A/N: Good morning/Afternoon/Evening everyone! Thank you to all my readers and my follower! It keeps my motivation going, but please review! I know I said there would be Sarah and Toby in the characters and right now they are back ground, but they will be showing up soon! I just have some more character development for Nye, and then they will be in the story more. I hope this is okay with you all! Anyways, here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy. Again, Please Please review!
The huge double doors opened on their own when Cinn and I walk up. I take a deep breath and grasp ahold of my best friends hand. Her thumb rubbed calming circles into my knuckles as we entered the dining room.
My eye twitched upon seeing the king sat at the head of the long 8 person wooden table. He wore a casual white poets shirt that was unbuttoned to show off his golden horned pendant. That stupid thing had been around his neck every time I had seen him and I wanted to yank it off of him. Jareth stood to reveal his black leggings and boots and offered me a tight smile.
"Its good to see you awake, princess. Feeling better?"
I wanted to sneer at him. Why was he being so nice? "Much," I answered instead. He came over and pulled out a seat to his direct left hand side. I gave him a side glance as I sat down and he pushed me in. He helped Cinn to her seat to his right, and then sat down himself.
"Why am I here," I ask. Jareth produces a crystal and plays with it on his fingertips.
"Because I brought you," he answers smartly. My eye twitched again. Double doors behind me swing open and three goblins clumsily push a cart in. The cart was covered with a white table cloth and three silver platters with lids on display. Two skinny goblins wearing rags and dirty aprons stood on top of each other, one holding onto the cart while the other walked. The third goblin was pudgy and had warts on his huge nose. He too wore an apron (slightly cleaner than the other two) and a chefs had with several holes in it.
The chef goblin walked beside the cart shouting orders at the other two. "Walk strait you idiot! No, not slight left! Strait! Hurry up! It'll get cold!"
They finally made it over and the two skinny goblins maintained their hold on each other. The chef took Jareths plate and set it in front of his king. The two skinny ones set mine next, and stayed put staring at me creepily while the chef took the cart and walked over to Cinn.
The goblins staring at me seemed to have no sense at all. The bottom goblin was shorter than the top goblin, but had longer arms than his counterpart. He had a snout similar to a pigs and tiny beady eyes. The top goblin had a tuff of dark hair sticking out from a blue ball cap and had a wide but skinny face and slits for a nose. His mouth was wide with the bottom lip much fuller than the top. His eyes were football shaped and normally looking.
"Um...hello," I greeted them unsurely. They both cracked a crooked grin.
"Hi! I'm Mink!"
"I'm Monk!"
They answered at the same time. The top one was Mink and the bottom one was Monk. I think.
"That's Chef Zug. He likes to cook," Mink said and pointed to the chef goblin with a short stubby arm.
Zug snorted and came wobbling back with the cart, ignoring us and going back to his kitchen. Mink and Monk said a simultaneous "bye!" and took off after him.
"They've forgotten the wine," Jareth sighs. He conjures a crystal and rolls it down the table. It drops into the air and dissipates, leaving behind goblets of dark red wine. Jareth scoops his up immediately and sips from it. Cinn follows suit after having sat quietly with her hands in her lap.
As hungry as I was, I couldn't bring myself to touch the food. My plate was heaping with meat and potatoes, gravy, and green beans and it smelled absolutely divine. My mouth watered and I watched Cinn daintily dig in. That feeling of betrayal got me again. I wanted to snap at her: don't touch it! Its a trick! Don't be a fool!
I knew all she would do was scold me and continue eating.
"Is it not to your liking," Jareth asked after a moment of silence. I glanced sideways at him again.
"Id rather not be poisoned."
The Goblin King sets down his utensils and stands up, striding over to be behind me. He leans down so close I can feel the heat of his body on my back. His pendant brushes the back of my neck and makes me shiver. Jareth picks up my fork and spears a chunk of potato, then pops it in his mouth. "There," he whispers in my ear after swallowing. " Not poisoned."
I shivered at the loss of his body heat when he pulled away. I stayed quiet as he went back to his seat, but could no longer stop myself from eating. Cinn was looking at me with a weird kind of half smile on her face. I scowled at her and ate.
