Not that she was particularly devastated about it, but Emma was surprised to find that no one in her Kingdom had been invited to attend the wedding of Prince Michael and his new princess bride. Obviously, she hadn't expected to be invited personally, but none of the nobility in her Kingdom was in attendance, and she found that strange.

She often wondered about his new bride. She didn't know her name or even what Kingdom she'd come from, and she merely hoped that the girl was strong enough to hold her own against the prince, though she doubted that would be the case. She knew Regina was right: this world was not kind to women, and this princess would likely not be the exception to that rule. Her own mother had been fortunate enough to be able to choose a husband for herself, but Emma knew that wasn't a common fate for most princesses.

But Emma's thoughts drifted away from the prince and the nameless, faceless princess when September came and went, and it became time to start preparations for her sixteenth birthday. It was still weeks away, but her mother was already making plans and sending out notice to the surrounding Kingdoms.

Emma had to wonder how long Regina would wait to give notice that she would be holding Emma's birthday party herself. Emma debated telling her parents, but opted not to on the chance that Regina and thought better of it. She hadn't made contact with her since that night in late summer, and she had no real way of knowing exactly what her Queen's plan was.

So she kept her mouth shut.

As the week of her birthday arrived, Emma couldn't help but feel utterly disappointed that she'd never heard from Regina at all. Had she been lying about throwing her a ball the entire time? Had she simply changed her mind? Emma couldn't be sure, but it was certainly putting a damper on the occasion.

By the time Emma's actual birthday arrived, she was positively miserable. Her mother had given her a dress to wear in the morning, and Emma sat on her bed in her undergarments staring it at. It was pink, with crinoline, lace, and ornate crystal jewel embellishments. Her mother insisted she'd had it made specifically for her.

Emma thought it was hideous.

Still, she knew she would have no choice but to wear it, and while she still held onto the tiny sliver of hope that Regina would still somehow come through at the last minute, she put the dress on anyway.

The dress was a little scratchy and far too ostentatious, and Emma knew all eyes were going to be on her at the ball tonight. They would have been anyway, since it was being held in her honour, but she'd been hoping that she could just fade into the crowd rather than mingling with the nobility of the Kingdom. Truth be told, she'd much rather spend her birthday playing in the courtyard with Seth like they did when she was a child, than in a room full of boring adults and their meaningless small talk.

"Emma, sit up," Snow whispered as they sat at the head table during dinner, facing the tables upon tables that seated the throngs of guests. Emma didn't recognize the vast majority of the people before her, and she didn't particularly care that she was all but sulking in front of them.

Still, she sat up straight and looked down at her food. It was all things she normally enjoyed, but she found the utter disappointment of the evening was causing her to lose her appetite.

"And try to smile, sweetheart," Snow continued from beside her, causing Emma to look at her mother in confusion.

"How am I supposed to smile and eat at the same time?"

Snow raised an eyebrow. She wasn't used to her daughter talking back in this manner. "How do you expect to find a suitor if you won't behave like a lady?"

Emma blanched. Suddenly, it all made sense. This was why there were so many unfamiliar faces at her party: her parents must have invited eligible princes from other Kingdoms.

She felt sick to her stomach. "I don't… want a suitor, Mother!" she said, louder than she'd intended, but no one seemed to hear over the din in the ballroom.

"Emma!" Snow gasped, her eyes growing almost comically wide, though Emma was in no mood for laughing. "That is quite enough. You've known your entire life that one day you would marry a prince and eventually become Queen. This is not news, my darling. I know you didn't want to marry prince Michael, but your father and I are not going to chose your husband for you. There's no need for that now. You will meet the princes that have traveled here - from all over the realm, I might add - and you can choose for yourself."

"Choose someone I don't even know? But why, Mother? You didn't marry a prince and you're still Queen. Why can't I do the same? Choose anyone I want?"

"You know my situation was different, Emma. Your father and I had to fight against all odds, and we don't want that for you. We've always wanted you to have an easier life."

Emma pouted, staring at the untouched plate of food before her. She knew an easy life was a boring life, and while there was a time she might have agreed to it, now that she'd had a taste of magic and freedom, she didn't want to settle for boring anymore. What could any prince give her that could even remotely compare to Regina?

As the evening wore on, Emma's mood did not improve as she met prince after prince. Some of them were nice enough, but she was utterly uninterested. Most were cocky and pompous and reminded her of Prince Michael, and internally Emma debated pulling her mother aside and finally informing her what Michael had tried to do when she visited his palace, though she truly wondered if it would even make a difference. As sheltered as her parents had kept her, she still knew a wife was as good as owned property to her husband and she wondered if her parents would really think that Michael was out of line at all.

