For the remainder of the night, Emma found herself tossing and turning, thinking about the recent developments in the terribly twisted story that had unfolded since she followed Wilbur to Underland. She had no choice but to remain here now, considering she was now engaged to marry a prince after she would commit what could be considered one of the most heinous acts in all of mankind; the premediated murder of a monarch. All of this was happening behind the back of the man she had developed a romantic relationship with, who had proven himself to be a bit more terrifying than she initially thought. She had yet to figure out what a jabberwocky was, and was afraid that it would be difficult to take its heart. All of this, mixed in with the fantasy elements that seemed to rule this strange, but so incredibly real, place she had ended up in.
A part of her was still convinced that much of this was a dream and that she had fallen into a coma after having forgotten her pills, but was that even fair to consider after she had been through so much? She had never had such a vivid imagination in the past. That in itself seemed evidence enough to prove that all of this was, in fact, not a dream.
The sunlight came through the curtains of the bedchamber, falling on Emma's skin like acid. Despite the fact that her mind was racing, she was still so exhausted. Her body ached from having been so busy yesterday, and her heart was constantly beating off the chart. It was so terribly exhausting.
Rather than continue to try to sleep, Emma decided to open the windows in preparation of Hector's arrival. She feared that he might be a long time still, which would force her to continue thinking about the world seemingly crumbling around her. At least she wouldn't have an extensional crisis in the dark.
It also gave her an opportunity to possibly write down everything she had wanted to ask Hector when she saw him. Last night had risen so many questions with very few answered. With time to think about what had happened finally, Emma could consider everything level headed, without the pesky emotions of guilt and, dare she say, elation.
The light cotton dressing gown she wore felt strange on her skin when the sun hit her. Considering how long ago the sun had risen, it was strange that it still had hung low enough in the sky to hit her so directly. Time was a reoccuring source of confusion for Emma, since it never seemed to be consistent. One day the sun would be out for a few hours then give way to a long night, then the next day the sun would persist through what felt like two days. She had yet to see a clock, which lead her to believe that time was an illusion in this strange land.
She found herself looking out at the same scene she had looked out at with Hector not too long ago. It was so strange to see it alone, knowing it would forever been the image she associated with his proposal. And, of course, his promise to help her commit murder, which should have been much more impactful.
Since the balcony overlooked the Garden, Emma was able to see that the Queen was lounging among the roses. The woman laid so leisurely alongside Hector and March, who were playing chess. She wondered if the Queen would be able to tell that Hector had so casually talked to her "daughter" about homicide the night before, but it was fair to assume that Hector was able to keep his cool, as it seemed that he had considered murdering her in the past.
Wilbur stood next to the Queen, his hands behind his back, the same miserable expression he had worn so often as of late on his face. A few moments later, a few knights came over and whispered something to the White Rabbit, who nodded and apparently excused himself. She watched him hurry along side the knights out of the garden. She wondered where he was going off to, considering it seemed like the only job he had had recently was to find her. Did he still have to pretend to look for her? Even though the Queen appeared to be happy to have her daughter back.
Emma opened the door of the balcony out of curiosity to see where Wilbur was going. Hector looked up in her direction before she was able to spy on the other man, then stood up and appeared to head towards the castle. At least she wouldn't have to wait for long for him to retrieve her.
Emma let him into the room a few moments later.
"Good morning, Princess." He seemed to still have the pleasant mood he left her with before.
"Did you sleep, Hector?"
"I can't say I did, but it doesn't appear that you did, either. Considering the dark marks under your eyes." He tilted her head towards him. "I'll cover them, don't worry. I would have preferred that you rested."
"Am I allowed to say the same to you, or are you going to argue that it was necessary for you not to sleep?"
"I ran into the Queen when I was leaving your room and I was lectured quite a bit that it was inappropriate for me to have stolen you away long before the party ended for personal time. But, at least she wasn't angry. She has requested your company for the rest of the day, though. She wants to discuss our wedding."
"The wedding between Hector and Gisele?" Emma couldn't help but be a bit presumptuous.
"Yes, I would assume she doesn't want to help plan for the wedding for Hector and Emma that would occur after her death. But I suppose I can understand why you would want the clarification."
