Epilogue

Sarah

Samhain.

Five years in the future.

"I can't believe it's like this already," Sarah said, gaze tracking the milling pedestrians. There were so many of them. Hundreds she could see from this Paris street café, where she sat with Aldric and Jareth bracketing her. "You would think with millions dead, and the virus still out there, that people would be more cautious."

"Quarantine lasted years, my love," Aldric rumbled. "We're lucky we escaped so much of it."

"Luck and arson," Sarah quipped. "I still hate that we had to burn the apartment down in order to get out."

Jareth laughed. "Would you have changed anything though, truly?"

"Mm," she murmured, leaning her shoulder against his. "Perhaps not."

His arm went around her, and Sarah made an appreciative noise. Aldric had his hand on her thigh under the table, discreet as they had to be among the Aboveground mortals.

The coronavirus had done an incredible amount of damage. Millions upon millions had perished, and even more were struck with conditions long-lasting and fully debilitating. The more she knew of the plight of the place she had once called home, the more she wanted to help, but there were rules, now.

It was Samhain, when the veil between the worlds was thinnest, and it allowed them free rein to travel from one place to another. The first two years they had been able to return, Sarah had spent every major holiday with her friends and family.

Visiting the Polermo family last Yule had been an experience, the kids far more grown than she remembered and causing no end of trouble. Hector was playing just as well and pain-free as he had been for years.

Then there had been calls and short visits with Rhonda and Brock, her boss and coworker at the marketing firm. They had succumbed to the general spellwork set by Jareth after setting fire to her apartment—that there had been a fire, and that Sarah had taken the opportunity to leave the country with her European lover, who now showered her with a lavish and opulent lifestyle. While Rhonda gushed, Brock was quite obviously jealous of the scenario, though how quickly he would last in Faerie, Sarah never wanted to test.

Rico had given up his career in the NYPD, and had moved to Florida. When they came to visit him once, he had made it clear that he did not want anything more to do with them. "I won't even tell my kids fairy tales, I promise," he said, three fingers raised in salute. Sarah had been somewhat sad at the result, but the man seemed happy enough away from the big city. She hoped he had a good life.

There had also been the post-graduation event around Ostara this year, as she had missed being able to watch Toby walk the stage in anything but Jareth's crystals. She had made up for her absence by imbuing an artifact for her brother, a journal that would only reveal what was written to the owner, at least until the moment of his death. Aldric had helped her with the idea, and though Toby had seemed oddly perplexed, he had smiled warmly and tucked it away safely in a drawer.

Her father and step-mother were doing their best to be a pain in her side regardless of the distance of literal worlds. Jareth had, in some fit of guilt she was sure, gifted Robert with a crystal that he used—often—to call upon Sarah. Thankfully, Jareth had made it to where the communication was purely verbal, despite that he could have allowed it to be visual as well.

But this time, this holiday, Sarah had wanted to go somewhere just for the three of them.

They had started in London and made their way south, traveling the high-speed rail system the way Sarah had always dreamed of doing, despite the grumbling of her two fae lords.

Her husbands.

It had been a year after her wedding to Jareth that she had wed Aldric, in the same chapel but with far fewer onlookers.

They had been together, the three of them, for more than five years now, and Sarah was grateful for them with every day that passed. Any lingering doubts had long since been banished, and despite that running a kingdom, a people, was difficult in ways that often had her clutching her head, she would not trade it.

They paid for their drinks and pastries and moved on, Sarah walking ahead of the two of them and letting them bookend her when she would stop to peer in shop windows.

Aldric bought her a small bouquet of sunflowers, and an atlas from the nineteenth century that she ogled in a small bookshop. Jareth bought her a red leather jacket, perfectly tailored and cuttingly gorgeous.

She bought them both a set of flashing cat ears from a streetside vendor selling for Halloween. They bickered over who had to take the pink one, Aldric relenting at last while Jareth donned the blue. She laughed and took a picture of them, tucking her camera away to be processed later. She would have to visit one of the kiosks before they had to leave.

