Chapter 21: A Heartfelt Story
Linda noticed the crystal glowing in the pocket of her blue and gold kimono-style dress, but she ignored it. There would be time to deal with that later... For now, she had to convince the boy to stay.
She knew she had to have an heir if she were to ever step down from the throne. And now that only heir, the Princess, was gone. Linda was in a panic over what to do. She was left with no other choice. The boy would have to stay! Creating an heir with someone else was not an option. it would never be... Her heart still belonged to Robert, and she knew now that it always would.
"Toby, are you awake?" She entered his room without knocking. He was still asleep, so she let him lie.
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It had been two days since their little scuffle in the throne room. Every day it felt like Sarah grew more and more cold to him. Jareth was in a dilemma over what to do. He was wearing the same vest he'd been wearing the night of her coming-of-age ball. It still smelled like her... If only there was some way to make her see.
"Goblin King?" She looked into his face, upon waking up. "Are you awake yet?"
"Yes. What is it?"
"I just..." And then it happened. She kissed him. Not just playfully, either. This was full-force and deliberately passionate.
He kissed her back with such ferocity that it made her heart stop. She was no longer afraid... If this was to be her husband one day, then so be it. but that did not mean she couldn't toy with him a little first. Besides, she knew how badly he wanted such intimate contact with her. But still, Jareth made himself pull back.
"Good morning to you, as well."
Sarah only blushed. It was cute.
"As much as I would love to stay here with you," He idly traced a finger over her cheek, and she noticed he wasn't wearing his usual black gloves. "I do have a kingdom to run, and there is alot that needs my attention today. From what I know of the Drallick, Yvette should waking up today."
"So soon?" She climbed out of bed, and began to dress herself right in front of him. Well, she did have her back turned, but still.
Jareth was doing his best to ignore it. That, and the fact that she still only referred to him by his title, and nothing more. "Yes, well... I'll just be... uh... On my... way then..." He dressed himself with a wave of his hand, and left.
She smirked. She knew she had him. 'But do I have a place in his heart as well?' She wondered, while fussing with her unruly hair. She also wondered whether he really had a heart to begin with.
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Just as he thought, the blonde beauty was just waking up when he appeared in her room. She opened her eyes weakly, and smiled up at him in the warm morning sun.
"Jareth..."
"Be quiet, Yvette. Just rest now."
"I can't," She sat up in the bed she had been dragged into. "Don't you see that I can't?" He winced, as if he'd heard those words before. "I've been asleep for a long while, have I not?"
"Yes, you have. I'll send a servant in to h-" Yvette grabbed his wrist firmly. "What?"
"Please don't leave me, Jareth. I can't bear to lose you again!"
He only looked at her.
"I- I'm not strong enough..."
"I know," He gently pulled his hand away from hers. his voice was barely above that of a whisper. "But you are going to have to be."
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Sarah was walking down the hall just when she saw him leaving the other woman's room. In some vague way, that almost bothered her a bit. But it shouldn't; it really shouldn't. She kept telling herself that...
"Are we going to play these games all throughout our marriage?" Her glare was unmistakable. "How is she doing?"
"She's fine." He walked past her.
'Well,' The Princess thought. 'If you are not going to help her... Then I will.'
Smiling his way, she turned the corner and entered Yvette's room. She found her to be still clothed in an old-fashioned looking garment. It looked like something a peasent wench would wear, and it made her wonder where she'd gotten it. Then she knew it had to be whatshe had been wearing before she'd transfromed into a Drallick...
"Who are you?" The pretty blonde woman asked her politely. Dide she really not know? "Who let you in my room?"
"My name is Sarah," She told her in a pleasant tone, despite her worries and what this woman had done to her. "I am the Princess of Ankaa. And I'm here to help you."
"Okay... I thought Ankaa's Princess had disappeared."
"Alot has happened since you were um... gone," Sarah covered quickly. "I'll do my best to help you remember. But first you need to get out of those horrible soaked things. They were tainted with water from the black lake."
"Black lake?" Yvette frowned, looking down at her garments. "There is so much I don't remember. I only remember being hurt..."
"It's okay," The brunette Princess was rummaging through a locker of some sort, picking out some nice clothes for her to wear. She laid them on the bed coureously, and made for the door. "Let me know when you're done changing, and we can talk more. You might to take a bath too. I know that's the first thing I did."
They two girls smiled at each other. "Okay."
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Not much else happened that day. Sarah tried her best to get Yvette up to speed on all that had happened in her abscence. But she had not spent much time in the Labyrinth, and that meant she did know much of Jareth's Kingdom. Truthfully, she knew much more about Ankaa than she did the Goblin Kingdom. But she did her best with the subject.
