Chapter 9.

Robert dug deep in his soul for the strength to growl at the man standing before him. "Get out of my house!"

The Fae looked mildly amused as he came forward, took a seat and calmly addressed Robert. "Oh do sit down, Robert, and stop fussing at me. You know very well a Nephilim can not order a Royal Fae about."

The bravado melted away like snow in April. Taking his seat Robert looked at the Fae King. "What do you want?'

"For now, answers." The Fae cocked his head to one side. "From what line are you descended, Nephilim?"

Robert clasped his hands on his desk, and looked down at the knit fingers. "Ethais." He said at last, not looking at the Fae.

"Ah yes, I've heard the stories about that one and his…defection from the Realm." The man known as King snorted. "Your recognized me at the graduation of course. Yet I, a Royal Fae did not recognize you…How did you manage to escape detection?" The man became tight lipped. "Don't waste my time, Robert! I am not a forgiving man…as you are most likely to learn. Now how did you escape detection? Were you using a glamour?"

Robert looked like a caged animal. "NO, it's not a glamour." He refused to look at the Fae man sitting across from him, fearful of becoming entranced. "Long ago, Ethais cast a ward of protection on the clan and it's descendants. Each of us is born with the defense in place."

"Clever." Commented the Fae. "But not clever enough this time." He huffed and shook his head. "Little wonder you were so hostile to us. You have good reason to fear our wrath, Nephilim." Mismatched eyes scrutinized every thing about the man quickly. "Your attempt to keep your daughter hidden from us has failed." The Fae King stated with a touch of irony.

"Please, just leave us alone…" Robert asked quietly. "We have nothing to do with your world…we don't want it…We gave up all that, we relinquished the use of magic when we took our place among man generations ago."

Quinn laughed, cruelly. "Robert that's very funny!" He leaned forward, "You've relinquished nothing! You may not use spells or magic actively, but it is in your very fiber…you can not escape what you are!"

"We are mortal!" Robert argued. "We live the short and fragile life span. WE toil! WE are not a part of your world any longer."

"Ethais was a Fae prince, a child of the fiber; and fabric of magic. A Royal Fae." Quinn's words were cold, and stony, but the fire that burned within the Fae King was evident. "He could no more be mortal than I could. Moreover, no matter how many times the blood is mixed with that of mortals, the Fae always comes through. You can fight it if you like Robert, but the Fae comes though." Quinn tapped the desk. "Your daughter Sarah, is a prim example."

"Sarah knows nothing of this." Robert argued again, this time with sarcasm. "All she knows is dress up like her ….mother."

"Ah yes, Linda…." Quinn stood and paced. "She too must be of the tainted…"

Robert sighed deeply. "If she is, she never told me."

Quinn tapped his chin. "Taint more often than not seeks taint. She too must be punished." He was speaking more to himself now than to the man at the desk. "It certainly clears up a few things." Quinn paused and turned to look at the man following his movements. "You were actually going to try and arrange a marriage to keep her from us? What made you think we'd allow that?" Anger was rising to the surface.

"To protect my daughter from you…I'd do anything." Robert said in a quiet voice.

Quinn laughed then scoffed, "And you would fail, have failed." For good measure, he added. "Miserably."

Robert looked down at his hands. "She's but a child, Goblin King…let her go."

"Sarah Williams is many things, a child, is not one of them." The Fae snapped back. "We shall never let her go, Nephilim! She belongs to us!"

Robert flinched under the heat of the voice directed at him. "What are you going to do?"

"For now, nothing." Quinn said quietly, too calmly. "It's what you are going to do that matters. For now, you will loosen the reigns on that girl. You do not want her to go to Scotland; I can live with that. You will however allow her free passage between here and my realm."

"She knows nothing of your realm." Robert protested.

Quinn laughed. "You really don't know your daughter!" He took his seat again. "She knows our realm, and our kingdom…and is well loved by our subjects." He taunted.

Robert frowned. "She's a child Goblin King. I have to do what is best to protect her…" in his mind, he added, 'from you'.

Quinn heard the stray thought and snickered. "Her virtue is still intact Robert, for now…and will remain so…She is our consort, soon to be our wife." He liked antagonizing the man. "She will be our Queen, not just your little princess."

The lawyer shook his head; "I will never give my permission."

Quinn raised one brow; "I don't need your permission, Nephilim."

Robert grabbed at straws. "I've already arranged for her to marry someone else. A good mortal man."

Tapping his chin again, Quinn leaned back and asked. "Robert how much do you know about your …ilk?" he could feel the eyes of the other now on him. "Do you understand the meaning of the word marked? Or the deepest meaning of the term Bonded?"

Robert searched his mind and recalled all he would read, all he knew from his family oral history. "Yes, I understand…what does that have to do with …"

"Sarah is already bonded to the Goblin King." Quinn looked over at the father whose mouth was now agape. "Try marrying her off to any other but us, and you will kill her."

"How…she does not even know who you are…" Robert was looking for answers.

Quinn smiled. "Oh Sarah has known the us for quite some time." He rose from his chair. "For now, it is enough that you understand this. Your daughter is not to be restrained. She has means to pass though the veils. You will not stand in her way."

"She's still a child!" Robert shouted now. "Until she's eighteen….."

"When does she turn eighteen?" Quinn asked in exasperation.

"In October." Robert stated as if he would found a loophole.

