Author's Note: Ahh! I got this out so quickly! Yay! But now I'm back in school... argh.
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I waited for a moment, to see if the voice would come back. It didn't, and I stood on shaky legs. Seth stood too and brushed himself off. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "That was partially my fault," he said, grimacing. I stared at him blankly, waiting for an explanation. He winced and looked around the oubliette. The ceiling was a little low, and only left an inch above his head. The opening was just above me. The grate was metal, and Seth was avoiding looking at it. "The woman who did that to you… is, uh," he searched for the word, "my ex girlfriend."
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "I so should've seen that coming," I muttered. "I have just the luck for my guardian angel to really be my Muse's old flame," I said, staring up at the grate. Seth was just tall enough to open it, hopefully. I could see the walls and they weren't smooth. It wouldn't be too hard to climb them, if there weren't any other secret passages in the oubliette.
"She was jealous of you," Seth said. He walked over to the wall of the oubliette and started knocking on random stones. I watched him for a second before tapping his shoulder. "What are you doing?" I asked. He kept knocking on stones, but now he started tugging on them too. None of them budged. He sighed. "Looking for the way out of here. I've been here. Jareth's babysitter used to stick us in here when we were bad," he said, rubbing his neck.
"I bet you were in here a lot," I said dryly. He glared at me. "Listen," he said, "I can't use my powers to get you out of here, or Jareth will have to send you back. You could help me look for the loose stone." He knocked on another one and dust fell out of the cracks. Smirking, he started to pry it out of the wall. It was slow going. And I wasn't going to help him. I couldn't believe he wasn't going to use his powers. I hadn't been able to solve the Labyrinth the first time without magic, what made him think I could on the second try?
I looked back up at the grate. "Why can't we go that way?" I asked. Seth grunted and stumbled backwards as the stone suddenly came out. He crashed into me, of course, and knocked me flat on the ground. Smiling sheepishly, he turned over and straddled me. "Iron," he said, hands on either side of my face. I glared at him. "Iron hurts Fae, Kar, you know that," he said, cocking his head to the side.
Hmph. "Get off of me," I ordered. He just smirked. I turned red, and tried to push him away. He easily resisted, and bent down so his face was close to mine. "We do have almost thirteen days," he purred. "There's enough time to have some fun," he murmured, and his eyes sparkled. I narrowed my eyes and jerked my knee up.
He moaned and rolled over. I stood up and walked over to the hole in the wall, ignoring the pain I'd caused my Muse. He'd opened himself up for the attack. I couldn't help that guys hurt so much when you hit them there. I wasn't God, I didn't design them. Sighing, I put my hands on my hips and stared at the hole. It wasn't very big. "You expect us to get through there?" I asked Seth, tapping my foot against the floor. "My little brother might fit through that hole, if he held his breath. You could've fit through there when you were ten, but you're six feet tall now. And I'm bigger than my brother, if you haven't noticed by now." I looked over my shoulder and Seth was still writhing in agony. "Oh come on," I said, rolling my eyes. "I didn't hit you that hard."
He sat up and glared at me. "I was just going to kiss you!" he hissed. I blushed. We stared at each other for a minute before he stood up and walked over to the hole. He bent down and looked through it. "It's not that small. It'll open up for you," he said, standing back up. "Go on, I'll come right after," he said, leaning on the wall next to the hole.
I glared at him. "I am not going through there," I said. I didn't say that I didn't want to go first because I'd have to go in head first, and, well, I didn't want Seth to have that view of me. Unfortunately he'd seen me naked, but I hadn't exactly agreed to those instances, I didn't have to put myself in any other compromising situations. He sighed heavily. "Karleigh," he said, "I will push you through there if you don't go yourself." The threat wasn't enough to budge me. I just stayed standing with my arms over my chest, refusing to move. He couldn't order me around.
