Author's Note: If things get confusing, please do take the trouble to tell me. Sometimes, I forget that other people are not privy to what I already 'know' about the background and setting of my fics. Please feel free to ask.
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The room was big. It was a single room- Toby wasn't important enough to merit a suite- and it was simple. But it was big. It had taken him a while to reach it, seeing as how it was curiously built right into the left hand corner of the Castle. But the view! With two windows looking out into the City and the other looking out into the far horizon, Toby found himself going between both walls, spellbound. He was almost certain he could see the Sea glimmering on that far horizon.
The Sea.
He'd never been to the Sea. It was a long four days' journey away and he'd never had the chance. When he'd been twelve, Pandora had fallen ill. The illness itself was not serious, but it meant she couldn't take long journeys without tiring herself out too much. Luke visited it regularly, however, and he'd heard all about it.
Luke…
Toby grinned, wondering whether his boyfriend was keeping to the instructions he'd given him. Not about staying away from other men, naturally, because they trusted each other with that! But just about the usual things; namely, make sure you have enough money left to get back, make sure you actually eat, don't forget to take your belongings out of the lodging house when you leave… Luka was scatterbrained like that.
But pretty.
And he did have some sense! After all, hadn't Luke been the one who'd helped him arrange for the town near Lady Pandora's palace to be restored? It had been so ramshackle, Toby hadn't known where to start. Luke had taken him down and sorted it out without any fuss. Luke had told him what contracts to draw up and Luke had guided him on the best choices of tradesmen and resources. All Luke.
But sitting in his room and daydreaming was not going to be of much use to him, was it? Toby shook the lethargy away and stood up briskly, moving to his cases to put his belongings away.
The last of his things to come to light was something that made him give a surreptitious smile- his sword. An ordinary enough one, to be sure, and nothing near as good as he might like, but it was a sword that served his purpose. He slid it carefully under the bed, hoping no one would find it and accuse him of planning to murder the King of the Goblins. A bell pull hung to the left of his bed, ready for him to summon assistance.
Which was all well and good because he was getting hungry!
"I could call someone," he murmured to himself, "Or I could just go out and find something to do. No doubt my gracious host will be asking for me soon enough."
He sighed and left his room. Better not to wait for trouble to come to him; better to face it straight away.
Now where was that staircase? Oh yes, just down here and turn this corner… no, the next one. He backtracked and found the right corner to turn. His brain noted that there was a large tapestry on the wall just before his corner and he methodically stored that information away in his memory. It wouldn't do to get lost in the Castle, after all. Down the staircase and keep going until he hit the ground floor.
And then where…
A vague idea of where he was going lead him smack bang into a large, impressive, starkly cold room that he remembered distantly from a dream. A throne at the other end, on a raised platform with three shallow stairs. The crimson carpet still snaked its way up the middle. The Reception Hall, wasn't it?
"Mr. Williams."
Toby looked around inquisitively and then turned fully, offering a respectful bow to his host. "Sire," he greeted, "Excuse my wandering around, but I was looking for you."
Jareth blinked. "You could have summoned one of the goblins," he remarked. Inwardly, he was conscious of that inexplicable sense of disappointment again. "But as you're here, let's go into my throne room and talk things over. I believe you know the way."
"I do remember it, yes," Toby agreed, looking to the almost-invisible door. "After you, Sire."
Jareth was getting very tired of that 'Sire'. It grated on his nerves. "As you wish." Toby Williams seemed damnably stiff-necked, he found. The man was turning out to be a most remarkable bore.
The door was pushed open and Toby found, to his surprise, that he was not hit by a wall of memories. The screaming and shouting from the car-crash did not ring in his ears, and the numbed confusion of what to do next didn't echo in his heart. He knew that he had cried himself to sleep that day, but for the life of him no scars were ripped open for entering this room once more. He shut the door respectfully behind himself and moved to stand before his interrogator.
"Well, Toby, we finally meet."
"Yes, we do."
"And how have you enjoyed the Underground so far?" Jareth asked, settling back in the curve-backed seat that served the room. "Has it been to your liking?"
Had it? "It has," Toby allowed, standing until such time as he was invited to sit, "Lady Pandora has been very good to me."
The Goblin King gave an uncharacteristic snort. "According to my mother, you have been very good to her," he laughed, "Who am I to believe?"
A blond brow rose. Toby was quite certain now that the Goblin King had the most facetious brain he'd ever been privileged to observe. Not to mention being shallow and prone to mockery. "Both, Sire. She took me in and gave me a home. In return, I do what I can to make her life pleasant."
Yes, the Goblin King decided, decidedly stiff-necked. And conventional. The man made all the right noises and said all the right things. Jareth was still watching to see if he would even ask to sit down.
"Sire, may I ask why you specifically required I attend this ball?"
Toby remained standing, clasping his hands lightly behind his back as if standing part-ways to attention. Jareth took the opportunity to look him over. The mortal was tall- never a bad thing- with broad shoulders and long, clean limbs. His face was neither handsome nor ugly. He was pleasant enough, with regular features and regular expressions. His hands and his hair, Jareth agreed, were the most unique things about him. His hair was the same dark gold that he remembered Karen Williams' had been, a very pretty colour indeed. And Toby's hands were large, broad and very unrefined.
