CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Really, Husband," the High Queen announced stepping from her bower into the larger space of their private chambers. "Staring at the looking well so often is going to make you miserable."
"It's just as you had predicted," he commented with a touch of awe in his voice. "The injured mortal has just pledged herself to her guardian," he added, meeting his wife's eyes evenly. "He will attempt to get her with child, you say?"
"It's only one of many visions I've had, Lorne," she replied in a soft tone. "But, as Seph has never shown such an interest in another before, he will do whatever is in his power for the girl to be granted passage in the Underground."
The High King frowned thoughtfully. "It's all the Goblin King's fault," he grumbled, unseeingly glancing to the floor.
"There is no blame, Lorne. You know that," she stated in a pleasing voice. "It had been written long before you were king of a mortal made queen in our world." She walked over to him, placing her palm on his cheek. "I find it all exciting, don't you? The mortals are strong women, they will bring new life to our stale and boring existence."
"There is something else that has occurred," he informed her in a diplomatic tone. "A wished away child of the Aboveground has made his lifelong wish this day."
"Oh, that is wonderful!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together with joy. Then let her smile slowly fade from her features. "Why are you not excited?" she asked with confusion. "A lifelong wish has not been requested for a very long time, it must be celebrated."
"This lifelong wish involves the keeping of Lady Sarah's maid in waiting."
"The one who wishes to return home, yet refuses to leave her friends?" the Queen asked with anxiety.
"Indeed, the very one," he answered tiredly.
"Oh, my," she fretted. "What are we to do? A lifelong wish can not be refused, it is the wished away's right. A wish for a wish! It is so written!"
"Calm yourself, my wife," he soothed, placing his hands upon her shoulders. "There may be a way to satisfy both parties in this ordeal." He smiled suddenly as a plan formed in his mind.
"Oh, no," the queen voiced, seeing the look on her husband's face. "You can't force the girl to remain here," she reminded him.
"Indeed, I cannot," he smiled.
"You also cannot refuse a lifelong wish."
"Indeed, I cannot." He agreed again.
"I am certain that I don't want to know what you have planned, my husband," she whispered, her voice full of uncertainty.
"Ah, but my lovely wife, this will be so very exciting!" he responded with a broad smile.
XxXxX
The past several days had presented pleasant afternoons and stormy evenings in the Labyrinth Kingdom. The three mortal women had spent most of their time away from each other for various reasons. One being that Sarah continually had strange urges to wander the labyrinth, touching this, healing that with her magical gifts. She had become more adept at controlling her tiny elementals, that continuously grew in number if not size, while they spun and floated haphazardly all over the kingdom. Jareth hadn't complained, as of yet, for the minor disturbances they caused the inhabitants, so Sarah let them roam freely.
Jareth was pleased beyond words at Sarah's adjustment to his kingdom, to her gifts, and more specifically, to the attention she bestowed upon him at any given moment. On one occasion a sudden afternoon storm had breezed through the labyrinth after Sarah had discovered that she had the power to make Jareth feel extremely amorous from a short distance. He had, in turn, given her a dose of her own medicine, by a three fold, making her cry out passionately before nearly collapsing on weakened knees. No one who had been present was aware of what had actually happened to Sarah, and she hadn't been forthcoming with an explanation except to mumble something about 'being more careful with that particular gift'.
Heidi and Seph, although they were sociable enough, had developed the adept ability to simply disappear for indiscernible amounts of time. No one bothered to question them since it was obvious that they vied for as much privacy as they could get. Sarah thought it was wonderful to see her friend laughing and enjoying herself in Seph's company, if anyone deserved a happy ending, it was Heidi. Sarah just hoped that the High King will grant Heidi permission to remain in the Underground.
Gail had taken a sudden interest in the habits and lifestyles of the goblin community and, as long as Jareth was with Sarah, she was often found in the city, sometimes inebriated on goblin ale singing some silly song about the second star on the right. Sarah had been concerned about Gail's bouts of depression, but Jareth reassured her that the girl was being watched closely and that no one would let anything happen to her. Sarah still worried for her friend, but was comforted that she wasn't truly left alone.
One morning Sarah was feeling somewhat nostalgic, it had been days since she had spent any real time with her friends. Jareth had instantly sent a goblin messenger to the others that there would be a mandatory gathering in the gardens for a picnic that afternoon. Once everyone was settled on an oversized blanket, and food had been served on several platters, it became apparent that Sarah hadn't been the only who had missed her friends as the women laughed and chatted amongst themselves animatedly.
