I wish

Eli looked around the fancy room curiously. The white and silver decorations were extremely gaudy and she had a feeling that the other guests were sneering behind their grotesque masks.

"I don't think this is where we're supposed to be," Max told the girls nervously and they nodded in agreement.

A familiar melody started flowing around the room and Sarah frowned, trying to place it. It sounded similar to Jareth's song but, for some reason, it sounded a little darker. Sarah turned to ask her friends if they wanted to leave but noticed that they seemed to be listening to the song intently. She tried calling them but they didn't hear her so she shook their arms. They seemed to wake as soon as she touched them and so she grabbed hold of their hands and led them to the middle of the room where they could see everything and stood back-to-back-to-back with all their hands joined and kept wary eyes on everything. The partiers seemed oblivious to the trio and Sarah wondered how many of them were actually aware of what was going on.

"Sarah, let's get out of here," Max whispered over his shoulder and the two girls nodded again. Unfortunately, she couldn't let go of either of them of they would get caught up in the magic spell again so she decided to try summoning a crystal without her hands. She mentally reached for the magic that had been available to her since she was sick and froze when she couldn't sense it.

"The magic's being blocked?" Eli asked when she felt her friend tense behind her and she nodded slowly. Max cursed softly and Sarah looked at him in surprise. He blushed and apologized quietly. They all started looking for a way to get out but there seemed to be no walls or doors at all. Even Jareth's masquerade had had walls of mirrors but this place was only surrounded by a dark, dense fog that none of them wanted to enter.

"Are you not enjoying yourselves?" a deep voice sneered and Sarah clenched her friends' hands tighter to prevent them from pulling away in startled. Sarah felt a tug at her hands and looked over her shoulder to see that someone had separated Max and Eli and each had someone trying to pull them away.

"No, we're not. We want to leave," Eli said coldly, pulling away from the man pulling at her and grabbing Max's hand from the lady trying to lead him away.

"Why would you want to leave? Is it not beautiful here?" the man's voice asked though Sarah still didn't see him.

"Beautiful. Lovely. Breathtaking. Still want to leave," Max replied sarcastically, joining the two women in looking around.

"Which one of you is Lady Sarah? You other two may leave but I wish to get to know Lady Sarah better," the man chuckled and the three humans shivered at how sinister that sentence sounded.

"I think he's over here," Max whispered and Sarah looked where he was pointing. There was a dais she hadn't noticed before and a man lay on the gaudy throne. He had dark dirty blonde hair that reminded her of Jareth and she thought that his eyes were as mismatched as the Goblin King though she couldn't tell since he wasn't actually looking in their direction. He gave off the air of someone who was conferring a favor just by talking to them.

"Looks like a stage prop in a very bad play," Eli snorted and Sarah giggled.

"I require Lady Sarah's presence now," the man roared, his eyes flashing in irritation as he sat up and glared at them. Sarah saw that his eyes were mismatched now and it was unnerving to see a red and orange glare from a face so similar to Jareth. She guessed that this must be his triplet brother that he had warned her about, though she couldn't remember his name. The music that had been playing ceased as everyone looked at him in shock. Some of the partiers seemed to wake from trances at that and Sarah saw them start to struggle against their partners until they suddenly wilted and fell asleep on the floor.

"I'm Lady Sarah and I don't want to talk to you," Max said suddenly and some of the partiers snickered at his audacity.

"Don't be silly. You're not Lady Sarah, I am," Eli told him and Sarah looked between the two of them as they started to fight over who was Lady Sarah.

"I suppose you're Lady Sarah too," the man asked Sarah in disgust and she nodded her head shortly. He stood up and started pacing, muttering about irritations and humans and other things she was sure she didn't want to hear. She clutched Eli and Max's hands in hers to get them to pay attention to what was going on but they only squeezed back, glanced at her out the corner of the eye and continued with arguing over which of the three were Lady Sarah.

"You are not Lady Sarah," Gareth finally stated, pointing at Max. Max shut his mouth with a snap and sneered at the Goblin King's brother in irritation.

