"You have no power over me."

Jareth paced back and forth in front of his throne, seething. The words Sarah said to him were running through his mind on a loop and with every vision of her lips forming that damned sentence, he got angrier.

"Arrogant, headstrong, stupid girl!" he growled to the empty room. All the goblins were wisely keeping their distance. Each of them knew better than to be anywhere near kicking distance of the king when he was in a temper and this one was particularly explosive. His breaths came in heavy pants and he would go from glaring at the ground to darting his fiery eyes around the room, looking for an unfortunate goblin to help ease his anger. Minutes ago, the king had arrived back at his castle from Aboveground where Sarah was celebrating her victory. Jareth growled, "Victory. She'd never have made it without the help of those traitors!" Since the moment his foot touched the red earth of the Underground, Jareth could think of nothing but the humiliation of being rejected by a mere human.

"Your majesty?" came a timid goblin voice from behind him.

Jareth whipped around and grabbed the goblin by the throat before he could even think of ducking. With one arm, Jareth lifted the little brown figure into the air and the goblin's helmet fell to the floor with a clang. "What is it?" Jareth snapped at him.

The goblin was scratching at Jareth's hands and was obviously trying to speak, but his king's grip was too tight. Seeing this, Jareth dropped the goblin so that he landed flat on his bottom. The little goblin snatched up his helmet and whimpered, "Sorry, sire, but the High Queen is here."

Jareth's jaw dropped open. "How could she have known?" he said quietly.

The goblin shrugged and said, "Well, sire, maybe she—"

"Shut up. Did you actually think I was asking you? Get out. And go tell Her Majesty that she may enter." Jareth took a deep breath to gather himself as the goblin ran out of the room, all too eager to leave the irascible king. Jareth lowered himself into his throne, throwing one leg carelessly over the side, determined to show the queen that all was well in the Goblin Kingdom. It wasn't long until Niamh's light footsteps could be heard coming from the entrance hall. Jareth watched as his mother came sweeping into the room, the picture of grace and beauty. She was dressed in a simple silver dress that hung off her shoulders and flowed like water with her every step. Her hair, the same shade of pale blond as Jareth's, was hanging loose and straight around her shoulders.

Jareth fixed her with a bored stare. "Is someone dead?" he asked. "It can't be father or you would be much happier."

As she approached, Jareth noticed that she looked even paler than usual. And her expression, though normally solemn, was especially grave. Niamh stood in front of the throne and stared at her son. Her expression never wavered and Jareth sat up straight in his throne, his demeanor changing to match his mother's serious one. Once she was satisfied that she had her son's attention, Niamh whispered, "What have you done."

"You'll have to be more specific," Jareth said, a challenge in his voice.

"Don't play your games with me, Jareth," she snapped. "I know exactly what happened and I know better than you do what it means."

Jareth stood, towering above his mother, on the steps of his throne. "Are you threatening me, Majesty?" he spat with sarcasm.

Niamh pressed her fingertips to her forehead. "Jareth," she said, "I'm trying to save you." Jareth's eyebrows drew together and he stayed silent, waiting for the queen to continue. "You really let her go back? Why would you do such a thing?"

Jareth stared at her with blatant suspicion. "What do you know?" he asked, his voice low.

"Everything," she said. "Everything except how you could allow the girl to leave."

He gave her a cold smile. "Well, she beat my Labyrinth. What kind of king would I be to go back on my word?"

Niamh took a shaky step toward toward her son, her hands clenched into fists in front of her as she said, her voice pleading, "For once in your life, Jareth, be serious. Your father is becoming increasingly impatient, he wants you married and your wife with child. If you fail, he will never allow you to keep the throne."

Jareth said with a sneer, "He could never take my throne, my magic is too powerful. Besides, I would wager that he would rather see me fucking every she-goblin in my kingdom before he'd encourage me to marry a human. Thank you for your concern, Majesty, but I don't need it."

