Escaping Neverland (6 page)

The Prince took me to a different side of the
palace where I found William and his ragtag warrior band waiting. The Prince
gestured to the kids.

“William has agreed to help us recover Jake. He
claims he had a deal with you that he must fulfill.”

I blinked in surprise at that and then shook my
head. “I don’t think I want his help,” I said. I shot a nasty look at Jasmine
when the other girl went for her sword. I thought of William leaving me in the
power station and not stepping forward to help at the trial until he was asked.
“All William’s ever done since I’ve met him is put me in danger. Knowing him,
he’ll leave me stranded somewhere else that’ll get me killed.”

The Prince looked at me and then nodded and
gestured William’s group off to the side. Cashraina appeared and herded the
children, with William in the middle, towards another room.

When they were gone, Nuada sighed. “It is not wise
to alienate William, Healer. The Queen is very fond of him and our little
cousins are devoted to him. He can be of great help to us.”

“I don’t trust him.”

“It is good that you don’t trust him. He’s been
with us for a very long time and doesn’t remember things very well. His lack of
memory takes his compassion and fear from him. He is capricious because he
doesn’t know any other way to be. To blame him for it is like blaming the
spiders for their voracious appetites. It is not fair, nor honorable.”

The Prince’s voice was so full of censure I thought
I’d feel guilt, but all I felt was a rising irritation. “Well, that still
doesn’t change the fact that I don’t trust him. I’d rather have the spiders on
our side. William will get Jake killed.”

“From what I know of your friend and what he’s
done here on our island, his death would be a good thing for the fae.”

I felt the pain of that but pushed it away. “You
promised me you’d help rescue him,” I said.

Nuada smiled again. “Yes. My mother promised you
we’d help you rescue your friend. We did not promise that he would be rescued
alive or stay that way once we’ve gotten him away from the Captain. The spell
placed on you will ensure there are no mistakes.”

I bit my lip, fighting back tears at his harsh
words. “Great. That’s just great. William can barely remember his own name,
you’re just out to kill my friend, and now I have a spell on me that’s going to
make me kill my best friend. I hate this place.”

By time I got all of it out, I was crying in rage.
When I let off, Lavender began screaming at Nuada with so much energy her
little purple face actually began to turn blue.

If either of our rants had any effect on the
Prince, he didn’t show it. When Cashraina came back to see what all the
commotion was about, she took one look at me and rushed forward.

“My Prince, what have you done? We owe our Queen’s
health to Paige’s generous efforts. She is an honored guest and innocent of her
friend’s crimes.”

Nuada bowed from the waist. “Healer, I am sorry to
have upset you, but the deal with my mother did not include the safety of your
friend. I will not pretend that it did. As William has already told you, once
someone has been influenced by the Captain, the only freedom from the spell is
death. I am putting my men at great risk with this task.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s not what William said
at all. Jake’s going to be stuck like this forever?”

“Sometimes when you separate the victim from the
spell the effects will fade with time. But your friend will try everything he
can to get back to his master. It is a dangerous situation, especially with
your friend’s unique talents. I cannot promise anything.”

“And if I promise to heal your men if they are
injured?”

Nuada looked shocked at my offer, but shrugged.
“Any healing would be appreciated, but I still cannot give you my word that
your friend can be rescued alive.”

“It sounds like you’re not even going to try to
keep him alive. If that’s true, I don’t want your help either.”

Jasmine’s voice came from the alcove, and when I
turned to look, I saw Pyro standing with her.

“Refusing their help and William’s is childish.
The fae cannot board the Captain’s ship, and William can’t carry your friend to
safety by himself. What do you think you can do by yourself? You don’t even
know where your friend is. Not that I care, but if you go off by yourself,
you’ll die.”

I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at the
other girl, or better yet, flip her off, but I resisted. Jasmine was right,
however much I wished she wasn’t. I’d just have to figure out a way to make
sure that the rescue mission for Jake didn’t turn into a campaign to murder him
instead.

