chapter 10

Emma glanced at the pirate knowing his hand probably hurt but when she heard what sounded like a groan, she just focused on the water, acting as if she hadn't heard anything as she tapped her fingers against the wooden wheel as she looked towards the kingdom. "Once we get my parents, we'll search for your brother. It's a long shot but maybe being locked up they could have heard Midas' guards talking." She said to try and bring him some comfort which felt odd for her.

When Emma heard his answer to her question, she listened to him quietly. "So you stayed just for your royal duty?" She asked. "Why not get your father killed sooner?" She asked but knew that was probably out of line and chose to change the topic. "When I go in there, I remember where you told me I could sneak in. You can just stay on the ship as long as you promise not to try and sail off with it." She said.

Emma looked over towards the kingdom seeing them reach it and pulled the ship up to the edge, making sure it was hidden just so no one could see it and put the anchor down just to keep the ship from wanting to float off as she made sure she had her sword at her side and turned to face the prince, not sure if he'd want to come with or not.

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Killian was glad that she seemed to have not forgotten about his quest, he was sure for a moment that the second she found out where her parents were that she'd go off to save them and leave him behind, which didn't settle well with him for some reason. Though, if he needed any proof that wasn't going to happen then he already had it, she didn't have to come and rescue him from his own prison, but she did. A pirate had chosen to save him.

"Thank you." He said slowly and gave her a small smile, it wasn't quite one and he wasn't used to doing it often, not for a very long time, he seemed to recall the last person he had ever smiled at was his brother and the feeling was strange for him. He gave a little nod, if there was anything he was thankful for right now, was that she'd bought him that meal at The Seafarer's Blade and that he hadn't had to go as long without food, a small smirk appeared on his face as he thought about the guards and the king -at one day, his castle- running around looking like the court's jester trying to find him, and it made him so much more delighted that they weren't even that far away.

His eyes snapped to Emma's when he heard her question on why not have the king killed sooner, a thousand thoughts filled his mind because it would bring shame and disgrace to his bloodline, it would be an assassination, a betrayal, treason. He'd be killing the father of him and his brother, the man, who somehow, his mother had seemed to love before she died. No matter the thoughts that entered his mind, they did not match the feeling that was erupting in his heart, that he'd thought about doing it himself, driving the family sword through his father's chest and ending his reign. "It's complicated." He said with a little huff and he didn't think sharing his thoughts and ideation for murder to a pirate would look too good for him right now.

He listened to her and gave a nod, he almost went to rest his hand on his sword and as he began to curl his hand into a fist he realised that he couldn't even do that and he clenched his jaw a little. He hesitated hearing her statement but he shook his head once she had turned to face him again. "I'm coming." He said and gave a little nod before he turned his eyes up to the castle. "Just be careful, the king is filled with sorrow and grief, anything he touches can be turned to Gold, and unfortunately for him...that meant his son too." He said softly.

Killian nodded and he walked off the ship with her, sticking to the trees and the bushes by the edge of the water as he tried to hide from the guards or anyone else that may notice them. He stayed pressed to the foliage as he noticed some servants running by, their green cloaks sweeping behind them as they walked past them, thankfully they were still hidden. He hadn't even realized it but he was leading the way, and it only appeared to him now when he looked over his shoulder to see Emma was behind him. "I didn't think this would be the way I'd first meet your parents." He smiled widely, almost teasing her.

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Emma knew she could be a lot of things, cruel and harsh, or even just someone who loves to pick fights. But there was one thing about her and that was she never went back on her word, and once they got her parents, she would help Killian find his brother and maybe her parents had heard the guards or servants talking of him.

"You're.. welcome." She said, surprised he had even thanked her but offered a tiny smile but listened as she heard him say it was complicated, she thought of asking him more about that but she decided against it so she just gave a small nod, not asking any more about it.

Hearing he was coming, she gave a nod but wasn't sure if he really should with his hand and didn't know if he'd even be able to fight if it came to it but kept those thoughts to herself. "I've.. heard the story.." she said in reference to Midas' son being turned to gold. She just hoped the same thing hadn't happened to her parents. She climbed down off the ship, pulling the hood of her cloak over her head slightly, and began to follow, not even caring if he was leading the way. She raised an eyebrow and chuckled some, "I will warn you they can both be a little..." She paused a moment trying to search for the right word. "Let's just say they are protective and I'm sure that hasn't changed and they don't.. trust royals. I'm sure after this they won't either." She said. "But I think they'll like you." She said not able to help the smile at hearing his teasing and she did like seeing the Prince smile.

As Emma followed, she saw they were closer to the castle but that was when something had caught her eye. She paused for a moment to just make sure it wasn't the sun but saw something golden, for a moment she had forgotten they had to stay hidden and had forgotten about the prince as she slowly walked over to the statue, that was when she recognized who it looked like, but unknown to her it was a twin but it looked so much like her father that for a few moments, all she could do was stare at it.

