Caisleán Caladh, The Morning of Helena's Abduction…
"Zee… something's wrong."
Zee came to full awareness, hearing the almost… scared tone in Tippy's voice. Sitting up, he looked over at her. "What do you mean, Tootsie? What's wrong?"
After all these years with her, Zee knew that sometimes she would be called away in the night… that their Othánas family would need her comfort. He was used to it by now, being woken at odd hours to his mate 'popping' out of their bed and not returning until the morning. When that happened, he would simply smile and go back to sleep, care for their little ones and await her return.
She had a gift. He didn't understand it much, but he knew it was unusual. She had this sense of when someone she cared about was sad, scared or hurting. She could follow it like a thread, 'popping' herself to them and providing the comfort they needed. No other Ughlánas had such an ability. They could all 'pop' to Kingy or Queenie at will, as due to Kingy's magic, they could always sense where they were. They could 'pop' to an unknown location (or more to the point… a specific distance they would visualize) and of course, they could 'pop' anywhere they'd been to before or had a link to. But Tippy was the first and only Ughlánas that could follow the emotions of her target and 'pop' to them, wherever they were.
She was also unique in that she had Healing magic. All Ughlánas had it, but it was internal only… they used it to instantly Heal their injuries and eliminate illnesses. Tippy was the only Ughlánas in living memory that could channel her Healing power to an external target like the Othánas females could. It worried Zee a little… gifts like that tended to appear when they were going to be needed… and he didn't like to think about a situation where an Ughlánas would need to Heal someone…
"It's Hellie. I can feel her. She's scared. But…" Tippy sat up, looking at him wide-eyed. "I tried to go to her… but I couldn't. Like… something's hiding her. I can feel the feeling, but I can't find the thread…"
"She be at the Lakehouse… isn't she?"
"No. She's… far. I can't get a thread on where. Something's hiding her, Zee…"
This chilled him. He remembered the last time she'd had a feeling like this… when The Boys had run into trouble on that camping trip. This sounded like one of those times. There was no reason that something would be hiding Hellie from Tippy's senses… and… she wasn't at the Lakehouse. Kingy might know where she is…
"You need to tell Kingy. It might be nothing. But… just in case."
With that, she 'popped' away.
Garthan walked into Jareth's study clad in his sleeping pants, a robe thrown over his shoulders. He'd received an alert on his operative talisman, letting him know that one of his Ughlánas spies was 'popping' in with urgent information. He'd slipped from the bed without waking Lily (it still amused him how she could sleep through all but the loudest of noises) and made his way to the study. The alert had come from Gherry, one of the Ughlánas assigned to Surinar Vale. Given the odd happenings around there, this got Garthan's attention immediately.
He'd no sooner walked in when Gherry materialized. "Garth," he said quietly. "We got trouble."
"What's happened?"
"Hellie. I saw her in Surinar yesterday."
Helena in the Vale? But… Jareth said she was at the Lakehouse…
"Are you sure?"
Gherry nodded, his face grim. "She glows with Kingy's magic… only we can see it. It was her."
"What the hell was she doing…" Garthan mumbled under his breath.
"Butterflies. She was at the festival. She met the Fae princess, too."
This got Garthan's complete attention. "Helena met with the Fae princess? How?"
"Music. There were some bands playing. She was sitting and listening. The Fae girl sat in her section. They started talking. Hellie was… not scared but… watchful. At first. But… Fae girl was nice. They talked a bit, laughed some. Made plans for breakfast in the morning and to go to the craft pavilion."
"What about the Fae guards?"
"They were relaxed. Didn't see Hellie as a threat… didn't have the stink of plotting on them either."
This was interesting. Ughlánas somehow could smell the Fae… or at least, they smelled their intentions. It was strange, and Garthan had no idea how it worked. He'd heard that dogs Aboveground had a similar ability to sense bad intentions. This was confirmed by Sarah. So… the princess's guards weren't plotting anything…
"They didn't know who Hellie was… she didn't say. Thought she was just a regular Othánas girl. Used our nickname. The Fae princess… she smelled… lonely. She just wanted a friend."
"Okay. So they made plans for breakfast. Then what?"
"Princess and her guards left. Yeegh followed them. I stayed. It was weird… why was Hellie there? So… I waited. She listened to the music for a couple of hours. Then she ordered some honeymead. Drank it. Started to feel sick."
Every nerve in Garthan's body was on alert now. "Sick? Or drugged?"
"Both. She walked away. I tried to follow… was gonna grab her and transport her home. The parade got between us. Wasn't sure which way she went. Had to follow her scent, lost it a couple of times because of the crowd. She was heading toward the Broken Sword."
