Escaping Neverland (5 page)

When the sun was up, I stumbled outside, my eyes
peeled for any sign of the Captain’s men or William lurking in the trees. The
soldiers were gone, leaving behind rusty looking blood stains and a trail of
flattened plants leading off to the edge of the jungle. I shuddered. I hadn’t
even heard the spiders or whatever had taken the bodies.

When I saw nothing else but dew sparkled grass, I
let out a great sigh and went back inside to eat breakfast. Once I’d fed myself
and my new companion, I headed towards where we’d entered the clearing the day
before, but the fairy screeched at me and pulled my hair in the other
direction. I resisted the urge to swat at her and continued in the direction
I’d been heading.

When the fairy flew around in front of me and began
pelting me with twigs and ripe pink berries that left little spatters of color
on my hands and arms, I stopped.

“What?” I asked, completely exasperated. The sun
was just up and I was already covered with sweat. I had a long walk back to the
island in the river, and I wasn’t sure I could even find it.

The fairy chattered at me and pushed my face in
the other direction. The tiny little arm pointed towards a path at the other
end of the clearing. I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “I can’t. If I’m caught out after
dark the spiders will eat me. You know?” I imitated a quick, scurrying spider
with my hands. “Spiders?”

The fairy frowned and then pointed at the sun. I
nodded and then just stood there for a minute. William wasn’t coming back. This
fairy obviously wanted me to go somewhere. I might as well follow the fairy. It
was still early morning. If I didn’t find an island to hide on for the night,
I’d turn around by midday and return to the building, the Captain’s men or not.
Better kidnapping to getting gnawed on by monster arachnids.

With my mind made up, I retrieved as much food
from the building as I could carry and set off after the fairy. I used a dirty
shirt I found in the box with the food to carry the colored pencils and tablet.

I had to trot to keep up with the buzzing
creature, but the fairy was better at picking a route through the jungle so I
didn’t have to struggle as hard to follow as when I’d been chasing after
William. The fairy also seemed to be adept at spotting the spider pits and
steered me around them by tugging on my hair. Overall, it was a much more
pleasant journey then it’d been with William, and before midday I found myself
stepping into another clearing. This one looked natural and not at all
landscaped. The fairy flew off towards a twist of sticks and vines at the other
end in a blur of wings and left me running to catch up.

When I did, I realized that what had looked like a
jumble of broken sticks and debris was actually a very well concealed palace.
At the entrance stood two tall, imposing looking men with butterfly striped
skin that flashed and sparkled in the sunlight. I wanted to just stand and
stare at them for awhile, but my fairy came back and with a hard yank on my
hair, pulled me forward. I was met by a tall woman with the same iridescent
skin. Her colors were turquoise and red with tornado sky green eyes and slit
cat pupils. It made me shudder, but when the woman bowed to me and held up her
hand for the little purple fairy, I relaxed a little.

“You are welcome here, human. Moonlight on
Lavender tells me that you healed her wounds and offered her sustenance in a
time of need. She is the Queen of the Fairies and asks me to tell you that she
owes you her life and will stay with you until she can repay the debt.”

I shook my head and the little fairy made a
distressed little squeal. “No, really, that’s not necessary. I didn’t know if
it would really work, and honestly, she’s not as purple as she was before, so I
really didn’t do a great job, and . . . well, you know.” I trailed off,
uncomfortable with the little fairy’s crying and the bigger fae’s stern look.

“Moonlight on Lavender is a queen among her own
kind. Your refusal of her aid is insulting. You are insinuating that any help
she might offer you is unwanted and unhelpful.” The fae’s voice softened a
little. “I can see that you didn’t understand this before you spoke. I suggest
you take back what you’ve said and accept Queen Lavender’s offer. If you do
not, you will have an enemy instead of a friend.”

I stared at the two creatures and then with a
sigh, bowed my head and turned to the purple fairy. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I
didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I would be happy for your help.” I held out
my hand to catch the returning fairy and turned my face back to the butterfly
woman.

