Chapter 9: Silent Flight

Wind howled.

Jareth knew that it was only a matter of time before Deram arrived. He knew his brother well. Deram had been released from the Council prison a few months ago. Jareth's father had been dead for almost a year. It was strange, really. He had hated Mathis, true, but… A part of him had never wanted Mathis injured. Jareth shoved that thought away with a passion. He was the Goblin king, cold, hard, and uncaring. He had been betrayed through love and would never love again.

He fumed in silence, his rage mounting as he thought about past injustices. He barley noticed his brother's approach. However, some part of him was paying attention and he turned abruptly to face the dark-haired menace. Jareth noted his brother's dark hair and eyes, his careless mannerisms, and suddenly realized that Deram hated him more than words could describe. Jareth was suddenly afraid of his younger brother. For all of Jareth's callousness, he could never become truly evil, not even if he wanted too. But Deram… Jareth suppressed a shudder as the dangerous man approached him.

"Jareth, my brother, you wished to speak with me?" He crooned.

"Yes, Deram, I did. I wanted to know what your connection with the deporting of Salid was."

"Salid? Tall, dark hair, handsome? I have no idea what you are talking about, my brother, has he gone missing?"

The hair on the back of Jareth's neck tingled as Deram fiddled with a flower he had picked. "I dislike you tone, brother, and I demand to know what your involvement in that situation was."

"Demand? That's an awfully big word, Jareth, to use against your own brother."

"Deram, you have become a thorn in my side since I took the Goblin Throne." Jareth began, and he perceived a slight smile on Deram's face as he continued. "The murder of Mathis, whether you did it or not, has not gone unnoticed, and getting the King of even a small Kingdom of the Underground deported is no laughing matter. What had he done to anger you, on what basis did you deport him?"

"I was only a catalyst, somebody else had him deported."

"Regardless, your blatant disrespect--"

"Disrespect? Me? You should look at yourself before making comments like that. I'm a holy saint compared to you, judging by what the inhabitants of the Underground say. Let us examine this more closely, shall we? I will paint a picture of the current Goblin King, as seen by the rest of out world.

"You hate your family and publicly admitted to being glad Mathis was dead. You have no regard for tradition. You manner of dress is eccentric at best, and at times, scandalous. Those pants of yours are just a tad too snug, my brother. You have absolutely no pity or mercy toward anyone, even your own brother. You loathe the mortals of the Aboveground. You have one friend, and you abuse him. Your goblins fear you; your name is used by humans to scare little children. You have injured people who seek to compliment you… My brother, the list is endless. Can you truly accuse me of disrespect when you flaunt your own? I think not."

Jareth simply stared at his brother. He hadn't meant to be perceived that way… or had he? Fine, if people wished to see him as such, he wouldn't bother. He would give them what they wanted to see: a usurper of his father's throne and a tyrant. That was their problem anyway. "Deram, you still haven't answered the question that I brought you here for: What was your involvement in Silad's becoming deposed?"

Deram smiled gallantly, and chills ran down Jareth's spine, "I told a series of stories that pointed to his cruelty and savagery."

"Savagery? Salid?"

"Oh, you don't think I told the truth, do you? I framed him for things that I had done, my brother."

Jareth felt a hollow, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, "Such as?"

"The murder of three humans girls a week ago, the theft of a powerful artifact from the Council Library two weeks ago, the poisoning of his daughter three days ago, the theft of large sums of money last month, and the destruction of five Council-owned statues two days before that." Deram replied coolly.

"You did all of that?"

"I did, my brother."

"Why did you tell me?"

"Who is the Council going to believe? You? I've already told you what you look like to them. Me? They believe me incapable of such horrendous crimes."

"You killed Mathis. Why wouldn't they believe that you had done these other things?"

"Because they believe I killed Mathis on your orders and with the threat of death hanging over me if I failed." He replied matter-of-factly.

Jareth was furious, how had his brother done all of this? Who was helping him? What was driving him to become so evil? Jareth departed the grassy field suddenly and returned to the Labyrinth. His brother had gone beyond mere hate and anger he had become some evil psychopath! He spoke of murder so easily, it bothered even Jareth. What had happened to do this to Deram? Or had he always been this way? A humbling thought hit Jareth: What if he had made Deram this way?