Now, Garthan's stomach churned. That was the inn where those Iftanzel military types were staying. "Did you catch up to her?"
"Sort of… I got there, followed her scent upstairs. To her room, I think. It smelled like her. She wasn't there. But… someone else was."
The dread in Garthan's stomach was now almost overpowering. "Who?"
"Fae. From the smell of it, there were four of them. They… I think they attacked her. One of them was dead on the floor… looks like his throat was torn out. Blood all over. Another had a hole in him… levin bolt, maybe. The other two… not there, but their stink was all over the air. And Hellie was gone."
Garthan didn't even have time to react to this before Jareth and Sarah ran into the room, Tippy right behind them.
"Thank Danu, Lily said you'd probably be here…" Jareth gasped.
"Jareth, we have a problem - "
"Helena's missing - "
They were all talking at once. Jareth put a hand up, silencing everyone. "Tippy says that Helena's not at the Lakehouse. That she's scared… and when she tried to go to her, she was prevented from doing so…"
"Jareth… Gherry here saw Helena up in Surinar Vale yesterday. Apparently, she left the Lakehouse and was attending the festival. And…" at this point he swallowed hard, "It looks like… she might have been abducted."
Jareth looked around the small room… stepping over the body of the Fae that had bled out. He held his hand out to the other corpse, feeling the magic coming from the hole burned through the Fae's chest. It was definitely Helena's magical signature.
His almost incoherent fear was at least tempered a bit with a savage pride. She'd taken out two of her attackers, while drugged, no less. Had it only been two of them, she might well still be here…
Sarah's horrified gaze scanned the room, noting the blood splattered on the walls. "I don't think any of this is Helena's…"
"No. And… I'm not getting any… death energy. They didn't…"
Sarah nodded. "Hostage, then. They're holding her for something. Ransom, perhaps?"
"It's possible, but…" Garthan's voice was low and there were undercurrents of rage. "These guys were Iftanzel military. In civilian clothes. See that earring in this one's ear? That's the insignia of the Naruvian Legion. But… they were disbanded after the last war…"
"Disbanded, or just gone underground?" asked Jareth.
"The Naruvian Legion was an elite group… made up of specific noblemen and answerable only to the King. After the last war, they were disbanded in disgrace. Apparently," Here, Garthan grinned savagely, "the fact that they'd gotten captured by a unit of Ughlánas gave them a rather poor reputation amongst their fellows. You even had their leader socked away under the Bog for a few years." His smile vanished, replaced with a frown. "There's been no hint of them being recommissioned, though. And these guys were braggarts. If they'd gotten the King's favor back, either the old one or the new one… I would have heard about it."
"Tippy, can you get a better 'thread' on where Hellie is?" asked Zee.
Tippy closed her eyes, breathing slowly. After a few moments, she opened her eyes. "No. I felt her fear, and… anger. But there's no trail to follow. And… I don't think they hurt her. At least, not here. And I don't feel any pain from her right now. Just fear."
"Popped out then," said Zee. "Which is why Gherry couldn't find her afterwards. Tore the whole town apart looking. Bad guys must have 'popped' her to wherever she's being held. Homing talisman, probably. Wherever they took her, it's warded and shielded so she can't 'pop' herself out. That's why you can't get a thread." Zee walked around the room, taking a sniff here and there. He lingered in the doorway for a moment, then turned to Jareth. "Fae… a male and a female… not too long ago, maybe an hour. Came to the door… didn't come inside. Fear… the male was afraid. The girl… confused."
"Scared for his Princess," said a little voice in the doorway behind Zee. They all turned to see Yeegh. "I followed them from the Swan and Feather. She was chattering about the craft pavilion… breakfast with Hellie. They came here. The door was cracked open… the male pushed it in and saw the blood. Looked around for a few minutes, then real quick got the Princess out. Followed them to the Visitor Center. Think they went back to Haorsham, right before Kingy got here."
"And they didn't have Helena with them?"
"No… they didn't know nothing about what happened to her… only that it was something bad. They was… a little scared, I think. The other guards were still at the Swan and Feather… None of them ever left all night and none of them smelled like they were in on it."
Jareth looked around him, his expression almost murderous. "I want every inch of this town searched…"
"I'm on it, Sire. The Ughlánas already searched twice, once right after Gherry saw this room and again after he'd notified me of what was going on. We've sealed the Visitor's Center and are keeping everyone here for questioning," said Garthan. "I… I regret that we weren't in time to question the Princess or her guards… Gherry might have held them, but he didn't sense that they were in on it and felt that notifying us was more important…"
"It's not your fault, Garthan. Your operatives did what they had to do… by getting word to us and following those guards. While this might indeed be an Iftanzel military operation, if the Ughlánas say the guards weren't in on it, then it's unlikely that their Princess had anything to do with it, either."
