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In A Time Of Winter	By : Jetredgirl Category: G through L > Labyrinth Views: 5645 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from Labyrinth or it's characters in any way. The Original Characters ARE mine, but I don't profit from them either :)

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
It had been a week since Hoggle had been laid to rest, and things had someone returned to normal. Sarah still hadn't the heart to work in her garden as of yet without Hoggle, but she was coping better than after it first happened.
Merrik examined the queen and found no lasting ill effects from her first shift. He was still unsure why her shifted form was a cat, but besides that there was nothing amiss.
Justinia researched thousands of years of underground history and had found no mention of a such a shifter. Shifting itself was rare and most who did were royalty because societies tend to look for the strongest magic users to elevate to such positions.
She finally managed to find one slight thread. Before the Underground and aboveground were closed to each other except for specific entryways (which was so far back there were very few facts and mainly legends) there was a tribe of felidae shifters that were nomadic that had drifted between both worlds, but were known to have stayed above when the worlds were split.
Certainly cats themselves dwelled in both. Small creatures occasionally were able to find the paths between, so the underground did have a small population of them. Feral mostly. Sarah had told her the small domesticated type they saw in the underground were mainly what lived above now. Even big cats were endangered.
Could Sarah be related to these shifters? It was possible..and as she came to the underground as human, her human genetic makeup would play a role in her form. It was food for thought at least.
Jareth had stepped up patrols around the perimeter of his kingdom to double. He was taking no chances. No traces of the other dwarf had been found and he didn't know what that meant. He knew eventually they would have to seek and find the ones that had murdered Hoggle, but at this point, thought they were working on strategies to do so, he was more worried about who or what might try to get in.
Harmony had set her mind to helping her mother. She had recruited her twin brothers and sister Lily to work with her on making sure the castle and kingdom were running as smoothly as possible and she herself had begun intercepting small issues that would usually end up on her mother's desk.
To top it off they had had two wish aways in the week. They were incredibly rare in this day and age. The Goblin King was virtually forgotten as all but legend in the civilized world, but in remote areas around the globe there were those hat new of him. Places where when a child was orphaned or sick, he would be called to take the child and no run was even expected. People to whom such a thing was celebrated. They knew the child would be well taken care of, and Jareth always made sure the people were given something that would be of use to the whole community. Very few ever asked for wealth. Most wanted the gift of good crops or fresh water, good rains and the blessing of health. Only those few in the westernized world that actually believed enough that Jareth heard the call seemed to want wealth or fame.
These children were adopted by immortals all over the underground. Jareth did not discriminate though it was expected royal families topped the list. Small children shifted to changeling state naturally, and eventually became immortals as time went on.
The real Goblin Castle, the one the runners never saw the inside of except for one, was quite grand really, not dirty and full of goblins. The majority of the goblin races wouldn't ever want to live in a clean shiny castle, they preferred their little hovels in their city, where they could hoard their treasures and be left to themselves.
The fountain was being put in to the gardens this day. Sarah watched from her office window, subdued. It seemed like she was going through the motions this past week. She felt hollow.
Then she felt bad for how she felt, because though a terrible thing had happened, she was still incredibly lucky to have a family and friends who she loved that loved her back. She was a queen for goodness sake.
Taking a deep breath she left her study and wound her way through the castle, until finally she pushed opened the door and stepped into the place she had avoided going. She could hear the voices of the workers, and Jareth's clipped commands.
"Yes. There. Make sure this thing is sturdy, the base deep enough. I do not want it coming down in even the worst disaster."
"And what disaster would we be waiting for, my husband?" Sarah said, startling Jareth.
He swung around and held out his hand to her.
"You never know, love. We could be overrun with rocks thanks to your ogre friend." He smiled. Happy to see her there, knowing how hard it must be. He knew she would face it sooner or later. She was far too brave to not deal with her fears.
Sarah giggled and took his hand, then hugged him as she watched the workers. "Thank you. it's beautiful."
"I put a rush on it. The masons have been working around the clock. It will be a lovely place to cool your toes on warm days." Jareth replied. "You are welcome precious. I am so happy to see you here."
Sarah scrunched her nose and laid her head on his chest as she watched. She made a decision she would cry no more, but it was still difficult to keep that oath to herself.
