Pre-Chapter Notes:

If you haven't already done so, I recommend you listen to "Foolish Games" (long version) by Jewel. It will make this chapter (and the next) more impactful.


Karina would never know how she managed to get back to her chamber as composed as she was. She didn't fool Jacen one bit, but at least she didn't humiliate herself in front of him and burst into tears.

She felt… numb, the numbness that comes when one has taken a mortal wound, but the nerves hadn't registered it yet. She sat on her bed, staring in the distance.

He's gone, her heart cried. Gone.

She'd miscalculated, and badly. She'd really hoped, deep down, that if she gave him time and space, he would come around… maybe see that they were meant to be together.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. He was so determined to stay away from her that he took a permanent post in a city he hated. Her father had warned her that this was a possibility.

He's never coming back.

She collapsed into her pillows, feeling her heart shatter into a million pieces.


"Karina? Why aren't you getting ready?"

She stirred at the sound of her mother's voice, "I'm not going," she whispered. She heard footsteps and felt a weight on the bed. Soft arms came around her… her mother's arms. The tears burst forth from her in great gasping floods.

"It's my fault. He's gone and it's all my fault."

Sarah held her, rocking her back and forth, "No, Baby… it's not. The heart wants what it wants, even if it isn't good for us. That's not your fault."

"I drove him away. I know I did. He hates going to Ardalon… but he's willing to move there permanently to get away from me."

Her mother squeezed her tighter, and she sobbed harder, "I didn't once think about what he wanted or how he felt. I just knew I wanted him and thus, voilà, I should have him." She sniffled and looked up at her mother. "He would never have come near me in the first place if he'd known who I was. I knew that. I tricked him from the start. Somehow, I thought hiding the truth about my identity would be a great start to a courtship."

Her mother smoothed back her hair, "I admit, it's not the best of beginnings, but it isn't something that can't be overcome with time…"

"I gave him time. What I didn't give him was his own free will. He told me repeatedly that he didn't want what I wanted… that he didn't want… forever with me. I didn't listen. I thought if I was charming enough, flirty enough… he'd change his mind. But he didn't. And I should have known better."

"But the heart-bond…"

Karina snorted, "You were heart-bonded to Dad, and yet you left him. He learned from that, took the time to make amends for his mistakes and gave you the space you needed to embrace your feelings. But what would have happened if he hadn't let you go? Or if he'd dragged you Underground before you were ready? Against your will? Would you have honored the heart-bond? Or would you have spent every waking moment trying to find a way to get away from him?"

"I…" her mother stammered. "I… think…"

Karina sat back and looked at her mother grimly. "How about this? Dad gave you that peach, right? It put you under an enchantment… a dream. And what if in that dream, when you weren't in your right mind, when you couldn't consent… he'd slept with you? Let's even say you'd been an adult at the time. You were heart-bonded then, too. Would that bond have made it any less revolting?"

Her mother looked at her solemnly. The answer was shining in her eyes.

"I thought so. Can we blame Randel for feeling the same way? Is it any different because he's a man?" She shook her head, "I knew he was drunk that night in Ardalon. He was drunk because of me. I took advantage of his lowered defenses and put him in a situation he would never have found himself in otherwise." She snorted at herself in disgust, "They have a name for that, in the Above."

Her mother looked away from her. She knew Karina was right, even if she didn't want to admit it.

"He's lost everything because of me. His friendship with Dad… how could it ever be the same? His home… he can't even stay here because he can't stand to be near me." She then laughed bitterly. "I've even imposed celibacy on him. My selfishness took everything from him that he ever cared about. I forced him into a relationship with me… one founded on false pretenses. I used the power of the heart-bond against him… repeatedly. I didn't let it grow on its own, I tried to force it to grow, even when I knew he didn't want it."

Karina hung her head. "And now, I am paying the price for it. I will be paying the price for it for the rest of my life."


In the end, she decided to go to the party.

She dressed herself mechanically, not really paying attention to what she looked like. She just had to make sure she looked passable… at least enough so that her father didn't see what was going on.

Dad loved Randel like a brother. It was mutual. But what would that brotherhood count for if he'd thought Randel had hurt her with his decision? Would Dad blame Randel for it? Hate him for it? She'd taken so much from Randel already, did she really want to take his best friend, too?

No.

So, tonight, she'd smile, she'd laugh, maybe even sing. She'd put on a good front and hope by the Fates that her father didn't look too closely at her. It wasn't much, but maybe this time she could do something for Randel instead of against him.

She entered the ballroom, the throngs already gathered. Someone was on stage, treating everyone to an old Elven tune, whose lyrics few understood but had a catchy melody. She picked up a glass of wine and sipped it, looking around and nodding at acquaintances.

Uncle Toby was there with Aurelet, off in the corner… and off in their own world, as usual. It was still relatively early, and their young son Kris was cuddled in his father's arms, looking wide-eyed at the festivities. As Karina watched the couple laughing and chatting together, she thought to herself that it was almost as if they were born life-bonded. She envied them that.