Apparently he felt that he could. He took a step forward and picked me up, bridal style. I had to put my arms around his neck to keep from falling, and I didn't like how his hands curled around my knee. I glared at him. "Put me down!" I yelled. He just smiled, which made me even angrier. "I did warn you," he said, bending down a little. He lined my feet up with the hole and pushed me through it. My shoulders bumped against the stones, but he didn't let my head hit anything. I landed safely on the other side without any major injuries. "Move out of the way," Seth called, and I scrambled away from the hole. A second later Seth's head appeared, and was shortly followed by the rest of him.
"You need to start listening to me," he growled. "I grew up here. I know my way around." He turned down the hallway and after a second tripped over a bump in the floor. I cackled with laughter. "That," he said, picking himself up, "is new. Definitely new." He looked at me. "Are you coming?" he asked, sounding a little annoyed.
I pushed myself off the floor and stood up. "Yeah," I muttered. I was thinking about him and that woman, who I now knew had basically screwed me over. She almost won, too. I had basically said that I wanted to go home without Seth, but Jareth had twisted my words around and sent me to repeat my lap of the Labyrinth. Only this time, as he had made perfectly clear, it was going to be much harder. And this time I was stuck with Seth as my guide. And I wasn't sure if he was planning to lead me out, at least not at first. The way he was acting, I half expected him to lead me to a bedroom or something.
We walked for a few minutes down the hallway before I remembered something. "I'm hungry," I said. "I haven't eaten in fifteen hours," and my stomach was killing me. Seth kept walking. "You haven't slept in fifteen hours either," he said, suddenly turning left down a passage I hadn't even noticed. I hurriedly ran after him, and latched onto his arm. "Don't leave me!" I squeaked. He smirked, and I let go of him. Why did he have to be so smug?
"Don't worry," he said, making another sudden turn. I was forced to grab his arm again, since I couldn't predict when he was going to find another invisible hallway. "You're resting before we do anything," he said, putting his arm around my waist. I was immediately suspicious. "What exactly do you mean by resting?" I asked, slowly. He pulled me down another hallway. He was walking with confidence, though I found it hard to believe he knew his way down all these passages. "I mean you're going to take a long nap while I find you some food, Karleigh," he said, gently rubbing my hip. I just stared at him. Go to sleep in this place? He glanced at me and saw the expression on my face. "It's perfectly safe, Karleigh," he said. "I'm a Fae. Nothing will hurt you with me as your guard."
We came to rest in front of a door. Seth opened it, and pushed me into the room beyond. It was a bedroom, decorated in red fabric, with a four-poster bed and an open door that led into a marble bathroom. I turned to look at Seth. "How are you supposed to be my guard if you're leaving to find food?" I asked. Logically, I knew that I had to be tired, although I felt awake. It was probably the spell that woman - Seth's ex - had put on me. She couldn't have me fainting from exhaustion or passing out from hunger before I renounced Seth and left him all for her. I couldn't wait to see her again, actually. I had a bone to pick with her.
Seth walked up to me and put his arms around me. "You belong to me, Karleigh," he said softly. He'd implied that before, with his 'I had you for a whole year' spiel. I wanted to kick him but I didn't. It was definitely safer if Seth was on my side. Even though I had a really good opening if I did hit him. His hands slid down and cupped my bottom. I tried to push back but he pulled me close. "I don't know if you understand that. The Labyrinth does, but I don't think you do," he murmured, kissing my neck. The door to the hallway slammed shut, and I knew it was Seth's magic. He'd been closing doors around my house for the past year.
"Don't make Jareth right," I warned him. Jareth had said the Labyrinth was R rated - I didn't want the reason to be my Muse and me. My heart sped up as Seth kissed my chin. "I don't know what you're talking about," he drawled, and from his tone I knew he was lying. He buried his face in my hair for a moment, while taking long, deep breaths. Then he pushed me back. "I had better go. You go to sleep, don't worry, I'll wake you up with plenty of time to solve this maze again." He ruffled my hair and walked out of the bedroom, carefully shutting the door behind him. I heard the lock shut, and I moaned and fell back on the bed.
