The worst part of being in a cell is the boredom. Not the small, cramped space, not the plain tasteless meals. It's the monotony of being trapped in the same space, staring at the same grey walls, day after day with no break. That kind of life does strange things to your mind. You have to keep it active, just like the exercises I did every day to keep my muscles from deteriorating.

Muscles are easier. Muscles grow back. Stick a man in a cell for five years and in six months he'll be in good condition again. Your mind, however well… enough time and a mind would become sluggish and slow. Unable to retain information and comprehend complex problems. Thus, the real trick to being in prison is to be able to keep your mind active.

As my prison keepers ignored any requests of mine, even for something as simple as a notebook and paper. I had to improvise. I ran complex mathematical problems through my head, reviewed history, practiced negotiation tactics.

I constructed entire sagas in my head, and told them to an attentive audience of stone walls and straw beds.

Maybe it sounds extreme, I'd only been in that cell three days, after all. But it's good to settle into healthy habits. As it was, I had about a fifty-fifty chance of staying in that cell a long, long time.

The jury, selected from land owning Fae in good standing with the court, was still debating my fate. I figured they'd either kill me, or imprison me for life. Depending if their penchant for "respecting life" fell through or not.

I would have preferred to be killed then to spend the rest of my life in a single room cell with no stimulation. As bad as American prisons are, at least you get chances to move around the yard, there's a library, there's options for entertainment. Here I had nothing, nor would I ever receive anything else. Anything I had to offer, the Fae had in greater quantities with more quality. I had nothing to negotiate myself a better position with.

There was, however, a chance. A slim chance. I was an important agent in the American government. I had the most experience dealing with supernatural forces. I'd been doing it since I was fifteen, since before the Reveal of the Underground. I was confident they would want me back and negotiate my release.

It would probably take years, decades. Fae are immortal, and follow their own schedules, not humans. They made that clear. There was a decent chance my country would receive a corpse.

But still. A chance. So I exercised my body and mind. Tried to keep myself busy. I almost convinced myself that I wasn't avoiding thinking of my failure. I had been sent to secure allies, to receive help, to bring more humans into the safety of the underground.

I had failed. And I had to live with that failure as the days slipped by in that empty cell.

On the thirteenth day of my captivity, the door opened.

I smiled where I sat in the small square of light my cell window offered me, trying to get some vitamin D, my back to the door.

I had already memorized the guards schedule and their way of walking. This was not a guard. This was something else.

I spoke before they could. "Am I to die?"

Silence. Then a cool voice echoed off the cell walls.

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

I stirred, then turned around.

Jareth stared down at me, my heart jumped. A new opportunity had arrived.

I shifted, leaning against my hand on the ground to show off the curve of my hip. My head tilted up towards him, a serene smile settled on my face. "Is that so?"

He held out a gloved hand to me. "Come, this hole is unfitting for a woman such as yourself."

I took it, leaning against him to rise to my feet. When he placed his other hand at my waist and started leading me out of the cell, I let him.

It is possible to overturn a jury's decision. But only if you got a powerful enough figure to do it for you. After what I'd done, I figured I was out of luck with the few allies I'd made in court.

Though Jareth was King of the Goblins, not King of the Deepest Woodlands where I was, he still had more than enough power to pardon me.

And so, I allowed his hand to steadily slide down from my waist to my hip as we left the prison and traveled back into the palace. It didn't matter, if I didn't like what he had to offer in exchange for pardoning me, I'd be back in that cell in no time.

It surprised me when he ordered a bath drawn after we entered his suite. Normally negotiations happen before such luxuries are given. After all, I could simply refuse his offer, and then everything given me would be for naught.

But a bath was drawn, and with oils and scents to boot. I soaked in it for a few minutes, luxuriating in the warmth and scents, I hadn't had a proper bath since before the Reveal. Fae servants helped me scrub the grime and filth that comes from living in a cell for two weeks with no way to wash.

Afterwards, there was a soft cotton shift, a corset designed to help me fit the fashionable "s" shape so revered by the court, a gown made from the spinnings of the mountain spiders to the north, and dragon skin shoes.

I was led to a sitting room, where Jareth sat next to a tea table. A three course luncheon was on that little table. There even was a bottle of wine to the side.

A manservant stood to the side of Jareth, and here I stopped and stared. Because he was human, and a drainer.