"Have you actually explored this castle?" Heidi asked her friends, her eyes alit with a happiness that hadn't been there before. "We must have gotten lost at least a dozen times!" she continued, settling comfortably between Seph's knees to use his chest for support.
"I'm sure that wasn't always by accident," Gail voiced airily, grinning as she took some slices of cheese with a piece of bread.
"I don't know," Sarah chimed in thoughtfully, leaning back against Jareth's chest, resting her elbows on his bent knees with a glass of wine in one hand, a hunk of cheese in the other. "It's not hard to get lost in there at all. I've had to wait for Jareth to find me more than once."
"Oh, and I'm sure you had to wait a long time, too," Heidi joked in a cynical tone. Sarah smiled knowingly, shrugging her shoulders before taking a bite of cheese.
"At least she doesn't lose her bloomers, like some people I know," Gail chided playfully, giving Heidi a sidelong glance.
Heidi started laughing, leaving Seph uncomfortable at such personal information being known openly. "Oh my god, how did you know about that?"
"One of the goblins found them," Gail replied, starting to laugh. "He wore them for three days before I could get them away from him."
"I don't recall seeing any of my goblins in women's clothing recently," Jareth remarked thoughtfully.
"I made him stay in my room," Gail clarified.
"Oh no," Sarah quipped, tilting her face back to look up at Jareth. "Now you've done it. She's aiding in the delinquency of goblins."
"Well, that just goes to show what you know," Gail quipped facetiously. "None of you even noticed that I've been wearing dresses occasionally."
"I have too noticed," Sarah replied, slightly defensive. "I just didn't think I needed to comment on it."
"It was hard not to notice with you swishing your skirts around like Julie Andrews on a mountain when you walked!" Heidi added laughingly. "What made you change your mind about wearing dresses, anyway?"
"The goblins showed me how to put them on correctly!" she answered, sounding just a little put out.
"Well, good for the goblins!" Heidi exclaimed, the others laughing under their breaths. "They have better fashion sense than you ever did, too!"
"Shove it, Heidi," Gail grumbled.
"I think your dresses are lovely," Seph complimented, feeling poorly on the young woman's behalf.
"Thank you," Gail replied, blushing slightly at the compliment.
"Suck up," Heidi accused him with a chuckle. Heidi tossed a grape into the air to catch it in her mouth, only to have tossed it too high and Seph catching it instead.
"Oh dear," Jareth voiced, causing everyone to look at him. "Goblin Girl, you've forgotten to accessorize." Pointedly glancing at her unarmed hip.
"I didn't think I had to," she replied honestly. "I mean, you're here, and Seph. What use would I be if both of you were over powered?"
"You feel I'm not worthy to defend?" Jareth questioned.
"Oh, no, that's not what I meant at all. It's just that you wouldn't need 'me' to defend you. You're the king, and powerful. I couldn't do anything useful."
"You sorely underestimate your own skills." Jareth remarked evenly. "I expect you to be armed at all times while outside the castle walls, inside as well since you've overcome your fear of my goblins. They are no longer in danger of you."
"Yes, your Majesty," she stated humbly with a bowed head.
"Seph," Jareth addressed. "Why not spar with the girl. Show her a few of your unique techniques."
"As you wish," he agreed readily, separating himself from Heidi to stand. Gail was about to comment that she didn't have her sword, which is what had started the whole conversation, when it suddenly appeared on her pants clad lap.
"And perhaps Goblin Girl will show you points from her own unique style." Jareth suggested pointedly, looking directly at Gail.
"What if I hurt him?" she fretted, rising to her feet with her sword in hand. "I've never sparred with a sharpened sword before."
"What else would you spar with?" Jareth asked with a perplexed expression, Seph looking on curiously.
"We use sparing sticks, or blunt swords, so nobody gets hurt," she answered, stepping into the open space Seph had chosen for sparing, then faced Jareth once more. "Well, it reduces injuries, anyway," she added with a shrug.
Jareth and Seph shared a quizzical glance with each other before Seph shrugged and drew his sword. "I wouldn't worry about that here, Gail," Jareth directed, actually using her given name for once. "Seph will simply have to be quicker than your sword," he stated nonchalantly.
"Don't worry, Gail," Seph reiterated, swinging his sword in his hand, switching off to the other hand to limber up. "Well take it slow at first."
Gail nodded, swinging her own sword in the same fashion Seph was his, noticing the approving expression on his face just before he came at her with a full down swing. She parried, and stepped back while in a spin to block his predicted next strike. "You call that taking it slow?!" she exclaimed.