"Hector, can we really do this? It is possible to kill the Queen?" Hector lead her over to the dressing table as she spoke. He began to brush her hair before he replied.
"She's as human as you are, Emma, of course it is possible. I haven't had enough time to consider how it would be done, though. There are so many factors to consider that will take precise planning." He braided her hair and placed it as a crown above her head, the Princess' triara only emphasizing the style.
"What if the caterpillar was wrong?"
"She is never wrong." Hector moved to the wardrobe and considered the dress options. He chose a light cotton dress, which Emma was relieved to see after the dresses she had been forced into yesterday.
"But how could I possibly kill her? I have never done a violent thing in my life."
"We can practice."
"On who?"
"On me, I suppose." Hector's nonchalant suggestion of practicing murder techniques left Emma a bit off guard. "I'll come to your room tonight to get started."
Emma remembered immediately that Wilbur made sure to emphasize that he would look for her this evening after her poor excuse to manage to see the Caterpillar alone.
"Another time, Hector, please. One night without thinking about killing someone is all I want right now."
"The longer you wait, the longer this will take." He helped her stand again to begin dressing her.
"One night."
"One night. I can give you one night. Does this night belong to someone else? Is that why you're so adamant?"
"Maybe." Emma sighed. Why lie to him about this? It's not like Wilbur would have wanted her to keep it a secret. If given the opportunity, Wilbur would have more than likely told Hector himself.
"I don't know what you see in him…"
"I have questions, Hector, let's change the subject."
Hector began to tie the laces of today's stiffer corset. "Ask them. I'll answer them however I can."
After taking a moment to regain her breath, Emma started with the question that seemed the most important to ask. "How long have you planned to kill the Queen."
"Since before Gisele's death."
"That long?"
"Part of that was selfishness on my part. Technically, our wedding would have been bumped up. But, another part of that was what had happened between my parents and the Queen."
Emma had forgotten that there was a political side to all of this that had involved Hector's parents. "What happened?"
"The Queen threatened war with my father over land that had been shared by the Red Kingdoms. There is a very delicate balance between the four kingdoms, and the Queen has been testing that balance since long before I began living in the Kingdom of Hearts. In fact, my engagement was supposed to settle the tensions of the Red Kingdoms."
"Did it work?"
"No. She realized I knew how to sew, and began to view me as the dressmaker who also happened to be engaged to her daughter. Not the second son to the King of Diamonds."
Emma watch him tie intricate bows on the back of the dress. He was a very talented dressmaker undeniably, but it must have been quite demeaning to be treated so lowly when he had come from a royal family.
"Did Gisele know?"
"I never got around to telling her that I wanted to kill her mother, no. I suspect that she wouldn't have been keen on the idea."
"Would we have to murder the King as well?"
"No, you would simply dismiss him. When the true heir to the throne dies, the person that married into the family would lose their title."
Emma changed the subject immediately. "Why did you talk to the cat about murdering the Queen?"
"The cat was hopelessly in love with me. Correction, the cat is in love with me. I might have taken advantage of them a bit to get information from the caterpillar. Not my best moment, but I was weak."
"That's not very nice, Hector." Emma felt a bit guilty knowing he had treated the cat so poorly, considering they had been so supportive of her recently.
"It wasn't very nice to find them in my bed every morning, either, but I didn't give them a hard time about that."
"So it was normal for the cat to come into your room at night? The night I slept in your bed and they came wasn't by some off chance?"
Hector stopped tying the laces on the dress for a moment. "The cat came that night? You never told me that."
"March came in and threatened to shoot them. I thought he had the situation pretty well under control."
Hector shrugged. "I supposed he did. He isn't a fan of cats."
"Last question: Are you sure that you are willing to help me? You have a lot to lose and so little to gain from this."
Hector turned Emma towards him. He swept a loose hair out of her face and adjusted the collar of her dress. "I have quite a bit to gain from this. A seat at the Throne of Hearts is quite the prize, considering the potential consequences." He smoothed down the fabric along her ribcage and took a step back to inspect his work.
"I'll give you the throne no matter what. You don't have to involve yourself in this."
