The corridors blew past her in a blur of sandstone and tapestries as she was quickly led away from the King's solar, a myriad of thoughts and feelings warring for attention and filling the otherwise awkward quiet that had permeated upon their hasty exit. Her feet were cold as they slapped against the unforgiving stone floor and occasionally she hissed as a join or an edge would catch her heels or bite at her toes. Finally, before she could demand what the hell was going on, Jaque started to slow down, drawing to a halt in an open corridor surrounded by trees that entered one of Aurea's courtyards. He was panting, but grinning, as he let his grasp slide from her to push his hair from his face and blow out a loud breath, taking their surroundings in. Sarah continued to glare at him in disbelief as he avoided her gaze. The feelings built. The thoughts grew louder. And then her fists tightened by her sides as her temper began to boil.

"You look constipated, Sarah dear," Jaque said, shooting her a charming smile. He sighed, contented, the tension releasing from his shoulders, pointedly ignoring her attempt to intimidate him as he motioned with his head for her to follow, venturing out into the garden, "Shall we?"

The youth stalked away without so much as a backward glance, disappearing past the wooden barrier lining the small vestibule. She paused, waiting for him to come back. When he didn't, she found herself growling, and looked to her side at the large, imposing doors she'd have to pass through to find someone else. It was that or follow him. She looked back at the gap he'd went through, then back at the doors, squaring her shoulders. She had her pride still, if not her freedom.

Sarah followed him, pushing past the thick branches Jaque had passed by. In an instant she went from swearing colourfully at the foliage to blinking away warm sunshine as the trees spat her out the other side, her anger stuttering into silence as emerald orbs gazed at the wonder around her.

Strange formations of crystal in every colour met her eye, bleeding into one another in coloured veins and shelves of rock, filtering the light like stained glass onto the intricately carved slabs underfoot. Water rushed through them each bubbling melodically, the different stones giving off different tones where It passed within and escaped further down, creating music unlike anything she'd ever heard before. Jaque was nowhere to be seen the first time she looked yet for a moment she didn't care. He'd be in here somewhere. Shoving the thought aside she pushed on. Mouth agape and eyes wide as she ducked past small outcrops and ledges, fingers tracing every crevice and face she passed by, intent on seeking what lay ahead.

The water guided her further in. Each plant that grew here seemed to have found purchase in the small gaps by chance rather than planted. Some tickled her face as she passed underneath them, others shrank away and reappeared somewhere close by. Purple met copper, merging into sunset reds and dusky silvers. Her path startled some birds she didn't recognise who took flight, flashing gold where the sunlight glinted from their feathers. A smile took to her face. Her pace sped up, almost skipping. It took her a few minutes to realise that the plants were singing too. Even longer to find that her anger had abandoned her, and a heavy blanket of serenity had taken its place. She wanted to dance. Sing. She felt so free. A laugh escaped her. She'd never seen anything like it, these rocks, the flowers almost dripping onto her. She could sleep. She could yell. She couldn't believe-

"-And that is quite enough of that," a voice suddenly cut through her little haze and the singing ceased. Blinking, Sarah slowly came back to herself in time to see Jaque suddenly standing close by admonishing the nearby flora with a stern finger, expression hard and exasperated. The fuzzy feeling that had filled her slipped away and in its absence came a feeling of loss and confusion. The flowers she'd been admiring now managed to look abashed, turning away from the fae and closing their startlingly bright petals. Comprehension dawned on her and the irritation from before soon returned as she took stock of what had almost transpired. Of course, the flowers had magic too. This was the Underground. Nothing was as it first appeared in the land of the fae. She should have known.

Looking past Jaque, she saw a small circle of the same flowers now attempting look as innocent as possible. One even appeared to be blushing. She snorted.

"My apologies, Sarah, the gardens aren't er… accustomed to guests," the blond said sheepishly, coming back to her side and taking her elbow. Another dark look was given to the plants before he steered them both away, avoiding the circle entirely to take a winding path Sarah would otherwise have missed. "Entirely my fault, the gardeners have been attending Queen Yennifer's garden for the last spell. I should have anticipated they wouldn't have made it down this far quite yet this early in the season. Still, no harm, no foul. You're already contracted here, they couldn't have done much else, hm?"

Sarah squawked and tried to turn on him, but his grip on her arm was like a gentle vice and his gait didn't so much as pause as he led them onwards. "Jaque!" she finally managed a second time, but he was already smiling again and interrupting again before she got much further.

"I imagined you'd have more than a few questions, and if I know you- all tales of you aside – then some might get quite loud. So, I also believed you'd appreciate a little a little privacy to try and get your head on straight."

