A/N: Silver Space! You're getting ahead of me here! Shush! *Giggle* Oh,
thanks everyone for the reviews… I am planning on posting a couple of
chapters today because this weekend was a complete mess, and I didn't get
to… Oh, by the way, I am sure that some of you are wondering why more isn't
from Jareth's point of view. I find that because I am female I have had
problems writing about Jareth in a realistic way… Anyway, who can really
fathom the aspirations and motives of a nearly immortal Goblin King? Not
I. So, my female characters are more realistic (because they are
character's I have a better time relating too.) and I can more easily write
with their POV.
Disclaimer: Not mine, all characters not portrayed in the Labyrinth are mine unless it's the ones that Bill Shakespeare owns.
Interlude: Time is a relative thing. It is relative to space and age. A child thinks that they will never grow old, and an adult sees the clock speeding away faster and faster until finally, it stops.
The world of the Labyrinth moved on, and with it time.
Chapter 3: Memory
It could be said that all Fae were touched by a bit of madness, their longevity made them paranoid, ruthless and occasionally jaded. Never the less, most Fae had a keen hold on reality and it is truly a heart-wrenching thing when one losses his or her grip on it. After a long life of one tragedy after another Emily Kildalton found that she didn't like the reality that she was living in so she decided that she didn't live there anymore.
Emmy had her lucid moments, but today was not going to be one.
Emily had been sitting alone for some time. She was used to it, she much preferred her own company to the company of other's, even Arden was a bit much for her most of the time. After Annie had died she spoke little, and kept to herself a lot. There was nothing really left for her. Her only blood was gone, except for Arden, and she loved the girl, but she couldn't be apart of the girl's life in the way she wanted to be. She had been too young to know why, but it had burrowed into her mind and sat waiting.
After the shock of the death of three Fae in the same night every Fae in the realm felt the magic pulse that echoed loudly. Finally, after many years the land had settled down again, but Emily did not recover. She slipped slowly into what the court doctor's called "madness." _Am I mad as a hatter? Giggle Probably…_
Mad, yes, she was mad. She could admit it. She was four hundred years old and rather enjoyed being mad.
Someone had told Emily, she couldn't remember whom, maybe Arden, or a maid, that she was to meet someone. She wondered if Aelis had come back. She had been gone a long time, not as long as Annie, but a while. Emily remembered seeing a dark haired woman a few days ago for a moment when she came to visit Jareth. She liked visiting her brother. She knew he was lonely and felt it her duty to make him feel better, weather it worked or not it didn't matter, she liked being with him.
Emily looked around the room, she couldn't remember quite what she had been thinking about. An elderly Goblin that called her by name had brought her to the dinning room. Not the dinning room that they had shared as a family but a larger, more ornate room that Emily found she rather disliked. It was actually quite gaudy.
The door opened softly and Jareth showed himself. His mismatched eyes were heavy with worry. Emily sat her hands in her lap, like a proper girl. She was humming to herself. "Emmy," he said cautiously, hopping that she was at least mostly lucid today. "I have someone I want you to meet,"
The young woman looked up at her brother-in-law. The man that had raised her, and wondered why he always looked so sad, Annie was gone, but that had been a long time ago. She missed Annie desperately, but found things to occupy her time. To keep her from thinking about Annie, she should suggest he get something like that. Jareth hugged her.
Sarah walked into the room, cautiously. She had heard about Emily, her sad and tragic past, and wanted to make a good impression on her. She stood in the door way watching their display of affection and wondered how old the young woman was, she was short for a Fae, or at least the Fae women that she had met. She had beautiful red hair that reminded her of someone, but she couldn't place the face exactly.
The last few days in the Castle had been strange, she had expected everything to be strange, but upon finding out that Jareth had a daughter and a sister in law had come as quite a shock. She didn't know if she was upset about it or not, but assumed that even Goblin Kings could marry.
The soft pink clouds that keep Emily's mind in a nice cozy haze moved lazily where they wished, but through the clouds she could see a bit of something strange. "Are you here to keep Jareth from missing Annie?" She asked innocently.
Sarah looked to Jareth confused, he stood next to the woman, his face a masque. She wondered if she would ever truly know him, and assumed probably not.
The blasted man didn't say a word, he was obviously waiting for her to say something that would somehow fix the entire situation. "I came because I am a friend of Jareth's and I wanted to be here in the Underground so I could see him."
"Oh, so you came to play?" The girl seemed like an adult her posture was that of a woman, but her face was innocent but her eyes were sad, sadness that reached her soul and keep going. Sarah felt a pang of sympathy for her.
