Chapter Five: The Other Side of the Door
Emma had been awake for a good two hours when the echo of the grandfather clock chiming 6 sounded through the castle. When the clock struck 5 and she had realised there was no chance she was getting back to sleep, she had given up and decided to get ready. She had quickly discovered that she didn't really have any clothes suitable for magic training, not that she was totally sure what that would entail but she imagined it would probably be messy. Eventually, she decided on her simplest dress, a pastel pink one with only one layer on the skirt and a relatively high neckline. She had tied her hair up into a simple ponytail and for the next 73 minutes she sat on the edge of her bed, anxiously playing with her locket.
When she heard the clock chime, she took a deep breath.
'You can do this' she whispered softly to herself.
She folded her hands neatly into her lap, and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to settle her nerves that she had decided were childish. Not for someone who was going to be a master of magic. That was the last thing she remembered.
'Emma? Emma, did you forget?'.
The next thing she knew was sitting at her vanity, dressed in one of her simpler lilac dresses and Ruby was neatly plaiting her hair behind her head, as she did every morning. She blinked several times as she examined her own confused face in the mirror. What the hell was going on? It felt as if she had only blinked and yet everything had changed. She had no idea how she had got there, or how long Ruby had been there. Her friend was frowning at her, concern filling her eyes as Emma's eyes flicked around the room as if seeing it for the first time.
'Emma? Is everything okay? You look like you've seen a ghost' asked Ruby, momentarily stopping what she was doing.
'Err, yeah. I'm...I'm fine' said Emma, distractedly, 'Ruby what time is it?'.
'It's 8:30' said Ruby, her frown deepening, 'Joanna said you wanted to help her in the kitchen from 9. If you don't want to, I can tell her, it's really no problem'.
'No...no I want to' said Emma, with a weak smile.
Ruby clearly was not convinced but went back to what she was doing. What the hell was going on?
'It smells amazing in here,' said Queen Snow, as she entered the downstairs kitchen followed by a guard.
'Your highness' chimed Ruby and Joanna, bowing in unison.
'Mother' said Emma, smiling politely.
The kitchen was notably messier for Emma's presence but neither of the women seemed to mind. She had just taken her apple and cinnamon tea bread out of the oven and it was cooling on the counter top.
'How are you getting on Emma? I hope you aren't getting under Joanna's feet too much,' said Snow.
'Oh not at all, she's lovely to have around' said Joanna, sincerely.
'Good good' said Snow, before clasping her hands together and turning to her daughter, 'I was wondering if you wanted to come riding with me this afternoon Emma?'.
'Sounds lovely, mother,' said Emma, not looking up from the counter where she had begun clearing up her mess.
She had wanted to summon Rumpelstiltskin and ask what had happened to their plans, but a trip out of the castle grounds was maybe just what she needed to clear her head.
'Don't worry about that your highness, we'll clear up. You go and get ready' said Joanna, taking the bag of flour from her hands and smiling.
Emma nodded and then without a word linked arms with her mother and the two exited the kitchen, the guard following a few paces aside.
When she dismounted her palomino Daisy, Emma was actually feeling more frustrated than she had this morning. Her mother had rather unsubtly tried to broach the subject of her blatant disregard of her parents wishes but she hadn't got anywhere. Emma just simply pretended not to notice the little comments, but her mother apparently wasn't quite ready to let this go. Eventually she had flat out asked Emma what had possessed her to go down to the dungeons. She had simply kicked her heels, forcing Daisy on faster in an attempt to get away from her. The rest of the ride was done in stony silence. As soon as she arrived back, she tossed her riding hat into the stables and marched off towards the castle, leaving Daniel the stable boy to deal with her horse. If her mother tried to call after her, she didn't hear her. She stormed past everyone in the castle, ignoring the various bows she received from the staff and slammed her heavy bedroom door. Without looking up, she marched towards her vanity struggling to peel off her gloves. Eventually, she managed to get them off and slammed them down onto the table with a loud crack.
'Dear oh dear, someone is feeling a little moody this morning aren't they'.
Emma spun round, and saw the maddening little imp sprawled lazily across her bed, smirking at her. She fixed him with her best glare, but his little giggle indicated it wasn't having the effect she wanted. Then without a word she turned around and focused on unfastening her cloak, tossing it over her chair and bending down to unfasten her boots.
'You gonna go all the way before you break your silence princess? Because that is absolutely fine with me' said the Dark One, his eyes gleaming.
Emma immediately stopped what she was doing and pulled her skirt back down over her legs.
'What the hell happened this morning?' she snapped.
'You mean you don't remember our session?' he said mockingly.
'What session? You didn't come' said Emma, unable to stop herself from pouting.
