**What kind of magic spell to use?**
.
.
Oh, just make the woman who had once scorned my proposal, instantly fall in love with me.
Simple.
Only a fool renews sentiments that were once rejected. Of course I had already decided to do just that, but I had hoped for more than a week's time to get her to warm up to that idea.
I paced back and forth in my bedroom, desiring the quiet in which to think. The goblins were on edge; they knew something was seriously wrong, but I was not able to tell them what. They wouldn't understand the dilemma I faced. If Sarah didn't decide to become one of us, she would be killed. The Elders knew very well that if they tried to kill her, I would fight them, and I would be defeated—the goblins along with me. As much as I desired to protect this race of creatures from genocide, I could not live without Sarah. As long as she was alive, my heart could beat—even without her love in return.
There was no choice. She had to consent to be my queen.
And so I paced and thought. I had nothing else to do as I waited for her to call on me—another issue sure to work against me. I needed her to wish me into her presence merely to speak with her—as if my situation weren't complicated enough.
No, that was one thing I could remedy right away. She might need to wish me into her presence for me to speak with her in my human form, but she would know I was near at all times. I could no longer afford to be casual in my affections for her. I needed to make my intentions clear.
However, she was different than virtually every woman I had ever encountered. I wasn't sure how to woo her. She wasn't impressed by my power, my strength, or my royal title. Other men had pursued her and she had rejected them as well. She was impossible to please!
I was tempted to tell her about the danger she was in, but 'Sarah, you need to consent to be my queen or you will die' didn't have the right ring to it. Besides, my pride required an attempt at being allowed to make her fall in love with me.
Thinking back on her previous suitors, I analyzed the choices they made of which she approved. James had been the most successful (and the most dastardly). His persistence with the flowers ingratiated her enough to get him a date. However, I did not have three months.
The scoundrel had used red roses as his bouquet of choice – how blasé! He hadn't put any thought into it, merely choosing the most common symbol of romance as a means to enter her pants—how pathetic.
Sarah was precious. She needed something that spoke of her beauty, her perfection. Yet it couldn't be as simple as a carnation. It needed to be rare, like her. It had to speak of seduction –for I was going to seduce her – but not merely to gratify the lust of the flesh. My affection for her was pure.
I began rolling a crystal between my fingers. In an instant it had been transformed to the perfect symbol of my adoration. An orchid, with petals the color of her cheeks as she flushed under my gaze; as soft as her lips as they caressed my cheek.
From my desk drawer I pulled a piece of stationary and a quill with which to write. I knew delivering my intentions in a letter was the coward's way, but time was not on my side.
In my most elegant script, I wrote:
My Dearest Sarah,
It has come to my attention that my intentions toward you
have been somewhat masked. Let me speak plainly now
as time is running short. I desire you for my queen.
I will have no other.
I do not request an answer from you at present, however, it is a
matter which cannot wait long. In one week's time, events
will be put into motion that I am powerless to stop.
Please consider carefully before making your decision.
Your dreams are yours if only you will ask.
As always, you may call upon me at your leisure, but do so
soon. In seven days, I will disappear from your life, forever.
I will be near,
Jareth
The letter was as straightforward as possible. I transported myself to the Aboveground, my body transforming to that of the owl as I materialized outside her bedroom. Her window was open, allowing the cool night air to dance upon her sheer curtains.
Within, Sarah slept, peacefully unaware of the danger in which I had placed her. Her hair framed her angelic face in the pale moonlight like a dark halo. Moist breath flowed from slightly parted lips, calling out for me to come and taste her essence. Her arms had pulled out from beneath her sheets, exposing her creamy shoulder, with only a thin strap keeping her ivory nightgown from revealing the soft curves beneath the sheet. She was exquisite.
Carefully clutching the flower and note within my talons, I flew to her bed and placed the gift on the empty pillow next to her. Then I moved to the window ledge and paced.
I had not thought this through. I wanted to witness her reading the note in person—or at least in owl form—however, I had not anticipated her remaining asleep. I vacillated between waking her and letting her rest, finally deciding that I didn't have time to wait.
