Beta for this chapter is The Art Of Suicide
X
Sarah sat in the great hall by the large fireplace, which had dwindled down to nothing but smoky wood logs. She had Toby in front of her and he was standing between her knees, each hand on a knee for balance as he babbled and talked to her. She smiled and would reply but honestly she only knew half of what he was saying. Tallia was sitting on the floor behind Toby in case he fell and needed to be caught, but it didn't look like that would happen anytime soon. She was also smiling at the progress Toby was making.
"Abb-ba gob ee kab si-si!" Toby shouted at Sarah with a big grin on his face.
Sarah laughed out loud and reached forward to run her fingers down his cheek as he looked up at her in wonder and adornment. "If you say so kid."
"What did he say?" Clora asked from her seat on the couch on the other side of a low glass table set up behind Tallia.
She was relaxing there in one of her normal tight-fitted dresses, up till then looking in a mirror so she could reapply and critique her makeup. On the other end of the couch, seated on the very edge of their little group, Ishapell sat flipping though a very old and fat book. Sarah had no idea what it was or what it was about because it was in a different language and she didn't want to actually ask Ishapell. She didn't care enough and did her best to talk to the female as little as possible.
For the last two days since their first confrontation that had been her practice and it seemed like the female now didn't talk to her at all either unless it was either to correct Sarah or critique her about something. So the chatter on her part had hardly dwindled at all so to speak.
Sarah smiled up at Clora and shrugged her shoulders. "He's probably telling me about the goblins or something."
Clora nodded and went back to her primping.
Sarah was starting to become accustomed to spending time with all three of the females on a daily basis, as well as Toby. It helped the boredom greatly. But she still sometimes thought about her real friends, Hoggle, Didymus, and Ludo and missed them almost as much as she missed her family. She had no idea what had happened to them since her return. She had thought to ask Jareth the other day but he had been in an unpleasant mood and so she had not wanted to throw her friends under his radar at the time. Actually Jareth had been in a foul mood since that supper they had shared in the lounge room after she had gotten into an argument with Ishapell.
His posture was always tense and his face seemed to always be scowling. He never seemed mad at anything in particular, not even her, but his temper was noticeably shorter and seemed to draw more so each day. Last night at the dinner table they had all sat down to eat and at one point (for no apparent reason whatsoever) Jareth had just thrown his spoon down on the table, excused himself, handed Toby (who had started sitting on either Jareth's or Sarah's lap during meals) to Mavid, and stormed out of the room. When he had later come back to bed he had made no excuses and given no explanations for his behavior, but had simply placed a rather rough peck against Sarah's cheek and had flipped over to go to bed. He had not gone after her beyond that.
"I'm bored," Clora huffed all of a sudden. "We should go outside. What about you Sarah? Don't you want to go outside?"
Sarah felt her cheeks go red and looked down at Toby's soft blonde hair, already so like his father's. Did Clora actually think she had stayed inside the castle for the past three days just because she liked it in here? She wanted badly to be able to go outside, but the closest she was allowed was to go out on the deck in Jareth's room.
Ishapell didn't even glance up from her book. "Her highness has not been given permission to travel outside yet."
Sarah cast an embarrassed glare to the blonde female, who in no way acknowledged it. "Thanks," she snapped.
"You're majesty is welcome," she replied in a bored tone, not even glancing up from her book.
Sarah loved books and was against the mistreatment of them, but what she wouldn't give to take the one Ishapell was reading and smack her upside the back of the head with it! Its not like it was one she could read anyway! This female acted much too much like her husband.
"You should ask him Sarah," Clora jumped in, derailing the fight that Ishapell and Sarah were heading closer and closer to for the moment. "The next time you see our cousin you should ask him to let us all go outside."
It wasn't that she didn't want to go outside, she did. Very much. But she could just picture asking Jareth given his current mood and getting a stern 'no' thrown at her before she could even finish her sentence. That very thing had happened the other night when she had been about to ask him if he knew where the bar soap was so she could take her bath… which had ended in a little spat with her getting mad and taking her bath without any hand soap.
Regardless she still simply nodded her head so that Clora would leave the matter be for now. She looked down at Tallia, who was currently keeping her eyes on Toby so she could pick up her habit of pretending she wasn't part of the conversation at all, like she was in a different room. She knew as a servant her opinion didn't matter so she didn't bother really paying attention lest she feel inclined to speak it anyway. Sarah knew how she felt.
Everyone in the room looked up when the sound of quick footsteps echoed through the halls outside and within seconds Mavid appeared in the doorframe. He looked like he too had been brooding and like his mind was elsewhere. Maybe being around Jareth all day was rubbing off on him. "His majesty is waiting in the dining hall."
Every night they all went and ate supper together, it was a regular thing. They all got up, Tallia scooping Toby up in her arms before Sarah could to carry him, and they all headed for the door in their little lineup that had also become something regular that they all just fell into with Sarah in the lead, Clora maybe half a step behind her if not right next to her, then Ishapell at a bit of a distance, followed by Tallia and Toby. The only one who ever really changed spots was Toby because sometimes Sarah would carry him in front with her and sometimes Tallia would hold keep over him. Mavid stepped in Sarah's path though, blocking it before she could pass through the door. His eyes were very sharp and his expression gravely serious as he leaned in to just an inch or so from her face, his voice hushed but not so the others absolutely couldn't hear. "He's in a terribly foul mood today," he warned Sarah, "Perhaps you might say something pleasing when you see him? And if you have any inkling of doing or saying anything with a chance of upsetting him I would strongly have to suggest you refrain."
Sarah's eyes widened but she simply nodded her head, suddenly having lost her appetite.
X
Jareth drummed his fingers back and forth over the hard wood of the dining table rapidly, his dark grey gloves making a deeper thudding noise. He impatiently looked over his shoulder at the clock just as the dining room doors opened and Mavid stepped to the side so that the females could all enter. Sarah's eyes flashed to Jareth nervously and he rose from his seat out of manners that had been pounded into him throughout his upbringing. Sarah came up to take the seat on his left, closest to him.
