AN: New chapter for you :) I have the next couple planned out, so hopefully my muses will behave and I can get another chapter out next week.

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Emma shot straight up in bed after hearing a shrill scream echoing through her chambers. Ruby was up and in a defensive position, crouched over the Princess with the dagger she kept hidden under the pillow drawn and ready before Emma had even realized the woman had moved. They each took a calculating survey of the empty room, looking for any hidden intruders.

Embers simmered lazily in the fireplace, giving the room an eerie red glow. The last of the flames flickered ominously against the mirror on the far side of the room, but there was no other movement in the room. With a simultaneous belly breath, both women ran the air around them over their sensitive sense of smell, searching for anything foreign.

Once it was clear that they were alone, the brunette flopped over on her side dramatically, letting the dagger fall to the edge of the bed. Rolling over on her back, Ruby evaluated the blonde who was looking off distantly now that the threat of danger had passed. "You alright?" she asked, her brow furrowing in concern as understanding washed over her.

The Princess blinked, snapping out of the memories of the nightmare she'd been having. Bile rose in her throat and she swallowed thickly, pushing it back down before looking in to the deep blue depths of Ruby's eyes. "I'm fine." she winced at how weak her voice sounded and ran a hand through the mop of hair on her head that plastered itself at awkward angles to the sweat covering her face and neck.

"Graham?" Ruby asked again, turning her body so that it faced Emma and propping her head up on her elbow. Emma watched the brunette for a moment, taking in the red silk nightgown she donned that hung low on her chest, revealing an ample amount of cleavage. Brown hair was sleep tousled and fell over pale shoulders, the flickering flames dancing slowly across Ruby's fair skin in an enticing manner. The blonde felt a burning need ignite in her lower abdomen at the sight and turned her face away, looking at an interesting spot on the wall where her keen vision picked up a small spider busy making a web in the corner. She nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Emma dismissed the idea, not wishing to relive the experience twice in one night. She glanced down at Ruby and offered a reassuring smile, silently communicating that she appreciated the question. Knowing that she wouldn't get any more sleep tonight, she slipped out of bed and walked towards her wardrobe.

"What are you going?" Ruby asked, alert once again.

"For a ride. You are coming with me, so here." Emma tossed a pair of trousers in the brunette's direction before grabbing a pair of black leathers for herself.

XXX

"Easy, Penelope." Ruby cooed, giving the red mare she was riding a loving pat. They were deep in the forest now, the Princess trotting ahead of her on her usual dapple gray, Percival. All in all, Ruby was a in a fabulous mood. It was true that her morning had started rough, and she wasn't particularly thrilled with being suddenly awoken and pulled out of bed for a midnight ride in the woods, but she was happy none the less.

Emma had made a hell of a lot of progress after her morning breakdown. After laying in bed for a couple of hours, the two women bathed each other. The whole process was rather intimate, although not sexual in nature. It was… nice. Different. Ruby left the pool nearly giddy afterwards. Emma had been in a good mood too, so good in fact that as soon as she was dressed she sashayed over to the door and told her guard to tell her parents to expect them for dinner. She had been so excited to see her friend taking her advice she ran to embrace her. It didn't take long for the embrace to turn into fondling and heated kisses, and it took all of Ruby's willpower to remember their earlier agreement and peel her lips from the Princess'. After that, she didn't trust herself in the same room, so she quickly excused herself to her chambers to get ready for dinner.

Penelope snorted nervously, bringing Ruby's attention back to the present as they continued their ride through the deepest parts of the forest surrounding the palace. Ruby pulled back on the reins, extending her wolf senses into the world around her as Emma continued down the path. A chilly gust of wind blew at her from the east and she parted her lips to take in a deep breath of air, smelling as well as tasting what nature had to tell her.

And what nature had to tell her was that they were not alone. A foreign scent lingered in the air, not far from off the path - perhaps a couple hundred paces away. When she turned her attention back to the blonde, she found Emma stopped and watching her over her shoulder with a curious expression etched into her face. Ruby brought a finger to her lips in a silent signal to remain quiet and then tapped her nose and pointed in the blonde's direction as she nudged her mare forward at a walk. The last thing she wanted to do was alert whoever was lurking nearby that their cover was blown away with the wind. Emma took the hint and scented the air around them as another brush of air hit them.

When Ruby was close enough, she could see the sparkle of mischief in sea green eyes and smiled devilishly. The night just got way more entertaining.

"Black soldiers." Emma mouthed at her, tilting her head to their right.

"Feel up to some hunting, Your Highness?" Ruby whispered.

A slow, wolfish grin crawled across the Royal's lips as she nodded, slipping off her horse without a sound. Ruby followed suit, giving Penelope a soft pat before following Emma into the foliage. They moved soundlessly through the forest, creeping stealthily towards the scent they were following. Quietly, the brunette unsheathed the scimitar at her hip as Emma pulled a pair of sai from her boots.

The closer they got, the more they could smell and hear. There was the faint scent of smoke from a fire that had burned itself out long ago. There was the sound of someone lightly snoring while another whittled away at a piece of wood. Ruby scented the air again, searching for anyone else in the vicinity. To her relief, it seemed there were only the two. After another few paces, they stopped, peering through the bushes as they came up on the campsite.

Two slender men occupied a small fire, the flames having died down long ago to smoldering coals. Judging by their near identical appearances, Ruby guessed they were twins or, at the very least, brothers. The sleeping one stirred, twisting over on his side as he brought a dusty old blanket up under his chin. The other stopped his whittling to peer over at him before kicking a few twigs towards the fire in a feeble attempt at generating more heat output.

Ruby looked over at Emma and indicated she'd take the sleeper, hoping that the scuffle that would ensue between the alert soldier and the blonde would be beneficial to her current mindset. When Emma nodded in response, they split up, with Ruby going to the right and positioning herself as quietly as she could near the sleeping soldier while Emma moved to crouch behind the other. As soon as Emma was in position, Ruby sprang from her hiding place, grabbing her target by the throat from behind, startling him awake but before he could do anything her scimitar was pressing around his jugular. "Ah ah ahh…" she tsked in a mocking whisper.

While the brunette was busy making her new acquaintance, Emma made her move as the other man stood to engage Ruby. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Emma sing-songed

against the man's ear as one sai pressed into his groin and the other met the bottom of his ribcage.