For You
Part Twenty
"Didn't your daddy ever brag to you about it?" Abien growled. "I'm sure he was rather proud of it, quite a magical feat it is,
murdering two immortals."
"How dare
you launch such an attack on my father, without even giving him a chance to
defend himself?" Jareth shouted
irately.
"You think
it would make a difference? Very well
than." Abien waved his hand simply, and
Dantriven's clock began to tick again.
Sarah saw Abien's muscles clench as he was doing this, although it was a
bit of a strain. Dantriven closed his
gaping mouth and lowered his raised fist cautiously. "An interesting charge has been brought against you, Dantriven." Abien said, smiling. The fae king remained silent, observing the
situation before him somberly. "The
brutal murder of two immortals, two of your courtsman, namely my mother and
father. What say you to that?"
Dantriven
sighed softly. "It is true that I
killed your parents, no matter how much I wish it was not so. But it was not brutal, and certainly not
intentional. I know what you think you
saw, but you misunderstand –"
"Don't you
dare say I misunderstand, your highness.
I saw you with my own eyes, barging into my parents' chambers late one
night and hitting them with a powerful spell.
There, he has admitted he is a murderer, is that enough to calm your
pure heart, Jareth?"
"I know you
loved your mother and father, Abien, but they do not deserve such love. They were cruel, they beat you – have you
forgotten that?" Dantriven asked
quietly.
"They did
what they could in their position!"
Abien cried, apparently having forgotten that he could silence Dantriven
whenever he wanted.
"They
constantly fought with each other.
That's why I entered your home that night Abien, to try and break up
their quarrel. When I interrupted they
turned their fury upon me, as you cowered in the corner."
"LIAR!"
"They
attacked me, conjuring some branch of powerful magic that I could never
achieve. I grabbed a silver platter
from their dinning table, and held it up as a shield. I never intended for the spell to reflect upon them – "
"ENOUGH!" Abien screamed, whipping out a crystal – one
of Jareth's crystals – and throwing it at Dantriven. It sailed harmlessly over his head, hit the clock above him and
was quickly absorbed by it. The clock's
hands came to a sudden halt. Dantriven
was frozen, a look of quiet remorse across his features.
"So you
see, Jareth, you are not the only one at fault here. Like father like son, I suppose.
But you will be the first to be punished, I assure you of that."
"If your
quarrel lies only with my father and I, than let the others go. Let my mother go, Abien, let Jen and the
other courtsmen go. Let Kira go for
God's sake." Jareth begged, a measure
of desperation in his eyes. Sarah
noticed then that Kira too, was in the room, but she was not standing against
the wall with a clock above her head.
She was sitting across the room at a table, as though she was merely a
member of the audience and not a member of these happenings. An abject look of terror haunted her eyes,
as she sat almost perfectly still, her eyes flitting back and forth between
Jareth and Abien.
"I believe
some desperation is setting in on you Jareth, else you would not make such wild
demands. Kira loves me Jareth, can you
not see that? We had a child
together. She will realize, in time,
how much that means."
"I do not
love you." Kira said softly.
Abien
slowly turned his head to look at her.
"What?"
"I'm sorry
I used you, I am, but... I have never loved you." Abien smiled lightly.
"Give it
time, lamb, give it time. You will see
things my way." He said this calmly,
almost tenderly. "However, we do have
other things to attend to. There is one
member of our party missing, I believe."
Said Abien, pointing to a space in the semi-circle, where a clock was
ticking harmlessly with no one underneath it.
"Oh Sarah?" Abien called, without turning from his
captives. Jareth's head jerked up in
horror "It's rude to lurk in doorways,
didn't anyone ever tell you that? Come
in and join the party." Sarah
froze. How had he known she was
there? What should she do?
Before she
had the chance to make the decision herself, she suddenly found herself being
pushed forward into the ballroom by a pair of stealthy, invisible hands. She fought every step of the way, and Abien
chuckled to himself as she did so, but she could not help being forced into
position under the lonely clock. Once
she was under it, the hands let go of her.
