Your Slave
By JediAshes1021
Chapter 9: What's in a Name?
"What a smug son of a…" she fumed aloud while watching Jareth walk back into the castle. Immediately she checked the gate to the garden that she had escaped from the day before, but this time it was locked. She turned around only to meet the gaze of his high and mighty-ness himself. He was watching her from his office window, which was open, with a victorious look in his eyes.
'Grrr…' she thought as she tried to get as far away from his window as she could. Her pace began to slow as the peace and tranquility of the garden began to melt away her anger and frustrations. She ambled through the flowers, stopping to look and smell a few that crossed her path. Soon, she came across a stone bench nestled in the fragrant blooms. She sat down to rest her feet and to let her mind wander.
It did not wander long before it came back to the subject of the Goblin King. 'How can this one man make me so angry?' she thought. She realized that every time they talked, she ended up screaming at him. She actually began to feel sorry for the King. 'Maybe he really was trying to 'start over' and I totally rammed it down his throat. Perhaps if I am kind to him, he will continue to be kind to me and let me go home. But then again, what if this is a trick and he is hoping that I begin to trust him just so he can laugh at me in the end.' She pondered.
Sarah decided that his sort of thinking needed a more comfortable position than was possible on a stone bench. She spotted a mossy area under a willow tree not too far off the path and stood up from the bench. Once she was lying in the cool moss, she again began to think.
'I suppose the only thing I can do is watch my temper, but continue to be wary of his motives.' She reasoned. 'As long as I never fully trust him, he can never pull one over on me, right?' After mentally shaking hands with herself on the new deal she had thought of and ways that she could keep her promise to herself ('Think before I speak, count to ten, don't blow up in his face'), Sarah found herself dosing off. The warmth of the sun on her face and the coolness of the moss on her back was so relaxing and soon she was asleep.
o0o0o0o0o0o
Hours later, Sarah awoke yelping in pain. "Something bit me!" she screamed to no one in particular, while holding her wounded finger, looking around warily for the culprit. She spotted a beautiful fairy hovering above the moss. "You again!" she whispered. She began to slowly take off one of her shoes, all the while watching the fairy gracefully float in the air. When she was sure she had a good grip on the shoe, she vaulted towards the creature, swinging at it with all of the strength and accuracy she could muster. But the graceful fairy was just too fast for the young girl, and it easily evaded the shoe.
Sarah was sure that she heard a raspberry noise coming from the tiny winged being as it flew away from her. "Yeah, you better fly away," she taunted. Just then, she heard a chuckle from behind. She spun around to see the King holding back his mirth as best as he could. But Sarah's heated look only made him laugh harder.
"What's so funny?" she asked angrily.
"I'm sorry, its just that I've never seen someone try to attack a fairy before…with a slipper." He said apologetically.
'One…two…three…' Sarah thought as she remembered her earlier decision.
"Anyway, I've come to escort you to dinner." Jareth said as soon as his laughter died down.
"Is it that late already?" she asked. She realized that she must have slept for a while if it was already time to eat.
"Yes, it is. My lady?' he asked as he stuck out his elbow for her.
"Thank you, your highness." She replied as she slid her arm into his and allowed herself to be led to the dinning room.
o0o0o0o0o0o
Dinner had gone well. Polite talk had been exchanged and no arguments had been fought. After dinner, they journeyed to the library to begin where Sarah had left off on the rearranging.
"In the Public Libraries back home, they always keep card catalogs of all the books they have." Sarah suggested.
Jareth looked confused. "Explain." He stated flatly.
"Well, for each book a card is made with the title, the name of the author, and the shelf on which it is located on it. And then all the cards are put into drawers in alphabetical order so that when someone needs a particular book, they can find the card and it will tell them where to find the book," she explained.
"Hmm. That sounds like a good idea. Sometimes you humans surprise me."
She wanted to say 'What do you mean by that?' but stopped herself before she said it aloud.
"I suppose we will need some cards, drawers, and a container for the drawers," he said, eyes closed. When he opened them, he formed a crystal in his hand and threw it against the wall behind Sarah. Where it shattered, stood a wooden cabinet with dozens of small drawers. Sarah stood up and opened a drawer to find crisp, white cards.
"Hmm. Must be nice to get whatever you want with a flick of the wrist." She mused, running a finger over the cards in the drawer.
"Not whatever I want." He whispered.
Sarah turned when he said this and looked into his eyes. They dripped with longing and she could only guess at what he was thinking about. She quickly looked away, uncomfortable with the feeling that stirred within her under his desperate gaze.
"So, which of us will be the scribe?" she asked him.
He snapped his gloved fingers and in her hand appeared a quill and on the table next to the chair she had just occupied, sat a jar of ink.
"I guess I am." She said, smirking at him. She took out a stack of cards and set them on the chair-side table as she sat herself down. "So which one first?"
"I suppose this one." He said as he picked up the rather think book that sat on the only other chair in the room. "The Labyrinth: An Overall Manual, by Lucius Prome."
She froze when he said the title of the book, her hand poised over a card. She looked up at his face and one of his eyebrows rose questioningly. Sarah at once reverted back into a five year old with her hand caught in the cookie jar. Her mouth formed into a wide smile and she shrugged as if to say, 'I couldn't help it.'
Her reaction was so innocent and cute, he couldn't help but smile. When she had recovered, she wrote the title, author, and shelf number on the card. Soon, they had arranged dozens of books and carried on a nice conversation. Then, Sarah yawned.
Jareth glanced at the clock on the wall and then his gaze turned back to Sarah.
"I'm sorry, Sarah. It is far past your bedtime." He said regretfully.
"I am a little tired." She said sleepily.
"Then it is off to bed with you." He decreed and gently took her hand in his own.
At once, they were transported to his chambers, both changed into sleeping attire.
"Do you have to sleep in just your tights?" she complained while they were climbing into bed.
"I usually sleep with nothing on." He smirked, winking at her.
"Tights are fine!" she said, cheeks red. "Goodnight, your majesty."
"Please, call me by my name. We are sleeping together after all." He said, smirking all the more.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know your name." she said.
Immediately, his smirk disappeared and he seemed to deflate a bit.
"It's Jareth." He said, turning his face away from her.
"Goodnight, Jareth." she whispered.
"Goodnight, Sarah." He whispered back, but she did not hear him. She was already asleep.
To be continued…
