"There has to be something else we can get her with!" Jareth hissed, glaring down at the broken shards on the floor of his throne room where he had slammed down one of his crystals.
The goblins around him cackled at his distress and he kicked one particularly hard in the stomach, which only caused the others to laugh harder as it went flying into the wall. As it got up and shook itself off Jareth rounded about on Mavid, who actually stepped back from Jareth a couple inches.
He had just gotten done talking with Lilith of all creatures through his crystals and after he had furiously chewed her up one side and down the other she had had the nerve to feign boredom and made a show of yawning at him.
As his vision grew red she had responded to him that she had indeed fed off Sarah, and if she had to admit that to a counsel she would… but she would also admit that it was in the middle of the Black Magic Market where she and Mavid were purchasing contraband. Lilith had then laughed and told him that he was fortunate that she was willing to let this rest with them both just forgetting it happened at all, rather than demanding he allow her to have Sarah again in exchange for continued silence! She had, however, told him that she expected some sort of compensation for the damage Mavid had done to her face. Jareth had used some more colorful language at that point that had nothing to do with the pristine one.
In light of her obvious distress, last night Jareth had insisted that Sarah share his bed, and that she see to Mavias's night care to keep her mind off of what had happened with Lilith. Both had helped out with her own mind's ungraciousness in throwing nightmares at her and she didn't argue with him about it. He was still upset by what had happened with Lilith too. Upset was the wrong word actually…. He was pissed.
Mavid had been doing his duty in protecting his queen and so he obviously owed her nothing for that, pointing out the injuries Mavid had sustained from her imp for good measure. She had turned sour then, informing Jareth that her own imp would never fly again from the injuries Mavid had given him. The whole argument had turned into a match of who-lost-more-in-this-scenario for the sake of final compensation. Jareth still claimed that what she had done to Sarah won out above all.
"She was given the chance to say no, darling. I told her to do so. Teach the girl some self restraint if she doesn't have any. I am not at fault," Lilith snorted flippantly. "That wont make any difference for what happened yesterday, however. She allowed me to feed and I did. There really isn't anything else to discuss there."
"The counsel would see differently," Jareth hissed at her, "You placed her under your magic-"
"The Counsel," Lilith interrupted, dragging out the word, "Would also look down on your most trusted-s being in the black magic market at all and would ipso facto look down on you."
"Ipso facto?" Jareth mumbled, confused by the unfamiliar term.
"It's an Aboveground term that I'm sure your darling wife can explain to you. I'll ask her to do so myself if you want," Lilith laughed seductively.
That had been about the time he had hurled the crystal he held into the floor.
He wanted some revenge for the advantages she had taken over Sarah, not an impasse where both parties just let it drop.
Mavid simply let out a sigh, offering up no suggestions and no help as Jareth let out another growl of frustration. "You were supposed to be watching her!" he accused his attendant.
Mavid's eyes narrowed. "I was the one who stopped Lilith. And you know how Sarah is, she cant go anywhere without something happening to her."
"If you had been doing your job Lilith wouldn't have gotten near her to begin with!" Jareth hissed out hatefully. He actually contemplated if he should whip Mavid for his failure, but on some level he knew that Mavid always did everything in his power to see to his duties. Sarah's account of the previous night had backed Mavid up on that. He was just angry and, as unfair as he knew it to be, Mavid was closest to him.
Mavid knew this too from a lifetime of being around Jareth, dropping his head even though his subservience didn't meet his eyes. "I apologize," he said stiffly.
The goblins all hooted and hollered and jeered at Mavid. As slow as the things were they did understand when someone was kowtowing and took much ill pleasure in the sight.
"Quiet!" Jareth cut them off immediately. The throne room went silent.
"Do you think she'll try to get near Sarah again?" Jareth asked Mavid, since he himself was unsure. Lilith was hard to predict.
Mavid shrugged. "I wouldn't leave them alone in a bedroom, but I don't think Lilith will storm the castle just to finish what she started. She never sought the girl out till she was placed right in front of her. If I had to guess I would say she was doing it more out of sport than necessity."
"And you already saw to it that those imps of hers will not enter the labyrinth?"
"Yes Jareth, after one came here to deliver that letter to Sarah I did as you instructed me then. These grounds are secure from them."