She tried to run away from her space in line, next to Queen Clarisse and
across the room from Jareth, but as soon as she got a few feet away from her
clock, she ran headlong into a wall – or at least it felt like it. There was no wall, of course, but some
magically barrier blocked her way.
"That won't
do you any good, princess." Abien said
calmly. "You're stuck, and you may as
well sit back and listen. Honestly, I
hadn't expected you to get here so soon.
You've been listening for half an hour, correct?" He didn't want an answer, of course, but
Sarah realized that it was in fact true.
"Well
Jareth, you may have poisoned my love's mind against me, but it is nothing that
can't be reversed. Your mortal lady,
however..." Abien stared at Sarah with
a quiet intensity, and eerie smile twitching at his lips. "I did warn you not to get involved with a
mortal, you know. They age so quickly,
die so quickly... with a little flick of the wrist," and at this he did so,
causing the hands on Sarah's clock to pick up speed, spinning faster and faster,
"they're old and gray. I suppose you
thought you could secure her immortality.
How sweet."
Sarah's
heart was pounding; she could feel the years slipping away as the clock spun
faster and faster, speeding up time only for her. The only one that was affected by the passage of time.
"Five years
older." Abien commented dryly. Sarah felt herself grow a few inches
taller. She was now twenty-three, and
had finished growing. "Ten years
older." Now twenty-eight, and the real
terror was setting in, but Sarah thought curiously that she didn't feel much
different after all. "Fifteen years
older." Thirty-three sounded so old,
but asides from being a little taller, and her figure being a little more
filled out, Sarah felt no different.
"Twenty years older." Abien
said, though less confidently than before.
Jareth's
face was ghastly white, and Sarah knew what he was thinking. He thought she would soon be fifty, sixty,
and in a minute be ninety even. But a
warm feeling was spreading in Sarah's stomach, and as the clock ticked away she
placed her hands across it.
"Jareth." Sarah said softly, her voice echoing
throughout the silent ballroom. All
eyes were focused on her, all that could at any rate, Jareth's showing a
glimmer of hope and Abien's a suddenly realized fury. For whatever reason, Sarah was not aging. No matter how many years the clock ticked
by, she felt only a very few years older.
It was then Sarah remembered she
had something in her pocket. "Jareth,
catch!" She cried, whipping the object
Hoggle had given her and throwing it across the room. Abien's eyes widened in shock as the crystal landed deftly in
Jareth's hand.
Clutching
the power source tightly to him, Jareth stepped easily out of line, waving his
other hand and restoring all the clocks to their normal ways of ticking. The other fae stood, unaware of what had
happened since time had stopped for them, and only stared in surprise as Jareth
strode towards Abien. Only Jen and
Dantriven followed, being the only ones able to grasp how the power had so
suddenly shifted.
Abien
wrenched his sword from his belt, and Jareth grabbed a dagger from his
boot. "You will never hurt her
again." Jareth said through clenched
teeth, throwing his crystal. It struck
Abien across the hand, the sharp pain forcing him to drop his sword before he
even got the chance to swing it. Jareth
was upon him in a moment, swiping up his sword from the floor and slashing him
across the cheek with a dagger. Abien
tried to conjure a crystal, but he was rapidly loosing his hold on the powerful
magic that had been draining his strength.
It is not easy to reorder time.
Sarah
turned her head away when she saw Jareth raise the sword upwards, and heard the
sharp swish as it sliced through the air.
When she looked again, Jareth was running towards her, Abien crumpled on
the floor in a pool of blood and surrounded by the angry fae court.
Jareth
pulled Sarah to him tightly, and she fell into his arms. "I don't understand." Sarah said, her face buried in his golden hair. "Is he dead? Why didn't his plan work?"
Sarah pulled back and looked up at Jareth, her eyes shimmering with
tears.
"It's okay,
Sarah." Jareth murmured reassuringly,
conjuring a crystal, just to ensure that they would indeed answer his
call. "I promise you, everything is all
right."
