Disclaimer; I don't own The Labyrinth and blah, blah...
Note; I'm sorry, guys. If I'm not at school, I'm at work. And when I'm home, I seem to manage to be sick. So I'm trying to update more; but, if I haven't updated in a while, feel free to slap me via review or PM. I'm sorry for the wait, again. :/
Alone Time
The girls unpacked their things fairly quickly, chatting with each other. Several of the girls already knew others; some were friends, some weren't. Andra and Riona were good friends, however, Dierdra was somewhat of a loner. She didn't know anyone, but that worked for her; because, Dierdra was shy and used to it. Myaerr established her hatred for humans, constantly glaring at Remy. Andra and Donella became good acquaintances, coming from similar lands. Riona and Adyic, however, took an immediate dislike for each other, coming from opposite lands. Remy smiled at all of the girls; she could tell that each of these girls would fit well with Jareth.
Ailis beckoned the girls outside. "Jareth would love to meet with you all and spend some time with you. So follow me and we'll meet Jareth for lunch."
Ailis lead the girls back to the throne room, asking them to take a seat where ever they'd like. Remy sat several seats away from where Jareth would sit, allowing the other girls to sit closer. Emlyn, a servant to Jareth, served them drinks, eying them jealously. I should be sitting next to Jareth, not these dunderheads, she thought venomously. After the girls got settled, Jareth made his grand entrance. Jareth, followed by Ailis, opened the grand doors and strutted in making it known that he owned the place. Jareth sat at the head of the table and motioned for his drink to be served. "Welcome, ladies. I wanted to thank you all; one of you will save my kingdom. The High Council has given me a year to find a bride; and I will be honest, I do not expect to find love here. I merely want a companion to spend forever with."
"Why don't you expect to find love? Do you not believe in love?" Riona boldly spoke up, immediately curious.
Jareth chuckled and took a sip of his Elven wine. "Of course I believe in love. I'm afraid that I have to be honest again; I'm already in love." This made several of the girls gasp. "Sarah Williams was the one who defeated the Labyrinth quite a few years ago. I offered her everything; my love, my power, my kingdom and I even offered to serve her. Unfortunately, she turned me down and is now married to another man. I just want to find someone who will be my friend to rule my kingdom with me."
Myaerr's melodic voice rang out in disgust, while continuing to glare at Remy. "And you think you can trust another human?"
"You absolutely cannot believe that every human is the same. Sarah was an idiot; she let Jareth, in all of his glory, get away. I refuse to let you even compare her to me, because I am not her. I am here because I want to be his friend and contribute to his happiness. Why the hell are you here?" Remy rebutted relentlessly.
"I'm here because I want to establish a relationship with Jareth. His family has been good friends with mine and I know that we'll do well together, even if we're not lovers, we'll be good friends."
"Myaerr, you're just jealous because you won't be able to make him fall in love with you." Andra's voice aided to my defense.
"Ladies, let's not fight." Jareth grinned; he was going to enjoy this, very much so. "Let's eat."
Emlyn and several other servants brought out simple lunch foods. Bread, fruits, salads, and sandwiches galore! The servants filled the entire table with food, refilling drinks along the way. After small talk and many laughs, Jareth stood and the girls followed suit. "I want to get some one on one time with each of you girls, so if Dierdra would come with me, we can get started."
Jareth lead her to a foyer to sit down. Jareth plopped onto a seat, motioning for Dierdra to sit next to him. Dierdra sat a shy distance away, turning to look at the Goblin King as he spoke. "Tell me about yourself."
"Well what exactly do you want to know, my lord?"
Jareth leaned forward, careful to keep to comfortable. "Anything that you think I should know."
Dierdra thought for a moment, biting her lip. "I'm shy, as you probably can tell, so you have to be a little patient with me. My father asked me to come here, hoping that you would choose me. Um.. My mother passed away when I was younger, so I've taken care of my little siblings for quite sometime. Although, now they're all grown up. I don't know what else I could say."
She flushed as Jareth chuckled; he thought that she was incredibly cute. Jareth stood, pulling Dierdra with him. He pulled her closer and brushed his soft lips against her forehead. "I know that it was just a few moments, but I must spend time with the other girls. Thank you, Dierdra."
