As Toby's feet made contact with a familiarly threadbare rug, his gaze roamed around the room for the collection of faces which had been there the last time he'd been hauled away to "the Underground". Yet he only saw one. The new one, the one who instilled the most fear within him.

Eanraig.

The High King of Terauramulis was every bit the foreboding deity, imposing stature and unwelcoming expression which made him wish he had never been moved rooms. If anything, he felt safer with Baran, and he at least knew that fae wouldn't have an issue with ending his life.

As he stumbled back, he realised he wasn't restrained to anything, and looked back up at the fae with panicked question. What was he planning- where was Lachlan? Where was Arlyn, Baran, where was Jaque?

His back hit a glowing wall and he winced, expecting it to hurt enough to rattle his teeth as he eyes squeezed shut. But the pain never came. And when he opened his eyes again, he saw Eanraig still stood in the same place as before, watching him intently with his own questions blatant in his gaze.

Toby's palms pressed into the wall behind him in an effort to ground himself, then he did his best to stands as tall as he could muster.

As it was, he barely came up to the man's waist. A fact that he was sure the King was highly aware of.

"Tobias Williams, son of Robert and Karen Williams, human adolescent and threat to Terauramulis and by extension, the world of Albion. How do you plead?"

The question was quiet, softly spoken, but Toby laboured under no delusions that the man had the power to do some serious damage if he did anything wrong. Swallowing thickly, fingers rubbing against the wall, he lifted his chin. "You leave my parents out of this, you hear?!"

"How do you plead, Tobias Williams?"

He took a moment, staring insolently back at him with all the gusto an almost teenage boy could possibly muster. "I don't want to be here, I don't want to hurt nobody!"

Eanraig's gaze lifted to the wall with a tight expression, and Toby's stomach flipped when he saw it change to one of confusion, then one of wonder.

"I believe you."

Toby's mouth flew open to shout obscenities at him which would have his mother cuff him around the head and ground him for the rest of his life for, hands curling into fists to fight him, before it sank in what had been said.

"You… what?! What do you mean you believe me?!"

Manicured brows lifted in surprise, "I would have believed that a mortal of your position would be pleased by such an acquiescence."

"You don't even know me! You've had all your creepy men staring at me for months! Why do you believe me now?!"

A smile climbed to his features, though Eanraig did his best to hide it behind his hand as he rubbed at his jaw. "I can see why Lachlan has taken such a liking to you. You are a spirited boy, Tobias Williams. That is quite the fighting spirit, though I fear you do not fully comprehend that in which you are prepared to fight."

He looked at him for a moment longer, appraisingly, then he beckoned him forward to take a seat in an overstuffed armchair across from the seat he chose from himself.

Toby eyed him warily, looking from the chair to the fae, then back to the chair to look for chains or some form of torture device.

"You are quite safe, I assure you."

After a few minutes, Toby huffed and finally dropped himself into the chair, hands folded in front of himself as he glared up at the older man. "What do you want?"

"Well, now that I am satisfied that you are not here to see about the downfall of our sacred city or our kind, I trust we can move onto equally prudent matters. From now on for the duration of your… appearances… you will remain unbound so long as you act accordingly. Do we have an agreement?"

"… I guess."

"You will still be guarded at all times, but that is as much for your safety as it is for ours. Most of the Fae kind avoid direct encounters with mortals since our err… well, separation, and they do not take kindly to that in which they do not trust. Not only this, but you know nothing of our lands, our customs, or the layout of this city. If I allowed you to wonder, you could step right off of the outskirts of this city and die a most horrific and pointless death, so naturally I beseech you to understand our position."

"… Yeah, I guess so."

"Wonderful. Now then, we shall begin with any questions you might have that I have the ability to answer, then you shall answer mine, and trust in me, I have more than a few, so best get yourself comfortable."

Eanraig adjusted his tunic and moved some things on his desk, then stared at him with his undivided attention. Decidedly unnerved, Toby slowly began to look away towards the other walls for something… well, else.

"How come I keep turning up here when I was in the other guy's kingdom first?" he finally asked him, fixing him with his own stare. Eanraig merely smiled winningly back at him for a moment as he chose his words, trying to look nonchalant.

