| They slept through the night in each other�s arms, and Jareth watched his little family with patience and some joy. He was growing to love both of them, and now he had them. They were in his castle where they would stay forever with him. They would be happy, he thought. At least he had decided to take both of them, and if the human authorities were going to split them up anyway, then Michelle couldn�t really complain. He kissed them both and retreated to his own chambers, leaving a Goblin to sort out clothes for them both in the morning. Dominic opened his eyes. The room was very large and beautifully decorated, with a beautiful landscape painting at the far end. The bed he was lying in was a four-poster, laid with beautiful silk linen and curtains. The walls were painted a shimmering shade of cream, and he could smell flowers, even though he was inside. There was a dark wooden table with an exquisitely carved chair. Then there was the window. It led out onto a balcony. His childish curiosity got the better of him and he slipped out of his mother�s arms. He crept quietly to the window, and onto the balcony. He could see for miles, past the light stone walls of this building, over the crooked roofs of a strange little town, into what looked like a maze, and beyond that a forest of dark green trees. It was dusty, everywhere was dusty, quite undesirable, but it was very special. The air tingled, and there was a fairy buzzing around the flowers. Dominic smiled to himself; his wish had come true. He trotted back to his Mummy, and jumped onto the soft mattress. �Mummy, Mummy, Mummy!!� Michelle groaned and rolled over. He tugged at her, shaking her, anything to wake her up. She rubbed her eyes. �What is it darling?� �Mummy, Mummy,� �What?� �My wish came true!� �What wish darling?� �The wish I made last night!� �What?� �I wished the Goblins would take us away!� She opened her eyes and sat up quickly. �You did what?� �JARETH!!� It echoed throughout the corridors, bouncing off stone walls. Footsteps of goblins running around trying to avoid any annoyed tall people. �JARETH!!� She marched down a hallway, and fell over a Goblin. �Where is he?� she shouted at it. �Who?� �Jareth, you idiot!!� �Don�t know,� it whimpered. �JARETH!!� she shouted again. She stamped her foot. �Coward!� she growled, and turned walking straight into him. �What do you think you�re playing at?� �Why Michelle, I assure you, this is no game.� �Send us home now!� �Michelle, you were wished here, I can keep you for as long as I wish. There is nothing you can do.� � �Then I�ll do your labyrinth, I�ll beat it and then we�ll go home.� �No,� he said, Dominic wished you here, if anyone does the labyrinth, then it must be him, and I can�t see you wanting a six year old boy to go through that.� She stopped. She couldn�t say anymore. She wasn�t going to loose though. She started to say something, stopped, and her hand shook a little. Then she said: �You can�t just keep me here!� �Well I could just keep Dominic here, would you prefer that.� She pushed past him, and ran back to the room. She wasn�t going to let him see her cry. A lot can happen in seven years. She wasn�t a silly little girl anymore. She told herself. �Mummy, don�t be angry.� �I�m not angry with you darling. It�s that evil, sneaky, horrible man that bought us here that I�m angry with.� �I asked him to Mummy,� said Dominic. �No, he tricked you.� She looked at the little boy through her tears. �Come here,� she said. He walked towards her slowly, and she held him closely. �There�s some things I need to tell you.� Their eyes met, and she gave up. She couldn�t explain it all to a six-year-old. There was too much pain. And she couldn�t tell him the lie she was now lost in. Jareth believed that Dominic was his, and who knew how he would react to anything else. But Jaden couldn�t get here, and Jareth wouldn�t believe him anyway, would he? �I love you Dominic.� �I know you do Mummy.� �Dominic, how did you know about this?� �Jareth told me.� �You�ve been seeing Jareth.� �He came to school. He told me a story.� He looked down, with some guilt. �He told me not to tell you, he said it would upset you, and that you two went back a long way. I didn�t understand, and I didn�t want to upset you, so I didn�t tell you.� �Oh, Dominic, he isn�t trust worthy. Remember that.� �There�s no need to poison him against me, Michelle.� Michelle felt the King�s gaze on the back of her neck. She straightened slowly, and turned to him awaiting him to make a move. He laughed. �But it doesn�t matter,� he said, �Dominic knows me. He knows I�m not a bad man, don�t you Dom?� Jareth smiled at Dom, and held his hand out to the bot in what he thought was a fatherly way. Dom gave him a half smile, which faded through faithfulness to his mother. He kept close to Michelle, and Michelle put her arm around him, still waiting for Jareth�s response. The man�s smile faded, and his hand dropped. Dominic felt his mother�s hand form a tight grip on his shoulder, and as the man took a step forwards, she took one back, guiding her son with her. Jareth laughed. �I wouldn�t hurt him Michelle, you should know that.� �How, Jareth, because of how kind you�ve been to me?� �Michelle,� he laughed. �No. Why should I trust you? Shall I tell him? Shall I explain what you did?� �If you say another word, I..� �What?� �I�ll send you back without him. You will never see him again.� She didn�t say another word, but pulled her son closer to her. Jareth�s gaze returned to the boy. �Dominic,� he said, �we have something we need to tell you.� Michelle looked at the floor, and Jareth smiled. �We should have told you years ago, but your mother felt it right to hide you from me, so I have only recently discovered this small fact myself.� Michelle would have sworn at him, were it not for the child�s presence. �Now Dominic, I suppose you are too young to understand the entirety of this, but I felt it time you knew. I am your father Dominic.� Michelle let go of the boy, and walked away, her head in her hands, and all hope of anything gone. Dominic watched her, and then looked at Jareth. �I don�t need a father.� The little boy sniffed, and Michelle turned to look at him, with tears in her eyes. She�d beaten the goblin King. Dominic turned back to Jareth. The silence was awful for a few moments. Then the boy broke down into tears. �I have a Daddy,� he sobbed. He ran forward into Jareth�s arms and stood there sniffing, refusing to look at anything. Jareth was amazed and hugged the boy. He had never been so happy. Michelle felt week at the knees, and slid to the floor where she sat in tears. |