A/N: Warning - Angst alert!
Chapter 10 – Harsh Truths
"What did he mean? What did he mean, he won?"
Sarah was trembling, twisting her hands together in a wringing motion, staring owl-eyed at the corpse lying at her feet. "Oh my God, I killed him," she whispered, stunned by the fact that she could have done something so horrific. Garednel's crimes seemed to fade in light of the payment she'd extracted.
"We don't have much time," Jareth muttered, sounding distracted. "Not much time at all...." He looked up at her. "Sarah, listen to me, it's very important…"
Too late. A bright light suffused the room, emanating from Toby's sleeping form. The small boy came awake with a howl of fear, breaking Sarah's numb shell. She wrenched her gaze from the body at her feet, crying out in horror as she saw her brother surrounded by a hazy golden nimbus. She raced to his side and took him in her arms, ignoring the feverish warmth of the glow and the small body it surrounded. "Jareth! What's happening?!?"
He was at her side in an instant, gazing sadly down at Toby. "What I feared. When you killed Garendel, all his power went to his declared heir." He gently touched Toby on the head, and the small boy's sobs slowed and finally ended as he nestled his still glowing head against Sarah's shoulder.
"No," Sarah whispered, horrified. "This can't be happening!" She sank to her knees with a low moan, still holding Toby, although he seemed unafraid now, gazing with interest at his hand, turning it this way and that as the glow and heat finally started to fade.
"Sarah," Jareth said gently, "this means Toby has to stay here, with us. I'm so sorry, love." He bowed his head. "I should have found a way to prevent this."
"This is all my fault," Sarah said numbly. "I just…the knife, it was lying there, and then he turned his back and all I could think of was, this is my chance. This is my only chance to get that bastard back for everything he's done to me and Toby."
Before Jareth could respond to her words, the doors to the room flew open and Elena dashed in, wide-eyed. "Is it true? Is he--" She stopped in mid-sentence, staring down at the body lying in a puddle of its own blood. She stared at Jareth, Toby and Sarah, then back at the body. A tremulous smile lit her face. "Thank heavens, it's finally over," she sobbed, dropping to her knees, smiling through the tears that streaked down her cheeks and dripped off her chin. "Thank you, Highness, thank you. You've won my freedom."
"Don't thank me," Jareth chided her. "Thank the lady Sarah. It was she who killed your master."
Elena turned radiant eyes on Sarah; rising slowly to her feet, she walked over them and dropped once again to her knees, this time bowing her head. "Thank you, my lady; you don't know what this means to me."
"She may not, but I do, and we both appreciate your thanks," Jareth interjected, eyeing the ceiling worriedly. "However, I also know what it means to this place for my cousin to have met his death. We must leave. Now."
Sarah started to ask why; when a faint rumbling shook the floor beneath her feet, she thought she understood. "He said this castle was fake, that he made it in the Winterlands to be neutral ground…"
"And now that he is gone, the magic binding this place into existence is disintegrating," Elena completed the thought. "As is the castle itself."
Jareth muttered something under his breath, then offered Elena his hand. Keeping a firm grip on Sarah and Toby with the other, he closed his eyes, and in seconds the four of them had disappeared. Moments after that, the entire castle collapsed into nothingness, leaving this corner of the Winterlands empty once more.
oOo
They reappeared in the Goblin King's own throne room, mercifully empty of anyone but themselves. Jareth released his hold on the other three, directing the two women to seats he conjured out of thin air, comfortable high-backed chairs each of which could have easily sat both of them. Toby remained mute, apparently too entranced by the faint glow that remained around him to do more than stare at his hands and pat himself gingerly, as if expecting to feel something other than his own self.
"What happens next?"
Jareth regarded Sarah out of mismatched eyes, lips pursed consideringly. "Now we wait."
Elena nodded her understanding. "Once the Summer King's death has made itself felt beyond the Winterlands, they will come." She shivered. "I must go; if anyone learns of my existence it could mean my death." Without explaining, she disappeared in a shower of silvery sparkles, leaving a faint scent of cinnamon behind.
Sarah blinked. "People come and go so quickly here," she murmured, fighting back a sudden urge to break out in tears. Right now, more than ever, Toby would need her to keep things together. She looked at Jareth beseechingly. "You won the Challenge; they can't make Toby stay, can they?"
