Sarah toyed lightly with her fork for a moment- a self imposed pause to stop herself from attacking her food like some sort of animal. Despite the act that she was putting up, she was famished. As much as she'd enjoyed the brownies she and Jareth had eaten earlier, what they'd done afterwards had made her rather hungry again.

Jareth had brought her to this small dining room and sat her at his side. Her chair was a lot closer to him than she normally would have liked, but she said nothing. Her bond would have been far happier to have had her sitting on his knee, after all. Luckily for Sarah though, before Jareth could come to that idea himself, Conn came to eat with them and the Goblin King was more well-behaved than he otherwise might have been.

Having Conn there was almost a shattering of whatever bubble Sarah had been in that morning. It had brought her back to the present. She tried not to think about what she and the Goblin King had done that day. And she tried even more not to think about how much she had actually enjoyed herself.

As a result of her attempting to distract herself and also trying to control how quickly she ate the food in front of her, Sarah didn't realise that the three of them were quiet for a long time.

It was Conn that broke the silence though, with, "So, nice day we had today, wasn't it?"

Sarah said nothing. She really didn't want to comment on how she had spent her day. It was bad enough that when she looked over at Jareth, she caught the amusement in his eyes.

So Jareth replied, "I can't say that we really spent much time taking in the weather, Conn."

His tone was almost rebuking; and that was because he knew that his friend was well aware of how they spent their day. Conn couldn't help but smirk a little. He loved to tease, even to the extent that Jareth was almost about to kick him under the table.

"How did you enjoy your paperwork?" Jareth countered, abruptly changing the subject.

"You mean your paperwork?"

Jareth inclined his head.

"Oh, I'd say it was the most enthralling thing I've read in a long while."

"Really?" Jareth mused, obviously entertained by his friend's sarcasm.

"If you call taxes and menial complaints enthralling," Conn replied, rolling his eyes.

"I see that I picked the perfect day to take off then," Jareth smirked.

"If you weren't the Goblin King, I'd probably punch you for dumping that work on me."

"You could try," Jareth commented, tilting his head to the side tauntingly.

Sarah was bemused. Watching these two talk was like watching old school friends talk, but in a, one was now the boss of the other and they're both still awfully aware of that, kind of way. But still, she found it so odd to watch them. Jareth seemed much less serious all of a sudden. Just another way for him to confuse me, she thought, as she fought back a frown.

"Where is my dear sister this evening?" Jareth asked.

That question brought Sarah out of her thoughts. If she was honest, Sarah had been quite relieved that Nessa wasn't with them while they ate. It let her relax a little; not that she wasn't already quite relaxed from she and Jareth's morning activities. It seemed unusual then, though, that Conn remained quiet for a moment.

Eventually he said, "Oh, you know Nessa..."

"And why does that worry me?"

Conn slowly chewed his food; a way to avoid answering- even just for a few seconds.

"Conn?"

Jareth's tone was more forceful and serious, clearly an answer was required- food or no.

"Well?"

"You know that Nessa won't tell me anything about where she goes."

Jareth's eyes narrowed. Conn was regarding his friend carefully. He had intended to inform Jareth about this when Sarah wasn't with him, but he could hardly refuse to answer him now.

"Especially when it looks like she's headed Aboveground..." Conn added.

Both Jareth and Sarah paused. Jareth did so because he knew it was unusual for Nessa to travel Aboveground without some sort of mischief in mind; and that made him nervous. Sarah was more concerned with the fact that Nessa could so easily travel Aboveground, and that it must be easy to travel between the two places. Which meant that Jareth could have gone Above whenever he wished..

Both were puzzled as to the reason why however. And Jareth took this matter more seriously than Sarah or Conn expected. The Goblin King wiped his mouth with a serviette and stood up swiftly.

"I think I must pay my sister a visit. She has a fair amount to explain when she returns."

Jareth leant down and pressed a kiss to the top of Sarah's head before turning to speak to them both.

"Do excuse me."

Then he left abruptly, striding out of the room. Sarah turned back to her food immediately; leaving Conn to consider the consequences of revealing Nessa's whereabouts without being observed.


