Chapter VIII: Meet the In-Laws, Part Two:
Soon Sarah realized that, in many ways, Gareth and his Queen were a match made in Heaven. The Queen was very intelligent and prone to make witty remarks, which her husband seemed to enjoy very much listening. And the pair had the strange habit of 'crossing wits' whenever possible. They verbally argued about almost everything, seeming to like their little battles of intelligence where there was no winner. Queen Augustine was extremely perceptive and a little bit aloof. Yet she wasn't afraid of any of the members of the court, who surely didn't like the fact that one of their most powerful Kings and Fae had gone and married a simple human girl. She appeared to be not more than a child but actually she was twenty one and a successful writer.
"How did you meet Gareth?" Sarah asked once the men were off to discuss with other men whatever men discuss when they are all together (being a female I wouldn't know.). Augustine seemed to remember that faithful day with a mixture of apprehension and tenderness.
"It was raining. I was fifteen, and he frightened me so much. I had never had fear of any person before, I remember. He shocked me, you could say" she replied "But the rest is a really long story. Let's just say that I had to pay a little visit to His Labyrinth" she added with a knowing smile which Sarah returned.
"So you went through the same hell. We should start a club or something" she muttered and the two Majesties laughed out loud. As the chords of a song began sounding the Queen of Dragons smiled sweetly at her husband and approached him.
"You asked for our song" she stated simply, while Gareth took one of her fragile, milk-white hands and led her towards the dance floor. Sarah stood near Jareth, and suddenly arched an eyebrow.
"What is it with the two of them looking like two lovebirds? Why is this song so important?" she asked. The music wasn't a waltz or a slow song, but something between slow and fast. It was like a mix of tango and waltz with a rapid tempo. AS the couple of Dragon Monarch started dancing in a very strange way they also started levitating, floating in mid-air as if they were actually stepping in something solid. As Gareth started singing in his deep, British-accented voice Jareth replied to Sarah:
"That is their song. Everyone has a song, every couple"
The sable-haired woman nodded, suddenly the notes of a certain music box song sounding inside her head. Memories of herself twirling in the arms of a majestic-looking goblin King roamed through her mind and she closed her eyes, trying to revive the experience. She had been dazed, dizzy and her heart had seemed to pound in her ears instead of in her chest and she had first blamed the peach for all that but. Something told Sarah that it hadn't been the damn peach the one that had made her feel the way she had felt.
"No. he is already taken, he has a mistress!" she thought painfully "Please, don't let me fall in love with him!" she pleaded to whoever was listening. From somewhere in the dance floor Augustine and Gareth watched the torn-apart couple with pity.
"He loves her" Gareth said simply.
"She loves him" his wife replied, shaking her head "But I can't foresee their future. Something is going to end up wrong, a heart will be broken. I.. I just wonder who's"
"Damn Fate, Chance and Destiny" the Dragon King muttered, cradling his love tenderly "They toy with emotions as if there were careless little things. They did the same with us"
"Yes, dearest, but look how we turned up" Augustine whispered "Maybe, just maybe, there is hope for them. I'll draw their celestial charts tomorrow and see. After all" she added impishly "The stars know everything"
"My Lady, my Lady" a voice called from somewhere behind Sarah. The angelic Queen turned to see Adriane making signs for her to come near.
"The bonding ceremony is now" she explained and suddenly Sarah's blood went cold. all of it. Suddenly she had the jitters; after all she had been though that was the moment her body chose to go all shivery and her stomach to feel queasy!
"Well, would you care to enlighten me about this ceremony?" the girl hissed to Jareth while they were surrounded by people who formed a circle around them. Adriane had gone to join her brother, who was accompanied by a creature that looked suspiciously like a pixie Lady.
"Well, first you should stop clutching my hand like that" the Goblin King stated flatly while he pointed towards their joined hands. Sarah's knuckles were turning white from holding his hand tight and she blushed, cursing, and promptly released his hand, mumbling an apology.
"Next, you must choose someone to be your witness. It has to be a creature of other race than yours. I've chosen my brother, for he is half Dragon because of his title" he explained. Sarah didn't think twice. The one trustworthy person she knew apart from Adrian and Adriane was.
"I choose Queen Augustine as my witness. She is human as me, but also and Infans caeli. It should be no problem" she said aloud and Augustine smiled.
"Thank you" she mouthed while she joined her husband inside the circle that the crowd of noblemen and women had formed.
"Now what?" Sarah asked in a whisper, suddenly more than nervous. She was starting to panic upon feeling all the pairs of eyes in the room following her every movement. Jareth chuckled and hold her hand gently, with the same gentleness that he had kissed her forehead with not long ago and tried to soothe her.
