The Wedding was an exceptional affair by Fae standards. The festivities reigned for almost two weeks span, with all manners of celebratory events spread throughout the capital. Neither groom nor bride turned up for either of them. In fact, after the blood rites ceremony – contrary to Terauramulis tradition, this was the coupling which the Isles held and according to Lad- Queen Aislinn, the only ceremony worthy of their joining – both Fae mysteriously disappeared.

To the masses, it was jokingly said that they had been in a rush for the wedding bed.

To those in the know, it was a point of concern and deep worry.

Seven months had passed since their not-so-blessed union. Still, no word had been sent from Jareth's kingdom, regardless of how many missives and summons were sent, or even just word of fair wishes.

Toby had come into himself whilst Underground, regaining his steps in school and juggling his sleep schedule so he didn't miss any more days. In Eanraig's secret court, he held more power, simply for coming through during their time of need. Baran had even ceased glaring at him so balefully.

Jaque had done his research from the Archives, and after a while longer, had reluctantly passed certain texts onto Toby. In truth, he had wanted to speak to the boy of what he'd found personally, to attempt a human trait and break certain parts of the news to him far more gently than the book depicted. The book took no prisoners, mercilessly honest in its delivery.

Sarah had wished the boy away without care of consequence for her actions, admittedly in the heat of the moment fuelled by emotions of neglect, abandonment, and forced roles. But Tobias Williams was merely on the brink of adolescence… how was he to process such information other than his sister hadn't wanted him?

Then there was everything that had transpired between his cousin and the mortal during the ensuing hours after. Everything had been laid bare. Things Jaque wished he hadn't pried into for they were matters of the heart, of the soul. Too personal for anyone to read.

Those were the books he put back on the shelf without telling anyone. He could give them the facts without exposing either Jareth or Sarah any more than they felt towards each other. They knew each other better than either thought.

Jareth had fallen in love with her before her run, but he hadn't acknowledged it. But it had driven his hand. Tobias, taken as she requested, had been passed directly into his hands from his subjects instead of straight into the Chamber. Never had the thought even crossed his mind of turning the boy into another goblin- Jareth's mind hadn't thought that far ahead. His mind had played with many end game scenarios, but in neither of them was Tobias Williams lost.

When Toby had finally read the tomes given to him, Jaque had sat on the side lines perched outside his bedroom window to witness his reaction. And he had been shocked by what he found.

The boy had carefully shut the book and put it down, chin jutting out as tears filled his eyes. A steel resolve took over him before more than one managed to escape, and he angrily scrubbed at it.

"Don't worry Sarah, I'll save him for you. I'll save you both."

As he stood up from his bed, the book slid from its perch on his pillows to open to the last page, where the final line seemed to bubble and shift, as if to prevent anyone from reading it.

'And by this conclusion both shalt both be damned by thy goddess
By thy selves
For denying twin souls from eternal rest

That in which is not natural
Is not pure
Shalt wrought thine lives asunder

Unless one doth give up thy life
Offers thy existence
Of two evils doth choose the best'

Lavanya's unwritten prophecy, unheard by all besides her husband. After she had scried Jareth's destiny for him, when Yennifer had told her that to delve into the unknown could bring nothing but hardship. She had delved deeper. And the darker recesses had been exposed.

But not told to Jareth.

Jaque shivered. This much, he had to bring to his King. Though if Toby's expression had anything to do with it as he returned with a mug of hot milk and an extra blanket, he might have a contender on his hands for who would get there first.

As the boy curled up on himself to chase the elusive wisps of slumber, book clasped to his chest, the avian outside his window clicked its beak happily. They finally had something to go off. Something tangible to work with.

All he had to do now was head back to Aurea. Choilleach should have been returning from his post outside Sarah's apartment.

The girl had dropped out of University last week. He was determined to find out why.

As he took flight, he felt one of his brethren contact him telepathically.

# Aislinn had returned to Terauramulis, and no one knew why. Jareth was nowhere to be seen.

When Toby opened his eyes, it took him a few moments to collect his bearings. Firstly, because there were two suns bathing him in warm, languid light that made him want to curl up and go back to sleep.

Secondly, his shoes had disappeared, and he was standing in deep grass that reached his ankles but seemed far healthier than any kind of grass he had seen at home. He was in a garden. But not just any garden.

