Chapter 9
Ruby steps out of the elevator into the apartment she shares with her father in the palace to find him standing by the elevator door waiting.
"Hey. You okay?"
Her father does not respond. He gestures towards the Queen who is standing facing the window on the far side of the room. Ruby knows this cannot be good. The Queen turns and looks at Ruby before walking past her towards the elevator. She takes this as her cue to follow her into the elevator. She follows the Queen out of the elevator and through the hallways of the palace in silence until they reach a door leading outside. She follows behind the Queen as they begin to walk the outside perimeter of the palace.
"You're probably wondering why I wanted to see you."
"Something to do with Graham?"
"His Royal Highness, Prince Graham." The Queen corrects her.
"Right. Sorry." She mumbles an insincere apology. The pit in her stomach twists more and more as she continues to walk with the Queen. Mary Margaret is an intimidating women and she does not have a good feeling about this conversation.
"My son likes you. But… I would be very happy if you'd discourage the relationship."
She smirks. So this is what the conversation is going to be about. She can handle herself just fine against the Queen.
"It's not really a relationship."
"No, of course, it's not…. Is your father still a workaholic?"
"He loves his job."
"Some people feel as though he's getting a little old for this line of work, but, of course, I would never allow him to be replaced, considering the favor you'd be doing for me."
She could not believe it. Well, actually she could. The Queen is propositioning her. She stops whatever is happening between her and Graham in order for her father to continue doing the job he loves.
She walks a few steps ahead of the Queen, turns, and stops in front of her.
"May I speak freely?" She asks making sure to look her in the eyes.
"Of course."
"Okay. Well, the thing is, I wasn't even planning on seeing your son again. At least until you insisted on girl talk and started threatening my father." She said not holding anything back.
"Maybe don't speak quote so freely."
"You're the Queen of England. I get it. But your son is your problem, not mine."
"Be careful, little girl. As you say, I am the Queen of England, and this is my house. Perhaps if you still had a mother, you'd have better manners."
That was a low blow even for Mary Margaret. Playing the dead mother card is not going to make Ruby any more afraid of her. The monarchy already took her mother, they cannot take much more away from her.
"I'm not afraid of you."
"Afraid of me? Of course you're not. Why would you be? Now… curtsy to your Queen and walk away."
"I would but my mother never taught me how." Ruby bites back before walking past the Queen and back into the palace.
She really did have no interest in seeing Graham again but if it displeases the Queen that much she might just entertain him for a bit to get back at her. She is quite proud she kept her composure during the entire ordeal with the Queen. Usually the thought of her mother would bring her to tears. It is becoming easier to deal with her loss and Ruby doesn't know if that makes her happy or sad.
\*****/
Graham sat at a pub while Robin sat next to him. Graham nurses a pint to help him think clearly about everything that's happened these past few days.
"You know what really sucks, Robin? Other than my brother dying? You never drink with me."
"I'm working, sir."
"And stop calling me sir. You've been my security detail for…erm…"
"Six years."
"Six years. Have a drink, you pussy." He says while pushing the few sips left in his pint towards Robin.
"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, sir." He responds pushing the glass back toward him. "Shakespeare. Henry IV."
"I know it's Shakespeare, you Scottish prick."
"Careful. You know your name is Scottish. So look at it this way. Maybe you're illegitimate. And in that case, you can't be King anyway."
"Did you just say…?"
"That your mother, the Queen, got owned by a Scotsman?" Robin says interrupting Graham. "Yes, that's what I implied, you potentially Scottish bastard."
There is an awkward pause between them before Graham starts speaking.
"Talk to me about Ruby, Robin."
"Ruby, sir?"
"Ruby. You recognized her in my dorm room."
"Right. Well… Ruby is Mr. Gold's daughter. And Mr. Gold is my boss. So… confidentially…" Robin says as he leans towards Graham. "Ruby is my boss's daughter, sir."
Robin smiles at Graham then leans away not revealing any more information about Ruby.
"Robin, don't they give you diplomacy lessons before you become the King's security?"
"They do indeed, sir."
"Well, you suck at it. You think Emma's security detail is like this?"
"Emma's security detail was fired, sir."
Graham shakes his head while finishing his pint. He places the empty glass on the bar and the bartender places another pint down. Graham reaches for it but Robin takes it first. He winks at Graham before taking a sip from the glass.
"Enjoying that?" Graham asks his sarcastically.
\*****/
Emma walks through the wine cellar of the palace trying to find something to drink. Her new security detail follows behind her. He is a sheepish man. He is clean shaven with a timid sounding British accent. His dark black hair combed down in a neat fashion. He had piercing blue eyes. If he had a beard and a backbone, Emma thinks she would like Killian more. But he is just another security detail who will surely get fired within the week.
"Oh, perhaps I could call the Keeper of The Cellar, Your Majesty." Killian says sheepishly.
"It's deputy 'Yeoman of the Royal Cellars', and I', Your Highness." Emma tells him as she walks through the stone passageway.
She forgot how difficult it is to walk through the passageway in heels and a mini skirt, especially when you're high.
"If you're going to work here, you better learn the language."
"Apologizes, Your Highness" He stutters as he walks behind her.
"Are you nervous?"
"Very much so, yes."
Oh, this one is cute. Emma could have some fun with him.