Sighing, I kicked off my shoes and curled up under the covers. I sat up for a few minutes, staring at the door. Seth had kissed me. Really kissed me. It hadn't been teasing. And he'd held me like we'd been together for a while. Which, I guess, we had. But we'd never done anything romantic. Oh, I thought. He so planned walking in on me while I was undressing. I closed my eyes and leaned backwards.
The instant my head hit the pillow I fell asleep.
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Enraged by Malferz's comment, Rachelle managed to get her hands free of their iron bonds. Startled, Malferz stumbled backwards. Rachelle sat up and shrieked. "I hate you I hate you I hate you!" she yelled, hot tears streaming down her face. Malferz laughed, which served to make Lady Rachelle even angrier. "Seth is mine, do you hear me, mine! He would never take a half breed like you to his bed!" she screamed. "I am a full blooded Fae, I come from a noble bloodline, I am superior to you in every way!" She was fuming. First Seth becomes fond of a mere human, and now this half breed had the impertinence to claim she knew Seth intimately.
Malferz scowled. She stood up and walked toward the doors, which flung open before she got within ten feet of them. "Nor!" she yelled, whipping her riding crop against her thigh. Nor turned around and ambled through the doorway. Malferz, panting, pointed the riding crop in Lady Rachelle's direction. "Break her arm!" Malferz ordered her lackey. "I need to pick out something suitable," she hissed, stomping off to a particularly frightening wall. "No one insults my parents," she murmured, eyes scanning the array of iron weapons. Unfortunately for Rachelle, Malferz just hated being called a half breed. The term was a slur against her parents just as much as it was against her. She would not stand for that. She loved both her mother and her father.
Nor slowly walked over to Rachelle, who desperately pried at the locks around her feet. She probably could have pulled them off if they weren't iron. Touching them even for a second burnt her hands, and she couldn't get a grip on the bands. Nor was next to her before she realized it was a futile task. "No," she whimpered, throwing her hands over her head to protect herself. It didn't mean anything to Nor. He took one of her arms between his thumb and forefinger and bent it out. Rachelle tried to bat his hand away with her free arm, but he didn't even notice it. "Stop, oh God, stop, please," she whispered, closing her eyes. Nor snapped her arm like a toothpick. Her howl of agony made Malferz smile.
Malferz pulled a serrated blade off the wall. It was double-edged, and four inches long. She ran her finger down the side, and drew blood. Satisfied, she turned and walked back over to Rachelle, who was laying against the table, moaning. "That's all I need, Nor. You don't need to see this," Malferz said, patting her assistant on the arm.
"Okay Mally," Nor rumbled. Malferz was so angry with Rachelle, she didn't even roll her eyes at Nor's nickname for her. She smoothed her dress under her armor while she waited for privacy. It took a minute for Nor to leave, but once he had, Malferz held the blade above Rachelle so the Fae woman could see it glinting in the torchlight.
"This is iron," Malferz said. "This will literally make your blood boil. I know. Many Fae have come here before you," Malferz murmured, twirling the blade. Rachelle found that her eyes had gotten so big she couldn't shut them against the terrible sight. Malferz took a deep, slow breath. "It took some experimenting, but I found the best place to plunge this into the body of a Fae. It makes all the blood in a Fae's system boil, but it is not fatal." She bent her face close to Rachelle's. "I am sadistic, Rachelle. I find that torture is much more satisfying than murder." Malferz climbed up onto the table and straddled Rachelle. "This will hurt very badly. You will soon wish that you were dead, my Lady. Know that I intend to keep you alive as long as possible. I have been doing this for a long time," Malferz said, positioning the blade over Rachelle's shoulder. "So that could be years. It will certainly be months."
Malferz plunged the blade into Rachelle's shoulder. She watched the woman squirm, and rocked the blade back and forth in her flesh. "Seth really did like you for a while," she said, increasing the pace of the rocking. "But by now he has to know that you really are a bitch," she hissed. Rachelle drew her knees up in pain. Malferz merely sat on the joints, using Rachelle like a chair. She crossed her legs and started looking on the wall for another instrument to have fun with. "I think something with chains," Malferz murmured, her voice barely audible against the noise of Rachelle's shrieks. She looked down at the woman. "That dress will have to go. I can't wrap chains around fabric. To get good, proper third-degree burns," Malferz said, jumping down to the floor, "you need to put the iron right against the skin." She grinned at Rachelle and skipped over to the chains.
