PRE-CHAPTER NOTES:

We've seen Jareth and Sarah's love story as well as Garthan and Lily's. It's only fair that I give Randel a story of his own. This is a sequel to A Kingdom of Dreams and picks up from the last chapter of that story.

While Garthan's story was along the lines of a Jane Austen movie, this one is blatantly in the style of a 70's/80's historical bodice-ripper romance novel. We've got a lovely heroine, a confirmed bachelor, some improbable (and frankly, unbelievable) situations and some old-fashioned smut. I even did a book cover in that style just for giggles.

The central premise (and title) was inspired by a novel by Johanna Lindsey called "The Magic of You". In that book, a young woman develops a crush on an older man, a confirmed bachelor with a lot of issues, and proceeds to pester the hell out of him to get him to fall in love with her. While the way Karina pursues Randel is significantly different than the heroine in the novel, there are a couple of similar story beats.

Be aware though… in this story, a young woman (human equivalent of 20 years old) develops a romantic relationship with a significantly older man (human equivalent of about 32) who knew her since her birth and is best friends with her father. While that might be creepy as hell here on Earth, for the Othánas, such an age difference between adult partners is very common and means absolutely nothing. There are reasons why this age difference is so prevalent, and it will be explored more in the next side story, but for now, suffice it to say that their relationship is completely normal from an Othánas point of view.

It also contains some of my classic, bodice-ripper style mild smut, naturally.

I definitely wanted Randel to get his romantic comeuppance, but I admit there are times in this story where I feel sorry for him… and for Karina. You can be certain that the journey isn't an easy one, although rest assured, I am a sucker for a happy ending.

I strongly recommend that before you read Chapter Twelve, you go on YouTube or Spotify and listen to a song called: Foolish Games (Long Version) by Jewel. This song figures prominently at the end of the story and will make the impact of the chapter a lot stronger if you've heard the song in question.

I have added a link in my profile to the folder that has the pictures for this story.

So... check your brain at the door and just plunge into an old-school bodice ripper!


Two Hundred and Twenty Six Years After Sarah's Run…

Watching Dad walk around the room with his baby sister in his arms was almost sickeningly cute. He cooed at her, talking to her about all the wonderful things she'd do, how pretty she'd be when she was grown… it was hilarious. He looked over at Mom, who was propped up in bed, sipping on a tankard of iced tea.

"Oh, don't look at me. Your father used to sing to my stomach when I was pregnant with you," she said, laughingly.

Dad chuckled, "Just you wait, Jacen. Your time will come."

Jacen had no doubt about it. Being the Crown Prince of the Goblin Kingdom meant that marriage was definitely in the cards for him. He couldn't really imagine it, being so devoted to a single woman for the rest of his life, when there were so many to choose from. What did you look for in a mate? Kindness? Intelligence? Beauty?

It wasn't the principle of bonding to a woman for life that bothered him. What bothered him was that it didn't seem like there was much choice involved. You met a girl, and if you got the tingles in the right way, that was that. You courted her and bonded with her. It didn't seem like there was much discernment in the whole business. Dad bonded to Mom before she was even an adult (not to mention a different species), but was there any actual choice involved? If Dad could have chosen, would he have chosen an adolescent human girl? Jacen doubted it.

He looked over at Toby. While once a human, Toby had been transformed into an Othánas before Jacen had even been born. He'd known who his future wife was when she was still a child (something that gave Uncle Garthan a bit of alarm at the time). Why? Did Danu know that they would be perfect for each other and linked them? Or was it just some strange magic that linked a couple until they had no choice but to learn to live with each other?

The closest thing to a normal courtship (at least as defined by the Aboveground novels he'd read) was probably Uncle Garthan and Aunt Lily. While they were definitely interested in each other on sight, they didn't actually heart-bond until a bit later, after he'd rescued her from a rampaging boar. The beginning of their love story made sense. Aunt Lily was probably one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, but beauty was superficial. Sure, it got Uncle Garthan's attention initially, but what if she'd had an unpleasant personality? What if your potential bond-mate was unpalatable?

Toby didn't mind the bonding process much at all. As he'd put it, Aurelet was so perfectly matched to him that even if there was no such thing as heart-bonds or life-bonds, he would have chosen her anyway. This was why he had no issue waiting until she reached adulthood before he could even have a romantic relationship with her. He took the intervening years to come to know her on an emotional level, so much so that their actual courtship was free of a lot of the drama that plagued other people he knew.

He looked back at his mother. Right there was a good example of loving someone against their will. She'd taken to being Queen of the Goblins brilliantly, and was much beloved by Othánas and Ughlánas alike, but how many of them even thought about what it cost her to be here? Did Dad ever stop to think about it? She gave up her entire life, her ambitions, her dreams, even her whole world… because her heart was bonded to Dad. Did he even appreciate it? Or did he just chalk it up to 'that's just how it is' and not the supreme sacrifice it really was?

