AN:I know I promised to put this up last night, but I needed to sleep.
Sorry!
Well here's what everybody seems to be waiting for, Taren's comeuppance!!!
But you won't find out exactly what happened to her till the epilogue.
Which unfortunately is not coming along too well. I think more review might
help! (Hint hint)
Again thanks to Scattered Logic for her beta work on this, and for all her
encouragement. And to The Hooded Crow and Cormack3032, for their moral
support as well.
Well what are you waiting for go read!!!
Mine
Comeuppance
Unobserved, Jareth stood in the doorway. Looking around the darkened room, he saw Taren standing next to a small table, arms folded, her foot tapping impatiently.
A figure stood across from him, almost concealed by shadows.
Directly opposite Taran, tied to her chair, sat Sarah. He couldn't see her face. With her head bowed, her hair concealed it.
Taren was the first to spot him.
"Well, well, well. It's good of you to join us, your majesty." Taren gave a mockery of a bow. "Please, do come in."
Jareth cautiously stepped into the room.
"Say hello, Sarah--oh dear, that's right you can't." To Jareth, "I had to take her voice, didn't want her whining the entire time. Interrupting while you and I have a little chat."
Sarah raised her head and looked at him, her eyes warning him to be careful.
Jareth saw Sarah's face, saw the bruise that darkened her cheekbone and the trickle of blood that came from the corner of her mouth. A cold fury spread through him.
Bringing his hands up together, he created a crystal.
Taren's voice stopped him before he could do anything with it.
"I wouldn't if I were you. Do you see that up there?"
Jareth looked to where she pointed. A sword hung in midair above Sarah's head.
Closing his eyes for a second, he swung back to face Taren.
"How?" he bit out, through gritted teeth.
"Magic, my dear Jareth. Earth magic." Taren shared a look with Rupart. "It's quite simple really."
Jareth couldn't sense any magic in the air, but then he'd had nothing to do with earth magic, maybe it didn't leave a trace.
His mind settled on a plan, and he lifted the crystal a little higher and prepared to throw it at the sword.
Taren interrupted his look. She wagged her finger at him.
"You really shouldn't. There are rules to my little game. Rule number one. Any and all magic not used by me, and the sword will fall. Two. You try to rescue Sarah, and the sword will fall," she gave Jareth a sly look. "Three. Anything happens to me, and the sword will fall. We wouldn't want that to happen now would we, Sarah?"
Jareth looked over at Sarah who was trying to tell him something with her eyes.
Taren laughed. "Ah, poor gullible Sarah, the sword will go directly through her brain, and I'll make sure the child dies with her. It's no way for a child to be raised. Without a mother." Taren's eyes were cold and hard now.
Taren looked at Sarah, who looked back. "I was raised without a mother. Not that mine died. I was snatched away from her." Taren stopped talking, lost in her memories.
Suddenly she swung round, her eyes locked on Jareth. "Wasn't I, Goblin King? Wasn't I snatched away from the only person who understood me, understood what I needed? Do you remember, Goblin King? Two hundred years ago?"
Jareth gave her a cool look. "Of course I remember. A battered servant wishing away her spoiled charge.
"A servant who killed herself, rather than face your mother.
"The servant who was no more than a child herself.
"She refused to run my Labyrinth for you. She said you were better off with me away from your mother's influence. And the fool that I am, I actually thought she was right."
Fury twisted Tarens face as she screamed, "Better off with you!" Her hands fisted tightly. "My parents were royalty. My father was a duke, a peer of the realm. I had everything I wanted. I only had to ask and I got it. How am I better off with you?
"You made me a servant. A drudge. A nobody!"
Taren stopped, her breathing ragged, her eyes glittering.
In a low voice, she added. "I lost everything when you took me. And I want it back! Or." She looked pointedly at Sarah.
Rupart, forgotten in the corner, stepped forward. "Taren." He stopped when the two adversaries turned to him. "I think it's time to make him do what we want."
Jareth thought fast. He disappeared, only to reappear behind the man called Rupart, grabbing him from behind. He threw his arm around the man's neck, his forearm lodged against Rupart's windpipe. Jareth squeezed.
He watched the sword above Sarah's head, poised to act should he see it move even a millimetre.
He knew he was taking a huge risk, but Taren was obviously mad. Sarah, the baby and himself would probably end up dead when she got what she wanted.
