I blew past the Neverlander in seconds.
His cry of surprise caught up to me as I headed for the nearest copse of trees and the shade they offered. I’d barely worked up a sweat, my breathing even, my muscles fresh. James reached me nearly two minutes later, huffing, his shirt covered in a mantle of sweat, his hair wild and windswept. The young man bent over, chest heaving so hard I thought he might keel over. Then I realized he was laughing—or at least trying to.
“Stand up and put your hands on your head,” I insisted. “Let the oxygen flow. It’ll help. Oh, and next time ye plan on challengin’ someone to a race, make sure ye can win.”
James straightened and took deep, shuddering breaths. His expression was pained and yet faintly amused as he clutched a stitch in his side, his other hand resting on the pommel of his sword. “Can everyone move as fast as you where you’re from?”
“What d’ye mean ‘where I’m from’?”
“You know. Home.”
“Oh, right. Some can, I suppose, but not most,” I said. “Boston has a few characters, but most of its citizens are ordinary, average humans. What we call ‘Regulars’.”
“Humans? You mean Manlings?”
“If ye like.”
“But, I thought...I mean Helen said...” James drifted off.
“Ye thought what? What exactly did Helen say?”
“She said you were like Tiger Lily. Like Tinkerbell. That you were one of the Fae. She said that’s how you were able to survive falling from Neverland.”
“Did she, now?” I asked as I mulled that over. Why would Helen have told James I was a Faeling? It wasn’t entirely inaccurate, but it certainly wasn’t the whole truth, either. Did she truly have no idea what I was, or had she lumped me in with James’ companions for some other reason? Noting we were finally alone, I decided to press the issue. “James, did Helen show ye her face when ye were alone together?”
The young man’s reaction was both immediate and telling; he flushed, his already red cheeks flaring bright scarlet. His grin, however, wasn’t the least bit ashamed. “No, but I did see it. Her hood slipped when she saved me,” he added, hurriedly. “You’ve seen her too, right? Isn’t she just so...” James seemed to grope for the right word. “So...”
“James,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “has it occurred to ye that it didn’t fall the whole time we were in the cabin, gettin’ tossed about?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m just sayin’, why would it have fallen when she was savin’ ye and not on the ship?”
“I don’t know,” James admitted, scowling. “Maybe she…no...”
I patted his arm. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it was an accident, like she said. She knows the effect her appearance has on people. I doubt she wanted ye to follow her around like her slave, or anythin’ like that. I mean, why would she?”
I turned away and started jogging at a normal pace towards the garden and the city which, according to Tinkerbell, lay beyond it. If I felt any guilt about implanting the idea that Helen was manipulating James, I kept it to myself; what I’d done just now was perhaps just as bad, but until I knew what Helen’s agenda was, I couldn’t risk the young man getting blindsided by her scheming. At least this way he’d have a chance to reflect on his own feelings. Still, I had to wait several minutes before I heard James come puffing up behind me.
“Let’s hurry up and see what these Vegiants want!” I called back over my shoulder.
James said nothing.
28
Two of the Laestrygonians met us as we surmounted the hill upon which the garden sat. The gargantuan fruits and vegetables gleamed in the bright morning light, though it was a testament to James’ rumbling stomach that he deigned to notice them at all; the two giants were female, their assets on full display. The one on the left sported a sizeable bruise which marred her otherwise lovely face. Had to be the one I’d headbutted. I thrust my arm out to warn James, halting the two of us on the edge of the garden, anticipating another tussel—or at the very least a standoff. But, to my surprise, the giantess I’d assaulted merely grinned, revealing a pretty but otherwise ordinary smile free of fangs or filed teeth. Indeed, were she not nearly ten feet tall and built like a brickhouse, I’d have said Tiger Lily looked far more capable of eating someone than she did.
The giantess waved for us to follow and set off with her companion through the garden, taking a stone-lined path I hadn’t spotted in the moonlight. James and I fell in behind them, though we maintained our distance, prepared for an ambush. I’d already discussed the possibility with him; he’d been decidedly reserved since I poked at his feelings for Helen but had agreed to follow my lead when and if the time came to run or fight.