The Dark King sent a message to Nessa before she'd left the Underground to rearrange for dinner Aboveground, instead of their planned noon-time meeting. She had expected as much. At least the restaurant remained the same, and still on the neutral ground of Above that she had wanted.

It seemed that Tebras had manipulated her own magical orb to get it back to her; it must have been the only way he could get past Jareth's defences. Nessa knew that she would have to be careful what she sent the Dark King from now on. She didn't want him manipulating anything else of hers to hurt her brother. Or even Sarah.

Nessa walked into the restaurant and immediately saw the King of the Darklands sat at the bar. She could see that the bartender was clearly uncomfortable- what human in the vicinity wasn't? Tebras could make anyone uncomfortable; it was in his nature.

The Dark King was clad in a black suit, one that the humans might say was obviously tailor-made, perhaps a designer brand. Tebras looked relaxed in the mortal clothing, despite the unnerving nature that he put out. Nessa didn't know how he could appear comfortable; she hated what she wore. But the fact that they wore mortal clothing reminded her of the old days, when they would harass the Aboveground world together, blending in with the mortals. It had been such fun. But times had changed now.

As soon as Nessa stepped past the maitre d', Tebras swivelled in his chair. His eyes found her, and they lit up at the sight. It was almost menacing- like a predator catching sight of their prey. But Nessa remembered it well and it didn't unnerve her. She also knew he smirk that crossed his face at the sight of her.

She gave no indication that she even noticed his expression though, and just walked over to him, her hips swaying as usual. Nessa's hair was draped over one shoulder, and her dress was tight and body-hugging. Her heels were tall and probably almost impossible to walk in without magical assistance.

Tebras' eyes didn't leave her for a second. She was a sight to behold; an alluring vixen. She always had been. When Nessa reached him, she hopped smoothly onto the stool beside him. One leg crossed over the other, and Tebras couldn't help but notice the movement, his eyes following each long leg.

Nessa said nothing, but her red-painted lips curved into a small smile. She was so tantalising. The bartender came over to them and it was clear that he couldn't take his eyes off of Nessa. Most men in the room couldn't, in fact.

"Um, can I, uh- can I get you a drink?" he asked.

"Glenfiddich with ice," Tebras replied, before Nessa even looked in the mortal man's direction.

The bartender slowly moved off to get the drink. It was clear that he was still watching Nessa though.

"I'm half-expecting the poor boy to start drooling at any moment," Tebras commented.

"Better drooling at me than terrified by you," she replied.

Tebras smirked.

"So you say."

The bartender placed the drink before Nessa and moved away much quicker thanks to a sharp glance from Tebras. Nessa's fingers wrapped around the glass lightly and she took a sip. It didn't surprise her that Tebras remembered what she liked to drink. Just like she recognised the absinth in his glass.

"Let's move to a table. You must be hungry."

She rolled her eyes, but followed him anyway. They settled themselves quickly- apparently the Dark King had some terrifying control over the wait staff and they'd been holding a table for him for over an hour. Nessa smiled to herself, mortals were so amusing sometimes.

After their meal was ordered, and it was taken very swiftly, Tebras turned to Nessa and asked, "As much as I am glad that you wanted this meeting, I wonder, why did you call me here, Nessa?"

She did not reply for a moment. Straight to the point, as ever, she thought.

"Why, after all this time, after refusing to see me for all these years, do you want to see me now?"

Her red lips twitched downward for a moment at that.

"Can you no longer stand to be away from me, Hedone?"

Nessa rolled her eyes and replied, "I want you to leave my brother alone."

Tebras' black eyes turned hard for a moment, a flicker of the evil in his nature settling in his glare.

"It's not really your concern-"

She scoffed.

"Oh please; of course it's my concern. He's my brother."

"You and he rarely even see each other."

"That's because of you and you know it, Tebras."

"Hardly."

"So, the fact that my brother wants to protect my sisters and I from you by keeping us at arm's-length means nothing then?"

"I wouldn't harm you, nor your sisters."