"We took a risk and it paid off."

Toby's brows shot up inside his hairline. "A risk?! What kind of risk?!"

The fae lifted a shoulder nonchalantly, adjusting the small wreath of silver on his head with a regal look. "I tasked friends from neighbouring kingdoms to await your arrival in the Wastes, and physically had you carried through a portal of sorts. Typically, it's impossible to reach Terauramulis this way, unless you're a mortal. And when you appeared here cast over Baran's shoulder, we knew it had worked.

"You see Tobias Williams, when given the right of passage to the Crystal City, you are bound by faerie law into our supervision and guardianship when you are a mortal. Therefore, your very being is what brings you here and not there. You don't have permission to be in Jareth's kingdom, after all."

The boy scoffed and looked at him as if he were thick. "Then how come I started turning up there in the first place, if I didn't have permission?"

Eanraig's mouth opened, then smartly shut with a click. Then it opened again as he waved a dismissive hand, and a goblet of wine appeared in it, which he then drank deeply from. "Precisely the question which vexes us all. Why did you? And why do you continue to travel to the Underground every alternating evening when you dream? All questions that we want answers for as well, I assure you."

"Why was Sarah I being watched? You've been spying on us."

"Ah-ah-ah, no Tobias, we started watching over you the minute you trespassed into Albion and seemed content to continue to do so. You see, if you can breach into our world, what is to stop something from our world coming to yours? For all we know, you've propped open a door for all manner of things."

His method of questioning began to take on an aggressive streak, Toby leaning forward in his seat to deliver them as he intended them. Now that he had freedom to speak without threats of being strung up, he found that the questions were coming thick and fast.

"Why won't anyone say Sarah's name around here when you're all so obsessed with her?!"

This time Eanraig shot him a fierce look that had him quailing, and he slowly lowered his glass from his face with a scowl. "She disrupted the… natural order of things, for someone very integral and important to Terauramulis."

"Was it for the scary blond guy who doesn't like me? Jareth?"

A wince passed over his face, though what Toby failed to realise was that it was caused from the aforementioned fae's uncle trying not to laugh at his nephew's character. "It was."

"He seemed really angry to see me… but also not. He was really weird, y'know, seemed to think he knew me and I knew him. I have no idea who he is though."

"Your sister…"

A knock sounded, and Eanraig ceased talking to call them in. One after the other, Baran, Arlyn, And Choilleach all strolled into the room to… apparently, join them. Baran seemed personally offended at being this close to Toby again, but Arlyn gave him a smile, and when he twisted to look at Lachlan the warrior way shot him a wink.

"Sorry to interrupt, Eanraig, but we communed and came to an impasse."

"The kind where we decided it made sense for us to be here for this round of question time as we might be able to add some things, or get some of our own questions answered too."

The High King smiled at them all and nodded, gesturing around the desk. Starting in fright, Toby nearly choked on his breath as chairs suddenly appeared out of nowhere and Baran chose to seat himself in the chair closest to him. "Not to worry, we are all friends here," he answered, carefully not looking at the boy and his designated nemesis, "I was simply about to give dear Tobias here a history lesson of sorts, so he knows a little more of what's going on."

Arlyn nodded solemnly, "The sooner we have a basic understanding to work from, we can work towards a solution to our… issues."

Lachlan walked behind Toby to take the seat on his other side, squeezing his shoulder on the way past before he settled himself. He seemed far more tired than the last time he'd seen him, more serious, more sad. Toby wanted to ask him what was wrong, but quickly though better of it after catching the glare Baran had shot at him.

"Yes, well, as I was saying, Tobias," Eanraig continued, taking a languid sip of his wine then returning it to his other gloved hand, "Your sister started this story ten mortal years ago, when you were but a babe. While we are not at liberty to know the reason behind her actions, she wished you away to the goblins of The Wastes- Jareth's subjects – and bound by the duties of his role of his kingdom, Jareth had to see to it that you were taken."

