Author's Note: Tsk Tsk Tsk! Ever noticed how, with kids, there's always something going wrong?

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"How dared you!"

The shout was loud, furious and very obviously for real. Three goblin servants on their way to finish cleaning the ballroom were scared into running the rest of the way. When their King used just that tone, it meant he would- in all probability- sulk for a good few weeks and go on a vicious spree. No matter how much he compensated them in his own way for the nasty way he treated them, no goblin wanted to be on the receiving end of that wrath.

Inside the room, the two guilty faces watching Jareth pace were worried but not concerned in the least.

"Father, it was an accident," his child offered, "We truly never meant that to happen."

"Never meant… never meant! Do you realize what you have just done?"

"We bonded," the other male said quietly, maintaining an aloof expression of reservation, "There can be nothing suspect about that."

Mismatched eyes blazed in the sunlight from the open windows. "You fool," Jareth hissed, advancing a threatening step, "You bloody fool! Arradine is sixteen; how dared you bond with her!"

Zaraith cracked enough to direct a regretful look towards his partner in crime. And he did truly regret what had happened. He had never begun the night expecting to bond with anyone. He had once, and she had died. While Draconites were the only race known to bond again if their bond mate died, he had never considered it possible that he would do so. And Arradine admittedly was a little young…

"Father, if you could let me explain." Arradine was close to shouting, herself, badly shocked by recent events. She liked Zaraith, strongly suspected that she liked him more than was clearly good for her, but had promised herself not to bond with anyone until she at least hit her majority at twenty-nine. "Please!"

Jareth swung around and looked at her, fury in every clipped action. "You have five minutes," he said curtly.

The girl took a deep breath. "All right. Father, neither Lord Zaraith nor I ever envisioned this happening." Not so, her mind scolded, she had. But only in conjunction with the draconite falling to his knees and swearing undying love. "It simply happened. I have the utmost respect for Lord Zaraith and I admire him very much. He is all that a good ruler should be."

Jareth raised a cold eyebrow.

"Just as you are. And just as I value your approval, so do I value his. I c-cannot possibly speak for Zaraith, but- but perhaps he sees me as a young person who he enjoys spending his t-time with. That is all."

The stammer complete, she shut her mouth and refused to turn to that green gaze burning into her profile.

Jareth stared searchingly into her eyes before snorting contemptuously. "Thank you. That explanation was most… interesting. Arradine, I don't think you realize just how serious this is."

"I do!"

"No, you do not. If you did, you wouldn't offer me something so flimsy as 'it just happened'. Bonds do not 'just happen'. They happen for a reason and you are underage for most of the reasons I can think of. And as for you…"

Zaraith cleared his throat warningly. "In private, I think," he murmured. A quick flick of the eyes and Jareth relented.

"Very well, then," the Goblin King growled, "Arradine, get out. Go tell your dad what has happened. You will find him with Sarah in the west wing. I will meet you there."

"Father, if there is something to be said about MY LIFE, then I insist on knowing it."

Before Jareth could reply in suitably biting sarcasm, Zaraith smoothly stepped in. Touching Arradine's shoulder, he guided her to the door, smiling at her slight flush of embarrassment. "Do not fear, Your Highness," the draconite soothed, "What I have to tell your father is only private in order to give you time to think. I will tell you all this evening, if you wish."

"Thank you," Arradine sighed. Shooting a venomous glance back at her father, she slipped out of the door and shut it behind her.

Zaraith turned from the shut door to Jareth. "I apologize," he said clearly, "I understand your apprehension."

"You cannot possibly understand my apprehension. Just what do you mean by her?"

A blond eyebrow rose in amusement. "I do not intend to spirit her away to my palace, Jareth. Surely you do not accuse me of that?"

The Goblin King sat down and looked unconvinced. "My daughter tells me that you and she bonded in the privacy of your rooms last night and what exactly am I to think? If you desire to keep your life and your honour, you will tell me what happened."

Zaraith considered the advisability of telling an irate half-goblin, also the favoured one of the Labyrinth, that he looked tired and should perhaps rest. No, it was not advisable. "I mean her no harm," he said.

The confines of the small sitting room were rather frustrating to him. He was used to his enormous palace and vast halls. In the Castle, Zaraith usually felt claustrophobic and very much as if he would set fire to something or knock over a priceless something-or-other by turning around. It was not that he was clumsy, but rather too conscious of himself when in small spaces.