Tremane and Helena dashed by… he was chasing her again. Those two were a mess of contradictions. Both were studious and preferred spending hours stuck in a book. Tremane was a jokester, a mischievous scamp most of the time, while Helena was much more sober and serious. All the same, when they cut loose, they really cut loose. For such a young girl, Helena was remarkably emotionally mature. She also kept her thoughts and feelings very private. Karina was far more likely to confide her secrets to Helena than the other way around. She sometimes wondered if Helena had been meant to be the older sister instead of the younger one and Danu reversed the birth order for a jest.

She felt her father's eyes on her. She turned towards the dais, he was seated next to her mother, looking at her searchingly. She smiled and raised her glass to him. His brow furrowed.

He wasn't fooled. Not one bit. She saw it in his eyes.

Her mother had her "Queen Mask" plastered on her face. Her eyes kept going to Karina, the worry in them obvious to anyone who knew her. Judging from her father's tense demeanor, and the fact that his gaze never left her, she knew that her mother had disclosed at least part of their earlier conversation to him. She didn't mind. Karina had no secrets to keep from Dad anymore.

She wandered over to a group of her friends, thinking that she'd lose herself in some mindless chatter. It worked for a while, until she heard that sly, saccharine voice behind her.

"Karina! Oh, how lovely you look."

She turned to face the speaker. Beatrix. The bane of her existence. She indulged in the brief mental picture of dumping her into the Bog of Eternal Stench. She noticed a courting token around Beatrix's neck. She couldn't imagine who would be gullible enough to bond to her.

"I do hope you'll be singing for us tonight. Maybe you could even sing a love song for all of us who are courting," she said with a smirk. This was a dig meant directly for her. Her other friends, who didn't hear the undercurrent of spite in Beatrix's tone, all clamored for her to sing.

She found herself on the stage, seated at the piano. She looked down at the keys… what to play?

Then it came to her.

You want a love song, Beatrix? I've got a love song for you.

Her fingers flew over the piano keys, the haunting melody playing out over the crowd. Her voice floated on the air, breathy and emotional…

You took your coat off,

and stood in the rain…

You're always crazy like that

And I watched from my window,

always felt I was outside...

Looking in on you

You're always the mysterious one with...

dark eyes and careless hair, you were...

Fashionably sensitive, but too cool to care

You stood in my doorway

with nothing to say

Besides some comment... on the weather

In case you failed to notice,

In case you failed to see

This is my heart...

Bleeding before you,

This is me down on my knees…

These… foolish games are...

Tearing me apart…

And your... thoughtless words are breaking my heart

You're breaking my heart…

Lost in the music, she didn't realize she was weeping.


When he saw his daughter sit at the piano, Jareth wasn't prepared for what happened next.

Her song was melancholy… speaking of a pain so deep and so sharp, that it was a wonder she could even sing at all. There wasn't a dry eye in the ballroom, all were caught up in the haunting words. Still, she kept going, singing as if she knew that she was slicing herself with every razor-edged note, but continuing onward, even though she would bleed out in the end.

He'd always known that Karina had been lying to everyone. Her nonchalance over Randel and his activities was completely feigned, he was well aware of that. He castigated himself for not talking to her more about it. He hadn't thought he had the right to. And even if he had… what could he have said that would make this any less painful for her?

His heart ached… and he wished with all his soul that there was something he could do to make her hurt go away.

Sarah could see it too. Tears ran down his wife's face as she watched their daughter pour out her heartbreak for all to see. Like Jareth himself, Sarah would do anything, give anything, to take that pain away from her child.

Damn Randel.

But even now, he couldn't find it in his heart to blame him. Karina herself had admitted that he'd always been truthful to her, that he'd never represented himself as a potential suitor. She blamed herself for what had happened, admitted that she hadn't treated Randel fairly. Karina finally grew up, enough to look at the feelings of those around her and try to understand where they were coming from. Unfortunately, it was far too late.

Randel was who he was. There was no changing him, and it wasn't fair for Jareth or anyone else to expect him to.

But that was his little girl out there hurting. His little girl, no matter how old she was, no matter that she was in full control of her own destiny. She would always be his baby…all his children would be, until the day he and Sarah shuffled off to the Summer Lands.

A movement up above caught his peripheral vision. He glanced up at the gallery, to see Randel, leaning up against a column, staring down at Karina as she sang.

So… he hadn't left after all.

And there he was, bold as brass, looking down at the wreck of a girl he had been prepared to walk away from forever.

Jareth felt a cold rage at that moment. This would not stand. He knew he shouldn't interfere, that he had no right to interfere in his daughter's life anymore… but bog damn it…that was his little girl.

He and Randel were going to have a reckoning. Right now. Or as Sarah would say… right the FUCK now.


Author's Notes:

The song Karina sings is called "Foolish Games" by Jewel (Long Version). I was listening to Spotify while writing the early part of this story and it just fit so well that I decided to use it here. If you've never heard it before, I recommend you listen to the long version, then re-read this chapter with it playing in the back of your mind. I guarantee that the piano melody will haunt you.

Karina is internalizing the guilt she feels about not telling Randel who she was. True, he would never have approached her if he'd known, but she's sort of glossing over the fact that before he knew her identity, he was very much pursuing her… even if he didn't fully comprehend why. In fact, he was the one who started it.

She's sort of gaslighting herself into believing it's all her fault, and punishing herself for what she sees as her offenses against him. She doesn't really understand that he's not fighting her… he's fighting himself.

And..uh oh… Papa Bear is a little pissed off….