This update has been a long time coming. I have written it three times, which have either been too awful to share or gotten erased by my evil computer. So here is the latest chapter. Big things are happening in Misthaven.

Thanks for your patience and all your support!

At first Princess Emma was not sure if it was the smoke of the chandelier ties burning or something else, but smoke filled her vision and obscured the last of sight of her father and Killian who looked back at her with blank yet determined eyes. She felt a vile curse leaving her lips as the colored smoke of the Dark One's magic engulfed her and she vanished from the ballroom. Just as quickly the smoke dissipated and she was once again facing the Dark One, Regina to her left.

"What did you do?" she demanded, as if the explanation would do more than just confirm that he had magically spirited them away.

"You didn't seem capable of making a decision. I just hurried that along for you by taking away the distractions. The boy is behind that door, is he not? Regina will fetch him for me and you and I will summon my son. Easy as that."

"I won't," Regina said again, the words sounding more petulant than determined. "Why would you think we would help you after you left our loved ones in danger back there?"

"They won't be in peril if you cooperate. The contract doesn't state you must be happy about handing over Henry, just that you do so without reservation. So do it. I know that the thief means more to you than this child."

Closing her eyes in a brief blink of a moment, Emma tried to conjure up a connection between herself and Elsa. Save them, she tried to say to her friend. Save them before it's too late.

***AAA***

Snow dashed out and spun to face the other Queen with a desperate look on her face. "What just happened?" she demanded, as if her daughter's friend might have a better grip on the situation. "Where did he take them?"

Elsa blurted out that she assumed them to be in the nursery, perhaps retrieving Henry. However, Snow was on the move again, darting under the chandelier and attempting to move her husband who was still in a statue like state. Using all her might, she could not push him out of harm's way as the flames licked downward and sparks burnt small holes in clothing and left dots of soot on their skin. "Elsa, do something," she demanded again. "Help me!"

The blonde looked skyward as if assessing the fiery situation. Raising her hands, fingers pointed elegantly toward the rope, she shot out a stream of ice that seemed to freeze in spots and melt in others. The dripping water from the melting appeared to be extinguishing the flames. "It's not going to hold forever, but we bought a little time from it." Dropping to her knees, the blonde Queen began to instruct Snow on moving the men and women in the most direct danger.

As she personally dragged the seemingly lifeless body of Robin Hood out of the dangerous area, she waved her hand over him in her first attempt at revival. There was no response. She tried a few more times, varying the angle of hand and the way she enunciated the words of spells that Regina had spoken of during lessons with Emma. Nothing seemed to be helping, leaving the blonde Queen in a frustrated state. "Perhaps we should go and find them," she announced. "I'm just not that ready for this."

Snow knelt at her husband's side and held one of his large hands between hers. Seeming to breathe in a sigh of resolve, she lowered her lips to his and kissed him. However, unlike the time he woke her from a sleeping curse, her husband did not respond and his eyes stared blankly upward rather than toward her.

"It's not a curse," Elsa said, gathering her skirts in one hand and putting the other under Snow's bent arm to pull her up to standing. "True love's kiss will do nothing to help. We have to find Emma and Regina. We have to move, now. Your son is upstairs. He could be in danger."

Remembering Leo and Emma were at the whim of a madman seemed to spur the dark haired woman into action as she bolted up the stairs and nearly left Elsa behind her as she raced through the corridors on her way to where they might be waiting. It was Elsa who stopped her and pointed out that confronting Rumpelstiltskin head on was probably not in their best interest. "He'll only do to us what he did to the others. Emma used to speak of the passages and tunnels in this palace. I think I can even recall playing in one during a court session you and my parents had once. Do they exist?"

Snow nodded slowly, remembering the weekly drills with her daughter as they feared for their lives under Regina's reign. She could also remember the argument with David over what they should do with them once Regina's powers were no more. She had argued they were no longer necessary and only served to remind her of a terrible time in the kingdom's history. He had said they would be foolish to assume Regina was their only foe and threat to the kingdom, insisting that they keep them as security.

She almost sobbed as she threw back a tapestry, one that used to hang in her mother's dressing room and pressed on a series of stones set into the wall. Elsa offered no support or words as she did it, finding the right combination and pausing to reach for a torch in one of the hangers there in the hall. Elsa stepped in front and held her hands out similarly to how she had sent the ice skyward, but this time a stream of fire flowed forth.

"That's new," Snow commented as hustled along the hidden and uneven path. "Good job."

"Regina's lessons did not suit me, but I did learn that," she said, smiling a proud grin as she realized it had been useful.

***AAA***

Rumpelstiltskin looked at Emma crossly, his maniacal demeanor replaced with something more sinister as Regina continued to refuse him access to Henry. It made no sense to the Princess why he wouldn't just take the child, but for whatever reason he seemed to need permission and determined to get it.

"Is Henry the only way?" Emma asked, startling all three of them with the blunt question. "Is there no other way you can contact Baelfire, but with a child? Isn't there some other way? Some other child? Why this child? Why Henry?"

