Hello Everybody,
Thank you to those that are following and have written reviews. I really appreciate it and I am very happy to know you like my little story. I wanted to make sure I finished chapter one tonight. I will be out of town for the next several days and will not be able to post anything, I will have plenty of driving to time to think of exactly where I want this story to go. Enjoy!
Chapter One
The years passed, the Priest watched as Prince Jareth grew into an intelligent and handsome prince. He still kept the secret revealed on the day Jareth was born. The Book contained powerful magic and because of that it was closely guarded. Only the current priest could handle it for fear that it could be manipulated and used by those with evil intentions. As long as the priest kept his mouth shut about the prophecy there was no way anyone else could know.
What Jareth did know from a young age was that he would one day take the place as the Goblin King. His uncle, the current Goblin King, took the young fae under his wing. Jareth studied the labyrinth that protected the goblin city and castle, it took several hundred years but he memorized every turn and dead end. He watched as his uncle fulfilled his obligations to take The Unwanted from the human world and would often play with the young children while they waited to see if those that wished them away could solve the labyrinth. The goblins seemed to respect him and the other members of the ruling families found him witty and charming, especially the women. The Prince's blonde hair was long and wild, not surprising, the magic that ran through the blood of the fae often manifested in untamable hair, as if their magic was fighting to break free of their bodies. Jareth's blue eyes were full of mischief and intelligence. He also had the habit of taking the flamboyant dress of the fae to extremes. Ladies of the court could often be seen flirting recklessly with the prince, the idea of becoming the Goblin Queen and being stuck in a castle with the unruly goblins didn't seem like such a terrible fate if they had Prince Jareth as their king.
Jareth's popularity with women was slightly worrisome to the priest. Knowing what he knew it would be disastrous if Jareth became betrothed to one of the many ladies that set their sights on him. The prophecy was written and therefore destined to happen but it did not mean that it would come easily, marriage to someone else could cause far reaching problems in both worlds. Goblin Kings did not usually marry during their tenure, they would take their turn on the throne and when the time came they would move aside for the next. It was after their reign that they would find a wife and start a family. Fae were practically immortal, extreme acts of violence could weaken them enough that they would not be able to use magic to heal themselves and dark magic could shorten their lives. Most waited at least a couple thousand years before tying themselves to a family. The ruling families were not all fae but they all tended to live lives full of decadence, why give up debauched fun for parenthood?
It was decided on the one thousandth anniversary of Jareth's birth he would be crowned Goblin King. Jareth's uncle was particularly delighted that he would soon be able to start his life of leisure. Goblins were menaces that loved to test their king and King Drest was happy to be rid of them. After the several days of wild celebration that came with any crowning the goblin kingdom quieted as much as a kingdom of goblins could. It was then the priest decided to tell Jareth of the secret that had been weighing heavy upon him these thousand years.
While the rest of the inhabitants of the castle of the High King slept, the priest quietly slipped out with a large bundle under his robes. No one must know he absconded with The Book, he had drugged the wine of the nobles and the castle guards to make sure the entire castle would sleep while he was on his mission. Reckless, of course, but he could not think of any other way to show the new king that what he was telling him was completely true, if he had not seen it with his own eyes he wouldn't have believed it.
The old man managed to get to the goblin castle through a little known shortcut in the labyrinth, only select royals and diplomats knew the way. Since he was the One Priest of The Book he was also included in the small group, Priests were often called upon by royals to help with difficult magic or times of trouble, their understanding of the magic world was second to none.
As he wondered through the castle, stepping over drunk and passed out goblins scattered through the halls he braced himself for what King Jareth's reaction would be. There was no way to know if he would become angry at the information being held for so long or if he would find joy in knowing that one day he would have a Goblin Queen to rule beside him. The old priest found the door to Jareth's office, he could see light streaming through the space under the door. He paused and sighed before knocking firmly.
"Enter."
The priest opened the door and stepped into the warm study, Jareth was sitting casually in the large chair, his booted feet were propped up on the dark wood desk in front of him. Intricate carvings of goblins in the wood looked back at the priest, varying expressions on their faces. Firelight from the fireplace danced across wooden faces, they almost seemed to be alive.
Once Jareth realized it was the Priest that entered the room he swiftly moved to a more formal pose.
"Hello, Your Majesty, congratulations are in order." The old priest bowed to the young ruler.
"Thank you, I was not aware we have a meeting scheduled, forgive me." Jareth was silently cursing the young fae that was in charge of keeping his meetings in order.
"No forgiveness needed, Your Majesty, I did not arrange a meeting. I have something to tell you of the utmost importance, so important that I went to great lengths to insure no one knows I am here." With that the priest began to remove the bundle from under his robes, revealing the sacred text.
A stunned Jareth knew what the old man was presenting and jumped up in shock and fear for the old man. The Book was never supposed to leave the High Castle, the priest could be stripped of his title and be thrown out in disgrace.
"Are you completely mad bringing that here?! Do you know what could happen to you if anyone finds out?!"
"If I did not think it necessary I would not have done it, Your Majesty. Now please, let me show you." The Priest said as he laid the book carefully on the desk searching for the correct page.
Jareth stood there, shocked to stillness. He never thought he would see The Book, it was a powerful source of magic, possibly more powerful that the labyrinth itself. The pages seem to glow as the priest flipped through them, finally resting on the pages that were revealed the day Jareth was born.
