Chapter 10: Moving
"Todd!" Sarah exclaimed upon opening the door. "What are you doing here?"
Todd glanced at her bandaged head. "What did you do, Sarah?"
"It's nothing, why are you here?"
"You haven't answered your phone the past couple of days when I've tried. I was worried and now I see I had good reason to be. Are you going to let me in?"
"Um… I'm actually a little busy just now."
"That's fine, I just wanted to stop by and ask if you were free for a date tomorrow night?" Sarah felt a strange compulsion to accept, but she didn't want to. She gripped the door harder, but the feeling that told her to accept grew stronger still as Todd looked into her eyes. "You are free tomorrow night, correct?"
"I – I…"
Todd narrowed his eyes; "You want to go out with me right?"
Sarah couldn't seem to form the words to say no. Her tongue kept lifting to the middle of her mouth in preparation to say yes. It was then that she felt a hand enclose on her shoulder and a warm presence behind her. The compulsion was swept away with that touch. "I believe Sarah is occupied tomorrow night," Jareth's voice came from behind her.
She saw Todd's eyes widen and his face contort into what looked like fear for a split second before he covered it back up. "Sarah, who is this?" he asked.
"I am Jareth, the reason Sarah is not available tomorrow night," Jareth answered for himself, his hand tightening on Sarah's shoulder.
"I see… Why didn't you tell me about this, Sarah?"
"I – I was going to, but things have been a bit busy lately."
"Really? Is this how you treat all your boyfriends? Like something to be used then tossed aside?"
"You will not speak to Sarah in that tone," Jareth growled. Sarah felt Jareth's hand tighten even more on her shoulder until it was almost painful. "Sarah, I think it's time you said goodbye to Todd."
"What if she doesn't want to?" Todd asked threateningly, but staring into Sarah's eyes the entire time as though to convince her to come with him.
"Todd, it didn't work out before, and while I had a nice time on our last date, I don't see this working out this time either."
The tension was so taught Sarah thought that one breath breathed the wrong way could shatter it. Todd was switching between glaring daggers at Jareth and giving imploring looks to Sarah. "This isn't over, Sarah," Todd said backing away finally.
"Yes, it is. Now be a good chap and don't come back," Jareth said before slamming the door closed.
Sarah let out a long breath. "You didn't have to be so rude…" she commented turning to look at him.
"You have no idea the danger you were in just now, do you?" Jareth asked, his jaw set and his eyes still held a furious look.
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, her brow furrowing.
"That was the man you were dating?"
"Todd? Yeah, we dated for a couple of months then I broke it off."
Jareth sighed and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "You do have a talent, Sarah, for drawing those with power to you. That was no ordinary human; that was a UnSeelie fae."
Sarah's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "What? Todd… isn't human?"
"Far from it I'm afraid. And that's not the worst of it."
"How could this be any worse?" Sarah asked in an exasperated voice.
"I recognized him as a henchman of the King of the UnSeelie. And I'm afraid he recognized me as well."
"Isn't that a good thing? Now that he knows you're here, he'll leave us alone?"
Jareth shook his head and led Sarah over to the couch. "No, it only means that when he comes back with reinforcements he'll be able to get whatever he wants because I have no magic to protect you."
Sarah plopped down on the couch as her legs gave way. Jareth sat next to her, a hand resting gently on her arm. "But – what does he want?" she asked.
"I can think of only one thing."
Sarah looked up to see he was looking at her with concern. "Me?"
He nodded, "Sarah, you are the only person to have beaten the labyrinth. It can't be a coincidence that your former boyfriend is an UnSeelie fae."
"What does he want from me?"
"I don't know," he shook his head and rubbed her arm comfortingly.
To his surprise, Sarah leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder. "Why do these things happen to me, Jareth?
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and scooted closer to her. "You are a unique woman, Sarah. Your belief in the unbelievable is what draws beings like myself to you."
