Here we go, my promised update. I just finished it, aren't you lucky? Just looked at my reviews, wow, 291! I'm awed! you're all incredible. My thanks go out to Dragoon-Yue, Catwoman99, AvitarGirl, tankbbq, inksmudged, FaerieatHeart13, snip-snippet, Skyrere, The Canine Twins, LabyLvrPhx, silver.shadow.23, Anna McNarin, sweetbabby33, notwritten, InuLvr7, yodeladyhoo, Mint Tea Rose, janeitesarah, draegon-fire and Sintar! If I missed anyone, I'm sorry! Thank you all!
Chapter Twenty-five: Visitors.
Sarah nudged the handle of the servants entrance to Marissa's chambers with her elbow as she pushed the door open with her foot, muttering softly about the tray being heavier than it looked and how did people manage to do this everyday anyway?
"Well it's about time!" A woman snapped and Sarah turned to look at the Goblin Queen properly for the first time. There was no denying that she was pretty, she could even have been beautiful if the expression in her pale grey eyes had been one of general good humor instead of malicious discontent and hatred, whether the hatred was aimed at her was another matter, Sarah doubted the woman even knew who she was.
"I should have you beaten for your tardiness!" Marissa's next words snapped her out of her reverie and she turned her attention to taking the tray to the table and setting it down, stepping carefully over the now nearly solid mess on the floor. She nodded to the Queen to show that she had heard her and moved away, once again avoiding the mess.
"Don't just step around it, you idiot, clean it up!" Marissa set her tea pot back down on the table with a crash and Sarah sighed when she saw the scowl her face. For a moment she contemplated just saying no, but the way that Marissa was holding the tiny cup of tea in her hand told Sarah that she was trying very hard not to throw it at her. Sarah knew that if that happened she would lash out in return, Jareth was angry enough with her at the moment, though she still was not quite sure why, and she did not want to run the risk of upsetting him further. She sighed and rolled her eyes, careful to keep her face turned away from the mad woman as she did it, not relishing the idea of putting herself in this kind of position, she could feel her anger at Marissa building as she picked up some of the larger pieces of broken crockery and using them to scoop the congealed mass onto the dented silver tray.
"You know," she muttered finally, not expecting to be heard, "this wouldn't be necessary if you hadn't scared Hesra so much."
"What?" Marissa shouted in reply and Sarah was glad that her back was still turned so that she did not see her wince. "Who are you to tell me how to behave?" She rose to her feet and came to stand by Sarah, the younger woman remained silent, apparently ignoring Marissa and still cleaning. In fact she was trying very hard to keep control of her temper. "Well?" Marissa lashed out with a slippered foot, catching Sarah in the ribs, something inside her snapped and Sarah was on her feet in moments, her green eyes burning with fury. Marissa slapped her, not liking the way that this girl looked at her, not liking the way that she was eerily familiar.
"Oh, I just bet that made you feel really good, didn't it?" Sarah snapped, not showing a hint of her pain at Marissa's actions, eve though her cheek was now a brilliant red where Marissa's hand had made contact. "Made you feel great, powerful, hitting someone who can't hit back? You're pathetic!"
"How dare you?" Marissa shrieked in reply. "My husband will have your head for this!" Sarah laughed, a chilling sound and oddly similar to Jareth's own laugh.
"Do you really think he'll care? You're even more delusional than I thought!" Marissa lashed out again and somehow Sarah was able to catch her arm before Marissa's hand made contact, digging her fingers into the Queen's delicate wrists, aware of how rough her own hands were even as she did it. "It's no wonder he doesn't love you." She hissed, knowing it was a low blow and not caring. Then she took a step back, bent and picked up the tray and left.
Marissa watched her go, angry yet impressed. Sarah was the first maid to stand up to her in nearly four hundred years, it was refreshing and annoying. What gave that girl the right to stand up to her? What made her think that Jareth would really give a damn about her? Yet she burned, power ran through her veins and Marissa recognised part of it as Jareth's. Was this the maid that he had spent so much time caring for? Why would he? Then she remembered, remembered where she had seen her before, why the girl thought she was good enough for the King to care about her. She was Sarah, the one who had beaten the Labyrinth, destroyed her home and not only won Jareth's heart, but crushed it too. Marissa was not sure whether to hate the woman or to admire her. But as she thought on it, she realised that Sarah had done something that she had not been able to, she had won Jareth's heart and had the courage, or stupidity, to stand up to her. Whatever it was that Sarah had, whatever hold she had over Jareth, Marissa wanted it and she would do anything to get it.