She pulled a long one off the wall. It was new, never used. The stains that coated the rest of the chains weren't present on this one. It was fourteen feet long. Malferz threw it over her shoulder and dragged it across the floor as she walked back to Rachelle. She inspected the wound on the Lady's shoulder, and was pleased to see that the blood seeping out was bubbling, and when she touched it, it was scorching. Humming a happy little tune to herself, Malferz tied one end of the chain to one of the ankle bonds, and carefully wrapped it around Rachelle, going over and under the morgue table. She finally finished and tied the other end to one of the bolts of the arm bonds, which to her dismay were laying on the floor.
Malferz snapped her fingers, and a healing potion appeared in her hand. In a while she would unwrap the chains, pull out the blade, and force Rachelle to drink the potion. After an hour or two, the Fae woman would be completely healed, and ready for a new round of torture. This was Malferz's favorite thing in her entire stock. It meant that she could punish people, mostly Fae, who broke the rules of the Labyrinth for long periods of time. Though eventually she would go too far, have too much fun, and the person would die before she could get the healing potion inside them. It was a risk she had to take as the Labyrinth's only police officer.
Smiling and humming, Malferz rocked back and forth on her heels. She wondered about the best method to take off the woman's dress. It would probably be best for both of them if she only burned the fabric under the chains. It was fun to watch Lady Rachelle scream in pain, but Malferz wasn't too keen on watching her do it naked. She walked up and traced a single finger along the chains. A flame came out of her finger and scorched the chain, but it also got rid of the fabric underneath. She had worked with her fire powers enough to keep it concentrated on those parts of the fabric, and most of Lady Rachelle's dress stayed intact.
"Why… why are you doing this?" Rachelle wailed. "You don't have to do this! You don't have to go this far!"
Malferz put a hand on her hip. "I enforce the rules of the Labyrinth, my Lady," she said, raising her eyebrows. "Without me, there would be chaos." She started pacing back and forth next to the autopsy table. "Why, people would keep trying to solve the Labyrinth after their time runs out. Jareth can't be defeated by every pretty brunette who stumbles her way into the Labyrinth looking for a sibling or a Muse or a math teacher. I make sure that the slow go home," Malferz said. She sighed.
"And how were you… bestowed… with that honor?" Rachelle asked between gritted teeth.
Malferz twisted a lock of her honey hair around her finger. "A court order. The High Court thought that the only job suited to a half breed like me was police work… but they wouldn't have me in their pretty cities, oh no. They sent me here, to the Labyrinth" she said, walking forward with her arms held out in front of her. She looked at the ceiling, the roof of her cage. "Jareth was the only one who would take me in," she said, dropping her hands to her sides. She stared at the floor for a few minutes, Lady Rachelle's whimpers and yells a background symphony for her own torment. "Seth was friendly to me, too," she murmured, mainly to herself. She wrapped her arms around herself in a tight hug. "They both realized that blood isn't the end all be all of existence."
"Blood means more than you think it does," Rachelle hissed angrily.
Malferz chuckled. "Yes, I guess it does. After all, without my mother's blood, I would be just like you when I touched all my iron toys," she said.
The door opened. This time, instead of Nor, it was Jareth. His eyes were shut tight, and he was using a cane to walk. He stumbled halfway into the room and didn't open his eyes and toss away the cane until the doors shut. He shuddered as he threw the cane to the floor. "I hate that thing," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Malferz bristled. "Nor is not that bad," she said. "And if you wanted to bypass him you could've just teleported or whatever it is you do," she spat. Nor got on her nerves, but he was her friend. She wouldn't have her employer and caretaker insult him like that.
"Then you'd yell at me for coming in without announcing myself," Jareth pointed out. He sighed and shook himself. "Time to get down to business," he said, smiling. "I have a chore for you to do, Malferz."