I shouldn't have come. Maybe I should have let well enough alone. I mean, he has everything he needs here. Why does he need a mortal woman with feelings for him she can't work out herself. She thinks I am going to replace her sister. Oh my God, what have I done? I am going to make this girl's entire world fall down. Sarah was panicking. She knew that she was panicking but couldn't stop it. Guilt rose up like bile and she felt the world spin. The guilt was harsh and pounded her skull like a drum.
Sarah Williams was a woman, she had been a woman for many years now, and her spoilt ways had gone a long time ago, but within her she felt the urge to run, and for the first time in many years she succumbed to fear. She did the sensible thing.
She ran.
~~~~~~~~~~
She continued running until she was good and lost in the castle. Hoping they wouldn't bother coming and finding her, she was embarrassed now. Her sight was horribly blurred, her eyes were red, and she kept going until she was completely out of breath and then sat down in a pile.
When her tears finally stopped and she looked up she was in a room that she had never been in before. It was like a museum. The walls were impossibly high (big surprise) but they were covered in a multitude of beautiful things. There were tapestries and paintings, sculptures, jewelry, busts, musical instruments that Sarah had never heard or let alone seen. She was in awe. She studied the work on the ground floor and then took the spiral staircase to the next level. This level was different. It seemed as if it was dedicated to someone or a group of people rather. His family perhaps? She walked the ledge, looking at every display. There was a sculpture, made from carved colored stones. It was a woman and a young boy in a garden. She was beautiful. Her hair was corn colored silk that hung in ringlets, her dress blue and hugging her attractively full figure. The boy had the same golden hair and he was picking flowers. The plate at the bottom of the display said "Titania In Her Glory". This Titania seemed familiar.
She studied each as she had done before. There was a picture of Emily, young Emily, perhaps what a human of six or seven years would look like. The portrait next to her was a different young woman, the picture was disconcerting and Sarah wondered if this was a real person or a fantasy, but nothing was ever as it seemed and so it might well be real.
The woman was well built, full at the hips, with a small waist and delicate long fingered hands. Her skin was silver, translucent and sparkling. Her hair was long, past her waist and braided in a thick braid that hung over her shoulder, it was white, with sections of red. Sarah knew that it was natural for some reason, but this tidbit was not the disconcerting part. The woman's eyes were strange. One blue, one green, mismatched like Jareth's but they pupil of each eye was elongated and curved, into a crescent moon shape. She looked into those eyes and saw the shape of her jaw line and felt a deep sense of loss. The picture next to it was of a large silver dragon, the eye's the same. The plate at the bottom in between the pictures said simply "Chieftain Arden Le Fae".
Arden.
The name was familiar. Everything is familiar, damn it, why? Why do I recognize servants and rooms that I have never been in. Why?
She moved on, wiping the tears that had fallen to her cheeks. The next section of wall held four pictures. The first was taller then a man. It was another woman, she looked short for a Fae, like Emily, perhaps it was a family trait, her facial features weren't as severe either, and she had a pert nose, startlingly large green eyes and pouting lush lips. Her hair was red, like flames or autumn leaves, long and braided then placed in a wide bun on her head. Her face was kind, she smiled, but smile didn't reach her eyes, nor would it ever. Her dress was of a color that Sarah could never describe. Sarah stopped. She stood silent. No, it's very describable. It's green, moss green in the painting. Why…. Sarah felt her world slip away.
"Lady Annalisa, you must sit still please, we are nearly finished." The painter groaned. He looked at her annoyed, but when she smiled at him he smiled back and settled down.
It was like seeing out of someone else's eyes, but knowing the narration before the play started. She felt her head swim.
She had been siting in that blasted chair for days, wearing this blasted dress for days, that he would never be able to portray on canvas anyway, and she was getting tired of it. The corset was too low and too tight to make sitting comfortable and simple oil paints and a brush could not catch the damn color. She thought it had been kind of Jareth to commission the painting but she was growing rather annoyed now. She had told Jareth last night at dinner that she had far too much work to do to bother with sitting for Leander, but he changed the subject and now she was doubly annoyed.
The door to the sunroom opened and he swept in, all hair and leather and smug looking. She frowned at him. "Come to gloat no doubt," she said quietly. "Have wonderful that you have managed to find your way up Jareth, I feared that someone might have put you in an oubliette." The woman smile reached her eyes as he scowled at her. They had been arguing for weeks, there was no real reason for it, it had just happened one day. She knew he was worried about her, she had been slipping into states of depression that made her useless for days, but he was still be horribly difficult to live with.