The path opened again into another clearing that looked much like the first, except she recognised this stone as blue quartz, and the flowers that looked like swans taking flight. Her dad had a neighbour that grew them, or something quite like them. She'd always looked forward to them coming back up each spring.

These blooms rather put Mr. Richard's to shame.

A bench appeared, naturally occurring from where the crystal had met and pushed into one another. It was strange. Sarah moved her head around, and it seemed to change shape from each angle she looked at it. Then it would settle back into the same bench. Jaque pushed her towards it, ushering for her to sit down. When she didn't, an exasperated sigh left him, then he tugged her down onto it as he took a seat himself.

For a moment, the silence came back. The water continued trickling past them. The sun continued to warm them. Then it broke.

"What. The. Hell, Jaque."

Sarah wasn't looking at him. Her head was tilted up, the sun kissing the freckles dusted across her nose as she stared at the formations in front of her. She was frowning, mouth pursed. Hands folded in her lap.

He glanced at her then, brows raised as he considered her question. He followed her gaze, exhaling audibly through his nose, "I'm not quite sure where you'd like me to start."

"Anywhere. The beginning, I suppose."

"Yours or ours? Which time?" He tilted his head, "Beginnings are entirely relative."

She cut him a piercing stare, then went back to staring at the crystals. "You lied to me."

"I did."

"Why?"

"Because you needed me to."

A faint breeze wafted past them, sweet and earthy, stirring his hair from his collar and blowing Sarah's into her eyes. She huffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly how it sounds. You weren't prepared to handle the truth. Statues of us were scaring you, the real thing would hardly put your mind at ease, would it? Not when you were so determined it had all been a horrible nightmare. You've had a rough few years, Sarah. I was trying to help you."

She bit the inside of her cheek, "Was it just you, or was everyone else... not human... fae... as well?"

Jaque cleared his throat, moving his head from side to side before settling again, "Oh nearly everyone was fae, with a few cases remaining to be seen. Perhaps a couple of nymphs, one or two dryads. You were the only mortal to find our school in centuries. Quite the find, really."

Sarah's throat tightened. "… Even Aliannah?" she asked quietly.

"Even Aliannah."

A muscle jumped in her temple. How was this possible? She'd been so careful...

"Why me?"

"There could be multiple reasons. The most prevalent is probably because we made sure you'd find us," he replied whimsically, lifting a shoulder, "But then there's always your own stubbornness to find what no one else sees, your craving of something outwith the normal. The fact that you've already encountered us, tasted magic. There are so many reasons one can hardly begin to name them all."

Sarah fiddled with a loose thread on her pyjamas. The overwhelming feeling of having the rug ripped from under her rested heavily on her shoulders, making her sag under the weight. Everything she'd done had been pointless. All that running, for nought.

"I tried to leave it all behind me," she muttered, "I wanted… I needed to believe it wasn't real. I had to grow up, for my sake and Toby's. They thought I was losing it, sent me to a shrink. They were going to stop me seeing my brother. I… I needed to keep him safe."

"But he was safe."

Sarah shook her head vehemently, "No, he wasn't. I put him in danger. Suddenly there was a whole new world out there on our doorstep that had been there the entire time, with impossible beings and things, things that didn't care if he lived or died. I did that to him. I had to be the one to protect him." She took in a deep breath, shaking her head. "He taught me that much after I beat Him."

"He," Jaque corrected carefully, "Taught you to be careful what you wish for, and for what you say. Which was also what you needed."

"Where is he?" She asked suddenly. She was biting her lip, hands fisting in her shirt. "I would have thought he'd be the first person here, waiting to laugh at me, lord it over me. Maybe just to say hello."

Jaque froze for a moment, doing his best to sound calm. "Jareth? He… He's… away," he finally managed, with little inflection.

"His mother seemed particularly angry at me about that. She said he was lost, that I nearly killed him. And that he's lost again. Seemed to think it was my fault."

"I rather imagine she did," he smiled, "Lavanya's fiercely protective of him. Has been since…" He paused again, frowning, "Actually never mind that. She just is. And in many ways she isn't wrong."

Sarah was watching him intently, knuckles turning white from where they'd become burrowed in her clothing, "Is that why I'm here? Because his mum wants me to say sorry?!" She cried incredulously. Jaque merely grinned at her.

"No, but come the end, I don't think it would hurt," he shook his head with another smile, before brushing some imaginary lint from his trousers and leaning on them again, "No you're here for another reason entirely. Your brother wished you away to Eanraig in exchange for severing his connection to this land."