He had to act. Had to have something to bargain with.
Now he had something of hers.
"Set Sarah free and I'll let him go." Jareth squeezed harder. Ruparts hands came up to pull away his arm, but it was no use. Jareth's hold was solid.
Taren smiled and, in a blur of movement, she turned, picked up her little knife and threw it at Rupart. It hit him in his chest, sinking in to the hilt.
Jareth, whose attention had been mostly on the sword, didn't notice the knife coming towards them until it was too late.
Rupart dropped so suddenly Jareth had to work against falling with him.
He looked at Taren, clearly shocked. "Why?" Was all he could manage.
"Why?" Taren snorted. "Because I can, because I no longer need him, because he bored me. Take your pick."
Jareth was disgusted; reading between the lines, he could see she'd enjoyed killing Rupart.
With Rupart gone, he had nothing left to bargain with and no idea how to deal with Taren's madness.
"You know you could have avoided all this." Taren walked over to Sarah, and placed the flat of her hand on her head. "But no! You had to go and mess everything up bringing her here." Taren's hand fisted in Sarah's hair and she pulled hard, forcing Sarah's head back. Sarah winced.
"Life, mine and yours, would've been so much simpler if only you'd given in and made me your wife. I could have had it all. Including you." She let Sarah go.
"Oh well, some dreams are just not meant to be." In a kinder tone. "Ask Sarah, she knows what I mean."
Taren adopted a serene smile.
"Right, back to business. I want to go home. I want to be twelve years old again. I want everything to be as it was. Like the past two hundred years never happened."
Jareth thought about it. There was no way he could do that. It was too long. To send her back would change the history of the aboveground. And if he knew Taren, it wouldn't be for the better. She would have probably become a Queen.
She was ambitious enough.
Then where would the world, Sarah's world, be now?
Thinking quickly he hastily devised a plan.
"I can only reorder time for a labyrinth challenger." He improvised. "For me to grant your wish, you will have to run my Labyrinth."
Taren thought about it. Her lips lifted in a sly smile. "Okay, I'll do it, I'll do your Labyrinth." She walked over to Rupart's inert body and pulled out the knife.
Walking back over to Sarah, she cut the ropes that bound her. Pulling her arm, she pulled her out of the chair and put the knife against Sarah's stomach.
Sarah looked at Jareth, her eyes pleading with him to do something.
"But I'm taking Sarah with me." Taren pressed the knife harder against Sarah's stomach when Jareth moved forward to challenge her decision. Sarah's gasp of pain halted him.
"And how far do you think you'll get with a heavily pregnant woman slowing you down. Don't be stupid."
Jareth could've bit his tongue for his last careless remark.
"How dare you talk to me like that. Be careful, your whore's wellbeing rests upon what you say." The knife moved as she gestured to indicate Jareth.
Sarah saw her chance and acted. Fisting one hand in another, she brought her right arm up and rammed her elbow back into Taren's stomach. Taren gave an "oomph" and bent double. Sarah turned slightly, catching hold of the arm with the knife; she brought her foot down hard on Taren's instep. As Taren fell back, her arm slid through Sarah's hold, the knife slicing the skin on her hand. Sarah brought her other hand round and pulled the knife from Taren's grip. She gave Taren an extra push so that she fell further back.
Sarah ran to Jareth's open arms, he caught her and held her tight.
In a shocked voice heasked, "Where did that come from?"
Sarah smiled and signaled to Jareth, reminding him of her lost voice.
She'd tell him later about her defense lessons from school.
Jareth touched her throat. "I'll fix that soon." Looking behind her, he gently moved her so she stood behind him.
Together they looked at Taren, who was sprawled on the floor watching them both fearfully.
"I must think of a suitable punishment for you." Jareth looked back at Sarah, assessing her injuries. Her bruised cheek, the blood coming from her mouth and her bleeding hand. His mind cried. 'Revenge!'
"I'd really like to kill you for the crimes you've committed. But. death is so final, so quick. I want something that will last for eternity. First things first," Jareth produced a crystal. "You won't need your voice. Where you're going, there won't be much to say."
Taren panicked and screamed. Her cry was cut off when the crystal exploded in front of her. She sat up and looked at Jareth, her hands at her throat, her breathing ragged.
Jareth gave a cruel smile. "Now to send you somewhere, where you can do the least damage. And I have just the place in mind. So saying, he summoned another crystal and threw it.
