Excursion into Labyrinth #3! The last one. I promise. The epilogue for To Take a Wife is almost done. I swear.

It took me a few minutes to piece together why I'd accepted the invitation.

Perhaps it was the promise of dwarven wine, or the fact I hadn't left my kingdom in over three centuries, or because it promised to be interesting. Dragons had been invited, see.

As it was, none of these things alone were enough to make me accept the invitation, but together… well… celebrations with dragons are always interesting, even when there isn't dwarven wine. And for once I wouldn't be in charge of the clean up. It simply couldn't be missed.

Now, as the King of the Goblin Kingdom, Caretaker of the Labyrinth, Lord of Dreams, Granter of Wishes, Master of Illusions, and one of the few remaining independent powers in the Underground, I receive invitations for many things. Parties, weddings, luncheons, holiday celebrations. I heartily ignored them all. I do not fraternize with other kingdoms, and they know it. Of course, it took a few millennia of refusals for this to truly pass through their thick skulls, but they got the message eventually.

But, you might say, if they knew you would refuse them, why the invitations?

Why because if I was not given the option to attend, I would rain my fury down on them. Can't have them thinking that they can ignore me, after all. I am ignoring them.

No no. The only thing that changed after their realization was that they stopped sending letters. Invitations were sent, certainly. But letters, hand written and thought out, not a one.

All the less paperwork for me, I say.

But when I saw the invitation for the party, boasting with extravagant golden lettering dwarven wine and dragons, I suddenly felt the itch to leave and see how this would all turn out. It had to be good.

So I wrote out the appropriate reply and sent it off to the invitee. No doubt they would be panicking the moment they saw it. The thought was amusing, how would they react to knowing the Goblin King would be attending their little soiree?

The fateful evening arrived, I arrived fifteen minutes late. Fashionably late, shall we say.

Casting a glamour around myself to remain hidden, I moved along the guests, snagging a glass of that dwarven wine to sip. I could feel the light spell on it, meant to enchant the drinker so that they would be trapped in the festivities.

I easily dismissed it beneath my considerable power, though anyone with less magic than a elf would simply have to ignore the drinks or be trapped within the enchanter's realm forever.

The air crackled and hissed as I moved throughout the crowd, a natural consequence of having so many magical beings in one place. I could almost taste the metallic bite on my tongue.

The dragons were to the left, a little ways away from the main festivities, barrels of wine the size of horses to accommodate their tastes. So far, it looked as if they were holding themselves back. No smoke emitted from their nostrils, no rampaging, no stamping. In fact, they were looking rather lethargic.

How did they get the great beasts to restrain themselves? I sent out a small portion of magic, it danced around the area, testing the area around the dragon. About thirty feet from, I felt the spark and jerked back my powers. Great gods of old, that was a stronger sedative than I'd felt in quite some time. Who was hosting this thing anyways? For the first time, I bothered to look about myself.

I felt my lip curl in distaste when I recognized the banners of the fool Heljon, one of the darker members of the Unseelie court. Truly evil fellow, if there ever was one. Not that I was above such things myself, but one shouldn't flaunt it so, it only causes trouble.

The wine was suddenly sour in my mouth, I dismissed the goblet. With that spell on the dragons it was unlikely things would turn out how I'd hoped. I decided to take my leave.

I prepared myself for leaving, only to be stopped by a curious sight.

The crowd, formally only interested in each other and their wine suddenly turned and began hollering. Four young fae men were carrying a cage on their shoulders, inside the cage was a small human child. A boy, young, I couldn't be sure of his age, mortals came and went so quickly.

In the front, dressed in opulent silks like some figure the Greeks had worshiped, came Heljon. This was not what caught me, however. What caught me was that the lad was not afraid.

He wasn't sedated either. He was fully aware, looking curiously at the world around him, sitting at the edge of the cage to poke his face out between the bars.

By all rights, the boy should be terrified, yet he only looked amused and curious. Strange.

Heljon strode up to a pedestal. "Look!" He proclaimed. "A human youth. Fae touched, yet a fresh and innocent boy. His flesh as tender as a Unicorn's. As fair as a nymph from deep below the sea."