As it was, the hours were ticking away, the sun lowering on the horizon until it was nothing but an orange halo around the magnificent buildings. Sarah breathed deep as they waited on her film to process, sitting in a park festooned with leaves turning crimson and buttery yellow as autumn wore on.

"Do you miss it?" Aldric asked, his arm going around the back of the bench behind her. "The Above?"

"Sometimes," she said. "I miss work, weirdly."

"Perish the thought," Jareth growled.

"I miss more the comradery of my colleagues," she went on, ignoring him. "It's difficult to find people that understand the pressures and pleasures of our duties. I'm glad I have the two of you, and King Ildris when he drops by."

Aldric gave her a sidelong look. "You don't intend on expanding our circle to include a High King, do you?"

Sarah tipped her head back and laughed. "You're both enough for me," she said after she had recovered, wiping at the corner of her eyes. "He's just a friend." Then she glanced between them. "Have either of you found another?"

They both made startled sounds. "I do not think that will happen, precious," Jareth said, taking her left hand and kissing her knuckles.

Her wedding ring set for him glinted in the last of the sunlight. On her right ring finger was Aldric's, made of black gold, peridot, and diamond.

Checking the trajectory of the sunset, the park filling with mortals celebrating All Hallows Eve, Sarah sighed. "We don't even have an hour."

"You do miss it," Aldric murmured.

"I wish I had been able to see so much more, before… everything." She fidgeted a little, then added, "And I wish we were able to see more of Faerie."

They all fell quiet.

High King Ildris was understanding, all things considered, that they had felt they had no choice but to commit regicide. But the consequences of that action were still being felt and, from what Sarah understood, decades would pass before things returned to some semblance of normalcy. As it was, there were several kingdoms rebelling. The centaurs and the elves had made a pact, and were attempting to claim a slice of Faerie as theirs.

Though The Goblin Kingdom remained out of the fight, they had been sending some of their more seasoned warriors off with Ildris on his campaigns, and had been sheltering many from the Seelie Court.

The High King saw them often, at least every few months, sometimes with a full retinue and sometimes with just a handful of his close companions and guards. The official word on these recurring stays was that he was ensuring no further disloyalty to the crown remained in The Goblin Kingdom.

But Sarah liked to think he had come to enjoy their company. She certainly did his. She had been worried at first that Aldric would find Ildris's company too similar to his cousins, but that had been quickly assuaged on their wedding night—the High King in attendance—when he got Aldric so blisteringly drunk he had been unable to do much of anything until the next morning.

Sarah smiled a little to think of it. Aldric had been beyond embarrassed, making it up to her all the next day.

"Where did you go, pet?" he asked now, a finger running lazily down the back of her neck.

She shivered, casting him a heated look that he reciprocated. "Just remembering our wedding night."

He flushed, honest-to-the-gods, and she laughed, standing and twirling in place, fallen leaves rising around her with the wind she kicked up. Both her husbands were gazing at her when she looked back at them, and it made her heart ache for how much love there was in those eyes.

"My film should be ready," she said, taking a few quick steps backward. "I want to see how the pictures came out."

The photos were ready when she returned to the kiosk, speaking in halting French to the woman with the nose ring behind the counter, who gave her a slight smile. Parisians were, contrary to everything she had heard, surprisingly kind. So long as you weren't behaving like a bumbling tourist.

Sarah wanted to rip into the packet right away, but stayed her hand and tucked it into her new leather jacket instead. "Shall we return?" Both of her fae lords held out their arms, and she took them, hugging them tight. "I love you," she said, not bothering to be specific. They both knew she meant it.

Jareth nodded to his brother, and the next thing she knew they was a rush of wind, a crack of thunder out of a clear sky, and they were on their way back to the Underground.

###

Magic scented the air, and The Labyrinth rushed forth an affectionate greeting when Sarah found herself back in the Underground.

The goblins were in the mist of their hibernation cycle, meaning the castle rang far quieter than the rest of the year, but Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo were all within the throne room, partaking of a game of Scrabble.