“You may call me Cashraina. I will take you now to
our Queen, who has heard Queen Lavender’s miraculous tale and wishes to meet
you for herself.”

I nodded, overwhelmed, and followed after
Cashraina. I marveled at the architecture of the palace as we walked.
Everything was created as if from the forest itself. Benches and columns were
formed from living trees, and the bridges over gurgling streams looked like the
ivy and the vines had just agreed to grow over and over themselves until they
formed a sturdy walkway. The scent of flowers was strong enough to make me
sneeze as we pushed through a curtain of living green into a smaller courtyard
where a fountain burbled up from the inside of a hollow tree trunk.

A woman, flanked by more butterfly skinned guards,
sat at one end of the courtyard. Her throne was formed from precious jewels,
all fused together into a chair that didn’t look comfortable to sit in at all,
but would probably have been worth a couple million dollars back on Earth. The
guards stepped forward in unison when I moved closer, and I stopped. While the
women all seemed to have a smile ready and waiting, the men wore dark, hard
expressions and looked ready to kill in a second.

Next to me Cashraina bowed at the waist, and I
felt Lavender do the same from my shoulder. Too late, I followed suit and sent
Lavender spinning into the air in a graceful tumble. I felt the blush at my
awkwardness travel from my cheeks all the way down to my belly button.

“You may rise, human.”

The voice was soft, but edged with ice. I darted a
glimpse at the Queen. My quick glimpse turned into a long stare, until one of
the guards leaped forward and jabbed at me with his spear.

I stumbled back and the Queen laughed.

“Foolish human,” he snarled. “You dare to stare!”

I shook my head, eyes fastened on the ground. The
Queen’s face was beautiful, at least on one side. The other side looked like
someone had thrown battery acid at her. The features were melted and ruined,
shiny with scar tissue.

“You shy away from my deformity, girl, as if you
have the right to show such disgust when it is I that must look in the water
every day and see my ruined face staring back at me. Your discomfort is a
selfish emotion and unfit for a healer.” The Queen might have been throwing knives,
her voice was so sharp. I felt a rush of shame and raised my head.

“You’ve asked me here to heal your face,” I said.
I didn’t make it a question.

Cashraina stepped back as if I was about to be
struck by lightning and didn’t want to get caught in the blast. The Queen
glided forward, her ethereal movements surreal against the dark, earthy reality
of the palace.

“Do not speak until asked, human. What is your
name?”

“Paige,” I said.

The Queen’s lips quirked at my short response and
she gestured towards a bench. “Please sit. You are impertinent and rude and you
don’t belong here in our world. Still, you have saved Queen Lavender’s life
with your special ability. It is unsuitable for one such as I to ask for your
help, but I am willing to offer you aid in return for your agreement to heal my
face.”

I wondered if all rulers were so blunt and
abrasive, and then concluded that they probably were. When no one could argue
with you without getting their head chopped off, it was probably pretty hard to
censor yourself.

“What can you do to help?” I asked. I was curious
to know what the Fae could do for me and more curious to find out who had
melted off half the Queen’s face. I resigned myself to not figuring out the
answer to the second question.

The Queen hissed out a breath at my unasked for
outburst but answered. “We have heard from William that you wish to rescue a
friend from the Captain. We can help you do so. Will you take our offer?”

“Do you have an image of your face
before...uh...whatever happened happened?” I asked.

The Queen’s face went red, really unattractive on
top of the scar tissue, and then paled again. “I do not know what you mean by a
picture.”

I shrugged. “You know, like a painting or a
portrait? An image of your face? I need to know what you looked like before so
I can draw it back.”

The Queen seemed confused, although to give her
credit, she was trying to hide it. “The ruined side of my face looked exactly
like the unruined side of my face. We do not have pictures. To capture your
image in a likeness is to capture your spirit.”

