The Kingdom of Misthaven

Chapter 4: Duties of a "Lady"

Emma

"Honey, you have to wake up. Regina is waiting, but you need to eat breakfast first." Mom whispered as I yawned, stretching. "Morning." I stated sighing. "Get dressed, Hook is waiting in the dinning area with your father." Mom said helping me out and pushed me towards the closet. I sighed shaking my head and changing into proper clothes. I wore a red satin dress with ruffles at the end. I walked out my room to get my arms linked with Roland and Neil. "Hey!" I exclaimed as they smirked pulling me towards the stairs. "What are you doing!?" I asked nervously. "Relax, sister. We're your escorts. You have to be ladylike like what Mom and Dad says." Neil replied sadly. "What does that mean?" I asked frowning worriedly. "No more hunting, no more sneaking out, and most especially, you gotta learn all these things in a year." Roland replied sadly. "Why are you guys so sad about it?" I asked confused. "Because Emma, we won't be able to spend much time with you." They replied in unison. I smiled hugging them both. "You'll see me don't worry. I'll make you sure of it." I stated as we reached the dinning hall. "Emma!" Dad exclaimed smiling. "Good morning, dad." I said smiling. He grinned as I walked towards the chair nearest to him and found Hook smiling at me.

I smiled back as he helped me on the seat. I was seated beside my father and Hook. Mom smiled at us as Regina, Robin, and the four joined us. "Morning, Charmings." Regina said smiling. "Morning, Regina." Mom replied enthusiastically. "Morning!" I exclaimed as Regina smiled brightly at me. We all ate in laughter as Roland and Neil had banter about which princess was prettier; Aurora or Cinderella. "Why can't you two just say they're both beautiful in their own way?" I asked as everyone on the table fell silent. I felt shy since everyone on the table was looking at me. "What?" I asked wiping my lips. "That's a brilliant idea, Emma." Regina replied smiling. "You've grown so much." Mom stated smiling proudly at me. I blinked confused. "Sorry, what?" I asked frowning. "Emma, you're starting to think like us." Dad replied as Hook took my hand under the table. I smiled at him as he caressed the top. "Emma, would you join me in the library?" Regina asked standing up. "Of course." I replied letting go of Hook and we walked towards the library. Regina stopped and I stopped behind her. "Emma, you have to know something before we start our lesson." She said turning to look at me. "What is it?" I asked curious. "A storm is coming and I won't be teaching all you need to know about being a lady. I'll be teaching you magic." She replied smiling. "I don't follow." I replied confused as ever. What does she mean a storm is coming?

"Do you know the story of Peter Pan?" She asked as I shook my head. "This is going to be harder than I thought. Follow me, I want you to meet my jester." Regina said as I followed her in the library to find Rumplestiltskin reading a book. I smiled brightly. "Rumplestiltskin!" I exclaimed as he turned and smiled at me. "Hello, deary. It's been a long time since I last saw you." He replied smiling. "I see you still remember him." Regina said smiling. "Of course I do! He's like my second father as you're my second mother." I replied grinning. "As much as we want you to grow up to be proper and lady-like as your mother says, a bigger threat is coming." Regina said closing the door and locking it. "Who is this Peter Pan anyway?" I asked as Rumple produced a book out of thin air. "Read." He replied handing me the book. I frowned and took it. "I don't see anything on it." I stated flipping through the pages then looking at them. They smiled at me.

"Look again." They replied in unison. I frowned and looked again to see the book slowly revealed letterings. "What is it?" I asked flipping through the pages to see the story of how my mom and dad met, why Regina turned bad, why Rumple used to be the dark one, the shadow in my room last night and lastly what we were doing right now. "We don't know, but it seems to have fallen into our possession some years ago. It tells the past and present." Regina replied smiling. "What is that shadow in my room?" I asked as Regina and Rumple made chairs come out of thin air. "The threat. That's just Pan's foot soldier. That's his shadow." Rumple replied. "Why was it in my room?" I asked confused. "It seems to be observing you. You need to know how to protect yourself then. Come on let's practice your light magic." Regina said making a candle appear. "Light this." Rumple stated as I stared at the candle. "I can't." I replied shaking my head. "Concentrate, Emma. You need to be able to at least light this one." Regina said smiling.

Time Lapse: Lunch Time

"You did well. Come back later after your lunch with Hook." Regina said blowing the tenth candle out. I sighed as I walked out to find Hook leaning on the wall. "You look exhausted." He commented offering his arm. I laughed taking it. "It's hard practicing Lady duties." I replied as we walked out to the field. "I figured. Which one do you want, rum or wine?" Hook asked as he smirked at me. I smiled and leaned on him. "Rum." I replied as we stared at the sky as we ate as well. "It's quite nice having such a peaceful day." He commented as he intertwined our fingers. "You think?" I asked as as he kissed the top of my hand. "Of course. We're having Lunch, no ones trying to kill me and you're smiling at me." He replied kissing my cheek. "You're so cheesy." I commented as he raised a brow at me. I giggled at how adorable he was! He didn't know what that meant! "Lunch's over. Emma, come on." Regina said smiling. I smiled back as Hook helped me up and gave my cheek a kiss. "See you later." He whispered leading me back to Regina. "Thank you." She said pulling me towards the library again.

I sighed as Rumple prepared four candles in front of me. "After you light all four, we're going to teach you proper magic with some lady-like characteristics." Regina said smiling. I sighed concentrating on lighting up the candles. I felt power rise in me as I stared at the candles and in seconds, they lit up. I grinned as Regina and Rumple clapped. "Now, for the real magic." Rumple said hitting me with his magic, sending me flying across the room and hitting a stack of books. I coughed as dust surrounded me. "Hmm, we have to work on your landing." Regina commented helping me up. "You think?" I asked coughing. "Sorry, deary. Looks like we have to refine your magic further." Rumple added.

The rest of the hours before dinner went on like this. Emma trying to defend herself from Regina's and Rumple's attacks plus perfecting her landing every time her defense weakens. Little did they know, the shadow was watching from the circle window at the top of the highest bookshelf with a smirk of satisfaction. "She'll be quite the opponent." He said with an amuse tone.