As the others settled in he notice Sarah continue to glance at him nervously out of the corner of her eye like she was about to say something and was judging whether or not she should. He returned to his seat, raising a brow in speculation at her odd behavior.
She turned to him finally and licked her lips like she wasn't sure what to say.
"I like your shirt."
Jareth glanced down at his shirt in confusion, it was a simple grey in color and had extensive ruffles on the cuffs and down the front. Every one else seemed just as confused by her oddly timed complement (even Sarah to a certain degree) and she blushed, looking down at the table rather than meeting his eyes.
"Did you do something wrong I've yet to find out about today?" Jareth asked, thinking maybe she was trying to get on his good side for some reason or another.
All eyes were on them intently, waiting for what would happen next like it was a tennis tournament. It was Sarah's move and heat colored her cheeks as she looked up at all the eyes trained on her, turning back to Jareth. "N-no!" she stammered.
Jareth looked up at Ishapell and Clora but they were also watching this odd moment in confusion. Clearly they didn't know what Sarah was doing either.
He looked back to Sarah. "Why do you like this shirt?" he inquired, his voice laced with suspicion.
Her face turned even redder and for whatever reason she cast a glare in Mavid's direction. "I- I don't know, its just a compliment."
Jareth raised his brow again, his voice slow and mocking. "For a grey shirt?"
She turned to him and full out glared at him then. "Yes!" she snapped, "For your grey shirt. I know I'm new to this whole etiquette thing, but most people say 'thank you' when given a compliment. They don't make someone feel stupid for doing so. Would you have rather that I told you I actually think it's ugly and looks silly on you?"
Both of Jareth's brows shot up at that and the room took on an instant and unnaturally still quality. He could see Mavid toss his napkin onto the table out of the corner of his eye like he knew he would not be eating here tonight.
Jareth's darkened eyes were trained on Sarah when he next spoke. "Everyone. Leave. Now."
There was a hurried scraping of chairs and then the sound of people quickly filing out of the room. Then there was silence as the doors closed behind the departing. Sarah looked down at her lap, unable to look Jareth right in the eyes when he glared at her so intensely. She looked about ready to either cry or scream or all the above. Jareth rose from the table and quickly walked down the other side to the doors, he could feel Sarah's eyes on his back as he locked them. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.
He turned back to Sarah and she once again hunched down in her seat, like that would keep him from seeing her or something.
He wasn't oblivious and he wasn't dumb, he knew that he had been in a foul mood to everyone around him lately. He felt bad about it too sometimes, like earlier when he had chewed Mavid a new one for not letting him know that the garden was finished till after lunch when it had been finished that morning. He was acting completely ogre-ish and was aware of it.
He couldn't help it though, it had all started when he had allowed himself to really think about Sarah's feelings towards him and his disposition had snowballed from there, that and the strain of running the kingdom and handling his other affairs was only adding to his frustrations. Add to that the fact that he had little more than a week and a half to get Sarah to really start acting like a lady and so far the search for a personal tutor was turning up some very unpromising results. He also hadn't had any sex whatsoever for the past three days and two nights. He couldn't have been more frustrated then if someone were following him around poking him with a stick!
Jareth reached down and started fiddling with his shirt, never taking his eyes off of Sarah.
She balked and her eyes grew wide as she continued to sit there and watch him. 'What are you doing?"
"I am going to remedy the situation," he shrugged, undoing the buttons hidden within the ruffles. "You said this shirt looks silly on me, than fine." He tore at it, sending the last few buttons flying and then he pulled it roughly from his shoulders, tossing it onto the ground.
He then made a bee-line for Sarah.
She got up from her chair as soon as she saw him coming for her and her eyes darted around like she was looking for an escape.
This brought up the anger Jareth had felt in the previous days from her resistance to his touch. Why did she react to him like he was diseased or something?! What was so wrong about him that she treated him like this? He was a troll rather than the beautiful Fae prince that he was? She could kiss a little scab like that old dwarf but refuse to be anywhere near him… his blood boiled under his skin from the heat of his anger. He hadn't done anything yet and already she was trying to escape from the room… from him. "There is no escape for you Sarah!" he shouted as he pushed a chair out of his way.
Sarah watched with terrified eyes as the chair clattered to the floor and rolled end over end from the force. She continued to back away from him quickly but he was advancing on her. She wouldn't get far.
Jareth blatantly looked over her body, her waist narrow and hips and breasts surging out from the corset to be hugged by the maroon colored fabric of her dress. Her hair was pinned up on her head with a delicate clip designed to look like a butterfly. He would remove that maddening dress first.
Despite her attempt to back away from him, Jareth was right there. He reached out and the second his hand made contact with her wrist she yelped like he had burned her or something. He hadn't even been rough about it!
He was now though, he squeezed down hard on her delicate wrist and pulled her closer to him. "Stop this!" he shouted in her face. Why did she have to act like that when he touched her? It drove him to the breaking point of anger every time. What was the point of resisting him and seeking pain when all he wanted to do was give her pleasure? It made no sense!
Jareth turned and led her back over to the dining table, ignoring her vain attempts to pull away from him.
"Let me go!" she shouted at him, clawing with her free hand at the one that held her captive.
Never.
Jareth turned back to her and brought her up against him in a bone-crushing embrace, leaving not even half a centimeter of space between their bodies as he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her greedily. He caught her wrists without breaking from the kiss at all and brought them around behind her back, pulling her even more firmly against him as he started to move against her in a rhythm that matched the strokes of his lips and tongue over hers, forcing her to open her mouth and spread her legs for him. She did so with some coaxing and he about came undone when she moaned against him.
The wanting was obviously there but then she seemed to come back to herself and pulled against him again, her teeth finding his lip and biting down lightly in warning.
