Haha! I was able to keep up this new pattern I've got going. A chapter every other day! Aren't you all proud of me? :P But again, I can't promise anything except that I'll do my best to bring you quick updates. Thanks again to all who read, subscribed, favorited and reviewed. You guys make me so happy!
Sarah slowly opened her eyes and tried to focus. Her room swam into view. Slowly sitting up, she noticed that the Goblin King was in the room as well, having fallen asleep in her chair that must have been dragged to her bed. He started and woke up when Sarah shifted and her bed creaked.
"Are you all right?" he asked in concern. Sarah frowned.
"Fine," she replied, stretching , "How long have I been out?"
Jareth arched his back, trying to un-stiffen his cramped muscles. "Not very long," he answered, "Maybe a half an hour." He stood up. "I apologize for startling you."
"Yeah, well," Sarah said, trying to bring some humor to the situation, "You didn't exactly break the news in the very best form." Jareth grinned.
"How would you have preferred it?" he asked amusedly.
"Lord, I don't know!" Sarah exclaimed, "I guess you could have told me slower over a period of time. And waited till I wasn't sleep-deprived."
Jareth snorted. "You would have bothered me until I gave you a full answer and you know it."
With a shake of her head, Sarah protested. "Not if you gave me a warning first." Jareth raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "Oh really?" Sarah laughed and nodded in admittance. Then, suddenly she sobered.
"It's not your fault though," she stated, "I mean, you're right. There's no way you could have told me anything without having me freak out. But is this really something set in stone? I mean, it's not really inevitable, is it?"
"Of course it is." Jareth said, "It's been foretold for centuries." Sarah felt something inside her sink. "Oh." she said softly.
Jareth's expression softened. "I am sorry you were dragged into this," he said, making his way to her door, "I truly am. But it had to be someone. You should get some rest. Your night has been far too full." He left the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving Sarah alone to ponder what he had said.
Flopping back onto the pillows, Sarah gave out a sigh of frustration. The entire situation still had not registered fully in her mind. She had barely been in the Underground two weeks, and had already been chased by a dragon, dragged a Fae king along massive castle floors, nearly offended said king, kissed said king (even if it was only his cheek) and found out that she would determine the fate of two realms. No wonder she passed out. That was way too much for any sixteen-year-old to take in so short amount of time.
Fortunately, her rest this time was restful and dreamless. No haunting music or men in blue dominated her sleep, and Sarah was able to sleep the entire rest of the night through in peace.
When she woke up the next morning, Sarah decided to find Jareth and ask him more about the prophecy. Quickly dressing in a black and red dress, she slipped jeans on under her skirt. At the rate she was destroying her clothes, she thought it would be wise to be prepared. She was pleased to find that her dress only tied at the sides; she didn't have to call Zonks to help tie it.
She strode through the halls and into the breakfast room, planning on eating before approaching the king. However, Jareth was already seated at the table. Startled, Sarah quickly dropped a curtsey.
"Good morning your majesty." she greeted, "I going to look for you."
"In the breakfast room?" Jareth asked. Sarah gave a small smile.
"I planned on eating first." she replied, sitting down and filling her plate.
"And why were you going to try to find me?"
Sarah swallowed a large bite of eggs. "Well first of all; you avoided me all last week."
Jareth frowned. "I did not mean to give that impression." he said quickly, "I was unwell, and then I had business to discuss with my father."
"About the prophecy?" Sarah looked up from her plate and locked eyes with the king. He nodded.
"Yes. About the prophecy among other things." Jareth replied, refilling her glass of water. "He wants to meet you, you know." Sarah blinked.
"Your father? He wants to meet me?" she asked incredulously, "Why would he want to meet me?"
"You are essentially going to decide the fate of his kingdom, and the kingdom our curse came from." Jareth said with a snort, "Why wouldn't he want to meet you?"
Sarah looked sullenly back at her plate. "I wish you would stop mentioning that." she mumbled.
"You asked me to reveal the truth to you," Jareth informed her, "I am sorry it causes you discomfort. However, you must be aware of this. You do know that Oberon's son Sadon has already attempted to spirit you away to his kingdom in the Aboveground don't you?"
Pushing her seat back, Sarah asked, "What do you mean? I didn't know."
"Why do you think that dragon went after you?" Jareth asked in return, "Full sized windwalkers don't live anywhere near the Labyrinth. It was obviously sent to bring you back to Sadon."
"What?" Sarah gasped, dropping her fork, "You mean that dragon was sent by someone?" She suddenly felt cold. So that's why Jareth was so upset when he had finally gotten rid of the dragon.
"Of course it was." Jareth replied, "You have to be on your guard for now." He stood up. "I'm sure you're just bursting with questions, aren't you?" Sarah let out a small snort.
"Yes as a matter of fact." was her answer, "I'm going to have to meet this Sadon at one point, aren't I? Who is he again?"
"He's actually a cousin of mine. You will have to meet him some time," Jareth said hesitantly, "But Sadon is not... that is, he is manipulative. He spent much of his time as a child with Korewynne, before she was banished. She influenced him greatly. You wouldn't want to meet him unprepared."
Goosebumps sprouted up and down Sarah's arms. He sounded so foreboding, and it made Sarah nervous. She shivered unconsciously and rubbed her arms.
"What do I do then?" she asked, "If I'm going to have to pick one, how do I prepare? How do I pick?" I'm scared she mentally added, Got anything to help me with that?