She looked at her now cold breakfast, shrugged and left to find her husband.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jareth looked up from the small mountains of paperwork that littered his desk and once again cursed the day that his father decided to introduce a public school system for the Goblins. They could all read and write, to a degree, though the spellings were often of a dubious nature. He scowled at one particularly poorly written petition, sighed and scrunched it into a ball, tossing it into the burning fire as he rested his head in his hands. He was tired, not sleeping well with the late night flights and his anguish over his loss. When he was not flying he would lie awake in his bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering where he had gone wrong, just how had he lost out to Rilton?
He dragged his mind back from its exhausted rambling and turned back to his paperwork, pausing only rarely to throw the odd illegible petition into the fire. He continued in silence, sometimes looking out of the window and thinking about his future. Sometimes he even thought about his wife. It was not a pleasant thought. Thinking of whom...
The door banging open alerted him to the arrival of the last person that he really wanted to see, Marissa stormed in, her face flushed and her eyes flashing with barely suppressed anger. Jareth sighed and looked up at her from his desk, not bothering to stand.
"What do you want?" He asked, not at all gracious and he really just did not care. Marissa did not notice and she huffed before flouncing down onto one of the chairs in front of his desk and bestowing him with what she thought was a winning smile.
"I want a new maid."
"Go and see Vilae, she'll tell you what she has," he looked back at the sheet of paper in front of him, assuming that she would leave, happy with his answer.
"Oh no, dear husband, this maid, only you can assign to me, she is yours after all."
"What are you talking about?" He asked, finally giving her his full attention, a cold feeling settling into the pit of his stomach as he realised who she was talking about. "Sarah." Even though he was hurting and although he was talking to his wife, her name still came from his lips as if it was a caress. Marissa seemed to chose not to notice.
"She's delightful, stubborn, fiery," there was a note of sarcasm in her tone. "I must insist, Jareth."
"No." He did not think about his reply, he simply said it.
"Oh come on, Jareth, what is she to you? She beat you and rejected you, showing remarkable foresight in that instance. You don't even talk to her anymore. What do you care?"
"Do I need a reason? It is not one that I would give you either way."
"Nonsense, Vilae already sent her to me once, and you know that I will work my way through any other I might be assigned until I get to her."
"You only have two months, Marissa," Jareth reminded her with a chill smile.
"I'll only need two weeks and you know it." Her own smile was colder and it cut into Jareth's heart. "I can hurt them, maim them, I will destroy them, until you give me what I want! Will you really sacrifice all of those poor Taken women for the sake of Sarah? Do you think she will thank you for saving her at the expense of her friends? You're a weak minded fool!"
"You will watch how you address me, Marissa!" He leapt to his feet and glared at her. "Queen you may be, I may have married you in the temple, but you do not speak to me in that manner, am I clear?" He restrained himself with some difficulty, if Sarah could keep from striking Marissa then so could he. She smirked at him, glad that she had gotten a reaction, clearly seeing that he was restraining himself for the sake of the next girl to be sent her way. "I have refused..."
"You will let me have her, Jareth, because as long as she is going to marry your foolish cousin anyway, she is no longer your responsibility to protect. That job belongs to Rilton now. I have no intention of harming her," -much-
"I said no." He walked away from her. "This discussion is over."
"It's over when I say it is, Jareth, think of how her being here instead of with her fiancee is tormenting you! Think of how it hurts to have their love thrown in your face. She only stays because she is under some misguided belief that you are friends. She will leave that much more quickly once you hand her to me." He kept his back to her, not wanting to let her see how her words were tormenting him, how right she was. "You want her gone, husband, I can arrange that for you." She put a hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it away, disgusted by the physical contact.
"Marissa..." he found his resolve weakening. She was right, at this moment he would like nothing more than to be rid of Sarah, for her to go back to Rilton and be with him so that he could finally end this torment that weighed him down.
"Let me take her, Jareth," Marissa whispered.
"No."
"Make her mine."
"No."
"Give her to me." This time his only answer was a shrug, he bowed his head further and rubbed his face with his hand. Why was he even considering this? He loved her and to give her to Marissa would not be the actions of a man in love. Something stabbed in his chest, whether it was guilt or the shattered pieces of his broken heart he did not know, but what ever it was, he nodded, giving his consent to Marissa to help drive Sarah away from the castle and out of his life.
"Take her," he whispered finally, "do not hurt her, if you do, I will kill you!" Marissa smirked at him. She would not hurt Sarah physically, not yet, now was not the time and Sarah had something that she needed. She simply curtseyed, not caring when the King did not look at her, and left in silence, a cruel smile playing on her face. The sound of the door closing was one of triumph and Jareth stared out of the window, lost and alone, until a new voice rang out.
