Chapter Seven: Kidnapping.

A/N: It's been a year since the last update. I apologise, but this year has been awful. From getting attacked by a dog to getting new neighbours from hell, it has just been a string of awfulness. So I won't be surprised if none of my old readers are still here, but if you are, GREAT. Thank you. :)

Sarah's sleep was thankfully dreamless. When she woke, she knew instantly where she was and what they had done. It had been on her mind any time she roused during the night. He was so close and so warm, but lying at a respectful distance from her. He was on his back, the soft rise and fall of his naked chest mesmerising in the dawn light.

Between her legs burned with renewed desire. She clamped her thighs together, knowing he'd wake if she tried to take care of it herself. Her thoughts wandered back to her feelings for him. As much as she wanted to shove them into a locked chest and sink them into an ocean, she couldn't avoid them as she lay there, staring at his sleeping form. Sure they bickered and never saw eye to eye. Sure she was attracted to him. But that should not mean that she felt any more than lust for him.

Jareth was an enigma—a powerful fae who posed risks to every facet of her life. You don't just fall in love with his kind. Or him. She was smarter than that. She read many books on the subject of mortals becoming enamoured with the fae. She was relatively unscathed and didn't want to change that. But his affection and searing kisses last night had just muddied the water. If it was just sex there would be no need for the kisses that tasted of more than desire; no need for him to affectionately brush her hair out of her face or the way he looked at her.

Sarah flushed and covered her face in her hands. Oh, the way he looked at her was burned into her retinas for eternity. No man had ever looked at her like he had, during sex or at any other time. Jareth had looked at her as though she was his very heart splayed out on his bed; like he'd die if he took his eyes off her; like she was offering him the moon when all he'd expected was a rock. The memory of his eyes shook her to the core. Cold washed over her as she realised she would never feel or experience the like again.

Sarah's thoughts were cut off by the blaring sound of her Nokia phone alarm. She groaned and rolled out of bed to find her handbag.

"What is that bog awful racket?"

Jareth was awake. Of course, he was. No slipping out of the house now. Shit!

"My alarm," she replied, refusing to face him, mindful that she was nude, crouched on his floor and fumbling bleary-eyed with her phone.

"Come back to bed, Sarah," he replied.

"I have to get to work," she said, finally shutting the alarm off.

"Not anymore."

She glanced down at the phone in her hand and saw the time was now an hour in the past. "You turned back time!"

"How astute of you."

She was about to tell him to fuck off, when he was suddenly behind her, easing her gently to her feet.

"Back to bed, love."

"Isn't turning time back considered tampering?" she asked, stifling a yawn as she let herself be guided back to the bed.

"No one will notice an hour."

"I don't do the morning-after cuddles," she lied, clambering under the duvet. In fact, it was what she wanted most of all right then. And she wanted Jareth to be the one to administer them.

"Perhaps you'll make an exception, after all, last night was…exceptional and I am certain I surpassed all your expectations of me."

"I would need to have expectations of you in the first place for you to surpass them," Sarah replied flatly, allowing herself to place her head back down on the pillow.

Jareth tutted as he slid in beside her. "I know pleasure well, Sarah and I know when someone has had perhaps the best orgasms of their life."

Sarah scoffed. "That talent is faulty then, because—"

"Don't lie to me," he said, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his mouth to the back of her neck. "I sense you've been telling me half-truths recently, but don't outright lie to me."

"Don't accuse me of being dishonest, Mr-Knew-Me-Before-I-Had-Even-Visited-The-Labyrinth."

"Sarah, darling, I didn't know you were the same person as that child," he said, releasing her. "I was curious about her when I befriended Robert but it was only when you turned up to that party that I put two and two together."

Sarah yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Stop calling me patronising pet names," she snapped.

"My, my, you are peevish and irritable this morning." His voice was heavy with derision. "I hope you don't intend to wake up every morning next to me like this."

Sarah didn't know how to answer that. The implication that this would occur again was both exciting and terrifying. Desire ached low in her body all while her stomach twisted anew.

"Besides, they're not patronising. They're affectionate, because bog damn it all, for some inexplicable reason, I am affectionate of you." Jareth's words only deepened the coiling anxiety inside her.

"I can't fathom why," Sarah retorted, rolling over to face him. He was peering down at her, his head propped up by his arm and his trademark smirk in place.

