Disclaimer: same as before only this time, I own another new character!!! Juliana belongs to me.
To Love You More
Chapter Three
"Attempting to set things right"
The days passed by much like they had before Sarah and Beth's visit to the Underground. The only difference was the far away look that Beth often noticed in Sarah's eyes. Beth never asked Sarah what had happened right before they left, but if Beth had to guess she was pretty sure that Jareth had figured out that Sarah loved him.
After two weeks of watching Sarah shut herself off to everything and everyone, Beth confronted her about it.
"Sarah look at yourself," Beth said. "You need to snap out of this. Frankly, I'm getting sick of the way you're acting. It's nobody's fault but your own that you're here instead of there."
Sarah sat down on the edge of her bed and let the tears that she had been holding fall.
"I know that Beth, I really do. I wish I had just told him what you had overheard. But now, it's probably too late. He's most likely married by now and Audrey's probably already plotting against him. If I tell him now, he'll really hate me."
"See? This is what I'm talking about Sarah!" Beth said as she crossed over and sat next to Sarah. "You sit here contemplating what would have happened or what might happened without attempting to find out what WILL happen. Go back."
"I can't go back," Sarah said. "Audrey is sure to kill me if I go back. And if she wouldn't, I have no way to get there without having Jareth come."
Beth crossed over to her dresser and pulled open the top drawer.
"Why don't you just use this?" she asked as she pulled out the crystal they had used to return.
"You kept that?" Sarah asked. "You've had that for the past two weeks and NOW you tell me that you have it? Beth! What is wrong with you?"
"Calm down girly," Beth said. "Besides, I didn't think you wanted to go back?"
Sarah was silent. She knew that she was only kidding herself when she said she didn't want to go back. Not knowing if Jareth was married or even dead was killing her inside. She walked over to Beth and took the crystal from her hand.
"Hey Beth," Sarah said.
"What?" Beth said, looking at Sarah and trying hard not to laugh. It was rather humorous if you thought about it.
"I'm only going back on one condition."
"What's that?"
"You're coming with me," Sarah said. She grabbed Beth's hand and pictured the throne room in her mind. Moments later, the room began to spin.
----------
Audrey tried to regain her composure as two people appeared in the throne room. But as she realized who it was, anger boiled within her. The nerve of her to come back! Everyone in the Underground saw what she did at the engagement party. It had taken the past two days since the party to try and fix the damage she had caused. Even now, a few members of the royal court were still speculating as to if Jareth would be the first king to go against the law and call off an engagement.
"Well, well," Audrey said. "What have we here? Come to cause more trouble, Sarah?"
Sarah turned and faced Audrey. Audrey was the last person Sarah had wanted to see and tried to keep herself calm as she replied.
"If by causing trouble you mean I've come to tell Jareth how I feel, then yes, I'm here to cause more trouble. And just what, pray tell, are you going to do about it?"
Beth covered her mouth with her hands as she saw Sarah step closer to Audrey. This was just too much fun.
"I'll tell you what I'm going to do about it," Audrey replied, her voice void of any and all emotion. "I'm going to get rid of you. I'll be sure that you can't get anywhere near Jareth until the wedding and the honeymoon is long over. I will not let you ruin this for me. So I'm afraid you and your little friend will have to leave."
Sarah's face had gone white as she realized the error of her words. She was in a world of magic so naturally, everyone she met would possess magic. Beth had walked up beside Sarah and the two stood looking at Audrey. Audrey formed a crystal much like Jareth's in the palm of her hand, only this one shone with a blinding blue light. Audrey threw the crystal at the two girls and watched with satisfaction as they disappeared from the throne room.
----------
"Sarah, where are we?" Beth asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.
"My guess would be one of Jareth's oubliette's," Sarah said looking around. "See the light coming from above?"
Beth looked up and, sure enough, there was light above them.
"An oubliette?" Beth asked.
"It's a place you put people to forget about them," Sarah said, Hoggle's words coming back to her. "The hole up there is the only way out, unless there's a hidden door like the one Hoggle showed me, but I highly doubt it."
"I remember now. However, I don't think Jareth will be sending Hoggle to help you this time."
"Me either, Beth. I think we're stuck here… forever."
----------
Jareth stared at Audrey from across the dining table. She had been acting very strange the past couple days, even for her. He tried to shove it aside, thinking it had something to do with Sarah's revelation at the engagement party. Though she hadn't said a thing, her message had been loud and clear. Sarah loved him. And there wasn't a thing he could do about it. Audrey's voice shook him from his thoughts.
"What do you think, Jareth?" Audrey asked.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"You weren't even listening to me!" Audrey pouted. "I swear, some days I think I'm the only one planning this wedding. I asked what you thought about having the wedding in the ballroom."
"In the ballroom? Sure, that sounds fine," Jareth replied, not really caring where the wedding was held. The only thing he cared about right now was that he had lost Sarah. Unless he could find just cause to call off the engagement, any hope of a future with Sarah was gone.
Jareth sat there for a few moments more and listened to Audrey carry on about the wedding plans. When he knew he could take no more, he excused himself and went to his chambers.
"You need to get hold of yourself," he said out loud. "You can't think of the past. Sarah was just not meant to be. Audrey will make a good queen and you could be very happy. You moved on once before. Now you have to do it again."
Jareth stood and transported himself to the library where he knew he would find Audrey.
"Audrey, may I speak with you for a moment?"
"Certainly," Audrey said, a little shocked from the sudden appearance of Jareth. She crossed over and sat on an oversized couch and Jareth sat next to her.
