Sarah and Jareth, Much Later (2014) - Epilogue
"Let me guess. And then you lived happily ever after?" Harry Dresden smirked.
"That is how fairy tales generally end," the Goblin Queen said warmly.
"Well," the Goblin King said, "If you ignore the fact that we received a letter from Mab the next day telling us to cut our honeymoon short as we were expected at Arctis Tor before the solstice."
"Ouch," Dresden said.
"I also seem to recall a nine-month period shortly thereafter during which you were quite waspish with me," Jareth continued with a mischievous grin.
Sarah's eyes narrowed, and her countenance took on a dangerous look, Murphy was startled to note. "I seem to recall being assured that that wasn't a possibility, that Fae had their children with humans, and that I was no longer human, tra la la."
Jareth held out his hands in supplication. "I have assured you a thousand times, my love, that I was as astonished as you."
Sarah snorted in a manner rather unbefitting a queen. "Right."
"You did ask if he wanted an heir 'the old-fashioned way,' though - right?" Dresden couldn't help but interject.
"Not helping, Dresden," Murphy stated flatly as the Goblin Queen's expression turned positively feral.
"What?" Harry asked as innocently as he could manage. "I'm just saying."
Sarah turned her vivid green eyes to the Winter Knight, a threat evident in the glance. Dresden swallowed thickly. He did have a bad habit of antagonizing dangerous beings.
"Our daughter Arianna is a lovely young woman, Sir Knight," Jareth said, hoping to diffuse the tension. "She is currently at university in your world, or she would be here to meet you. I believe the new Winter Lady has told her a great deal about you."
Harry's expression softened and became pensive. "Molly. I should have been there for her. I had no idea how the mantle would work on her. I hope she never felt as alone as you did, your highness." Harry nodded to the queen and hoped she understood the apology in his tone.
"I hope not, too," Sarah replied coolly. "But that is not something I can answer in her stead."
Murphy looked distant. This turn in conversation brought to mind several uncomfortable things that she had pondered since Dresden had assumed the mantle of Winter Knight and his apprentice Molly had unexpectedly become the Winter Lady.
Sarah looked at the varying expressions on her guests' faces and had a flash of insight. "The mantle will not destroy her, Sir Knight - or you. Molly is not Maeve. It was the Adversary who destroyed her, not Winter. You already had darkness within you, as I did. We could not be creatures of Winter without it. You have seen the Outer Gates. You know what is at stake for Mab, and for all of us. We need this darkness to preserve the light."
Harry shook his head sadly. "I just wanted Molly to be safe."
"Safe? Or protected by you?" the Goblin Queen asked pointedly.
The Winter Knight remained silent. Murphy was surprised his well of witty rejoinders had seemingly run dry.
"The Winter Lady's path was probably inevitable. You have known her since she was a girl, and unknowingly or not, you propelled her right along that path. I made my own bargain as a child. Perhaps Molly did as well. Stop tormenting yourself with guilt. What's done is done." Sarah shrugged.
Murphy broke the uncomfortable silence with the one question no one had yet thought to ask. "Did any of you ever figure out why Mab wanted all of you together today?"
"Thank you, Karrin Murphy," Jareth smiled. "The formidable warrior sets us back on course. I confess that I still have no idea what Mab's aim is - although her stratagems are generally beyond me."
A shrewd smile spread slowly across Sarah's face. "I think we've become so accustomed to our queen's machinations that we've overlooked the most obvious thing, my love. What if this truly is a simple diplomatic matter? Not a negotiation, but a simple fact-finding mission."
Jareth smiled roguishly. "And we've just willingly given up the story of our greatest secret and our most valuable asset."
"Indeed we have, just as we were meant to," Sarah said triumphantly.
"Huh?" Dresden asked.
"The Adversary cannot touch us here, Sir Knight," Jareth said. "The Goblin Kingdom is a true safe haven from that contagion. Mab manipulated everything over centuries to create a secret stronghold which her enemies could not even enter. We welcome outcasts of every sort, but none are infected. We are safe here. Well, we have darkness aplenty - but no evil of that kind."
Harry Dresden's long, lean face brightened. "A safe haven - a real safe haven."
"Almost no one knows - Mab, the Lady Lenora, a handful of others - and now you two," Sarah said. "There are so few trustworthy humans, but I think our secret is safe with you. And I believe this is necessary information for you, Sir Knight."
A number of discordant facts had already clicked into place in Harry's head. "I think so too, your highness. Thank you."
