Being by herself in the dark palace was dreadfully lonely in a way that Emma hadn't experienced until now. There were servants bustling about in the dining room, ensuring that Emma had enough to eat and was enjoying her meal, but everyone seemed on edge, and no one seemed particularly keen on actually holding a conversation.

Emma didn't like it, and in spite of herself, she found herself pouting and picking at her food. Regina didn't like her acting so childish, but Regina wasn't there and she found herself unable to help it. She'd missed Regina so much, more than she'd even begun to realize, and now she felt like she was still missing her, even when they were both under the same roof.

After nearly an hour of sitting alone in the dining room, Emma wasn't sure if she should just get up and leave, or wait on the off chance that Regina would arrive eventually. Her question was answered, however, with Hilda's arrival.

"Her Majesty requests that you go to the library and study on the magic books she's left out for you," Hilda informed her.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Will she be joining me?"

Hilda gave a brisk shake of her head before shooing Emma from her seat at the table. Emma wasn't used to being treated in such a manner by servants and staff, but in Regina's castle, they didn't see her as a princess. Regina's staff was infallibly loyal to their Queen, who wasn't even really a Queen if Emma was being honest, and for the life of her she couldn't understand why so many of them even stayed. As far as Emma could tell, she was the only person that Regina even showed an ounce of kindness to, so she guessed perhaps the staff feared her magic. Or, perhaps, they enjoyed the protection of the magical barrier around the palace.

Either way, Emma didn't like how they talked down to her and ordered her around, even if it was at Regina's will, but even she was feeling a little wary and apprehensive of Regina's current mood, and so she decided to comply with the instructions.

Emma trudged her way down the hallways until she neared the library. The books on magic were indeed left out on the table, but Emma had very little interest in even looking at them. She only really cared about magic when Regina was actually teaching her, and even then, only when Regina was being kind to her.

Instead of opening any of the books provided, Emma took to the shelves instead, running her fingers over the spines of the books, noting with chagrin that most of them were books they had in the library at her own castle, and most were ones she'd already read. Emma had been an avid reader from a young age, and before Seth had come along, she really hadn't had much else to do to entertain herself, so she read.

Emma continued to trace her fingers over the books until something peculiar happened. When her hand fell upon an old book of poems, she couldn't help but notice the faint purple light that emitted from the spine.

"What?" Emma whispered, as she pulled the book down from the shelf, holding it in both hands as it glowed brighter.

She recalled reading an entire chapter in one of Regina's books about glamour spells, and guessed immediately that this book was in disguise, though for the life of her, Emma couldn't guess why Regina would conceal a book as another book.

She guessed there was only one way to find out.

With the glowing book firmly in one hand, Emma hurried over to the others, flipping through the pages until she found the section on glamours once again. It took several tries - enough so that she knew Regina would have been livid if she were teaching her this - but eventually, Emma managed to strip the glamour from the book.

The book she was holding now in its place, was black with gold hinges, and had an intricate design on the front and a glowing red heart in the direct centre of the cover, but no title. Emma bit her lip and quickly sat down on the chaise, wasting no time opening the book.

Emma's eyes widened in surprise when she found a name inscribed inside the front cover; it simply read Cora, and Emma quickly remembered Regina's mother's name from her discussion with her own mother.

Excitedly, Emma flipped a few pages, and was quick to recognize this book for what it was: a spell book. Remembering what Regina had said about her mother's magic, Emma realized she perhaps had a chance to learn something about Regina's mother, who she was sure held a piece of the mystery that was her Queen.

The book was written mainly in Elfish, and though Emma's skills in that area were rusty, she was able to decipher some of what was written in the pages, and it wasn't hard to tell there was a fair bit of dark magic within this book. Emma smiled to herself, revelling in how much more enticing this book was than any of the others Regina had forced her to read.

She was poring over pages upon pages of instructions for ripping out and enchanting a person's heart, and using it to control them, when the book was snatched from her hands.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Emma gasped and looked up. She's been far too rapt in her reading to hear Regina enter the room, but the fiery look in those dark eyes wasn't lost on her.

"I was… reading about magic. Like you asked," Emma replied, her eyes pleading with Regina in hopes that the woman would calm down.

"I did not tell you to read this! I would have thought that the glamour spell would have been enough for you to realize it was off limits."

"But… I used magic… I learned a spell on my own to remove the glamour," Emma pointed out, hoping that Regina might, in the very least, be proud of that small achievement.

"This is not the kind of magic I want you to learn," Regina replied, and Emma noted that her voice seemed to soften slightly.