She gawped at him as he began fiddling with his gloves, then his boots, brushing off some more invisible dirt and inspecting the sole. "What do you- connection? What the hell-"

"Your brother has been visiting us for quite some time now, Sarah dear," he interjected, amusement growing, "He'll be thirteen soon, won't he? Quite the pivotal age for a young man."

The plants around her seemed to respond to the change in mood and started closing their petals as she flinched.

"How long?"

"Earth time? Six months. Our time? Nearly five years. Long enough for us to intercept his trajectory to Jareth's Kingdom and redirect it here. Move his interrogation premises. Bring him into the fold."

His lack of concern was quickly grating on her already frayed nerves, "You never so much as breathed a word to me about this-"

"I was under express orders. On an entirely different mission. I didn't even meet him until a little while ago. My whole purpose was to keep an eye on you, then you nearly made me so I had to change the rules a little. I've been run ragged between keeping tabs on you and keeping up with my missions."

"So your entire project, with the sculpture, the portrait? All of it was a lie, so you could spy on my family and me?!"

"A stretched truth. Very stretched. I needed a different reason to be at the University, it's my job here, and it was a means to an end. Technically I am a student, doing these things, just not at that particular University, see?"

She blinked.

"It's not as if I could have just come out and said "Greetings, Sarah Williams, I've been observing and stalking you for months to ensure you aren't about to jeopardise the whole of fae kind and enact a doomsday prophecy", could I? You'd have screamed the place down before I made it to the end of your name."

She blinked again.

"You made a glamorous model," he complimented her.

She stared.

"Hardly moved an inch."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Which one?"

"About Toby."

Jaque gestured flippantly, "He's been here for ages-"

"You keep deflecting me!" Sarah accused, jumping from her seat to pace in front of the bench, hands leaping to her hair, "But won't tell me why he was coming here! Why, Jaque? Why was he here?!"

"So he wouldn't be with Jareth. Did you not hear them in the solar? Jareth was prepared to raze the place over it! Bit dramatic if you ask me-" he pointed back the way they came but quickly lowered his hand in fright a moment later.

"Why was he in the Underground?!" She finally cried, whirling round to glare at him, "And don't give me some half-assed answer. Why was he coming to the Underground, Jaque?!"

The blond's expression fell, then hardened.

All traces of amusement fell away. "Magic."

Sarah looked like she was about to hit him. "That's it-"

He held up a gloved hand, halting her tirade. "No, Sarah, literally. Magic. Jareth's, to be more precise. Apparently he must have done something that night he had Toby, when you were Running. Said something. Given him something. Something potent enough that gave him the ability to travel between our worlds. For whatever reason, on the night of a blood moon, he visited Jareth. And afterwards… he kept doing so."

"That's impossible! How… how?!"

"He must have been spirit walking, or at least that's what Choilleach suspects. Every night when he fell asleep, he turned up here. Every night without fail. Until now, of course. Peculiar timing too, considering his age. Once a faeling enters into the beginning of manhood - 13 human years, if my research has been accurate - then they begin their training as a squire in the royal family to begin their role as part of the heirarchy."

"I knew it! That sly bastard wasn't fooling anyone that night he turned up at the house-"

This time it was Jaque's turn to look bewildered, "I beg your pardon? What do you mean turned up?"

"It was some freak thunderstorm and my dad and Karen didn't come home, which was weird enough on its own. Then he showed up with a mangled arm, was nice to Toby, and asked me to patch him up. He left at dawn. Called himself Choilleach but told Toby to call him Lachlan."

Jaque looked like harvest had just come early, "Did he indeed. That's very interesting. Complete breach of his orders, of course, knew he had it in him."

But Sarah wasn't even listening to him anymore. "So… So I'm here, just so he isn't here?"

To give Jaque his due, he was doing his best to keep up with the situation. He found Sarah- as well as all humans- fascinating, and now that she'd been brought to Terauramulis he'd felt she'd need a friendly face to help her get settled in. He'd been prepared to talk this out with her. Just… he just hadn't expected it all at once and had also expected a coherent order to it all. "That's a large part of it- or at least, what it says on the contract. Seems like a pattern with you Williams siblings."

"And you've lost Jareth?"

"… That's a debatable question that has many answers at bedy."

Sarah opened her mouth again to ask something else, but Jaque stepped neatly into her path and took her arm in his own, tugging her out of her rhythmic pacing towards another opening in the courtyard. "All in due time, Sarah. We have time. But I'd much prefer we discussed them after you've bathed, maybe gotten some sleep. Those bags under your eyes look positively dreadful, and your hair- why, I don't believe I've ever seen a strand out of place before now. Not to mention your voice sounds like you've put it through the paces recently…" Her hand lifted subconsciously to her throat where she knew dark bruises lingered, fingers barely ghosting over the marks there before dropping again. She quickly averted her gaze, her hair falling over her face and neck as she hunched in on herself. He watched all of this and more but made a show of looking for the path back into the palace.

