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As always,
DISCLAIMER: Sarah, Jareth, and everything Labyrinth belong to Jim Henson Productions. Oberon, Titania and Puck belong to William Shakespeare. Anything Potterverse belongs to the magnificent JK Rowling. I only own Jay, Caridwen and any other characters that you do not recognize..
And now, the story.
The Searcher
Part 4
Sarah was in the library, looking over her son's shoulders to check on his work, "Very good, Jay. Now the H. That's it! Very good, you just wrote your name!"
A beautiful smile crossed the five-year-old's face, when he said "Mom, can we show dad? Pleeease?"
Sarah smiled and said "I'm sure your father will be very pleased. Let's go and surprise him."
She took the baby from the crib that was placed in the library, cradling her in one arm while taking her son's hand with her free one. They walked into the throne room, when she saw that Jareth was reading what looked like an official parchment from the Court and was frowning.
He tore his gaze from the letter and saw that his family was standing at the entrance. Dismissing the letter, he smiled when he saw his son running into him, very excited "Dad, dad, look what I did today! I'm big now, right?"
Taking his son in his lap, he took the piece of parchment that was offered to him. He took a look at it and saw that the word JARETH was written in it. Very squiggly, but understandable for a five year old. Little Jareth said very proud "I wrote it all by myself!"
Looking at his son, he said "You did? This is very good. My are you growing fast! Maybe it is time I start thinking about a tutor for you…"
The little boy looked at his father with a puzzled face "What's a tut.. tor? Is that anything like school?"
Jareth smiled and nodded "Yes, but instead of you going to school, your teacher comes here. Would you like that?"
The little boy nodded excited and exclaimed "Yeah!"
Sarah looked at the two most important men in her life and said "Jay, why don't you go and play? I need to talk to dad."
The little boy jumped from his father's lap and said "Okay." Looking at one of the goblins, he said "Forg, wanna play hide and seek?"
The goblin nodded, and the prince said "Let's go look for the others." And the pair ran out of the throne room, to look for other goblins to play with.
As soon as she saw that Jay left the room, Sarah looked at her husband and said "Jareth, is something wrong? I could tell that whatever you were reading when we came in distressed you."
At the reminder of the letter, the Goblin King's anger returned. How could they do this to them? Seeing his wife's worried face, he made himself calm down. Looking at his daughter, his worries returned. Very somberly, he said "I think you better read this."
Sarah gave the baby to her husband, and took the parchment he was reading when they came in. He could see his wife's face showing different emotions as she was reading the letter. From indifference, to worry to anger. Finally she spoke "They are doing WHAT? They can't do that, can they?", looking at her husband with a worried expression.
Jareth sighed and said "I'm afraid they can. The orders come from the High Council itself. It will be announced at the party, and he will be attending as well."
Sarah was dismayed at the news "How could they do that? She's not even a year old, and she is already engaged? And to top it off, we have no say into it? We do not even know who is her intended or anything! She will not be given the option to fall in love! That's preposterous!"
Sarah was now pacing the throne room, venting her anger "I have worked very hard to make her first year birthday a success, and now The Court's High Council is going to announce her engagement? Can't Oberon do anything about it? He is a member of the High Council, isn't he?"
Sadly, the Goblin King shook his head "He is the one who sent the letter. He tried to fight that decision, but he was overruled. We have to accept their decision, but that does not mean we have to like it."
Hugging his daughter he thought "I hope that this is a decision they will not regret later…"
The day of the birthday celebration came, and the Goblin King and Queen were talking to some of their guests. Children could be seen playing all around the ballroom. The king of the Fae, Oberon, came to his brother, "Jareth, could I speak to you for a moment?"
Jareth nodded and excusing himself from his guests followed his brother. Oberon spoke quietly "Before the announcement, I thought you might like to meet your daughter's future husband. Tell Sarah to bring the baby."
Jareth could feel the anger building within, as well as his brother. Oberon warned him "Calm down. You mustn't cause a scene."
Jareth sighed and went to look for his wife. Sarah was talking with some guests and entertaining their daughter on her lap when he approached them. Flashing a smile, the Goblin King took the baby, and said "Ladies, could you please excuse us. Sarah, there is someone I would like you to meet."
Sarah smiled, and excusing herself, walked along her husband. She was curious, and said "Who do you want me to meet?"
He was serious now, and in a cold tone he said "Cari's future husband. Oberon will make the introductions, and Titania will take care of Jay."
As soon as they entered the throne room, they saw Oberon with two more members of the High Council, Seana Queen of the merpeople and Po the King of the centaurs. Next to them was a young man in his early twenties, which neither of them had seen before. He had jet-black hair tied up in a ponytail, and very intense blue eyes which were looking at them with extreme interest.