Jareth nodded his head, accepting Mavid's answer, but he still continued to brood as he sat back down in his throne and swung a leg up to hang off the arm. He was still frustrated that his 'meeting' with Lilith had resulted in a stalemate. This wasn't a matter he could take before the counsel either. Any further offense he committed towards her she could then take against him to the counsel if he wasn't careful and clever about it. He let out a frustrated huff, wishing that he could hold little Jareth and Mavias to help calm himself down. But in the throne room he was surrounded by goblins, which Mavias was still too young to be around. And besides, they were both currently in the library with the females and Dr. John Dee; whom had come to the labyrinth earlier after breakfast to visit with Sarah. He wondered how that was going.
"If you are sated for the moment…"
"You may go Mavid," Jareth nodded, pulling his riding crop from his boot shaft to toy with. The male didn't go so far as to bow, but simply nodded his head before exiting the room to see to his own chores. Jareth wished he could go back to his study, but knew that keeping a level of control over the goblins meant putting in some face time with them ever now and again. He slapped one with the crop that walked to close to him, the thing giggling like an idiot before jumping back. "Which one of you usually shines my boots?" he snapped at them, causing one of the smaller ones to come running forward with a rag clenched in his hands as he dropped to the ground and started to wipe at the boot Jareth still had planted on the ground.
In moments the goblins in the throne room were laughing and hollering at each other again, climbing all over the floor and walls around him. They threw things and hit each other, careful only to not hit their king.
With 'order' restored Jareth summoned up a crystal and let it roll over first one arm than the other before flipping it over in his hand, gazing into it as he focused on the library.
X
It had been growing colder and colder over the last few months, but today there seemed to be a bit of a snap in the weather and the castle wasn't drafty, but rather comfortable in comparison. The fireplaces that had been devouring wood day in and day out were actually off today. Their warmth was lingering in the rooms and halls of the castle well enough without the cold constantly battling its way in. Sarah wondered out loud if maybe it was a sign of things to come. She remembered the way the labyrinth had been fair to warm when she ran it the first time and hoped for that again. She tended to hate the cold.
"It's nearly impossible to predict such things as the weather all the way out here, so close to the mountains," Dr. Dee answered her, "Especially since the Underground as a whole has no set seasons as far as I have been able to tell."
"They don't even have time down here," Sarah sighed, remembering what Jareth had told her.
"Poppycock!" Dee dismissed her, "So what if they don't have set years or months or calendars? They still have day and night, and a sun and a few moons. And although I haven't quite put together what a day here can equal to a day Aboveground exactly, I do know that down here a Darkness occurs every 365 days. I started counting long ago. If we were in the Aboveground I would say about ten years ago I started counting."
Sarah couldn't help but smile, even though she sometimes had trouble keeping up with everything Dr. Dee was talking about. He was amazingly smart and entertaining. Jareth had been right about him having opinions, but it was in a good way. He had something smart to say about every subject it seemed. All she had to do was mention the weather and he took off like a shot. They had been talking about whatever came to their minds all afternoon.
After meeting him this morning Jareth had been the one to suggest she show him the library, and although she had no way to read most of the foreign writings housed in there, Dee had had a wonderful time looking through things for a while. Toby had had a wonderful time just running around exploring, but at the moment he was curled up on one of the less dusty benches napping away the afternoon as Clora and Ishapelle talked to each other in hushed tones of court gossip next to him. Sarah had never said anything to them about her breakdown, figuring that there were more than enough people who knew about it already. Ishapelle had asked her since then how she was feeling, however. Jareth may have mentioned that she had missed dinner with them because she wasn't feeling well, but it was also possible that he had said nothing and Ishapelle was asking because of the smaller breakdown she had actually witnessed Sarah have at the Devine Castle.
They had grown bored of Sarah's and Dee's conversations long ago. Torik hadn't though, and although he said little, he sat on the floor next to Sarah's feet -insisting that he was comfortable that way- and listened to them.
Mavias was close to falling asleep, at the moment being cradled in Sarah's lap.
"You mentioned something about a darkness marking every 365 days here," Sarah reminded him, "What is that?"
"It's not a fun thing," Torik muttered, a shadow passing over his face at some unpleasant memory. "Every thing goes dark and weird things happen."
Sarah drew her brows in confusion as to what that meant, but before she could ask Dee turned to Torik.
