Kaelith stepped back, mouth agape in disbelief.
"Jareth?" she breathed.
The man in front of her sneered with the same crooked confidence she had known as a child but now he looked older. He was tougher and more dangerous than before.
"You thought I was dead." He said stepping into the light of the torches. "Everyone did."
"You were supposed to be," she said through gritted teeth, her heart pounding. "You disappeared after Father's funeral."
He shrugged. "Why not? The vultures had already started circling above Ravencourt. Including you."
Kaelith stiffened. "I saved what I could."
"All of it is yours," Jareth growled. "The title, the estates and power… And you abandoned me beyond its borders."
"You chose banishment." Her voice grew louder. "You chose this house for which we would not fight!"
As he approached closer his smile vanished from his face. "And now I'm here to save it."
Kaelith's hands balled up into fists. "By snuffing out servants and hiding like a traitor?"
"Wasn't me," he murmured gloomily, shaking his head slightly as if discouraged only momentarily – then giving Kaelith a sharp nod when lifting off his head again.
Thalia?" She thought for a moment before saying uncertainly
Jareth nodded gravely at her question."She's working with someone much worse than Elric or Ysara," he replied grimly, adding: "A player on an entirely different scale."
Immediately Kaelith felt goosebumps rise all over her skin."Who?"
But Jareth didn't answer.
"Meet me at the crypt, at dawn. You must come alone."
And then he disappeared into darkness.
Upon leaving the scene, Kaelith had a lot of questions but few answers. She found Corven waiting for her in her room still wearing his formal clothes only with his shirt collar unbuttoned and eyes sharp.
"You vanished," he said.
"I had to see someone."
Corven raised an eyebrow. "Lovers in the dark?"
"No." Kaelith's voice was almost a whisper, "My brother."
The prince's eyes widened.
"Jareth is alive?"
"Yes," she confirmed by nodding.
"And he wants you to meet him in the family crypt." The edge in Corven's tone was obvious, "This sounds like a trap."
Kaelith moved closer to him and whispered, "I must go. If he is telling the truth, our real enemy is much worse than we thought before."
Corven looked at her for a long time before finally nodding slowly. "Then I'll follow you…from the shadows."
She didn't argue with that.
She couldn't afford to lose another ally.
That night Kaelith could not sleep. All she could think of was Jareth –the mischievous boy who always seemed to have fire running through his veins; the angry heir who left after their father died, blaming her for taking away what should have been his future.
She had mourned him as dead- now she feared him as such.
As darkness fell, the figure dressed in black moved silently through the foggy halls of Ravencourt Manor. Through the gardens and across wet hedges to an ancient mausoleum half devoured by ivy.
The inside was cool. Silent. Waiting.
Jareth looked like he had been there for a while. He had a torch.
They went past their ancestors' graves until they got to the far wall.
He moved forward then stopped and pushed.
Rock creaked under pressure.
A concealed door swung open.
Then, there was a passage—old, hidden, and smelling of blood.
"Follow me," he said. "Let me show you what you have not seen."
Kaelith did as she was told.
And behind them the door shut softly.