Quelling My Bloodlust

Chapter Twenty-One

It wasn't long after they spoke with Archie, that Emma, Killian, and Archie returned to find her parents again, then found them within the castle's dining room talking with Regina and Robin, as well as Roland, John, and the three dwarfs while they all had begun to eat. The only ones missing among them were Henry, who was still off somewhere among the castle grounds once again talking with Violet and her father, Zelena as she remained in her own quarters, and August. At the moment no one actually knew where he was. But if they did, they'd know he was somewhere within the castle speaking with a number of knights to try to get a feel for their loyalty towards Arthur and about what they truly stood for.

When the three of them entered the room, Regina was the one speaking as they heard her saying to the others sternly, "Ever since Emma told us of her suspicions that Arthur was lying last night about the number of people who died in that village, I've begun to suspect he's up to something a lot worse and I don't doubt that he somehow has something to do Grif's death too. I just have no idea how… or why he would want Grif to drink poison."

Before anyone else could say anything, Killian darkly responded, "Perhaps it's because Arthur was the one who put the squire up to seeking out whatever it was he was trying to steal from us. And I have a feeling that it was no magic bean, but the dagger."

"That would make a lot more sense than the story Grif told us for sure," David replied in concern as he looked towards Hook worryingly, then to his daughter, wife, and then his son lying asleep in his arms. "Arthur does know Hook is the Dark One and he may think that the dagger will help him to free Merlin himself without having to rely on the Savior. Whatever his motives for it might be, if it's really what he's after, it's a good thing you've found a place to hide it for safekeeping with someone we all trust."

"There's something I didn't tell you all about… that I did last night after the ball while we were at the well in the forest," Killian then said anxiously, before he raised his hand and summoned the pink jeweled necklace he had magicked away after Regina tossed it on the ground to rid herself of it.

Emma looked at him with surprise, as did Regina as she stared at him and asked, "You picked it up as we were heading back here to the castle? I was hoping for a chance to run some tests on it, but then I remembered I dropped it to make a point with the King and regretted doing so. Not the making a point part, but letting it go."

Upon using his magic again to make the necklace appear in his hand, it gave way for his delusion of Rumplestiltskin to make another appearance as the ghost stood against the wall while staring smugly at its host. However, as the darkness manifested again, Killian ignored it for now while he continued to explain why he took it.

He raised the jewel that hung down from his hook as though to look deeper into its core through the shimmering surface, then he answered, "I did so, so that I could plant it upon the King's person without his knowledge of my doing it. Last night, his knight used the jewel so he could spy on Regina. I thought it a good idea that we use it to do the same, only we spy on Arthur instead. Do forgive me for not telling you, Emma. I was still in a pretty dark place last night. But I shouldn't have used the power inside of me even for that… or to summon it back to me just now."

"It's all right," she responded reluctantly, though she understood why he did what he did despite the risk.

"Even if it was risky, it was still pretty good forethinking on your part," the Queen replied, commending him for doing so. "Can the magic in that thing allow us to see past events it might have witnessed?"

Killian looked down at it again while he answered in concern, "Perhaps with enough dark magic like it was forged with. I can sense it. But I won't do it, Emma… unless you feel this is a chance we ought to take. If just to be able to get ahead of Arthur's plans for once. I promise, if I begin to feel the darkness' power become too much, I'll stop so you won't have to stop me again."

David sighed in frustration and then responded, "I hate to say it, but it's the best chance we've had since arriving here. For what it's worth… I trust you, Hook."

"So do I," the Savior replied worryingly, then nodded her head to give her okay.

Killian nodded his head too, then turned his eyes to the necklace once more as he raised his hand and began to emit his power over the pink jewel within the necklace still hanging on his hook, which allowed for the voices in his mind to return while he struggled to ignore them. It only took a few seconds for the magic to take effect, when it began to recall the stone's memories as though they were videos taken from surveillance footage that appeared in front of everyone.

"Tomorrow… I want you to begin your search for that damn dagger," the heroes all heard the King say as they watched him in the woods the night before with Grif after the two of them walked away from those at the well. "I don't care how you do it, or how long it takes you to do it. Just get it done and then bring it to me. The Dark One is losing control over his actions and his own mind. The timing is perfect and Percival's unexpected act of revenge could not have been better timed if I had thought of it myself. With his power in my hands, I will restore Camelot to its righteous glory. But first I have to kill Merlin. He cannot be freed."

Killian clenched his jaw as anger swelled up within him towards Arthur, and himself as well for becoming an instrument with which their enemies could use against him and those he cared about, though he continued to keep it deep down inside of him while Emma laid her hand over the small of his back to try to comfort him, and then Grif uttered nervously, "It will be done… My Lord. For Camelot."