"I suppose you don't know the myths behind the Day of Darkness," Dee said, smoothing out the long fabrics of his dark grey robe and pulling down on his very long beard absently. "Its believed by a few cultures in the Underground that the Darkness is caused by Death trying to walk amongst the living again, his cloak trailing behind him and blocking all light. There is no sun to be seen on that day and it turns darker than night could ever be. The brightest candle could only barely be seen on the Day of Darkness. Everyone must stay inside on that day for Death is lonely and will force anyone he encounters on his travel through this world to walk with him. The next day death will leave, and take with him any souls he's collected to keep him company till the next year."
Sarah felt a chill got through her spine at Dee's creepy story. "It gets dark for a whole day?"
"Darker than night, like not being able to see the hand in front of your face," Torik piped in. "It's the creepiest thing you've ever gone through. At Ish's fathers manor when it would happen everyone, even the servants, would gather together in the cellar and wait it out for twenty four hours. The whole time its hard to get much light to do anything no matter how many candles you have and you can sometimes hear these extremely creepy noises outside the walls and windows but you cant see anything. Its horrible."
Sarah felt another chill shoot through her spine, actually frightened by what Torik was telling her. She thought maybe he was teasing her or exaggerating in order to spook her, but Dee was merely nodding his head in agreement. He shook his head as if to clear a memory from it before planting a smile firmly on his face. "No more talk about that tonight, it will be quite a while before another one comes around. Lets turn back to better subjects."
Sarah shook off another chill as Dee turned to her.
"So tell me something else about the thrilling advances of the Aboveground," Dee coaxed excitedly, still partially reeling from her earlier explanation of phones to him.
Sarah chuckled and tried to think of something else to tell him that wouldn't take all day to explain. "There have been great advances in modern medicine," she told him proudly. "There are no more world-spread plagues to really speak of. We can do surgery on the heart or brain with out killing someone or making them feel a lot of pain. And in fact some people are having surgery to make themselves look different. And leprosy is curable!"
His jaw dropped at that, having been through the black plague. "Unheard of! Why if you had lived in my time Aboveground and spoken of such things you would have been declared mad! So then colds and fevers are no longer even issues?"
Sarah had to laugh then. "Actually despite all our advances we haven't found any cure for the common cold! They can stop your heart for five minutes without killing you but the cold remains elusive to them I guess."
"My my, it seems that I left the Aboveground to seek out a fairy world, and now if I went back I would be doing the same. Mind you I have no mind to ever go back. I find that my preferences lay heavily on the Underground. Its so clean and pure here…" he glanced around at the dusty library. "Well this castle is a lesser example, but even the labyrinth holds its purities."
"I believe I remember someone saying that you were the only human to ever find their own way into the Underground?" Sarah prodded, finding herself greatly curious about that. "How did you ever manage that?"
"Through intense meditation, dumb luck, and an object called a shew stone combined with a waxen seal of god. I was able to glimpse this world only once or twice in all my meditations, but it was enough that I was convinced it existed and I was meant to find it. I honestly suspected that it was the lost eden… or possibly hell. But I was finally able to find my way here with my mind in the astral plane, and outside of my control my body somehow managed to join me and I was ripped from my world into this one… an extremely painful process I assure you. It is what being born must feel like."
Sarah's jaw was slack with awe. She hardly knew what to say to that.
"There's probably no way to get back to the Aboveground that way then huh?" Torik spoke up, his eyes wide as well at Dee's story.
"Not one I would choose no," Dee confirmed. "The only way most creatures can ever pass between worlds is to be invited, or summoned if you will. Often they must be summoned by name by someone who has a certain amount of belief in magic."
"That's what I heard," Torik muttered, resting his head against his propped up knee.
Sarah couldn't help but think back to when she had unwittingly summoned up the goblins and Jareth to take Toby from her… it seemed so long ago. She had the childish belief in magic then, obviously it had been enough when combined with the right words to make the summoning work. She looked over to Toby, curled up on his stomach with his head turned away from the back of the couch so she could see his little mouth open. His brows were actually drawn as though he were frowning and she could see the resemblance to his father coming out in his facial structure now. Jareth had been right that his baby fat was melting off. It looked as though he was on his way to being gangly and lanky.
Sarah looked down at Mavias again and compared the way they looked, as she often found herself doing. Mavias had managed to fall asleep and his face was one of peaceful rest, his little chest rising and falling with his steady breathing. He was naturally very pale, and it contrasted sharply to the black hairs sprinkling across his head that were all wavy in texture.
