A/N: Well slam, slam, oh hot damn! You all have totally made me the happiest fanfiction writer alive. I was certain that you lovely readers would have given up on this story, but my inbox has been inundated with love from you guys. I feel so very very happy that you all are still enjoying this story, since I am still having fun writing it, even though it takes a while... Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favorites everyone! I love every single one of you!

xXx

As soon as the Goblin King was out of the castle's sight, he quickened his flight and made a beeline for the camps. He wasn't going to bother finding Odysseus; it was his fault they were in this muddle in the first place. His cousin could find his own way back, because Jareth was not going to assist him in any way. Landing atop his tent's front post, he took a moment to preen his feathers of the bugs and dust that had gathered among them. Preening done, he swooped down in front of his temporary home and switched forms in a puff of glitter-dust.

It was with relief that Jareth stepped inside his tent. He needed sleep. A lot of it. Stripping off his shirt (the one that still had oatmeal on it!), Jareth sat down and began tugging his boots off. With a sigh, he flopped backwards onto his unmade bed. Finally. His eyes had been shut for all of a minute when someone rapped on his tent post. Whoever it was didn't wait for permission to enter, and Jareth could tell by their footsteps that they were excited about something.

"You will never believe what I have done!"

Odysseus.

"Go away cousin." Jareth groaned, "I haven't the patience to speak with you." Had his arm not been covering his face, Jareth would have seen his cousin give off a childish pout.

"You didn't wait for me." Odysseus stated, frown evident in his voice, "I don't suppose you found anything of interest?"

Jareth was caught off guard. Did he tell him of all that transpired earlier? "Did you?" he asked instead, turning the subject away from himself. He removed the arm from his face and sat up. Odysseus's frown was quickly replaced by a grin and he crossed his arms.

"Better than that." he replied, "I didn't just observe. I took action." He reached into a pocket within his shirt and pulled out a small piece of parchment. "Care to see?" He waved it in front of Jareth's face cockily before dropping it into his lap. "Have a look, hmm?"

With a skeptical glance towards his cousin, Jareth carefully unfolded the paper. To his surprise, it was much bigger than he anticipated, having been folded with magic. Stretching it out with both hands, he studied it in confusion.

"What is it?"

Odysseus rolled his eyes in annoyance. "This," he explained, pointing at the parchment excitedly, "Is none other than the Map. The only way to navigate the Elven city's catacombs."

This time it was Jareth's turn to frown. "Catacombs?" he repeated, "But there are no such thing. We searched the outer walls and scanned with magic years ago and found nothing." He handed the parchment back to Odysseus and shook his head. "I'm sorry to rain on your hopes, but-"

"Don't you understand?" Odysseus interrupted, snatching the page from Jareth, "They've been warded with magic and hidden for generations! Of course we wouldn't see them; they bury their dead there! You should know elvish customs well enough to know why we haven't found any hint of them."

"Once a body has been laid to rest, remain in rest it must lay." Jareth recited, realization dawning, "So you're saying that we wouldn't have found these catacombs, because the elves hid them." He leaned forward, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand. "Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?" He grinned at the irony of it. Looking back up at his cousin, he asked, "Where did you find this information?"

Odysseus pretended to polish his fingers on his shirt. "I found it in none other than King Priam's study." he said proudly, "You would not believe my cunning and stealth! I swooped through the open window- the old man really needs better security!- into his study, and changed forms. Then I snooped around and read a document that referred to the catacombs. Obviously, I figured out that they elves had been hiding something. Honestly, where would they keep their dead without the catacombs? Anyway, I looked some more, and finally found that map. Unfortunately, I did leave behind evidence I was there." Jareth was about to say something, but Odysseus shushed him. "Nothing too incriminating." he said quickly, "I heard voices outside the door, so I left in a rush and may have left a drawer open as well as a few documents on the desk."

"So now the elves know we were spying on them?" Jareth asked seriously, "Odysseus, do you even understand the gravity of that fact?" He shook his head in disgust. "You are the elder and yet you seem so careless."

"Nothing will come of it, Jareth." Odysseus snapped, "The elves think their walls are impenetrable, as they are, and will not suspect we are responsible."

"This is a war Odysseus!" Jareth countered hotly, standing up, "Of course they will look to us." Odysseus rolled his eyes.

"Well it will not matter anymore," he stated, holding up the map, "As we now have a way to get through their defenses." He turned on his heel. "Put a shirt on, cousin, and meet me in the battle tent. I am certain the rest of the kings will be glad to hear of this piece of information. I would imagine battle planning will follow very quickly." Pulling back the flap, he exited the tent, but stopped and turned around. "And don't dally." he added, "I venture to guess you've wasted your entire afternoon doing nothing but sitting on a tree branch. This won't take long and then you can go back to being lazy."

With a sigh of annoyance, Jareth rummaged through his things and snatched up a clean shirt to put on. If Odysseus knew the truth, he wouldn't speak so blithely about Jareth's escapades. After yanking his boots up his legs, he left the tent. On his way to the battle tent, he took the time to recount the evening's events in his head. He was still unsure if he should share what had transpired with anyone else. The girl, Sarah she said her name was, was none other than sister to the whole reason the war had started.

And not only that; this stranger also knew the Fae language. And had access to Fae documents! If that didn't scream 'suspicious!', Jareth didn't know what did. What sort of a mortal could read and understand Fae?