"Why, you're irritable or why, do I hold affection for you?"

"Both, one sarcastic and one genuine."

"Why are you irritable then?"

"Because I have woken up in your bed. Isn't that reason enough?"

Jareth didn't bother looking affronted, instead, he just placed his hand on her hip. "Sarah, there is no shame in admitting that you enjoyed your time with me. Or is it deeper than that? Are you lashing out because you want more and are too embarrassed to ask for more?"

Sarah shoved his hand away and crossed her arms, as much as she could whilst lying on her side.

When she didn't reply, he sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't understand why such a waspish, mule of a mortal inspired my affection but you do. And I am not sorry for it."

"You should be," she replied. "It won't get you anywhere."

"Will it not even convince you to learn magic from me so last night doesn't occur again?"

"No."

"As my Champion, you are permitted access to my castle," he informed her, stiffly. "Did you know that? It will be a safe location away from my kindred and only the goblins to interfere with us. One swift boot up their warty arses and we wouldn't be bothered again."

"No," she repeated with stronger emphasis.

"Why on earth not, Sarah?" he said brusquely. "If you don't learn to control it, you could kill someone. Or worse you could die. Is that what you want? To punish me for holding you high in my esteem by killing yourself?"

"High in your esteem?" Sarah scoffed. "Let's tone it down a bit there, Romeo. You were merely affectionate minutes ago. No need to overemphasise…anything."

"I am deadly serious. One misstep with your magic and poof, spontaneous combustion."

Sarah mulled his words over, hearing the severity of his tone and knowing he said everything without humour. She nibbled on her lip and fidgeted with her fingers as she tried to pinpoint what her actual issue was.

"I don't want to be trapped Underground," she said eventually, staring blindly at the pattern on the blanket.

"Why would you think that I'd want to trap you in the Underground? Do you think I would thrive off being tormented and annoyed by your constant whining?"

"What whining?" Sarah asked him, trying to smother the irritation lacing her voice. The question of why she was irritated at all blossomed briefly in her mind before being suppressed by that part of her that insisted Jareth was devious and underhanded.

"You'd spend eternity grumbling about how you want me to send you home," Jareth replied with a deep chuckle. He hadn't even bothered to open his eyes as he lay beside her. "I can assure you that kidnapping you is the very last thing I want to do; for my own peace and sanity. Who wants to live forever with such defiance and consternation?" He exhaled sharply. They were so close, that his warm breath hit her directly on her nose, preventing her from any equally snide retort. "You may think your defiance is enticing, however, it is anything but. You exhaust me, Sarah."

Sarah bristled at his words and more so as he lazily yawned and stretched as if he was making a point. "Your desire for tranquillity is the only thing stopping you from kidnapping me?"

"Not at all." His lips twitched and he rolled onto his back, finally opening his eyes. "You think I am obsessed with you enough to want to trick you. But I can assure you that is not the case. I am not my mother."

Sarah didn't know what to say to that, so she just grunted and shuffled away. She should be relieved but a forceful part of her demanded that he ought to be obsessed with her and his words hurt her pride.

"If I were to kidnap someone, it would be a creature who would give me far less trouble," Jareth continued, lazily rubbing his naked chest. "Certainly not you who would give me no end of headaches."

"Okay, I get it," Sarah replied through gritted teeth. At the realisation that she was visibly displaying her frustration, she relaxed her jaw and some of the tension left her. But not all. "You find me annoying, but probably not half as annoying as I find you."

He hummed and then turned to her. "Don't get me wrong, my dear," he said with a smug voice. "I might not be willing to trick, kidnap or trap you, but that doesn't mean I don't want you to stay Underground under my terms as well as y—"

Sarah launched her pillow at his face and then slid out of his bed. "I am not going to live Underground, Jareth. Whether you play a long game or a short one, it amounts to the same thing. Wearing me down until I agree isn't too dissimilar to tricking me or kidnapping me. Especially as you're only trying to save yourself the aggravation of me fighting you."

"I don't see your point, Sarah."

"Of course, you don't. You only see what route would be less inconvenient to you but don't really give a rat's arse about me or my feelings as long as you get what you want in the most tranquil way possible." She marched around the bed, picking up her clothes and forcefully jamming the items back onto her body.

