AN: Whew, was determined to make this one chapter, even if it was long! I'm getting
so damn close to the end of this thing its driving me crazy... Okay, a few more chapters
but I can *see* the end! Yeah!! LOL Drop me a review and keep me motivated!!
Disclaimer: Go read another chapter for one...
************************** Sacrifices: Chapter Twenty One **************************
"You were given leave to take a babe, a child, not a woman! What makes you exempt from
our laws Jareth? If you stand apart, if you refuse to bind yourself to the Court that
rules us all then where does that leave us Goblin King? With dissension, revolt,
revolution, anarchy, destruction!
"With death and fire and loss of immortal life! You have overstepped your bounds and
you must be brought to heel. He must be used as an example, as a display of the Sidhe
Court's power for, without power we have not the right, or the will, to rule." Evirey
strode as she spoke. She was a great orator... learned, bright, passionate.
The Unicorn Queen paced the marble floor as she spoke, her hands waving animately as
she alternated between accusation addressed to Jareth, and entreaty directed at the
silent Court. She looked, even to Sarah's trained eye, earnest, sincere, the perfect
eptiome of truth, justice.
Bull shit, all of it. Perhaps...
Sarah was not a thing, a toy, a bone to be argued over. She knew that revenge, that
vengeance, drove the indignant Unicorn Queen. That underneath her veneer of wounded
Underground patriotism, legality, and civility lurked the conniving, cruel being who
had appeared before Sarah in Jareth's castle. Somewhere lurked that dark dream of
the Goblin King's demise.
That own fire had burned, however briefly, in Sarah own innocent eyes once. Before
the amber had become jaded. Before she had been willing to see the gray inherent in
the world, and in every man, woman, and, and monster, King, that she met. Before she
had stopped being able to see so clearly, if erroneously, what was right and what was
wrong, without a shadow of a doubt.
When she had first trod the trails of the Labyrinth. She had been armed with naievete,
youth, and righteousness then.
None of that remained now.
But, Evirey did not hate, did not hold petty grievances and plottings to her heart because
she was an ignorant child. The Unicorn Queen sought Jareth's downfall because she could.
Because he stood in her way. Because he could not be bent and bowed. Because he refused
to yield to any, let alone spoiled Evirey.
And yet, there was a seed of truth in her words. The Unicorn Queen used them because
they were handy, convincing. Evirey did not believe what she said, or if she did, she
didn't care, not really. But it did not make them any less true.
From what she had seen of the Underground Sarah had found it to be a dangerous, trecherous
place. Beautiful yes, certainly beautiful, her eyes flickered to Jareth who stood beside
her now. Flickered and traced the regal profile of his now familiar face. Beautiful for
all eternity, vibrant, wild, reckless, but no less dangerous, no less perilous.
And the rule of the Sidhe Court seemed very tenuous indeed. All the monarchs she had
seen, every single one, had been so proud, so arrogant... so steeped with traditions of
pain and torture and the willingness to do anything to get what they wanted. It was a
wonder that a Court, that a government, no matter how loosely constructed, was able to
form at all before the separate races ripped themselves to pieces.
No doubt the only reason the Court had lasted as long as it had was because the strongest
monarchs had submitted, if in name only, to the Court's laws. They had allowed themselves
to be governed and so the weaker had followed suite.
But if Jareth stepped away, if the Goblin King outright refused to obey the basic, direct
laws of his world? Then he paved the way for others to follow suite. He opened Pandora's
proverbial box.
It was truth... all of it. He had already broken a rule by bringing her here, another
by making her immortal... but all that could be remedied if Jareth allowed himself to
chastised. If he obeyed whatever the Court ruled here today in response to his actions.
Sarah swallowed and tore her stare away from the Goblin King. Wild eyes found the cold,
endless depths of the Phoenix King. The Lord of the Court held Sarah's eyes for a moment
and the human immortal read, read a terrible sadness there in those azure depths, and a
reflection of certain knowledge that mirrored her own revelations.
