A/N alrighty, here's chapter 13. It is a bit longer than some of the more recent ones but I hope that's cool with all y'all. Anyway, I'm going out of town next week so I'm gonna try to get fourteen out by Saturday or Sunday but it may not happen. Don't forget to review, I really do love hearing what you think so far and if you have anything you think would help clarify something or whatever. Just tell me what's on your mind. Also favorite and follow, but most of all enjoy!

There was a hole. A big, large, unavoidable hole that everyone in the room could see. But, for the sake of being polite, they choose to ignore it, for the first few minutes anyhow. Abigail drank her juice in silence, trying far too hard to not look over there. Snow and David politely chatted quietly about anything other that the elephant in the room. Kingsley was overly interested in his empty plate. In fact, it was almost completely calm, not normal, certainly not normal. But almost calm. Almost.

It was Frederick that disturbed the peace of it all. Sitting at the far end of the table in his large chair, looking, no, glaring, at the empty seat beside his eldest son. Everyone could tell that he was annoyed, upset, even without looking at him, he just sent out this sort of air of utter discomfort. Finally the butler's came in with the food, but before they could begin serving Frederick stopped them.

"Is she lost?" Frederick asked the butler to his right, who seemed alarmed to be spoken to by the king. At this everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him.

"Who sir?" The man asked, his voice shaking.

"The maid that I sent to go get my son." He clarified, then repeated, "is she lost?"

"I don't believe so."

"Then you've seen her?"

"She came to the kitchen." The other butler at the far end of the table chimed in, "she said she couldn't find him in his room, so she decided to search the rest of the palace."

"I see.." Frederick said with a smile, sitting back in his chair and folding his hand in his lap. "Then we'll wait for her to return with Edric. Please, send the food back."

Before they could even get halfway out the room they were stopped again.

"Stop!" Kingsley called out then turned to his dad "Father, that could take hours. Let's just eat without him."

"Frederick," Abigail cut in before her husband could respond. "Our son is right, we have guests after all. Besides, perhaps Edric is not feeling well."

Frederick looked at his wife then at David and Snow. He sighed before beckoning the butler's back. The food was served when the maid came back into the room. She looked positively horrified, you could see her shaking from a mile away. Slowly she made her way to the king and whispered something to him.

"Are you sure?" He asked quietly, the girl nodded. "You may leave."

"Is something wrong?" David asked, setting down his fork.

"It would appear that my son has run off."

...

"Do you think she's with someone?" Graham asked coming to a stop in the middle of the road. It was the exact spot that had been circled on the map, the last place Emma had been seen.

"Her mother didn't mention it, but I'd guess yes." Edric said. "No one's reported seeing her in any of the town's nearby, so either she's been kidnapped or someones hiding her."

"Then we'll leave the path here." Graham said, tapping the back of his horse and heading into the woods. The other men followed his lead and Edric quickly caught up.

"If she's being hidden, or of she's been kidnapped, the person with her is smart enough to know not to let her around large groups of people where word might get out." Graham explained, pushing back branches. "Tell me, your highness, how well do you know your land?"

"I know the larger cities and main roads, not much other than that, why?"

"Well, there are hidden paths within the forests, that lead between cities and towns. They were used during the reign of Regina to send secret messages. But these days they're just used to get places quickly." Graham said pushing back another branch and coming to a small clearing that once they were in was more of a tunnel between the trees. "This is the best way to find someone, especially someone that's running."

"And these are everywhere?" Edric asked, getting a small nod. "Are there stops along the way?"

"Of course, that's what we're going to check out."

...

"Lakeside Inn?" Emma asked, her tone slightly sarcastic as she looked at the large building.

They had arrived early in the morning and both she and Killian were in desperate need of rest. But Emma had a bad feeling about this place. It looked, to say the least, shady. Not disgusting or gross, just shady. It sat in the corner of the small clearing, surrounded almost entirely by trees. And it didn't exactly look like an inn. It looked more like... Well, like a pub. It was painted a dark, fading green and just wasn't as welcoming as a person would expect an inn to be.

"Well, it's more of a pond." A man said, apparently coming up behind them. "It's just out back, I assume you'll be staying to see it, judging by the tired look in your eyes."

Emma nearly jumped when he appeared out of nowhere. He was a short, pudgy man with a face that wasn't necessarily inviting, but not disturbing either. In fact when Emma thought about it, he very much matched the inn standing behind him.

"Yes, we'd like to check in." Killian said wearily.

First Emma thought his tone might have been due to the sudden appearance of the man but then it came to her. They were getting closer to more populated areas, which meant this man could possibly have recognized him from his posters. However this man seemed less concentrated in Killian and more so on Emma, which was, to say the least, not any better.

"Right then, let's get to the desk. This way." The man began leading them down the uneven path to the front door.

Once inside Emma could see that the inn was actually much nicer than it originally appeared. Well, about as nice as a broken down woods in could appear to a pampered princess. It had good floors and the painting wasn't awful, and you could see the pond full of birds from the desk, so that was a plus. Everything seemed quite acceptable, everything but the guests.

There were many men and a few women walking around in the lobby or the dining area, who appeared less than kind. They all dressed in things that were either dark or dingy or dirty, which seemed oddly familiar to Emma. However that dejavu that Emma felt when looking at them didn't make a connection until she looked at Killian. He was dressed very similarly, much nicer in comparison, but still similar. She has simply gotten so used to it that she stopped noticing.

