I was so sick of being cold and hungry. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed, and I was beginning to give up. My will was only so strong. Cinn kept up her spirits longer than I had, even though when she tried to fly through the bars she was violently thrown back. Apparently there was a magical invisible barrier keeping us both in here.
Fairies were among the smallest creatures in the Labyrinth. With worms being number one and those little stick people who lived under stone slabs being number two, Fairies were number three. I wondered how many small creatures had been imprisoned here.
My little cell was just big enough for me to lay on my cot and pee in a bucket across. I was around 5'7 this way and had to curl my legs in a bit to fit on the straw cot that was squished wall to wall. Five steps away was the sealed door.
I slept a lot. It was so dark in here it was pointless to be awake, and when I was awake my whole body ached. I noticed this morning when I awoke that even though I was shivering, I had broken out in a heavy sweat. My hair was knotted and greasy, and matted to my forehead and cheeks. My nightgown was practically see through with sweat and clung to the most uncomfortable places. It hurt to breathe and the sound that came out of my throat was a phlegmy cough.
Cinn floated over me, and I couldn't even see her facial features. Her tiny hand touched my cheek and she yanked it back as if she had been burned. "Nye...your fever is...its enough to fry your brain." Her voice shook in fear. My heart hurt listening to it. Cinn never sounded that scared, even when we were running from somebody trying to eat us.
I moaned painfully and licked my dry, cracked lips. There wasn't any saliva to wet them. "I wish...I wish I could..."
"You know better than that," Cinn reprimanded softly. "Wishing is the most powerful magic. And the most corrupt."
"I know," I sigh. "I can barely move."
I tried to shift my hip so I could lay on my side and relieve my back pain, but my leg seared and I relaxed again. "Stupid...mermaids," I groaned again.
I meant it as a joke, but my best friend didn't laugh. "Please don't die," Cinn whispered brokenly. "I couldn't bare to lose you too." Cinn was...she was crying. I felt the tears fall onto my cheek. Her slight weight landed on my soaked shoulder and I felt her lips on my jaw.
I gulped as tears threatened to fall from my eyes. A lump in my throat stopped me from saying anything.
"I love you," Cinn whispered.
I let the tears fall this time. They were heavy and sticky. My heart was breaking again. How much hurt could I take before I gave up?
A door somewhere opened and a faint golden light shined in the dark. Two figures walked through the entryway and I listened to their footsteps walk down stone steps. One was a woman; I could tell by the click of her heels and the swish of her dress. The other was a man; if I could judge by the heavier footfalls. I heard them come to a stop outside of my cell.
"There she is," Mizumis voice tittered. "She's probably lost her sight by now. She hasn't moved in hours. It wont be long now."
My sight? Was it not really that dark in here? I looked to the light again and realized what I had seen was just the glow. It illuminated nothing. Not even the stone floor it shone on. I really had no sight! My hearing was always good, but never good enough to hear a dress brush against stone from such a distance...
"Have you fed her," the man asked. I knew that voice. It was hard and sweet and lilting.
"What?" Mizumi sounded astounded.
"Open the door, Mizumi," Jareth demanded dangerously. The barred door clanged open and Jareth stepped in. In one long stride he was standing at my bedside. Cinn stood up.
"Don't you dare touch her," she shouted at him. I couldn't see the look on Jareths face, but I wish I could have.
"I think you'll find that my being here is a good thing," he responded. I felt Cinn move and heard a slap of skin on leather.
"Hardly!"
"Cinn, is it? You have my word that I will not harm her today."
It was quiet for a moment, aside from my rapid breathing. I was dangerously close to losing consciousness. I felt leather gloved hand wipe at my forehead, and then my neck under my ear. Nobody said anything as Jareth took my wounded leg in his hand and poked it. I hissed in agony and a fresh wave of traitorous tears leaked out.
His hands left me for a moment and then I felt Jareths bare hands back on the wound. I cried out from the pain this time and it felt like my blood was boiling. I thought I felt my skin bubbling. I thrashed involuntarily.
"You over there," Jareth shouted over his shoulder. "Hold her down!"
There was a clang of steel and then another person squished into the tiny cell. Thick, heavy arms pinned me to the thin stack of hey. Cinn was sobbing and begging Jareth to stop, to heal me. Then the pain started anew.
Somewhere along the process a leather belt had been placed in my mouth as a bite guard. The burning got worse and it felt like something was being pushed out of the wound. Something solid and round like beads or marbles. Jareths hands squeezed on either side of my wound. I was screaming now.
My hips bucked and I fought to get my leg free, but Jareth leaned against it to stop me. At the crescendo of what felt like death, my world really did go dark, and I passed out.
The first thing I noticed when I came to was how tender and sore my right calf was. It sort of felt like being stung by a wasp, or a scorpion. It made you just lie there and think: why me?
The second thing I realized was I could see a little better now. My head still hurt and my fever had gone down enough for me to be able to move without hurting too bad, but I could see shapes and blurry features now. When I moved my head it was like suffering from whip lash and needing some kind of device to see clearly, but not having one.