A wooden box in her office holding the ashes of her friend waited to be placed with the marble urn that would be placed in the center. A stone carver was working on a likeness that would sit atop that. Hoggle sitting on a rock, fishing for eternity. It would be stunning when finished.
"Wow Mother, Father. It's magnificent!" Harmony declared as she walked up the path and stood beside them. She had Seen her mother going towards the gardens and gestured for her siblings to follow. The two youngest were napping, but Harmony, Lily and the twins came to surround their parents and watch as the fountain went up.
"Awesome Mom. Hoggle would be proud." Robbie said. Jareth looked over his shoulder and raised a brow. "You are learning far too much aboveground slang from your uncle, son."
His brother poked him in the ribs. "Told you dad wouldn't like it."
"Mom doesn't care." Robbie countered.
This started an elbow poking match.
Lily shoved between her brothers. "Knock it off. This is a big thing for Mom. Don't be idiots."
"Mom! She called us idiots!" Perryn whined.
Jareth and Sarah looked at each other and sighed.
Well, you are!" Lily said poking them both.
"Hey!" Harmony bellowed. They all stopped and looked at her. "Would you all just stop?"
"You're too bossy. Just because you are the oldest. Don't tell us what to do." Robbie said, his brother agreeing.
Jareth started chuckling. He couldn't help it. Soon Sarah joined in. "What's so funny?" Robbie asked his laughing parents.
They turned to face their progeny. 4 set of eyes looking at them curiously.
Sarah gathered them all in and hugged them until the were struggling to get out of the huddle. "You. All of you. You remind me that life goes on. I love you all."
Jareth gestured to the castle. "Come, let's go inside and let the workmen do their jobs. I'll send Caolin out to watch until the are finished for the day."
Harmony led, with her siblings behind, their parents following and smiling, watching them talk, joke and tease each other.
Sarah realized suddenly she didn't feel so hollow anymore.

_
Elsian had been surprised how easy it had been to leave the Elf Kingdom. He thought he would have to beg, or sneak or fight to get out. When the guards say him coming they simply stepped aside.
"Don't you need to see my orders to leave?" Elsian asked.
The guards looked at each other and grinned. "No. The King's orders. If you asked to leave, we ar eto let you pass. However you are not to be let back in under any circumstances."
"What of the council's ruling?" Elsian asked. Curious.
"The King also said to tell you if we saw you, "Good Luck. May you get everything that is coming to you."
Elsian's heart dropped. He knew he was breaking the council law and what would happen if found.
He had been counting on it, but not yet. Not until he did what he needed to do. Then and only then would he hand over his life. Still, to hear his father was basically tell him to go and kill himself, it hurt.
"Fine. I'm not planning on coming back."
The guards wove the magic that would open the border to let him through. When it was done one gestured and bowed, a sarcastic showing, to be sure. "Farewell Elsian. good riddance."
Elsian said nothing, but walked through the gap, not looking back.

_
A few days later, Harmony was walking the hedge maze, looking for the small holey glittery stones her youngest sister loved. The fairies carried them from all over the kingdom, and somehow they often ended up among the hedges of The LAbyrinth. The weren't very sturdy and disintegrated quickly, but Karelinda loved to string them together and make "royal jewelry" out of them. She was not allowed to explore the great maze on her own yet, so this morning she had pleaded with her oldest sister to look for some for her. Harmony couldn't resist those big eyes. one green and one blue. She was the only one of the children to have this trait.
So she wandered around with a small sack, muttering to herself and picking up rocks, wondering how she got suckered into it. She should have made the boys do it.
"Hello, child." Came a rumbly voice from a short distance away.
"Good morning Wiseman." Harmony bowed to the ancient man.
"Change in the air, girl. For all of us." He grumbled.
"I know." She answered. "How do you know?" She asked. It was an odd statement.
"All of us here know it. Can feel it. The Spirit, she is disturbed. The dwellers are restless. You are are looking in the wrong place for answers. They will come though. They will come. Hope you are all ready. You specifically."
Harmony observed him on his chair, puzzled by his cryptic words.. "Do you know what's coming?"
"Specifically? Nooo. I am tired, princess. time for my nap."
He dozed off.