She wished Regina were here. No, she wished she were at Regina's palace. Certainly, if her Queen had come through on her promise to host a ball for her, Emma would not be meeting eligible young men. She certainly wouldn't be wearing this hideous dress and being told to smile. Regina never would have stood for it.

Regina.

Emma wanted her, badly. She missed her now more than ever, and she decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. The first moment she saw that both her parents were preoccupied speaking with someone else and neither were paying attention to her, she slipped out of the ballroom and took off running down the hall to her own room.

"Regina!" Emma cried into her own reflection in the mirror of her vanity the moment she was back in her room with the door slammed shut. She knew she didn't have much time before someone would notice her absence and set off looking for her. She needed Regina to be listening now. "Regina! Where are you!"

Emma threw her fists into the mirror, screaming Regina's name and banging against the glass until it shattered. She gasped in surprise. Looking back at her hands, she found them miraculously uninjured, but she knew even if no one had heard the sound of the mirror smashing, her parents would surely see the evidence before long.

Emma felt a surge of panic rising in her. Everything was falling apart and she was lost. Regina hadn't come through for her, and now her parents wanted to marry her off anyway. She remembered what Regina had said about this world being unkind to women, and how she would never be given a choice in who she would marry.

It would appear that the Queen had been correct. Though her mother had said she could choose, it wasn't really a choice when she didn't want to marry a prince at all.

But Emma wasn't about to give in. Regina had come through on her promise to ensure she'd never marry Prince Michael, but she was sure that she wouldn't want her marrying any prince in all the realms. Didn't she want Emma for herself? Emma was sure she did at one point, and she must still. Something must have been preventing her from following through. She was sure there was no way that Regina had just forgotten about her.

An idea occurred to Emma then: if Regina couldn't get to her, it didn't mean she couldn't get to Regina. The mirror was out of the question, but Emma had escaped her Kingdom before, and she could do it again.

Emma cracked open her door and peeked into the hallway. No one was around, but she knew she didn't have long until someone found her. She quickly shimmied her way out of the pink monstrosity she was wearing, and changed into her riding pants and jacket. She didn't have a horse here, but she figured this outfit was better than any dress for running through the woods. She peeked into the hallway again, ensuring it was still empty.

It was go time.

She slipped silently into the hallway, closing her door behind her and taking off to the nearest exit into the palace grounds. From there, it was a mad dash to the far wall at the north end of the court yard.

It didn't take long for Emma to find the loose stone in the wall that she had used to escape her Kingdom a year ago. She and Seth had found the weak spot as children and decided to keep it a secret, and she was grateful that she was still slim enough to fit through the hole. Her jacket tore slightly and she scraped one arm on the way through, but she didn't care. All that mattered was she was free again, and she wasted no time taking off running towards the Dark Palace.

The first time she'd run away, she'd quickly become lost in the woods and had eventually come across Regina's huntsman, but this time she knew where she was going. She'd made this trip a few times now, and though she stayed off the road and in the shadows, it was easy enough to follow the path even in the dark.

It was a long trek, and she was tired, but when she saw the outline of the Dark Palace in the distance, Emma found a new burst of energy and took off running. By the time she reached the perimeter of Regina's protection spell around the palace grounds, Emma's legs ached and she was breathless, but she didn't care. She'd made it.

Emma put her hand up tentatively, but pulled back immediately, not really wanting to risk touching the barrier. It had been so long since she'd been here, and she couldn't remember the exact edge. She picked up a rock and tossed it, expecting to see it bounce back when it hit Regina's magic, but instead, it sailed right by.

Emma frowned. That didn't make sense. This time, she stretched her hand out in front of her and slowly began advancing. She took several steps and didn't encounter the barrier. Her frown deepened.

Several more steps toward the palace doors had Emma panicking. She was almost at the palace and she hadn't been stopped yet. Suddenly the idea hit her that if Regina's magic was gone, then that must mean…

"No!" Emma gasped. There was no way something had happened to Regina and she didn't know… was there? Surely, if something had happened, her parents must know. Perhaps they did, Emma realized, and perhaps they chose not to tell her.

Of course they wouldn't tell her.

"No!" Emma cried out again, about to take off running the short distance left between her and the door, when someone grabbed her arm.

Emma spun around and came face to face with Regina's huntsman.

"Graham," Emma said, shuddering, her voice a whisper. She still didn't trust him, and he was large and domineering in the dark, but she wasn't about to back down now. "Where is she?"

"You shouldn't have come here," said Graham, not letting go of Emma's arm.

"Where. Is. Regina. I want to see her. Now."