Then she went to the door and turned the doorknob to leave, but it didn't budge. She took a deep breath in so she wouldn't show him her frustration and she turned slowly to face Jareth who now lay on his back with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. "Unlock the door, Jareth," she said in the calmest voice she could muster.

"It would be the easier route to just let you leave," he said, opening his eyes. "But I am not going to let you run away just because you're intentionally misunderstanding me."

"I am n—"

"Sarah, you came to me last night," he interrupted, sitting up and crossing his arms across his chest. "Whether you admit it or not, you came to me. You know I would aid you and I did. Do not tell me I don't care for your feelings when it would have been easier for me to force you to clear up your own mess."

Sarah opened her mouth but words failed her. While he had been almost cheerful before, he was now serious and his eyes were hard. She found it hard to look into their stormy depths but was unable to look away.

"I wouldn't offer to help you control your magic if I didn't care for your feelings." He slid out of bed and started strolling towards her. He was stark naked. "I would let you destroy yourself as that is the easiest path, Sarah."

Sarah swallowed thickly, as Jareth stopped centimetres away from her. He was so close she could feel his heat, she could see the specks in his eyes and his scent washed over her. In the cold light of day, his nudity was confronting. Or was it her reaction to it that discomforted her?

"But when have I ever taken the quickest route with you, Sarah?" he whispered, his fingers tracing her jaw. "From the moment I first met you, didn't I allow you to defy me again and again instead of just taking you? Didn't I return your brother, instead of making you trade yourself for him?"

Sarah frowned. "I thought taking me and listening to me whinge would have been the hard route. Now you're saying the opposite."

"No, you're confusing quickest with easiest. It is quicker to just take you, but it is easier to do it in a way that doesn't involve you protesting and fighting me for eternity."

He stepped away, and though it was only a few inches more she felt like she could breathe again.

"Easier on your ears," Sarah muttered.

"Yes, I had said that mostly in jest, Sarah," he said with a growl that sent shivers skating down her spine. "But it is also easier for you and ultimately, having you willing and consenting is easier for me. My point is that I could have taken you at any point and it would have been quicker. I could have tricked you and it would have been quicker. But not necessarily easier on either of us."

"Because you supposedly care about my feelings?" Sarah asked sardonically

"Yes, is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes," Sarah answered sharply.

"You didn't seem to have an issue trusting my mother but no matter what I do, you can not extend the same courtesy to me. It has to be more than not trusting my kind. You purely distrust me."

"Is that such a surprise?"

Jareth's hard eyes softened momentarily before he turned away and headed to the window. "Sarah, I am fae but I would never harm you. I am trying to prevent harm by offering these lessons to you. Please consider accepting my offer."

Sarah heard the door click as he magically unlocked it. She turned the knob and slipped out, wordlessly.

Jareth closed his eyes and let his head fall back with a thump. When he opened them again, a shimmer caught his eye. He turned to the bedside table that Sarah had slept next to and noticed her crystal sitting there. The one he'd given her to encapsulate her wild residue.

He gritted his teeth at the reminder that she wanted nothing from him. Not even a crystal that merely protected what she had created.

"You have been missing more and more often," a voice cut through the Goblin ruckus. Jareth looked up from the flaming punch the goblins had made and had asked him to sample, to see Diddershins standing in front of him. Family didn't need permission to enter his castle, outside of a formal challenge. He wished to Gaia that he could retract that blasted precedent.

"I have," Jareth agreed. Though he hadn't been Aboveground in nearly a week, an acidic feeling unfurled in his gut. He had decided to let Sarah stew for a few days before he tried again to encourage her to train with him. So he hadn't seen or spoken to her since she left his bedroom. He wouldn't admit his pride wouldn't allow him to apologise to her. She was in the wrong! Pure and simple. They'd made love and then she just left in a huff. He only wanted what was best for her. Harnessing her wild magic in the Aboveground would be dangerous compared to his home.

In a quieter, less tumultuous moment he had admitted he never informed her of the dangers of training Aboveground and had just demanded she come to his kingdom with nary a proper explanation. He had told her the dangers of not training at all, but that wasn't the same thing.

He vowed he'd go and see her as soon as his cousin left.

"Every time I come to visit you, my dear cousin, you are not here," he repeated, playing with the end of his long, dark plait before tossing it over his shoulder.

"Purely coincidental, Diddershins," Jareth replied as he extinguished the flaming punch, returning it to a trembling goblin and then he casually strolled to his throne. He took his time, inspecting a goblin there, dusting a candelabra there. "I am here now."

