Emily Drexel Lela Kaldwin, the First of her Name, Empress of Dunwall; had seen and done a great many things within her short twenty-five years of life. She had witness her mother's death, been kidnaped as part of a plot to gain control of her kingdom, befriended the loyalist, betrayed a few of those she trusted, kidnaped again in hopes to control her kingdom, thrown off a cliff when her father came to rescue her, rescued by Samuel.
She was crowded Empress, as was rightfully hers. Manage the salvage the ruins of her kingdom and see them into prosperity, figured out her father was in love with the boatman of her youth and therefore hunted down the kind hearted boatman and blackmailed him into being her Royal Boatman. It seemed only yesterday her Father had helped the age ridden Samuel into the Amaranth before sailing out to sea, only for both men to disappear without a trace.
The Empress had spent a great many of years staring longingly out at the ocean, half expecting the two to suddenly pop up out of thin air where Samuel would proceed to tell her how they managed to get stranded or some island, or perhaps eaten by that tusked leviathan the elder once told her about.
She had still been holding on to that delusion when her Mother's half-sister; Delilah Cooperson attempted to steal her throne and forced her to run. With help of the Outsider's mark and Loyalist Aid. A part of her recalled how she had wished it was Samuel driving her about and that her father had been there to help aid her in her time of need. But in the end, Delilah had been trapped within a magical portrait of her own making and Emily had once more taken up the throne.
She had thought she had seen everything.
But nothing quite manage to cut it like watching a whole island appear just on the horizon.
He knows.
The boatman's not sure how but he knows the moment the spinning stops where they are. Its almost as if another part of him, he was unaware was missing, had suddenly been returned once more.
"Where the Hell are we now?'
Corvo all but growls as the Royal Protector forces his way to his feet once more. Samuel can't find it within himself to blame the other- with the way they where being yanked from one place to another these day- but he can feel the smile forming as he answers.
"Home."
He doesn't give the younger turned order a chance to respond before boatman's back onto his feet and rushing for the nearest window.
On the Horizon he can see ships, sailing towards the island with an all too familiar flag.
Hands plant theirselves on the windowpane, trapping the boatman between them, only moments before Corvo's looking over his shoulder. He could see the moment understanding crossed the Royal Protector's mind as his dark eyes seem to brighten and a smile finds its way to his face.
"Finally."
The First thing Emily notices is the riverboat. It looks almost like any other river boat if not for the subtle fact its been hand carpeted or its name: 'Amaranth'.
Its almost identical to the boat sitting within the palace vault...
Leaning over the edge, a glint of silver shoved under one of the seats catches her eyes. Blindly reaching, her hands run over a smooth cool surface before pulling it free for all of the world to see. The Empress feels as though someone has stripped the very oxygen from her lungs.
Its a mask made of dull silver cloth sewn on the inside and held together by pieces of wire. Bright blue 'eyes' stare up at her from their 'sockets'. She knows this mask, she had witness her father bare it too many times not to.
She's now sure when she started running up the pathway but she takes notice upon doing so when she rushes past her guards.
They're here.
They have to be.
The Boatman was certain, if he was able to he would have run, but as it was he was currently a tad bit... Busy. Yeah, that was the word he was looking for. Busy, nothing inconspicuous about that.
A happy Corvo was a quite touchy one. The boatman wasn't quite sure he minded- he was just in that good of a mood- though if they didn't part soon he was likely to die of asphyxiation.
"CORVO! SAMUEL!"
Splitting apart, Both men shared a look before rushing down the stairs, towards the voice of their Empress.
Usually Samuel fount the ever shifting Hogwarts Stairwell unnatural but amusing. He would spend a good hour watching students attempt to navigate the stairwell only to end up in the exact same place they started. What could he say, It was amusing, when it was happening to someone else that is. A hand firmly gripped his wrist seconds before the Boatman fount himself relocated onto the first, the Royal Protector dragging him along as he rushed for the heavy Great Hall Doors.
Her voice and several others are coming from outside it.
The boatman pays no mind to the large student body mass behind him as he firmly grips one door and attempts to pry them open. Its much easier, he decides, when a second pair of hands join his own.
He doesn't recognize her at first.
Samuel would admit that, only a year before she had been a fourteen year old child curious to the world. Now...
She's a woman instead. She inherited the best of both Her mother and her Father. Heh, Poor Corvo. His daughter was now only a few years younger then him. Though she hasn't told her poor Father yet, Samuel can sense Erland's mark upon her.
She doesn't recognize him, questioning for his whereabouts as her keen eyes dart over the sea of bodies behind them. He doesn't fault her, few people alive knew what he had looked like at his newfound age.
"Emily," He speaks in a form of greeting causing those eyes to fall upon him. Her jaw drops as her mind puts the face she once knew to the voice.