The crowd growled in hunger, licking their lips. Mortals were so hard to come by ever since belief in us had started leaving them.

Heljon laughed, raising his arms for dramatic effect. "Whoever impresses me the most will win the child for their very own. Whether to raise or to eat to take as a lover, I care not. But you must impress me."

Typical. Such a vague requirement would elicit a barrage of gifts, favors and acts that would doubt end in an enormous brawl for a winner. Crude, but effective and profitable. Perhaps I would stay after all.

Half the crowd promptly vanished, no doubt to fetch gifts and wonders, so it was easy to slip between figures up to the cage. There was a spell around it to keep unwanted fae from taking the boy. It was a tricky business unwinding the threads of magic that surrounded the cage, but I enjoyed a challenge. It almost lasted thirty seconds. I stepped closer.

There didn't seem anything special about him at first glance. A shock of dirty blonde hair on his head, clear green eyes that flicked about him, cheeks that hadn't quite lost their fat from childhood.

I reached forward and touched his shoulder, placing a simple charm that would allow him to see me. He jumped and turned around. "Where did you come from?" He cried, grinning.

"Never mind that." I leaned against the edge of the cage. "You don't seem afraid."

He shook his head. "No. My sister is coming to rescue me."

"Your sister?" I asked mildly. "I doubt your sister will ever find you. Regardless of whatever bullies she has fought off in the past."

He grinned. "No. She always rescues me. You'll see." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small human device. "It's been two hours and thirty nine minutes since they took me. She's never taken longer than three hours."

This peaked my interest. "You time her rescues?"

He shrugged. "I have to entertain myself somehow."

I stared at him, a smile coming on my face in spite of myself. "Boy, how many times have you been kidnapped?"

Another shrug. "Dunno, at least once a month. Usually it's fae, but other creatures do it too."

I chuckled. "And who is your sister?"

His green eyes flashed. "Powerful."

"Hmm. Wise not to reveal her name." I held out my hand between the bars of the cage. "I am Jareth, King of Goblins, Caretaker of the Labyrinth, Lord of Dreams, Granter of Wishes and Master of illusions."

He looked at my hand dubiously, but shook it. "I am Powerful's brother." He said.

I raised my eyebrows. He was certainly used to being around fae. I wondered who his sister might be.

The boy looked at me, as if trying to figure me out. "You gave me your full title." He accused.

"I did."

"Why? Isn't that dangerous?"

I laughed. "Only if you worry about others more powerful than you taking advantage of it."

He whistled, sitting down in the cage with his legs crossed and looked up at me. "You must be pretty powerful."

"I am."

"I bet my sister could beat you."

Now that was going a little far. I narrowed my eyes down at him. "Is that so?"

Perhaps he heard the edge in my voice, for he looked out into the crowd and shrugged diplomatically.

I summoned back that goblet of wine and began sipping at it again. The crowd gradually started reappearing. One man brought a chest of gems, collected from depths of the sea, each enchanted in the most mystical of ways. Another brought a cloak woven from starlight. At least three dozen men and women hinted at nights of pleasure for their offering.

The boy looked out over them. "Are humans really worth so much?"

I took an extended drink, emptying my cup. "Yes and no. To many, your kind would be worth much of this. But for others, you're less than the mud they tread. It's more an excuse to outshow each other than anything else. You're just a bonus."

"Huh." He looked distinctly unworried and glanced down at the device. "Two hours and fifty five minutes."

I gazed down at him sympathetically. "If your sister doesn't come, I might be willing to take you to my kingdom. You'd be a goblin, mind you. I'd have no liege over you otherwise. But there are worse fates. Better than what you'd get here, anyway."

"She'll come."

"Well, the offer is open." I found myself liking the boy, he would make a marvelous goblin. Perhaps I would challenge his sister and take him for my own, if he sister ever bothered to show herself, which I found unlikely.

One fae pulled out a sword and started dueling three other single-handedly. The fighting was starting already, marvelous. I looked down at the empty drink and crossed my eyes momentarily. It filled itself. I resumed sipping.

"How much longer now, Brother of Powerful?"

The boy lifted the device and frowned. "Three hours and two minutes. She's late."

