Chapter VII: Meet the In-Laws, Part One
Sarah groaned and opened her eyes, mentally thanking for the darkness
of the room she was in, because she was a little photophobic at the
moment. Her opal-like eyes surveyed the canopy bed, made of the finest
cherry wood she had ever seen, the silk, midnight-blue sheets and the
silver, velvet coverlet embroiled with sapphire strings that seemed to
draw a thousand different patterns across the cloth and sighed.
She was most definitely in one of Jareth's rooms. She could tell that just from looking at the opulence of the bed. Her gazed turned to the vanity with a huge mirror at a side and the desk with the finely- carved chair, all made of the same cherry wood and then she set her eyes on the elegant tapestries, the gold-framed exquisite paintings and the shelves of perfectly-lined up books and she allowed herself to smile a little. The room was certainly fit for a Queen.
She hopped out of the bed and noticed the beautiful, shimmering black nightgown she was wearing and gasped.
She didn't remember changing into a nightgown at all. That meant that. Jareth had undressed her and put her that luxurious piece of clothing.
"He better had used his magic" she swore under her breath, her cheeks acquiring a slight pink shade that mortified her to say the least. Trying to get her mind off the little incident she spotted two doors and, with doubtful steps, she approached one of them and opened it ever-so-slightly. She gasped again as her eyes went wide: one door led to a huge bathroom that sparkled. The porcelain of the walls was soft to the touch, there was modern plumbing (thank the Great Ones), a hall- stand with a silk, silvery robe and a closet full of different kind of shampoos and soaps of all the possible scents. Instead of a bath there was an enormous lake. The bottom of it was marble and it had drawings of dragons, mermaids and mermen dancing merrily.
"He overdoes everything" she muttered aloud "And, for once, I'm happy about it"
She smiled and closed the door gently, walking over the other one.
"Knowing him well, and God helps me I do, this will be a Huge closet, with capital H" she said aloud to no one in particular as she opened the huge oak doors and a smiled formed itself in her face.
"I guessed" she said cheerfully, giggling a little. Then she went to get a glimpse of the portraits hanging from the stone walls. One was obviously of Jareth. The mismatched eyes, gold hair and glitter made him an unmistakable figure. Next to him was a portrait of a person who looked exactly like him, except for to things: one was that, instead of silver-gold hair the person had silver-white hair and, instead of a blue eye and a hazel one the man had a grey eye that seemed of the color of the coldest steel and a red eye with tints of gold.
He was, obviously, Jareth's twin brother. She remembered something of him. He had been born ten minutes after Jareth, according to what the Great Ones had told her, and was more of the bookish type: he had a Labyrinth of riddles and mental puzzles, and ruled over the most dangerously cunning creatures of the Underground. The King of Dragons was his title and, just as his brother, he was cruel and cold.
And so very lonely.
"He is Jareth's only family that I can recall. Great Ones, is there anyone else in Jareth's life?" she asked aloud, shutting her eyes and breathing deeply, trying to concentrate, The sound of a rich laugh filled her ears and she went red with embarrassment when a voice that she recognized as Future's replied:
"Apart from Lady Dalila?"
She practically growled and, apparently very offended, shouted to the air:
"Stay out of this, Future. Present, if you would be so kind as to answer my question"
The ever-so-gently middle god replied kindly that The High King had no relatives apart from Gareth, King of the Damned.
"How is he? I mean, do they get along or is he jealous of Jareth for being High King?" she wanted to know.
"Amazingly enough, he hold no resentment against his 'elder' brother. You see, he loves books and knowledge so much that he doesn't want any extra responsibilities that could drive him away from his precious Library. He does a good job ruling over creatures of great intelligence but he wouldn't' want to be High King. He wasn't born to do that" Past replied with his usual melancholic air.
"Rare, rare indeed. I thought that with Jareth's troubled personality he would have a dysfunctional relationship with his brother. Guessed I was wrong"
Suddenly there was a knock in the door and she spun around while she whispered a gentle: 'Come in'
"I'm happy to see you so healthy again, Your Majesty" a female voice spoke kindly "You gave the Fae noblemen quite a spectacle the night before"
The Monarch turned around to find Adriana and her brother Adrian looking at her, very pleased. Their faces didn't show the despair and tiredness that they had displayed the other night. They seemed full of life all of the sudden.
Sarah smiled at that and titled her head.
"Did I do well? I mean, did I pull the whole 'Queen-of-the-Angels' thing off?" she asked with as charming smile, yet there was a hint of nervousness behind her self-confident façade. The twins nodded, smiling in hopes of cheering her up. The human-angel sighed, relieved, and then asked what was to happen next.
