Chapter 9
Does True Love Conquer All?
Delon groggily opened his eyes to a blurry world. His head ached, and he felt like he had been asleep forever. Rising off of the throne, he stumbled about, not able to gain his balance. He was sure that the floor was moving beneath him as he swayed back and forth. "Damn that Jareth if he didn't make it like that on purpose." thought Delon, steadying himself on a pillar. He breathed deeply a few times to clear his head and gain a bit of balance.
"I wonder what my dear cousin is up to." Delon summoned a crystal and concentrated on seeing Jareth's face in its depths. The crystal had decided that it was not going to cooperate, and showed only darkness. "Perhaps we shall see what the lovely Sarah is doing." He was me with the same response.
"Having some trouble with that, Delon?" Jareth's voice came from his right.
Delon turned quickly to see Jareth leaning against a pillar, arms folded across his chest.
"But...How did you.."
"Get out? Well, lets just say that I had a lot of help from a little bird."
"You really are getting on my nerves, Jareth. I thought I had handled you once. Well, I see that you need a refresher course on the fact that you have no magic."
Delon put out his hand, and Jareth was slammed against the wall, tied there by thick ropes. He's getting weaker. I had to do the ropes myself. Jareth thought smugly to himself. I just hope Sarah remembers what to do.
* * * * * * * *
Sarah slowly climbed the stairs to the throne room. Jareth had wanted to confront Delon by himself and give him the opportunity to showcase his power, wearing him out so that he would be weak later on. He heart thudded in her throat, making her wish that she was with Jareth right now. She didn't know what she would find at the top of the stairs, but she was determined to follow Jareth's instructions.
When she did reach the top, she was not surprised at what she saw. Delon's back was to her, and Jareth was tied to the wall in front of her. Jareth gave away her presence by smiling at Sarah, which made Delon spin around to face her. He crossed the throne room in large strides, grabbing Sarah by the arm and dragging her back in front of Jareth.
"So, the two lovers reunite at last. I do hope that it was worth the waiting, Jareth. Enjoy it while you can, because you won't be around long enough to enjoy everything about this lovely girl." He ran his hand up Sarah's arm, only to be stopped when she slapped him across his face.
"Keep your hands off of me, you filthy bastard."
"Such strong words from such a pretty face. Mustn't let the Kingdom hear such words escape from their queen's lips, my dear. But, that is something we can work on together." His breath stank on her neck, and she recoiled in disgust.
"I would never consent to being your queen. Never!"
"But, you keep forgetting that my weak cousin has nothing to offer you. No lands, no title, nothing. Not one smudge of dust does he own. Look at him! Weak, pitiful, no power, he might as well be human! What could he offer you that I have not?"
Sarah looked at Jareth, seemingly helpless. The look in
his eyes told her everything that she need to know to answer.
"Love"
"Love! Ha! A silly, overrated emotion that you humans are much too fond of. You think you have it all figured out when it comes to love, but you are dead wrong. Love is nothing. It makes people do stupid things they wish they hadn't. Just ask your beloved Jareth. He's lost an entire kingdom, plus everything else he possesses because of love. Ask him if he regrets any of it."
"She doesn't need to ask it because she knows the answer." Jareth replied in a quiet voice.
"Does she? Let's see how well you think she knows you. How about it, Sarah? Do you think that Jareth regrets what has happened?"
She didn't take her eyes off of Jareth's face. "I know that he does regret not telling me how much he loved me at the beginning. But, I also know that he would not give up the chance because of loosing his kingdom." She looked at Delon, eyes filled with rage. "Our love is stronger than anything you have ever encountered, and it is scaring the hell out of you."
"Damn you, you stupid girl! I am giving you the chance to rule a kingdom beside me!"
Raising his arms parallel to the ground, Delon shouted, "You had your chance to save yourself and your love. Now, I am going to teach you a lesson about real magic."
Sarah flew across the room and landed against the wall opposite the one where Jareth was tied. Shackles grew out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around her legs and arms. Sarah winced from the pain and tried to stay still so that the chains would not dig into her skin anymore than they already were. Suddenly, the chains disappeared and Sarah dropped to the floor, her body aching from all of the sudden actions that it had been put through.
"Dammit! No!" Delon cried out when he realized that his spell had not lasted long. Seeing that both Jareth and Sarah had been released from their bindings, Delon weakly threw a spell at Jareth that tied his hands behind his back and turned to a large book that sat on a table near the throne.
"If I only had something to throw." thought Sarah. The back of Delon's head was making such an alluring target that it seemed unnatural not to want to throw something at it.
I wouldn't do that if I were you. Jareth's voice came into her thoughts.
Why not? She asked the voice back.
Because you don't have anything strong enough to throw at him. Look here. Sarah's eyes flew past Delon and at Jareth. She saw something gold glimmer in his hands. The crystal. She looked at Jareth's face, and saw a sly grin creep on his mouth as he winked at her.
Sarah slowly got to her feet and noiselessly crossed the throne room. Delon still had his back turned to the pair as he fumbled through the big leather book, muttering under his breath. Sarah slipped her hand between Jareth's, never taking her eyes off of Delon's back. She wrapped her hand around the warm crystal and withdrew it from Jareth's grip and hid her hand behind her back. I can play this part. She thought, After all, I always wanted to be an actress. Now we shall see how good I am at fooling someone.
"King Delon. I will make you an offer." Sarah's voice came out loud and strong, taking Delon by surprise when he saw that she had moved. His eyes narrowed into slits and he wet his lips hungrily.
"What is that, my sweet?"
His answer made Sarah want to gag, but she resisted the urge and continued, lowering her eyelids so that her eyes were half shut and giving Delon a smoldering look that made his eyes nearly pop out of his head. "Jareth is such a silly man for loving me. He should have known that I cannot truly love anyone but myself. Well, that and whomever shows me what real power is like. You, my handsome devil, have done just that."
"Do go on."
Good job, Love. Keep him preoccupied.
"Since you already obtain so much magic an power in this kingdom, I think that you would be better suited to meeting my every whim and fancy rather than some ridiculous creature who can't even show his supposed true love just how much she means to him. Therefore, Delon darling, I want to be your queen."
"Oh yes! I knew that you would see it my way."
"But, on one condition."
"Anything for you, my dove."
"Catch this!" Sarah yelled as she hurled the gold crystal straight at Delon. Taken aback by her actions, he ducked too late and the crystal struck him right in the chest.
Wind began to race through the throne room as Delon clutched his chest in agony. He felt like his entire body was being ripped to shreds. Blood pounded in his ears and he felt himself fall to the ground. His body began to glow brighter and brighter until Jareth and Sarah both shielded their eyes away from the blinding light. The wind whipped through the throne room with a deafening roar and picked up Delon along with it. He hovered over the fire for a split second before succumbing to the bright light and shattering into dust.