Irene seemed taken aback by the prevalence of thirteens at Mac's.

"Isn't that an unlucky number?"

I shrugged. "It's lucky here. Good to have thirteen if you have a lot of magic in one place."

Thirteen tables, thirteen carved wood columms - there were even thirteen items on the menu. We found a sturdy looking table near the back and camped out there. I left Irene and Toby to sit alone and headed to the bar to place our orders. Mac cast a jaundiced look at Toby and raised an eyebrow.

"Not mine," I said.

Mac shrugged.

I went back to the table with a glass of milk for Toby. He looked small and spindly for the chair he sat in.

I made polite chitchat while we waited for the royal couple of the Goblin Kingdom to show up.

Eventually, the door to Mac's opened. The two people who stepped in couldn't have seemed more bizarre: the Goblin King was short for a man and was, once again, rocking the 80's glam medieval armor. His wife was only slightly shorter than he was and wore a tee-shirt and jeans.

Sarah saw us first. She excitedly grabbed her husband by the wrist and dragged him over to our table. The look on his face suggested this was the first time his royal person had been manhandled like that in public and he was pretty sure he liked it.

Some people have all the luck.

"Irene, Toby, Harry," Sarah said when she reached us. Her voice was warm and friendly. She seemed genuinely happy to be there.

Irene seemed a little stiff, but she greeted them in turn. What I found interesting, though, was that Toby waved excitedly and said, "Hi Sarah, hi Jareth!"

The Goblin King's disgruntled expression softened immediately. "Good afternoon, Toby. A pleasure to see you again, Karen."

"Irene." She said it tiredly, as if she was used to him getting her name wrong.

"Yes, of course. Irene." The Goblin King pulled out a chair for his wife, then sat down next to Toby. After a moment, he produced a small, gift-wrapped box from god only knew where. His pants were way too tight to have room for pockets.

"A gift for you, Toby," he said. At Irene's expression, he added, just a touch irritated, "Not magical. A gesture of good faith, mother-in-law."

Toby gave his Glittery Highness the puppy dog eyes, but asked, "May I open it now?"

Part of me was weirded out by how polite Toby was. The rest of me was glad he was behaving so well. I didn't think a child-snatcher would be easily annoyed by kids, but it wasn't a theory I wanted to test.

The King raised his brow at Irene, who nodded.

The wrapped toy was a simple Batman action figure. Toby grinned and thanked the Goblin King.

I handed Sarah a menu. "If you're hungry. I seem to recall being told not to eat fairy food."

"I'm not really human enough to be hungry anymore," she said. "But I wouldn't say no to a decent burger."

I grinned. "Well, McAnally's has that. Good beer, too."

Sarah made a face and grabbed the menu. "I've been drinking goblin ale for a year now." She flipped the menu over and blinked.

Mac only served his own brew. He had a couple of wines, though.

The Goblin King peered over Sarah's shoulder for a moment before briefly rolling his eyes. Then he turned to address Irene. "I don't see your husband. Do you speak for him?"

Irene nodded. "Yes. I'll speak for our whole household."

"Yourself and your husband, you mean. Young Toby can speak for himself."

"He's a child! He can't make informed decisions -"

"Then we won't ask him any difficult questions." The Goblin King gave a vicious, predatory smile. There was no trace of flirtation there; either he hated Irene or he was loath to flirt in front of his wife. "Now, the wizard informs me your husband is ill. His heart troubles him?"

"Yes. Ever since the… for about a year now, he's had a very worrisome irregular heartbeat."

"And you correct this matter by means of an electronic device placed within the heart?" The Goblin King rested a hand on Toby's head for a moment. "And if such a device were to malfunction...?"

"David could die," Irene whispered.

That didn't seem to surprise the Goblin King. He didn't even blink, only looked at Irene for a long moment before turning his gaze on Sarah.

Sarah looked up from the menu. Her hands had a fine tremor, and her green, green eyes had moistened with tears. I noticed that the shell and sea glass circlet was missing.

"And the magic messes with the pacemaker," Sarah said, softly. "I've been... I've been..."

"You're hardly a kinslayer yet, precious thing," the Goblin King said, perfectly calm. "But it seems this state of affairs can't continue."

That was a tricky statement. Classic Sidhe. He could have been talking about Sarah's habit of visiting unwarned and giving gifts that left magical charges. Or he could have been talking about the fact that Sarah hadn't killed her father yet.

"What's worse," I told Sarah, "the faerie gifts you've been giving Toby have been… imbuing him with a magical charge. The more gifts you give him, the more magic will gather around him." I trailed off.

"So now even poor Toby could accidentally hurt Dad," Sarah said, softly.

But the Goblin King was looking hard at his younger brother-in-law. He reached out with one hand, chucking Toby under his surprisingly pointy chin with a thumb and peering into his eyes.

"Oh, it hasn't been the gifts, Dresden. They haven't helped matters, but they're simply bringing an entirely different problem to the fore." The Goblin King sighed. "I should have considered this earlier, but after I re-ordered the car crash, Damon seemed in perfect health."

"David," Sarah corrected. "Dad's name is David."

I leaned forward over the table. "What entirely different problem are we talking about?"

The Goblin King looked up at me. His lopsided, insane eyes were bright. His expression was matter-of-fact. "As Sarah's younger brother, Thomas Henry Williams is the closest thing to issue that the Goblin Kingdom has. He is our heir presumptive."

"He's human," I snapped. "There is no way humans can inherit kingdoms in the Nevernever."

"No, he isn't. Like Sarah, he's become something slightly more in the last year. Since the moment Sarah's priest declared us man and wife."

Looking at the Goblin King sitting side by side with Toby, I could see it. Separate, I hadn't seen any sort of resemblance - but now? The Goblin King's features were just as angular, just sharp as Toby's. Toby's hair was darker, not as unruly, and his eyes were a different, more mortal shade of blue.

But the resemblance was there. And it was uncanny. If I'd had money that wasn't going to rent, pet food, and firewood for my stove, I'd have bet it all that the resemblance hadn't been nearly so pronounced until the Goblin King married Toby's sister.

Stars and stones, I thought. This new piece of information felt huge; I wasn't sure what to do with it.

"Heir presumptive to the Goblin Kingdom?" Irene's tone was brittle, torn between despair and disbelief. "What does that even mean?"

Jareth waved a hand in a lazy and somewhat vague gesture. "It means that until Sarah and I have children of our own - which may be some time - Toby is a Prince of the Goblin Kingdom." After a moment, he added, "Hm, he might always be a prince. I'd have to ask my master of ceremonies."

I got the feeling the royal family hadn't consisted of more than one person in several hundred years. Just a guess, though.

"You mean David is always going to be in danger?"

Sarah looked from Jareth to Toby, then to me, and finally she looked at Irene. "Yes," she said, softly.