It was exciting to him though and he did not stop, turning her around so her hips were pinned between him and the table and he leaned forward till she was forced to bow backwards at an uncomfortable angle to keep from flat out laying down on the table. She bit down harder and Jareth could taste the faintest hints of sweet blood. Sarah turned her head away from him, surprised with herself and he could see the purple specks of fae blood on her lip.
He ran his tongue over his bleeding lip, stopping the slight trickle of blood. Sarah stared up at him with fear in her eyes and his blood still on her lip. No doubt she was expecting punishment for spilling his blood. Jareth would hate to disappoint.
Jareth let go of her wrists and instead turned his attention to the tear-drop buttons on her dress. The ones on this dress were located down the front of her bodice. He tore them open, pulling the bodice laces of the dress open and then reaching behind her he undid the laces located on the back of the corset. Sarah gasped in relief, as she always did when her corsets were removed. He moved back from her and lifted her onto the table, her dress sliding free down her legs to the floor and he kicked the yards of skirting under the table out of his way.
Sarah put her hands out as if to feebly stop him but he caught them and shoved them down onto the table on either side of her. "Don't fight me!" Jareth shouted, his temper getting the better of him. It was her fault he was so frustrated in the first place. She would help ease him whether she wanted to or not.
"Jareth please…."
That slight plea surprised him and caused him to pause, but only momentarily before he started kissing her neck, tasting the sweetness of her skin and sucking at it with his mouth till she was forced to moan.
When she had said his name it hadn't been anymore a whimper of fear than it was one of anger. Despite her feeble protests, she wanted him. He had heard enough moans in his lifetime to know that she had practically been begging him to continue just now. No matter what she thought about him, her body still responded to both his Fae pull and the pleasure that millennia of practice allowed him to inflict upon her.
He hooked his gloved fingers under the thin material of her panties and plunged them into her, unable to hold back the groan that escaped as his body felt a wave of excitement wash over him. Even through the gloves he could feel her heat and her soft wetness as it all soaked through the fabric to his fingers.
Sarah's head fell back as he entered her with his fingers and her legs wrapped around his hips on reflex. Whether she could admit it or not she wanted him, badly. Her body certainly did at least. Jareth's body responded in according to leave no doubts that he wanted her just as much if not more. He was already throbbing with the need to feel her clench around his shaft like she was doing now to his fingers. Jareth's thumb stroked over her clit slowly and deliberately till the fear left her eyes and they gazed over with pleasure, her mouth parting as if begging for deep kisses.
X
Sarah's head was spinning. All she had done was try to do as Mavid had suggested and say something nice to Jareth. How had they gone from a comment about his shirt to this? She shivered on the table in nothing but her remaining under things and Jareth towered over her, his fingers stroking her both inside and out and she was helpless against the pleasure she felt.
It wasn't that she could forget what all he had done to her, how he had treated her… but when he touched her and made her feel pleasure like this it was still hard to tell him no. She was only human after all, and he was so much more than that. She was lost and he knew exactly where he was leading her.
Jareth's pelvis was rubbing against the back of her thigh right next to his hand in a shadow of the way he was stroking her with his fingers, making her feel the hard length of him so that it was all she could picture as he stimulated her. The table was the perfect height for this, hitting Jareth mid-thigh so that Sarah was at just the right height for him.
Jareth didn't stop stroking with his hand or against her thigh as he leaned forward and took one of her breasts into his mouth, kissing it chastely before sucking it deep into his hot mouth. Sarah moaned and closed her eyes tight, leaning back onto her elbows on the table as she reveled in the feel. It was so strange and yet so pleasurable.
Jareth removed his fingers from her slowly and pulled down the front of his leggings, hooking the fabric under the weights between his thighs and positioning himself at her entrance. Sarah waited for him to thrust into her but he didn't. He brought himself right up against her and she felt herself tighten in anticipation, but he refrained from actually entering her. Sarah looked up into his intense, calculating eyes.
"Tell me you want me," he directed, his tone dead serious.
Sarah couldn't help the slight outrage she felt. She wanted him to continue with everything she had and hated herself for it. He was a monster, he was awful towards her, he would terrorize and rape her at his leisure. Was it so wrong for her to covet the few times he would actually make her feel good? She felt frustrated and upset because she wasn't sure what she should do. She knew she should tell him to fuck off, to get his hands off her and leave her alone. But she didn't want him to stop. She wanted him to continue what he was doing.
Jareth's hands gripped the backside of her knees and brought her legs up roughly so she was forced to lay down for comfort sake, bringing her full attention back on him. He pushed against her but didn't enter her still. "Say you want me." He was starting to get angry, she could see it in his eyes.
"I…" she fought back her tears of frustration. She couldn't say it, it was too humiliating. She closed her eyes tight, trying to take her mind out of it. "I want you," she said in barely more than a whisper.
There was a pause in which she couldn't bare to look at Jareth, she could feel the hostility coming off of him. "Look at me Sarah," he demanded, "Look at me when you say it."
Her cheeks heated in her embarrassed anger. He wasn't going to let her get off that easily to be able to just close her eyes and forget that it was him she was wanting. She turned her head away from him stubbornly.
Jareth dropped one of her legs roughly at that and Sarah could feel him reach down to reposition himself at a different entrance. She let out a shout of protest and bucked widely against him, trying to get away. She certainly didn't want him in that way.
Jareth released her other leg and gripped her hips hard enough to leave bruises, but she kept from crying out in pain from that. "Alright I'll say it, but not there please!"
Jareth glared down at her, malice and dark promises in his eyes as he waited.
Sarah forced herself to meet his eyes, thankful that tears were able to cloud her vision a bit so she wouldn't have to clearly see him as the words left her. "I w-want you," she said pitifully.
Jareth's eyes lost none of their intensity and he was still as stone for a moment as he stared down at her. Sarah held back her tears and waited for the worst. She had done as he had asked damn it.
