As it turned out, it was a week later, and Toby had come up to the city again. He'd had other plans, but when Sarah offered to introduce him to Mr. Kingsley, he ditched his friends and the movie he hadn't really wanted to see.
Sarah was hoping she could keep things calm, but the moment Toby got off the train and saw her, he came to a sudden halt. Jareth was standing beside her, passing for human, and yet Toby still stared piercingly at him. "Mr. Kingsley?" he said, his tone suspicious.
"You may call me Jareth," he said, and offered Toby his hand.
He shook, and turned that wary gaze on Sarah. "I remember him from somewhere."
"Nah," Sarah said, but Jareth had his own ideas.
"I met you once, when you were very young," Jareth said. "I'm surprised you remember me at all. It is quite an honor to see you again, Toby."
Oh, God, no, Sarah thought. I did not want to do this again, not this quickly. She jabbed an elbow into Jareth's side and hurried them both to a waiting cab. The last thing she needed was Toby getting all suspicious on the subway.
Her brother's questions were growing pointed, and Jareth's answers had a certain droll amusement, so she was very glad to get both of them back to her building. "All right, you two," she snapped as she unlocked her door. "Tobe, it's not your job to vet my dates. Jareth, he's my brother, settle down."
"There is something majorly shady going on," Toby announced. "Sarah, are you really dating one of our old babysitters? Because that's twisted."
She could only squeak in protest, thinking, You have no idea. But then Jareth stepped through and closed the door behind them all, saying, "Perhaps this will jog your memory."
His glamour melted away, and the Goblin King stood revealed in all his finery. Toby's jaw dropped.
Anything either of them could say was drowned out by Sarah's indignant yelp, and then she snatched a cushion off the couch and whacked Jareth in the chest as hard as she could with it. The futile rage at his jumping ahead without her okay would allow nothing less. "Goddammit, Jareth, you melodramatic grandstanding asshole! We were not going to do it this way! This is not what you and I agreed to! It's not safe for him or the two of us tojust drop it on him; we discussed this!"
Jareth's majestic reveal was quite spoiled by that, and he fended off the second strike of the pillow. "Sarah, he – ow! – he remembers! What point is there in breaking it gently?"
"Because he's my goddamned teenage brother! And not everybody has my freakin' belief threshold! You're lucky you didn't drive me crazy either time! I don't want to chance that with him!" Each sentence was punctuated by another swing of the cushion.
Toby just stared at them, and finally said, "Okay. So this is the Goblin King, the bad guy from all those stories you told me."
"I was not – ouch! Damn you, vixen, stop that! I was not entirely the villain, young man."
Sarah turned to Toby, chastened by him – not Jareth's protests. "Well, yes. And as much as he's being an arrogant, scheming bastard right now, he wasn't … really the bad guy. He was kind of just doing his job. Toby … you're taking this … really well."
"Yeah, well, I'd think I was going nuts, but I can totally believe you'd go and beat the crap out of the Goblin King with whatever was at hand," Toby said. "Now how the hell did he trick you into dating him, and how do I get you out of it?"
She wilted a little. This was going to be harder than she'd thought. "About that. Um…"
"Your sister is my lover of her own free will, and she has neither reason nor plans to leave me," Jareth said, as Sarah yelped again. Toby glared at him, squaring his shoulders, and Jareth's brows arched even higher. "I know this is difficult for you, and you have my apologies."
"Shut it, Goblin King. It would be less difficult if you weren't being so damn blunt about the whole thing," Sarah ground out. "Seriously, Jareth, he's fifteen. Let's call it dating, okay? Damn."
"Were you not the one, precious, who told me that adulthood is when you stop being afraid of villains and start wanting to bed them?" Jareth said silkily, and she gave him the most incredulous look she was capable of giving, horrified at having her own words thrown back at her right in front of her baby brother.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to take the elevator to the roof and walk right off," she muttered. "See you in twenty."
Jareth reached out an arm to stop her. "Enough, love. Let us make tea and sit down like civilized people. Toby is your brother, you love him more than anyone else, therefore the sooner I make peace with him, the better."