"It's only my brother that you set vicious eyes on then?"

Tebras paused and ran a finger slowly across his bottom lip.

"Did you ever consider why I behave as I do?"

"It's not in my mind to consider the reasons that you do things."

"That surprises me; I'm sure you could come up with something."

"I try not to think about your kingdom's reasons for doing anything."

"Really? And here I was thinking that of all other fae, you would understand us best."

Nessa shrugged.

"Perhaps once," she mused, before adding, "but I barely think of you since you started harassing my brother."

Her words were cutting, and Tebras felt them.

"Ouch," he said, putting a hand over his heart.

"That hurt."

Nessa raised her brows.

"You hurt my brother."

"Nessa, I am not here to discuss your brother; what occurs in our little game is between me and him."

"What a shame, because that's the only reason I'm here."

"She started to get up from their table, but his hand caught hers. It was cold, just like she remembered.

"Nessa," he said warningly.

She narrowed her eyes and sat back down.

"I want you to leave Jareth alone."

"Not until our business is done."

"When you kill each other?"

A waitress stopped at their table, pausing their conversation. It was quite obvious that the young girl could have heard their words, and, rather unnerved, she placed plates before each of them and left.

"Poor girl will be disturbed by your comment," Tebras noted.

"No less than she would by her proximity to you."

Tebras picked up his cutlery in a smooth moment and began to eat with a shrug.

"I mean it, Tebras. Leave Jareth and Sarah alone."

That caught Tebras' attention; and something in his eyes twinkled.

"Since when do you care about the mortal?"

"Since when did you?"

"You know I'm not telling. There's no fun in that, Nessa."

"What would it take to get you to tell, Tebras?"

The Dark King paused. That would be a question he would very much like to peruse. He opened his mouth but swiftly closed it again, contemplating his words carefully. His lips curled into a wicked grin.

"Why don't you ask your brother about when our altercations began? I think he should be able to adequately explain it. Get him to think back to when it started; to why. You might find out something interesting about your wonderful brother."

Nessa frowned. She wasn't getting anywhere.

"Goodbye, Tebras."

And with that, she got up, and this time he let her go.


After Jareth disappeared, Sarah and Conn were left to talk- something that Sarah found more than awkward.

"So, today seems to have taken you two on a different path," Conn commented.

Sarah frowned.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You said you hated my friend so recently, and from what he had told me previously, I would say that he thought you did too... But the way you two spent this afternoon tells a rather different story..."

Sarah sighed, more to herself than to Conn. Clearly, he knew a lot more about she and Jareth's relationship than she'd hoped he would. And that meant he'd heard the Goblin King's full story, and only parts of hers. She needed to clarify this misunderstanding right away, before Conn started to get even more of the wrong impression.

"Oh, you really don't understand," she whispered.

"In my heart I will always hate him for what he did to me."

Conn stared.

"But I can't live with that. The only way I'm ever going to survive is by trying to put that in the past. I have to try my best to ignore what happened, and... embrace whatever happens now... I have to spend the rest of my life with Jareth, and the only way I can do that is by trying to move on, even though it will always linger at the back of my mind that what he did was so wrong. And the bond makes me want to be with him, to love him. If I give into that, I will hate myself for it, but it's the only way I'll be able to survive."

"That's quite an admission, Sarah."

She chewed her bottom lip a little, then said, "I know, but it seems that you've already heard Jareth's side of the story, I just wanted to make my part known."

He nodded.

"I see," Conn mused.

"For what it's worth, Jareth does love you. He may not have realised how much he hurt you when he bonded you, but he does now."

Blinking in surprise, Sarah asked, "How do you know?"

"You didn't see the turmoil in my friend when he admitted to me what he did to you. He wishes he could change the way things happened now that he realises what he did, but he can't."

"I know. And neither can I," she frowned. "So, now what?"

"We get on with things. And I have to teach you your place; you are to be our Goblin Queen, after all."

Sarah's frown deepened.

"The first thing we should probably cover is table etiquette."

The look on her face made him laugh.