Sir Didymus had just scored a triple word score when she and her husbands arrived back in the castle. Hoggle was the first to spot them, standing so abruptly that he knocked the entire game to the floor, scattering the pieces. Didymus squawked, and Ludo rumbled disapprovingly, but Hoggle was already halfway to her.

"The damn fairies are at it again," he was saying as he neared. "They're infesting the gardens. I need—"

Sarah stopped him with a raised hand. "The fairies negotiated a new treaty this summer, remember? They're allowed to harvest from the gardens immediately prior to their own hibernation, to keep their numbers from flagging further." She shot him a severe look. "And I won't have any more talk of anti-fairy spray."

Hoggle rolled his eyes.

Sir Didymus came skidding to her side, and soon she was embroiled in happy conversation with her three friends. She glanced up to see that Aldric and Jareth were off to the side, talking quietly. She narrowed her eyes at them.

They were planning something.

It took a little time before she was able to extricate herself from her friends, with many promises of a game between the four of them, soon. By the time she did, Aldric had disappeared, and Jareth offered her his arm, smiling broadly. "Samhain celebrations are underway in the courtyard, precious. Would you like to make an appearance?"

She squeezed his arm, leaning in to smell his particular scent, of ozone and magic. "Let's go dance."

###

The celebrations would go on through the night and well into the morning, until dawn crept into the sky, when everyone would finally crawl back to their beds to sleep the day away.

But Sarah only lasted an hour before begging off, citing the many duties that awaited her and her fellow royals in the morning.

She found her way back to her rooms alone, Jareth having stayed behind to attend to a minor quarrel that got out of hand between some of the non-hibernating goblins and visiting fae from the Seelie Court.

Aldric was waiting for her just outside her door. She smiled to see him. "You know you can go in to wait for me."

"No, pet," he murmured, slipping an arm around her and squeezing. "This is your space. Always, I will wait for you." He smiled crookedly. "Anyway, I was not here long. I had to check on my ward."

He had a young fae lordling under his care now, a distant cousin of one of the fae that he had eliminated years ago, in the mass poisoning. The boy was difficult. Sarah herself had issues with being around him too long, finding his company difficult, in the best of terms.

"I'm going to have to get a chair or a bench out here for you," she quipped, opening the door and breathing deep of the crisp air of her rooms.

The foliage was turning pinkish-yellow at the edge of the leaves, but while their colors changed they never fell, allowing her to have the same dappled shade year-round. Even now, they shaded parts of her space from the brilliant moonlight.

Sarah prepared them all some tea, knowing Jareth was not far behind.

On Samhain, so near to both their wedding anniversaries, they always spent the night together.

Nothing had ever progressed past kissing and light petting, not when it was all three of them, and her husbands seemed to have a subtle communication going. They would oftentimes determine who slipped from the bed, and who stayed.

Sometimes they both left her, when they both could sense that she was beyond the physical, and needed the sleep her body—no longer mortal, but still beholden to its habits—so desperately needed.

Aldric smiled at her when she returned to the living room with a tray of spiced herbal tea and a plate of cookies. "I do not think I will ever tire of you offering me food."

She smiled back, remembering that first morning in the cabin and how shocked he had seemed that she prepared him a breakfast. She still did, even though they had a massive kitchen staff to help them for their primary meals. Sometimes Sarah wanted to express love in other ways, and ensuring her lovers stayed nourished was a part of that.

Sarah set the tray down on a low table and then slid into Aldric's lap, slinging her arm around his neck. His hand came down on her thigh, keeping her in place, and his arm went around her back, fingers buried in her hair. She leaned against him, nestling against his delicious, incredible warmth. "What did you think of Paris?"

He gave a slight shrug. "Anywhere you wish to take me, I will enjoy it. I enjoy being with you."

She blew out a laugh against his neck, kissing it gently before pulling back enough that she could reach into her jacket for the packet of photos.

Aldric hummed a gentle song as she flipped through the images, showing the Eiffel Tower at first in the bright noonday sun, and both her lovers, glamoured even in photo to look more like humans. Of the two photos she took trying to include herself with them, one she accidentally cut off a part of her own face, and in another Aldric disappeared behind the edge, only a sliver of his profile visible.