The city that lay beyond the hillside spread out along a massive cliff overlooking the coast, its cragged surface littered with white marble dwellings topped with red clay roofs which appeared to catch fire in the light. It was a sprawling metropolis, complete with a stunning temple which dominated the cliff’s edge, looming over the rest of the city like a sentinel. And yet, the actual number of residents seemed relatively few; I spotted only a couple dozen milling about, their nudity evident but far less objectionable from so far away. Most seemed to be moving to and from the outskirts of town where clouds of dust spewed into the air to the tune of hammers falling. Even from this far out, I could tell there had been some damage; there was a broken aspect to the city’s edges which spoke of a natural disaster of some sort.
The giantess turned to me, still smiling, and bowed at the waist, her hands steepled together between her breasts. “Peace be with you, mortals.”
I ogled the giantess for a long moment before responding with a half-hearted greeting of my own. James followed suit, even going so far as to bow as well, mimicking her. We eyed each other, likely both wondering different versions of the same thing: what the hell was going on?
“We told the chickie we only needed your help,” the giantess said as she rose, her voice deeper than you’d expect from a woman, more rumbly. “Who’s the meat?”
“Ye mean him?” I asked, jerking a thumb at James. “He’s the Captain of the ship that got me here. He thought it best he come along to see what you’ve done with a member of his crew.”
James twitched but managed not to betray my half-truth in front of our escorts—assuming that’s what they were. Honestly, I had no idea what any of our roles were at this point; the Laestrygonians had captured Narcissus, attempted to capture Tiger Lily and I, and sent a beleaguered Tinkerbell as their envoy—and yet it seemed they weren’t the least bit interested in eating us.
“Bit young for a sailor, isn’t he?” the giantess asked, squinting. “But I guess I can dig it. I could never really tell with you mortals, anyway. You all look like ankle biters, to us.”
“And how old are you?” James asked.
“Older than the trees. Younger than the stones.”
“Sounds like something Tiger Lily would say,” James muttered.
“So,” I interjected, deciding I’d had enough of the idle small talk, “what is it ye want with me?”
The giantess ran a hand through her hair, mussing it as though she hadn’t given any thought to that question. “You know, I never asked.” She turned to her companion, who appeared equally uncertain, then giggled. “Well, I guess we’ll all have to find out together. Let’s book.”
“Wait, ye really don’t know?”
“Don’t flip your wig, sister. I like to hang loose, dig?”
James shot me a bewildered look, but all I could do was shake my head.
“So who would know?” I asked.
“Our Queen. She’s over there.” The giantess gestured with one massive finger towards the damaged section of the city. The dust had begun to billow skyward, hovering over the city like a rain cloud. “Stay close. Oh, and don’t bug out if anyone stares. Most of us haven’t seen a mortal in like forever.” She cringed suddenly, studying our seemingly frail,
diminutive forms, then her own surprisingly dainty—albeit still massive—feet. “And hey, be careful when you’re truckin’, alright? Wouldn’t want any of us stepping on you by accident. Bad for karma, stepping on cats.”
Our two escorts turned and began loafing down the side of the hill towards the city, allowing James and I to trail after them should we wish it. I eyed the city, wary of its tight confines and its potentially hostile population; no matter how bizarrely chill our escorts behaved, I couldn’t forget that they’d tried to capture Tiger Lily and me the night before. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could objectively do about it. We had no leverage, nothing we could use to free Narcissus and escape unscathed, which meant it was up to the two of us to sort this whole mess out. I turned to say as much to James, but the Neverlander spoke first.
“They aren’t big enough to step on us, are they?”
“I doubt it, but I wouldn’t test the theory, if I were ye.”
James sighed, swiping idly at an errant lock of hair. The Neverlander was drenched in sweat from our run, but his eyes were bright, the wheels in his head churning. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Not really,” I admitted.