"So this is my fault because of some stupid defect in my brain to tell reality from fantasy?"
"No, Sarah! What you have is a gift. The human race is losing its ability to see like you do. Very few individuals have your level of faith anymore."
"But it's still my own fault."
Jareth smiled. "It's part of who you are. You can't change it anymore than I can or would want to."
Sarah sighed, but dropped the subject. Another knock on the door brought the couple to attention. "If that's Todd again I swear I'll kill him, magic or no," Sarah grumbled.
Jareth chuckled and rose to answer the knocking. It turned out to be not Todd, but Jackie who after saying hi to Jareth, rushed in and hugged Sarah. "Oh Sarah! Are you okay? How are you feeling?"
Sarah laughed and pushed Jackie away a little. "I'm fine Jackie. Or at least I will be soon," she smiled over at Jareth.
Jackie gave her friend a pat on the arm. Jareth grinned at the two. "I'll just leave you two at it. I still have another couple of books by that Eddings man to read. I'll be up in the loft if you need me, Sarah," he said before retreating up the stairs and leaving the two friends to catch up.
o O o O o O o
"What did I tell you, Todd, about interrupting me?" the King of the UnSeelie said in an annoyed tone.
Todd bowed low before the mirror. "I'm sorry, Master, but I assure you I wouldn't bother you unless it was this important." The dark fae sighed and gestured for Todd to continue. Todd straightened, "The Goblin King is staying with the mortal Sarah Williams."
At this, the King straightened, an alarmed look on his face. "What is the Goblin King doing in the Aboveground, let alone in that particular mortal's home?"
"I know not, Sire. I approached the mortal at her home today to enact the trust potion I gave her. I was almost successful until he stepped up behind her. The moment his hand landed on her shoulder I could tell the potion became ineffective."
"Impossible! That could only happen if she truly trusted the Goblin King."
"I assure you, your Majesty, that I made the potion as strong as possible. The only explanation is that the mortal must trust the Goblin King with her life. Of which I don't understand, Master. I thought they parted last as enemies?"
The King's brow furrowed in anger, "Did he recognize you?"
"I believe so, my lord."
"This will make things difficult, but it does not change our plan. The mortal must be secured. Contact me when it is so!"
Todd bowed low again, "Yes, Master."
o O o O o O o
It was several hours after Jackie had first arrived at Sarah's apartment and the two women were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Jackie was cooking because she was quite familiar with Sarah's infamous skills. "So Todd is what, some kind of evil version of Jareth?" Jackie asked adding some oregano to a white wine sauce on the back burner.
"Yeah, something like that," Sarah answered from her perch on the counter near the sink.
"And you think he's after you because you defeated some maze?"
"Not just any maze, the labyrinth that protects the castle beyond the Goblin City. Jareth told me that it's meant to be a defense system that is tested with runners."
"But you managed to get through?"
Sarah shrugged, "I have my suspicions that Jareth didn't make it quite as difficult as normal."
"Speaking of which, I've noticed you two are getting along now," Jackie flashed a grin at Sarah before turning back to the chicken breasts.
"I've decided to stop fighting it… my feelings for him that is."
"About damn time! I mean for God's sake! The man is the hottest thing on two legs within a fifty-mile radius! And don't you even deny checking out those cute buns when he was walking up the stairs to the loft!" Sarah blushed, but didn't say anything. "Uh huh… that's what I thought. So what changed your mind?"
"I don't know. I think it had something to do with that date you two set up. That was when I told him about Karen and Berkley."
"You told him about that? How did he take it?"
"Quite well actually… I – um – started crying and he comforted me."
"Aww!"
"Oh shut up!" Sarah threw the sponge from the sink at Jackie.
"Hey! Cooking over here!" she picked up the sponge and tossed it back to Sarah who returned it to its spot. "Why don't you go get Jareth? Dinner will be ready in about two minutes."