His hat blinked at her saying nothing but holding out his little box.
"Oh no. I know better than that. But here, have a couple of these." She dropped a couple of the rocks into the opening.
"He speaks the truth, daughter of the champion and king. You will know when it comes. Dont say we didnt warn ya!"
Harmony backed away, watching the bird hat squawk and giggle.
"I think I have enough of these for now."
She hurried back to the castle, unsettled.

_
Elsian approached the border gingerly. He did not want to cause the guards to think they had reason to put him down before he got the chance to do what he needed to do. He wanted plenty of witnesses. So there would be no doubts or rumors. No conspiracies.
He hastened his pace towards the royal guard.
Just get it done.

_
As a royal guard of The Goblin Kingdom, Dex was new. He was following in the footsteps of his father, Teagus. He was proud of his heritage. His family had served the royal family for generations.
He was newly wed and expecting his first youngling. To be assigned on the outer borders meant spending much time away from his young family, but it was a high honor. This is where most started out. He hoped to be assigned duty at the castle someday. Rarely anything happened out here in the far borders. Even the incident with the dwarf had been closer in.
As he searched the horizon, in the distance he saw a figure coming closer.
Unusual but not unheard of. Drifters occasionally approached guards looking for entry or a few coins.
He observed calmly as the figure got closer. Lifting his goblin war stick, he pointed at the man's chest.
"Go no further. These are The Goblin Kingdom Lands. Do you have reason to be here?" He asked.
The man threw back the hood on his ragged cloak, he bright lavender eyes glinting. "Yes. I need to see the king. Now."
Dex was instantly suspicious. What was a rather royal looking immortal doing wandering such barren in betweens?
He looked at his fellow guard, who shook his head at him.
"You may not pass. Do you have orders?" Dex asked him.
The expression on the mans face changed from calm to anger and desperation. "I need to see the king!"
He threw back his cloak and brandished an iron dagger.
Dex and his fellow guard were on him instantly. One guard had him in a tight choke hold, Dex knocked the dagger out of his hand and sword at his neck before the man could even blink.
The bound man gasped and coughed, trying to breathe.
"Please..do not kill me. I need...I want..." He could not finish as the goblin's grip on his neck tightened.
"What is your name!" Dex demanded.
The man they held fast gulped in a few breaths. Dex's partner loosened his grip a little and asked the question again.
The startling eyes of the immortal man met the goblin's, no longer angry, but sad. Dex stepped back in surprise.
"Elsian, former Elf high Prince."
Odder still, Dex would note later, the man smiled at him.

_
Jareth was relaxing on his throne. Goblin small court had just ended. It seemed it was a neverending parade of ridiculousness. Caolin stood calmly through the proceedings, taking notes and sorting the cases. The minor disputes were often sent to The Goblin Queen. She had a way of working such things out in a diplomatic way and had long ago taken over that duty.
The criminal issues were taken care of by the king. He had little tolerance for rule breakers, and was the one to hand down punishments. He was glad that criminal behavior was far fewer than civil cases, but the criminal cases were larger and messier, needing a firm and sometimes harsh hand to take them on.
The Goblin King was not one to cross.
He was about to rise when Teagus ran in followed by his squad of guards. "Your Majesty!"
Jareth took the steps two at a time, waiting for the guards to reach him. As they did they fell to one knee. "You Majesty, we have a report of a possible intruder. It was sent from the far boarder to the east. Sire, my son.."
Jareth was on alert. He held up his hand. "An intruder? What in all the underground is going on lately?"
"He did not get in. MY son has him held down there." Teagus answered from his position.
"Rise, Teagus. Most likely the other dwarf. Bring him. He has possible information on Hoggle's murder." Jareth said.
Jareth wave a hand over himself, his formal armor forming around his body.
"It's not a dwarf." Another guard answered. "An immortal asking for you."
Jareth's eyebrow raised. "Well then, Me he shall get." Gesturing. "Caolin. accompany me, will you?"
The King and his aide disappeared.

_
When the arrived to the remote border, the guard were holding the man down on his knees.
"What is going on here?" His voiced boomed. "I am becoming weary of so much trouble trying to invade my kingdom!"
