Chapter One: The Beginning
Once upon a time there was a Fairy King. He was great, and perfectly formed in mind, will, and body. His magic was strong, and his heart filled with the beauty of vast his kingdom.
One day as he surveyed his lands the King realized that he was lonely, so he created others like himself, not as great, surely, for such greatness could never be remade, but fine and beautiful to look upon, if cold in their hearts and cruel in their eyes.
They were the Shee.
These became his devoted subjects; they served him and rushed to see that his every whim or yearning was fulfilled. Still he was burdened with loneliness, for such as he was easily bored with the games of the Shee; they overtaxed him with their endless need for joy, something that they could not create for themselves; and eventually they turned from him and they pursued their own sparse joys, which quickly soured into jaded amusements.
The king made a great Court for them to find amusement in and he set them all within, not caring about his creations now that their spark of hope had died and their hearts, cold as they were, frozen harder and harder as the years passed by until they resembles nothing so much as dried, rotten wood. Brittle, and easily shattered if touched. The king began to wander his lands endlessly then, searching for the cure to his loneliness. He traveled the Borderlands of his kingdom and he chanced upon two beautiful mares, walking in the grass; and so perfect were their forms, so simple their wishes and so bountiful their joys that he instantly fell in love with them.
One was midnight black, the other the color of new fallen snow. They were Shadow and Light. He immediately approached the mares, his power shining about him in a great and terrifying halo, and asked them to be his wives; the black one agreed hastily and with greed in her dark eyes; the white paused, her silver eyes unsure, but since her sister said yes, then she did as well.
The king brought the mares, who were beautiful women when they chose to be, to the Shee Court and for a time his subjects loved their Queens, both light and dark, in equal measure. Soon though, they favored the Shadow Mare, for it was her nature to be cruel, as it was theirs. The Light Mare often found solitude her companion, and though she loved her husband, she was filled with a great sorrow.
Years passed, centuries without number.
By the mares, that were called the Mares of the Moon, for the moon was their mother, half light, half shadow, the Fairy King had two sons. The first was dark as morning shadows; beautiful of face and cruel of deed; his mother was the dark mare. The second was fair like the night's first stars; and he was handsome and seemingly cold of heart; his mother was the white mare.
The first son was named Gailien, for the word was of his father's language, and meant 'Bold of Spirit'. The second was named Jareth, which came from his mother's tongue, which was born, like she, of the moon itself, and which meant too many things than could be counted, including: hope, the passing of time, the wind through the standing stones, a white fox running through frozen snow with a bloody paw, love never-ending, unexpected chance, and a winter owl with dark eyes.
The king poured his joy into his sons and his wives but as an eon passed his joy began to wane; for it is the curse of his kind to find sorrow in long years without end. He turned his hand then to create wonders in his lands under the hills.
Castles and vaulting wonders he made, both of light and of dark, but they did not fill him with joy. Great mazes that spanned leagues for him to lose himself in did not hold his attentions. Lower creatures, different from the Shee, with odd shapes and wild natures he made in hundreds and in thousands, both great and small; but soon he abandoned them to the lands. He made fair and foul in hope to find solace, but there was none for him, and still he wandered. Still he wanders.