Queen of the Rogues

of mysteries and answers

tell me this is true,
tell me it's a lie.

M A D D I E ♛

My head was spiralling. Down and downer I went, but I stood still. Cassian's eyes reminded me of mine, the same deep green that reminded me of the forests I loved to roam.

"H-how? Y-you've been alive all this time?" he asks, the words barely coming out of his mouth. He was trying to piece the puzzle and so was I.

There was no doubt about it, the boy I've been seeing in my dreams since I was a child was him. He looked the same, just taller and leaner.

"You look so much like mom." he says, reaching a hand over to my cheek and instead of fighting it off, I smiled and let him touch my face.

I was a dam trying to hold the water off and it was foolish because it didn't work and the water flowed.

"Alone... I thought I was all alone." I sobbed the words out.

♛

The meeting was much to surreal. I felt like I was still dreaming and I needed to pinch myself real hard to the point that my skin bled only to know that I wasn't dreaming. This was reality and I need to face it.

I was currently standing in front of Cassian at the back of the pack house as I started walking away with him towards nowhere in particular. I was thankful when Hannah and Hazel led everyone away and gave us the time and space we needed.

Cassian was still overwhelmed just as I was. Silence reigned for a few moments, the tension was still there, but we didn't say anything.

I was still thinking about what he said, about me looking like... mom.

I stopped on my tracks and observed him as he walked forward. He stopped when he noticed that I stopped walking with him. He looked back at me and the sight of me must've hurt because he immediately looked away, looking towards the dancing trees at the palm of the wind and then the ground became his next object of interest.

"We... we looked for you for years. You just turned three years old when we were travelling as a family towards the Council for the yearly Council meeting because mom was part of the Elders then. We were ambushed and the next thing we knew... you were gone." he explained slowly, finding the right words to say, stringing the phrases together so I would understand what happened.

He wanted to say more, but the shock of the sudden turn of events must not have sank in yet because no words came out anymore.

I nodded and walked beside him again. Understanding the turmoil he must be feeling right now.

I also had a lot of things to say and I wanted to tell it all to him right now. So I started from the very beginning.

"I was found by a rogue, her name was Sherry." I smiled at the remembrance of Sherry, the one who tried so hard to shelter me from hurt, "she found a handkerchief with my name sewed on it, Madeline."

He listened intently, not letting a word slip by.

"Wh-which pack took you in? We must thank them greatly. It couldn't have been here right, I've been in this pack many times and I've never seen you." he spoke rapidly, he was getting anxious of what to do next.

I smiled at him and shook my head. "No. I lived as a rogue." I tell him. His eyebrows meet and I can tell that he is confused.

"A-all these years? H-how are you here then? How did you meet Chase?"