"Darling!" Killian said while lightly touching her arm, snapping Emma from her thoughts.

"Yes?" Emma asked, looking between him and the man at the desk. She found the word he used odd but not to comment on it.

"Your name dear?" The man asked.

"Oh, Em- Emily," Emma corrected herself before accidental giving her real name, she looked around nervously, trying to find a last name. "Swan," her eyes landed on the pond before shooting back at the man who gave her and Killian an odd look. "Emily Swan."

"Your wife doesn't have the same last name?" He asked Killian in a hushed tone.

"She's from the north." Killian whispered back as though it were a bad thing and the man nodded in understanding. Emma clenched her teeth, deciding to wait until later to take offense about his little north comment.

"Well then, you're all set, your key sir." The man said passing the key to Killian and collecting his money.

...

"Your fault!" Frederick shouted while pointing at David after finally coming out of a 'meeting' with his advisor, but truly he was just whisper yelling about how terrible the situation was.

"Excuse me!? How is it in anyway my fault that your son ran away?!" David asked, trying not to let the man fire him up.

Luckily Abigail broke in before Frederick could shout some more. She pulled him away and whispered something to him but he didn't seem to be buying it. Meanwhile Snow was trying to calm down, she knew how awful the situation was, two members of royal families missing, and at a time like this. Not only were they running out of time, but things were even worse along the southern boarder.

"This is ridiculous!" Frederick 'whispered' back but his volume was quickly rising. "We should never have agreed to this engagement! Maybe then that little imbecile of a princess wouldn't be rubbing off on our son!"

"How dare you! Firstly, you will not talk of my daughter that way!-" this time it was Snow to pipe up.

"Who are you to tell me what I am and an not to do!? Do not forget Snow that this is my palace! I may speak however I want about whoever I please! And your daughter is nothing but a nuisance!"

"Frederick, please!" Abigail said stepping forward only to be ignored by her husband.

"Our daughter may have run off but so did your son and out of his own free will." Snow said, once again calm and collected, a talent she had mastered over the years.

"And he was right to do so because obviously you haven't been working all that hard at trying to find Emma." David added.

"I've sent my men out, but even if they do find her I can no longer guarantee a marriage will happen." Frederick said in a very stuck up and petty tone.

"You know we need this marriage! You know what will happen!" David replied in a harsh whisper, it still seemed like a taboo to even mention it.

"And that is most unfortunate for you," Frederick said, his voice dropping as well. "however it is not my problem nor is it my son's responsibility to see to it that such a thing doesn't happen."

"We had an agreement." Snow said quietly, trying not to get too upset.

"Yes, that you would bring up a daughter that would be worthy of our son and we would bring up a son worthy of your crown. We've done our part, and you've clearly failed," Frederick said then mumbled under his breath, "not that it's any surprise given your history with children."

Snow gasped, trying not to let it get to her, and David punched Frederick right in the nose. Just then Kimgsley entered the hallway and smirked.

"I do hate it when the parents fight." Kingsley joked sarcastically, getting a disapproving look from his mother before backing away.

...

"May I come in?" Abigail asked, peaking her head into Snow's room. Everyone had gone their separate ways for the afternoon after the punch. Snow to her room, David to his work and Frederick and Abigail to the palace doctor.

"Yes." Snow replied softly so Abigail slowly stepped in.

"Frederick was out of line, to say that to you." Abigail said.

"And David really shouldn't have punched him." Snow said.

"He deserved it." Abigail said with a smile and getting one back in return. Abigail took it as an invitation to come into the room more and joined Snow in the window seat.

"How serious was he, when he spoke of canceling the engagement?" Snow asked, turning to look at her friend.

"He's a headstrong man, Snow." Abigail said with a sigh, "but this engagement has stood for nearly ten years, it won't be that easy to break. Besides, Edric is quite pleased about it."

"Enough to chase after her apparently." Snow commented with a smile that soon faded, "I only hope she'll return his feelings in time."

...

"We're married!?" Emma asked once they were alone in the room. Killian through his things on the floor and closed the door before responding.

"Yes, and if you had been paying attention you would've known that, Swan." Killian said.

"Well your name can't be much better." Emma challenged, raising her eyebrow.

"James B. Hooker." Killian said with a smirk that dissolved as soon as Emma burst out laughing.

"Yeah, definitely not taking that name!" Emma said then frowned, "and what was that comment about 'the north' all about?"

"Oh nothing, darling." Killian said teasingly.

"Don't call me that." Emma said with in the most annoyed tone that she could muster up. He took a small step closer and smiled.

"But, we are married now, darling." He said, drawing out the word in a way that made the hairs on the back of her neck stick up.

"Stop." Emma said, sounding very serious as he inched closer and closer to her.

"How about sweetie? Sugar?... Honey? As in, honeymoon!" With that Killian grabbed Emma wrapping his arms around her waist and she let out a scream before hitting him, which he simply ignored to continue bothering her. "You know what couples do on their honeymoons, don't you Mrs Hooker?" He asked, whispering in her ear.

"Never call me that!" Emma said, pushing him away, "and we are not married!"

"Fine, you're not my type anyway."