"Well, there is to be a big, and I mean, really big Banquet this very night. There you will decide the date of the wedding. And then, between this day and the Wedding day there will be lots of Balls. Fae people love to have partied, and partied, and parties, even for no reason at all. His High Majesty usually doesn't like to attend these affairs, but now, as the groom, he will be forced to" Adriana explained, knowing Fae protocol like the palm of her hand. The Sovereign was clearly not pleased with the thought of having to go to innumerable Balls but she was willing to do it for the sake of her Kingdom.
'I had almost forgotten how loyal and dedicated a true Sovereign could be' Adrian mused silently, looking at her sister, who was trying to pick up the best gown for Her Majesty to wear that night. She seemed to be alright now. He had been terribly worried.
"And there is to be a Bonding Ceremony too, Highness" she was saying in a soft voice "It is when a couple officially become engaged. It is pure formality, I assure you" she added promptly, seeing Sarah's mistrusting look.
"You better be telling me the truth" she mumbled under her breath, sighing. Adrian chuckled softly and then watched as the two females came together to gossip.
"What's with his lopsided grin and cheerful air? I thought he was serious all the time" Sarah whispered to the silver-haired woman beside her as they appeared to be choosing a gown for the Bonding Ceremony.
"Oh, it's just that now that he doesn't have to worry about the Kingdom and the Race of angels, he finally has the time to court the pretty little pixie Lady he has had a crush on for the last ten years" the girl explained with a smile. The half-human smiled back and asked if she had any suitors.
"No, Adrian follows me everywhere. But now that he will be too preoccupied with the Pixie Lady, I may have just the freedom I need to find love"
Sarianka smiled, pretty pleased with herself. She had made everybody's life better.
'Except for your, of course' a sly voice whispered in the back of her head. It wasn't one of those voices that sounded just like the person who was hearing them. It wasn't a mental voice. It belonged to someone she knew all to well.
'Leave me alone. If some many people are happy, what does the suffering of one single soul matter?' she reasoned, closing her eyes shut to fight back tears.
Because, no matter how much she tried to deny it, she knew she was just a scared little girl alone in a big, big world. Not a Queen.
The Ballroom looked even more majestically than when she had first set eyes on it, all those years ago. For example most of the curtains had been removed, revealing the full size of the room, which was, as everything from Jareth, exceedingly huge (please, don't take me wrong. I didn't mean to imply nothing kinky with that phrase so get your minds out of the gutter, people!). It was tastily decorated in gold and silver, with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the faint scent of gardenia and jasmine feeling the air. There was Jareth's throne, its darkness contrasting with the fairness of the rest of the room. There was another throne besides his onyx one: it was made of white, polished marble with golden incrustations, beautiful creatures carved in its back. It was elegant, graceful, and looked deceivingly innocent.
It was perfect for Sarah, Jareth decided.
"The little vixen pretends to be such a nice little angel, when she really is hiding horns and a tail" the King muttered under his breath, as he saw her sitting there and humming lazily, her hard, cold eyes looking at the dancers twirl below her with a bored air. She was hiding something with a mask of boredom, and quite a good one for that matter. But no one fooled Jareth, King of Shams and Deceit. She was plain old faking.
He wondered briefly why. And as he wondered his eyes, betraying parts of his body, roamed though her form, taking in the beautiful contrast between the dark night-blue of her gown and her pale, creamy skin. Her ebony locks of hair were hanging loosely down her back, and a silver halo floated slightly above her head, glowing faintly. It was a pretty little thing that halo, simple and yet it completed her angelic appearance. However it was her eyes what held his attention: they seemed to change color whenever her mood changed. It was what betrayed her and ruined her cool façade. What a pity.
Her eyes were now the most disheartening shade of grey. It was a gloomy kind of grey, the one that made you think of dull grey clouds of heavy rain and of painful past memories. She was obviously miserable inside but the question was: Why?
He could have understood if her eyes were red with anger or white with fear and nervousness but she was just sad and he couldn't decipher why. And it was driving him crazy. He tapped his foot on the smooth, cool floor and held his chin with one of his hands, staring off into space. Dalila tried to catch his eye as she danced in front of the 'merry soon-to-be couple', but he just wouldn't look at her.
Then, all of the sudden, it was time for them to mingle in the crowd before the Bonding Ceremony. There were lots of people Sarah had to meet. She walked down the stairs and let Jareth present them almost monotonously. There was a particularly annoying lady dressed in black that looked suspiciously a lot like Lady Dalila. Sarah almost frowned when she heard the lady in question introduced herself as Dalila's older sister, Lady Camilla.