“Fine. What’s the plan?”

Nuada looked at Jasmine and then called William
out from the other room. I expected some sort of look of remorse or guilt, but
his face carried the same expressionless mask it always did.

“I will fly to the Captain’s ship, locate your
friend, and fly him back to the fae where they will be waiting. They will
ensure his safe return to here.” William looked smug and confident, as if this
would be an easy task, no more difficult than swatting a fly.

I shook my head. “How do I know you won’t do
something stupid, like drop him in the ocean? How do I know you just won’t kill
him when you find him?”

Confusion flickered through William’s eyes and he
shook his head. “That would not be the honorable thing to do. I will not harm
your friend unless it is necessary. You have my word.”

I looked at Nuada and then at Cashraina where she
stood with a small, sad smile on her face. Very slightly, almost imperceptibly,
the turquoise and crimson fae shook her head. I wondered what Cashraina knew
about William that made her so certain of William’s untrustworthiness, but
then, thinking of William’s actions so far, didn’t think it was that hard to
figure out.

I sucked in a deep breath and hoped that Jasmine
didn’t have a projectile weapon handy. I looked at William, not wanting to hurt
his feelings, but knowing I had to say something now or I probably never would.

“I don’t trust you. You say what you mean right
now, at this moment, but when you find my friend, you might forget what you’ve
promised, do what you want, and then feel no guilt for it because you don’t
remember that you’ve done something wrong. No. I will go with you, and if you
hurt Jake, I’ll kill you.” I threatened death because everyone else always said
it. It seemed the thing to do in this world, and I figured I’d give it a shot.

As it turned out, Jasmine didn’t need a projectile
weapon and apparently wasn’t impressed with my false courage. She was past
Nuada before anyone could stop her, sword was at my throat. The steel was icy
cold and sharp enough that I didn’t feel the shallow cut until the warm blood
started trickling down my neck.

Lavender exploded into shrill screeching and flew
towards Jasmine’s face. The girl held her hand up to ward off the fairy.

“Stop,” she cried, “or I’ll run her through!”

Lavender fell back, still shrieking. Nuada and
William didn’t move. Pyro stood off to the side frowning.

Jasmine’s face was a study of contrasts: all
flashing blue eyes and flying hair. “That is enough out of you, silly girl,”
Jasmine spit in my face. “You come here, whining about your friend, complaining
about what’s happened. You insult William when he saved your life. Your friend
deserves death, and so do you. I will solve this problem right now and release
the Queen from her obligation to help you, you spineless, puling, disgusting
pile of refuse.”

I couldn’t quite process what was happening. I
tried to come up with words, some sort of defense, but all I could think of was
what a crappy insulter Jasmine was.

It was a new voice that spoke and stilled the
sword at my neck.

“Jasmine, release the healer. This pile of refuse,
as you call her, saved my life where your own potions and tonics failed,” the
Queen’s voice rang out across the courtyard, the barely concealed rage
physically frosting the leaves on the walls with a fine mist of ice.

“Whatever she has said about your brother is
accurate, and you know it as well as everyone else here. Your behavior is in
defense of William’s honor when we all understand that the word does not,
cannot apply to a boy who cannot remember who or what he is. Desist or I will
have you killed.”

Jasmine scowled. “You won’t get to me before I can
open her throat.” The sword pressed in harder. I could see the blood where it
snaked its way down the gutter of the blade and over Jasmine’s hand.

“Will you wager your life on it?” the Queen asked.

I desperately hoped the answer was no. Jasmine
didn’t seem like the betting type, but nothing here was as it seemed. When the
sword slid away from my neck in a splatter of my own blood, it took me a moment
to realize I was free. I stumbled back, my knees weak with shock, and nearly
collapsed into Cashraina’s arms.

I was led away from the spectacle in the courtyard
where Jasmine stood grinning. William still did nothing, but his face was angry
and he stood with his hands fisted, glaring in my direction.