"Not to worry though, your chambers have already been set up in one of the Wings and your hand maidens will take care of you. It's still rather early yet, the second sunrise is not yet upon us, therefore still time for you to get some rest."

The walk passed with the pair both lost in their thoughts. Jaque left her outside of the grand double doors that led into her allocated chambers and turned soundlessly on his heel, a troubled expression clouding his features as he rounded the corner and disappeared from view. Despondently, she continued standing there, staring at the space he'd vacated until his footsteps had fully receded.

Steeling herself, Sarah looked up at the doors and straightened her back. "Guess there's nothing else for it- c'mon, feet."

Grasping the handle, she pressed her body against the solid wood and pushed, sliding through the gap and into the room.

Immediately she was confronted by a pair of fae who looked like they'd been squabbling up until she'd opened the door, doing their best to stand tall and still as they shuffled into place in front of her. The woman had short, shockingly auburn hair that tickled the line of her jaw, and Sarah's eyes were drawn to it like a moth to flame as the door clicked quietly shut behind her. She felt like she was fixed in headlights for the intensity of the stare that held her, big and golden, didn't waver or dim. She pulled her own gaze from it to the man who had equally bright hair but eyes of jade and amber, eyes deep set and still lingering with annoyance.

Siblings, Sarah deduced after a moment. The resemblance was too striking, and the guilty stance of trying to hide familial bickering was all too obvious to her.

"Um… hello?" She tried after a few seconds. She felt rather self conscious all over again. Standing there in her sesame street pyjamas. bruised and harried, bare (now dirty) feet on the plush, clean rug, when faced with two impeccably dressed fae in neat tunics and shining leather, knee high boots. She tried to smooth her hands over her hair and to straighten out her top quickly in an attempt to make herself more presentable, but it was a wasted effort for all the change it made.

The girl was grinning now, and her brother was looking even less impressed than before.

"Lady Williams, a pleasure to finally meet y-"

"Nice nightwear, Miss."

The pair finally chimed in their greetings. The man shot a filthy look at his sister but she blatantly ignored it, stepped forward to take a better look at their new charge.

Sarah blushed. "They… I…" she looked down at them again, feeling utterly mortified now as Elmo grinned back up at her, "Thanks."

"Do all mortals wear this kind of thing to their beds?"

"Some. Not all."

The redhead positively glowed, "Amazing."

"Enough, Evelina."

The man stepped forward, hands clasped neatly behind his back as he came to address Sarah once more. "Lady Williams, please excuse my sister, Evelina. She has forgotten herself," he greeted her, sparing the other woman a look before returning to his charge, "My name is Cuinn. I am tasked with keeping you on track during your stay with us as well as out of trouble. Any and all queries should be directed my way unless you are with someone of higher import or with my sister." He took out a small orb from his pocket, peering at it as if he didn't quite know what it was, then held it out to her. "This… bauble… will alert me when you require my services." He then pulled a pocket sized sundial out of his tunic that had too many fixtures on it to be any kind of sun dial Sarah had ever experiences, and made a disgruntled noise. "For now, I must take my leave. I will be return later to collect you, so you can go to the dining room to break your fast. Until then, I must bid you farewell for now."

Bowing his head, the room seemed to move to the side slightly, averting Sarah's eyes, then he was gone.

Shaking her head to dispel the strange sense of vertigo, she turned her attention back to Evelina, who was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement as she waited beside her.

Sarah tried to smile, but it was strained. The intensity of the stare was disconcerting.

"Well as you heard, I'm Evelina! I'm your handmaid," she smiled, "Usually there's a group, but this time there's just me. I'll help you dress appropriately while you're here, get you familiar with how things are done, prepare you for grand events and be a companion," she said shyly, blushing a little herself, "I bet you could use one or two of them right now, huh?"

Sarah pulled her arms in tighter to herself, a wry twist to her lips. "I could use a way out, if you know one?"

Evelina blinked, smile frozen in place, then she laughed. "Ha! You're funny! There's no way out of Terauramulis without the King's say so, and you're a prized guest, silly." She shuffled off towards a door at the far end of the room, finally pulling Sarah's attention to the large four-poster dominating most of it against the back wall.

Standing on a raised dais, it cut a dominating point of intrigue. The mattress was at least four times as thick as her one from back home, and there triple the number of pillows. The sheets were layered too, folded down onto the large duvet that draped over the bed on both sides and reached the polished wood underneath.

