Well, I've been gone longer than I wanted to be. I'm sorry for that, life can just really take over and not leave room for much else. Jareth has been very frustrated with me for leaving him on the coast by himself for so long!


Chapter 3

It was a surprisingly short wait. A small boat began to glide through the rough waters as if it were a toy in a duck pond. Occasionally, the back of a head would emerge momentarily from the sea, or a tail would break the water as the mermen guards pulled the dinghy along. As it came closer he could see that other sea creatures had begun to follow the vessel, eager to see who could be visiting their exiled land. Sooner than Jareth was ready for, the boat arrived, shiny and black, the surf revealing several barnacles clinging to the wood.

"Your Majesty, your Father, The King, has sent us to escort you to the castle." The merman said as he rose from the water far enough that Jareth could see the edge of where man and fish met.

Jareth sighed and nodded before stepping into the boat, bracing himself as it began to cut through the waves. He would have much rather appeared on the island as he did most places, but ever since the exile of his family, boat was the only way one could travel to the island. A few selkies followed behind as nereids frolicked ahead of the merman guards. Several rocks jutted out along the coast, housing sirens, who began their intoxicating serenade at the sight of him. He closed his eyes at the sound and cast a spell that would block his hearing. When he lived in the castle as a child the siren's song was nearly constant, allowing him to grow immune to its power, but it had been gone far too long.

Already weary of this journey and covered with a light spray of salt water, Jareth opened his eyes as he felt boat come to a stop. The guards quickly tied the dinghy back to its dock as Jareth set foot on the first slick algae covered step that rose from the sea. He felt a shiver and a rush of dread as he placed his foot on his homeland for the first time in over a thousand years.

Steadily, he made his way up the winding steps as the waves crashed against the coast of the island, the breaks nearly reached as high as the castle itself. As he got closer to the fortress he could see that it was relatively the same as he remembered it. The stones were a bit darker from the constant moisture, giant white formations of sea salt clung to certain parts where the sea reached during high tide.

As Jareth reached the end of the steps, the corroded iron gate began to rise slowly. Wary of the metal, he eyed the gate until it reached its limit before stepping into the court yard. Noticing there was no one to greet him there he marched toward the throne room, his memory drug him unwillingly back to the past as he retraced his childhood footsteps.

Anger began to rise as he thought of what his father had done, selfish ambition had left Jareth and his mother vulnerable. He could not imagine doing anything that would risk Sarah or Sybil for the desire of power. Now here he was again, back home with the suspicion his father was going to try again, regardless of the dangers.

Jareth reached the heavy wooden door as it began to open for him. The chamber was lit dimly from the watery sunlight filtering through large stained-glass windows. The imagery of sea creatures filled the panes, his father's favorites had always been the ones that depicted humans being bested by these sea creatures. It seems hind sight is 20/20, Jareth thought, his father's dislike of humans should have made him warier of his uncle, his uncle that rotted away somewhere deep inside the labyrinth.

"Jareth, King of Goblins, my my my, the prodigal son returns." His father's voice was full of mocking disdain. Jareth wasn't surprised, once he had turned his back on his father during the revolt he new that bridge was irrevocably burned.

"Father. Where's Mother?" Jareth was surprised at the calm tone of his voice, he knew he could not show his father even a hint of nervousness or he would never get what he came for.

The Sea King laughed, "Do you really think I would allow you to see her? No, you turned your back on your mother, you no longer get the privilege of her company."

"I turned my back on you Father, not Mother. Don't you remember? It was so long ago, I can see how you would forget." Jareth remained casual as he could, walking around the throne room as if this visit were a regular occurrence.

His father began to shake with rage, rising from his throne. "I remember very clearly you bastard! You ignorant fool! I could have been High King! You would have been only second in power to me! Your mother would have been High Queen, as she deserves!"

"But you are not High King, because you weren't chosen to be. Mother could have been High Queen if she had married another, and I am the second most powerful king despite your efforts to ruin my future." Jareth knew he was "poking the bear" as Sarah would say, but he could not seem to help himself.

"ENOUGH!" A shrill cry broke through Jareth's tirade as his mother rushed through a side door toward him.

"Mother." Jareth said in a whisper, barely believing his eyes. After all these years, where she wasn't even allowed to be mentioned, she was standing before him.

She had aged slightly, soft signs of worry lined her face, unusual in a fae her age, but then again, life married to the Sea King had not been kind to her.

"Astra…" the King warned.

Her Majesty reached for Jareth's hand, not daring to take her tearing eyes off him. "Llyr, our son is home. I will not have you two fighting on this happy day."

Llyr stared menacingly at his son, his hatred battling with the desire to make his wife happy.

Jareth placed a soft kiss on the back of his mother's hand before gripping it tightly. "What news have you heard?" He asked gently, his anger forgotten.

