Emma had just finished speaking with a small group of parents who had finally worked up the courage to approach her when one of her aids pulled her aside.

"What's wrong, Aurora?"

"There's uh… a little kid is asking for you, Ma'am."

Emma turned her head to follow Aurora's gaze and smiled widely when her eyes landed on Oliver. His aunt wasn't beside him, which was a little worrying, but she pushed aside that thought to make her way over to where he was stood.

"Hey, Ollie. Have you recorded your video message for your dad yet?" she asked, as she dropped down into a crouch in front of him.

The little boy shook his head no and Emma's smile faltered.

"What's wrong? Do you not want to make him one?"

Ollie cast a furtive glance around the large ballroom before he took a small step closer to the Queen and whispered, "The big man's scary," in her ear.

Emma followed his eyes over to the quiet corner of the room that had been set up to make the video recordings. When her gaze landed on the member of her team that had been put in charge of the activity, she sighed heavily. While Tiny was a sweet guy who certainly knew his way around technology, he was also a giant of a man that looked terrifying at the best of times. It was no wonder the poor kid was scared. She was rather surprised that none of the other children had been a little put off by the six-foot-eight, three-hundred-pound man that had suddenly appeared at the party.

"Where's your aunt?" she asked, just to be sure that Oliver hadn't done something stupid like run away from his guardian.

"She had to go potty."

"Okay," Emma chuckled, because she still wasn't used to that complete lack of filter that seemed to be present in most young children. "Shall we go and wait in the hall for her, and then when she's back we can go somewhere quiet and I'll record your video for you?" she offered. Oliver's eyes brightened at the suggestion as he enthusiastically nodded his agreement. "Show me where your aunt left you. We don't wanna worry her, do we?"

"No," Ollie agreed, shaking his head forcefully.

Emma pushed herself back up to her feet and then turned her head slightly to look for Leroy. The moment their eyes connected across the room the older man rushed over, ready to see what his Queen needed. But when Oliver spotted the stranger that was practically running in their direction he panicked a little. He wrapped one arm tightly around the Queen's nearest leg as his other hand reached up to find hers.

Emma startled at the feel of the small fingers slipping into her own, but when she saw the look of fear behind Oliver's eyes she didn't hesitate to closer her hand around his, as she offered him a reassuring smile

"What can I get for you, Your Majesty?" Leroy panted, slightly out of breath from his jog.

"Can you bring me my bag please, Leroy?"

"Your bag, Ma'am? Are you ready to leave?" he asked, looking down at the schedule on his tablet. While the party was due to come to a close soon, Emma normally waited until the end of the day to make her escape. She didn't like the idea of leaving her guests to see themselves out without so much as a goodbye from their host, even if it did frustrate her security team.

"No. I just want my phone from inside of it."

"Do you uh… do you need to place a call, Ma'am?" Emma shot her assistant a look that told him she didn't appreciate the many questions he was asking, and Leroy instantly snapped into action. "I beg your pardon, Ma'am. I'll go and fetch that now for you."

"Thank you."

Ollie chuckled a little as he watched the scary man run away again, and Emma flashed him a cheeky smile at the sound of it. "Trust me, I'm the scariest person in this room," she told him.

"You're not scary," the little boy protested. "You're pretty. My daddy would like you."

Emma had to choke back the bark of laughter that was clawing its way up her throat at Oliver's words. She wasn't sure his dad would appreciate what he'd just said, but she certainly did. For some reason, a compliment that came unprompted from a four-year-old made her feel much better than the ones that came from the people she paid to dress her every morning.

"Aunt Elsa," Oliver called out, and Emma pulled her attention away from her thoughts to see a worried but familiar face frantically searching the room. When Elsa's eyes landed on Oliver at the Queen's side the tension seemed to drain from her body, and she quickly hurried through the crowd to get back to her nephew.

"What did I tell you about wandering off?" she asked, before directing her next statement up to her Queen. "I'm so sorry, Your Majesty. I hope he hasn't been any trouble. He's a good boy, he's just…"

"He's fine," Emma cut her off. She didn't want Elsa to say anything that would upset her nephew when he'd done absolutely nothing wrong. "Oliver was just a little scared by the choice of videographer that my team had settled on."

The Queen mumbled the word idiots much quieter but Elsa still caught it, and it transformed the frown on her face into a soft smile.

"Oliver and I were talking and we think we're going to find a quieter room to record his video in. We just wanted to wait for you to get back so that you wouldn't worry about where we'd disappeared to."

"Oh, um… that's so kind of you, Your Majesty. Thank you."

"It's not a problem."

It didn't take more than a minute longer for Leroy to reappear back in Emma's line of sight, and as soon as he did, Oliver tensed again beside her.

"Your bag, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Leroy. I'll be gone for a moment while I help Ollie and Elsa here. Please make sure that the staff doesn't begin the final phase of the day while we're away." The party was coming to an end, which meant the staff would soon start winding things down. And Emma didn't want Oliver to miss the last treat they had planned for the kids, while he was busy recording his message to his father.

"Yes, Ma'am," Leroy replied firmly, even as his eyes burned with all of the questions that he was forcing himself not to ask of her.

"Shall we?" Emma invited, turning her attention back to the family at her side. She gestured towards the same door she'd entered through earlier that day and Oliver nodded his head firmly before moving straight for it. Elsa had no choice but to follow as her nephew tugged the Queen along behind him.

When she'd received a letter inviting Oliver to a party at Kensington Palace the month before, Elsa hadn't expected their special guest to be Queen Emma herself. And she certainly hadn't expected her nephew to take such a shine to a woman he barely knew. It was something she couldn't wait to tell Liam and Killian about when she next had the chance to speak with them both. It was just a shame that they weren't there to see the magic for themselves.

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