Another day, another chapter. Time to reveal the bigger big bad. Thanx for the reviews, and much love to you all!

Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

Allyndriel paced restlessly in the garden, winding her fingers through the ends of her long white hair, one pale lip caught thoughtfully between her teeth. She paused in her contemplation to stare balefully at the crumpled parchment that lay on the ground where she had thrown it shortly after reading it. Why, she wondered painfully. Why now? I need more time, damn it! She bent toward the note, hesitating as her fingertips brushed it. She could almost imagine them burning as if the thing were coated in acid. With a sigh of exasperation she clutched the note and smoothed it out, reading its dreadful words once more.

Allyndriel,

I am sending Goewin to retrieve you. We must discuss your progress, or lack thereof. Do not try to put me off, and rid yourself of that disgusting glamour before you arrive, or I will rid you of it permanently.

With Regards,

Mother

Allyndriel crumpled the note again, bringing it to her forehead in her clenched fist as she wailed at the moon and trees and flowers and wretched fairies and anything else within earshot of the unfairness of it all. She had been given a job to do, and she was doing all she could to accomplish it. "Oh, why can't mother just leave me alone and let me do things my way?" She wondered aloud, to no one in particular.

Perhaps that is why she paled considerably when she received a reply. "Because she is concerned that you are not focused enough on your task." Allyndriel turned slowly, not wanting to face what she knew was behind her. Goewin was taller than she by nearly a foot, with hair the color of the night sky that hung in one shimmering ebony wave to the center of his back, and eyes that glimmered with the same inky darkness, so that the whites of his eyes seemed diminutive by comparison. His cruel beauty made her cringe, and he sneered. "Are you so sickened by the sight of your own brother, Allyndriel?" he wondered.

"Not sickened, Goewin." She answered, her voice tremulous, "Merely surprised." She lifted her chin in a valiant yet feeble attempt to regain her dignity, and some control over the situation. She knew that her brother was keenly aware that he terrified her, but it was far easier for her if she pretended he didn't.

"And why should you be surprised, Allyndriel, when my arrival was announced by the note you hold in your hand even now?" he asked, one dark eyebrow raised, his black eyes seeming to see into her soul. He walked towards her, and she held her ground, determined not to slink away from his touch as he took the crumpled correspondence from her trembling hand. Smoothing it out against his chest, he shook his head mournfully. "Why sister dear, one would think you didn't want to see your family." He scolded her, holding the abused paper towards her as proof.

"No, Goewin, it's not that." She lied. "I just question the timing of it."

He tilted his head, as though considering her words. "We have not seen you in Fanan Dubh for years, Allyndriel. Don't you think it's time for a visit?" He asked her, his tone deceptively light.

"A visit?" Allyndriel asked, not trusting herself to look directly into his eyes. "Is that all this is, brother."

Goewin smiled, his face deadly and beautiful. "A visit, and a chance to catch up on your life. Mother is very interested to know what you've been up to since you left us. She would like to know what progress has been made."

Allyndriel felt her stomach lurch. "Don't play coy, Goewin, it doesn't suit you." She said angrily. "I know quite well that mother has been watching my every move. She is well aware of everything I have done, and she knows how difficult my task has been."

Goewin nodded. "Yes, a difficult task indeed. And one it seems you are no closer to completing than when you left us all those years ago."

"The Goblin King is stubborn, as you well know. It was not my fault he refused my hand in marriage when father offered it to him, and yet I was punished for it. It is not my fault that he refused to hand the Labyrinth over to Orin, am I to be punished for that as well?" There, her fear had been spoken aloud, there was no turning back now. Goewin raised a questioning eyebrow at use of the High King's name instead of his title. He hoped she would not make the same mistake when speaking to their mother, but he kept his mouth closed on the subject.

Is that what you see this as, Allyndriel?" Goewin said gently, his pale fingers gently caressing her cheek. "These years have not been to punish you, they were to strengthen you, and give you a chance to prove your worth."

Allyndriel's eyes narrowed. "There is nothing I could do to prove myself worthy to mother. You and I both know that." She said.

Goewin's gaze was hard, masking the pity he felt for her. What she said was true, their mother despised her, and he had never understood why. "It is time to go home, Allyndriel." He said finally. "But first, remove the glamour. Mother would see as you truly are."

Allyndriel's eyes were shining, and he knew she was biting back tears. As she fought for composure, the glamour began to fall away, until she stood before him in her true form. Not much different, he thought. The same as before, really, but with darkness where the color had been. A true Fomorian. "You are not the same as they are, sister." He said, as he took her hand. "You should not be ashamed of it. You are Fomorian, Dark Fae. You should be proud of the darkness." His words were meant to comfort her, but he didn't miss the way she cringed as she caught sight of her reflection in the fountain.

Fanan Dubh, the Black Hill. Allyndriel felt small beneath its cold, hard gaze, and she shuddered at the memory of her childhood within its loveless halls. She had almost forgotten the place, after being away so long. It was almost easier to believe that she had grown up in the ancestral home she now occupied, rather than merely reclaimed it. She had left this place to accomplish her mother's bidding, but she had cast her life here behind her, and hoped never to return to it.

Now, with her brother a few paces ahead of her, she froze in her tracks. Her belly was heavy with dread, and she thought she might vomit. "Come along, Llyn." Her brother's voice was soft, almost pitying, and he had used her childhood name. "Mother will be waiting." Yes, mother would be waiting, that's what terrified her. Reluctantly she lifted her skirts and began following him once more.

