A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while since the last chapter. Life has been a little crazy, but I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also a quick shout to those that reviewed and added my story to your alert: THANK YOU SO MUCH. You've no idea what this means to me! Please review and tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you'd like to see more of - anything! I'd love to hear from you guys. :)
Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing unfortunately.
Clarity
Chapter 2: It All Comes Back to Life
For as long as she could remember, Sarah Williams had always prided herself on one quality. She refused to lose. Over the years throughout her school life and now into her career, she had heard countless people complain about her stubborness, whilst others preferred to call her pig-headed (amongst other not so pleasant names). The nicer ones simply called her "competitive". She didn't deny any of those claims, but personally, she liked the term "strong-willed" a little better. After all, one did not become a Champion of the Labyrinth at 15 or a rising star in her law firm at the tender age of 25 by being keen to lose. But she still had the heart to recognise that this quality had upset and wronged many people over the years. A litany of examples would be possible if someone bothered to compile a list of people she had pushed over to ensure her winning streak. Bethany Goodman in college, Daniel Tse at work, her local barista Andy .. the list would have been endless! But the thought had never occurred to her that one day these people would seek retribution and payback for their downfall. What better way than to ruin one of the best moments in her life?
So, when the words "I object" had floated throughout the church, over all the guests that had come far and wide from all over the world to see Brian and herself wedded in matrimony, Sarah Williams was furious. How could someone be so cruel to ruin such an important day? Was their message that important that it couldn't be left until later, where the only listening ears would be that of hers and her husbands'? Perhaps an attentive audience was their primary objective, to sow seeds of doubt about their love in front of all their friends and family. It just isn't fai-, she told herself angrily before cutting her sentence short. No, I cannot possibly say that, can I? I have absolutely no basis for comparison. Forcing her face into a contrived and sweet smile, she turned her head slowly to face the magnificent archway of the church, expecting to see someone she had wronged over the years, or even one of Brian's disgruntled ex-girlfriends.
Unfortunately, there was no-one standing in the doorway to heap the blame of interrupting her wedding onto. Wrinkling her eyebrows in confusion, her sparkling emerald green eyes scanned the red carpeted aisle that led to the doorway in an effort to find the myserious person. She could hear the crowd whispering fervently to each other, their heads bowed close together to share their thoughts and she pursed her lips in annoyance. She vaguely became aware of an angry hiss coming from the front pews behind her, and she could see that the crowd had started gesturing softly in the direction behind her. Rotating her body slightly so she could see the pews directly behind her, she saw none other than Toby himself, standing up with his arms crossed over his chest and an enormous grumpy pout on his face.
"Toby, sit back down! You are in so much trouble, young man" she heard Karen whisper angrily to her brother, whilst tugging on his suit jacket in an effort to pull him back down onto the seats. When Toby shook his head fervently and huffed a little, Karen snarled and took a deep calming breath. "I don't know where you learnt this from Toby, but I won't let you ruin your sister's wedding!" Karen looked up at Sarah, apology and regret deeply evident in her eyes. If anything, it would be her poor parenting skills that would be criticised this day, and whilst she was able to handle that, she didn't know how everyone would judge her beautiful step-daughter that she now considered her own flesh and blood.
"Well, I don't want Sarah to marry Brian!"
"That's it young man! You're coming with me!". Karen rose from her seat and started pulling on Toby's hand to drag him out of the pews. She would take him out of the wedding so he could reflect on what he'd done to his sister, and if he refused to take responsibility for his actions, well, she'd deal with that later.
"I'm so sorry Sarah. I don't know what's gotten into him. I'll just take him into the back rooms." Karen cried softly to Sarah, knowing that she would miss out on seeing her stepdaughter's wedding, as she would have to supervise and punish her son for his reckless behaviour.
"Karen, wait." Sarah kneeled down in her wedding dress, which drew a soft gasp from the audience and gently collected Toby's hands in hers. "Toby, I understand, and I'm not upset. It used to be just me and you against the world, but don't worry I'm not going anywhere. I'm still always your big sister first, okay?" Toby nodded and she could see tears forming gentle trails on his rosy cheeks. "Now, go be a good boy and sit back down, okay?" She gave him a huge grin and stood back up to face her groom. His face conveyed joy and understanding and he silently worded "I love you" to Sarah. She smiled shly and a gentle rosy blush formed on her cheeks. Several years together, and he still had the ability to bring a blush to her cheeks simply by saying "I love you".
