SwanQueen in Neverland

Chapter 1

"Happy 28th birthday, Emma!" My mother exclaims as I blow out the candle. I look at the smoke fading away in the air and then glance at my parents, whose smiles seem to be as big as possible, which causes me to smile as well. "Thank you, mother," I say and I pull both of my parents in a close hug.

"Come here, Emma, dear," my mother says and she grabs my wrist to pull me on the dance floor. Nobody is dancing yet, but as my mother starts to dance with me I see other people following her example.

"You're twenty eight now.." my mother says and it seems as though her sentence isn't finished yet, so I tilt my head in confusion to see what she wants.

"What's wrong, mother?" I ask as we continue dancing on the music that plays from the small orchestra in the corner of the ballroom.

"Nothing, I am just happy."

"No, you're not. What is wrong?" I repeat. I can't stand it when my mother keeps something from me.

"You are twenty eight and it's been a long time since you've been with someone," my mother starts and I roll my eyes quickly. I hate this conversation.

"Mother, you know that I don't want to marry after what happened to Killian."

"I know dear, but... Don't you at least want to go out there to seek love again? It's been over three years."

I glance around to find lots of people dancing. My mother suddenly has made me very uncomfortable. We have had this conversation once before and that didn't end well.

The need to leave gets stronger with the second and I look around omce more. No one would miss me if I would go away for a few minutes.

"Could you please excuse me, mother?" I ask, completely ignoring her question. I don't wait for a response. I quickly move away from her and make my way through the mass of people.

I peek one more time over my shoulder to make sure nobody sees me leaving the ballroom. I catch my mother dancing with my father. Everyone seems occupied so I quickly slip through the big doors that lead to the hallway and climb upstairs.

The walls of the corridors upstairs are full of beautiful paintings of previous Kings and Queens of the castle. There's only one empty spot between my mother and her mother. Snow White told me that that's the place where the painting of my step grandmother used to hang, but they had put her away because my parents told me they didn't want to be reminded of her every day again.

I smile as I look at my painting. Even though my husband wasn't a king just yet, I demanded that he would get a painting as well. Killian was the love of my life.

When I feel a warm tear rolling down my cheek I notice I've been staring too long at the painting. That happens sometimes.

He smiles brave with one hook for a hand and his eyes are filled with love.

I quickly avert my eyes from the painting and walk further toward my room. The room that used to be mine and Killian's until the day two people, dressed in black, announced that Killian had passed away.

Since my mind is being all nostalgic I figure I could go through the stuff that always reminds me of Killian. A small box filled with stuff of him that I've hidden under my bed.

I go down on my knees and peek under my bed to see the black box. I stretch my arm, it's just close enough for me to reach it without actually having to dive under the bed. I tilt it and sit down on my bed. I feel another tear rolling down and I don't know why all of the sudden I am this emotional. Maybe it's because today is my birthday or because I haven't seen this small black box in a while. Or it's because my mother wants me to seek love again.