Disclaimer: The only thing I claim to own is the insane idea that formed this story, everything else is borrow.
A/N: There's a glitch in the timeline for this chapter. The movie was done in '86, this story picks up at that point. However, I wanted a point of reference and couldn't think of one from the 80's. So I used one from '92 (close enough in my book) If you don't catch it… Cool! If you do, I hope you can just roll with it for fictional purposes. TY!
CHAPTER FOUR
Gail shrieked and made for under the bed, Sarah tried to hold onto her, reassuring her she wouldn't be hurt.
"Let her hide," Jareth told Sarah in a bored tone. "We have more important things to address."
Sarah let Gail go and she sunk back into the dark shadows under the bed.
Standing up, Sarah saw a man with similar features as Jareth on his knees at Jareth's feet in a bound spell.
"Is that him?" Sarah asked, her tone full distain.
"Yes," both Jareth and Heidi answered simultaneously.
"How would you suggest I handle this, Defiant One?" Jareth asked airily.
Jareth was curious of any instinctual authority she may possess, and this was a good situation to assess that instinct.
"How did he obtain any power over her?" she asked, moving around the bed to stand before the bent and kneeling fae on the floor. She had the impulse to kick him, and after a moment of not getting an answer from anyone, she did. She kicked him square in the head.
"I asked you a question!"
"Sarah," Jareth voiced patiently, as though speaking to a child. "Was that really necessary?"
He was pleased by her first inquiry, it was a good start. Her impulse to harm had surprised him though, he'd never witnessed Sarah willfully harming another living being before.
"It made me feel better," she shrugged, looking over at him without regret. She looked back towards the being on the floor with contempt. "Well?" She urged, her hands firmly on her hips.
"I suggest you answer her, Marcus," Jareth stated with crossed arms. "I'm very curious as to what she's capable of when I'm not the subject of her ire."
"How often does she kick you in the head?!" he spat venomously.
"Me?" Jareth asked, taken aback. "Why, never." He looked at Sarah curiously. "Have you ever thought of causing me harm, Defiant One?"
Sarah paled dramatically, her eyes growing wide at the mere thought. "Never," she breathed.
"See there?" Jareth announced triumphantly. "And just so you better understand things, Marcus, this little Imp referred to my Labyrinth as a piece of cake."
"And she still lives?" The lower fae turned curious eyes on Sarah, then they filled with dawning. "She's the one," he whispered in fearful awe.
"Yes, well, that's another story altogether, now isn't it," Jareth stated, waving his hand. "Now answer her question before she becomes impatient, as I already have."
"The girl wished for me to take her," Marcus defended. "For her step-father to be gone, and to have someone love her forever. I accepted her offer and asked a very small thing in return."
"You sick bastard," Sarah uttered. She approached the fae and bent to her knees to peer into his face up close.
Jareth stood nearby, watching intently as Sarah stared into the depths of the lower fae's eyes, using another of her gifts on him. The ability to see when someone lies.
Marcus snapped his teeth at her with dark mischief in his eyes and Sarah slapped him soundly with an open palm before Jareth could move her back.
"If that bitch touches me one more time, I swear…!"
"You'll what?" Jareth cut him off, holding Sarah safely in his arms, her back against his chest.
Marcus closed his mouth and diverted his gaze to the side.
"What now, Defiant One?" he whispered into her ear. "Does he tell the truth?"
"From what I just saw in his eyes, he doesn't think he's done anything wrong. Morally speaking though, he's scum." She turned her head back to look at Jareth.
"I think we should dip him in the bog, then put him in a very small room in the oubliette, that way he can smell himself for as long as he lives."
"My, you can be so cruel," Jareth smiled proudly at her.
"You can't seriously consider that!" Marcus yelled with wide eyes.
"Or," Jareth suggested in a low voice by her ear. "I can simple have him release the girl, along with the other mortals he's collected for himself, and ban him from the Aboveground for a century or two."
Sarah mulled this around in her head and grudgingly knew that it would be considered fair considering Fae laws against human morals.
"I guess, my King," she voiced resignedly. "Can I kick him one more time, though?"
"I wouldn't advise it," Jareth replied, his words out weighting the lightness of his tone.
"May I?" a small voice came from behind them.