Before he could reply a voice came from behind her.
"It is time."
Toby looked up, eyes wide with wonder as the three Mediators appeared before them, surrounded by a literal crowd of other beings, some human, some partly so, some completely alien mixtures of human and animal, human and bird, even human and plant. Some weren't even human at all, but all were completely expressionless, and all eyes were on Sarah and Toby and Jareth.
"But Jareth won the Challenge," Sarah protested again. "Toby gets to go home, that was the deal."
"That was the deal, as you put it, until the Summer King met his death. He has no other heir besides your brother," the female Mediator said. "He formally proclaimed his desire to name the lad so in the presence of neutral witnesses, and died before he could renounce that declaration. The Challenge is void."
"It's not fair," Sarah blurted, then clenched her teeth shut. She wasn't fifteen, and it wasn't fair, nobody said it was. But it was her own fault, and she knew it.
"What happens next?" she asked, instead of screaming out the threats and demands and pleas she felt building in the back of her throat, almost overwhelmed by the need to find a way out of the situation she herself had created. Remotely, she realized that her voice had even remained steady and calm.
"The heir to the Summer Kingdom must be presented at the Primary Fae Court, his guardianship determined until he is of age and ability to take on his new duties and responsibilities," the second Mediator replied. "Bring him to us."
"I beg leave of the Court to allow Toby to stay with his sister and I until the formal presentation," Jareth interceded. He lowered himself to one knee and bowed his head. "I swear I have no designs on his Kingdom and will offer no harm to the lad. Nor will I or his sister attempt to remove him from the Underground or hide him away. I forfeit my own titles and lands should any such acts be attempted by either of us."
There was silence for a long moment; Sarah sat, stunned at what Jareth was willing to sacrifice to allow her to keep Toby with her. He trusted her, he was trusting her with his everything that meant anything to him, and she felt conflicted feelings for that trust. Toby had to come first, and she deliberately avoided voicing her own promises, feeling as if she were betraying Jareth by her silence but not knowing what else she could do. If she could find a way to get Toby back home, she would. And Jareth had to know that, yet he made his vow anyway. She blinked away tears as she waited for the response.
When the first Mediator spoke, there was a hint of approval in her voice and eyes. "Very well. You will be responsible for preparing him for his presentation nine days hence."
The entire group vanished as silently as they'd appeared, once again leaving Jareth, Sarah and Toby alone.
"Pretty," was Toby's only comment on the entire situation. He yawned and looked at Sarah hopefully. "Ice cream?"
Jareth snapped his fingers and the doors opened, revealing a flood of goblins pushing and shoving their way into the throne room. One figure stumbled to the front of the pack, turning and snarling at the rest to keep their distance. They stopped just inside the doors with a great deal of reluctance, waiting with avid eyes to see what would happen next. "Your Majesty," the stumpy figure said with a low bow. He looked up from under enormous eyebrows to smile at Sarah. "My lady." The smile faded as he regarded Toby. "Your Majesty," he said with another bow.
"Hoggle!" Sarah felt her own lips stretch into a welcoming smile; it felt so unfamiliar, as if it was an expression she hadn't practiced in a hundred years, but it felt good, too, so she let it remain. "It's great to see you!"
"Young master Toby has expressed a desire for ice cream," Jareth announced, holding his hand out to Sarah's brother. Toby took it eagerly, staring and staring at Hoggle, a delighted giggle making its way past his lips as he took in the dwarf's scraggly features. "Please escort him to the royal kitchens and make sure someone knows how to magic up the correct flavors."
"At once, Your Majesty." Hoggle offered another bow and a sad smile for Sarah before offering his own hand to Toby. He reached for it eagerly, then glanced back at Sarah.
"It's OK, Toby, you can go with Hoggle. He's a goblin," she added in an exaggerated whisper, managing another smile as her brother's eyes lit up in excitement.
"Right, young master, let's see what Chef has to eat," Hoggle said as Toby took his hand and walked with the dwarf to the door. The goblins there parted to allow them through as Hoggle asked; "So, what d'yer think of Bog Berry? 'Zat a good flavor to try, you think? Or mebbe Crinkle Berry?"
