside this castle."

He was quiet. From inside his vest he withdrew a silver necklace and held it out.

"My captain told me you'd been executed. He gave me this, so I believed him. I wasn't going to demand the sight of your murdered body."

I took the necklace from him. The same necklace I'd lost my first day in the castle, the one that demanded murder for what I wanted. Fingers curled around it and suddenly I felt magic unfurling inside me, fighting the potions I drank daily.

"My parents," I said slowly, "they did this." Why hadn't I seen it sooner?

The castle shook. Pebbles spilled onto me as I dropped to the ground, unsure of what to do without modern architecture on which to rely. There wasn't exactly a doorway in our prisons. Another explosion shook the dungeons. My eyes widened, dry with dust, as the eastern wall behind him exploded and dissolved into heaps of melted rock. Beyond him was night sky and ocean for miles.

"That would be my crew," said Hook, who joined me on the ground, the bars separating us. Faces inches from one another. He placed his fingers through the bars and over mine.

I pushed myself off the ground and sprinted from the cells.

When I reached Graham I yanked the keys from his belt and returned, pushing my body faster than before. I had to get to him before he escaped. I unlocked the cell and shut it behind me. I stepped forward. Watched Hook disappear from the castle.

But not this time. He wasn't going anywhere without me.

Without a second thought, I ran across the cell and jumped through the crumbled wall, limbs grasping at nothing.

I heard Graham yell, "Emma!" behind me.

There was a terrible moment where I feared that I'd fall onto the rocks. Wind struck my face, blinding me. Then impact. My body rolled until it stopped, stomach on dirty wooden boards. Splintered hands pushed myself up until my eyes focused on men. Crooked-looking dirty men wearing sneers and golden teeth.

"Give her room, mates. She is a worthy adversary - part of Queen Snow's army, I'll have you know. So welcome her aboard," Hook instructed, "because she is most certainly not leaving the Jolly Roger."

He held a shiny white object in the air then tossed it ahead, into the ocean, opening a whirlpool of rainbow and ocean mist. "To Neverland!"