He walked towards the group, Caolin to his side. When he reached the guards he motioned for them to move back.
"Who dares..." He started as the man raised his head.
The feelings that went through Jareth as he saw who it was stopped him cold. Shock, fear, anger, all at once. Then a smile, a quite evil smile, crept across his face as he crossed his arms.
"Well well well. Please, guards, let him stand." He paced back and forth, watching the man be pulled to his feet.
Once he was standing he stepped up to him. Staring him in the face. "Elsian." was all he said.

_
The guard had thankfully stopped hold him around the neck, though they were still lholding him down. Elsian's back was starting to ache from the position he was in. How much longer?
The voice of The Goblin King startled him. Then he felt relief. Took him long enough. You would think he wouldn't take his own sweet damn time when it came to something like this.
He kept staring at the ground until he saw booted feet in front of him the slowly brought his head up to meet the gaze of the man who wanted him dead.
He watched as The kings eyes brightened, then turned dark with anger, tinged with red. The grin that developed was not a nice one.
"Well well well. Please guards, let him stand." He gestured to help him up.
The dragged him roughly to his feet, and he was face to face with The Goblin King.
"Your Majesty." He said. He knew what he was doing was the right thing, but he could not help being a little afraid.
"Tell me, Elsian," The Goblin said, adjusting a glove. "Are you the stupidest man to ever live? Or merely suicidal?"
"I wanted..to make amends." He said,standing straight.
"Amends?! Are you mad?!" The King answered, incredulous. "How can you make amends to a man whose wife and child you stole and nearly killed?! How can you make amends to a a woman whose life you decided to take with no care? Whose child in her womb was so close to having her life snuffed out before it had barely begun?! What could you say that these thing could be forgiven?!"
Elsian was silent so Jareth saw fit to grab him by the throat and squeeze, just a little. As a reminder.
Elsian flailed a bit the held his hands down at his side, squeezing them into fists to gain some control.
What did you think would happen? Fool! His inner voice said.
"Answer!" Jareth demanded,
"I..I do not know..Your Majesty." Elsian replied, gasping through the King's tight hold on his neck.
Jareth tossed him back down on the ground. "Perhaps you should have thought of that, before you came here."
As Elsian was crouched there on the ground, coughing, he heard the whisper of The Goblin King's sword being removed from it's sheath.
He squeezed his eyes closed and waited for the end.
Finally, the end. If this is not what you wanted, it is too late now. Mother, Elspeth, my time to join you is at hand.
"Jareth, don't do this. Not here and now." A feminine voice came and made even Elsian look up.

_
Sarah, stood not 10 feet away, having been alerted by a passing guard within the castle, and then commanded that guard take her to the site where the conflict was going on immediately.
"Sarah, go back to the castle. I will take care of this." Growled The Goblin King.
Sarah came to stand between her husband and the man on the ground, making everyone stare at the escalating incident between their two monarchs.
"Your Majesty, let me ask you..do you want to have to explain this to your daughter? Because I certainly am NOT going be the one who tell her you took a man who has already been punished for his crimes, and punished him again but chopping off his head. You know how she.." Sarah stopped, remembering Elsian was right there. "You KNOW what happened. I won't let you put her though this! I will fight even you if I have to!"
The King and Queen glared at each other for a long minute.
He broke the silence with an irritated hiss. "I am King here Sarah. do NOT defy me!"
"You know damn well I am equal to you here. You, I remind you, made it that way. Besides, if he knows something of Hoggle's killers I want to know!"
The Goblin King resheathed his sword. The fire in his eyes saying this was nowhere near over.
"Fine." He said through a clenched jaw. "Take this man to the dungeons." He told the guards.
He grabbed Sarah's arm. "We will discuss the privately, my Queen." The remark came out as a sneer.
The two disappeared and everyone else just stood there, shocked.
"You heard you king, take him to the dungeons, now." Caolin said.
The guards snappedo ut ofthier shock and followed thier instructions.

_
Jareth, with Sarah in tow, appeared in his study. A flick of a finger from Jareth was all it took for the door to be locked and the room soundproof.
"Why do you insist of defying me at every turn? After everything this man did to us? To you? " Jareth asked her as he released her arm and stood tall.