"Well of course not. I'm Lady Sarah," Eli replied huffily and Gareth glared at her. She glared right back and Sarah silently wondered at her friend's audacity. "Isn't that right Lady Sarah?" Eli asked when it appeared he was going to start talking again.

"Yes, Lady Sarah," Sarah replied softly and the entire party laughed at them.

"You can not both be Lady Sarah. I wish to introduce myself to my brother's fiancé," Gareth replied after a moment and a couple of deep breaths.

"Well, you see there's a small problem with that," Sarah said slowly.

"Neither of us are engaged to your brother," Eli added firmly and Sarah nodded supportively.

"Do you even know who my brother is?" Gareth asked snidely and Sarah froze. She hadn't told her friends about Jareth's revelation at the store.

"Well obviously," Max sneered and Gareth stared at him again.

"You must be Gareth, King Jareth's younger brother," Eli said firmly. "You look sooo much alike," she added with a snicker.

"But there's still that problem," Sarah said, mentally wondering how they'd found out about Jareth's triplet.

"None of us are engaged to the Goblin King," Max stated and Gareth glared at them, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep that up," Sarah told him, smiling at him sweetly. He glared at her and turned around to stare at the fog flowing around the room. Sarah supposed that the sight of the dark fog must calm him down and she exchanged mischievous glances with Eli.

"You can ask him yourself if you want," Eli offered graciously.

"I wish the Goblin King was here right now," Sarah added and Gareth turned an instant too late with a look of horror on his face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, you're one of triplets?" Catherine asked dazedly.

"Yes," Jareth replied shortly, pacing the length of the hall.

"He's the mischief-maker of our family," Aereth said softly from where she stood behind Aerthalin.

"And your uncle is...," Richard started, then stopped and glanced at the Elven King worriedly. Aerthalin waved his hand airily to indicate that he had no compunctions about the subject.

"I can't count the number of times I've had to help my sister get him out of trouble," Aerthalin drawled dryly, watching his nephew pace. Aereth smiled softly to herself.

"If he's hurt her," Jareth snapped briefly before returning to his brooding.

"We will deal with it if it happens. I personally don't believe even your brother could be that stupid," Aerthalin told him calmly.

"Jareth is the eldest child?" Karen asked, finally speaking after thinking about all that had been revealed. First Jareth had told him of his brother and their conversations and then the Elven King and Princess had come and added that Gareth had disappeared from the family court along with some of the most loyal retainers. The triplet's parents were very upset.

"Yes but our traditions of inheritance are different," Aerthalin replied, understanding the new Queen's confusion. Even though it didn't happen often, he had been around for the coronation of three humans as Fae royalty. He mentally admitted that humans had changed drastically in the years since the last human had ascended to a Fae throne as he watched the new Queen and her Consort calmly watching his nephew pace.

"How so?" Richard asked finally when no one else seemed ready to speak. He had noticed the Elven King's judging gaze and the Princess' peaceful smile and wondered why they contrasted so much with the Goblin King's fiery nature.

"The centaurs are the ones who choose who will be our Kings and Queens if there are more than one child born to a Kingdom. The centaurs come and judge the children and tell the parents what posts best fit the child for they are the wisest beings in the worlds," Aereth said softly and she smiled at her elder brother.

"Thankfully, they chose her to be the Elven heir and gave him someplace to get into mischief legally," Felanist added with amusement from her place across from the others. She and the Pixie King had sat where Catherine and he could stare at each other unobtrusively and the two had taken advantage of the placement. Catherine and he had barely paid attention to anything going on except for the first part.

"So, you're one of triplets?" Catherine asked dazedly and Jareth gave her a very disgusted look in passing.

"Sarah will be alright. She can take care of herself," Richard told him softly and Jareth just nodded distractedly. Aereth smiled a little and Karen thought that she looked much like the cat that ate the canary.

'I wish the Goblin King was here right now,' Sarah's voice announced from the air and a look of relief flooded over Jareth's face as he hurriedly summoned a crystal.

"Leave him relatively whole," Aerthalin warned and received a vague wave in reply as his nephew disappeared.

"Well, it can't be too bad. She sounded a little amused," Karen noticed with a smile.

"So, he's actually a triplet?" Catherine asked dazedly.