"I will ask you directly, where have you been going?"

Jareth sighed. "Visiting my mother. Do you remember her? The fae who was banished for the simple crime of loving a mortal." He raised his brow. "Of course, you must remember, as it was you that accused her."

"She broke a rule," Diddershins justified, sharply.

"One you would have overlooked if you hadn't had your nose out of joint by your exclusion to the Goblin Masquerade."

Diddershins nodded. "I would have overlooked it. Marshall is a good man and I admire him greatly despite his unfortunate heritage."

Jareth tossed a crystal from hand to hand. "What can I help you with?"

"Marriage."

"Marriage?"

"Yes," Diddershins replied, sidestepping a comatose goblin sprawled prone on the ground. "Yours."

"I am not married."

"No, but rumour has it you're engaged to Icca Debe."

Jareth stiffened. "I am not engaged to him."

"You're not?" Diddershins cocked his head to the side. "He seems to think you are."

"He is misinformed. We broke it off a while back."

"I see."

"What's it to you anyway?"

"Well, the council and I would love it if you married Icca."

"So I can't have a legitimate heir, no doubt." Jareth kept his face impassive but inside he was writhing in agony. Sarah.

"We think your dynasty has run its course." Diddershins lips curled in distaste. "Mongrel half-breeds have had their time with so much…power."

Jareth looked at the clutch of goblins quivering near his feet. Diddershins would make a poor king to these pitiful creatures. He would neglect them in favour of trying to harness the Labyrinth's power. He would also probably kill any challengers, rather than letting them into the Labyrinth. He thought of how Sarah would have fared with Diddershins as the Goblin King and suppressed a shudder borne from the rage of that idea.

He tapped the crystal against his knee before rolling down to his foot, he kicked it and it flew back to his hand.

"I don't intend to marry Icca."

"Then who—"

"I may just intend to rule by myself forever, Didder."

"You can't last an eternity without breaking the rules."

Jareth smirked. "I may just do that to spite you."

Diddershins sighed dramatically. "Perhaps you ought to congratulate me on my upcoming nuptials then."

Jareth schooled his features to hide his surprise at the sudden change of direction. "Who is the lucky fae?"

"She is not fae."

Jareth's frown deepened further. "You intend to marry a dragon or a troll, perhaps?"

"No, a human, yes." He nodded. "You might be surprised. I haven't met her yet, but from what I've learned about her, she is not mortal though she lives in their realm."

Jareth suddenly thought of Sarah. He thought of the one slight loophole he'd discovered that would allow him to marry Sarah without breaking any rules. Had Diddershins discovered this as well? It should be impossible for him to encounter any mortal, let alone one that he could legally kidnap and marry.

"I am curious," Jareth began, pretending to be more fascinated with his gloves. "How many rules have you broken to be able to have any knowledge of someone living in the mortal realm?"

"None." Diddershins was positively smirking. "She is fae-touched and therefore exempt."

Something in his tone had Jareth on guard. "You've found a fae-touched human? There are only a very few left. I should know. Most of them are previous challengers of the Labyrinth." Jareth couldn't believe his cousin had learnt of the loophole. Fuck!

"Hmm, yes, I do believe you know her."

Jareth's teeth nearly cracked under the strain of his tense jaw. "Who?"

"Her name is Sarah Ellen Williams of Nyack, New York, United—"

"What?" he asked calmly, though he was anything but. Inside a veritable storm was building.

"Oh, you do know her?" He was grinning now. "I discovered that we can still traditionally kidnap mortals, only if they are fae-touched. Mortals are so fertile and I plan to use her to form my dynasty after you have been deposed." He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "It would make our children half-mortal, of course, but at least she has a head start with magic over someone like your father."

Jareth wanted to flay the fae alive. How dare he try and take what was his!

"I guess I have you to thank for making her fae-touched. She had run your wee maze after all."

"Yes, I do know her," he said, off-handedly as he rolled his crystal over his wrist. She had been fae-touched before he met her even as a four-year-old. That wasn't his doing, but he wasn't about to tell Diddershins that she was a Hoimailuaquk. "And as such, I know she won't take to the idea of marrying you."

"I don't need her to 'take to it,'" Diddershins replied, coolly.

