Disclaimer: I only own the Councillor, and the two Councilmen Tiana and Flynn. I only borrow the others. I promise to return them when done, no worse for wear.

Author's Notes: Serena belongs to me. She originally appeared in my short story "Hidden". As mentioned, while this story does contradict this story, that story was the original inspiration for this story.

Also, my most humble apologies for being so long with this update. Work, family vacations, and sick computers have all conspired against me these past several weeks. I promise to have the next chapter up much sooner (hopefully this weekend!). I hope I haven't lost anyone in the process.

Ayla: Glad you liked the Fiery. I had much fun writing him. Although, that may just be because I like playing with puns on words.

dramatiks: If you ever do get a chance, I strongly recommend reading Tolkien. Anything by him is excellent, although the character Mithrandir is specifically from his The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Sir Didymus is coming next chapter!

Pretty Pilot: Did you somehow see my notes for this story? Or, are you just that good of a guesser. Because I'm planning to have Sarah show a little later…

Mab, Queen of the Fairie: Glad you are enjoying so far. Love the name. Arthur Legend, much?

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You know the lies they always told you /And the love you never knew/What's the things they never showed you/That swallowed the light from the sun/Inside your room –"Black Balloon", Goo Goo Dolls

The Councillor sighed. Perhaps he should have granted longer than five minutes after all. "Proceed with plan," he ordered. He began to believe this trial would never end. "Is Sir Didymus still missing?" he continued.

"He is."

"Very well," he sighed, and he passed a hand over his eyes. "Councilman Flynn, call your next witness. And let's hope, for your sakes, that you do not have to play this one?"

"Certainly, and certainly not, Councillor." Flynn rose in his seat. If his face appeared slightly more flushed, and his eyes little more bright than they had five minutes earlier, the Councillor pretended he didn't notice. "I call the Lady Serena to the stand, Councillor."

The Lady Serena was an Elfin princess, and it was no secret that she was an old friend of Jareth's. They had first met almost three hundred years before, when she had arrived in his lands, on behalf of her father to negotiate a treaty between her people and his. Her brother had accompanied her. The Elfin King had thought a young girl would appeal to the Goblin King's desires, and knew his daughter to be intelligent, and courageous enough to resists his lewd outreaches. But what the Elfin King had not planned on was for a hesitant friendship to strike between the two. And, even as her father disproved of the friendship, he did not outright forbid it. But he did make his disproval known. Both did their best to ignore it.

Flynn stood patiently while he waited for the Lady Serena to take her seat at the witness stand, and while she took the oath of the court. He smiled at her, and she returned the gesture easily enough, but she added a raise of her eyebrows. Flynn pretended not to notice. "Your journey was well?" he asked her.

"Quite," she responded.

"Good," he nodded, "Good." He crossed his hands behind his back, and he briefly paced the length of the courtroom. He did his best to ignore how Tiana's eyes followed him. "You have known the Goblin King for three centuries?"

"That sounds right."

"And you met him on the basis of a treaty? That your father sent you for, with your brother?"

"Yes."

"Did you sleep with the Goblin King? At any time?"

"Objection!" Tiana cried, and he rose hurriedly from his seat.

"Sustained," the Councillor agreed, and he again did his best not to notice the flushed cheeks or bright eyes of Tiana either. "Re-direct your line of questioning, Councilman."

"Yes, Councillor," Flynn agreed. "What is the nature of your relationship with the Goblin King, Lady Serena?"

The Lady Serena raised an eyebrow again, and she laughed silently. "We are friends, Councilman. But we are just as much enemies as well."

"And, do you often council him on personal matters?"

"I give him advice should he seek it. I have never told him how to or how not to rule his court."

"No, of course not," Flynn muttered, and he didn't miss the warning glance Tiana shot him. He gave a curt shake of his head, and Tiana nodded his silent response. "Lady Serena, you are familiar with the nature of your appearance here?"

"If you mean if I know what Jareth, the Goblin King is being tried on and for, yes, I am well aware. If you mean if I agree with it, then no."

"Why is that?"

"Because if you have brought him here, you missed the very nature of his court."

"Oh, really?" An amused look crossed Flynn's features. "Please, enlighten us."

Serena sighed, and she explained, "What you fail to realize Councilman, is that the transformation of human babe to goblin babe is strictly forbidden under the Labyrinth law, unless otherwise specified by the law of that court."

"And wouldn't the Goblin King have that power? Does he not have that power?"

"He does, but he does not also." Serena sighed again, and she flicked a long strand of apricot-brown hair over her left shoulder. "He would not have turned that human babe into a goblin babe, Councilman."

"And, how can you be so sure of that, Princess?"

