Chapter 20: The Plot Thickens

Sarah hurried to her mother's room. And knocked quickly on the door before opening it almost before her mother could bid her enter.

"Sarah, what is it?" Lorien asked in shock.

"Mother, what happened at your first ball?" Sarah asked immediately.

"Sarah what on earth made you consider this?"

"Ione has been made a prisoner, and she told me to tell you to remember your first ball."

Lorien sat down slowly. "My first ball..."

"What happened mother? Ione's instructions made no sense..."

"But they do, Aranel..." Lorien responded with a heavy sigh. "Sit down... The story is an old one. My first ball was held to celebrate my coming out. It would also be the first time I saw the Royal family. The King and Queen were wonderful. It was the princes Ione wants me to remember..."

"Princes?" Sarah questioned softly.

"Yes, Sarah. Jareth has a brother... A twin brother..."

Sarah sat stunned trying to understand. All this time she had thought that Jareth was the only one who could take over the throne. She had not realized that the kingdom had a choice!

"Despite the fact that Jareth is the younger twin, you will probably never see his brother..."

"A crown prince would have much to do, Mother."

"Aranel, Jareth is the crown prince. His brother is never spoken of and has not been seen for some time."

Sarah looked oddly at her mother. If Jareth was the younger twin, how did he hold to position of crown prince?

"Aranel, we have tried so often to tell you that Jareth is not as evil as he could be! Who do you think we were comparing him to?"

"But how was I to know he had a twin? This is completely new to me!"

"Aranel... oh, I forgot how little you know of our ways..." Lorien chastised herself. "Aranel, if any Faye looked at one of your boys apart from his brother, they would know in an instant that your son was a twin..."

"But how, Mother?"

"Their eyes, Aranel. Faye twins always have mismatched eyes! It has something to do with the bond between them. I keep forgetting that you did not know this so your could not tell in a second's glance that Jareth was a twin. Taureth is truly the darkest Faye I have ever known! That very night at the ball while talking to me he tried to force himself on me. Jareth tried to stop him, but Aranel, Taureth is the stronger side of their twin connection since he is the elder twin. He forced Jareth to go away despite how he fought. Fortunately Jareth ran to get his parents and mine. Because of the already tenuous relationship between my family and the crown as well as previous incidents involving the prince, Taureth has all but disappeared. None have heard of him in centuries!"

"Then I have to get to Jareth..."

"Aranel! That could be very dangerous!"

"Mother, he might send me to where Isis is and then we will find out what is going on."

"So soon..."

"It is time, Mother. If Jareth is starting to be cruel to Ione who seemed to be his last friend, then there is not much more hope for him."

Lorien had tears in her eyes. "Be careful, Daughter... I only just got you back..." Sarah nodded and left to saddle her mare. In moments Sarah was headed towards the Labyrinth. She found the path terribly straight and it worried her. She dismounted before the castle within mere hours. She let the mare wander a bit as she entered the castle.

"Sarah Williams... to what do we owe this honor." Sarah found Jareth sitting casually on his throne.

"You ought to know. It is you that have turned against your own warriors."

"Oh have we?"

"She told me herself!"

"Well, we have remedied that problem..."

"Jareth, what have you done to Ione!"

Jareth laughed maniacally. "You still believe you are talking to Jareth?"

"Taureth!" Sarah exclaimed.

"One and the same my dear. Would you like to see what has happened to your beloved Jareth?" In an instant Sarah was transferred to a dungeon. Ione was chained to one side of the wall while Jareth was chained opposite her. The walls lined with salt still blocked their magic. Sarah soon saw what Taureth had done to keep Ione distracted from using her telepathy. A guard stood whipping her mercilessly. Her chocolate flanks where so battered that she looked like a blood bay instead of a brown equine. So focused was she on healing her body that she could not focus on calling to anyone! "Wait, wait, it is almost time for the change of the guard! They are so good at this!" Taureth laughed with glee. Sarah watched in horror as another guard came in and stood beside the one whipping. In a smooth motion the guard raised his arm and slipped his hand onto the whip handle while the previous guard ducked out of the way. The whip continued without the slightest break. Sarah looked away from the centauress only to be confronted by Jareth's torture. Sarah noticed with horror that Taureth had used shackles of pure iron! She could almost feel the torment that was evident in his features. There were only two ways for a Faye to feel pain. One was the absence of magic, which was the case in these salt lined walls. The other was to be in the presence of iron. Double pain... Taureth knew his torture well! Taureth snapped his fingers behind her. A guard approached Taureth with a sword of iron...