CHAPTER 11
Ciaran quickly found that he enjoyed living with the irrepressible Goblin King. They sometimes spent long hours arguing amicably about ancient laws and magics that had been lost to the world for centuries. Other times they would find themselves sitting peacefully in the expansive library, content to be quiet in each others' company. Jareth even assigned a man servant to the god. More often than not, the man's duties were confined to showing Ciaran around the lovely, but sometimes dangerous, Labyrinth.
After nearly a month Sarah, though, was still cool toward both men, and could usually be found sitting in Maeve's nursery. While both men were glad to see her bond with the child, they were beginning to get anxious over her lack of interest in any other part of her life. She didn't even seem to care much that Ciaran and Jareth were living under the same roof; sometimes it seemed that she didn't realize what was going on around her.
One bright morning, as the two were taking breakfast on one of Jareth's many verandas, Ciaran spoke the words Jareth had been dreading. "We must do something about Sarah."
Sighing, he laid down his fork and silently contemplated the god for a long minute. "I agree. I do not, however, know what we should do. Sarah has suffered more shocks in a very short period of time than most people suffer in a lifetime, and I am not sure whether her apparent apathy is due to internal stressors, or her anger at us."
Ciaran nodded. "I have wondered that myself. I have spoken to the servants that wait on her, and have discovered that the only thing she pays attention to is Maeve. She shows absolutely no desire to interact with anyone else. I do not believe this is normal behavior for her. At least it wasn't when she was with me."
"Internal stressors it is then. You are right in the assertion that this is not normal behavior for her." Jareth sat down his fork, but the Goblin King rose from the chair. Holding out a hand in invitation, he spoke. "Let us go get my wife back."
As he rose, Ciaran looked into the other man's eyes and spoke softly. "She is mine, too. That may be one of her problems, and we may want to settle it before we try to bring Sarah into the mix."
Head raised, eyes fierce, the Goblin King attempted to stare down a god. It didn't, of course, work. With a groan that came all the way from his toes, Jareth sat back down and rested his head in his cupped hands. "I do not know how to resolve it, Ciaran. I do not share what is mine; but neither have I ever been in a position like this."
Chuckling humorlessly, Ciaran sat again also. "You believe I have? We are both in unique positions that we are increasingly uncomfortable with. If it makes you feel any better, though, I have no intention of encroaching upon your mate bond."
Jareth's head shot up, and his eyes held a mixture of relief and worry. "You do not?"
Slight smile in place, Ciaran spoke softly. "Though it would pain me to turn her away from my bed if she truly desired to be there, I doubt it will ever be an issue. You, Goblin King, have too little faith in her."
"Do I? How do you suppose that?"
"Cease with the posturing, will you? It gets tiresome." He laughed softly at the look on the fae king's face before continuing. "She was physically with me, willing to share her body for the bargain she had struck. Underlying it all, though, was her love for you. The bargain was for you, as were most of her thoughts while she was keeping it. She never stopped thinking of you, mourning the pain she knew you were in." Here, he sighed; a weary, pain-filled sound that hurt even Jareth to hear. "It mattered little that I gave her all she asked for, that I grew to love her...she is yours, Goblin King, every part of her. I would no more try to take her from you than I would again attempt to remove yon child from her."
Hearing a god admit to loving a mortal, hearing the pain in his voice as he spoke, made something in Jareth change. He knew he should be jealous, and he was, but he also knew that Sarah would never forgive him for making this choice for her. He had grown to like the other man, and thought that maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be such a bad thing to share Sarah. If, of course, that was what she wanted. "I find that I am not as easy as I should be at hearing that." He spoke to Ciaran's astonishment. "I believe we should ask Sarah how she wants to handle this arrangement; but I think I would be able to handle sharing her with you. I cannot bring myself to ignore the pain I hear when you speak of her."
"She has truly changed you, hasn't she?"
"I think she has changed us both."
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"Sarah?" They spoke in unison, as if they had practiced.
Dully, she lifted her head and looked at them. "What do you two want?"
Eyebrow lifted, Jareth spoke first. "We must speak, us three. Allow the maid to watch after Maeve for a few moments.
Eyes darkening, Sarah had just opened her mouth to argue when Ciaran cut in.
"We need to settle a few things, and we wish to talk to you about your recent transformation into fae. We realize we have neglected our responsibilities to you, and are anxious to resume them."