Malferz looked suspiciously at him. "What is it?" she asked.
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I woke up, and I was very warm. It wasn't an uncomfortable heat, it was very soothing. I didn't open my eyes for a few minutes. I took a few deep breaths, and before my exhaling could make any more noise, I noticed that someone else was breathing, very close to my ear. For a second I froze, hoping that the breathing would go away. It didn't, but I realized that it was slow, the breathing of sleep, not of waiting until your victim wakes up to plunge an ice pick into her ear. I opened my eyes and rolled over.
I came face-to-face with Seth and nearly screamed. He had one arm draped across my shoulders, and had one leg hooked over mine. He was very much asleep, and looked absolutely angelic. I stared at him for a moment before I noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. Then I noticed someone had taken off my jean shorts. I gave myself permission to scream. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!?!" I shrieked, pushing Seth off of me. He jerked awake and backwards, which sent him rolling over the side of the bed. He hit the floor with a loud thud. Frantically, I dragged the covers up over myself, and looked around the room for my shorts. My shoes and socks were missing, too. Seth managed to stand up. I glared at him, ignoring as best I could his bare chest. "You undressed me!" I yelled. My face was flushed. I still had my shirt on but I felt completely naked. I had no idea how long we had been sleeping. I knew I hadn't taken off my shorts by myself. The shoes and socks I could stand. But my shorts? How dare Seth take those off! How dare he even think about doing something like that!
"I did not undress you," Seth murmured, pulling himself back onto the bed. "It wouldn't be any fun to undress you while you were asleep," he purred, grabbing my shoulders.
I pushed at his hands. "If you didn't undress me, why in the world am I missing my shorts?" I demanded, kicking at him. He took my shoulders and pushed me down into the bed, giving me a very nice view of his toned chest. He pinned down my arms and legs and collapsed on top of me. Frustrated, I kept trying to push him off of me, but he was strong and barely noticed my struggle.
He nuzzled my neck. "I did take those off. But you are nowhere near naked," he said, yawning. "Now go back to sleep. We have a lot of time and I want to make sure we don't need to do this for a while," he said. He managed to pull the covers out from between us and pulled them over us. "Go back to sleep," he murmured again, sliding his arms around me. He yawned and rested his head on my shoulder. "We can eat when you wake up," he said, closing his eyes.
Frustrated, I started to squirm. "Get off of me," I hissed.
"No," he said bluntly. "You've only been asleep for six hours, you need at least three more."
We lay in silence for a minute. "I'm not tired," I finally said, in a pouting tone. Seth sighed and pressed a finger to my temple. My pouting face disappeared, I snuggled up against Seth, and I closed my eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, the room smelled like cinnamon. The covers were tucked closely around my body, and I was alone in bed. Slowly, I sat up and looked around. Seth was fully clothed again, in his wine-stained shirt, and was sitting at a tiny table that had come out of nowhere and had two silver trays of food in it. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast with the edges burnt, all of it sprinkled with cinnamon. A large pitcher of milk sat in between the trays, and Seth was sipping on a glass of it. I ran a hand through my hair. "Your favorite meal," Seth teased, putting his glass down. He was holding an aged, yellow scroll, and took his eyes off it for a moment to look up at me. "Come eat it before it gets cold," he said, nodding at a chair on the other side of the table.
My shorts were lying on the end of the bed. I slipped them on underneath the blankets before I stood up. Seth went back to reading while I sat down across from him and started eating. The food was highly welcomed, and hot enough that it warmed me up but didn't burn my mouth. The milk was thick and creamy. Seth tapped his fork against a glass of water I hadn't seen, but didn't look away from the scroll. "Make sure you drink that too," he murmured. I tried to catch a glimpse of the writing on the scroll but he angled it away from me. Sighing, I gulped down some water and spread butter over my toast.
"Do you really think I can solve the Labyrinth without magic?" I asked, taking a big bite of the toast.
Seth looked up at me. He raised an eyebrow. "Would I be down here with you if I didn't?" he countered.
