A/N: My thanks go out to hopekills16, animegirl333, the ness-ness, Blackspade003, notwritten, and Arianna Mitoko for your awesome reviews.

Some of you are already pointing fingers at who you think did what and have told me about it. Others probably have the idea in their head and are just waiting to see if they're right. I hope you are…

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Chapter 21

Mai stifled a yawn as she opened her eyes. Her mind, though still slightly clouded, was clear enough to realize that the ceiling she was staring up at was not the one in her room.

Her body was still warm, but the intense heat of desire was gone. She felt oddly complete and full with satisfaction. It confused Mai as she stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling.

Then it dawned on her. She could have broken her word last night. She could have slept with someone.

Mai looked under the sheets for a moment before dropping them back in place. Yep. She was nude. So was the man sound asleep next to her. Curious to know who her first time had been with, Mai sat up and leaned over. Her eyes widened in shock.

Jareth.

Mai slid out of bed and nearly tripped on her white dress that was lying in a pile next to the bed. Everything came flooding back as she stared at the slumbering Goblin King. Every scream. Every thrust. Every moan. Every white hot touch that sent pleasure coursing down her spine. Every velvet kiss. Everything.

"No…" Mai whispered, backing towards the bathroom door. "No. I didn't. I couldn't have."

But she knew she had and that she had enjoyed every moment of it. She hurried into the bathroom and locked both that door and the door that led to her room. She turned the shower on as cold as she could stand it and started scrubbing.

She had to get rid of the feeling of Jareth's touch. The feeling of his kisses had to go away as well. Mai knew that she should get rid of his taste by brushing her teeth vigorously and using a liberal amount of mouthwash. The memory would always be there, along with the feelings she had experienced with it and there was nothing she could do about that.

Damn you Jareth, she thought, letting a few tears mingle with the water droplets on her face. And damn my mother too.

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Jareth woke up feeling more satisfied than he had in years. This puzzled him as he sat up and glanced at the other side of his king sized bed. Whoever had been with was gone, but had obviously been in a hurry because he could see her dress and panties on the floor next to the bed.

Jareth wrapped the white bed sheet around his lower half and got out of bed. He bent down and picked up the white dress and smirked for a moment before realizing who had been wearing the same white dress the previous night.

"Mai," he whispered, running the silk through his fingers. He rolled is eyes. "That girl is going to go crazy about this and blame me. She was the one who threw herself at me…"

Jareth walked over to the bathroom door after scooping up Mai's underwear. The door was locked, so he knocked.

"Occupied!" Mai called needlessly from within.

"Mai, you forgot your clothes in my room," Jareth said calmly.

"Keep them." Mai ordered. "I don't want them anymore."

Mai was being difficult and Jareth didn't like it. "Mai, is this because of last night?"

"Go away Jareth or I'll sweep your glitter up!"

"Mai we need to talk about this, don't we?"

"I'm kind of busy at the moment. I'm cleaning you off of me."

Jareth sighed. "Do you want me to leave your clothes in your room?"

"No. I don't want them. Throw them out for all I care. I don't want them." Mai repeated, smacking her brush against the counter.

Jareth sighed once more and walked away from the door. He threw Mai's unwanted clothes in his wardrobe and started looking for his outfit for the day.

"We will talk about this Mai," he whispered, glancing at the bathroom door as he pulled on his tights.

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Mai knew that showing too much skin would be a mistake with all the horny males around, but covering herself too much would be like holding a sign broadcasting that she was hiding something. She pulled on light blue jeans and a black muscle shirt. The jacket she had planned on wearing was shoved back in the wardrobe because of the early morning heat.

She poked her head out of her room and looked around to make sure the coast was clear. Seeing no Elf or Goblin, she moved out of her room, her sandals barely making any noise on the rough stone floor.

I don't think anyone would understand or forgive me if I told them about last night's events, Mai thought, peeking around a corner before pressing onward. So unless Jareth spills or I'm forced to tell them, I won't speak of it. God, I hope he used protection. The last thing I need is to be pregnant with the Goblin King's child.

Mai entered the Escher Room, hoping that wandering around it would help her calm her thoughts.

"What do you think you are doing?" Jareth's voice echoed around the room.

Mai paused on a ceiling staircase. "I'm trying to lose my memories of last night Goblin King," she announced, staring straight ahead.

"And why would you want to do that?" Jareth asked, standing in an archway across the room. "Did you not enjoy yourself?"

"It's not a matter of it I enjoyed sleeping with you," Mai said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's a matter of trust. You broke that trust Jareth when you took advantage of me."

"You were the one who threw yourself at me," Jareth reminded her.

"I was drunk!" Mai exclaimed, turning to face him. "I was drunk and confused! You weren't! You could have prevented this from happening!"

