Another Chapter! Woot!

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Chapter 6

Jareth quietly opened the door to his bedchamber and looked in on the exhausted Olwyn sleeping on her perch in the corner; her face buried in her soft downy feathers. He turned to leave and caught sight of himself in the mirror on the wall. He frowned. The past year's stress had really been taking it's toll on him; he had started to see faint lines forming across his face. He should not be showing age lines like that for at least another three centuries. He frowned again, then looked again at Olwyn. Satisfied that she was all right, he made his way back to the throne room to wait until Sarah gave up her search for the child. The sooner she did, the sooner he could send her home, and claim the boy as his own, his heir.

The throne room was deafening. Goblins crawled everywhere, chased their livestock and generally went about their usual business, and Toby cried, scared and unsure of his new surroundings.

Jareth lounged across the throne, propped his legs up across one arm, and leaned back against the other. A very undignified, unkingly thing to do, but he didn't care. He ran a hand through his hair.

He was worried.

He had expected to just take the baby and leave- he'd expected Sarah to succumb to either his charm and gifts or his intimidation and threats, but neither had worked. She had not forfeited her rights to the boy, damn her. She wanted to run the labyrinth and try to save him, and this worried him. He didn't have the time to give her to attempt it. He'd had girls run it before- none had ever won but that wasn't the point- he simply didn't have the time. It was already 3:37. If she didn't give up her claim on the boy before her thirteen hours were up, it could very well come down to the last minute for him- he might be cursed for all eternity because his year's time limit ran out before her thirteen hours ended.

He sat and tapped a riding crop against his boot, distracted.

Of course, he realized that if she somehow hurt herself of her own accord, and were unable to continue, he could imply that she had failed, and had to leave. He could not directly harm her- Eselda had determined that, though he knew he couldn't have hurt her anyways- but he thought that would work. The rules were sometimes a little vague, so he wouldn't know for sure unless it actually happened. But he thought he could make her give up her claim to the child…

He forced himself to relax, realizing that it was probably only a matter of time before she gave up; she was spoiled and short-tempered. He had the baby, and everything was nearly as good as solved. She just needed to figure out that it was hopeless. Hoggle would alert him once she gave up. She just had to give up before the clock struck thirteen.

He sighed.

He honestly hadn't expected this girl to look so much like his now-bewitched Olwyn.. It was unsettling. And yet young Sarah unknowingly had the power to keep his love locked in that form forever, or release to her from her feathered prison.

One night, shortly after Olwyn had been changed, Jareth had woken to a strange noise in the bedroom. Cracking one eye carefully, he saw it was coming from the corner where Olwyn's stand stood. After a second he determined that it was coming from her- she was breathing unevenly and sharply, and making soft noises. After another minute he realized she was crying- or would have been if she were still in her Fae form. It about killed him, knowing that there was nothing he could do for her. She was in this predicament because of him and his often unpleasant but necessary job, and she was paying the consequences for it.

But at that point in time, nobody knew of their predicament, beyond his close friends who had been with him at the ball that night, and a few trusted advisors, doctors, and mages in the area. He'd called them in from all over his kingdom to try and help her, to change her back, but no one knew what kind of magic spell to use. They tried everything; noxious slimes and creatures, and various amputated animal body parts, even elemental energies, but it was all to no avail.

The magic kept her in the form of an owl.

Shrugging off his melancholy mood, he picked up Toby and sat down again on the throne.

"In nine hours and twenty-three minutes, you'll be mine!" he told the boy, suddenly cheered at this prospect. Beyond the fact that the boy currently cried a lot (most did, at this stage of the game), the boy was a healthy, alert baby, and would grow up fine and strong. A fitting heir to the crown, Jareth supposed.

"He has my eyes.."

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This chapter was written to the Magic Dance lyrics. Did you catch the references? Please R&R, for Jareth's sake of course. ;)