"I came to make peace with you, woman, now shut up. Leander, how much longer?"
"Ten minutes, sire," he said quietly, he was amused by the Lady's annoyance, and Jareth's scowl. The man was beautiful, an artist's dream and nightmare, but he was arrogant, and it was nice to see a powerful man snipped at by a female.
"Good," he turned to her. "When you are done Aelis will bring you to me."
"I am too busy, Jareth, please. I have so much to do!" Anything to say to make him go away, she didn't want to spend time with him. He was being cranky and she would far rather sit in this damn dress with this painter then sit with him and fight.
"You will come, weather you are busy or not. You have no time limit's woman!" He had stepped out of the room.
Her eyes swam back into focus lazily. She starred at the woman in the painting. "I know you." She said softly.
"Yes, you do," the voice startled Sarah, she turned and recognized the woman from the other pictures. Arden.
"But who is she? There is no plaque."
Arden smiled at the woman, the girl, or rather woman, she was a woman, just a much younger woman that Arden was used to. The woman was attractive. She could see why her father liked her. She had felt the build up of magic and came quickly, shielding her father from it. She had stood in the shadows when the woman had fallen under the memory. "She is my mother." She said simply. She could allow Sarah to ask questions, but her questions must be answered delicately.
"You are Arden." Sarah was feeling apprehensive. She had no idea what was going on, and really had no one to ask. She was sure that Jareth would think she was mad, and other then Jareth she had really only talked to Goblins, which were a complete bore.
"One in the same," she bowed, low and flamboyant.
She must be his daughter, there is no other way. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Ask me no questions, I will tell you no lies." Arden smiled at her. There was something about her that she found strange. Not something she could touch, but something she could feel emanating from the woman.
Sarah nodded slowly, "I… I just…"
"You just experienced a memory that was not your own." She finished for the other woman. Arden was a wise woman, she had helped bring children into the world, she had healed, and hurt with the same tenacity, but she was unsure of how to approach the questions that this woman would be asking.
"How?"
Instead of answering the question directly, Arden decided to be enigmatic, "This is the Gallery. My father built it long before I was born. Long before Emily and my mother had come to live here. He had been the King of the Labyrinth and the Goblins for a long time before their arrival. This room was created for a few different reasons. At first it was only the section below us. Chock full of statues and tapestries, all very beautiful but long forgotten. When my mother came here it was after the death of her family, they were killed by a plot of men that were very evil, and before she died her heart reached out and made sure that they would no longer be a threat to her family.
When she first came here she was afraid and grieving and needed something to occupy her time other then an infant. So, my father gave her a project. She was to redecorate the gallery. Add or take away whatever she felt the need of, and to make sure that it was pleasing to the eye and to the mind." Arden looked at the paintings and smiled. The second painting was of her father and herself, as an infant, her father was holding her in his arms and he was looking very sad as usual. There was nothing that could ease the pain there.
"She died when I was born, this section was added later. The last is one done by Titania, my grandmother. It made me cry when I saw it as a girl." She walked to the family portrait that Titania had done. There was never a time when all three of them were together except for the night she died, but Titania in her grief had painted it for them. Jareth had kept it locked away until after Arden was a woman.
"You didn't answer my question."
"My mother came to me once a year after her death until twenty eight years ago, Sarah, and then there was nothing. I couldn't even sense her presence.' She turned, and spoke quietly. "That could mean only a few things."
"What could it mean?" Sarah asked. She had forgotten the early question with the sudden fear that rose in her, if his wife was alive would he still want her? Would he take her back to Earth because she was no longer needed? Sarah found herself waiting in rapt attention to Arden. She felt like she was a teenager again. This was ridiculous.
"I asked the same question so I went into my personal library and started looking for reasons why a spirit would disappear from beyond the veil. There are only two. Reincarnation, or final death. Usually final death comes quick. If a spirit is not strong enough to hold off the other spirits then it dies, goes away never to return. Reincarnation usually takes years, they gather the strength to go and then go."
"Are you saying she was reincarnated?"
"Yes, about thirty years ago."
"But, where is she?"
"I don't know, usually someone open to magic will start remembering things, or dreaming things from the past. Sometimes they remember pictures, or recognize people or places that they should have no reckoning of." Arden shrugged and turned back to the paintings.
"So, what are you saying exactly?"