"It's so nice to meet you, Lady Camilla" Sarah said with an obviously fake tone and smile, her eyes barely focusing on the woman's body. The Noble Lady was shocked by that and quickly fled from the presence of the Queen of Angels.
"That wasn't nice" Jareth commented dryly. Sarah just shrugged
"She wasn't particularly nice either, but you don't hear me complaining" she replied nonchalantly, smiling ever-so-slightly. But it wasn't a happy smile; it was a. devious one.
"I must agree with her, brother. Camilla isn't exactly the kindest of noblewomen" a voice, suspiciously similar to Jareth's, replied. Sarah spun around to meet the mismatched, deep gaze of a Fae with silvery- white hair that was combed the same odd way than the Goblin King and he was dressed in silver and blue.
He was his Majesty, Gareth, the Dragon King. He wasn't smiling but his face inspired friendliness somehow so Sarah smiled at him and curtsied.
"Very nice to make your acquaintance, King Gareth. The Great Ones have told me a lot about you" she said nonchalantly, though her words intrigued the Fae men in front of her "Well, I do talk a lot with them, and, believe it or not, they gossip like the Merry Wives of Windsor"
The silver-haired Fae arched an eyebrow and seemed actually a little bit amused, a thing that the Angel queen considered a huge improvement. He didn't seem the type of guy prone to show any kind of emotion at all. Jareth, at least, always seemed to be either amused or irritated, but he showed some kind of feeling, unlike his twin brother.
Now it seems the appropriate time to explain a little about Gareth. He isn't the typical 'brother' that some people invent in their stories. I wanted him to be unique, so I made him smart. But not just smart, REALLY smart. For you see, he is cursed.
Jareth and Gareth were the most ancient creatures alive. There were a few people older than them when they had been born, including their parent, but they all had died in what it was called the War. Because, in the Underground, there had only been one. Fae had been so unsettled by the new concept of death (that was incomprehensible for an immortal soul) that they had sworn never to repeat the experience. Bu the time the war started Jareth and Gareth had been a couple of thousands of years old and, when it had finished, they were the oldest Fae left.
Jareth had promptly forgotten almost everything that had happened over the years, because even the greatest of memories can't remember everything that happened over millions of years.
The thing was that Gareth remembered everything, for it was his job. He was the Keeper of Wisdom, cursed to remember every single bit of knowledge, every sad recollection, every tragic event, every single moment of that bloody war. It had almost driven him mad. Dragons, the only creatures almost as old as the Fae brothers, chose him because he was the only being wiser than them (for dragons had wisdom beyond any mortal's wildest dreams) and he had recovered slightly. He had begged once to the Great Ones, the ones who had cursed him to lift the weight of such task as it was keeping knowledge from his shoulder, but they had refused.
As time passed, he became used to live knowing everything, remembering everything and understanding everything and had recovered. But he never was the Fae he had been before the war, when everything he knew and remembered was good and kind. He became aloof, cold and emotionless, for the burden of wisdom left him too tired to deal with any kind of feelings. And he had been titled by everyone as: 'The Damned'.
Till the day she met her. but that's another story, that I'll write in due time.
He was happy for his brother's upcoming nuptials for he knew that Jareth was head over heels in love with the Queen, who was also the girl who had defeated his sibling's Labyrinth all those years ago. A pity really that the two of them were too blind to see how good they fitted together, but he was confident that, in appropriate time they would realize their mutual love and would stop dancing around one another.
As he saw them together a hint of a smile appeared on his marble- sculpted features, thing that he promptly hid from the praying eyed of the noblemen and women gathered around him. He wasn't fond of any public display of any kind, except. Well, except when he was with her.
"You know that woman well, King Gareth?" Sarah asked politely, yet she suspected there was some kind of past affair between the annoying Camilla and the Monarch in front of her.
"You could say so, milady, and please do not call me by my title. After all we are soon to be family" he was looking pointedly at Jareth, who was glaring right back at him.
"Of course, if you don't mind dropping the whole 'Highness and 'Majesty' thing neither do i. But you must call me Sarah. Sarianka is too formal" she answered. The King of the Dragons continued with his explanation:
"Lady Camilla has been after my throne. or my bed, since her husband, a powerful Sidhe Lord, died a couple of hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately for her, I've been always so focused on books and matters of the mind to notice her or any other woman." here he paused because Jareth had snorted loudly and rolled his eyes "I believe, Miss Sarah, that you have met Camilla's young sister. Lady Dalila" he added, just to annoy his older brother a little. Sarah laughed and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like: "They are too of a kind. a bad one". Just then the silver-haired Fae turned his head and saw Lady Dalila approaching. Things didn't look good for the queen of angels, for Dalila had an evil grin plastered on her face and he knew that she was capable of the most atrocious things to get what she wanted.