"Arradine is a charming person," Zaraith began slowly, rubbing at his temples, "I am fond of her. She seems to enjoy my company as much as I enjoy hers. I invited her to my room in order to give her back the necklace she left in her room in my palace. We spoke, and as she says, it simply happened."

Jareth steepled his fingers in front of his mouth, thinking over that explanation. He truly did not believe that the Draconite Lord was the type to seduce innocent girls who were underage, but then one never knew. "Bonds are formed because of an emotional outreach between two people," he put forth, "Why would you need Arradine?"

The strong shoulders tensed. "It was a momentary envy for her youth," Zaraith said blandly.

"I don't believe you."

"You would do well not to insult me."

"And you are insulting my intelligence. You have been old for as long as my ancestors have lived. The history you remember is now no more than far legend even in the Underground. Only now do you feel the weight of years?"

"Then what would you have me say? I am attracted to her. Arradine is an intelligent, beautiful woman."

Jareth smirked ever so slightly. "Child," he pointed out, "She is a child. To be fair, this bond does not worry me. What does, is the idea of how this bond will change her. She is my heir, Zaraith; I cannot risk her strength of mind or resolve."

A sudden shift in the foundations and Jareth's smirk vanished. "Drat!" he said feelingly.

Zaraith sniffed and shivered for an instant, feeling the strong undercurrent of emotion-fuelled magic swim through his senses. "I assume your consort does not quite share your composure."

Jareth barely had time to shake his head before Toby appeared in the room and glared at him. He rose and took the mortal by the shoulders in a quick movement. He didn't quite know whether Toby would be angry enough to attack Zaraith, but he couldn't risk that. If even one ancient hair was harmed on the draconite's head, there would be a war. And Jareth was a little tired of wars.

"Toby, calm down," he urged.

"Calm down!" The mortal was shaking with his anger, blue eyes snapping fire and ice. "I won't! Where is he? I'll kill him."

"Toby, Arra isn't harmed," Jareth protested, trying to keep his bond mate from turning around to get to Zaraith, "He did nothing to her. The bond hurts neither of them."

"Nothing doing! I'll roast his wings for him," Toby shouted, "Let. Me. Go!"

Jareth let go.

Toby turned.

"If you come near her ever again," Toby threatened quietly, "I will spend my time killing you in the slowest way possible. And I promise you it will hurt."

Jareth rubbed his eyes in a tired gesture and then put a hand on Toby's arm. "My elf, you must listen," he gentled, "Zaraith has not hurt her. She is safe."

"She is bonded, Jareth. She's too young. She's too young! What will he do to her?" Toby was looking at Zaraith, gaze caught in those expressionless green eyes fixed on him, but talking to Jareth. He was aware of an arm sliding around his waist, of Jareth pulling him back in a comforting clasp, of a white hand pointing Zaraith to the door.

Jareth said nothing more. He understood Toby's reluctance to accept this. He had his own doubts about just what that bond would mean to Arradine and how she would handle it. But he understood the bond more than Toby did. All his bond mate's knowledge came from experience, and experience had not always been kind.

"He won't lay a hand on her," he finally promised, whispering in the shell of a golden ear, "He is too good for that."

"So was Archer…"

"I was blind to that, my elf; I am sorry. But I won't make the same mistake with Arradine. Zaraith would never hurt her. It is not his way."

"What if he pushes her too far, Jareth? You said most bond mates became lovers." Toby wasn't happy. He turned around, beseeching his husband to do something. He would have expected something like this from Aidan and in a way he would have handled that better. But Arradine! "I won't see her hurt."

"Neither will I." Cupping Toby's face in his hands. "He won't touch her while she is underage. We can't change this now, Toby, and I know she's acted like a dozy cow, but we really cannot do a thing to change this. They are bonded and that is all there is to it. Get used to it."

"Don't want to."

A hint of a smirk and the Goblin King let go, moving away to sit down again. "You have no choice."

"There has to be another way."

"No. We have two choices: accept it or not. If we don't accept it, Zaraith will take Arradine back with him to his palace and we will likely never see her again. If we accept, we can see to it that she stays safe. Which would you rather."

Blue eyes glared as a rather ugly look of petulance settled over the tiny figure standing stiffly in the room. "I would have thought you'd blow a fuse over this," Toby said bitterly, "Why are you taking this so easy?"

"My elf, I see no reason to throw a tantrum at fate."

"Fate?"

Jareth merely smiled. "Zaraith is not the only one capable of observing auras. They have been bonded since Arradine was under his protection."

