Author's Note: After yet another long absence, I have returned, and I come bearing a new chapter. Again, I'm sorry I disappeared, didn't have a lot of time to write and when I did, I lacked inspiration. I'm sorry but, this is all I have to offer you. I wish I could give you a chapter that I (and you) considered worth the wait, instead of one that barely passes muster, but as I said I was sorely lacking in inspiration. I promise the next chapter will be better and much sooner. Well, ta-ta, my lovlies.
Chapter 8: That Woman!
Olivia reprimanded herself harshly as she fled down the hallway to her room, and as she opened the door, and as she closed the door, and as she waited for Evie to appear. When Evie arrived with her dinner, she was still scolding herself.
Evie pushed open the door to Olivia's sitting room with her hip. "What has happened, my lady, to make your face screw up so?" she asked, setting the tray on the table in front of Olivia's favorite couch.
"Oh, Evie, I'm afraid I've made a fool of myself in front of the Goblin King again."
"I can't imagine His Majesty thinking you a fool, my lady."
"I let my guard down too much."
"Your guard? Why do you feel you need a guard?"
"You've spoken with him, he's volatile and unpredictable, I never know whether he is going to be cold and biting, or kind and warm to me."
"Unpredictable, my lady? His Majesty is anything but. He plans every little detail of his day. Never have I met anyone more displeased when they are forced to deviate from their schedule as he is tonight."
Olivia stared at her. Displeased to deviate? Did that mean that he planned to behave the way he did toward her? And why? Did he have other plans involving her? How was he going to use her to get back at her mother?
"How is he deviating tonight?"
"Not having dinner with you. You should have seen his face when he told me I was to bring your dinner to you."
She had wondered about that. "Why aren't we having dinner together?"
Evie shrugged. "I assume he is occupied with business matters, there was quite a stack on his desk."
"I see." Olivia ate quietly for a few minutes before asking another question. "Evie, who is Cassia to Jareth?"
A dark shadow crossed Evie's face. "Lady Cassia? How do you know of her, my lady?"
"I saw her today. They seemed quite...close."
"Lady Cassia is a very dishonorable woman." Evie gasped as she realized she had spoken against her superior. "That is--she is a lovely woman. She and His Majesty enjoy a marriage of sorts."
"Jareth's married?"
"Marriage is perhaps the wrong word." She searched for the right words and suddenly they burst from her mouth. "They are physical. She goes to his bed." The poor girl's cheeks were a brighter shade of red than the hair of the woman of which they spoke.
Olivia felt her cheeks redden as well. She had guessed as much, but hearing it put into words was something else. "Oh, I see."
"Yes, and as long as that is her place and she is acknowledged as such, she is treated nearly as well as His Majesty's wife would be, her actual title aside."
"Her actual title?"
"Lady Cassia is the Countess of Aelst."
"Aelst?"
"It is far to the north, my lady. Aelst is the northernmost point in His Majesty's realm. It borders the Elven territories."
"Oh."
After she had eaten, Evie bid her goodnight and left. Olivia subsided into quiet thoughts once again. She realized that she had been here nearly a month and she didn't know anything about the place. Elven territories? She supposed she should have realized that this castle wasn't the entire Underground. How big was it all? Was it really under the ground she had been walking on her entire life? If so, how far under? Why had no one ever discovered it before?
These questions gave birth to others. How had her mother come to be in this strange world? Why did Jareth despise her so much? There had to be more to it than what he was telling her. Her thoughts kept her up until well after midnight when she fell into dreams filled with a certain Goblin King.
Sarah couldn't tear her eyes away from the stuffed animal in her hand. It was a fox, wearing a cap with a long yellow feather in it and an eye patch. It was so damned familiar, but she couldn't figure why. She could almost hear its little voice speaking to her: "Remember, fair maiden, should you need us…"
But where had it come from, and why did it make her so unbearably sad? She felt as if…as if it were her friend. Which was stupid of course, it was a stuffed animal.
"Sarah?" Toby was back from the police station.
She dropped the fox on the couch and went to meet him in the foyer. "Well?" she asked hopefully.
He shook his head and she felt the tears forming again. "Have you talked with Jake?"
"Not yet. I was going to wait until I had talked to the police."
Sarah nodded, drifting listlessly up the stairs. "I'm going to go lay down."
"Do you need my--"
"I can manage, Toby. Thanks, but I need to be alone."
"Of course." Toby went off in search of his mother.
Angela was slumped over a mug of coffee in the kitchen. She looked up when he entered. "Any news?"
"No, Mom. They don't have anything."
"Oh, darn them!"
Despite the seriousness of the moment, Toby found that he couldn't fight a smile at his mother's exclamation. He doubted that she had ever uttered a swear word in her life.
"Sarah?"
"She's up in her room, wants to be alone. How has she been today?"
"I don't know. She won't let me in."
"Some people have a hard time opening up."
"She'll open up to you." She sighed and set her coffee cup on the table. "I just wish she would realize that your father loved all of us and he wanted nothing more than our happiness."
"Mom, I can't get into this right now."
Angela stood up and hugged her son. "I'm sorry, baby. I know how hard this is on you. Here, let me get you something to eat."
One question remained with her when she awoke. What on Earth did her mother have of Jareth's that he would resort to kidnapping to retrieve? It ate at her while she lay in bed until finally she could stand it no longer. She had to talk to him.
As if by magic, Evie appeared with her breakfast.
"I haven't got a lot of time, Evie. I must talk to Jareth."
"Of course, my lady, whatever you wish."
