Ariana paused, not for the first time since she had begun her Tale, noticing that the King was becoming impatient she summarized her travels since leaving His realm.
"I spent many years traveling after I left the Goddess' Realm, As time went by I remembered more of what we talked about and I went from town to town, in the guise of Lady Silver the storyteller, so no rumor of my existence would reach the Anifae. I told Tales I knew from my childhood, new Tales and Old, and one Tale in particular; a Tale so old it was new again."
"The Tale of the Labyrinth," guessed Jareth, basing his assumption on the number of children taken from the Free Realm.
"And its King," added Ariana, looking away from him as she continued inn odd tone of voice. "Its fine handsome King who would promise you the world then steal your soul if you give him the slightest chance."
"Is that how you see me? For it would appear that you are still in full possession of your soul," he remarked sardonically.
"I was too young, too purposeful, and too angry to consider surrendering myself so totally."
"Young?"
"24 is young for an Anifae, even a half-breed such as myself."
"I see and you were angry?"
"I thought you had killed those who helped me though I now know that you did not."
"And now?" he asked curiously.
Ariana looked at him and smiled secretively.
"And now, my dear Goblin King, my soul has been freely given and is beyond the reach of all but one. Now if you would let me continue?"
"If you do not intend to say more upon the subject."
"I do not."
"Then please continue."
"After twenty or so years of traveling and studying in the Free Realms, the Anifae nobility got wind of my existence. Despite my promise to Pinyus of the Wolven Clan, I did not feel ready to live among them, so I fled south through the Fairy Kingdom, into the uncharted Realm. The night fell moonless I searched carelessly for shelter in that barren place, finally I lay down to sleep near midnight. The next day I found I lay upon fresh green grass where the day before there had only been bare rock and dirt."
"I have heard of such gateways but I was under the impression that they only allowed one-way travel."
"I will get to that point, your Majesty."
"Please go on then."
"While I was in the Goddess realm, she told me about the Labyrinth. It was once larger and even more complex but now it is dying and soon the damage will be irreparable. This is the reason I wove my tales in the Free Realms so the people invoking the spell would help keep the Labyrinth alive, of course as time went by they might learn that it was a true tale and fewer of them would invoke it. So She sent me to this other Realm called Earth, I presented my self as a cousin of the descendants of one of my grandnieces whom I learned had left your Realm some yours before and was now deceased. You may know that only a small amount of true magic exists in the realm of earth."
"Yes," confirmed Jareth, "I was aware of that."
"As you do now I believed that there was no way to return here from Earth, so I settled down and decided there was a way to continue my Goddess inspired Quest. I wrote a Tale, an easy enough task for a scribe, a Tale of the Labyrinth, you have read it I need not elaborate I'm sure,"
"So the girl who summoned the goblins, Linara, she was your niece?"
"Yes though only a baby when I left, it was sooner than I thought actually, that was rather a last ditch effort."
"You weren't sure the book would work?" said Jareth curiously. "And while we are on that topic why does your little work of fiction have power over the residents of the Labyrinth?"
"The answer to both of those questions is the same; Belief. In order for the book to work those who read it had to believe in it."
"And because they believe in it works," he finished.
"Precisely."
"You are a very clever woman, Lady Ariana."
"The idea was not mine, your Majesty," Ariana demurred.
"Now do tell me how you were able to accomplish your return to this world."
"An ancient legend of Earth tells of a great magician, he was in fact a Fae, living in exile with his Lady wife."
"There are no Fae in exile on Earth," objected Jareth.
"You are mistaken, your Majesty, in fact they are relatives of yours, exiled by the Fae king of their time because they sought to prevent a war between the Anifae and the Fae."
"And who are these mysterious exiles?" asked Jareth, disinclined to believe her but still interested in the mysterious strangers.
"They are members of your own family," Ariana replied with a mischievous smile. "Lord Merlin and Lady Vivienne, former rulers of the Land of the Labyrinth."
"That's impossible," snapped Jareth immediately. "They were assassinated by your people before my own father was born."
"No, they were exiled for the reason I mentioned," corrected Ariana, "and that isn't all they told me, I know why the Labyrinth is failing."
"Because there are less challenges," said Jareth annoyed at the repetition of the obvious.
"That is one of the reasons," Ariana acknowledged, "however there is another, you know that the Labyrinth is the heart of the land?"
"Of course," he snapped irritably, "what's your point?"
"Something Lady Vivienne told me; 'the Labyrinth is the Heart of the Land, but a True Queen is the Heart of the Labyrinth'. Together we established that both your Grandfather and your Father married politically, whereas Lady Vivienne and Lord Merlin married by their own choice. So it seems that until the Labyrinth finds its True Queen, it will continue to deteriorate until the damage is irreversible."
"And did my Great-grandparents happen to mention a definition of this 'True Queen'?" asked Jareth half skeptically half hopefully.
" 'Someone who summons the goblins defeats the Labyrinth and passes an unspecified test'. They were very vague on that point, I'm afraid."
"How interesting," he remarked.
"And before you start looking speculatively at me, I cheated, therefore I don't qualify."
"You were also exiled," Jareth pointed out.
"I am getting to the point, if you would let me continue without interrupting, please your Majesty."