"I wanted to apologize about my behavior the past few days. I will admit that after learning of Sarah's feelings, a great part of me wanted to call off our engagement and take what I had lost so long ago," Jareth said. He held up his hand to silence Audrey. "However, I also know that another great part of me couldn't stand the thought of being without you. You are the woman I am going to marry. You are the woman that I am going to spend the rest of my life with. I am truly sorry for the pain I've caused you."
Audrey looked up at him, thinking about what he had said. It was times like this that made what she had to do so difficult.
"I accept your apology," she said, leaning into him. "And thank you for the reassurance."
Jareth wrapped his arms around Audrey and kissed her with all the passion he had inside of him.
----------
Beth opened her eyes and stared at the darkness. Her stomach growled and she realized it had been awhile since they had eaten anything. As best as she could tell, it had been two days since Audrey had dropped her and Sarah into this oubliette. She stood up and crossed over to where Sarah was lying.
"Sarah? Sarah are you awake?"
"Yes, I'm awake."
"Sarah, I'm hungry," Beth said.
"Me, too," Sarah said. "However, I don't think you're going to find anything down here that you can eat."
Beth sighed as she leaned against the wall of the oubliette and yelped when she fell through.
"What in the world? Sarah! What the heck is this?"
Sarah stood and walked over to the portion of the wall that Beth had fallen through. She put her hand through the wall and screamed as Beth's hand grabbed her own and pulled her through.
"Oh my goodness," Sarah said. "This is incredible! Beth, we're out!"
"I realize that," Beth said. "The question is, where are we?"
Sarah took in their surroundings and figured they were most likely in the forest at the edge of the Goblin City.
"I think we're in the forest at the edge of the city. If we are, keep your eyes peeled because…"
Sarah was cut off as a fiery jumped out from behind a tree. Beth screamed and grabbed onto Sarah's arm.
"Hey lady," the fiery said. "What are you doing back here?"
"I came to stop Jareth," Sarah said.
"That's good. That Audrey is no good."
"Sarah, what is that?" Beth asked.
"It's a fiery," Sarah said, turning back to face the fiery. "Can you get us out of this forest?"
"Sure can! Follow me!"
Sarah and Beth walked on behind the fiery as he led them from the forest. They soon found themselves at the gates of the city.
"Here you go!" the fiery said. "Good luck dealing with the witch."
"Witch?"
"You didn't know Audrey was witch? How do you like that? You come to stop the king from marrying her, and you don't even know what she is."
Sarah watched the fiery retreat into the forest. She turned to Beth.
"Audrey's a witch. An honest to goodness witch."
"Yeah. But you're not Dorothy, so I think it's going to take more than a pail of water to get rid of this witch."
"Well come on," Sarah said. "We have to get to that castle."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said from behind them. Sarah and Beth turned around.
"Who are you?" Sarah asked.
"My name is Juliana. I am here to help you."
"Help us?" Beth asked. "Why?"
"Because I know why you are here and I know the importance of what you are about to do," Juliana said. "I have known for a long time what Audrey was, but I was not permitted to say anything. I had to wait for you to come back."
"I'm lost," Sarah said. "Would you please explain to me what is going on?"
"Certainly. But first, let us go to my home. I know it will be safe there."
Within seconds, the three ladies found themselves inside a richly furnished home.
"Please, sit down," Juliana said. "Perhaps I should start at the beginning. You see, I am Jareth's mother."
"His mother?" Sarah asked. She could see the resemblance now.
"Yes. When Jareth's father was killed, he took over as King. Since I was no longer Queen, I was given this home to live in. I was able to watch my son, but I was no longer allowed to advise him in what decisions to make. So I sat here everyday and watched my son. I longed to be able to go to him when he had difficult decisions to make or when he was facing great danger, but I was no longer allowed that privilege."
"So that's why you can't say anything to him about Audrey," Beth said.
"Correct," Juliana said. "But that's not the end of the story. A few years back, I watched as a young girl entered the Labyrinth. Call it mother's intuition, but I knew as soon as I saw her that this was the girl my son would share his life with."
Sarah looked at Juliana with wide eyes.
"Me?" she asked.
"Yes, Sarah. It was you that I saw. When I heard the words my son said as you confronted him, I had to hold back from going to him and yelling at him for saying the wrong thing. But again, I was powerless to do anything and watched as my son's heart was broken and you left the Underground.
A few years later, he met Audrey. I liked her at first and I was actually happy when they officially became a couple, although I still wished that it were you on his arm and not Audrey. As the weeks went by, I saw him slowly become more of the person he was before you left. Then, while I was checking up on him one day, I overheard a conversation between Audrey and her mother."
"The same one I overheard," Beth said quietly.
"Yes, it was the same one. I did some research and found that Audrey was a witch. Not a witch like you think of, but a witch from the Underground which is far worse than any aboveground witch. Witches like Audrey have very powerful magic, but they do have a weakness. Their weakness lies in their anger."
"So that's why we were able to get out of the oubliette," Sarah said. "She was so angry, that she didn't make sure the oubliette was completely sealed up."
"That is most likely what happened," Juliana said. "I can't tell you how glad I am that you came back, Sarah. You're the only one who can stop him from making this mistake. But I must warn you, it will not be easy. Two days ago, Jareth went to Audrey and apologized for his behavior. He promised to shove all thoughts of you aside and concentrate solely on her."
"Then what do I do?" Sarah asked.
"You just leave that up to me," Juliana said. "Tonight, Audrey's father is throwing a masked ball in honor of his daughter's wedding, which is to occur tomorrow. You will be there and you must tell him everything you know. If he does not believe you, tell him to come to me. If it his wish that I offer assistance, then I may give it, but only if he wishes it. Now come. We have to prepare for tonight."