Later on, Cinn had retired to her room and I had gone to mine. I sat at the vanity and stared at the belt that sheathed my fathers dagger. I open my palms up and concentrate. Mort had been able to effortlessly summon and dismiss the dagger. It might be useful to be able to do that. The dress I wore now really had no place to conceal it easily.
I concentrated with pursed lips and a furrowed brow. Imagined the dagger appearing safely in my hand. My hand tingled a little and the dagger materialized in my hand. "Yes!" My yawp echoed around the room and even though nobody was around I bashfully put a hand over my mouth.
I'd do it tonight, I decided. A dark sense of excitement swirled in my gut. It'd be all over tonight. But how would I know when he was asleep? I couldn't spy on him, as I didn't know how to do that yet. How would I know where his chambers were?
I guessed now was as good a time to explore as any. I'd been asleep for 3 days and the thought of more sleep didn't sit well with me. I set the dagger down on the vanity and grabbed a fur lined cloak to protect me from the frigid air.
My heels clicked annoyingly on the stone. To the point where I just kicked them off and put them on a window sill. I was feeling too petty to walk all the way back to my room. Maybe I was being childish, like Cinn said, but she didn't understand. She didn't have to go through what I did. She didn't have the burden of growing up too fast, of being trained for a position she was never supposed to have; one she didn't want. She didn't have the duty to our people that I did.
Cinn had royal blood in her, hence her red hair color, but she would never play the role I had to play. I never got to know my brothers or my father because of Jareth. He took away my mothers happiness. He took away mine. He had to pay it back.
My toes were frozen after an hour of walking. They were so cold I couldn't even really feel them anymore. The moon lit my way through the castle and it was eerily quiet. A howl of a large beast came from within the labyrinth and lit a small flame of fear in me.
I passed the kitchens where goblins could be heard laughing and hiccupping and smashing things from within. I distinctly heard Zug complaining loudly about Mink and Monk. I tip toed through the throne room where a bunch of goblins slept in a large divot in the floor. They cuddled chickens and snored loudly.
Jareths throne was surprisingly modest. It was just a wide chair with cloth and fur draped on it. Directly to its right stood an opening with a winding stair case. I tip toe through the throne room and up the stair case. It went up quite a ways and I followed it to another door. I opened it, and stepped inside. The room was circular and empty, save for an old trunk under a rickety looking desk with a burned out oil lamp.
The window in this room was large and had no glass, letting the icy air dominate the room. The sill was large enough to sit on, and sit I did. The entire Goblin City was on display for me here. Everything seemed to be in a shade of dry brown. There was a vulgar fountain shaped like dwarfs peeing into a pond in the town center. Shops with clay roofing spiraled down the street and most had stands with cloth roofs in front of them.
A goblin walked briskly down the street with a small, black cauldron in her hand. I could see the gate that held a humongous steel guard within its bindings. Chickens ran rampant down the streets, every now and then a door would open up and someone would snatch up the poultry.
The city was sort of peaceful, now that I stopped hating it for a moment. Curiosity overcame me when my eyes wandered to the trunk under the table. I knelt in front of it and hauled it out. The trunk itself was in bad shape, but it came open easily and without a sound. The contents were clean, and dust free.
Inside was a thick, white, shiny material. It was folded neatly, and so of course I had to take it out and look at it. The material was actually a puffy white dress with bulbous shoulders and long sleeves. The bodice had on the corset and the skirts were long and thick. The dress was heavy in my arms and shimmered so beautifully I sort of wanted to try it on. I peered into the trunk again and saw white heels with beads on the toe, obviously the matching shoes.
Whoever this gown belonged to it was well taken care of. I wondered what secrets Jareth had to hide it up here. I wondered if he spent much time here in solitude.
Eventually the cold got to me and I wandered back down, hugging my cloak to me. I found my way back to my room, but paused. I felt fatigue finally start to set in and my leg was throbbing again. But I couldn't go to bed yet.
Looking at the position of the moon I deduced I still had some time left. It was late. He had to be asleep by now, right? So I headed down the opposite end of the hallway I had gone before. I peered into empty rooms, and almost woke Cinn up when I accidently wandered into hers. Jareths room was so obvious I wanted to kick myself for not realizing it sooner.
Jareths room was at the very end of the hall and had by far the largest door. An intricate pattern of the Labyrinth was carved into the wood and the handles were slabs of gold plate. I simply pushed on it and it clicked, opening for me. I snuck in as quietly as I could. But Jareth wasn't in here either.