"Fine," Quinn pointed to Robert. "Until her birthday, she will remain as she is…chaste and pure, and in your care. That should satisfy everyone!"

Robert worked at putting up a mental shied. "And you will leave us alone?"

Quinn shook his head, "No, Robert I will not leave you alone." He rose from the chair. "I've yet to decide how to deal with you… Nephilim!" He smoothed the leather of his gloves over his fingers. "For now our business is concluded. Your fate is yet to be decided. Keep that in mind, Nephilim."

Robert followed the man known as King out to the foyer. "What do you mean?"

Quinn was seething with anger. "We are not pleased with you or your actions up to now Robert Williams…. Nephilim. Be warned." He opened the door and called out. "Giles, we are going home."

Sarah stood at the rail upstairs, looking down. She had seen the anger on the faces of both men. Her father closed the door and looked up at where she stood. For a moment, Sarah could not fathom why her father was glaring at her. When he stormed back to his den and slammed the door, Sarah sunk to the floor and put her head against the balustrade.

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Quinn stepped though the portal, walked past Ryan and Anne wordlessly and went to the war room. He slammed the door. Anne looked at Giles. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, I was outside." Giles said as he headed toward the war room. "I have a feeling our king is going to need us."

Ryan followed him and said. "Until he does we best stay out side."

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Quinn paced the war room, 'Nephilim.' He thought loudly. 'Nephilim.'

Aloud he growled. "How did you miss that one?" It was quiet inside, and that disturbed him more. "Jareth, did you know?"

'No.' the quiet answer came. 'I did not.'

Quinn paced again, the anger building to explosive proportions. "I don't believe you!" The Fae looked at the blueprints and books on the war table. Swiftly he moved to the table and shoved everything off with a growl. "How could you be so blind?"

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Anne, standing on the other side of the door with Giles and Ryan jumped back. "Sounds like he's tarring up the room!"

Giles pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, it does." He sounded tired. "He's been under tremendous stress of late…I've been expecting some kind of …meltdown."

Anne frowned, "Meltdown? Giles he is going beyond meltdown! I think one of you should get in there and find out what the hell is going on!" Both Ryan and Giles shook their heads, neither wanting the responsibility. The girl with red hair pushed them aside and opened the door. Stepping in she watched as the Fae pounded his fists on the heavy table. After a moment she put her fingers in her mouth and whistled sharply to get his attention.

Quinn turned his head, "What do you want?" he snapped.

Anne smiled. "I want you to tell me why you've taken up demolition." She pointed to the mess. "Don't think I'm cleaning this up after you…because I'm not. So spill, Jareth…what the hell is going on."

Quinn took a deep breath, looked at the mess he made, and scoffed. "Don't worry, I'll clean this up…it will look like it never happened." Slowly he moved to a seat. "Robert Williams…I've just come from seeing him…"

Anne nodded. "Ok, and?"

"You recall his reaction to our presence at the graduation?" Anne nodded again. "He had good reason to fear us….HE's Nephilim."

"Robert Williams is a fallen angel?" Anne shook her head; "I know he's a lawyer but come on, Jareth…equating him to the devil is a bit much."

"No Anne, not a fallen angel… the term has wider meanings than that." He leaned back in the chair. "It also covers fallen Fae."

"Fallen Fae?" Sitting close to him, she placed her hands on the table. "I don't think I've read anything on the subject, not even in our library."

"The volumes covering the Fallen, their names and numbers are never kept in the libraries…they are kept under lock and key. Never spoken of unless necessary." Quinn sighed.

Anne made a steeple with her fingers and set her chin on the peak. "That means Sarah is… Nephilim?" When the King nodded, she smirked. "Well, that blows." She snickered. "You told me Quinn objected to the bond because Sarah was mortal… this sort of clears that objection, doesn't it? No other Fae can claim she's only a mere mortal, can they?"

The Fae looked up at the casual use of his name. "Yes, it does, in a way clear that objection." He snorted. "It explains a good many mysteries. Like how quickly she adapted to using magic. I knew it had to be more…" He tapped his chin again. "When we granted her certain powers, it awakened the dormant powers already within her."

"Drop the Royal we," Anne teased. "It's just you and me in here Jareth."

'Sure it is.' Said the voice, 'just you, me and the big bad wolf.'

Quinn cleared the throat, "Sorry, Anne, habit."

"Not a problem." She tapped the table. "So you accused Mr. Williams of being a… Nephilim, did you? What was his reaction."

"He must have been in a panic before I showed up. He was trying to make an arranged marriage for Sarah. Seeing me at the graduation must have altered him," Quinn frowned. "He can not be trusted, and will have to be carefully watched for the time being….Damn I should never have agreed to letting her remain under his care…Anne what is Sarah's birthday?"

"October…I think it's the fifteenth." Anne said, "I've got it written down in the castle ledgers. Why?"

"I agreed to let Sarah stay in her father's keeping until her eighteenth birthday…."He groaned. "Now, I'm having second thoughts."

"Sire, if Sarah is …of the …"Anne, as King's Scribe, was not sure how to approach the problem she was seeing.

"She's a Kindred, Anne." Quinn stated.

"Does that mean that Toby and Kerry are also?"

Mismatched eyes darkened. "By the Gods, it does." He slammed a fist on the table. "All the more reason to keep an eye on Robert Williams. He's been hiding not one but three Fae Kindred progeny from us."