A/N: Been gone a while, thanks for your patience in waiting for this! Chapter Thirty-Five! Let me know what you think. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth.

A Writer Required

Chapter Thirty-Five

The morning after Amelia's disappearance was quiet, and tense. Sarah and Marcus were each given their own guest chambers for the night previous, once evening came and we had discussed a great many plans to recover Amelia.

I sent both Marcus and Sarah to their beds when the hour grew late, as we would need rest for the morrow. Sarah decided instead to return Above for the night, and to sort a few things out the next morning before she would return. I agreed this was a wise course of action, and she departed.

Despite knowing how important it was to get some rest, I remained awake the majority of the night, unable to sleep. My mind turned in concern over what ordeals Severino might be putting Amelia through.

It was during breakfast that things were pushed into motion by Amelia herself. Mid meal, Marcus and I both went still at the slight touch of magic-Amelia's magic-resonating in the courtyard.

We went there in haste, my own heart pounding and soaring with hope. But before we reached the doors, I heard her as she screamed my name; the sound of terror twisting my heart, and all thought save the thought to go to her, ceased.

We entered the courtyard, but there was no sight of Amelia. Her portal stood at the base of the stairs, but all that could be seen beyond it was a wood floor and faint morning light shining upon it.

Hurrying forward, Marcus and I both stopped short as a figure stepped before the portal on the other side. It was Severino. He was not looking through the portal, and therefore did not see us, and we continued swiftly forward that we might stop him.

But Severino was quick, and his expression terrible in his anger. He swept his hand before the portal, and it vanished, managing to pull the remnants of Amelia's magic with him, leaving none behind.

My mind moved swiftly, and I turned toward the castle. "Baard! I need you!" It was sharply spoken, and Baard seemed to have sensed something was amiss when he arrived not seconds later.

"My lord?" He didn't bother wasting time by bowing. My tone meant haste, and formalities were thieves to precious time.

I spoke quietly to him, and Marcus came to stand beside me. I didn't spare him a glance. "I need you to go right now to the Everlands." I took a breath, using it to think and condense my words. "There isn't time for a full explanation now. Just listen and obey."

"Sire." Baard's expression cleared to all but the ready vigilance of a soldier, and his back straightened.

In seeing this, I went on. "Lady Amelia is Lady Tasha. Severino disguised her. She attempted to create a portal here, but we could not reach it in time. Go to the Everlands, find out what you can about the situation there. Go first to the docks. It's possible she is on one of Severino's ships. Find out as much as you can from your sources. If you can safely retrieve her, do so. If not, find out what you can about getting into the Everlands by whatever means possible. Then report back to me. Understood?"

"Yes, my lord." Baard nodded curtly, though questions and restrained shock danced in his eyes a moment before they faded into determination, the knowledge that I would explain things at a later time momentarily seeming to console him. "I will do all I can." That said, he promptly vanished.

Marcus and I returned to our meals to finish them with haste, then went to my study. "Severino likely knows now she remembers a portion of her magic. But because of that, he will be especially careful in keeping anything she can write with, out of reach." I frowned grimly. "He will be more cautious, and we must be ever the more careful and clever for it."

A few days passed before Baard returned. His arrival lifted a weight from my shoulders. I had begun to fear he had been captured-or worse. "What have you learned?" I questioned.

Baard did not waste time on pleasantries once he, Marcus, and myself retreated to my study. "Her Majesty was well when I left her. She seemed afraid, but more than that, there is fury in her. She is determined, and she told me she has hope now." That eased my heart a little. She had hope, which meant she would still fight. Severino had not broken her.

Baard continued. "Severino has her, as you suspected. I saw her when she disembarked a ship with him, but I heard from a reliable source, that he was retrieving her after she'd attempted to escape." Baard's eyes were sharp as he recalled the conversation. "My source says she scaled the palace's garden wall and swam across the lake, but the king intercepted her on the shore."

Marcus paled slightly at this information, and seemed to be lost to his thoughts. "The garden wall…" He murmured, and he looked suddenly quite ill. "As she had tried before. Severino would have remembered."

I raised an eyebrow at my brother-in-law. "Tried before?" Marcus swallowed, folding his arms in discomfort.

I glared at him, and in feeling it, Marcus reluctantly relented.

"Before she met you, she attempted to commit suicide, and to avoid our father, she climbed over the garden wall to jump into the lake to die." His face paled further the more he spoke, and my stomach sickened at the same pace. Baard's expression showed he was just as horrified in hearing this, and he looked slowly between myself and Marcus as though he couldn't quite comprehend it.

"...I had not heard of that." The elf said, and the two of us looked to Marcus for an answer. He gave it a moment later, his pallor not much improved.

"It was kept quiet by our father. She confided in me once she began to heal, saying she would rather die than marry the prince of Erisend-our father had been planning on giving her to him in marriage. I told her I would find a way out for her, but I asked that she first promise me not to try again to harm herself. She agreed, and I planned her escape." He explained. He looked to Baard. "What else did you find out while there?"

Baard hesitated only a moment, glancing at me for approval, which I gave with a nod, and he then spoke on. "When we saw each other at the docks, and she showed she had a note, indicating it was for you." He nodded at me, then continued. "I communicated to her that I would come to the palace. However," His expression fell swiftly to anger. "Severino saw me and directly afterwards put into effect a new law. He has decreed that anyone of Labyrinthian descent, is to leave the Everlands or lose all they own and be imprisoned or killed."

A shocked silence fell between us, and at length I scowled down at my clasped hands. "Cutting off all ties to me." I grimaced in fury, my eyes darkening. "The old goat is getting cleverer and crueler." My brow lowered as I raised my eyes to Baard. "And those forced to leave?"

