Next installment in the King's Labyrinth story line. This one will probably
be longer than Snow Angels, as there's a lot of background I want to cover 
(flashbacks galore!) It's a bit of a departure from what I've written in 
the past (as in I'll throw in some action scenes) and I'll introduce a few 
more characters who'll become recurring as the saga continues. This is all, 
of course, a giant set up for the next epic tale,  but I think you'll like 
what I have in store. You get to learn more about Jareth, the history of 
the Underground (my version anyway), and I'll even throw in a few solutions 
to some things that might have left you wondering. And so now, I offer you 
Horizon, the next part of the King's Labyrinth saga. I hope you all enjoy 
it. 


Disclaimer: Jareth is not mine. Amaltya, Xander, and Silviet are. Do not 
sue, no money is being made from this story.

King's Labyrinth
Horizon 1/?

Six months had past since that cold winter evening when he'd watched his 
love dance like a child in the falling snow. Six months- it seemed like an 
eyeblink. As if in a flash the months had passed him by, the coolness of 
winter melting into the sweetness of spring, and spring's blooms giving way 
to the gayety of summer. Six months they'd spent learning more about each 
other -and love- than they ever though possible. He took a sideways glance 
at Amalthya's sleeping form stretched languidly across the silk sheets of 
their bed. For a moment he contemplated waking her, but then decided to 
leave her to her dreams. Last night had been a tiring, if thoroughly 
enjoyable one. Last night had been Silviet and Xander's wedding.
	From the moment he had met Amalthya's close friends, he had liked 
them immensely. Silviet was lively and talkative, but also very caring. And 
Xander....Xander reminded him very much of himself, save that Xander had 
none of the darkness and cynicism that marred his own character. They had 
all, over the months,  grown to be very close friends but the lingering 
feeling that he'd known Xander sometime before this still plagued him. And 
the fact that they had so easily slipped into close friendship with one 
another, like two companions separated for a long time, only added to 
mystery. He wondered if Xander felt it too. 
	Jareth got up from the bed and stretched lazily before going to the 
wardrobe to select his clothing for the day. The large window in his room 
showed the sun just creeping above the edge of the Underground and it 
seemed again to him that his kingdom had never been this beautiful before 
Amalthya had come. He chuckled momentarily at the though. Yes, love had 
certainly claimed the Goblin King, if it had him thinking sentimental 
rubbish like that. He dressed quietly so as not to disturb his sleeping 
lover, and left the room. For all her convictions that she needed to stay 
on Earth, Amalthya was spending more and more time here in the castle and 
less time at her apartment in New York. He wondered, idly, how long it 
would take before she came here to stay.
	His mind drifted back to the previous evening's events. Amalthya 
had served as Silviet's Maid of Honor, looking lovely in a deep sapphire 
dress with her long hair cascading down her back. And Silviet, well, he 
could see why Xander adored her so. Her dress had been fairly simple, as 
wedding dresses went, mostly white satin with some tulle and pearls. At the 
reception, when Silviet tossed the bouquet (a custom he'd never observed 
before) there had been a veritable mob of women diving for it, from the 
bridesmaids to the regular guests. He had laughed when Amalthya had emerged,
flowers in hand and a triumphant smile plastered on her face. Xander, who 
had been standing next to him to observe the mad rush, slapped him on the 
shoulder. "Guess you're next, my friend."

"What?"

"Amaltya caught the bouquet. That means, theoretically, she's the next to 
get married."

"Ah. I'd never heard that one."

"No? It's a tradition. Speaking of the lovely lady, here she comes now." 
Xander pointed across the dance floor to where Amalthya was rapidly 
approaching them, still grinning like the cat that'd eaten the canary.

"Caught the bouquet." She said as she linked arms with him. 

"So I see. Tell me you didn't injure any of those poor girls in your 
determination to get a bunch of flowers."

Amaltya glared at him momentarily, but then planted a kiss on his cheek. 
"I did no such thing. It was fate."

Fate. He supposed so. But he also hoped she wasn't expecting an immediate 
proposal. He didn't even want to bring up the subject of marriage until she 
had decided she could live here with him on a permanent basis. He'd once 
heard that long distance relationships rarely worked, and he didn't want to 
chance things. 
	His musings had subconsciously brought him to the library, and he 
decided that now was as good a time as any to tackle a project he had been 
planing for awhile. He was determined to get to the bottom of the strange 
kinship he felt with Xander. He'd look through the books he had on the 
Underground's history to begin with, then work from there. He walked over 
to a shelf and pulled out a dusty, leather-bound volume. The early days of 
his reign. He'd never had reason to look at it before, after all who needs 
a written text when one has first hand experience? But after so many years 
even *he* was bound to forget some things, and he'd never been one to dwell 
in the past at any rate. He opened the book, skimming over a brief synopsis 
of his child hood -he remembered it well enough- and started to go over his 
first years as King. He remembered his father's death well enough, for it 
wasn't often that any of the Fey died, aside form being outright murdered 
anyway. But when he flipped the next page, it was blank. The rest of the 
pages in the entire book were completely empty.