A/N: Kudos if you recognize this scene from anywhere..


~Ghostly Reservations~

Emma stared in shock at the dining room, making her way closer to the scene in front of her, Killian moving ahead of her. He was just as surprised as she was. Corpses were seated at every chair, some slumped onto the table, some hanging off their armrests while others had completely fallen out of their chairs. Even staff had fallen at their posts, along the wall, carrying trays.

They were all dressed in, what she assumed to be, the high fashion of the day. Long fancy dresses, larger than life hats, lots of lace and ruffles in ghastly deep shades all across the rainbow, from bright yellow, to deep purple, and everything else in between. Not to mention the cobwebs, roaches, and mice that scattered when Killian approached the table in front of her.

"What the hell…"

"The history books say nothing of this." He replied. He was moving around the table, examining each corpse in turn.

"The empty chair." Emma pointed out, moving to stand next to it. "This must have been the king's, it's at the head."

"Hm. While I agree it is a more regal chair…" He was standing at the opposite end of the room, examining the opposite chair. "This one is just as regal, love, and the occupant is a man wearing a crown."

"What?" She peered across, focusing on that specific corpse. He was right. She could count the times her own father wore a crown on one hand. Though, she figured, her family was nothing like that monster of a man.

He slowly worked his way around the table to her end. "I suspect there really was a queen, who sat here. Notice the plate? And I suspect she's the one who did all these people in."

"Well, that's unexpected."

"It fits. Royals often sit at each head, and the king is present and accounted for. Then there's a plate here, but no corpse. What's curious is how not one of the books suggested this version of events."

"It's not like it was difficult to get in here, any historian who was curious could have just walked right in like we did."

"Aye. Except maybe they never needed to."

"Because they had an eyewitness? That seems rather neglectful."

"Not if said witness made up the legends."

"What, no ring?"

"No curse."

She shivered at that. Something was here. She could feel it to her bone. But she was also happy to avoid that conversation. "Perhaps she was in a bad marriage, possibly carrying the king's child, desperate to get away. Why kill everyone though? Why not just the king?"

"You've clearly never been desperate."

"Or, maybe it was the fates." She said, chuckling mirthlessly. "They decided everything for her."

"Well, that's one… rather dark way to think of it."

Emma brushed a hand through her tousled hair, leaving it atop her head. "Now what?"

"Now we have a theory." He replied simply. "And it doesn't matter in the slightest. We need to find the place the king spent most of his time. Usually, the stateroom. If the ring ever existed, it would be there."

"The stateroom, not on his person?"

He cringed. "Right then. Well, I always wanted to defile an age-old corpse… Lovely." He made his way back to the king's chair, pulling it out. The corpse fell to the ground at the movement, causing Killian to cock his head to look at it. "Rather short fellow, in't he.."


Thank you for reading!