"Are you trying to get out of our agreement already, Emma? We haven't even been engaged for a full day and you're already trying to leave me." Hector laughed, fixing her hair once again.
"I'm not trying to break off the engagement. I'm still willing to marry you. I just want to be completely sure, that's all."
"I am completely sure. I'm not concerned about soiling my name. If I would have had the opportunity, I would have already killed her. The engagement is a bonus." He moved toward the wardrobe and grabbed a black capelet that he draped over her shoulders. Emma hadn't realized that he had leaned in towards her until he whispered in her ear. "I'll do anything to help you, my Queen."
The sudden statement caught her off guard, and she turned towards him instinctually. They stared at each other for a few moments, unsure of what to do next.
"What?" Hector whispered to her after a few more moments of silence.
"Nothing." Emma replied quickly, turning away.
"You don't have to pretend not to be attracted to me, Emma…" Hector whispered in her ear again. "The blush on your face isn't doing your coy act any justice."
"This isn't a romantic arrangement, Hector." Emma tried her best not to look at him, knowing that her face would continue to turn an obnoxious shade of red.
"It could be a romantic arrangement. It wouldn't bother me if you wanted more than a civil engagement."
"Business, Hector."
"It might be because I'm envious of the White Rabbit and your loyalty to him, but I desperately want to kiss you right now. And I want you to kiss me back…" Hector turned Emma's head towards him. "You've never kissed me back."
He reached down and grabbed her left hand, bringing up the engagement ring up to his lips. He then kissed the back of her hand, mumbling "I think it's fair for me to want to kiss you."
"Don't do this to me, Hector…"
"You want to kiss me, don't you?"
"Hector…"
"You do want to kiss me." He kissed the back of her hand again, letting his lips linger.
"I don't know what I want." She found herself conflicted with the stupid triangle once again. She shouldn't have been so naive as to let Hector kiss her the first time, or the second time, or the third time. The temptation to kiss him now came from Wilbur's behavior last night, which he had yet to explain. The unsettling nature of that interaction led her to find comfort in an interaction like this that built of to the intimacy, rather than being forced to show affection.
The thought of breaking Wilbur's heart lingered, knowing that the fact that she had already agreed to marry Hector would already be wound enough to his already fragile psyche.
But, was she willing to deal with the rabbit's possessiveness? Especially if that was only the beginning of the toxic behavior that he would exhibit. He was ominous and forceful in a way that Emma had never experienced; in a way that Hector has emphasized several times in the past that She had chosen to ignore.
"You don't have to make this difficult. I won't tell him." Hector forced her out of her thoughts and back to reality. "Since we're already keeping secrets…"
The door opened, and a rather confused March entered, finding the two awkwardly standing near one another, both obviously not expecting the intrusion due to the expressions on their faces.
"I honestly considered knocking, but I didn't anticipate this. Pardon my rudeness." March turned to leave but Hector stopped him immediately.
"What is it, rabbit?" Hector's tone matched the annoyed expression on his face.
"The Queen felt that the two of you were taking quite a long time, and I suppose I was afraid that you had gotten into a fight with Wilbur, so I hurried up here to retrieve you, but now I am off put because I didn't actually expect to the Queen's suspicions to be true." Emma nearly laughed at how quickly March spoke when he was sheepish.
"You're not interrupting anything, don't worry. She's nearly dressed, we'll be out in a moment."
"Right, if you say so, Hector. I'll just wait out here…" He shut the door before Hector had the chance to reply.
Hector returned his attention back to Emma. "He's not going to say anything to the other rabbit, love."
"We need to go, the Queen's waiting for us." Emma stepped away from him to move towards the door, but Hector didn't let go of her hand.
"You haven't answered me, Emma…"
"Not now."
"Then when?"
"Stop asking me."
Hector stared at her silently before replying. "Fine. Let's go."
Emma was surprised by her ability to reject him, considering the fact that she was notorious for never saying no. A wave of confidence washed over her as she followed Hector out of the room to the hallway where March was waiting.
She gave the rabbit a weak smile, to which he responded with an even weaker smile. This mood would carry on between them for a bit longer.