"Jareth!"

I jumped, turning to see a figure coming out of the trees. Blasted troublemaker had seen straight through my glamour, but he'd always been an odd one. "Puck," I said dryly "why are you here? I thought you detested the Unseelie court."

He jogged over to me, somehow avoiding the spell around the cage and grinned, a dimple in one cheek revealing itself. "I heard this kid was here." He jerked his thumb to the boy in the cage. "Thought I'd come see the fight."

"The fight?"

"Yup." Puck shook his head. "Tried to take him once myself. He's a cool kid, might make a fun apprentice, being fae touched and all that. Let me tell you, that sister is ter-rif-fy-ing."

"Is she."

Puck gestured for my cup. I summoned a crystal and tossed it at him, he caught it and it became a goblet of wine. He took a drink.

"Tore through all my protections in about three seconds." He said after he finished, smacking his lips. "Revealed she had enough power to squash me like a grape, told me she'd remove my organs in alphabetical order if I did it again, took the kid, and ran. In and out in under an hour."

Interesting. "What a crime that would have been." I replied dryly.

Puck put a hand against his heart. "You wound me, Jareth." He turned to the child. "How's your sister, kid?"

"Still Powerful." The boy showed Puck the device. "And she's late."

"Eeeh. Not surprising. She doesn't know my shortcuts." Puck gestured to the woods. "Probably delayed by the shields around this place- coo-wee are they powerful tonight! I was smarting when I went through the holes. She'll get through though."

I looked at Puck with new interest. "How powerful is this sister of his?" I asked him.

He laughed, sounding slightly hysterical. "She never fully revealed herself to me. Probably a little less powerful than you, if I had to hazard a guess." He laughed. "Heljon's gonna get his -er" he glanced at the boy. "Butt handed to him."

Impressive indeed. The last being close to my power had been the Danu, mother of all Irish gods. But mother Danu had faded away into nonexistence long ago, no one had matched me since.

Well… just one. But she'd known nothing of her power, and likely it had been stifled in the human world she returned to. So much power, so much beauty and imagination, wasted. If only…

"Jareth-" The boy pointed out into the crowd where one woman stood on a table and begun stripping off her already rather… revealing robes. "Why is she doing that?"

I laughed. "Ah. Best turn around, at least a dozen others will follow her example."

The boy did so, looking distinctly uncomfortable. About time.

"Are they trying to seduce him?"

"Yes, in a way, they are displaying themselves to impress him. I say it is beneath them, but perhaps I am not one to judge."

The boy made a gagging action and looked at the device. "Three hours and fifteen minutes." He groaned.

"Now now, don't fret." I gestured over to the sword fight, which was still ongoing. "No doubt this will consume the party within a half hour. They will quickly don armor and go to battle."

Puck snorted. "I'd give it fifteen minutes."

"Best to think the better of people, that way you don't feel guilty if they disappoint your expectations."

"I prefer to think the worst, and be pleasantly surprised."

The boy leaned against his cage and looked up at me. "Anything interesting happening?'

I scanned the crowd. "A few more displays of the eh- natural form, a few more sword fights-" There was a roar shaking the ground beneath us. "Someone is starting to wrestle a dragon."

"I got kidnapped by dragons twice." The boy said, he grinned, his eyes gaining an impish look. "The king of dragons has a ban on taking me now."

Puck nodded knowingly. "Like I said, ter-rif-fy-ing."

"Is she in the Seelie Court?" I asked.

"Nope. Independent."

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm surprised the courts haven't forced her to be inducted in one of them."

"Nah. They'd be fools to try." Puck handed back my goblet. "Thanks for the drink. Been a while since I've had dwarven wine."

The boy perked. "Can I have some?"

"Dwarven wine is a little strong for a boy such as yourself to start with." I told him, waving my hand to make Puck's cup vanish.

He groaned. "My sister won't let me have any either."

"Then your sister is wise as well as powerful."

Puck stirred. "Someone's coming."

I paused, sending out a light puff of my magic in every direction, sensing the vibrations in the layers of reality. There- I inhaled sharply. "She is powerful indeed."