Seph smiled, then continued coming at her with various moves to see how skilled she really was. After a few moments he stepped back out of her range and singled for a halt. "That, is the most impressive swordsmanship I've seen in a long time," Seph commended. "Your skills are adeptly fine tuned, my lady," he added. "However, allow me to show you how to improve on a few things, and I'm also interested in that one counter swing you did to block my upward attack. That was most interesting, and I've never seen anything like it before."
"Yea, I liked that feigning thing you did," she replied. "I'd like to know how to counter that one. I almost lost hold of my sword completely."
"That one is usually projected with the aid of magic, which I hadn't used while we sparred. Would you like for me to show you the full effect of it?"
"Yes, I would," Gail responded, completely taken in by his skill as a swordsman. She copied and memorized everything Seph was willing to teach her. She was especially fascinated with the feigned magical move and asked him to repeated it again and again until she was finally able to master defending herself against it.
"She's very driven when it comes to swords play," Jareth commented with high regard.
"She's been sparring with the goblins too," Heidi mentioned in a quiet voice. "She's scared to death that Marcus will show up when you or Seph aren't around, and she won't be able to stop him."
"I fear she would be right," Jareth confided in a low voice. "It will take more than skill to defeat the likes of that one. After escaping the High Castle itself, no one is certain of what he's capable of."
"But you can stop him, right?" Sarah asked, twisting within his loose embrace sideways to look back and up at him hopefully.
Jareth had never seen that look in her eyes before, complete trust and admiration. He had truly convinced her that he could do anything, that he was all powerful, and it clearly showed in her eyes at that moment. "I'm not feared for my handsome looks, My Little Imp," he smirked. "Though, they too have caused some to fall at my feet."
"You are completely incorrigible, you know that!" Sarah chastised, playfully nudging at his chest before turning to resettle her back against him. Jareth's smirk faded slowly as he met Heidi's watchful gaze over Sarah's head. Heidi looked away quickly, bowing her head while fixing the hem of her skirt with idle fingers.
"Can we sit down for a minute?" Gail asked Seph breathlessly, wiping her brow with the sleeve of her shirt. She was glad she'd worn her pants outfit to the picnic after all. There was no way she would have been able to learn that feigned move while wearing a skirt.
"Of course," Seph conceded, bowing towards her before stepping from their sparring area. Gail inclined her head in response, then promptly plopped herself to the ground where she stood.
"Out of shape, Gail?" Heidi taunted laughingly as Seph rejoined her, sitting by her side. She scooted closer to him, grateful for Seph being there after seeing the look in the king's eyes about Marcus. Heidi had a feeling that it was going to take both men to defeat that piece of scum. But, she was confident that they would succeed, of that she was certain.
"Just a little, it seems," Gail replied, panting. "Though I'm not used to sparring with a man built like Seph who doesn't hold back his attacks, either."
"Should I tell her that I was holding back?" Seph asked Heidi in a stage whisper.
Sarah shifted between Jareth's knees, pressing her backside up against him teasingly. "You're playing with fire, Imp," Jareth warned close to Sarah's ear, his arms tightening around her from behind. She grinned conspiratorially, leaning her head back against his shoulder as his arms embraced her.
"I'm not sure what you mean, my king," she replied in a mischievously innocent voice. "Have I done something to 'disturb' you?" Without a word of warning Jareth magically whisked himself and Sarah away from the others to be alone.
"That is an amazing gift," Seph remarked with awe at the sudden empty spot to their left.
"You mean you can't do that?" Gail asked with surprise.
"No," Seph answered in a disappointed tone, then looked down at Heidi. "We must have been carried by Lady Sarah's magic that night, I'm sorry I can't whisk you away like the king can your friend."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Gail commented cynically. "The two of you can disappear just fine when you want to."
Seph and Heidi smiled conspiratorially at each other as Seph bent his head to bring their lips together for an impassioned kiss. Gail rolled her eyes and got to her feet.
"I'm going to head for the city," Gail announced after a few minutes of listening to the couple lying in the grass, barely surfacing for air between their kisses. She picked up her sword and realized that she didn't have her sheath. Shrugging, she simply carried it as she made her way through the castle gardens towards the goblin city.
Jareth and Sarah reappeared on the embankment by the crystalline pool, Jareth held Sarah tightly until she had her footing. "You know very well what effect you have on me, My Defiant One," he told her with an uplift in his voice.
Sarah smiled and turned around in his embrace to wrap her arms around his neck. "I just wanted to be alone with you."
"You could have simply asked."
"Is that a complaint?" she asked with a quirked brow, pressing herself to rub against him provocatively. "I thought you liked the way I make you feel."
"Your cruelty knows no bounds, Sarah, to provoke me when I can't truly fulfill the need you insight within me."