The floor was the same as the rest of the castle, but he had a black rug under and around his large bed. The comforter was a dark red with silver specks of threat embroidered in it like stars. His large four poster bed was the same dark wood as mine. He had a wardrobe but no vanity. A fireplace, a simple wooden round table and a stool instead of a chair. This confused me.
Everything else about the room was lavish and fancy but the table and stool. He didnt have a sitting area either. All in all his room was pretty empty. There was a second door which I assumed lead to the lavatory.
I sat on the stool for a while to wait for him. After about 10 minutes my ass was hurting and I had to get up. The bed it is then. Not bothering to light a fire against the cold, I just hugged my cloak and sat on the bed.
I waited. And waited. And waited. The later it got the more tired I became. I was just about to give up when he popped magically into the middle of the room. I'm not sure when I had laid down, but I darted up into a sitting position. Jareth froze when he saw me.
A leisure grin crossed his face as he unbuttoned his leather jacket and threw it on the table. A flick of his wrist and the fire roared to life. Despite myself, I let out a sigh of relief.
"My...a fairy has inhabited my bed. Whatever shall I do with her?"
I scowl at him and quickly stand up. "You're disgusting," I hiss.
"You're in my chambers after dark," he reminded. I gulped as his shirt came off next and his marble chest was staring back at me. It was a nice chest...
"I...I Um...I came to speak with you. Of...of a truce."
"Really," he hums. I couldn't tell if he believed me or not. "And what do you have in mind?"
"Release my people from your service," I demand as he comes closer to me. His boots were off now as well as his socks, leaving him in just those heinously tight pants. A bulge, bigger than the one that was usually there, was forming.
"And why would I do that?" He grabbed me by the arms and pulled me close. My hands came up to protect myself, my palms pushing flat against his warm chest. I gulped.
"B-because," I was having a hard time speaking as he pressed his lips to the spot right under my ear.
"What do I get out of it," he whispers huskily.
This was not a good idea. My mind screamed at me to run. To try another time. I had no idea me being in his room like this would do such a thing to him. Jareth pulled back, feeling me shake in his grasp. His eyes were dark with lust and it only frightened me more. He wouldn't...he wouldn't violate me, I told myself. Of all the horrible things he has done, I never heard of him violating someone.
"Right now you look just as your father did before I severed his head," Jareth says heavily.
That shook me. I screamed in my head for the dagger and felt it materialize in my hand as I shoved him away. He stumbled just enough and I swung for him in a wide arc. He grabbed my wrist, stopping the blade from piercing his chest, and kicked his leg out to sweep mine out from under me. I landed on my back on the bed and he pinned me down with his hips. He forced the dagger from my hand by digging his nails into my wrist, and it clanged to the floor.
He held my wrists above my head, fury and amusement mixing on his face. I felt the bulge of his member on my thigh. It was still hard like he was enjoying this.
"If you're going to try and kill me, princess, you'd better do it right. I wont be so forgiving next time," he hisses. He yanks himself away from me and grabs his clothes, popping back out of the room in a cloud of glitter.
I stay on the bed a moment, breathing hard with frightened tears rolling down my cheeks. I covered my face with my hands and scream into them. Id gone and messed everything up! Now he was expecting me. What if he hadn't stopped himself in there? What would he have done to me?
Looking around the room again I felt bile rise in my throat. My dagger was still on the floor and I scoop it up as I run to Cinns room. I caused enough of a ruckus moving her arm chair from the sitting area to the front of the door that she woke up. I knew it was dumb and that he could just magic himself in, but it made me feel better.
Cinn sat up in her bed of light green and rubbed her eyes. "Nye? What's going on?"
I threw myself at her, my arms wrapping around her neck. I cried into the crook of her neck and she held me. "I don't want to talk about it," I mumble hoarsely. Cinn "shhh"s me and rubs comforting circles into my skin. She helped me out of my dress and I climbed into the bed beside her in just my underthings.
"I'm afraid," I admit to her. I never said I was afraid; at least not out loud. Just as Cinn has only cried openly once. The words sounded so foreign coming from my lips that she stopped humming.
"I'm here for you," she responds. Her lips press against my forehead.