AN: Hello folks :) Another update in the same season - incredible! Here we have Emma's departure, and all that leads up to it. I do hope you enjoy.
I have had a few people inquire about the Queen - negatively, mind you - and all I will say is this: I will not introduce her until I am ready to do so. This is my story, and I have things planned out a certain way. This IS a SQ story. I have said that many times. If you have a issue with a little RedSwan, go somewhere else. It is NOT endgame.
Other that.. lots of reviews make the writer write faster ;)
In her chambers, Emma quickly shed her clothes while walking to the bath. She wasn't sure what had occurred in the sparring room, but she didn't want to think about it now. The best that she could tell, was that she fought so hard not to shift that she melded in between both her wolf and her human form. It was unheard of, but that didn't really matter to the blonde. She had been destroying expectations all of her life, and this wasn't any different. Letting the thoughts fade away, she walked down the stone steps into the bath and prepared herself for the sting the water would bring when it touched her bruised and battered skin.
Only, it didn't. The water was warm and comforting, and it unsettled her. Looking down at her body, which should've been covered in cuts and bruises, she saw only flawless skin. Well, I'll just add that to the weird semi-transformation and memory loss, she commented to herself internally with a mental shrug. It was all stuff to worry about later. Right now, she had to worry about how exactly she was going to get herself into the Black Castle…
Ruby was pacing back and forth in her chambers, wrestling with her conscious over her new orders to lie to the King and Queen and let Emma go to the Black Castle despite not being able to get the Princess to shift. She was at her wits end. Clearly, Emma was not in control of her wolf. She could barely defend herself. If she was to walk into a troop full of Black Knights, she'd be killed almost instantly with how distracted she had been in the sparring room today.
And there was that other thing…
The thing that she couldn't explain. That thing that should've - and had been up until that moment - impossible for Emma to do.
No one had ever melded their wolf to them the way the White Princess had done. And those eyes.
They were the color of rubies.
So unlike the bright citrine of any other of their kind. She didn't know what it meant, but she knew that it made Emma unique. Powerful. And that was the thread of light she decided to cling to when she heard the knock on her door and the arriving servant called for an audience with the leaders of the White Kingdom.
…
The summer sun had set nearly an hour ago, and something about the darkness slid around her like a warm embrace as Ruby made her way to the Throne Room. She had always loved the dark. There was something sinister and intriguing about the cover it provided, so opposite of the way the sun illuminated her life, her choices and the world around her.
Shaking away her thoughts, she focused on the task at hand as she entered the hall and saw the King and Queen standing before the small staircase that led to their thrones. The fact that they were standing and not sitting made Ruby's stomach do a little flip, picking up the scent of anxiety in the air surrounding them as she stopped in front of them and lowered her eyes respectively. "Your Majesties."
She had always been a close friend to Crown, ever since her grandmother came to work in the kitchens when she was just a pup and Emma had found her curled up by the hearth one late evening and asked her if she'd wanted to play. Her grandmother had scolded her, telling her that she was not to bother the young princess but then Snow walked into the room and encouraged the friendship. It didn't matter to the Royal family that she was nothing special by blood… it was the kind of people they were. Even though Snow was hard on her daughter and it had driven Ruby nearly mad over the years, she had come to realize that Snow did what she did out of love for Emma and her people.
"Ruby, darling, why the formalities at this hour?" Snow asked softly, the corners of her eyes pinching slightly in concern.
Ruby's heart raced faster as she realized she had spoken out of context, she had never been required to be formal with them when it was just them. Covering her slip-up with a tired smile, she laxed her posture a bit. "Sorry, just a really long day."
"Emma?" Snow asked, inquiring as to the source of the brunettes exhaustion.
Ruby nodded, "She's a fighter, that one."
"Just like her father." David commented proudly. It didn't matter the situation, he was always ready to boast about how his daughter was like him. Ruby often wondered if there were any limits to his pride. He was a good man, but not a man free of flaws. "How did she do?"
"She's a tough nut to crack… but in the end," Ruby slid into one of her wolfish grins, "She was all claws and teeth." It's not exactly a lie… she thought to herself.
"Thank goodness." Snow said with relief. "Although this paves the way for a whole new set of worries for me, at least I can rest knowing her wolf is in check."
The brunette reached out and put a calming hand on Snow's satin covered shoulder. "Don't worry about Emma, if anyone can do this and get out alive, it's her." She wasn't quite sure she believed her own words, but if what happened in the sparring room today was any tell for the future, she was sure that the Evil Queen was in for a rude awakening.
"I hope you're right Ruby." Snow returned with another smile, this one not quite reaching her eyes.
"She will be fine Snow, I can feel it in my bones." David assured her, brandishing a confident smile that seemed to bring the light back to the Queen's eyes. "We're going to call it a night Rubes, we'll see you early tomorrow for breakfast."
"Aye aye Capt'n!" Ruby jested, mock saluting her King and senior officer. He grinned boyishly at her as he led Snow out of the Throne Room and up to their chambers.
"Ugh, I need a drink." She muttered into the empty room. Turning on her heel sluggishly, she headed to the kitchen. Tomorrow was going to be worthy of the whole damn bottle.
Emma felt the bed dip beside her in the dark of her room and snuggled the blanket to her chin a little tighter as she turned over and cuddled up next to the warm body. A sweet, flowery scent filled her nostrils and she exhaled happily as she wrapped an arm around her mother's waist and burrowed deeper into the Queen's side. Snow took her without pause and the two of them lay cuddled in the dark for several moments as Emma fully came to her senses.