Then another image rose up showing Arthur down in the dungeons speaking with his squire once again as the King pulled out the small bottle of poison for Grif to take like the heroes suspected he had done and listened as Grif spoke again, "Poison from the Agrabah vipers. But why? I won't tell these people a thing."

Camelot's ruler sternly continued, "Not of your own free will, but they have magic on their side. In time, they will make you talk."

His squire struggled with what Arthur was asking of him and rightly so, while he answered fearfully, "There must be some other way."

"I wish there was," the King responded to him in sincerity. "Truly, I do. You told me you always dreamed of sitting at the round table one day. Well, now I'm offering you something greater. A chance to die in service of Camelot. Your death will be the cornerstone of a great new kingdom. If you take this."

"For Camelot," Grif finally replied in agreement and then took the bottle from Arthur's hand after he pulled the quark from the top so the squire could drink it.

"We were right," Emma then stated again coldly once the images faded as Killian released his magical hold over the necklace after they had seen and heard enough. "About all of it. He convinced Grif to kill himself, but what's worse… Arthur is after the dagger."

"He wants to use me to help him to kill Merlin, whether we manage to free him from his imprisonment of not," Killian answered darkly when he turned his back to everyone with his head down and took a few steps away in order to compose himself.

As her daughter moved to stand with him again to help him, Mary Margaret shook her head while she responded, "We won't allow that to happen. Right now, the dagger is safe and well hid. He won't find out from any one of us where it is or who has it. Besides, very few of us do know where it is anyways.

David agreed as he replied, "Mary Margaret's right. As for Merlin… we're closer to having a way to free him. All we really need is the tear of lost love and Regina thinks she can give it to us."

"Yeah, about that…" the Queen then retorted sternly. "The more I think about it, the less I'm sure my despair over losing Daniel is still powerful enough to work for what we need it for. I mean… don't get me wrong, I'm still distraught by his death. It kills me whenever I think about it, but it was years ago and I've managed to find love again. To release Merlin from that tree out there, we're going to need a far more potent tear."

"I think I might know how," Hook then answered when he finally spoke again as he turned back around to face his friends. "You're not going to like it. Neither will I, but learning the truth about Arthur has given us the answer to this problem."

David looked at him as he responded, "Then let's hear your idea. Just not here in the dining room. Let's head out into the courtyard again."

Mary Margaret looked down at Neal in her husband's arms and saw that he was finally asleep, then she said quietly, "The rest of you should go. I need to put Neal to bed. I'll meet up with you in a bit."

"I think that's my queue to put Roland to bed as well," Robin then replied in agreement as he reached out to pat his son's back while the boy continued to eat some of the chicken on his plate in front of him.

"But I'm not tired," he retorted as he looked up at his father with pleading eyes. "I don't want to go to bed yet. There's too much to do here in this castle. Can Regina come up with us and read me another story from Henry's book?"

Regina leaned over and whispered to him sweetly as she answered, "I'd really like to, but I'm afraid I have somewhere I have to be tonight so we can help our friends. But tomorrow night I promise you I will read at least one story. Maybe even two."

Everyone smiled at the cute moment between them and then when everyone rose from the tables, all except for the three dwarfs, David turned back to them as he questioned, "Are you guys coming?"

"We're not finished eating," Leroy grumpily responded while both Doc and Happy just shook their heads in agreement, then continued to eat. "You guys can go talk about this without us."

"All right," the Prince replied, then started to walk away from them again until Grumpy called out to him once more asking, "By the way, did you ever get your service weapon back after the ball? That was your gun that knight used to almost kill Emma and Hook… wasn't it?"

David took a moment to think back to the day before and suddenly realized he hadn't thought about his gun because of all the chaos that occurred during the ball, since earlier that afternoon when he had showed Percival and a few other knights how to use his firearm as the knight had asked him if he and the others still fought with swords anymore in their strange land.

Before Charming could say something, the dwarf pulled the Prince's gun out from his coat pocket and then handed it over to the sheriff while he spoke again saying, "I figured as much. Seeing as you haven't asked anyone about it by now. Or at least not me. That's why I picked it up after you all ran off to find Hook and held on to it for you. At least someone had the sense to. Try not to lose it again."

"Percival must have stolen it from my belongings just before the ball began, after I left my quarters to talk with Hook and Archie," David uttered in concern. "We clearly need to do something to make sure our things are better protected. Thank you, Leroy. Finish eating, then join us. Or… better yet, see if you can find August and Henry. Let them know what's going on."

"I can do that," the smaller man answered. "Go on. Do whatever you're gonna do. We'll see you all later."