Jareth closed his eyes and nodded. "I could have, but you were so insistent…and I could barely taste any wine on your breath…"

Mai looked down and leaned back against a wall. She didn't really remember getting too drunk. She didn't even get a hangover that would have been proof that she had indulged herself too much in the alcohol department. But then again, she wasn't sure if she needed to drink a lot to be like an intoxicated person when she was feeling the strong sexual urge.

"And I completely betrayed my friend," Mai said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Which one?"

"Sarah." She saw something shift behind his eyes at the name. "I betrayed her by sleeping with you. You were the man of her fantasies for years after all…I don't want to think about how she'll react to me sleeping with you."

"You don't have to tell her. I will." Jareth said, his eyes snapping open. "It's not like she doesn't hate me that much already."

Mai sighed. "I can't make matters between you two worse…We could both tell her…or we could not tell her at all." She shrugged. "It's not like anyone likes hearing about people's sexual affairs. Unless they're really sick minded creeps like Ares."

Then she remembered that she was supposed to be married to Ares before summer ended. Her grandfather had planned on her losing her virginity to Ares. At least she liked Jareth more than Ares anyway. Maybe it was better this way.

"So, we won't tell?" Jareth asked. "And you'll be fine with that?"

Mai nodded. "Now can you point me in the direction of how to get out of here? I have to go see Rorek about something."

Jareth pointed to the arch behind her silently. Mai silently thanked him and walked away.

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The memory of their discussion in the library made her cautious as she walked down the halls of the castle. Today, she was supposed to be attacked. Any one of the people she passed could be the person who wanted her dead.

Rorek was not in his chambers when she found it, but a naked woman was in the white bed. After making sure Mai wasn't another mistress, the woman told her that she might find the Elf King wandering about, looking for someone. Mai left the grouchy woman to her own devices after receiving the information she needed. She guessed that she would be treated to the same treatment as that woman if Rorek married her off to Ares or any Elf male for that matter. Hopefully Jareth's ownership of her would last long enough for her to find a way out of it by using the Goblin King's useful library.

There was a shortcut to her hall and Mai stood before it, staring at the fake wall. If she went down that way, it would be shorter, but more dangerous. No one really knew of the shortcut, but her would-be murderer could.

Defenses, Mai thought, running the minor defensive magic through her mind. I have to keep my guard up and have my defenses at the ready…

What she really wanted was to get this horrible business with her grandfather over with as quickly as possible. She guessed she could chance the shortcut. She'd just have to run as fast as she could from point A to point B.

First her feet would have to move and they weren't.

Mai looked down at her sandaled feet. "Well, c'mon feet," she said. "We gotta move or people will think I'm crazy just standing in front of this 'wall'."

She started walking and felt the funny tingling of the Labyrinth's magic as she passed through the fake wall. The other fake wall was one hundred feet away and the passage was dimly lit due to the high on the wall windows.

"Don't be a chicken Mai," Mai ordered herself.

She started walking at a brisk pace. Half way to her destination, the passageway grew noticeably colder and Mai heard something move behind her. She turned and saw Valeria standing a few feet away from her. The Changeling was looking down at the ground like she was a child trying to get herself out of trouble.

A sigh of relief escaped Mai's lips. "Valeria, you startled me."

"I'm sorry," the Changeling whispered, not looking up from her dainty shoes.

"It's all right, but please make some noise next time," Mai said, smiling slightly.

"Like your scream?" Valeria questioned.

Mai's smile faltered. "What?"

The Changeling looked up at Mai with blank eyes. "You haven't heeded my warnings girl," she snarled in a voice that was not her own. "The Goblin King's heart is mine, not yours, but you still attempt to steal it from me!" She smirked. "You just hit strike two my dear."

Mai took a step back as Valeria raised her hands. Blue energy shot out from the small palms of the Changeling and Mai dodged them…

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"Jareth, I am allowed to give her hand away to any male I want," Rorek said, looking up at Jareth as he polished his sword. "It is my right as her King and her grandfather."

"She is my subject though," Jareth reminded the old Elf. "She was wished specifically to me before any of us learned her true identity."

"She was wished to you by your own brother," Rorek pointed out. "You two could have planned it all, knowing very well who she was."

"We didn't."

"And how am I to know that is true?"

Jareth rolled his eyes. "I just feel like you are rushing the girl. She knows nothing about your customs or who anyone in Elf Country is."

"She can be taught."

"You seem eager to get rid of your last tie to Rebecca," Jareth commented. "You do realize any child she bears for Ares will not be a pure Fae which is something your family line boasts."

Rorek smirked. "I've already arranged to have her be converted into a full Fae before her wedding day."