The squat dwarf who had shown the visitors in suddenly popped back into the room. "Sorry to interrupt your majesties, but Sir Tobias just sent word that he would be arriving from the Eastern Territories this evening."
"Excellent - thank you, Higley," Jareth smirked.
"It's Hoggle, and you know it, you rat!" the little man groused.
"Yes," Jareth said with an indulgent smile as the dwarf exited.
"So Toby did come to live in the Underground?" Murphy asked. She had been curious how that had turned out.
"Oh, yes," Sarah said proudly. "He took to it like a natural. He was kicking goblins almost as well as Jareth by the time he was seven."
"He came to live with us almost immediately, even before Arianna was born. So then we had - what is that crude human phrase? 'An heir and a spare'?"
"That's the one," Murphy said with a chuckle.
"Your race is so fond of rhymes. Yes. You know, unlike Sarah, he genuinely was a changeling," Jareth said. "I mean, in the traditional sense. He was half Fae, but he had been switched at birth, at the hospital. He wasn't Robert and Karen's child at all."
"I always had wondered how they had such a fair son. I mean, I knew Karen's hair color came straight from a bottle," Sarah insinuated snidely, "But I'd figured she was just cheating on dad."
"Tut-tut, my love," Jareth said. "That is unkind."
"Well, I did wonder. And you know how unkind she was to me!"
"Perhaps if she had been less unkind we would not have met, Sarah mine."
"Perhaps not," Sarah acquiesced.
There was a comfortable lull in the conversation until Harry broke it by saying, "Well, if our diplomatic mystery is solved, maybe we'd better get out of your hair."
"You are always welcome in the Goblin Kingdom, Sir Knight - as are you, Miss Murphy," Sarah said. She rose, followed by first her king and then her guests. "Truly, you may visit at any time."
"Thanks," Dresden said. "Is it wrong to shake your hand?"
Sarah laughed. "Of course not." She held out her gloved hand and received Harry's firm but careful grip. She looked at him in surprise. "Your dreams...are complicated."
"To say the least," he grinned.
The queen held out her hand to a reluctant Murphy. Karrin pursed her lips and gave the proffered hand a businesslike pump. "Your dreams are sweeter, Miss Murphy. Don't discount them. Every warrior longs for the warmth of home."
Murphy blushed, a sight Harry rarely saw. "Thank you for an interesting afternoon, your highness."
"It was a pleasure meeting you both," Jareth said.
"Thank you for trusting us with your story," Harry said.
Jareth simply nodded and sent them on their way.
Dresden and Murphy came back through the same Way in the Chicago alley they had used to leave.
"That was quite a tale," Murphy said as she tried to gauge how much time had passed while they were away. Time always ran differently in the Nevernever, but the 26 hour day of the Underground complicated things further.
"It really was," Harry agreed. "But I believe it. The Fae can't lie, you know."
Murphy snorted. "But they don't have to tell the whole truth, either. You know that."
"I think they probably left out just enough to keep it interesting," Harry said with a thoughtful smile. "But all that tea put me in the mood for a steak sandwich and some excellent ale. McAnally's? On me, Murph."
"Sounds good," she said. "Lead the way…"
~FIN~
Notes and Acknowledgements:
Thank you so much for reading my first fanfic! I wrote this a few years ago and only posted here because someone dared me to do it. I figure it was worthwhile if only one other person enjoys my story. I hope that person was you!
"Goblin Frost" was the first novella I ever wrote. I had only written short stories and poetry before, but fan fiction allowed me to play with concepts and characters in a way that unleashed my creativity and helped me to relax about the end product and to just...tell the story.
Although I reiterate that I have no ownership of the characters in this work or the original works from which they came, I would like to acknowledge all of the creators of the source material: Jim Henson, Terry Jones, and the inimitable Jim Butcher. The characters of Sarah and Jareth would also be mere shadows if it weren't for the enduring performances of Jennifer Connelly and the late - and greatly missed - David Bowie. (I think I may have made Jareth a little too "nice" in my story, but blame that on my terrible love for Bowie himself.)
I would also like to thank every single one of the goblins, and the Jim Henson's Creature Shop artists who created them.
I can neither confirm nor deny that I wrote this entire novella merely for the scene in which Queen Mab makes her appearance, but there may have been rumors to that effect. ;)
Please forgive any errors you may have seen - particularly any formatting errors, as I didn't realize until halfway through posting that both my section dividers and all use of italics disappeared when I posted. Live and learn, I guess!
Sincerely, though - thank you for reading.