I shot a glance at Lavender where she rested on
the stone bench and tried not to think of what might happen if the picture I’d
drawn of the tiny creature was ever destroyed. Then I thought of what the Queen
had said and looked at the other fae around the courtyard. I could see, now
that I was looking, what the Queen was talking about. Every single one of the
Fae, butterfly skin or not, possessed perfectly symmetrical features. Now that
I knew what it was, their perfection made my skin crawl. No human face was
absolutely perfect. If you were to fold someone’s face in on itself, there was
always something that wouldn’t line up, be it a sliver of jaw or a tiny corner
of eye. I felt a thrill of fear at the thought and debated turning down the
Queen’s offer. If I did a drawing of the Queen’s face and it was off, or wrong
by even a little bit, these people would know instantly and their sovereign
would stand out like a gazelle in the middle of a pride of lions. It wasn’t a
good image, and I didn’t want to imagine what would happen if I made that kind
of mistake.

Despite those thoughts, my mouth opened and I said
“yes.” The Queen must have known what I’d say, because she didn’t look
surprised, but I wished I could have an out of body experience so I could
launch a big, strong kick at my own butt for being so stupid.

The Queen motioned for the bench to be dragged
forward toward the throne and seated herself in the jeweled chair with quiet
grace. “You may begin,” she said.

I looked around. “What. Now?”

One of the guards stepped forward with a scowl,
but the Queen motioned him back. “You believe that I wish to remain even one
more moment wearing this hideous face? Complete the healing and we will feed
and clothe you before making plans for your friend. Refuse and I will have you
killed.”

I swallowed hard and untied the knot in the old
shirt that held the tablet and the pencils. When a few of the fae leaned over
me to see what I was doing, I cleared my throat.

“I...um...can’t do the healing with so many people
watching, your highness. It will distract me.” I crossed my fingers, not at all
willing to let so many guards see that I was basically capturing their Queen’s
spirit on a piece of paper.

Like I’d said magic words, most of the observers
in the courtyard disappeared, and the Queen gestured for me to continue.

I took a deep breath, and without allowing myself
to think about what I was doing, began drawing the healthy side of the Queen’s
face. The lines came quickly and without effort and I realized that symmetrical
faces, if weird, might actually be easier to create on paper than a face that
contained multiple, minute flaws. Still, the sun sank past the courtyard by
time I’d finished the top half of the Queen’s face. I was working on the jaw
line and lips when someone scurried over with a lantern and hung it over the
bench before retreating.

In the warm, golden glow of the flame, I began
shading in the eyes. The Queen’s colors were all gold and greens, as much as
part of the forest as if she’d been birthed from a tree in summer just
beginning to turn to autumn. When I began to add the glint of light in those
sharp cat eyes, I felt the tingle of power and pushed at it, until with the now
expected sharp pain in my forehead, the drawing was complete.

The Queen, who’d sat absolutely motionless through
the whole hours long process, gave a sudden gasp. Her hands flew to her face
and she let out a strangled cry. Unable to read the emotion in the Queen’s
voice, I shrank back on my bench far enough that I almost fell off the back.
The Queen’s cry brought female attendants scurrying out of the shadows. One of
them held a shallow basin of polished silver and set it in the Queen’s arms
with shaking hands.

I crossed my fingers and wondered if the magic
would permit making corrections. I didn’t think it would and wished that I
could just melt back into the jungle and face the spiders. At least the spiders
would just want to eat me. If the Queen’s face was anything less than perfect,
I was sure I’d be made to suffer the error in excruciating detail.

When a tall male stepped out of the entrance by
the throne and knelt in front of the Queen, I stiffened.

“My Queen, your beauty is beyond compare. The
healer’s job was perfectly done.”

While the fae in the court converged on their
Queen, Cashraina pulled me to my feet and led me out of the courtyard. When the
blood returned to my legs in a tingling rush, I stumbled and the turquoise and
crimson Fae caught me.

