Author's Note: This is soppily romantic, I'm afraid. But then these two are fairly romantic people.

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Unfortunately things didn't change for the better. This was no miraculous cure; it was merely a stay of execution as far as Jareth was concerned. He was obviously still in a lot of pain and he could barely stand to look at his children after that first awakening. Toby found the nightmares had returned and once more he didn't attempt to break them or fight them, just lay still and endured them until they brought.

His power was almost non-existent and Toby could feel the brokenness, the anguish over the little things. The once-proud Goblin King had no pride left. He was too tired, too depressed, too lost in his misery to even care any more.

Fiorle had no answers for him and none of Lorelei's potions did any good. All that had happened, in essence, was that Jareth had woken up. He might live, but only until such time as the active fear began to reassert itself past the numbed agony of the moment.

Therefore Jareth's fears needed to be laid to rest.

Which was confusing, because as far as Toby could see, there was really nothing much to be afraid of. Yes, his husband had been married before, and to his father, but his father was dead. Archer had exacerbated the situation, sure, but where did the fear of his father enter the picture? No matter how much Toby would like to take the unpleasantness away, Jareth still needed to answer a few questions.

Toby knocked at the door and waited for permission to enter. Once in, he watched the Goblin King try to seem in control. He sat down beside him and stopped that pretence- "Why did he take you?"

Jareth took a long time to even manage to meet his gaze. But it wasn't through a refusal to speak, but more of a need to collect himself enough to join the conversation. "He said he did it to preserve my inheritance."

"Your inheritance?"

"The Kingship. You've heard me called Jra-Gurgh? It means 'The Unborn'. I was unborn."

"Unborn?" Toby was beginning to think he could play the understudy for a mountain echo. But he was really not getting the connection. "What's an unborn?"

Jareth sighed and lay back in his bed. "My mother left when I was thirteen. There were consequences. Goblin Law does not account for divorce, but it does allow dissolution of a marriage, which happens when one partner leaves, leaving both with as much and no more than they started with. What my mother did not know, was that the law then states that any children born in a dissolved marriage are rendered 'unborn'. They are non-entities, cut off without any legal connection to their families whatsoever."

"Geez," Toby breathed, "So the Kingdom was left without an heir, huh?"

Jareth nodded tiredly. "Even as an adopted child I had no claim to the throne. My father could have married again, but he didn't want another woman in his life. He had married so late, you see, and to start another family then… he lived for his kingdom. Besides, he- he did love me. He wanted me to have what was only my right."

"Couldn't your mother have come back or something?"

"He asked," Jareth growled, "He sent emissaries telling them of the situation and she refused. She said she could not live in the Castle for another day. The emissaries returned with nothing."

"So your father married you?" Toby was still having a little trouble believing this, but at least there was a tangible sense of sanity somewhere in the words. "Oh, I see. Because if there are no children, the spouse inherits the Kingdom- I remember that from when we married. He married you so you could inherit!"

"Yes."

Jareth shut his eyes and pretended to go to sleep for a moment. But he could feel the blue gaze still burning into him. He didn't want to be pitied. It was not in his nature to accept pity as anything but weak. And Toby couldn't possibly know that the unhappiness was- oddly enough- rooted in the fact that if it hadn't been for the blasted Kingdom, his father would never have bothered with him at all.

He was not prepared to have a warm pair of lips lightly caress his own.

"You are worth more than some Kingdom," Toby whispered soothingly, "Your father never knew the treasure he had."

Jareth's eyes blinked open, heavy-lidded and somewhat dazed. "You still do not understand, do you? A marriage is only consummated if the couple have sex. The whole ceremony before that does not work until the binding is physically sealed. I never told you because I didn't want to force you. I know how…" he stopped and shrugged, knowing Toby could complete that sentence for himself.

Toby dropped his head to Jareth's shoulder. "I know. I read your memories. It must have been terrifying."

"Not too much. I wasn't told anything. I woke up one morning as I always did but then I was taken into a room with my father and his father's supporters. I had no notion about any of it until the ceremony was underway. It was private and quick, rushed as far as royal bindings go. And then I was sent out of the room so they could talk."

"Did he come to you that night?"

"He had his guards bring me from my bed to his. I struggled when I found out. They had to chain me down."

"Jareth, you once told me that your first time…" Toby had no delicate way of saying this, "That your first partner tore you. Was that also your father?"

"Yes. But he didn't mean to. It was an accident." The low monotone sounded as if Jareth was persuading himself more than anyone else.