"Remind me again why you won't take me, Jareth," she stated, teasing his senses with her tongue flicking at the bare skin on his chest. "I've begged you more than once to not stop, I've got this burning desire within me that won't be sated with the other ways you have pleased me. I want you, Jareth. You told me you'd wait until I was ready, until I asked for you, and you still deny me, why?"
"Because you are not ready, Sarah," he replied, his voice full of strained anguish. "Your desires are equal to my own, but… you're not ready to become my queen, and I will make you my queen before I make you my wife."
"I still don't understand why," she implored. "Is it because of the nightmares? Are they the reason I can't be your queen yet?"
He cupped her face in loving hands to stare at her with heartfelt eyes. "You shouldn't continue to suffer those night terrors," he explained. "That you continue to do so tells me that you are not yet ready to accept me." He tenderly kissed her then pulled back. "I'll have you when you're ready to have me."
He lifted his head suddenly, as though catching a sound in the breeze. "Something's wrong in the castle," he told her, peering into the forest unseeingly. "Remain here, you'll be safe within your own magic." With that said he vanished, leaving her alone to feel hurt and abandoned for something she had no control over.
She didn't know why she still had her nightmares. She wasn't even sure when she had fallen in love with Jareth, but those dreams tore her apart more than they ever had before. Most nights Jareth simply gave her what he called a sleepless dream, which allowed her to rest peacefully, but it's not as replenishing to the mind as regular sleep.
She thought that maybe he wouldn't go all the way with her until she spoke certain words, and had spent the better part of three days consecutively rattling off random phrases at him until he told her to stop. She knew it was unfair for her to be so impatient for him to make her his queen when he had waited for her for so long. But she thought that this was the moment he had been waiting for, and wasn't sure how to feel about his reluctance.
She wiped at a tear on her cheek, then froze as a feeling of unease washed over her. It must have been the same feeling that Jareth had picked up on moments before. Knowing that he would be pissed if she didn't listen to his command to stay put, she began the small trek back to the castle, the impending feeling of wrongness grew as she went along, making her quicken her steps.
Thunder rolled in the immediate area as her fear manifested into a maelstrom.
XxXxX
Jareth appeared in his throne room where everything seemed to be normal. Goblins were helping themselves to some ale, others sang a popular goblin tune, while a few more played games with bits of straw and a chicken. Yes, it all seemed normal for the throne room in the castle beyond the goblin city, normal that was until Sarah and her friends had come to the labyrinth. Since their arrival the chickens had been removed from the castle and kept out side, and the goblins had taken to singing Aboveground nursery rhymes, something a stranger wouldn't know. Add that to Goblin Girl spending most of her time in the city recently, the castle itself was usually near empty.
Jareth cast a wary glance upon one figure in particular, a goblin it seemed to be, but showed no characteristics of a true goblin in any way. "You've signed your fate by coming here, Marcus," Jareth stated in a confident tone. The false images of goblins, ale, and chickens suddenly vanished to leave one figure to stand tall on the opposite side of the room.
"You would see it that way, Goblin King," Marcus responded just as confident. "If not for you that troublesome mortal would have continued to serve me, providing so many creature with entertainment, adding fresh blood to this sterile world of ours." He chuckled without humor, diverting his gaze briefly with unfocused eyes. "You should have taken your mortal pet's advice and contained me when you had the chance." His eyes leveled on Jareth, turning black with malice. "Now, not only will a great king fall, but I will have three females for my pleasures, instead of only one."
"You think too highly of yourself, Marcus," Jareth relied, fighting to keep his inner emotions in check despite the rage that flooded his entire being at the mention of Sarah being enslaved, and remained focused on his adversary with intent eyes.
"You sorely underestimate my true potential," Marcus stated, a pleased sneer crossing his lips.
Suddenly, within the blink of an eye, Marcus was behind the Goblin King with a forged dagger in his hand, thrusting the blade into Jareth's side just below his armored vest. Jareth had anticipated the move, but hadn't calculated Marcus' speed correctly. In one fluid movement Jareth stepped to the side, turning on his heel with his own sword magically in his hand to clash metal with Marcus' sword that had appeared out of thin air. The dagger dropped to the stone with a resounding clank, shining crimson with the King's blood.
XxXxX
Every goblin within the city suddenly froze in place, their eyes fearfully looking up towards the castle with confusion.
"What is it?" Gail asked, an inner feeling of dread washing over her.
"Danger," the servant goblin answered. "The king is in danger."