"Don't pull that intimidation crap on me, Jareth. I know you better than anyone. I'm certainly not thrilled he is here either. But I need to know what happened to Hoggle, who did it, and why. Hey worked fora nasty little troll before, so if this is the work of trolls, he might know something about it."
Sarah replied, crossing her arms and glaring right back.
Jareth turned away from her and poured himself a drink."What was that about our daughter then? You planning on making a betrothal announcement soon? Hmm? Oh wouldn't that be a wonderful thing. Marrying off my child to the man that nearly took her life!"
"Of course not. As far as I'm concerned Harmony should stay as far away from him as possible. But killing him outright is only going to hurt her because I know how teenage girls think. You make him a martyr She may get it into her head you, her beloved father, whom she practically worships, stole her lost love, or some ridiculous notion. Give that a chance to die down. What ever she thought she felt, don't give it a chance to grow roots in some misbegotten idea he was her soul mate and you took that from her. She needs to cometo the conclusion on her own, that there is no chance of that ever working out. That he is a criminal and not to be trusted."
Jareth drank as she spoke, then poured another. "But you forgave him, you told several people that."
"I did that for me, not for him. I let it go because I had no choice. I forgave him because I didn't want to carry that anger around with me for the rest of my days like you do." She pointed out.
Jareth's shoulders hunched down. "What do you think I should do Sarah? Let him come here, walk into my own kingdom and not be punished for it? I will NOT be weak in the eyes of the underground! I am a King! I cannot!"
"We keep him here, question him, then turn him over to The Council for appropriate punishment for leaving The Elf Kingdom and violating his verdict. Let them decide. *IF* them deem he should be put to death, I'm certain they will gladly hand you the axe if we demand it."
Jareth pivoted towards his wife. "I do NOT like this. I swear Sarah if anything happens, I do not want to be blamed. I want it known by everyone My judgment stands. AS far as I'm concerned I would have his head on a spike outside this castle ANYONE questions this..."
"I'll take the blame, Jareth. I will make sure, I'll find some reason. I'll say as it was the council's ruling, we as a couple discussed it at length and came to the conclusion to the wise and fair monarchs we are, to let The Council make the call. The way they feel about you it might actually get you some points with them."
"I do not know if I can sleep knowing he is in my castle, anywhere near my family." Jareth answered. He turned to get another drink but stopped, realizing he had already had 2 glasses. He was getting a headache. He would get a draught from the healer, he thought.
Sarah was there behind him, arms around his waist, laying her head on his back. "I understand how you feel. I really do. Neither of us can afford to be short sighted, or selfish. He is locked away in the dungeons and that is probably the most secure place in the underground. If he so much as looks like he would cause harm to a hair on anyone's head here, I will not stand in the way of you doing whatever you choose."
"Sarah you tell me you understand, but I often feel that you do not. In those first years after...I relived that moment I drove a dagger into your heart a thousand times a day. Now it is merely a hundred. I waited so long...and they almost cost me everything. I look at our children with the full knowledge that in a matter of seconds.. everything would have been different. None of them would be here because *I* did that. It is only by the kindness of The spirit of The LAbyrinth, that you were given back to me."
"Kindness hell. She needed me. She needed Harmony. Jareth I am grateful for what The Labyrinth did, but do not think for a minute that big maze and whatever it represents isn't almost completely self serving." Sarah replied.
Jareth moved to face his wife. "I am a bit surprised that you, my kind hearted, "always believing the best in everyone" wife, would see this. I have always known from the moment I became King that The Labyrinth needs it's keepers more than it would ever admit. I believe we are especially prized as Keepers because we are aware of it."
"Possibly." Sarah said noncommittally.
"Every day brings some new unpleasantness." Jareth sighed. "At this point I just want peace."
He let his wife go, then sat down at his desk.
"Everything will work out. I need to go take care of some things. See you at dinner?" Sarah asked him.
He nodded. "Dinner, yes."
She left the room, and Jareth started crafting a letter to The Council, to be sent as soon as possible.

_
Elsian was thrown into a damn dark cell, the door bannging shut behind him. Jareth's aide peered at him through the bars. "I would not get to comfortable." He sneered, and was gone.
The former prince laid on the cot in the corner of the room and stared at the stone ceiling.