Drawing upon what little power I had in this form, I called the wind, causing a sharp gust to blow in through the window, waking her with its cold caress. She turned over to pull her sheets higher—her eyes fluttering as she fought to retain her sleep—and immediately noticed the flower. I hid behind her curtains and watched her sit up in alarm, pulling her sheet up to her chest as she studied the room for ghosts in the dark.
Finding no one, she flipped on the lamp next to the bed and began poring over the note. I wasn't sure what I expected her reaction to be, but as usual, she surprised me.
"Goblin King, if you are nearby, show yourself!"
As she hadn't actually wished me into her presence, I was limited in my grand entrance, but I did my best. Flying silently around her room, I alighted upon her dresser and fluffed out my feathers to settle in for a chat.
She seemed startled by my form, but quickly controlled her features. Raising one of her delicate eyebrows, she asked, "Did you leave this note?"
I cocked my head to the side in acknowledgment.
"Is this your attempt at romance? You wake me up in the middle of the night with a symbol of fertility on my pillow and expect me to swoon?" she scoffed, waving the orchid in the air. "Or is 'queen' just a job title, with the duties being to produce little heirs to the throne?"
I flapped my wings in frustration. She was insulted by the flower! I should have realized that as a landscape architect, she would know the history of the orchid, but she should also know the symbolism behind it. How could she scorn a symbol of pure love? What did I have to do to impress her!
Didn't she understand what I was offering her? Didn't she know how many women would do practically anything to trade places with her? To be the wife of one of the most powerful kings in the Underground is not something to be taken lightly! And yet she mocked me—mocked my offering.
And she wasn't done. "I will not be a tool, Goblin King, to be used for your twisted end-game. I will not marry for convenience sake or because someone desires me to do so. I don't need your power or your wealth. I don't need servants or subjects to worship me. I won't be a baby factory. When I marry, it will be for love. Not the trumped up, romantic version that James fooled me into. I want the real deal. I won't settle for less."
She stood up and strode towards me, full of command—her narrowed eyes gleaming in the dim light. She had never looked more beautiful, and as the sheet fell to the bed, I was nearly overwhelmed with desire. Although it was a relatively modest nightgown, her body was silhouetted by the glow of the lamp, reminding me that there was only a thin, cottony layer of fabric separating her soft flesh from my touch. It gave my imagination so many new options and I was almost grateful that I wasn't in my human form as I would not have been able to control myself. As it was, I had to fight the urge to twitter as she came to stand within a foot of me.
She was brave when she didn't have to look at me as a man—she could pretend she was only talking to a bird. She would never have come this close to me, looking like that, if I had been in my human form.
"I'll admit that it was a welcome surprise when you saved me and I allowed myself to think of you as an unconventional hero, but I'm sure the only interest you have in me is the fact that I beat your labyrinth. You have worked yourself into a frenzy trying to figure out how a young girl could beat you and you have convinced yourself that you need me because of that. But if you want me to be your queen, then I will need proof. You need to show me that I'm more to you than the girl who beat your labyrinth—a challenge, something you think you can't have…a trophy—because I won't base my future off your hatred of losing." And with those final words, she picked me up and threw me out her bedroom window, locking it behind her. Her light turned off a moment later and the night turned dark once more.
I was almost too stunned to be angry. So much of what she had said was completely illogical. I couldn't comprehend how her mind worked!
Yet I was angry. Did she think that I flippantly offered to share my throne with just anyone? I had waited centuries to find her, invested years in training her, watched her grow, and kept her safe— for what? To be rejected again and again.
She wanted proof of my love! What more proof was there? I had turned my world upside down for her and it was all for nothing. What did she want from me?
I flew high into the sky to be encompassed by the moon, feeling comforted by its simple glow, until I was reminded that it was the moon on whose timing the Elders were waiting. What I wouldn't do to be able to stop time in the Aboveground—to give me a chance to let her know me more. But that was a wish that wouldn't come true.