Sarah slid off the counter and headed up the stairs to the loft. The door was slightly ajar and she slipped inside to find Jareth relaxing in the Lazy-Boy. He was reading another of her David Eddings books, but he looked like he wasn't concentrating on it very much. His eyes kept staring at the same spot as though he'd stopped reading and was instead thinking some pretty heavy thoughts judging by his furrowed brow. "Hey, Jackie says dinner's ready," Sarah announced.
Jareth glanced up with a jerk. "Oh, thank you."
She walked toward him a little. "What were you thinking about? It looked pretty intense whatever it was."
Jareth gave her a weak smile as he lowered the footrest on the chair. "Perceptive as ever, my dear." He rose, leaving the book on the chair, and made his way toward her. "I was thinking about Todd and when he'll come back."
"Do you think he'll come back soon?"
"I'm not sure. It would be in his best interest to… even if I had my powers. He could strike before we've mounted a defense. But he doesn't know that I don't have my powers, so this gives us a kind of advantage."
"How so?" she asked moving closer to him.
"Did you see his face today? He's afraid of me, and with good reason I might add…"
"Boast much?" Sarah teased.
"No, darling, just stating facts…" Jareth grinned.
"So what are we going to do when he does come back? Because I'm guessing he won't be courteous enough to wait until after your trial…"
"No, I don't think he will. I think our best option is to leave your apartment."
"Hide? That doesn't sound like you, Jareth."
He quirked an eyebrow, "Trust me, it's not my usual choice of action, but without my powers I have no way of protecting you and your safety comes first," he said raising his hands to take both of hers.
She looked up into his eyes and could see the sincerity behind them as well as how much it pained him to hide from Todd. "I understand."
He smiled at her and bent to give her a chaste kiss before straightening again. "Come, let's not keep Jackie waiting," Jareth said leading the way out the door.
When they arrived in the kitchen, it was to find Jackie had finished dinner and set the table. Each plate had a chicken breast and bowtie pasta with white wine sauce poured on top followed by a generous helping Parmesan cheese. A helping of mixed veggies and a wine glass half filled with white wine rounded out the meal. "Wow, Jackie, you didn't have to go all out on us," Sarah commented as she sat in the chair Jareth held out for her.
Jackie waved a hand nonchalantly while taking her own seat. "It was nothing, I've been wanting to try out the recipe so consider yourselves guinea pigs."
"Excuse me?" Jareth asked looking affronted as he took his seat.
"No, Jareth, it's just an expression," Sarah explained.
"I see…" he replied, but his expression belied his comment.
"Well… dig in!" Jackie exclaimed picking up her knife and fork.
The dinner conversation was light, mostly consisting of compliments to the chef and some light teasing at Jareth's expense regarding his lack of knowledge in human sayings. It wasn't until the dishes were being cleared that Sarah brought up the topic Jareth and she had been discussing. "If you need a place to stay, there's always the furnished apartment above the gallery…" Jackie suggested drying a plate that Sarah had just handed her.
"I thought you rented that out."
"I did… and then evicted the guy for throwing loud obnoxious parties every night."
"Oh… Jareth that would be perfect! It isn't too far away, but Todd would never guess. He only ever came to the gallery once when we were dating."
Jareth brought a hand to his chin in thought. "It just might work. When can we move in?"
"Anytime you want. I can give you the keys tonight if you want. There's a staircase directly to the apartment in the back of the building, so you don't have to go through the gallery," Jackie reassured.
"Oh Jackie, that would be so wonderful of you!" Sarah said hugging Jackie.
"It's no problem, Sarah. Really…" Jackie commented hugging Sarah back. "Okay, I've got to get back home, early morning tomorrow. Here are the keys for the apartment," she dug out a key ring and selected a small brass one to detach. "You can move in whenever."
"Thanks again, Jackie," Sarah said taking the key from her.
"Yeah, yeah, you can pay me back by not getting mixed up with Todd again."
"No worries there, my Todd dating days are over."