The last thing that struck me was the fact that I was lying on a soft, wide bed with a firm, cylindrical pillow under my neck. I slowly sat up, wincing as my dead leg glided across the bedspread. I sat up against an array of white pillows and a tall dark headboard. The comforter was white with dark brown, leafless trees printed on it. Their branches like skeletal fingers reaching up to strangle me.
There was a brown footboard and posts on all four corners. The floor was a tan stone and matched the walls. The window was pane less and wide at the bottom, arching up into a point at the top. A sheer white curtain was placed over it, doing little to block out the darkening sun light.
This room was even larger than the one I had been given at Water Country. And the bathing tub wasn't even in this room! There was a fluffy rug on the floor of a dark red color, and a wardrobe. Just as there had been in my previous room there was a vanity, this time thicker and dark brown like the rest of the furniture.
Towards the middle of the room was a small writing desk and a wooden chair with a dark red seat. There was an unlit fireplace and a wooden loveseat with dark red cushioning and throw pillows.
There were two doors. One strait ahead of me behind the sitting area, and another to my right between the wardrobe and the vanity. I wondered if one of them were hiding the washroom.
A sharp rap on the door behind the couch answered one question. It opened, and to my shock, a tall Cinn walked in. She was just slightly shorter than I was currently and wobbled a little on her legs. Her fiery red hair was braided back to reveal her stunning face. She wore make up, which shocked me to my bones. It wasn't a lot, just some coal around her eyes and gloss on her lips, but I had only ever seen her wear makeup once. We'd been kids and she was trying to get Neville's attention.
She'd looked real funny and the effect had been good and bad. Everyone but me and Neville had laughed and made fun of her. Even Neville had snickered, but at least he had given her a hug and took her away from everyone else.
Cinn wore a creamy orange and white corseted dress, so long I couldn't see her feet. It was bell skirted and had a sweetheart neckline and sleeves that went to her elbows. Ribbons tied off the sleeves and she had a large sash around her waist to tie into a bow behind her. When she saw me gaping a pretty blush colored her cheeks.
"It's...different, I know," Cinn said shyly as she closed the door behind her. "Jareth made me taller...and said that guests should be dressed properly."
"Are you idolizing him now," I asked venomously.
"Nyvera, he saved your life."
"I don't owe him anything," I groan as my calf throbs. Cinn sighs and comes to sit on the edge of the bed.
"You've been sleeping for almost three days. Are you famished?" My stomach gave its own reply, gurgling loud enough to make Cinn laugh. "Come on, lets get you ready for dinner."
She took my arm and swung it over her shoulders, hoisting me to my feet. I tried to take a step with her and frantically grabbed onto Cinn as my knee buckled. Thankfully she caught me and we tried again. I took my next step firmly but with care and found my knee stable. Still, we took it slow towards the door between the wardrobe and the vanity.
I'd been correct about this room being the washroom. This room wasn't as big as my bedroom but it had a large clawfoot tub in a stone dug out. There was a wash basin across from it with a tan rag draped over the bowel. A metal pitcher of what I assumed was water sat on the small table beside the basin. The chamber pot was behind a thick tan curtain with that tree pattern printed on it. This time in white.
Cinn helped me over to the tub and pulled a crystal from her skirts. Her dress had pockets! She put it level to her face and looked into it. It glowed a tiny bit and I watched in amazement at the tub filled with steaming water. My friend undressed me and helped me into the tub.
I expected my wound to fester, but the hot water seemed to have no effect on it at all. My muscles, though, sighed in relief. I relaxed and laid my head back as Cinn went to a cabinet and produced a vial of purple soap, pouring a small amount into the tub. Lavender filled my nostrils and I sighed again. Next, she produced a rag and some purple salts, sprinkling the salt in the water, and handing me the rag.
She helped me bathe and washed my hair and sang to me. After a while she left and came back with a tan towel, white slippers, and a white robe. I got up and shrugged on the robe and slippers and tied my hair up into a knot with the towel. I felt truly refreshed. Cinn sat me at the vanity and I dried out my hair and brushed it. She put it in a half pony tale and insisted I do make up. We used hers as I didn't have any and she lined my eyes in coal and added a shimmery light brown powder to my lids. She painted my lips with gloss and dusted my cheeks with a rose blush.
Then she wrestled me into a thin, float white dress with a yellow sash around my waist. The v neck dipped low enough to make me feel uncomfortable. And she put me in some white shoes with a small heel.
"Cinn, whats going on?"
"He saved your life, Nye! The least you can do is look good."
"Do you...are you fond of him?" I felt the pang of betrayal in my gut as the expression on her face told me everything.
"Nye...he isn't as bad as you think."
"He killed my family! And so many others! How could you?"
"That was years ago! Before the champion!"
"I don't care how long its been," I growl. "I'm not going to eat in the same room as him. And I'm definitely not letting him dress me up like a doll!"
Even as I said it my stomach growled in protest. Cinn gave me a pointed look. "Don't you think you're being a little childish?"
It was my turn to look flabbergasted. "What?"
Cinn just shrugged and opened the door. "Look...I meant what I said. I love you, Nye. But maybe killing Jareth isn't the right thing to do. You need to be careful with how much you hate."
I grit my teeth. Anger, confusion, pain; it all twisted inside of me like a cyclone. Cinn held the door open for me and I reluctantly walked out with her.