"Does it rain like this a lot?" Sarah asked as she squinted out the window into the grey wall of the seemingly endless downpour. "I feel like I ought to be out collecting two of every animal or something". A flicker of lightening punctuated the dismal sky for an instant and the rolling grumble of thunder reverberated through the chamber.
Masha looked up from her needlework with a puzzled expression. "You wish to collect animals…now?"
Sarah pulled her head in from the window casement and smiled at her companion. "No, sorry, it's just a saying."
The little goblin visibly relaxed (no doubt pleased to know I'm not that crazy, Sarah thought to herself) and returned to her work, needle flashing in the candlelight.
Across the room Danayag, surfaced from beneath the voluminous folds of the dress she was arranging. "Springtime is the rainy season," she said. "Most goblin brides wear brown so the mud doesn't show."
"Oh," Sarah said, looking at her own dress with a critical eye. "I guess that makes mine like the least practical choice of all time."
"Well," Danayag said patting her mistresses arm kindly, "It is an indoor wedding at least."
"And rain on your wedding day is considered good luck, you know," added Masha. "Besides, His Majesty would brook no disagreement. He insisted on nothing but the finest and well...it is lovely, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Sarah said softly and reached out to touch the delicate fabric of her gown. "It really is". She knew she was wearing a slightly goofy smile, but she didn't care.
It was a stunning creation in brilliant white satin shot through with fine gold threads that shimmered in the glow of the fire. With fitted sleeves that split at the elbow to reveal the embroidered blue and gold flowers underneath and a square-necked bodice that repeated the floral design, not to mention the elegant train that was nearly as long as she was, it looked like…well, something a princess would wear.
Sarah experienced the, now familiar, sensation of surreality as the magnitude of the coming day washed over her. Forget princess, she was going to be queen. Another peal of thunder crashed through the room.
"Milady!" Danayag said, sounding slightly alarmed. "Perhaps you should take a seat?"
"Goodness, my dear!" Masha exclaimed. She set her sewing carefully aside and took Sarah's suddenly freezing hand in her own. "You've gone white as your dress. Sit here. Danayag, you must get Milady something to eat."
Danayag nodded and zipped out of the room as quickly as her short legs would carry her.
"I'm fine, really," Sarah insisted shakily, but allowed the goblin to lead her to a plush velvet sofa where she obediently dropped her head between her knees. In a few seconds the blood began to return to her features and she sat up carefully.
Masha anxiously examined her mistress's face. "Much better," she said, sounding relieved. "Goodness, child, but you gave me a turn! What would His Majesty say if we allowed you to faint on your wedding day!"
"I'm alright now, Masha," Sarah assured her. "Really, I'm fine. I just get a little…overwhelmed by this whole thing."
"It's perfectly normal for a bride to be nervous on her wedding day," Masha said, giving her a comforting pat on her knee. "Why, my own parents had to truss me up like a Christmas goose to keep me from running away on my wedding day to Greeber. And we've been happily married for 453 years now," she added proudly.
"Wow," Sarah said faintly, "453 years? That's…wow. Um…congratulations?" She leaned forward again. "Oh my God."
"What is it, Milady?" Masha asked, concerned. "Was it something I said?"
"No, no, it's not," Sarah said, head still between her knees. She sat up abruptly. "It's just so much to take in, you know? I mean, yes, I'm ready to get married. Jareth, much as he drives me up the bloody wall half the time, I…well, I love him, you know? I want to be married to him. I want us to be together forever. It's just that forever…well, it means something really different in your world. And queen? Who am I to be a queen? I'm nobody. I have a master's degree in English Literature…English Literature! How does that even remotely help prepare a person to co-rule a country...er world? I am so not cut out for this." She lapsed into silence and stuck her head back between her legs.
To her surprise, Masha laughed. "Oh my dear, no one has ever been more cut out for this." Sarah cautiously raised her head again. Masha smiled at her. "Do you have any idea what a difference your presence has made in our world? It's been ages since Jareth kicked so much as a chicken. He loves you. Jareth has never loved another creature in the entirety of his existence, and as you well know, that has been of long duration. You helped him discover a part of himself he didn't even know existed. He loves and is loved and that alone has eased him of the burden of ruling this world. You make him laugh and make him rage, you challenge and comfort him, you give purpose to a life that had long since ceased being worth living. That, if nothing else, makes you cut out to be his queen and, I dare say, his equal."
Sarah took a shuddering breath managed a tiny smile. "Thank you, Masha," she said softly. "That helps more than you know".
The kind goblin patted her gently on the shoulder as Danayag banged back into the room with a covered tray high overhead. "Ah, my thanks, Danayag," Masha said, standing. "Now, let's get some nourishment into our queen and then see to her dress. We certainly don't want her late for her own wedding."