'Of course I did, I never go back on a deal,' he said, folding his hands behind his head and settling back into her pillows.
'Then why can't I remember' said Emma, her voice more desperate than angry, 'I remember sitting up and waiting for you to arrive, and the next thing I knew I was with Ruby'.
'Because the only times you have ever been able to use your magic is when you have had to. So I'm trying to awaken the power in you. I tried during the lesson to get you to do even simple spells and you couldn't do it. Not even a spark. So I gave you an ultimatum, I was going to wipe your memory of our entire lesson unless you could fight off the charm. It seems today you couldn't'.
Emma fell back into her chair, almost ready to cry.
'But don't worry dearie, I haven't given up on you quite yet. You have two weeks. Every morning I will come and try to teach you the basics and at the end of every lesson I will wipe your memory. If you still can't stop me after two weeks then I'm afraid our deal is off. I don't waste my time on people who aren't worth it'.
Suddenly, there was a sharp knock at the door. Emma glanced at the door, and then back to the bed but it was empty.
'Enter' called Emma, wiping the tear from her cheek and sitting up straighter.
The door opened and Ruby stuck her head round the corner, 'Hey, I just wanted to check up on you, you seemed really out of sorts this morning'.
Emma smiled faintly before assuring Ruby that she was okay before requesting she draw up a bath for her. Ruby hurried off to get everything ready, while Emma stared at her reflection in the mirror. Two weeks. That was all she had left.
An impressive number of the King's guards had descended on market square that morning and were marching diligently among the crowds queuing for the best products before they all disappeared. The King's chief huntsman, Graham Humbert, made a beeline for Tinkerbelle's stall. He recognised the tall man with the dark leather coat and a shiny silver hook for a hand who was leaning against the young fairies stall.
'Ma'am, is this pirate bothering you?' said Graham, puffing out his chest as he spat out the term like an insult.
'Yes, he is' said Tinkerbelle, poking her nose in the air as she regarded the man with disdain.
'Ooh ouch, you know that hurts my feelings Tink, it really does' said Hook, holding his one good hand over his heart with a wounded expression.
'I've warned you about this Hook, if I catch you loitering in the market and harassing the stall owners I will arrest you' said Graham, glaring at him.
'On what charges? And don't you have some bunnies to be chasing' said Hook dismissively before taking an interest in the fliers he was holding, 'oh no, I see you are acting paperboy today. My my, being the king's chief huntsman really is the big leagues isn't it?'.
Turning away from the smirking pirate, Graham handed a leaflet over to Tink and said, 'this is the latest drawing of the Poison Apple. If you see this person please let either me or one of my guards know as soon as possible. Catching them is a top priority for ensuring the safety of the kingdom and all its…'.
'Don't I get a leaflet?' interrupted Hook, 'shouldn't I know who this dangerous criminal is?'.
'I'm surprised it isn't you' said Tink, raising an eyebrow as he snatched a leaflet from Graham.
He held it up next to his face, 'he does look a little like me, but he just lacks my natural charm'.
The picture did look similar to the young pirate, but he was right, they weren't the same.
'It would be a little surprising if no one noticed the thief had a hook for a hand' said Tink, looking mockingly at his hook.
'230,000. That's quite the incentive,' he mused, ignoring the insult as he scanned the poster, 'be sure if I see this dangerous criminal I will hand him over to you right away'.
He stood to attention and gave a mock salute to the huntsman, before turning and sauntering off into the crowd tucking his leaflet into his pocket.
Graham straightened his fur shoulder pads, trying not to seem annoyed before turning to Tinkerbelle, 'If that pirate ever bothers you again, you call me alright?'.
'Thank you Graham, I really appreciate it' smiled Tink, offering the huntsman an apple as thanks.
The man smiled appreciatively, before taking a bite and returning to his rounds.
Captain Hook carried on out of the town square and down a maze of dirty and dark alleyways, until he was a few streets away from the docks. He pushed through a dirty wooden door with chunks missing and found the tavern he entered was alive with voices. The man behind the bar had sandy blonde hair and a large lion tattoo on his forearm, and he immediately got to work when he saw the pirate.
He sauntered up to him and leaning on the bar he asked, 'is she here?'.
'In the back' replied the man, placing a full tankard on the bar.
Hook took the drink and headed around the corner into the backroom, which was dark and dingy but full of life. The creaky wooden tables were full of people, empty tankards and packs of cigarettes littered the tables and floors, and a number of bows and swords were haphazardly piled up in one corner. He weaved through the tables, dodging flying mugs and one or two knives until he reached the corner of the room.
He placed the leaflet on the table and said, 'this picture really doesn't do you any justice'.