Jareth turned fully around, releasing Sarah from his embrace. He regarded the girl by the door with guarded curiosity as she slowly gained her feet.
She had been wounded very deeply, fear and despair were her constant companions, yet her desire for revenge moved her to stand straight before the Goblin King.
"May I please… hurt him, Goblin King?" Heidi requested with an unsteady voice.
"Is this the one you spoke of?" Jareth asked Sarah over his shoulder, not taking his eyes from the other girl.
"Uhm… no. I don't remember mentioning Heidi to you at all."
"And why not I wonder," he demanded, meeting Sarah's gaze. "Could it be that you sensed something was not right within the girl and were fearful on her behalf?"
"Something like that, maybe," Sarah answered with a shrug.
"Maybe?" he repeated sardonically. "Possibly? Perhaps?" Jareth regarded Sarah for a moment. "You knew well enough to not so much as touch this one, not even with enchantments, yet you failed to say anything to me."
"I didn't think it meant anything," Sarah shrugged nonchalantly. "I thought she just didn't like me."
"Of course, you were too busy trying to convince me that the gym teacher is a demon from the Underground!" he accused heated, waving his hand disgruntled.
"I knew it!" Gail exclaimed, muffled within the blanket from under the bed.
Jareth frowned deeply at the space under the bed, then turned halfway to look upon Heidi. "What is your opinion on the matter? Do you also feel the woman is otherworldly?"
"I've had my suspicions, your Majesty," Heidi answered with a bowed head.
Jareth looked at Sarah, who had her arms crossed and a smug expression on her face. Glancing down at Marcus, he asked him if he knew of whom they spoke.
"Yes, I know of her," Marcus nearly growled sourly. "She's the most frightening human mortal I've ever encountered in my life!"
"There, it is settled," Jareth announced boldly. "The woman is, although very frightening, human none the less." He bent down to one knee and peered under the bed. "Did you hear that alright under there?" he directed facetiously, wanting this subject to be closed once and for all.
"Y… yes, sir… sire… king…" A fearful whimper was heard and scuffling sounds as Gail scooted as far from him as possible under the bed.
"Can we get this thing out of my room, please," Sarah asked Jareth. "He's starting to stink it up."
Jareth gave his attention back to the girl named Heidi, who didn't seem quite as fearful as a few moments before, but was still terrified none the less.
"I normally abhor physical violence, young one," Jareth addressed Heidi in an authoritive tone. "However, just this once I shall grant it as a favor asked by Sarah. There is to be no bloodshed, do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand." Heidi glanced at Sarah as she stepped forward then paused. "Wha… what will you make Sarah do for this favor, your Majesty?" she asked fearfully.
"It's okay, Heidi," Sarah answered first. "I'll willing do whatever Jareth wishes. Beat the fuck out of this asshole for both of us!"
"Me too!" shouted a muffled voice from under the bed.
Heidi turned her gaze to Marcus, Sarah watched as her hazel eyes hardened to cold pools just before she pulled her foot back and knocked the fae completely on his side with one fierce kick.
"Do it again, Heidi," Sarah commanded in a whispered voice, not sure if Jareth would allow it or not.
He did, and Heidi gave the lower fae another solid kick to the ribs.
Suddenly the girl bodily dove on top of her nemesis and began punching and clawing at him with a vengeance, screaming out at him for all the suffering he had caused her, all the guilt of making her trick others into calling upon him, and finally just viciously pummeled him until he remained in a fetal position with his arms covering his head protectively.
Exhausted, both emotionally and physically, Heidi crawled away from the inert form on the floor. Fear gripped her when Marcus didn't move at first, then he slowly raised his head to balefully glare at her.
He disappeared from the room before he was able to utter one single syllable.
Heidi flopped back to the floor and began to laugh and cry at the same time. "I'm free!" she cried. "I can feel it. I can feel…free." She rolled to her side and cried deeply.
Sarah motioned to go comfort her, but Jareth held her back with a restraining hand.
"Let her alone for a moment, Sarah, and for heavens sake, get that poor thing out from under the bed!"
"Gail, you do know that goblins hide under beds too, right?"
The girl shrieked and scurried out from hiding, still wrapped in the blanket like a bug in a cocoon.