"Very well, I presume that Lord Merlin sent you back."
"Yes, and I decided it was time my fathers people knew about me. The condensed version being, I was accepted as a princess of the royal house, spent a number of years among the Anifae, now have a full blood younger brother and was made ambassador to the Fae court because we aren't officially at war. My father, the King sent me here to make diplomatic overtures despite my telling him I was exiled. Naturally you arrested me and my people have, I hope, been in contact with you."
"It’s taken them a year but I think they have almost concocted a reasonable argument for your release," Jareth informed her, sounding greatly amused by her family's incompetence.
"Only a year, they must want to marry me off," she replied, unimpressed, "but I am glad they’re making an effort, there are people who will be worried about me," she added, staring out towards the horizon.
"Are you trying to make me feel guilty?" asked Jareth, sounding insulted.
"If I thought that would work I would have tried it straight away," she replied with a grim laugh.
"Who is it you are so worried about?" Jareth inquired perceptively.
"My husband, afraid for his safety," she replied looking at him strangely.
"Your people disapprove?"
"Yes, he is a different species, there are laws against it in the Anifae realms but not in the Free Realms and they do not know how a scribe is chosen in this land."
Jareth knew that she referred to the fact that all scribes were chosen because of their infertility, he listened quietly as she continued.
"And as a barren princess is rather unnecessary it would not be a good thing if they knew. In fact," she added looking pointedly at him, "a person with that knowledge might use it to gain a political advantage."
"I am shocked that you think so little of me," he replied, sounding rather less than shocked, "I would never use a persons misfortune for personal gain unless there was a very clear advantage."
"I hate politics," muttered Ariana. "I sometimes wish I had just kept my head down and my nose out."
"Why didn't you?" said Jareth cautiously, not sure how truthful she would be.
"I promised myself I would see the consequences of my actions through to the end."
"And what if I decide to execute you?" he asked lazily, Ariana turned and smiled serenely at him.
"This humble scribe is the least of your problems, the biggest being that the heart of our world is dying."
"I don't suppose your Goddess mentioned how long we have?" he retorted acerbically.
"A century, maybe two, after that it's too late."
"And what do you suggest I do about it, Princess?"
"I prefer the title Lady, as that's the one I earned," she corrected absently, while she pondered the best answer, "I suggest, Your Majesty, that you do what you have always done; rule the Labyrinth and wait for someone to get through, without cheating."
"And if no one does?"
"The Amulet would keep you safe, I suggest that if she doesn't show up at the end of two centuries, flee to Earth and leave this world to its fate."
"A very powerful object, this Amulet," he noted astutely.
"Only for its chosen caretakers, if anyone else tried to use it things could get messy to say the least."
"It responded so well to me I assumed its power was unrelated to who wore it."
"The Goddess chose for you to have it."
"And you?"
"I was the caretaker designated to bring it to you."
"Your people would not approve."
"I'm not going to tell them, and four of the other 5 people who know I had it aren't in any position to tell. So unless you tell them what they don't know can't displease them."
"You are a clever little cat aren't you?" he said suddenly as though it had only just occurred to him.
"Your Majesty?" she replied innocently.
"You manipulate people and they don't even notice that you are doing because it doesn't appear to be related to you," he explained.
"The Goddess works in mysterious ways," Ariana replied quietly, Jareth opened his mouth to tell her exactly what he thought of that reply, when there was a rap on the door.
"Enter," he snapped irately, the door swung open to reveal a panting goblin servant holding an envelope sealed with the Anifae royal crest. Jareth took the envelope and dismissed the goblin, he opened it and scanned the contents.
"It seems your father is willing to claim responsibility for your trespass and would like to discuss reparations. He wants his clever little cat back rather badly, perhaps I'll keep you here just to annoy him," Jareth told her, only half joking.
"I am quite capable of annoying my King without help. However if you decide to keep me here I shall just have to escape your impenetrable prison."
Jareth stared at her, she sounded joking but there was a double meaning behind her words. Surely she didn't expect him to let her go!
"Your father would be pleased."
"Not if he didn't know," she replied hastily.
"And why would I do a favor like that for you?" he asked leaning back against the window frame, and anticipating her answer.
"I would owe you a favor." She watched emotionlessly as he considered this.
"I don't think I could tie them up for more than a year maybe two, and if you return here I will have to kill you."
"Unless you owe me a favor at the time."
"Indeed, take this," he handed her a key, "the goblins don't know I have this they'll think you're still up here."
"Thank you, Jareth, for caring more about whats important than about politics."
"It suits me to do so," he replied with a careless shrug.
"Of course it does," she replied smiling.
"Perhaps I'll see you at my cousins court."
"That half-witted moron, are you sure he's related to you?”
"What a way to speak of the Fae King."
"Ah, but it is true. I may see you in a few years when I resume my duties as ambassador."
"Until then," said Jareth as a farewell.
"Until then," Ariana agreed as he disappeared.
She waited until full dark then made her way trough the castle past large numbers of sleeping guards and into the portal chamber in the cellars. Stepping into the transport circle she formed a clear image in her mind and whispered "home". There was a moment of brief disorientation then she found herself exactly where she wanted to be and ran forward to greet the one person who really mattered, her husband.