Then he stiffened and a gust of wind passed by. There was a slight change in the atmosphere of the place and, suddenly Dalila, who was climbing down a magnificent marble staircase, missed one step and fell flatly on her face. Gareth rolled his eyes and stared at a figure standing in front of Dalila's sprawled form. The figure belonged to a woman that seemed to be no more that nineteen years old but her eyes held the wisdom and knowledge of thousands of years. Her hair was mahogany that seemed read when was hit by rays of light. Her eyes were a striking ice-blue that seemed to shine with and iridescent, unknown light that was similarly to the glow of stars in Heaven. She wore a Renaissance-styled dress with a square neck, flowing, bell-shaped sleeves. The color of the dress was silver that seemed to shimmer with her very movement. At the top of her head there was a crown made of an odd type of material that reminded Sarah of quartz and crystal at the same time. She wore silver make-up and red lipstick that highlighted her hair and the fairness of her pale, marble-like skin. She was quite a sight to behold. and she was trying hard not to laugh.
"Lady Dalila, I know I am a queen, but next time if you want to greet me a simple curtsy will suffice" she said calmly, her voice so soft and yet everyone could hear it as clear as water. She turned to the trio (Sarah, Jareth and Gareth) and smiled to one of them.
"Darling I'm so sorry it took me so long to get hear but I. lost track of time and then I had to get into this dress with the corset that is making breathing a very hard task and. well, you know" she said as she walked straight into the arms of Gareth, who was actually smiling wolfishly.
"My, my, love; you are surely quite a breathtaking sight. I almost feel bad for all these men that see you but can't have you" he muttered as he kissed her on the lip, right in front of the shocked community of Fae that were all wide-eyed. They still had to get used to the new Gareth that surfaced every time the Queen of Dragons appeared.
"Just consider yourself lucky that you aren't among them" the woman replied with a mysterious smile that the Fae returned. The girl then turned to Sarah and curtsied.
"Sorry for being so tactless. I should have presented myself, I am Augustine, Queen of the Dragons and Keeper of Heavens" she told the angel "I am Gareth's wife, and I am a human, just like you"
Sarah was reddened speechless. That creature, with that mystical, ethereal aura surrounding her, was human?
Augustine smiled and nodded at the angel's unspoken question.
"I was born human, but in reality I am an 'infans caeli'. a child of Heavens. I can communicate with the stars and planets, and change slightly my surroundings by moving the planets form positions. You see, everything is controlled ever-so-slightly by the heavenly bodies so by changing their position I can change things and even people" she said cheerfully, as if it were the most usual of things "For example, Lady Dalila receiver's all her grace from Venus, her guardian planet. By changing that influence moving Venus out of the way you can take all that elegance away from her. The result is that nasty fall from the stairs"
Jareth chuckled, amused and Sarah burst out laughing after seeing the evil glint on Queen Augustine's eyes, meaning that she wasn't sorry for what she had done. Gareth jut shook his head and feigned a sigh.
"I knew you had been responsible for that accident. Whatever am I going to do to you, my sweet?" he asked mocking tiredness. His queen nuzzled closed to him and whispered into his ear:
"How about love me for who I am?"
He looked at her in the eye and smiled broadly.
"Excellent idea"
Author's Note: Wow that was some chapter!!! It's huge! I mean, really, my wrists ache from writing so much!!! But it's a way to thank you for being so patient with this lazy author.
By the way, I do not own Labyrinth and all its characters. The angels, Dalila, Camilla, King Gareth and Queen Augustine are MINE, so please ask for my permission to use them. In case you haven't noticed Augustine is me. My name is Agustina, and its translation in English is 'Augustine'. So it's a self-insertion. Everything about her is just as I am (except that she becomes a magical creature and is nineteen whereas I am barely sixteen). I hope you like her. I'll write a story about her and Gareth, how them met and fell in love in case anyone wants to know. Please tell me if you do.
To Shannon Corrigan, who asked me to say Hi to her, A big HI! And about the sex thing in TMWW, I don't know if there's gonna be any. Hey, I'm merely sixteen and, besides, if my mother read anything like that she would freak out. Sorry.
