Chapter Twenty

The ball was alive with monarchs and lords, each either dancing, lounging, or laughing to themselves. Each wore masks for the occasion - some were distorted with long noses, others similar to a feline, and a few had simple tracings along their faces. Jareth was among them - he wore a red velvet suit jacket decorated with jewels. His gloves were gray and tightly molded to his hands, the makeup around his eyes unseen from the black mask he had held to his face. His hair was streaked with red glitter, catching lighted candles from the chandelier overhead and the candles along each table. He walked about the room, greeting the occasional lord or lady, his eyes always watching out for the girl in the red silver dress.

He knew she was there as soon as the room quieted down, as if they were all staring at someone new entering the ball. His own gaze turned to greet the sight, and he couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips as Bowie walked down the stairs with her hands holding up the bottom of her dress. Once at the bottom, she looked around as if lost before walking in the opposite direction of Jareth. He simply watched, deciding to leave her in waiting before confronting the strange girl.

Meanwhile, Bowie was wandering, trying to find any familiar face that she knew - finding none, she sighed before feeling a cold hand wrap around her arm.

"Holy fuck, Bowie, you look beautiful!" Ashley said, her eyes widened as she scanned over the girl. Bowie looked over her friend, not used to seeing her hair curled down her back or seeing her in anything other than jeans. Her mask was tied around her face, leaving her eyes exposed underneath. Her bright eyes full of life and excitement. "This is a party, for sure - I've already been asked to dance by this really hot guy!"

"I'm glad to say the same to you," Bowie said with a small laugh as she looked around the party. "I wonder where Jareth is."

"Who?"

"The Goblin King."

"So he is real. Huh. Well, I've heard people mention him but I haven't seen him for myself. Oh, don't look now, but this insanely attractive guy is headed your way." Ashley's eyes flickered back and forth from Bowie's eyes to the man who was walking closer, through the crowd of dancing people. Ashley ducked away with a wink as she disappeared behind a crowd of ladies in ball gowns and masks, leaving Bowie to stand alone while scolding her best friend.

As the man came closer, however, Bowie took notice of him and examined his face. He wasn't wearing a mask - he simply had shimmering paint decorating his ice-colored eyes, travelling all the way down his chiseled cheekbones and reaching his chin. His skin was fairly pale as if he hadn't seen sunlight in weeks - despite that, however, he seemed to have a cold flow to him, from his boots all the way to his light hair. Bowie could smell mint rolling off of him in waves, strong enough to make her nearly sneeze.

"M'lady," he greeted, and Bowie took note of the soothing tone to his voice, the way his voice seemed to carry on the wind. He lifted Bowie's hand with his, and she gasped at the icy feeling that shot up her arm. He smiled at her, showing a line of sharp teeth. A shiver ran down her spine as he pressed his cold lips to the soft skin of her hand, and she was relieved when he finally pulled back from the greeting.

"Sir," Bowie said, subconsciously rubbing the place where he had kissed her hand.

"What is your name?"

"Victoria. Victoria Williams," she said with a small shiver as he seemed to make the air surrounding them colder. It was as if his skin were made of ice, as well as his eyes that focused down on her face.

"Beautiful Victoria, would you do me the honor of dancing?" he asked, holding out a hand again. She gulped lightly and he took note of the fear that crossed her eyes, but she accepted the offer as he led them to the dance floor. People moved aside, ladies shivered at the cold air, and the room seemed to go a decibel quieter as they noticed the man who was dancing with Bowie.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly, and noticed how her skin began to feel hot due to the coldness of his hand.

"King Mordecai, of the tundra."

That explains his coldness, she thought to herself, tempted to pull away from his embrace but too polite to do so.

"Interesting."

"Just as you." He pulled her closer by the waist so their faces were merely inches apart. A red flush erupted on her cheeks as her eyes went wide, a small gasp leaving her lips as her body began to involuntarily shiver. "I caught a glimpse of you when you first walked in, my darling. I must say, I've never seen a human quite as beautiful as you."

"Oh . . . that's nice."

"I would be most delighted to take you as my wife."

Is this fucking guy serious? She took a step back with a raised eyebrow, and he watched her with tactical eyes. She looked around at the guests in the palace, but none of them seemed to have heard his request.

"Uh . . . excuse me? We've only talked for five minutes and you want to marry me? I'm sorry, but no." Suddenly his eyebrows furrowed and he let out a grunt before taking Bowie by the wrist tightly, and she noticed little snowflakes settling on her skin.

"You dare question my-"

"King Mordecai. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Bowie jumped and turned to see Jareth standing there, and knew it was him despite the mask covering half of his face. Jareth's eyes appeared to be squinted, and his arms were crossed over his chest. Mordecai straightened up, chin slowly moving up as he released Bowie's wrist.

