"Ah. She has spirit Jareth. It does make training more interesting." The king said, moving his gaze from one to the other. Kaye looked up at Jareth as his grip on her tightened.

"It is nice to see you are well my king," Jareth said, his tone overly sweet as he moved away from Kaye to bow. Chase and Chance both bowed deeply as Kaye glanced at them but made no move to follow suit.

"You would do well to tell your elf her place here."

Kaye raised her head at this, no matter how much fear turned her belly, she had to be undesirable to this man. And being strong headed seemed like a good path.

"Aboveground has changed greatly over the years. The people are equal. Race and sex alike." Jareth explained, tone still ever sweet. The king scoffed at this before returning to his throne.

"Well, in the Underground lower beings are whipped for less."

Chance bit his lip to keep from grinning. Everything seemed to be working nicely. The king waved his hand and a servant was quickly bowing at his side.

"Take our guest to their rooms to prepare for the evening meal."

"Of course your majesty." She said softly with a deeper bow before motioning for everyone to go through a doorway to their left. Jareth placed his arm about Kaye's waste as he gave another shallow bow before pushing her towards the doorway.

"On second thought. Elf. You stay. I wish to speak with you."

At this everyone paused, the men's backs going rigid as Kaye glanced up at Jareth. She watched as a calculating seriousness fell over his face.

"Come now, you act as though I'll eat her."

"Don't worry, I'll behave," Kaye said with a large grin before placing a kiss to her new loves cheek.

"See you at dinner boys!"

The twins gave uneasy smiles as she waved them off.

"Interesting." The fae king stated before turning to go through a door behind his throne. Kaye stood in the throne room alone for a moment, unsure if to follow. Then she heard the snap of fingers and felt as though she was plunged into ice water, her breath and senses stolen from her. Yet just as quickly as it happened it ended. She gasped for air as she brought her fingers to her chest to try and warm them.

"You elves always had a problem with ice magic." The king said, pulling Kaye's attention to him.

"Come, sit."

She shivered slightly as the warmth re-entered her body before sitting in a wood chair in front of his desk.

"Ice magic?" Kaye asked, eyes widening slightly at the ability to see her breath. The fae king watched for a moment as Kaye huffed out clouds of air before they started to fade. Her face turned bright red as she returned to the moment.

"You elves always behave like such children."

"Kaye."

The fae king's brow furrowed at this, the confusion etched into his face.

"Is that some Aboveground slang?"

"No. It's my name. My name is Kaye, not 'elf'."

He let out a laugh through his nose at this.

"I did not ask for your name. Elf," he said, anger mixing with mild amusement. No one had ever acted this way around him. Even his ex-wives, while they were rebellious, remained quiet.

"Tell me. How many of your kind are Aboveground?"

Kaye shrugged at this.

"No clue /fae/. My parents left me with the humans when I was a baby. Didn't even know I was anything but until I came here." She told him. She instantly knew she had messed up with her words.

/./././././././.

Chase nervously looked back and forth between a quite king and a pacing brother.

"She will be fine. She is strong and smart." Chase tried to sooth.

"Yes, brother. That's why she is never falling into danger. That crazed human, the labyrinth, Swarna. Yes. She is truly not a magnet for danger. She's only alone with a short-tempered elf murderer!"

"Chance," Jareth said, his tone low and holding no emotion. Chance bowed his head before sitting next to his brother.

"I'm sorry, sire." He mumbled, Chase, rubbing his back to try and calm him. All heads turned as there was a light rapping at the door before it opened. Instantly they were on their feet, hands ready to cast if needed.

"Sire, my lords." The servant said before bowing deeply.

"Dinner will begin shortly. If you'd follow me?"

Jareth nodded to his men before they did as asked. Jareth kept in mind the path they were taking, Chase looking for escape routes, as Chance placed were all the guards were and the weapons they carried. The taste of magic slowly coated their tongues as they approached the hall.

"Sire," Chase whispered as he felt a slight breeze grace his face. Jareth flexed his fingers as he took a deep breath through his nose, the breeze dying down. The servant stopped at a pair of large black doors, a slight frost covering it.

"Hold on," Jareth said, stopping the servant from opening the doors. Jareth quickly and softly spoke an incantation for warmth, placing the spell onto his cloak. The servant looked over to him once he finished, getting a nod before opening the doors. The relief was obvious on all four of the friends once they saw each other as the trio walked to the king, their breath becoming visible as they got close to him.

"Your majesty." They said in unison, bowing to him.

"Sit." He snapped, not even trying to hide his anger. Jareth instantly placed himself between his love and king, the twins sitting across from them. Jareth jumped slightly at the coldness of Kaye's hand as he grasped it under the table. A frown brought it's self to his lips before he stood and removed his cloak, placing it about her shoulders. Kaye couldn't help the groan that left her throat at the warmth as he took back his seat.

"But. What about-" She started only to be cut short.

"Yes. How... touching. Jareth. I shall need you to return to my army. We will be going Aboveground in a week's time. You will be running the front line." The king said, snapping his fingers causing a rush of servants with food and drink.

"Giving perfectly good elven brides to the humans. They are doing it to anger me."

Jareth glanced at Chase who gave a slight nod.

"I must return to my kingdom to set up for my leave Sire," Jareth responded as he took his goblet in hand.

"Of course. Return at morning. Tonight we must plan our course."

Everyone grew quite as they ate.

/././././././././.

"He can't be serious! To go Aboveground and raid for the elves! It's madness!" Chance said, picking up his previous pacing. Kaye and Chase watched him from their places on the bed.

"Do you think Jareth is going to go?" Kaye asked as she pulled her knees up to her chin. Even with the cloak pulled about her she felt a coldness settling in her gut.

"We will discuss that later," Chase told her softly with a smile. Kaye nodded and spoke on it no more. In her heart, she blamed herself for all of that. She should've lied and said she was the last one or something. Now the fae king was going to go kidnap innocent girls who know nothing about this world.

"Maybe I should stay here."

Chance turned around and looked at her, eyes wide.

"What? What are you talking about?!"

Kaye flinched at his loud tone as she pulled the cloak up to her nose, Jareth's sent filling her and calming her.

"He's going to kidnap all those girls because he wants a bride right? So-"

"Kaye. I already told you. We will talk about when we get home. Trust me." Chase said, getting another nod from her in answer.

"What do you know?" His brother asked, stepping closer to the bed.

"Later." Chase said, his tone final.

/././././.

A/N: Sorry, so very very sorry about not posting to this in so long. I am trying to finish it for you all now (if there are any of you left that is). Let me know if this is horrible or not or if I changed anyone too much. Just remember that Kaye is acting differently to try and make sure the king doesn't like her at all. And acting like a cocky normal human is what she hopes will work.