"Your majesty. I suggest she talk with the high king." a voice interrupted. Both Sarah and Jareth turned to face Garret.
"Garret, not now." Jareth said. Garret stepped inside the room.
"Your highness, I know you don't want to bring her into this, but she'll have to meet him sometime." Garret continued, "Why put it off?"
"Garret, don't push me." Jareth ground out, standing up. But Garret persisted.
"Goblin King, you can't keep her here forever. I don't know why you can't see that."
"You aren't aware of what you speak." Jareth said, temper rising, "The longer we take, the better."
Garret heard Jareth's tone, but he ignored it. "The longer you take, the less time you have. Why must you be so selfish?"
"I'm not being selfish."
"You are acting like a child!"
"You don't know my father!" Jareth exploded, "You don't know what he is like. What he is capable of, Garret!" here he rose to his feet, "We will not be seeing him soon and that is my final word. I will not hear any more of this matter. Am I understood?" Garret nodded almost imperceptibly, expression sullen.
Sarah, feeling incredibly awkward, didn't know what to do. In a rush she too rose to her feet, and made for the door, mumbling, "I-I'll just be leaving." She quickly exited and fled down to the sanctuary of the library.
Jareth sent a scathing glare to Garret, even though he knew very well that he couldn't see it. "Garret," he said lowly, "My father went through countless women trying to bear me. However, after my birth, he never stopped wishing for a second chance at an heir. Garret, mortals are incredibly more fertile than Fae. Don't think for a second he wouldn't try something with Sarah." He stalked out of the room, leaving the heavy silence Garret's only company.
Striding heavily down the halls, Jareth tried to compose himself. He hadn't wanted to lose control, especially in front of Sarah. But the very thought of his father taking even the slightest interest in Sarah-
"Jareth," Letholdus asked abruptly, "How old would you say the mortal is?" Jareth frowned, taken aback at the question that seemed to come from nowhere.
"About ten and six, I believe," he replied, "Why do you ask?"
Letholdus avoided his son's perceptive gaze. "Curiosity." was his short answer, before changing the subject abruptly once more.
Jareth wasn't stupid. He knew what his father was thinking of when he came to "check on how things were" earlier in the week. A child of both mortal and Fae descent would posses the power and immortality of a Fae, but the fertility of a mortal, and Jareth was certain his father would pounce upon any chance he could get. He had a hard time keeping Letholdus from seeing Sarah without seeming too conspicuous, but he managed to do it without raising the slightest suspicion from his father, much to his relief.
Meanwhile...
Sarah had retreated to the library, but she hadn't begin working yet. Instead, she sank down into one of the dusty couches with an old collection of Aboveground fairy tales, promising herself to only read a few before beginning again on the mass mess. After reading the first story however, she chucked the book across the room as hard as she could.
"Stupid fairy tales!" she declared bitterly, "It doesn't happen like that." She had been unfortunate enough to have started with Beauty and the Beast. "The girl doesn't live happily ever after with her family and true love," Sarah continued, starting to stack books rather forcefully, "She has to fulfill a freaking prophecy and pick one world over the other!" She slammed the stack onto a shelf, plopped on the floor cross-legged and began to put them up properly, all the while muttering about "air-headed princesses" and "bi-polar men".
"Ahem."
Sarah was jolted from her world of frustration, to find the Goblin King standing over her. Scrambling to her feet, she grabbed hold of a shelf to keep her from falling to the floor in front of the king yet another time. Once on her feet, she quickly brushed the dust from her skirt and dropped a now well-practiced curtsey.
"Would you accompany on a stroll through the Labyrinth?" he asked politely with a small bow, "I wish to discuss matters with you."
"Of course," Sarah replied. She was going into the Labyrinth! Sarah was so excited to be able to see more of the beautiful land. Working her way out of the wall of books she had built around her, she asked, "Will we be taking the same way as last time?"
As she tripped on a stray book, Jareth quickly caught and steadied her, while answering, "No, we'll be going out a different way. Follow me."
He led her out the library and out the castle, into the Labyrinth. Sarah was relieved to see that they were sticking to the hedged walls; stone conjured up bad memories. Jareth sat them down on a bench and took a deep breath.
"First of all, Sarah, I wanted to explain my behavior this morning, as well as apologize for it." he began. Sarah's eyes widened and she had to fight to keep her jaw from dropping.
"I explained to Garret," Jareth continued, not noticing Sarah's shock, "I didn't think it was a good idea for you to meet my father until you feel a little more comfortable in the Underground. Trust me when I say it's only for your protection."
"Why is it for my protection?" Sarah asked, "Is your father... is he horrible? Antagonizing? Would I offend him too easily? Is he hot tempered? Is-"
"He's a womanizer." Jareth cut in, silencing Sarah's queries. She let out a small "Oh."
"That is why I believe you should wait." Jareth said, "Unless of course, you feel the need-"
"I'll wait." Sarah interrupted, "I-I'll wait." She played with her hands awkwardly in her lap. This time, Jareth saw her discomfort.
"Very well then." he said briskly changing the subject, "But I actually wanted to discuss another subject with you." He turned and faced her. Sarah made a face.
"About the prophecy right?" she asked miserably. Jareth nodded.
"You don't seem very enthused," he remarked with a sardonic grin, "However, it is something you need to be educated in."
With a sigh, Sarah nodded in acknowledgement. "I know that." she said, "Now, what is it I need to learn?"
Okay, so this chapter may have been slightly more boring than the previous ones, but you're gonna have to bear with me. :P Make sure to review loves!