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Killian followed Emma inside the castle, sticking to the shadows, he wished he could just melt into his black attire and vanish completely, but Emma's voice made him want to shine. He smiled a little hearing her thank him, perhaps they were becoming something of friends, maybe just serious acquaintances, after all, they did need each other to help them on their personal quests. The smile thankfully was hidden as they walked through the shadows, becoming one with it, Killian was surprised to see though that there weren't as many guards as in his castle, perhaps Midas had less worried about being invaded or attacked, which made their job a hell of a lot easier.

He frowned a little bit hearing as Emma explained what her parents were like. "Well...isn't that every parent's job? To protect their children? I know, they must have been here for...some time. But from the way you speak about them, I know you love them, and I'm sure, one day hasn't passed that they haven't not thought of you." He said softly though kept quiet as he didn't want to attract attention, and Midas' guards would not be so easy to bribe. He didn't know why he had said all that, perhaps because he wished that his father had cared for him as Emma cared for her parents. Like his mother had, his mother was the most kind-hearted soul, sometimes he thought in the entire realm, and she loved him and Neal both equally, he missed her, and the anniversary of her death was coming up, a tragic accident had broken his heart.

He cleared his throat a little realizing that he'd been lost in thought and he looked around just to make sure that they were still hidden. "Well...I hope they do like me." He said softly, he didn't know why, but he didn't think that he could handle anyone else's parents disliking him, especially after how much trouble he'd caused to get here to try and free them. He winced a little feeling a slight twinge in his hand and he pulled on the bandage making sure that it was still tight and covering the lash across his palm, which it was. He returned her smile, not caring if this time she saw and they pressed on through the hallways.

Killian huffed a little bit as he almost walked into the pirate seeing that she'd suddenly stopped walking, and he knew from his royal visits to this place that they weren't at the dungeons just yet. "Swan? What are you doing?" He asked quietly and he looked around thinking maybe there was a guard or the king but he saw no one, only heard a few distant clangs of armour nearby. He clenched his jaw and his eyes flickered around the length of the hallway as he saw her walking towards a golden statue. "Swan." He yelled to her in a whisper, half clinging off the wall now, threatening to step into the light. He couldn't risk it anymore. "Emma!" He said and he grabbed her arm, though when he turned to look at the statue he saw the man's uncanny resemblance to her father that he had seen in the photo. He squeezed her arm a little bit before letting go. "I'm sorry. But we have to go, it might just be a statue...meant to deter you if you ever found they were here?" He said and cast a quick glance over his shoulder. "We need. To go." He said. His body tensed and he gently put a hand on Emma's arm again about to say something else as he turned to look at her but a voice cut him off.

"You two!" The area was filled with the sound of two swords being pulled from their sheaths and he looked at the king's guards rushing towards them. "Now." He said to Emma. He wrapped his good arm around her midriff and started to pull her away from the statue as it had seemed that she'd just been frozen there in shock herself, but he knew if they were caught it wouldn't be good if they weren't imprisoned then Killian would be severely punished and Emma would must likely he execute at next dawn.

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Emma glanced over at the pirate, studying him a little bit with a shrug. "I guess so." She said hearing about what parents were to do. She offered a faint smile but she didn't say any more of her parents.

Emma had heard the prince calling after her but it had sounded all distant to her as she walked towards the golden statue. She wasn't even sure how long she had been staring at the statue, her main focus on it and hardly even listening to what the prince was saying. That was when she suddenly felt an arm around her and pulling her back that she realized that there were a couple of guards running for them, she got over the shock and slowly pulled away from the prince as she followed him.

"We can fight them." The pirate said before eyeing his hurt hand. "Or I can." She said. Suddenly she was filled with anger, anger towards the king, that her parents had been locked up for years. She had always thought they were dead or that they had simply abandoned her and left her alone, that all the times she needed her parents, they weren't there.

"I can fight them. You get to the dungeon?" Emma suggested as she followed after him, glancing over her shoulder to see the guards

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Killian pulled his arm away from her when he felt that she was moving in her own and back in the present. He kept moving as he didn't want to give the guards a chance to catch up to them. He hesitated leaving Emma on her own but he knew that she could probably handle himself and he knew that it would be better and quicker if he was to get to the dungeons and start trying to get them out.

He pointed to a set of stone steps just off the hallway and he made sure Emma was looking. "Deal with them, and then head down there, that's where the dungeons lead." He said and gave her a little nod, he would have stayed to fight but he didn't want to embarrass himself knowing that he probably couldn't even hold his sword in his hand right now. "Make it quick, and hide them afterward. Please do try not to kill them." He said with a little scoff but without saying anything else he took off running down the stone steps.

He slowed down as he got to the bottom and he saw a guard sitting at a table, thankfully there was only one and though he couldn't hold his sword with his right hand he knew he could still do some damage with his left hand if he had the element of surprise. He slowly drew the sword from his sheathe with his not-injured hand and he slashed it towards the gap in the man's armor between the golden chainmail and the helmet. He bit his lip seeing the cut appear on his neck and the man fall down off the small wooden chair. He sheathed his sword and he searched the man's belt finding the keys for the cells.