There was a white marble statue of a breathtakingly beautiful woman who knelt with her hands cupped in front of her at the opposite end from him. From her features, it was clear she was Fae. And not just any Fae. Considering the questionably dark red liquid in her hands that looked suspiciously like blood, Toby's twisting gut told him that he was facing the sacred statue of The Goddess.

And he had absolutely no clue how he had gotten there.

Lowering his gaze, he startled with a small yell and tripped back, falling over the long grass and onto his backside as he realised the entire company of Fae men he was used to were sitting watching him with amused looks.

"What the hell, guys! Why are you staring at me?! Wh-where even are we?!"

Baran rolled his eyes at Arlyn he merely chuckled, and Eanraig shot them a grin before turning back, "Ah, Tobias. How lovely of you to finally wake up. Won't you join us?"

He shook his head. "Nuh-uh, not until you tell me where we are. And gimme back my shoes. That's just too weird to steal someone's shoes."

"We didn't steal them, boy. They are outside the door, with the remainder of our things. Weapons, heavy layers, and footwear are not permitted in the sacred gardens of Aurea. It brings us closer to our Creator so that she may judge us and know us to be pure and honest in her service," Baran drawled, though for once he didn't seem too perturbed by Toby's behaviour.

If anything, the other King seemed at peace here in a strange way. His navy tunic was blowing slightly in the breeze, and he had rolled his breeches to expose the skin from his lower shins. His hair was loose and falling around his shoulders, where he usually kept it held back.

He almost seemed approachable.

"And… and why are we here?"

Arlyn took pity on him, "So we can pay our respects, since we are delving into personal matters which we should not be privy to. We ask forgiveness for our meddling for we are doing it in aid of saving our family. Since you are part of this plot, we have brought you too."

Toby looked back at the statue and winced, "So… do I have to… to… y'know…"

Arlyn shook his head, "To give a blood offering is always a matter of choice, and we wouldn't expect a mortal who doesn't share our beliefs, especially such a young one, to join us. We couldn't have it said that we were spilling mortal blood in our halls, after all."

"So it's a choice?"

Eanraig who had been watching him steadily since he had awoken slowly nodded his head, his expression hard to read, "Entirely, Tobias. To give a blood offering would be for you to tell her that you stand with us, that you also ask for her divine protection. Any prayer said while bleeding for The Goddess will be heard."

Baran shot a look at him, eyes blazing in question, but he went ignored. Eanraig continued to watch Toby, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Toby looked at the grass, then knelt as if to get comfortable. But instead of stopping, he collected the gilded knife with the curved blade from Baran's feet and headed for the pedestal.

This one came with the garden, he supposed.

"Wait, Eanraig, you're not proposing that he- "the Fae demanded, making as if to rise and intervene in Toby's plan. Eanraig laid a hand upon his arm and pushed, forcing him back into his seat. "I'm not proposing anything. The boy has free reign. If he has a prayer to make, is it not in our duty to allow him his time, like we have allowed ours? Why should we prevent him if he has something which he yearns to ask for?"

"A mortal has never spilled blood in this garden in all the years this hall has stood. Why now?"

Eanraig's eyes left Baran to follow the boy, who had paused in front of the statue with a look of intense thought, kneeling deep in the grass so his eyes were barely level with the statue's hands. "These are strange times, my friend. I have a feeling there will be many "first times" in this hall in the coming years."

Toby stared into the pool of blood before his face. Strangely, there was no smell. Well, at least, not a strong one. And it shimmered slightly, showing the presence of something otherworldly. Like magic. Or… magnetic frequencies. He wasn't sure.

What could he ask for?

He was about to draw the blade across his hand when a new hand dropped onto his shoulder. Heavy, but familiar, his head whipped up to see Lachlan looking down at him seriously. Then, after a moment, the warrior Fae also lowered himself to his knees beside him and turned his too-pale eyes to the poised hands. Then he lifted his pendant, pressed a kiss to it, then held it towards the sun. After a second, he stowed it back under his shirt, and sighed as if he were preoccupied.

"Make sure your intent is clear before you spill your blood upon this quartz altar, Tobias Williams. Look at the works of Fae nature around her, notice their stances. They are guards. To be unsure is to be dubious in intent, and that could be taken as a threat."