The Phoenix King was watching his world unravel before him as Evirey spoke, as she rallied
supporters, both ardent and reluctant to her side, the Troll King a silent and solid pillar
of support behind her. As she whipped the Sidhe Court to a frenzy with her words and ill
used truths that would be silenced, quelled, satisfied, only with the Goblin King's fall.
And Cadreth was powerless to stop it.
Sarah tore her gaze away but it was too late. She could see the scene playing out with
horrific clarity in her mind even as her sable hair fell forward to obscure her down cast
face with a curling waterfall...
Evirey and Tortar winning the Sidhe Court over with their fiery words... Their demand that
justice be served, that Sarah be handed over to another monarch... Kym, Jareth, and Sarah's
pleas falling on deaf ears... Jareth's subsequent anger... The moment when the Court tried
to separate the Goblin King from the woman he had claimed to love in a soliquoy meant for no
one but heard by her... From the woman he had held not an hour before as she wept and
railed... From the woman he had embrace but minutes ago as the Faerie Queen risked all
that she had to rise and stand by their side...
And the slow but eventual collapse of all the order that the Underground knew as Jareth
defied them.
"He brought a woman against our laws and made her immortal against her nature! Without
consent or permission the Goblin King added another member to our world and he must answer
for it! He claims her as his... He claims that this human immortal, one of us forever now
because of his foolish actions, belongs to him. He has the nerve to break our laws by
bringing her, then by attempting to hide her presence, and now by claiming what should
have never been!"
Sarah stared blindly down at her clenched fists. Her ears heard what was being said, her
body felt the still calming presence of the so far silent Faerie Queen and Jareth's fuming
wrath that existed like a small sun, warmth at Sarah's side. But her mind barely grasped
the words pouring out of Evirey's curled, devious, lips.
Hands, pale, trembling slightly, uncurled slowly. Sarah stared at them, as if seeing them
for the first time, and couldn't contain a shudder that ran through her slim frame as her
imagination painted the palms red, scarlet, bleeding vermilion, the blood of a thousand
races on them, covering even her terrific scar.
Sarah was not High Sidhe for she was not arrogant enough to believe that her presence
could be enough alone to destroy the Underground. But with Jareth losing his temper and
what little tact he used when dealing with politics then together, together they may be
very able to start a war, or, heaven forbid, wars.
Sarah had demanded at the Ball, had wanted a promise from her King, that faced with loss
of power and loss of her that he would chose to let her go, to face whatever destiny she
could forge for herself. But Jareth had never sworn, had never looked her in the eye and
acquiesced to her plea. He had, had simply given her what comfort could be found in his
strong, sure arms. Had wrapped her in his warmth and shielded her from the reality they
now faced.
Damn, damn, damn... Sarah had always known that she would have to play Jareth games, from
her first moment back Underground, but who would have guessed that she'd have to face
hordes of High Sidhe and play their games as well?
****************************************************************************************
Jareth was worried, worried in a vague sort of way that hazily penetrated the thick haze of
fury that he was barely keeping in check. He didn't, couldn't, spare a glance for Kym,
Faerie Queen, or Sarah... All he managed was a flat, murderous stare that was directed at
the pacing Unicorn Queen and even that required an immense internal struggle for self
control.
His cool façade of calm, condescending amusement was cracked... His shield of charm and
innuendo and sexual attraction was left behind ages ago. Now all he had was his anger,
his unbelievable rage.
How dare she! How dare they all!
Jareth had come to this Judgment Session expecting to be challenged, tried... Expecting
to have them try to take Sarah away because she was beautiful and human and unique and
HIS. But he had not expected this, this all out attack on him, on his every fault, on
his every indiscretion.
He didn't think Evirey had the nerve, or the power, to try it. But, watching her through
slitted eyes he wasn't entirely sure that she was bluffing. Wasn't entirely sure she
wasn't subtely challenging his unacknowledged place as the strongest of the High Sidhe.
Looks like the Court's little Messenger had grown herself a spine and her own set of
fangs. She would regret it, dearly. Jareth did not handle defiance well. Kym closed
the small distance between them. The Goblin King's glare met her cool eyes, searing
fire against uninterested ice.
