The dark cold sky was beginning to show the first light of dawn, but the birds didn't sing. Time didn't stand still, and never would, not for any man or woman.
But still... Anyone with a heart or brain was holding their breath, waiting in suspense for that moment that would change their future. It wasn't conscious. It wasn't even noticed by most. It was one of those things you only realised you were doing when it was over.
Something was happening.
The guard at the gate shifted uneasily, his mail clinking when he scanned the darkness for any sign of life. Nothing. He almost wished someone would attack him and end the suspense.
It seemed to be eternity before it was time for his shift to end. He was tired, and and annoyed. Why did some bastard decide to cause this much trouble by killing a guest on this day? Why not tomorrow, and then he could rest a little.
No doubt he would be assigned with twice his usual work in the morning.
He yawned.
Was it his pure bad luck? Or just perfect timing?
The moment was chosen for a small figure in black to slip past him, out into the darkness.
Trying to catch at least an hour of sleep before he rose at dawn was almost impossible. As soon as he had lay down, all of his fatigue was gone and he just wanted some action. Graham punched his hard pillow, annoyed.
And then, after a long time something happened.
He had been dozing uneasily, his dreams strange and confusing, and then unexpectedly they changed.
He was outside in his dream, which wasn't really surprising, because that was his usual place to wander in spare time. Anywhere alone.
It was dark and the air was cool and silent. Silent of any living creature, not even a bird sang. It felt very familiar.
He was hurrying towards the gate, slipping in and out of the shadows, a pack on his back and a knife at his belt. For some strange reason he was doing his best to avoid guards at all costs. That was a little funny, seeing as he was one himself.
And then he glanced up to a window on the castle wall, it was his own room.
It was like he was saying goodbye.
And then the window lit up, and a figure stood by the window, looking in his direction.
"I'm sorry Graham." He said, turning away. It wasn't his voice. It was a higher, softer voice. And it was familiar.
It was... It was...
"Emma...?" Graham leapt up, groaning as he clutched his head.
He lighted the bedside lamp, his heart beating like a drum.
He was scanning the courtyard from his window, looking at the exact place he was moments before standing in his dream. It was too dark to see anything for sure, but if he was right, then he thought he saw a flash of movement.
It wasn't until just then that he realised. He had done everything he had already seen himself do from Emma's eyes.
He swore inwardly, trying to make some sense out of it.
Even though he had always doubted it, perhaps he had been wrong. Perhaps there really were gods after all.
The question was... Were they on his side?
Or maybe this was something else. Magic. It had hardly been used for years, not even Rumpelstiltskin casted a spell a spell to light a candle these days.
Of course, some still used it... But usually only for dark means. Graham had tried to keep it from happening as much as possible. This hadn't felt dark, it was something else. He had seen the future, if only for a moment.
Why did he go back to bed, letting her get away?
Why did he go back to bed, letting her get away?
He was shown her leaving so he didn't go after her. Because she had to go.
He could pass it off as a strange coincidence. But... He was never the type to do such things, because what would be the fun in that?
He was going to be in so much trouble when the King and Queen heard.
If he could actually bring himself to tell them.
The princess stumbled through the darkness, her heart pounding like a drum. Icy wind whipping at her face. She could hear the sea, hissing and crashing against the cliffs. The night was still and cold her breath made a steamy cloud.
She paused to look back at the castle. It seemed nobody had noticed her disappearance yet. That should have made her feel happy, but instead a part of her wished someone had, so they could find her and drag her back home, preventing her from perhaps making the biggest mistake of her life.
But nobody came to find her. They slept peacefully, unaware of what the dawn would bring them.
She was alone.
Emma wished Graham was there, he would know what to say to her, he seemed to always know how to make her feel better. How could she do this to him? To her family? Her eyes began to sting and she felt a lump in her throat as she took one last look at her home.
The faintest hints of dawn were beginning to touch the sky. Soon the sun would be up and the castle would be bathed in soft light. When she was a child she used to get up just before dawn and run outside, just to watch it rise.
Emma turned away.
She didn't look back after that, only ahead.
