Prologue

Millennia Ago…

In a small tower room of a great stone castle in the center of a labyrinth an old man in simple grey robes kneels before an altar. His eyes are shut in deep meditation, contemplating the important event taking place in one of the grand rooms below. The cold stone floor seems to be of little consequence to him, or the lack of fire from the cavernous fireplace, this room is not meant for comfort. On the altar table is a book, ancient and worn, laid open to a blank page. The vellum seems to have an unearthly glow in the candlelight.

Suddenly, the sound of a crying infant breaks through the quiet, the old man gasps and opens his eyes. As expected, the blank page of the old tome begins to glow in earnest. A looping line of fire cuts through the vellum, so bright it nearly blinds the man before fading into embers, and finally to slightly smoking blackness. In beautiful script a name is branded onto the page.

Jareth

Ruler of Goblins

Protector of the Labyrinth

The old man smiles and chuckles softly, so the new prince will be a powerful one indeed. Not just any fae could control the goblins or handle the power of the Labyrinth. The magic that etched the name into the book had burned bright white, a good sign. This future King will do great things in their world. Of course Goblin King is not always a sought after title among the ruling class, members tend to prefer an abundance of leisure time, something the Goblin Kings of the past had very little of. Though often exhausting, thankless work the Goblin King also had something many members of the ruling class would kill for- almost unlimited access to the world of humans.

It was to protect the magic-less and delicate humans that most inhabitants of their world were not allowed entry to the human realm. After many centuries of interference with the primitive human race it was felt that no good could come of unfettered involvement. The world the old man was part of was full of beings that fed off chaos and loved to make mischief. Humans could not handle or understand the power of the other world, humans fear what they cannot understand and destroy what they fear. The human world became too dangerous for them, though they lived lives thousands of times longer than a human they could still be destroyed. The heads of the ruling families decided that the portals between the worlds would be closed, for the safety of both worlds. The creatures of his world became subjects of myth and legend in the collective mind of the humans.

The Goblin King on the other hand had a place in the human world. When the portals closed it was decided whoever became the Goblin King would get the perk of human world travel, as a way to make up for dealing with the trying goblin race. Whoever ruled the goblins also became the rescuer of unwanted human children. The fae and other magic races did not have children as easily as humans and in the time before the portals were closed many magic beings were appalled at the cruel way unwanted children were treated. The Unwanted, as they were called, were rescued by many in the other world. These children were brought up in new families, though they would never have magic like those born to the magic world they lead happy lives, living and working in a world where they were truly wanted. The Unwanted were protected by the Goblin King, as were the families that took them in. The magic beings they lived amongst may be tempted to toy with the humans as they did before the ban but their fear of the goblins and their ruler was enough to stop most. The Labyrinth fed power to the Goblin King, making his magic nearly inexhaustible and therefore impossible to overpower. Though the Goblin King had to answer to the High King there was no doubt in who was really the most powerful ruler in their world.

Just as the old priest was about to shut the ancient book he saw something that he had never seen in all his centuries of life. The page next to Jareth's birth announcement began to glow with the white hot power of positive magic. Perhaps its twins the excited priest thought, a practically unheard of occurrence among fae. The old man waited while once again the fire burned looping script across the page. What he finally read shocked him.

Sarah

Human

Ruler of Goblins

Protector of the Labyrinth

Soulmate of the King

"That cannot be!" the Priest exclaimed in a panicked whisper. A human rule a part of their world? How could that possible? Humans lived here but they were part of the working classes. One had to have magic to rule.

While the old man read and reread the information on the page, trying to understand the information that his brain just did not seem to want to comprehend. The book began one more show of its power. The letters on the pages began to grow and branch out, the names seem to reach for one another across the vellum. The lines met in the valley of the binding, swirling, twisting and turning, creating intricate knot work that connected the name of the future king to the human. It was impossible to see where the knots began or ended, an infinite lovers knot, fashioned countless times across the page.

What he saw confirmed to the Priest what he did not want to believe. This human was indeed the soulmate to the baby prince that was below in the room of the Queen. The priest hesitantly stroked the center of the knot work as if to make sure this wasn't some sort of odd trick. As soon as his finger touch the page visions began to flash through his head. The visions were only flashes of women's and girl's faces, each were different, the hair was never the exact same color, the skin tone varied, but they all had the same eyes. In each face looking back at him were the same large, intelligent, deep green eyes. They seemed to be looking right at him, as if the women knew they were being spied upon.

The priest removed his hand as if the pages burned him, this was unlike anything he had ever seen. His predecessor had never mentioned anything like this ever happening before. The priest sighed, though unheard of he knew his visions did not lie. The soulmate of the baby prince would live many times over before she would take her place in this world. Though he tried, the priest could not remember the exact number of faces he had seen, they all seemed to blur together when he tried to picture them again. Another touch of the book revealed nothing, the magic of the book had revealed all it was going to reveal.

The priest softly closed the book and left the room. It was time to inform the King and Queen what their new son's place in this world was meant to be. They would be delighted to know their baby would have such a respected position in the future. That would be all he would tell them though, the rest he would keep to himself. Something about the situation gnawed at him, he needed to protect the identity of this human until the time was right. The knowledge that a human was destined to become a member of the ruling class was dangerous information to have. There were many in this world that would stop at nothing to keep this prophecy from coming to fruition. The prophecy was unstoppable the priest knew, for what's written is written, and what's said is said.