Ch. 10 Betrayals
A/N - I am SO sorry this took so long to get out. I know many of you have likely felt that I once again disappeared. Unfortunately, the last 2 months have not been the best. Not only were there major changes at work due to COVID, but my cat ran away right before a major snow storm. He was gone for 4 weeks, and each day was devastating, but thankfully he has been found and returned home safe, if not a little skinny.
This chapter will be shorter, but I promise to update again soon!
Guest 2020: Thank you for your review. I apologize if my writing seems rushed or the storyline not clear. Hopefully this chapter will help clear some things up!
Sarah woke the next morning, her head throbbing as sunlight burned through her closed eyelids. She groggily peaked out one eye and struggled to focus on her surroundings. Slowly her room came into focus, and her gaze fell on a glass of water on her nightstand, ice still floating on its surface. She eagerly reached for it, pulling herself up into a sitting position. She gulped down half the glass before feeling some relief, and then continued to sip on it as she struggled to remember the details of the night before.
As the memories became clearer, she felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment. She could not believe she had acted so brash. Did she really call Jareth HER king? And then she practically begged him to stay with her after she had to leave his extravagant ball because she couldn't hold her liquor. What a fool she had made of herself.
Luckily it was Saturday, and she had the weekend off to relax and recover. She remained in bed for some time, dozing on and off. Erin called 4 times before Sarah found the energy to actually speak with her. The call was short, and afterwards Sarah felt slight guilt at evading her friend's eager questions about the events of the night before. She couldn't make complete sense out of her own thoughts and feelings at the moment, let alone voice them to someone else.
The sound of activity coming from the kitchen made her pause, and she gasped as she looked at the clock and realized it was almost noon. She pulled herself out of bed and made her way downstairs where she found Irene setting out lunch and her father and Toby already seated at the table. Toby laughed as he played with a small toy car, and her father lifted an eyebrow as he folded the newspaper he had been reading and glanced up at her disheveled appearance.
"Long night?" He asked, amusement in his voice.
She replied with a groan as she sat down and put her head in her hand, trying to block out some of the light. "Wine is no one's friend."
"We didn't even hear you come in" Irene said as she sat a sandwich down in front of Sarah and took the seat across from her. "Did you enjoy your party?"
"It was... interesting" Sarah finally replied, taking a large bite of the sandwich.
"Was your friend there?" Irene asked with too much interest for Sarah's liking.
"I told you I was going with Erin" Sarah said quickly, trying to avoid the topic Irene was clearly hinting at.
"I knew about that friend. I meant that nice handsome man that called on you the other day."
"A MAN called on Sarah?" Robert asked, a stern tone suddenly in his voice.
"Sarah's got a boyfriend! Sarah's got a boyfriend!" Toby giggled as he raced his car along the edge of the table and used his fork as a ramp.
"I do NOT have a boyfriend" she snapped at Toby. "He was just a friend visiting because he was in the area. He's no longer in the area." Not technically a lie.
Irene laughed as Robert sighed and went back to reading his newspaper. Sarah finished her sandwich and then let her family know she was going to go do some reading and relax more.
The sandwich helped settle her stomach, and a long hot shower made the pounding in Sarah's head finally start to fade. Returning to her room, she slipped on a clean pair of sweat pants and a tank top, grabbed one of her favorite books, and crawled back into bed. No sense in getting dressed when she would rather not leave her room for the rest of the day.
She got a couple chapters in when a thump came from her closet, and she sighed as she closed the book. She was really looking forward to a goblin-free day, but that apparently was not going to happen. She got up and opened the closet door only to encounter a pile of goblins fighting over a parcel.
"I want to give it to her!"
"NO! He gave it to ME to give to her!"
"I'm her favorite!"
"You've only been here twice!"
"What is going on?" Sarah asked sternly, glaring down at the bickering goblins. They all froze and turned to stare at her. After a few moments, a grinning goblin ran forward and held up the parcel to her. It was a small box wrapped in soft silver linen, held together with a ribbon. Sarah tentatively took the gift out of his eager hands.
"What is this?" She finally asked.
"A gifts from his Majesties!" The goblin beamed. "He said because you likes us when we here, we may bring it to you!"
"Hold on" she said. "I thought he would be angry if he knew you came to visit me?"
"No, silly" a small goblin laughed from the back of the group. "He would be angry if you knew he told us to come watch you!"