Wonderful. This is not how this was supposed to go. Why did the woman save him? He should be dead. He should also stop referring to her as "The woman." She is the Goblin Queen now. Has been for many years.
He didn't know how long he had laid there when he heard several set of footsteps approach. A clanking noise told him the door was being unlocked.
Finally The Goblin King had come to do what he should have already done..except it wasn't The Goblin King.
The Queen stepped into the cell, staying near the door. He could see her green eyes glaring at him across the dark room.
Guards went to follow her in and she pushed them back. "Leave us."
They looked at each other. "I mean it." She commanded. "He is of no danger to me. I could cut him down before he has a chance to move."
The door banged shut.
"I want to know something." She said calmly. "Did you kill Hoggle, or know who did? Because if you did, if you had anything to do with what happened to him, I will kill you myself." She stepped closer.
Elsian sat up on his elbows. "Hoggle? Your pet dwarf? Why in the underground would a kill a dwarf?"
SHe took another step forward."I don't know, Elsian. Why would you help a troll disguised as a human, kidnap 2 women in some fool attempt to steal the LAbyrinth's power, thereby forcing one woman's husband to have to kill his own wife and unborn child to stop it?"
Elsian winced at her statement, every word cutting through him. He did do those things. He could not deny it.
A crop appeared in her gloved hands, and she paced in front of him. Oh yes, Jareth had taught her well. She had a way of bristling with barely restrained power like her infamous husband.
His eyes had drifted to his hands and the crack of the crop on the cot startled him and made him look up again.
"I came to tell you something. I forgave you long ago for what you did to me, but I will never forgive you for the pain in my husbands eyes, or the near loss of my child. I don't tell them these things, Jareth tends to worry, and my eldest takes after him. They only know the first part."
"Stand up."She commanded.
He hesitated.
"Don't think me weak." She cracked the crop against the cot again. "I have the same power as him."
Elsian stood. The Goblin Queen circled him. "Here is the thing though. My daughter, my beautiful innocent daughter has developed..sympathetic feelings towards you. So if you were wondering why, that is why. She adores her father and if he had killed you today, that might lead to issues between them. You are not worth that. I went out of my way, as a mother, to make sure you got to spend a final time with your mother. I did that for her, not you."
She came to stand in front of him "My husband will be coming talk to you tomorrow. I would advise you to be truthful. If you know ANYTHING..I mean absolutely anything, about Hoggle's death, you would do well to be forthcoming. He may not kill you, but I can guarantee, you will suffer."
"I swear on my mother's ashes I do not." Elsian answered, licking his lips nervously. "Believe me, I have learned enough lessons from the past to make sure I have no desire to involve myself in those types of activities. I am sorry for your loss."
"I appreciate your condolences." She replied sarcastically.
She backed up, not taking her eyes off of him. Then she pounded twice on the door. "Open!"
The door creaked open and she stepped into the hall. "Make sure he is brought a meal and water." She said to a guard. Then turned back to him. "Enjoy it. It may be your last one."
The door slammed and he was alone again, listening the retreating footsteps.
He sat back down on the bed, his head hung down.

_
Harmony was suspicious there was something odd going on in the castle. There was a great deal of whispering and gossiping going on, and when she entered a room people would stop talking.
"I'm getting so tired of secrets around here." She mumbled as she made the trek to the library to retrieve a book.
Her aunt was in there alone, cataloging some recent acquisitions.
"Good afternoon, Harmony. I have the book you asked for." She handed it to her, smiling. "Anything else?"
"Yeah do you know what the hell is going on around here? Is there some colossal joke I"m not in on?" Harmony asked, irritated.
Justinia busied herself. "I have no idea what you're talking about dear."
Harmony narrowed her eyes whale watching her aunt shuffle books around. "Which pretty much means you do. Why do all of you insist on treating me like I'm a little girl still.? Ugh." She turned on her heel and left.
When she entered her chambers, Lily was there. She was doing her infernal stretching exercises trying ti make herself grow taller. She had read it in some old book years before and insisted she was going to be two inches taller someday.
"Sorry Lils, not going to happen." Harmony said as she threw her book on the bed and flopped down. "You've been doing them for years and hasn't worked so far."