Danayag set the tray down and smiled. "Never fear," she said. "They shan't start without the bride."
Buoyed by oat cakes festooned with currants and a restorative mug of honeyed ale, Sarah sat fairly calmly as her attendants descended on her like a flock of cheerful birds. Her dark hair was bushed and curled and braided and beribboned and then finished off with tiny sprigs of white flowers that were tucked carefully into place by a serious young goblin in a pink pinafore.
It took half a dozen goblins to get her cinched into her gown and then arranged so that she wouldn't crush or crease the satin skirt while they powdered and rouged her face. A garishly colored table linen, embroidered with what appeared to be an eggplant, was called into service as a protective drape to keep makeup from marring the immaculate porcelain of her gown. She had to smile at her pale reflection in the mirror.
The elaborate preparation and impending formalities were a far cry from the civil ceremony they had celebrated two weeks prior back in the 'real world'. Jareth had been less than enthusiastic, but Sarah had insisted. It was bad enough, she had argued, that she was marrying someone her family had only met twice during their infrequent trips to the states from their home in 'France', but she wasn't about to get married without having her father walk her down the aisle and would he prefer that they bring her family to the Underground for the ceremony instead? He had huffed and grumbled, but ultimately agreed, just as she had known he would.
It had been a room full of awkwardness with her mother and Jeremy on one side, her father, Karen and Toby on the other and Jareth, stiff and oddly formal by her side, but her father hadescorted her down the short aisle of the judge's chambers and kissed her softly on her cheek before giving her hand over to Jareth with a whispered, 'take care of my girl'. She had worn a simple blue summer dress with strappy sandals and talked Jareth down from the glittery black ensemble he had originally planned on and into a plain light brown linen suit. The bouquet of spring flowers she carried had come directly from her step-mother's garden that morning and the 'reception' consisted of a light lunch at the café across from the courthouse after the ceremony. It had been perfect.
This, their 'official' wedding, the one that would bind them together for eternity and elevate Sarah to the level of queen, was a little further outside her comfort zone.
In a matter of moments she would be escorted down to the solarium where nearly every goblin, gnome, sprite, elf, troll and any number of other assorted creatures would be waiting to watch their king, finally, after eons of solo rule, finallytake a wife. She hadn't been allowed to oversee the preparations, Jareth had insisted on doing that himself so she had no idea what awaited her. She knew that goblin ceremonies were usually very simple affairs with little in the way of tradition and ceremony, but she had little doubt that Jareth would accept such plainness for his own nuptials. There would be pomp, there would be circumstance and, she had no doubt, lots and lots of glitter.
"It is time, milady," Masha said and then smiled, "or perhaps I should say, Your Highness."
"Not yet," Sarah said, her voice sounding a little more shrill than she meant it to. "Not until this is over!"
Her entourage escorted her carefully down the winding stairs that led to the main hall. Even at this distance she could make out the constant hum of hundreds of voices even hushed as they were no doubt attempting to be. She felt her heart rate skyrocket and took a shaky breath just as another peal of thunder boomed through the stone walls of the castle, making her jump and squeak in a most unqueen-like manner.
Danayag wordlessly reached out and took her hand. The little goblin's hand was warm and small as a child's in Sarah's own, but she found it vastly comforting nonetheless.
And then it was time. Her attendants escorted her to the giant doors that opened into the solarium and then stood aside, smiling. Slowly, almost reverently, the great doors swung open and Sarah gasped at what lay on the other side.
The massive glass panels that lined the walls and ceiling of the solarium had been swung open to allow air into the cavernous room. Outside, the torrential downpour continued unabated, but aside from the steady susurrus of rain on glass, it could have been a sunny day in the solarium. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of candles filled the space with dancing golden light that reflected off of every surface in the room.
White. Everything was white. From floors to chairs to flowers down to the attire of every single one of the motley assortment of goblin attendees, everything was white.
Suddenly realizing her mouth was hanging unbecomingly open, Sarah snapped it shut and took a step into the room. Tall, short, fat, thin, hairy, scaled, horned and wrinkled, every citizen of the Underground stood as one and turned to face her. She quelled for a moment under their collective gaze.
And then she looked up. And there he was. Standing at the head of the room, dressed in unrelenting black, her husband cocked his head to the side and smiled. He reached out a hand in invitation.
She answered his smile with one of her own and his invitation with another step towards forever.
The Ene
A/N: This was my Springfest entry...from 2011. This may be the fastest I have ever managed to upload a fic to ffnet. It only took, what, three months? That right there is a RECORD, my friends.