She looked confused for a moment before something in his words hit her as funny. With a grin almost like the old Sarah's, she nodded to the ever-present maid and stepped from the room.
As she closed the door behind her, though, her expression darkened and her eyes flashed sparks. "Your responsibilities to me? Do either of you even know what those are? I haven't even figured it out yet." She pointed to Jareth. "You are supposed to love me. To support me, and help me through things I don't think I can handle by myself. Yet you have let your own hurt feeling eclipse the fact that I needed you." Now her pointing finger moved to Ciaran. "And you. You took my daughter from me. You decided I was better off without her, and didn't even bother to consult me." She lowered her hand, but her voice got even harder. "And now you two are going to stand here and tell me we need to talk? What could I possibly have to say to either of you?"
Both men had raised to their full heights, and their eyes were flashing between anger and pain. After a brief look at each other, Ciaran spoke. "I did what I did in an attempt to save you pain, not cause it. I did not want you to feel torn between me and your mortal love. Though I was wrong, you cannot fault my motives, Sarah."
"While I," Jareth's voice was very quiet. "owe you an apology. You are right, Sarah, I let my hurt feelings get in the way of what I knew to be right." He looked deep into her eyes and smiled a small smile. "It has been long since I have felt jealousy, and I have never felt the kind of pain your bargain with Ciaran caused. I was unprepared to deal with it, but that is not an excuse. I was wrong, Sarah, and I am sorry."
Her stance went from fighting to astonished in a single moment. The fact that Jareth, of all people, was apologizing to her was enough to stop the planned tirade in its tracks. "You...oh christ, Jareth." Taking two steps forward, she wrapped her arms around him and held onto him like she had not since Ciaran had shown up with an infant in his arms. She buried her head in his chest for a second, inhaling his scent and letting it wash over her.
After a moment, Ciaran spoke again. "There is something else we wanted to tell you, Sarah." His voice was low, he had to fight to get the words around the lump in his throat seeing her like that had caused. "Jareth has agreed that, should you wish it, he will share you."
Anger momentarily flashed in her eyes before the full impact of what he had said hit her. She looked up into her love's eyes and saw nothing of the turmoil she had expected to see.
Jareth gently pushed her back so she could look at both of them. "Sarah, you are my mate, and I love you with everything I am. Because of that, though, I can feel that you care deeply for Ciaran. The sharing of your body with him created a bond that is only made stronger by Maeve's existence. If you want us both, I will not fight your decision."
"I am not sure I could handle you both," Sarah said, only half joking. "A king and a god...that's a lot of testosterone to navigate." She looked at both men, standing there so patiently. "I believe," she said slowly, "that I would like to take this slow and see how it goes. I also need to know if my fae-ness is going to cause me any difficulties in this that I am unaware of."
Again, she looked at Ciaran, and saw his need as plainly as she would have seen Jareth's. A quick nod from the aforementioned king let her know it was ok, and she moved to stand in front of the god. "I think I missed you, even though I didn't remember." She reached up to touch the side of his face and was surprised when he closed his eyes and breathed a broken sigh. Her words were quiet. "You really do love me."
"I do."
Without having the right words to respond, Sarah merely stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him. She held him tightly for a minute or two before softly kissing him on the cheek and pulling away. She looked at them both and smiled a small smile before she grimaced. "I know this is horribly selfish, and I'm not sure how you two are going to react, but I have a request."
Sharing a look, the two men merely waited for her to continue.
"Would you two mind if we all slept in the same bed tonight?" She hurried on, before they could respond. "I would sleep in the middle, of course, and I do mean sleep." That last was said with a blush. "Given recent events, I would feel better if I could be near both of you."
It took but a moment's deliberation, and both men nodded. Jareth was the first to speak. "I think we could try that. I'll not guarantee that I, or Ciaran, will sleep well, but I do not think it would hurt to try."
"I agree." Ciaran said softly. "I would be honored to sleep with you, Sarah."
At the peculiar note in his voice, Sarah searched her memories of her time with him. "Oh! We never shared a bed, did we?"
"We did not. You felt that it would be a betrayal of your mortal."
Jareth's eyes lit from within and he swept her into a kiss that curled her toes. When he set her down he murmured against her lips. "I do not deserve you, Sarah."
"Neither of us do, Goblin King." Despite the low volume of his words, Ciaran had obviously heard them and responded.