Toby pulled his hand away from the knife. "And when I am sure?"

Lachlan smiled, turning to him. "Then you slice straight and true along your life line, this line here, on your palm," he tilted his bare hand towards him and pointed it out with a sweep of his fingers, "Then you clasp your hand over hers, and let it trickle in. After, you take one of these leaves," he gestured to the leaves growing at the base, surrounding their knees, "and lay it over the cut. Then you get comfortable and you offer your praises and then make your request."

"Oh. I thought it was harder than that."

"It is, slightly. You're sitting wrong. Here, allow me to help."
The others watched as Lachlan steadily set about crossing Toby's ankles behind him so his soles were bared, pushed at his shoulders until he sat straight, then corrected his hold on the knife. The boy chattered amicably with him, smiling at times, and Arlyn made a small noise at the back of his throat.

"Remind you of anyone?"

Baran nodded, "He was just like this with Jareth. Even before his father died."

"Because he always wanted kids, but nature never intended for him to have any."

They turned to look at Eanraig, questions perched upon the tips of their tongues. He shook his head slightly.

"It is not my place. Just think of him, as truly as you can. Look at his chosen profession. His choice in partner. The conclusion will come by itself."

Away from them, Toby was still asking questions.

"So say I wasn't holding it right and I cut myself somewhere else as well. Would that ruin my offering?"

Lachlan shrugged, "It would hurt, I'm not sure about much else. It just isn't how it's done. You slice as straight and true as you can, along your lifeline, and let that spill."

"Why not your wrist?"

"Because you would lose too much blood and possibly die if you cut too deep, which is counterproductive. Also, again, it would hurt."

"Why not another line in your hand?"

"Because this line represents our lives. It is the truest line in all of us, it shows the intents of our hearts and our souls. To cut somewhere else would be deceptive, and in return, your request of the Goddess would either go ignored or unplanned. Best not to meddle with fate, hm?"

Toby nodded slowly. "I… I know what I want to ask for."

"Then proceed, Tobias Williams."

As the cold metal bit into his skin, Toby hissed and whimpered, but grit his teeth as the blood welled and began to pool in his hand before curling his fingers in and holding it over the quartz statue's hands. Beside him, Choilleach took the blade and, after wiping it clean, followed the same process. Their blood trickled in unison and mixed with that which had already been offered by those behind them.

As the leaf covered the smarting pain in his hand, Toby gasped as it flashed gold and sprang from his hand in a small curl of golden smoke, leaving his hand blissfully clear.
'Please protect my sister and… and Jareth. They don't know it yet, but they need each other. I need them to find each other or else I'm gonna lose Sarah. Please help them do that. I will do whatever you want. Just keep them safe.'

Satisfied, he smiled to himself, then got up to leave.

However, a voice entered his head then, without using his ears. He couldn't say what kind of voice it was, not even what gender. Just that it made him feel cold and spongy all at once.

'What are you willing to lose, little mortal?'

He flinched, staring down at his hand in horror. Then he grit his teeth again, nodding to himself.

'Everything. Just don't let them die.'

'A bold offering.' It rang, echoing around his mind, 'Words have knives. Make sure you look for them in the dark, before giving away your soul.'

'If it will save my family, I'll do it.'

The voice smiled, and his ears almost curled in response to the feeling. How could a voice smile? How had he felt it? His toes curled against his trousers.

'Welcome into my realm, Master Tobias. I will be watching.'

He looked up at the statue and felt the cold feeling in his head swim down his neck as the statue's face seemed to twitch into a knowing smile. But when he blinked, it was gone. And Lachlan was watching him just as intently as the rest of them.

"Toby? What's wrong?"

He rubbed his neck, sitting back in the grass with a slightly scared look, "Did… didn't you hear that? The voice that was speaking?"

Lachlan shook his head, "I did not, for no one spoke to me. Do not speak of what was said, Tobias, when making your offering. Those words were only intended for a single set of ears."

Standing, he pulled the boy up beside him and slung a heavy arm around his shoulders, pulling him back to the congregation in the middle of the garden.

"Well, boy, I suppose that settles it," Baran said gruffly, though his eyes were shining at him differently than they ever had before.

