"Now I know she'll never leave me,
Even as she runs away.
She will still inspire me,
be a part of everything I do.
Wasting in my lonely tower,
Waiting by an open door.
I'll fool myself she'll walk right in
And be with me, for evermore."
-Alan Menken, Evermore (Beauty and the Beast 2017)
Sarah rubbed her eyes sleepily. Unlike most young women who would worry about the consequences of sleeping with someone, she felt nothing but pure happiness. She leaned over and kissed her new fiancé, basking in the happiness from his proposal from the night before. Grabbing his left arm, she slung it over her head so he would be around her.
Jareth stirred a bit at her touch, instinctively leaning into her. Sarah kissed him over and over, until he woke up to her smile. She loved the way his eyes lit up happily when he saw her face.
The king of Goblins traced a finger from her cheekbones to her lips. "Good morning, you precious thing." Sarah giggled and they gave each other a proper kiss, still nude from the night before.
Pulling back, Sarah ran her fingers through his hair, content with her position. "How cliché." She mused. "Having sex for the first time at prom night."
He scoffed playfully. "But you did it with ME. That isn't normal, is it Precious?" As if to prove his point, Jareth lunged at her and threw her down on the bed, pinning her arms and attacking her with kisses as she squealed in fake protest. He ran his hands down her sides without mercy, tickling her until she nearly elbowed his eye.
Just as he was about to ravish her like he did the night before, a damning knock rang through his chambers. Well, a knock was an understatement. It was more of a pound.
"KINGY THERE ARE PEOPLE TO SEE YOU NOW!"
Jareth hissed in frustration, his bare chest still looming over Sarah. "Finey, not now! Tell them that they need to contact me first to set up a meeting. I'm a king, not a fast food restaurant for crying out loud!"
Finey whimpered through the otherside of the door. "Kingy noooo! They're going to be killing us if you don't come now! Please!"
Both Jareth and Sarah immediately sat right up. Jareth waved a hand to clothe both of them. "Stay right there!" He told her.
Sarah ran to the door, blocking Jareth. "No. I am going to be their future queen. How am I supposed to protect them while stuck in here?"
The only warning she had was Jareth squinting. He waved an arm and bound her to a chair. "LET ME GO!" She screamed at him. Jareth turned back, giving her an apologetic look.
"Sarah, you are not strong enough. Not yet. I cannot risk you getting hurt. You can't be a queen who protects her subjects if you're dead." Throwing his hand up, he disappeared in a cloud of glitter, leaving Sarah screaming her brains out.
Landing in the throne room, he was immediately swarmed by masked beings. Jareth wrapped himself up in a cocoon made from his crystal, protecting himself before blasting the nearest person to him. He leapt up and sent four crystals to each side, making a deafening noise to catch them off guard. He threw another sphere, making vipers to attach around his foes to temporarily paralyze them before they turned to strong bonds around their wrists and ankles to bind them.
Holding out one hand, he summoned his sword and battled each of them. Wrapping his cloak around himself, the king tried to disappear and reappear on their other side.
Unfortunately, though he was the most powerful fey in the realm, even he could not win over the dozens of feys that were against him. He fought as warm blood trickled down his arm, wounding him.
He fell to the ground as his vision started to fade. The last thing he saw were two beautiful violet eyes that sent his heart racing in fear.
Sarah struggled against her bonds and choked at the cloth that a goblin had used to gagged her (under Jareth's instructions, of course). Trying to calm herself down, the human girl concentrated on melting the bonds away using her own magic. She knew that Jareth wouldn't bind her permanently, so there was a way to escape.
It didn't quite go as planned. Turns out that Jareth had enchanted the ropes to be elastic, so they snapped back and gave Sarah a large welt on her arm. She cried out in frustration. "UGH! Jareth!" But even so, a few more tries and she was free.
She ran to the door and tore it open, but instead collided with something.
Or rather, someone.