Had the fae realized, Toby wondered, that he had made excuses for his father's vices? Or had he been such an innocent as to be blind to what had actually happened to him? True, the child might not have been hurt intentionally, but it was rape none the less. And to a thirteen year old!

Jareth seemed to agree: "He was wrong. No matter the reasons, he should never have done that. I've always known it. I could not have the same thing happen to Aidan. I knew even then that it was wrong for my father- my father of all people- to bed me. But I pretended not to notice. What difference did it make? It was legal. He was happy. I was happy enough. What difference did it make?" The monotone was beginning to fluctuate with barely repressed anger.

Toby didn't say a word. He didn't try to touch Jareth or offer comfort. At this time, he knew that it would be the most hateful of gestures. He could only try to understand- "But the love became twisted, didn't it? For both of you?"

Sudden movement as the Goblin King dropped his head into his hands and shuddered. "There was nothing wrong," he whispered, "I told myself that we did nothing wrong. It was love."

"You were his son."

"I was unborn! It was legal."

"But not moral."

The silence stretched on for an eternity and Toby almost expected Jareth to be crying by the way he shuddered. But when the silver-white face lifted, it was dry.

"This was the reason that I refused to let you return to the Aboveground. The children would have been disinherited and there would have been nothing I could do. Adopted children will always face contest from some other distant heir. I feared that I would have to end by binding with one of them, and Aidan was the safest bet. He would never have refused. And he couldn't bear children likeArradine or Ereditha. Could you imagine children from such a union? No, it would have been Aidan and I couldn't bear to see him go through what I did. I don't hate my life, Toby; I hate that what I am is dangerous to those I love."

Toby touched his shoulder, then, only to get those mismatched eyes to look at him. "You are not dangerous," he swore, "You aren't even attracted to Aidan. If you had told me, I would have stayed. I would have understood."

The half-goblin looked amused. He rotated his sprained wrist a little as he shook his head. "But then I would have ruined your life. And that scares me too. I did ruin your life already. If not for me, you would have lived in safety Aboveground. What would you have done, if I hadn't taken you away?"

"Gone mad," Toby said promptly, "The dreams were getting more intense, Jareth, you know that. And I had no direction for my life when you came to me. I wasn't lost, but I had no ambitions as such. My friends wanted to be doctors and singers and computer engineers. I wanted to draw and think. Nothing else. But I'm not good enough to be a professional artist, so I think we both know it would never have worked. You gave me a way to live."

The Goblin King actually smirked. It was a weak smirk, but a smirk all the same. "Actually I didn't," he sighed, "I planned to keep you for my amusement and comfort and you ended up being something that I needed very badly. You made your own way into my life. I couldn't have fought you if I tried. And I did try."

"I know."

Jareth groaned and buried his head in his hands again. "I never wanted him to feel this," he pleaded harshly, "I never wanted him to feel the shame. I wouldn't have touched him."

"I know," Toby soothed, sitting closer and stroking his thigh.

They stayed like that for a long time, staring at nothing and engrossed in their own personal reflections. Jareth was still shamed and angered by what had happened to him, unable to look back and even comprehend how he had allowed himself to be so deluded. But the fact remained that for two hundred years he had been his father's lover. It had been a sudden illumination to see the dead body lowered into an open grave in the forests nearby, to know with a sick certainty that he was ascending to the throne as a soiled individual.

"It lasted so long," he mumbled, "He only meant to do his duty for one night, but it corrupted him. Soon I was sleeping in his bed every night."

"When did Archer find out?"

For once Jareth didn't react to that particular name. "My mother found out and sent him to try to make another arrangement. He came too late. Found me in a tree the next morning, hurt and terrified. He helped me."

And made up his mind to use the abuse to his own advantage, Toby thought silently. He wouldn't say it out loud. The Goblin King was living through enough pain for the time being. He finally held out his arms, offering to chase the darkness away by his sheer presence. It was a relief to him when Jareth burrowed into his neck, gasping lightly.

"Toby."

"Hmmm?"

"I think I want to sleep."

"Lie down, then. I'll stay until you fall asleep."

Mismatched eyes seemed almost pathetically grateful even when Jareth said nothing in reply. The Goblin King allowed himself to be fussed over, luxuriating in a sensation he hadn't felt for so long.

"Could you…?"

He didn't need to ask, Toby lamented. Without a word, the mortal climbed into bed with him. Jareth moved closer with a self-conscious cough and then nestled closer still. Toby tightened his arms very carefully.

"Always," the fire-blond whispered, "You never need to ask. Just take. Okay?"

Jareth's nod was barely perceptible.