“Then why are we following them?”
“Why d’ye t’ink?”
James thought about it, then shrugged and shook his head. “I’d say for Narcissus’ sake, but he obviously set you and Tiger Lily up to get caught. Plus, I can tell you don’t like him. Honestly, apart from Helen and Narcissus himself, I don’t think anyone likes him.”
“Oh, Narcissus has his fair share of friends,” I said, thinking back to the first time I’d met the Greek on his cruise ship. “Anyway, he did me a favor once. I owe him for that.” I sighed. “You’re right, though. I don’t like him. But I can trust Narcissus to do whatever serves his own best interests. In that sense, he’s extremely dependable. Which is more than I can say for most.”
“And you aren’t sure if you can depend on us, is that it? Tiger Lily, Tinkerbell, and me?”
“I don’t know,” I answered, honestly, hoping my answer would soothe the hurt lingering beneath the Neverlander’s claim. “Me memories of ye lot are too jumbled. Tinkerbell aimed to kill me when I saw her last, Tiger Lily was on the warpath, and ye were a boy living in Peter’s house, in his shadow, with no idea who your father was. I’m still gettin’ to know ye, that’s all.”
“I knew who my father was,” James said after a moment of silence. “Back then, I knew.”
That was news to me.
“Since when?”
“Hook came to visit, once. I think he was looking for Peter, planning to confront him for the last time. I’m not sure. It was before you showed up. Hook took one look at me and left. When I asked my mother about him, she said he was an old friend of Peter’s. But she was strange after that.” James fidgeted with the sword at his hip. “I knew Peter wasn’t my real father. We were too different. He was still a kid himself when I was growing up. Always wanted to play, even when I didn’t. The man, the father he became after Hook left Neverland, after you left, was better. He really tried to understand me, and I loved him for it.”
I reached out to squeeze his shoulder, but James slipped away and began descending the hillside. Clearly, he had no desire to be comforted. Frankly, I could understand; I kept everyone at arm’s length, if I could help it. “To be clear, it’s not an issue of trust with the three of ye,” I said as I drew up alongside him. “We’re all still strangers to each other, that’s all.”
“Is that why you haven’t told us everything?”
“What d’ye mean?”
James flicked his eyes to me, then away. “You told us you’re chasing someone. An old friend. And that to find out where he’s going, you needed Helen and Narcissus. You needed their map and their experience.”
“Aye, that’s pretty much the gist of it.”
“So how do we fit in? Why get us to help you? Was it only because we had a ship? If so, surely you knew others you could ask. Other Fae or Manlings you could depend on.” James shook his head vehemently. “Why put my friends in danger?”
The words were bitter, accusatory. I realized in that moment that James hadn’t wanted any of this. That—had I not technically saved Neverland and fulfilled the conditions promised by the time-traveller—he and his two companions would even now be headed back to his sister and the remnants of the Lost People. Honor, not desire, had governed his actions thus far. And now I—by questioning his dependability—had inadvertently questioned his honor.
“You’re right,” I admitted. “It wasn’t fair of me to ask ye to come.”
James didn’t stop walking, but the tension in his shoulders lessened.
“I’d planned to ask your fathers, originally. Hook and Peter Pan, two of the fiercest adversaries I’d ever met...it was those two I hoped to do this with. I thought if I could get ‘em to work together, to sail with me, that we’d have little trouble findin’ Ryan and puttin’ a stop to whatever he’s plannin’. But, when I found out they were dead, I latched onto ye and your friends like ye were a lifeline. It wasn’t right for me to do that. I see that, now.”
When James looked at me, there was a surprising amount of resolve in his face. Not sadness. Not anger. Just an iron-clad determination visible in the bunching of his jaw and tightness around the eyes. “You told her I was the Captain. Why?”
“Because that’s what ye are.” I met his gaze evenly. “James, your people already know it. Tinkerbell and Tiger Lily look at ye like you’re their savior, because that’s what ye are to ‘em. Helen saw it, too. Which is why she’s tryin’ to get close to ye, to gain your affections.” I held up a hand to his protests. “I could be wrong. It’s just what I feel is true.”