Sarah yelped as the woman sent a purple flash of lighting through her body, shocking her and bringing her to her knees. The woman grabbed Sarah by the collar and dragged her to the throne room.
Once she sat down on a chair, Sarah could see that she was alone with this intruder. The human knew that she would not be able to get away, but worried about her fiancé. Where was Jareth? Did this woman hurt him?
Still dazed but angry, she squirmed defiantly against invisible bonds and screamed at her. "Who are you? Where is the king of Goblins? What have you done to him? I demand that you tell me now!"
The woman clicked her tongue disapprovingly. Sarah could see her features more clearly now. Her eyes were a beautiful violet color. Her hair was raven black. Her nose was straight and long, well defined and her lips were a luscious red color. Her breasts peaked from the top of her bodice and she had an aura that would attract any man that she liked. Even though Sarah had met other feys (all more beautiful than humans), this one was made all of them pale in comparison.
"You don't know who I am?" She asked innocently. "I'm surprised Jareth hasn't mentioned me before. I am an important person in his life, you know." She circled around Sarah like a vulture waiting for its meal. "So, this is the lowly human who has caught the eye of the king." The woman cackled.
Sarah hissed. "I know who you are, Victoria! Don't pretend like you and Jareth have ANYTHING in common! What do you want from him? You already have your own kingdom! Why do you do this? Some kind of weird obsession?"
Victoria reeled around and pointed a long stick at Sarah's throat. It took her the human to realize that it was, in fact, a wand. Only some of the most powerful creatures were able to wield such magic. Crystals were an example of a more powerful tool than wands.
"Don't." The witch hissed. "I suppose Jareth never told you about the true nature of our past, did he? That bastard hurt me in the worst way possible!"
Her eyes welled up with tears, which surprised Sarah. "He told me that if I stopped whoring around, he would love and cherish me because he had feelings for me. That night, Jareth and I made love."
"That's a lie!" Sarah spat out. If she was able to see the temperature in her body, she was sure that her blood was near boiling. "You're tricking me and making question him!" Sarah struggled some more against her bonds. "You won't win!"
"Not a lie!" Victoria screeched. "He told me he loved me. Even if he didn't, you honestly think he would resist me? He is still a man. I saw him let your rival at your human-dance touch him last night. And I dare say he enjoyed it."
Sarah's mind flashed back to prom, where Jareth and Ellie walked on the dance floor together. "No. He did that to be petty. Not because he doesn't love me." Even as she said those words, she wasn't sure if she really believed what she was saying.
Victoria rolled her eyes. "You're so naive." She sat herself on Jareth's silver throne, sitting quite gracefully instead of lazily like its king.
"As I was saying, after Jareth and I made love, I told my lover to go. We had a lovely time together, fawning over each other. We are both the most beautiful feys in the entire kingdom, a perfect match in every single way." Her eyes got a little sad and misty. "But alas, Jareth is a jealous man. He couldn't stand the thought of my former lover being alive so he killed him."
Sarah felt her faith in Jareth waning. Seeing Victoria's sad eyes told her that the pain this fey woman felt was real. However, she could also be lying still. The human girl chose to defend her fiancé. "He would NEVER hurt someone like that out of pure jealousy! If he did, he'd have killed my two loves before him!"
She held out her right hand to inspect her perfect manicure. "Tell me, what do you have besides his word that he has never been intimate with anyone else? How do you know that his thoughts aren't filled of other women when you aren't in his arms? You think he LOVES you?"
"If he did, why take the time to get to know me FOR MONTHS? And he got his powers back because of True Love's Kiss!"
Victoria snorted gracefully (how she did that, Sarah had no idea). She twirled her wand in her fingers. "Oh Sarah. You had to love HIM. He didn't have to love you back. Your Jareth stooped so low in making you trust him. You're his CONQUEST, not a lover! He doesn't mean to intend to make you his queen. If he did, then he must be cunning. A wise idea, now that I know that you've conquered his Labyrinth."