The docks were often one of the busiest places in the kingdom, always filled with excited newcomers, locals selling goods and squawking seagulls. It was full of life. The sun was just climbing above the horizon as Emma weaved through the crowds of bustling people. A few fisherman gave her wary glances muttering to each other.
Emma quickened her pace, she couldn't have them recognising her. Any moment now someone was going to notice her missing. There were probably search parties out looking for her already.
It was hard to get a ship to take her, none of them wanted a woman on board. Big surprise.
Emma growled, marching away from a particularly rude mannered captain.
Then she noticed there was a merchant's ship about to leave the harbour. It looked a little more promising.
The captain was a tall man in his late thirties, with brown hair streaked with grey tied back in a short pony tail. Obviously a foreigner. He barked orders to his men as they hurried around preparing the ship to sail.
Emma took her hood off as she approached him, trying too look authoritative. It took a little while and a lot of her bounty to convince him, but she got there in the end. The plan was that he was going to drop her off close to where Philip lived. She would find other means of transport once she arrived. There was going to be a long trip over solid land too. He accepted her hefty payment of gold rings and jewelled necklaces grudgingly, but she could see his eyes gleam. She knew he was thinking of what else she had in that bag.
She had better keep a close eye on her belongings. He was not someone she wanted to cross.
She added him to her long list.
Right now she had to worry about being found by her family, not a complete stranger after her gold, she could handle him later.
She was lucky that the ship left twenty minutes later, so there wasn't any immediate discovery of her escape.
She was escorted to her room by one of the sailors, who was constantly muttering under his breath about god-knows-what, but it was probably rude. She didn't try to make conversation, only bowed her head and tried to look small and scared. It was a trick, and a clever one. People were naturally less likely to be suspicious of woman if they were stupid and afraid of anything and everything.
Idiots.
Apparently she was going to travel in the hold, with the stores. When she stepped into the dark room, the door was slammed shut behind her. The first thing she noticed was the smell. She scrunched her nose. It was old fish and something sour. And then her eyes adjusted and she noticed the suspiciously greasy looking hammock that was slung up by the barrels.
There was a bag of food she supposed was meant for her, as she was told "not to damn touch" the barrels. It could then only be one thing. Her lunch. The loaf of bread were mouldy and the once fresh delicious bags of apples were brown and wrinkly, everything looked well past its time. Emma sighed, she would have to get used to not being waited on hand and foot.
She didn't sleep much that night, afraid of what it might bring her. Or the next night... It was a difficult trip. When she wasn't having nightmares and thinking of different way to kill Hook. The sway of the ship got to her, and she throwing up any small meals she had managed to swallow.
Dark thoughts always were roaming through her head. Could she really kill a man?
And then... Came the real question, could she forgive herself if she did?
She would wake up every night, drenched in sweat and cold to the bone. It didn't get better when she was awake, just more bearable.
That evil bastard...
She promised herself not to cry, at least not until she finished what was started.
She often had to remind herself of that promise.
Finally she couldn't stand being in the dark hold any more. She rolled out of her hammock, her breathing uneven. After fumbling with her jacket, she straightened up and tugged at a couple of strands of tangled hair, she really should have brought a comb.
No... She lifted her chin. She was no longer princess Emma, the naive girl who was untouched by grief and sorrow... Innocent and gullible. The Emma who had loved.
She paused in her train of thought, her brow wrinkled. Who was this new woman who had taken over her body? Certainly a stranger. Her moves were now wild and unpredictable. Who was she?
She didn't even know anymore...
That scared her.
She shrugged it off, and abandoned her attempt to look reasonable, if it grew too untidy, she could always cut it off.
When she stepped onto the scrubbed deck of the ship, out of the darkness she had grown accustomed to, she had to pretend that the light of day wasn't hurting her eyes. The crew all gave her sidelong glances, muttering to each other.
It was the crack of dawn, dark cold and wet, the fine mist soaking everything. It seemed like heaven compared to her dirty uncomfortable hammock. She breathed in the salty air, watching the sea through the shroud.
Was she making a mistake?
There was that familiar hollow ache in her chest. The feeling of loss. She would never see him again, soon the image of him in her mind would begin to fade, and she would have nothing left. Nothing but a broken heart and the thought of revenge.
It was easier to just not feel at all, easier to shut out her emotions and let something calm and deadly steal over her. She tried not to let that happen because it scared her...