“It was a good thing you’ve done, Healer. You have
returned our Queen to us.”

I shook my head, shocked at the callousness of a
group of people willing to judge their sovereign based solely on her looks.

“Just because her face was messed up doesn’t mean
she wasn’t your Queen.”

Cashraina smiled. “Our society is based on beauty
and perfection, Paige. Without her beauty our Queen was less than she should
have been. It was a bad time for us. I have heard that many on Earth struggle
not to judge based on people’s appearance, but that is not our way.”

Emboldened by the fae’s openness, I cleared my
throat and asked: “How did it happen?”

Lavender gave a sad little chirp and hid
underneath the taller fae’s hair at the question. Cashraina’s answer was slow
and hesitant, but bitter.

When the Captain came with his men to take the
little ones, our Queen stepped forward to stop them. She was very brave. It was
the Captain himself who cut her face.”

“That happened because of a cut?” I asked, a
little incredulous. I’d heard of infections, but jeez.

Cashraina’s smile was sad. “No, Healer. The Queen
was cut with iron. It is poison to us, and the Captain has armed all of his men
with it.”

I thought of the cruel intent of such an act and
the pictures I’d found in Jake’s tablet and shuddered. I couldn’t stand
thinking of Jake under the control of such an evil man. Jake was smart and
could be a little misguided, but he was a good guy. I’d never seen him hurt
anything before.

“What does the Captain want?” I asked.

Cashraina shook her head and pushed me forward
into a small, private bower of shiny green vines and steaming water. “Bathe and
when you are done, Prince Nuada will explain how he plans to help you retrieve
your friend. He has a better idea of what the Captain is doing here on our
island than I do.”

The slender fae turned on her heel and left me
alone with Lavender in what was obviously a bathing chamber. I set the tablet
and pencils down at the edge of the chamber away from the water before
stripping out of my clothes. They were so filthy that when I threw them aside I
was a little surprised to see that they didn’t stand up on their own. I sank
into the water with a grateful sigh. A bar of milky soap and a jar of golden
liquid sat next to the hollow in the ground. The soap smelled like honeysuckle.
The scent and the heat of the water made my eyes flutter close. I’d never
realized how much I took hot showers for granted.

What felt like only a few minutes later, I was
being hauled out of the tub by my hair. It was dark, the tiny alcove lit with
torches. Lavender was darting through the air and shaking her fist. Her shrill
cries carried over the sound of the water and made me wince. Whoever was
holding me by my hair dropped me in an ungraceful heap on the wet cobblestones
around the pool.

“Take her to the cells. If she tries to escape,
break her legs. Queen Lavender, you must return to your people. You are not
allowed contact with the prisoner.”

From under the curtain of my dripping hair, I saw
Lavender’s shocked face as she looked at me before zooming off into the night.

A pair of hands grabbed me under my arms and
yanked me to my feet. I tried to pull my arms free to cover myself, but the
guards tightened their grip. Standing, I could see the Prince flipping through
the pages of my tablet. He looked sickened by what he saw.

He looked up and seeing me watching, shoved the
picture of Jake’s wolf in my face.

“You come pretending to be a healer, yet you
create these abominations.”

The fae holding me tightened his grip as I tried
to pull away from him. I shook my head. “No, those aren’t mine. They’re Jake’s.
My friend who was captured.”

The Prince clenched his jaw. “Only what you’ve
done for my mother keeps you alive right now. You will be detained until we can
determine if you are indeed the one responsible for the metal monstrosity my
men saw this evening in the forest. If you are not, you will be set free and
the terms of the Queen’s original deal will still apply.”

I tried to swallow past the lump of fear in my
throat. “And if you think I did it?”

“You will die.” The Prince nodded at the guards
holding my arm.