Sarah's breathing slowed as she processed what Victoria was saying. For a while she was ranting on and on about how Sarah was some lowly human and now she was almost praising Jareth for choosing her to be his bride. "What do you mean?"
Victoria suddenly stopped twirling her wand and grinned knowingly, making Sarah nervous. "You see, Ms. Williams, by conquering his Labyrinth, it has accepted you as Jareth's equal. You could challenge him to rule the Goblin Kingdom. He was forced to give you certain magical powers. Instead of striking you down as many would have, he decided to win you and make you his queen, thereby making him stronger than he would ever have been.
"But you're a human. It's foolish to think that you could complete the transformation to be fey. He should've killed you when he had the chance. And I will show him that I am the one that was meant for him!"
Sarah felt the air in her lungs escaping her lips, a silent scream waiting to be let out. Her head was thrown backwards and her eyes closed as she saw stars. Her stomach churned, ready to vomit the copious amounts of food that she ate for dinner the night before.
Just before she thought she would die, air rushed back into Sarah's lungs. She gasped, and saw that she was in a cell. Adjusting her eyes to the darkness, she realized that it was the dungeon of the castle.
"HEY!" She screamed. "LET ME OUT! I DEMAND YOU!"
She screamed and kicked the door, trying to use her magic to open it. As she suspected, her magic was too weak to open anything sealed by a witch.
Eyes full of tears, she sat down and cried. She knew that Victoria would hurt the weaker magical creatures as the other feys had done during Jareth's absence. The witch would do so much damage and could possibly take over as Queen.
Queen. With Jareth? Sarah wasn't sure. She wanted to believe Jareth, but Victoria's story also added up, and she seemed like she was telling the truth. Jareth never had reason to lie to her, but after hearing more, Sarah wondered what he didn't tell her. He hadn't told her the whole truth about the prophecy or where it came from. He had avoided talking about Victoria, and Sarah just assumed it was because he didn't like her. Could it be that he had been intimate with her too?
Sarah hugged her legs close to her, thinking about Jareth's proposal and their love making from last night. He had been so thoughtful and wonderful, and did seem talented in bed. Did he have experience? Or did he just really have time to prepare himself all these years?
Sarah shuddered as she remembered the way Jareth's fingers danced on her skin so lovingly. She remembered the way his lips graced her body and whispered words of comfort and love, taking his time and being ever so patient, never forcing her to please him back (though she did, of course).
She still wasn't sure, but the look on his eyes from the night before, professing his love. He didn't just tell her he loved her, he SHOWED it. Multiple times, before and after he got his powers back. Sarah shook her head again. How DARE she believe some crazy witch, even for one moment? She spun her engagement ring around, finding a new sense of conviction.
"Don't worry, Jareth." She said to no one in particular. "We will get out of this and we will win."
Jareth groaned. His head throbbed in pain and his vision was blurry. He slowly tried to wake from whatever knocked him out.
He wiggled his fingers and toes, trying to get feeling back into them. His arms and legs told him that he was in a sitting position, and from the way he couldn't move them, his feet were bound as well. His head was supported by two cushions, which would explain why he wasn't slouched over.
His vision got a little clearer, and he saw a woman sitting on a bed.
HIS bed.
"GET OUT OF MY CHAMBERS!" He screamed at Victoria, struggling against the strong vines that held him to the chair. His eyes darted around, looking for Sarah. Damn it, he should've put a stronger spell to keep her bound. Victoria wouldn't have been able to get in if Sarah hadn't escaped.
"My my." The witch strolled towards the king and traced a finger down his cheek. "The fun has barely started!"
Jareth's eyes widened in surprise. "You. You were at the ball last night! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!" His face turned beet red in frustration and anger. How could he have missed the signs? He felt so stupid for not recognizing his former betrothed.
"Always such a temper." She slid her finger down his arm, giving Jareth an unpleasant shiver. It made his skin crawl and he wanted nothing more than to sanitize his arm where she touched him. He growled. "Where is Sarah? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?"