"He's a beautiful babe," Dee complimented, bringing Sarah back into the moment. "It's been a long time since I've seen one so young. I'm sure you both have noticed how the fae safeguard children. Its good to see a babe so young again."
She had introduced the children already, when they had been awake. "They're both beautiful to me of course, but I'm hoping that Toby keeps the curls in his hair through adulthood. I think they will make him quite handsome," Sarah smirked. "What do you think about the pristine language? And the fact that we're not allowed to speak it?" she still felt a might bit bitter about that.
Dee scoffed at that. "That its just one of the many perks that the fae allow themselves and no one else," he huffed, apparently even more bitter about it than Sarah. "I have spoken with several fae on the subject of making a language forbidden being foolish, your husband included, and they all dismiss me on this. It is very silly, but they are non-budging on this one. Do you know that they will not even write anything in the pristine language? Its only ever spoken and no one is to ever record it. So that it dies off with the race or something. A bunch of rubbish!"
Sarah couldn't help but smile. There was indeed something about Dee that she liked very much and she was happy that Jareth had set this up for her. She sincerely hoped that it was far from her last visit with him. When he had arrived this morning she had almost wished that Jareth would send him away, still feeling down about the turn of events in the black magic market all through breakfast. Now she was thankful she hadn't.
At breakfast neither Jareth nor Mavid ate much at all, and although Sarah was still upset that it had happened, she also felt… safe. She was more than pretty sure that Lilith couldn't just come waltzing into the castle or even into the Labyrinth and if she did both Jareth and Mavid were here. Sarah was never one to play the damsel in distress, but there was a great comfort in knowing that there were others who had her back if things went down and she couldn't handle it. She had seen for herself that they would both act on her behalf without hesitation.
She had no doubt in her mind that Jareth was too busy thinking of ways to go after Lilith for what she had tried to pull to be bothered with his food. She just hoped it wouldn't put him in any danger to mess with her. Lilith wasn't royal or rich from what Sarah knew, but she did seem very powerful. She had imps under her command and from what Torik had mentioned about travel between the worlds being difficult or even impossible for most Underground beings Lilith would have to be powerful to go back and forth like she claimed to do.
Last night had been… something else. She hadn't been able to help herself when she had taken Jareth in the hall… and then on the floor of their room… and again on the bed. She hadn't heard him complain once though, although he had held her down and set a much slower pace for their last go. She had been fine afterwards and Jareth had been good enough to lay in bed and just hold her and pet her for a while afterward. It had been nice despite the humiliation that had caused her to need such a release.
"Did I ever tell you about my years spent under Queen Mary?" Dee said, interrupting her thoughts. "Elizabeth was dear to me and I was happy to serve and tutor her… but what a guttersnipe her mother was!"
Sarah leaned back in her chair and cuddled Mavias closer to her as Dee started prattling on and on about the court life, comparing and contrasting it to the way things were run in the courts of the Fae, and from there comparing the fae courts to the one the trolls held, which was much more barbaric and the outcomes were determined from cutting a fairy in two and seeing if it died with its wings pointed up or down. The discussion fascinated Sarah and Torik both for a very long while before the door to the sitting room opened up and Jareth and Mavid entered, both looking tired and bored as all conversation in the room paused.
"You all are late for supper," Jareth informed everyone dryly, his tone suggesting that he hardly cared about the tardiness. "Dr. Dee I would be honored to offer you a place at the table before you depart."
Sarah turned back to Dee, unable to keep the hope that he would say yes from her face. She liked talking with him, between his opinionated manner and white beard he reminded her of her grandfather Williams. Back when she was little he had always been telling her stories about the 'olden days' and although Dee's olden days in the Aboveground were much more 'olden' it was still great to talk about the Aboveground with others who actually knew first hand what she was talking about.
Dee saw her anxiousness and chuckled softly. "The honor would be mine to accept."
X
"-He was trying to communicate with angels using some sort of crystal back in his time Aboveground. He told me he even saw someone peering back at him once. Do you think maybe he actually managed to use a crystal for viewing others far away? Can you do that with your crystals? Is that how you always knew where I was in the Labyrinth or was it more of a psychic connection to your kingdom kind of thing? Do you believe there are such things as angels? Everything else I was ever told never existed is down here. I think it would actually be cool if Angels were too. Actually… maybe I wouldn't want that. Better not to meet an angel than to meet one and be disappointed I suppose."
