The Queen & Her King (sequel to the princess & the lost boy) Completed

Chapter 20 - My Lost Girl

**** Warning: In this chapter it does get more graphic. If you are not comfortable with it, please skip. I would say what, but that kinda ruins the surprise for those that are okay with such graphics.

(Ashlynn's P.O.V.)

    It was getting closer to nightfall when I reached the camp. I wasn't surprised to find Pan sitting by the fire, sharpening a spear with that blade of his that he always carried with him. I highly doubted that he ever gave it to anyone else. He didn't seem like the type that would just let his dagger be out of his sight. He barely glanced up when I approached the clearing. That's when I noticed that he was cooking something over the fire.
I couldn't help but smile as I walked over and sat down beside him. I watched as he carved into the spear a very intricate 'P' into the wood before returning to the tip. How he made it more pointier than it already was had to be amazing. When I nudged him slightly to get his attention, I caused him to accidentally slice off the tip, which I was positive irritated him considering the way his jaw clenched.
"Sorry," I said, biting my lip as his piercing green eyes traveled over to mine.
"You're back."
"Yeah, um, sorry about that. I just needed some air. I didn't think it would take nearly this long to get back. I should have said something."
"You do realize that it's not safe for you to be walking alone in the woods by yourself. Samuel's men could easily be scavenging the woods for you."
That's highly doubtful.
Even if he was to maintain the act, he wouldn't detain me for long. Not when my mother made him that ridiculous deal that I would be his Queen. I could see the advantages of having his army. Most had been trained by his father, Sarum, who has been known as an amazing warrior that bested his enemies, slaughtering the lot of them. I wouldn't doubt it if Samuel was trained in the same way. To show no mercy. If anything, Samuel could very well be playing my mother to only betray us to rid himself of those with magic. His father would have.
"I can take care of myself."
"You also have a way of attracting danger."
"How so?" I questioned, turning slightly to face him. "Oh come on!" I nudged him again when he looked away and didn't respond.
"Why are you so interested now?"
"Maybe I want to get to know you better. Just in case the ritual doesn't work."
"It will," he said, sounding so determined.
"Please, just tell me. I'd like to know. I'd like to understand what life was like on Neverland...with you. Understand what I did that led to us being separated. That led to all of this."
"What happened between us wasn't your fault. It was mine."
He barely glanced at me, but in that split second I could have swore I saw a hint of sadness.
"How so?"
He clenched his jaw again and his grip tightened on his dagger.
"I overreacted when I found out what transpired between you and one of my lost boys. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. He always had a way of acting out. Not that it matters anymore. He's dead."
I looked down, remembering that my mother had told me the name of the boy that convinced me to betray Pan.
Rufio.
A boy that I can't even remember even if I tried.
What could have possibly convinced me to betray Pan if I "loved" him so much?
"How did that happen?"
Pan's lips twitched up into a small smile. "I killed him."
"Oh," I said, staring down at the ground. "Why?"
"Because he touched you," Pan growled, sounding feral for the first time ever. "He should have known better than to touch what's mine."
He twirled his dagger around in his hand before putting it back in it's sheath and went to take his catch out of the fire before pulling some meat off. I followed suit before sitting down again. Only this time I made sure to face him.
"Tell me about this lost boy."
Pan sighed, tearing off some meat. "He was the brother of my right hand, Felix, whose basically the only one I ever told my secrets to. He's the only one that knows—besides you—about why I really need the heart of the truest believer."
Truest believer?
"Rufio wanted to know more about it. He ended up causing unrest amongst a small group of my boys. Started openly rebelling against me, and I couldn't have that, so I met with a shadow mermaid that lives in the waters of Neverland. I struck a bargain with her. And she followed through with her end of the bargain. She scratched him with one of her nails that transfers a slow acting poison that eventually kills the victim. I would have let him die too, but I saved him to appease Felix...and to keep Felix loyal. I used magic to heal him. Just not completely. I could have healed him fully, but I decided to curse him into shaping into a wolf for all time. But then, when you came into the picture, he thought that he could just take you from me. He cast a spell on you that led you to be...intimate...with him. Then, I enacted a plan. I made you and everyone else believe that Killian Jones murdered Rufio when in fact I was the one who ended his miserable existence."
"Guess you're not as innocent as I thought you were," I muttered.
"I'm a lot older than I look, darling," he pulled my face over to face his. "On Neverland, you only ever saw a taste of what I'm actually capable of."
I barely nodded as I bit down on my lip. Meeting his gaze, I noticed that his eyes lowered to stare down at my lips.
"I'll never forgive myself for letting him get anywhere near you."
"Tell me more about this truest believer."
He chuckled, dropping his hand from my chin. "That requires telling you about the very beginning of how I became the King of Neverland and why I need the truest believer."
             "I have all night."