The blonde girl stood and glared at her. "Why are you so nasty today? By the way, I am half an inch taller than I was a year ago, so there."
"Because you grew, silly. Not because you are doing the stupid exercises. I am not nasty. I'm just tired of being a pariah today. Soemthing is going on."
"Oh." Lily answered simply. She turned from her and grabbed a towel to dab the perspiration from her forehead. "How is Justinia? Did you get your book? You've been talking about it for days. Something about the history of the water dragons..."
"You know don't you? Tell me!" Harmony demanded. It was NOT fair her sister knew what was going on.
"I...cant." Her younger sister replied.
Harmony jerked her sister to her. "You are the ONLY one I have ever been able to trust to be completely honest with me. You and father, but he is avoiding me completely."
Lily wrenched her arm away. "Hey! don't be so rough with me. I didn't do anything."
Harmony was taken aback at her own actions. "I'm sorry, Lils, really. I'm just. I don't understand why everyone keeps treating me like I can't handle myself. I'm a grown woman..mostly. I deserve to know."
Lily sighed. "Look, you did NOT hear this from me, but I hear Caolin talking to the guards. He says there is a very special prisoner in the dungeons."
"Yeah..so..what's the big secret? We have had prisoners before?" Harmony asked.
"I"m not sure, but I could have sworn I heard one of the guards say the name Elsian," Lily answered quietly.
Harmony's stomach fell to her feet. How in the hell did he become her father's prisoner? Oh no...were they going to...
Harmony took off out the door, heading for her father's study.

_
Jareth was finished for the day, readying to depart from his work and go spend some time catching up with his children. It had been a long day and he was tired, but the pure joy of talking with them made everything better, made him feel everything was worth it.
His door flew open as he stood, and Harmony stood there, looking none to happy.
"Is Elsian here?" She asked directly.
"I swear to the Gods, can anyone keep their mouths shut around here?" Jareth said, pounding his fist on his desk.
It's true then." Harmony answered.
Jareth sat back down at his desk, running his hands through his hair. "It is true. He violated The Council's verdict by leaving the Elf lands, and no has violated mine by coming here."
Harmony sat across from him. "Why? Why would he come here? What does he want?"
"I do not know, child. I only know he is a danger ot my family and I will do what I have to do to make sure nothing happens to any of you. That is my place, my duty to my wife and children. It's what a father does. What king does."Jareth replied.
"You are going to kill him?" Harmony felt nauseated at the thought.
Jareth took a deep breath, or two to calm himself. He was getting terribly tired of having his every move questioned. "If I have to. What is it with you and your mother? You seem to forget I am a king! I have obligations! I To my family and my kingdom, and every living being in it!"
He stood and created a crystal, then threw it into the fire, causing the flames to jump and dance.
"I have already agreed to transport him to the council for judgment. He acting against my crown! If they choose to sentence him to death I will NOT stop it. In fact I will be glad to see him dead and I am not going to pretend I will not to anyone!"
Harmony was surprised at seeing her father's tight control slip. She never thought about what things might look like from his point of view.
"Father I'm...okay, I'm not sorry I don't want you to kill him, or anyone. Please do not be mad at me." She answered meekly.
It dawned on Jareth he was taking his frustrations out on one of his children. Something he had never meant to do. "I apologize, child. It has been a long day and Sarah...never mind."
"Are you and mother okay?" Harmony asked, alarmed. They did bicker quite a bit but it was rarely serious.
"Do not worry yourself of that. Your mother and I are well. We just see things from opposite ends in this case. You know no one means more to me that her and all of you. I would let nothing come between myself and my family."
Harmony nodded. "I suppose I shouldn't ask to speak with him."
"You know I cannot allow that at this time, love." He answered calmly. "I will be speaking with him tomorrow. Just.. can everyone allow me to do my job?"
Harmony got up and went to leave. but turned at the door. "I know you have a difficult job to do. I really do. Sometimes a little compassion goes a long way in getting what you need, you know?"
"Heh..You sound like your mother." Jareth said, smirking.
"Could be worse, I suppose." Harmony replied. "I'll see you at dinner?"
He nodded, noting the last thing his wife had said to him was the exact same thing. Sarah was always saying how much she was like him, but to him, her likeness to his wife was quite apparent. Her mannerisms, her compassion, her heart. They were all very much like his Sarah.