"Sarah- please, allow me the time to at least wash my hair," Jareth sighed, already very tired and ready for sleep. His mood was still on the south side from his conference with Lilith and although he was pleased that she was so happy from her visit with John Dee she had not stopped telling him all about it since the old man had left for his home. After supper neither Toby nor Mavias had been easy to put back to sleep since they had both slipped in such long naps during the day while Sarah had been distracted. While Jareth had been trying to sooth them both Sarah had been telling him about Dee's opinions of how the Pixie society distinctly compared to that of the ancient Chinese of her old world.
Even now during their nightly bath, a time he very much relied on to relax and unwind from his day, she continued to go on and on with it.
"Go ahead, I wont stop you," she shrugged, oblivious to his poor mood. There was a moments pause from her as he started to rinse out his hair, but before the water could even pour off his hair she had started up again. "Oh, I forgot to tell you about the funny thing Dee said about Queen Mary! He said-"
"Who?"
"She was queen of England a long time ago. He said-"
"Sarah enough!" Jareth snapped at her then, more than annoyed at that point. "I don't know who that queen is and I don't care. I asked my queen to let this conversation rest so that I may relax before it is time for sleep. I expect her to listen." He didn't worry himself with her response, which was to stare at him in hurt shock, as he rinsed the last of the soap from his hair and leaned back against the side of the tub. The hot water surrounded him up to his neck and he let out his first comforted sigh of the night. It was short lived, however, when he cracked his eyes open to see Sarah still staring at him like he had just canceled all her meals for tomorrow or something.
Jareth let out another sigh and sat back up. "Sarah I am happy that you enjoyed your time with Dee, but I am tired and my day has been less than pleasant. I am not asking you to never talk to me about him again, but simply no more tonight." The fact that he had to explain himself was just another little trial to add onto the night. She shouldn't need explanations every time he told her to do something. As far as he was concerned Sarah was just lucky he wasn't more like his father. Hamold never tolerated backtalk while Jareth was growing up. If he knew all the lengths Jareth went to in order to accommodate his wife… he would probably laugh at best and at worst call Jareth out as a incompetent disciplinarian and demand he either make up for it right away or step aside and allow Hamold himself to carry out a firm punishment on Sarah. Jareth's lip curled at the mere thought of either scenario.
Sarah didn't look as hurt anymore, but she did clam up on him, pulling her knees up to her chest and leaning forward to rest her chin on them, watching the water in front of her rather than looking at him.
Jareth took the opportunity presented him this time and leaned back against the tub once more to close his eyes.
"D-did you wanna talk about it?"
Jareth opened his eyes reluctantly, a frown pulling at his brows again. "What?"
Sarah blanched like she was rethinking having said anything at the look he gave her. "You said you… you had a less than pleasant day. Do you wanna talk about it?"
Although he was a little surprised she was even asking him that, as if she cared or something, Jareth thought about Lilith and the conversation he had had with her again… which only made him tense up again with frustration. "No," he huffed, closing his eyes once more and trying to focus on the water, but his bad mood was re-established once more. Sarah was unfortunately close to him for this kind of mood he was in. "Sarah, 'wanna' is not a word. Next time say 'want to'; it sounds so much more intelligent."
The sound of rushing water denied Jareth his R&R once more and he opened his eyes just in time to see Sarah climbing out of the tub, her movements sharp and jerky with her own anger now. Jareth said nothing and simply watched her as she grabbed a towel, trying not to let him see the scowl on her face as she wrapped it around herself and marched out of the bathroom.
Jareth thought about going after her, he had not dismissed her after all. He was too tired though and he knew if he went after her now his temper would likely get the best of him. He decided against it and sunk down deeper into the water now that he had the whole tub to himself, submerging till his face was all that remained on the surface, unable to hear anything outside of the tub as he tried to think of ways to sooth his bruised ego when it came to the Lilith incident. With the Underground women it had been easy. First he had wiped out their demon spawn changelings, than with Sarah he had finished the job with the hags themselves. Lilith was more likely to be a punishable offense if he even did manage to have her snuffed out, which was unlikely considering her powers. Besides, whenever she needed to she tended to travel amongst the dreams of Aboveworlders when she needed to lay low for a while. She would be likely to do that now for a time.
Last night after the last bout of love making between him and Sarah he had gently coaxed her for details of what all Lilith had done to her. Sarah hadn't been explicit, but she had told him enough for him to know that Lilith had managed to kiss her, and he was willing to bet it was the demon's saliva that had caused the continued frenzy Sarah had come back to him in.