"Alright, see ya later, Sar," Jackie waved as she headed out the door.
As the door shut, Sarah turned to Jareth. "So, when should we start heading over to the loft?"
"As soon as possible. If you're not opposed to staying up all night, I'd recommend using tonight to pack everything and then tomorrow we can move it all over there."
"I can still pull all-nighters. I'm not as old as some people think," she grinned. "All right, lets get to work then. Jackie said it was a furnished apartment so we don't have to worry about the big things. Mostly just clothes, toiletries, food, drink, pots and pans, silverware, and cups and plates and all that stuff," she ticked off the items on her fingers as she went. "You can start in the kitchen. I'll write down a list of things to pack."
"And what shall I pack them in?"
"Hang on a sec…" Sarah hurried into her bedroom and opened her closet. She pulled a stack of plastic totes out of the corner. "I was going to get rid of these, but I guess they'll come in handy after all."
"There isn't enough to pack everything," Jareth pointed out.
"No, we'll pack what we can in these then use the plastic bags in the kitchen cupboard for more things. What we can't fit, we'll just have to take the totes over to the apartment, unload them, then re-pack them."
Jareth nodded and followed as Sarah led the way into the kitchen to make out a list for him. "Sarah," he said quietly.
"Hmm?" she turned to find him extremely close.
"I just want you to know that I will do everything in my power to keep you from harm."
"I – thank you, Jareth," she blushed.
He leaned closer, one of his hands rose to cup her cheek as his lips made contact with hers. It was a gentle meshing of raw feeling. Sarah started to respond, her own hand moving up to tangle in his long hair. Jareth broke the kiss before it grew out of control though. Sarah was grateful for it; short and sweet was what she needed now. "Come on then, we'd best get to work," he said taking the list from behind her.
The rest of the night was spent in a frenzy of packing until there was nothing left to pack in. The totes had been filled to the brim, all the plastic bags Sarah had saved from shopping were used as well and what few actual cardboard boxes Sarah had were also full. It was nearly four o'clock in the morning when they stopped and they met in the living room, plopping down on the couch in exhaustion. Sarah couldn't remember being this tired since when she used to stay up all night studying for college exams. "So, we have to move some stuff to the loft now," Sarah said as she leaned back into the couch, her head resting on the back of it and her eyes closed.
Jareth was in a similar position. "So it seems," he answered.
"If we do it tonight, not so many people will give us weird looks for carrying totes down the street."
Jareth leaned forward and rose off of the couch then held out a hand to help Sarah up. She accepted it and they moved about putting on their coats and gloves. Each grabbed two totes and backed out of the door to Sarah's apartment. "You're sure you can handle those?" Jareth asked as Sarah readjusted her grip after locking the door.
"Yeah, lets just get this done with."
She led the way down the hall and out the door. The eight blocks over to the gallery seemed like torture to Sarah's arms. They were burning as she and Jareth turned the corner to go around to the backside of the building. She looked up to see the wrought iron staircase that led to the loft. "Almost there…" she muttered before starting up the stairs.
Once inside, they set the totes down and plopped down on the chairs at the kitchen table. "I'll go back and get some more stuff. You stay and unpack," Jareth said rising to go out the door.
Sarah rose with him. "No, if we both go it'll get done sooner."
"Sarah… you look exhausted."
"So do you. Now come on, lets go."
Jareth smiled at the stubborn woman before him and followed her out the door. It took six more trips and many mumbled swear words, but by the time seven thirty in the AM rolled around, they were done. Everything that had been packed was in the loft and several of the totes had been unpacked, brought back to the apartment, then re-packed with more items. Jareth and Sarah shakily closed the door to the loft for the last time. They set the plastic bags they'd carried down on the floor among the other supplies, then promptly crashed on the couch. Jareth was the first to plop down and when Sarah tried to simply sit on the end of the couch, he pulled her down with him. She didn't resist in the slightest; her muscles were so sore, she would be surprised if she could get up at all tomorrow. "You know, the bed would be more comfortable," she commented from her perch on top of him.
