Chapter 6: A Questionable Dinner
Later that evening as the night sky beckoned from behind dark clouds, dinner was served. The dining hall table was full of food. Food that Sarah had no intention of eating. She pushed the food around on her plate. Sarah was starving, but found that she couldn't eat a single morsel. However, her stomach protested and demanded that it be fed.
"You haven't eaten a bite." Jareth raised an eyebrow as his eyes became concerning.
"I am not hungry." Sarah looked up and at the far end of the table where Jareth sat.
"I beg to differ, but your stomach seems to protest." He could hear it grumbling from all the way down there! "You must try and eat something. You won't get your strength back unless you eat." He couldn't force Sarah to eat, but if she didn't she would die from starvation.
Picking up her spoon, Sarah dipped it into the warm beef broth that sat in a china bowl before her. Bringing the spoon to her lips, she took the bite. It tasted vial and bitter and not to mention salty. As it made its way to her stomach, it churned in protest. No matter how hard she tried, Sarah couldn't simply stomach any physical food—not even broth. Shutting her eyes, she pushed the contents away. "I—I can't."
Knowing she needed to eat, Jareth got up from his chair and made his way towards her. Within moments he sat down next to her. "You have to at least eat something. I am not leaving this table until you do. Or more so, if you don't eat I will make you eat myself."
Stubborn king. He hadn't changed at all. Wanting to protest and argue with him, she thought against it. Taking the spoon once more, Sarah began eating the broth. This was better than food with more density. Like the roasted duck or the mashed potatoes.
Taking yet another bite, Sarah prayed she wouldn't become sick. It had been days since she had eaten or more so it felt like days. When in reality it had been mere hours. "There that wasn't so hard now was it?"
Sarah thought she heard a mocking tone within his voice, but it could have been her ears just playing tricks on her. "Not when you have a certain king making threats."
"Me make threats? Now Sarah what type of person do you think I am?"
"One who sticks to their threats." Sarah squinted her eyes towards the king. "Telling me I am not to get up from the table until I have eat? Or worse yet. Telling me that if I do not eat, you will make me eat. That is a threat."
"That I do precious, but I don't mean to harm you. I just want to see you get better and stronger."
"If that is so, then you will let me do it on my own. You can't help someone get better by forcing them to do something they do not wish to do." By now Sarah had finished the beef broth.
"I see my distraction has worked." Jareth replied smugly with a wicked tent and smile to his lips. Looking down, Sarah saw for herself that her broth was gone. "Next time we start with actual food. Broth is not considered a food."
"Why you nasty, conniving, cheat! I told you I wasn't hungry!"
"Yes, I heard that loud and clear, but you can see that you needed to eat. So by distracting you by talking and taking your mind off the food you ate. I did no conniving, no cheating of any kind. Just normal conversation. You can thank me later."
"Me thank you? Why would I do a thing like that?"
"Without me precious, you would still be in that damp, cold, dark, sad place of existence."
Sarah sat there with no words, no threats of any kind. For she knew, Jareth spoke the truth. If had hadn't been for him, she would be sitting and rotting in that hell hole.
"Come, I wish to show you something."
"I am quite comfortable right here. Thank you."
Waving his hand, the warm fire went out at the fire place. The candles stopped flickering and before long, a chill met the air. Sarah sat there freezing as her knees began to knock and her teeth chattered, before pressing her lips together to stop them.
"Perhaps you have changed your mind?" Jareth questioned as he now stood behind her chair.
His breath hot on her ear and neck, which sent a chill down her spin and goosebumps down her body. Pushing the chair back, Sarah stood. Not caring if she ran into him. Sometimes he could be so insufferable and others caring—the way she liked to see him.
As they exited the room, the lights and fire came back on. "What is it that you wish to show me?" As they walked down the hall, Sarah did feel full. The first time in months—may be even years.
As she said this, Jareth stopped at a set of wooden doors. He looked down at her as she appeared almost annoyed, but not quite. He refrained himself from what to kiss her. Instead, he pushed the doors opened to reveal a grand library. "Since you will be here a while, I thought you might want something to take your mind off all of this."
Eyes going wide, Sarah took in the majestic room. Shelfs upon shelfs of books. Book from middle ages, from the early 1900's all the way today's world. "This is amazing!" Dashing around the room, Sarah observed works from Shakespeare, Grimms Fairy tales to even a first edition of Gone with the Wind! How many times had she read that book through? Hundreds!
"I could—
"Sit in here for hours and read?"
Sarah nodded her head with a smile. There was no greater thing than a good book—or even an old book. All that mattered was that it could take you far, far away and make you forget about your own reality. At least for a short time anyways.
Sitting down, Jareth observed an elated Sarah take in the setting. She appeared so happy and care free. This at least made her happy at least for a short while. It made her forget about her painful past, an uncertain present and an even more ambiguous future.
A little while past before Jareth stood up from a chair and walked to the fireplace. "You never answered my question earlier."
"What question was that?" Sarah opened a book to look inside. Gone with the Wind. One of her favorites.
"Do you love the Goblin King?" Jareth turned from the roaring fire towards Sarah. "Do you love me precious?"
A/N: Hi everyone! So sorry I haven't updated for a while. I've been keeping busy. Moving to a new city, starting an internship and with graduation around the corner, I just haven't had time to update. I hope you are still reading. If you are thank you and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope another is to come soon. If it doesn't come soon, its because I haven't found time to update. But don't worry, I will.