Jareth's stomach roiled at the thought of Sarah being taken against her will both to the Underground and in their subsequent marriage bed. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he burned with indignation. His exterior remained cool and nonplussed. "Why are you telling me this, cousin?"

"We're family after all. It is a courtesy to tell you my plans."

Jareth blinked, grateful but sceptical he had warned him. His only solution would be to convince Sarah to marry him somehow before Diddershins abducted her.

"There are plenty of fae-touched to choose from. Why her?" Jareth asked as if he couldn't care less. The fact was, there wasn't plenty but Diddershins shouldn't really know that unless he'd actually opened a book and read. Jareth was more likely to go skinny dipping in the Bog while snogging Hoggle than Diddershins was to go within a country mile of a book.

Diddershins laughed. "Have you seen her, Jareth?" He mimed a pair of breasts with his hands. "It wouldn't be a chore to breed with her."

Jareth's hands twitched as he longed to smack Diddershin's face. "I saw her when she was a child. Pray tell, how you've seen her more recently without breaking a rule?"

"Scrying crystal."

"Who gave you a crystal?" Jareth didn't bother to mask his annoyance now. How on earth did he see her when her magic had protected her?

"Your father," Diddershins replied, placing his hands behind his back. "Only recently did her protection wear off and I was able to view my future wife."

Jareth scratched his brow before gesturing languidly. "My father?" He didn't want to believe that his father could do this. To him. To Sarah. There had to be something more going on.

"Hm, yes. He was very obliging. After all, he'd prefer that I was on the throne than you."

Jareth laughed deeply at that. There was a common rumour that Marshall resented Jareth for inheriting the throne when his wife was banished. But that was simply not the case. He simply missed his wife. But the fae couldn't see that and interpreted his anger and sadness as resentment instead of heartbroken over the loss of his wife.

Sarah hadn't been completely wrong when she said that fae couldn't love. They could, but rarely understood it in others.

"My father did not want the throne," Jareth replied. "He wanted Ismaila, his wife, my mother."

"Then why would he be so quick to offer me a crystal?"

Jareth swung his legs off the throne and stood up. He took each step one at a time and leered down at his pathetic cousin. "I don't know what manner of falsehood you gave him, but my father is not who you think he is."

"It doesn't matter," he said, holding his head up. "I will invite you to my wedding as is the custom. Good day, cousin Jareth." Diddershins vanished from the spot.

"Coward," Jareth spat.

"I don't wants him to be Kingy," said Pew, one of his goblins. "He smell bad and is meanie." The other goblins made murmurs of agreement.

Jareth nodded. "He won't be king, Pew. Nor will he take our Queen."

Sarah had half expected Jareth to turn up at any point and insist that she return Underground for lessons. Her reticence was borne out of a lack of trust rather than fear. However, days ticked by and she didn't even see so much as a feather from him.

She was working overtime alone in her office when she heard the unmistakable buzz of magic. She smirked. Here he is.

Sarah glanced up and saw a figure standing in the shadows. She looked back at her monitor and tapped a few keys on her keyboard, pretending to be insouciant.

"The answer is still no," she said without looking up and instead studiously scribbling a measurement on her notepad.

There was no verbal reply but the soft sound of boots on the thin carpet as he approached.

"I am busy and dying to get home," she said, rubbing her sore, dry eyes. "Please let me finish my work before…"

The lights suddenly flicked off and her monitor flashed the blue screen of death before dying completely. The backup generator should have kicked in, but it probably didn't have a function to override magic.

"Hey!" Sarah was angry now. "I was working on something and I hadn't saved it."

"You won't need to worry about finishing it," said a deep, velvety voice. "You'll never see it again." A strong hand grabbed her arm and then she knew no more.

The moment Diddershins had left, Jareth instantly went to his mother's house. He tried scrying for Sarah but the results came up empty. Over the years, that was very normal so she may have accidentally blocked him with her magic by simply being mad at him. Emotions were strongly connected to magic after all.

Next, he used the old-fashioned telephone he had installed when he had befriended the Williams', to ring the work number Sarah had given him when he'd had the tour of the house she had designed. The phone rang and rang until he got her voicemail. He listened to her voice in a moment of self-indulgence before hanging up.

From there he rang Robert.

"Good afternoon, Robert, it's Jamie Martin here," he said politely, trying not to show any strain in his voice.