"All I am saying is that there is a reason why my father fell in love with you after four hundred years of isolating himself." She looked hard at this woman. "Can you think of another reason why a man like my father would fall in love and moon over a fifteen year old spoilt girl that defeated him, then continue on for twelve years?" Arden disappeared in a flash of light.
Sarah only had more questions.
Disclaimer: Not mine, all characters not portrayed in the Labyrinth are mine unless it's the ones that Bill Shakespeare owns.
Interlude: Time is a relative thing. It is relative to space and age. A child thinks that they will never grow old, and an adult sees the clock speeding away faster and faster until finally, it stops.
The world of the Labyrinth moved on, and with it time.
Chapter 3: Memory
It could be said that all Fae were touched by a bit of madness, their longevity made them paranoid, ruthless and occasionally jaded. Never the less, most Fae had a keen hold on reality and it is truly a heart-wrenching thing when one losses his or her grip on it. After a long life of one tragedy after another Emily Kildalton found that she didn't like the reality that she was living in so she decided that she didn't live there anymore.
Emmy had her lucid moments, but today was not going to be one.
Emily had been sitting alone for some time. She was used to it, she much preferred her own company to the company of other's, even Arden was a bit much for her most of the time. After Annie had died she spoke little, and kept to herself a lot. There was nothing really left for her. Her only blood was gone, except for Arden, and she loved the girl, but she couldn't be apart of the girl's life in the way she wanted to be. She had been too young to know why, but it had burrowed into her mind and sat waiting.
After the shock of the death of three Fae in the same night every Fae in the realm felt the magic pulse that echoed loudly. Finally, after many years the land had settled down again, but Emily did not recover. She slipped slowly into what the court doctor's called "madness." _Am I mad as a hatter? Giggle Probably…_
Mad, yes, she was mad. She could admit it. She was four hundred years old and rather enjoyed being mad.
Someone had told Emily, she couldn't remember whom, maybe Arden, or a maid, that she was to meet someone. She wondered if Aelis had come back. She had been gone a long time, not as long as Annie, but a while. Emily remembered seeing a dark haired woman a few days ago for a moment when she came to visit Jareth. She liked visiting her brother. She knew he was lonely and felt it her duty to make him feel better, weather it worked or not it didn't matter, she liked being with him.
Emily looked around the room, she couldn't remember quite what she had been thinking about. An elderly Goblin that called her by name had brought her to the dinning room. Not the dinning room that they had shared as a family but a larger, more ornate room that Emily found she rather disliked. It was actually quite gaudy.
The door opened softly and Jareth showed himself. His mismatched eyes were heavy with worry. Emily sat her hands in her lap, like a proper girl. She was humming to herself. "Emmy," he said cautiously, hopping that she was at least mostly lucid today. "I have someone I want you to meet,"
The young woman looked up at her brother-in-law. The man that had raised her, and wondered why he always looked so sad, Annie was gone, but that had been a long time ago. She missed Annie desperately, but found things to occupy her time. To keep her from thinking about Annie, she should suggest he get something like that. Jareth hugged her.
Sarah walked into the room, cautiously. She had heard about Emily, her sad and tragic past, and wanted to make a good impression on her. She stood in the door way watching their display of affection and wondered how old the young woman was, she was short for a Fae, or at least the Fae women that she had met. She had beautiful red hair that reminded her of someone, but she couldn't place the face exactly.
The last few days in the Castle had been strange, she had expected everything to be strange, but upon finding out that Jareth had a daughter and a sister in law had come as quite a shock. She didn't know if she was upset about it or not, but assumed that even Goblin Kings could marry.
The soft pink clouds that keep Emily's mind in a nice cozy haze moved lazily where they wished, but through the clouds she could see a bit of something strange. "Are you here to keep Jareth from missing Annie?" She asked innocently.
Sarah looked to Jareth confused, he stood next to the woman, his face a masque. She wondered if she would ever truly know him, and assumed probably not.
The blasted man didn't say a word, he was obviously waiting for her to say something that would somehow fix the entire situation. "I came because I am a friend of Jareth's and I wanted to be here in the Underground so I could see him."
"Oh, so you came to play?" The girl seemed like an adult her posture was that of a woman, but her face was innocent but her eyes were sad, sadness that reached her soul and keep going. Sarah felt a pang of sympathy for her.