They climbed the great onyx staircase, each step bringing back one painful memory after another, until they reached the top and crossed the threshold into the dark and dismal keep. Huge onyx pillars stood at either side of the doorway, like ancient sentinels warning her to flee as fast as she could. She closed her eyes as she passed them, a shuddering intake of breath her only sound.

She felt Goewin's pale hand grasp hers reassuringly, and when she looked into his black eyes she saw pity there. Why would he be kind to her, she wondered. He was mother's pet, he should be gloating now. To see pity in his eyes only strengthened her resolve. She squared her shoulders and snatched her hand away. "Let's get this over with." She hissed, and he inclined his head in acquiescence.

For the first time she took the lead, her head held high, as they glided silently through hallways and room to room, finally reaching the great hall. Taking a deep breath, Allyndriel threw the giant doors open and stepped inside, instantly feeling the gaze of all assembled there bearing down upon her. She steadied herself, making her way before the dais, and bowed at the feet of the dark lady seated upon it. "Mother." She acknowledged.

She was at first met with silence, and she stole a glance upward as her mother regarded her coolly. Her shimmering black hair was longer even than Allyndriel remembered it, winding its way down her body and pooling at her feet. Her pale face seemed almost deathly white in contrast to the darkness around her, and there was no love in the black eyes that met Allyndriel's gaze.

"So," Her mother spoke finally, and her rasping voice seemed to scrape at the inside of Allyndriel's scull. "My daughter has finally returned home. And I see you have come to me with the face of your ancestors, yet you still clothe yourself in the colorful rags of the Lesser Ones. What a pity you have such disdain for the customs of your own people."

Allyndriel looked down, realizing for the first time that she was still wearing the sunshine yellow dress she had put on this morning, and cursed herself for not thinking to change it before she came. She tried to think of something she could say that would turn away her mother's anger on the subject, but could think of nothing, so she kept her mouth shut.

"You have been gone many years, dearest daughter, and have made many plans. Yet you have accomplished nothing. The Cursed One still lives, and he still controls the Labyrinth."

Allyndriel shook her head defensively, "But mother, The Goblin King…" she cringed as she was cut off harshly. A pain shot through her head, as though she had been hit with a blunt object, though no one in the room had lifted a finger.

"Silence!" her mother screamed, and the sound echoed throughout the great stone hall. "I would not hear your feeble excuses, girl. You have failed me terribly! Not only have you not accomplished the simple task you were given, but now the Cursed One will be crowned High King! How could you allow this? Do you not remember the lessons you were taught as a child? Have you forgotten how his ancestors stripped us of our power, our land, forced us to live in exile, until even the memory of our people are but legends to the Lesser Ones? We should be ruling them, Allyndriel, yet we hide from them. He did this to us, with the help of his Labyrinth. How easily you forget."

With these words her mother stood from her throne, taking the few steps down the dais until she stood before her cowering daughter. She caught Allyndriel's chin in her cruel grasp, her fingers digging into flesh. "And now he will rule them in our stead, Allyndriel, and his cursed seed will control not just the Labyrinth but all of this world. They have taken what should have been ours, and you have allowed it to happen. What do you have to say for yourself." She released her grip so that Allyndriel could speak, but held her still in her iron gaze.

Allyndriel's eyes were wild, and she sought words, actions, anything, that could turn that gaze away from her. "I have been watching them mother." She said finally, desperately. "I have a spy inside their very home, and we will find a weakness…"

Her mother sneered derisively. "Oh yes, I know all about your spy, Daughter." She said turning away as though the very sight of Allyndriel made her sick. "A feeble old man who is of as much use to us as a lame horse. He will spy, and he will learn nothing that I do not already know."

"And what do you know, Mother?" Allyndriel asked with a boldness in her voice she did not feel.

Her mother turned her head slowly, regarding her daughter with a sidelong glance. "I know that the Cursed One has taken a human into his bed and made her his Queen." The dark lady sneered. "I know that there will be a coronation ball in one month's time in Chead Cathair, where he will be crowned High King, and where he will present this human as Queen over us all, and proclaim her abominable offspring his heirs. And I know that none of them will survive the night."

Allyndriel's eyes widened. "What? But how will you accomplish this?" she wondered aloud, the dread she felt earlier returning.

Her mother smiled, and Allyndriel's blood ran cold. "I will accomplish nothing." She said sweetly. "My children will."

At this Goewin spoke for the first time. "What do you mean, mother?" he asked, and the Dark Lady smiled genuinely at the sound of his voice.

"Allyndriel will return to our old estate, and resume her intrigues. However you, my son, will travel to the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. There you will befriend the Cursed One and his disgusting little family. They will grow to trust you, even to love you. And on the night of the coronation, you and your sister will slaughter them all, in full view of the court, and there will be no doubt in any of their minds who the true ruler of the Underground should be."

"But that's suicide!" Allyndriel protested. "The guards will certainly kill us where we stand!"

"Then I leave that to you to figure out, daughter." Her mother said. "Do what you must, but if you fail me again, it will be for the last time." With these words her mother spun and climbed the dais, taking her seat upon her throne.

"Come, Llyn." Goewin said, pulling his stricken sister away. "I'll take you home." They left the great hall the way they came, and as the doors shut behind them, Allyndriel collapsed on the floor and cried piteously, but out of relief or fear Goewin did not know.