Toby shook his head vehemently, taking his own turn to scowl. "That's impossible. My sister always says words have power and you should never start a sentence with "I wish" unless you're really committed to it. She also taught me that Fae are dangerous and that's why they don't cohabit with us, so I should be distrustful and cautious if I were ever to meet one. Though she also said you guys weren't real."

Baran looked incensed. "Not real?! I can assure you we most definitely are real-"

"Enough, Baran. Let the boy have his delusions for now. They are all he has as armour in this alien place."

Toby looked up at Lachlan gratefully but the fae never turned his head to look at him. Instead he motioned with a gloved hand for Toby to return his attention in front of him, and the boy sighed heavily before doing so.

"Well, I have solid proof that she did wish you away, Tobias. However, do not fret; Every wisher is given the chance to run Jareth's Labyrinth to attempt to gain back those which they have lost. If they take it, they must adhere to a strict time schedule and make it to his castle to collect them before the time runs out. Fairly straight forward.

"Except, your sister an entirely different runner than any that Albion has ever seen- the first of her kind since Jareth built his kingdom. She befriended those put in her way to waylay her, she forgave those who betrayed her for their own selfish gain… other than that, unfortunately, her run is strictly forbidden information.

"What we do know, is that she was the first ever runner to beat the Labyrinth, beat the Goblin village, and then best him in a battle of wills. She won you back. And the minute she did… Jareth and his kingdom began to… well, for lack of a better phrase… they began to die."

Toby felt like his world was falling down around his ears. Sarah wished him away? Jareth was dying? "He seemed pretty alive when I saw him," he muttered petulantly, never lifting his gaze from his knees.

Arlyn took pity on him. "He isn't dying in the physical sense as you mortals knew it. When a fae refuses or gives up the will to live, their magic and anything born of it begins to decay. In short, they start to fade away until they fade out of existence."

"Well if she did what she was told to do, because she had to, then why is she hated around here?"

This time Baran spoke. "Because the bloody fool only went and fell in love with her. Pledged his life and his heart to her in exchange for her to give up her life Aboveground and join him. She was too young by your standards, too naïve to understand. Once a pledge like that is given, however, it cannot be taken back."

Toby nodded slowly, getting the sickening feeling that he was beginning to understand. "Words have power."

Eanraig set his glass down hard enough to force the boy to look at him, and he smiled sadly. "Indeed. Effectively, my nephew lost everything anew that night and was sent spiralling down a path to his own self-destruction. To love a mortal is all but forbidden in our land, you see, so when word got out… well, we had to quash it best we could. Whilst my subjects and people will forever hold free will, I did what little I could to protect him from the whispers."

Lachlan interjected, "Which is why, when you suddenly started your impromptu visits, we all panicked and had to seal your presence past the highest level of Terauramulis security to ensure that no other fae knew of your being here. You see, a mortal who wields that much power over one fae- and a highly powerful one to boot – strikes a note of discord and fear into our kind as human's have their own little kind of magic and ability to ruin things they touch. For the Champion of the Labyrinth's brother to sprouting up and around the place like a daisy naturally gives us some concern."

"Wait wait wait… you're saying the blond in tights loves my sister? That's just disgusting."

"Loved," Arlyn pressed gently, looking sorrowfully down at his hands, "For Jareth had to renege on that love in order to attempt to save both himself and his kingdom, to promise himself to another. He is betrothed and set to marry another now, which is yet another reason why talk of the mortal girl is so strictly prohibited- "

"-But he is not himself." Eanraig stood from his desk to pace around it, expression set so tightly that the resemblance to Jareth was as clear as if the pair were twins. "He still holds a great anger, a great sadness, which leeches a part of him with each passing day. He does not act as he had before his engagement. In fact, now it seems as if he has no emotions at all."

Baran glowered darkly out of the window behind his king. "He is but a husk of the faeling he once was, not so long ago. He sits beside his Queen-to-be with the air of a dead man. Never smiles, barely talks. Indifferent about everything and anything surrounding him. Something has happened."

"Jareth is his own person… what is normal for another fae is not necessarily the same for him. He's used to isolation, not the amount of faces he's been forced in with these last few months. He's probably grown to resent it."

