Still deprived of Henson's Labyrinth... maybe I'll watch it this weekend...
Chapter 6
The two of them slowly made their way to the luxurious guest chamber that had been given to Jareth for the duration of his stay. It was a large room, with deep mahogany paneling and furniture. A great bed with beautiful dark teal bedclothes stood in the middle across from a large fireplace. An opening on the far wall led out to a balcony overlooking the gardens that surrounded a silvery lake.
Almost as soon as they entered, Jareth's goblin scribe appeared with a muffled pop. He was a gray green color and had a moon face with round cat eyes and a chubby little body with long, scaly arms and short little legs. A pair of bent, wire spectacles perched haphazardly on his little pug nose and a familiar green beret dangled off the side of his head.
"Is for King!" He squeaked, "Happy day for King! Wert happy too!"
With a wide snaggle-toothed grin, the little creature handed his king a scroll and disappeared with another muffled pop.
Nivienne stared at the spot where Wert used to be, one corner of her mouth twitching upwards in a small smile. Jareth watched her reaction carefully, wondering what she thought of his subjects. It had not occurred to him that she might find them repulsive, and now he couldn't help but worry about what she would think.
"That was a Goblin?"
"Yes, one of the smaller ones…"
Nivienne's smile grew a little wider and she cocked her head to one side.
"He was kind of cute… in an odd way."
Jareth grinned at her response.
"They are good little creatures… very loyal, tho' a tad simple minded… and very mischievous…"
"Just like my brothers, then." Nivienne couldn't help but smile.
She walked over to the bed and sat down, kicking off her satin slippers as she did so. She gently removed her veil and coronet, carefully pulling combs and pins out of her hair, and put them neatly on the little bedside table by her shoes. A light thud caused her to look over to where her husband was standing.
Jareth had stripped out of everything save his black breeches and boots. All his wedding finery lay in a heap in a far corner of the room. One boot landed on the pile with a soft thump, with its mate following close behind. Once they had been added to the pile, Jareth materialized one of his crystals and tossed it lazily at the mound. With a slight puff of glitter, the mess disappeared.
Nivienne blushed slightly at the sight of her bare-chested husband. He had a good physique, and she felt her heart speed up slightly at the sight of him. Quickly, she looked down at her hands, trying to hide her girlish response.
Jareth could not help the amused smile that crept across his face as he noticed her shyness. He quietly walked over to the bed and lifted her chin with one hand, while softly beginning to play with her hair with the other. Blue-green eyes met mismatched blue and brown as Jareth slowly drew his bride into a gentle kiss. Hesitantly, Nivienne wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him a bit more. Hands moved from her hair to her back, stroking her shoulders and neck, sliding down to settle around her waist and hips as the kiss deepened and grew more passionate.
A soft night breeze rippled across the lake, blowing the sweet scent of flowers into the room and, over the trees, a full silver-white moon rose, smiling down on the forest, illuminating the bedchamber with her cool glow as the Goblin King became one with his bride.
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Morning came, and with it, the warm early sunlight which poured into the bedchamber, casting its warm glow on two sleeping Fae. Jareth was lying on his side, one bare arm draped over his bride's waist, hugging her close to him, the other arm splayed out across the bed under her neck. Nivienne nestled against him, her head resting on Jareth's lower shoulder, arms curled upwards, palms resting against his chest. Their soft nest of blankets tangled around their hips and legs and snaked up to partially cover their shoulders.
A warm breeze skipped through the forest and over the lake carrying a single silver Moonflower in its wake. It was this little flower's feather-light touch against his cheek that woke the Goblin King. Brushing the flower off his face, Jareth blinked a few times as he shook the sleep out of his eyes. The sun streaming in through the balcony doorway warmed his back and a lazy, contented smile spread across his face as he looked down at the petite Fae girl curled against his chest. Nivienne was still fast asleep; her dark hair spread across the pillows and draped over her bare shoulders and covering her chest. Tenderly, Jareth moved one wavy strand from across the bridge of her nose and tucked it behind her ear.