"Well, now that that excitement is all over, let's get on with the ceremony then, shall we?" The priest's voice sounded mildly amused - never before in his 30 years working at this church had he ever seen a young man object to a wedding simply because he loved his sister too much to let go.
"I think not" drawled a mildly British voice from the entryway of the church. Sarah rolled her eyes in exasperation and missed the way the priest's eyebrows shot up and nearly reached the top of his head. Forget a brother objecting to a wedding, he had never had two objections to a wedding. None of his other priestly friends would believe this situation when they congregated next for their weekly meet up! This girl must be spectacularly special to have two men demand her withdrawal of marriage to this Brian McKenzie fellow standing in front of him.
"Well, perhaps we'll take this into the back rooms of the church where we can discuss this". The priest spoke softly but firmly that would have persuaded most others to comply with his wishes. It would be most unpleasant if this discussion were to occur in front of all the invited guests, and he was keen to move away from an audience in order to give the three people some privacy for their talk. He had experienced only a handful of objections at weddings, and he was aware that it was difficult to remediate talks that did not end with some form of physical violence or tears. However, he looked piercingly at the latest objector and noted that the newcomer's body language seemed very relaxed and confident about interrupting this wedding. He heard Sarah's shocked gasp and looked at her with worry and noticed her facial expression portrayed feelings of intense confusion and astonishment.
Sarah had turned around to face the doorway once again and although the intruder was standing quite some distance away, she could feel the power emanating from him. She gave a small shiver as she felt feather soft caresses dance over her skin and her eyes glazed over as a foggy mist started building in the recesses of her mind. She heard Brian's voice call out her name, ringing crystal clear in her mind and the murkiness that was in her mind dissipated as quickly as it had formed.
Blinking several times, she noticed her position in the church and realised her feet had walked towards the intruder of their own volition during her mind blank. Gritting her teeth, she could only try to convince herself that this was all an illusion. "No, no, no, this isn't real. He's not real." she tried reasoning with herself. She made the mistake of looking up at his face once more due to the river of anger that was awash in her body, and the flames of anger within her only grew stronger and brighter once she realised he wore a smug smirk across his sharp features.
"I don't believe that will be necessary. Will it Sarah?" He stepped into the church, his boots silent against the carpet and his voice, edged with confidence and authority betrayed an underlying challenge for her to defy him. The Labyrinth Champion inside her immediately fell to his goading, prepared with a retort that indeed, it would be necessary, because he had no right to interrupt her wedding, since well, he had no power over her. However, once Sarah looked at his face and saw his mismatched eyes searing into her soul, her defiance and anger melted away. All of a sudden, she felt as if she were in the Crystal Ballroom all over again staring into his eyes, with her pure white dress billowing around her and her dark hair adorned with fine silver jewellery. Nothing else existed in this world at this moment; it was just him, in his jeweled midnight blue jacket and blue tipped hair and it was just her, lost and wide-eyed.
"Actually, I think it will be necessary, given she's about to be married to me" a clear voice rung out from near the altar, breaking through Sarah's consciousness. She blinked rapidly, before looking around her and seeing a different setting than the one she had just been in. Her wedding guests were staring at her openly, pointing and whispering about what they believed to be her secrets. Her head swivelled back to meet the gaze of her husband-to-be, and gone was the look of joy and love that had been evident on his face just moments earlier. His handsome features were now contorted into a fashion designed to portray anger and defiance and her heart shattered. Brian was a wonderful and generous man, the type that all girls swooned over and all the guys wanted to be best friends with and this wedding was supposed to celebrate her union with the man of her dreams! Although the blonde intruder may have featured heavily in her dreams during her sleep over the past few months, he was nowhere close to being the man of her dreams and she'd be damned if he ruined the best thing that had happened to her!
She turned back around to fix the strongest glare she could muster at him before opening her mouth to release a torrent of reasons why his presence was not appreciated. She saw an arrogant smirk on his face, one befitting a man who was used to getting his own way and felt the anger rise and bubble up more fervently inside her. Recognising her anger, he simply gave her a larger smirk and watched triumphantly as Sarah Williams squeaked after she heard his response.
With a cold tone rife with indifference and smugness, Jareth simply told the groom "No, I don't believe that it is, given that she's carrying my child".
A/N: I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, so remember to review! :)
