AN: To my guest asking about how Emma and Regina first got together… *Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh!* Keep reading (not in this chapter but soon to come)! When you build it, they will come—not the most fitting place for this particular quote, but I think it still worked!
Side Note: I've just finished chapter 14 and I see no end in sight! Hope you all are excited!
Emma stood in her horse's stall, patting his neck, "Okay, Ice." She moved in front of the white steed and took his snout, "No matter what happens, you keep running straight. Don't let the other horses get to you, okay?"
Ice nodded his head.
"Don't let Prince Dunstan's horse fool you; she's only trying to get into your head. Just… Don't look her in the eyes. You're as goofy over the ladies as I am, and you can't let a pretty girl distract you. We need this win…or we need to not lose, alright?"
Again, Ice nodded his head with a sigh.
"Okay, buddy." She magicked a carrot and some sugar cubes into her hand, "There you go."
"Bribing your horse, I see?" Regina poofed into the small stall room sitting sidesaddle on the horse.
Emma looked quickly out of the stall and around to make sure no one else was around, "What are you doing here?" She asked with a smile as she helped the woman off the horse.
"I missed you and I had to come wish you luck before you went out." She smiled. She was about to reach over and touch Emma's face, but the horse behind her began nudging her shoulder. She turned to the white steed, "Oh, hello, Ice. I have missed you as well." Ice nudged her cheek letting her know he missed her too. She smiled, waved her hand and produced an apple, "I have missed you the most." She let the horse enjoy is treat.
After the three bites it took the horse to eat his apple, Emma took her by the arm to the side of the stall and kissed her, "You're supposed to be up in your booth."
"And you're supposed to be walking your horse to the jousting circle."
They shared another kiss, "I love you."
"I love you, too." Regina nodded and kissed her once more.
A snort interrupted them.
Regina looked to the steed, "And I love you, Ice. You keep her safe and do as she says, or no more apples from me. You got that?" The horse gave a displeased whinny before nodding and stamping his foot, "Good boy." She patted his nose before turning and gave her princess a longing look, "Do well."
Emma smiled as the queen started to fade, "I will."
~0~0~0~0~0~
The jousting tournament took all afternoon to finish. The seven contestants were narrowed down to one prizewinner and then the losers all had to try and save themselves until it was down to Sir Patrick and Prince Alexander.
Emma was standing off to the side with Prince Artie and Prince Dunstan; they waved Sir Gustave and Prince Chip over their way.
"This doesn't make any sense." Dunstan said, "Sir Patrick has a reputation for his jousting ability. I don't understand why he's losing…"
Emma looked at Sir Patrick as he was getting his horse ready on the end they were at. She watched him look over to Alexander then looked to Artie to see if he saw what she did.
Artie nodded and looked back to her, "I think I get it." He said turning to Dunstan.
"It's hard not to…" Emma looked down at her hands on the railing.
Sir Gustave spoke up, "A knight will sacrifice most everything for love. This one even his reputation."
Emma and Artie both looked to the knight with surprise, "You know he's in love?"
"He's been so for a long time." Gustave nodded, "I met him while passing through his land one evening." He subtly glanced to the other end of the jousting line, "He was there too; trying to escape something that was plaguing him." He now shook his head, "That was the beginning of the end for Patrick."
Dunstan turned to look at the line of men and Emma, "Sir Patrick is queer?"
Chip turned from the other end, leaning against the wooden barrier and crossed his arms, "That a problem?" He glanced to Emma then to his mothers before looking back to the other prince.
Dunstan then realized how he must have sounded, "No!" He put a hand out and gave a smile to Emma, "That's not why I was…" She shook his head, "It's just… If he is queer, why is he representing King Edward and Queen Nancy for the Queen of the Shadow Lands' hand?"
They all heard the start of the joust and turned quickly to the two men before anyone could answer. They watched as Alexander held steady to his lance and guided his horse. Then they looked to Sir Patrick as something caught their eyes. He had dropped his lance a few feet from the starting gate. They watched it bounce from end to end as it settled in the dust and they watched Alexander see what he was doing. He looked to Patrick with fright and started to raise his lance. But then Patrick screamed, "KEEP IT STEADY! DON'T FOLD!"
Alexander held his lance in place. He felt it connect with the knight's chest and then he felt the knight being pushed off his horse. He had the closest seat to the knight as he tumbled, landing on the flat of his back. Alexander pulled the reigns on his horse quickly and jumped off, "Patrick!" He ducked under the wooden barrier and ran over to him.
Emma saw that the Prince was about to out himself—there may have been rumors about him and it might be blatantly obvious that he is queer, but no one could hold concrete evidence against him for this. And if he was still the prince she knew, she knew he would be angry at the world and angry at Patrick for the rest of his life. She hopped the barrier and ran over to them both, untying her armband and tucking it in her pocket as she went. She touched the kneeling Prince's shoulder and the knight's chest and with a puff of light blue smoke, they were gone from all onlookers.
Artie turned jaw-dropped, "She has magic?" He asked the rest of the contestants.
Snow and Charming looked to one another in amazement as their comrades all looked on with wonder.
"She has magic…" Charming stared at the place her daughter had knelt just moments before as a small smile graced his face.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Alexander looked around as they appeared in Sir Patrick's bedchamber.