Kym was the oldest reigning monarch among the High Sidhe and more often then now
Jareth's ally. Not always, but when it mattered, when he was more bereft and alone
then he liked, she always seemed to be there.
"Hold your temper," she whispered in a stern voice that carried no farther then his
ear. The honey silk of her tone carried an edge that Jareth remembered all too well
from his childhood. It was the voice of command, and though he rarely listened, when
it was used he paid attention. They were treading dangerous ground here.
"Hold your temper and watch..." A milky white arm swept forward and pointed at Sarah,
his beautiful, precious, half lost Sarah.
"What's going on Kym?" The question was a hissed demand that the Faerie Queen answered
with a soft smile that was in no way weak. She reached up and patted Jareth on the
cheek like a child, a boy who was still young enough to bounce on her knee.
"Do you really think I would risk my power and reputation on the assumption that you
would be able to keep a rein on your anger and react reasonably during this
Judgment Session? I know you better than that Jareth..."
"Then why?" the Goblin King demanded, frustrated by this game he didn't quite understand.
The Faerie Queen smiled large enough to flash her delicate fangs and chuckled quietly,
richly.
"Because I saw the woman standing at your side and judged her worthy of my support. I've
never decided if you're brilliant or just incredibly lucky Jareth; someone as foolhardy
as you should never have advanced as far as you have, despite your talent and raw power.
And yet, and yet you have the strangest ability to attract those who can help you
most... me, Cadreth, and the immortal human named Sarah."
Jareth's gut tightened and clenched as he looked wildly to the woman he had stole from
Aboveground. Sarah straightened and seemed to draw on some reservoir of inner strength
as her head came up, chin raised with a kind of defiance that the Goblin King was all
too familiar with.
He realized what she was about to do a second before she started to step forward but
Kym's petite grip held him like steel. "Wait," the Faerie Queen breathed, sapphire eyes
intent on the human. The Goblin King watched, helplessly, as Sarah strode, confident,
proud, unbowed, unfrightened, forward.
Evirey paused in her speech, dark gaze speculatively following the human and within
seconds the entire Court was concentrating on the diminutive form in blue and silver.
Sarah stopped several feet from Cadreth's seat and curtsied low. The Phoenix King
watched the human before him with what might have been called a slight smile.
"I wish to address the Court." Sarah's voice rang clear and strong throughout the huge
room. The Lord of the Court rose and bowed in return to the human below him. He replied,
his own voice grave and respectful, as he rose.
"Granted."
Eviey moved to protest, sharp face outraged at this lack in protocol, but Cadreth silenced
her with a fierce, piercing glare. The Unicorn Queen subsided. She wasn't entirely
stupid. She was insane enough to take on Jareth but not Cadreth. Cadreth was Lord of
her biggest power base, the Sidhe Court. He was not to be trifled with. Sarah smiled
with heart stopping beauty and rose as well before speaking.
"Am I to understand that I am considered a citizen, a part, of the Underground, this
world?" Cadreth cocked his head, as if trying to figure out where the human was coming
from before answering on behalf of the Court.
"Yes Sarah Williams. You are not a part of our world, a citizen if you will." Sarah
took a deep breath and the smile, the smile became radiant.
"Then I am subject to your laws, your rights, and your traditions." The Phoenix King's
light brows drew in with puzzlement but he answered after only a heart beat of silence.
"You are correct."
Sarah clasped her hands serenely before her as she replied in that same sweet voice
that held a hint of smugness reminiscent of Jareth. "Then I demand this, if I am truly
a resident of the Underground... Since I was not born to High Sidhe or have the power
to be made thus, then I demand that I be taken to the Room of Fate where I will be told,
I will be told where I belong.
"Where there won't be any more fighting or talk of punishment. Where we'll know once and
for all if King Jareth erred, or if I truly belong, and then, where I belong."
Thunderous silence met this statement, silence of a different quality than the expectant,
anticipatory silence of before. This silence was from pure and simple shock.
