The One They Call Dark One

6) Darkness Is A Blanket

Six Years Ago. . .
The Dark Castle

Emma had been in her room for a couple hours now, and seeing as Killian didn't give her anything better to do she only laid in bed. It was late, and the stars were glowing across the sky like a wildfire. They were beautiful, and the only things to keep her relaxed from all the labour she goes through everyday. To a mere maid, the work was nothing but fun. To a princess, it was all new and undone, so she had trouble. Especially when he ordered her to bake a small breakfast.

She had no clue how, and what she had for breakfast daily wasn't found in village markets. Last minute, she begged him to bring her the ingredients, and for once he actually agreed. She made her breakfast, consisting on a cake sized plate of scrambled Phoenix eggs, a goblet of red wine, and a substance the princess loved, yet never asked for the name, funny.

When she was finished, the Dark One grinned, "For someone like you, this actually looks eatable." He took out a fork and jabbed it through the eggs, taking a large bite before swallowing it down with wine. He took a moment, only standing there clueless. "Did you make this from scratch?" She nodded, still wary of what he had to say about a princess' cooking. "Well, I want more of this stuff, it's fantastic! You can have all the ingredients you want! The kitchen's yours!"

He grinned walking out of the room, leaving the fork on the table, "Although I still expect this place cleaned up." With that, it was the first time she was truly happy to work.

She smiled, remembering the day she saw him smile. She didn't know why it made her so happy, but it did. It was as if he was happy, she'd be happy. At that moment, he entered her room with an irritated look on his face. "What's wrong? I cleaned all the rooms and-"

"No, no, your fine. I just found trying to leave my kingdom, and no one leaves unless I allow it. I caught him red handed, and he's down in the dungeons. Now, I have no clue what to do with him. I was wondering if you could enlighten the mood. What does your kingdom do with traitors?" He asked, gesturing with his hand.

Emma shrugged her shoulders, "Well, we hang them. You overreact, y'know? How about this, lock them up and wait a whole day. If you're not angry anymore, it's not worth it so let them go. If you're still angry, go ahead." He nodded, "I'll let them all out then." Her head snapped up, "Wait...what do you mean by that? How many people have you locked up because they tried to leave exactly?" He chuckled, "Too many to count, but, I don't see a reason to keep them any longer so they're free. If you'll do the honours, let them out." He tossed her a large skull key, which she caught, "Okay..."

Leaving her room, she walked down the dark halls of the castle, and down the stairs to the dungeons. There were barely any torches lit, and the sound of prisoners screaming for freedom bled through her ears. Passing one cell, she peeked through, "Excuse me, what're you in for?"

The elderly man gulped, "W-Who're you? Did he send you to kill me?" She opened the cell, gently grabbing his arm, "He did send me, but not to kill you. He sent me to let you all out; you're free." The elderly man's eyes lit up, and another prisoner screamed, "He'd never let us out! It's a trap! Once we leave, he'll kill us all!" I scolded, "Shh! Be quiet! I persuaded him to let you all out."

I opened all the cells, which consisted of 11 prisoners. One said as he walked out of his cell as it was unlocked, "How'd you get him to let us out? He's the Dark One for god's sake!" She smiled, "I didn't do anything. All I did was tell him a little quote." The men were confused, except for one. He was fairly dirty from the sitting in a cell, but yet no bruises. He must've been the man he caught trying to leave from today."

"Hey, how come you don't want to leave this dastardly kingdom?" He asked. "It was a deal. If I stay here, my home will be protected from the war against the kingdoms." The man grinned, "Liar. You wanted to stay here don't you? Is it me, or does this lady have a soft spot for the Dark One?" The other men gasped, but stood up for her, "Hey! It ain't matter who her live interests are, it ain't our business! All that matters is that we're allowed to leave this place. This lady right here went through the trouble to let us out! Can't you be grateful for that?"