She didn't know what she'd been expecting. Fur, perhaps. Something more rustic. Perhaps a bed made of stone, since there as so much of that around here.

"In here, Lady Williams."

Broken from her reverie, Sarah continued through the room, trying to ignore the expansive wardrobe and drawers. There was a fireplace not too far from her bed and as Sarah drew closer to where she suspected the bathroom was, she saw another adjoining room that led through to a seating area with a desk and another fireplace. Her chambers... were more like a small house. Big enough to house a married couple and their kids.

'There is no way I have this all to myself', she thought.

Then she scowled.

Not that she wanted it, either.

She didn't want to be here. She was very much here against her will and she needed to have words with Toby. Very big words. Possibly very loud and aggressive ones. Doing her best to rekindle her anger over her circumstances, she made it into the bathroom and cast her gaze around. Once again, she was taken back by the sight that met her.

The bath was carved out of some type of white fire opal, hewn straight out of the wall. The floor had clearly been carved out afterwards. It stood in the corner and swept out in a wide arc, beneath a large gilded window whose light shone straight into it from the impossibly high walls. A large envelope had been taken out of the wall and from it flowed a small waterfall. How it didn't overflow was lost on Sarah. She couldn't see a drain or a plug hole.

The washbasin was made out of the same stone as the bath, but the toilet seemed to be just standard sandstone. In the centre of the room there was a chair, behind which was a privacy screen.

She had more questions than answers.

Evelina was standing patiently off to the side, waiting on her. "You'll find everything you need to be presentable in here- I'll only be present for events as it'll be a change to your typical routine, I suspect." She walked back out, gesturing for Sarah to follow. Fatigue plagued her, but she forced herself to continue on the small tour of her chambers she was receiving. She'd have time to sleep soon. Hopefully.

"Through that set of doors is your study, where you can receive and entertain guests," the fae's voice floated over to her, "It is where Cuinn will meet you, later, to bring you to the dining rooms. I'll be by in the mornings to wake you if you're not already out of bed." Finally, Evelina stopped next to the wardrobes and chests. "You'll find clothes for your stay in here. The wardrobe holds all gowns and dresses, these drawers hold training gear, and that chest contains footwear. The smaller chest closer to your bed has all manner of undergarments and nightwear. The basket at the end of your bed is for laundry, which I'll take downstairs each morning after you've gotten ready."

Sarah nodded slowly, taking it all in. Her throat was hurting even worse now, after all the talking and yelling from earlier. She just wanted everything to go away.

"Do you have some aspirin, by any chance? I've got a thumping headache," she asked the girl, fingers tracing over Elmo for comfort.

The fae blinked at her. "I... am not familiar with aspirin. If you're looking for a pain reliever...?" she queried, moving back towards the bathroom. Sarah nodded again, though barely an inclination of her head this time. She was fighting back a cough, and her hair was still attempting to cover the marks on her neck. She didn't want the questions.

After a few minutes, Evelina returned with a small bowl with some sort of paste inside it. She handed it to Sarah. "Lavender and feverfew. This is the last of the salve the physician usually gives me, I will need to ask him for more," she grinned, clasping her hands in front of her. "Rub it into the skin where the pain is most prevalent, and it will ease it. If it's not quite strong enough, let me know when I come by later, and I'll ask him to find something else."

Sarah thanked her, and she left, closing the doors behind her. Now alone, she moved on autopilot towards the bathroom to wash her feet and face, then moved back to the bedroom and crawled into the expansive bed. Applying the salve to the bruises and back of her neck where the tension was the worst, she soon slipped under the large comforter and pulled it over her, trying to push away the crushing concern and panic that had been sitting on her shoulders since she arrived. She hoped that the dreams, at least, wouldn't follow her here. That the hands wouldn't be able to reach her.

Minutes later, sleep took her.

However, she slept fitfully. She dreamt of a rocky plateau broken by millennia of storms and war, standing on a broken column overlooking smaller ledges. Neither of them seemed to be attached to the same place; some had moonlight breaking behind them, some had warm summer sun blinking on the wings of small birds. Yet the feeling of such terrible and encompassing grief plagued her. She heard the echoes of someone screaming her name yet couldn't find who called for her. How had she gotten here? She was sure she had ran. But was she running to something, or from it?

When Evelina returned to wake her for breakfast hours later, she woke with tears on her face and a heavy heart. Slipping from the bed, she spared a look at the empty side beside where she'd lain, and couldn't help but think that the smell in her nose wasn't from the sheets... but from Jareth.