Baard explained. "A great many lives have been uprooted. Entire families forced out because of their heritage. Most are on their way here for refuge." The elf's expression hardened. "I only escaped capture by relying on an old sea captain I'd befriended years ago. He let me stow away on his ship, posing as his nephew, between gathering what information I could. But the new law has limited or halted what movement we have left. I couldn't find a secure method to initiate a successful extraction of the queen. Severino has her too well guarded, as well as increased security within and without the palace."

"I see." I was silent a moment, contemplating his words, then continued on. "You said Amelia gave you something?"

Baard nodded haltingly at the reminder and came forward, offering up two slightly crumpled pieces of folded parchment from his pocket. He expressed his sincere apology at their condition, then added. "She wished me to tell you that there was nothing else for her to write with."

I took both, but found I could not open them fully. Something dark and red had acted as a thin sort of wax-but with a shock, I discovered it was not wax at all.

It was blood.

I felt the color draining from my face. Had she been forced to resort to such a thing? It was certainly possible, as Severino would have kept any writing materials from her. There would likely have been no other alternative.

I found I could hardly breath, and I had to focus briefly on regulating it. Utilizing my letter opener, I carefully peeled apart the parchment, and examined the letter with a sinking stomach. It was streaked with blood; in such a way as to tell me she had been possibly interrupted or hurried.

Marcurrelious, upon stepping closer and seeing the letter, looked ill, but was growing rapidly furious again.

The letter was in familiar handwriting, and in opening the second folded parchment which turned out to be a map, I observed it was roughly drawn, though the routes and destinations had surer strokes. The names of the ports-copied in the fae language-were written with uncertainty, but easily discernible to someone who knew the land.

Marcus studied the map, his countenance turning relieved and even pleased. "Clever Turnip. She's marked the new routes between us."

Baard nodded and indicated the map with a gesture. "Her Majesty mentioned she did not think she would be able to use the map, but that you might."

I looked it over, feeling a little pride and relief, myself. "She was correct. Severino will not allow her many-if any-freedoms. But we might be able to make use of this." I hoped we would, in any case.

Looking back to the note, I read it aloud.

"Jareth, from Amelia. In Underground. Fae King Severino says I'm his daughter. He says he had spells put on me, but took most away. I look different. Don't know his plans. If you can, please send someone you trust to help me escape. I love you.

Amelia"

My heart ached even as I read it, and I pursed my lips and examined the handwriting. It was a mismatched combination of the style of the woman I had loved and lost, and the woman I had fallen in love with.

Amelia was Tasha, this I now knew thanks to Marcurrelious. I knew they were one and the same. My supposedly deceased wife had been, all this time, under my very nose. It occurred to me then, that perhaps the contract binding us in the past when we were married, had been reenacted when Amelia had put my ring on her finger. The marriage contract was already valid; that was why it had had no trouble in connecting with her. The connection had already been made.

Baard's expression was grim and angry. Horror added to the mix as his eyes snapped up to meet mine. "What of the Little Prince…?"

My lips twisted in an uncertain, dark scowl that Marcus echoed. "I don't know. Severino likely has him, though as to his state, I cannot say."

Baard frowned. "What can I do?"

I stared in silent surprise at him, then considered his words. It meant a great deal to me that he cared. He cared enough to help-and that knowledge filled me with immense gratitude. "Thank you."

He nodded, a small smile flitting over his lips before he turned serious once more and approached the desk. "I am happy to help in any way I can. What do you need of me?"

I shook my head at Baard. "You'll be killed if you return." I stared hard at the letter. "We need to approach this differently."

I lifted my gaze to Baard. "Speak to your contacts outside the borders of the Everlands. Find out everything you can. Spread the word to all those fleeing that they are welcome here. I will send out soldiers along the way to escort them safely. Report back to me, and we will converse further on our strategy."

Baard bowed. "Yes, my lord. Is there anything else?"

I gave him a grim look. "Be careful."

Baard smiled thinly. "Her majesty said the same to me." He bowed deeply. "I go as you command." The words were almost formal. With that said, he promptly vanished.

I sat back down in my seat, offering the chair to my brother. "I have a question for you." Marcus sat, his brow wrinkled.

"Do you know how Severino staged their deaths?"

Marcus was quiet for a time, thinking. At length he finally responded. "Golems."

Staring at him, I leaned further forward in incredulity, pressing the abandoned prince. "Golems?"

He offered a nod, then went on. "Severino placed golems-one fused with a strand of Amelia's hair, and the other a strand of Teren's. The doubles were then left, and the carriage was staged to have been attacked."

I remembered with clarity the burned bodies of my wife and our child. My shocked mind had only registered their deaths. It could not comprehend such a possibility as their deaths being staged-that the whole thing had been some elaborate trick.

Marcus's brow wrinkled grimly. "They weren't harmed then, they won't be now." He shifted in his seat, his face wrinkling in pain at the memories. He spoke through it anyway, quickly. "Father made plans to trick you both. To trick you into believing she was dead, and to trick her by burying her under a mountain of spells." His expression darkened in fury. "Taking away her memories and altering her appearance-it would have taken a great deal of magic." He refocused on my eyes. "That's why she had those headaches and the occasional weakness in her arms and legs. Her subconscious was fighting, and every time something of her past was spoken of, the spells had to fight back in order to keep her from remembering. It took a physical toll on her."

"He won't hurt her," He again assured me, though his expression was twisted with disgust. "No, Severino will likely try to marry her off as quickly as he can." The twisted expression eased just enough to allow dark humor to replace it. "But Amelia will give him Hell."

"And so shall we." It was a promise.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! Please review with your thoughts!