I polished off my toast. "I don't know. I don't think I really know that much about you."
"I'm allergic to strawberries," he said vaguely. I poked at my eggs. Seth reached across the table and gently squeezed my hand. I smiled just a little. He leaned back in his chair and rolled the scroll up. Tapping it against the table, he said, "This is the transcript from my trial. When we have time I want you to read it." He laid it down next to the pitcher of milk and poured himself another glass. He'd finished most of his food already. I stared at the scroll for a minute, dreading what lay inside. "It's so small," I said, distracting myself by shoving a forkful of eggs into my mouth. Seth nodded. "Magic," he said, wiggling his fingers. I laughed and nearly choked on my food.
"Finish up, I want to be able to show you off to all my old friends before you have to leave," he said, smirking.
I nervously laid my utensils down. "I'm not leaving right after I finish?" I asked.
He tilted his head to the side and propped his chin up on his hand. "You don't want to look around Underground?" It was a rhetorical question. "I can show you my old house, and get some money out of somewhere to take you shopping. I know some stores in the capital that you would just die for," he murmured, smirking. I opened my mouth to say something but he hurried ahead of me. "No, I will not give you any money I got from stealing. I did have a legitimate business," he said, sounding slightly offended.
Grinning, I asked, "And what was that?"
Still smirking, he said, "I was a locksmith."
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In the lowest level of the High Court building, there are no windows. The floor is referred to as the crypt, and it is sixty feet underground. The people working here are new or on the bad side of one of the higher-ups, and they aren't allocated enough magic to light the place well. The hallways have only a single torch at either end, and the rooms are given two four-hour candles a day. The nearest bathroom is on the main floor, sixty feet above. There is no security for the crypt, and disgruntled citizens regularly intrude with bombs strapped to their chests. Almost half of the people down here commit suicide before they are transferred up.
Malferz felt right at home as she descended the long, winding staircase to the crypt. She had taken off her leather armor at Jareth's request, and was wearing only her maroon dress. That didn't mean she wasn't carrying any weapons, they were just smaller and more cleverly placed. She got several looks before she finally entered the crypt. Sighing, she picked her way over piles of paper and stacks of envelopes as she made her way to the far end of the hallway. She had been surprised to learn that Judge Raphael worked down here, and she didn't believe it until she reached the very last office and looked inside.
Raphael was reported to be part human, but no one had ever figured out what the other parts might be. Supposedly one had to be Fae, because he had all the powers of a Fae, although he didn't look like one. He was only five feet tall, had very short brown hair, and dull brown eyes. He was skinny, and hyperactive, and had a deep tan. Malferz coughed before she walked into the dark office and seated herself in front of his desk. The only clear space on the desk was a corner, where the Judge had placed one of his four-hour candles. It was half spent.
When he looked up, Malferz had to swallow a gasp. Dear Lord, he's only a teenager!
He smiled at Malferz, who was cursing out Jareth in her head. The judge glanced at Malferz's bare knees and smiled to himself. Malferz promised to put something soft and squishy in the Goblin King's bed before the day was over. "Hello," Raphael said, leaning back in his seat. He put down his pen, which began to leak all over his paperwork as soon as he took his fingers away. Malferz raised an eyebrow at him and nodded her head. She was too angry and startled to speak just yet. "The Goblin King warned… I mean," Raphael sputtered, his voice cracking, "he told me you were coming," he finished in a very high voice. Malferz bit her tongue. He's not even done with puberty! His voice isn't even done changing!
Malferz ran a hand through her hair. This kid isn't even scared of me! she thought. Why had Jareth picked her to talk to Raphael if she wasn't supposed to scare him? "Uh," Raphael said, standing, "I'm sorry I don't have any wine for you," he said. Well duh, Malferz thought, you're not old enough to drink wine yet. He adjusted his black judge's robe and took a deep breath to make his chest look bigger. Malferz's eye twitched.