"The procedure could kill her," Jareth pointed out, shocked that Rorek would even suggest such a procedure. "Then you would have no princess to marry off. You would have no link to your daughter's life to latch onto."

Rorek shrugged his shoulders. "By going through with this procedure, Mai will become my true granddaughter."

Jareth was spared showing his disgust to the Elf by Mai entering the room. She looked like she had been rolling around on the ground – a seriously bumpy ground – and had an unconscious Valeria slung over her shoulder firefighter style. She didn't look mad or happy or even sad. There was just a blank mask on her face preventing her thoughts and emotions from being discovered.

"She attacked me," Mai announced, setting the Changeling on a chair carefully.

Rorek stood up angrily and made to hack Valeria into pieces. Mai glared at him and got in his way.

"Let me finish!" she ordered.

Rorek lowered his sword. "Please…continue," he muttered.

"Valeria attacked me in the shortcut to the hall leading to my room," Mai continued, lowering her guard once she was sure Rorek wasn't going to try anything. "She used magic against me -"

"Changelings don't have magic," Jareth pointed out, interrupting her.

Mai looked at Jareth. "She didn't talk like she normally does and she looked like she was lost in her head. She told me that I had hit strike two, then she attacked me."

Jareth crossed his arms. "She was being controlled. That's the only way to explain it."

Mai nodded and looked down at the Changeling who seemed to be engulfed by the large chair.

"She seemed to come out of it for a moment before I knocked her out," Mai whispered. "She complained about how dark it was and she could see nothing. No auras. No magical pulsations in the walls of the castle. Nothing." She hesitated. "Valeria is blind Jareth. Whoever was controlling her, blinded her first so she couldn't identify them."

Jareth nodded slowly. "Using a servant…clever."

"She should still be executed Jareth!" Rorek declared, pointing at Valeria. "An attack on royal blood is punishable by death."

"Rorek, the girl was being controlled," Mai said, looking at him. "She was not responsible for her actions. And I…I was not seriously injured."

"You weren't this time, but what about next time? Hm?" Rorek rounded on Jareth. "I want that Changeling punished for her crimes now!"

"Should I arrange to have you punished as well?" Jareth questioned.

"Why?"

"You are planning to have a procedure done on your own granddaughter that is the equivalent of an attack pain-wise," Jareth reminded him. "She is of royal blood and therefore, you should be punished for planning to hurt her."

Rorek looked like he had been slapped across the face. Mai, now re-blocking Valeria, looked confused.

"What procedure?" she asked.

Rorek threw his hand in the air. "Fine. Don't punish her. The procedure will still happen, due to the High King's permission." He smirked. "The wedding will still go as planned."

Ares walked in, smelling of a flowery perfume Mai would never wear. He smiled at her and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"You slept with a whore again, didn't you?" Jareth asked, glancing at the dark haired Elf.

"How do you know I wasn't with my betrothed?" Ares questioned, his face not admitting guilt.

Mai's gaze met Jareth's and held it for a moment. Both knew Ares had not been a factor last night. There had been two bodies, one bed, one room, and no one's first name started with A. She hoped he could come up with a lie and a good one because her mind was drawing up a big blank.

"Mai told me last night she would be going back to her room early because she wasn't feeling her best," Jareth said. "Apparently, PMS is a bitch. I personally saw her leave and checked in on her periodically via crystal ball throughout the night."

There was a small sort of disbelief at that from the doorway. Mai glanced over at it and felt a small pang of hate. Tara was standing there in all her perfect glory, looking like she knew something the other two Elves did not. Mai hoped she didn't know about last night, though by the way Tara was looking at Jareth, she had a bad feeling about it.

"I think it's pretty safe to say that everyone in this room, excluding the Changeling, had some fun last night," Tara said. "So I don't see why you should lie to everyone, dear Jareth. Mai is a big girl. She can handle herself."

Mai shot her a dirty looked. This Fae was trying to ruin her and Jareth in one fair swoop.

If there is a Goddess out there, Mai thought. Do something. Strike her dead. Make a cake explode. Make this girl go all blotchy in the face. Light Jareth's tights on fire. Make Tara vanish.

She looked down at Valeria for some reason. She thought she had felt a ripple in the air near the Changeling. She put a hand on the pale forehead of the Changeling and was startled.

"Jareth," she whispered, crouching down next to the Changeling. She put a hand on the side of Valeria's thin neck.

"Hm?"

Mai stared at the pale face of Valeria. "Valeria is gone," she breathed. She looked up the Goblin King. "She's dead."

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A/N: And we'll leave it there on that sad note. Bet you didn't know that was going to happen to nice little Valeria. ~sighs~ I really do need to stop killing off the innocent characters in my stories. ~slaps self~ Bad me!

Anyway, please read and review! Let me know what you think is going to happen next and it just might. BYES!!!