AU- Sorry this is late, I've been having some net problems. My PC doesn't want to upload anything onto the net. *pouts* I don't think I like AOL anymore. I'm going back to Netscape!

I'll make it up to your with a DOUBLE chapter update, it that okay? *cringes* Okay, no air borne rotten fruit, the coast must be clear... okay ! On with tha show!!

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Chapter Seven : In which Sarah takes a Short Break and Discovers Surrogate Motherhood

Theme music:

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The next morning brought... changes.

Sarah stumbled down the tavern stairs, rubbing sleep from her eyes just as Molly was approaching the foot of them with a tray of broth and orange juice. When she saw Sarah, he hands fluttered up with what Sarah had begun to recognize as her overly feminine gesture of surprise.

"Love! What are you doing up?" she cried, hurriedly ushering Sarah to a trestle table and plunking the tray down in front of her. "I thought for sure you'd spend today in bed!"

Molly dropped herself in the seat opposite Sarah, her bright pink skirt foofing out in all direction. (Is foof even a word?) She propped her chin up on her hand. "I heard you had some excitement last night.

Sarah stretched and yawned. "Excitement?" she shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose you could call it that, I'm fine now... Jareth took care of me." she ducked her head, creating a curtain of dark hair to hide her blush.

Molly gave an unladylike snort. "Yes, well I guess you -could- call nearly being drowned a spot of excitement..." she paused and allowed herself to soften a little. "but if his highness looked after you last night, then you're probably just fine, as you say." She cocked her head. "Breakfast is on the house, along with room and board until His Majesty says other wise. Jesse's orders." Molly winked. "I think Jesse's taken to you."

Sarah's blushed intensified ten-fold, so much so that she was positive that Molly could see it glowing through her hair. "Well, as long as she knows I'm no competition for Gawain." She muttered.

Molly blinked. "Of course you're not!" she paused with a smile. "No offense, but you just don't have what it takes to break up -that- relationship. You're too nice, and besides after seeing the way Lord Jareth looks at you... well, one would have to be masochistic as well a suicidal to make a move on you!" she broke off with a wink. "Why don't you take a walk after breakfast and see the sights? There isn't much in Thistledown, but if you go down to the waterfall, you'll see where Gawain is purifying himself."

"Purifying himself?" Sarah asked quizzically.

Molly shrugged. "Ask him, I'm no Druid. Must be important, though. Can't see myself standing under a frigid waterfall for something that wasn't."

Sarah watched Molly flounce back into the kitchen before looking back down at the tray. She really wasn't much of breakfast person, and broth didn't strike her as a truly nutritious meal anyway... but it would be ungrateful not to... and she shuddered to think what her impromptu mother hen would do to her if she didn't eat it.

Sarah drank down as much of her liquid breakfast as her stomach could settle and discreetly deposited the rest on the dish depository before ducking out the door and back into the permanent twilight.

Yesterday she'd been too tired to do no more than avoid obstacles on the way to the inn. Today though, she noticed some architectural differences between this town and the goblin City she'd originally compared it to. She'd noticed Japanese influence in the bathtub last night, but hadn't thought too deeply on it... she'd been rather distracted, what with Cain and all.

Now that she -was- thinking on it, that same influence showed here as well. The houses where piled haphazardly on top of one another in a way that defied gravity, same as everything else it this weird place, but where there was a roof that wasn't acting as a floor for someone else, there was a marked air of `Pagoda' about them. The houses themselves seemed to blend in with the surrounding foliage the way the ancient Japanese houses did too. The effect was strangely pleasing.

Sarah whiled away about an house just strolling around the town, taking in the combination herb and rock garden and trying to decipher the few signs she found here and there. It was ultimately futile, apparently Jareth had worked some magic on her so that she understood the local dialect but the written language (which seemed to be an odd hodgepodge of Greek symbols and Japanese kana) remained beyond her.

Sarah had been standing before a rather ramshackle pagoda trying to decode the sign n front of it for roughly fifteen minutes when she suddenly got the goosebump feeling of eyes on the back of her neck. Fearing it was Cain, her fingers crept for the bowie knife strapped to her leg.

"It says Caution! House Condemned!" She turned in surprise when her ears caught the voice of a young boy.

The speaker in question was sitting Indian style on a post directly behind her. He looked to be about... eight or nine, with wild black hair that was braided down his back and seemed to be badly in want of wash water. He was clothes in many layers of thick rags, mostly black, whether they were dyed that color or just turned that way from filth, Sarah really didn't care to guess. His face and hands, which were just about all of -him- that she could see where also grimy with filth.

"... but I'm sure you knew that." the boy said cockily. His sharp, elven features turned up in a grin. He held up a small black bag embossed with two wavy silver lines. His eyes sparkled in mischief. "Yours, I believe?"

Sarah gasped and her hands flew to her waist... sure enough, her medicine pouch was gone. The boy broke off with a giggle and tossed the bag to her. "You should be more careful!" he chirped.

Sarah caught the bag. "Thank you, I should appreciate the lesson... how about I make up the difference to you?"

The boy blinked. "Eh? What's that?" he asked quizzically. "Ye want to make it up to me? I suppose a few coppers would do nicely... ah!" he broke off with a cry as Sarah's strong fingers closed about his painfully thin wrist.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a good bath and a change of clothes."

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There was a crash at the door of the inn and Molly came flying out of the kitchen only to be treated to the sight of Sarah kicking in the door with a squirming bundle of the filthiest rags she had ever laid eyes on.

"Gerroff me, Lady!" the bundle cried.

Molly gasped. "Lady Sarah, is that... it is! You caught Eittene!"

"Is that his name?" Sarah asked gruffly as she struggled with the boy, plopping him on the floor. Eittene scowled blackly as he dusted himself off.