Returning to my castle, I decided to take a walk through the labyrinth to the Wiseman. Perhaps he would be able to give me new insight into my troubles.
As it was nighttime, I expected to find him asleep, but he was surprisingly alert when I entered into his courtyard. The annoying bird hat was the one asleep for a change—a good thing, as I was in no mood to humor him.
"Good evening, Your Majesty. What a welcome surprise. How may I be of service to you?" The old man blew his mustache away from his lips and coughed with the exertion.
"I wish to hear what your opinion is on love," I stated simply. He would not need any particulars to give me what I needed.
"Ah, yes. Love. It is great for the recipient, but often painful for the donor."
Tell me something I didn't already know. "Yes, yes, but love is an emotion. How would you go about proving that you feel an emotion?"
The strain of answering my question seemed to have brought on the exhaustion that characterized him, but upon my question he startled awake. "When you wear a mask over the truth… you are thought to be liar." His eyes closed and he immediately began snoring.
The old man was obviously too tired to make coherent thought—it was a wonder he was able to answer me at all.
It was quite late and I decided to try to follow the old man's example. Appearing in my bed chamber, I lay down without bothering to get undressed and tried to force myself to relax. When my body was finally able to enter into a restful state, my dreams were filled with images from the masquerade ball—returning continually to the look in Sarah's eyes as she searched for me. So pure. So innocent. So transparent. She wanted me. It was her dearest dream. I allowed myself to melt into her arms, relishing in her love.
In an instant, the dreams turned into nightmares as we switched roles. No longer was she looking for me, she wanted me to chase her—a seductive smirk teasing me whenever I caught a glance. Moving throughout the dancers, I pushed my way through the crowd. I had to find her; I had to make her mine. I was no longer certain of her affection. If she loved me so much, why did she run away?
I sat up, startled from my dream as the Wiseman's words became clear. Sarah wasn't sure of my love because I had never spoken those words. I had hidden my true feelings from her behind a playful spirit—the mask over the truth. It was implied in everything that I did, but she had to connect those dots herself. And she didn't think it was possible. To her, everything was an illusion that couldn't be believed.
If she was going to trust me, she needed to know the whole truth. But I couldn't do it in a letter. I needed to speak with her.
When the sun rose in both of our worlds, I flew to her. I made my presence obvious; actually going so far as to knock on her kitchen window as she sat down for her morning cup of coffee. She turned to me, looked me directly in the eyes, and then purposefully went back to drinking from her mug.
Blasted woman! How could I prove my love to her if she refused to speak with me? Well, two could play at her game.
For two days I followed her, day and night. When she ran errands, I flew behind her, resting on the tree directly within her line of sight of where she entered and exited a building. When she closed her curtains to block my view at night, I sat on her window ledge and slept, listening for any movement from within. I continued to knock on her windows as she sat in the kitchen, and I twittered impatiently from outside her front door. I didn't have much time.
Finally, on the third day, my persistence was rewarded.
As I knocked on her window during her dinner, she finally threw up her hands in exasperation. "I wish the Goblin King would join me for dinner," she practically growled under her breath.
With a triumphant smirk, I entered her kitchen and prepared to tell her everything.
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A/N – Wow! I am so sorry it took me so long to post this chapter! I really have no excuse other than I've been dealing with sick kids. The chapter practically wrote itself and the last three will hopefully be even easier (yes, there should only be three chapters left :-D)—lots of good action coming up! I just have to find the time to write it out…
I hope you liked this chapter. Jareth is starting to understand that he has to open up a little more if he expects her to respond to his advances--playing it cool is nice in the movies (REAL nice in this instance! ;-) -- giving myself goosebumps thinking about how nice it is :-D), but a woman needs to hear the assurances every once in a while!
Let me know what you think. Thank you again for all your reviews…I wish you could see the smile I get on my face every time I see an e-mail alert--it looks an awful lot like that --- :-D (except my eyes are a little bigger and my head isn't tilted sideways.)
Have an amazing weekend!