Some time later, the two girls ate their lunch together. Sarah wondered where jareth was and what he was doing. She found her mind wandering back to him at the strangest of times... She wondered what had transpired between him and the blonde that made him so edgy around her. She knew they had a history together of some sort. But she did not know what it was. And that bothered her.
It was long before Sarah and Yvette, who had by this time moved to the royal study to talk, were summoned for dinner. Or at least Sarah was.
"What about Yvette?" She asked the Goblin guard who the King had sent for her.
"She was not mentioned. But servants," He eyed the blonde, practically spitting it out at her. "Are forbidden to dine with royalty here, miss. Please, follow me to the dining room now. His Majesty 'requests' your presence there." When she only glared at him, the hasty little thing grabbed her wrist. "Now, girl!"
"Let me go!" She was annoyed at what he was doing, but found herself being dragged away from Yvette nonetheless. Brown doe eyes watched her leave, and she was helpless to do any different. "Stop it!"
"Blasted females..." He muttered. "Always wasting my time!"
Eventually she was in his presence, back in the dining room as he had forced her. Jareth sat at his usual place, at the head of the table, just smirking casually as he always did. It made her want to slap that smirk off of his perfectly adorable face!
"How can you be so cruel?!" Sarah was almost in tears now. "I am not a dog to be called at your whim, Goblin King!"
"If you say so..." He shrugged arrogantly.
She tactfully ignored that comment, although she was fuming by now. "Why is Yvette not allowed to dine with us?"
"She is a servant,"Jareth looked at the Princess blankly, not sure if he heard her right. "Nothing more. Forget her. Are you enjoying your stay here so far?"
"I was up until now," The brunette sulked. "Hmmph!"
That was most of their conversation throughout dinner. Sarah didn't feel axactly comfortable the way that Jareth just kept eyeing her like he did. She felt like it was wrong, but didn't bother arguing. She knew it would get her nowhere.
Jareth was confused as to why the Princess was upset. Had he not been kind to her? She clearly did not like it when he was nice to other women, and he also knew that now she was upset when he was being mean to one!
'Well, she cannot have it both ways,' He told himself frequently throughout dinner. 'I cannot be both harsh and nice to Yvette. There is just no way!'
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After dinner he cleared his throat, and escorted her back to their bedchamber. He knew Sarah was not happy and that made him unhappy as well.
He sighed painfully. "Would you like to speak with Yvette again before we go to bed?"
"Yes, I would."
"Very well, you may go. As for myself, I have had a long and trying day and I wish to rest now. I will be here until you return."
"Good," Just as she turned to leave, she felt his warm breath across her jawline from behind; his arms around her waist.
"And Sarah?" He growled.
She was panting slightly now. "Don't keep me waiting too long, hmm?" The lust glowed in his eyes when she looked back at him, shocked.
"R-right..." Sarsh quietly walked down the hall, after prying herself from his grasp.
When she entered Yvette's room, she foudn a sobbing blonde curled up just under the window sill. The moonlight sparkled on her pained face, and shone through her hair radiantly, despite her condition.
"Yvette?" Sarah asked her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm f-fine," She managed, in between sobs. "Just go away!"
"Okay but... I don't have anywhere else to go..." She really didn't want to have to face Jareth right now. Not after what he'd just said. Sarah sat on the bed and watched the weeping girl in sadness.
"Whatever, you can stay if you want... But don't tell Jareth I was crying, please?"
"I won't. You can trust me."
"Okay," Yvette smiled in spite of her misery when she looked at the other girl. Then she resumed gazing out the window and crying.
"Um... So what happened between you and the Goblin King anyway? I mean, I know you are both troubled by it, but... it just seems like there is something more to it than that."
"I guess it's okay to tell you," Yvette let out a long and heavy sigh, and got up to sit on the bed opposite Sarah. "But you have to promise never to tell a soul. Things are the way they are between us now, and nothing is going to change that."
"I promise," Sarah smiled comfortingly to her. "And I promise not to make a big deal over it either, whatever it is."
"Okay..." She took another deep breath to center herself. "The point of all of this is that I have feelings for him. I really loved him... But that was years ago. And now it's over and he has made it clear that he does not love me. That is all you need to know, really."
"I know there's more to it than that. Now tell me the real story."
And so, Yvette began to re-live her pain. One moment at a time... But she also knew that it was goog to be able to have someone to talk about all of it after all this time. Srah only watched her emotions go by, one at a time, and smiled sympathetically for the poor girl.
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Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth, etc. A/N: Sorry it took me FOREVER to get this chapter out! XD Anyway, I will hopefully have the next one out sooner. I am kind of going through a rough time right now, so chapters will now be slightly farther apart then they were... Sorry for any inconvenience. And as always, reviews are always appreciated! Thanks. -Kaline Reine