Lachlan laughed derisively, joined by Eanraig who also appeared amused. "You're talking about Terauramulis' former largest socialite. I highly doubt his change of behaviour has been brought on by a few fresh faces."

"Regardless," Eanraig turned expectantly towards Toby, "We understand very little of what is going on. It appears clear to us that your sister and yourself are at the centre of everything which is transpiring. Only one of you truly knows what happened that day, and I would beseech you to find out what it is, Tobias. Read the book Jareth pushed on you. I've heard it's quite the page turner."

Toby stuck his jaw out defiantly. "Why isn't Jaque here?"

Baran made as if to round on him for his insolence, but the High King merely raised a passive gloved hand in response. "Settle yourself, my friend. I have given him free reign of speech. Information for information, to be precise."

He then turned his eyes to Choilleach, "Well? You would know better than the rest of us where our favourite faeling has gotten to."

"I sent him back to his… post…" Lachlan said quietly, glancing cautiously at Toby. "But he insisted on speaking with you before he goes. Once our uh… esteemed guest has left us."

"Indeed?" The other fae frowned, hand resting against his chin, "How did he appear to you? In fair spirits?"

"As fair as can be expected with Jaque. He seemed a small bit troubled… and has asked for leave to enter the Hall of Records. Would not give up his reasons to me, which I find no small amount concerning."

They all turned to look at Toby. Arlyn smiled warmly at him, moving to lean against the desk as his hands folded loosely across his chest, "You appear to be making friends in your limited time here, hm? I daresay he made quite the believable spectacle of you with his little disguise. You could almost have passed for a Caomhanach!"

"… He's not coming, then, is he?"

Toby's shoulders slumped, his head drooping as he returned his gaze to his knees. The male fae exchanged puzzled looks between them, lifting shoulders and pulling faces, but quickly looked back at the mortal boy when a great sigh left him and he scuffed his feet.

"If you wanna know so badly about everything that happened, and you're so sure that Sarah's been down here before and is the only other person who knows, why don't you just y'know… do your freaky magical finger stuff and zap her down here to talk to as well?"

Eanraig had the decency to look a little embarrassed. "An excellent question my dear boy! But err…" his eyes swivelled to Baran who looked like he was about to give up his own will to live, and he shot him a look before continuing, "But you see we uhm… well, we cannot."

"What do you mean you cannot?! You lot are transporter happy!"

"I mean, we cannot, Tobias-"

"What he means to say, is," Arlyn interjected, shooting the two older fae a dark look before turning back to Toby with one of his smiles, "Your sister is protected by faerie law, since she bested the Labyrinth's challenge and conquered King Jareth. She fulfilled their contract and won. We cannot touch her."

"Then how come she used to speak to her friends from the maze? Mum used to give her in trouble for lying all the time, but she used to insist she saw them nearly every week in her room."

Four pairs of eyebrows disappeared into varying hairlines, and Baran leaned over beside Toby with an invested gaze. "Speak, boy, explain yourself. What friends do you speak of?"

Toby lost all colour in his face at the proximity and immediately turned to Lachlan for help. The fae grinned sardonically, shooting him a wink, and he realised with no small amount of annoyance that the white haired fae was effectively useless as backup. "Y'know… the ones she met in the… maze?"

Eanraig stalked back to his desk, snatched up a quill, and began scribbling a note to himself. "Do you know the method in which she contacted them?"

"No? Whenever I asked about it, Sarah said it was just a powerful daydream, and wasn't real. I just thought I'd mention it since you guys are speaking about things which seem pretty impossible."

"Do you have names?"

"No."

"Typical. Our first lead, and it is effectively intangible."

Toby opened his mouth, but a tell-tale feeling like a hook behind his gut began to grow and he looked up in panic. "Uh guys, not that I want to be here but uhh… I think I'm about to leave?"

Eanraig nodded, not even looking up from his parchment as he waved a flippant hand. "Yes, yes, we will resume this conversation when you next appear," he murmured, folding up a piece of parchment and flicking it into his lap. Toby seized it quickly, a questioning look in his eyes, but Lachlan merely squeezed his shoulder and moved to stand up before he could say anything.