Emma watched as Regina vanished the book off someplace, before sitting down next to her on the chaise.

"What did you read about in that book?"

Emma shrugged. "I didn't understand that much," she admitted. "But I was reading about hearts. Can you really use them to control another person?"

"Yes. But that is very dark magic, Emma. You're not… you're not ready for that yet. It's too much power for you to hold right now."

"I'm not a child."

"You have yet to prove that to me," Regina said with a sigh. "Your parents have coddled you so much I fear it can't be undone."

"That's not true!"

Regina raised an eyebrow, and Emma quickly realized she was acting like a child right now. Maybe she was coddled, but didn't mean she was a child. And she could only think of one way to prove it.

Without a second thought, Emma snaked her arms around Regina's shoulders, pulling her Queen closer so she could meet her lips with her own. She felt one of Regina's arms wrap around her back, pulling her even closer, as her other hand found it's way to the back of Emma's head, lacing her fingers through soft blonde hair as she deepened the kiss.

Emma wasn't overly confident in her kissing abilities, so she was more than happy to let Regina take the lead, once again.

But in an instant, it was over. Regina pulled back, closing her eyes for a moment, before resting her forehead against Emma's. "Perhaps you're not a child, after all."

"Regina," Emma whispered, attempting to move for her lips again, but Regina only backed away again.

"Not now, my Princess. I've sent for your parents to come and fetch you. They'll be here soon."

"What?" Emma asked, panic quickly rising in her belly. "Why?"

"Because, I said I would send you home if it wasn't safe, and evidently it's not safe here anymore."

"No! It's not your fault I got hurt! I didn't listen. I'll stay where it's safe, I promise! Please don't send me home."

"Begging doesn't become you, Emma. You're a princess, not a peasant."

"Regina!"

"That's enough. You may return when it's safe."

"When will that be?"

Regina simply sighed and gave a small shrug, and Emma knew the Queen didn't have the faintest clue.

Months went by, and still Regina knew it wasn't safe for Emma to return. Saying goodbye to her Princess the same day she'd arrived had been agony, but somehow King Markus's knights had found a weakness in her magical barrier, and Emma had nearly been killed. The attacks on her palace waned when Emma wasn't there, but this time Regina would not be so foolish to assume that the King had given up.

He expected Emma to become his son's wife, after all.

To her surprise, Snow seemed more than willing to uphold her end of the deal, refusing the King on Emma's behalf over and over. Though Regina knew she could easily wipe out all of the Silver Kingdom in an afternoon with her magic, she also knew she was an outcast in this land, and greatly despised by the other kingdoms, and such a blatant attack would provoke an all out war. Too many Kingdoms, including the White Kingdom, had magical allies on their side, and Regina's guard was nothing like it had been in the past.

As the months passed, Regina spent a great deal of time regarding Emma through her mirror again, and after a while, it began to feel like she'd never made contact with the girl at all. It was surreal, and it took all the strength Regina had not to reach through the mirror and touch her, knowing that if she did, she'd never let go.

In late August, however, everything changed.

In late August, Regina received word that the young Prince Michael had become betrothed to another young princess from another Kingdom all together, and Regina realized that meant his claim on Emma was effectively revoked.

Soon, she would have her princess back.

"Emma," Regina whispered through the mirror in Emma's room, late that night. She'd not made contact with Emma once since she'd sent her home.

Emma stirred slightly, and rolled over in her bed, squinting at the mirror before her eyes grew wide in disbelief.

"Regina!" Emma cried, as she leapt from her bed and scurried across the room to the mirror.

"Hush, darling. Let's not wake your parents, hmm?"

Emma nodded emphatically. "I tried to see you in the mirror," Emma admitted. "But I couldn't make it work."

"That's alright, Emma. I'm here."

"Prince Michael is engaged to be married in September!"

"I know."

"So I can come back, right? Mother says the war should be over now."

Regina nodded. "Once the Prince is married, you may return. For your birthday."

"My birthday?" Emma asked, confused. "But my parents are planning a ball in my honour."

"I shall throw you a ball. I believe it was you who thought that I should in the first place," Regina reminded her.

Emma's face lit up in a grin. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I'll send word to your parents once the Prince is married. Then you will return to me."

Emma smiled as she said goodnight to Regina. In the months she'd been home, she'd grown more and more certain that she might never see her Queen again, and now she knew she would. For her sixteenth birthday. There was no way Regina could still think she was a coddled little girl then.

And without the King's threat of war looming over their heads, she was sure they could finally be free.