Remy caught Jareth kissing her forehead out of the corner of her eye; she immediately grimaced and directed her attention elsewhere. Questioning herself, when have I ever gotten jealous over a friend? She frowned before turning to the other girls with a fake smile. "So what do you think of Jareth so far?"
Adyic was the first to respond. "He's charming. He sounds like someone that I can really get along with."
"He's very ostentatious, but in a good way. He's fun, too; I mean, only he could have thought of this competition." Andra put in her two cents; earning a mental eye roll from Remy.
Jareth walked back in with Dierdra trailing shyly behind him. He let go of her hand with a smile, allowing her to sit back down. Next, he motioned for Myaerr to follow him out to the foyer. Jareth sat on the bench, but Myaerr practically sat in his lap; though, Jareth didn't complain. He grinned at her. "So do you like my kingdom so far?"
Myaerr smiled seductively. "I love it. A perfect place for my king to rule over, and the perfect place for us to live together."
Jareth watched Myaerr's lips as she spoke, mesmerized by the sexual connotation they held. He gulped inconspicuously. "I'm glad. Now tell me about you."
"What do you want to know about me? I can tell you that I'm practically in love with you, that I can be a very good friend," and she leaned into real close to whisper into his here, "And that I'm not wearing any underwear, but is that really what you want to hear?"
"Thank you, Myaerr. I think if I sit with you too long, I'd have to send all of the other girls to their rooms for the remainder of the night." Jareth stood quickly, placing an innocent kiss on Myaerr's hand before leading her back to the room.
Jareth sat next to Donella and listened in on the conversation. Remy had asked what the other girls do from day to day, Riona was currently responding. "I'm a spoiled brat, honestly." She flashed a smile. "I'm either at a spa, or I'm out partying with my friends."
"I'll trade you!" Aiccea immediately offered with a laugh. "I have work in my family's business; my father owns a restaurant. I have to cook, clean and serve people food. I'd give almost anything for a glamorous life like yours."
Jareth chuckled, understanding that Aiccea was joking. He nodded towards her with a smile, pulling her onto the foyer as well. Several of the girls watched them walk away jealously. Myaerr sat back and smirked. "I doubt that any of you will make as good of an impression as I did."
Several of the girls did mental eye rolls, but some of the girls weren't intimidated, doing it right in front of her. Andra, being one of the bold ones, turned back to the other girls. "So what about you, Donella?"
Donella smiled a genuine smile. "I like to always be doing something athletic. I'm from the Wealdlands, which generally means that I know how to manipulate my lands and survive off of it without having to work for money. I'm really curious to know what Adyic does."
"Not a whole lot. I take care of my little sisters, mainly." Adyic shrugged, but still smiled. "I do love my sisters, but sometimes I just wish that I have a life of my own, you know? What about you, Remy? We haven't heard much from you."
"Well I'm a contortionist; I can bend myself into a pretzel, basically. The show that I perform i is only seasonal, so Jareth found me while our show was on hiatus." She shrugged nonchalantly.
Adyic's eyes grew to the size of nickels. "A pretzel? Seriously?"
Remy demonstrated, the girls all - even Myaerr, much to her dismay - watched in amazing. They all turned their attention to Jareth, who had accompanied a smiling Aiccea back. He pulled a chair out for her to sit in, placing his hand on her should with a smile. He motioned for Donella to follow him. Myaerr smirked at Aiccea again. "What did you guys talk about?"
Aiccea shrugged, on the verge of blushing. "We just talked about random things. He's really cute; he'd ask me a question, I'd answer and then, if he liked the answer, he'd give me a huge hug."
"Oh how adorable." Myaerr responded dryly, allowing a confident smirk.
As they dished more and more about Jareth and each other, Jareth interviewed the girls one by one until he finally reached Remy. He entered the roomed, grasping her hand and tugging her along. "Ah, saving the best for last!"
Remy laughed as they reached the gardens. "You can stop, Jareth. They're not going to hear us all the way from here."
"I know, but you have no idea how excited I am!" Jareth threw his arms up in the air and spun around joyously. When he stopped, he fell onto the bench next to Remy. "What do you have to tell me?"