I woke before the sun the next morning, and it was
only while I was lying there in the gently lightening morning air that I
thought to worry about the spiders. I hadn’t seen any running water surrounding
the palace when we’d approached, but I also hadn’t seen any spiders. I decided
to trust that the fae had their own ways of deterring the arachnids and lay
back on my fur covered bench. I needed to figure out a way to ensure Jake’s
safety when William went for him on the Captain’s ship.

If I couldn’t be there with William to make sure
nothing happened, I needed to make sure something or someone else was. Deep in
thought, I pulled my tablet and pencils out from under the bench, grateful that
Cashraina had retrieved them from the Queen.

So far, I’d only drawn things in order to return
them to a previous state. Could I draw something from scratch and bring it to
life? When I’d bitten my fingernails down to the grimy quick and the sun
teetered on the horizon, I gave up worrying and began to draw. The lines came
quick and sure. I laughed at Lavender as she danced around the tip of my
pencil, her small bare feet so light they didn’t even smudge the lines. I was
finishing the outline of the eyes when Cashraina came into the small room with
a stack of clothing. When the fae saw that I was busy, she smiled and without
saying anything put the clothes down before retreating back outside as quietly
as she’d come.

I turned my attention back to the drawing. I
needed a creature that would respond to my commands, and hopefully, not attack
me even if that was a natural urge. I didn’t want to find out what would happen
if I drew myself with wings and then couldn’t undo them, but I needed something
that could fly.

I’d picked a Pegasus with a dapple gray body and
black and grey wings speckled like a hawk and focused as hard as I could on the
creature’s intelligence and free will tempered with a strong sense of obedience
and devotion as I drew in the liquid blackness of its eye in profile. The
tingling began, and I pushed on it as hard as I could. Too late, I realized
what a tight fit this room would be for a full grown horse with a twenty foot
wingspan.

One second the space was empty. The next it was
full of warm horseflesh and feathers. Hooves the size of dinner plates clacked
on the stone floor as a graceful head swung around to pin me with an angry
stare. Lavender burst into laughter from her place tucked up under my hair.

Without any gesture from me, the horse turned
towards the door and squeezed its way out into the courtyard all the sleeping
rooms opened out into.

“Oh great Goddess!”

I rushed out, worried that the horse had tried to
take a bite out of Cashraina, but found her on her knees in front of it
instead, her head on the stones.

“What?” I asked, alarmed.

Cashraina looked up, her face pale. “We haven’t
had a winged horse here on the island since the Captain killed the last one
nearly twenty years ago. How did you know to bring one back?”

I shrugged, not wanting to admit that I’d probably
read every single book about pegasuses that I could find growing up. “Um…I
figured she might be helpful,” I said instead.

Cashraina nodded. “They are very loyal, loving
companions. She would die for you if you asked her to.”

I swallowed hard and then smiled a little.
“Um…well, that’s nice I guess. Loyalty and all that.” I didn’t really like the
idea that I’d created something willing to die for me. It didn’t seem right
somehow.

Cashraina’s smile slid from her face. “Yes,
loyalty,” she said. She kneeled there for a moment, her eyes filled with what
looked like tears, then she shook her head and pointed back into the room. “Please,
change. Nuada is anxious to start.”

I tried to figure out what Cashraina’s sudden rush
of emotion was all about but gave it up as a lost cause and got dressed. I gave
the horse directions to follow me through the forest rather than hanging over
my shoulder with every step and marveled that the creature understood so
perfectly. Its bright eyes only stared at me for a moment before it took a few
steps back and waited for me to move.

I was led to Nuada and a large band of warriors
outside the palace while I was still stuffing food in my mouth. William and his
band stood behind the fae. The children looked just as bloodthirsty as before.
That made me angry, and I wanted to order William to leave them here where it
was safe, but Jasmine stepped forward and glared at me, so I kept my mouth
shut. All of the children and fae clustered in the clearing rushed forward to
exclaim over the Pegasus.