“But...why would she bother with me? Why not you?”
Fortunately, I’d already considered that. “I t’ink she has been, in her own way. She volunteered to go with me to speak to Typhon. She’s counseled me, given me unsolicited advice, even supported me when she thought I was the frontrunner to become Captain. But me guess is at some point last night she finally realized she’s been courtin’ the wrong person, all along.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s lookin’ for a child who belonged to two worlds. She thought that meant me because she knows I’ve traveled between realms. But she missed the obvious. What was it the time-traveller called ye when he claimed I’d come to save Neverland, d’ye remember?”
“Captain Shake Spear.”
“Shakespeare,” I corrected. “One word.”
“What about it?”
“What are you two doing up there lip flappin’? Come on, if you snooze, you lose!” The giantess and her companion waited at the base of the hill, watching us while performing intricate and altogether cringeworthy stretches. I did my best to ignore them.
“Listen,” I said, focusing all my attention on James for just a moment longer, “I’d say Helen was a little slow on the uptick, is all. A mortal child who belongs to two worlds, who will one day be called ‘Captain’ by his peers...sound like anyone ye know?” I left James to sort that out as I hurried to join the Vegiants, confident he’d reach the same conclusion I had. “We’re comin’!” I called down.
Here’s hoping we wouldn’t regret it.
29
The Laestrygonians split up as we entered the city, leaving us with just the one who’d snatched me up only hours before. She showcased the city as we wove our way through its wide thoroughfares and shaded alleys, pointing out signs of the city’s prosperity as we went, as though we’d signed up for a tour. To be fair, there was a lot to admire; even disregarding its naked inhabitants, James and I found plenty to ogle. The whole city seemed to bask in the sunlight, the white marble so bright it glared, the clay pots in the windowsills painted iridescent shades of green and blue, the walls coated in vibrant, flower-laden trellises. Indeed, though we passed all manner of dwellings, we never once caught the faintest whiff of the foul
stenches that so often plagued this sort of metropolis; had I shut my eyes, I’d have said we were standing in the middle of a cultivated garden, surrounded by trees and flowers. Honestly, I found the duality disconcerting. Cities were supposed to stink. Why else would anyone move to the suburbs?
“Telepylus, that’s what we call this place. It’s a gas, for the most part,” the giantess was saying, basking in the glory of the city, arms thrown wide. To me, she looked like she was posing for a lead role on The Buff and the Beautiful. She craned her neck. “Oh, thank Gaia. We’re nearly there.”
Gaia. The name struck a chord. That was the namesake of the temple we’d passed before encountering Typhon. The name given to the mother of the first batch of Titans, if memory served. The deity who personified earth—indeed, Mother Earth herself. Did that mean the Laestrygonians worshipped the Mother of Titans? Or was it her aspect they revered?
“So, is that why ye stopped eatin’ meat? For her sake?” I asked.
“What? Oh, no way Jose.” The giantess actually looked embarrassed for a moment, her broad cheeks flushed. “That happened after our island was pulled into this realm. We weren’t privy to the details. But, after that, sailors stopped coming to our island....” she drifted off. “We chowed down on the local game, first. But that hardly did the trick, dig? Anyway, then the mortals started complaining. So we ate them, too. Eventually, there was a war between us as brother and sister tried to...well...you know.”
“Cut each other up and have a barbecue,” I suggested, helpfully.
“What’s a barbecue?”
I waved that away. “What happened, then?”
“A mortal arrived. Little, like you. At first, our king planned to make a meal out of him. But the mortal used some far out magic to escape. Eventually, he convinced us that there was another way, a more harmonious way, to live. He showed us how to make things grow, how to live off what Gaia provides. It took time, but we’ve become the flower children he always claimed we could be.”
Sea Breeze: Phantom Queen Book 8 - A Temple Verse Series (The Phantom Queen Diaries) Page 16