Prologue
Part One.
Jareth watched as the royalty of the Fae world danced before him as he hung back unnoticed to the crowd. He was not dressed to impressed tonight, his riding pants still dirty from the ride in and his jacket black against the golds and pastels all around him. It had been nearly a year since Sarah had left him for the second time in his life, and he wasn't taking it good to say the least.
Yes, the Labyrinth had been in trouble, and yes, he had called on his cruel beloved to come and save it. But he hadn't planned on falling even more in love with her than he already was...hadn't planned on actually taking her for his own and...
"Ladies and gentleman!" King Colbert, the king of the Faeries said from the throne platform, a golden crib in between the king and queens seats. Jareth shook his mind away from the bewitching woman he longed for and payed somewhat attention to what was about to happen. After all, his father did say that this might get his mind off Sarah...at least for a little while.
"Ladies and gentleman..." the king said once more, his copper beard smiling at his guests while Queen Tabitha sat next to the crib, her eyes solely focused on the one thing she treasured most now.
"Thank you for coming this evening to bless our new addition to our kingdom" King Colbert said "And thank you for all your wonderful gifts. My queen and I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful we are this evening. All of you know how hard a Fae birth is on a female, and even though we were given a beautiful baby girl, we are blessed none the less."
"Here here!" a guest shouted from the back as the crowd cheered. Jareth watched and for a moment his chest pinched in pain, knowing he would never have a heir of his own like the good King Colbert was now blessed with. His Sarah was back in her world now...
"Let us see the babe!" a regal lady said.
King Colbert looked to his queen as she nodded with a smile, her delicate arms picking up the babe that cooed in her arms. The crowd seemed to pull in, wanting a look at the baby while Jareth remained still, knowing seeing the child would only bring him more pain. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, maybe he should just go back to his own castle with his goblins and be rid of this merriment.
But suddenly, it seemed a dark cloud pressed over the magnificent golden ballroom of the castle as the candle lights blew out with a chilled wind sweeping in from nowhere. Jareth was on alert immediately, knowing dark magic was around them as other guests panicked around him.
Then, like a drop of water, a dark figure dipped down from the ceiling and onto the marbled floor, the hood drooping over the face while a dark smile showed underneath.
"So sad you couldn't invite me dear Colbert" the figure said smoothly as it lifted it's head, the hood dropping down to reveal a beautiful but dark woman, her piercing eyes laying solely on the king and queen while her black lipstick smile spread out menacingly.
"Morrigan" King Colbert said with a sneer "You are not welcome here witch!"
"Oh really?" Morrigan said as the ground beneath her seemed to rot "I know you wouldn't dare enrage the greatest sorceress of all time now would you?"
"The birth of our daughter is no concern of yours" Tabitha said cradling the child closer to her chest.
"Perhaps you may be right" Morrigan said revealing a large staff beneath her cloak, a purple gem glowing bright at the tip "But your insolence was noticed a great deal. You may be queen and king of the Faeries, but I am the Phantom Queen. And your daughter has something I want."
Before King Colbert could speak again Morrigan had slammed her staff down on the ground, the earth beneath her turning everything to horrible stone as it cascaded forward, freezing guests in their place as it slithered towards the king and queen. Jareth moved to stop it, but found his feet and legs had already succumb to the spell as his body froze in place, watching the horror before him as the king and queen were frozen in stone while Morrigan approached them.
The baby remained unharmed as it wriggled with shrieking cries in her mother's cold arms.
"Now now little one" Morrigan soothed the baby as she picked it up "No need to cry. You and I will have plenty time together, just you see." She turned then to the king and queen with a smirking grin "Say goodbye to your daughter. I'm afraid this will be the last time you'll ever see one another again."
And with that, the witch turned with a growing laugh, each chuckle becoming more manically then the next as the ceiling above crashed in to reveal a black stoned dragon with horrible glowing red eyes. The dragon huffed a plume of smoke from it's nostrils as it descended down to let Morrigan and the baby on.
"Lovely party by the way!" Morrigan shrieked as the dragon took off "I had a great time!"
As soon as the witch was in the air the stone spell that surrounded the guests and royal couple lifted, the guests toppling over as the guards rushed outside to try and watch where Morrigan and her dragon had took off.
"Follow her!" King Colbert said racing out the castle doors, his horse spiraling towards him as he took off into the night with the guards following close behind him. Jareth watched with wide eyes, knowing they wouldn't be able to catch Morrigan. She was the shadow in the dark that moved wherever she pleased with magic more ancient then even Jareth's father Oberon.
But none the less, he followed out the doors, his own black horse riding up as he raced after the king, knowing even the odds were not in their favor, there might still be a chance. He caught up to the king, who was racing frantically, his eyes focused on the skies. Morrigan's black dragon could be barely seen as it moved over the clouds and towards the mountains that laid in between Jareth's kingdom and all the others.
Suddenly, the land trailed off, a massive cliff blocking the group from traveling further. King Colbert raced off his horse and towards the cliff's edge, but Jareth caught the king just in time, his grief blinding him from the massive drop below him.
"My daughter" the king said softly, watching the dragon fly away with his baby.
Jareth watched the dragon disappear over the mountains, knowing that the couldn't go farther than his kingdom.
"King Colbert" Jareth said looking over at the man but the king's eyes seemed almost empty as he stared on.
"Colbert!" Jareth said when finally the king of the Faeries turned to him "She's gone. But she hasn't gone to where we can't reach her. Morrigan could not fly that creature past my land without my own creatures going after it. Even she wouldn't be so ignorant."
"But how will we ever find her?" King Colbert said "Morrigan's magic is too strong, she could hide my daughter forever if she wanted to."
"Then we will send out a sign for your daughter every year" Jareth said looking on to the skyline of the mountains that would lead him to his own kingdom.
"And I promise" he said "I will find her."