"Well that was certainly interesting."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Elissa walked through her sons living quarters, her pale face a mask of concern and exhaustion. Alon and his people had arrived the night before, they had celebrated well into the night and Andros had paraded his latest conquest around, allowing her all of the benefits of a queen whilst snubbing his wife. Rilton had left after only a few minutes and he had not been seen. Now as she passed from the reception room to his sleeping chamber, she could see that his bed had not been slept in and she doubted that he had been in the Underground at all for the last twelve hours. The only other place Rilton would go was his cousin's castle and Jareth and Rilton did not seem to be talking at the moment.
She sighed and turned to leave the room, she knew that he would show up eventually, but that did not stop her worry or her hurt. Not only had her husband abandoned her and flaunted his infidelities in front of the court and their entire kingdom, her own son had abandoned her in her hour of need. Some days she just was not sure if continued existence was worth the heart ache. As she passed the small table by the door, her eyes rested on the letter that Rilton had received from Sarah a few days ago, the letter that he had spent the last couple of days trying to find a way to reply to and out of curiosity and concern for both her son and her nephew, she picked it up and began to read.
- You asked how Jareth was the last time that you wrote. He misses you, I think, he never talks about you but you can see it in the way that he sometimes seems to turn to say something, or a glint that comes into his eyes as he's walking around some of the places we spent time together. I miss that time, Rilton, I miss the fun we had and I'm worried about Jareth. I wish he would tell me what he is thinking and feeling, but he doesn't. I barely see him anymore. I don't know why he's been so mood recently, Rilton, he's just so distant now. We talk but he never seems to hear me. I miss having you around, we always had fun. I'm so worried about him, he seems to be folding into himself, hiding from everything and everyone and I don't know what to do. I want him to talk to me, Rilton, I want to know that he's ok, I want things to go back to how they were.-
Elissa frowned, a moody Jareth was nothing new from the last eight years, but that Jareth was pushing away the woman she thought he loved was yet more cause for concern. Sarah's letter made it clear that she had some fond feelings for him, enough to care that he may be destroying himself set off alarm bells in her mind. Jareth was obviously not coping well with Sarah's presence and she had to know why. She set the letter back on the table, feeling a little guilty for reading Rilton's private mail and prying so deeply into her son's life, and wandered back into the reception room, sitting quietly by the window and staring out over what had been her favourite place. Now she could see her husband and his mistress walking through the pine grove and she sighed, a sound filled with pain.
"Mother?" Rilton was stood in the doorway, looking much the worse for wear.
"Where did you go last night?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
"Aboveground," he shrugged. Elissa shook her head but did not give him an reply, knowing her son's habits all too well. They were silent for a while and eventually she spoke.
"I think that I'm going to visit Jareth."
"Is that a good idea?"
"I think it might be. I want to see how he's coping now that Sarah is back and it's so close to the divorce. If you've finished writing that letter, I'll take it myself."
"Why?" He grinned at her, tilting his head, but the smile did not quite reach his eyes.
"Because I want an excuse to meet this woman who seems to have my two boys wrapped around her little fingers." Rilton glared at her and Elissa allowed herself a moment of laughter before becoming serious again.
"How long will you be gone for?"
"A day, nothing more. Do you have the letter?" Rilton patted his doublet, the pale blue fabric was spotted and splotched with things that Elissa really did not want to think about, and he pulled out a slightly crumpled letter. His mother frowned and Rilton had the decency to blush a little. "Honestly." She muttered as she took the packet, then shimmered and vanished in the same glittery puff that Rilton associated with Jareth.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Elissa appeared in one of the high backed chairs by the fire of Jareth's study, in time to hear Jareth and Marissa's conversation about Sarah. Hearing Marissa say that Sarah was to marry Rilton nearly made her laugh out loud, but she checked the urge, remembering that, while Jareth might have been, Marissa was not an ally.
"Let me take her, Jareth," Marissa whispered.
"No."
"Make her mine."
"No."
"Give her to me." This time his only answer was a shrug, he bowed his head further and rubbed his face with his hand.
"Take her," he whispered finally, "do not hurt her, if you do, I will kill you!" Elissa listened to her leave, noticed the way that even the closing of the door seemed like a triumphant cry and spoke.
"Well that was certainly interesting." She let all of her worry for his actions flow through her rich voice, standing to look at her nephew. His face was a picture, surprise mingled with worry. "Well aren't you going to greet me?"
"Aunt!" His voice held nothing but surprise, and perhaps a little fear. He could only think of three reasons for her being here and none of them were good. The first that she had come to meet Sarah before the wedding, the second that she was here to take Sarah back to Rilton and the third that she was here to break off the engagement. He actually hoped, for her sake, that it was the second, however much pain it would cause him. He stood for a few moments staring at her before moving to pull her into a bone crushing hug. "I've missed you, Aunt." He whispered. Elissa grinned a little sadly at him.
