A/N: I'm wrapping up this story after a long journey. Maybe not in this chapter update, but very soon. Trying to find all the loose strings and tie them neatly into cute bows. I hope you don't mind the time jump.
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
Eight Months Later…
Mai sat in the little home she had made with Taryn and Avery, reading a book while pretending not to pay attention to Taryn working with her young ones. The twins had turned out very nice – two Halflings that craved blood more than they did anything else. And they were growing up as quickly as expected. If Mai were to judge, she'd guess they were on their way to early toddlerhood at this rate.
Poor Taryn's got her hands full, Mai thought, turning a page. I wonder where Avery's gotten himself to. He's never been this late.
As if on cue, the door opened and the vampire entered the house with two bundles thrown over his shoulder. The babies cooed at the sight of their father and Taryn let out a sigh of relief.
"Finally, you're home," Taryn said, lowering the spoon with which she'd been trying to feed the babies. "What took you so damn long?"
"The prey on these parts are not so easy to find," Avery told her, setting down his bags. His eyes turned towards Mai. "You could have transported us to far kinder lands."
Mai pretended not to hear him.
Avery rolled his eyes. "How are you faring today, Princess?"
Lifting her eyes from her book, Mai shook her head. "Same as I ever am. Tired. And very heavy to the point I'm slow to everything." She put a hand on her stomach. "I had to extend my clothes again."
"It'll be over soon," Taryn assured her, throwing a glance her way. "You may even go back to You-Know-Who's kingdom once this is resolved."
All of them knew the rule: never speak Jareth's name aloud. Hell, Mai even refused to write it down on paper. Because that might give him the power he needed to find them again. And Mai didn't want to give the poor man a heart attack or her enemies the chance to follow on his trail.
Not that I have many enemies. Just one. And I despise her more than anything in this world.
Mai set her book down. "That's a happy thought, but try to be reasonable. It's not like after this or that happens that I can go back. There's still the problem of her and what could come from her." The dark haired girl shook her head. "I'm not willing to chance it."
"Isn't that the coward's move all over again?" Avery asked, nudging the bags towards Taryn who made a face. "Running and hiding forever?"
"It's not long at all," Mai whispered, remembering a song she'd once heard Jareth sing. She blinked and looked at Avery. "How can I possibly go soon? Or a few weeks from now? There's too much danger in exposing babies to what that woman can do."
Avery sighed. "Sometimes, you act like I don't have it in me to do my duty, Princess. My sworn duty by blood."
Mai stood up and glared at him. "I never said that you couldn't do your duties, Avery. You're putting words into my mouth. And guess what? They have a sour flavor."
"Why can't we be friends?" Taryn sang under her breath. "Oh, why can't we be friends?"
Avery silenced her with a hard look. She shrugged and went about cleaning up after their children. Mai sighed and moved closer to the fire, a hand braced on her back.
"My back hurts," she whispered, looking away from the twisting flames. "It's like four years ago all over again."
Taryn frowned. "This is far different from then, Princess. This time, it'll work out all right in the end. Think of it. A happy ending."
"But will it be a happy ending?" Mai asked, looking at her handmaiden. "Because the dreams I have of him tell me a completely different story." Her body trembled. "It's like he's fading away. Slowly, painfully and I'm not there to help him." She glanced around at all the books that were strewn about the little house. "I have been reading and reading so many things about healing and I've never heard of anything like what I'm seeing happen to him. I'm scared that if I go there, he may not be able to be helped by me?"
"What about the old Goblin lady?" Taryn asked, offering an idea. "She should know far more than you because, well, she's ancient and trained early in the art of Healing."
Mai waved a hand. "That's a possibility. I'm just telling you what I saw."
"Vaguely, but yes," Avery commented, crossing his arms over his chest. "You have cried every night that these images appear in your head."
"And you all expect me to praise the Goddess or something," Mai muttered, shaking her head. "Fat chance of that happening." She winced as she felt something shift nearby. "Someone's penetrated the first wall."
Taryn glared at Avery. "Now look what you did!"
"I didn't do anything," Avery insisted, reaching for his sword which he hadn't had to use in eight months. "Maybe it's a random villager finally coming to figure out who's living in the house in the valley."
Mai shook her head and sat heavily on her seat. "This isn't some random villager with idle curiosity. This is – this is –" She winced again. "They're coming in fast."
Avery growled as someone knocked on the door. The twins tried to imitate him, but failed adorably. Mai and Taryn stared at the door as the vampire moved to open it.
"We don't want to see anyone," he growled. "Go away."
"We've come to speak with Mai," a woman's voice said and Mai was taken by how soothing the sound of it was.
"There is no 'Mai' here," Avery lied, preparing to close the door.
Something stopped him. "There is no need to lie Avery of the Blood Sworn. We can sense the Goddess Blessed in this little house. We mean her no harm." This man's voice was as equally soothing, Mai realized.
"Yes, we've come to speak to her," the woman said.
Taryn looked at Mai and shook her head, mouthing "no". Mai looked towards the door and sighed, arranging her hands carefully.
"Avery, let them in," she ordered softly. "They seem to see right through everything that I've tried to put in place."
Avery turned his head so that he was looking at her in profile. "Are you sure?"
"Let them in," Mai repeated.
With a huff, Avery stepped aside and two figures in cloaks stepped through the door. "One wrong move," he threatened, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Mai looked at the two figures standing in her house. "Avery, I highly doubt you'd be able to harm them." She brought two fingers up to her forehead and bowed her head. "Welcome."