Before I could argue, they were pulling me down a
dark hallway of twigs and branches. When I stumbled, they didn’t wait for me to
get back on my feet, and I was dragged the rest of the way. I didn’t resist
when they pushed me to my hands and knees and gestured into a small hole in the
bramble wall.

“In,” the guard behind me said.

I crawled forward, trying not to think of my bare
behind wiggling in the guard’s face. Tears of humiliation dripped down my
cheeks, and I was glad for the dark when he said a word in a language I didn’t
understand and the branches grew over the opening.

I sat there, knees pulled up to my chest, until
the darkness gave way to a shadowed gloom. It was morning. No one came to talk
to me or see me. I could hear talking and some sort of commotion off in the
distance, but the area around my small cell was empty. Finally, unable to bear
not moving any longer, I crept forward and stuck a finger in the space between two
vines.

When the vines contracted around my finger, nearly
cutting off the circulation, I pulled my hand back with a cry of frustration.

“Hello?” I said. The word disappeared into the
silence without even the trace of an echo. No one answered.

“Please,” I tried again. “I haven’t done anything.
Those drawings aren’t mine! I found them in the power station. Ask William. I
didn’t have them before we went there. Please. Someone? Anyone?”

My voice sounded pitiful. I gritted my teeth
against the more frantic cries and pleas that wanted to spill out. There wasn’t
anyone out there anyway. I slid back to the ground, curled up with my face
towards the front of the cell, careful not to touch the walls, and fell asleep.

***

“Paige? Are you in there?”

The voice startled me out of sleep. It was
William.

“Yes, I’m here,” I said. “Why haven’t you gotten
me out?” I asked. “You know I’m innocent.”

He was quiet for a few seconds. “Are you?” he
asked.

I sat there, stunned. “What are you talking about?
I’ve been with you since the Captain captured me. You would have seen me
building some sort of machine. I can’t believe this.” My voice rose as I spoke
until I was nearly screaming.

“Shhh,” he said. “They don’t know I’m out here.”

“I don’t care,” I said. “They threatened to kill
me. I think that’s a little more important than you getting into trouble.”

I scooted closer then flinched back when I saw his
eye peering through a gap in the vine. I felt the blush rush down my cheeks and
across my chest and pulled my legs back up to hide my nakedness.

“Stop looking!” I said.

“You don’t have any clothes.” He sounded confused.

“No, they took me out of the bath and threw me in
here.”

His eye disappeared for a second and then came
back. “Hold on. I’ll be back.”

“William, wait,” I cried, but he was already gone.
The sound of his footsteps faded.

He was only gone for a few minutes before he came
back with a guard. William was carrying my clothes and pushed them through the
door the guard opened.

“Here,” he said. “It’s all I can do right now.”

He was gone again before I could thank him. My
clothes were still dirty, but it was better than being naked. Fully dressed, I
lay down again and closed my eyes. Before I could fall asleep, the door opened
again and I was ordered out.

“Where are we going?” I asked. I looked at the
guard. It was the same one from last night. His skin was purple with green
stripes.

He pushed me along with the butt of his spear
without answering me. When we stepped back into the main courtyard where the
Queen and a large group of fae were waiting, my knees went weak.

“What is this?” I asked.

The guard smirked at me. “It’s your trial.” He
left me standing in the center of the space, exposed and shaking.

“Do you know why you’re here, girl?” the Queen
asked. Her voice drifted over the courtyard and the gathered fae.

“I’m innocent,” I said. The other words I planned
to say dried up in my mouth as I faced the sea of strange faces.

“So you say. This tablet claims otherwise. Come
forward.”

I walked a few steps forward, my feet dragging on
the cobblestones. I looked at the tablet the Queen was holding up and shook my
head. “The only things I drew in there are Lavender and the picture of you . .
.um. . .your Highness.” I had no idea how to address the Queen. I’m pretty sure
they told me not to talk unless asked anyway, so it probably didn’t matter.