At his gentle touch, Nivienne's eyes fluttered open. Jareth felt her shift slightly under the covers as she stretched languidly. Slowly she brought her eyes up to meet his and gently brushed a finger across his jaw. Jareth smiled warmly, unable to keep the wide grin from overtaking his face. Blushing, Nivienne smiled back, and began to turn her face away, but her husband was too fast for her. Cupping her face in his hands, he swept her back in loving kiss. Once they broke apart, he continued to hold her, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist.
"Good morning, Love." He smiled, eyes twinkling wickedly down at his still blushing wife.
"Mmmmmm…. 'Morning, my husband." Nivienne sighed contentedly before placing a chaste kiss on Jareth's forehead.
Squirming free of Jareth's embrace, Nivienne slid to the edge of the bed and retrieved a white silken shift and gauzy silver dressing gown from where they were draped over the foot of the bed. Slipping the shift on over her head and tying the robe's sash, she looked over at Jareth, who was following her example and pulling on a pair of loose black silk pants.
A sudden pop and muffled giggling interrupted the morning peace. Nivienne looked over to see two pudgy goblin hands grasping at the foot of the bed. A round goblin face soon joined them as Wert hauled himself onto the bed. With a bow and a toothy grin at his monarchs, the little goblin turned and leaned over the side of the bed. Nivienne peeked over as well, craning her neck to see over the edge from her position on the bed. She couldn't help but chuckle when she saw another little goblin struggling to lift a heavily laden breakfast tray into Wert's waiting paws. She gently lifted the tray out of the goblins' grasp before they dropped it and set it in between her and her husband. The other little goblin, a very spindly, lanky fellow, no higher than her knee, with little horns behind his big, floppy ears, hauled himself onto the bed to join Wert and his king and queen. Loping over to Nivienne, the little creature bowed clumsily and grinned up at her.
"Hello, Pretty Majesty! I is being called Snerb… We's be bringing you and King breakfast!"
"Why, thank you, Snerb." smiled Nivienne, trying not to laugh at the little goblin's enthusiasm, "That was very thoughtful of both of you."
Wert and Snerb beamed with pride at the compliment and nestled down at the foot of the bed to watch Nivienne adoringly as she uncovered the breakfast tray and began spooning out porridge mixed with fruit slices and nuts into two silver bowls for herself and her husband. The little goblins became even more enraptured when she gave them each a slice of fruit and a little bowl of cream to share.
Jareth sat on his side of the bed, watching as Nivienne smiled and patted the little goblins on the head. Her reaction to his subjects pleased him, as did her kind treatment of them. It was obvious that the creatures were smitten with her, and Jareth had no doubt that Snerb's nickname of "Pretty Majesty" would become Nivienne's official name among the rest of the goblins before nightfall.
As soon as the goblins had finished their treat, they bowed to their monarchs once more and disappeared with identical pops, but not before shooting a few more adoring glances at their new queen. Jareth smirked as he picked up his bowl of porridge and mixed some cream into it.
"You will spoil them rotten, doing that, you know." He said with a smile.
"They almost remind me of puppies, or very small children…. They really are rather adorable, in their own way," returned his wife.
"They are a lot like toddlers. They have a knack for getting into trouble, and I assure you, Pet, after you live with them for about a month, you won't find them so 'adorable', as you so put it."
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The first day after the wedding, Gwidon and Lessa called the newlyweds into the castle library for a private chat. Pulling up four overstuffed green chairs around a low oak table, the Elven monarchs conjured some fresh spring fruit and a jug of light honeyed mead and gestured for Jareth and their daughter to take a seat. Nonchalantly, Jareth leaned back in his chair and pulled Nivienne onto his lap as she walked by to go to her seat. Lessa and Gwidon exchanged amused glances as they watched Nivienne blush and smile softly as she settled across her husband's legs. Jareth merely smirked and casually wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and proceeded to fiddle with her fingers as Lessa began to speak.
"We thought it best to explain the Marriage Bond to the two of you before you left…" The Elvenqueen began.
