The King's Labyrinth
Horizon 2.2/?

Amalthya reached up and touched Jareth's face gently. Her eyes searched his
own and in  their mis-matched depths, she found something that had never 
dwelt there before. 
Fear.
She could feel it, and his frustration, humming through the strange bond 
they shared, a bond that grew ever stronger.  
	Without warning, Jareth spun away from her and walked briskly to 
the other end of the room, boots clicking sharply on the stone floor of the 
library. He stopped before the window, and gazed out of it, both hands on 
the sill. "I'm sure it's nothing." His voice was husky, barely controlled. 
"Perhaps the book was simply never finished." 

Amalthya stood still, waiting for him to say more. She knew from experience 
that Jareth's moods could change erratically at times, but a moment ago he 
had been so open, so vulnerable. She had never seen that side of her lover 
before. He was the strong one in the relationship, he was her pillar. But 
for that brief moment, she had glimpsed a crack in the pillar. And it 
worried her.
	When Jareth spoke again, his voice was cool, controlled once more. 
"I need to be alone." His expression of anguish had vanished, the 
emotionless mask slipped back into it's accustomed place. Amaltya had seen 
too much of that mask lately, and not enough of the man she'd discovered on 
the balcony what suddenly seemed an eternity ago, not enough of the man who'd
proclaimed his love to her for all to hear.  

"You're shutting me out Jareth." The words came out as an accusation, 
though she hadn't meant for it to sound that way."

"Shutting you out? There's nothing to hide!" He barely turned to look at 
her.

"You have everything to hide." She spoke softly now, hurt by the force of 
his words. "Because you're afraid."

"Afraid? I am *not* afraid."

"So you say." She turned to go. "But I know differently. I'll be here, when 
you want to talk." She left the room quietly, and the day had suddenly 
grown dark.

----

He was still in the library when a goblin tottered in sometime later. "What 
do you want?" He snapped.

"Yer highness? This c-came f'r you a moment ago." The trembling minion held 
out a folded piece of paper. 

Jareth snatched the paper from the goblin's hand and studied the seal on 
the letter. The wax it was set in was black, and the seal itself was a 
raised crescent shape. Annag. But what could she possibly want from him? He 
hadn't spoken to the sorceress in years, not since before Sarah.........he 
was intrigued. He slid a finger under the edge of the paper, breaking the 
brittle seal, and unfolding the stiff parchment. It was a summons of sorts, 
a request for him to visit her at her home. He glanced at one of the ornate 
clocks that hung on the wall. If he left now he could probably reach her 
house by mid-day. Making up his mind, he made a quick search for Amalthya, 
but being unable to find her, he went to the stables. 
	Obsidian was waiting for him, pawing at the door to his stall 
eagerly. Jareth opened the door and brought the huge black war horse out of 
the stables. Obsidian nuzzled at him as he prepared and fitted his saddle 
onto the massive animal. When he had finished his preparations he swung up 
easily into the saddle, and urged the animal down the well worn road into 
the woods.