Tell me if you liked the new characters. I think that making Jareth's brother a bookworm was a rather interesting twist, don't you think?
Well, see you next chapter.
Hugs an peaches for all,
Sabina (The Author, duh!!!)
P.S.: Happy Halloween!!!!
She was most definitely in one of Jareth's rooms. She could tell that just from looking at the opulence of the bed. Her gazed turned to the vanity with a huge mirror at a side and the desk with the finely- carved chair, all made of the same cherry wood and then she set her eyes on the elegant tapestries, the gold-framed exquisite paintings and the shelves of perfectly-lined up books and she allowed herself to smile a little. The room was certainly fit for a Queen.
She hopped out of the bed and noticed the beautiful, shimmering black nightgown she was wearing and gasped.
She didn't remember changing into a nightgown at all. That meant that. Jareth had undressed her and put her that luxurious piece of clothing.
"He better had used his magic" she swore under her breath, her cheeks acquiring a slight pink shade that mortified her to say the least. Trying to get her mind off the little incident she spotted two doors and, with doubtful steps, she approached one of them and opened it ever-so-slightly. She gasped again as her eyes went wide: one door led to a huge bathroom that sparkled. The porcelain of the walls was soft to the touch, there was modern plumbing (thank the Great Ones), a hall- stand with a silk, silvery robe and a closet full of different kind of shampoos and soaps of all the possible scents. Instead of a bath there was an enormous lake. The bottom of it was marble and it had drawings of dragons, mermaids and mermen dancing merrily.
"He overdoes everything" she muttered aloud "And, for once, I'm happy about it"
She smiled and closed the door gently, walking over the other one.
"Knowing him well, and God helps me I do, this will be a Huge closet, with capital H" she said aloud to no one in particular as she opened the huge oak doors and a smiled formed itself in her face.
"I guessed" she said cheerfully, giggling a little. Then she went to get a glimpse of the portraits hanging from the stone walls. One was obviously of Jareth. The mismatched eyes, gold hair and glitter made him an unmistakable figure. Next to him was a portrait of a person who looked exactly like him, except for to things: one was that, instead of silver-gold hair the person had silver-white hair and, instead of a blue eye and a hazel one the man had a grey eye that seemed of the color of the coldest steel and a red eye with tints of gold.
He was, obviously, Jareth's twin brother. She remembered something of him. He had been born ten minutes after Jareth, according to what the Great Ones had told her, and was more of the bookish type: he had a Labyrinth of riddles and mental puzzles, and ruled over the most dangerously cunning creatures of the Underground. The King of Dragons was his title and, just as his brother, he was cruel and cold.
And so very lonely.
"He is Jareth's only family that I can recall. Great Ones, is there anyone else in Jareth's life?" she asked aloud, shutting her eyes and breathing deeply, trying to concentrate, The sound of a rich laugh filled her ears and she went red with embarrassment when a voice that she recognized as Future's replied:
"Apart from Lady Dalila?"
She practically growled and, apparently very offended, shouted to the air:
"Stay out of this, Future. Present, if you would be so kind as to answer my question"
The ever-so-gently middle god replied kindly that The High King had no relatives apart from Gareth, King of the Damned.
"How is he? I mean, do they get along or is he jealous of Jareth for being High King?" she wanted to know.
"Amazingly enough, he hold no resentment against his 'elder' brother. You see, he loves books and knowledge so much that he doesn't want any extra responsibilities that could drive him away from his precious Library. He does a good job ruling over creatures of great intelligence but he wouldn't' want to be High King. He wasn't born to do that" Past replied with his usual melancholic air.
"Rare, rare indeed. I thought that with Jareth's troubled personality he would have a dysfunctional relationship with his brother. Guessed I was wrong"
Suddenly there was a knock in the door and she spun around while she whispered a gentle: 'Come in'
"I'm happy to see you so healthy again, Your Majesty" a female voice spoke kindly "You gave the Fae noblemen quite a spectacle the night before"
The Monarch turned around to find Adriana and her brother Adrian looking at her, very pleased. Their faces didn't show the despair and tiredness that they had displayed the other night. They seemed full of life all of the sudden.
Sarah smiled at that and titled her head.
"Did I do well? I mean, did I pull the whole 'Queen-of-the-Angels' thing off?" she asked with as charming smile, yet there was a hint of nervousness behind her self-confident façade. The twins nodded, smiling in hopes of cheering her up. The human-angel sighed, relieved, and then asked what was to happen next.