"Yes, but I seem to have someone laying on top of me."
"Mmm… I don't think they're going to move any time in the near future either," she smirked, her eyes already closed.
"In that case…" Jareth shifted, pulling a blanket from a bag near his head and spread it over them. He then tucked his arms back under the blanket and wrapped them around the woman on top of him. "Good night, Sarah," he kissed the top of her head.
"More like good morning," she mumbled, already half asleep.
Jareth chuckled, "Then good morning, my dear. Now go to sleep."
She didn't need to be told twice; Sarah fell asleep within minutes. Jareth followed shortly after, comforted by her steady breathing and her warm weight on top of him.
o O o O o O o
The mirror usually used to contact his master fogged over for a moment then cleared. He saw the girl lying on top of the Goblin King. They were both asleep in a room unfamiliar to him. The evidence of hastily moving in was around them scattered in boxes in bags. "You attempt to hide from me, my dear," he chuckled. His gaze moved from the mortal to the fae king beneath her. "How very unlike you, Goblin King, to hide from your enemies." A hand came up to stroke his chin. "Unless you fear not being able to fight me. Why are you in the Aboveworld?"
Suddenly an idea came to him and he wiped the mirror clean. The image of the Goblin King and his mortal was replaced with one of the throne room in the castle beyond the Goblin City. Todd's eyes widened as he recognized Lord Utgard sitting in the throne of the Goblin King. It was common knowledge that Lord Utgard was a pawn of the High Council. "Rotar!" Todd called out and a small imp with grey scabby skin appeared nearby.
"Yes, Master?"
"I need you to find out why Lord Utgard is currently occupying the throne of the Goblin King."
"Ah, but Rotar already knows the answer to Master's question." Todd turned from the mirror to face the imp, motioning for him to continue. "Goblin King been suspended, he has…. will have to attend trial for crimes. Lord Utgard be acting steward to Goblin Kingdom. Goblin King hasta spend time in Above with no powers, he does. Is under mortal's custody."
Todd's eyes widened at this information. "When is his trial?"
"Nine days, Master," the imp supplied.
A nasty grin crept across Todd's face. "Thank you Rotar, that will be all."
The imp bowed and disappeared, leaving Todd alone to figure out where the Goblin King and the mortal had taken refuge. He brought the image of them back to his mirror and carefully traced the outline of the mortal with a gloved finger. It appeared that the Goblin King cared for this particular mortal. Oh what fun it would be to take the mortal away from him, use her, and then throw her back to him broken. A Goblin King with no powers would not be able to do anything to him. Todd had connections to the High Council, he was positive he could influence them to vote against the Goblin King during his trial.
Todd gleefully twisted his hands together. What a scrumptious way to deny the Goblin King what was his, by taking his mortal then ensuring that his powers and kingdom would not be returned to him. "You will lose Goblin King. You will fall and fall hard and you will deserve it for no other reason than the defiance you have shown the UnSeelie court," Todd murmured before wiping the mirror clean again.
o O o O o O o
A/N: Hey thanks for reading again! Please feel free to leave a review! They encourage me to write faster for you. This is my last update for this story for this year. Hopefully it won't be too much farther into 2011 until this story is finished.
Here's wishing you all a wonderful new year. I hope 2010 wasn't too unpleasant for you all. I know it was a big year for me. I traveled to Europe and spent three weeks abroad traveling between countries. I also traveled in the United States, down to Colorado and over to South Dakota. (I'm from Minnesota.) And I graduated from college with a Bachelor of Arts in writing. It's been one hell of a journey through school for the past 20 years, and now I have to find a job…
Anyway *raises glass of champagne* here's to the New Year! May it bring more happiness than sorrow to you and yours!
Labyrinth (c) Jim Henson & Co.