When one of the children reached a shy hand up to
its nose and asked the name, I blushed and shook my head.

“Maybe you can all name her for me,” I said.

That sent the children off into a corner of the
clearing by themselves, weapons hanging forgotten at their sides. It made me
smile, but William immediately stomped over and dragged them all back into
position. He shot me a glare, as if I’d distracted his warriors on purpose.

When the group finally started to move forward,
Cashraina stepped up beside me and pressed a cool, round object into my hand.

“Lavender has told me of your fear of the spiders.
This will protect you and any others around you for a good distance. The
warriors carry similar wards to protect the campsites, but this will protect
you without those.”

I looked down at a small white stone with a
strange mark carved into the surface. A leather cord was threaded through a
small hole at the top of the stone. I slipped it around my neck, not really
sure if I trusted it to protect me from the spiders or not, but glad of the
gift anyway.

I lifted it up and raised my eyes to Cashraina.
“Why?” I asked.

Cashraina smiled and gave a little shrug. “I have
heard of your promise to heal any of the warriors if they are injured in their
fight. My beloved travels with you on your journey.” She pointed out a tall,
gold and black pattered fae who stood next to Nuada.

Before I could say anything else, Cashraina
continued. “Your desire to save your friend is honorable and right, but do not
let your compassion get you killed. If your friend cares as much about you as
you do about him, he would not want you to sacrifice yourself.” Without taking
a breath or offering up a transition, Cashraina continued. “Beware of Jasmine.
She will do anything she must to protect William. Although they are not blood,
William is her brother. Ask Nuada to tell you what he knows of William along the
way. It may help you understand him better.”

With all of that bouncing through my head,
Cashraina pushed me forward after the departing warriors and children. I found
myself walking next to Cashraina’s boyfriend, or whatever he was, and he gave
me a small smile full of pointed teeth completely at odds with his innocent
looking bumblebee paint job. It almost made me laugh, but I swallowed it,
figuring he wouldn’t appreciate the humor.

It seemed that there weren’t any animals on the
island suitable for riding, which meant everyone had to walk. I thought about
hopping up onto the horse that followed behind me, but figured it wasn’t really
fair and decided to walk. I wasn’t used to so much exercise and my legs ached,
but at least this time my pants were thick enough to keep the mosquitoes away,
and Bumblebee, as I’d taken to calling him since he wouldn’t speak to me to
tell me his name, seemed to have some sort of spell to keep the insects down. I
wondered what else the fae could do and how, if they could do so much, they
couldn’t defeat the Captain.

It probably had to do with the fact that the
Captain used iron weapons. He probably had guns too, where from what I’d seen,
the fae used bows and swords made out of bronze. The younger children in
William’s group all seemed to rely on blunt objects, while the older ones, like
Pyro and Jasmine, all had swords like William. I still carried my own staff,
but I didn’t really want to use it. I wasn’t really a premeditated fighter.

I thought back to the one real fight I’d ever been
in. It’d been in fourth grade, when an older fifth grade boy told the whole bus
that Jake had cooties. I bounced right out of my seat and popped the boy in the
nose. The boy, who I’d later found out was the class bully a few grades ahead
of me had hit me back, poked me in the eye, and ripped out most of my ponytail.
I still remembered my surprise at the pain. I’d never been hit before and it
just didn’t seem like something could hurt so much.

That attitude would get me killed here. I needed
to be ready to defend myself. If I couldn’t do it with a weapon, I needed to
create something that would do it for me. Jake had finally gotten his wish. His
machines were up and walking. If I had to create my own army to keep myself
alive long enough to rescue Jake and get home, then that’s what I’d do. The
thought made me sad. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but if I’d learned one thing
from a few days on the island, it was kill or be killed.

At my sigh, Lavender crawled out from under my
hair and patted my cheek. Her little questioning chirp made tears come to my
eyes and I shook my head.

“It’s nothing,” I said. I wiped the tears away and
kept walking, wondering how the children’s cartoon could have gotten it so
very, very wrong.