"He needed an heir." She spoke the words so matter-of-factly, so crisply, that even Jareth looked up in slight surprise, and a flicker of something crossed his face, an expression so swift, so hidden, that it was gone before it came. "He needed an heir," she repeated. "Jareth has served position of Goblin King for almost eight centuries, four hundred years short of the shortest term. He may still be young, but he is not immune to death. He knows his, so he has begun the process of his replacement. You asked if we were sleeping together, Councilman? No, we have not, and we never will. But he asked me once, asked me if I would be willing to carry and bare his heir. I said no. No more was said on that subject. So, Jareth began looking elsewhere. He found none in the Labyrinth, nor in its neighboring kingdoms who satisfied his criteria, so he turned to the Aboveground."

"You admit? He planned to turn the human babe into his heir, into a goblin babe?"

"No. His heir, yes, but the child would have remained human. Where do you think Jareth's origins are from?" She sighed, again, and she pretended not to hear the stir of the courtroom. "One thousand years ago, Jareth too was wished to the labyrinth, but he was lost to here. The prior King found him to fit the necessary criteria for an heir, and when he was lost here, he kept the human child in his castle, and he raised him to be his heir, and his son. He called him Jareth, because the human child has his eyes. Jareth would have done the same for Toby."

Flynn opened his mouth, before he closed it again. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Tiana smirk. He whirled quickly, and he yelled, "And I suppose you knew this? Is that why you tried to have me distracted during the break? Huh? Huh?" Flynn cut the edges of his nails into his palms, and he took several deep breaths in hopes to compose himself. "You have proof of this, Lady Serena?"

"You can check the Hall of Records. It is in there."

Flynn nodded. "Your witness," he spoke quietly, and he returned to his seat. He looked at no one.

It was a few more seconds before Tiana rose in his chair, and he first crossed the few steps between the tables, and he hovered silently next to where Flynn sat. Gently, almost tenderly, he reached a hand to Flynn's chin, and he lifted his face upwards. "That is not why I tried to distract you during the break, and you know that."

"I know," whispered Flynn.

Tiana released his chin, and he straightened himself, and he faced the Lady Serena. "What was it about this human babe that enchanted the Goblin King so? What of himself did he see in him?"

"Integrity, compassion, the unfear, the acceptance of magic, manipulativeness, and an ability to hold power."

"He saw that much in such a short time?"

"One always recognizes another, Councilman."

"Yes, I suppose so," Tiana murmured, and he cast a quick glance to the still subdued Flynn. "And for this human babe's sister, the Sarah Williams, what of her held his interest."

"Some of the same. She refused to cower before him. She constantly put her brother's needs before her own. She refused to give up. She successfully befriended the very guards, and the very blockades he had surrounded his Labyrinth with to protect him."

"Protect him? From her?"

"In part, yes. You say she captivated him, I say he fell for her. I know he fell for him."

"And on her part?"

"I cannot answer for another lady's heart, Councilman. But I do know she was not completely immune. She pays attention to every white owl she sees."

"And, if Miss Sarah Williams had lost, what would have the Goblin King done?"

"He would have kept the child. But he would have raised him to be his heir, and his son. He would not have knowingly harmed it, nor would he have allowed any harm to come to the child."

"And for Miss Sarah Williams?"

"No harm would have come to her either. She could have chosen to stay, with her baby brother, or to leave, to never remember him. That she won, would have her remember, but to leave two with hearts never again fully whole, and a Goblin King still without an heir."

"If she had chosen to stay, would he still have need of her baby brother as his heir?"

A small smile crossed the Lady Serena's mouth. "No, I suppose he wouldn't."

"No further questions, Your Honor," Tiana announced, and he made his way to his seat.

Flynn's head shot upwards. "Permission to re-question witness, Councillor?" he asked.

"Granted," the Councillor nodded.

Flynn rose in his seat, but he stayed behind the table. He was aware that Tiana watched him. "You mentioned the Goblin King falling for the Miss Sarah Williams, Lady Serena, but that you could not know another's heart?"

"I did."

"But don't you think it is possible?"

A strange expression crossed the Lady Serena's face, a strange expression which quickly bloomed into a full smile. "I think anything is possible."

Flynn nodded, and he seated again. "You are free to step from the stand, Princess," the Councillor spoke.

The Lady Serena nodded, and she did, but she paused before Jareth, and she gave a hurried curtsy. "I had to, Your Highness. Tell them."

"I know," he responded, and he inclined his head to her. And, she was gone.

At a loss of what had just transpired in his courtroom, the Councillor sighed, and called, "Is Sir Didymus still not present?"

"He arrived, Councillor, and he waits for his next battle," an orderly informed him.

The Councillor nodded, but a panicked look crossed his face. "Send him in. Just be certain to mention I will have no battle cries in this courtroom." And, he set the lines of his face again.