Toby paled and took a step back. "What? But he never said… how?"

"I assume he did not notice. I took good care to cleanse hers as often as I could. However, last night I let nature take its course."

"You did that? But why didn't you tell me?"

"I never wanted to worry you. And I had my reasons for not wanting Zaraith to know the power he had over her then. Under his roof I do not trust him. In my Kingdom I can keep an eye on things. He has reacted very much as I would have expected from him- very honourably."

"So you knew our daughter was bonded to the Draconite Lord and you never told me."

Jareth sat up straight in some concern. He knew that tone of voice. "I would have told you as soon as ever it was confirmed. You've been busy, my elf, and I only thought…"

"To do what you've always done- not tell me things that I have the right to know. Thank you."

"Toby, where are you going?"

"Somewhere that is not here," the mortal spat, "Since I'm obviously not wanted."

Jareth stared at the door in some bewilderment. He would never understand his bond mate; never mind that they were bonded. He tried to open the connection between them but met with such vehement resistance that he didn't dare push the matter in case he caused Toby blinding pain. He hadn't meant to upset him, but on second thoughts, he supposed it was inevitable.

So he never wondered too much when no one had seen Toby for the rest of the day, or when the mortal didn't come to back to their bedchamber. He noticed when it was night, and as usual he worried about Toby being out past sunset. But his bond mate was a grown man and powerful with it; Jareth had no longer any right to go out and drag him home.

The evening meal was a silent affair, most of them too tired to make conversation. Sarah was scribbling notes at the table, still lost in a screenplay she was working on. Both Harvey and Cassandra were in a slightly morbid mood. Arradine was in her room, refusing to leave because 'people insisted on blaming her for something that was not her fault'. Aidan was half-nervous over the newest developments in his insane family, and half-excited by his nightlong conversation with someone he was beginning to like very much as a friend.

None of the guests were invited to partake of what was essentially a family thing, and Jareth thanked the gods for that; he was not in the mood to make small talk.

"Where's Toby?" Sarah eventually demanded, waving a spoon of something at the empty place at the table.

Jareth sighed internally and attempted not to snap. "I don't know," he confessed, "He's upset with me and I believe he has gone to brood somewhere."

"Oh." The woman blinked solemnly at him through her reading glasses and then looked down at her writing. "Where?"

"I don't know," Jareth rasped, feeling irritated enough with Sarah's absent-minded questions. "If I knew, I would say so."

"Keep your shirt on, Goblin King," she muttered absently, tapping her spoon on the edge of her bowl. "I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere."

"I know he will!"

She looked up again. "Then why are you so worried?"

That did it. The Goblin King got up and stalked out of the room without another word. He went to his room to make sure that Toby hadn't gone straight to bed and found the suite empty and devoid of fire-blonds. So, Toby was not in there. He went to his old suite of rooms, but those too were empty. As was the informal throne room and any other room that Toby might have possibly gone to.

He summoned his housekeeper and asked that a thorough search be made of the Castle.

Jareth reasoned that there was no reason to fear anything because Toby could take care of himself. Never mind that the star-less night sky had descended over the Goblin Kingdom and most people were at home with their families. After all, there was no rapist to worry about any more. And Toby would not leave the Goblin King in a huff. Therefore there was nothing to worry about.

Except he hadn't changed. It was early December, with snow on the ground, and dark shadows littering the crevices and cracks of his Kingdom and suppose Toby had gone to the Labyrinth and been hurt? The Labyrinth would not knowingly hurt his bond mate, but even Jareth had to beware when he entered it these days. His long consumption of black magic had damaged the essentially neutral personality of the magic and tilted it towards wilful and malicious. Anything could happen.

He tried to reach out mentally and found himself stone-walled again. Toby had cut himself off so effectively that Jareth could not even follow the trail to the approximate vicinity of his bond mate.

Troy, his housekeeper, came back and sketched a jerky little curtsey before him. "No one knows nothing," she said, her clean brown apron crackling around her, "He ain't in the Castle, Your Majesty."

"You may go, Troy." Without thought, Jareth lifted his hand to fiddle nervously with the medallion around his neck, tugging at the chain lightly as he turned back to the scene out of the window in front of him. "Standing in a passageway is not going to help," he told himself.

Trees… lots of trees in the Goblin Kingdom… trees and stone. Many had asked the Goblin Kings over the years why they never brought progress to the Goblin Kingdom.