The waves were crashing against the ship in a familiar rhythm. It was the sound she heard night and day for four days. The sea had not calmed, the waves roared in the night, often succeeding to toss her out of her hammock.
Sometimes it sounded more like a voice whispering from the darkest depths of the ocean, she blamed it on lack of sleep and food. There was once a time when the sound of the sea was a calming beautiful sound, but right now it only reminded her of what was to come. She thought about before any of this happened and it seemed like an eternity ago.
A man pushed past her, elbowing her in the stomach. "Out of my way scum."
"What did you just call me?" Emma snarled, her anger sparked.
He was a large man in his forties with a red nose and yellow sharp looking teeth. "Scum that's what I called you..."
Emma clenched her fists, feeling her fingernails dig into her palm. She forced herself to walk away, over to where some sailors were hauling in a load of fish. She felt sick. It was hard not being the boss. It was hard to ignore him, it was hard to keep from crying...
Because it was easy to believe him.
This was all her fault, she was stupid and headstrong. She was probably going to die. What did she care if she had an early grave? She cared that he knew that she would break easily. He knew she was going to fall for his trap.
She spun around.
Then she was punching him as hard as she could.
It definitely helped to wipe that stupid grin off his face.
He eyes were momentarily glazed over, and he looked stunned. He recovered faster than she expected. It must have been the sea air. A few seconds later they had cleared up. And he looked angrier than ever. "How dare you!" he raised his fist, advancing forwards.
She noted offhandedly that he was a least five inches taller than her.
"That's enough of that." The captain was behind her suddenly. "I will not tolerate this aboard my ship."
"He insulted me!" Emma spat.
"You will address me as "Captain" and with respect, If you know what's good for you."
The large man she had punched grinned at her, in way that of course was easy to mistake for a wince of pain. "Unnatural, it is... A woman travelling alone, I knew she was trouble as soon as she set foot on this ship. And now look at what's happened, she attacked me!" He rubbed his cheek, hissing.
"I'm warning you... I don't like liars." Emma said icily.
A hand grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled, yanking her head back. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" The captain spat, his anger was likely an act. He was probably happy for entertainment from his usually boring crew.
"He deserved it."
There was a sharp tug on her hair, and she tried not to wince. "If you apologise to him then we can forget that it ever happened." The captain stated.
"Apologise to him? Emma hissed. "I don't think so. I don't like making enemies... But when I do, I will not forgive or show mercy." She grinned. "I'm currently seeking out the most recent devil. I'm going to kill him."
There was a short silence...
"Good luck with finding someone who is going to help a little witch like you. There wont be anyone stupid enough to here." She heard a chuckle. "And to make things more interesting, I'm throwing you off right now."
"You wouldn't dare."
She was wrong. He did dare.
They were throwing her off the ship. Literally.
The ship was close to land, where they were stopping for supplies in a small town on the coast. She learnt this not from having the privileged of being told, but from the privilege of having eavesdropping skills. Which she put to use often in the castle.
The Captain and his crew could kick her off when the stopped at the docks, and that way she could find someone else to take her, though it would be a waste of money and she would need to use her manners a little more. But of course they couldn't be kind and just let her go. Oh no.
First they took all of her possession, then they decided to face her with a challenge that the captain had apparently done in his youth.
Maybe next time she should take a moment to think things through before opening her mouth. Or accidentally punching people who happened to insult her. Vaguely she remembered the incident with Hook. Except that one time... she wouldn't change a thing.
They tied ropes around her ankles and wrists, tightly enough to burn. They loosened her ankles after some debate, or it would be called plain murder. Then they found the blunt most chipped and rusted fish scaling knife she had ever seen, and put the handle between her teeth.
"Look on the bright side, at least we are giving you a chance." The captain whispered in her ear, all the while looking absolutely delighted. "And if you do manage to get free, then I don't envy the poor soul who is going to have to deal with you."
"Mmmm..." Was all Emma could say.
Two of the crew lifted a struggling Emma up.
A seconds later she was flying through open space.
How did she manage to get into this position... Again?
That was definitely a story for another time. When she wasn't so occupied.
She hit the icy cold water.
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