"Let's get on with this," she said, glaring at him. She crossed her legs and arms, and sighed heavily. "I suppose Jareth told you why I came here," she said, looking around the room. The shadows cast by the one candle disguised most of it, but she could tell that the walls were covered in papers, most of them with officials seals, and all of them with red markings crossing out and changing lots of words. Malferz wondered briefly what it was a child like Raphael would do all day as a judge. Surely they wouldn't give him terribly important cases.
"No, actually, he didn't," Raphael said, sitting back down. He put his hands on his desk and steepled his fingers, still not noticing the puddle of black ink that was slowly spreading out over the desk. The ink soaked into the sleeve of his robe as he smiled at Malferz. "I suppose he wanted you to tell me," he said.
Malferz's eye twitched again. "I suppose he did," she said dryly. She sighed and tried to ignore the fact that Raphael was staring straight at her chest. "Lord Seth of Edoc, as you may know, was sentenced to Museship about a year ago. We are looking to overturn this punishment." She stared at the wall for a minute, while Raphael digested this news. Eventually he nodded. Malferz continued with her speech. "We want all his powers as a Fae back, as well as his status as a Lord," she said. During the past year Jareth had taken over Edoc, which was Seth's estate. "We also want him to have full access to Aboveground, with no security checks or records of his visits."
Raphael stared at his candle for a minute. Malferz's hopes rose. Most judges would have just shoved this request aside. Thinking about it at least meant that there was a tiny chance of Seth's punishment being overturned. And if Raphael wouldn't agree of his own free will, Malferz had a nice little blade strapped against her thigh that would work on him even if his Fae blood didn't sensitize him to iron.
Eventually Raphael laid his hands out on the table, palms down. "That is a lot to ask, even for an honest citizen," he said. His voice was smooth and deadly serious. Malferz swallowed her heart. She hadn't even asked about what Jareth wanted for Karleigh yet. "I don't think even the High King himself has all of those privileges," he said.
Malferz looked demurely at the floor. "The High King hardly has reason to visit Aboveground," she said softly. So this was why a mere teen had been appointed judge. He knew what she was talking about, and what she was asking for, which was more than many adults did.
"True," Raphael said. He reached out and held his finger in the flame of his candle. Malferz felt her eyes get very wide as she watched the skin of Raphael's finger burn and blister. After a moment the teen withdrew from the flame and began sucking on his damaged skin. He pulled open a drawer in his desk and fumbled around for a moment, before he found a roll of bandages. "I have a masochistic streak in me, Malferz. Forgive me but I needed to distract myself for a moment," he muttered, rolling the bandage around his finger. Malferz waited in silence for him to finish. She didn't know what to say, anyway. Her throat had inexplicably gone tight. She remembered being Raphael's age, only a few short years ago, and anyway when Underground people reached their twenties age didn't really matter anymore, and she… she couldn't remember where her train of thought had been headed.
Done at last, Raphael steepled his fingers again. "Give me one good reason why I should allow a master thief free, unrecorded access to Aboveground, along with restoring all the powers which allowed him to steal in the first place, Malferz," he ordered, staring at the candle.
Malferz bit her tongue and screamed one, long obscenity in her head. "Seth never needed his powers to steal," she said coldly. How dare this child think that Seth couldn't do anything without his Fae magic. "His mind and his body were all the tools he ever required, your honor. You seemed to have studied his case and you should know that," she said, gritting her teeth.
Raphael smiled at her, revealing perfect, white teeth. "Well, in that case," he said, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "I guess the death sentence would be appropriate."
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Author's Note: I am officially evil. The certificate arrived in the mail today. Mwahahahaha! Yes, I do these things on purpose, just to torture all of you.
BlueyChan: Ooh, for once I don't have to apologize for taking so long! Yay! Haha thanks for the review.
Princess-RainbowRose: Haha I loved seeing your review! And I was very grateful for the suggestions, I am so bad at endings myself. I can never decide how I want to end it. I believe I will be taking some of your suggestions, I particularly adore the one about Karleigh beating the daylights out of Seth, but I have a couple of ideas of my own after seeing yours that I'm excited about too. No clues on this one, mwahaha. Thanks so much for the review, and of course the suggestions!