100 THEME CHALLENGE
THEME 90: TRIANGLE—DEDICATED TO ALL THOSE STAR CROSSED LOVERS
Disclaimer: Yadda, yadda legal jargon, blah blah blah, lawyer talk, ramble ramble ramble, basically I don't own anything that belongs to rich people who aren't me. Blah blah blah, I'm poor, and make no money…. Yadda yadda yadda
Dia ad aghaidh 's ad aodann . . . agus bas dunach ort! Dhonas 's dholas ort, agus leat-sa!
At first, it was a strangled whisper as if a thousand voices were vying for attention in short, dark gasps. She just barely ignored it as the unintelligible noises continued for the better part of an hour. To her ears, it seemed as if rats were scampering in the walls of the Goblin Palace. She tried to ignore them and focus on her dance partner. It was too little avail; the voices raised.
The waltz ended just as the voices reached a cacophonic shrieking crescendo. One final shriek, then the voices of the Labyrinth fell silent.
A heartbeat passed, and then in unison the voices breathed, "They are here!"
Ivory had no time to react before thousands of Drow burst through the doors. The ballroom erupted in screeches and grunts as the Drow swarmed in like a black death, murdering all the soldiers and killing any of the fey who resisted. Ivory tensed in terror. She had forgone her traditional sword since she planned to join the festivities. She ran to the body of a fallen soldier, and despite how much it pained her, Ivory collected his weapons. She closed the soldier's eyes a final time and ducked into a crevice in the walls.
Drow soldiers grabbed Sarah roughly by the hair. Asher immediately rushed to her, fully prepared to kill any that touched her, but the warrior held a dagger to her neck. His red eyes glinted with sadistic challenge. He waited for a moment taunting Asher by digging the knife shallowly into the soft flesh of Sarah's neck. The Drow would have gladly killed both the woman and her Chaldean lover. Knowing that he would not be fast enough to save Sarah, Asher held up his hands and allowed two other Drow to grab him.
They dragged them all to the front of the room to stand on the dais. Jareth and his soon to be bride, Aleta, were forced to stand with them. The Queen Mother and King Father were in the crowd, still held hostage. Jareth tried to conjure a crystal but found he was impotent. Every still living fey held their breath as the screams and sounds of death faded into the night.
The complete silence rang loudly in everyone's ears as they waited for the Drow leader to show himself. Perhaps it was the silence that made the sound of walking boots seem louder; perhaps it was the utter shock as each fey member stood flabbergasted. The crowd split to allow the man a wide birth, staring as if they were watching a ghost. He walked up to the dais; his loud boots leaving bloody foot prints.
The appearance of this new man left even Ivory taken aback. She had plans of attacking the Drow soldier who held Jareth, but she stopped short at the platform's steps. Her dagger dropped from her hand.
"Seth," she muttered.
"Ah, I was wondering where you were, my dear General." The former Prince said smirking at Ivory. He waved his hand and a Drow pushed Ivory up the steps. She stood there in awe as he walked up to her. "Now, my takeover is complete." He tapped her chin with the side of his finger.
"How are you here, Seth? You were exiled to the—" Od demanded standing tall against his rebellious son.
"Yes, King Father, the Drow Mountains." Seth began chuckling deeply as his father realized what happened.
"The Elite's will not stand for your impudence, Seth." Freya yelled.
"I'm sure they shall be far too busy burning to death to care what I am doing with my new kingdom." He replied coolly. "Pyrokinetics always was something of a science with me." Freya's eyes grew wide with horror as she realized the monstrous thing her son had done. Jareth stepped forward.
"Seth, stop this now, there is still time to undo this. You can come home."
"Home, Brother? Home? Home is where the heart is right, and all that mortal nonsense. Well you see brother, when our loving parents exiled me to the Drow Mountains I cut my heart out. He sighed and then turned a dark, glaring eye to his parents. "Speaking of which, I should return the favor."
As if it were an inconsequential matter, Seth waved a gloved hand. "Kill them." He stated, bored with the whole idea. Drow warriors stepped out and murdered the former King and Queen quickly. Their bodies crumpled to the ground and spilled their blood at their son's feet.
Jareth stepped back; his eyes flickered to Ivory who was standing almost at attention. She seemed unmoved by the horrific scene unfolding. She watched with scientific interest as the blood drained from the former monarchs. She snapped her attention to him meeting his eyes, and searching his face. Their stare lasted a few moments; each conveying what the other wanted to see. She conveyed confidence in him, and he trust in her.
Seth interrupted them. "And what have we here?" He asked. "Now, some of these, I know not." He stepped towards Sarah. She raised her chin towards him defiantly, as she always did when a challenge affronted her.
"Judging by your appearance you must be Sarah, who my brother pined after for all those years." He laughed. Seth stepped nearer to her, still smirking. Then Asher edged closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "And yet, here she stands with another.
"It does seem, though Brother, that we are celebrating your engagement, but to whom?" He asked. Seth stroked his chin thoughtfully and turned towards the crowd. He felt extremely theatrical.
