Author's Note: Sorry I took so long to update. I couldn't access my story page for all of last week! It was something to do with my computer at the time, I think. But no harm done. It's all taken care of, so I hope these chapters are reading alright now that I actually can post them.
The Goblin King simply threw one goblin out the door and kicked another out with him. The goblins shrieked and left instantly, dropping whatever they were carrying to the floor to make a quicker escape. He slammed the door on them- almost taking off a goblin's tail- and then told Hessie to make sure that no one entered. The woman nodded and stood back.
Then those cold mismatched eyes turned to the three females looking cautiously at him. "Stop gawking and get on with it," he spat, gesturing in one swift movement to the bloodied bandage hanging half off Toby's shoulder.
The mortal was the first to move. He sighed, shook his head and pushed the three females off of him before rising. "Jareth, please stop yelling at them. There is no harm done here."
Merilin thanked his fate that the wound was so shallow it looked worse than it actually was.
"Jervohl?"
The woman stepped forward.
"Are you injured?"
"No."
"My Lady? Eloise?"
"No, dear."
He nodded slowly and looked slowly at each of them in turn. "Then why," he mused, "Are you still standing around here?"
They looked confused.
Smiling a bright, brittle, dangerous smile, Jareth herded them calmly to the door and sent Hessie with them. "If there is any news pertaining to a change in circumstance, I shall let you all know. For now, do me the great favour of getting out of my way."
Toby risked a look at Merilin before Jareth turned around again. The elf was pale and a healthy dose of fear seemed to be tinging his defiant aloofness. Toby could only hope that whatever rage Jareth was in had not been caused by him. Otherwise, Merilin would be in very grave danger.
At least the world wasn't fragmenting around them.
Jareth, for no discernible reason, stared at the rough grain of the wooden door for eight long seconds before turning and levelling a caustic glance at his ward. "How bad?" he demanded.
"A scratch," Toby answered quickly, "Very bloody but very shallow. A clean stab, with no poison."
"Good." Jareth looked at Merilin and the very fact that he didn't look particularly amused said more than even the suffocating stillness did. "You. Stop cowering like a coward and come into the open."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Merilin obeyed, knowing his only mode of remaining unharmed was to be explicitly helpful. He stepped around a smashed china basin to stand respectfully a little way beyond Toby. He didn't look at the man's face; likely he would only see sympathy and bewilderment on it. He didn't like pity.
Jareth leaned back against the door and let his head meet the wood, peering down his nose at the slender figure regarding him so honestly. But he would not speak of that yet. Not with present company. "Toby. Tell me of the attack."
"Three of us were in the room- Jervohl, Hessie and myself. A cloaked male came in through the window. Jervohl went for him. Hessie went to call for the guards. Jervohl was disarmed so I did the best I could. He piqued me and left through the window."
Jareth digested that. He stared up at the ceiling, hand on his medallion as he turned the facts over in his head. "How did he climb the outer walls of my Castle?" he asked out loud.
"There was no rope, Jareth. I checked."
Finally a small smile curved that thin mouth. But when Jareth pushed himself off the door, both elf and man moved to give him a wide berth. Plunging his hand out the window and pulling hard and he dragged the rope in. "He came down, Toby. He got in from the parapets."
"What?" Toby looked aghast from the rope lying under Jareth's highly polished boot to the fae. "I- I never… Forgive me, Jareth, I never even thought to look up. I assumed he would…"
"No matter. You did what you could." Jareth waved a dismissive hand. "One last question. What kind of mask did this male wear?"
Toby looked surprised. "How did you know?"
"Because I think. What was it?"
"Ceronome, I think. It was as hard as stone because it resisted Jervohl's attempt to break his nose with that." Toby gestured with his good hand down to the shattered basin. "But stone would be too heavy to wear as a mask. And not easy to form. It was black. He wore black gloves as well."
"Very well, you can go. Have Hessie take care of that and then check on Serenity. She is upset by the commotion. Let her out of her stall; take her for a ride. But go nowhere except the Forest. Anywhere else may be dangerous."