"I've missed you too, Nephew, mine, but I also need to breathe." He laughed and released her. She reached up and touched his cheek, not missing the sorrow in the way he stood or the expression in his eyes, the defeat that she had seen there for the last eight years was stronger than it had been before. She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off with a question of his own.
"I suppose you're here to see Sarah?" There it was, the caress as he said her name, the feelings that he was trying so hard to hide, out for the world to see. His aunt simply smiled, ignoring the way he said her name.
"So you've learnt it too. Both of my wayward boys learning to love. I'm hoping to see her later, I have a letter to deliver from my son. But I wanted to talk to you first." Jareth nodded and sent a crystal to Vilae, ordering a pot of tea from the kitchen for his aunt as he lead her back to her seat. Elissa looked at him as he sat in the comfy chair across from her, he looked so tired and so far from the Fae she had known and helped to raise.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" The door opened and Vilae came in, balancing a tray on her arm as she closed it behind her. She put the tea things on the small table and turned to leave. Jareth raised a hand and stopped her, pulling her close and quietly telling her that Sarah was being reassigned to Marissa. Vilae's eyes went wide and she looked like she was about to object, but he shook his head, his eyes hard and finally she nodded and left. Elissa looked at her nephew for a long, quiet time before she answered his question.
"Your conversation with Marissa." He sighed and she could see that he was about to try and prevent her from continuing. "Let me finish, Jareth." She held up her hand and he slumped back in his seat. "Why?"
"I'm sorry?" He sat upright again, not used to having his decisions questioned. "What gives you the right to question me?"
"The concern of a loving aunt. The care of a woman who helped to raise you. Your own mother's twin. All of these things give me the right and I will not be denied what I want to know." Her gentle expression and relaxed position as she sipped her tea were betrayed by the steel in her voice. "I want to know, Jareth. Why give the woman you thought you loved over to someone like Marissa?"
"Because I have to. As much as I hate to admit it, Sarah would never forgive me if I let the other maids get hurt on her account. She would hate me for letting someone else be tortured to protect her." There was the defeat again, accompanied by pain as he rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. "She can take care of herself. Maybe..."
"'Maybe' what, Jareth? Talk to me, please? Why are you doing this to her? She will not thank you." She took his hand in hers, shocked that he was trembling.
"Maybe she will go back to Rilton, where she belongs." If Elissa had not been able to see how much his actions were affecting him, she would have laughed at the way he had believed the rumours that had obviously been spreading since Sarah had returned, but something in the way he was behaving made her wonder if he had thought there was something more between Sarah and her son long before that.
"She doesn't belong with Rilton, Jareth. She is where she is supposed to be."
"But... I thought... they're..." He pulled away from her. "They're engaged, Elissa!" This time she did laugh, she could not help it and as much as she wanted to stop herself, she continued.
"Jareth, I'm sorry, really I am, but... they aren't engaged. They never were, from what my son has told me, he asked her and she refused. There is nothing between them but friendship now." She resisted the urge to call him an idiot.
"But... the letters, the rumours..."
"You are slow today, Jareth, there was never anything between them, at least not on her side. It was all him. I'm actually quite looking forward to meeting her, somehow she's managed to get the two of you wrapped around her little fingers, I'd love to know how she did it!" She giggled, then became serious again. "Now that Clara's gone... I had hoped you would come to me for advice."
"With all you have to worry about? The way Andros treats you? I'm not going to put my problems on you!" He thought for a moment. "Goddess, Sarah! What am I going to do? I just gave her to Marissa!"
"I'll let you think about that. But remember what you told me, she will not thank you for sacrificing others for her sake." She set her tea cup to one side and stood. "Excuse me, I have a letter to deliver and you have some thinking to do."
"Thank you, Aunt. Will I see you again before you go?" She kissed his cheek.
"Of course." She went to the door and opened it, looking back at him once before she left. He had his head in his hands, his shoulders hunched. She closed the door with a sad sigh.
He listened to her leave, going to find Sarah, the one woman who could have been his. He knew that he had hurt her now, but what could he do? To remove her from Marissa's service would bring the Fairy's wrath down on not only the next maid, but Sarah and him too. He could not allow Sarah to be hurt. But what was he to do? How could he protect her? He hoped that Elissa could give him the answers.
There you go, my little offering this week. Again, I'm going to have to ask you to wait until next tuesday for my next update, I've still got a busy time ahead and my schedule is looking to get busier as time goes on, please bear with me! So next we find out how Sarah reacts, this could be fun! And for those of you who were expecting a full blown fight. Sorry, it just did not work. You'll see why later. Until next time
Artemis