She was caught off guard as Jareth slowly leaned forward over her, his hands leaving their crushing embrace on her hips to slide gently behind her back, pulling her up from the table into a sitting position and bringing him up against his chest. His hold was extremely tentative and he brushed his lips over the side of her cheek, then kissed each of her eye lids before he kissed her mouth. Unlike his previous kisses, this one was slow and rather chaste, all lips and no tongue. Only once she caught onto his rhythm did he deepen the kiss but it was still slow and undemanding. Sarah felt even more surprised when she realized that her arms had snaked around his shoulders, holding him to her in response. She had never been kissed like this before in her life, and was surprised Jareth was even capable of such kisses.
He didn't draw back from the kiss at all as he slowly entered her, his hands dropping to cup her ass lightly so she couldn't move back. Sarah didn't want to stop the surprisingly sweet kiss, but couldn't help but break away as a moan bellowed up from deep in her throat. He was moving very slowly and deliberately in and out of her and she could feel every inch of him very clearly. It was very new to her and the only words she could think to describe it as was 'making love'. Jareth had only ever fucked her before. There was a big difference though and she was learning it now.
Jareth moved to her neck, his lips caressing it in the same way he had just demonstrated on her mouth. He kept up the slow rhythm. "Say it again," he instructed. Even his voice was softer all of a sudden, making her forget momentarily all about his previous harshness towards her.
Sarah felt lost in the sensation of his length sliding in and out of her slowly and deliberately, his lips sucking at her neck and his firm and warm chest pressed up against her breasts. His hand stroked her back lightly, tickling the sensitive nerves there. It all felt so good and she wanted more despite herself. "I want you," she said, barely noticing that her voice sounded a lot throatier.
Jareth moaned against her neck, the vibrations running through her from it and drawing another moan from her lips as he picked up the pace just slightly. That felt even better and she wrapped her legs around his hips, wanting him to go even faster. He obliged her, his strokes staying long but his hips swinging faster. He leaned into her more, causing her to lay back on the table surface again. This put his head at level with her breasts and he gripped them lightly in his hands, feeling their slight weight as he placed a delicate kiss in the valley between them.
Sarah clung to his shoulders as his breathing grew harder and his hips moved faster and more forcefully against her. She could feel that pressure building again, hot and heavy inside her as they moved closer to climax.
Sarah let out a scream of fright and Jareth faltered in his momentum as a thunderous banging sounded on the dining hall doors. "Son of a harlot!" Jareth cussed harshly.
He looked up at the doors with pure fury on his face and Sarah prayed that whoever was there ran now for their own sake. The doorknobs turned as someone attempted to force their way in and Sarah jumped again in alarm, her hands flying up to cover her breasts as the person on the other side found the doors to be locked. Jareth grabbed her before she even realized what he was doing and pulled her from the table onto the floor roughly, ripping the tablecloth from the table, knocking over the candles that formed a line down the middle and Sarah cringed when one hit the floor hard right next to her. Jareth draped the red cloth over her since there was no time for her dress and Sarah wrapped it around herself as best she could just before there was a popping sound that filled the room and the double doors swung open with a bang. Jareth quickly adjusted his pants, his erection still obvious under the thin material.
Sarah turned around and gaped as a tall and lean man strode into the room as if he owned the place. She had never seen him before, but judging by his pointed facial features and the air of magic he had about him he was also of the Fae. His eyes were sharp and looked almost black, his mouth set in a thin line and his dark hair had a prominent widow's peak. A silver band circled his head and his robes were colored deep purple with a collar that stood up just an inch or so higher than his head. Behind him walked an even taller male with a pointed face and hair the color of snow pulled onto the crown of his head in a tight bun. There was a little smirk on his lips as his eyes landed on Jareth.
Mavid was hurrying in behind them, a look of complete apology and helplessness to stop them on his face as he met Jareth's outraged glare. Jareth moved forward like a tiger about to strike, cutting off the males' advances before they could get too close to where Sarah still sat covered in a table cloth on the floor. For a male that was half naked and had just been caught in a vulnerable moment Jareth's strong stance spoke to the king he was. And right now he was a seriously outraged king.
"What in the fifth side of hell are you doing here, father?!" Jareth demanded, his voice deep and threatening in his anger.
Sarah's eyes practically bugged out of her skull and she felt her blush spread though her entire body. This man was Jareth's father?! She had just been walked in on by Jareth's father! The male didn't even seem to realize she was there, or at least he didn't acknowledge her at all. Both Mavid and the other male, however, were taking in both Jareth's state of undress and then looking over her with knowing eyes. In Mavid's case there was also a polite level of appreciation in his stare despite the fact that she was covered. At that moment her mortification was complete and she could have died from embarrassment.
"I was approached by several members of the order today inquiring about rumors that are circling the Fae saying that you have taken on another human bride. Your mother was mortified and frankly I couldn't have been more embarrassed myself. This was supposed to be kept between just the family and the counsel for now till the end of next week!" the king growled at Jareth, furry reined in tightly.
Jareth bulked and cast a look back at Sarah that she couldn't decipher. "Here is not the place for this father," his tone was a lot meeker then, Sarah would almost say he was pleading if she didn't know better. "We can discuss this in my office, away from prying ears."
Sarah shot a glare at the back of his head at that. He spoke as if she was eaves-dropping!
The male looked like he wasn't going to relent for a moment, but the taller one with white hair behind him cleared his throat. "Such would be prudent my lord," the male prompted him. Jareth's father paused for a moment, weighing his options before he finally nodded his head and lost a little of his imposing aura.
"I will escort you there my liege," Mavid said in a flat tone, bowing his head in submission.
"Let me tend to my wife and then I will be there shortly," Jareth assured the male.
With another pause and a final nod of his head Jareth's father turned and allowed Mavid to lead both him and the other male from the dining room. Neither Jareth nor Sarah moved a muscle till the door swung closed behind them as they left.