Toby blanched, but was dragged into sitting down by Lachlan, in the space beside Arlyn. "Settles what?"

"I can no longer threaten to separate your head from your shoulders. You're one of us, now."

Toby's eyes widened, and Baran shot him a toothy grin. "Wait what- "

"Our blood is entwined now. All of ours. You are now, technically, family. At least for now. Welcome into our midst."

Arlyn let out a guffaw, "Oh how precious, look at how scared he is at you smiling at him."

Lachlan nudged him with a shoulder, "See, I told you not to fear him. He's not half as menacing as he appears."

Eanraig held up a hand, and they all lapsed into a companionable silence. "Before we get to the matter of that very intriguing book you've brought with you today, Toby, I believe we need to wait for one more. Jaque is joining us. He wants to hear Lachlan's report, apparently."

As if on cue, the door glowed and golden vines sprang out of it, a warm tingle settling over Toby's skin, before it swung inward and Jaque appeared. He took one look at the circle, then at the altar, before a strange look sprang to his face.

"Oh fades, don't tell me he did it."

"He did it," Lachlan confirmed.

"Goddess damn it, Toby. Why couldn't you wait till I got here to witness history being made?"

He sighed, but the boy could tell he was joking by the mischievous look he caught as Jaque swiped his gloved hands over his face.

Eanraig frowned. "Jaque, gloves are not permitted in this garden. You know that."

The faeling frowned in return, clasping his hands behind his back. "I believe the Goddess will allow the… exceptional circumstances, when I make my offering."

"I don't".

It was Arlyn who spoke, looking uncharacteristically annoyed as he bristled at Jaque's words. "Leave them at the door, Jaque."

"No."

The tension suddenly sprang up a few notches, and Arlyn sat back up on his heels, "You dare defy the sanctity of this garden over childish whim?"

"No, Arlyn, I do not. I will take them off, but not until after I have made my offering to The Goddess. I have my reasons, I have cause, and no I do not do it with intent to offend or harm."
He stalked away, Arlyn's gaze blazing into his back.

The pool over the Goddess's hands sparked a little when he tipped in his blood, and Toby found himself sitting forward in interest.

Lachlan forced him to sit back again, shaking his head. When Jaque finally re-joined them, Arlyn opened his mouth again, but Jaque shook his head. "Not until our favourite human has spoken. I promise you, it's worth the wait."

Toby took the incentive to pull the book towards him, hands shaking as he remembered he was never allowed into the Archives. He should have asked the Goddess forgiveness for trespassing, he thought belatedly. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty.

"I um… well I found this… uh…"

Eanraig scoffed, "Spare us the details of how you acquired it, "he said, flicking his gaze to Jaque, "Something tells us our imagination can fill in the gaps, hm?"

"Ah, okay um..." Toby continued, wincing, and trying to find a new starting place. His hand passed over the cover of his sister's book, their book. It was neither green nor blue. It had both water and stars. Underneath his palm, it felt like his hand were passing over a pond yet also as if great air was shifting. The cover never so much as rippled, and when he looked at his hand, it was dry.

"Sarah beat the Labyrinth by taking in its magic. That, and Jareth helped her. See, Jareth loved her and didn't want to see her hurt, wanted her happy, but also wanted her to stay with him. He thought that by giving her what she always wanted, in turn, she'd give him what he had always wanted."

"A companion," Lachlan said softly, eyes sad.

Toby nodded, "A Queen, for the Kingdom he had never wanted. And then… along the way… he got lost."

He opened the book, and the smell of a forest hit them.

"He fed her, because she was hungry, but also to show her some of her dreams. The fruit was faerie, so it bound her to the underground, to his court.

"He danced with her within a seelie ring, sang to her. This also bound her to his court.

"They already had a contract, as she had wished… wished me away…" he paused, voice cracking, and he dropped his gaze to his bare feet. Over his head, the fae shared a look, but it was Baran who reached over and patted his foot heavily to break his reverie.

"Aye, and she won you back by turning her back on her dreams, isn't that right?"

