As Snow explained the next morning at breakfast, the princes were there to 'get to know' Emma and they would only be staying a fortnight. The queen's reasoning didn't make her feel any less outraged however.
"But, what if my true love isn't just some prince?" Emma asked, instantly wishing she had kept her mouth shut. David paused over his bacon and considered her question for a moment whilst Emma sat in an awkward silence.
"Then I would welcome him with open arms." he said, finally. "I'd be happy for you if you married the richest man in the enchanted forest or a kitchen boy." Snow nodded in agreement at his assessment.
This gave Emma hope for a brief moment before its light was quickly extingushed. They would never let Emma marry a pirate even if he had saved Emma's life more than once. She sighed. If Killian were here, he'd most likely make some snarky remark about winning them over with his charms.
"David, the servant boy said you recieved a letter and you needed me here?" Snow asked as she entered the lavishly decorated study. The king was pacing back and forth when she arrived and hastily whipped around when she made her presence known.
"Yes, my dear. It's a letter from the The Dark One."
"The Dark One?" Snow gasped, her hands flew to her mouth. "Why would he make himself known to us now? I thought he disappeared after the reign of the evil queen came to an end?"
"Apparently he didn't." David said, waving the letter in his hand. "In this letter, he proposes a deal between us and the Northern Valley as well as his own kingdom."
"A deal? I thought we had learned not to trust his deals?"
"This deal is different." he said, "just listen." He began reading from it.
Dear David and Snow White
As you may have heard, the Dark Kingdom has allied itself with the Northern Valley as of late. When both our kingdoms joined, we gained much and ended the possibility of future warring. We would like to further this agreement and extend it to your own kingdom. It has come to my attention that your daughter, Princess Emma, has come of age recently. The king of the Northern Valley, Friederick, and I agreed that if your kingdom should unite with ours, it should be done through a marriage alliance between Princess Emma and King Friedrick's son, Prince Neal. Both children are the product of true love (Although Emma's power is much more potent of the two) and we feel that they would be a fitting match. Need I remind you that faliure to comply with the Dark One's wishes often leads to much unnecessary tragedy? We wouldn't want that now, would we, dearie?
Sincerly,
The Dark One
Rumplestilkskin
David finished reading the letter and wearily slumped in the closest armchair. Snow's hands were balled into fists.
"I refuse to make such a deal with him!" she declared, angrily. "We are not selling Emma away like some kind of prize!"
"From the looks of it, we may not have a choice, Snow." David said, tonelessly.
"Charming!" Snow shrieked. "What reasons do you have that could possibly justify this?"
"Need I remind you that faliure to comply with the Dark One's wishes often leads to much unnecessary tragedy?" he quoted. "The letter makes it sound like, should we not follow through, we will suffer the wrath of the Dark One."
"He may be the Dark One but he cannot make such threats!" Snow exclaimed, "Even with the help of the Nothern Valley, we would still outnumber his forces ten to one."
"I agree. We will simply write a letter back explaining that our daughter will not be sold into marriage and that we have no desire to ally with the Dark Kingdom." Snow opened her mouth to protest then promptly closed it again. Then she remembered something else, something to do with Emma.
"She wouldn't be happy with any of our choices." She mused, half to herself. David gave her a perplexed look. Then Snow's eyes lit up.
"Charming, I think Emma's already in love!" she said, excitedly. David practically jumped out of his seat, a completely different person that he was minutes ago.
"Really? Was it one of the princes? How can you be sure?" he asked, getting more and more rushed with each question.
"It was the night of the ball, remember that young man she was dancing with? How we couldn't figure out who it was." David nodded. "The next morning, she seemed different. She was so cheerful but when we asked her about him, she practically ran our of the room. And again, last night she was dancing more with this man more than any other. She did seem awfully eager to throw another ball."
"But who was he? I certainly wouldn't know." David asked. Snow was stumped, she didn't know either.
"Perhaps he was a commoner or a lower nobleman?" Snow suggested, tiredly. "That would explain why she asked what I would do if her true love wasn't a prince." David said.
"Whatever the case, Charming, perhaps we should be thinking of Emma. I'll ask her. Maybe I'm wrong and she doesn't have true love yet. Either way, we won't be giving her away without her consent" Snow hastened from the room to find Emma.