"Forget tea, I need a freakin' drink," Toby laughed.
"I don't think so, kiddo. You're fifteen," Sarah said immediately. "No booze for you."
"My sister is screwing the freakin' Goblin King," Toby shot back.
That was not exactly something Sarah couldn't sympathize with. He had a point. Unable to avoid wincing at that, she conceded. "Okay. One glass of wine. A small glass. And don't tell Karen."
"Don't worry, I won't tell them about your new boyfriend, either," Toby snarked.
Wine for everyone seemed the best idea, and Sarah found an unmarked bottle in her fridge instead of the chablis she usually drank. She glanced at Jareth, and he only raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fae wine it is," Sarah said.
Toby sipped, and a surprised smile crossed his face at the clean, crisp flavor. Sarah took a deep draft to settle her nerves. Jareth swirled his glass, and spoke up. "Toby. We had best have this discussion man-to-man. I swear to you, on my life and kingdom and magic, that I have not ensorcelled your sister. I swear I mean her no harm. My intention, in finding my way back into her life, is to make her my queen and have her rule at my side. My reasons for that are several, but chief amongst them is that I love her as I have loved no other in all my life, and no other woman, or man, fae or mortal, can ever take her place in my heart. This I swear by all I hold dear."
Sarah could only blink, and Jareth sipped his wine calmly.
Toby just looked at him for a long moment. "Well then. Since I know from all those books Sarah read that the fae can't actually lie, I guess I have to take you seriously."
"I would appreciate that," Jareth said.
He cut Sarah a look then, before turning back to the king. "So what does this mean for her? And the rest of us?"
"I would prefer to keep my true nature secret from your parents," Jareth said. "It would do them harm to try to believe again in faeries and goblins. They will be told that I am a British lord. Soon, Sarah will move to my ancestral estates with me, and her visits home will be by necessity brief."
"Nuh-uh," Toby said, even before Sarah could protest. "You don't get to swan in here and sweep her off to fairyland. She has a life, and a job, and a family who love her. I don't care how you spin it for Mom and Dad, even if there's castles and moors and stuff. They'll want to come visit her."
"And I'll rent an actual castle in Wales if they do," Jareth said.
Sarah put her hand over his. "We never said how soon it would be," she told him. "I can't just drop my whole life. There are children who need me. And I'm not ready to leave."
Jareth leaned back in his seat, stretching his neck. "Sarah, my love, we are living on borrowed time as it is. The curse you broke specified that you must choose to stay with me."
"And I did," she replied. "And I will. But very few relationships dive right into cohabitation. The question is, how much time have I got?"
"What's this about a curse?" Toby interrupted.
"I was a foolish young man and offended the High King of the fae, for which I was cursed to rule Umardelin – the kingdom of the Labyrinth and the home of the goblins – until I learned patience and humility in love, and my love choose me. Sarah, to my great fortune, is the love who freed me," Jareth explained.
"I thought you two hated each other," Toby said, his brow furrowing.
"Well. There was some animosity, at first. She did lay waste to my kingdom in search of you, and behaved with a great deal of disrespect." Yet Jareth was grinning.
"Let's start with the 'snake'-tossing, and move on to you were a snarky arrogant jerk who sicced the Cleaners on me," Sarah retorted, marking the offenses off on her fingers. "And stole several hours' quest-time because I 'insulted' you and your Labyrinth. And let's not forget the peach." She raised her brows then, haughtily. "Shall I go on, Your Majesty?
"Yeah, so how did we get from enemies to 'oh my queen, my love'?" Toby asked, utterly deadpan.
Sarah rubbed her forehead, and took another fortifying swig of wine. "I used to dream about the Labyrinth. I've got friends there – Ludo, Sir Didymus, Hoggle, all the ones I told you stories about. They're real; they actually exist. Some of those stories were places I went and things I did in dreams. At some point after, I could feel them near in my sleep and would 'wake up' there. After a while, with the three of them with me, I stopped being scared of the place and started thinking of it as my own personal retreat from real life. Especially since I had no idea he knew I was there. We didn't exactly last see one another under the best terms. S omething we continue to have issues with." She shot Jareth a look and laughed quietly.