Toby smiled, nodding. "Yeah… she gave up everything. Sacrificed everything. But Jareth was exhausting his magic reserves behind the scenes. To waylay her, then reorder time to give it back when the guilt got to him. He moved the Labyrinth around to stop her from finding the clearest paths, but let his servants choose whether to aid or hinder her respectively. He… he looked after me… and proclaimed me his heir."

Eanraig swore explosively, "He what?!"

The boy bit his lip and nodded, "I… I think that's why I keep coming here too. You guys tend to recognise heirs when they come into adolescence like I am doing, and my ties to Jareth took me to his kingdom."

Jaque was smiling, the only one looking remotely untroubled by the entire scene just laid out to them, "That, and you are Sarah's blood, and when she saved you and won you back, you became her's to protect."

"When Sarah won, when she gave up even on the prospect of ever being truly loved in her life and ever having free will, the Labyrinth and Jareth, unwittingly, granted her certain powers. The book uh… doesn't say what they are because she hasn't figured them out yet," Toby added.

"So, in short, Toby has been visiting us using Sarah's magic reserves. She probably also visits Jareth too, though since Toby is doing the same, she'll never remember it. Which, now that he has a new wife… puts both of the Williams brood in grave danger."

Jaque plucked off the glove from his free hand and set it down in front of him, very carefully, attracting the gazes of each person in the circle with him.

Eanraig looked sceptical, "We shouldn't draw conclusions against the Queen Aislinn over hearsay and assumptions, regardless of how much circumstantial and unexplainable events cloud her path. Without exact evidence, we cannot do more."

The youth grinned, "Well, this definitely isn't exact, but it adds more… unexplainable things to the pile. I only show you now because I can't seem to find someone to help me and it is spreading like a lady's legs in court."

Before Toby could ask what exactly their courts concerned, especially since Sarah seemed to be tied to one, Jaque gently peeled off his other glove and held it up to be inspected.

To say that it looked like it belonged to a corpse would be such an understatement, any bard in any of the high courts would have wept.

The skin was barely hanging on.

"What in the Fade happened to you?!"

It wasn't Eanraig who had asked, though the Fae looked ready to vomit or commit murder.
Nor was it any of his uncles.

Lachlan had crossed the circle to cradle the hand in his lap, the tenderness a vast contrast from his typical stance.
"I touched something I shouldn't have."

Lachlan's grip tightened and Jaque whimpered, "Okay, okay! I was in the hall of Sarah's dormitory block, speaking with Heilyn. He directed me towards Aislinn's handmaiden, Aliannah. Painted her as the personification of the Isle of Nocte as we perceive it.

"Without her present, so I couldn't shake her hand, I took the incentive to use my talents against her door, her barrier. And my hand… welded to the wood, after a spell. I could smell something wrong, so I pushed past my limits to catch it. And instead it caught… me."

Lachlan peered over his hand and up his wrist, then up his arm where its tendrils had begun to creep. "This looks serious… a curse of some sort."

"I was lucky. Originally, the door tried to strangle me. Quite generous of it just to try and take my arm, really."

"Dark magic. This confirms at least one thing, your highness…" Lachlan murmured, white hair spilling over his otherwise youthful expression, "Aliannah is an unseelie. Or is a pet to one."

Eanraig's hands lifted, fingers wrapping around the silver wreath in his head and tightening in frustration, "But can we prove that it is her practising the magic?"

Jaque smiled but it was sharp, without a shred of humour or kindness, "Not at all, Uncle."

"Fade damn it!"

The high King turned on Choilleach, "And you? Do you have any good news to depart after watching dear Sarah? Why has she dropped out of University? Our university?!"

Lachlan sat back on his haunches, then sat back in his original position beside Toby and Baran. For a moment it seemed he would utterly refuse to cooperate and say anything, as he continuously shook his head and wrung his hands in his lap. Toby's eyes were drawn to them again, once more in awe of the scarring he saw there.

"Nothing good, I'm afraid. Someone or something is trying to kill her, as we feared."

"We cannot meddle with mortal affairs."

"Mortals cannot kill someone by invading their dreams, my liege."

He passed a hand over the grass in front of them, intricately moving his fingers, and soon the green blades gave way to a mirrored pool that seemed to look down into the living room that Sarah was renting.