Sarah jumped when Jareth let out a frustrated growl and turned sharply to her. His stance was harsh and imposing again as he stalked back over to her and grabbed up her dress from the floor.
"What was that?" Sarah asked, still behind on what had just happened.
"Nothing for you to worry about," Jareth snapped, back to his usual foul mood.
The hell it wasn't. It was about her wasn't it? They were keeping her marriage to Jareth a secrete? Why? What did it matter now that she was officially married to him?
Jareth held her dress out impatiently and she got up off the floor to step into it. He jerkingly pulled it up the length of her body, the tenderness from before gone from his demeanor. He didn't bother with the corset and Sarah didn't bother reminding him. She reached out and placed her hands on his shoulders for balance as he redid the bindings on the front of the bodice quickly. "Jareth what happens at the end of next week?" she asked.
Jareth's eyes snapped up to her. "What?"
"He said to keep it hushed till the end of next week, why then?"
"I already told you this is none of your concern," he snapped again at her. "I want you to go back to our room and wait for me there. I will try to be quick." he gave the bindings a final jerk and then turned away from her, taking long strides over to the door.
Sarah gathered up her skirts and hurried after him, her feet bare on the floor allowing her to keep up. "This is about me so it is my concern Jareth!" she insisted, knowing that something important was being kept from her.
Jareth turned and pegged her with a hard stare but she refused to flinch. "Now is not the time to defy me Sarah," he whispered, his voice full of blatant warning.
He grabbed her arm and led her out of the dining room, giving her a shove in the direction of their room. She glared at him with tears in her eyes once more as he turned and headed down the hall in the opposite direction. She absolutely hated him.
X
Jareth was in a dangerous state as he hurried down the winding halls towards his study. Surprisingly (and luckily for them) no goblins crossed his path as he stormed through the castle. If he was frustrated before now he was just flat out enraged. He had been so close to an orgasm before his father had stormed in, bitching about nonsense like it was the most important thing in the world that the Fae not find out about his marriage. He had no right! Okay, technically he did, but Jareth was still pissed off from it, his sac throbbing painfully with each step he took only compounding his horrid temper. He was still shirtless but damn if he cared.
Then his father had almost let slip what was happening in front of Sarah. If she knew that behaving as she did now in front of the counsel in two weeks would earn her a divorce…
He shuddered to think about how defiant she would behave then.
He slammed his hand against the door of his study, forcing the door to swing wide open for him as he stormed in. Of all the nerve… his father sat in his seat behind the desk! Jareth set his father with a level stare, but the male simply returned it.
"Why are their rumors going about the Fae about your marriage son?" Hamold growled out.
Jareth gave a nonchalant shrug, "Could be because I really did take on a human girl for my wife, father. Did you really think no one would find out if I said nothing? Maybe one of your nieces said something before coming to this castle, or maybe my goblins started gossiping again, news is about the only thing that is able to fly freely throughout the walls of my kingdom."
Mavid and Erib both stood back against the side wall of the room, pretending (as was proper) to be nothing more than flies on the wall.
"Do you realize the position you have put this family in with your reckless actions?! The embarrassment we all will suffer if she fails to impress the counsel? Another divorce just a couple weeks after marrying and then they would all of course find out that she is to become a servant should such events take place. It is beyond disgraceful. If it were just your own person hanging on the line I would sit back and laugh as you got what was coming to you!"
"What makes you so sure she will fail to impress the counsel?" Jareth snarled. "You have never even met her."
"I have seen her though, sitting on the floor just now in nothing but a napkin! And the rumors are saying that she is quite the brat. Defiant and spiteful towards you." The king regarded his son from under hooded lids. "They are also saying that you are just allowing her to do so."
Jareth scowled at that. "I can assure you I am not 'allowing her to do so'."
"So she really isn't mindful of you then?" The king prompted, reading between the lines.
Jareth fought the urge to look away but didn't have an answer for his father. Not one he wanted to admit to anyway. "I have it under control father."
"I'm sure," the king sighed in disbelief. "Have the girls at least been helping her to learn our customs so that she does not make a complete fool out of you?"
Jareth fought back his outrage, biting down on his temper for the time being. "They are prompting her from what I have seen; Ishapell has at least. I am looking into finding a tutor for her though."
The king nodded his head to show he agreed that that would be for the best. "Have you sought out the counsel of Rally for the girl?"
"No, not particularly," Jareth frowned. "While she does know the proper etiquette of the Fae inside and out her methods of teaching are known to be rather harsh."
The king shrugged and stood up from his seat - Jareth's seat. "Desperate times… I'll leave it up to you for the moment, but do keep her in mind for the girl. Rumors of your marriage to a human are bad enough, but talk that you let her run all over you… now that is far too much to bare."
Jareth stared down at the top of his desk and held his tongue as best he could in hopes that limited responses would encourage his father to leave quicker. It was far from unheard of for those of the Fae to mate with human men and women, such was very common actually for the purposes of legitimate issue that could carry on the powers of the Fae. It was also not unheard of, but certainly more rare for a member of the Fae to take on a human as a spouse. Even more so for one of the aristocracy to do so.
Jareth could still remember all the talk in the court and everywhere else throughout the kingdoms when he had made Carrie his wife. For someone so common and so powerless to be made into a queen was shocking and a bit upsetting. A lot of the elders and some of the females of the Fae had spoken wickedly and said that he was turning his back on his people to give such an honored position to one so unworthy. There were other, worse rumors too and he remembered a couple reaching Carrie and upsetting her. He could only imagine what would be said now that his third wife was also human.
"If you are finished father it is getting late."
"The king leaves only when he wants to," Erib commented sharply, casting a side-ways glance at Jareth.
Jareth moved forward, ready to tell Erib off but Hamold stepped between them. "That is enough Jareth!" the king snapped, fixing his son with one of his infamous glares, "We are leaving now, but I expect you to do your part in stopping these rumors from growing. Laying with a few courtiers might help the Fae think the rumors to be just talk for the next week or so."
