Hola! Not too much to say, just rerun the disclaimer and have fun!
Ladymage Samiko ;)
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To the Victor Go the Spoils
Part 6 ~ Instrument of Grace
Once Sarah had left the room, the man turned on his heel and stalked out the front door. No one felt brave enough to delay him. Out of sight, they immediately forgot about him, which was a good thing, since he immediately proceeded to turn into an owl. Flying past the surprisingly lively elm, he perched just outside Sarah's window, fluffing his feathers and gazing in with steady, unblinking eyes.
She was sprawled across her bed; her shoes and dress had been torn off and were lying forlorn in a corner of the room. Angry tears made their way down her cheeks and soaked into her pillow. The only sound that came from her were sobs.
It continued to rain.
It was after midnight when it slowed and stopped, though Jareth was seven-eighths asleep and didn't particularly notice. What he did notice was a figure draped in a voluminous cloak and carrying a small bundle leaving through the back door.
Is the fool girl trying to run away? he asked himself. She won't get very far like that. Shaking the droplets from his feathers, he flew off after her.
Neither stopped until Sarah had reached a small clearing some ways from the house. Surrounded by trees and bushes, it was invisible to anyone outside it. She opened the pack she had been carrying, which Jareth saw contained a small tape player. A few moments of fiddling with it and she appeared to be satisfied. Wiping the last of her tears from her face, she threw off the cloak, at which the owl stared in amazement.
Sarah was wearing a long, flowing, gypsy skirt edged with two rows of ribbon. Also, a ruffled, off-the-shoulder blouse. Both were in bright, cheerful colors. A silver coin was tied to a ribbon running around her forehead. Her feet were bare.
A deep, persistant drum beat began to play from the tape recorder. Sarah's hands moved slowly through space, their movement fluid but controlled. Jareth felt magic just beginning to rise in the clearing and quickly returned to his human form, though he remained high in the tree, watching.
More instruments joined the drum: flutes, a fiddle, guitars, even some Jareth couldn't recognize. He noticed hands clapping in rhythm, and voices in the background noise of the tape, but no singing. The mood of the song changed, becoming faster, more sorrowful. Regret at past wrongs. Cries at the loss of loved ones. Pain in gaining what was not worth the price, at losing what was more valuable than life. Sarah moved to the heartbeat of the music, whirling in a dance that seemed both utterly spontaneous and perfectly planned. The magic Jareth had felt drew itself up from the Earth, becoming an intricate, invisible web that the girl danced within, manipulating and moving with it as though she could see it.
She was the most heartbreakingly beautiful thing he had ever seen.
He never even moved as her voice rose briefly to join with the finale of the song and with a final cry, cast the web of magic into a spell.