"Well, there is to be a big, and I mean, really big Banquet this very night. There you will decide the date of the wedding. And then, between this day and the Wedding day there will be lots of Balls. Fae people love to have partied, and partied, and parties, even for no reason at all. His High Majesty usually doesn't like to attend these affairs, but now, as the groom, he will be forced to" Adriana explained, knowing Fae protocol like the palm of her hand. The Sovereign was clearly not pleased with the thought of having to go to innumerable Balls but she was willing to do it for the sake of her Kingdom.
'I had almost forgotten how loyal and dedicated a true Sovereign could be' Adrian mused silently, looking at her sister, who was trying to pick up the best gown for Her Majesty to wear that night. She seemed to be alright now. He had been terribly worried.
"And there is to be a Bonding Ceremony too, Highness" she was saying in a soft voice "It is when a couple officially become engaged. It is pure formality, I assure you" she added promptly, seeing Sarah's mistrusting look.
"You better be telling me the truth" she mumbled under her breath, sighing. Adrian chuckled softly and then watched as the two females came together to gossip.
"What's with his lopsided grin and cheerful air? I thought he was serious all the time" Sarah whispered to the silver-haired woman beside her as they appeared to be choosing a gown for the Bonding Ceremony.
"Oh, it's just that now that he doesn't have to worry about the Kingdom and the Race of angels, he finally has the time to court the pretty little pixie Lady he has had a crush on for the last ten years" the girl explained with a smile. The half-human smiled back and asked if she had any suitors.
"No, Adrian follows me everywhere. But now that he will be too preoccupied with the Pixie Lady, I may have just the freedom I need to find love"
Sarianka smiled, pretty pleased with herself. She had made everybody's life better.
'Except for your, of course' a sly voice whispered in the back of her head. It wasn't one of those voices that sounded just like the person who was hearing them. It wasn't a mental voice. It belonged to someone she knew all to well.
'Leave me alone. If some many people are happy, what does the suffering of one single soul matter?' she reasoned, closing her eyes shut to fight back tears.
Because, no matter how much she tried to deny it, she knew she was just a scared little girl alone in a big, big world. Not a Queen.
The Ballroom looked even more majestically than when she had first set eyes on it, all those years ago. For example most of the curtains had been removed, revealing the full size of the room, which was, as everything from Jareth, exceedingly huge (please, don't take me wrong. I didn't mean to imply nothing kinky with that phrase so get your minds out of the gutter, people!). It was tastily decorated in gold and silver, with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the faint scent of gardenia and jasmine feeling the air. There was Jareth's throne, its darkness contrasting with the fairness of the rest of the room. There was another throne besides his onyx one: it was made of white, polished marble with golden incrustations, beautiful creatures carved in its back. It was elegant, graceful, and looked deceivingly innocent.
It was perfect for Sarah, Jareth decided.
"The little vixen pretends to be such a nice little angel, when she really is hiding horns and a tail" the King muttered under his breath, as he saw her sitting there and humming lazily, her hard, cold eyes looking at the dancers twirl below her with a bored air. She was hiding something with a mask of boredom, and quite a good one for that matter. But no one fooled Jareth, King of Shams and Deceit. She was plain old faking.
He wondered briefly why. And as he wondered his eyes, betraying parts of his body, roamed though her form, taking in the beautiful contrast between the dark night-blue of her gown and her pale, creamy skin. Her ebony locks of hair were hanging loosely down her back, and a silver halo floated slightly above her head, glowing faintly. It was a pretty little thing that halo, simple and yet it completed her angelic appearance. However it was her eyes what held his attention: they seemed to change color whenever her mood changed. It was what betrayed her and ruined her cool façade. What a pity.
Her eyes were now the most disheartening shade of grey. It was a gloomy kind of grey, the one that made you think of dull grey clouds of heavy rain and of painful past memories. She was obviously miserable inside but the question was: Why?
He could have understood if her eyes were red with anger or white with fear and nervousness but she was just sad and he couldn't decipher why. And it was driving him crazy. He tapped his foot on the smooth, cool floor and held his chin with one of his hands, staring off into space. Dalila tried to catch his eye as she danced in front of the 'merry soon-to-be couple', but he just wouldn't look at her.
Then, all of the sudden, it was time for them to mingle in the crowd before the Bonding Ceremony. There were lots of people Sarah had to meet. She walked down the stairs and let Jareth present them almost monotonously. There was a particularly annoying lady dressed in black that looked suspiciously a lot like Lady Dalila. Sarah almost frowned when she heard the lady in question introduced herself as Dalila's older sister, Lady Camilla.