Gail was instantly on her feet with her sword in hand. She raced through the city, up the short bridge, and into the main entrance hall of the castle. She paused for only an instant to let her eyes adjust to the inner dimness, then continued on to the throne room only to witness multiple figures of Marcus attacking the king all at once. The king was fighting valiantly, though it was obviously a losing battle against so many as Gail stared wide eyed in shock.
Then she did what came natural to her. She screamed. She screamed long, loud, and hard, distracting Marcus from making a fatal blow upon the king. She screamed in a pitch that only a goblin would understand to mean something. Gail had called the goblin army, because goblins stay together and protect each other. After all the air was expelled from her lungs, she filled them with a great breath then charged at Marcus with amber eyes full of determination.
"Get away from my king, you piece of shit!"
Marcus laughed, but stepped from the fallen king to meet her careless challenge just as the room magically filled with goblins, armed and ready for battle. Without warning they viciously attacked every image of Marcus they laid their eyes upon with blood curdling bellows of war.
Within minutes the false images of Marcus fell from sight while Gail homed in on the true form of Marcus, following his movements as he magically flitted from place to place in an attempt to reach the fallen king to finish him off. Gail rushed through the frenzied battle of swords and axes to reach the king first, raising her sword with anticipated preparation just as Marcus appeared before her.
She lunged at him with sure footedness, her sword catching him in the shoulder, spilling blood that appeared black as ink as it seeped into his black shirt. He'd been caught unawares by this mortal girl, for the second, and last, time! He thought she'd been detained in the ongoing fight, leaving him an open opportunity to finish killing the Goblin King.
Her mark had been true enough to break his concentration, unknowingly stabbing him in an already open wound by the Goblin King himself. Marcus leveled his sword at her, all the other images of him vanishing under the attack of the goblins. Gail poised herself, her sword level, her hands and arm steady as she met his gaze with steely eyes.
"You can't defeat me, mortal," he gloated arrogantly, using magic to appear as though he had advanced upon her so she would lunge forward and be vulnerable to his true thrust.
"You talk too much!" she spat, moving as though she was falling for his feigned motion, then counter attacked by dodging to the side, spinning with momentum around his forward thrust, and brought her sword sharply across his the width of his back. Surprise clearly etched his face as he stumbled forward, turning around to see her ready and poised once more while his upper body burned with his bleeding wounds.
XxXxX
Bells rang the alarm as goblins ran in and out of the castle in confusion. The skies darkened above and around the castle, winds ripped through the city unmercifully causing goblins to run for safety. Heavy rains began to fall upon the castle, seemingly an omen of doom.
Seph and Heidi look around with confusion at first, both of them getting to their feet. "Something's wrong," Seph stated, both of them hearing the loud tolls of a bell. "That's the warning bells in the city."
"But the storm is coming from that way," Heidi pointed out, then met Seph's worried gaze with her own. "This isn't right," Heidi fretted. "Sarah wouldn't cause this bad of a storm, not from two separate directions!"
"You go that way!" Seph yelled, sprinting towards the castle while pointing towards the forest. "Find Sarah and keep her out of the castle! It has to be Marcus!"
Heidi ran in the direction Seph had pointed in for all she was worth, fear and anger spurring her onward as she ran into the oncoming maelstrom.
XxXxX
Marcus pivoted and made another unexpected move, throwing Gail off balance when her swinging arm missed it's target. He was behind her in a flash with his left arm around her waist, his right holding the forgotten dagger at her throat. "As I've said, you cannot defeat me, mortal." He hissed in her ear, putting pressure on the skin at her throat with the blade.
Gail forcibly slammed her head backwards, banging him square in his nose. He cried out in pain and lost his grip of her for a fleeting moment before grabbing her roughly once more. "Bitch!" he spat, slamming the handle of the dagger to the side of her head, rendering her unconscious to slip to the floor in a crumpled heap. "I'll enjoy you piece by piece soon enough," he sneered down at her, bending over to retrieve her sword.
"I don't think so, Marcus."
Marcus whipped his body up straight while spinning around at the masculine voice, mistaking it as the Goblin King's until what could only have been a fist slammed into his face with enough force to knock him to the floor next to Gail.
"You're not getting away this time, Marcus," Seph vowed in an even tone.
"Damn this kingdom!" Marcus cursed, having had enough of being stabbed, kicked, bit, and bashed in the face, twice!
"Move Goblin Girl and surround this room," Seph commanded the few remaining goblins. "This bastard doesn't leave here alive," he added in a deep voice full of conviction. He unsheathed his sword, swinging it adeptly in his hand to limber up his fingers, before leveling it at Marcus as he rose to his feet. "Let's Dance."