This is the thought that plagued him constantly. When it happened to him (and he knew that it someday would), he didn't want to love a girl because he couldn't help it… he wanted to love a girl because she was worthy of being loved. He didn't want a girl to choose him because she was compelled to… he wanted a girl to choose him because she wanted to. He'd talked to Anduin about it and was surprised to find that he shared Jacen's misgivings about the whole thing. He wanted a wife and family, but he too was torn as far as how it would come about.

On the one hand, life-bonded couples were devoted to each other, certainly. Whatever force was making these bonds seemed to know what it was doing, whether it was magical or divine in nature. While bond-mates could (and did) argue, these fights never lasted long and certainly didn't result in the divorces that plagued the Above.

But on the other hand, it was this magical (or divine) force that chose your life-mate for you. Jacen wasn't sure he liked the idea of something so personal being so out of his own control. Anduin didn't like it much either.

Of course, there was always Uncle Randel. Almost twelve hundred years old and he'd managed to escape being bonded. Part of that was his refusal to associate with a woman for much longer than an evening. He also confined his pursuits to women who were just as jaded as he was. He avoided innocents like they were a plague. He could just picture Danu, getting annoyed with Randel for slipping past Her bonding chains. Maybe that meant She had something special planned for him in the future.

It was his own qualms about the bonding process that caused him to follow Uncle Randel's precepts when it came to women. Over the years, the Spring Equinox ball had evolved into a month-long celebration, largely due to his mother's influence. She brought many of her holiday traditions Underground, and now the Equinox festivities included such things as coloring eggs and hiding them for children and Ughlánas to find (and claiming that a magical rabbit had hidden them) along with more extended entertainments to celebrate the coming of Spring. The castle complex had been expanded, more manors were popping up in Caladh, and a larger number of people were beginning to populate the City. More families, more ladies could be found around the castle grounds. But where once the ladies congregated to capture the interest of the King, they now congregated to try and capture themselves a Prince.

He found himself gravitating toward the more seasoned ladies of the court, and even then, he avoided spending more time with them than was absolutely necessary.

His attention turned back to the present. Randel sat next to him, Karina sitting in his lap. His sister was a cute child, with their mother's hair and eyes and their father's personality. She was bubbly, mischievous, and affectionate. She charmed everyone who met her and was (in Jacen's opinion, anyway) a little bit spoiled. While never a brat, she did have the disturbing habit of thinking that everything would go her way, just with a wink and a smile. Jacen knew better and could only hope that she didn't learn that lesson in a painful way.

Randel himself was bantering back and forth with Mom and Dad. In a little bit, the men would head over to Garthan's chambers. Lily had just given birth to their third child, a boy. The ladies were still with her, getting her settled in. It was pretty funny, really. Mom and Lily were closer than sisters… and now they'd given birth within hours of each other. It was the last child for both of them. Mom was happy about that, but from what he could tell, Lily would have been happy to have another ten more.

This gathering was more than just a way of greeting the new Princess and Lily's new son. It was also something of a goodbye party. Randel was embarking on a long tour of the various kingdoms of the Underground, an ostensible diplomatic mission that would last for at least a hundred years. It was only recently that Dad, Randel and Garthan had let him, Toby, and Anduin in on what was probably the best kept secret in the Goblin Kingdom, what they called 'The Contingency Plan'. Randel's mission had a great deal to do with that plan.

The Plan itself gave him the chills. He understood the reason for it, no mistake. But just the thought that he would be leading an evacuation of their population, while his father led a suicide mission to cover their retreat made him physically ill. He could only imagine what his mother thought of the Plan when she was told; after all, she would have been the one to lead them before he himself had come of age. It was probably one of the first real clues he'd gotten as to how much responsibility his parents really had.

They were talking about that mission right now. No mention of its real purpose, but more along the lines of teasing Randel regarding how much of home he was going to miss. Toby jested about him missing the Othánas ladies. Mom teased him that he'd be able to get his fill of chicken while he was gone.

Randel laughed, "Well, a hundred years should be long enough to satisfy that urge, although none of the Courts have that habanero sauce you turned me on to."

Karina frowned, "A hundred years? That's such a long time. I'll be all grown up by the time you come home."

Randel smiled and ruffled her hair, "Yes, you will. I imagine you'll be a lovely lady, just like your mother. Who knows, you might even be married by then."

"Oh no… I'm going to marry you. When you get back."

The thought was hilarious, and everyone laughed. Karina looked around and leaned back against Randel's chest.

Only Jacen noticed that Karina wasn't laughing.


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

In some ways, Jacen's internal questioning is a direct result of having been raised by a human. It's practically written in our DNA to look at things and wonder why they are the way they are. It's not life-bonding itself that bothers him, it's what he perceives as his lack of control over the situation that he doesn't like.

The main purpose of this chapter was to establish that Karina already had a schoolgirl crush on Randel from the get-go. And now, he's going away and won't return until she's an adult…