"It's so nice to meet you, Lady Camilla" Sarah said with an obviously fake tone and smile, her eyes barely focusing on the woman's body. The Noble Lady was shocked by that and quickly fled from the presence of the Queen of Angels.
"That wasn't nice" Jareth commented dryly. Sarah just shrugged
"She wasn't particularly nice either, but you don't hear me complaining" she replied nonchalantly, smiling ever-so-slightly. But it wasn't a happy smile; it was a. devious one.
"I must agree with her, brother. Camilla isn't exactly the kindest of noblewomen" a voice, suspiciously similar to Jareth's, replied. Sarah spun around to meet the mismatched, deep gaze of a Fae with silvery- white hair that was combed the same odd way than the Goblin King and he was dressed in silver and blue.
He was his Majesty, Gareth, the Dragon King. He wasn't smiling but his face inspired friendliness somehow so Sarah smiled at him and curtsied.
"Very nice to make your acquaintance, King Gareth. The Great Ones have told me a lot about you" she said nonchalantly, though her words intrigued the Fae men in front of her "Well, I do talk a lot with them, and, believe it or not, they gossip like the Merry Wives of Windsor"
The silver-haired Fae arched an eyebrow and seemed actually a little bit amused, a thing that the Angel queen considered a huge improvement. He didn't seem the type of guy prone to show any kind of emotion at all. Jareth, at least, always seemed to be either amused or irritated, but he showed some kind of feeling, unlike his twin brother.
Now it seems the appropriate time to explain a little about Gareth. He isn't the typical 'brother' that some people invent in their stories. I wanted him to be unique, so I made him smart. But not just smart, REALLY smart. For you see, he is cursed.
Jareth and Gareth were the most ancient creatures alive. There were a few people older than them when they had been born, including their parent, but they all had died in what it was called the War. Because, in the Underground, there had only been one. Fae had been so unsettled by the new concept of death (that was incomprehensible for an immortal soul) that they had sworn never to repeat the experience. Bu the time the war started Jareth and Gareth had been a couple of thousands of years old and, when it had finished, they were the oldest Fae left.
Jareth had promptly forgotten almost everything that had happened over the years, because even the greatest of memories can't remember everything that happened over millions of years.
The thing was that Gareth remembered everything, for it was his job. He was the Keeper of Wisdom, cursed to remember every single bit of knowledge, every sad recollection, every tragic event, every single moment of that bloody war. It had almost driven him mad. Dragons, the only creatures almost as old as the Fae brothers, chose him because he was the only being wiser than them (for dragons had wisdom beyond any mortal's wildest dreams) and he had recovered slightly. He had begged once to the Great Ones, the ones who had cursed him to lift the weight of such task as it was keeping knowledge from his shoulder, but they had refused.
As time passed, he became used to live knowing everything, remembering everything and understanding everything and had recovered. But he never was the Fae he had been before the war, when everything he knew and remembered was good and kind. He became aloof, cold and emotionless, for the burden of wisdom left him too tired to deal with any kind of feelings. And he had been titled by everyone as: 'The Damned'.
Till the day she met her. but that's another story, that I'll write in due time.
He was happy for his brother's upcoming nuptials for he knew that Jareth was head over heels in love with the Queen, who was also the girl who had defeated his sibling's Labyrinth all those years ago. A pity really that the two of them were too blind to see how good they fitted together, but he was confident that, in appropriate time they would realize their mutual love and would stop dancing around one another.
As he saw them together a hint of a smile appeared on his marble- sculpted features, thing that he promptly hid from the praying eyed of the noblemen and women gathered around him. He wasn't fond of any public display of any kind, except. Well, except when he was with her.
"You know that woman well, King Gareth?" Sarah asked politely, yet she suspected there was some kind of past affair between the annoying Camilla and the Monarch in front of her.
"You could say so, milady, and please do not call me by my title. After all we are soon to be family" he was looking pointedly at Jareth, who was glaring right back at him.
"Of course, if you don't mind dropping the whole 'Highness and 'Majesty' thing neither do i. But you must call me Sarah. Sarianka is too formal" she answered. The King of the Dragons continued with his explanation:
"Lady Camilla has been after my throne. or my bed, since her husband, a powerful Sidhe Lord, died a couple of hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately for her, I've been always so focused on books and matters of the mind to notice her or any other woman." here he paused because Jareth had snorted loudly and rolled his eyes "I believe, Miss Sarah, that you have met Camilla's young sister. Lady Dalila" he added, just to annoy his older brother a little. Sarah laughed and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like: "They are too of a kind. a bad one". Just then the silver-haired Fae turned his head and saw Lady Dalila approaching. Things didn't look good for the queen of angels, for Dalila had an evil grin plastered on her face and he knew that she was capable of the most atrocious things to get what she wanted.