"And the more I saw her, the more I grew to respect her courage, her intelligence, and her defiance," Jareth said. "No other runner has ever come back to sport in the Labyrinth, nor made such firm allies of its creatures. Your sister is a singular woman."
"And she wasn't a woman when you met her, she was a girl," Toby pointed out. "Sare, this is like me showing up with my forty-year-old art teacher and saying we're getting married!"
"True, I am nearly two centuries older than you, but there is no living mortal close to my age," Jareth responded. "In terms of maturity, I have to say I consider Sarah my equal."
Sarah couldn't help it; she cracked up at that. "That's a correct assessment, all right! Except I think I might be more mature than you, Mr. Glitterstorm."
"Anyway," Jareth said, skirting that topic of contention, but the look in his eye said he might bring it up again later, when their discussion would not be observed. "As Sarah grew older, she came to the realm of her dreams not for her childhood companions, but for my company. And it was my privilege to offer her comfort from the strifes of her young adulthood. I grew to know her well, and love her well, though we never spoke of it."
Comfort. That's what we're calling it now. Thank God. Okay, at least you can be a little discreet. "Falling in love with him was never part of the plan, Tobe. Sometimes that's just how it happens."
"And I still respect her for defying me, which she continues to do at every opportunity," Jareth put in. "Now, Sarah. You asked how much time you have. I do not know. If we push our betrothal too long, the magic that binds you to Umardelin will weaken. I do not wish to wait until we've done actual damage, however. My guess – and it is only a guess – is that we may have ten years before you must make your residence Underground. Ten years would not be an unheard-of betrothal, among fae."
Sarah let out the breath she hadn't been away she'd been holding. It was cheating, she knew it was cheating, and she knew she should be grateful that the curse hadn't locked her to Umardelin the moment she had agreed to the bargain. But she needed time to tie up the loose ends of her life here. And ten years sounded like forever, though she knew better by now. Forever wasn't long at all. "Okay," she said. "That's fair, more than fair when you consider the circumstances. But that means you don't have to rush me, even if your estimate is a little off in the end, Jareth. Maybe up to a decade. We do have time."
"I know, but for the sake of the kingdom and our political situation, I would still have you crowned as soon as you will permit it," Jareth said.
Toby ran a hand through his hair. "All right. Okay, so … maybe I can live with that if Sarah can. A lot of things can happen between then and now. You just made it sound like it was next week, or something."
"It could have been, Tobe," she said with a tight smile, squeezing his hand. "The curse determined the outcome, not Jareth. You've read the stories; this kind of magic isn't one that can be controlled. Hell, we might even find out it is next week."
"You must understand as well, Toby, that I am as close to immortal as makes little difference," Jareth said. "Even ten years counts as 'soon' for one such as I."
Toby scoffed. "Just so you know, if it turns out that you can lie and you're using my sister for something, or if you break her heart or hurt her in any way – "
"You'll cross whatever realms are necessary and kill me," Jareth finished dryly. "I know. I love her, too, Toby. I would kill anyone who harmed her. I know you would do the same."
That earned them both another of Sarah's patented You're-Not-Amusing-Dear-Sir looks for the fifth time as she swirled her wine. "As you both assume I wouldn't kill that person or thing before it caught either of your attentions, gentlemen."
"You likely would, considering your attack on the Beast of Voices, but we are men. It is in our nature to offer violence against any who would harm those we love. True, women are often more vicious in such defense, as any who've witnessed a mother rabbit savaging a snake can attest. But men are quicker to attack, and we must have it known between us."
Jareth looked at Toby then, meeting his eyes gravely. "Where I come from, you are not a boy whose threats are dismissed as idle. You are on the cusp of manhood, and it is as a man that you speak. I understand that, and honor it. Further, I believe that you would take up arms and invade the Underground in search of my blood if I harmed her. I can be so relaxed about it because I know that I will not."
