A Night at the Ball

Chapter three

Emma woke up with her eyes swollen from crying herself to sleep. She rubbed her eyes, trying to gain some kind of focus. She sat staring out of the small window, thinking. Her thoughts where interrupted by Cora screaming her name. She hurried down to meet her.

"Yes Madame?" Emma asked, and with that, Cora slapped her. Emma held her cheek in pain as she looked up at Cora. "I told you to have breakfast ready every morning at seven thirty pm sharp. It is eight!" Cora scolded. "I'm sorry Madame. I'll get right on it." Emma said, giving her a smile. Emma ran into the kitchen and started making breakfast. She kind of liked having work to do. It distracted her from her troublesome thoughts.

Once breakfast was done, she set the table and called Cora and her step sisters to the table. She was about to sit with them, when Regina and Zelena protested. "You can't sit with us." Regina spat. "It would be far to embarrassing to have you in our sight." Zelena cackled. "The girls are right. It would be... inappropriate for our servant to sit with us." Cora coldly said, shattering any hope for the four becoming a family. "Take your food up to the attic." Cora commanded. Emma nodded and took her food up to the attic, sitting by the window so she could look out of it.

She enjoyed looking at the beautiful days, even if she wasn't allowed to go outside. The soft swaying of the green trees calmed her. This was the place where she would usually sing her song.

While she was looking out of the window, something caught her eye. It was a man riding through the forest on his horse. For some reason, Emma felt she needed to see him. She felt some kind of connection with him.

She snuck out of the attic, being careful not to alert Cora or the sisters. She got on one of the horses in the stables and rode out to meet the man. There was one thing she had forgotten; she hadn't been on a horse in a very long time. As she rode through the forest, she forgot how to control it. It was out of control, and she was sure she would be thrown. Just as she was bracing herself, the man rode up next to her and calmed her horse down. She jumped off of it immediately, trying to calm it down as well.

As soon as it calmed down, she looked over at the man, her lips slightly parting. She had never seen such an attractive man in her life. He had dark brown hair, stubble, pink lips, and ocean blue eyes. She stared at him for what seemed like forever.

"First time riding?" He asked, breaking the silence. Emma snapped out of her trance. "Uhm... No... I just haven't ridden in a while." She stuttered, avoiding his eyes. She played back his voice in her head, noticing his thick accent. "Ah. I see. You look tense." He observed, making her notice and loosen up. "I'm...fine." She lied. He shook his head. "No. You're not. But your secrets can be yours." He shrugged, looking at her.

"I just come from a tough family. That's all." She shuttered at the fact that she called the three her family. He offered her a smile. "I do too. My father is strict. He expects so much from me and my brother." He said. Her head whipped around to look at him. Thick accent, strict father....

"Hey.." He said slowly. "What's that?" He said, gesturing to the chain around her neck. She took it off to show it to him. She never took it off. "It's a ring on a chain. A boy gave it to me when I was a girl." She explained. He looked at her with shock on his face. "I haven't seen him since he gave it to me." She sighed, looking up at him, seeing his shock.

"Emma..." He whispered, but loud enough for her to hear. He just stared at her in awe. "Kian?" Her eyes widened. Without thinking she ran to him and threw her around his neck, as he wrapped his around her waist, laughing slightly. They rocked back and forth, hugging for what seemed like forever. "You stopped coming to see me. Why?" Kian asked when they parted. "I shut myself off for a while. My mother died. And by the time I felt better, you stopped coming. I'm sorry." She apologized. She couldn't wipe the smile off of her face.

"Oh... I'm so sorry. I know that had to be hard." He sighed. "But it's okay. Mother told me not to despair. And now I've found you. I haven't lost everyone..." She sighed of relief, letting a tear slip from her cheek.

"So, who is your family?" He asked. She told him the whole story. What happened to her mother, about how she got a stepmother and two stepsisters, then her fathers death, and how she got to see him again.

"I would think of you often. I missed you, Emma." He smiled. "I missed you too. You where my only friend." She responded, hugging him tightly again. Just then, she remembered that Cora and the girls where probably almost done eating their breakfast, and Cora would soon find out Emma wasn't there. She knew she would get a beating for it to.

"I have to go, but meet here same time, same place tomorrow? I promise I'll show up." She smiled brightly. He nodded. She quickly kissed him on the cheek before getting back on her horse and riding back to her home. Luckily, she got inside before anyone noticed she was gone. She went back up to the attic, only to be yelled at by Cora to come down.

"Yes Madame?" She asked. "We've just gotten invitations to a ball. I need you to go out and get three dresses from Anne-Marie in the market." Cora requested. "Three dresses? Why thank you Madame!" Emma exclaimed, making Cora and her daughters cackle and snort. "What, you think the third dress is for you?" Cora laughed. "One dress for Zelena, one dress for Regina, and one dress for me." She spat. "This is a ball for the prince to decide his wife. He surely wouldn't want a peasant there." Cora scoffed, making her daughters cackle again.

Emma sighed, walking about to the village. At least she could see Mary Margaret, her village friend she recently made. She knew this would be a long week...

A/N: I would appreciate any shout outs! I'm really enjoying writing this, and I hope you guys are enjoying as well!