"Oh, Jamie. Now is not a good time" Robert replied, his voice wavering.

"Is everything alright?" Jareth's throat was tightening up. Please don't let Robert's anxiety be over Sarah. Tell me, I am not too late.

"Jamie, is this call important?" Robert certainly sounded harangued.

"Well, I was just wondering if you had Sarah's phone number. She gave her work card to me, but I can't get hold of her so I wondered if you could give me her personal number?"

There was a strangled kind of sob from Robert's end.

"Robert?"

"S-Sarah's gone, Jamie," Robert cried. Jareth's heart plummeted to his shoes. He was too late.

"Gone? Gone where?" Jareth knew exactly where she'd gone.

"She had been working overtime in her office and then she just vanished two days ago. T-They think she has been abducted as she never signed out and the guards never saw her leave."

Two days ago? Jareth clenched his teeth hard. That bastard must have already taken Sarah before he visited his Kingdom.

"Oh, Robert!" Jareth tried to console the man even though his own despair and rage were trying to take control. "Any suspects?"

"They questioned Gavin, her boyf—ex…ex-boyfriend, and a man called Travis who was already arrested for assaulting her in a carpark. She never even told me…"

Jareth rubbed his hand over his face as the father of his beloved dissolved into tears. If only he had the luxury. If only tears were something fae were even capable of.

"I know I have only met Sarah a few times." Jareth switched the receiver to his other ear. "She strikes me as a strong, independent woman and I am sure wherever she is, she is holding up."

Was that to console himself or her father?

"Karen was telling me that she thinks you admire our daughter," Robert said meekly. "Is it true?"

Jareth knew Karen had her heart set on playing matchmaker and he'd actively encouraged her. Why was Robert even concerned with a thing like that at a time like this?"

"I'd very much like to get to know your daughter better. Karen is correct. I admire her very much." I would move the stars for her, Robert.

"Well, I am sure she'd want you to be part of the team." Robert coughed loudly. "You're a good friend to us and we need all the support we can get."

"Of course. If there is anything I can do."

Robert thanked him and then asked if he could free up the line in case Sarah, the police or the kidnapper rang through. Jareth acquiesced despite knowing it could never happen. As soon as he had hung up, he collapsed into the nearest chair. He was too late. There was nothing he could do about it now. It was merely a romantic notion that he could march in and rescue her. Romantic but not realistic. She'd been claimed and laws of possession meant that he couldn't challenge Diddershins.

For the second time in his life, Jareth had lost.

Icca had very little to be unhappy about at that moment. Sure, he hadn't yet returned to his rightful place as the Goblin King's lover, but it was only a matter of time. Many mortal years ago, Icca had been given the responsibility of finding a new Hoimailuaquk. It was an honour bestowed on one mortal in every half a mortal century. He had been bequeathed the job as a boon from the High Fae, Milidred, after a rather excellent orgy that Icca had facilitated.

Instead of plucking one babe at random, he had planned for his particular victim to become a foil to Jareth. Icca was in love with Jareth and had been for many centuries now, but the Goblin King all but ignored him. There was no easier way to gain the man's attention than to break the fae's heart. As counterproductive as that sounded.

Icca's plan was simple. He would select a Hoimailuaquk that would grow up and capture the attention of the Goblin King. And then he would whisk them away to the Underground, making sure that his awful cousin married them instead. Thus crushing Jareth's half-mortal heart and Icca would be there to pick up the pieces.

The hard part was picking someone who would be powerful enough to break Jareth's impenetrable heart.

Eventually, he found the soul. Ismaila, Jareth's mother, also had a talent for seeing future potential, though her magic was not of the same calibre as Jareth's. And having been dispatched to the mortal realm, without her magic, she was as weak as a mortal. Icca had found it no trouble to get Jareth very, very drunk at a goblin feast one evening, and then slipping off to visit Ismaila who was overcome easily by his persuasive magic to do his bidding.

They had travelled through time and space until Ismaila revealed that the soul that matched Jareth's was yet to be born. Then Icca covered his tracks and Ismaila would never remember his visit. He was rather proficient at memory spells.

Linda and Robert Williams were watched like a hawk for many years and there was no sign of a child being borne by this couple. So Icca, with permission from the High Fae, was able to convince Linda to have a child and in return, she would get her dreams gifted to her. Jareth might be the one with the most powerful dream magic, but he certainly wasn't the only one.