Rumpelstiltskin looked taken aback by the questions and waved his hand in front of the door, creating what looked like ripples on the wood. "The spell is broken, dearies. Get the boy." Emma did not bother to share a glance with Regina as she let the woman pass in front of her. She continued her hard stare at the impish man. "Don't try and get one of the others. I will know."

"You didn't answer my questions," Emma reminded him as Regina disappeared into the room. "Why Henry?"

"You're asking the wrong things, my dear. For you see, I am only trying to use the boy and you as a way to contact my son. You would do the same. Might have already had you known the way."

Besides confusion, she felt a sense of fear as his eyes became dark holes that showed her nothing human in his existence. She knew she had to protect Henry and the other children in the nursery, including her own brother. Allowing a madman to stand just outside the door and order one of them up was a terrifying prospect. For a moment she wondered if Regina had some sort of alternative. Perhaps she should have taught the woman about the different tunnels and passages, as she could have had time to escape with the children.

As if in slow motion, Rumpelstiltskin turned to the open door and took a step toward it. There was nothing tentative about it, but Emma felt herself wondering what he was going to do. Was he attempting to hurry Regina or was he going to somehow hurt the other boys. How would he react to seeing the guards and fairies lying in wait for him? She remained motionless as he raised the leathery like hands to that opening and sent a flash of reddish smoke in that direction. Expecting a scream or explosion, Emma only heard the sound of Regina's gasp of surprise and then the word no.

Even without the knowledge and understanding of what he had done, Emma lifted her own hands and the tingle of her magic felt more like a sting as the heavy wooden door slammed and a wall of magic appeared before it. As powerful as he was, Rumpelstiltskin flew backwards from the door's power and landed in a crumpled thud on the floor. Emma readied herself, tensing for the blow of magic that he would use against her. She had not planned to seal off the room that way, but he would not care about her intentions.

However, as he rose to his feet his expression was one of admiration rather than anger. "Impressive, dearie. I wonder though why you did it? Were you protecting the woman who terrorized your mother and this kingdom? Where did that loyalty come from?"

"I…"

"Or was it the boy? Do you care for that young boy that you would have your magic go up against the Dark One?" There was a relaxed way about him, as though he was merely conversing with her over tea and pastries.

"Why do you need Henry?" she asked, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach. "How can he contact Baelfire?"

Those lifeless eyes studied her, calculating and assessing her with his knowledge and worry. "Perhaps it will be best to show you." Without more explanation, the smoke again enveloped her and for a moment she felt weightless and floating.

***AAA***

Granny cringed as the horses broke through the thicket and into the clearing that was still nearly half an hour from the palace. She hated to admit it, but she was slowing the group down. Each time she so much as shifted in her stance, they looked at her with concern and someone would suggest stopping for a rest. Digging her heels into the flank of the horse, she passed the two scouts on either side of her and fell into step with her granddaughter and the woman they had found in the Dark One's lair.

"The two of you should ride ahead," she told Red with a glance at the woman named Belle. "Take the huntsman with you and make haste for the castle. It'll be better that way."

"But Granny…"

"Widow Lucas, there is no need in splitting up. The journey back is not that long. They are not expecting us to be quick about it. We don't even have all that good of news for them. The box is enchanted. It will take something quite powerful to penetrate it."

The breath she exhaled was heavy and labored as she again readjusted her seat. Gripping the reins in her hand, she looked pleadingly at Red. "Go ahead. Snow needs you. Emma needs you. I can't get there as fast."

Red gave her grandmother a silent nod without argument and spurred on the horse. Belle and Graham followed suit. With Graham catching her easily, he asked what that was all about.

"My grandmother's health has been fragile," she explained. "Her mind is still sharp and her intuition better than most half her age, but she's ailing. She knows they need this box. We have to get it to them." Looking back to where Belle was a few steps behind them, she gave the frightened woman a smile. "I need you to think, Belle. How does he open the box?"

***AAA***

Snow and Elsa arrived in the nursery just as the outer door slammed shut and Regina crumpled to the ground with her left hand circling her wrist. Looking first for signs of blood, Snow began to direct the guards and fairies to move the children into the passageway. She tried her hardest to keep her expression soft for her son, squeezing his shoulder as he was pushed past her.

"Regina, tell us what happened," she said when she stooped down. Elsa was not asking any questions, rushing toward the door and studying it with intensity. "Regina?"

The woman said nothing but limply held up her right arm to show the return of a magical cuff, binding off her powers and removing any semblance of hope from her eyes. She let out a loud sob that Snow immediately hushed as she pulled the woman against her in a shielding hug.

"Henry's fine. He's with the others in the passage. Where's Emma?"

Through coughing sobs, Regina told what she knew that there had been one flash that bound her in the cuff and another that had sealed the door. Despite the pressing questions from Snow about her daughter, Regina could offer nothing in terms of knowledge about her safety and whereabouts. Guiltily, Snow turned her face toward Elsa.

