The Next Afternoon (Day 234)

After spending the morning with Ludo, Didymus and Ambrosias, and lunch in the kitchen with Chef and Hoggle, who "just happened" to be eating at the same time she was, Sarah made her way to her favorite place in the castle: the library.

She was also indulging in her favorite habit lately: venting. After filling in Dearie and the Missus on everything that happened at the High King's court, she started in on Jareth. "And then he just vanished and I haven't seen him since," she groused. "Just a note on his pillow that he was working late and didn't want to disturb me."

"Well, there is a great deal for the Goblin King to be doin' under the best of circumstances," the Missus said in a kindly voice. "At least he left you with some hope—and the note, that's a good thing, show's he's thinkin' about you, didn't want you worryin' over him not being there."

"I wasn't worried," Sarah muttered, but her cheeks felt flushed and she knew the bookworms could tell she was lying by the indulgent smiles they offered each other. "Anyway," she said, changing the subject to one slightly less uncomfortable, "it's not me he should be worrying about right now, it's Viria. That poor kid's gonna be in for a rough time if it turns out her mother fooled the test somehow."

The looks the two bookworms exchanged this time were more worried than anything else. "Tis a powerful difficult test to trick," Dearie said slowly. "Not impossible, but difficult."

Sarah, who had been leaning back in her chair facing her friends as they perched on a pile of books in the middle of the table, leaned forward. "So it's been done before?" she asked, feeling conflicted even as she asked the question. Like she said, Viria was the one who would suffer if Elizabitcha turned out to be lying through her pearl-like teeth, and Sarah had no desire to see any child harmed even slightly. Nor would it be a problem if Viria actually was Jareth's daughter; so their own child would never be Elevated, never rule the Fae when the time came. Big deal.

"It has been done, but it's forbidden to discuss it," Dearie replied in a low voice, glancing around the room nervously. "No one knows how, at least, no one outside the Fae court and the ones who did the fooling," he added. "It's never been written down and if it was," he shook his head, "the High King would have the book or scroll burned in the fiery pits of Mordor."

That last bit distracted Sarah; she perked up a bit and asked: "Wait, there's a real Mordor? I thought that was just Tolkein!"

"It is," the Missus replied with a sharp look at her husband. "Someone's been reading too much Aboveground fiction for his own good." She sniffed.

"Well, the king would burn it, anyway," Dearie muttered, looking abashed. "But we've gotten a bit off point, eh? If the child isn't Jareth's true heir, then yours is and there won't be any problems with the two of you being Elevated and you marrying the Goblin King."

Sarah pounced on that last statement. "Yeah, that's part of what I don't get. Why would Viria being his heir keep us from being Elevated or from Jareth marrying me? If he wanted to," she added hastily, remembering that Jareth seemed to want to keep his proposal quiet until she made up her mind.

"Oh, he wants to, never fear on that count," the Missus reassured her, reaching out with one of her front set of hands to pat Sarah comfortingly on the tip of one finger. "I've never seen him so smitten with any woman."

"Ay, and there's been enough of them over the cen—oof!" Dearie gave his wife a hurt look as he rubbed his side. "What was that for?" She nodded at Sarah and his face took on a stricken look. "Sorry, luv, I keep forgetting how humans are about that sort of thing," he said by way of apology.

Sarah decided not to take umbrage; it wasn't the same as when King Oberon had deliberately introduced the subject at their first—and so far only—family dinner.

"So why would Viria's existence stop Jareth from marrying me?" Sarah asked, returning to the subject at hand. Man, they kept wandering off track today! She blamed it on her own distracted mind.

"Why, because Elizabeta is pure-blooded Fey, born and bred, with nary a drop of any other blood going back hundreds of generations," Dearie explained as if it should be self-evident. "A bloodline that pure is a rarity in the Underground, believe you me; only a few families can boast of it nowadays, what with the, er, reproductive issues that have been plaguing the Fey over the past millennium or so."

Sarah wanted to know more about that subject, but decided to keep on track and put it aside for another day. "That still doesn't explain why Jareth would have to marry Elizabitch—er, Elizabeta," she corrected herself with a blush.

"As the mother of Jareth's child and the descendent of a pure bloodline, it would be a deadly insult if he were to place another above her in his esteem, at least publicly," the Missus explained. "Her family would have every right to declare a blood feud against the royal house, which would turn the Fey clans against one another. It would be a long and bitter fight, leaving the Underground and all who survive devastated for centuries to come."

"You sound like you're telling me about something that's happened before," Sarah said slowly.

Both bookworms nodded solemnly, but it was Dearie who continued: "It has, more than once, sadly enough. King Oberon would be foolish to allow it to happen again." He shook his head sadly. "No, if Viria is Jareth's child, then he will have to marry Elizabeta and you, I'm afraid, would never be allowed to be Elevated even if you agreed to be his mistress."

"Yeah, well, I can't see myself as the other woman, and even if what he said is true and our child would find its way back here no matter what I do, I couldn't stay with him under those circumstances," Sarah said, fighting back a sudden desire to cry. "Stupid pregnancy hormones," she muttered as she surreptitiously wiped the corner of her eyes with her sleeve. She sniffed, once, shook her head, and plastered a determined smile on her face. "Well, I never said I was going to stay here in the first place," she declared. "Just until my year-and-a-day are up."

"We'd miss you something fierce if you left," the Missus admitted. "And I can't imagine how King Jareth will be if that day comes and you leave him behind. Even with his new responsibilities, he'd miss you even more than we would."

Dearie nodded sadly in agreement, and the three of them just sat there for a few minutes, each absorbed in their own gloomy thoughts.

Sarah finally leaned back with a sigh and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands. "I just wish things made more sense," she finally complained. "Every time I think I've got my head wrapped around this place, something else happens and I feel like I'm back at the starting line."

"Perhaps that's part of the problem," the Missus ventured. "The Underground isn't a place based on mortal logic, you know. Perhaps you'd be better off trying to wrap your heart around it instead."

"You mean, go with what I feel and not with what I think?" Sarah asked slowly. "That kind of goes against everything I was ever brought up to believe about problem-solving."

"That's another problem right there," Dearie interjected. "Thinking of our world as a problem to be solved, rather than an experience to be, well, experienced."

It was a novel way of approaching things, at least in Sarah's mind, but before they could continue the conversation they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Goblin King himself. Without a word he appeared before them, holding out an imperious hand to Sarah and pulling her to her feet. With a curt nod at the bookworms, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they vanished in the usual shower of sparkles.

A/N: Next chapter title: "Truth Be Told." All Shall Be Revealed at least as far as Elizabit...er, Elizabeta is concerned. Enjoy!