Graham studied Emma's face for a moment, and then turned toward the door, all but pulling her inside.

"She's not going to be happy with you."

That was all Graham said, and Emma followed him silently as he lead her through the hallways to Regina's bedchambers. The door was open, and Graham didn't knock as he pulled Emma inside.

"Your Majesty."

Emma watched as Regina startled slightly at Graham's voice, and jumped a little before spinning around. It was all she could do not to run straight to her, but Regina stared at her like she wasn't quite sure she was real.

"Emma." Regina's voice was a strangled whisper, and her dark eyes immediately flicked to Graham. "Leave us, Huntsman."

Emma took a step forward as Graham shut the door behind him on his way out, her eyes never leaving Regina's face. Something was wrong. She could tell by the haunted look in Regina's eyes.

"Regina?" Emma attempted, feeling so young and foolish and way out of her element in this moment.

Regina shook her head. "You shouldn't have come here, Emma."

"Regina, what happened to you?" asked Emma, the panic rising in her voice. "There's no magic around the palace. I thought… I thought…"

Regina raised an eyebrow. "You thought I was dead?"

"I don't know! Something happened, didn't it? I tried to call for you in the mirror and you weren't there. Something's wrong. I can feel it."

"You tried to call for me?"

Emma nodded. "Yes! It's my birthday today. Did you remember? My mother threw a party and she made me meet all these princes from other Kingdoms and… she wants to make me to marry one of them! You can't let her… you… you don't want to let her, right?"

"No, of course I don't," Regina said softly, finally stepping toward Emma and reaching out to cup her cheek lightly in her hand. "But… you're right. Something happened."

"What is it?"

Regina closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head. "I suppose you would have found out anyway. The wedding was a sham."

"The wedding?"

"Prince Michael. He didn't marry another princess. There was no wedding."

"What?"

"It was a ploy, Emma. This war is not over."

Emma reach up to grab onto Regina's hand on her cheek, confusion washing over her face. "But… then why did you remove the protection spell on your palace?"

"I didn't. It was taken from me."

"Taken?"

"My magic, Emma. It's gone. The King traded in his favour with Rumple."

"No! That's not possible. You said he'd gone mad! You said-"

"I know what I said, Emma. And I was wrong. And you need to go home. I will have some of my knights escort you."

"No! I'm not leaving!"

"It's not safe here, Emma. You need to go. Look at you," Regina said, raising her other hand to the tear on Emma's jacket. The blood on her skin was dry now, but the wound beneath it was obvious. "I can't even heal you."

"I don't care! I don't care about a cut or a ripped jacket. I've missed you!"

"I've missed you, too, Little Swan, and I'm sorry. This is all my fault… I'm not… I'm not a good person, Emma. I don't get to have good things - good people like you, - in my life."

"Don't say that! I'm right here," Emma insisted, pushing herself closer to the Queen, attempting to reach her lips to kiss her, but Regina turned her head away.

"Don't," she said, dejected.

"Why? Isn't this what you wanted? Didn't you want me to be your princess?"

"Emma. I just told you. It's not safe."

"So we'll go someplace else, then! We'll go someplace far away from all of this. You don't need magic."

"Emma, it's not that simple."

"It is! There's nothing for you here, and I don't want this life my parents want for me. You know what that's like. I know you do!"

"You think your parents wouldn't move heaven and earth to find you? It won't work."

Emma frowned as she shook herself free from Regina's hands. "No, you don't want it to work, do you? You sent me away months ago. I should have known. You just… you just wanted to use me to hurt my mother, didn't you?"

"You know me better than that," Regina replied, trying to keep her voice even.

"No, I'm not so sure that I do. My mother says you can't be trusted. Were you lying to me this whole time?"

"I've never lied to you, Emma."

Emma scowled, knowing that wasn't true. Still, she didn't want to seem like a petulant child before the Queen, and instead she turned, and found herself facing Regina's ornate vanity instead. She tilted her head to the side as something caught her attention: a small ornate box emitting a strange red luminescence.

"What's that?" Emma asked, her curiosity replacing her disappointment and annoyance.

"What?" Regina asked, shaking her head in exasperation.

"This," Emma said, stepping over to Regina's vanity and opening the box before Regina had a moment to register what she was doing.

"Emma, no!"

Emma frowned as she opened the box and found the source of the glow. "Is this… is this… a heart?" Emma asked, tentatively reaching in and picking up the object. "You have someone's heart?"

"Emma… please, just put it back."

"Whose is this?"

"No one's."

"Well, it must be someone's! Do you use this to control a person? Like I read in your mother's spellbook?"

Emma stared at Regina with wide eyes, both anticipating and dreading the response she was sure was coming.