"Yet, here I stand, perplexed by the predicament I see before me. The mortal woman who made you lovesick," he said pointing an accusing finger at Sarah, "Stands here with another, a Chaldean no less. Are the Chaldeans not hated by all kinds save their own?"
He moved closer to inspect Asher. "Judging by your eyes and your hair, you must be in some relations to this woman." He motioned towards Ivory. "A brother, or a cousin perhaps."
"An intelligent choice, little mortal girl, you could not, humanly speaking have done worse. You chose so very far above yourself."
Sarah opened her mouth to retort back, but Ivory hushed her. Smirking, Seth looked at Ivory as he turned back to his captive audience.
"So here we all stand, celebrating my brother's engagement, not to the woman he pined for, and not to the woman who has loved and served him faithfully for all these years." He displayed Ivory. Her face flushed a vibrant shade of red, and she immediately looked down. Jareth's eyes grew wide as he stared at her.
"Yes, the ever militant, ever faithful High General, whom we all expected to be devoid of feeling," He walked behind Ivory and leaned into her ear, "was in love with the King."
"But he would have not known that would have he?" He whispered solely to her. "You would have never exposed that to him. It would leave you too vulnerable."
Jareth turned to Ivory. "Is this true?" He asked. She didn't respond, only stared more intently at the floor. "I did not—"
"Does it actually matter that he did not know? He was always so absorbed in himself, Ivory, that he never stopped to notice you." Seth said loudly enough for only those standing on the platform to hear.
Seth moved Ivory's black hair from her ear and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Look at that disgusting little abscess he has." He grabbed Ivory's chin and jerked it towards the thin, spritely little blonde fey cowering behind the Goblin King. "I would surmise she has never had a valid thought in her head for the entirety of her pathetic little existence. Every want, whim, and desire just handed to her."
"Have you a point?" Ivory asked coolly.
"She never had to work for anything and marries him. You dote upon him for so very long, and here you stand alone, still serving a king who does not care about you."
Seth felt Ivory's entire frame tense. Her shoulders squared and she held her chin a little higher. "I serve only my king." She snapped. "I will not serve a false king."
He stepped back and chuckled. "We shall see how you feel after what is yet to come. Take the king to a cell, and the High General will come with me."
Helplessly, Ivory watched as the Drow dragged Sarah, Asher, Aleta, and Jareth away. She refused to accept the fate that hung over her. She was Chaldean; she would not admit defeat. Much like a trapped tiger, fending off poachers, Ivory would fight. Ivory launched into action. She screamed in rage and rushed at them. She managed to slaughter three Drow with her bare hands before several more attacked her. She ripped through as many as possible in the short amount of time she had. However, it soon became too much for her. The Drow were able to stop her before she could free the others. A burly Drow soldier grabbed her arms and held them behind her back. Ivory stood defiantly glowering at Seth. The green blood of Drow soldiers dripped from her body.
Seth stepped forward and grabbed Ivory's arm roughly. He dragged her away from the room and into a great hall. He produced a set of manacles and clamped them tightly on her wrists. "If you will calm yourself, Ivory, I have a proposition for you."
"What is it?" She asked as she fought with the chains. The more she struggled with the bonds the closer they became until the shackles on her wrists were almost fused together
"Well, I shall preface my proposition with this: I have always loved you Ivory. I would love you in a way that my brother never will, and obviously never has—"
"You are not serious!" She yelled. "How could I love a murderer? You just killed your own parents."
Seth waved his hands, and suddenly Ivory found the chain of her bonds wrapped around her neck. "Do not interrupt me again, Ivory. I am only claiming what is rightfully mine. I thought that you of all people could comprehend that, or has been living the dutiful subservient life taken the fight out of you." Ivory just snorted. He stepped closer to her. Seth removed his glove, stroked her face, and entwined his fingers in her black curly hair. "I hope to give you something to fight against."
She snorted violently in his face. Ivory began struggling against her binds, but they gathered again. "Stop struggling, you will only strangle yourself. Here is my proposition, you say that you love my brother, prove it."
She stopped moving and glared at him. He smiled. "Now that I have your complete, undivided attention," he said stroking her face again. "Your life for his."
She just stared at him intently. "You stay here with me, and I will spare his life."
Ivory inhaled deeply as she prepared to give her answer.
TBC
So this is part of the sequel to And No Bird Sings that I will never fully write out. I figured I'd use as part of the challenge. And I'm hoping that you all can guess Ivory's answer. (It's no by the way, or is it?) And I was going to do this one for love, but since I've already done love, I decided to use it for Triangle, only it's more of a square. I guess. Jareth loved Sarah, but she decided she liked Asher, Ivory's brother. Ivory loves Jareth, but she can't tell them. Jareth is going to marry Aleta who he doesn't like at all. And apparently, Seth lusts after Ivory.
Zeta Sigma: Dear, don't waste your time on those horrible movies. And theme 1 is introduction. I'm working on it. I hope you like this one enough. And the insane things I find piddling around on the internet.
Lylabeth 1: I hope you do get a new computer, so that you can actually log in.