He began searching and it wasn't until he saw two figures huddled in a corner that he recognized one as the golden statue. He started to put the keys into the lock, though there were many keys so he'd have to move fast as finding the right key for that cell would need a stroke of luck, his task much harder with one hand. "You two. Are you awake? We're getting out of here. Your daughter is with me and we need to go now." He said, he wasn't sure how much strength they had, especially with having been locked up for so long, but all he could see was that Emma's father had seemingly given his fur pirate coat to the pirate's mother. He didn't even care if they didn't like him or trust him but he knew Emma would be down soon and he had to find a way to get them out of there.

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Emma looked at Killian and gave a small grin, hoping it reassured him in a way. She was about to comment who cares if they were killed or not but instead just said. "I'll try not to." She said as she looked at the steps he pointed to and gave a nod as she made a note of where the steps would be.

She turned to face the guards, pulling her sword from her sheath just as a guard went to swing his sword, she rolled out of the way though she felt the tip of the sword cut her arm just a little though she knew it wasn't much, she kicked out with one of her feet, hitting one of them in the knee and causing them to fall but seeing the armored helmet had fallen off, she hit the hilt of her sword against the guards head, knocking him out before she felt her arm grabbed and hauled up. The other guard. Emma knew a bruise would probably form on her arm with how tight he was holding onto her. She tried to tug her arm away but it was too tight of a grip so, she hit her head back against the guard's face, knowing his face was exposed and knew she had hit his nose before she stabbed him in the side, pulling her sword out and wiping the blade off before putting it back in the sheath and knocked the other guard out before she grabbed their hands and dragged them into a corner where they'd be hidden.

The pirate's mother had been leaning against her husband when she looked up to see a male walking over and studied him slightly. "Who are you?" She asked. She couldn't remember having ever seen him before and even if he mentioned their daughter. She wasn't sure if it was the truth or if he was trying to trick them.

Emma sighed and looked at her arm to already see dark bruises in the form of a hand around her arm coming in and rubbed it before she ran to the steps and walked down them and into the dungeons, she looked around until she spotted the prince and walked over to him when she saw her parents but there for a moment all she could do was just stare at them, taking them in for a moment but now she felt relieved and also confused at seeing her father but not as a statue.

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Killian heard the faint sounds of the fighting upstairs and he quickly kept trying the keys in the lock trying to open the door. "I'm...an acquaintance of your daughter. A Royal, but that doesn't matter right now." He huffed a little bit and he finally got the right key for the lock. He dropped the keys on the ground and he used his good hand to tug on the cell door which was stiff and he figured that it hadn't been opened in a while. "I just need you to trust me, okay?" He said with a slight huff and was getting a little annoyed, he knew they might be a bit untrusting and skeptical after being locked up so long but he didn't think that they'd just wait and stand there, especially with the door now open.

He turned his head to the side hearing footsteps and smiled a little seeing Emma. "I've tried to get them to trust me Emma. They're exactly like you said." He said with a sigh and saw how Emma just froze there but he was just glad that he'd seemed to have definitely found the right pirates since he'd only seen the photo once, though both her parents had a rather distinguishable look about them. He saw the cut and bruise on her arm but figured not to say anything and he sighed, he slowly drew out his sword with his good hand, testing the grip slightly as he didn't ever use that hand but knew he could still fight for a few minutes if it came to it. "I'll keep watch, you have a few minutes. That is it. But we have to go the way we came to get back out." He said and walked away just to the foot of the stairs.

The make pirate narrowed his eyes a little at the prince and he shook his head after hearing that he was a Royal. "Some trick, you think we'll believe you, that you would let us go?" He questioned. He held his wife, Snow, close to his side and rubbed her arm over the fur coat trying to warm her up knowing that it hadn't exactly been the warmest down in the dungeons. He saw the door swing open and he studied the prince for a moment, rooted firmly to the spot as his eyes landed on the sword at Killian's hip, he didn't trust him and he sure as hell wasn't going to leave his wife's side, even if at times she could be more ferocious than he was, that many years in the same cell had had some negative effects on the both of them, and for a royal to offer them freedom, he didn't trust it.

David clenched his jaw about to confront the Prince but then he saw the blonde pirate and his eyes scanned over her not knowing who she was for a moment. It wasn't until he heard the prince say Emma's name that as he looked at her it clicked, it was his daughter. He scanned her for a moment seeing the cut on her arm and he slowly stepped forward, tugging his wife along gently and with his free hand, which was dirty, as was their face and clothes, he cupped his daughter's cheek softly in his hand, his thumb brushing against her cheekbone. "Our Emma." He whispered softly as he slowly started to smile. He wrapped the arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight side hug and pressed a kiss to her head for a moment before he pulled away a little. "You've grown up." He said softly but he recognised her now, the last time that he had seen her she'd been so small and young, and he would kill king Midas for taking him away from his daughter. "Is what he says true? Are we getting out of here?" He asked with hope glistening in his eyes for the first time in a long time.