No! No, he would not allow himself to think that! Deram chose how he wanted to live, Jareth had nothing to do with it. Jareth would live his life and let others live theirs. He would rule the Labyrinth and let Deram live how he wanted. A simple emotion plagued him for months afterwards, a simple memory, a single image: Fear, Deram's cold recounting of events, his cruel smile.

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Alex watched as Jareth fidgeted. He was scared, and she could do nothing to help him. What was it that had him so… frightened? They were in the courtyard of Luc's castle, a monstrous stone thing with hundreds of towers and pointy tops that was the perfect image of a fantasy wizard's castle. It was late at night and a thunderstorm was coming, the stars were invisible behind blue-black rain clouds and lightning would periodically turn the world from black to white. An ominous green light poured from the windows in one of the uppermost towers and Alex swore that some of the statues were moving. But all of that wasn't enough to scare the Goblin King, there had to be something more.

He led her through the castle as if he'd grown up there, the twists and turns of various corridors doing nothing to throw him off course. They made their weary way up through the towers and stairwells until they came to the tower from which the green light emanated. There Jareth pounded on the intricately carved wooden door and waited for an answer.

Various rustlings and clangings ensued, flowed by crashes and vehement curses before the door opened. Luc stood in the doorway, nursing a bruised hand, behind him a pile of books shifted to a final resting place after having been knocked over in the mage's haste. His robes were an inky black and his mousey hair was unkempt as if he'd been running his hands through it in thought.

"Jareth? Jareth, my friend, what are you doing here? You should already be in hiding!"

Jareth grimaced, "I just spoke with Deram who had the decency to let me know that he had forgotten to tell me that I'd been deposed. I realize that my twenty-four hours are already up, but any help would be greatly appreciated."

Luc seemed ready to cry, "Jareth… I just… I mean… Well, you see… circumstances being what they are… that is…"

"Luc," Jareth whispered, "I know you can't help me. I'll wait down in the courtyard. You can help Alex; the Council has nothing against that. Be quick, my friend, Deram is plotting against me." Jareth gripped his friend's hand for a brief second, and then vanished down the stairs.

Luc watched him go and Alex saw his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He shook his head, turned around, and wiped at his face with the long, trailing sleeve of his robes. He motioned for Alex to follow him into the room and led her to a tiny silver box. He pulled a little locket out of the box and held it out for Alex to see, "This is a key."

What! "Okay…?"

He smiled, "This key will open a door that will appear to people only if they are carrying a key. The door, pay attention now, is in a powerful Kingdom of the Underground called Karesh. Karesh, remember that. Karesh's leader, Evana, is under Deram's control. She is young and naïve and completely hopeless. Deram put her in control of that Kingdom while it was still very small, after he had gotten a ruler named Salid deposed. Salid was a good man, who loved his small Kingdom very much.

"It was some time after Salid's death that Jareth began to tread much more carefully around his half-brother. Deram scares Jareth, and only a few people know that. Salid is only one of the many fey that Deram has had deposed, and all of them are now dead. Their Kingdoms are completely under Deram's control because of weak and fearful leaders.

"Two weeks ago I saw Salid. He is still a strong man and he is angry at Deram for all the wrongs that have been done. He feigned death and let Deram take the credit and went into hiding just over eight hundred years ago. He gave me this key and told me about the door. I can stage your 'deaths' at my hand and the two of you can go into hiding like Salid."

Alex smiled, "You'd do that for us?"

Luc nodded, "Anything, my friend. You have no idea what you have done for Jareth, the monster you have saved him from becoming…"

Alex blushed slightly, "Luc, I… Thank you. But I really don't think that you should stage our deaths." She paused, "In fact… I know you shouldn't… I have a much better idea."

"Y-you do?"

She grinned, "Oh, yes. Yes, I have a much better idea. Take me back to the courtyard."

