A Crown and A Captain: Storming the Palace
Killian is the prince of the small kingdom of Balliolshire and he has been tasked with finding and stopping the pirate captain that has been wreaking havoc on the seas. He’s unprepared for the challenges Captain Swan will present. A CS royal Killian/pirate Emma AU.
Prologue, Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16
“Oh good, Jones, you’re awake!”
Killian rolled his eyes as Roland joined him at the fire. It was his watch so Roland’s surprise was all show. He had wondered if one of Robin’s men would question him one final time before they snuck into the Queen’s palace the next night. Although, it was Will he had expected to be convincing not Roland who had been wholeheartedly backing their decisions the whole time.
They were camped within sight of the palace, a thick strand of trees and underbrush was keeping them well hidden from roving eyes. Nearly everyone had turned in as soon as darkness had fallen, their exhaustion getting the best of them. Emma had set a brutal pace and they had reached their destination the day before over the course of five long, hard days which was two days earlier than the seven that Robin had warned them it would take.
He stoked the low burning fire while he waited for Roland to say his piece. As the quiet continued, however, he found his mind drifting back to what had consumed his thoughts before he was interrupted.
Emma had been true to her word and had roused their tent an hour before dawn the day after they had learned of the Queen’s prisoner. The sun’s rays had barely peaked above the horizon when they had emerged from the ravine that hid Robin’s camp. They had nearly left one of the dwarves behind in Emma’s determination to begin their journey.
Their first day of travel had been congenial despite the underlying tension that had run through them all. They had split into smaller groups as they had walked. Emma and Pinocchio had spent the time catching up with Red and their former crew while Robin and his men had talked in low murmurs amongst themselves. Killian and Thompson had walked side by side, outsiders to both groups, but their conversation had been stilted and awkward and they had given up the pretense after an hour.
When they had stopped to make camp that night there had still been a modicum of good cheer. One of Robin’s men was an accomplished storyteller and had them hanging on his every word as they had sat around that night’s fire, passing a flask or two amongst them. It had been a pleasant way to pass the time, marred only by Killian noticing that Emma had only been pretending to enjoy herself as well. When she had thought no one was watching her features had shifted between worry and ferocity like quicksilver.
After they had settled down that night he had lain awake for hours, his thoughts chasing themselves around his mind keeping sleep at bay. He had been about to relieve whoever had been on watch, to at least make use of his insomnia, when Emma had approached him with her blankets in hand. She hadn’t said a word, merely settled herself beside him, burying her face in his chest when he had wrapped his arms around her. They hadn’t mentioned anything about it the next morning when they woke but she had joined him again as soon as they had bedded down that night. She had slept in his arms every night since all while he felt as if he hadn’t slept a wink.
Roland shifted beside him, sighing dramatically. Whatever he wanted to talk about Killian was in no mood to hear. His temper was short and his patience was even shorter.
“It’s too soon, you know,” Roland finally said after another ten minutes of his restless silence.
“Shouldn’t our early arrival be a positive thing? We’ll be better prepared when the time comes,” Killian said shortly, jabbing the stick he was using to stir the fire into a glowing log causing sparks to spit into the air.
He had gone with Emma and Will early that morning to scout the perimeter of the palace. The barred carriage that Roland had mentioned had been sitting in the courtyard, unguarded and not ready in the slightest to be used. Will had shown them the hidden gate they would use to sneak into the palace. When Killian had questioned his knowledge Will had stunned them with the tale of how he had snuck in nearly twelve years before for gold and jewels and had ended up freeing Belle instead. Their marriage had come several years later.
Emma had insisted on watching the palace for the remainder of the day and he had stayed by her side. Others had joined them from time to time: Red to tell them that she somehow knew there were only eighteen bodies inside but there could be more, Robin to try and persuade them to wait another day or two to try to get the guards’ schedule down precisely, Pinocchio tried convince her to wait as well but more for Emma to take a step back and to make a better plan than rushing in and hoping they made it back out with one more person added to their numbers instead of the other way around. Killian had watched them all walk back to the camp, their shoulders hanging a little lower, leaving Emma with a scowl that became a bit more pronounced and his itch to stop their plan from proceeding but he had made a promise and he intended to keep it for better or for worse.
“I’m not talking about taking the palace,” Roland dismissed with a wave of his hand. “The prophecy, it’s too soon.”
Killian took a deep breath to quell the rage that suddenly consumed him. He let it out slowly through his nose as he tipped his head back to the sky and counted stars, even as they blurred above him.
“You and that bloody prophecy,” Killian ground out as he dropped his head back down to look at Roland. “You are more concerned with the whispers of dreamers than the reality of what we’re facing. We could die tomorrow, you know that right? Does your certainty about fate extend to whether or not we’ll succeed and all make it out unscathed? If not I have nothing more to discuss with you.”
“I’m no fool, I know we could die tomorrow but we could also succeed and we need to have a plan for that. If the prophecy is true then a year is a long time to wage a war against Regina and-”
Killian stood abruptly, hurling the stick in his hand into the fire causing a shower of sparks to fly into the night air, “I will not sit here and listen to your childish fantasies. If you’re so inclined to be awake to dwell on them then you can take over the watch.”
