Disclaimer: check first chapter.
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Be
careful what you wish for
Sarah hovered in that realm between
dream and wake and smiled. To think she had dreamed about being taken to the
underground by Jareth. She stretched and was surprised that her hand did not
hit the headboard of her bed. She opened her eyes with a gasp. So the events of
the previous night weren't a dream. She smiled and rolled out of bed.
Now what? she wondered as she looked at the room properly for the first
time. Last night she had been too worn out to notice the room. It had a high
ceiling from which hung one of the globes of light she had noticed earlier. The
four poster bed with blue curtains was in the center of the room on a dais. A
dressing table rested against one of the walls. Sarah went to the table and
began brushing her hair.
She smiled at her reflection and then
paused. There was no sign of Karen's hand print on her face. Jareth must have
removed it with the pain of the blow she realized. She smiled at the thought
that he would care enough to do that. If he cares about you, a skeptical inner
voice asked, why did he leave as soon as he could last night?
There was a knock on the door and Sarah
called "Come in." Elleraine walked into the room carrying a black shirt and
jeans.
"I brought you some clothes, Sarah.
Later, your assigned teacher will show you how to materialize the clothing you
want."
"Thank you" Sarah said and smiled,
pleased at the thought of learning such magic.
After she had dressed Elleraine told
Sarah that the three fey rulers who'd asked to be allowed to train her were in
the castle.
"Jareth said there were twelve kingdoms,"
Sarah said petulantly, "So why are only three rulers here?"
Eleraine smiled. If nothing else, Sarah
had inherited Vanessa's trait of believing herself infinitely desirable. "Only
the ones without assistants are allowed to apply" she said soothingly.
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Sarah sat at the table attempting to eat
the enormous breakfast she had been served. Under the cover of eating however,
she darted interested glances around the table. She was seated at the queen's
right hand. There were three other people at the table and she observed them
with fascination. She had been introduced to them before breakfast. She had
been disappointed not to see Jareth there and wondered why. He's a smug,
arrogant, rude slob, she told herself and wondered if her breakfast companions
were any better.
Next to her sat Lord Isvent of the
Dwarvish realm. He had black hair and blue eyes and with his regular features
appeared quite handsome, but there was something in his air which Sarah
mistrusted. He turned to Eleraine and asked " Will we be having the pleasure of
his majesty's company this morning, Cousin?" The Queen muttered an affirmative reply and continued her conversation
with Lady Isobel about the difficulties of maintaining a castle with sub-human
servants.
Lord Tyranel of The Troll kingdom sat
next to Sarah. His red hair and green eyes blazed and his voice was
uncomfortably loud as he blared "Enough polite chit-chat Eleraine. Which of us
is going to receive the new Paladin?"
Sarah stiffened. He was demanding that
he be allowed to train her and he hadn't even bothered to learn her name. She
definitely didn't want to learn from Tyranel, she decided. He looked at her the
way that Toby looked at a new toy and she didn't like it. She suppressed an
inner longing for her brother.
"Yes, Elleraine, do tell," Queen
Isobel said silkily. "In my opinion, you ought to let me train the poor child.
Neither Tyranel nor Isvent have any assistants and it would be quite improper
to let them have charge of a young girl." Isobel then looked Sarah up and down
and sniffed "Although, I don't believe that she
would be in any danger from my colleagues."
Sarah stiffened at the implied insult
and returned Isobel's appraising gaze. She was reminded of that old adage
"between a rock and a hard place." Living with Isobel didn't seem an appealing
option but it might be better than living with Isvent or Tyranel.
Queen Elleraine smiled serenely with an
air of mischief. Her amber eyes danced as if she knew something no one else
did. "I have decided to leave that decision to my lord husband" she said.
Sarah wondered what that naughty look
meant for her and decided that it was time she began standing up for herself;
after all, she hadn't escaped Karen to find herself bossed about by other
people. She cleared her throat "I'm sorry to interrupt, but don't I get a say
in all this?"
"No, child, you do not," said
the Lady Isobel decidedly in a tone of voice which was eerily reminiscent of
Karen.
"You will get a choice, Sarah," Elleraine
said reassuringly "but only after you've graduated. For now, you'll be placed
with one of the Lords who have no help and next year you'll live here, in
Avalon getting to know and learning from all of the Lords"
Elleraine was nice, Sarah thought. Her
resemblance to Jareth made her seem like the only familiar thing in the room.
The white hair was, illogical as it seemed, reassuring. Sarah received another
of those leers from Tyranel and concealed an expression of distaste as she
glared calmly at him. Jareth for all his mockery seemed preferable to these monsters. She had never dreamed
that she would compare Jareth favorably to someone and was surprised to find
herself wishing that he could teach her.
King Damrued walked in at the end of
breakfast saying brightly "Good day all. I was detained by official business."
Sarah noted in amusement that all
three of the fey looked like they didn't believe him. Isvent snorted and Isobel
said smoothly "Perhaps you were deciding, Damrued, which of us gets to train
Sarah."
"None of you gets to train Sarah"
Damrued said in a final tone of voice.
"But we are the only three without
assistants" Tyranel snarled "and as our need is greatest, the laws of the
kingdom clearly state that one of us should get her"
"He's right," said Isobel "we three have
the greatest need. None of us have assistants."
"Neither," said Damrued smiling wickedly
"does my brother in law, Jareth."
Sarah bit back a gasp and her memory
played back for her, in her grandmother's silky voice "Be careful what you wish
for, little one…."
"He has been very vocal about not
wanting…." began Tyranel stiffly.
He was cut off by Isobel's outraged
voice "You can't send the poor child to live with that social recluse he'd
kill…………."
Damrued cleared his throat and said
firmly "My Lords and Ladies, I am the king and my decision stands."
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A/N: I'd
like to thank my reviewers especially Sarina Fannel, Skitzofreak, Quote and Dawn
The next chapter is almost done. I'm in the
market for a beta reader. Please apply to Shy_Introvert@yahoo.com . My poor
brother tries but he's not much
interested in the Labyrinth. No rotten tomatoes please, I'm not very satisfied
with this chapter myself. The next chapter will have more J/S interaction, I
promise.