Sarah couldn't help but struggle, even as the prick of the knife cut into her neck. She gasped as it pierced her skin, and a trickle of blood tickled down to her collar bone. Jareth's eyes zeroed in on that small injury and the fury Sarah saw fill his gaze, both scared and exhilarated her.
"It's over Kai," Jareth growled, "let Sarah go."
The grip on her neck tightened and Sarah took a shaky breath. She bit her lip to keep from crying out. The cloud of dark smoke that had led Jareth's arrival into the ballroom began to swirl and thicken, its tendrils reaching out into the empty spaced around Sarah and Kai.
"Reel in your magic, Brother, before you get someone killed." Kai threatened, and Sarah couldn't stop the whimper from escaping her lips. Jareth's eyes narrowed at the sound, but his dark smoke receded. Kai bit out a bitter laugh. "Really? All this for a stupid mortal girl. Just let me kill her, Jareth, she rejected and humiliated you. How could you let that go unpunished? You should have struck her down the moment she defied you. Let her feel the full extent of a dark king's wrath. Instead, you let her go, let her live her insignificant mortal existence while you became a shell of the man you once were." With each word Kai's voice grew more angry, until she practically spat the words at Jareth. "Give her up, or give up the throne."
Jareth stood, a dark force, frightening to behold, but he shook with barely controlled rage. The cold figure that haunted her dreams and nightmares, but for once she didn't fear him. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized, not for the first time, that she loved him. Loved him with reckless abandon. It was impossible for this immortal king to love her back, she told herself. Maybe he was infatuated with her, maybe he believed he loved her, but she didn't think it would last for long, a few years maybe. But what an amazing few years they could have been, had they been allowed to explore it. The tears flowed freely now and she knew what she must do.
In the face of that fury, Sarah didn't know for sure that he would choose the throne over her, and she could not be the reason he lost his kingdom.
"Let me go, Jareth." She whispered the words, but she knew that he heard her. Jareth met her eyes and for one brilliant moment, Sarah believed that maybe he could love her, one day. But she also knew he wouldn't be given the chance. She put all of her feelings into her eyes, willing Jareth to see, to understand. She opened her mouth to tell him she loved him, but the words broke on a sob. Kai's knife pressed into her neck and as she gazed at Jareth, she realized why none of her boyfriends had ever meant anything, she'd given her heart away long ago, to an immortal king of darkness and fury. She didn't know when she'd fallen for him, was it while she ran the labyrinth? When she'd danced with him in a dream? In the escher room? It didn't matter really, but she wished she could pinpoint the moment… it seemed important to know when it'd happened. Dimly, Sarah realized that she didn't know when it happened, only that it did.
Sarah took a shuddering breath, "Good bye, Jareth." At that moment it dawned on him what she was about to do and Sarah saw the fury turn to disbelief.
"No!" He shouted and the swirling black smoke rushed from around him, it filled the room until Sarah nearly lost sight of his fierce face, she held his gaze for a moment, I love you she thought, still unable to say the words aloud. With determination, Sarah closed her eyes and turned her head, forcing the tip of the knife into her throat. It cut through the skin and she felt Kai release her grip on the knife, but it was too late. Its sharp blade bit into her, the blood flowed and Sarah slipped to her knees. She felt the life draining out of her and felt her skin grow cold, her hair caught in a whirlwind, but she couldn't open her eyes to see where the wind came from. Her life spilled across the floor of the ballroom and she heard a bloodcurdling scream. She knew its source, Jareth, her king, the only man she ever loved. She'd freed him from making the choice, freed him from having to give up his throne. She felt consciousness slipping away and it made her feel light, empty.
Her life didn't flash before her eyes, she didn't relive moments with her family. All she saw as she fell into nothingness, was a pair of beautiful mismatched eyes, and a moment in time that she'd tried to forget, to ignore. It was her biggest regret, and she realized, the moment, the very moment she'd fallen love with the Goblin King.
Just fear me, love me, and I will be your slave.
…You have no power over me.