Humans are rare in the Underground. At first it was because of their ignorance. Then the creatures there voted to close their borders after the Reveal to stop the sudden influx of humans that came from it. It had been my job to convince them to open them.

Most humans in the underground have lived there for generations, and more often than not they were drainers. They tattooed nearly every surface of their body with a process only known to them. These symbols drew magic out from the world around them and into their skin. It's the only way for humans to get magic, without being granted a Boon.

Naturally, because of their abilities, most Fae despise drainers. But the highest level of magic users love to have them around, it's a show of power.

I settled in the chair opposite Jareth. He nodded to the drainer, who stepped forward and escorted the maidservants out, though they cringed when he got near them. He then bowed and closed the doors, leaving Jareth alone.

"You should eat." He said quietly.

I set my hands in my lap and smiled sweetly. "You should make your proposition, your majesty. It is long overdue."

He shook his head, his face serious. "That can wait."

I raised an eyebrow. "The food they gave me in prison was bland, not scarce. I'm more hungry for answers than food."

Despite my, in my own humble opinion, witty answers, I tensed. A third request would… complicate things. Threes had significance here.

He stared at me, I matched his gaze.
What was in that gaze? Lust, certainly. But I could see traces of admiration, tenderness…

But it didn't mean anything. It couldn't.

"I want you to be my queen." He said bluntly.

My eyes widened, I drew in a sharp gasp. The most I'd been hoping for was consort.

Wasn't a bad offer, I could help my country. Open up trade, bring in more ambassadors, with a human queen pushing I could sway more leaders to open the borders. I could prove to them that the masses of humanity could not be blamed for the mistakes of a few politicians. We could finally live in a world untouched by their choices.

Sure, I only had ten, fifteen, twenty years tops before I stopped looking pretty and Jareth got tired of me. But you could do a lot in that time.

"The Jury has decided to kill you." Jareth said with a wry smile. "I suppose attempted assault on one of the princesses was enough to overcome their good graces."

A stupid blunder on my part, but in my defense, she'd had a sword to my throat. She was very much against me being there, bringing my people and our "great balls and fire and poison" with me. But I'd known better than to be alone in a room with her.

"Should you refuse my offer, there is no chance of your country saving you."

I snorted. "Don't try and act like you're doing me a favor."

He blanched, but his eyes glittered. "Do tell."

Leaning against the table, one arm on either side of my empty plate, I let my own eyes hint at what was to come. "You knew for ten hours when I was fifteen. You still offered to be my slave. You got me out of that cell, despite what I did, and had me cleaned and dressed before negotiations. You're still obsessed with me." My voice lowered, and I leaned in closer. "You'd do just about anything to get me to accept your offer. It's more a favor for you than for me."

He didn't seem concerned, he licked his lips and spoke in the lowest of voices. "What do you require?"

No protests. No negotiations. No additions. He was letting me set the terms. Interesting.

"My family will be brought here. All financial, health and safety necessities will be provided for them and any descendents two generations down provided to the best of your ability. Adopted children included."

A weight lifted off my shoulders. Toby would be ecstatic to see a forest again.

"Done."

No arguments. "A true queenship. All the power allotted to a Fae queen will be mine. Any children I bear will be your heirs."

"Obviously."

How far was he willing to go? "Two human drainers for my maidservants."

"They will be yours."

I sat back against my chair and regarded him with awe. "You really do want me."

The amused gleam vanished from his eyes, he sat back, crossing his arms. "Is that all you require?"

I thought for a moment. "An estate and sizable allowance to live out the rest of my days once you remove me from my position."

"No." He almost snarled.

I blinked, staring at him in confusion. This was by far the most reasonable of my requests.

"No?" I put my palms up as a sign of peace. "I am willing to negotiate. A townhouse-" I blinked. He vanished from his seat, appearing in front of me. His hands grasped my open palms and pulled me up and against him.

"I will never release you." He said, his arms at my waist pulled me closer to his warm frame. He pressed his forehead to mine and gazed down at me with hungry eyes. "I want you for my queen always."

He wanted to parade around court with a steadily aging crone? Granted it had been done before, but somehow I hadn't thought he would go there.

"And when I age?" I demanded, pulling back just enough to help me reclaim the fire that was burning in my stomach.