Merilin processed it and wondered at the way that Jareth just knew things. It all sounded so logical when one thought about it after the fact, but for the life of him it was all just a little like a magic trick. Some of confusion might have transmitted itself to his captor because Jareth shrugged as if to answer his thoughts.
"Simple reasoning," Jareth told him, "Nothing is as it seems- true of life as well as the Labyrinth. I know about Serenity because I know she can sense changes in atmosphere and danger to me. It upsets her. The forest is exactly where everyone will expect an assassin to hide. Myself, I think he is still in the Castle. Possibly on the parapet right now."
Merilin gaped. Something was not right. This was worse than confronting that deadly version of Luka. Jareth was more than a match on any given day.
"I will not go after him, of course," Jareth continued, "There are better ways to handle this."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Merilin said meekly.It seemed to be expected.
"You do not want to find out how I know about the mask? Or your meeting with Luka? Or how I knew there would be trouble back at my Castle while I was away?" Jareth was on the bed, sitting up against the curved headboard. Jacket gone and boots crossed neatly at the ankle, long legs stretched out full length. Tassels and flows of lace- strange how it only seemed to enhance him rather than make him appear ridiculous. The riding crop in his hands was being twirled, hooded eyes watching the crystal-shaped glass affixed to the end spray shards of colours.
Merilin licked his lips. His mind was distressingly blank. He was in deeper than he had been prepared to go. "Yes, Your Majesty," he settled, annoyed with himself but knowing of no other suitable way to reply.
"Curiosity, Merilin, will be the death of you. Does it seem logical to come here to wound someone with your face, and thereby your identity, exposed? And using an assassin is never good enough. It could only have been a handful of people. Madigh trained with Jervohl; he knows her weaknesses. A mask, then."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Merilin was getting tired of that line. "I understand," he added, "It is logical now that you mention it."
"As for how I know about your meeting with Luka," Jareth resumed, completely disregarding the new placations, "I know everything that goes on in my Kingdom, just as I know everything that goes on in my Castle."
Not possible, Merilin told himself. He cynically wondered if some part of his mind was not being a little hysterical.
"I always have, I always will," the Goblin King whispered, spinning the glass bauble faster and faster. "And I watched you with him. I heard every word he told you. And I saw every expression that haunted your eyes when you listened."
"Not possible." Merilin clapped a hand to his mouth.
Jareth was off the bed, leaning seductively over the raised foot and holding out a crystal as if it were a gift, a precious bribe, a promise offering so much more. The corners of his mouth curling, his eyes glowing, a hot flush ghosting over his cheekbones. His shirtfront falling open in a flurry of lace, one delicate wrist glimpsed under the wide sleeve pulled taunt by an outstretched arm.
Merilin saw himself in the crystal, saw Luka and saw the two of them talk. He clearly read the surprise and disbelief in his own eyes. How much more clearly had Luka seen it? He saw himself fidget, fingers rising to rub the tip of his left ear in worry, settling further into the mossy seat he had taken, feet shifting position. And then he looked up and Jareth was still watching him, still promising more with his eyes than the crystal destroyed with its sight.
Merilin dived.
Jareth threw the crystal and was out of the way before the elf could even blink. Collision between the wooden bedstead and Merilin's midsection was enough to make those dazed eyes blink to sudden realization.
"The Goblin King, my dear," Jareth mimicked, "Is a little smarter than your average whore."
"Fraud," Merilin gasped, still trying to get his breath back.
"Oh, but you already knew that," his tormenter laughed.
The door opened and shut very quietly.
Merilin rested his head against the soft quilt that smelled of perfume as he tried to get his mind to work again. Something- a lot like icy fingers- drifted over his ribs and he could clearly feel his heart thump loud in his breast. His lungs hurt. His head hurt.
Broken pieces of a shattered crystal lay against a wall. As the elf watched, they dissolved into the stone floor.
