Within a week Emma was ready to be tested, she passed with flying colours and was award the title of Sentinel. Regina had taken quite an interest in the Princess turned knight and so allowed her to be stationed with Graham and his knights as they patrolled the palace. Emma mainly guarded the kitchen which pleased her as she befriended the cooks and they often chatted to her through the open doorway or gave her bits of food. Occasionally she would be sent to guard a guest and Emma found this task boring and tedious as inevitably they would stay in their room unless doing a specific activity in which case they were accompanied by knight-errants or the knights themselves.

So it was a rare treat for Emma when she was posted in the queens' guard for the day. One of the knights was ill and unbeknownst to Emma Regina had requested her to be his stand in. This meant that Emma actually moved while on duty, going to various areas of the palace as the queen went about her daily business until she went for a bath. It was curious to Emma, with her intimate knowledge of royalty that Regina didn't use any maids or ladies in waiting to help her prepare for the bath. Emma and the knights settled into now familiar games, counting games, memory games, and word association games. Emma excelled at these games because of the thorough education she had received and she loved how these games bonded all the different levels of knights. The games were all verbal and required no equipment so they were an obvious past time for any on guard duty.

Suddenly a scream tore through the air. Everyone reached for their weapons but Emma gestured for them to wait as she went in alone. She scanned the bathroom quickly, located the queen in the bath tub, face pale and eyes distant, no one else was in the room. Emma slowly approached the tub and reached out a gentle hand to Regina's shoulder. The queens' head snapped round, eyes purple. Seeing Emma she calmed.

"What are you doing in here?"

"You screamed your majesty."

"Where are the rest of my guards?"

"I made them wait outside; I did not think you would wish for them to see you in the bath." Regina nodded her appreciation and Emma relaxed, she had been afraid that perhaps she was wrong to stop the men coming in. "Are you OK your majesty?"

"A bad dream, that's all." A look of concern passed over Emma's face, she quickly masked it but Regina had still seen it. She was surprised to find that she was not angry at the blonde for feeling like that. A knock sounded at the door and Graham's voice floated through the wood.

"Your majesty, do you require assistance."

"No, no, I believe Sentinel Swan has everything under control." The queen called back before looking at Emma again. "Please…" Regina blinked, she hadn't used that word in a very long time, she didn't even know what would follow that word.

"Yes, I'll stay." Emma replied, picking the question out from the mess in Regina's head. Emma turned away and the queen got out and dried.

"All done." Emma turned to see that the queen was still upset and a bit shaky; she doubted Regina wanted the guards to see her like this. Regina caught Emma's though and magic crackled around her, but nothing else happened. Regina looked at her open palms, confused.

"My Queen." Emma placed a hand on Regina's shoulder and the magic swept around them, the purple smoke now had a tinge of another colour, perhaps blue. Regina wondered what that meant as she was tugged back to her bed chambers, Emma's hand still on her shoulder. Regina and Emma looked at each other in shock, trying to work out why the magic had worked when they were together but not for Regina on her own. "Get some rest. I'll instruct the guards not to disturb your majesty."

"And then come back; wake me if I have another nightmare." Emma stepped into the corridor and the knights snapped their heads round in surprise.

"Let me see the queen." Graham commanded but Emma held her ground, blocking the doorway.

"No."

"I'll have you demoted." He warned.

"I'm under instructions from Queen Regina not to let anyone disturb her." There was a slight gasp as Emma said the queens' name but Emma didn't care, she had addressed the Queen so on countless occasions in the couple of weeks and the queen had never objected. Emma turned and re-entered the queens' bed chamber before fastening the doors. The queen was still awake and staring intently at Emma who pulled up a chair by the bed. "Go to sleep." Emma whispered and moved her hand to Regina's head and softly, slowly began stroking her hair soothingly. Regina wouldn't normally let anyone get away with that but she found her eyes slipping closed.