Jareth's low, dark, full laughter was the first thing to break it. He met and held
Sarah's triumphant eyes as a smug smile of his own touched his sensual lips. The human had
outwitted them all... An entire Court of immortals and she had outwitted every last one
of them!
so damn close to the end of this thing its driving me crazy... Okay, a few more chapters
but I can *see* the end! Yeah!! LOL Drop me a review and keep me motivated!!
Disclaimer: Go read another chapter for one...
************************** Sacrifices: Chapter Twenty One **************************
"You were given leave to take a babe, a child, not a woman! What makes you exempt from
our laws Jareth? If you stand apart, if you refuse to bind yourself to the Court that
rules us all then where does that leave us Goblin King? With dissension, revolt,
revolution, anarchy, destruction!
"With death and fire and loss of immortal life! You have overstepped your bounds and
you must be brought to heel. He must be used as an example, as a display of the Sidhe
Court's power for, without power we have not the right, or the will, to rule." Evirey
strode as she spoke. She was a great orator... learned, bright, passionate.
The Unicorn Queen paced the marble floor as she spoke, her hands waving animately as
she alternated between accusation addressed to Jareth, and entreaty directed at the
silent Court. She looked, even to Sarah's trained eye, earnest, sincere, the perfect
eptiome of truth, justice.
Bull shit, all of it. Perhaps...
Sarah was not a thing, a toy, a bone to be argued over. She knew that revenge, that
vengeance, drove the indignant Unicorn Queen. That underneath her veneer of wounded
Underground patriotism, legality, and civility lurked the conniving, cruel being who
had appeared before Sarah in Jareth's castle. Somewhere lurked that dark dream of
the Goblin King's demise.
That own fire had burned, however briefly, in Sarah own innocent eyes once. Before
the amber had become jaded. Before she had been willing to see the gray inherent in
the world, and in every man, woman, and, and monster, King, that she met. Before she
had stopped being able to see so clearly, if erroneously, what was right and what was
wrong, without a shadow of a doubt.
When she had first trod the trails of the Labyrinth. She had been armed with naievete,
youth, and righteousness then.
None of that remained now.
But, Evirey did not hate, did not hold petty grievances and plottings to her heart because
she was an ignorant child. The Unicorn Queen sought Jareth's downfall because she could.
Because he stood in her way. Because he could not be bent and bowed. Because he refused
to yield to any, let alone spoiled Evirey.
And yet, there was a seed of truth in her words. The Unicorn Queen used them because
they were handy, convincing. Evirey did not believe what she said, or if she did, she
didn't care, not really. But it did not make them any less true.
From what she had seen of the Underground Sarah had found it to be a dangerous, trecherous
place. Beautiful yes, certainly beautiful, her eyes flickered to Jareth who stood beside
her now. Flickered and traced the regal profile of his now familiar face. Beautiful for
all eternity, vibrant, wild, reckless, but no less dangerous, no less perilous.
And the rule of the Sidhe Court seemed very tenuous indeed. All the monarchs she had
seen, every single one, had been so proud, so arrogant... so steeped with traditions of
pain and torture and the willingness to do anything to get what they wanted. It was a
wonder that a Court, that a government, no matter how loosely constructed, was able to
form at all before the separate races ripped themselves to pieces.
No doubt the only reason the Court had lasted as long as it had was because the strongest
monarchs had submitted, if in name only, to the Court's laws. They had allowed themselves
to be governed and so the weaker had followed suite.
But if Jareth stepped away, if the Goblin King outright refused to obey the basic, direct
laws of his world? Then he paved the way for others to follow suite. He opened Pandora's
proverbial box.
It was truth... all of it. He had already broken a rule by bringing her here, another
by making her immortal... but all that could be remedied if Jareth allowed himself to
chastised. If he obeyed whatever the Court ruled here today in response to his actions.
Sarah swallowed and tore her stare away from the Goblin King. Wild eyes found the cold,
endless depths of the Phoenix King. The Lord of the Court held Sarah's eyes for a moment
and the human immortal read, read a terrible sadness there in those azure depths, and a
reflection of certain knowledge that mirrored her own revelations.
The Phoenix King was watching his world unravel before him as Evirey spoke, as she rallied
supporters, both ardent and reluctant to her side, the Troll King a silent and solid pillar
of support behind her. As she whipped the Sidhe Court to a frenzy with her words and ill
used truths that would be silenced, quelled, satisfied, only with the Goblin King's fall.