"Please, just put it back. It's dangerous magic, Emma. You need to be careful."

"No! You need to start actually telling the truth!"

"Excuse me?"

Emma bit her lip, trying to decide what to do. How far could she push the Queen before she regretted it? As it was, she'd already been all but exiled back to her own Kingdom for nearly a year, and she was reasonably sure that Regina wouldn't cause her any physical harm at this point. "Tell me whose heart it is," Emma said, calmly, staring Regina in the eye as she held the heart in a shaky hand.

"Put it back, Emma, or I will make you put it back. I don't answer to you."

Emma turned, but instead of replacing the heart to its box, she brought it to her lips. "Come get your heart back."

"It doesn't work that way, Emma," Regina insisted, but the way her voice raised an octave made Emma wonder if perhaps that was exactly how it worked. In any event, Regina grabbed her by the arm and snatched the heart from her hand, putting it back in its box roughly, and slamming the lid closed. "It's time for you to go home."

Emma shook her head. "We're not done."

"Yes, we are. It's not safe, Emma."

"Regina, please!"

"Emma, I'm sorry. I'm… I'm just sorry."

Emma knew there was no winning here tonight. She was quiet as Regina called her Huntsman back in, and asked him to gather some knights to escort Emma back to her own palace.

In the carriage ride back home, her mind was torn between wondering how her parents were going to react, to thinking that maybe she should just run away again. But what was the point? Regina was right, her parents wouldn't rest until they found her again.

Her head was still spinning with new information when they reached her palace. Of course, her parents came running right out upon the arrival of the carriage, and her parents guard held up swords to Regina's, waiting for a fight that never came. Emma offered little more than a half-hearted explanation to her parents as she made her way down the hall back to her room.

Never in her life had she felt so trapped. She'd tasted freedom, but Regina had sent her away. Regina… Regina who had a heart on her vanity and swore she'd never lied to her, but Emma wasn't so sure. And it didn't matter, because now Regina was powerless and Emma would be forced to marry and she just couldn't see an escape.

She wished she'd learned more magic. She wished her parents would listen to her, for once. She wished… she wished… well, what good would it do, anyway?

Emma let out a long sigh as she lay down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, her last thoughts of the heart she'd held in her hands.

Emma groaned as she felt someone gently shaking her shoulders. "Wha-at?" she whined, as she turned over half asleep, squinting at the light of a lantern, as well as an odd reddish glow in the dark. She didn't really remember even falling asleep, but her grogginess was quickly washed away by her intrigue. "Seth? What do you have?"

Seth held up glowing object in his hand. "You told me to come get my heart back."

Emma's heart skipped a beat as she shot up in bed, her eyes widening at the solemn look on Seth's face. "What?"

"I met the Queen many years ago," Seth explained. Holding his heart in his own hands, he was no longer under the Queen's control, and finally able to speak freely. "In the night, when I was wandering and lost. She said I would be her finest Knight. And then she took my heart."

"Seth… no…" Emma whispered in disbelief. He had to be lying. But, Emma knew he wasn't. She wanted him to be, but he couldn't be. His heart in his hand was proof.

"She sent me here to spy on you. She told me to tell you she was dead. She wanted you to run away so she could steal you."

Emma swallowed hard, feeling sick to her stomach. She didn't want to believe, but it all made so much sense. No one could understand why this little boy had just shown up all those years ago. What kind of orphan sought refuge in a barricaded palace? Her parents had insisted that he'd been sent there by fate, but the staff at the palace were always talking, and Emma knew that they were the only ones who really believed that.

"Emma," Seth said, holding his heart out to her. "I don't know what to do with it."

"Neither do I!" Emma cried, before thinking back to her lesson with the unicorn. She'd replaced the unicorn's heart, and she guessed that replacing Seth's couldn't be all that different. "Let me try," she said, softer this time, holding her hand out.

Her hand shook as Seth placed his heart in it, and she bit her lip and nodded, working up the courage to go for it. Finally, she drew in a deep breath and plunged Seth's heart back into his chest.

Time stood still for a moment as a look of shock overtook her little brother, and for a moment she feared she'd done it wrong. But, moments later, a smile crept across Seth's face.

"It worked," he whisper. "I… I can feel…"

A new wave of nausea overtook Emma as she realized that for the last five years, Seth hadn't been able to feel any emotion. Her heart broke for the boy who'd had to endure so much already in his short life, and she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. "It's alright. It's going to be okay now. I can protect you."

"From what?" Seth asked.

"From anything. From the Queen."

"The Queen? But I thought you liked her?"

Emma leaned back and shook her head. "I never want to see her again."