They sat down on their thrones, and Jareth nodded to Oberon. The King of the Fae spoke, "Goblin King, as representatives of the Court's High Council we would like to present to you the one chosen as your daughter's betrothed, Lord Valkor."
The young man bowed and said "It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesties. I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to make your daughter happy."
Jareth looked at the young man with narrowed eyes, and asked curiously "From which kingdom do you come from?
The young man looked at the king, and said "I'm not from any of this kingdoms, Your Highness. I am a wizard from Earth."
The Goblin King arched an eyebrow in response. That was interesting, a wizard from Earth in the Underground. It was not unheard of, but very few people from Earth's wizarding world came to their realm. But there was something about him he couldn't put his finger on "There is something more about you, am I correct?"
The young man smiled and bowed in response while saying "Ah, I knew His Majesty would be keen in picking up that I'm not just a wizard. Like your daughter, I am half-Fae. My mother was a Fae, she lived in the Underground until she met my father, a wizard from Earth. When they got married she went with him to Earth's wizarding world."
Sarah, who was very interested in the exchange between her husband and this young man, kept looking from one to the other. He seemed a nice young man, but what was this notion about a wizarding world on Earth? Sarah cleared her throat, and asked "I just have a question. What do you mean by wizarding world? I come from Earth and never heard anything about it."
It was the young man's turn to look surprised. He said "I hope you forgive me for saying this, but I thought that you were a witch. You are a muggle, then?"
Sarah's expression was confused "A what?"
"A muggle. A non-magical person that lives on Earth.", was Lord Valkor's response.
Sarah frowned, and said "I guess so."
He explained further "On Earth, the wizarding community is hidden from the rest of the world. I probably don't have to tell you the disaster if there was commonly known that magic is real. In the Middle ages fear of the wizard community lead to the slaughter of thousands of innocent victims, muggles and wizards alike. To prevent this ever occurring again, the wizarding world decided to remain hidden from the regular world. Very few muggles know about the existence of our world. That is the reason you never heard about it."
Sarah was astonished at this bit of news. Thinking that magic was gone from her world always made her sad. Now she knew that the magic never left, just remained well hidden. There was something else that she did not understand "Oberon, Seana, and Poe, as representatives of the High Council, why did you chose him instead of a member of the Underground?
Queen Seana moved forward and said "We made that decision with your best interests in mind, dear. It was simple, seeing that the Goblin kingdom and Earth's wizarding world are interconnected, it looked the most reasonable choice."
A puzzled frown spread through the Goblin Queen's face "I am afraid that I do not understand."
Jareth sighed and said "In the wizarding world there is a money system, like everywhere else. So there is a bank exclusive for the wizarding community. The bank's name is Gringott's. This bank is run by goblins. Goblins are like other people, there are brilliant ones, bright ones, and not so bright ones. The goblins that are sent there are intelligent, they never stay in the Underground. We have branches all over the world. Is this banking system that keeps our vaults prosperous. In fact, I am what you could call the CEO of Gringott's. That is the reason for those long trips that I make from time to time."
Needless to say, these were surprising news for the Goblin Queen. As she tried to process the information, she could not help get a mental picture of Jareth in a business suit, surrounded by phones, and a secretary in a corner. The thought almost made her laugh, but she managed to contain it properly. She kept bouncing her little daughter on her lap, when she noticed that the baby was very interested in the young man standing in front of them.
Oberon noticed this, and said, "Lord Valkor, I guess you have not met your intended yet. This little one is Princess Caridwen."
Lord Valkor looked at the small baby with amazement. The baby looked at him and giggled, putting her arms up, so she could be carried by him. The Goblin King and Queen looked at their daughter with surprise. She never liked any strangers, and the fact that she did want to go with this man that she had never seen before was unexpected.
Caridwen was struggling with her mother, trying to get herself loose. Sarah put her daughter on the floor, and she started to walk to Lord Valkor. He met her halfway and carried her on his arms "Hi, beautiful. You are just a baby now, but I can see that you are going to be a striking woman, just like your mother. I promise I will come visit from time to time to get to know you better."
The baby just giggled and clapped her hands. Valkor walked towards the Goblin Queen, and gave her baby back. Oberon stepped up and said "I think is time to make the announcement."
They walked back to the ballroom, eliciting lots of curious glances and whispers towards their direction. So many monarchs huddled together in secrecy for a long time, and three of them being members of the Court's High Council, meant that something was going to happen.
King Poe made a motion to stop the music, and gathering everybody's attention he spoke, "Is the high Council's privilege to announce the engagement of Princess Caridwen to Lord Valkor of Earth."
More whispers could be heard after that announcement. In one corner of the ballroom, Agnes looked at the Wise Man, worry written all over their faces. This news were not good at all. This will make their job more difficult, and they could not afford to be discovered.
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A/N: Let me know what you think. Your review is greatly appreciated, is your way of letting me know if I'm doing a good job or if this sucks.
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