And Cadreth was powerless to stop it.
Sarah tore her gaze away but it was too late. She could see the scene playing out with
horrific clarity in her mind even as her sable hair fell forward to obscure her down cast
face with a curling waterfall...
Evirey and Tortar winning the Sidhe Court over with their fiery words... Their demand that
justice be served, that Sarah be handed over to another monarch... Kym, Jareth, and Sarah's
pleas falling on deaf ears... Jareth's subsequent anger... The moment when the Court tried
to separate the Goblin King from the woman he had claimed to love in a soliquoy meant for no
one but heard by her... From the woman he had held not an hour before as she wept and
railed... From the woman he had embrace but minutes ago as the Faerie Queen risked all
that she had to rise and stand by their side...
And the slow but eventual collapse of all the order that the Underground knew as Jareth
defied them.
"He brought a woman against our laws and made her immortal against her nature! Without
consent or permission the Goblin King added another member to our world and he must answer
for it! He claims her as his... He claims that this human immortal, one of us forever now
because of his foolish actions, belongs to him. He has the nerve to break our laws by
bringing her, then by attempting to hide her presence, and now by claiming what should
have never been!"
Sarah stared blindly down at her clenched fists. Her ears heard what was being said, her
body felt the still calming presence of the so far silent Faerie Queen and Jareth's fuming
wrath that existed like a small sun, warmth at Sarah's side. But her mind barely grasped
the words pouring out of Evirey's curled, devious, lips.
Hands, pale, trembling slightly, uncurled slowly. Sarah stared at them, as if seeing them
for the first time, and couldn't contain a shudder that ran through her slim frame as her
imagination painted the palms red, scarlet, bleeding vermilion, the blood of a thousand
races on them, covering even her terrific scar.
Sarah was not High Sidhe for she was not arrogant enough to believe that her presence
could be enough alone to destroy the Underground. But with Jareth losing his temper and
what little tact he used when dealing with politics then together, together they may be
very able to start a war, or, heaven forbid, wars.
Sarah had demanded at the Ball, had wanted a promise from her King, that faced with loss
of power and loss of her that he would chose to let her go, to face whatever destiny she
could forge for herself. But Jareth had never sworn, had never looked her in the eye and
acquiesced to her plea. He had, had simply given her what comfort could be found in his
strong, sure arms. Had wrapped her in his warmth and shielded her from the reality they
now faced.
Damn, damn, damn... Sarah had always known that she would have to play Jareth games, from
her first moment back Underground, but who would have guessed that she'd have to face
hordes of High Sidhe and play their games as well?
****************************************************************************************
Jareth was worried, worried in a vague sort of way that hazily penetrated the thick haze of
fury that he was barely keeping in check. He didn't, couldn't, spare a glance for Kym,
Faerie Queen, or Sarah... All he managed was a flat, murderous stare that was directed at
the pacing Unicorn Queen and even that required an immense internal struggle for self
control.
His cool façade of calm, condescending amusement was cracked... His shield of charm and
innuendo and sexual attraction was left behind ages ago. Now all he had was his anger,
his unbelievable rage.
How dare she! How dare they all!
Jareth had come to this Judgment Session expecting to be challenged, tried... Expecting
to have them try to take Sarah away because she was beautiful and human and unique and
HIS. But he had not expected this, this all out attack on him, on his every fault, on
his every indiscretion.
He didn't think Evirey had the nerve, or the power, to try it. But, watching her through
slitted eyes he wasn't entirely sure that she was bluffing. Wasn't entirely sure she
wasn't subtely challenging his unacknowledged place as the strongest of the High Sidhe.
Looks like the Court's little Messenger had grown herself a spine and her own set of
fangs. She would regret it, dearly. Jareth did not handle defiance well. Kym closed
the small distance between them. The Goblin King's glare met her cool eyes, searing
fire against uninterested ice.