"So… whoever took her is probably going to make contact with us at some point. To present their demands," said Sarah, quietly. "One of us needs to go back to the castle… in case they try to communicate."
Jareth nodded, "Yes. You should go." He saw her clench her jaw, and forestalled any argument with his next statement, said in a soft voice, "Please."
She frowned, clearly unhappy with his request but she didn't argue. Instead, she turned to Garthan, "You'll keep me informed?"
"Of course, Madam. And if you receive any communiques, missives or… just anything at all, let us know at once."
With a final nod to Garthan, Sarah reached out to Jareth, placing her hands on his shoulders. "We'll get her back. And when we do…"
Jareth met her gaze, suppressing a shiver at the cold, cruel expression in her eyes. Danu have mercy on the bastards that took our daughter, Jareth thought. For Sarah will have none.
It took about eight hours, but every living soul within Surinar was questioned. They were able to trace Helena's movements as she ambled about the festival, culminating in the last confirmed sighting of her at the music pavilion. The brewer of honeymead admitted to hiring the man who'd had his throat torn out. The crowd was expected to be twice the usual size for the festival, and he'd needed extra servers. The brewer was not a native of Surinar Vale, merely a vendor who had come to sell his wares. The Fae had presented himself as a resident of the town, and the vendor had no way of knowing this was a falsehood. Other vendors had vouched for the brewer, and Garthan was convinced that the terrified man was telling the truth.
The innkeeper didn't have much more information than they already knew. The Fae men had mentioned being 'on leave' to attend the festival, and as this was quite common for the soldiers of all three bordering kingdoms, the innkeeper took their words at face value. Helena had arrived yesterday, late in the morning, and had obtained a room when the previous guest had to leave abruptly due to a family emergency. One of the Ughlánas followed up on this and reported that indeed, the guest was an Othánas whose daughter had gone into early labor, thus he and his wife returned home posthaste. The room became available just as Helena had arrived at the inn and paid the innkeeper double what the previous couple were paying. The proprietor had no idea that Helena was actually the Goblin Princess… she had signed the registry as Hellie Danar. Jareth shook his head at this… for someone so intelligent, she could be so… naïve at times. As he thought this, his breath caught in his throat.
Why? Why would she run off like that, without a word to anyone? thought Jareth in agony. When it became clear that he wasn't going to discover anything useful, he resolved to get out of Garthan's way and see if he could trace Helena's journey to Surinar Vale. Maybe some clue would present itself as to how these cretins found her.
The Visitor's Center back in Caladh had very little information, other than that Helena had used the transport pad. She had a small travel bag. The guards hadn't thought to question her (although they thought it odd that she had no one with her… not even an Ughlánas or two). They assumed that she had Jareth's permission to go and that guards awaited her at her destination on the other side.
Jareth transported to his solar, to see Sarah holding an almost hysterical Karina. Immediately, he took his daughter in his arms, smoothing her hair and calming her. When her tears had subsided a bit, she looked at him with a combination of horror and guilt.
"It's my fault, Daddy… oh Danu, it's my fault."
"How so, Kibble? What happened?"
"I looked for her yesterday morning… I wanted to talk to her, find out what was going on. Try to help…" she shook her head. "I should have known better. But… I thought I'd try. She wasn't anywhere in the castle, so I figured she probably went to the Lakehouse. She was there… and we had a discussion. Or… well, I had the discussion, she refused to talk. I could tell she was hurting, and I just… wanted to help. But she wouldn't let me. We argued… I… got frustrated and…" at this point she began to cry again. "I told her she was so focused on her goals that she didn't care who she crushed in her pursuit of them… I didn't mean it, not really, but… I know I hurt her, even though she tried not to show it. Anyway, I left after that."
"Did she mention going anywhere? Surinar Vale?"
"No. Only that she had come to the Lakehouse for a reason… she was irritated that I had come to talk to her. I… I had no idea she would just leave…"
"It's not your fault, Karina. She was just a little overwhelmed and thought she'd try and get away from it all. You were only trying to help," Jareth murmured. He met Sarah's gaze. Her expression was a mix of fear and frustration. He knew exactly what she was feeling. It always bothered him, how little of Helena's feelings she would share with those who loved her. That old irritation bubbled up in him… if she'd only talked to them… maybe she wouldn't have felt the need to go off by herself, without even a guard…
No. I will not blame my daughter for what someone else has done. She is the victim here… it is not her fault. She had every right to go where she pleased within her own Kingdom.