***
Sarah woke
up tightly wrapped in Jareth's arms one month later. Sunlight poured into their chambers in the Castle beyond the
Goblin City. Sarah smiled at the
innocent look on her sleeping husband's face before slipping out of his
arms. Padding into the bathroom she
splashed some cold water on her face, trying to wake up. It was probably early, Sarah didn't know –
she was still not very fond of clocks, and there were none in their bedroom.
She slipped
back past their bed, trying not to wake Jareth. It seemed so strange, to think about everything as their's. About to get dressed, her eyes fell on a
photograph on her bedside table. It was
of her and Jareth at their Aboveground wedding, with Karen and Robert beside
them. It was amazing how much better
Sarah understood her parents, she thought, now that she was married
herself. Not just married... She
thought, standing in front of a full-length mirror, resting her hands on her
stomach.
Jareth
suddenly appeared behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist as he pulled
her back against her and began kissing her neck.
"I didn't
know you were awake." Said Sarah
smiling.
"I can't
sleep without you." Jareth
replied. "You know Abien's trial is
today, love." He said, as though he'd
rather not bring up the topic, which in truth, he wouldn't.
"I
know." Sarah answered quietly. "I don't see the point in it, but I know."
"Fae live
by traditions just as mortals do. Abien
will be imprisoned," Jareth said bitterly, "no matter what."
"Jareth,
we've talked about this. I wouldn't
have you or your father becoming murderers just for him. And you two are the only ones that could
possibly manage that kind of magic."
"I know
you're right." Jareth sighed. "I do.
I just don't like the fact that he could always escape – forever is
quite a long time to be imprisoned."
"No." Sarah smiled. "It's not long at all.
Besides, you fae aren't always ruled by your traditions. A girl doesn't become immortal through
tradition."
"No,"
Jareth laughed, "she become immortal when she's ravaged by an impatient fae
like myself."
"And they
have their first child." Sarah said,
guiding Jareth's hands over to her stomach, which was still quite flat. "What do you think, boy or girl?"
"Girl." Jareth said confidently. "And as beautiful as her mother."
"What do
you think about the name Toby for a boy?"
Sarah asked, turning around in Jareth's arms to look him in the eyes.
"Tobias." Jareth said thoughtfully, as though testing
it out. "I think it sounds
perfect." And they kissed, the kind of
kiss that only newly-weds can share, the kind of kiss that shows the world that
yes, even though we are married doesn't mean we'll stop acting like love-crazy
fools. And their kisses never stopped
being like that.
***
A/N: I wasn't really
planning for this to be over so soon, but the ending just sort of came. So yes, this is the end. I'm kind of sad, are you? Here's the strange thing: I have this deleted scene of Sarah and
Jareth's wedding, a little tidbit that never really fit into the story. So, if you're interested, (who me,
bribing? Nah...) let me know in the
review I know you'll write, and I'll e-mail it to you. Sound good?
Also, I have been highly lacking in the thanks department,
so I bring you:
The Thanks Section That Ate Rhode Island For a Bedtime
Snack:
BrokenWing81 (are you satisfied with the ending?),
eviltama (want to see some Brian-aimed
revenge? It's in the deleted scene),
Archaic Tears (congratulations, you're the third person to be
driven insane by this story. You,
Lauralye, and who was that other person?
Oh yeah, me),
Rainbow (Rainbow is a very good monkey. Here, have a banana),
dawn (now that I'm finished, I have more time to
bother poor, innocent authours. When
are you gonna post, huh, huh??),
jessica (everyone seemed pretty ok with the
smuttyness – thanks for the encouragement),
kelly (OH MY GOD thank
you),
Emmy-chan (where can I get an appaluse machine 3000?),
Torrin
(you've been very positive so far, did you like the end?),
Ryo Hoshi (of course I remember you! And when you're lil' innocent me, anything
sex related is smut),
Daggerpoint (feel free to return to sanity any time
soon),
LIME (you actually inspired a bit of
Hoggle-ness in the deleted scene),
Jessi Lynn (get some sleep),
Ssjnikki (have you
noticed I love high shock values?),
Elona (more smut? I think I'll leave that up to your imagination darling),
Limeade43ver (more
smut? I think you'll have to wait a few
years for me to be able to write it... fill in the blanks yourself for now),
Kappy (You're so
nice! You tell me to write at my own
pace, and everyone else is like "post every five minutes, you evil cliffhanger
person!" Ah, to have someone on my
side.),
Jareth&Sarah4ever
( no more for me to write...how sad),
Michelle (was the ending to your liking?),
Silver Space (I had a lot
of fun trying to decide when to end chp. 19),
Deep Roller (Ack!
