Love's Alchemy
Teris
Chapter One
She looked down at the pale hand inches from where her own were clenched. The only sounds in the room were the beep of Toby's IV pump and her own breathing. No rattling of goblins, no owls wings fluttering at the window. He wasn't coming. There would be no miracle, and her little brother wouldn't live to see eight years old. She couldn't help it as the tears started to fall. She looked down at Toby, trying to memorize every detail of his face through her tears, convinced for the first time that she was really going to lose him. She was so lost in her grief that she didn't notice the flash of lightening or the crash at first.
Then she noticed it, a sparkling smell of rain falling upon green fields filled the room, replacing the sterile hospital odor, the disinfectants that they used to mask the coming of death. She didn't want to raise her head too scared that if she did she would see nothing, and that all would be lost. Then she felt the tingles on her skin, little electric shocks that made her shiver and tremble, just as they had last time. He had to be here. There was no way could she be imagining this, not even if they put her in a rubber room with Karen.
Her eyes darted up hesitantly, and there he was standing framed again in moonlight from the window. Imagining could not have begun to prepare her for the sight of the Goblin King, and so she stood there for a moment mouth slightly parted in shock, scarcely daring to breathe for fear that he'd be gone if she did. "You look surprised to see me Sarah. Surely you were expecting me? After all you called me so sweetly."
She looked again, blinked, swallowed and then spoke to the man who had the power to once again change her life with his words. "I was afraid that you weren't coming."
"I must admit I had considered it, there was a sort of poetic justice to leave you calling for me in vain as you left me, but in the end my curiosity was too great. After all what could a mere slip of a mortal girl want from me, especially after she denied my power? What could you possibly require from me that you could not do for yourself?"
"It's not for me." She pointed to the still figure on the bed. "He's dying Jareth, and there is nothing that I or any mortal on this planet can do to stop it."
"Which still doesn't explain what led you to call upon me, I've relinquished my claim to the boy. He is no longer mine to rule or to protect."
"I will acknowledge your power over me. I will serve you in any way that you wish. I will do anything that you ask of me. Just please, please if it is in your power, please help him."
He walked over to her, and ran the back of his gloved fingers down her cheek slowly, making her shiver with an emotion that she could not name. "And may I assume Sarah that you make that particular statement with an adult's full understanding of just what anything can entail? I warn you, I can be quite inventive in deciding your fate Sarah."
She looked up at him still not showing him her fear, but with none of the arrogance that she'd shown him in their previous encounter. "Yes, I understand that perfectly well. I stand by my promise. Anything you ask I will do, just please help him?"
"Very well then, I shall see what can be done." He walked to the other side of the bed and laid one hand on Toby's chest and the other on his forehead. Closing his eyes he concentrated for a moment, seemingly attempting to locate something. "It is within my power to heal him, but the improvement will not last above ground. He will have to come with us to the Underground, and will never be able to return. Do you consent for both of you to become and remain my subjects from now until forever?"
"I do."
"Well then, go and find your father, I'll not steal both of his children away with him having no clue as to where you've gone."
"But he'll try and stop us!"
Jareth's mouth tightened a bit, and Sarah winced. "The key word in that statement is try Sarah. You really should have more faith in your king. Were I not in such a generous mood having recently acquired two new mortals as subjects you could easily find yourself in the bog for a statement such as that."
She lowered her eyes quickly, remembering that she was his equal no longer, by her own agreement. "My apologies your majesty." He had to give her credit, she was a marvelous actress, for if yielding to him caused her any vexation she showed it not. The edges of his lips quirked upwards in a smile and he tilted her chin up to look into her eyes.
"I think I can forgive your impertinence just this once. You are after all new to my kingdom, and there were none to witness it. Take heed though Sarah, don't try me again. The consequences will not be to your liking. Now go fetch your father, we must make haste." She nodded and turned to go find the man in question. He allowed himself a smile as he watched her leave. There would be time to teach her about curtsying later, and the fact that one does not turn their back on a king. For now though he would enjoy the fact that his little spitfire mortal had grown up rather nicely. He was going to enjoy this. He was going to enjoy it a great deal.
AN: Here's another chapter. Thank you so much to all of you who've let me know what you think so far. I'm still not certain if this will be dark Jareth or not, but I'm leaning towards at the very least a little bit of grey. Let me know what you think.