Linda accepted. Far too easily. Her lack of resistance cemented how weak he perceived mortals to be. It was to his benefit though, so he didn't spend too much time contemplating the lack of morals Linda had.

And then his Hoimailuaquk was born. Sarah Williams appeared to be a regular baby by all accounts. Only Icca and Milidred knew that she was more. It was not customary for High Fae to reveal the identities of Hoimailuaquks, so it had been simple enough to keep it a secret from the council. If everyone knew who they were, they would be capturing them from the moment of conception, given the Fae rules that allowed such treatment of these particular magically gifted mortals.

The next step was to make sure she found the red book. For that, he needed to find it himself. Icca bribed a goblin for this task, and before his Hoimailuaquk was four years old, he had traced it to a small child called Gavin. The book had been read to him by his mother, and the very next day, he had wished his baby sister away. Icca drowned the goblin that had helped him in a barrel of ale.

Upon the loss of his sister, Gavin had thrown the book out of his bedroom window. Icca had rescued it from its leafy fate and placed it into a bin on the path Ismaila took for her daily walk. He had observed her finding it, disguised as he was, as a blackbird.

Now, all he had to do was make sure that his Hoimailuaquk was the one to receive the book. And the opportunity to control the mind of a troubled teen who happened to be the friend of Sarah William's babysitter made it easier than anticipated.

Samhain had provided the perfect opportunity to get Sarah into the house on Harrows Lane. Ismailia would detect the magic from his Hoimailuaquk and if she used her innate gift, she would be able to see the potential she had in Jareth's life. Fae loved games and trickery, so what better way than for Ismailia to give her the key to the Labyrinth challenge?

Failure was slim. He knew how fae minds worked far too well.

And perched as a blackbird in the tree, he saw the girl leaving the house with the book tucked away in her pocket as Jareth escorted her back to her home.

Icca was very good at covering his interference within the mortal realm. Mortally dispatching the goblins that had assisted him was his usual method, but having the protection of Milidred meant that he could twist and duck any of the ridiculous laws that governed the interaction between realms.

So no one ever suspected a thing and his plans went off without any hitches. Until that blasted Labyrinth run.

The bloody chit won the challenge and escaped the Labyrinth. She was meant to have lost, Jareth was meant to have kept her until he had sufficiently fallen in love with her, and then Diddershins Gly would have married her.

Icca had to rethink his plan. And, the only idea he could come up with was to ensure that Jareth interacted with her Aboveground. However, it was all put on hold when Jareth actually agreed to a courtship with him.

Jareth had been stoned and drunk out of his mind at an orgy, and Icca fully took advantage of that, making sure that he was the only partner that night. And in the morning, Icca took sweet and tender care of the poor hungover Goblin King. And from that point on, Jareth seemed to request his presence more and more.

Icca was ecstatic. And readily agreed when Jareth asked him to be his only lover. He ignored the fact that he only seemed to have gained his attention after losing to the girl. But it didn't matter, how. As long as he got what he wanted.

And how he wanted Jareth. And how he loved him. Being fucked by Jareth was exquisite torture and he never wanted it to stop.

But one day, it did stop. Abruptly.

And try as he might, Icca could not regain what he had all of a sudden lost.

So back to the original plan he went.

The Mortal he had previously controlled, Travis Haverstock, came in handy as did a bit of corralling Sarah with mind magic towards the house on Harrows Lane any time she got herself into trouble.

The simple fool took no time at all in falling for her. The perks of being a blackbird and not an owl meant he blended in far easier with the landscape and could watch the comings and goings with impunity.

Now Icca could enact the portion of the plan where he took Jareth's soulmate back Underground and gifted her to Diddershins Gly. And that was easy enough to do—fly through an open window in his bird form and kidnap her.

He had little reason to be unhappy. His plan had finally borne fruit. Sarah, his Hoimailuaquk, was Underground. Jareth was distraught at the loss of her, and he was firmly blaming Diddershins Gly and not suspecting Icca of a thing.

Now all Icca had to do was be there for Jareth as he watched his beloved walk up the aisle, seemingly happy to be marrying a fae that Jareth loathed. It had been a lot of hard work to get to this point.

He chuckled gleefully. But it was worth it. Because once a fae's heart had been broken, the one who mended it would become the new winner of said heart. And Icca fully intended to be that fae. Forever.