Jareth rolled his eyes. "Good night father." He reached over and pushed the window open to illustrate his it's-time-for-you-to-leave point.
The king continued to glower at Jareth as he made his way past him towards the window, his chin held high in superiority. "I hope you come to truly consider what you are doing here with this girl before it is too late to take anything back, my son."
Without another word the king shape shifted from his Fae form down into the body of a hawk, taking off into the darkening sky in flight, leaving behind only a single brown feather.
Jareth and Mavid both looked back at Erib with matching scowls. Erib smirked and lifted a hand in front of him. "I know my own way out," he assured them before backing out of the room through the door.
Shape shifting was a rare and powerful talent that only certain families of the Fae carried, Jareth was lucky to have had it passed onto him from his father's side. His mother was unable and there were very few of the court that could, he was only acquaintances with one other male who was able to change into a dove at will without becoming as easily exhausted from it as Jareth and his father were. Birds were the most typical animal for shape shifters to take, normally things like ravens and magpies. There were many different magical talents like that that would run through different blood lines though. Even Mavid's servant's blood carried one special gift to it that was foreign to Jareth's abilities.
Mavid turned back to Jareth after locking the door behind the other male. "Did you want me to look into having Rally come out to tutor the girl?"
Jareth let out a sigh he hadn't realized he'd been holding in and ran his hands through his messy hair, feeling strung out and tight all over in his own skin. He needed to relax. His mind kept turning to Sarah though and before in the dining hall and he could barely think straight. "No," he sighed, remembering that Mavid had asked him a question. "I'll try a few others first, but tonight I am to be left alone with my wife."
"The moon is out tonight and the garden is completed," Mavid mentioned in almost an offhand tone. Jareth smirked and opted to not respond as he went to the window. Sometimes it was scary just how well Mavid knew Jareth.
Jareth leapt from the window and turned into his barn owl form, swooping to the left and heading towards his room tower where Sarah would be waiting for him. He had unfinished business with her after all.
X
Sarah contemplated shoving her desk chair up under her door handle to barricade Jareth from her room as she sat on her bed and waited. After Jareth had run off to his study she had made her way back to her own room, shucking the bothersome dress and changing into one of her simple and light nightgowns. This one was actually sleeveless and the soft white fabric hung down to her knees. It was a breath of fresh air after being cooped up in those corsets and dresses all day.
Jareth was definitely hiding something from her. He had drastically changed his tone when his father had hinted at something happening next week. She didn't know what, but she knew she didn't want to stay long enough to find out. For Jareth to be so worried about her hearing their conversation it couldn't be anything that she would take well.
Sarah jumped when she heard a loud flapping noise and an all too familiar owl landed on her window sill right next to her head. She quickly moved back from it across the bed and watched in startled anger as the owl looked right at her before taking a short flight down to the floor in front of her bed. With a fluttering of wings Sarah watched in slight amazement as the features of the owl twisted, warped, and grew till Jareth was standing before her, still shirtless and still looking rather irritated.
Barricading her door obviously wouldn't have mattered.
"Come with me, I have a surprise for you." He didn't wait for her to agree, simply turning and going to the door to the hall.
Sarah sat up on her knees in indignant anger. "What?! What do you mean? What just happened with your father?" She didn't want to follow him anywhere without knowing where they were going and what for. She certainly didn't trust him enough for that sort of blind faith. Much less when there was something going on that concerned her and she knew nothing about it.
"Either follow me now out into the garden or you may spend the rest of tomorrow in this room." He didn't even bother to glance back over his shoulder, simply leaving the door open behind him and intrusting her to follow him.
Sarah let out a frustrated growl and clambered off her bed, padding in her bare feet across the floor after him. "That's not fair!" she huffed under her breath so he wouldn't hear her. Every time he heard her say that he simply scoffed at her.
She made her way down the stone hallways, minding where she stepped as best she could in the darkening paths. Jareth reached back when she was close enough to take her hand, helping to guide her along.
"Why are we going out to the garden at night?" she asked, hoping maybe he would at least tell her that much.
"It relaxes me," he simply said. "I didn't get a chance to earlier and the weeks are growing short before coldness will set in and force the plants to sleep."
Sarah tried to remember her way as much as possible as he led them along a hall and turned the corner. The corridor before her was pitch black, nothing but shadows and whispers that were very imposing and somewhat frightening. She couldn't even tell just how far it went, but she didn't want to go down there.
Jareth pulled a crystal out of thin air and tossed it ahead of them into the darkness. With a pop the corridor was lit up like a Christmas tree and Sarah blinked rapidly against the sudden light, having to eventually turn away. When she was able to she turned back to see that there was actually no corridor at all, but a simple wooden door right there on the wall. Nothing was what it seemed in this place.
Jareth turned the handle and the door swung open easily. Revealing a stone pathway surrounded by plants of every shape and color. Jareth stepped back and extended his arm out in a gesture to let her know to go ahead. She stared at what she could see in the dim lighting at first, wondering just how it all looked in the light as she marveled at a bush covered in pink fuzzy leaves. She stepped out onto the stones slowly, falling back with a gasp into Jareth's strong arms when the pink bush seemed to explode in front of her!
Jareth laughed softly and she looked up to see two large bird-like creatures covered in pink fuzz fly on shaky wings further out into the garden, leaving nothing but a stick where the 'bush' had been.
Jareth continued to chuckle lightly as he helped her back onto her feet. "Maybe I'll lead then," he teased as he stepped past her, taking her hand in his and wrapping his arm around her waist.
She allowed him to lead her into the garden, the moon lighting their way well enough as they went along. He went at a slow pace for her benefit, allowing her to look around at the different plants to a certain extent. Some were bizarre and completely abstract. Some she questioned what they actually were since they didn't look like plants at all. She could recognize a few plants as being the same as in the Aboveground though. Everything was so overgrown and ran wild, nearly swallowing up the path in some places.
