Chapter 4
Come fly with me
"Ready, my love?" Jareth asked gently and glanced at Sarah who was standing next to him by the fountain in the garden.
"I guess. It's now or never", she gulped with an oncoming anxiety attack.
She looked back at Jareth, and they both held their gaze for a moment before he transformed into an owl and hopped onto the fountain wall. He clicked his beak at Sarah, encouraging her to follow him.
"Well, here goes nothing, I guess", she murmured, and within seconds she was perched next to him, rubbing her beak gently against his. Jareth blinked his eyes and refocused on the terrain ahead.
Slowly he spread his wings and flapped them back and forth a few times to show her how to take off. With one swoop he left the ground and quickly rose up in the air gliding in silent circles above her. Sarah's eyes followed him, nervously clicking her beak.
She began to flap her wings like he had shown her only a minute earlier and pushed off the ground. She felt the air underneath her body and started to flap her wings, steadily gaining height.
She constantly had to correct herself with her tail and dangerously wobbled a few times before she straightened out. She heard Jareth call with a screech overhead as he came swooping down and stayed right next to her.
"Relax, precious", she heard Jareth' voice in her mind. "Your take off needs some refining but otherwise you did really well. Now hold steady and let the updraft of the wind carry you. Steer gently with your tail and follow me."
Sarah didn't answer and concentrated on her wings and tail, still trying to figure out the wind, and how to hold herself steady. Within a few minutes she relaxed her wings and spread them wide, following Jareth' example in front of her.
They were only a few meters of the ground and sailed at a comfortable speed above the treeless landscape. Jareth had picked this spot to get her used to flying and securing herself in her capabilities.
They noticed a group of goblins who had assembled around the fountain watching them with intent scrutiny.
"Kingy showing queenie to fly", fascinated goblin number one remarked.
"Queenie looks wobbly", intrigued goblin number two pointed out, sounding doubtful of her success.
"What if queenie crash?" worried goblin number three mentioned.
"Kingy be sad", concerned goblin number four added with tears in his eyes.
"If kingy sad, he drink lots of ale", empathetic goblin number five mentioned.
"We must support kingy in sadness", supportive goblin number six suggested.
"Let's go roll out the barrels and be ready", comforting goblin number seven proclaimed.
With that, the goblins trudged back to the throne room with half a dozen barrels of goblin ale, drinking and waiting on their sad king to return and join them in their mourning for their queen. It was a somber affair.
Somewhere in the back of the room one lone goblin played 'Don't cry for me Goblin Kingy', slowly and scratchy on a fiddle he had procured from the Surface World.
Jareth watched Sarah's progress closely as he slowly guided her higher and higher into the sky until they soared several hundred meters off the ground. Sarah had begun to relax and managed to look around and enjoy the scenery. Her owl vision let her see all the little details on the ground her human vision always denied her.
Jareth kept screeching with encouragement and soon they played chase and Jareth flew circles around her and even did a few rolls in midair. As he flew upside down below her their eyes met and Sarah knew his face was beaming with pride. She clicked her beak at him and he rolled and returned upside up again in front of her.
They flew for fifteen minutes when Jareth decided to guide her down by a small stream. He had spotted two friends of hers and wanted to give her the opportunity to have a short visit and to also rest her wings.
As they drew closer to the ground, she too noticed them.
"Sir Didymus and Hoggle", she exclaimed and rushed past Jareth to be the first to greet them. All the fox knight and the dwarf saw was an out of control crazy owl coming straight at them at neck breaking speed.
"Sarah, put on our breaks. Spread your tail, cup your wings, talons in front", Jareth bellowed after her and like a torpedo followed with wings tucked in close against his side.
Sir Didymus, mounted on top of Ambrosius, and Hoggle could only stare at the spectacle above them, as Ambrosius became nervous.
"Steady there my noble steed, this is not an air attack. I do believe this is our king teaching our queen to fly. How exciting", Sir Didymus proclaimed as Hoggle had a disapproving sneer on his face.
"That rat is putting her in unnecessary danger. I need to have a talk with her about this. He's up to no good."
Sarah nearly crash landed on top of her fox knight friend, but managed to come to a screeching halt just in time, tumbling over the knight and his dog, as she rolled into the soft grass with Jareth immediately upon her.
"Don't transform, precious. Remember your clothes", Jareth warned her immediately, and she was glad for it, as she had nearly forgotten about this embarrassing part.
Jareth straightened himself out in his fae form and picked Sarah up, gently brushing her feathers back into place.
"You did well, precious", he whispered into her ear before he set her back down on the ground again.
"Your majesties, what a lovely day it is for a flight", Sir Didymus greeted the both of them as Sarah hopped over to him and clicked her beak.
Sir Didymus and Hoggle gave Jareth a puzzled look and Jareth explained with amusement the predicament his queen was currently in. If owls could blush, Sarah would have turned as red as a cardinal.
"Don't yer think it is irresponsible to take her so high into the sky?" Hoggle protested, but Sir Didymus cut him off. "Nonsense, it is a wonderful idea. How else is she going to learn such a noble skill?"
Hoggle only snarled more and leered at Jareth with suspicious eyes.
"Will you relax, Higwart?"
"Hoggle", Hoggle interjected.
"Yes, Hogbreath", Jareth snarked back. "Sarah is perfectly fine, and in a few days she will have learned that little bit of magic as well."