With a humph of indignation, he disappeared.

"Choilleach, find Jaque and send him in."

The stone plaza of the Cloud District was bustling with fae and the occasional avian counterpart as he blond stepped between the throng to peruse the markets there. Right hand tucked behind him and out of the way where it could not be touched, he bowed his head respectfully to his elders as they smiled at him, moving on from stall to stall, gait easy and calm.

He was in no rush, after all. It was only dawn… it would be some time before there was a chance of a royal summons or his requests being accepted.

Trinkets, jewellery, foods and clothes all stacked up in eye-catching displays prevented him from growing bored. Under his arm he had his replacement art supplies, in his hand a carefully wrapped canvas within a gilded frame which he made sure never once came near to destruction or harm.

All in all, he was a hard figure to mistake. Even in as dense a throng as this.

As he leaned over a merchant's offerings of spices, a delicate hand circled and wrapped around his protected wrist and pulled up, fingers attempting to lift the hem of his glove to peer beneath at the flesh there.

He whirled with a predatory snarl, teeth bared, but quickly lowered himself from the defensive state to one of meek embarrassment as he recognised who it was which held him.

"Lady Lavanya… to what do I owe the pleasure?"

The raven haired noble dipped her head in greeting, though her smile was sad. "Jaque… It's good to see you."

Jaque's eyes lowered to their joining, a tight smile on his face, and he tried to pull his wrist from her grasp.

He failed.

"And you; Yet I'm not so vain as to believe that my absence is all that has brought you here."

"A wise deduction."

"You've been scrying again, haven't you? One of these days you will spy on someone and you'll see more than you ever cared to," he warned, mask firmly in place as he went back to perusing the wares. But his fingers flexed and curled into his palm, pinning his glove in place so she couldn't attempt to peek again.

"You're favouring your right hand; Are you well, Jaque?"

Her tone was light, but her expression told him that she already knew enough to make his attempt at twisting the truth fruitlessly futile. Still, he kept his smile in place even as it threatened to grow increasingly strained. "Nothing which I cannot handle, my lady, I assure you."

"Truly? I've never known you to tuck your shirt into your gloves before. Trying something new?"

His eyes narrowed, and he lifted a shoulder in response. "It defies the urge to roll up my sleeves when I'm at... school. Which tends to look quite odd with gloves, I'm sure you understand."

"Then why not take of your gloves to negate it?"

"You know why."

The words were quiet, firm, and Jaque's lips thinned as he looked down at his hand again and pulled, pleased this time to find that Lavanya had released him. It was a loaded statement with two meanings and he expected her to pick up both. It was clear she knew more than she ought to, more than he cared for her to.

"Indeed. Your aptitude for feeling your surroundings is unparalleled in this city."

Her smile turned sombre, and she slipped her arm through his before pulling him away from the stands. A light breeze blew her dark hair around her face and Jaque took the opportunity to look at his almost second maternal figure while he could.

Immediately, he noticed the storm flashing behind her eyes, the manner in which it marred her otherwise porcelain smooth features. She was troubled. Whether merely by their shared secret, or something quite different.

"Tell me of your friend, dear Jaque. I would know of the beauty you have been spending grest lengths with, taking you away from your home," she asked tentatively, pulling her shawl around her closely as others passed. The look of confusion on the youth's face was entirely genuine, and he showed it, slowing their gait to force her to look at him.

"Admittedly... you've lost me."

She tutted, rolling her eyes and walking forward again. He followed.

"The raven-haired fae you have made the object of your muse, of course! I almost believe I recognise her, yet alas I cannot say how."

He chuckled, "I assure you, that's quite impossible."

"Oh? And what makes you say such things?"

He grinned brightly at her, "Why, because she is not fae at all, but a mortal, of course!"

Her jaw tightened, "How is it possible that you are able to lie so directly..." she murmured, dropping her arm from his with contempt, "What kind of magic is this which grips you?"

"Not magic, merely unbelievable truth. I assure you, my lady, I am as puzzled as yourself."

"But... but I saw her! How can this be?!"