Sarah blinked more tears away as she smiled and waved. She waited until Jareth dismissed the gabbling mob of goblins, all demanding to know what happened and what they could do and how they could help, welcoming Sarah reverently, some daring to pat her stomach before scampering away. She saw Jareth assuming a scowl at their impudence, but she also saw the grin he hid at their exuberance, both coming and, finally, going.
The doors slammed shut behind them and she sank back into one of the chairs he'd summoned for her and Elena. "Why was Elena so frightened?" she asked as her thoughts made their way back to the other woman. "Is it something to do with her healing powers?"
Jareth's eyebrow rose at that revelation. "It could have everything to do with that, yes," he agreed, moving to stand next to her. "No doubt the Summer King kept her hidden from other Fae in order to keep her powers to himself. But we'll deal with the question of Elena later." He sank to one knee and reached for her hand. "What can I do to help?"
It wasn't the question she expected. "She healed me," she said by way of answer. "Elena did. They didn't act like it was a secret; no, that's not true," she interrupted herself with a frown of remembrance. "He told her to leave before anyone else came or it would mean her life."
Jareth hid his annoyance; it was obvious Sarah was focusing on the other woman to deflect his attention from herself. "Sarah," he tried again. "Please. We have nothing in the way of psychiatrists here in the Underworld, but keeping your pain to yourself won't help, either you or Toby."
"Lashing out didn't help either," she said sharply, withdrawing her hand from his and hugging herself as if still feeling the cold of the Winterlands. A shudder wracked her frame as she raised tortured eyes to meet his. "Please, Jareth, please, let it go for now," she begged him, her voice barely above a whisper. "You know what he did, you know how I must feel. You saw how I k-killed him."
"That, I think, is what pains you most, love," he replied, keeping his voice as low as hers. "Did you not know yourself capable of such actions?"
"All I know is I killed someone and because of that, Toby is stuck here forever!" she flared, moving away from him sharply, thrusting herself out of the chair and into an agitated pacing that flounced her skirt around like a whirlwind, hands once again wringing themselves together. "I doomed my own brother because I couldn't control myself, because I h-hated him so much, that bastard! This is all his fault, and now he's dead and I can't even p-punish him any more!" Her head dropped into her hands and she sank to the stone floor, sobbing.
Jareth was at her side in an instant, taking her in his arms, ignoring the way she stiffened in his hold before relaxing and allowing him keep his arms around her. They sat like that for a long time, until she couldn't cry any more, until words finally made their way back into her mind. "You must think I'm incredibly weak and stupid right now." She sounded exhausted, and he lifted her unresisting form easily in his arms.
"No, I think you're a mortal woman who's had a lot of terrible things happen to her in a very short period of time," Jareth murmured into her hair. "Sarah, I'm taking you to get some sleep, and then I'm going to track down Elena. I think you need help that I can't provide you." Not yet, he amended silently.
He felt her nod, then rest her head against his shoulder as he summoned the magic to whisk them from the empty throne room to one of the spare bedroom suites, taking care that it in no way resembled the one in the faux Summer Palace.
The one they appeared in was decorated in deep blues and silver, not a hint of gold or cream; the furniture was delicate, but made of sturdy, darker woods, with straight legs and not a hint of gilt. The bed was a modest one more like the ones she would be used to in the human world, lower to the floor and barely wide enough for two to lie side by side, covered in a deep blue comforter. He placed her on it gently, noting how her eyelids were fluttering against her reddened eyes. "Sleep," he whispered gently, and her eyes closed obediently. Sleep would do her the most good, and he continued to whisper in her ear long after she'd passed into dreamland.
The words he whispered she would never have been able to understand even if she'd been awake, but the spell was the only thing he could think of to help her. When she awoke, she would still remember what his despised cousin had done to her, but it would seem farther in the past, just as her own vengeful actions would feel as if they had happened a long time ago.
Then, having done what little he could to distance the pain of the crimes committed against her, he vanished on his self-proclaimed errand: finding Elena.
Right now, Sarah desperately needed a friend, and he sensed that the other woman would help even more than her goblin companions, although he had already summoned them to the castle as well.
The problem of Toby would have to wait until later.