In fact, I thought Puck had underestimated the woman. She was as powerful as I, no doubt about that. She no longer concealed herself or held back. It was clear she wished to intimidate the party with her full strength. Her powers were beautiful too, shining brightly in the fog of magic that was the party. I had only felt such power and beauty once before… no… it couldn't be… and yet-

Lightening shot across the courtyard, streaking across the air, hitting the trees on all around us. Many burst into flames, others split in two, one fell over, causing party goers to scatter.

Puck gave a great leap into the air, cheering with excitement while party goers screamed.

"Three hours and seventeen minutes." The boy said, clicking his device to a stop.

Heljon stood, his face filled with fury. "Who dares disturb my celebration?" He roared.

A figure appeared at the top of the stairs, arms on their hips, a head was tossed. "I do."

"You have no right to be here." Heljon snarled.

The figure stepped into the light of the fires, illuminating a face.

My breath caught.

An upturned nose, sparkling green eyes, a little coy smile.

Elegance.

Beauty.

Radiance.

"Sarah." I breathed, worshiping the sound of her voice on my tongue. "My love…"

The mortal world had not dimmed her powers. I should have known she was far too stubborn to allow that. If anything they had grown more vibrant, more exquisite in their ways as they exploded across the room.

Heljon stepped back, feeling the strength of her magic.

"You have my brother." She said, her voice calm and composed, yet warning if denied.

Lovely thing she was. Radiant thing.

"I demand you return him to me."

Give me the child.

Oh how she had changed. No longer was she a near woman, a girl on the cusp of becoming something more. Now she was a woman, through and through. And she was curves, she was vivid magic, she was a queen, in every sense of the word.

Oh, how I loved her…

Heljon had gone a nasty shade of grey, staring up at the woman who wielded such power. "I won the boy… took him. My right-"

"I care very little for your rights." Her voice was as calm as ever, but her face gazed down at him impassively. Not in a dull way, no no, in a way as if she simply did not care about him. As if he were a small obstacle that she would easily remove if he provided more than half a reason.

Lovely thing.

Precious thing.

I adored her. Adored the way her hair flared out from her shoulder from the ghost like waves of power. Worshiped the way she walked across the courtyard to meet her foe, how the unseelie court parted for her. Wanted her magic twined around mine, wanted her twined around me. Wanted us together, her power joining mine in the upkeep of my kingdom. How easy it would be if she was beside me. How easily would I bear the stupidity of my goblins if I had her wit and intelligence. How both courts would bow before us when we were King and Queen...

She went up to Heljon, her face impassive and cold, a regents face. Her powers stormed around him, great and terrible in their beauty. She was born for queenship. "I will take my brother with me. And you will not stop me. If you try, I will make you regret you were ever unable to die. If you take him again, I will force you through a mesh of fine silver and feed the remains to my dog. Do you understand?"

Heljon nodded, his face green. "Yes my lady." He whispered hoarsely.

She turned, her hair tossing in the motion and she walked across the courtyard to us. As she approached the cage, her face softened, affection entering her eyes. She stopped a few feet from the edge of the cage, just outside the spell.

"Hi honey." She said warmly, a smile covering her face.

I wanted her to smile at me every morning. Wanted to feel her against me every night. I wanted her… I wanted her… I wanted her…

The boy, who must have been Toby, grinned up at her. "Hey sis. You're late."

"It took me a while to find you. And the wards were powerful." She brought both hands up and mimed pulling something apart.

The spell around the cage groaned as her magic ripped it in two, the air sparked, I could taste the metallic residue of her powers being strained. When she finished that, she snapped her fingers, causing the cage door to open.

Toby climbed through the opening and ran into his sister's arms. She pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head. "Are you hurt?" She asked gently. "Did they do anything to you?"

I wanted her to kiss me. Wanted her to take me in her arms. Wanted her to question after my wellbeing.

The boy shook his head. "I'm okay." He turned around, facing us. "Bye guys." He waved.

Sarah looked up, staring past me to Puck. "Why Puck, I thought I warned you." She said lightly.

He raised his hands. "I had nothing to do with this. I just wanted to see Heljon get put in his place."