Taren disappeared.
Jareth looked up at the sword, then back at Sarah, puzzled. He said, "The sword-it didn't fall. Why didn't it fall?"
Sarah smiled. Walking across to the chair, she looked around for something to reach the sword with.
A broom in the corner caught her eye. 'Perfect.' It was just what she needed.
Picking it up, she took it over to the chair.
Jareth still looked puzzled.
Sarah reached up with the broom and hit the sword with it, setting the sword swinging wildly. She stood back, in case the movement of the sword made the string snap.
She turned back to Jareth with a smile.
Jareth watched the sword swing. His jaw clenched angrily at the realization that he'd been duped.
Relief, mixed with the fact that the mighty Goblin King had been fooled by such a simple trick, made Sarah start laughing a little hysterically. She laughed even harder at the black look on his face.
Jareth watched her, his anger vanishing as he began to see the funny side. After the day they'd had, being annoyed because he'd been tricked so easily was a little funny.
He gave a smile, which soon turned into a laugh.
Pulling Sarah toward him, he composed himself and said, with a twinkle in his eye, "If you don't promise me here and now never to tell anyone about this, I'll make sure you never get your voice back."
Sarah fought to control her giggles. And raised an eyebrow.
They both started laughing again, holding on to each other for support.
Sarah stopped suddenly, and gave Jareth a shocked look. Jareth stopped laughing long enough to ask her what was wrong?
Sarah raised her dress a little and looked pointedly at her feet.
She was standing in a puddle of water.
"Oh no!" was Jareth's response.
Sarah shot him a black look. They weren't the words she would have used.
Jareth raised his eyes to hers. "Well, I think I should get you back to the castle."
Sarah mouthed. 'How?'
"I'm going to have to use magic, there's no other way. Getting you back over land will take hours. And I don't think we have hours."
Sarah placed her hand protectively over her stomach and shook her head.
"Sarah, unless you want to have our baby in this hovel. I have to use magic. I'll do it the same as last time to reduce the affects to the child."
Sarah bit her lip, feeling the first contraction build. She knew he was right.
Nodding she stepped closer to him.
Jareth took her in his arms and placed his hand on her forehead, whispering a sleep spell.
When she slumped against him, he kissed her hair, and they disappeared.
AN:Oh by the way my character page is at http://mysite.freeserve.com/LadyJamies_world/ Enjoy the Epilogue will be out soon. Promise!!!
Mine
Comeuppance
Unobserved, Jareth stood in the doorway. Looking around the darkened room, he saw Taren standing next to a small table, arms folded, her foot tapping impatiently.
A figure stood across from him, almost concealed by shadows.
Directly opposite Taran, tied to her chair, sat Sarah. He couldn't see her face. With her head bowed, her hair concealed it.
Taren was the first to spot him.
"Well, well, well. It's good of you to join us, your majesty." Taren gave a mockery of a bow. "Please, do come in."
Jareth cautiously stepped into the room.
"Say hello, Sarah--oh dear, that's right you can't." To Jareth, "I had to take her voice, didn't want her whining the entire time. Interrupting while you and I have a little chat."
Sarah raised her head and looked at him, her eyes warning him to be careful.
Jareth saw Sarah's face, saw the bruise that darkened her cheekbone and the trickle of blood that came from the corner of her mouth. A cold fury spread through him.
Bringing his hands up together, he created a crystal.
Taren's voice stopped him before he could do anything with it.
"I wouldn't if I were you. Do you see that up there?"
Jareth looked to where she pointed. A sword hung in midair above Sarah's head.
Closing his eyes for a second, he swung back to face Taren.
"How?" he bit out, through gritted teeth.
"Magic, my dear Jareth. Earth magic." Taren shared a look with Rupart. "It's quite simple really."
Jareth couldn't sense any magic in the air, but then he'd had nothing to do with earth magic, maybe it didn't leave a trace.
His mind settled on a plan, and he lifted the crystal a little higher and prepared to throw it at the sword.
Taren interrupted his look. She wagged her finger at him.
"You really shouldn't. There are rules to my little game. Rule number one. Any and all magic not used by me, and the sword will fall. Two. You try to rescue Sarah, and the sword will fall," she gave Jareth a sly look. "Three. Anything happens to me, and the sword will fall. We wouldn't want that to happen now would we, Sarah?"