Jareth came to a stop in front of a particularly nasty looking little tree with black bark and thorns the size of Sarah's pinky finger growing out of it rather than leafs. Jareth let go of Sarah's hand but kept his arm around her as he brought up his now free hand and made a gesture as if waving off the tree like he would dismiss a servant or something. To Sarah's amazement the tree shifted and rustled and slowly moved out of Jareth's way, revealing a smaller path hidden behind it off the regular trail.
Jareth pulled Sarah with him past the thorn tree, which slowly moved back into place after they had safely passed by. Sarah could see something much larger just ahead of them, from the size and the way the branches hung down in a thick wall she could figure out that it was a weeping willow like the ones located in the Aboveground, except this was much larger. Jareth led her to it and pulled back the vine curtain that was created, Sarah hesitated. Jareth said nothing but simply pushed her along inside gently and followed right behind. The trunk was massive, wide enough that she wouldn't have been able to reach around even half of it if she tried. The moon was blocked out mostly by the thick vines, but Sarah could still make out that they fell from way up high above their heads.
"How did it get so big?" Sarah found herself asking out loud.
She didn't have to look back to know that Jareth was smiling now, it was in his voice. "Plants are able to flourish here in ways that man has forgotten since there is little chemicals here to harm them and stunt their growth. And we do not hack down all our forests like humans seem to take pleasure in doing." He reached out and took Sarah's hand in his again, "Come on, what I wanted to show you is on the other side of the willow."
She didn't protest, merely followed along behind him as he led her out the other side of the tree's enclave. Jareth broke out into a full grin as he pulled her along. "Inside the willow's vines is an excellent place to go when you want to completely forget about and hide from the world, but on this side…"
Sarah gasped in astonishment when he led her though to the other side. Nothing she had seen so far compared to the view before her. How something like this survived in the center of the goblin city was beyond her. There was a dip down into a little open meadow area from where they stood by the willow. The grass long and soft looking and thick on the ground like a blanket. There were different flowering plants surrounding the meadow and filling it with sweet and heady scents while little fairies with the full moon shimmering on their wings flew around and tended to them. At their approach a large silver horse that had been on the edge of the clearing startled and let out a warning whinny before spreading out its massive wings that had been folded up against its body and taking off over the tops of the plants that reached up for it almost before Sarah had even realized what she had seen.
"This is the best place to take in the joys of the world," Jareth sighed whistfully. "It is my most favorite spot in the whole Underground."
"Was that a Pegasus?!" Sarah gasped, gaping up at Jareth.
He smirked down at her. "Yes it was, one of four that I own."
"You own them?!"
"Really Sarah if you are going to be shocked by every little thing… one would think that you would put a little more faith in magic since you seemed more than ready to do so when you ran my labyrinth. Yes I own them. I even helped in breaking three of them and am currently trying to do so with the fourth. They make excellent transpertaion after all."
Sarah tried to hide her displeasure at that. How could he stand to break in something that was so beautiful and naturally wild?
That thought immediately depressed her.
"What keeps them from simply taking off and leaving you?"
Jareth chuckled at that. "They can't leave my garden because they do not know the way out." He made it sound like the simplest thing in the world.
Sarah looked up at the night sky. "But there are no walls. They could just fly up into the sky and go."
Jareth shook his head like it was silly to even think that. "This garden is just another part of my labyrinth Sarah. They can not leave if they do not know the way out. The magic in the labyrinth has ways of keeping in all who do not know it's exits. There are other walls in life rather than just those made of stones and mortar. Quite a few of the inhabitants of the labyrinth will often create their own walls to keep from leaving."
He was speaking in riddles again and she hated it. No matter what tricks he spoke of, she would find her way out of the labyrinth.
Jareth tugged on her hand and she forced the frown from her face quickly as she followed him down to the center of the meadow, the grass remarkably soft under her bare feet in a way that was unnatural compared to the Aboveground. She felt like she was walking across an incredibly large bed.
"I'm allowing you to come out here into the garden from now on whenever you wish Sarah," Jareth informed her, turning around to gage her reaction. She could tell right away he was seeking gratitude.
"T-thank you," she stammered out, still in awe from the scene around her and still slightly confused about what he had said about walls.
Jareth nodded his head in acknowledgement and continued on his way to the center. It didn't go unnoticed by Sarah that the little white fairies had become much scarcer, only a few still settled on the plants and in the flowers, watching their lord and lady. "You wont be able to come to this spot without my help, but I don't think I would appreciate you bringing others here anyway. You are welcome to the rest of the garden though and can explore to your leisure provided you behave yourself and mind me."
They reached the center and Jareth stopped and turned back to her, his hair silver and skin smooth as alabaster in the moonlight. He was hauntingly beautiful as he stood before her. She almost wanted to reach out and touch his chest just to make sure he was real.
She refrained.
His beautiful mismatched eyes looked into hers as he pulled her into his arms. Sarah felt him through both his leggings and her nightgown and stilled at his obvious intentions. Even the dark intensity was back in his eyes, causing a single shiver to shoot through her spine. She didn't move when one of his hands brushed over her cheek lightly. "You are breathtaking in this light Sarah," he murmured, "Your skin is so pale and your eyes and hair are dark. I can also see the outline of your body through that nightgown from the moon's light."
Her heart drummed in her ears, rushing around her head. This was like something out of her stepmother's old cheesy romance novels that Sarah had glanced through once she had found out there was more in them than just kissing. In a different situation it might have been terribly romantic to be standing in a place like this with a man. But this wasn't a romance, and Jareth was no heroic sensitive Adonis of a man. Jareth was the evil trickster that created conflict and was eventually slain by the end of the story by the heroine's true love. Sarah didn't have a hero though, it was just her and Jareth.
She couldn't hold back her bitterness at the unfairness of it. "Why do you do this?" she demanded, her voice just on the edge of whining. "Why are you only nice to me when you want sex and then cruel and evil the rest of the time?! I don't like it at all."