Kym was the oldest reigning monarch among the High Sidhe and more often then now
Jareth's ally. Not always, but when it mattered, when he was more bereft and alone
then he liked, she always seemed to be there.
"Hold your temper," she whispered in a stern voice that carried no farther then his
ear. The honey silk of her tone carried an edge that Jareth remembered all too well
from his childhood. It was the voice of command, and though he rarely listened, when
it was used he paid attention. They were treading dangerous ground here.
"Hold your temper and watch..." A milky white arm swept forward and pointed at Sarah,
his beautiful, precious, half lost Sarah.
"What's going on Kym?" The question was a hissed demand that the Faerie Queen answered
with a soft smile that was in no way weak. She reached up and patted Jareth on the
cheek like a child, a boy who was still young enough to bounce on her knee.
"Do you really think I would risk my power and reputation on the assumption that you
would be able to keep a rein on your anger and react reasonably during this
Judgment Session? I know you better than that Jareth..."
"Then why?" the Goblin King demanded, frustrated by this game he didn't quite understand.
The Faerie Queen smiled large enough to flash her delicate fangs and chuckled quietly,
richly.
"Because I saw the woman standing at your side and judged her worthy of my support. I've
never decided if you're brilliant or just incredibly lucky Jareth; someone as foolhardy
as you should never have advanced as far as you have, despite your talent and raw power.
And yet, and yet you have the strangest ability to attract those who can help you
most... me, Cadreth, and the immortal human named Sarah."
Jareth's gut tightened and clenched as he looked wildly to the woman he had stole from
Aboveground. Sarah straightened and seemed to draw on some reservoir of inner strength
as her head came up, chin raised with a kind of defiance that the Goblin King was all
too familiar with.
He realized what she was about to do a second before she started to step forward but
Kym's petite grip held him like steel. "Wait," the Faerie Queen breathed, sapphire eyes
intent on the human. The Goblin King watched, helplessly, as Sarah strode, confident,
proud, unbowed, unfrightened, forward.
Evirey paused in her speech, dark gaze speculatively following the human and within
seconds the entire Court was concentrating on the diminutive form in blue and silver.
Sarah stopped several feet from Cadreth's seat and curtsied low. The Phoenix King
watched the human before him with what might have been called a slight smile.
"I wish to address the Court." Sarah's voice rang clear and strong throughout the huge
room. The Lord of the Court rose and bowed in return to the human below him. He replied,
his own voice grave and respectful, as he rose.
"Granted."
Eviey moved to protest, sharp face outraged at this lack in protocol, but Cadreth silenced
her with a fierce, piercing glare. The Unicorn Queen subsided. She wasn't entirely
stupid. She was insane enough to take on Jareth but not Cadreth. Cadreth was Lord of
her biggest power base, the Sidhe Court. He was not to be trifled with. Sarah smiled
with heart stopping beauty and rose as well before speaking.
"Am I to understand that I am considered a citizen, a part, of the Underground, this
world?" Cadreth cocked his head, as if trying to figure out where the human was coming
from before answering on behalf of the Court.
"Yes Sarah Williams. You are not a part of our world, a citizen if you will." Sarah
took a deep breath and the smile, the smile became radiant.
"Then I am subject to your laws, your rights, and your traditions." The Phoenix King's
light brows drew in with puzzlement but he answered after only a heart beat of silence.
"You are correct."
Sarah clasped her hands serenely before her as she replied in that same sweet voice
that held a hint of smugness reminiscent of Jareth. "Then I demand this, if I am truly
a resident of the Underground... Since I was not born to High Sidhe or have the power
to be made thus, then I demand that I be taken to the Room of Fate where I will be told,
I will be told where I belong.
"Where there won't be any more fighting or talk of punishment. Where we'll know once and
for all if King Jareth erred, or if I truly belong, and then, where I belong."
Thunderous silence met this statement, silence of a different quality than the expectant,
anticipatory silence of before. This silence was from pure and simple shock.
Jareth's low, dark, full laughter was the first thing to break it. He met and held
Sarah's triumphant eyes as a smug smile of his own touched his sensual lips. The human had
outwitted them all... An entire Court of immortals and she had outwitted every last one
of them!