The other goblins turned to angrily shush their companion, but the damage was done. Sarah gasped as she took in his meaning. "You mean he's been sending you guys here every night to watch me?"
The small goblin in the back nodded his head quickly, which resulted in a hard smack to the back of the head from the goblin standing next to him. Sarah narrowed her eyes in anger. She would definitely need to speak to the Goblin King about this.
She sat down on the bed and looked at the package sitting in her lap. The goblins leaned forward, excitedly watching her and waiting for her to open it. She rolled her eyes and undid the ribbon. As the fine fabric fell open, an intricately carved wooden box was revealed. She peered at it and saw detailed carvings of numerous aspects of the labyrinth. Fairies, goblins, the castle at the center, and even a carving of Ludo. The goblins oohed and awed at the beautiful box as they leaned in to look at it.
She lifted the lid to reveal a delicate silver tiara resting on a pillow of silk. Small glistening crystals hung suspended off delicate silver bands. The goblins all gasped as they saw the contents of the box before immediately dropping to the floor in deep bows.
"Queenie!" They all breathed out before looking back up at her with adoration. "Queenie!"
"Excuse me?" She asked, stunned at their reactions.
"Queenie crown!" One goblin beamed before dropping back down into his bow.
"Excuse me?" She repeated, not quit understanding their meaning.
"Queenie crown!" Another goblin cried before jumping up enthusiastically. "When His Majesty marries Queenie and she becomes Queenie, she wears the Queenie crown!"
Sarah looked back down at the tiara as a feeling of dread slowly crept into her stomach, suddenly suspicious that this was the equivalent of a fae engagement ring.
"Out. Now." She said in a flat tone, and it took the goblins a second to register before they took in the look on her face. They glanced at each other, and then quickly fled to the closet. A popping sound announced their departure, and Sarah sat the box on her nightstand. She sat in silence for a few seconds, taking deep breaths to calm the anger she could feel brewing.
"Jareth" she finally said loudly, anger seeping out in her voice.
"Hello, Precious" a deep voice drawled into her ear, and she jumped as he appeared on the bed sitting next to her. She stood up quickly and turned to glare at him.
"What is that" she said, her voice louder than she intended, indicating the box sitting next to her bed.
A look of confusion briefly flashed across his face as his eyes glanced over at his gift before returning to her eyes, seemingly taken back by her reaction.
"A crown most fitting for a Queen as beautiful as you" he finally answered, standing as well and walking towards her.
She backed up to maintain her distance, and again gestured wildly towards the gift. "Why did you give it to me?" she shrieked, internally kicking herself for the panic she could hear in her voice.
He paused to ponder her question for a moment. "Surely my intention is clear?"
"No, no, no, it is NOT clear." She turned away from him and paced towards her vanity before turning back around to glare at him accusingly. "What of Lady Alvaria and your betrothal?"
The Goblin King smirked in reply. "My father wishes me to wed on the solstice. However, who I wed shall be my choice."
"The solstice?" She cringed as the shriek again returned to her voice. "You expect me to marry you in less than two months?!"
His eyes darkened slightly at the way she was taking his words. "Come now, Sarah. I had assumed we were past this little dance of yours. Surely you can feel your pull towards me."
"Oh yeah" she scoffed, throwing her hands up in frustration before sitting down on the chair at her vanity. "One nice ball with you and surely I'm just ready to throw EVERYTHING away and marry an immortal man I barely know who lives in another WORLD." She glared at him accusingly. "You sent the goblins to watch me." It wasn't a question.
He watched her for a moment before returning to sit stiffly on the edge of her bed. "The mortal world isn't without danger. How could I leave my beloved unattended while I handled my own duties at the Labyrinth? Besides, you do seem to have a way with them. I have never seen my subjects act so well behaved." He smirked slightly at his last comment.
Sarah groaned as she felt the throbbing return to her head. She looked down at her lap momentarily. "That's the problem, isn't it?" she asked softly, suddenly feeling her body go numb. "I barely understand you. And what's worse, you understand me even less." She closed her eyes and put her head down in her hands. "I rescind my wish to the Goblin King. I wish he would return to his castle at the center of the Goblin City, right now."
She heard a shocked gasp, and opened her eyes to see a look of pain flash across the Goblin King's face before he disappeared. She stared briefly at the spot he had occupied on her bed moments ago, before finally allowing the tears she had been holding back to flow freely.