I shouldn't have come. Maybe I should have let well enough alone. I mean, he has everything he needs here. Why does he need a mortal woman with feelings for him she can't work out herself. She thinks I am going to replace her sister. Oh my God, what have I done? I am going to make this girl's entire world fall down. Sarah was panicking. She knew that she was panicking but couldn't stop it. Guilt rose up like bile and she felt the world spin. The guilt was harsh and pounded her skull like a drum.
Sarah Williams was a woman, she had been a woman for many years now, and her spoilt ways had gone a long time ago, but within her she felt the urge to run, and for the first time in many years she succumbed to fear. She did the sensible thing.
She ran.
~~~~~~~~~~
She continued running until she was good and lost in the castle. Hoping they wouldn't bother coming and finding her, she was embarrassed now. Her sight was horribly blurred, her eyes were red, and she kept going until she was completely out of breath and then sat down in a pile.
When her tears finally stopped and she looked up she was in a room that she had never been in before. It was like a museum. The walls were impossibly high (big surprise) but they were covered in a multitude of beautiful things. There were tapestries and paintings, sculptures, jewelry, busts, musical instruments that Sarah had never heard or let alone seen. She was in awe. She studied the work on the ground floor and then took the spiral staircase to the next level. This level was different. It seemed as if it was dedicated to someone or a group of people rather. His family perhaps? She walked the ledge, looking at every display. There was a sculpture, made from carved colored stones. It was a woman and a young boy in a garden. She was beautiful. Her hair was corn colored silk that hung in ringlets, her dress blue and hugging her attractively full figure. The boy had the same golden hair and he was picking flowers. The plate at the bottom of the display said "Titania In Her Glory". This Titania seemed familiar.
She studied each as she had done before. There was a picture of Emily, young Emily, perhaps what a human of six or seven years would look like. The portrait next to her was a different young woman, the picture was disconcerting and Sarah wondered if this was a real person or a fantasy, but nothing was ever as it seemed and so it might well be real.
The woman was well built, full at the hips, with a small waist and delicate long fingered hands. Her skin was silver, translucent and sparkling. Her hair was long, past her waist and braided in a thick braid that hung over her shoulder, it was white, with sections of red. Sarah knew that it was natural for some reason, but this tidbit was not the disconcerting part. The woman's eyes were strange. One blue, one green, mismatched like Jareth's but they pupil of each eye was elongated and curved, into a crescent moon shape. She looked into those eyes and saw the shape of her jaw line and felt a deep sense of loss. The picture next to it was of a large silver dragon, the eye's the same. The plate at the bottom in between the pictures said simply "Chieftain Arden Le Fae".
Arden.
The name was familiar. Everything is familiar, damn it, why? Why do I recognize servants and rooms that I have never been in. Why?
She moved on, wiping the tears that had fallen to her cheeks. The next section of wall held four pictures. The first was taller then a man. It was another woman, she looked short for a Fae, like Emily, perhaps it was a family trait, her facial features weren't as severe either, and she had a pert nose, startlingly large green eyes and pouting lush lips. Her hair was red, like flames or autumn leaves, long and braided then placed in a wide bun on her head. Her face was kind, she smiled, but smile didn't reach her eyes, nor would it ever. Her dress was of a color that Sarah could never describe. Sarah stopped. She stood silent. No, it's very describable. It's green, moss green in the painting. Why…. Sarah felt her world slip away.
"Lady Annalisa, you must sit still please, we are nearly finished." The painter groaned. He looked at her annoyed, but when she smiled at him he smiled back and settled down.
It was like seeing out of someone else's eyes, but knowing the narration before the play started. She felt her head swim.
She had been siting in that blasted chair for days, wearing this blasted dress for days, that he would never be able to portray on canvas anyway, and she was getting tired of it. The corset was too low and too tight to make sitting comfortable and simple oil paints and a brush could not catch the damn color. She thought it had been kind of Jareth to commission the painting but she was growing rather annoyed now. She had told Jareth last night at dinner that she had far too much work to do to bother with sitting for Leander, but he changed the subject and now she was doubly annoyed.
The door to the sunroom opened and he swept in, all hair and leather and smug looking. She frowned at him. "Come to gloat no doubt," she said quietly. "Have wonderful that you have managed to find your way up Jareth, I feared that someone might have put you in an oubliette." The woman smile reached her eyes as he scowled at her. They had been arguing for weeks, there was no real reason for it, it had just happened one day. She knew he was worried about her, she had been slipping into states of depression that made her useless for days, but he was still be horribly difficult to live with.
"I came to make peace with you, woman, now shut up. Leander, how much longer?"