"I'm aware that you've mastered Aboveground etiquette, but in the Underground it is quite a bit more complicated. The knives, forks and spoons are all as you would have already learnt."

Sarah nodded. Karen had insisted that all go out to enough fancy restaurants that she'd been forced to learn or face the nagging of a lifetime. That was, before Sarah was old enough to babysit, and she and Toby could be left at home alone.

"There will be a lot of food that you don't recognise," Conn continued.

"It is lucky for you that Jareth has a taste for Aboveground cuisine. Other kingdoms have far more... exotic tastes."

Sarah frowned and asked, "Like...?"

"It would be better for you not to know what some fae eat," he hedged warily, before adding, "Just thinking forward; don't ask what's in the meals you eat outside of the Goblin Kingdom. Your reaction would likely be inappropriate."

Sarah's frown deepened and Conn sensed a question coming from her.

So he quelled it with a simple, "You truly do not want to know, Sarah."

She sighed.

"You're probably right..."

Although, in her mind Sarah was thinking that she'd love nothing more than to know what she was supposed to be eating.


By the time Nessa returned to her room, it was late. She still disliked how Underground and Aboveground time worked differently; it just made travelling between them awkward. Nessa closed the door behind her and sighed. Tonight had not gone as she had wished.

"Why so dressed up?"

Her brother's voice caught her unaware and she frowned.

Without turning, Nessa answered, "Can't a woman dress as she wishes?"

"Since when have you ever wished to dress in mortal attire?"

Her lips pursed and she looked around at her brother. The look on his face was a very serious one that she remembered from when they were children. Funnily enough, it had been directed at her far more than their sisters.

"I'll admit, it has been awhile; however-" she started smoothly, but Jareth cut her off.

"Where did you go, Nessa?"

"Out."

"Do not test me, Nessa. Where did you go?"

"I went to dinner," she replied simply.

"Who with?"

"Can I not go out alone and entertain myself Aboveground?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You can; but you didn't."

She shrugged.

"Prove it."

A low growl rumbled from the back of his throat and Nessa watched carefully as his mismatched eyes flickered menacingly.

She sighed, before finally admitting, "I went with Tebras."

The Goblin King scowled.

"What in the name of the Underground would possess you to do that?"

His voice was harsh, and reminiscent of their father's 'angry voice'. Nessa wasn't too fond of that.

"Well, this is a lesson never to offer a hand to one's brother..." she muttered.

"Offer a hand? You put yourself in danger!"

"Hardly."

"Not hardly. You went to him. He could have done anything to you, you silly girl."

"Do not call me that, Jareth."

"Why not? You are a silly girl. Only a silly girl would do something so undeniably stupid."

"I was trying to protect you and your mortal."

"What exactly is it that you thought you could do?"

"I spoke with him."

"Oh, and how successful were you in convincing him to abort his centuries long quest to create a war and destroy my kingdom? Would he accept an offer of a handshake as a peace offering?" Jareth scoffed.

"He would not discuss it," Nessa admitted quietly.

"How surprised I am," he bit back.

"He did tell me that you knew exactly why this started; and that I would discover something interesting about you when you told me."

Jareth glowered at his sister.

"I do not know why he is forcing this vendetta upon me, Nessa. Do not allow yourself to be manipulated by the Dark King's insinuations."

Nessa narrowed her eyes.

"So you do not know, then?"

"Of course not."

She shrugged again, "Next time I shall refrain from offering my assistance."

"There won't be a next time."

Nessa stared.

"After the wedding you will be leaving and you will not return to my kingdom until this situation is resolved."

She shot him a harsh glare.

"You may regret pushing me away, Jareth."

"I'm sure I will live," he replied, before vanishing in a glittering shower.

Nessa glowered in silence at the space her brother had previously occupied. So much for being rewarded for my efforts... she thought with a frown.


Author's Note: Woah it's been a while. Sorry guys. Been really busy 'cus of Uni. The fact that I'm doing a creative writing course means a lot of original writing takes up my time. :/ Will never abandon this story or any of my others though.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and will let me know what you think. :)

Kit xx