He gave Hoggle a conceited look as he towered over him with his fists on his hips. Hoggle lowered his head and scuffed, but didn't say anything else. He didn't care for the rat to take Sarah flying. He figured it too dangerous.
All the while Sarah clicked her beak and screeched.
"It's Hoggle, Jareth. Hoggle, not Higwart or Hogbreath. Ah, why are you always doing this?"
She hated being stuck as an owl and not being able to talk to her friends, but she would hate it even more, exposing herself to them in the nude. She was not that close of friends with them, and Jareth definitely would not have approved of it either.
"Well, we must be off. The queen has to practice her flight techniques some more", Jareth announced cheerfully and waved them both off.
"Have a wonderful day flying, your highnesses", Sir Didymus called out while Hoggle only grumbled with disapproval.
Sarah clicked her beak at them and bobbed her head up and down.
"Take care, Sarah. And yer be careful with that rat. He's up to no good, that one, I can feel it."
"Stop it Hoggle, you're being unfair to him", Sarah screeched and flapped her wings angrily at the dwarf to no avail since he could not understand one word she was squawking.
"Well, just be careful is all I'm saying", Hoggle added and walked off. He could tell she was upset with him, but he needed to speak his peace.
Jareth had already transformed back to his owl form and took off, sailing above Sarah's head who followed him into the blue sky. Soon they were flying high above the Labyrinth taking in all the little intricate turns and bends.
Jareth performed his little tricks for her again and soon flew in front of her, backwards, as he flapped his wings rapidly, holding his beak against hers in midflight. Sarah rubbed her beak against his and he let out a joyful screech and sailed high up into the sky performing a few rolls with folded wings.
"A midflight kiss, precious. How wonderful", he proclaimed excited in her head and Sarah chuckled. Even as an owl he was so predictable, and horny.
"Instead of a barn owl, you should be a greater horned owl. Get it? Horned for horny", she snickered as Jareth continued with his dives and rolls.
He showed her how to hover in midflight and once again gave her an owl kiss, this time with both of them hovering in midair and flapping their wings rapidly.
"You love your horny owl, precious. Admit it", Jareth laughed and they resumed their path across the Labyrinth.
He guided her down into the corridors and found a nice ledge for them to land on. Sitting close together they rubbed beaks and Jareth tried to climb on her back.
"What the hell are you doing Jareth?" Sarah exclaimed shaking him off without success.
"Owl love", he answered with as serious a voice he could muster and proceeded with his mating ritual.
Sarah looked at him with her big black eyes, shook him off, and flapped her wings against him, screeching.
"Get off of me you pervert. I don't want to start laying eggs."
Completely flustered she took off and screeched a few more insults at him while he pursued her with a loud internal laughter.
"Oh come on precious, don't you want to have a few little owlets. They are so cute and fuzzy."
They had spent most afternoon flying and performing loops and hovers, and before the sun sank too low, Jareth led Sarah back to the confinement of the castle. He did not want to wear her out too much on her first successful flight, and night flying was an entirely different skill set altogether.
Within minutes they were back in their chambers and landed straight in bed transforming back into their fae form.
"Why are you naked Jareth?" Sarah asked with suspicion as she looked at Jareth lying next to her in the nude, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
Instead of answering her, he leaned over her and gave her a deep passionate kiss. His tongue parting her lips and seeking out her tongue to dance with. She couldn't help but to give in. He was too alluring with his fae aura, and his kisses always made her fall completely apart.
"I thought, since you were not much into owl love earlier, maybe you would enjoy some fae on fae love?"
He trailed his kisses down her neck and across her shoulders, gently taking one of her breasts into his hand, cupping it while suckling on the other.
A shiver of pleasure ran down her spine and she quietly moaned, which he took for a green light to proceed. His hand wandered from her breast down her stomach and over her hips, gently massaging the inside of her thighs.
She could tell by his hard member he was more than ready.
"We should be eating dinner first. I'm actually hungry", she whispered while her hand took hold of his erection and stroked him gently.
"Well, then let's consider this the appetizer only and after dinner we finish it up with entre and desert."
"That sounds good", Sarah agreed with the hush of a whisper.
Jareth carefully probed her entrance, noticing her wetness.
"I can tell, all this talk about owl love has got you horny as well", he chuckled.
Sarah only smiled as she reclaimed his lips while her hand guided him towards her entrance. With one thrust Jareth entered her, and it wasn't long before they both heaved with passion and arched their backs in unison as the wave of pleasure washed over them.
They stayed joined together for some time, catching their breaths and slowing their heartbeats, before Jareth rolled off of her and removed himself. He turned onto his side and pulled her into him while his arm wrapped around her body.
"Let's take a short nap and then we'll have dinner, take a bath, and see where else the evening goes", he suggested.
"Sounds wonderful", Sarah replied with a moan. "Come fly with me again tomorrow", she murmured, already drifting off into her sleep.
"Most definitely, precious", he replied and kissed the top of her head. "I'll fly with you every night or day from now on."
Soon, both had drifted off into their collective dream, flying high into the sky and soaring over the Labyrinth, performing rolls and dives, and hovering in midair for lofty owl kisses.
Thank you all for reading my story, fav and following it. Please check out my other stories of the Entanglement and The Last Fae as well as Coming Home. I have currently three more full length novels as a WIP and will be posted soon, including the Entanglement, Book 3 which will conclude the Trilogy. I have also rewritten several chapters of the Book1 series as my writing style has improved quite a bit since I first posted it. i will be posting the rewritten chapters soon. Hope to see all my fans around for the next round of stories.