Niamh stood at the bottom step of the throne for a moment before dropping to her knees. Her voice was calm as she pleaded, "My son, he can and will take your kingdom. He will choose a new heir from among the court and you will be killed or cast aside. Take the girl and marry her. Once she is your wife and with child, our laws say he cannot touch her. I'm begging you, for both our sakes, do not test him."

"If you do know everything, then you know that she already ref—" Jareth paused and regarded his mother with narrowed eyes. "By the way, you never did tell me how you know about Sarah. Do I have a spy in my kingdom?" He slowly turned his head to glare at the goblins who were eavesdropping in the doorway. They collectively shrieked and scurried out of sight.

The queen rose to her feet and took a few steps away from the throne. With her back to Jareth, she said, "Of course you don't have a spy. The goblins are simple enough to be extremely loyal. I know about Sarah Williams because she was chosen as your Goblin Queen when she was just a babe."

Jareth's lip curled in anger as he spit, "You-!"

"Yes," Niamh interrupted. "I. I went to the Magicker fifteen years ago and asked her to find you a queen."

"How dare you? I have told you countless times that I will not marry! This kingdom is mine, the magic is mine, and neither you nor my father will ever change that!"

Niamh's own temper flared and she turned to fully face her son. "Strong words considering you proposed to the girl not one hour ago! Listen to me, your father will see you disgraced or dead before he allows you to sit the throne without an heir. Otherwise, if an unfortunate fate befalls you, the throne is open and any fae can claim it. I knew you would not accept a fae wife and I would no sooner put one in your bed than slice your throat myself. Humans were not always denied to us as partners… so I found the girl, and I opened her mind to our world with a book."

Jareth sliced his hand through the air. "Don't tell me any more! You know that my father outlawed intermarriage. If he knew that you… fooled me into an infatuation with a human, he would have your head."

Niamh gave her son a look that was very near pitying. "Fooled you into an infatuation? All I did was place her in your path. You are the one who watched her, took her brother, and made her an offer. You fell in love, Jareth. I may never have known it myself, but I can damn well see it on my son's face. You fell so far in love that you were willing to risk your father's wrath to have her."

Jareth glared at the stone under his feet. "None of it matters anymore. Your Magicker failed. Any woman who was worthy to be the Goblin Queen would not have refused me. I don't want a queen who could be so damned idiotic. If she wants a life Aboveground, she can have it."

"Jareth, you don't know what you're doing!"

"If you're so concerned about father hurting me, why not slit his throat while he sleeps? I would ascend and forever be free of him." Jareth watched his mother with a knowing smile. Niamh's eyes widened and before she could steel her resolve, she flicked her gaze away from her son's. Jareth chuckled. "There it is, mother. Don't you dare try to tell me that you have only my best interests at heart. If you did, you would accept the punishment of killing the king. No, you want me to be the one to defy him. Why? What reason other than your cowardice could you have? There's only one I can think of. To see his only son married to a human, the one thing he hates most, would be a fitting revenge for you indeed." Jareth rose from the throne and stalked towards Niamh, whose eyes were beginning to glisten with unshed tears as she stared at the ground, unable to defend herself against her son's words. Jareth's gloved fingers dug into either side of her jaw and forced her to look up at him. For a moment, she felt real fear. Being a ruling king, his magic was a hundredfold more powerful than hers. His face was inches from hers as he growled, "You may tell my father that no woman, human or otherwise, will ever share my throne. As for your own revenge, I will not be a pawn in your schemes." He leaned down to press a soft, quick kiss against her lips, and Niamh shivered in fear. Jareth's eyes were almost black and churning with fury. The calm of his voice only served to driver her terror higher. With his fingers still holding her face immobile, he said, "Sarah Williams is nothing to me anymore. Get out." His free hand waved in the air and before Niamh could even attempt to speak, he'd smashed the crystal at her feet and she disappeared from the Goblin Kingdom.