Sorry for the wait. I just want to warn you all that updates aren't going to be super frequent. Sometimes they might be, but usually not. I have a lot to do this semester between all my classes, labs, work, volunteer hours, and MCAT prep course. I'm sorry if it seems like its taking forever to get chapters up but don't think I've abandoned the chapters. I'm just a little busy.

I wanted more to happen in this chapter but I figured you all would rather have at least something to read so to get on with it, here's the next chapter. Hope you like.

"So." Emma looked up to see Daniel leaning against the doorframe. His lopsided grin making her feel more comfortable. "This is your room."

"That's what they tell me." Emma glanced around. "What do you think?"

"I think it's pretty elaborate." Daniel walked in. "Fit for a princess."

"I guess its appropriate then." Emma glanced at the toys filling the shelves. "It's a bit young for my taste."

"Well considering this room previously belonged to a six year old..." Daniel nodded.

"This place is so much bigger than I'm used to." Emma shook her head in awe.

"You're telling me." Daniel agreed. "My room may not be as big as yours but our shared cabin in Altair has nothing on this place."

"You should see my dressing room." Emma said.

"Dressing room?" Daniel repeated.

"Yea its off the wash room. I didn't notice it until my second time in there, but it's quite large. It houses an impressive collection of dresses and coats and shoes and jewelry."

"Man, all I got was an armoire." Daniel shook his head woefully. "Just think. If you were a real girl, you would have hit the jackpot."

"Shut up." Emma punched Daniel.

"Ow." Daniel rubbed his shoulder. "That actually hurt. I think you just proved my point."

"Well even if I was a real girl." Emma rolled her eyes. "The gowns in the dressing room are a few sizes too small. Too bad, I can't fit in any of them."

Daniel smirked "Let's be real, you're thrilled about none of your dresses fitting. It means you can get away with wearing pants for longer."

"Yea." Emma sunk onto the bench in front of her bed. "Do you think… you know, they're going to make me wear one?"

"One?" Daniel raised his eyebrow. "Em, I get that you're a pants and tunic type of a girl but in this land you are a princess. And certain expectations come with that type of title. I'm sure your parents will be reasonable and allow you as much leniency as possible but I can guarantee before we return home I will see you in more than one dress."

Emma looked hesitantly at Daniel. "Ball gowns included?"

"If I had to guess, based on the portraits I've seen in this castle and the small amount of time I've spent with your parents I would say yes." Daniel apologized. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were planning one right now."

Emma blanched. "You're not serious?"

"Oh Em I think you'll look pretty in a big ball gown." Daniel teasingly put his hand under Emma's chin.

"Shut up." Emma batted Daniels hand away.

"If I'm in a ball gown that means you'll be in full formal attire as well." Emma pointed out.

"I would look fantastic dressed up like your father is in all of those portraits." Daniel shrugged. "Face it Em, I can pull of anything."

"You are so full of yourself." Emma shook her head laughing.

"Says the girl who doesn't hesitate to tell me how she is better than me at everything." Daniel said pointedly.

"Only because it's true." Emma shrugged. "But seriously, you know I only do that in jest. I would never actually claim to be better than everyone else."

"You just think it." Daniel teased.

"You are awful." Emma rolled her eyes. She looked up as she heard a small knock at the door. Her mother stood hesitantly in the doorway. "Yes?"

"It's almost time for dinner." Snow looked at Daniel. Emma couldn't get a straight read on her emotion. She knew her father had agreed to this arrangement because he had no other choice, but she wondered what her mothers thoughts on the matter where. Regardless of the situation, she couldn't imagine any mother being thrilled about their teenage daughter having a boy in their room. But Emma thought she also detected a sense of sadness. Sadness because the boy sitting next to Emma offered her more of a feeling of home than her own mother could.

"Oh." Daniel looked from Emma to Snow. "Well I suppose I'll just go… wash up. See you in a few minutes Em?"

"You know I wouldn't miss food for the world." Emma tried to ease the tension.

"Did you get settled all right?" Snow walked tentatively towards her daughter.

"Yea." Emma nodded. "This room is rather full but I don't have many things so I found a place for everything. I found the dressing room. It is quite impressive."

"Oh yes." Snow tentatively sat next to her daughter. "As my only daughter I may have gone a little overboard on having gowns made for you. That was probably a little overwhelming, I'm sorry."

"Oh its fine." Emma's pitch rose slightly, indicating she wasn't being honest. She was glad her mother wasn't familiar with her tells yet. "I'm sure any little girl would have loved to own all those beautiful clothes. Unfortunately I don't think they'll do me much good now."

"You have grown a bit since the last time you were in this room." Snow smiled. "We'll have to get the seamstress your new measurements."

"My what?" Emma asked.