"Well, all right then," Toby grumbled, and Sarah thought later that Jareth had struck exactly the right note with him. Treating him seriously, talking to him like a man grown instead of a boy – it was precisely what Toby needed to hear to believe that he'd made his point absolutely clear.
At the moment, Toby asked what he'd meant by 'beast of voices', and Sarah and Jareth ended up telling him about her last run.
With some very specific omissions, of course.
…
As if Toby's insistence hadn't been bad enough, the girls at work were very curious about the handsome and debonair Mr. Kingsley, too. Sarah had to tell them he was often gone on business, and she only got to see him on weekends. "And nights," Amy teased. "You smile way too much in the mornings. Either you're on drugs, or you're getting laid."
Sarah could only roll her eyes. "If it was just that, it wouldn't be enough to base a relationship on," she pointed out.
"True, but even if it was just a friends-with-benefits thing, I'd still be jealous. Let me know if you find any more like him, okay?" Amy laughed as she said it; she was married, Sarah remembered, and happily so.
"There aren't any more like him," she responded, and mentally added, I hope, realizing then that she had never quite gotten around to that question yet. Siblings? Yikes. God knew one amorous Goblin King was occasionally too much to handle.
Later that same day, she opened her desk drawer to grab a protein bar for lunch, and just managed not to scream when Neesk beamed a toothy grin at her. Luckily none of the others heard the strangled squeak she made, and the little goblin looked abashed. "Sorry, sorry," he whispered, huddling into a little ball and wringing his tufted tail.
"It's okay, I just didn't expect you," Sarah whispered back. A thought occurred to her, and she narrowed her eyes. "Did Jareth send you to keep an eye on me?"
"No," he replied. Too easily, perhaps.
Sarah chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Did Jareth tell you not to tell me he sent you?"
Neesk's ears folded back. "Um … no?"
"Did he tell you to say no if I asked you that?"
Now the goblin looked around as if the answer might be written somewhere in the desk drawer. "Um … I dunno? I jes wants to help you, yer queeniness. I can help?"
Sarah still wasn't sure if Jareth had sent Neesk, or if her questions had just confused the little goblin. Regardless, she now had a goblin in her desk, who apparently wanted to help her and who might just reveal himself if she wasn't careful. This is my life, Sarah sighed.
"Yes, you can help," she whispered, hoping none of her coworkers could hear her. They'd surely think she was talking to herself, muttering under her breath. Now all she had to do was think of something for him to do.
Just about then, Amy stuck her head in the office. "Did I hear you call out?" she asked.
Fiction on short notice was rapidly becoming one of Sarah's essential life skills. "I thought I saw a mouse when I opened my desk drawer," she laughed. "Just a shadow. I'm all right."
"Okay," Amy laughed. "You know you wouldn't have to worry about that if you didn't keep those protein bars in your desk."
"Hey, sometimes a girl's gotta take a working lunch," Sarah retorted, grinning.
"Get your English lord to send a catered lunch for all of us," Amy suggested right back, and returned to her own desk chuckling.
Momentary crisis averted, Sarah returned her attention to Neesk. "Mice? You got mice?" he whispered.
The easy answer would have been, This is New York, with a placating, world-weary smile and laugh, but Neesk wouldn't understand that. She had better never mention the sewers here to the goblins, even in jest. "Every building in this city has mice and probably rats living in the walls," Sarah whispered back.
Neesk's eyes gleamed, and he drew a dagger from somewhere. "Want 'em gone, yer majesty?"
She couldn't resist the smile then, though she quelled it quickly, glancing up to reassure herself that no one was looking. Who knew how excitedly he'd respond to that; yeah, joking about the sewers was definitely a no-go. "Quietly," Sarah whispered. "I don't want my coworkers to know you're here."
"Gotcha! Quiet as mousies! Dead mousies!" With that, Neesk disappeared, and Sarah prayed she wouldn't regret this later.
…
