Chapter Eight
Astario paced his castle room, then disappeared and began to walk into the area with the Indreves in.
A pair of two little ones had ventured quite near the boundary of their home and were playing a variation on the game tag
Astario scowled at them.
They squeaked in fright when they saw him
He scowled at them even more. "Why are you still playing?!" he spat.
"'cuz..." one of them started, but the other one squeaked and then they both turned tail to run
Astario held out his hand and a small jet of curling smoke shot from his fingers. It was obviously meant to ensnare the two little Indreves, but it seemed to get lost on the way. The Prince looked confused, then strode after them instead.
They ran back to the others shrieking a warning about the nastynastynastynastynasty man
Astario stormed over. "Why aren't you causing havoc like I ordered you?!" he spat.
All of the Indereves scattered
"Stay put!" He roared, forming a glowing ball of energy in his hands. Unfortunately it fizzled out and died. Astario looked bemused.
One of the adults stopped for a moment and watched Astario
The Fae prince was staring at his hands in utter bafflement.
"Rememberspell?" she asked the indereve nearest to her
The Indreve nodded. "Yeh! Nastymanuseless!"
Astario scowled at the 'useless' comment.
The word 'useless' passed through all of the indereves
The Fae Prince again powered up a ball of glowing energy in his hands. This too was dispelled almost as soon as it had formed. He growled aloud in anger.
"Now we play," one said slowly and clearly.
Astario looked around, suddenly feeling a little apprehensive. He decided that exiting now would be a very good plan indeed. He started walking off, quickly.
Several socks floated up
He saw and broke into a run.
The socks started attacking him.
Astario roared in anger and swiped at them.
He was virtually pelted by the clothing
He tried to avoid it, but wasn't doing very well. He grabbed some and threw it out of his way, and continued trying to make an exit.
Several leaves and branches joined the socks
"OW!" he yelled, as a branch thwacked him clean about the face. "Stop that at once!"
He was answered by a bunch of bodiless giggles, and the Inderves had vanished
Astario hissed in anger and started off again.
The assortment of floating objects continued their dance around him
Astario swatted angrily at the items, ducking to avoid a low-flying lamp but being pelted from behind by numerous socks. "STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" He hollered.
Naturally, the socks didn't listen
The prince growled and swatted at the flying clothing. "Go AWAY!"
Rather then disappearing, the number of clothes seemed to multiply.
He roared in anger and started running again.
Something white landed on his head
He looked up.
A pair of underpants had secured themselves around his head
He looked shocked, then pulled them off and threw them to the floor with a yell, looking like he might explode in anger.
The clothes started to drape themselves around him
"HEY!" He yelled, trying to push his way through them.
They went faster. A shirt twined itself around his legs
He was about to yell something else when he fell forward on his face. "-oof!"
Soon he was quite tied up by an assortment of clothing wound tightly around him
"HEY!" He yelled again, trying to pull free.
One of the invisible inderves looked thoughtful, "He noisy," she said to one of her friends.
"If you don't get these things off me soon there will be TROUBLE!"
"Yeh. Toonoisy."
A sock rolled itself into a ball
Astario was about to shout something else when the balled-up sock flew straight into his mouth.
The Fae prince gave a muffled squeak of surprise, then growled as best he could.
The Inderves giggled, "Thisgame fun!"
"Yepyep!" One of the littler Indreves threw a ball at Astario, bouncing it off his head.
Some of the other little ones saw how fun that looked and joined in the game
Astario couldn't order them to stop it.
Near the beginning of this game, Jareth had woken Trent and they were watching from a window overlooking the labyrinth.
Trent's eyes were watering from how hard he'd been laughing.
The same could be said for Jareth
"D'you think we ought to stop this sometime?" Trent suggested, grinning.
"Oh I don't know, I quite enjoy watching, and the Inderves are having such fun."
Trent sniggered.
Jareth seemed content to let this go on for awhile. "What do you think?" he asked Qunix.
Quinx sniggered like Trent, only in a higher key. "Nastymanget what nastyman deserves!"
"Yepyep!" Denni agreed
Quinx grinned at her.
She smiled cutely
Quinx pointed back to the window as Astario was pelted with various pieces of clothing.
She giggled
Trent chuckled as well.
"goodspell," she declared.
"Thank you," Trent smiled.
"I think I could watch this all day," Jareth said
"I don't think Amorana would appreciate that though..." Trent said, ruefully.
"You think I should end the game then?"
"Hmm, perhaps..." Trent grinned.
"Aww," Denni said
"Well, only to avoid an all-out war between the kingdoms..."