"You're measurements." Snow repeated. "For your clothing, so she knows how to tailor them to your body."

"Oh." Emma nodded as she understood. "In Altair we just… well magic makes things pretty easy. Every year we are issued the same number of tunics, shirts, pants and shoes. We received a jacket and a few vests for when it got cold. But for the most part our clothing was minimal. They don't want us to live in excess."

"Oh." Snow tried not to show her discomfort at the mention of magic. "Well here you can have almost anything your imagination can come up with, any color, any style…"

"That sounds like a lot of choices. They can take my measurements, but I'll take whatever. I like simple, I'm easy to please." Emma said.

"You are unlike your brother in that respect." Snow let out a small laugh. "The seamstresses will be pleased. It seems Will is never content with what they make him. They get headaches whenever they make him anything."

"Well then I'm glad to ease their burden." Emma glanced out her window at the fading light. "You mentioned dinner was soon?"

"Oh yes." Snow stood up. "Everyone is probably waiting for us. No matter, one of the perks of being the Queen is that you are never late."

"What about when the King is there?" Emma asked. "Then are you late or is he early?"

"In this relationship?" Snow's eyes sparkled. "I'm always on time, I'm also always right."

Emma laughed and followed her mother through the castle to the dining hall. "With you two? I would have never guessed."

"Oh if you just met your father, with how confident he is, you would guess he was the one with the power in the relationship." Snow explained.

"But then people meet you." Emma said.

"And they realize where the real power lies." Snow grinned.

"Would he agree with this assessment?" Emma laughed.

"Not willingly." Snow admitted. "But if he were forced to be honest."

"If there's one thing I've learned living with Daniel and my friend Luke in Altair its that men never want to admit when they're wrong, or when they can't do something." Emma agreed.

"You're father is no different." Snow shook her head. "Once when you were a baby your crib needed some repair work and your father insisted on doing it himself. I wanted to call Gepetto, after all he's the one who made it and our only child was sleeping there. I was terrified it was going to collapse at night and kill you, but your father was adamant. He ended up injuring himself in the process."

Emma went silent, uncomfortable with the mention of her past, a past she didn't remember. It wasn't so much that her mother kept bringing it up, but more so the feelings that seemed to be attached to the words; feelings of warmth and love that she didn't quite understand. "So I assume as I'm still alive he agreed to let… Gepetto? Fix it."

"Actually he managed to fix it himself." Snow admitted. "Your father has a habit of being rather charming."

"Right." Emma said awkwardly. She looked up at the massive vaulted ceiling. "So this place is pretty massive. I don't know that I'll ever be able to find my way around here."

"You'll be surprised by how quickly you'll pick it up." Snow assured her daughter. There are some short cuts to the places you really need to go. You know where our rooms are and how to get there from the private courtyard. Start by learning where the kitchen is, our private dining room, and the stables."

"Maybe Daniel and I will go exploring tomorrow." Emma nodded as they entered into the dining room. Everyone else was already there waiting for the two of them to arrive.

"Hello Emma." Red smiled warmly at seeing her goddaughter back in the castle for the first time.

"Red?" Emma clarified. "You said you were my aunt right."

"Sort of." Red laughed. "I'm not your actual aunt. Technically I'm your godmother but your mother is my best friend. You always used to call me Aunt Red."

"Got it." Emma said looked at the two unfamiliar faces at the table. One was a dark headed boy who looked to be Will's age. 'Michael', Emma made a mental note. This must be Red's son. Sitting next to Red was a very attractive man with dark hair and dark eyes. "I'm sure we've had the pleasure of meeting before but I'm afraid I don't remember."

"I'm Graham." The man stood and offered Emma his hand. "I'm Red's husband. And yes, I knew you as a child. But it's been a while so we should probably get reacquainted before I can say I know you."

Emma took Graham's hand gratefully. He was the first person who had treated her normally since she had arrived. She could tell by his comment he knew she was uncomfortable with everyone attaching her to a past she didn't remember. He was trying to treat her as a completely new person and she respected that. "I may have slightly changed in the past ten years."

"This is our son Michael." Red introduced the boy next to her. "He's eleven. We also have daughter, Scarlett. But she's been feeling under the weather so she's at home with my grandmother."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Michael." Emma acknowledged the boy who smiled back at her as she sat down next to Daniel.

"It's about time." Daniel whispered as servers began to bring out the food. "Man you become a princess and all of a sudden you think you can show up whenever you want. This would not fly back home." Emma shot Daniel a look. "I'm just kidding."

"You know as the princess here I could probably have you thrown in the dungeon or something." Emma pointed out with a grin.

"Yea but I doubt those bars could hold me." Daniel countered. "Or you for that matter."

"If I enchanted them they would." Emma said.

"You wouldn't dare." Daniel's eyes narrowed playfully.

