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Rumor had it that somewhere within the heart of Neverland lies the Queen. The lost boys were rarely allowed near her, but there were stories. Stories of the one and only lost girl. Stories of how one day the lost girl had just snapped, showcasing animalistic tendencies that only Pan was known to show. Whenever a lost boy dared to speak of her, Pan would just raise an eyebrow "A queen? Neverland has no king there is definitely no queen." Yet after he answered he would always disappear for a while. The boys knew better than to question their leader, once they heard his answer they would stop asking. Neverland had no queen. It was as simple as that, the idea of a queen would then be quickly forgotten as they began a new game. Yet one lost boy could never forget the queen. Felix would often lay awake at night, the scar on his face throbbing. He could see her, hear her screeching as Pan tore her off of him.
Within the wood, Wendy Darling sat hunched within her cage. All the years sitting within the confined space would be enough to drive anyone mad. She traced her fingers over the sticks holding her captive. At the sound of shoes crunching through the dead leaves surrounding her, she snapped up. Her eyes wide, excited. Then the boy king himself appeared in front of the cage, his loyal lost boy in tow behind him. "What a wonderful surprise!" She exclaimed, her voice hoarse from lack of use. "I apologize if I knew I was going to have guests I would have cleaned up the place." As she spoke her fake smile dropped into a scowl. "What can I do for you, Peter?" She hissed. At the mention of his first name Pan narrowed his eyes, she never seemed to learn. "It's lovely to see you too Bird." It had been so long since she had last seen Peter, even longer since he called her bird. If she was still the girl she was when her feet first touched the ground of Neverland, the poison lacing the once endearing nickname would sting. But she was not the same girl. She would never let him forget that he is the reason she is no longer Wendy Moira Angela Darling, she was now just the caged queen. "Oh it's been so long I thought you forgot about that cute little name," She spoke softly. If he didn't know better the space in his chest where his heart should've been would've ached. "I don't forget. Now bird, I am missing a lost boy. You wouldn't happen to know what happened to him?" He spoke coldly, with no signs of the affection he once showed the caged animal. Wendy tapped a finger on her lips as if she was deep in thought, "the boys aren't allowed near me, except for that one." She smiled and pointed the finger she was tapping at Felix. "Your scar looks great by the way Felix. Healed up all nice." Pan took a step closer to the cage, meeting eyes with the second monster to inhabit the island, oh his poor queen. "We are speaking bird. I have a missing boy and all of a sudden the boys are asking me about the queen again."
Her grin was so wide it looked inhuman, mirrored his own signature smile. "That's so adorable even when I am here I'm still the queen."
"The boy Wendy, where is he?"
Sometimes the lost boys would come across her. They would dare eachother to search for the queen when Pan was not around. Curly walked slowly through the wood, trembling slightly. Being a newer lost boy he was captivated by the idea of a girl on the island, one so vile she was hidden away. He did not remember girls to be the way the older boys explained the queen, he remembered girls to be sweet and kind and smelled of flowers. So he sought her out, hoping to be able to see a girl once more. But he would be lying if he said the stories didn't scare him.
As he slowly walked he heard what sounded like humming. He whipped around, looking frantically to find where the sound came from. He spun in circles as he wandered, feeling as if he wasn't getting any closer to the sound. But then his back hit something hard, and the humming stopped. "Walking into someone's home is quite rude." A voice came from behind him. He spun around to meet bright blue eyes. He had knocked into a large wooden cage and just like the rumors said there was a girl sitting within it. Her hair was wild, large waves spilling off her head in all directions. She was covered in dirt and the once white dress she wore was torn and grass-stained. Curly sniffed the air, there was no smell of flowers. She sat crouched within the cage studying him. "Are you a new lost boy?" She asked her head tilted to the side. He was so startled by her sudden appearance words were lost in his throat. He just stared at her, mouth agape for a moment. He then cleared his throat to ask the question on his mind, "are you the queen of Neverland?" She smiled at him, it was almost endearing. That was always their first question. "Depends who you ask, there was once a time the lost boys knew me as mother sometimes even the queen. Yet I'm sure Peter doesn't call me either of those anymore."
Curly didn't know what to say, he had found her. He had found the queen. "Peter…?Why are you in a cage?" Oh, the lost boys were always so full of questions. It was so sweet, they were so curious. "Oh I apologize to you he is Pan. To me he is Peter." She clarified "I am in the cage because Neverland is not supposed to have a queen. Or girls at all." It was true. Neverland was not a place for girls, it had a way of stealing the innocence of anything that entered. As soon as your feet touched the sand of the Nevershore, you were no longer free to make your own decisions. She was forced to play games where apples were shot off her head, where she had to run as thorns and vines tore at her nightgown and her ankles, get tackled by hungry boys whose breath was hot against her ear. Neverland had a way of taking girls who were taught to be prim and proper and turning them into snarling animals who would hold daggers against the face of the first lost boy. "How did you get here… if girls aren't allowed?" The boy whispered at her. Her smirk turned to a more genuine smile, "I came to save my brother, Peter would not let him go. I don't know what happened to him. He was not within the camp when I arrived and Peter was not going to let me leave a second time." She explained. "You have left before?" The boy asked in awe. "Peter let me go… He didn't want me so he sent me away." Curly was shocked, as far as he was told no one was allowed to leave Neverland, and obtaining Pan's permission to leave was an impossible task. "Do you have any more questions lost one?" She asked, her voice soft and motherly. He could understand why the boys had once called her mother. He was so full of questions, he wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to ask Pan why he kept their mother away in a cage. Why he denied her existence.