Then he stiffened and a gust of wind passed by. There was a slight change in the atmosphere of the place and, suddenly Dalila, who was climbing down a magnificent marble staircase, missed one step and fell flatly on her face. Gareth rolled his eyes and stared at a figure standing in front of Dalila's sprawled form. The figure belonged to a woman that seemed to be no more that nineteen years old but her eyes held the wisdom and knowledge of thousands of years. Her hair was mahogany that seemed read when was hit by rays of light. Her eyes were a striking ice-blue that seemed to shine with and iridescent, unknown light that was similarly to the glow of stars in Heaven. She wore a Renaissance-styled dress with a square neck, flowing, bell-shaped sleeves. The color of the dress was silver that seemed to shimmer with her very movement. At the top of her head there was a crown made of an odd type of material that reminded Sarah of quartz and crystal at the same time. She wore silver make-up and red lipstick that highlighted her hair and the fairness of her pale, marble-like skin. She was quite a sight to behold. and she was trying hard not to laugh.
"Lady Dalila, I know I am a queen, but next time if you want to greet me a simple curtsy will suffice" she said calmly, her voice so soft and yet everyone could hear it as clear as water. She turned to the trio (Sarah, Jareth and Gareth) and smiled to one of them.
"Darling I'm so sorry it took me so long to get hear but I. lost track of time and then I had to get into this dress with the corset that is making breathing a very hard task and. well, you know" she said as she walked straight into the arms of Gareth, who was actually smiling wolfishly.
"My, my, love; you are surely quite a breathtaking sight. I almost feel bad for all these men that see you but can't have you" he muttered as he kissed her on the lip, right in front of the shocked community of Fae that were all wide-eyed. They still had to get used to the new Gareth that surfaced every time the Queen of Dragons appeared.
"Just consider yourself lucky that you aren't among them" the woman replied with a mysterious smile that the Fae returned. The girl then turned to Sarah and curtsied.
"Sorry for being so tactless. I should have presented myself, I am Augustine, Queen of the Dragons and Keeper of Heavens" she told the angel "I am Gareth's wife, and I am a human, just like you"
Sarah was reddened speechless. That creature, with that mystical, ethereal aura surrounding her, was human?
Augustine smiled and nodded at the angel's unspoken question.
"I was born human, but in reality I am an 'infans caeli'. a child of Heavens. I can communicate with the stars and planets, and change slightly my surroundings by moving the planets form positions. You see, everything is controlled ever-so-slightly by the heavenly bodies so by changing their position I can change things and even people" she said cheerfully, as if it were the most usual of things "For example, Lady Dalila receiver's all her grace from Venus, her guardian planet. By changing that influence moving Venus out of the way you can take all that elegance away from her. The result is that nasty fall from the stairs"
Jareth chuckled, amused and Sarah burst out laughing after seeing the evil glint on Queen Augustine's eyes, meaning that she wasn't sorry for what she had done. Gareth jut shook his head and feigned a sigh.
"I knew you had been responsible for that accident. Whatever am I going to do to you, my sweet?" he asked mocking tiredness. His queen nuzzled closed to him and whispered into his ear:
"How about love me for who I am?"
He looked at her in the eye and smiled broadly.
"Excellent idea"
Author's Note: Wow that was some chapter!!! It's huge! I mean, really, my wrists ache from writing so much!!! But it's a way to thank you for being so patient with this lazy author.
By the way, I do not own Labyrinth and all its characters. The angels, Dalila, Camilla, King Gareth and Queen Augustine are MINE, so please ask for my permission to use them. In case you haven't noticed Augustine is me. My name is Agustina, and its translation in English is 'Augustine'. So it's a self-insertion. Everything about her is just as I am (except that she becomes a magical creature and is nineteen whereas I am barely sixteen). I hope you like her. I'll write a story about her and Gareth, how them met and fell in love in case anyone wants to know. Please tell me if you do.
To Shannon Corrigan, who asked me to say Hi to her, A big HI! And about the sex thing in TMWW, I don't know if there's gonna be any. Hey, I'm merely sixteen and, besides, if my mother read anything like that she would freak out. Sorry.
Tell me if you liked the new characters. I think that making Jareth's brother a bookworm was a rather interesting twist, don't you think?
Well, see you next chapter.
Hugs an peaches for all,
Sabina (The Author, duh!!!)
P.S.: Happy Halloween!!!!