Jareth leaned back from her slowly, a frown coming to his face.
Sarah pressed on, moving out of his embrace and he allowed her to do so. "You don't care about me at all except for sex and for Toby. That's right -I called him Toby! And I call him Toby all the time when you're not around. That's his name!" She was practically shouting now, shaking all over from her sudden emotional state. "I shouldn't be here, and not just here in the garden but with you! I don't belong in this world and you don't seem to understand that and if you do you don't care!"
Her breathing was ragged and she wasn't sure what hurt worse, the tightness in her throat or in her chest. She was sure it would make Jareth mad at her, but she had to go on or she would burst. "I'm only here in the first place because of a grudge you had against my step-mother. I'm not her though! You can't bring me here and force me to pay for her mistakes. I don't care what some silly counsel or you say, that is just not fair and you can't force me to think that it is." Her face burned and her head was spinning from all the anger and sadness swirling around in her like a twister, devastating and destroying her from the inside. Her eyes burned and she could feel wet tears on her cheeks but she didn't even realize she was crying.
Jareth stood where he was and said nothing, did nothing. He simply stared back at her, completely calm as he observed her.
It only added to her emotional trauma that caused her to really feel like she was completely losing control and he felt nothing for her, not even anger at her words. If he was really her husband shouldn't he care?
"Why are you just standing there and staring at me like that!?" she screamed at him, her voice cracking from the force of her lungs. She was left gasping for air past her sore throat. "Why don't you care at all about what you are doing to me?" her voice was much more horse when she spoke.
Jareth's face was it's same emotionless mask as he continued to stare back at her. After long last his arms spread out in a welcoming gesture, inviting her to him.
The sadness overrode the anger at long last and Sarah sank to her knees on the grass, her chest hurting like it would crack open and harsh sobs shaking her body mercilessly till she was sore and tired all over, but she still couldn't stop.
Jareth went to her immediately and pulled her into his arms, stroking his hands down her hair and back in a calming gesture much like her father used to do when she was upset like this. She ached to push him off of her almost as much as she ached to hold onto him. He really was all she had here. She cried pitifully into his chest and he allowed her to do so, holding her all the tighter to him when her arms wrapped around his waist.
"A-are you m-m-mad?" she gasped out between her sobs when they finally started to die down some. For all she had said she was surprised that he hadn't beaten her to within an inch of her life yet.
Jareth let out a long sigh of his own but continued to hold her and comfort her. "No Sarah I am not mad. You've had your fit and now you are done, that's all there is to it." He pulled away enough to sit down on the ground, pulling Sarah to sit between his legs, her shoulder and part of her back resting against his chest. His cheek rested against her head. "Besides, how can I be mad when it is the thought that I don't care about you that upsets you so much? It's flattering and humbling at the same time to know you hold such value to my sympathetic natures to spill this many tears over them."
Sarah scowled past her tears, turning her head to glare at him as best she could. "That wasn't why I was upset!"
"Wasn't it?" he asked in a casual tone, "I heard you shouting that I don't care about you quite a bit, you seemed very upset about it. You also seemed deeply hurt by the thought that maybe I only want you because of the mother you can make for my son and for your company in my bed. None of these notions of yours are true Sarah, not at all." He kissed her forehead before she could move away.
"If I wanted you only for my son, why do I bother spending time with you? I don't seek out the company of the nurse do I? And if I only wanted you for sex why would I allow you around my son? Why would I marry you if I could simply have sex with you? I wouldn't have to be married to you for that. If I didn't care about you why am I holding you while you cry?"
"Stop twisting the truth," she demanded meekly.
"I am not twisting the truth precious, I am trying to show it to you and you are twisting away from me. I don't think you realize just how much I do for you because I care about you. I love you Sarah, I am not punishing you for Carrie's offenses unto me. You were brought here out of revenge true, something I would have done even had I not fallen in love with you. But you are my queen, my wife, because of my feelings towards you and you alone. If you would only stop twisting away from what I offer you like you do the truth than I know you would live in happiness by my side."
It wasn't true. None of it! She couldn't think with him confusing her like this. "You abuse me," she insisted.
"You are clinging onto thin strings, Precious. I do no such thing. Do I walk about and strike you, kick you for no reason? Do I come up to you when you are doing something mundane like reading or washing and throttle you or call you vulgar names when you have done nothing to me first? No, I do not and would not. I punish you when you are bad to me and I try to make the punishments fit the offenses. After which I forgive you for any offense and move on. You however are very cruel to me," he bit out, looking caught between emotions of anger and sadness himself.
"What?" Sarah asked in disbeleif.
"You will be angry with me the second I walk into a room, or even if I should cross your thoughts. I don't have to do anything to deserve your wrath and scorn. How fair is that?"
"I-
"And now I am out here with you, being nothing if not nice to you. I am sharing a piece of my world with you and your first response is to yell and scream at me, telling me I care nothing for you. Something doesn't add up there Sarah." He sounded impossibly tired as he spoke, leaning on her once more as they sat under the full moon with the silver fairies flashing their wings in the background among the flowers.
She was still mad, but at this point she couldn't think straight enough to yell anything coherent at him. She knew he was wrong, he had to be.
Jareth reached forward and hooked his fingers under her chin, making her look back at him as much as their position allowed her to, his face less than an inch from hers. "Is it really so terrible being my queen Sarah?" The look in his eyes was extremely vulnerable as he searched her own orbs, seeking answers to an impossibly hard question. Despite what she had felt about him moments ago, and what she would come to feel about him in time yet to pass, at that moment she couldn't bare to turn away from him as his soft lips found hers.
She was impossibly lonely and in need of things she couldn't even understand enough to name yet. She didn't love Jareth, she hardly even liked him, but she didn't have it in her to keep from responding to his chaste kiss, even when it deepened and his hands slid under the hem of her night gown to caress more sensitive parts of her. It would have been far to cruel of her to deny them both at that moment.