"Okies."
"You are right brother," Jareth said, "I will go let him go."
"Rather you than me, I may end up falling over with laughter..."
Jareth nodded and then looked to Quinx, "Coming or staying?"
"Coming!"
"Okay," Jareth said, "Come on then."
Quinx grinned cheerily.
Jareth teleported himself and Quinx down to the labyrinth
Quinx cackled.
He strolled causally over to Astario.
The prince was looking incensed.
"Hello."
A muffled growl greeted him, followed by the giggles/laughter of many Indreves.
"I see that you have taken to entertaining yourself by enjoying the company of the Indreves," Jareth said without a hint of being surprised to see Astario, nor any comment on his current position.
He looked over at them, and one of the younger ones darted over and leapt into his hand, nuzzling against him.
"It is an interesting hobby to choose."
Astario growled dangerously. If he had been free he would have murdered everything around him.
"What is that?" Jareth asked
Another growl.
"Aren't you enjoying yourself?"
A small shake of the head, and another growl.
"But I assumed you had come here to play..."
A louder growl.
Jareth snapped his fingers and levitated Astario up to his feet so he could look at him easier
The prince's eyes were blazing with barely contained anger.
Jareth met his gaze evenly
Astario's eyes narrowed.
"What exactly were you planning on accomplishing here?" Jareth asked
A growl, no answer.
Jareth waved a hand and the sock wedged in his mouth floated out
"You will sorely regret this!" Astario spat.
"You are the one that snuck his way into my labyrinth," Jareth said calmly
"I did not sneak anywhere." the prince hissed.
"Oh no?"
"No."
"Then what are you doing here - in the middle of my labyrinth - uninvited?"
"Do I need an invitation?"
"Yes you do."
"Then I'll remember that in future. You have no right to keep me captive like this!"
"Hmm. They were just playing."
"Then release me!"
Jareth looked at the crowd of Indreves around him
"No." Quinx said decisively.
"And why not?" Jareth asked, although he knew the answer, and he winked at Quinx
"He'saBAD man!" Quinx said.
"is he now?"
"Yes!"
"Hmm," Jareth said, "Now that is an entirely different matter."
"You're going to listen to the words of creatures?!"
"He BAD! Hesaidhe'd kill us!"
"Creatures?" Jareth repeated, comforting a little Indreve who had darted up to his hand, "I probably would not listen to the words of ordinary creatures, but I certainly will listen to inhabitants of my labyrinth."
"They don't belong here!" Astario sneered.
"They don't belong here?" Jareth repeated, "Why on earth not?"
"They're not Labyrinthinian creatures."
"They are now."
Astario growled deeply, and the Indreves flocked around Jareth.
"Don'lethim hurtus!" one whimpered to the king.
"I won't," Jareth said, "but I do wonder why he says that you are not part of my labyrinth..."
"Because they are of my realm!"
"Then what are they doing here?"
"I don't know, and I came here to take them back."
"Have you now?"
"Yes."
"And what use are they to you? None of them wish to return with you."
"That is beside the point." Astario gritted his teeth.
"Is it?"
"Yes!"
"I think that they are better off here," Jareth said, "Besides, I wouldn't expect that they would be appreciated in your kingdom."
"Then, fine." Astario hissed, looking incensed. "Release me, and I shall go. And of course, ask permission to enter your kingdom."
"And you will leave the Indereves be?"
"Who said I wanted to do anything to them in the first place?" he hedged.
"Then you certainly will have no problem agreeing with me if you never intended anything in the first place."
Astario rolled his eyes. "Fine!" he spat.
Jareth nodded and blinked as a piece of parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink appeared in midair
The Fae prince watched.
The quill wrote a message on the paper. Granted, Jareth could have done it himself, but he knew the Indreves rather enjoyed watching him do magic
Quinx squealed happily, then clapped his hand over his mouth. Astatio rolled his eyes again.
The paper folded itself neatly
This was just plain showing off...
He addressed the letter to Astario's mother, threaded a piece of string through the corner and tied it neatly around Astario's neck
The Fae Prince's eyes narrowed into lethal slits. "And just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
"Just sending a letter to the Queen," Jareth said casually
"Take it OFF my neck!"
"No, I don't believe I will..."
Astario growled. "Take it off my neck!" he repeated his demand.
"No," Jareth said One of the Indreves murmured something about Astario being too noisy again.
The prince hissed.
"Really, I don't understand why you object."
"I object to having a letter around my neck like some child!"