"Do you know why we aren't supposed to come to see you?" He asked. Her smile faded, "Because mothers make boys weak. Mothers tell lost boys to run far away from the island. That death by mermaids is a more timely fate than being stuck here. Because Neverland has no king so there is no need for the lost boys to know there is a queen." The words spilled from her mouth, unable to contain them. "Because the Queen makes the King look weak. That no boys are allowed to know that Pan is very different than Peter." Curly stared at her, drinking up every word she spoke. There was once a time all the lost boys would look at her like this when she was a known storyteller. Even a time when Peter Pan himself would sit amongst the boys, interrupting her story asking for stories of him. The stories of Peter Pan used to be her favorite, since she was thrown in the cage stories of him were more cautionary than of his adventures. "Neverland is for no one but Pan, the rest of us are better off attempting to hide amongst Hook and his crew to keep us safe. Unless you want to end up like me." The boy then looked fearful, she had scared him. "All your questions answered lost one?" She finished. The boy nodded.
"I am Curly… I forgot to say before." Wendy's thin hand reached through the bars of her cage, placing a motherly hand on the lost boy's head, feeling his curls beneath her trembling fingers. "I am Wendy, Wendy Darling." She once again reminded him of a mother. "Will you be my mother?" He asked, eyes wide looking up at her. She retracted her hand as if he burned her, "I am sorry Curly but I am no longer a mother. You have a real mother at home looking for you. Find a way back to her before it's too late," Her tone was serious and grave. It scared Curly. "If you can find Tinkerbell she might be able to help you if you tell her Wendy sent you. She is a fairy and was once my friend. If not please go to Hook. Leave before you start to forget." Curly's eyes were wide, "I don't want to grow up." He stated stubbornly. "Nobody does Curly, but your family needs you. Your mother misses you. I cannot give you what you need from within this cage so please, please just run." She begged the boy. Talking with the queen had reminded him that he missed his mother. But when he attempted to picture the woman, she was only shapes. In his mind, he attempted to picture her features but the more he tried the shape of his mother morphed into the queen. A girl instead of a woman, with delicate curls and a smile that made him forget feeling so lost. With reassuring touches and reminders of love. "Thank you, Queen," He spoke quietly giving her his best bow (it was very clumsy but what did she expect from a lost boy). "I hope you can go home soon too." He finished before turning on his heel and running past her, away from the camp.
She slumped back against the wall of her cage, quite satisfied with herself. Another boy running out of the clutches of Pan. Another boy that might just make it back to his mother, his real mother. She flexed the hand she used to touch his curls, staring at it. Wondering if she had been able to grow up if she could have had a son like Curly. But she knew if she was ever to escape she would never have a child, out of fear that one day Peter Pan may come back to collect from her. Or maybe it was the fear of what she had become on the island that made her want to never have a child. She closed her eyes allowing the few rays of light that slipped through the trees to warm her face, attempting to picture her own mother. She couldn't even conjure up a silhouette.
"Bird. Where is Curly?" Peter hissed through the bars. Wendy opened her eyes, green meeting blue. She leaned close to the bars, close to him. "I ate him." She whispered against the bars. "Nonsense bird," He whispered back, shuttering at the feel of her breath through the bars. "He was a sweet little thing, what a shame you let him come to see me." She hissed. If he wanted her to be a monster. Let him think her a monster. Let him think that she devoured lost boys who wandered looking for the queen. "You'll never see the boy again." She smirked at him. In a small fit of rage that could only be shown by the king, her king, he grabbed onto her cage and shook it violently. She rattled about a bit, but his childish temper tantrums no longer affected her. She had grown accustomed to his anger, the anger only she could elicit from him. Seeing him in this state was the only bit of joy she got to experience aside from the wandering lost boys. A state only she could put him in. One where he would use the hands he once used to touch her so gently to thrash out in anger. "When will you learn your place." He spoke through clenched teeth. "When they stop thinking I rule by your side," She countered. He shoved the cage away from him, as a laugh bubbled up on her lips. He turned away from her his fingers running through his hair wildly. Felix leaning against a tree behind him, silent. As much as he was loyal to Pan, Wendy scared him. The island had made her as unpredictable as Pan. When she had once shivered and quaked in fear of Pan's anger, now it seemed to fuel her. Peter let out a roar of frustration before stomping away, the knight in tow. "Goodbye, my king! See you soon!" She called after him laughter still pouring from her mouth.
Then the queen was once again alone, dangling from a tree. Her cage slightly swaying from the force he had shoved her away with. She folded her hands in her lap as the laughter died down. Preparing for the next time a boy came to see if the rumors of the queen in the cage were true.
She couldn't wait.