Jareth looked over at Sarah who was trying to tell him something with her eyes.
Taren laughed. "Ah, poor gullible Sarah, the sword will go directly through her brain, and I'll make sure the child dies with her. It's no way for a child to be raised. Without a mother." Taren's eyes were cold and hard now.
Taren looked at Sarah, who looked back. "I was raised without a mother. Not that mine died. I was snatched away from her." Taren stopped talking, lost in her memories.
Suddenly she swung round, her eyes locked on Jareth. "Wasn't I, Goblin King? Wasn't I snatched away from the only person who understood me, understood what I needed? Do you remember, Goblin King? Two hundred years ago?"
Jareth gave her a cool look. "Of course I remember. A battered servant wishing away her spoiled charge.
"A servant who killed herself, rather than face your mother.
"The servant who was no more than a child herself.
"She refused to run my Labyrinth for you. She said you were better off with me away from your mother's influence. And the fool that I am, I actually thought she was right."
Fury twisted Tarens face as she screamed, "Better off with you!" Her hands fisted tightly. "My parents were royalty. My father was a duke, a peer of the realm. I had everything I wanted. I only had to ask and I got it. How am I better off with you?
"You made me a servant. A drudge. A nobody!"
Taren stopped, her breathing ragged, her eyes glittering.
In a low voice, she added. "I lost everything when you took me. And I want it back! Or." She looked pointedly at Sarah.
Rupart, forgotten in the corner, stepped forward. "Taren." He stopped when the two adversaries turned to him. "I think it's time to make him do what we want."
Jareth thought fast. He disappeared, only to reappear behind the man called Rupart, grabbing him from behind. He threw his arm around the man's neck, his forearm lodged against Rupart's windpipe. Jareth squeezed.
He watched the sword above Sarah's head, poised to act should he see it move even a millimetre.
He knew he was taking a huge risk, but Taren was obviously mad. Sarah, the baby and himself would probably end up dead when she got what she wanted.
He had to act. Had to have something to bargain with.
Now he had something of hers.
"Set Sarah free and I'll let him go." Jareth squeezed harder. Ruparts hands came up to pull away his arm, but it was no use. Jareth's hold was solid.
Taren smiled and, in a blur of movement, she turned, picked up her little knife and threw it at Rupart. It hit him in his chest, sinking in to the hilt.
Jareth, whose attention had been mostly on the sword, didn't notice the knife coming towards them until it was too late.
Rupart dropped so suddenly Jareth had to work against falling with him.
He looked at Taren, clearly shocked. "Why?" Was all he could manage.
"Why?" Taren snorted. "Because I can, because I no longer need him, because he bored me. Take your pick."
Jareth was disgusted; reading between the lines, he could see she'd enjoyed killing Rupart.
With Rupart gone, he had nothing left to bargain with and no idea how to deal with Taren's madness.
"You know you could have avoided all this." Taren walked over to Sarah, and placed the flat of her hand on her head. "But no! You had to go and mess everything up bringing her here." Taren's hand fisted in Sarah's hair and she pulled hard, forcing Sarah's head back. Sarah winced.
"Life, mine and yours, would've been so much simpler if only you'd given in and made me your wife. I could have had it all. Including you." She let Sarah go.
"Oh well, some dreams are just not meant to be." In a kinder tone. "Ask Sarah, she knows what I mean."
Taren adopted a serene smile.
"Right, back to business. I want to go home. I want to be twelve years old again. I want everything to be as it was. Like the past two hundred years never happened."
Jareth thought about it. There was no way he could do that. It was too long. To send her back would change the history of the aboveground. And if he knew Taren, it wouldn't be for the better. She would have probably become a Queen.
She was ambitious enough.
Then where would the world, Sarah's world, be now?
Thinking quickly he hastily devised a plan.
"I can only reorder time for a labyrinth challenger." He improvised. "For me to grant your wish, you will have to run my Labyrinth."
Taren thought about it. Her lips lifted in a sly smile. "Okay, I'll do it, I'll do your Labyrinth." She walked over to Rupart's inert body and pulled out the knife.
Walking back over to Sarah, she cut the ropes that bound her. Pulling her arm, she pulled her out of the chair and put the knife against Sarah's stomach.
Sarah looked at Jareth, her eyes pleading with him to do something.
"But I'm taking Sarah with me." Taren pressed the knife harder against Sarah's stomach when Jareth moved forward to challenge her decision. Sarah's gasp of pain halted him.
