Chapter 1
The wind bit into him past the feathers and to his heart. He never participated. It was never warranted. The villain does not celebrate with the heroes. His was a fairy tale. One with but a single happy ending. Which, rightfully, belonged to the hero who had changed for the better. Nowhere but in the stories where one was good and turned evil is the villain invited at the end.
The recent champion was playing with her friends in her childhood room with her childhood things. She wore a ridiculous paper hat, a mock crown of yellow tissue, and spoke with his subjects and basked in their praise while he perched on his limb in her tree. He flew away then. He did not care to see how much fun they all could have without him and for her his role was done.
Back on his throne in the Underground the King conjured a pretty crystal, nothing more, and watched with a satisfied smile as Toby breathed calmly in his sleep. He was such an adorable little creature. It would not have done to make him into a goblin. It warmed Jareth's heart in a way not entirely foreign when a Runner won against him. If his kingdom was any indication he was not bested often. Mothers, babysitters, nieces, friends, and all manner of relations were wished away and most were doomed to live under his care. His care was not much to speak of. The Underground did things to people that seemed to dull their wit and make crude their thoughts. That must have been what was happening. He was an adult in every aspect and she was a child. Yet, her desires, nay her wishes, had called for her being desired.
How little her mother must make her feel. And that fellow that snatched her mother away. He had been glamorous, amorous, and a trickster that the Aboveground called an actor. For some god awful reason precious Sarah Williams had wanted her antihero in the form of her mother's lover. Well let her have her friends and let her play her games. Let her love the child and learn to see that it's not Karen's fault that she fell in love with Mr. Williams. And let her, if there is anything called fairness, create a life for herself independent of her mother's approval.