It had taken quite a bit of self-control not to react when he saw the papers on her desk. Scrolls of poetry, some written in Fae, some in the Mortal tongue littered the wooden surface. It was obvious she had been translating them. The handwriting on the mortal papers was too swooped and loopy to be a scribe's and he had caught at least one grammatical error in his quick glance. Still, the translation seemed decent. There was a possibility of the Elf King using her as a weapon.

But she had seemed so honest. Truly conflicted about where she stood. Jareth had met many spies, and observed the way they lied. This girl, this Sarah was not lying, was not a spy; he was certain of it. Besides, one didn't study Fae war tactics by reading and translating poetry. Perhaps she was simply an passionate poet herself and believed Fae to be the best poetry both Above and Underground.

But that didn't take away from the fact that she obviously understood Fae. That fact was suspicious, and needed to be treated as such. What being in the Elven kingdom took the time to learn Fae? And a mortal no less. It was not normal.

And so Jareth wrestled with these thoughts, warring with himself as he tried to develop his thoughts and beliefs on the matter. His dilemma was cut short however, as he came to the entrance of the battle tent, already rustling with kings curious as to why they were called away from dinner. He took his place at the front of the tent, where Menelaus and Odysseus were already standing. Odysseus shot him a grin and Jareth could tell he was brimming with anticipation.

And honestly, why shouldn't he be? The information he found could bring the war to a swift end after all the years of fighting. Odysseus would probably be hailed as a hero. His name would be honored for generations. But not only that; more Fae lives would be saved. Fathers, sons, husbands and brothers could return to their families, after being separated for so long. Yes, Odysseus had every right to be excited.

But Jareth was too caught up in his thoughts catch his cousin's excitement. He hardly heard Odysseus explain what he found as he pulled out the map and the entire tent erupted into shocked chaos. He barely noticed the beings around him beginning to argue and bicker with one another about what should be done with the information. And he almost missed the hand that reached for the map in his cousin's hand amidst the confusion.

Almost, but not quite.

In an instant, Jareth had snapped himself back to attention, and with cat-like grace and speed, snatched the paper from his cousin before the would-be thief could grab it. However, he didn't get a chance to see who was trying to take the map, but Jareth had a suspicion it was only someone who wanted to look at it for themselves. Still, one couldn't be too careful.

"Don't lose this!" he hissed into Odysseus's ear as he pulled the shocked Fae closer, "And keep a sharper eye! If the map goes missing it will cost lives." Odysseus nodded, still in shock and took the parchment back, tucking it into his shirt.

With a shake of his head, Jareth now fixed his whole attention on the pandemonium in front of him. It was understandable that all would be surprised by Odysseus's revelation, however it seemed that everyone was taking their surprise too far. War certainly changes the way one acts, Jareth though wryly, Ten years ago none of these kings would have reacted in this manner.

Raising his arms, Jareth loudly clapped his hands together. Fortunately, that motion captured the attention of everyone in the tent, and Jareth breathed a sigh of relief as the tent quieted down.

"I see no reason why we cannot discuss this like civilized beings," he stated as the kings sheepishly shuffled back to their original places, "Discovering a possible strategy to defeat the elves, even one as incredible as this, does not require us to act like children. If we want to capitalize on this valuable piece of information, we must be swift, precise, and above all, stealthy and intelligent." He was about to continue, when Menelaus stepped forward.

"King Jareth is right," he cut in, "We must be swift in our action. Tonight we strategize and a week from tomorrow we shall attack." He smirked and turned around to face the large map pinned to the tent's wall, "If we were to place a battalion in this quadrant-"

"Excuse me your highness," Jareth interrupted, making an effort to control his flaring temper, "But I believe you did not hear all I was saying. Stealth is of the utmost importance; while we must be swift, we must also be cunning. A week will not be enough time for us to formulate and prepare an adequate battle plan."

If looks could kill, Jareth was sure he'd be six feet under from the glare Menelaus was shooting his way. He obviously hated the way Jareth was overruling his authority by scrapping his battle plan. Had Jareth been anyone else, he probably would have spent the night in the stocks for his insolence. But Jareth was High Heir, and Menelaus's superior. There was nothing the older Fae could do but seethe and listen to Jareth's plan.

"Last night we developed a plan to place the Elven kingdom under siege," Jareth continued, ignoring Menelaus's irritation, "I believe we should carry out that plan as we are already in preparation for those particular tactics. Our biggest obstacle is the city's fortifications; if we can get past the wall, we will have the city in our possession and this war can finally end."

Odysseus seemed to catch onto his cousin's logic and stepped forward. "We can send a small group of soldiers through the catacombs. Once in the city, they will open the gates from the inside and it will be significantly easier to destroy the wall and get our troops in." As he finished speaking, Odysseus seemed surprised at how simple it sounded when spoken.

"My thoughts exactly," Jareth replied, "This group would be made up of our finest warriors and spies. Of course, it would have to be of the utmost secrecy. This plan cannot leave the tent until we have chosen who these warriors will be, and even then only the chosen can know of this."

A ripple of agreement passed through the tent, and Menelaus grew more irritated at the both the young Fae overtaking what he assumed was to be his triumph. However, no one noticed his frown as various kings began volunteering their best spies and soldiers for the "elite" as it was beginning to be called.