Victoria let out a sharp sigh. "She's fine, Jareth. Let's not talk about her." Jareth felt a lick behind his ear. "Let's talk about us."
He shivered under her touch. But not because he liked it. His body screamed like it was on fire. It just felt so wrong. At the same time, he was a man so some carnal instinct begged to be touched, but his mind made her touch feel just as one feels eating 5 milk shakes at once. It tastes good but you hate yourself all while doing it. It was unlike the night before, where he gave his all to his Sarah. That felt right. How she felt and how she was so sweet and so beautiful...
Victoria stopped touching him, hissing. She waved her hands and the two cushions supporting his head fell away as she grabbed his hair and yanked it back. "You have been intimate with her, haven't you?"
Jareth gave a feral smile. Seeing her upset gave him a slight upper hand. A mark was made right on his lower neck, a symbol of a sort.
It was rare that a symbol was made as many feys did not marry for love. He gave his heart and soul to Sarah, so a tiny half-moon mark was made that appeared right after they made love.
"YOU LET A HUMAN BRAND YOU?" Victoria was livid, and slapped the King of Goblins right on the face. "You were promised TO ME!"
"BY MY PARENTS!" He spat. "I would NEVER have been with you out of choice! Now WHERE IS SARAH?"
Victoria started to leave the chambers, too infuriated by him. Until she had an idea. A smile curled on her lips as she faced the king.
"I'll make a deal." She circles around the king once more. "I want you to marry me. Make me your queen. In exchange, I'll make sure your Sarah is safe and sound Above. I can even rid of her memories of you so she is not in pain."
He spat at her face. "If you think that I believe you for one second, then you're a fool. I will escape and find her!"
Victoria said nothing, but used her wand and made a circle. Jareth looked inside, and there was a projection of Sarah, in the dungeons. A hooded person with a whip was coming towards her.
"No." Jareth breathed out. "Let her go!"
Again, the witch said nothing as the human girl was being dragged on the ground, fighting and screaming profane words. But it was no use. The whip came down. Hard.
The first slash tore through Sarah's dress, leaving marks of blood on her back. The blood-curdling scream rang through Jareth's ears and he felt his whole body shake from seeing his beloved being hurt without being able to help her.
"Marry me," Victoria started. "And I will let her go."
"She's strong." The king growled. "And I will NEVER marry a vile piece of trash like you!"
That did it. Victoria's eyes narrowed. "Guard!" The hooded man in the dungeon lifted his head up. "Embed the whip with magic! Let's see how the King's whore will deal with this!"
"Leave her alone!" Jareth's eyes were forming with tears. The whip came down and not only did it cause another streak of blood on Sarah's back, her body convulsed from the electrifying charge. He saw her body go limp, fainting from the pain. As a human, her body would not be able to survive much longer.
"Jareth, I won't let her be hurt anymore." Victoria said, sounded almost regretful. "I will make sure she is safe. You cannot fight me and my people, who many were once loyal to you and can be loyal to you again. The iron bonds on you will not come off unless I say, for it was forged by me and sealed by my people. You know this, I can see. Marry me. You and I will both win, as the King and Queen of the Labyrinth. Your subjects will be happy and healthy, even the Goblins if you want. I want to rule with you as my equal. Choose me, and the pain will stop."
Jareth shuddered again. "I need to know that you will keep that promise. Erase Sarah's memories of me. Hand me your bracelet."
By giving one's jewelry that was embedded with their magic, one could vow that they will keep a certain promise. Reluctantly, Victoria slipped off her golden bracelet and gave it to the king.
Instantly, the bonds on his hands faded but he still felt the iron shackles on them, preventing him from using his magic. Sarah disappeared from the dungeons and into the Above, as Victoria showed him. The vile thing gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Let's plan our wedding, my king."
If you're confused about what story is the real version, don't worry it'll all get sorted out I promise!