"It is a wild land, but surely it can be tamed?" they would say.

And naturally the Goblin King- or in a few cases, the Goblin Queen- would smile knowingly and shake their heads. "The people do not want it," they would say sagely.

And it was true. The goblins were simple creatures who appreciated the simple life. They did the things their fathers had done, apprenticing themselves out when they were old enough. They enjoyed the results of their hard work. They frowned on the offering of reducing their workload. Yes, they liked a drink and a laugh, but their work ethic was phenomenal and Jareth had yet to meet a people who collectively revered hard work as much as the goblins, or enjoyed it as much. It was not only the Labyrinth that was wild and independent; the people were as well. The few factories set up, had been placed only where labour had been insufficient or the work had been overmuch. And even these were falling into disrepair as the goblins slowly went back to their original way of life.

Electricity was not unknown. It was just neglected. People didn't want electric fans and microwaves. They ate the fruit or produce in season and went swimming when it was too hot…

Swimming!

"That idiot," Jareth groaned, changing into owl form and taking off. For where else would Toby be? Where else had his husband always gone when upset?

There!

He circled for a while and then landed lazily right next to the still figure still staring out over the water.

Toby never even turned. "It's a nice night," he commented, "But I really would like to be alone now."

The white owl twisted its head and hooted.

"Jareth, please, I just want to be alone. Is that too much to ask?"

The owl didn't even move.

Toby gave up. It was his bond mate; he knew Jareth in all his shapes and sizes. It was impossible not to, really. In spite of the separation. "I suppose you think I'm acting like an idiot, but I'm really not. I don't try to stick my nose in where you don't want it, Jareth, but where my children are concerned, I don't like being kept out of the loop. I guess that means I'll have to get used to getting hurt, won't it?"

"I never wanted to hurt you."

Toby turned sharply. Jareth was sitting cross-legged beside him, worried face turned towards him, mismatched eyes oddly humble. It was a strange look and Toby didn't like it. It made him feel like the world was turning backwards.

"Toby, listen to me. I do not mean to keep you out of the- what was your expression- loop?- that. But that is the way I work. I am sorry, my elf, but it didn't occur to me to tell you. I was preoccupied…"

"Yes, yes, I know you were dying," Toby said edgily, skipping pebbles over the pristine calm of the lake, "I can understand why you said nothing then. But now? Jareth, you should have told me later, when you were better and we spent all that time talking. You had every opportunity to tell me."

"There was no proper way to broach the subject."

"Don't give me that. I thought we were passed that little habit of mentioning things only when needed. Obviously I was wrong. That's all. No big deal. Not like I care." Toby knew he was being childish. But what else could he be? He couldn't force Jareth to talk. Short of prying his way into his thoughts- which Toby refused to do for love or money- there was nothing he could do. And Jareth wasn't even trying! "It's hopeless!"

A pebble went skimming across the surface of the lake, managing three skips before sinking. It wasn't Toby's.

"Stop throwing pebbles at my lake," the fire-blond said severely, "You're intruding."

"Your lake?"

"Yes. Mine. You never bothered with it until I adopted it, so I claim it as mine. You're trespassing."

Jareth plastered a look of mock repentance on his face. "My dear, I do apologize! Had I but heard! And here I thought I was King of this land."

"You are," Toby affirmed, "But this is my lake. Go away."

Jareth sobered up. "No. I'm not leaving."

"Well, why the fuck not?"

The Goblin King muttered something under his breath. Toby looked around in some surprise. If he hadn't known better, he would have said the Goblin King was admitting to something, albeit reluctantly. He asked him to repeat himself louder.

Jareth threw his head back and stared accusingly up at the moon before speaking again. "I can't rest until I know you're safe in my bed."

A blink of near-to-invisible lashes and then Toby burst out laughing. Jareth glared at him in some annoyance, but accepted it ruefully. Waiting for the fit of hilarity to calm down, he offered his cloak and smiled to find it thankfully accepted. Toby was shivering, in spite of being fairly warmly wrapped up. But snow and night could be horrendous weather for a mortal to be out in, and Toby was still mortal.

"Come home," the immortal pleaded, wrapping an arm around his husband's shoulders, "Come to bed."

"You're tired?" Toby asked, standing up.

"No more than usual. But I hate leaving Arradine alone in that Castle with her new bond mate. I don't trust her not to misbehave."

"Why not?"

"My elf, if I were her, I certainly would have by now!"