"Daniel." James didn't seem to realize the two were having a quiet conversation. "Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself."

"Oh." Daniel looked at Emma, unsure of what to say. "Well, lets see. I was born in the realm of Illyria, specifically Atora. I have a twin sister, Diana, who Red met. She lives with Emma and I in Altair. She's actually Emma's best friend."

"Yes I remember." Red nodded. "She's beautiful and looks just like you. Its nice that you're all so close with one another."

"What about your parents?" James asked. Emma's eyes widened and she glanced down at the table as Daniel looked off into space. James seemed to notice the change in the demeanor of the two. "I'm sorry if I touched on something I should not have."

"Its fine." Daniel assured James. "My mother died when Diana and I were very young. My father was always more interested in his magic than being a parent. When he heard of Altair he moved there and left us with a neighbor who already had too many children to feed. When Diana's magic manifested first, they were scared. They turned us out on the streets. We were only six. Diana and I were lucky Serafine found us. She saved our lives, brought us to Altair to teach us to control what we were. That's been our home ever since."

"Where will you live after your training is done?" Red asked. "The place you live now, its predominantly younger individuals if I'm correct?"

"Yes." Daniel nodded. "We all live and train there under Serafine and the other instructors until we are nineteen years of age. At that point we are free to choose where we want to live. Some of us will return to our families, many of the trainees are from Altair so they frequently move back to their homes. Most of us take positions in different cities throughout Altair. It depends on what you want to do."

"You have the freedom to choose?" Red raised her eyebrow.

"Of course." Emma nodded. "We don't live in an oppressive society. It's like… well in in some lands it is custom for families, especially those who are royal, or lords or dukes to send their children to other kingdoms to be trained up to be proper young men and woman. Similarly, we grow up learning to master our powers and any skills that we need to be successfully in life. Those who want to be alchemists can specialize in that. We are all trained with weaponry but those who want to that to be their primary focus can spend more time in that area. There are many different jobs in Altair and we learn the basic skills to be successful in all of them."

"What do you to specialize in?" Michael spoke up. He seemed to be the most intrigued by Daniel and Emma's life.

"I'm currently training to be a warrior." Daniel answered.

"What Daniel won't admit it that his ultimate ambition is to be in government." Emma told Michael. "He has big dreams."

"I have a lot of ideas about how life in Altair could be improved." Daniel explained. "I love our home but I want Altair to be paradise for all who live there."

Out of the corner of her eye Emma could see Snow visibly stiffen when Daniel had called it their home. "But it's not easy to get into government in Altair so that's why he's training to be a warrior." Emma finished.

"Emma's quite good at handling a sword too." Daniel refused to take all the credit.

"I can attest to that." James smiled. "She is quite the swordswoman. I didn't expect it and she bested me."

"She beat you?" Will said in disbelief. "A girl who can handle a sword? I'll believe it when I see it."

"Your mother is quite handy with a sword Will." Red pointed out.

"Yea but I just don't believe a woman can be as good of a warrior as a man." Will shrugged.

"It was your mother who gave your father that scar on his chin." Graham told Will. "She has bested him more than once."

"Yea but that's only because its not fair to fight a girl so you have to let them win." Will argued.

"I have some personal experience that would point to the opposite." Emma said without thinking of the impact her words might have. She looked up to see curious stares directed at her with varying degrees of concern. "Well." Emma backtracked, not quite ready to reveal yet that she had been in multiple battles. "When you're training in a competitive environment and only one person can claim to be the best swordsman in our community all sense of chivalry seems to be lost."

"Have the two of you ever dueled?" Graham asked, looking interested to hear the answer.

"A few times." Daniel laughed. "She seems to beat me almost every time. I don't know what it is about this girl but she can handle a sword."

"She probably inherited her fathers talent." Red smiled at James.

"But she has been trained very well." James said. "Here technique is nearly flawless."

"Nearly flawless Em." Daniel nudged Emma. "Evan will not be pleased to hear that.

"Oh shut up." Emma said before she could think whether it would be appropriate to use that kind of language in front of her parents. She was unsure of the etiquette in this land. It was one of the few that hadn't learned about. But she suspected as a member of the royal family there were certain expectations on her behavior. She glanced over at Red. "So, what do the two of you do?"

"Well we live in the town." Red explained.

"Talharain?" Daniel asked, trying to recall what they had been told earlier.

"The castle and surrounding area are actually called Talharain." Red corrected. "The name of the town is Dewar, but because of its proximity to the castle its name has more or less become Talharain. Graham is in charge of the guard there and both of us serve on the War Council."

"War Council?" Daniel seemed impressed. "That sounds fascinating. Who exactly is on your war council? In Altair we typically learn about the different realms and kingdoms and their various traditions and customs. But we haven't learned anything about your realm, its one of the few we haven't studied. I'd love to learn more about it."

