Yay! New chapter! It's been a minute hasn't it?

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The walk back to the castle had been a long one for Queen Megara, the journey made even more so by the additional ponderings Lady Lamia had left her with. The twisting and winding path that she took mirrored her thoughts and memories as she made her slow way homeward, back to the castle and back to her private quarters, all the while out of sight. She had found her meal set out for her as she had requested, warm and waiting, but not nearly as inviting as one would hope. She ate without thinking much about it, the taste of the food before her never once taking her mind off of its wonderings. The serving girls were called in to her room to prepare a bath for her, and much like quiet mice treading around a sleeping cat they moved about the far reaches of the room, trying their best to not make a sound lest one of them should rouse her from her thinking stupor and cause her to lash out at all of them.

Finally shooing them out of her quarters she entered into her bathroom, undressed and settled herself into the large bath, hoping that the warmth of the perfumed waters would at last relax her and carry her away. But it didn't work as well as she hoped, for as she sat in the bath her mind swirled and dipped back to her past, to her decisions, to her sons.

Diomed was her first born, a beautiful boy, young man now, handsome, clever, everything she could have asked for. Even at a young age she could see the ambition he had burning in his eyes; he was driven he always did well in all of his studies, and he always had a knack for getting what he wanted, no matter who from, he found a way to get what he wanted. Especially when it came to taking things from his younger brother, he had acquired a habit of taking whatever his brother liked or prized at the moment, whether Diomed had truly valued the item or not, he wanted it in his possession almost the instant he saw his younger brother with whatever it happened to be. Books, toys, anything, if he wanted it Diomed always found a way.

Sighing Megara stepped out of bath, drying off, she draped a robe around her shoulders and went to her wardrobe to find her night gown. Thinking of her second son always tired her, stressed her more than anything. Remembering him in the beginning had always made her question her decision to let him go, but she forced herself to put him out of her mind the more she realize her dwelling on him would hold her back. Much like Diomed, the boy had ambition and drive, but where he different was in his temperament. Though he could be wild and cantankerous, and quite the handful for some, his antics were often times quite amusing; he had clung to her and somehow had managed to wiggle his way into the depths of her heart, she smiled into her vanity mirror remembering him climbing into her lap at the end of the day, little hands playing with hers, searching for simple smiles and soft kisses, such motherly signs of affection, of which she freely gave. But that was the problem wasn't it? Or at least that was the way that Lady Lamia had posed it.

"How do you expect to reach your goals? Do you really think that you can do this with that boy around? He's making you soft! And with that comes carelessness. Are you truly willing to jeopardize everything you've done, everything you have waiting before you, for a babe?" Lady Lamia had made her point, and as much as Megara had tried to ignore it and brush it off, the fact was simple and blaringly obvious, she had to give up the boy, because if Lady Lamia took care of it, it would fair far worse for the child. It was during a visit to the Fairy Court, she had spoke with the Fairy Queen Titania and without disclosing her reasons she had left her youngest son in her care.

The Fairy Queen had not pushed for answers when Megara had come to her, and though at first she was slightly furious with her actions she had taken the child willingly. Megara had expected such a reaction from the High Queen; children to their kind were a precious gift, a rarity, and were usually greatly celebrated and prized because of their rarity. A strange sort of fate they had been dealt as Fae. The price of their lengthy and almost immortal existence had been few offspring. It was a well known fact amongst their kind, and had been so for some time; at some point, back in their past, some became so discontent with the hand they were dealt that they simply took from those who had many.

Humans. Humans who so easily brought forth generation after generation. Some Fae men took mortal women as lovers to past their lineage, some even took the mortal women as wives. Some, however, cared to not bother with this practice of marriage and bonding with mortals, and some mortals were far to feisty to merely pluck from their home Above and try to contain them in the Underground, so some simply took children. The High Queen had been known to have an affinity for children, whether they be Fae or human changeling child, she seemed always ready to coddle one when the opportunity presented itself. Megara could not see anyone better than her to keep the boy, and the High Queen had made it clear to her multiple times within their meeting that she had no intention of returning the boy. And Megara had expressed her understanding, for that's what she told herself she want, what she told herself she needed, because she knew ultimately what she really wanted would not matter. What matter was Lady Lamia, and what she wanted, what she required, and whether or not she was pleased.

Lady Lamia was satisfied with her actions, her teachings resumed and Megara plunged ahead, charging full steam ahead toward her goals, her ambitions taking down anyone who got in her way. Lady Lamia had worked her so hard that she didn't have much time to think back on the boy as the years went on, her occasional visits to the fairy court to see the boy became less and less, and soon, he began to fade from memory as if he were simply a dream.