Jareth let out another sigh and resurfaced from the water, standing up to climb out of the bath as well. He used a towel to pat himself dry, wrapping it loose around his narrow hips before reentering his bedroom with the intent of wrapping Sarah up in his arms and falling asleep.
She wasn't in the room though. Mavias's crib housed his sleeping figure, but that was all. Jareth hadn't been locking her room door against her for any reason, so he tried there next. She was there, but he was surprised when he opened the door to see her standing next to her bed, pulling on some black leggings that were footless and incased her like a second skin, leaving little to the imagination. She noticed him in the door, and made a few final tugs on the waistband before turning to him. "I never really got a chance to show you some of the things I got at the market," she mumbled, still messing with the tight leggings. "I found these yoga pants, they're a little small, but I can fit into them well enough, I just cant wear any short shirts with them… which actually shouldn't be a problem since I don't own any shirts anymore. Do they look alright?"
She wasn't acting cross anymore, too focused on her purchase at the moment. Despite having seen her in similar things before, Jareth still couldn't quite get used to seeing women in such fashions. He found skirts left a male to wonder so much more about such things, where as this way a woman's legs were displayed for everyone. In this case… more than Sarah's legs were displayed with the tight fit and he could barely keep his brows from shooting up when she turned slightly and he caught a look at the effect of her backside in such things. She was still topless, holding the bath towel up against her chest modestly and he couldn't help but suddenly wonder how she would look with a pair of boots on over the strange garment.
His mental pictures told him she would look extremely fetching and he went over to her, not knowing or caring what 'yoga' was but wanting to have a closer inspection of the pants.
X
Sarah jumped slightly when she felt Jareth's hand stroke over the soft material on her bum. She hadn't realized he had come so close to her. His hand stroke her cheek again and she looked back at him over her shoulder, still holding the towel up against her chest. He didn't look cross anymore, too caught up in her new purchase. His face was slowly turning more and more appreciative as his eyes traveled over her bum down to her thighs and legs. That was actually a good thing possibly, if he liked them he was more likely to allow her to wear them casually. Maybe she would steal some shirts from Jareth's wardrobe to wear with them.
Jareth's hand stopped its stroking and he wordlessly reached up and tugged the towel from her arms. She gave it up with slight hesitation, allowing it to drop to the floor. The cold was no where near severe in her room anymore, but the air was still enough to cause puckering and she didn't miss it when Jareth's eyes roamed over her, feeling a slight blush warm her cheeks.
Jareth pulled her up against his naked torso, warm against her breasts as he wrapped his arms behind her and squeezed her bum firmly, incidentally pulling her flush against the towel at his hips enough that she knew instantly that he was well on his way to being fully aroused. "These are Aboveground lingerie?" he questioned her, squeezing again.
She had been surprised when she had come into her room to find her bag of purchases sitting on her bed waiting for her, Mavid must have left them there after she and Jareth made it from the hall to Jareth's bedroom last night. When she had seen it she had forgotten about her displeasure with Jareth in light of the prospect of trying on her new pants. "No, they're for workouts, but some just wear them around for the comfort."
"I don't want you to 'just wear them around' the castle." Jareth told her, placing kisses against her cheeks despite the frown that now marred her face.
"Why not? Who's going to care?" she demanded.
"I'm not the only male in this castle Sarah, these are very… exotic. Ladies do not wear such things."
He dipped down to kiss her, but she pulled back ever so slightly, not done with this conversation. "But Aboris is a doctor, Torik is from the Aboveground so he's seen girls in pants millions of times, and Mavid has seen me in just about every humiliating moment since I was brought here. I stuck to the rules of what I was allowed to buy from the market, so why not?!"
"Sarah watch your tone," Jareth warned her lightly. "Just because you own them doesn't mean you can go flashing them around at everyone. They are still contraband after all. I have a musical device from the Black Magic Market, called an electric guitar, but I cant just go play it full blast whenever I wish."
Actually now that he reminded her of it she had wanted to ask him ever since she had first seen the guitar he was talking about down in the music room. "How do you even play that? There's no electricity down here."
"Sarah, do not change subjects unless you are willing to drop the first one, but your answer is that I found a way to manipulate a little bit of magical current to seem comparable to an electrical current. It was a lot of time and patience to get it all worked out. About these pants, however, how about we settle this with a compromise rather than an argument."
Compromise?
Him?