Minature purple hippos! You want
an ear? Whose ear? Abien's rather attached to both of his at
the moment, but I'm sure Jareth could arrange something... as for Brian, give
me your e-mail and you'll hear something about him...), LizBethy (see, I
used to be afraid of the Mystics (aka shaggy camel/llama/dinasour things that
go MMMmmMMmm) when I was small. They go
"poof" when they die, and that kinda disturbed me. Anways, I know how much storms can kill a computer. Mine got struck by lightening...),
VaMpIrOs_DaRk_AnGeL (were you expecting an ending so
soon? I wasn't...),
Sheyala (good luck with your writing),
Moonlady (the Hoggle thing kind of surprised me
too. I swear, I never know what my
characters are going to do until I've writen it),
Danalas (did Kira redeem herself a bit? A tiny bit?),
FireflyOfDeath (didn't you
feel bad for Kira when Abien was talking to her? I know she's a ditz, but no one deserves to be Abien's love
interest),
Raine_Faerie (the story
is over, go eat some clover, I loved the sprinkles and such, they helped a
bunch, "why are you rhyming" you ask me, I've no idea, chickadee),
Serene (I tried to
be original. Unfortunately, my
definition of original is doing something no one's done before, so I tend to
kill off innocent main characters and take lots of random plot twists...),
LiNa (I want a tour guide. Actually, I want two. One could guide people around me and my
room, and the other could guide other people around my tour guide. It's been a long day. I think I need some sleep.),
minako233 (so nice of you to say),
shiva (did the end suit your tastes?),
mithril (in FY, the whole Brian/Abien thing is
kinda left up to your interpretation.
Things are a little clearer in the deleted scene),
Lyra Matsuoka (maybe we should start a support
group. People Who Love The Labyrinth
And It's King Too Much),
bluedragongirl (Brian is a strange breed of loser. Leave me your email and I'll send you the
deleted scene (he's in it)),
Laurd_tundrn (thanks so
much),
Seyia's Odango (I'm still in high school and I'm one of
those people who always carry around a notebook with them and are always
scribbling in them – oh wait, I think that's just me),
Teller (you want to hear something
strange? Normally, I don't go for guys
with long hair, but there are two exceptions:
Cary Elwes and Johnny Depp.
Enough said),
tigress973 (was the ending to your liking?),
Sarah Beth (the clocks were one of those really
random things, in which I started foreshadowing before I knew what I was
foreshadowing for. A very, very bad
idea),
EngimaSphinx (Did you
like the little Toby tribute at the end?
I still feel kinda bad for killing him),
Tael (as much of a pain a ffn can be, what
would we do without it?),
Lauralye (you probably have a thousand and one
complaints to make, but seeing as there's no more plot for you to guess, I
guess it's okay),
Psyche (good to know that I'm creating literary
drugs),
celestia (thanks for offering to beta, I think I
got it figured out though),
linnetjo (you still around?),
Seeking Serenity (have I ever told you I love your
penname?),
T'Res (I always love dragging other people into
my fandom),
Claire Starling (uh, Didymus and Ludo kinda got jipped in
this series. Whoops. They do make an appearance in the deleted
scene, though),
Bella (do you have anymore Laby stories to
tell? I've really loved your writing),
Zaria (the next series (I think) will start next
week, but don't hold your breath),
silvrdragon (I'm guessing that if you're reading
this, than you've finished. Did you
enjoy?)