"You know who we are," the woman said.
"Then you must know why we have come," the man continued.
"To bring me back," Mai said softly. "To take me back to the Goblin City…because Jareth is dying…"
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Tobias and Edward stood at the foot of the bed, looking at the Goblin King as Gabriella dabbed a cool washcloth against his sweaty brow. He coughed and oh the fire in his body! He might as well be on his funeral pyre already by how hot the fire burned in his veins. And still worse was the cold that fell upon him at the worst of times.
"I should kill her for what she did to you," Gabriella whispered, her eyes full of emotion. "Who knew that Minthe could be this foul, this evil? Poisoning someone she claims to love."
Jareth coughed and stared up at the ceiling. "Mai…"
"Shh, she's not here," Gabriella said, hushing him gently.
"But we haven't stopped looking for her," Edward promised, taking a step forward. "If she's anywhere in the Underground, we'll find her."
A tear fell down the Goblin King's face. "It may be too late…"
"Don't say that," Tobias insisted. "You've got plenty of life left in you, Jareth. And what about your stubborn fighting spirit? Nothing can tear you down."
"The poison…"
"Is more than a poison, young Tobias," Ellie announced, perched on the edge of the bed and watching Jareth with luminous eyes. "It is a curse. One requiring a payment of blood to lift. I haven't heard of its use since before my grandmother's grandmother's time. When the Old Gods walked among us." She rested her hands on her lap. "It is ancient, vile, and deadly."
"What blood is needed, Ellie?" Gabriella asked, looking away from the Goblin King for just a moment. "Because all of us are willing to spill blood for my brother."
Ellie shook her head. "None of your blood will be able to fix what has been done. Only the blood of the expecting mother that he has seeded can lift the curse." She looked to the heavens. "Goddess, I wish these curses were never put into creation."
"Mai…" Jareth repeated, twisting in his bed as the fire raged through him.
"Be still, brother," Gabriella pleaded, dabbing his forehead. She looked to her husband and son. "Can you do nothing to speed up the search for Mai? Can't you ask my father?"
"Jareth forbade bringing your father into this," Tobias reminded her, looking annoyed. "And the same for Mai's grandfather. That I can understand, but your father has resources that Rorek doesn't."
"She'll come," Edward said softly. "She has to have had a vision of what's going on. She'll be here any moment."
"Let us hope," Ellie whispered, looking towards the doors.
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
Mai had heard enough. She'd made up her mind. Jareth was dying and he needed her to be there before he crossed over to meet his Goddess.
"Take me – us – to him," Mai said, rising to her feet with difficulty.
The two cloaked figures bowed their heads and suddenly, there were cries of surprise as they all appeared in Jareth's bedroom. Mai's eyes scanned the room and took in all the pale faces, but none were as pale and stricken as her beloved Goblin King.
Tobias took a step forward. "Mai, you're -?"
The man in the cloak held his hand up to silence the blond giant. Tobias shut his mouth and continued to stare at Mai in awe.
Mai took a shaky breath and walked towards the bed. Images of different moments, different scenes that took place around that place she'd been away from for so long flashed before her eyes. They twisted and danced, reminding her of joy, pleasure, sorrow, and betrayal. Then came the loneliness.
An empty bed of a king who no longer wanted to sleep there.
A princess who couldn't sleep in a solitary bed.
Two broken hearts, crying out into the Cosmos for the other.
She approached the bed with all eyes in the room on her. Her Goblin King laid on the bed, eyes closed and breathing shallowly. Sweat coated his skin, beading heavily on his proud brow. Mai had never seen him so pale – not even when attacked by the Artical. The sight broke her heart.
Jareth didn't seem to sense her as she stopped at his bedside. He simply muttered and twisted on the bed.
Where are his magics to protect him now? What has become of the oh so powerful Goblin King? Tears formed in her eyes. How can she have done this to him?
"Jareth, be still, love," Mai whispered, lifting a hand and placing it on his arm.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jareth cried out as another hand was placed upon him. Did they not realize the pain that he was in? Did they simply not care?!
Wait! I feel warm. I haven't felt this warmth in…in so long…not since…
The Goblin King opened his mismatched eyes and saw blurriness overhead. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. It worked, a little.
His eyes took in his sister, his brother, his nephew…and was that Mali? No, it was Ellie. He looked to his side and saw her. His beloved. The one that he had been missing for all this time. The one that he longed for when this sickness had taken hold.
"Mai," he whispered, his voice hoarse.
"Jareth, don't move," Mai said gently, pressing firmer on his arm. "You'll only make yourself more tired. And I can tell you're in pain, so stop moving so much." She glanced over at Ellie. "How can I help?"
"You came back," Jareth said, trying to sit up properly. "You came to see me off." He reached for her hand. "Mai, I must make you Queen of the Goblin City before it's too late."
Mai shook her head. "You're not giving up your throne."
"But I must…"
The girl pushed him back down into his reclined position. "Stop moving. You're not dying, not on my watch, but please stop hurting yourself."
Ellie gestured with her eyes. "You are all that we need to lift the curse off of Jareth, Child."
Jareth didn't understand. How?
Then his eyes took in the fullness of Mai and his heart pounded in his chest.
"Mai, you're…"
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
A/N: Poetry flowed through me today and I had to keep myself from writing with a Shakespearean tone. I hate when I get that way in writing. Anyway, what did you think? Please let me know as we get closer to saying goodbye to this story. Thanks and have a wonderful evening. -Scarlet