Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Jareth and his Labyrinth full of goblins. Those belong to Jim Henson - I can only bow before him and cry "I'm not worthy!!" a la Wayne's World.

Nivienne, the Moonglade, and its residents, however, do belong to me.

Introduction

The sun rose over the forest; its pale light glittered through the leafy canopy overhead. Slender golden beams touched down, reflecting off of trickling streams and sinking into the deep green velvety moss that coated the forest floor and swallowed all sounds into its soft embrace. A worn path, nearly invisible to those who did not know of its existence, wandered through the wood. It was mostly overgrown by ferns and flowers, with only scattered patches of bare clay or the occasional moss-covered cobblestone to betray its location to the wandering eye.

If a traveler could manage to follow the winding trail, he would eventually come to the heart of the forest where its magic is the strongest. This place is the home of the wood elves, whose duty it is to protect the forest from outsiders and unwelcome visitors.

The elves are a proud, secretive people, the most skilled hunters and trackers among the Fae, and deadly with bows and knives. They can move silently thru' their woodland home and blend in perfectly with whatever surrounds them. They have a strong bond with the animals that inhabit their lands and often join them in the hunt. As guardians of the forest, the Elves' magic is strong and is tied to the forest's living core.

Their main village lies at the heart of the great forest. Using their living magic, the first elves had shaped their dwellings within the living trees, hollowing out and expanding the trunks without killing the trees themselves. The first elves also embedded mythril and silver into the trees, and as the trees grew, the metals grew with the them and wound themselves into whorls and spirals along the trunks and thru' the branches, covering the glade where they made their homes with a protective magic, for the monsters and demons that inhabited the wild of the Deep Forest could not venture near such metals without fear of death.

As the elves' number increased they expanded their village into the earth itself. Using the same living magic, they fashioned large halls in the rocks and hills around the glade where they first made their homes. Everywhere they dwelt, they spun their protective web of mythril and silver, until their part of the forest glittered with their living magics. This is how their land came to be called The Kingdom of the Moonglade.

It was to this realm that Jareth the Goblin King journeyed, to complete a contract set forth many years ago: his betrothal to the youngest elven princess, Nivienne. He drummed his gloved fingers on the window of his carriage in quiet contemplation. Truth be told, he did not want this marriage; he had never even met the girl. His father had made the agreement with the Elvenking a few years before he was born. It had been part of the treaty between the two kingdoms; the Goblin King's heir would marry the most suitable of the Elvenking's daughters when the heir came of age, as a sign of good faith between the two kingdoms. Three Fae years after Jareth was born, the wood elves announced the birth of Nivienne. Their betrothal was made the next day.

Jareth's lip curled slightly upwards in a small sneer. From what he heard, Nivienne was a beautiful, but quiet girl. Probably quiet because she is as empty-headed as every other princess in the Underground Realms, he supposed. And being the youngest daughter, she is probably spoiled as well. Jareth sighed; he truly was dreading his upcoming wedding.