"Of course."

"I apologize for stepping in, but I would rather enjoy asking my queen to dance." Bowie's eyes went even more wide as she looked at Jareth, and she noticed the rage that filled Mordecai's eyes as he looked between the two.

"Your queen?"

"Yes." Bowie barely noticed the wink he sent her from the corner of his eye. "Of course. This ball was held in her honor, and the honor of this kingdom. If you excuse us . . ."

Jareth held out an arm and Bowie gratefully took it as he walked past the crowd, leaving the icy king alone.

"When did I become your queen?" Bowie asked once they reached a secluded corner of the ballroom.

"If you didn't notice, I told a lie in order for you to escape his grasp. Lucky I did." He glanced down at her wrist, reddened from the cold that had once been there. "What did he say to you?"

"He asked me to be his queen," Bowie said in disgust. "I haven't even known him five minutes. Besides, something seems . . . wrong. With him."

"You aren't wrong - he's not quite an allie of the kingdom." At Bowie's confused look, he continued on. "He was caught years ago spying on the kingdom, sending in fake goblins to find secrets to take the kingdom down. I don't quite know how he ended up at this party in the first place. Speaking of which . . . have you enjoyed this party?"

"I have," Bowie replied, and recalled Jareth saying she was his queen. In honesty, she didn't mind the title being acquainted with him. "Thanks for this dress, too. It's pretty."

"It looks very beautiful on you," Jareth complimented, and Bowie smiled at the ground with a laugh. "Perhaps we should dance? To prove to King Mordecai that you're the queen."

He smiled mischievously and Bowie laughed more before nodding, allowing him to escort her out to the center of the ballroom. She looked up at him as the soft, melodious music seemed to play a tune that appeared familiar to her. It was then that she noticed it was the same music she had heard in play in her grandmother's music box, which she had played over and over one sleepless night.

"I recognize the melody," Bowie said as she felt one of his arms reach the small of her back, the other landing in one of the hands. She lifted her arms with ease to dance with him, one on his shoulder as they danced to the music.

"I knew you would." She raised an eyebrow as he smirked from the corner of his mouth, spinning her around to the sound of the music. Bowie felt much more comfortable than she did with Mordecai - he had been so cold that she couldn't find herself dancing well, and not just because he had been an attractive man who had to be ten years older than her. Possibly more.

"How?" she asked, completely focused on his eyes. She almost couldn't keep the smile off her face as she looked up at him.

"I played it a very long time ago, for your grandmother. She didn't seem to enjoy it as much as you."

"I guess we're both different," Bowie replied, suddenly saddened by the fact that it was the music he had played for her grandmother. She shook away the feeling, however, deciding to instead live in the moment she still had with him. "Maybe that's what makes me enjoy her company so much more."

"I see." They broke apart at the closing of the song, but Jareth didn't let go of her hand quite yet. Instead, he scanned the crowd until he spotted Ashley laughing with another group of girls of a similar age. "I don't believe you've introduced me to your friend."

"Ashley?" Bowie turned and looked over at her, then back to Jareth. "Oh, I haven't."

She guided him to the group, walking past couples still dancing until they reached the table by which they were sitting. Ashley instantly noticed Bowie and stood up, apologizing to the girls as she ran over.

"This is one hella raging party, and by far the best I've been to. That's a lot coming from me, because you know how much I loved that one party when I was 15 and -" She stopped, noticing the amused look on Jareth's face. ". . . This is the Goblin King, isn't it?"

"Yep."

"A-A-And I just completely spilled out a little bit too much, didn't I?"

"Yep."

". . . And just made myself sound like trash for using the phrase 'hella raging'?"

"Hm . . ." Bowie pressed a finger to her chin as if in deep thought, eyes looking at the ceiling while Ashley scoffed.

"Hey, I'm not afraid to smack you," she said, and Jareth was surprised at the violent nature of the girl. Bowie, however, just rolled her eyes as she let go of Jareth's arm.

"Got it, Ashley. But yes, this is who I told you about." Ashley smiled sheepishly with a small laugh, then shook her head as she looked back up at Jareth.

"That's me." She let out a soft laugh before Jareth turned to look at Bowie.

"Perhaps you and your friend would enjoy a walk through the garden?" He asked, and Ashley looked between the two for a few seconds.

"Actually-" The attention was turned to Ashley, "I was thinking that I'd talk more with, you know, these lovely ladies. They're very chippy. Kinda cooky. You two can just take a walk and I'll chill here. Jareth didn't notice the sideways wink Ashley sent Bowie as they walked away towards the garden, enjoying the rest of the night.