Now, now his memory was back, and with a vengeance. The fact that this boy, the boy she had to give up, could possibly be the end of her seemed almost, unfair. But since she was no closer to finding the "Tamer", he was the best lead that she had. Making her way back into her private study, she gave a great sweep of her hand and the candles with in the room burst into brilliance as she made her way to her desk. She was no fool however, she knew she'd have to proceed with extreme caution, much planning and thought had to be placed into every step that she took from this point on if she were to get the information she required. Having been gone out of the boy's life for so many years now, merely reappearing would be careless, she'd need to have a reason for reappearing, something that she could use, perhaps, to feign concern for his wellbeing. For this she would need eyes in places she could not be, eyes that would follow him everywhere, no matter where his ventures took him. Using a person was out of the question, they could easily be spotted if they conveniently showed up in every place he did; no she need something else, something that would not cause a second glance, something that not only remained in the shadows but merged with them as well. She knew exactly what she needed.

Riffling through the items in her desk, her hand brushed over the book she was looking for. She knew what she needed, she just wanted to double check, if she was going ahead with this there was no sense in making mistakes from the very start of things; when the page she was looking for came up, she noticed the design of the particular vial she required. Glancing up onto the various shelves above her she spotted the vessel she need, tucked away, quite unassuming.

Placing the book back within the safety of the drawer, Megara rose to her feet, securing the bottle within her grasp, and began turning it over in her hands admiring the design. The liquid inside was dark, like ink, but much more viscous; as she turned the bottle in her hands the liquid was slow to keep up, yes this was what she was looking for. Gingerly she removed the stopper, held the bottle in a tight grasp at arm's length, tipping it ever so slightly until one lone drop, for that was all she'd need for now, left the lip of the vessel and splattered on the stone floor with the softest plop. Resetting the stopper and placing the bottle on her desk she waited, and she didn't have to wait long.

The drop mark on the floor began to shift. Where it had splattered, its edges reaching out to every direction like little tentacles, they started to retract, pulling in on themselves and building in size. The little blob began to undulate, stretch, and grow. The jerky movements became more rapid as it grew in size, first doubling then tripling in both width and height, as it began taking on a vague form; where once was an amorphous shape now stood something that vaguely resembled the form of person. The stretching and pulling continued until with a simple snap, the being she had called forth stood before her.

A casual glance from behind would have simply suggested an individual, male, dressed in all black, nothing more. But the creature who stood before her now was not so simple. It stood tall and lean, its skin an ashen grey. Its eyes, the whites were a sharp contrast against its skin, but the irises were dark, much like its hair and its clothing, as if voids were placed there. A slow grin pulled at the lips of the creature, revealing sharp and pointed teeth, as he recognized the person before him; sweeping himself into a bow he addressed the woman before him.

"Lady Megara, a pleasure to see you. Such time has passed since our last encounter."

"Yes some time has passed, Kern. And it is Queen Megara now."

"Ah!" He lifted his head smile becoming bigger. "So I see some of our endeavors have, in fact, paid off well."

"Yes they have, but once again I have need of you and yours."

"Oh but of course, my Lady- My Queen," The creature chuckled to himself."You've only to ask and it shall be done." He smiled sweeping back into an elaborate bow. "What mischief might we cause this time for you?"

"No mischief Kern. I need to follow a hunch."

"A hunch?"

"Yes, nothing more than a though, but it's always best to investigate such things when they turn up."

"But of course. What do you need of us?"

"No, just you, Kern, just you for now will do. I need you to follow someone, no matter where they may go, I need you to keep an eye on them and report back to me all of their doings. Who they meet, what they do, what they see, so on; anything and everything, I want to know it all."

"Yes, my Queen, of course. Who is this person? An enemy of ours perhaps?"

"No, at least, I'm hoping not."

"Oh?"

"I need you to follow my son. No," she said seeing the slight confusion beginning to seep into those dark eyes. "Not Diomed, my other son."

She watched as Kern's expression changed as his mind processed what she was telling him. When the final thought came to him, he looked back at her eyes narrowed.

"Your… you don't mean."

"Yes, I need you to follow Jarth, I need you to follow the Goblin King."

BUM BUM BUHHHHHHHH!

So I realized as I was writing this that it probably should have gone with the prior chapter but meh who cares right? Still got here right?

Well some stuff is really getting underway! We've got more back story and some sneaky spies about to do some creepin'!

Oh there's more stuff to come!

Thanks for reading and please take a second to review!

Thanks guys!