She laughed when she came on the one of them in their neon cat ears, and showed it to Aldric who chuckled.

"What's the jest?" Jareth asked, his tread silent on the floor.

Sarah flipped the photo over to show him, and Jareth laughed, head tipped back. "I think I may have found them conveniently missing upon our return," he said slyly.

"Me, too," Aldric rumbled, patting her leg so that she stood.

Sarah poured herself a cup of tea and settled into another plus chair, letting out a sigh. "What's on the agenda for tomorrow?"

"All of it can wait until then," Jareth said. "We, your husbands, have a gift for you this evening."

She lifted her eyebrows but smiled a little, sipping her tea. She had been given so much from them both, but there was a part of her that still thrilled to get something new. "I have nothing for you."

"We don't need anything but you," they said as one. Jareth held his hand out. "Come upstairs."

She set down her cup and followed them up the stairs, finding that her bed was scattered with lush red petals. She laughed a little at the sight. "Have you two been watching some of my movies without me?"

They had been able to get a rudimentary theater set up, with a projector and film reels. They had a limited collection, but she was delighted to find both her husbands had a fondness for musicals and romances.

"That's for later," Jareth said, dismissive. "Your gift is here."

She glanced at him to find that he gestured at the wall before her bathroom and wardrobe, which was covered now with a velvet curtain.

Sarah went to the curtain and pulled it aside, gasping a little as the painting came into view.

It was photorealistic, and painted by someone with such mastery that her breath was stolen from her.

It was everyone, with her at the center. Ludo, Hoggle, Didymus, Toby, her father and stepmother, Jareth, Aldric, and even—"Kieryn and Reganne?" she breathed.

Aldric came up behind her, and his tentative, "Do you like it?" told her exactly who had done the painting. He had shown her a number of his drawings over the years, but she had never realized he could paint so exquisitely.

Sarah felt the tears burning in her eyes a moment before they fell, and she twisted to fling her arms around him. "Thank you," she breathed.

"I commissioned my brother, and helped with memories and dreams, so he could get the details precise," Jareth said, hand rubbing down her back. "We thought you'd like—"

"My family," she finished for him, reaching out to haul Jareth into the hug. "You both mean so much to me. You have no idea."

They both laughed. "I think we have some," Jareth said.

###

Sarah woke the next morning happy, sated, and hungry.

She descended to the little kitchenette under her bedroom, finding some pumpkin bread and smearing it with butter before going to the floor-length windows and gazing out.

The Labyrinth purred in the back of her mind, large and content, as it had been for years now. Even with the unrest in other parts of Faerie, the mechanisms at work here were moving smoothly. They had, in her short reign as Goblin Queen, had three runners challenge their walls for children wished away, and though none had succeeded, Sarah had sensed in them no true conviction.

The children were, themselves, being raised happily among the long-lived fae, showered with attention and adoration in equal measure.

She could not have anticipated this outcome all those years ago, when she had said those reckless words to wish Toby away to Jareth. But, in many ways, she was infinitely glad she had. It had set her down a path that had led to, above all, pure contentment.

She was right where she belonged.

Author Note:

Well, hey there. I suppose this is good-bye.

It's kind of nuts, how this story ended up, and all the things that happened along the way. The pandemic was certainly not something to be made light of, and I have some doubts that pouncing on a "quick write a pandemic story about Sarah and Jareth" idea was... entirely wise, in the long run.

I tried to do some justice to the subject matter, but also the story did pivot from the current events sort of thing and into a far wide-reaching fantasy.

I went from fairly happily married to divorced to years single during the course of this writing. I finished an original fiction trilogy. It's been quite the journey.

But this is the longest thing I've written to-date, and I hope, above all, that it was entertaining. That is what I strive to do, above all, is entertain.

Thank you to everyone who has commented and left kudos and in general reached out and checked in throughout this. I look forward to seeing you on other projects or, if we don't see each other again, I wish you the best. I hope your days go well, and that life has some degree of ease.

Thank you, again, and be safe out there.

Cheers,

~CrimsonSympathy