This wasn't Ruby.
Stiffening for a moment, she let the information settle and then relaxed again, not wanting to pull away just yet.
The events in the sparring room had left her feeling completely drained, and after she had bathed she sent a chambermaid for her dinner, not having the energy to interact with anyone. As soon as she was full, she had pulled her tired body into her bed and read from one of her old combat training books until her eyelids became too heavy to bare and she fell asleep.
Now, the book was gone and her mother was here.
"We missed you at dinner." Snow finally said into the darkness.
"I was tired." Emma answered simply, her voice hoarse from sleep.
"Ruby tells us that you shifted today." The princess nodded once into her mother's side, "That means, per our agreement, that you'll be storming out of here in a few hours." Another nod. "Emma… I fear what you will find in the heart of the wretched Castle. That woman… she's pure evil."
"I'll be fine, mother." The blonde said with a bit of annoyance laced through her words. "As soon as I find out her weakness, I'll be back. Then we can finish her for once and for all."
"Just be careful out there."
"Aren't I always?" Emma quipped, pulling back and sitting up against the headboard.
Snow chose to remain where she was, and so turned her eyes up to find hers. "Not always."
The princess rolled her eyes, "I promise I will be careful, does that make you feel better?" She searched green eyes that mirrored her own in color, but only found the worry she knew was eating the Queen alive. "Really, I will be careful."
"Thank you sweetheart." Snow turned over on her back and stared up at the ceiling, leaving Emma to watch her for a few moments, to see the stress lines and the worry etched in every crease of the elder wolf's face. It pained Emma that she was the cause of her mother's anxieties and she had to look away.
"So… how do you want to handle this in the morning?" She asked as she stared at the fireplace which was reduced to embers. It must be only a few hours until sunrise, if she had to guess.
"After breakfast, take your horse out for a bit of exercise. I don't want you running off on Percy with him being locked up the last couple of days. While you are gone, your father and I will release the prisoners, and I expect… that if you see them on your way back... " Snow looked pointedly at her and Emma nodded, getting the hint that she was to stay close enough to catch the prisoners leaving, "You will be in the perfect position to set about your mission."
"Sounds like a solid plan." Emma said, feeling a twinge of excitement buzz through her.
Snow snorted, "Plans can change quickly."
Percival's hooves pounded loudly on the worn dirt road that ran through the bailey as she raced towards the Keep. She had come up on the prisoners as she neared the curtain wall, and upon asking what they were doing out of the castle, one grinned maliciously and informed her of their release. Her blood boiled with rage as she glared down at them - not because they had been released - she was obviously aware of it considering it was her plan in the first place, but the way they taunted her as they danced around her horse laughing made her want to end their pitiful lives on the spot. Instead, she kicked her horse firmly and sent him off towards the castle to have a discussion with her parents.
Seeing the King and Queen just about to re-enter the castle, Emma roared, "HOW DARE YOU!" She sat her butt down into the saddle and pulled roughly on the reins, bringing Percival to a sliding stop right before the stone steps. "You released them?!"
Snow was the first to turn around, a look of compassion and concern on her face which only served to annoy Emma more, making it easier to pass of her anger as rage. "Emma, dear, you know that violence has never been our way. Of course we released them, they were only spies. They hurt no one."
"ARE YOU BLIND WOMAN?!" Emma exclaimed as she swung her her leg over and jumped out of the saddle, tossing the reins to a nearby servant. "THEY HAVE INFORMATION ON US AND YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LET THEM GO?"
"What information do you think they have on us Emma?" David asked calmly as he stepped in between Emma's advancing form and his wife.
"They're spies dad, do you really need to know the specifics of what they do or don't know?" Emma snarled as she stopped short of him. "They could know nothing, or everything. What I don't understand is how you can risk it for a couple of lowly scoundrels like them."
"Are you challenging my rule?" He demanded, narrowing his eyes at his daughter in a perfect imitation of one of their fights. Servants began to gather around them, listening.
Good.
Emma squared her shoulders and looked defiantly up to her father. "No. I want no part of your rule, as you call it. In fact," she started to back away from the steps, "I don't want any part of this kingdom at all!"
She turned around, addressing the servants and soldiers around them. "As of today, I, Emma, daughter of the White Kingdom, renounce my title as Princess, and any-"
"Emma!" Snow screeched in alarm-
"- and any allegiance to the White Kingdom." She turned back to her parents, both with varying degrees of shock and hurt on their faces. "I will not surround myself with cowards who refuse to protect the kingdom they claim to love."
She turned on her heel and headed towards a soldier named Patrick who was heading a hunting party by the well. "Give me your provisions." she demanded.
He stared at her with a face hardened from battle. He wasn't intimidated. Sneering, she moved around him and ripped the bag loose of its leather ties and swung it over her shoulder along with his bedroll. Stalking back to her horse, she attached both the saddlebags and the bedroll as Snow dashed down the stairs and tried to reason with her. She ignored her attempts, shaking off her mother's touch as she whimpered and pleaded with Emma to stay. She doubted very little of it was staged at this point and felt the need to wrap her in a hug and tell her that she was going to be okay. But she didn't. Instead she walked to left side of her horse and climbed up in the saddle. When Snow advanced she turned Percival roughly so that the Queen nearly ran into his hindquarters and took off down the road towards the forest.
As she passed the gates she saw the spies still lingering nearby, having clearly witnessed to their little show. Filing that information away, she leaned forward and kissed to Percy who kicked it into high gear, spooking two ravens as she entered the woods headed for the Black Castle.