"Samuel? How... Wha... When?"
The Royal Protector is outright chuckling at her shock and the boatman could feel a smile form onto his face. That expression really was quite priceless. He wishes he had a camera to capture the moment.
"They what?!"
"Well, to be honest they attempted to kidnap just Samuel. I got dragged along because I was trying to ensure he didn't fall overboard from the pain. "
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah, they seemed to think Samuel was a missing Wizard that was supposed to be their savior. We attempted to clear up the mistaken identity but they where rather stubborn. Of course, their stubbornness ended up with Samuel getting killed in their magical torturement but don't worry, he got better and younger."
The Empress just stared blankly at her Royal Protector as her Royal Boatman sadly shook his head.
"I think you broke her Corvo.."
"Nonsense. She just needs a moment to absorb it all. "
"By the way, I'm pretty sure the colorblind one was planning to kill both Samuel and Myself at the end of whatever plot he had running. "
Samuel swore he could hear something snap within the Empress.
"My Girl-"
"Don't you 'My Girl' Me! I am Emily Drexel Lela Kaldwin I, Empress of Dunwall, and I shall not be talked down to by a colorblind old coot who dared to steal from me! If anything you should be addressing me by the titles my name alone grants me."
"Now, Now my Dear, there's no need for the charade. "
"Charade?! My Dear? I'll have you strung up from the highest peak of Dunwall Tower for such an insult!"
There was something disturbingly satisfying about watching the Empress tear into a man more then five times her age.
"Is it wrong I'm enjoying this?"
The boatman glanced over to the rather conflicted looking Royal Protector before shaking his head.
"If its wrong I'd rather not be right."
"Perhaps we should all sit down, calm down and talk about this?"
The boatman couldn't help but wince as Dumbledore waved his wand around summoning the circular, squishy chairs Hermione Granger had once told him was called a 'Beanbag'. The silence was Damning even for his own ears as both the Guard and the Empress took a moment to intake what had happened before the Guards suddenly had their weapons drawn and anger coursed across the Empress' face.
"YOU DARE USE WITCHCRAFT IN MY PRESENSE!"
"Well this is a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Just when you thought they couldn't be any dumber. Samuel could practically see the fire within the Empress' eyes as she spun upon hell to face himself and Corvo.
"YOU WHERE KIDNAPPED BY WITCHES?!"
"Yes, My Lady."
Both Royal Boatman and Royal Protector answered as one.
"They think Samuel is one of them?"
"Yes, My Lady."
Hands gripped his arms tightly forcing the boatman to meet his Empress' eyes.
"Have you used their magic since arriving here?"
"No, My Lady."
The boatman had read and studied magic but he had never once used it, choosing instead to fall back onto his trusty pistol when there was no other option. When helping clean up Erland's mess he had feed the patients potions and The Cure Elixirs- Samuel was beginning to question wither those things where created to cure Erland's messes instead of the plague. Never once had the boatman dare to use his wand. He could actually see the tension ease out of the other's shoulders while Corvo smile proudly behind her.
Strange, did Emily actually believe he would dare to use magic while attempting to find his way home? He wasn't that dumb, everyone knew the penitently for magic here.
"If they gave you a stick, I want you to snap it Samuel so that there may be no temptation upon your part. "
Voices rose from the sea of bodies in protest, a few even daring to shout at his Empress, but it wasn't their opinion that mattered to Samuel. While they may rely solely upon their magic, the Boatman's sole duty was to his Empress. If she desired the stick they insisted to be his 'wand' to be snapped, then God Damn it, Samuel would snap it, burn the pieces and throw their ashes into the void to ease her worried mind.
"If that is your wish, My Lady."
"It is, Sam-"
"Surely we can talk about this," Dumbledore's voice abruptly cut off his Empress response, "to snap a Wizards wand for just being capable of using magic is an unforgivable and rather petty action."
Samuel could feel his fingers twitch for his gun.
Not only had the old fool interrupted the Empress but he dared to call her 'petty'?
"Did he just call The Empress 'petty'?"
One of the guard's voiced the very thoughts, cutting through the heavy silence that had befallen them the moment Dumbledore dared to reopen his mouth. The Empress is furious, Samuel could see the barely retrained rage within her eyes as her fingers twitch for the blade at her side. Emily was a lot of things, the Boatman could acknowledge that, but petty was not one of them. To call her such a thing...
Heh, Samuel's surprised the man still has a head upon his shoulders. He watches as she takes deep breathes to calm herself and while it visibly works, the boatman could hear the cold, isolated tone when she finally speaks.
"Guards, Seize him."
Everything has officially gone to Hell.
Samuel decides only seconds before the hallway is fall of assorted colors and the sound of steel being drawn. He's reaching for his gun when hand lands upon his shoulder and the world is swallowed within a vortex of purple and black.