"And how far do you think you'll get with a heavily pregnant woman slowing you down. Don't be stupid."
Jareth could've bit his tongue for his last careless remark.
"How dare you talk to me like that. Be careful, your whore's wellbeing rests upon what you say." The knife moved as she gestured to indicate Jareth.
Sarah saw her chance and acted. Fisting one hand in another, she brought her right arm up and rammed her elbow back into Taren's stomach. Taren gave an "oomph" and bent double. Sarah turned slightly, catching hold of the arm with the knife; she brought her foot down hard on Taren's instep. As Taren fell back, her arm slid through Sarah's hold, the knife slicing the skin on her hand. Sarah brought her other hand round and pulled the knife from Taren's grip. She gave Taren an extra push so that she fell further back.
Sarah ran to Jareth's open arms, he caught her and held her tight.
In a shocked voice heasked, "Where did that come from?"
Sarah smiled and signaled to Jareth, reminding him of her lost voice.
She'd tell him later about her defense lessons from school.
Jareth touched her throat. "I'll fix that soon." Looking behind her, he gently moved her so she stood behind him.
Together they looked at Taren, who was sprawled on the floor watching them both fearfully.
"I must think of a suitable punishment for you." Jareth looked back at Sarah, assessing her injuries. Her bruised cheek, the blood coming from her mouth and her bleeding hand. His mind cried. 'Revenge!'
"I'd really like to kill you for the crimes you've committed. But. death is so final, so quick. I want something that will last for eternity. First things first," Jareth produced a crystal. "You won't need your voice. Where you're going, there won't be much to say."
Taren panicked and screamed. Her cry was cut off when the crystal exploded in front of her. She sat up and looked at Jareth, her hands at her throat, her breathing ragged.
Jareth gave a cruel smile. "Now to send you somewhere, where you can do the least damage. And I have just the place in mind. So saying, he summoned another crystal and threw it.
Taren disappeared.
Jareth looked up at the sword, then back at Sarah, puzzled. He said, "The sword-it didn't fall. Why didn't it fall?"
Sarah smiled. Walking across to the chair, she looked around for something to reach the sword with.
A broom in the corner caught her eye. 'Perfect.' It was just what she needed.
Picking it up, she took it over to the chair.
Jareth still looked puzzled.
Sarah reached up with the broom and hit the sword with it, setting the sword swinging wildly. She stood back, in case the movement of the sword made the string snap.
She turned back to Jareth with a smile.
Jareth watched the sword swing. His jaw clenched angrily at the realization that he'd been duped.
Relief, mixed with the fact that the mighty Goblin King had been fooled by such a simple trick, made Sarah start laughing a little hysterically. She laughed even harder at the black look on his face.
Jareth watched her, his anger vanishing as he began to see the funny side. After the day they'd had, being annoyed because he'd been tricked so easily was a little funny.
He gave a smile, which soon turned into a laugh.
Pulling Sarah toward him, he composed himself and said, with a twinkle in his eye, "If you don't promise me here and now never to tell anyone about this, I'll make sure you never get your voice back."
Sarah fought to control her giggles. And raised an eyebrow.
They both started laughing again, holding on to each other for support.
Sarah stopped suddenly, and gave Jareth a shocked look. Jareth stopped laughing long enough to ask her what was wrong?
Sarah raised her dress a little and looked pointedly at her feet.
She was standing in a puddle of water.
"Oh no!" was Jareth's response.
Sarah shot him a black look. They weren't the words she would have used.
Jareth raised his eyes to hers. "Well, I think I should get you back to the castle."
Sarah mouthed. 'How?'
"I'm going to have to use magic, there's no other way. Getting you back over land will take hours. And I don't think we have hours."
Sarah placed her hand protectively over her stomach and shook her head.
"Sarah, unless you want to have our baby in this hovel. I have to use magic. I'll do it the same as last time to reduce the affects to the child."
Sarah bit her lip, feeling the first contraction build. She knew he was right.
Nodding she stepped closer to him.
Jareth took her in his arms and placed his hand on her forehead, whispering a sleep spell.
When she slumped against him, he kissed her hair, and they disappeared.
AN:Oh by the way my character page is at http://mysite.freeserve.com/LadyJamies_world/ Enjoy the Epilogue will be out soon. Promise!!!
