CHAPTER TWO: What He Does

She navigated his labyrinth, Jareth noted, in much the same way Sarah had. She befriended every creature she found, but was clearer that she wanted to get to the castle, and so her friends showed her the most direct route. She was quickly outside the castle, and there she decided to rest. Jareth watched her intrigued, wondering why she didn't just enter his castle, and ask of him whatever she wanted. He saw the girl just sitting, talking softly to the pixies and faeries of the garden. She seemed to be quite at home in the Underground, like it was all natural for her. This would have surprised him more, but even with her human upbringing, her fae background shone brightly in the labyrinth. He wondered if she knew how to use the magic she had….

"Well, I believe I have enough energy now," she said softly. He watched in quiet surprise as she slowly floated off the ground, and directly into his window. She landed silently, and looked at him as if seeing more than just a person standing in front of her. She quickly bowed to him.
"Your Majesty," she said, "I wish to ask of your assistance, if you would care to give it." She stood again before him, waiting.
"Well, go on then, girl. Speak." He spoke regally, as anyone should have expected. Ashley quickly told him of her hardships in the human realm; of Mason's abuse, of the harsh humans hate for her differences, of her parent's deaths when she was born. He was caught off guard as he felt sympathy for her. Life had been especially rough on her. She was asking, now, to be permitted to sleep in his gardens, promising she would be no trouble at all.
"Yes. You may sleep in my garden. But I shall only allow you to stay there if you become one of my subjects in the castle. You will tend the gardens and do as I say, and no harm will come to you here." Ashley was astounded. She had never expected something so generous of the Goblin King. She thanked him gratefully. "It's no trouble." He replied, grinning. "You will do everything I say." Something inside of her told Ashley that this could never turn out well, but she was happy to have a place to stay at all.

Jareth was pleased to have a new fae as his subject. If she knew how to use her magic properly, she could serve him better than any goblin could. He also noted that it was nice to have a fae around the castle. She could talk intelligently to him, help care for the wished away children in ways only a woman could, and do her job all while being nicer to him than most of his subjects. She reminded him of Sarah, with the same hair, and eyes the same color, but nowhere near as cruel. She was a beautiful creature, in his opinion, and he was glad of her service and company. She catered to his every whim, as he'd expected, and had never complained thus far. He was already treating her as more than a servant; he was treating her almost as a friend. He allowed her to eat with him, and let her attend the balls he held for the other kingdoms. He was nicer to her than he'd been to anyone but Sarah, and he was almost glad she'd been wished to the underground. Things were well, until Ashley started to get sick. She started to become paler and weaker, but Jareth sensed her magic was steadily growing stronger. It was as if her magic was taking all of her energy. He was more concerned for her than he would admit, and took it upon himself to find why her magic was consuming her, and how to stop it. As she slept, he went to the Kingdom of his Parents; the Kingdom of Dreams. His mother was the wise woman almost all the underground would consult in times of need. As he arrived, his mother greeted him. He told her of the situation and her face grew serious. "She doesn't know how to control her magic, Jareth. It wants to be free, and the only way it can achieve that is for her to die. You must teach her the ways of magic, Jareth, or she will soon die." He was shocked that just her lack of magical knowledge could harm her so greatly. He went quickly back to his castle and waited for Ashley to wake, so they could start getting her well and training her magic.

Ashley woke, feeling drained even more than had the day before. She felt something draining her but couldn't tell what it was exactly. Jareth was quickly beside her in the garden and explained the situation. "So… I'm dying because I can't use my magic properly?" she asked, perplexed. "Exactly." He replied gravely. Their magic lessons started with basics: learning to control the flow of magic. Jareth thought this would start to restore her strength quickly. She was a quick learner, and was soon letting her magic flow through her hands and feet. It was flowing through her, into the air, and the release of this magic made her feel lighter and let some color return to her face. Jareth told her that most of the time, every magical being was letting some of their magic escape. The reason she'd become so frail was that her magic had built up too strongly. When she was listening to him, however, she stopped controlling her magic, causing her to pale and weaken. "Don't worry," he said, amused, "you'll get used to controlling it constantly. So with that in her mind, he left her alone in the garden to get to practicing and tending her flowers.