"On the day you were born I watched as The Book proclaimed your future, this is what happens with the birth of every member of your class. Everything was normal, your name appeared like all those before you, then something I have never seen before or since happened, another name presented itself." The Priest said softly as he showed Jareth the pages.
The new king stood stonily silent as the priest spoke, he paused to see if Jareth would understand what the pages meant without explanation but the king stood silently, waiting for the priest to continue.
"The name of a human woman appeared with the declaration that she is to be your queen, that she is your soulmate."
Silence filled the room as Jareth continued to stare down at the book, his brow creased in concentration. The Priest worried he had not explained well enough.
"Your Majesty, I-"
Jareth raised his hand to stop the priest.
"I heard you Priest, you do not have to repeat it. I wasn't aware The Book foretold such things." He looked up from the book to the older fae.
"It is not meant to, no." The Priest knew the book told of the future placement of royals. Occasionally it would warn of upheavals that were to come and if a royal was born with the propensity for dark magic their name would burn with a fire full of shadows, not the bright white that wrote Jareth's name.
"Your Majesty, I would not believe it if I did not see it happen with my own eyes. See these knots that connect your names? They are lover's knots, without end or beginning. This human woman is irrevocably linked to you, I do not doubt it."
Jareth absorbed this information, staring at The Book he could see that the priest was right, a human was meant to rule by his side.
"Sarah." He whispered as he caressed the name of his intended with a single finger. Magic tingled warmly through his finger and up his arm. Jareth's mouth formed a subtle smile, she was his, but where was she? Leaving his hand on the book he looked back up at the priest.
"How do I find her?"
The Priest was surprised as he watched the young king leave a protective hand over the human's name, he could see the magic traveling through his hand and into his heart. Jareth seemed unaware The Book was strengthening his connection to the woman.
"I do not know My King. Since the day you were born I have been trying to find an answer to that question. Perhaps your privileges as Goblin King will allow you to find her in the human world. You can travel there relatively freely. I have tried myself to search her out but my magic is limited to this world." The thought of the hours of work put into figuring out this particular problem tired the old priest.
"So there is no other information other than her name that you can give me? Am I meant to wander the human world calling her name until I get an answer?" Jareth felt anger bubbling up within him. Why would the priest tell him such world turning news if he had no answers?
"I do know something My King." The Priest paused, uneasy in the angry king's presence, "The day you were born I touched the knot work. I saw her. Different faces with the same eyes, deep green eyes that looked back at me."
"What the hell does that even mean?!"
The Priest sighed, Jareth's anger would not be appeased by what he was about to say, "Sarah's soul is undeniably linked to yours, but she will live many times over before she takes her place here."
Jareth took his hand off the book and walked closer to the priest, all the while staring at the old man with a steely gaze.
"Why, dear Priest, did you wait this long to tell me?"
"I-I-I did it to protect you, and her, even if you knew before now what could you have done? It wasn't until you became king that you could travel to their world."
Jareth knew the priest was right, he could not have reached her before. While he was learning his place in this world she had been in hers, living and dying possibly countless times. The thought made his heart ache. Then an idea came to him, he was ashamed he had not thought of it sooner, the solution was so clear!
Jareth left the priest's side and charged to the door, if he was meant to be with this woman then he was going to waste no time.
"Your Majesty, where are you going?"
"The Unwanted, I can't believe you didn't think of it, I-"
"I did My King, for the last thousand years I have gone to see every Unwanted that has been left here, she is not among them, I am certain of it."
Jareth's shoulder's drooped, damn, he thought. It was foolish to think it would be so easy, when was anything involving the two worlds easy? Jareth, suddenly tired, walked back to his desk and sat down, he looked up at the priest once again.
"So what shall we do?" The King waited patiently for an answer.
"I do not know, but between the both of us I'm sure we will figure it out." The priest said softly, feeling that he had failed the young fae somehow.
Jareth sighed and nodded, "You may leave now, I'm sure you need to get The Book back where it belongs, I hate to think what would happen if the High King were to find out what you did."
The Priest moved quickly into action at his dismissal, wrapping the book back up and placing it under his robes, "Yes My King, goodnight."
Deep in thought, Jareth sat for hours staring off into space trying to make sense of his conversation with the priest. Eventually he leaned back in his chair, boots back on the wooden desk. Absentmindedly he flicked his wrist and produced a crystal ball and began passing it from one hand to another. What was he going to do?
"Sarah." He whispered once again, the name felt heavy on his tongue, the way a spell does when it is spoken. From the corner of his eye a small light caught his attention, the crystal in his hand began to glow with a golden light. As Jareth stared into the orb a child came into view. A small girl in the simple rough clothing of the human world was running through a field. Her light brown curls danced with each step she took, her eyes were squinted against the bright sunlight, and though he could not hear it he could tell she was squealing in delight as she chased an older boy child through the field. A smile spread on Jareth's face as he watched her, he had the way to find her all along. A simple whisper of her name was all he needed to do, such beautiful and simple magic he thought.
The girl couldn't be any older that five, much too young to take her place with him. He could not simply snatch any child he wanted or he would simply have her raised down here until the time came for them to wed, there were some boundaries to his magic. If she was wished away then possibly but he could tell by the scene playing out in the crystal that she was a happy and well cared for child. He would simply have to wait.
With that thought Jareth flicked his wrist once more and the orb disappeared. The little girl would grow to be very beautiful he thought, he had years to figure out just how to reach her. Until then he would watch and wait.
Little did the Goblin King know of the troubles to come. That lovely child he watched play in the hay field would never grow to be his bride.