"Daniel's a bit of a nerd when it comes to these things." Emma smiled. "He can't learn enough about the inner workings of all the kingdoms. He will be the ultimate diplomat."

"Emma is very knowledgeable about the various kingdoms as well." Daniel tried to shrug off the compliment.

"But that's just because I remember things easily." Emma shook her head. "I don't put nearly as much effort in."

"This is true." Daniel agreed. "Emma is brilliant. She could be more disciplined if she wanted to, she's just a free spirit."

"That sounds like someone I know." James smiled at Snow. "Well I guess I could give you a brief overview of our war council. It's made up of the heads of each of our personal guards. So Evander who you met today is the head of Emma's guard therefore he is a member the war council. We have Lancelot, our main general, and then the two men under him who are responsible for the two separate regions of our kingdom. Trusted allies make up the rest of the council, Red and Graham, Red's grandmother, Gepetto, Jiminy, some of the dwarves. Depending on the circumstances we'll bring in royals from our allied kingdoms. Our war council serves to advise us and they carry out orders in the field amongst other things. I can explain it in more detail to you later if you wish."

"Oh he would." Emma cut in before Daniel could answer. She noticed her parents sharing a look she couldn't read. Wills eyes widened when they didn't say anything.

"Actually." Snow finally said. "We could teach both of you about this realm. It would be good for Emma to learn about the surrounding kingdoms and their rulers. She needs to be familiar with them as she is the future…"

"Snow." James cut his wife off, staring her down. "That sounds like an excellent idea. How do the two of you feel about it?"

"Well… I…" Emma didn't know how she felt about spending her time in a classroom learning about realms and their customs. She spent enough time doing that in Altair.

"We'd love to." Daniel answered for Emma. "Although I don't know how long you'll get Emma to willingly stay cooped up in a room. She's usually the first one out of our classes."

"That is not always true." Emma disagreed.

"Ok, fair." Daniel held up a finger. "She's usually the first one out of our etiquette, customs, and policy classes. If it's anything active or involving magic or weapons training you have to drag her away."

"I pay attention in strategy class." Emma shot Daniel a look.

"You pay attention more or less in all of our classes." Daniel grinned. "You just actually participate without being coerced in strategy class."

"Well I'm sure we can get you two into some training sessions to break up the lessons. Sword fighting, archery, and I'm sure Red would love to help you with your tracking abilities." James offered as Red nodded in agreement. "Of course you can choose to spend as much or as little time in them as you prefer. If you'd rather explore the castle grounds or the surrounding towns we'd be more than happy to accommodate you."

"Why do they get to do whatever they want?" Will broke in indignantly.

"William it is not appropriate to speak like that. And you know better than to cut into a conversation you are not a part of." Snow chastised her son. Emma could see by the look on his face that this was not a common occurrence.

"But they can speak whenever they want to?" Will ignored his mother's reprimand.

"William!" James's commanding voice silenced his son immediately. "They are a part of this conversation. You are welcome to be a part of it as well when you can respectfully converse with the group. Until then you will sit silently."

Will's eyes flashed with anger but he sat silently. An uncomfortable hush feel over the table. Michael, Red, Graham, Emma, and Daniel silently ate while Snow and James seemed to have a conversation through shared looks.

"Thank you for your flexibility." Daniel finally spoke up to ease the tension. Emma admired him for his ability to take note of uncomfortable situations and diffuse the tension with ease. Daniel had and charming personality that made everyone fall in love with him. He could sell ice to the Ktistai, which was impressive as they were a people who made their home in the frozen tundra of Isracia. "I'm sure Emma and I will easily find ways to entertain ourselves here. We always have."

"We can be pretty creative." Emma agreed.

"You only need to tell us what you want to do." Snow looked at the two. "We just want you to be as comfortable as possible. We want you to feel at home here."

"Home." Emma swallowed and looked up, giving a nervous smile. "That sounds… like a plan." She looked back down at her plate, pushing her food around with her fork. As much as the people sitting at this table wanted this land, this castle to be her home, it wasn't. And she wasn't sure if it would ever really be her home.

When it comes to writing Emma it's not the easiest. It's hard to write her reposes and attitudes because I picture her to be a very conflicted and confused individual. In my other story she's obviously sarcastic and hardened and self-sufficient because of her past circumstances. But in this AU she hasn't had an awful life. She's been treated well, she just hasn't grown up in a family. She both wants it and is hesitant because she's not sure if she can trust them. She also is unused to the "expectations of a princess" so you may notice a little of that come into play. I'm telling you this to clear up any confusion you might have if Emma seems to make conflicting decisions or seems to be hot and cold with people because she will be.