She sat cowering on her couch, one hand rubbing at her throat, and the other wrapped tightly around her knees. Her neck was heavily bruised with clear indents of fingers, her arms cut up as if she's been running through thorns and had fallen a few times. Her hair was wild, eyes the same. It was clear she had lost a lot of weight, and Toby felt the guilt so hard for not phoning more often and insisting on seeing her. She looked so scared. As scared as he had been when he had first started coming here and had been restrained to a chair and threatened with death each night.

Someone laughed outside her apartment and she shot back in fright, brandishing a kitchen knife which she aimed towards her door as if daring them to come in. When they passed on, she slowly lowered it to her coffee table, and began to cry quietly.

"She hasn't slept in four days, now. Each time she has fallen asleep, she acts as if she's being chased. Puts up a hell of a fight. Then she goes rigid, begins gasping for air, and bruising starts forming around her arms and legs as if she's restrained. She wakes up screaming on Jareth every time."

"He has to have heard her, surely?"

"Who can say? He never responds. Never so much as drops by to check on her. But… and here's the strange thing… his goblins have gone rogue."

Baran began to laugh, "They were never tamed to begin with, they were just too scared of him to do anything other than what he bid them."

Lachlan spared him a nod, "Be that as it may, despite any fear they hold or held for him, they are straying from his Kingdom. They have been standing vigil over both the boy and his sister since we got involved. Always hiding in the shadows, but nevertheless, they have helped our cause along quite nicely."

"Do explain."

He pointed a finger at the boy, "They dropped that book in his lap. Helped him find every other thing he needed. Every time Sarah seemed to be forgetting their King, they would pull something to remind her."

Toby's eyes widened, "Is that the rustling and giggling I keep hearing?!"

Lachlan grinned, "They are mischievous by nature, though in my experience they're usually more malevolent towards mortals than they've been towards the pair of you. They also leave what looks to you mortals as glitter but is really residual magic particles courtesy of them moving between realms. They aren't bound to the same rules we are."

"And their intent?"

He shrugged, "Unsure. It appears as if they have tired of watching their King wasting away and wish to see the land and himself prosper again. And as he was the most animated we ever saw him in millennia when Sarah came into his life, it would seem that they are protecting his best interests and also trying to figure out how to give her back to him."

"It might be time, Eanraig."

Arlyn spoke softly but his expression revealed nothing, eyes trained on his friend. The blonde turned to him then looked at Toby, before looking back and shaking his head.

"It is too soon, surely?"

"Your call. What else must we lose, must they lose, before you pull the bell?"

"The boy is not ready!"

"Then make him ready!"

The exchange was heated, volleyed between the pair, and Toby watched on in confusion. "Wait, not ready for what?"

"For now, Tobias, this does not concern you. When the time comes, we will discuss it."

"Will it help Sarah?!"

"I said not now!"

"But if its gonna save Sarah I wanna do! I'll do it right now! I'm ready, I can-"

"ENOUGH!"

Eanraig's voice silenced all, including the birds which had kept up constant song since their arrival. His eyes were glowing, and it was then that Toby realised that it hadn't been the light- all of their eyes were coloured, iris' broken. There was no white to speak of. They looked almost feral, certainly inhuman. And he was reminded once more that they were not even remotely the same species.

"I will address it when the time comes. There... there are things to put in place. My wife knows nought- I will not jeopardise her safety by bringing more danger into her home without alerting her first."

He looked around them all, and as he did he calmed, the birdsong returning to the trees.

"Besides, do we not have Queen Aislinn In our Halls?"

Toby finally piped up, "What do you mean Queen? When did they get married?! Why did no one tell me?!"

Lachlan shrugged, "It isn't like we could allow you to attend, little one."

"Yeah, but isn't she like… bad?!"

He inclined his head to the side, "Well she is definitely… something. We just haven't figured out what it is yet. Jareth has been acting peculiarly since they met."

"Indeed, at their wedding he looked ready to step into the Fade. There was no inflection to his voice, no expression, no clever retorts. He seems to have given up," Arlyn said. His entire form looked forlorn, and as the boy watched, his ears twitched back and drooped.

"Then why don't we ask her? Maybe he's ill."

Baran looked at him appraisingly, "If he were ill, Tobias, then why hasn't he sought help?"

"Maybe he has and it's serious!"

"Then why wouldn't he tell the only family he has left?"