"Right so!" he growled. "Fat lot a gratitude you are, I helped you out and ye go turning me in." He dodged Molly with a squeal and darted behind Sarah.

"Come back here ye little beggar!" Molly hissed. "You'll be working off the food ye stole from the kitchen!"

Sarah held up a hand. "I just brought him here to get him a bath and hopefully hunt down a change of clothes." She stole a look behind her. "And possibly get him a good meal... he did do me a service."

Eittene frowned up at her. "Now don't be doing that! They'll just turn me into a bond servant here!" he snarled. "I bathe in the lake, in the summer!"

Sarah shrugged. "And here I was going to pay off whatever you owed them here..."

Eittene blinked. "Ye'd do that... fer me? Why?"

Sarah shrugged. "Call it a public service, call it maternal instincts. Are you complaining?"

Eittene stole a glance at the still fuming Molly. "Keep that Hell-cat away from me an' I'll do whatever ye like. Ah, when were we talking about that free meal?"

Sarah smiled. "After the bath and we get you into come different clothes." She turned to Molly. "Is there anywhere around here that you could get some clothes for Eittene? Maybe some shoes? I'd be willing to pay."

Molly let herself soften a little. "I reckon that Madame Bowater's young ones might have some hand me down that would fit him... shoes'd have to be mad special. I think with about... two silvers I could get him what he needs, along with some shampoo from the apothecary for that horrible rat's nest!"

Eittene's hand flew to his head. "An ye be one ta talk!"

Sarah doled out the coins from her precious hoard. They were well spent, she had a soft spot for kids... especially since Jareth had entered her life.

Jesse emerged from the kitchen, red faced from the heat of the stoves. "What's going on in here?" she demanded.

"Lady Sarah's taken our little thief under her wing. She says she'll pay off his debt here and dress him up proper." Molly snapped. "I'm going to find him some decent clothes, could we fix up the servant's bath in the kitchen. Mikael's not quite finished with the guest tub..." she paused to eye Eittene's slight figure. "Besides, I think he's a tad small for anything else."

Jesse cocked her head at Eittene. "Seems like you finally had a stroke of luck, boy." She murmured. "Fine then, consider your debt canceled. King Jareth is looking after Lady Sarah's tab for the next few days, I'll just consider this a part of it. Mooly, go ahead and fetch those clothes... ah, wait!" She produced a string of knotted rope and a chalk slate from her apron. "Off with yer clothes, boy."

Eittene cast a reproachful glance at the open door. "I got some self respect!" he cried.

Jesse rolled her eyes and thrust the chalk and slate at Sarah. "Ye take him into the back room and measure him up, one tally for every space between the knots." She paused. "Can you write our language?"

"I'll do the writing down!" Eittene said hurriedly and Sarah cast him a grateful glance.

"Thank you." she murmured as she ushered him up the stairs and into her rented room.

Eittene shrugged nonchalantly. "I guessed you wasn't from around here, what with your accent and all. Taint uncommon for a foreigner not to be able to read. Tis harder than listening I reckon."

"You have that right." Sarah demurred as she unlocked the door to her room. "Go ahead."

Eittene obediently went ahead of her and looked about the clean room with apprehension. "Nah... now Lady ye ain't... one of them, kiddie lovers are ya?"

Sarah shook her head. "Of course not!" she reproved. "I would never do such a thing. I have a brother about your size."

Eittene cocked his head. "And where is this `brother' of yours?"

"Home." Sarah said simply. "Take off your shirt so I can measure your arms."

Eittene complied. "Since I'm being good about this an' all, mind telling me where home is?" he asked as he held out his arms for Sarah to measure.

Sarah shrugged, no sense in hiding it. "New York, in the Aboveground." She held down the cord. "Nine knots."

Eittene scribbled something down on the slate and added nine tallies beside it. "Now it makes sense!" he said. "What with the redhead was saying down stairs about the King his'self looking after ya. Yer the Mortal gel he's chosen out for his self!" he grinned as if proud of his bit of deductive reasoning. "Makes everything I been hearing around town makes sense now."

"You've heard of me?"

Eittene nodded. "Course, taint every day that someone nearly gets drowned in the Inn's tub and gets saved by the King his self. Tis the reason I snatched yer purse, I was hoping to ask ye a few questions."

Sarah smiled and motioned to him to lift his pants so they were tight along the inseam and she could measure him without offending whatever modesty the boy had.

"Well, you've got your chance, and more." She murmured. "Eleven knots and a half of one." She decided and Eittene wrote down some more gibberish.

Eittene looked up at her. "So, what's yer plans for me?" he asked. "Don't stand to reason that you'd just... send me on my way after doing all this for me. What've ye got up yer sleeve?"

Sarah smiled. "I just have a good feeling about you, is all. I was thinking about asking you if you wanted to come with me when I continue my journey. If you want to, that is. You seem like a smart boy, and I could use someone who can read tagging along."

Eittene frowned. "I'll think about it."

"It's entirely up to you." Sarah shrugged. "I mean, this is your home, isn't it. I couldn't ask you to leave your family..."

Eittene made a face. "Don't be stupid! This is a Singles colony, ain't no families here. I ain't got a mum nor da. Wha makes ye think I'd be out on the streets nicking purses for my bread iffen I had me one nor both?"

Sarah blushed. "I was asking delicately." She clarified.

"Well." Eittene huffed. "Ye got yer answer."

Sarah nodded and would have answered with something upbeat and cheerful but a discreet knock at the door interrupted her.

"The bath's ready for him, Lady Sarah."

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End Chapter Seven

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AU-Eitten's is gonna be fun too, and that pronounced Eh-Tee-Uhn.