"Would that I knew," he replied lightly, gaze distant, "There is much I mist discuss with our... well, esteemed protectors, to perhaps shed some light on it. However, save for potential fae lineage in her ancestry I cannot begin to explain it."

"And who is she? This special mortal who has snatched your sights?"

Jaque winced, cringing. "Oh well, you know, no one of over importance..."

"You carry her portrait with your person, I would therefore argue otherwise.

The blond blanched, staring incredulously at her, "What- How did you-?!"

"I didn't, but you just confirmed a hunch. Tell me of her name, please. I swear on the Goddess I shalt not be upset."

He didn't answer immediately. Perhaps he was hoping for salvation in the form of a familiar friend, mayhaps for her to have a change of heart in her line of questioning. When neither rescue presented itself he turned skyward, half-considering taking flight. He could be away from here in no time at all... but then he wouldn't get his own answers. He glanced back at her, catching her yearning expression to learn the name he withheld.

He sighed. Damn Jareth for abandoning his mother to the rest of them to entertain.

"Your son's past flame, whom he pledged his soul to. For obvious reasons, I cannot speak her name within these crystal boundaries."

Shocking him speechless, the fae woman swore colourfully.

"Jaque... you know what this means, don't you? If her lineage is shown to produce... connections...?"

He nodded tightly, "She could very well start a war with Albion if the wrong circumstances are brought to fruition, however inadvertently."

She nodded fearfully, delicate fingers places over her mouth.

They stood in silence, the wind whistling past them through the stone-carved arches on either side. Finally, a large figure clad in black travelling armour emerged from the lower quarters of Aurea and started towards them, and Lavanya stepped back into the shadows with a furtive glance.

"Jaque, love? Keep this between us. I have a few people I can contact to... make sense of things. Please, say nothing until I contact you. I must know if my son is safe."

"As you wish."

Without a whisper, she disappeared into the shadow of the bridge's arch. Jaque's eyes stayed trained on her previous spot until Choilleach was upon him and attempting to look nonchalant about getting him somewhere on a tight time schedule.

"My favourite old man! How are you, Choilleach? It's been weeks, surely..."

"Jaque. Eanraig has called for your presence in his... new solar."

"Indeed? Has our young friend departed from us so soon?

"Not that I understand why you're stalling, but yes. Tobias Williams has returned to the Aboveground for the moment. Your presence is not only required, but necessary."

The blond rolled his eyes, casually adjusted his sleeves and his gloves as he sidestepped his mission commander and made back the way the other fae had come, "Would it kill you to smile occasionally? By the Fade, you would believe that your job was sucking every shred of enjoyment this existence has to offer out of you."

"When it comes to you and your devious ways, young one, it always does to remain prepared."

"Tobias would call you paranoid, you know."

Unbelievably, a warm smile split Lachlan's face and he gave a small laugh, "The boy has a way with words."

"Oh, trust you to find that endearing," came the waspish reply.

The penetrating feeling of a myriad of gazes boring into your being was a very particular experience that was very hard to shake after the fact, even hours afterwards. This feeling was nonetheless more intense as the owners of the eyes staring at him had near unparalleled magical prowess between them and they were exercising this through their stares.

Jaque gave a dramatic sigh. "No one has died yet, dear cousins. I am not about to issue a death warrant or cause for arrest."

He paused.

"At least...I hope I'm not as that could stand to become extremely awkward given our current circumstances..."

"Speak plainly, Jaque. Time is of the essence. What pressing matters do you bring to the table?"

In a flash, he lunged forward and his arm lashed out and swung in a large sweeping arc, clearing the desk of its burden to create a space. Immediately before either male could protest, he replaced the newly created space with the wrapped canvas in his hand, then stood back. "To start things off, I thought we could do a little show and tell, hm?"

Baran paused with his hand hovering over the throw, "What is it?"

Jaque's brows rose, "Cause for concern."

With a scowl at the cryptic answer, Baran ripped away the coverings, still staring at the youth in barely hidden frustration. He only turned his head when Arlyn broke from his peaceful demeanour to wear colourfully and Earnraig walked away from the desk.

"Who is she? Why does she seem so familiar?"