"Is the king still here?" she asked fearfully, the blanket blob turning this way then that in an attempt to see through a tiny peep hole in the folds by her face.
"Closer than you'll ever know," Jareth said in a taunting voice by her ear. He tilted his head back and laughed as the girl screamed and scurried across the room.
"Jareth, stop scaring my friends!" Sarah chastised.
"But, it's so much fun," he replied with a smile and mirth in his eyes.
"Don't you have something ugly to attend to?" She remarked, holding a frightened Gail, blanket and all.
"I suppose, yes." He resigned, then vanished from the room but his voice echoed, "Don't keep me waiting, Sarah. That lamp goes out at midnight. You owe me a favor."
"I'm really sorry, Sarah," Heidi said in a low voice after Jareth's voice dissipated into the air. "Will he hurt you for letting me vent on that scumbag?"
"Jareth has his own way of dealing with me," she offered calmly, sitting on the floor next to the girl. "But he's never physically hurt me, no matter what I've done to him."
"You're lucky," Heidi whispered with a bowed head. "I wish I could forget all the horrible things 'he' did to me."
Sarah reached out and held her new friend as Heidi cried herself dry.
XxXxX
Sarah turned off the lamp then flicked it back on again.
The two girls gasped at how fast he could just 'be there', comfortably lying on the bed with his head propped in his palm on a bent elbow.
"They're staying the night?" he asked disgruntled.
"Yes, we're having a 'sleepover'," Sarah told him facetiously. "You remember what those are, right?"
"Don't patronize me in front of others, Sarah," he warned in a deep voice. "It doesn't please me."
"He's gorgeous," Gail whispered real low into Sarah's ear while hiding behind her friend.
"Thank you," Jareth preened. "I have incredible hearing as well."
Gail inhaled sharply and Jareth chuckled.
"How do you fair, young one?" he asked, looking over at Heidi who was seated in the chair by the vanity facing the room.
"I'm not sure what I feel, your Majesty."
"Jareth, is there anything you can do to help her? Make her forget what he did to her?"
"I can't remove the memories from her mind, but I am capable of lessening the trauma of what she's been through." He sat up on the bed, swinging a leg over the side. "However, you won't like how I must do this."
"How?" all three girls asked with various levels of curiosity.
"With a kiss," he replied simply with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
"A kiss?" Sarah asked. "What kind of kiss?" Her tone deepened threateningly.
"A small kiss, nothing more."
He regarded Sarah intently, enjoying her show of jealousy by the suggestion of him kissing another female.
"Give her a peach like you did me." Sarah told him, crossing her arms decisively.
Jareth laughed. "That was cursed if you remember, and it didn't work after all my trouble, you're will is too strong. Just as her memories are too strong to simply be pacified by illusions."
"I have to think on this, Heidi," Sarah stated, looking over at the girl.
"It's okay. I think I like this numb feeling for now. It's soothing in a way, you know? The absence of his hold on me is so calming despite the nightmares in the back of my mind."
Sarah was more than aware of how nightmares could haunt you from the back of your mind and decided to put her own selfishness aside.
"Help her," Sarah told Jareth decisively. "I'm going downstairs for snacks, I don't want to see this."
With that she opened the door, stepped out and closed the door firmly behind her. Barely a foot into the hall she changed her mind and turned around.
"On second thought…" She stopped dead as she saw Jareth's lips retreating from Heidi's forehead.
He held her by her shoulders in front of him, the girl breathed deeply in long steady breaths, her eyes fluttered closed.
"Help your friend, Sarah," Jareth stated matter of factly. "She needs to sleep."
Sarah and Gail each took an arm as Heidi's knees gave out from under her when Jareth removed his hands from her shoulders. Stepping around the bed, they laid her down on one side of the magically enlarged mattress.
Strong arms suddenly snaked around Sarah's waste, his breath at her ear.
"She would have went mad, Sarah," he told her in whispered tones. "He'd done more damage to the girl than you could ever imagine. It was most generous of you to allow me to help her."
"Yea," she whispered, the image of him touching, kissing someone else, for whatever reason, haunted her mind. "Generous me."
Jareth smiled and tilted her chin up with his fingers. Bending his head he kissed her soundly.
"Oh, he definitely didn't kiss Heidi like that," Gail stated with awe. "He didn't touch her lips at all. And it was really quick too."