Shocker!
Sarah managed to speak despite her deep surprise. "What compromise?"
Jareth relaxed against her again and after a little more bum-squeezing she did the same. He was really having a field day back there. "You can wear these around our rooms and the nursery as much as you like, but if you leave the mirror hall you must at least wear a long dress over them. Is that fair?"
It wasn't what she had initially wanted, and she still thought him a little silly for worrying about the other men in the castle over these, but she nodded her head, earning her another kiss on the cheek as Jareth's hands slipped under the fabric of the pants to cup her cheeks, walking her backwards till the backs of her knees hit the bed and she flopped back onto it. Jareth immediately placed himself between her legs, the towel he wore acting as a frail barrier as he rubbed against her, trailing kisses down her neck and chest. "Now we can move on to more important things," he murmured against her neck.
"Jareth wait, I'm still in the middle of my… time." she reminded him, gently pushing his shoulders back.
He didn't back off, rather sucked her breast in his mouth and twirled his tongue around the nipple, causing her to gasp and her head to momentarily fall back against the bed.
"This wasn't a problem yesterday," he reminded her before doing it again.
"You know why," she pouted, her cheeks heating in embarrassment. "Lilith's… weird magic."
"Does that make a difference in you allowing this now?" he questioned, the challenging undertones in his voice almost missed. His hands stilled over her breasts and his eyes were intense on hers as he waited for her response.
Before it had been a worry for her that sex would be painful or very different during her menstruation, but know she knew it wasn't that different. If anything she had felt slightly desensitized down there. The truth was the only reason she was hesitating now was that she was still a little upset at him for disregarding her so easily earlier but now wanted her to just lay down for him. It shouldn't work that way.
He was still scowling at her, waiting for a good answer.
"I- I haven't even gotten to show you what else I found," she pointed out, pushing against his shoulder with one hand while the other reached out to pull the bag closer to them.
Jareth curled his lip in annoyance but allowed her to actually push him back, readjusting his towel before turning to sit next to her on the small bed. Sarah opened up the coarse little bag and pulled out the book about animals, handing it over to him. "I got this, now there is a book here in a language I can read, and the pictures are great! I think the boys will enjoy it too," she told him, watching his face as he flipped through the book, looking a cross between bored and thoughtful."
"Hmm," was all he offered up.
Sarah reached into the bag and pulled out the little bottle of nail polish. "This is only half full, but I got this too. I got a couple dresses it should go with."
Jareth took the bottle from her when she offered it, turning it over in his hands. "What is this?"
Duh, she had already forgotten they didn't have that down here. That's why it was at the Black Magic Market. "It's paint for your nails." she took it back from him and unscrewed the cap, using the little brush to paint her pinky nail to show him, the purple color looking better than she had thought it would. "Girls in the aboveground do this all the time. Toenails too. You can get any color you want too. It's a huge thing there."
"Do the men use it?"
"Well, I've seen some guys with black nail polish I guess, but many just don't bother." Jareth's attention was still on the bottle and the polish on her finger, clearly intrigued.
"Uh, I guess if you did want to wear it on yours sometime though you can," she offered, realizing that there were no stipulations for nail polish on guys down here since there was none to speak of. On Jareth it was quite possible the other fae would think it to be stunning. "I did actually get you something though," she told him, reaching back into her bag for her last item. Jareth was surprised by her statement, setting the polish aside now to watch her. Sarah pulled out the pencil bag and unzipped it, "I wanted to give you the pens, and a couple of the markers. I thought maybe you would find them helpful with all the paperwork you and Mavid are always doing. I can show you how to work them sometime."
Jareth took the pens and markers she handed to him with a please grin on his face. "These I actually do know how to use. I have a few in my office from the Aboveground now as a matter of fact. They are close to running out of their ink, however." He took hold of her chin and turned her to him so he could kiss her. "This was very thoughtful of you and just what I needed, thank you. The…" he looked over the markers she had given him, "Shar-pies work like pens?"
Sarah smiled back at that. "It's pronounced Sharpies, and yeah pretty much the same. I'm keeping a couple so I can draw and write things in my free time, but I thought you would like some of them."
Jareth placed another kiss against her temple and wrapped his arm around her waist. "I thank you. I have something for you too as a matter of fact."
"You do?" Sarah asked, curious.
Jareth took hold of her hand with his free one and pulled her up from the bed. "Don't get too excited," he warned her, "It is not a new gift. It is in my room, where we should be."