Choilleach's quiet voice cut through the air before Jaque could form an articulate reply, tone soft. "That would be the bane of Jareth's existence, my king. Sarah Williams. Tobias' sister and staunch protector."

Eanraig rounded on him, "You knew about this?!" he bellowed icily, shoving at the framed work.

"When I saw her, she did appear in this visage. She looked decidedly mortal, and acted it as well."

"Jaque?! What do you have to say for this? How did you come upon this... this...?!"

The youth had the decency to look embarrassed. "When I made contact - yes, against your orders I know, but it's been fine I assure you - When I made contact, I had to scrounge up a reason for her to potentially see me around her campus since I was stationed there for so long. An excuse, if you would. And well... tales of the Labyrinth champion have fascinated me since Jareth's downfall, so I wanted an excuse to get to know her."

"The point?"

"I might have posed as an art student and duped her into being my muse. Completely benignly, I swear."

"That doesn't explain your findings here, her stance, her… appearance. Is this another of your disguises Jaque? A new game of make believe which would have the strongest hearts of Terauramulis weep?"

The youth looked scornfully up at him, "I tend not to inconvenience others for the fleeting chance of whim unless I know they are not otherwise occupied or the subject is safe. I would never toy with such a volatile subject in such tense times as these. You insult me."

"Be that as it may, I had to be sure."

Jaque spun the portrait so it was facing him, his eyes roaming over it as his sharp incisors began to slice into his lip. He couldn't begin to explain it himself.

"All I did was dress her in typical dress of the fae, did something fancy with her hair and makeup, and posed her on a chair in bare feet in the grassy interior of one of the workshops. She replaced the peach with an apple, which I'll explain in a moment, and after I'd been painting for some time, what you see here began to transpire."

"It's impossible!"

"Indeed. What's more impossible was I painted her eyes facing me. In the portrait, they have somehow moved to stare out of the window in the direction of Jareth's kingdom."

"That suggests a presence of magic..."

"And not my own," Jaque sighed, rubbing at his brow, "There's more. I'll let you guys puzzle over this since I have to get back soon, but there is more you should know."

"More important than this?!"

He nodded, "Jareth gave her a tainted peach during her run. Somehow, the rules of the Labyrinth make her unavailable to being contacted by the King and protect her from faerie law… yet she ate the peach."

This time Eanraig knocked something from a nearby shelf, barely registering it smashing as he rounded on him. "No… no, surely he wouldn't be so… so stupid as to… to…"

"She ate faerie food, in the faerie realm. She is a mortal- though that looks debatable at best right now- and she holds power over Jareth. Remember… Jareth was desperate during her run. He had been waiting on her soul emerging since his mother scryed his future in his adolescence, before the Great Spire debacle. I believe he was willing to try anything."

"What came of the peach?"

"He used the magical taint to pull her into a faerie ring from her run, and sang to her. With a faerie court. She's lucky to have escaped when she did."

"Anything else?!"

They appeared to be reeling. As he opened his mouth to continue, however, a searing pain shot up his arm where the decaying flesh had spread into his wrist, and he hissed.

"No. That is all for now. If I find anything else from her, I will report it duly."

He turned and hurried from the room, cradling his arm in his hand unaware that Choilleach was watching his retreat intently.

He would tell them, everything. Just… not until he'd found all of his own answers first, since he had so many of those since his walk with Toby. He'd made a deal, after all, one he was bound to.

As for his arm… there were more pressing matters.

Back in the room, Arlyn had threaded his hand into his hair and was looking pained as he stared at a nearby wall. Lachlan seemed to be carrying a new weight, though his gaze was fixed on the painting.

"You know who she looks like, don't you?"

It wasn't a question, but still it hung ladenly in the air until one of them deigned to address it.

Eanraig nodded solemnly, "Faelurian, Warrior of Albion. The one who saved us from the mortals, and protected Terauramulis from the mercilessly attempted massacre from the Isles."

Lachlan nodded, bowing his head. "An exact doppleganger."

"… Why would we need our fiercest protector to return to us now?"

Baran lifted his chin, eyes flashing, "Something is coming."