She laughed, her hands tightening around Toby's shoulders. "I hope I did not disappoint."

You would never disappoint me, precious thing.

She turned to leave, then paused, looking to her brother. "You said 'guys'."

"Yup."

A shock emanated from her like a bombshell. It splintered across the courtyard, fae scrambled for cover, trying to hide the failure of their glamours. I allowed mine to be crushed by the spell. The crowd gasped at my appearance.

She pursed her lips together, her eyes growing hard again as she looked at me. "What are you doing here?"

I kept my voice light. "Same as Puck. Enjoying a mess I do not have to clean up."

Her eyes narrowed, a shielding ward circled around her and Toby, it was thick and bulky. "Is that so?"

"I originally came because of the dragons and the wine. A terrible combination. But I happened to see the boy and I thought I might as well say hello."

"Yeah, he did. He didn't take me. He's cool." Toby tugged on his sister's arm. "Come on, mom and dad are going to notice I'm gone."
She nodded, turning and walking Toby out of the room. I followed, trailing after her, my cloak rippling behind me. The party goers gaped. The King of Goblins had never chased a woman before.

We left the party behind us, entering into the cool, cold forest. I waited until we were well away from the party before breaking the silence.

"You have a reputation."

She froze in her steps and turned, one flawless brow raised. "I built one on purpose."

"Why do you think he continues to be taken?" I told her, and her eyes widened. "You have practically advertised yourself. 'Take this child, I will come and face you.' You are a challenge. Nearly every fae will want to test themselves against you."

Her hand clenched on Toby's shoulder. "What else was I to do?" She said, raising her head in haughtiness. "Simply not come and rescue him?"

Come to me. Be with me. Take your brother and come under my protection. Let me protect you. Let me help you wield that glorious power of yours. Let me be with you. Let me live within you.

"You are not very skilled yet, are you?" I asked, letting a rather wicked smile spread across my face. "That lightning, the shield, the canceling shock, it took a great amount of power, but little skill. You tear down obstacles, with no subtlety or technicality. You depend on that power to bluff your way through each foe, but it will fail one day. One day they will realize how inexperienced you are, and will defeat you."

She was silent.

"What will happen then?" I lowered my voice. "What will happen to the boy?"

Her shoulders slumped. The queen-like demeanor vanished. "I don't know." She whispered, sounding small and frightened.

"Who teaches you?"

She sighed, pulling Toby tightly against her form. He wrapped his arms around her waist, looking from her to me worriedly.

"No one teaches me."

"You have no mentor?"

"None."

I allowed a measure of compassion to enter my voice. "You have done very well for your circumstances. But you require someone to help you refine your powers."

Her voice hardened. "I suppose only yourself would do?"

I smiled. "Naturally."

Her lips pressed together, her eyes looked over me, leaving burning trails in their wake.

Come to me, love. Be with me.

"Why should I trust you?"

"Would you trust anyone else to teach you?" I said softly. "You have joined none of the courts. Found no master to mentor you. You trust no one in this world of magic and fae."

More silence. She looked to be deep in thought, her mind turning the idea over.

Love me. Fear me. Want me.

"I'm fond of the boy, Sarah. I want no harm to come to him. It would be better for him, safer for him to be under both of us."

Her gaze sharpened, and the queen inside her reasserted itself. "I will consider your offer." She said coolly. "Until then, I bid you farewell, Goblin King." She emanated a glow of power, and she and the boy vanished.

For a moment I considered stopping her, but decided against it, she would call on me later, invite me to her side of the veil. Whether it was to accept or negotiate, it didn't matter. She would be my queen. She would be mine in the end.

And hers was an invitation I would never refuse.

You will notice I did not mark Romance as one of the genres for this story. This is because I do not find this romantic.

*grins in mirror* Careful, your evil Jareth is showing.

Hot diggity dang is it fun to write morally grey/black characters. Thanks for nothing, Labyrinth. *throws confetti*

I hope you enjoyed this story. Erm, let me know how I did portraying Jareth. I've been struggling to get his character down in my main Labyrinth story. (Which is still in the works.) Hopefully this will help me get in tune with his evil side.

Reviews encourage authors and help them improve their writing, please review!