The Price of Freedom ➸ Captain Swan

27. The Final Stand

A/N : Sorry guys this took so long to get out!! It's been a crazy couple of months! Enjoy, I love you all!! The next chapter i'm planning to make very long, and it will be the last one before the epilogue, so i may not have it out for a while ;)

Emma and Charles had been plotting for hours now.

Four days before Killian was to be executed, King Frederick and Queen Abigail arrived at Emma's kingdom. There was to be a dinner in honor of the union between Emma and Charles, but their parents knew nothing of their little plan.

Of course, the kings and queens of both kingdoms saw this as ideal. If their children were finally spending multiple hours with each other, that must mean they accept the marriage once and for all.

At the dinner, Emma and Charles had planned just to tell their parents. Nothing of Killian would be mentioned, but if they convinced each other's parents that they really didn't care for each other, no extreme measures would have to be taken.

Though Emma quickly realized that Charles was a much better guy than she gave him credit for, she could never think about marrying him. In a way he was almost too nice. Nearly opposite of the pirate she had grown to love. While Charles tried to go about life with an optimistic attitude, sometimes his anger won out. He tried to hide it as best he could, and Emma supposed that was what was so different between the two. Killian didn't open up to people, but if he was feeling something, he would damn sure tell you, even if you weren't sure of the cause.

But that was what was so special about Killian. He wasn't someone she could just get used to. You either loved him, or you didn't, and Emma loved him more than anything.

She visited him again that night, before the dinner. The guards, maids, and other workers at the palace rushed around to make preparations for the visit of Abigail and Frederick. They didn't even notice Emma slip into the dungeon at six o'clock, they were so busy.

Killian looked even worse than he did the night before. A gash on his face had worsened, splotchy purple bruises littered on his skin. Even though he had only been there for twenty-four hours, she could tell how starved and sleep deprived he had become. His eyes had large, dark circles. Skin nearly hung off the defined bones of his face.

Emma's heart ached for him.

They didn't speak as Emma handed him the food, stealing a kiss before she ran off to the dinner. It wouldn't be long before she got him out, it couldn't be long. So even though a few chaste connections of their lips and scraps of bread were all they could share, she knew Killian was appreciative. He didn't need her to give him the world to know that she cared.

As Emma met Charles outside the dungeon, they shared a knowing smile, and walked as slowly as they could up to the dining hall. If anything could make this easier on the both of them, it would be their parents approving their request to end this betrothal once and for all.

XXX

Emma and Charles were the last people in the dining hall by the time dinner was served. Two spots were reserved for them, next to each other at the end of the table.

Charles' parents were on his right side, Emma was on his left, and Emma's parents were on the other side of her. It was only the six of them, sitting together at a small round table.

Though the original plan was to have one meal together as separate families before the wedding chaos took over, Emma found it to her advantage. She would much rather tell the two queens and kings about her dilemma than the whole kingdom.