Checkmate

16. If I can't have you...

I shook my head of the thoughts and produced a needle, the sharp tip of the thing causing me to gulp. I sniffed deeply and got to work, making sure to remember the sewing lessons mother had taught me. Unaware at the time that she was teaching me to suture wounds like this.

"It's like she knew," I whispered quietly to myself as I sewed the blood-soaked skin on the king's back together.

Eventually I was done, snapping the thread with my teeth as all my knives had vanished or been destroyed. I did my best to heal the internal damage, pushing everything I had left into the uneven line now sitting on the boy king's back. When I had nothing left to give, I made him a bandage out of thin air and attached it carefully before pulling his blood-soaked shirt back down. Through my tears, I could still see his chest rising and falling evenly, which calmed me greatly, but I was still on edge.

Once I was sure he was stable, I went out to see to the boys that I could hear had gathered outside. Stepping out, I found all the boys huddled around the fire, their faces ranging from afraid to curious, to sad as they all looked at me. Swiftly they bounded towards me, but gently I ushered them back with a finger on my lips. Once we were all clear of the tent, all the questions began at once.

"Is he dead?"

"What happened?"

"Who will look after us?"

"Where is Felix?"

I silenced them all again with the press of my finger to my lips and waited for the answers to form in my head. Instead, I ended up telling them the entire story, leaving out the part where I had been leading both of the leaders along. I told them instead that Felix was jealous of me becoming the equivalent of Pan's second, replacing him. They bought it.

Eventually, I knew they wouldn't be able to calm without more drastic measures and so I used my magic to create a piano in the middle of the open. It played and enchanted them to dance whilst also calming them.

A scoff emanated from the cage swinging from the tree above me before a female voice with a strong accent chastised me. "That was a stupid story." I moved to look at the native face to face and raised my brows. "We both know you wanted both of them." I sucked my teeth and turned to walk away before she called out to me once more. "What is the thing making music?"

I sighed and turned back to face her before answering. "A piano. My mother had one in the front room. She taught me to play just like her mother taught her."

The girl tilted her head, her brain visibly fumbling for the words before she spoke the broken English. "Why make them dance?"

"Dance is calming."

"Dance is for the spirits when the night covers us with its inky blanket."

"You don't dance for yourself?" I asked, casting a glance upwards. I saw her shake her head. I licked my lip before biting it, a thought coming into my head. "The king is asleep. If you promise not to run, I could really do with some girl time."

The girl seemed disgusted by my suggestion, her nose scrunching tightly. "You threaten me, cage me and you- "

"You want some time to stretch those legs or not?" I saw her think it over before she nodded slowly. I nodded back to her and moved to lower her cage, careful not to make her land too fast.

She stretched high the second she was free, and I half expected her to run as soon as her feet hit the ground. With one last look at the boys, we walked into the glade and I changed my boots to forest green pointe shoes and warmed up my muscles with the residue magic. Then I held up my hands.

"No more magic," I whispered as I rose to my toes and pirouetted, feeling my body move to the music of the distant piano. Every now and again, the girl looked around and even waved her hand in the air. Her actions amused me as we moved around each other, and I released a giggle. "What are you looking for?"

"Rope."

"Thin rope then." I giggled again, allowing the girl to scan her hand in the air above my head.

"Teach me that spin one." I smiled and nodded at the girl's enthusiasm; grateful she hadn't tried to kill me.

We spent the time dancing and teaching each other new dance moves as the lost boys slept. Eventually the sun went down, and the girl sighed. Wordlessly she crawled into the cage, done with the day. I made it a slight bit bigger to allow her some space to sleep before returning her to the treetops. She nodded knowingly, a silent alliance forming.

I made my way back to the boys and sent the piano away with another wave of my hand. Once the forest was once again quiet, I closed my eyes and scanned the camp with my magic, feeling only one stir. "Peter," I gasped. Quickly, I made my way to him, allowing tears to fall at the sight of his eyes fluttering open.

He chuckled deeply as I peppered his face with tiny kisses. "You can't have been that worried, love."

"Peter, you've been healing for hours, unconscious."

"Well, I'm awake now."

"Yes," I gasped as more of my tears fell. "You're alive.

He allowed me to hug him as tightly as I dared, my grip remaining around his neck, careful of his back. After a moment of the two of us just revelling in each other, he spoke once more. "The boys?"

I held his face in my hands and made a show of checking him over. "The boys were distraught, but they're sleeping now." I continued to talk, unable to stop. "And to avoid any thought of her planning an escape, I played a game with our native. She won't be leaving anytime soon. And Felix, I trapped in a place he wouldn't dare leave."

"Speaking of Felix," he growled, his eyes growing darker as they bore into me.

"I wanted you both. I wanted power, my boys, I wanted it all."

Pan used his thumb to wipe a tear from my cheek. "That isn't how it works, princess."

I nodded as much as I could as I kept his hand close to my cheek. "I know. I just didn't know he could... There is something wrong with him. He told me to be with you, to choose you. He tried to..."

Pan hushed me gently, the thumb of his hand stroking my face as his other hand pulled me into his embrace, where I remained for the rest of the night. My head rested on his chest and our limbs entwined as our breaths matched each other.

At some point, the boy king fell into sleep once more. I stole a glance and felt my heart leap in my chest. For he had always been attractive, but in his most vulnerable state, he was at peace. He had allowed me to witness him in this state, and that was the most attractive thing of all.

I took a breath and accepted that Peter Pan was my life, the only love I could ever have. And when I awoke the next morning, I had a new outlook on my life. For if I was to be a queen, then I was going to be the best queen I could be. Loyal, brave, kind, and unafraid.

No plan to manipulate, no plan to leave. I intended to stay, even if it meant a life of servitude and my death at the hands of one I was sure I had begun to love. The plan to stay started with a hearty breakfast and a morning of training.