"Ten minutes, sire," he said quietly, he was amused by the Lady's annoyance, and Jareth's scowl. The man was beautiful, an artist's dream and nightmare, but he was arrogant, and it was nice to see a powerful man snipped at by a female.
"Good," he turned to her. "When you are done Aelis will bring you to me."
"I am too busy, Jareth, please. I have so much to do!" Anything to say to make him go away, she didn't want to spend time with him. He was being cranky and she would far rather sit in this damn dress with this painter then sit with him and fight.
"You will come, weather you are busy or not. You have no time limit's woman!" He had stepped out of the room.
Her eyes swam back into focus lazily. She starred at the woman in the painting. "I know you." She said softly.
"Yes, you do," the voice startled Sarah, she turned and recognized the woman from the other pictures. Arden.
"But who is she? There is no plaque."
Arden smiled at the woman, the girl, or rather woman, she was a woman, just a much younger woman that Arden was used to. The woman was attractive. She could see why her father liked her. She had felt the build up of magic and came quickly, shielding her father from it. She had stood in the shadows when the woman had fallen under the memory. "She is my mother." She said simply. She could allow Sarah to ask questions, but her questions must be answered delicately.
"You are Arden." Sarah was feeling apprehensive. She had no idea what was going on, and really had no one to ask. She was sure that Jareth would think she was mad, and other then Jareth she had really only talked to Goblins, which were a complete bore.
"One in the same," she bowed, low and flamboyant.
She must be his daughter, there is no other way. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Ask me no questions, I will tell you no lies." Arden smiled at her. There was something about her that she found strange. Not something she could touch, but something she could feel emanating from the woman.
Sarah nodded slowly, "I… I just…"
"You just experienced a memory that was not your own." She finished for the other woman. Arden was a wise woman, she had helped bring children into the world, she had healed, and hurt with the same tenacity, but she was unsure of how to approach the questions that this woman would be asking.
"How?"
Instead of answering the question directly, Arden decided to be enigmatic, "This is the Gallery. My father built it long before I was born. Long before Emily and my mother had come to live here. He had been the King of the Labyrinth and the Goblins for a long time before their arrival. This room was created for a few different reasons. At first it was only the section below us. Chock full of statues and tapestries, all very beautiful but long forgotten. When my mother came here it was after the death of her family, they were killed by a plot of men that were very evil, and before she died her heart reached out and made sure that they would no longer be a threat to her family.
When she first came here she was afraid and grieving and needed something to occupy her time other then an infant. So, my father gave her a project. She was to redecorate the gallery. Add or take away whatever she felt the need of, and to make sure that it was pleasing to the eye and to the mind." Arden looked at the paintings and smiled. The second painting was of her father and herself, as an infant, her father was holding her in his arms and he was looking very sad as usual. There was nothing that could ease the pain there.
"She died when I was born, this section was added later. The last is one done by Titania, my grandmother. It made me cry when I saw it as a girl." She walked to the family portrait that Titania had done. There was never a time when all three of them were together except for the night she died, but Titania in her grief had painted it for them. Jareth had kept it locked away until after Arden was a woman.
"You didn't answer my question."
"My mother came to me once a year after her death until twenty eight years ago, Sarah, and then there was nothing. I couldn't even sense her presence.' She turned, and spoke quietly. "That could mean only a few things."
"What could it mean?" Sarah asked. She had forgotten the early question with the sudden fear that rose in her, if his wife was alive would he still want her? Would he take her back to Earth because she was no longer needed? Sarah found herself waiting in rapt attention to Arden. She felt like she was a teenager again. This was ridiculous.
"I asked the same question so I went into my personal library and started looking for reasons why a spirit would disappear from beyond the veil. There are only two. Reincarnation, or final death. Usually final death comes quick. If a spirit is not strong enough to hold off the other spirits then it dies, goes away never to return. Reincarnation usually takes years, they gather the strength to go and then go."
"Are you saying she was reincarnated?"
"Yes, about thirty years ago."
"But, where is she?"
"I don't know, usually someone open to magic will start remembering things, or dreaming things from the past. Sometimes they remember pictures, or recognize people or places that they should have no reckoning of." Arden shrugged and turned back to the paintings.
"So, what are you saying exactly?"
"All I am saying is that there is a reason why my father fell in love with you after four hundred years of isolating himself." She looked hard at this woman. "Can you think of another reason why a man like my father would fall in love and moon over a fifteen year old spoilt girl that defeated him, then continue on for twelve years?" Arden disappeared in a flash of light.
Sarah only had more questions.