"When I was a young lad, several years ago," he glanced over at me, "my father fell into debt, and so he sold me to a blacksmith in order to pay it off. He never gave me a second thought. I sat all day in front of the hot coals. The man was abusive and when I no longer provided what he wanted, he sold me over to a group of pirates, and from there I moved on with my life when I left. The entire time though, I would travel to this remarkable place where I could make anything happen just by thinking about it and could fly. I went to Neverland in my dreams. As I got older, I stopped going. Skip several years later, I myself was following in the same pattern as my father. Only this time when I had the chance to go back to Neverland. Actually go back. I took it. I wanted so desperately to fly again and was disappointed when I couldn't. I remembered that I needed pixie dust, and so I climbed up a tree. That's when I encountered the shadow that roamed Neverland. I made a deal."
I reached over, entwining his fingers with mine as I squeezed his hand. Small little sparks traveled up my arm just from his touch. It surprised me for a small moment, but I put it aside to listen to the story.
"I agreed to give up the one thing that had been holding me back for so long to regain my youth, and that's what I did. I allowed the shadow to take my son away."
"What?" I said, my voice barely even a whisper.
He has a son?
"You might know him as the Dark One."
I nodded, shaking my head in disbelief. "Rumplestilskin."
A man feared in the Enchanted Forest just as my mother was feared in all of Albion. All because of the magic that flows in their veins. The Dark One and his deals, and my mother and her quest to rid the land of all those that would dare persecute those with magic.
"Yes. I watched him be carried away, back to the Enchanted Forest, while I was transformed back into my younger self. I could fly again. The first thing I did was fly in the clouds, seeing everything that had been in my dreams. Except for one thing. I landed at Skull Rock. It had never been there before. When I first stepped inside, I was in awe. And that's when my shadow appeared, telling me that I created it. Unfortunately, when I made the decision to stay in Neverland, I not only created Skull Rock, but I also created the hourglass that keeps track of how long I have left before I...die."
My jaw dropped open, and I was fairly certain that my eyes widened.
He's going to die? No, he can't!
"No! You can't just die!" I exclaimed, taken back by the concern in my voice.
"The magic inside the hourglass keeps me young and alive. Once the sand runs out, so does my life. Unless I get my hands on the heart of the truest believer. Unfortunately, he has to give it to me willingly otherwise it won't work. Once he does that, I'll be immortal. I won't ever have to worry about death again. All that remains of Malcolm will be dead and Peter Pan will remain."
"Malcolm?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows together at the mention of the foreign name.
"My name...the name I was given was Malcolm. For years I went by that name. But when I was older, I gave my son a straw doll, so that he could always have a part of me with him. He named it Peter Pan. And so, when I gave him up, he dropped the straw doll. And at that point, when I picked it up, I took on the name of Peter Pan." He turned to me, staring me dead in the eye. "Peter Pan is who I am now. And when I get that heart, Malcolm will die once and for all."
Malcolm...that's a nice name.
'So is Peter,' a voice whispered in my head.
Only problem is that if I call him Peter and stop calling him Pan, it'll give him hope.
"How do I know you're telling me the truth...about your past."
He gulped, his lips turning downward into a frown. "I can show you."
He reached over, brushing away a strand of hair from my face, and then caressing it. I watched as his eyes started glowing until a bright white consumed me, blinding me.
I gasped, pushing myself off the...sand? Spinning all the way around I took in my surroundings. Surprised to see water spanning out for miles to the right of me. The beach stretched out too. Behind me were some trees. The sky was so blue. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
So this must be Neverland.
All of a sudden the image changed, scaring the hell out of me. Before I knew it I found myself staring at an old man with messy brown hair that was streaked with grey, clothes in peasant clothes, holding onto the hand of a young boy with blonde hair being held up into the air by a shadow with pure white eyes. The expression on the young boy was one of fear. I couldn't believe I was staring at the young Dark One. He looked so...innocent. Uncorrupted by the evils in the world. Turning my attention to the old man, I found myself staring into piercing green eyes that were so familiar to me.
"Don't let it take me!" The young boy cried, holding onto his father.
"To stay here I have to believe that I'm young again," the man replied, "and with you here to remind me...I can't."
This man is...Pan.
"Papa please!" The boy cried again, his feet just above the ground by a few feet. "Help me!"
It was like a tug of war between Pan and the shadow over the boy...for a few moments anyways.
"A child can't have a child Rumple. I'm sorry, but it's true," the man said as the boy struggled against the shadow's grip. "Don't fight it. We both know you're better off without me."
I shook my head in disbelief. He really wasn't lying.
I watched as...realization maybe crossed over Pan's—no, not Pan's—Malcolm's eyes.
"I was never meant to be a father."
At that moment the boy gave up struggling, only beginning to cry out when Malcolm let go of him, allowing the shadow to take off with the boy. I turned and followed with my eyes the boy being carried higher up into the trees until the shadow stopped, pointing back down at the ground for the boy to stare. At that moment, I realized there was a slight wetness on my cheeks. I went to wipe it away and realized I had been crying.