With Hope... Or Maybe Luck
"My goodness Sarah, you aren't even bound to each other yet and he's already acting like the 'put upon father' just as my Gundahar does whenever he has to rescue our little ones from my visits with friends." Sieglinde had move towards the couch as Sarah had walked over to her kitchenette to get their tea and a plate of cakes.
"...Can he hear us?" Sarah turned to Sieglinde to see her shake her head in the negative, a smug smile gracing her face, Sarah smiled tentatively back, "Sieglinde, what do I do? I'm tired of his game but I can hardly call him out on it. He'll flat out deny everything again and it will continue on in full force. Only stronger than before I confronted him... I'm worried that he'll get bored of the game and get tired of me."
"Sarah, he'll never tire of you. With your character and spunk that would be impossible. As to getting bored of his game, well, maybe that will bring him to his senses…"
"I hope so."
"You are quite amazing, Sarah. You don't mind that he is the Erlkönig at all, do you?" Sieglinde shook her head slightly in wonder, with a happy smile for both her friends.
"It just comes down to the fact that every side of him I've seen, be it Goblin King, Master of the Labyrinth, or human, though that's a glamour, it's all, well it's all just Jareth."
"...Sarah, has he explained what he is exactly?"
"Child stealing, no good flirt?"
"He doesn't steal children, Sarah. And don't quote Goethe's poem to me, I know how it makes Jareth's family look. He isn't just a Erlkönig, he's the Erlkönig. Has been since his father's passing during the Roman invasions of England and the North. Jareth became the Erlkönig at a time when there were great upheavals. The Underground and the Above were not separated as they are now. The Roman fae and those they'd forced into their rule went to war with the fae of Northern Europe. The humans and fae alike were constantly at odds after that for hundreds of years.
"Jareth became king at a time that had him sprinting before he'd even learned to crawl. The Erlkönig takes in the unwanted, the lost, the forgotten, the abused, and the abandoned, Sarah. Of both human and fae alike, though he is… a little more easy going on humans than on the fae. Fae trials at the Goblin King's hands can be downright vicious. War creates many orphans, and there are more abandoned and abused from either world than anyone would like to admit.
"His kingdom is the largest of all the kingdoms in the Underground and I'm extremely sorry to say that most fae females are only after the power they'd gain by being the Erlkönigin than being his queen. The fact that you see 'just' Jareth as you say, and I can see that you truly do, makes me very happy for him and his subjects. You would be a wonderful queen and the best wife and friend a certain stubborn Goblin King could ever ask for… As to the flirt bit, well, his grandmother was a hulder but thankfully Jareth didn't inherit his father's tail! Just overly flirtatious tendencies."
"Sieglinde, if he's… taken, rescued, retrieved? Oh, whatever. If he has so many human children were are they all? I know some of them may have grown but where are all the humans? I'm the only one that ever seems to be there."
"Come now, Sarah! You've been taught in many things and all histories. And we both know you've a love for the Above folklore of my people. What does it say of those that come to the Underground to stay?"
"They change..."
"Yes. They have to, if the kings don't change them the magic of the Underground eventually drives them mad. How, what and when, the humans change has always been up to the kings. Jareth's predecessors were not as kind as Jareth has been with them. Jareth at least lets them retain humanesque forms and gives them to the fae that cannot have children or have none left at home. Places were they will be loved. Some of my own little ones are children we've adopted from Jareth and even his own goblin retainers are those that he'd taken as children. That's all goblins really are. The smaller, grotesque looking ones are the humans turned before Jareth came to power."
"Wait, the high goblins were human! Why hasn't- How? But there are so many!"
"Because its a kindness to some to remove the memories, especially those that came from vile circumstances. Some ask to forget later on and others still, simply forget that the were human overtime. There are really very few that do remember. As to why there are so many 'high goblins', sadly Jareth did have to start turning them the day he became the Erlkönig in 55 B.C. Not that they mind it of course, best thing that could have happened to anyone that was going to be changed was for Jareth to become King. No one wants to be the lesser goblins, though they don't mind it themselves. As to how change humans, only the Erlkönig and the High Kings know how… Though maybe not Iain, if anyone should not be entrusted with such delicate information its Iain. My husband may have to tell the next Seelie High King how... That's a funny thought."
"Yes, very funny, ha, ha- Sieglinde, why have they acted as they have towards me if we were the same once?"
"Sometimes I regret that you are so comfortable around me as to be so entirely sarcastic in front of me, a queen, might I added. Yes, yes, I'm getting to your question, Sarah. The high goblins, no, all the goblins, want to insure you are genuine. The lesser goblins are comparable to young children in varying ages of maybe three year olds to possibly thirteen or fourteen. Easily won over with your kindness and playful manner. While the high goblins act as if they are, at best, teens to twenty year olds...maybe, they can be either your greatest allies once they are appeased or the bane of your existence... Think of them as his children checking to see if their future mother is up to par."
"Well ,that's just lovely. I'm gonna have a few thousand step-kids. Yippee."
"Oh, Sarah. I'm so excited to see how this all goes! As to the goblins, well, more or less yes but the majority of them love their future queen now and are happy for their King. Gundahar and I happy for you both as well. Jareth has been alone for far too long. Now if only we could get the fool to stop with his games. Which is very hard for a fae, we do so love are games…"