Luc glanced at her quizzically as she took the necklace and fastened it around her neck, along with another locket, and a leaf on a silver chain. He took her hand and teleported down to the courtyard. Jareth stood from his seat on a bench and nodded a farewell to Luc. Embracing Alex, they jumped to another Kingdom.

"Where do you wish to go next, little one?" Jareth asked quietly.

Her mouth quirked into a mischievous smile, "I think we need to pay a visit on Evana, in the Kingdom of Karesh."

"A large Kingdom is Karesh, and one under Deram's sway. Why go there?"

"We have a key to a hidden door."

Jareth stared at her with open amazement, "Is that what Luc gave you?"

She nodded, "He didn't tell me where in Karesh the door was, but I figure you know how to find it."

He frowned, "I do. But where will this door take us? Why go to another Kingdom if we do not know exactly what is there? My dear, a hidden door is not always a good thing."

"You think I couldn't figure that one out? Humans may be dumb, Jareth, but we're not that dumb."

"No, of course not. I'm just…"

"Worried about me."

He flinched slightly, "Yes. I'm worried about you. I really don't care if I die, but you deserve the life you have ahead of you. If not for me, you'd be guaranteed to have it."

"Jareth," she whispered, "life isn't ever guaranteed for humans. My family was taken from me. My baby brother was barely over a year old, my little sister was ten. I was fifteen. If I had been with them, I would have died as well. Life is never guaranteed, but we live to the fullest the days that we do have, because they are precious."

He took her hands in his and held them gently for a few minutes as he looked at the ground. When he looked up Alex saw tears running down his face. He smiled at her and said, "Oh, my dear… You are wise beyond your years! I have been truly blessed to find you. I have become more the man I was meant to be in the few weeks that I have known you than in all the decades of my life."

Alex blushed crimson as he embraced her in a gentle hug, his smell intoxicating her. She held him close and smiled as his wild hair tickled against her face. When he pulled away from her, though, he became the haughty Goblin King again. She rather liked it, though, as she could see tenderness in his eyes, and gentleness in the set of his face. Maybe it was hidden to some, but to Alex, Jareth had become a new man, the man he was meant to be.

Jareth held Alex's hands tightly as they traveled to Karesh via his magic and will. It was night there as well, but no storm threatened to drench them in a moment's time. He led her through the grassy countryside, past farms and such. He explained things along the way. Karesh had become so large because it was a farming Kingdom, many Kingdoms, the Labyrinth included, bought produce from this place. Evana, the current monarch, was one of Deram's puppets. Many held similar opinions about why this was, but were too embarrassed to talk about such scandalous things.

Evana was a weakling, Jareth said. She would let Deram tell her anything and would follow his every command. When she asked where the door would be, Jareth only replied that he thought he knew, and would walk a little faster. At one point he stopped so suddenly that Alex walked into him. He looked around, cocked his head as if listening intently to something, then shrugged and continued his brisk pace.

They soon left the farms behind and came upon a stone fortress. It wasn't exactly a castle, or it couldn't be called a castle after seeing Luc's, but it was solid, and appeared difficult to penetrate easily. Jareth walked toward the fortress a few yards to the right of the main entrance and sat down next to the wall. Alex crouched down on the ground and took a few minutes to catch her breath.

"About time for me to have the key." Jareth whispered.

"Will the key help you find the door?"

"Yes, I believe it shall."

Alex nodded and took the necklace that Luc had given her from around her neck and handed it to Jareth. He studied it for a few moments before standing up and walking along the outer wall of the building. At one point in the wall he stopped and held the locket out. Alex thought he looked particularly foolish waving such a little necklace at the monstrous wall, but wisely stifled her giggles.

"It should be here." He whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"The necklace should open a door, and the door should be here."

She sighed, "Maybe we have to--"

Jareth held up a hand to cut her off and she noticed a faint light appearing on the wall. It reminded her of the gates to Moria in Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring with the way it seemed to reflect the starlight. In a few seconds there appeared to be a hole in the wall that, for all its glowing, did not illuminate the pair of runaways. Jareth grinned and led Alex into the hole.