Meanwhile, Harmony had neft the room, plotting away to speak to Elsian once ad for all.

_
The Troll King Garak the Great led the procession to the the barren plains on the other side of the black mountains. Xachem The Ancient had thought it best not to work the great magic inside for fear of destroying them all. As it was that would be the likely result anyway.
The old troll stood, trembling from fear at the thought of doing this working. There was no way to test it, either it would work, or it would not.
The silver sands of the plains were the perfect conductor for the amount of energy it was going to require. It tended to amplify magical energy. It was fortunate for most of the underground that very few trolls had any to speak of.
Garak push the troll out in front of them. "Do it!"
Xachem hobbled, taking a large stick and drawing a circle. It had to be very large, and for the old troll took nearly 15 minutes to walk the desired circumference. "Stay outside of it!." He hissed at some of Garak's minions who tried to wander into the area.
He took the herbs, all nasty things deadly to all livng creatures and sprinkled it within the circle, The taking the stick etched the magical sigils into the sands, chanting softly. He stood in the center
He opened the bag he was carrying and took out the perfect sphere of light energy retrieved from the Goblin Kingdom and held it above his head.
The chanting was louder now, and he could feel the power of the ground below him snaking up through the rock, dirt and sand. A few minutes later, as the trolls watched, bolts of light shot up out of the ground and converged at the crystal, sparks flying everywhere.
Xachem was beginning to vibrate, the feeling throwing him off balance. He fell to his knees and closed his eyes, the powerful forces dragging him slowly down until the crystal touched the sands.
He let go and crawled out of the circle, gasping.
"Is it done?" Garak asked the writhing Xachem.
"You should not have done this Garak." The ancient troll rasped out.
A sudden explosion of light from the circle threw them all backwards.
The ground began to shake.
The trolls began to run in all directions as the earth with in the circle began to collapse in upon itself, the crystal rising and hovering. The earth rocking so violently no one could stand.
There was a great cracking sound from far below. It sounded to Garak like the ground was breaking open and would swallow them up.
For the first time he doubted what he had done.
The light receded but the hole remained. He approached and saw nothing but a great blackness.
The crystal shot the flew upwards as if shot out of a cannon, and landed near him. Black.
There was a slight glow around the edges of the hole, and some sort of mist was not coming out of it, but leaking into it.
He turned to the barely conscious Xachem. "What have you done fool?" He picked the troll up and shook him. "What is this?"
"I told you..not good...made hole.." He tried to talk but could not.
Garak threw him down. "Tell me!"
Xachem coughed and hacked, trying to get his bearings. "Created an opening to the ether. Will suck all magic from the underground. Gods know what will come out of that thing." The ether is full of all sorts of nasty creatures you DO NOT want to tangle with. You had better figure out a way to close it or we are all going to die. Told you the magic was too unpredictable! This sort of magic always is!"
Garak look at the hole the magic had created and back at the mage. "No YOU better figure out a way to close it! Or we are all in trouble! Stupid mage! I should have known you were to old and foolish to handle such a thing!"
"Watch out for...that!" THe old troll got up and hobbled away as fast as he could.
The Troll king turned to see a black misty hand come up out ofthe hole and claw at the sands.
He didn't stay to find out what it was attached to. Or to see what it would do to the wounded trolls laying around. He just ran.
Yay! Got Elsian in the Goblin Kingdom! Yep Sarah keeps telling everyone she is over it, but not so much really, at least not where it affected her family is concerned. Now Hoggle's fate as brought everything to the surface again, those fears she thought she left behind.
This was the hump I needed to get over in this story, to get to the point where it actually matches the description and get all the players in the same place! Oy! Now, hopefully I can move forward more quickly. Wrestling the OC's into place was harder than the regulars! Going to get pretty angsty from here on out.
Poor Jareth I've been very mean to him in this story. He is always grumpy isn't he haha. His wife and daughter making him that way all too much.
Thank you for all who have been reading this and everything else. I know it's been slow, but I have hope now that it will move faster. I am feeling a bit more "unstuck" than I have been about this one.
Muah! Love to all of you!
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In A Time Of Winter