"How the hell did you do that?" He looked to the princess.
"I have magic." Emma shrugged.
"How?"
Emma gave him a look after checking over Sir Patrick, "Is that really a question for right now?"
Alexander glared at his former playmate and down to Sir Patrick, "Why did you do that? You could have easily beaten all of them. Especially Dunstan. Of all people to gain the jousting title…"
Patrick looked up at him, "I couldn't let you lose." He had a small, sad smile on his face.
"I'm going to lose anyways. You should have gone on." Alexander knelt by the knight's bed.
"Clearly this is not a time to interrupt, but each sentence becomes more awkward and more not the time…" Emma stepped into the conversation, "Are you two good? Shall I leave? I mean, you can take care of him, right Alexander?"
"Why? Because I'm…" He looked away as he couldn't utter who he was, "Because I'm in love?"
Emma walked around the bed to the side Alexander was on, "That… And because you actually paid attention in our first-aid lessons? I mean… if he had a gash or anything, I could magically heal that baby right up, but this is more… caring and tending neither of which I'm good at unless it is with whom I love…" She looked to Patrick, "If I had known the entire story I wouldn't have judged you or him any differently… We are the same… After all I'm in a competition to marry a woman, am I not?" She gave them a wink and patted Alexander on the shoulder, "If you need anything, please let me know." She said before poofing out of there.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Emma walked down the hallway when she saw the all too familiar black and purple smoke appear a ways in front of her, "Is everything alright?" The queen asked as she appeared.
"Fine." Emma nodded and started to walk passed her.
Regina rolled her eyes and grabbed her arm, poofing them to her bedchamber, "Why the hell did you let everyone know that you had magic?" She started, "No, better question, why didn't you ever tell your parents you were Pure One? Don't think that's not something they noticed, what with that blue smoke." her eyes were wide and disappointed, "They were stunned speechless."
Emma looked down, "I knew that if they knew they would become very strict. Require me to take courses; even get me studied… And, I didn't want to take any more courses than I had to. Besides, I know how to read. I simply went to our university and read all the books that any magic class used…" She shrugged.
Regina crossed her arms and stared at the blonde a moment, "Fine. I accept that. You do hate being on a schedule…" She reached out and took the blonde's cheek, "Why did you poof?"
"I had to." Emma looked anywhere but her.
"Why?" Regina took the blonde's face in her hands, making her stare at her.
Emma sighed, "They're in love." She whispered.
"Who?"
"Patrick and Alexander. They're in love and Alexander was going to blow his very, very frog's ass is watertight cover that he'd created for himself that we can actually all see straight through but still say is watertight. I knew he was because I've known him all our lives. And he caused his knight pain, which is going to hurt him even more… So, I poofed them so they could have some privacy."
Regina smiled and pulled the blonde in, "You did it for love."
"I did it for love." Emma nodded.
They shared a few kisses before poofing back into Patrick's room. Alexander was sitting on the bed, holding Patrick's hand, staring into his eyes intently, and Patrick was trying to assure Alexander that he was all right, "Sir Patrick, Prince Alexander." Regina spoke calmly as she interrupted them.
Alexander saw Emma then looked back to the Queen. He just knew that Emma was going to go nark on them and get them both disqualified. So, he lunged for her, but Regina's wave of a hand froze him in place.
"Emma tells me you two are in love." She gave them a happy smile. "Would you not rather be married to each other than myself?"
"His kingdom is as primitive as this one." Sir Patrick said as he sat up and rubbed his chest, "Mine accepts it, but merely as a politeness. And he's the royal, not me."
Regina nodded and waved a hand to release the Prince from his frozen state, "Well, we must change things for these kingdoms. For all kingdoms—Except the western Enchanted forest and the Caspian lands, of course…"
"You're in favor of a marriage like ours?" The Prince asked as he walked over to stand next to Emma, giving her a side hug in thanks and apology.
Regina glanced to Emma from staring at the prince next to her, "Can we trust them?"
"I think so. I kind of alluded already." Emma nodded.
Regina smiled, "I am in total and complete favor, Prince Alexander. Why do you think I allowed a woman in my competition?"
Alexander and Patrick looked to each other, "So you could marry her by tricking the system…"
Regina nodded, "We all have our secrets. Ours is that we need Emma to win."
"But she can just use her magic to win…" Alexander pointed out.
"Not in a competition like this." Emma shook her head, "For each event a magical person is made to wear a neutralizer, so that they cannot use magic if they tried." She held up the black band she'd worn on her arm throughout all the competitions, "When it's tied, it's activated." She shrugged.
Alexander nodded his head in understanding as did Patrick, "Thank you, for getting us out of there. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with any of them… Including my King and Queen. No offense to them, but—"
"They're overbearing… Name a pair of royals here who aren't." Emma smiled, relaxing the knight from feeling guilty over his frustration.
Regina looked to Patrick, "Sir Patrick, I do have to eliminate you from the competition." She looked to Alexander, "Prince Alexander, if you like, you can keep competing to appear…" She didn't finish her sentence at first, just waved her hand, "Princely…"
AN: Read and Review! Thoughts and feels?