"You may ask anything you like," the Goblin King sighed, "I may, however, choose not to answer. In this case, I asked you to attend because I have never met you since you left my care fourteen years ago, and because I think you need to make a decision concerning the rest of your adult life."
"I have no complaints with my present life, Sire. I have a home, I have friends, and I have a duty to Lady Pandora. Why can I not keep that?"
Jareth sat up straight, a frown twisting his mouth. "Continue as you are now? I don't quite see why you would choose such a life. It sounds singularly boring."
"For you, perhaps. It suits me, Sire."
"I see." Long, restless fingers stroked smooth wood. "Tell me why you prefer this life to anything else I can give you. I could send you back Aboveground, you know. I'd provide for you, of course, and you could live a life of luxury in the world you were born to."
Toby actually had the gall to look amused at such a suggestion. "Sire, I'm not someone who particularly likes to sleep all day and drink champagne all night."
"Then… the life of a soldier perhaps?"
"Too active. Too regimented. Both in the Underground and Aboveground."
"A regular job Aboveground with a regular salary? The chance to marry and have a regular family?"
"Too uninspiring, thank you. I've seen too much to be happy with that. And I, er, doubt I will be able to have a family anytime soon. Or be married."
Jareth stood up, more perturbed and frustrated than he had been for a long while. He had a promise to keep to Sarah and the man was making it very difficult. Surely no one could find happiness in the petty little life Toby led? Educated persons of no means were forced to that job, or those poorer relatives who relied on their richer family for their upkeep. No one chose such a life!
He circled curiously, the humour in Toby's words not lost on him. "What do you mean," the Goblin King suddenly snapped out, "Mortals are constantly attempting to marry and breed. It seems an ingrained instinct for most of them."
"And you get asked to cart away the mistakes they make, I have been told," Toby replied, turning to face his observer with a thin smile, "I'm not very comfortable turning my back on you, Sire; I hope you will forgive me for adhering to the conventions."
"I don't give a damn. Explain yourself."
"It's clear enough, Sire. I had thought the Lady would have told you."
"Told me what?"
"That I already have a lover?"
The frown vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving a look of some surprise and satisfaction. "Is that all?" Jareth asked, relieved beyond measure, "I thought you were frigid for a while there."
Toby glared at the monarch.
"The state of your sexual ability aside, the Lady has not informed me of your lover. Who is it? Do I know her?"
"No."
"I see. Why is that?"
"Because it's a male fae, Sire. You certainly know Luke- I mean, Luka- but I don't know how well. It's never been clear to me."
"Luka!"
"Yes." Toby blinked as Jareth grimaced and threw his hands up in a disgusted gesture, finally to throw his lean body back into his seat. "This displeases you, Sire?"
"Toby, will you please not refer to me by that ridiculous title? I am no monarch of yours as you are not a citizen of the Underground and owe me no allegiance."
"You saved my life."
"Oh, stuff the gratitude, Toby. I kept a promise to your sister to protect you from harm and make sure you were happy. Beyond that, I've done nothing for you."
Ah, yes. The love story of the Goblin King and his mortal beloved. People still sang of it. Toby found it negligible. "Very well, then. What am I to call you?"
"Since I call you by name, you could, perhaps, do the same for me," Jareth pointed out ironically. "It would be permissible."
"It would be too forward and I would not be comfortable," Toby said flatly. He folded his arms across his chest in a gesture of distance, the movement as final and decisive as his stance on the floor. He was getting very tired of the Goblin King vacillating around him.
Jareth gave up. "Fine! Call me whatever you wish, just so I know it refers to me. Though I doubt we shall see much of each other at this rate." He reached up to rub his temples. "To get back to the topic at hand, what life do you choose?"
Toby sighed and shook his head. "I thought I had made myself clear, Your Majesty, this life. I'm changing nothing. I will stay with Lady Pandora for as long as she requires me."
Jareth leaned back, one hand still cupping his face in a thoughtful way. He studied the mortal once more, taking note- this time- of the stiffness in his spine and the obstinate set of his jaw. Not to mention the muscular precision of that body that a plain brown suit could not disguise. "Stay where you like, Toby. I don't really care what you do so long as I can be sure you are happy."
The mortal nodded. "I'm happy," he said simply, "Was that all?"
"Willing to run away already? On another hunt, perhaps?" Jareth mocked, "I had thought we were having a conversation."
"Conversations are friendly," Toby laughed, unbending enough to sketch a discreet bow, "If you will excuse me, Sire, I've had a long journey and I really am hungry." He waited to see the flicker of annoyance on that long face and then the wave of a pale hand. "Thank you."
He walked out of the room without needing to look back. No doubt Jareth was enraged at him, some supercilious scheme for his charity case now thwarted. But Toby was quite happy with the way this first interview had gone. He was not some confused little child any more and if that was what the Goblin King had been hoping to find, then the fae was going to be sadly mistaken.
"Excuse me," he finally asked, stopping one of the little goblins that occasionally darted around the Castle on some errand or another, "Could you tell me where I can get something to eat?"
"Dining area," the goblin rumbled, jabbing a finger at the door his petitioner had just come through, "Back through there, turn left, first door to your left." And then he scampered off, muttering something about chickens.
Toby shook his head and smirked. Goblins, he sighed, they were the same over. The Underground was a peculiar place indeed.
