Something's are made to last...
Chapter 10.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING FROM JIM HENSON OR LABYRINTH.
This chapter is once again rather intense. I do not mean any offence caused. You have been warned. I do apologise if the tense goes a bit iffy here and there. Thank you ever so much for your lovely, lengthily reviews, they mean so much to me.
Jareth slumped low on his throne. Sarah and Lily had been gone for a month now and still, he barely ate and slept. When Théodren had returned with Sarah's rings coated in blood, it had destroyed him and yet, he still couldn't bring himself to think that they were dead, instead he liked to think that she had simply left him and taken Lily with her.
He had returned Aboveground countless times to search for them, calling to Sarah through his thoughts but all that remained out there was dead silence.
He was starting to look less and less like the fearsome Goblin King of old. Heartbreak had taken its toll on him. He was a lot thinner so that his cloths hung from his frame and his eyes were sunken, his skin around them ashen. He had finally admitted defeat, admitting to himself that his everything was gone, taken from him and it was never coming back.
A few days ago, the goblin city held a memorial for them. Jareth wore his darkest outfit, the same outfit he wore when he and Sarah had faced up to each other in the Escher room all those years ago. Now he faced an eternity alone. He was adamant that he would never love another for the rest of his days.
He sighed, slumping even lower on his throne. How quiet the castle was without Lily's laughter ringing through the hall ways. Suddenly, the double doors to the throne room opened and a goblin sentry popped his head through the gap. Jareth barely looked up at him.
"Kingy?" the goblin sentry enquired.
"What is it?" Jareth whispered, his voice croaking and his throat aching.
The goblin sentry entered the room a little more but he was feeling anxious. He wanted to see his Kingy happy again. He missed the Queen and the Princess and the light they seemed to have taken from the kingdom when they left.
"Kingy has visitor" he said to Jareth.
Jareth's eyes lifted to the goblin and he sat up a little straighter. Dare he think that it was Sarah? That she had come back to him, that they both had?
"Send them in" he croaked and conjured up a goblet of water with a wave of his hand, which he gulped down noisily. It gave him a bit of strength back.
As he shakily stood up from his throne, the sentry ran back through the doors and opened them wider to allow the visitor through.
Jareth took a deep breath and looked up. Sure enough, it wasn't Sarah. It was Clairissa.
What the bloody hell does she want? He asked himself.
Clairissa walked purposely towards Jareth, the many skirts of her pink dress swishing, her long, blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders.
He stood, watching her approaching him. She sank down into a bow, and then stood back up again with a flourish.
"Jareth-"she began
"Your Majesty" Jareth interrupted and corrected her.
Clairissa scowled slightly but started again "Your Majesty. I was deeply saddened by your news of the Lady Sarah and Lily...passing away"
"Queen" Jareth mumbled, staring her down.
Clairissa continued as if she hadn't heard him.
"You cannot possibly go on alone. You need a Queen by your side"
"NO" Jareth yelled, waving his hand through the air to cut her off "I did this before I had a Queen and I will do it without one"
Clairissa was stunned into silence. This wasn't how she had planned it would go at all. Time for plan B...
"Alright. I understand. I hope we can move on from this. Start afresh." She said to him.
Jareth nodded and went to turn away from her.
"I will leave you now" Clairissa said and moved towards him to hug him. Her arms snaked around the back of his shoulders and she pressed herself to him, burying her face just past his right shoulder. His arms remained limply at his sides.
She started to pull away from him, her face dangerously close to his. For a brief moment they looked at each other and then Clairissa leaned in and gently brushed her lips against his. They lingered there for one tenth of a second before Jareth erupted.
Pushing her violently away from him, he screamed "NO!"
She fell hard to the ground. Jareth was furious. He had wanted the last kiss on his lips to have been Sarah's.
Clairissa had fallen flat onto her face, busting her bottom lip on impact. She turned from where she led and got up, backing away from Jareth as he advanced towards her as she wiped her lip.
"If you ever, EVER, come near me or my kingdom again, I will have you taken to the Oubliette and kept there for the rest of your life" Jareth said, spitting each word with venom in his voice.
Clairissa was scared and, blinking back angry tears, she turned and ran away from him, out of the throne room, down the hall way and out of the castle.
She wiped the back of her hand furiously across her mouth and saw blood there.
"Alright, fine! You will be made to suffer, Jareth, one way or another. Time for plan C" she said furiously, running into the firey forest.
End of Chapter 10.