He heard the door open behind him. He turned his head to see Tremane in the doorway, his face pale, his eyes haunted. Jareth gently nudged Karina into Sarah's arms and turned to face the young man.
"Tremane. You need to tell us… anything you know."
"I'd tell you anything, Sire… I don't know what the hell…" he ran a shaking hand through his platinum hair.
"Start with what happened the night of the party. When she left. She was upset. Why?"
Tremane sighed. "I offered her my courting token." He shook his head ruefully. "I went about it all wrong. She… she's really set on making the Collegium a reality. I was just trying to show her… that I was committed to her, to everything… that we would do it together. But…"
"But?"
"She thought I wanted her to life-bond right away. She's always said that having a family would get in the way of her plans. She thought… that I hadn't been serious when I told her I was on board with it."
Sarah looked at him, puzzled. "She… doesn't want children?"
"Eventually, yes. Just… not yet. Not until she's accomplished what she set out to do. And… I was okay with that." He rolled his eyes, self-loathing coming off him in waves. "I got… carried away. Instead of just telling her all that and then asking her to commit to me… I just pulled out my token and freaked her out. You see… she's torn. She wants to bond with me, but she wants the Collegium, too. She hasn't figured out yet that she can have both… she thinks she has to choose. I was trying to tell her that she didn't have to. But… I went about it all wrong."
"And that's why she ran out?"
"Yes. I knew she was going to hide herself away for a bit, think things through. When she was ready, she'd come back and demand an explanation from me." He smiled ruefully, "All she needed was a little time, then she'd seek me out. She'd get my assurance that I wasn't expecting her to give up her plans as the price of a life with me. And it all would have just blown over."
Karina looked at him with horror. "Oh… oh, no. And I screwed it all up. I tried to get her to talk to me about it and…"
Tremane put his hand on her arm reassuringly, "No, Karina. Don't blame yourself. It's one of the things I've been trying to tell her… that she doesn't have to face life alone, that she has people that love her. She just needs to open up a bit. She… thinks she's weak if she can't do it herself. In her mind, she's doing you the favor by not throwing her feelings on you. She doesn't want to be a burden. Silly, I know. She'll learn it eventually…" his expression turned pained, then resolute. He looked at Jareth, "The important thing is to find her. Find her and bring her home."
Jareth walked into his study without really paying attention to his surroundings, so preoccupied and sick with worry was he. Thus, he drew up short when he saw Sir Didymus, Zee, Phazz and Drozz standing around his tactical table, whispering to each other.
"What in all the Fates are you doing?" he asked, bewildered.
Sir Didymus glanced up at him, then nodded to Zee. He took the few steps between himself and his King, standing smartly at attention.
"The Ughlánas, Sire. They are beginning a systematic search of Iftanzel for Princess Helena. I was showing them which areas they should concentrate on first."
Jareth's puzzlement must have been obvious. "Search? How…"
Sir Didymus motioned him over to the tactical table. "We are starting with the border areas closest to Surinar Vale, then working our way inward toward Haorsham as well as outward along the border. So far, these towns have been searched, with no trace of the Princess." He indicated the three small towns around the Vale. "As the Lord Martial has the Army searching the towns on our side of the border, there is no need for the Ughlánas to check there, and they can easily 'pop' in and out of Iftanzel without them being any the wiser. We're also sending a squad into the Dwarven Kingdom." At Jareth's raised eyebrow he continued, "I highly doubt the Dwarves had anything to do with this, Sire, but that doesn't mean that whoever did it couldn't cross Dwarven land in the process. Best to eliminate it right away."
Zee spoke up at this point, "Kingy, we got five squads of ten, searching every town and manor nearby. We pop in, hide and look around, see if we can find Hellie. If it happens to be warded, we pop outside and sneak our way in. Listen in on what the Fae be saying, too. If she's not there, or if the Fae inside don't seem to know anything about her, we move on to the next building. When the whole town be searched, we check the farms outside of town. Just in case. After that, we come home, tell Sir Didymus and go on to the next town."
"In fact, Sire, I was going to ask you for a detailed map of Iftanzel that I may take with me to the Ughlánas side of the castle, so we may conduct our search out from underfoot of you and Lord Garthan." He indicated the tactical table with a paw. "We can mark off areas we've searched on the map and bring you our results so you can concentrate your efforts as well."
Jareth couldn't stop the moisture that accumulated in his eyes, seeing the devotion of Sir Didymus and the Ughlánas. "Thank you. I… I can't thank you all enough… I…"
Zee touched Jareth's hand briefly, his face as grim and menacing as he'd ever seen it. "We're gonna find her, Kingy. We will. And Goddess help them bastards when we do."
His throat choked with emotion, Jareth could only nod.