"Well where else am I to put it?" Jareth asked
"You could give it to me to hold."
"I don't know how successful that would be."
Astario hissed again, angry beyond belief.
"Well, I do suppose I have kept you here long enough."
"You have."
"Then I suppose I should send you on your way."
"Yes you damn well should Jareth!" Astario snapped. "You have no right to hold me here like this-"
"Too noisy!" the Indreves protested.
"Yehyeh. Needquiet."
"And you lot can shut up aswell!"
"Shut up, shut up," they echoed
The prince hissed in anger, looking like he might get up and strangle the lot of them, one by one.
"Now now," Jareth scolded
That _didn't_ help Astario's temper at all...
"Makehimquiet?" one of the little ones asked softly
Quinx nodded at them.
The balled up sock rose up slowly
Astario growled and shut his mouth quickly.
Jareth stepped back from Astario, indicating the Indreves should as well
The prince scowled at Jareth. "Well?! Can I go back to my own kingdom now?"
"Certainly," Jareth levitated Astario upwards
"Let me DOWN!"
The sock flew at Astario's mouth
A muffled roar of anger ensued from him.
"Farewell," Jareth said.
Astario was swept through the air, and landed in the centre of his courtyard, still bound and gagged.
This startled one of the gardeners to say the least
The prince struggled slightly, anger and embarrassment burning through his veins.
The gardener just stood there in shock.
'Get me OUT of this!' Astario thought furiously, but being gagged meant he didn't have much of a chance to communicate that.
Finally, he seemed to snap himself out of it and he turned tail and ran back into the castle
Leaving Astario swearing every Fae obscenity he had ever heard in his life.
The gardener ran towards the throne room to tell Amorana about the strange happenings
She was lounging languidly on her throne, and looked up boredly as the gardener came running in. "Yes?"
"Your highness," he said breathlessly with a hasty bow, "you must see- out in the garden -"
She rolled her eyes slightly. "What is out in the garden?"
"Astario."
"I see." Amorana's right eyebrow shot up, and she rose. "What, dare I ask, is my son _doing_ in the garden?"
"I don't know your highness," he answered, "He just... appeared."
She nodded. "I see. Lead the way, then."
He nodded and did so
Amorana sighed in irritation as she saw Astario. "What _have_ you done this time?" she questioned.
Astario just narrowed his violet eyes; he still couldn't answer.
His mother rolled her eyes and noticed the letter around his neck. "Have you been playing around in Jareth's Kingdom again?" she asked shrewdly, pulling the balled-up socks from his mouth and the letter from around his neck.
The letter was addressed to her in Jareth's recognizable handwriting
She sighed once more and looked sidelong at Astario. "Inside, and to your room, young man." She snapped.
Astario glared, but after she released him from the various items of clothing binding him, he had no choice but to obey.
Amorana then turned her attention back to the letter, opening it.
The letter explained how Astario had invested Jareth's labyrinth with little trouble making sprites, forcing them to do his bidding under threat of death. Jareth was not about to permit that, and when he granted the sprites his protection, Astario still attempted to carry out his threat, forcing Jareth to take preventative measures.
Amorana tutted and rolled her eyes once more. She drew from the air parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink and wrote Jareth an apologetic reply, assuring the king that Astario would not trouble him or the sprites again. She folded the letter, told it exactly where to go, and it disappeared, landing with a small ceremonial fanfare on the arm of his throne.
Jareth picked it up, read it, and made a pleased sound
Trent appeared in the throne room. "I heard fanfare." he commented.
"Amorana sent a reply to the letter I sent her with Astario."
"Ah, I see. What does the esteemed Queen say?"
"She apologizes for her son's behavior, and will see to it that he does not trouble us again with regards to the Indreves."
"Jolly good." Trent leaned against the doorframe. "And I assume the Indreves are here to stay?"
"They are indeed," Jareth said
"Right." Trent nodded.
Denni purred
Trent wriggled a little, finding her that little bit too close to his ear for the purr _not_ to tickle. "Thank you Denni..."
She smiled cutely at him
He stroked her head gently. "So, we have pets here to stay." He mused, disappearing once more. Quinx scrabbled around Jareth's shoulder, chattering incessantly.
"Yes yes," Jareth said, "I'm afraid that you are stuck here now."
Quinx smiled. "Likeit here."
"Well that's good," he said
The Indreve chattered a little more, re-settling himself down. "Like itherewithyou." he proclaimed.
Jareth smiled
Quinx yawned and settled himself down once more, burying himself under Jareth's hair.
The Goblin king smiled to himself.
THE END