Here's a bit more to the prologue. The usual disclaimer applies :)
~Fifteen years later~
"Mother, I'm not going," said Jareth defiantly, making a move to leave Armina's office.
"Don't you dare walk away like that when I'm talking to you," growled the queen. She reached out her hand and made a beckoning motion, using her magick to draw him closer to her desk against his will.
"I don't get what you want from me! I told you that I'm not going to this whole charity ball thing. I'm not," he said angrily, trying to free himself from her magick hold on him.
"Stop struggling and listen to me," she commanded and he stilled. "I realize that you have a party of your own, but all I asked for was a short appearance at the charity ball. Afterwards, you're free to do as you please." She released him from the hold of her magick and he began to walk out.
"We'll see if I actually go to your ball," he said in a mocking tone.
"If you don't, there will be consequences," she warned.
He waved off his mother's warning and left, closing the door behind him.
Armina sat in her chair fuming. She raised him better than this, hadn't she? She had taught him right from wrong. He seemed such an eager student in learning to rule in a just manner. Yet here she was, pondering how he could be so selfish.
Ever since he had hit twenty, he refused to listen to anything she said. No matter what she did, he wouldn't pay attention. She roared in frustration and stood up, beginning to pace in her large office. She was arguably the most powerful being in the Underground, yet her own son wouldn't listen. She punished him, yes, by grounding him, but it had little or no effect. He was becoming almost like her kind, more specifically, the ones she had killed herself.
She shuddered and shook off the feeling of déjà vu she felt as she contemplated what might happen should she confront him. She heard a light knock at her door and snarled, "Enter!"
The door slowly opened and allowed the hulking body of the Queen's Beast through. Adrian gave a slight bow and sat back on his haunches as she sat down in her chair.
"It would appear that the queen needs her beast," he said.
She nodded and rubbed her temples, fighting the sudden headache that plagued her. "How do I deal with this, Adrian? Everything I've done, I've done for him."
He gave an understanding tilt of his head and replied, "Perhaps you should test him."
"I'm listening," she said, sitting up in her chair.
"Visit his party in the guise of an old woman seeking shelter. If his heart is truly icy and cold to the rest of the world, he will surely refuse the woman. But if he is in just a foolish young man's mood, he will feel compassion for her, and let her in, if only for a while."
She leaned back into her chair, her eyes closed deep in thought. "What shall I do if he refuses me?"
"That is not my decision to make, dearest. Speak with your beloved, and see what he will say. I cannot speak for him," he said simply. He rose and began to walk out.
"Wait," she called and he stopped, turning his head, "Thank you, Adrian."
He curled his lip in a beastly smile and left, closing the door behind him with his tail.
"Rubrind, come to me," she whispered to herself.
Without waiting more than a minute, the sound of heels hitting marble made its way to her ears. Rubrind entered her office and strode over to give her a chaste kiss on the lips. He knelt down before her and held her hand.
"What is it that troubles you, my love?" he asked, concern furrowing his brow.
"Jareth has proven selfish, and I shall test him this evening," she said.
He looked up at her in confusion, "I realize that he has recently lost his way, but what do you plan to test him with?"
She explained what Adrian had told her, and his concern remained etched in his features like a granite sculpture.
"What shall I do if he fails?" she asked him.
"I trust that you, love, will know best," he said reassuringly, kissing her hand as he rose. "I believe you will make an appropriate consequence for whatever he may do. I'm sorry, but I have things to attend to right now. I will be by your side tonight, no matter what happens. I love you, Armina, and I always will, come what may."
He gave her another light kiss, then left her to her thoughts.
Tonight is going to change things forever... She thought.
~That night~
Armina sat in her throne, being assaulted by the questions of those she invited. The ball was meant to raise money for a certain charity, which one she didn't know, but she made sure to attend to draw a crowd.
When Jareth hadn't shown up, she grew angry. Her liquid-bronze eyes flashed with a certain feral note that Rubrind hadn't seen in years. He held tightly to her hand, trying to ground her to her current form.
"I'll be back," she said in a whisper as she disappeared from his grasp.
Armina arrived outside of Jareth's country home, a gift she'd given him on his twenty-first birthday. She changed her form into that of an old woman in a ragged cloak and walked up to the door, knocking on it.
Jareth answered the door, immediately taken aback by the appearance of the woman. "What do you want?" he asked in a rough tone.
"Might I come in for a moment to warm up?" she asked weakly.
"No, you most definitely weren't invited to this party. Leave," he ordered and began to close the doors.
She placed her foot in the door and pulled a crystal from thin air. "I shall give you this if you would just let me in."
He laughed mockingly. "I have the same ability to conjure crystals, woman. I have no need for any more."
"I beg you, prince!" she said, shoving the crystal in his face.
"No, and don't come back," he said angrily, shoving her pack onto the ground.
"You've made a great mistake, Jareth," said the familiar voice of his mother.
He watched in horror as the woman changed into the beautiful form of the Queen of Beasts. An aura of power surrounded her and she shoved him into the middle of the entryway of his house.
The music stopped and all eyes were on the prince and his mother.
With tears in her eyes, Armina spoke from her heart to her son.
"Cursed are you among my subjects for your selfish ways! For your transgression this night and others, you shall become the loathed Goblin King. You are cursed to rule over the Goblin City and its residents. They are your people now, and you shall rule over them. You will rule the lowest of creatures in my realm, and they shall bow to your power. Your form will reflect your vain nature, and you will be outcast by all but your subjects. You will remain their king until such a time as you experience true love. No one could love a creature like the Goblin King! But, if such a thing happens, you will have surely have become humbled by your post enough to appreciate what you have. Only then will the curse break and you will take your true form. So it has been spoken by Armina, Great Queen of Beasts, so it shall be written!"
A searing pain flashed through his veins as she spoke the final words of the curse. He writhed as the pain claimed him and transformed him. His eyebrows were now outlined with the marks of a royal Fae. His pupils became mismatched, giving him two different eye colors. His hair lengthened and turned chaotic in its behavior. His teeth lengthened to rounded points. He was truly a monster.
"Mother…" he gasped as the pain began to recede, "please don't."
Tears ran unimpeded down her cheeks, "It's too late, my son. All of you must leave now," she said to the partygoers, who immediately took their leave.
Rubrind walked in and found Armina looking down at their son in his new beastly form. He walked up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist, snapping his fingers to send Jareth to the Goblin City.