The Queen stared back at me, her eyes cold and
without emotion. Her beauty was like a sharp knife, all hard edges and sharp
lines. “How do you intend to prove it, girl?” she asked.

I scrambled around in my brain, trying to form a
coherent reply. “I, um, well, I didn’t have the tablet before the power
station.”

The Queen raised her hand for me to stop and
looked over to the side of the courtyard. William and Jasmine stepped forward,
not looking at me. “Is what she claims true, William?” The Queen asked.

He darted a look at me and shrugged. “I don’t
know. I’m not sure where she would have hidden it in her clothes.”

The Queen looked at Jasmine. “And you?”

Jasmine didn’t look over at me. “I too don’t see
how she could have hidden the tablet in the clothes we provided her. When she
arrived, she was wearing a dress. She wasn’t carrying anything.”

The Queen nodded. “Paige. Come closer.”

I swallowed hard and took a few steps closer to
the throne. The crowd of fae parted until I stood directly in front of the
Queen.

“I do not believe that this tablet is yours,” she
said.

“Thank you,” I said. I gave a great sigh of
relief, a smile blooming on my lips, but then she continued.

“That does not mean that no one must answer for
the atrocities committed on my people by these creatures.” She opened the
tablet to the picture of the wolf. Surrounded by the fae and their elegant
beauty, the drawings looked cold and utilitarian, inhuman. The Queen threw the
tablet at my feet.

“We have decided that you shall be the one to
avenge us, girl. The artist of these drawings must be stopped, and yet he is a
prisoner of the Captain. We cannot step foot on his ship and he hounds us
through our forests with these monsters. We need an advocate.”

I shook my head. First William, now the fae. I
wasn’t going to fight anyone.

The Queen smiled. “Yes, Paige. But since this is
your friend, we understand you may be reluctant to do what must be done.
Therefore, we will enact a spell of justice to ensure your compliance. Come
closer.”

I stepped back almost involuntarily. A spell. They
wanted to put a spell on me to kill my best friend.

“No,” I said. “I won’t do it.”

The Queen cocked her head to the side. “You would
rather die in his stead as punishment for his crimes?”

The fae gathered around murmured and whispered,
the noise rising until it sounded like a strong wind through a forest of trees
in the fall.

I looked at them and then over at William and
Jasmine. They both looked bored. “I’d rather no one die at all,” I said. “He’s
my best friend.”

“That is not one of your choices. Step forward or
you will be forced.”

When I didn’t move, I felt the tip of a spear poke
into my back. I winced and stumbled forward.

“I’m sorry, Jake,” I said as the Queen reached for
my head. She touched my face and with a few muttered words, pulled back.

“It is done.”

I blinked a few times, wondering if it had worked.
Angry at being forced into something and at how cold and callous they all were
about it, I stepped back. “So what? When I see Jake I’ll try to kill him? And
if I don’t?”

The Queen shrugged. “Your friend must be stopped.
However you accomplish that will satisfy the demands of the spell.”

“So if I manage to rescue him and go home, that
will work too?”

“It is not likely, but yes. That will also work,
and I did promise that I would help you rescue him.” She looked out at her
people as the murmurs rose to angry shouts. She raised her hand to quiet them
and looked back at me. “Although I cannot vouch for his safety on the island if
he stays. Your friend has fae blood on his hands.”

“He was forced,” I said. But thinking back to all
the metal wolves and animals he’d drawn over the last few years, I didn’t
really know if he was and the Queen could see it on my face.

“We’ll see,” she said. “You are dismissed. Nuada
will take you back to William and his group.”

I looked over to where William had been standing,
but he was gone. Only the hostile stares of the fae met my gaze. I cringed away
from them, not wanting to follow any of the fae anywhere. Lavender’s return
startled me out of my fear. She gibbered something in her high-pitched voice
and patted my face.

Despite myself, I smiled. “I’m fine,” I said and
followed after Nuada. But I wasn’t fine. I wasn’t sure if I ever would be
again.