Toby lifted the book, "Because he still feels abandoned and unwanted, of course! He doesn't feel as if he belongs unless he is as you want him, and being ill would make him not that, so he is staying away."

"Give me that book."

Toby pulled it away even as Baran reached for it with a swipe, "No! You're not allowed to read it!"

"Oh? And why are you?!"

"Because Sarah is my sister and I would die for her!"

"Jareth is my nephew and I would die for him!"

"Sisters are closer!"

"Blood is blood!"

"Oh do stop, both of you, before this becomes a measuring contest," a new voice sounded.

They whirled to find Yennifer stood in the doorway in her refinement, not crossing the threshold.

They all stood, some more fluidly than others. All more gracefully than Toby.

"Queen Yennifer! To what pleasure…"

"Lady Aislinn wishes to speak to her King, Eanraig. She speaks of having information which you might find… important."

"Of course," Eanraig stepped forward to claim his wife in an embrace, sharing a kiss that Toby felt he shouldn't be witness to as it felt so heartfelt. God he felt sick.

She smiled into his ear, but they all saw him tense as she whispered In his ear.

"We can discuss what you all have been talking about this past year when you are done, hm? I have a matter I wish to talk with you further about anyway."

He nodded, "O-of course, Yen. Of course."

"Come, let's not keep her waiting."

The door shut behind them.

In his solar, Aislinn sat poised on the edge of her seat looking positively distraught. When he entered, she rose to greet him fervently, reaching for his hand with her own.

"Oh finally, my King, finally. I wished you could have come sooner," she gushed, pushing forward for a hug as if her emotions simply overwhelmed her. He allowed it, hand stroking her hair as he hushed her.

She smiled darkly into his shoulder.

If the sundial in his room were accurate, then she was just on time to thwart Jareth even further. With his best friend out of commission, there were less who would notice his lack of character or presence around the keep. Less who would report it to his Uncle who was trying so hard to keep tabs on him.

"Speak, child… what ails you?"

She pulled back, holding her hands clasped to her chest. "I hate to tell you this, I hate to put anyone in trouble or concern you, but I only do so as I fear for his welfare."

"Whose welfare? Jareth's?"

She shook her head, some of her hair falling loose from where she'd pinned it. "No, no, he is quite fine I assure you. Just tired from all his work. No, it's Xavior, my King, the Captain of your Royal Guard!"

"What of him? Has he strayed from his duties?"

She nodded sadly, eyes wide with panic. "You have all been so kind to me since my betrothal with Jareth became finalised. My safety was paramount, I distinctly remember my tour of Aurea. Of where I could and could not go."

Eanraig's eyes narrowed, "What has this to do with my guard?"

Aislinn reached for his arm, "The forbidden wing, Xavior called it when he showed me around. The place you have cordoned off as it has not yet been deemed as safe since… well, some part of Terauramulis' history I'm not privy to. I meant to speak with him, you see. Invite him to see Jareth at our castle, but he… he…"

She sobbed.

"Did he hurt you?"

Aislinn focused her gaze on him intently, "No, your highness… he entered the wing before I could catch up with him. Was muttering something about Jareth. Please, you must hurry. I fear what might befall him if someone does not retrieve him soon!"

Eanraig ran from the room with a growl, leaving the door spanning shut behind him. Behind his desk, Aislinn smirked and sighed to herself, making herself comfortable as she began to systematically go through his desk.

Down the corridor, he found Lachlan, who fell into a controlled sprint beside him. "What ails you, Eanraig? What has Aislinn brought to you?"

"Xavior is in the Forbidden wing- where is Tobias?!"

Lachlan paled, putting on more speed. "I left him there with Arlyn, Baran had to leave for his Kingdom. Are you sure?"

Eanraig's mouth set in a hard line, "Unfortunately, I'm convinced she was telling the truth. I'm just not sure why…"

At the doors, they both slowed, and Choilleach paused with a gauntlet against the wooden panels, "You know what this means, if we find him in here?"

The fae beside him seemed to have aged considerably as his shoulders sagged.

"Laws are made for all, not just one. The punishment for trespassing in this wing is Death. And so it shall stand."

Choilleach's breath caught harshly in his throat, but he nodded. Solid in resignation. "As you bid, my King."