The girl at the other end of the table leaned forward to examine the picture. She was dressed in tight black leather trousers and a red corset, and had her feet clad in thigh high black boots resting lazily on the table. She had long dark hair hanging loose down her back and her bright red lips curled in an enticing smirk.
She picked up the picture and held it up next to her face, 'what do we think boys? They just can't get my eyes right'.
Boisterous laughter broke out across the table.
'230,000, not bad' she said, throwing the poster to one side before pulling a knife from the table and tossing it.
It sliced neatly into the poster and mounted it into the wall, the blade exactly between the drawing's eyes.
'Please those are amateur numbers, back in the real world the bounty on my head was 1 million galleons' sneered a man with a bushy beard and an oversized bright red jacket.
'Yes but no one's actually been there to prove it have they? As far as we know you could be about as famous as Gaston' she sneered, leaning back in her chair.
'Hey, a lot of people know who I am' pouted Gaston, another huge man with long dark hair.
'You got rejected once by a girl who then decided a beast was better looking than you, not exactly a claim to fame' she mocked.
'Yeah, well what kind of a name is Blackbeard anyway' said Gaston, turning back to the pirate.
'At least I'm well known enough to have a nickname. Plus, it's better than the poison apple' Blackbeard retorted.
'But mine keeps me anonymous as proven by this stunning portrait,' grinned the girl, 'but come on boys, let's play nice. We villain's had better stick together'.
'Oh yeah, like you wouldn't stab all of us in the back if it meant you getting what you want' said Blackbeard.
'And you'd do the same,' grinned the woman, holding up her tankard.
Blackbeard chuckled and clanked his mug against hers, 'I knew I liked you princess'.
She scowled, evidently it was a name she didn't appreciate, 'Regina', she corrected.
'So, are you coming back to my ship tonight?' asked Hook.
It was well past midnight and the numbers in the room were rather depleted. He and Regina were sitting next to each other on one of the wooden benches, both leaning heavily on each other.
'For another mediocre time? I don't think so' she bit back, as the pair watched Blackbeard and Gaston have yet another arm wrestle.
'It's fine, no one is listening, so are you coming back?' said Hook, lowering his voice.
'I will actually, walking to my place doesn't sound fun' said Regina, her voice a little slurred from the alcohol, 'I can't believe they are still tied after all this time'.
'I know, the fact that they are so well matched is actually more unbelievable' said Hook, as the two men's biceps bulged, both putting their all into it.
'And yet he won't take off that stupid coat' said Regina, as the fat beads of sweat pouring down the pirates face.
'Hey, a pirate's coat is very important to him, it's where he keeps all his important things' said Hook, reaching into his long black leather coat and withdrawing a hip flask before handing it to her, 'like this'.
She took a swig and then rose unsteadily to her feet, 'come on then Captain, let's go'.
He stood up and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as the pair headed out together. Just as they were through the door, they heard Gaston overpowering Blackbeard with a roar of triumph.
'Night Regina, are you coming in tomorrow?' asked the man behind the bar, looking up eagerly.
'Maybe, who knows?' replied Regina, noncommittally, not even bothering to stop.
'That man is obsessed with you' said Hook, as he kicked the tavern door open and they stumbled into the night.
'Who isn't?' she smirked.
It took them a couple of minutes to return to the Jolly Roger, the largest pirate ship moored at the docks and the Captain's pride and joy.
As they stumbled up the gangway, Hook roared, 'SMEE!'.
Immediately, a small round man with a bright red beanie and an equally red nose scurried onto the deck, 'Captain?' he stammered.
'I have a female companion staying with me tonight, I am not to be disturbed unless we are under attack or the boat is on fire, understood?' barked Hook, wrapping his arm around Regina's waist and smirking.
'Aye Captain' the man said, scurrying off again to tell the men.
Together the pair made their way through the ship and into the cabin. As soon as they were behind closed doors, he immediately let go of her waist and Regina practically fell onto the bed.
'Do you want one of my shirts again?' he asked, opening the trunk he kept his clothes in and rooting through it.
'Yeah, but I want the white one, the black one is uncomfortable,' said Regina, taking off her boots with difficulty.
'So demanding, here's your shirt, your majesty,' he said, giving her a mock bow.
'As you should be, peasant,' she grinned, snatching the shirt from his outstretched hands.
'I don't know why you wear these ridiculous outfits' said Hook, as she began to struggle with her corset.
'Have a great time captain' called one of his men through the door.
Regina rolled her eyes, 'do you always have a supportive audience when you bring home a woman?'.
'None of them have had sex in years, it's to be expected' said Hook, 'they're just jealous'.
'Again, of course they are, have you seen me?' she said, running her hands up her body, 'now turn around I'm getting changed'.
'Of course, my lady' said Hook, turning his back as they both got out of their clothes.