Sarah had already known she would sleep in Jareth's room tonight, that being where Mavias was after all. After she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her upper body once more he allowed him to lead her out of her room and back to his, waiting as he set his new pens and markers down and went over to his dresser, opening one of the doors and taking out a small box.
Sarah was very curious when he came back over to her, opening the little box for her. Sarah's heart dropped when she saw her signet ring waiting for her, the one that marked her as Jareth's queen. She closed her hand at her side, not keen on having it stuck on her finger again after having it off for a full day.
"It was no joy taking this off you, even if it was for your safety and just for the day," he told her. "Your right hand please."
She had no choice. If she refused he would no doubt turn furious. She held out her right hand and said nothing, staring at the floor, as he slipped the ring over her middle finger once more. She wouldn't be able to remove it.
Jareth held onto her hand once it was back on, running his thumb over the surface of the seal. She wished she could pull her hand away.
Jareth brought it up to his lips instead and kissed her knuckles. "You're mine once more," he told her softly, watching her reaction closely.
She couldn't help her shiver, but she tried to counter it by forcing a small fake smile and nodded her head once in understanding.
Jareth's intense eyes darted over her face, searching it before he seemed satisfied enough with what he saw. "Come with me to bed now. I want to have you tonight."
She pulled back this time when he went to pull her with him over to the bed. He looked back at her expectantly, one eyebrow cocked as if to say to her 'you're really going to deny me?!' Sarah licked her lips to wet them and Jareth's eyes traced the movement. "I- I'll sleep with you, that's fine. I'm feeling very tired though, so I think that's all I'm up for."
Jareth opened his mouth to say something but Sarah cut him off. "You said you wouldn't touch me unless I allowed it during my period," she reminded him, his mouth closing again and pressing into a thin line on his face. He was angry.
When he spoke his voice was tight and controlled. "I did… but if I have your permission than I'm keeping my promise."
There was a strained silence between them as Sarah battled in her head if she should give permission or not. Would he really learn anything about how he should treat her better from her denying him like this? Chances were he would just end up seeing it as her needing to treat him better. She didn't want to let him 'have her' when he was acting like this towards her though, like she was a mere vessel for his pleasure and it was a crime for her to ever displease him.
"Sarah," Jareth whispered, his voice low and edged in warning. His hand tightened on hers ever so slightly. "Come to bed."
Sarah glanced over to the crib that held Mavias, wondering if Jareth was willing to risk waking him in a fit of anger. He would not touch her without permission, and couldn't for another few days… but he could still blow up on her if she said no. He had done it before. What did she have to gain?
If she said yes, that would make the promise he had given her worthless. There was no point in a promise to not take her without permission if he just bullied her into giving her permission. If she allowed it to work now he surely would do it again.
Sarah braced herself and pulled her hand from his.
Jareth's hand balled into a fist and he pulled it back away from her, his stance rigid with disbelief and anger. Sarah's matched his stance, but she was stiff with anxiousness and wariness. She also felt a little anger, however. Anger that Jareth could even think he had a right to be angry with her for turning him down tonight. As if he hadn't had her hundreds of times already, as if he wouldn't have her again after her flow had stopped. As if he had deserved pleasure from her at that moment.
When he hand shot out to point at the door between their rooms Sarah flinched, but stood her ground. "You'll sleep in your room tonight," he growled out at her.
"Mavias is in here, he will wake up yet tonight wanting fed or changed," she pointed out to him, her own voice surprisingly sharp.
Jareth's eyes darted over to the crib, his lip curling into a sneer before he let out a huff and threw his towel onto the floor, wrenching back the covers and practically fighting the bed as he climbed into it. "Fine!" he snapped, turning his back to her to curl up on the far side of the bed.
She probably would have laughed at how childish he was acting if she didn't know how much trouble that would get her into. She ignored him as best she could, wondering if she should go back to her room for a nightgown. It seemed almost wrong to deny him and then sleep nude next to him… and risky. She made up her mind and refused to so much as glance at him as she walked around the bed and back into her room. She changed quickly and came back into the room, glancing over to Jareth to see that his eyes were closed as though he were sleeping, but the frown that remained on his face was enough to tell her he wasn't really. She checked on Mavias one last time, seeing that he was sound asleep before climbing into bed next Jareth's tense form.
She didn't bother saying good night to Jareth, figuring she wouldn't waste her breath.