He stared at me as if I was daft, then his face softened. "You don't know."

"Obviously not."

He was quiet, his mouth tightened. "I gave you your dreams, Sarah." He whispered.

"You offered them." I corrected. "I did not accept."

"Ah," a hand came up and raised my chin, "but you did."

"No-"

A single gloved finger came down on my lips. "The end, Sarah. Think of the end, I threw it up in the air when you banished me, hoping…" he grinned then, "and you caught it."

My heart raced. I had, hadn't I? Was that enough to put me in debt of him? Hadn't it popped after I touched it? I could barely remember, the end had all been a blur of desire, wanting, and need. Knowing I could never give in to it.

He leaned in, his breath brushing against my face. "I could not truly know your heart's desire my dear, I cannot read minds. But I threw in a few things that I thought you might like, just to start. Magic. Immortality. Eternal youth."

He chuckled as my eyes widened. "You gave me a boon."

His thumb rubbed soothing circled on my chin, even as his words entrapped me. "I gave you nothing. I offered a bargain. One you still have not repaid."

My face must have paled ten shades. A Boon. He had offered me a Boon and I had accepted and now he could do whatever he wanted with me for payment. "No." I gasped. "No. Take it back, take it-"

Once again, his finger stopped me. "Hush, precious thing."

I tore myself away from his arms, stumbling back across the room. "That's why you agreed to my demands. You never had to have me accept a queenship, you're just going to force me to do it."

He frowned, hurt flickering in his eyes. "I would never force anyone to accept such a position. It is far too strenuous for that." His voice was so bitter it made me wonder if he hadn't been given that choice. "All you asked for will be yours, should you accept that burdon."

He summoned a crystal in his hand, it shrank down into a ring.

No…

"What I want in exchange for the boon is your hand in marriage."

I laughed, then. I didn't believe him. Less than three percent of the Fae ever married. Marriage vows were taken seriously here. There was no going back. Marriage was forever, unless you broke your vows. Betray them and your partner had the choice for a divorce, and they would take everything from it. You could never marry again.

It took real dedication for marriage, real love, a willingness to risk everything.

So I laughed. Because it was impossible that a Fae feel such things for humans. It was ridiculous. He must be joking, he had to be-

I caught sight of his face and died off quickly. If there was such a thing as both utter despair and seething anger, his face was it.

"Oh. You're serious."

"Yes." He stepped forward and took her hand, sliding the ring onto my marriage finger. "This I will not allow chance on."

So that was why I'd been given the bath, the clothes, the food. It didn't matter what I chose, I'd still end up with him.

"Why?" I whispered, staring at the ring on my finger. It was silvery white, with a peach blossom made of flowers for its centerpiece.

He took my hand, pressing it to his lips and whispered. "I have been enraptured by you Sarah Williams, since the moment you dared defy me." He looked up to me, his eyes glinting. "I will have you beside me until the stars burn out in the sky."

He kissed my palm, I inhaled and he smiled against my palm. "As much as I adore your defiance, I beg you." He raised his eyes and begged. "Do not fight me on this, please. Love, come with me, be with me for all time."

He stared up at me, his eyes pleading and vulnerable. And I realized I still had my opportunity to fix my mistake.

So I kissed him.

I don't think he expected it, but he adapted quickly. Within moments his hands ran up and down my back, leaving burning trails of fire in their wake. My arms slung around his neck as he found his way into my mouth and into a kiss that seemed to go on and on...

When he broke it off, his eyes looked glazed, his breathing ragged. "Vixen." He complained, burying his face in my neck.

He didn't see the smile that spread across my face. My hands rubbed the back of his neck, held him close. I'm sure it must have looked positively cruel. For I know I wouldn't fail now.

"My heart, my wife, my queen…" he murmured, kissing, nipping, teasing his way down my shoulder…

I gave a short laugh, it came out breathless and airy. "Jareth…"

When I was young, I had wanted him with the burning of a fire I didn't understand, but denied the opportunity to explore to save Toby. And- well, if I had to walk through it to save my people, despite Jareth's assumptions, I wasn't going to argue with that.

The next chapter of A Crystal Ball is a chugging along. Have this late night story I scribbled in a notebook three months ago, found today and edited.

I figured, we got a calculating Jareth, now we get a calculating Sarah. ;)

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