Jareth couldn't help smirking before breaking his kiss. "Thank you, kind maiden," he said lightly, inclining his head slightly, then looked down at Sarah. "Is this the one you spoke of?"
Sarah laughed. "No, at least not for the reason you're asking."
Jareth was absolutely intent on meeting Megan, the girl who had filled Sarah's head with all the interesting sexual techniques and positions. Though she wasn't entirely sure why.
Sarah stepped out of his embrace to stand next to Gail.
"Jareth, this is my friend, Gail Stanford." She formally introduced. "Her father has an interesting art collection at their house and could possibly be a descendant from Dunstaffnage Castle in Scotland."
"Dunstaffnage Castle does not have descendants to speak of," Jareth informed them knowledgeably. "Though there is a hereditary Captain of Dunstaffnage. It remains dialect to this day, whatever's left of it."
"Now you know how I ace history," Sarah smirked toward Gail. "He's a walking encyclopedia."
Tossing her arm over her friend's shoulder, Sarah continued her introductions. "Gail, this is Jareth, the Goblin King, and Lord of the Labyrinth."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, your Majesty," Gail said in a nervous whisper, and tried to curtsy, but ended up grabbing Sarah so she didn't fall over.
Jareth laughed at the girl's attempt to be proper. "I think we should skip the formalities before someone gets hurt." Jareth's eyes danced with amusement as Gail blushed ten shades red.
"I will leave you to your friends, Sarah."
He abruptly gathered Sarah in his arms and bestowed upon her a searing kiss that completely took her breath away before vanishing from sight.
"Wow, does he always kiss you like that?"
"No," Sarah replied breathlessly. "They're usually more intense."
"Wow."
XxXxX
"Why not?" Sarah argued with him for the hundredth time the next night.
Jareth wanted to alter time so her two friends didn't remember meeting him, nor the events of Marcus' banishment, with some modifications in Heidi's case.
"Buffy wasn't supposed to have friends, and look how it worked out for her," Sarah stated as a point of reference to her plea.
"You're not a vampire slayer risking your life every night." Jareth countered, beyond bored with this conversation, again.
"No," she murmured demurely. "I'm just the girl who championed a labyrinth that nobody knows is real." She turned pleading eyes his way, knowing that he could see adeptly in the dark.
"It's just nice to have someone to talk to about things sometimes," she said to him softly. "Girls my own age, friends who I can share the truth with."
"There's a reason why mortals aren't privy to our existence, Sarah." He seriously hoped she ended this soon and simply gave in to his reasoning. He grew tired of this idleness.
"I'm not talking about mortals, I'm talking about two of my friends!" She pleaded in earnest.
She raised herself up to an elbow. "One has been living with her own secrets, horrible secrets, since she was twelve, Jareth. The other is so frightened of you she'd cause herself physical harm before telling another soul about any of this."
"Why is that, I wonder," he inquired, turning his face to look at her in the dimness of the room. "What have I done to cause that poor thing such terror?"
"I thought you liked to be frightening," Sarah grinned at him.
"I excel at being frightening," he responded proudly. "But not when I've done nothing to warrant it."
"Her father used to tell her folktales about Banshees, Changelings, and the Tuatha Dé Danann when she was little. He filled her head with how they all take bad children, never to be seen again."
"They don't just take children," he stated indignantly. "They take whomever they want for whatever reason. A very big misconception. And I am nothing like those creatures."
"Glad to hear that, Goblin King," Her tone heavy with sarcasm. "Who takes wished away children from their beds."
"But they are wished away none the less." He pointed out firmly with a raised finger.
"So… you're not one of the Tuatha Dé Danann?"
"Perhaps at some time long before I was born," he answered thoughtfully. "My ilk are considered tainted and impure to be considered one of such standing as they. When They mate with mortals it's considered survival for the race. When we do the same it's lustful and unseemly."
Sarah chuckled and shook her head. "Well, you are unseemingly lustful, you know," she grinned up at him.
He smirked down at her and tightened his hold on her, drawing her closer against his body.
"I will reconsider your request." He conceded. "But if something should go wrong with their knowledge of me, I will be forced to keep them in my kingdom." He warned her sternly.
"I doubt you have to worry about that." She assured him.
