Treasure

Chapter 41

The following morning... 

The ball seemed to last all night and everyone had retired to bed way later than usual. Killian was awakened by footsteps outside his door. The sun hadn't risen yet and he was sure he didn't get much sleep, but his body never felt tired. All those years at sea of retiring late and waking early trained him to function with little sleep. The Captain came to the conclusion that the servants were up and preparing breakfast, soon everyone would be awake. He thought about lying in bed a few moments longer, but it was no use, he was ready to start the day. Knowing no one else would be in the dining hall right now, he got up and starred out his balcony, finding his ship as the sun slowly rose. The Jolly Roger was the biggest ship in port, it was surrounded by many visiting ships from Emma's ball.

Killian found himself getting lost in thought, he thought of how amazing last night was. Emma looked gorgeous as ever and she seemed happy. It always amused the Captain to see the Princess in her natural element. Even though Emma would never admit it, she loved being the center of attention last night. Killian remembered all the children lining up to dance with their beloved Princess. He didn't mind that they didn't share many dances, nor talked much. He was just glad her last memories of home would be something happy.

His one regret was his irrational outburst, almost causing a scene. The Kingdom was already weary of him and he didn't need to give them any more reason to further disapprove of him. As the Captain thought about it, he found himself not understanding why he got so upset. Yes, his original plans with Emma were compromised, but that didn't mean they wouldn't still enjoy their journey. He liked Neal, they always had a good laugh with one another. If anything it would be good to have an extra set of hands on deck or for Emma to have someone to talk to since he would be busy with maintaining the ship. Killian started to miss his crew, the ship was big and had many tasks that needed to be accomplished in a day... Not wanting to worry about the situation any further, he got dressed for the day.

    He made his way down to the dining hall to find the Queen and King laughing with Henry, "Good morning your majesties, Henry." Killian said with a nod as he took his seat next to Henry.

    Snow turned to the Captain with a smile, "Did you hear he has a girlfriend?" She said referring to Henry.

    "Oh do you now?" Killian said with a wide smile, "I like this tale already."

    Henry's face was turning bright red, "It's not like that, all we did was dance."

    "The entire night..." David added with a smirk.

    "Tell me lad, who's the lucky lass?" Killian asked, nudging Henry.

    "Her name is Violet." Henry responded, still red." She and her father recently moved here."

    "Yes, we've been meaning to head into town to welcome them. Perhaps you'd like to join us?" Snow asked with a smile.

    Henry seemed conflicted, "I don't know, I'm supposed to have my lessons later..."

    "No problem, bud, we'll just cancel them." David said with a wink.

    Before Henry had a chance to decline Emma entered the room in a simple white gown with long, flowing, sleeves. "Sorry, I'm late. I must have overslept." She said, taking her seat next to Killian as he kissed her on the cheek.

    David looked away, not liking to see another man be affectionate to his daughter. "It's alright, we're still waiting for Baelfire." He said.

    "Perhaps I should go wake him. Baelfire and Emma would just sleep through the day if we let them." Snow said getting up and leaving the room.

Emma wasn't too fond of the comment her mother made, but she wasn't entirely wrong either. She brushed it off and soon enough Neal arrived with Snow and they all ate breakfast. Much of the conversation was teasing Henry about the girl he danced with. It was nice having a child in the castle, it brought life back into the halls. Henry reminded everyone to not take life so seriously, he was a goofy boy and always provided a good laugh. It was no mystery why Violet took an interest in him. Henry confided to the bunch that he was scared that Violet would hear that he was the village crazy and no longer want to talk to him, but everyone quickly shut that thought down by telling him the right person will not care about the past. If anything he was the crazy village boy who got to live at the castle and one day become a knight.

Breakfast came to an end and the King and Queen decided to take Henry along with them into the villages to make sure all was right and to properly welcome Violet and her father to the Kingdom. Only Neal, Killian, and Emma were left at the table. "Before you guys leave, can I talk with you?" Neal asked.

Emma looked to Killian who nodded in approval, "Of course." She said.

Neal took a deep breath, "First of all, I am very sorry for the inconvenience I've caused. Killian, I know it is out of the way and I've ruined your plans-"

"Don't worry about it mate, perhaps I did overreact..." Killian said, interrupting Neal.

Neal smiled, "No, I deserved it. And to make up for it, I talked to your father." He said to Emma.

"About what?" She asked with a confused expression.

"I've thought about it and I realized Killian has no crew, your father agreed to have a few servants on the ship to help."

Emma wasn't too sure of the idea, "Neal, that's very sweet but the servants don't really know much about ships or sailing. I'm not sure they would be much help, you know we aren't known for sailing here and the ones who are, are already off with August."

Neal continued on, "Which is why the servants from here will be the ship's cook. They know what you like and I'm sure you could teach them a few recipes that Killian would prefer-"

    "Emma is not to work on my ship." Killian said sternly, always opposed to Emma having to do anything that someone else could do for her.

    "Killian, it's alright. It'll keep me busy while you're doing your task." She responded, placing a hand on his arm to calm him down.

    Before Killian had a chance to object, Neal continued his proposal, "Once we get to my Kingdom, I'll have some of my servants leave with you. Most of them know about ships since I travel a lot."

"That is a very generous offer mate, but it seems a bit too much." Killian said kindly.

"Come on Killian, you can't tell me you haven't thought about who's going to maintain the ship while you're sailing. I know you're not going to make Emma do it." Neal responded bluntly.

The Captain let out a breath of frustration, "Perhaps it would be a good idea..."

"I didn't know you were worried about that..." Emma said quietly.

Killian looked down at the table, "I didn't want you to worry, love."

Before an argument could arise, Neal interjected, "Once we get back to my Kingdom I will discuss the arrangement with my father and you two can be off."

"Are you sure your father would be alright with us borrowing some of his servants? You know he's not too fond of me..." Emma questioned.

Neal got up from his seat, "It shouldn't be too much of an issue, Belle does everything for him now... Poor woman. And I told you, don't worry about my father, his opinion means nothing to me."

With that final sentence, Neal made his exit. The Princess didn't bother to ask Killian why he didn't tell her he was worried about not having a crew. He never liked to admit he needed help and Emma understood that fully, and besides, Neal had just fixed that problem. It was a fair trade, they escort Neal home and Killian gains a crew. Even if the crew wouldn't interact much like the previous one it seemed like a small price to pay for a helping hand.

There was still much packing to be done and Killian would be spending the day charting their new course. So the two shared a long kiss before parting their ways for the busy day ahead...