"Why? Because I'm the Princess or because I'm hot?"
"Well, no, because you're the Princess."
Emma turns to glare at him. He makes this too easy for her.
"Erm because you're hot. Er… both."
"Inappropriate."
"Apologies, Your Highness."
Emma laughs as she walks finally walks into the cellar. She may keep this one around longer than normal. He makes life around here so much more interesting and with Auggie gone, she needs someone to make life here better.
"I'm so messing with you." She says to him. "Though I do have serious concerns about your ability to guard my body, Killian." She straightens his tie. "The good news for you is that I can look after myself." She lifts a case of wine up. "Now, here hold out your arms." She places the case in his arms.
"Okay, you look concerned. There are 25,000 bottles of wine down here, Killian. I'm the Princess. My house. My wine! Okay?"
"Oh, no. No, of course. Yes."
"But, look, if the Deputy Yeoman see you, you're an alcoholic burglar. Got it."
She looks down and sees an old bottle of wine that catches her attention.
"Ooohhh." She says while picking up the bottle. "This is a 1942 something or other. After I drink this, I'll need you to find a good spot to hide the evidence."
"Sorry. You just said…" He stutters.
"Okay. You can go." She tells him cutting him off. "But tomorrow night, I'm going out so could you lighten up?"
"Er…Yes. Your Majest… Highness."
"Okay." She says with a smile.
"Right" He responds while looking around the cellar. He slowly backs up and turns around.
Emma could already tell that this was going to be her favorite security detail.
\*****/
Later that night, Emma walks the edge of the second floor balcony of one of the official meetings rooms in the palace. She opened the old expensive bottle of wine a while ago and is trying to enjoy herself. She sees Ruby walk by in the palace.
"Ruby! Stay and drink with me!" She calls out.
Ruby walks towards her. She can tell Ruby is concerned because her brows are furrowed on her face. Emma walks on the edge of the balcony all the time. There is nothing to be concerned about and if she wanted to jump, she would have a long time ago.
"You look like you could use one." Emma tells her.
"Yeah, I could definitely use one."
"1942, it is." Emma says showing her the bottle.
Emma sits down on the edge of the balcony while Ruby grabs the wine glass that was on the floor. Emma pours some wine into the glass.
"Some for you and… more for me." She says before taking a swig out of the bottle. "To August. And to the fading days of a crumbling empire."
She raises the bottle and taps it against the glass in Ruby's hand before taking another long swig of wine. She sets the bottle down next to her and crosses her legs. She clears her throat.
"So umm… How are things with the new boyfriend?" She asks Ruby.
She doesn't really want to know about her brother romantic life but she needed to fill the silence with something.
"It wasn't like that. I tried to explain that to your mother."
"And did she threaten you and tell you to never see him again?"
"Pretty much."
Emma looks over her shoulder at the light fixture above the balcony. As long as Mr. Gold and her brother haven't moved it, it should still be one of the places she hides her joints around the palace. Emma turns around and hope off of the edge of the balcony. She walks towards the light fixture.
"I wasn't looking for a boyfriend. "
She takes the joint and a lighter out of its hiding place and walks towards Ruby.
"So much for dating a guy for his money and power. Art, planes, boats, land. A couple of castles, the Crown Jewels, and diplomatic immunity. But the kid's terrible looking so I can see why none of that would matter." She tells Ruby sarcastically before sticking the joint in her mouth and lighting it up.
"I'm sorry about August."
"Yeah… I'm sorry about your mom. "
"You knew my mother?"
"From a distance. She was elegant, your mom. And your poor father, he was so tortured."
"I guess so."
"I know so." Emma tells her before reaching for the bottle of wine. She takes another long sit of it. "You know, when I quit university last year, I used to kick about, and try to go unrecognized. And mostly I'd end up in this park stealing things from homeless people. Anyway, I would see your dad there. And he would sit on this bench… It was always the same bench… and he would just weep. You know, like he was gutted inside."
"Are you sure that was my father?" Ruby inquires.
Emma takes another drag of the joint.
"He had this book."
"All Creatures Great and Small?"
Emma nods in response.
"It's how he met my mom. She was reading that book in the park and they had a chat about it."
"So, anyway, this went on for weeks. And… eventually my mother summoned him and told him enough was enough. Do you know what he did? Your dad? He looked her right in the eyes… his boss, the Queen of England, and he said 'sack me or deal with it. My wife deserves a lifetime of tears and not even the Queen will decide when enough is enough.' Your dad's a bad-ass. Everyone knows it."
"Everyone except me. I gotta go." Ruby tells Emma.
She turns and walks away. Emma notices the tears welling in her eyes before she turns away.
"Hey. Thank you. You're a bad-ass too." Ruby says before she walks back into the palace.
Emma takes another drag of the joint.
"No, I'm just a bitch with money and power." She whispers to herself. "But I do make it look good."
A/N: The Drizella represented here is not the Drizella/Ivy from the new season of OUAT but more inspired from the animated Disney movie. I think I may use Ivy from the new season later on in this story. I have an idea of who she could be.
Slight change. Made Robin (Marcus) Scottish instead of Irish since Graham is a Scottish name and Liam (the character Graham is based off of) is Irish.
As always, thanks for reading!
Also, anyone interested in beta reading this?