She was soon dressed and walking down the corridor in which Evie had told her the Goblin King's bedroom was. The walls were covered with portraits of men with dark features scowling out from under heavy brows. Olivia fought the urge to stop and examine each one individually. Then she saw the door. It was the only door in the hallway, and it looked like it weighed a thousand pounds with all the carvings and jewels that covered its front. Drawing a deep, nervous breath, she pressed the door, surprised when it opened easily.
Jareth's living quarters were huge. The first room she entered seemed to be a living room or its Underground equivalent. Two low, backless couches formed an L. An equally low table sat in front of the couches, shining like liquid gold. It looked as though it would be the perfect place for an intimate evening for Jareth and…whoever was keeping him company.
"Jareth?" she called quietly, pushing open another door. This door led to another extravagantly decorated room. There was an almost obscenely large bed, draped in fabric the same deep, vibrant purple as the couches in the last room. The sheets were still slightly rumpled and she could imagine Jareth stretched out in that bed, sleeping. Or with a woman. With Cassia.
Jealousy knifed through her, surprising her. What the hell reason did she have to be jealous? If he wanted to sleep with every woman he met, that was none of her business, and certainly no cause for jealousy.
Cassia glided gracefully into the room on her bare feet, wearing an almost-sheer robe that shimmered in the early-morning light. Her clear, blue eyes widened slightly at the sight of Olivia. "Care to tell me who you are and why you're in my room?"
"I-I didn't know--that is--I was looking for Jareth."
The woman's perfectly arched eyebrows shot up at the familiar way the girl said the Goblin King's name. "Where you? Well, he's not here." She sat before the beautifully carved vanity, at which point a young girl appeared and immediately began to comb her long, red hair. "I'm afraid you've missed him. He was in such a hurry this morning; he didn't even wake me up to say good-bye." She pouted prettily at Olivia in the mirror.
"Oh. Well, I'm sorry to have disturbed you." She turned to leave.
"But you haven't told me who you are."
She faced the gorgeous woman again. "My name's Olivia, we sort of met yesterday."
"Oh, yes, now I remember. Olivia, you said? What a lovely name, so sad sounding." The woman turned on her seat, smiling at her and Olivia knew there was no genuine warmth behind it. "Tell me, what is a tragic little thing such as yourself doing in the fortress of the Goblin King? Were you wished away?"
She shook her head. "I think I'm a little old for that."
The woman's eyes raked over her appraisingly and she gave a tiny laugh. "I highly doubt that, how old are you?"
"I'm seventeen."
Cassia laughed loudly. "A baby!"
Olivia's chin raised a notch or two. "How old are you, thirty?"
More laughter. "Oh, much older."
"Thirty-two?" she asked dryly.
"Try two thousand and twenty-nine."
The chin that had only moments ago risen in defiance now lowered. "What?"
"But I guess in your years, you're about right." She turned back to the mirror. "Goodness, I'm getting old."
"Oh, no, Your Loveliness, you are so young and beautiful." The young girl combing her hair rushed to assure her.
"Thank you, Malia, you may go now. I'd like to talk to Olivia in private."
The little girl bowed and left the room swiftly, closing the door behind her.
"So, my dear, mournful girl, why are you here? You are quite obviously human."
"Jareth kidnapped me."
"Oh? Why would he do that? What use is a little girl to the Goblin King?"
"I don't really think that's any of your business."
Cassia's perfectly arched eyebrows rose. "No need to be rude, dear. Or to lie. I already guessed that you'd been wished away."
"I wasn't wished away." Olivia forced her voice to be breezy and unconcerned. "Jareth has a grudge against my mom because she beat his silly maze."
"Beat his--" Cassia stopped. Only one person had ever defeated the labyrinth. "Do you mean to tell me that your mother is Sarah Williams?"
"Yep."
"I see." She stifled a fake yawn. "Oh, I am so very tired. But of course, I never get any sleep when I'm with Jareth. Insatiable that man, I hardly got time to breathe last night before he was ready again. And again. And again." She glanced at Olivia. "But you don't want to hear that, no doubt you still think men are 'icky,' eh? Run along, and if you see Jareth, do tell him I'd like to see him."
When the girl was gone, Cassia let the frown that had been threatening take full possession of her face. The daughter of Sarah Williams! She remembered when Sarah had run the labyrinth. It had thrown the entire Underground into chaos. But more importantly, it had thrown Jareth into chaos. He had taken to the girl so quickly, discarding Cassia like a toy that had lost its shine.
But after the little demon had defeated him and he needed to be cared for during his recovery process, who did he turn to? Her smile quickly vanished, she had thought herself rid of the girl, but obviously, Jareth could not let go of his infatuation with the horrid little thing. Why else would he bring her daughter here? He was planning something. She had to find out what it was and how to stop it; she would not lose her position because of some stupid human!
She smiled to herself. She had the perfect means of finding out Jareth's plans. She pulled the velvet cord next to her bed and Malia instantly appeared. "I want His Grace, the Duke of Oelibel here before sunrise two days from now."
"Oelibel? But, Your Regalne-" the girl stopped when she saw the look on her mistress's face. "Yes, Your Graciousness."
Olivia waited for a long time to be summoned for dinner. She paced back and forth for what felt like hours, but in the end Evie came with a tray, explaining that "His Majesty" was busy and sent his apologies.
"I'll bet he's busy," Olivia fumed mentally. "Busy with that woman."
She couldn't believe the amount of jealousy she was experiencing. It was ridiculous. It was obsessive. It was damn infuriating thinking of Jareth sleeping with any woman, but the fact that it was that woman made it all the worse.