"That would be that bright light that engulfed us during the Blessing, yes?" drawled Jareth, glancing up at his in-laws. "I was wondering about that…"
"That Bond is a magic older than Time itself." said Gwidon gravely. "It connects the two of you to each other, heart and soul."
"You will never be able to love another now and you will always be able to sense when the other is near," continued Lessa, "but there are some other, less pleasant parts as well."
Nivienne looked at her mother with a raised eyebrow and Jareth stopped playing with his wife's fingertips, finally giving the elven rulers his full attention. Lessa resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the younger pair in front of her as she continued.
"If you two have a fight or disagreement, the Bond will cause you both to feel great distress and anxiety until it is resolved; this gets worse if one of you leaves the other while the conflict is still in the air."
"It will also let you know if the other is in danger by much the same means…" finished Gwidon.
"A useful safeguard…" drawled Jareth, shifting under Nivienne.
Lessa couldn't help but chuckle at her arrogant son-in-law as he helped himself to some mead and offered his wife some fruit. Gwidon shook his head at the Goblin King's manner. Something told him that Jareth's arrogance would cause him some trouble. Gwidon only hoped that it wouldn't be too severe.
The rest of the little meeting went by smoothly and cheerfully as the four monarchs finished up the light snack and chatted amicably about the happenings in the two kingdoms.
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Jareth and Nivienne remained in the Moonglade for two weeks after their wedding, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and the beautiful scenery. They spent many a day strolling through the gardens or riding through the Forest. It was an idyllic time for both of them as they grew closer and got to know each other even better.
Jareth soon realized just how much of a handful his young wife could be. Her health fully restored, she was as lively and playful as Aiden had described her. Only a few days after the wedding, Jareth caught her and the twins sneaking out of the palace, casting mischievous glances over their shoulders. The elves winked at Jareth just as a muffled pop sounded from inside one of the corridors followed by a splash and a loud shriek. Aiden came jogging up, grinned at the other three, and all four began to run as a sopping wet Morgaine (wrapped only in a dripping towel) came storming from the palace.
A familiar odor met Jareth's nose. Morgaine was covered in rank, greenish water. Her outraged shrieks were answered only by her siblings' impish laughter that echoed out from their hiding place amidst the trees. The four of them later got quite the scolding from their father, especially Nivienne (such juvenile behavior was not fitting for a queen), but none of them missed the barely suppressed twinkle in the Elvenking's eyes.
It turned out that Nivienne had (at the twins' urging) bribed Snerb and a few of his goblin buddies to bring back three large buckets of Bog water. She and the twins had proceeded to fill several old wineskins with it and suspend them above Morgaine's bath. Aiden had then waited outside her room and had thrown a small rock through the window once she got in and the skins burst, dumping their putrid contents all over the stuck up eldest princess.
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It pleased Nivienne to see how well her brothers and Jareth got along; often the six boys (Jareth, the four princes, and Aiden) would go out for a ride near the Border by the Deep Forest. It was a wild place, and held danger and adventure for those who sought it. At Nivienne's insistence, the boys kept Jareth far away from any truly dangerous places, even tho' he protested that he could handle whatever the Deep threw his way. Whenever he made such comments, Nivienne would merely smile indulgently and shake her head, sending her husband off in a pout.
The boys made many a snide remark about Jareth being whipped, but after a few well-aimed crystals in the boys' directions and a brief goblin invasion (Jareth told his subjects that the elven princes' rooms held hidden, shiny treasure, and that they had to find it… the little creatures searched very thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned … literally), those comments stopped abruptly.
Finally, the time came for Jareth and his bride to go home to the Labyrinth. Nivienne and her mother spent the better part of a day packing her things and laying them out for the servants to take ahead of their monarchs to the Labyrinth by carriage and the Elvenking arranged for Aiden and the princes to escort Jareth's servants to the edge of the forest. Jareth and Nivienne would stay for one night more and then Jareth would transport them to his castle beyond the Goblin City.
A/N: If anyone is interested, I have a couple of pictures up of some of my characters.
If any one wants to see, the links will be posted in my profile.
