Going Courting Part Two
By ACJ Leveille
Author's Note:
As always, I don't own the Labyrinth, or anyone in it.
"Jareth, why are you doing this?" The voice came from the Reflecting Pool. Jareth groaned, shutting his eyes. "If you want her," the voice continued, "why don't you just take her?"
The Goblin King remained ominously silent.
"It would be easy! She's not expecting anything anymore! You've waited long enough!"
"Shut up!" The King bit out coldly, glaring at the pool. It burbled a bit, but spoke no more.
Jareth stood, stalking through the clearing and into the Labyrinth proper. "I don't know why I even bother coming here," he muttered.
The throne room was filled with screaming goblins. The King rolled his eyes, kicked his way through them, and headed to his study, where he flopped onto a long divan, resting his booted feet on the arm. He flung his hand over his eyes.
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah," he mused, "What am I going to do with you?"
He searched his mind for a fitting courting gift. The flowers he had sent - a human tradition - had gone dreadfully awry. Perhaps a more Fae gift? An illusion, perhaps? Ah, yes, he had the perfect idea. He sat up, crafting his thought in his head, forming the scene into a perfect crystalline bubble - the he disguised it.
In a blink he was in Sarah's apartment. It was dark and empty. He let his invisible, insubstantial form solidify and walked into her bedroom. He set down the disguised illusion, and, unable to resist, let one gloved finger trail lightly over pillow that she slept on. He inhaled her scent, and closed his eyes in painful pleasure. "Sarah," he whispered, and vanished.
"Come on, Toby, time for bed!" Sarah said, tossing her younger brother a pillow and blankets.
The boy stifled a yawn, catching the bedding. "I'm bushed," he admitted.
Sarah smiled. She hadn't seen Toby often since she had left home - some weekends while she was in college, maybe once every couple of months after that. He had grown up, was almost as tall as she was now!
"Hey, Sarah?" He called, throwing the last blanket into place on the couch. "Thanks for inviting me!" He looked down shyly.
"You're welcome," Sarah said with a smile. She had the urge to reach out and ruffle his hair, but she new that he was too old for that.
Toby bedded down, falling asleep almost instantly. Sarah smiled at her sibling, and headed into her room.
It wasn't until she had showered and prepared for bed that she noticed the strange object that had appeared on her pillow.
It was a rose. A gorgeous, perfect black rose. It was made of glass.
"How on Earth?" She asked, bemused. Reaching out, she touched it. It was warm, as if someone had recently held it.
A slight smile tinged her lips as she felt the edge of one finely-crafted petal with a tentative fingertip. The light from her lamp glinted brightly. Sarah cradled the rose in her hand, then noticed something.
"What's this?" She wondered, squinting to see better. Deep inside the rose was a small marble. She looked harder, trying to figure out what it was - and what it was doing there.
Then she was swept away.
Jareth laughed, looking into his crystal. "Oh, sweet Sarah," he smiled, eyes fixed on her bedroom. He watched her turn the rose in her hand, and then the illusion was triggered.
A rapt expression settled on her face, a wistful smile curling up the corners of her lips as the spell took her.
Jareth's fingers lightly caressed the crystal image, then, with a thought, he looked inside the illusion.
The world grew dark, then light again. For a second, Sarah thought that the electricity had gone out, but then she realized she wasn't in her bedroom anymore.
The rose fell from her hand, bouncing somehow, and rolling off into the shadows of the room - forgotten. She looked around, seeing a merrily crackling fireplace and a table laid out with steaming, covered dishes. The room wasn't huge, had two chairs in a far corner, with a chess table set up. One whole wall was a huge swath of velvety blue drapery. A window, and a big one, presumably. The room smelled sweet, of incense, and the lighting was dim and sensual. There was no door.
"What the?" She stood in the middle of the room, on a thick rug, wearing the jeans and sweatshirt she had changed into before Toby had arrived. She reached out, touching the fabric of the drapes. Thick and velvety. She tugged on them, pulling, trying to see the window behind them.
Fabric rustled, but she couldn't manage to move enough to get to the window. Fearful frustration began to surface, but she tamped it down. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I can handle this," she told herself. She held her hand to her head, feeling woozy. How had she gotten here, again? Where had she been before?
Turning around, she realized that someone had been in the room while her back had been turned. She hadn't noticed anything, heard anything, but the covers had been removed from the waiting dishes, and a single place set at one end of the table. Curious, she crept closer, looking into the silver dishes.
Beef, chicken, various kinds of vegetables. Some things she couldn't identify. A pitcher had appeared, and it contained a sparkling pink-red liquid. Thirsty, she poured some into the goblet set beside the plate. She sat down to drink it, sipping slowly while she contemplated what she was going to do. She had to get back - get home to Toby.
Again, she forced down the panic welling it's way up in her chest, and focused on what she was tasting. Whatever it was, it was sweet, but it wasn't wine. It didn't have the alcoholic bite. It tasted more like juice, one that slid down her throat easily and rested lightly in her stomach.
She looked down at her plate, frowning as she caught a glimpse of something peeking over the edge of the plate. She shifted the dish. Pewter, it felt like.
A rose. A single, perfect black rose. She touched the flower. It was real. She lifted it in her hand, turning it over and over. Something in her mind clicked, an almost audible connection. She gasped, jumping to her feet. Her chair tumbled to the floor in her haste.
Rose gripped in one hand, she tore at the curtains, pulling until they fell down in a giant heap, and the window was revealed. An empty, black hole stared back at her. A familiar lack of anything.
Her hand clenched, the rose crumpling helplessly. Her teeth gritted and the shout rang out through the inky darkness.
"Goblin King!"
TO BE CONTINUED ………………………….