"I'm not worried," he told her matter of factly. "I'm telling you what the consequences are should either of them turn against me."
"Thank you," she smiled at him and ran her fingers through his hair. "For letting me keep my friends."
She kissed at his neck, tugging on his ear playfully with her teeth.
"I was told you requested the presence of one of my goblins. Would you care to explain why?" He shifted under her to allow her to play more freely. His hands leisurely caressing her body.
"I wanted Gail to see a real goblin." She answered between gentle nibbles at his neck and shoulder.
"Well?" He chuckled, finding her idea amusing.
"She ran screaming." She moved down his body to extend her attentions to his chest. "The poor goblin was so scared he passed out."
He smirked at her reference to 'poor goblin', making him pleased that she was starting to have compassion for the subjects of his kingdom other than her friends.
He breathed in sharply and closed his eyes when she scraped her teeth over one of his nipples. Her hand slipped further between them and took him in a firm but pleasing grasp. She'd become much more bolder in the little time he'd spent with her. Her forwardness, however, had its set backs as well as its pleasures.
She was still not ready to be claimed, but she pushed him so close to the point of not caring far too often. He had become much more demanding of her than he wanted to be just to satisfy him in other ways.
She took his intake of breath in stride and moved lower down his body. Replacing her hand with her mouth, she sucked and licked that part of him to give him release.
His fingers tangled in her hair while his hips moved with the rhythm of her mouth.
Sarah liked pleasing him like this, she liked the taste of him, how he grabbed fistfuls of her hair and growled out her name in breathless gasps. She liked the power she had over him during these times. How helpless he'd be, how dependant he was for her attentions.
She knew that she wasn't ready to go all the way with him yet. That he was being so patient with her both pleased and disappointed her at the same time.
More than once, he had become so aroused that she thought for sure he was going to take her by force, and at the time, that was exactly what she had wanted.
But he remained true to his word, and held off breaking her barrier for when she verbally told him, without being in the throws of ecstasy, that she wanted him. In the meantime she was learning so much about not only her own body and sexual desires but his as well.
She no longer felt like the dumpy teenager with a horrible figure. How could she when she had a king arousing her body and senses with his expertise every night.
She cupped her hand between his legs, knowing he was quickly reaching climax. With her other hand and mouth stroking and sucking she smiled secretly when he exclaimed her name, filling her mouth with his saltiness. She licked and wiped up the little mess they made, then moved to lie her head on his chest as he panted weakly.
His arms wrapped around her back and held her possessively as his heartbeat returned to normal.
"Good night, my King," she whispered contentedly.
He shifted his head to peer into her face.
It wasn't the first time she'd addressed him as her king, but, he was beginning to see a pattern for when she used different aspects of his title.
Commonly speaking while alone she simply used his given name. When she was being facetious, she often referred to him as the goblin king or ruler of the labyrinth. While in the presence of her friends, she usually addressed him as her king, as she did when she was feeling particularly pleased with him.
She was already falling asleep with a content smile on her lips. Her hand rested next to her face on his chest while the other slid under him to wrap around the small of his back.
He kissed her on the top of her head. "Sweet dreams, my little Imp."
A/N: I randomly selected a Scottish Castle to use fictitiously in this fanfic- here is a brief factual description and link for further reading.
(and due credit because I don't own the castle any more than I own the Labyrinth)
Dunstaffnage Castle is a partially ruined castle in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. It lies 3 miles (4.8 km) N.N.E. of Oban, situated on a platform of conglomerate rock on a promontory at the south-west of the entrance to Loch Etive, and is surrounded on three sides by the sea.
The castle dates back to the 13th century, making it one of Scotland's oldest stone castles, in a local group which includes Castle Sween and Castle Tioram.[1] Guarding a strategic location, it was built by the MacDougall lords of Lorn, and has been held since the 15th century by the Clan Campbell. To this day there is a hereditary Captain of Dunstaffnage, although they no longer reside at the castle. Dunstaffnage is maintained by Historic Scotland, and is open to the public, although the 16th century gatehouse is retained as the private property of the Captain. The prefix dun in the name means "fort" in Gaelic, while the rest of the name derives from Norse stafr-nis, "headland of the staff".
For more information on this historical castle go to: .org/wiki/Dunstaffnage_Castle