"Nothing for years now, Drest would send us messages occasionally, but that stopped." She looked into his eyes, searching for information about her family.

"Drest has been dead over 200 years now." Jareth replied simply.

His mother's free hand flew to her mouth as she gasped, "How awful for you, my dear."

Jareth sighed, when she had last seen Drest he was Jareth's protector. "No, Mother, Drest died trying to kill my wife." There was no reason to go into details, his mother did not need to know the awful plot Drest had cooked up.

"Wife? Oh Jareth, how wonderful!" Astra threw her arms around her son, engulfing him in her familiar perfume, happiness lighting her face.

She looked over his shoulder at her husband, who looked suspiciously unsurprised at the news of a daughter in law. "You knew." She stated accusingly, letting go of her son to approach her husband.

"Yes, I knew. Drest sent a message, his last message. I wanted to save you the grief of knowing your son married a human." The word human left his mouth as if forming the word left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Jareth? A human? Is this true, dear?" Astra returned to his side.

"Yes, her name is Sarah."

"Poor darling, how long have you been without her?" Astra's eyes were filled with sympathy.

"She's still alive Mother. She's barely aged a day since we married."

"How is that possible?" His father butted in.

"None of your business." Jareth bit out.

Astra held a hand out to her husband, stopping him from approaching Jareth. She smiled up at him sadly, years of loss and regret filling her eyes.

"I would love to hear about my daughter in law, darling. But I feel that you are here for another reason." Astra whispered.

Jareth sighed and nodded before looking to his father.

Llyr stared back, fighting the urge to rip his wife from Jareth's embrace.

"I want to know what you're planning Father, what halfcocked scheme you're working up."

Llyr didn't bother to feign ignorance. "What I plan to do with my time is my business, you can tell that to that busy body king of yours."

"Let me rephrase. I know you and your monsters are up to something. Stop it now and I won't kill you." Jareth growled.

"Jareth!" Astra gasped at the threat. "Your father knows better than to try anything again. Not after what happened last time."

"Astra, return to your chambers!" Llyr bellowed.

"How dare you talk-" Astra started.

"I wish to talk to my son alone." Llyr ground out.

Jareth gripped his mother's hand once more, "It will be fine, Mother. You should leave, you shouldn't have to endure this."

"But, I may never see you again." Astra's voice broke.

Jareth returned her sad gaze and kissed her cheek, whispering low in her ear. "We have a daughter, we named her Sybil." He gave her a knowing look before releasing her.

Astra returned the stare and quietly left the room, tears falling from her cheeks as she thought of the granddaughter she would never know.

Once he was sure his wife was far from the throne room he let out a bolt of power that threw a distracted Jareth against the stone wall. As Jareth returned to his senses and began to get up Llyr towered before him, doing his best to belittle his son, to return him to the child he once was.

"You come into my kingdom and demand to know what I'm doing!? You little weasel, you've become no better than the goblins you lord over, cowardly, weak willed, sneaky little shit."

Jareth returned to his feet, it was now he who towered over his father. "I am the weak one father? I am not the one that damned myself and my wife to a life of exile. I am not the one who left my child to fend off a lifetime of suspicion! I know you are up to something, I can see it in your eyes. I will kill you myself before I allow you to harm a single creature in the kingdoms." To emphasize the point Jareth used his magic to choke the air out of his father before releasing him, leaving him in a gasping heap.

"You'd never kill me, no matter what I did. You would never do that to your mother, think of how she would suffer know her sweet little boy killed his own father. You may as well kill her too." Llyr chuckled menacingly after regaining his breath.

Jareth shook with anger. He should just kill the ass now, he thought, save the world a lot of trouble. His father was right though, he could not harm his mother in such a way.

"I think its time you left." Llyr said calmly.

"I think not, Father. Not until I learn what you've been doing to occupy your time all these years. No parties, no hunts, no affairs to be had in this prison."

Llyr didn't take the bait and used all his magic to fight his son, who had grown to have an exceptional amount of magic.

Jareth could feel his father's magic trying to push him out of the room. It was annoying more than anything. If he began a power struggle here now with Llyr Jareth knew he would end up killing him with his superior power. He laughed at Llyr's attempts to move him and began to walk toward the door.

"Don't worry, Father. I'll return soon." Jareth called over his shoulder before entering the courtyard.

Jareth's face remained grim as he made his way back to the boat. His father was indeed up to something. He did not mention it, but while in the castle he could sense a multitude of magical creatures, not just the fae servants, but many others that had no ties to the Sea Kingdom. He had stayed longer than necessary hoping to be able to ferret out signs of who exactly Llyr was hiding in the fortress. Jareth could only come to one conclusion. His father was creating an army, not just his army of sea monsters, an army for land. He was planning an invasion, a war of blood, father against son.