"Why did you leave?"
The soft voice caught Toby unaware but he knew who's it was before he spun to face her. "Because I had no choice. We cannot be with each other, Kiana...being your uncle," he nearly spat the word, "makes it not only immoral, but illegal as well."
"Sit, Toby, there are some things I should tell you." She spoke quietly, nothing betraying the hope she had for this night.
As he sat, she placed herself by the picture window, prefering to stare out at the night sky than look at him; perhaps a pattern from her father, as he had the same habbit. "First: You and I may be related by blood, but there is nothing immoral about falling in love with someone whom you were unaware was a family member." She glanced at him briefly, long enough for him to see the pain and contempt in her eyes. "My mother and father should have told me, and should have kept you in the loop; but they didn't, and there isn't a damned thing we can do about it now. Second: while there are rules here that prevent blood family under a certain age of marrying, there is no such law in my world." She grinned humorlessly. "Fae don't reproduce much without the help of a mortal, and most of them think mortals should be likened to cattle and never touched more than necessary. Therefore, anyone can marry anyone, regardless of familial ties, except for brother and sister, or child to parent." She held up a hand to forestall the protest she just knew was coming. "One more thing, Toby. My father is adept at the greater magiks, more than most. There is a spell that will change your body into anything you'd ever desire...and take away the genetic markers that make you my uncle, while still leaving your mind and soul exactly as it is." She turned and stepped over to him, kneeling in front of the chair he had sunk down into at the beginning of her speech. As she looked up into his eyes, she plead with him. "I love you, Toby, and no matter how impossible it seems, I want to be with you. I have Father's permission and cooperation with the spell, all I need now is your agreement." She fell silent, afraid to so much as touch him. Afraid of the look in his eyes.
He sat, outwardly calm, for ten minutes before saying anything or moving. When he finally did move, he took her hand in his. "Kiana, I don't think I can do that. It might be perfectly normal and legal in your world; but I was raised in this one, and it's neither normal nor legal here." He watched the hope in her eyes die as she rose to leave. "I am sorry."
She merely inclined her head, unconsciously mimiking one of her father's favorite poses. Her voice, now cold and remote, seemed to come from some other place as she spoke. "You needn't apologize to me for being mortal and uncomprehending. There is no more between us than a master to his favorite pet." The words burned in her throat, but she was determined to make this hurt...and she easily took from the book her father used continuously to make it as bad as she could. Petty, but she couldn't help it. She sneered. "I merely didn't want to lose you so soon, as you provide me with endless...amusement." With that she left, in the middle of a miniature whirlwind of wind and magic.
"So he did not accept?" The soft, accented voice spoke from right behind her.
Sarah turned, a small smile for the familiar tease on her lips. "No, he did not. She, in her anger, borrowed a page from your book and decided to leave him with a cruel impression of her."
He grimaced, remembering how it had hurt him to play the cruel king for Sarah, wishing his daughter had had better luck in her life. "I gather it sits no better with her than it does with me?"
Shaking her head mutely, she stared down the corridor their daughter had recently run down.
He sighed. Conversations like this were supposed to be the mother's perview, not his. "I will speak with her, love. We will see what can be salvaged of the situation."
Hugging him tight for a brief moment, she stared up into her husband's eyes. "Thank you Jareth." The grin she gave was mischevious. "Perhaps when you are finished, you'd like to come join me in the bedchamber?" Placing a hand against her forhead theatrically, she sagged a little on her feet. "I am just so exhausted from these last weeks, I think I need to lie down and rest for awhile."
Bending his head, he whispered against her ear. "Wicked woman, there will be no rest for you."
At the feeling of his breath against her skin, she shivered in anticipation. "Then we agree."
Throwing his head back, long mane of hair brushing past his shoulders, he laughed; the joyous sound echoing throughout the castle.