"Two different kinds of magic," Elsa explained as she ran the tips of her fingers over the leather bind. "I am guessing he did this." Feeling the prickles of shock as she tried to remove the leather, she frowned. "We'll deal with this later. I need your help with the others downstairs. They need us."

Snow looked torn as the three now descended back through the passage, her comfort to her son weak as she dashed and prayed that she could explain later. Regina was in barely enough condition to speak to Henry or Roland, her eyes wide and frightened. At one point she muttered that they had made a mistake in taking on the Dark One. Snow wasn't sure that she could disagree.

***AAA***

Emma wasn't even in the palace when Killian, her father, Robin, and the various guests were awakened by Elsa under Regina's tutelage. If Snow had any lingering doubts about Killian's feelings toward her daughter, she squelched them when she had to pull him back to the group with the explanation that they would find her but that for now they didn't know where to start.

"Forgive me for saying so, your majesty, but your bloody plan put her in danger when this was not her fight. Regina should be the one facing off against him not Emma. I should have done more. I shouldn't have let her…"

"It wasn't your choice," David said, stepping between his wife and the pirate. "Emma knew. We all knew…"

"And what did it get us? She would do anything for your approval and yet you stand here grateful for your survival and not caring that she is gone. That mad man could be very well having her for dinner, feeding her to some dragon, and you're wanting to wait and see if she sends us a sign."

"He wouldn't do that," a new voice said, her clear tone married to a slight tremble as she spoke. "I'm quite sure he wouldn't hurt her. He needs her to reach his son."

Regina was caressing the right temple of Robin, soothing the slight burn from earlier without the magic she would have preferred to have used. Whipping her face to the new voice, she sneered. "And how would you know that? I thought we sent everyone else on their way."

It was Snow who stepped forward, looking at the woman's dark hair that escaped from her cloak and her soft, pale skin that appeared almost translucent under duress. "Who are you?"

The woman said her name was Belle, offering no other information until it was Red's attempts to explain. In hurried and broken sentences Red attempted to explain, the woman next to her practically silent and shaking in the dimly lit room. When it came to the part about the box, Red tried to describe the magic that protected it and that it would take something quite powerful to break the spell.

"He doesn't trust…he doesn't trust people," Belle said as they looked at the wooden rectangle. "I've only ever seen him open it. A man once tried and the power of the blast killed him. I don't know how it works."

Regina and Elsa pushed back the others, each taking a different angle over it and letting their eyes memorize the carving and simple looking metal latch. They ignored Snow's pleading to know what it was they were looking at and pretended they didn't hear Killian's arguments that it was just a box. Belle was trying to explain that it was more than that, as it protected the dagger.

"If we have the dagger, we can command the Dark One. We can bring Emma back to us." David said those words aloud, but nobody really knew who he was addressing. It seemed an obvious thing to say.

"What the bloody hell are we waiting on?" Killian asked, his eyes narrow and tight on the delicate lock. "It's hardly impenetrable. I've broken through trickier locks than that in my slumber. Are we really standing about fretting over a simple lock?"

"The pirate's right," Elsa said, extending two fingers toward the metal lock. She did not feel the sting of the protective magic, but instead the slap of Regina's hand knocking her own fingers out of the way. "I can open a simple box. He didn't permanently close it. He still needs the dagger."

"It might as well be permanent," Regina scolded, looking to Belle for confirmation. "There is no key? It's blood magic, isn't it?"

Belle, as many of them, had never heard the term before and waited for an explanation. When it came it was clear that Regina was correct. The lock was not mechanically inclined, as it required Rumpelstiltskin's hand or that of his family to open. David pointed out that the only known blood relative was Baelfire, who was currently missing.

"That's convenient," Regina snarked, her chin jutting out as she spun around to face her former stepdaughter. "Any other plans?"

Snow looked distressed as she clasped her hands over David's arm. "There has to be a way," she said, not believing that she was again helpless to stop someone from trying to hurt her oldest child. "I won't give up."

"Nobody is expecting us to," David said firmly. "I'm calling together my best scouts and guards. Graham instruct them that no corner of this kingdom is to be left unturned until you find Emma and the Dark One. Regina, you, Belle, and Elsa search every book in the palace libraries until you find a way to break through that blood magic spell. Killian, you, Robin, and Red put together a list of places that we should concentrate our searches. Snow and Red are good trackers and can follow those along with the scouts." The King continued his directives, assigning responsibilities to everyone and sending out the first wave to bring in Granny and the others who had taken a slower pace.

"I will send word to my crew to be on the hunt for the Dark One," Killian said as he and Red headed for the maps that were being unfurled upon one of the tables. "Smee was able to track him and his lair once. I can only hope that he can do so again."

Snow smiled gratefully at him as she retreated from the room. Her ashen face looked to have aged with the fear of losing her daughter. David knew exactly where she had gone, as she disappeared into the passageway and emerged with the three boys. She took the time to hug her son, allowing Regina and Robin a moment to do the same.