"The witnesses will display there true selves and then they will answer a couple of questions from the priest that is at their right, see?" he muttered pointing at a dumpy man clad in a robe with a rather benign face and a good-natured disposition. His smile served to calm Sarah's sensitive nerves enough for her to stop trembling. She wondered for the thousandth time why she had ventured into the Underground again, knowing what she would have to endure.
"Ready?" the deep, baritone voice of her future husband asked suddenly. She barely nodded, too enraptured in her own thoughts to even pay attention. She was thinking about Toby and her family, and how much she already missed them all. She needed them there, desperately, but instead she was all alone.
"My Dear Beloved, the time has come" the gentle, soothing voice of the priest said loudly before the man pointed towards the King of Dragons "Milord, if you would be so kind as to regain you true form." he asked softly. The Monarch nodded briefly before closing his eyes. A pair of beautiful silver-scaled dragon wings appeared on his back, followed by and arrow-pointed tail of the same color. Sarah watched that, amazed and curious but the only question she could come up with to ask Jareth was:
"Why didn't the wings tore his clothes?"
The Goblin King laughed out loud before answering, apparently very amused with the question.
"That's because his clothes are made of a special type of fabric. It's called 'eternity' and it doest tore or get stained at all. It is really helpful for magical beings that shape-shift, like my brother"
When the priest made a signal to Augustine to reveal her true form she smiled sheepishly and asked her husband to use his magic to change her outfit.
"This dress isn't made of 'eternity'" she explained with an apologetic smile. Her husband chuckled and created a crystal that, unlike Jareth's, was not colorless but of a translucent shade of gray. He threw it at the Dragon Queen who found herself dressed in a simple ice- blue tunic that was form-fitting till it reached her hips and flowed freely form that point on. The sleeves where also form-fitting till the elbow and then cascaded down, which so much extra fabric that it almost touched the floor.
"You look better this way than in a dress, my dear" Gareth gently told the petit red-haired girl slyly and Augustine blushed slightly.
"Ehem. I am sorry to interrupt your tender moment, but I believe we were about to discuss Sarah's and my union, not to see a lovely display of yours" Jareth chided, tapping his food against the cool floor. Gareth rolled his eyes and stepped away from his wife.
"Transform, sweetheart and let's get this over with before he gets cranky. It seems that he can't wait till he is formally bounded with his little angel" Jareth's twin muttered loudly enough fro everyone to hear. Augustine threw him a warning look, the typical 'don't-try-to- see-how-much-patience-he-has' look and closed her eyes. Almost instantly as a ripping pain surrounded her she fell to her knees, clutching her abdomen and trying hard not to scream. Her slightly colored skin lost all color and became as pale as moonlight and a little bit shinny as well. Her eyes became as pointed as elfin ears, her hair redder, like flames and huge, dragon-like wings appeared on her back. Those wings, unlike Gareth's, weren't made of scales but of the same crystal and quartz-like material her crown was made of. That material was called 'starlit quartz' and was the thing that composed the nucleus of stars and other heavenly bodies. The transformation was completed when a slight film of silvery-white, shinny dust appeared on her skin, hair and body, much like Jareth's glitter, except that it seemed somewhat different. Her eyes were glowing a luminous ice-blue as she looked up at her husband, watching her with a concerned expression.
"It's okay, darling It didn't hurt as much as last time" she reassured him. Her voice was still the same, but the tome was more regal, colder. She smiled and Sarah smirked at her.
"Glitter?" was all she asked. Augustine faked an indignant expression an answered airily:
"Stardust, not glitter! Stardust is cooler to the touch and silvery- blue, unlike glitter that has a silver-gold tone"
When it was obvious that the Queen of Dragons was well enough to continue with the ceremony the priest started mumbling something in Latin that everyone seemed to understand. Everyone except the raven- haired 'bride-to-be'.
"What the devil is he saying, Jareth dear?" Sarah asked casually with smile to disguise how lost she felt at the moment.
"Did I just hear the word 'darling'?" Jareth retorted, knowing that Sarah would surely want to hit him, but that would mean ruining their façade. They were supposed to be the merry couple, after all.
"Oh, do shut up" Sarah finally whispered with a tired sigh, but the Goblin King had never lost a battle, whether physical or verbal, and he wasn't about to let it be the first time.
"You were the one who started this conversation, Sarah dear" he murmured accenting the 'dear' part "So it's only fair that I decide when to end it. Besides, I have only been trying to help. You are every bit the ungrateful child I remember from eight years ago"
That seemed to struck a chord somewhere in Sarah's heart. She looked at him sharply, not minding all the attention she was getting ad hissed:
"You are wrong, Jareth. I am every bit the lonely, scared child I was eight years ago, alone in a big, unknown and dangerous land"
And finally, after eight years of thinking, analyzing and deciphering Jareth realized that he hadn't met a spoiled, selfish brat eight years ago in the Labyrinth. He had met a scared little kid, craving for a friend or a support while she confronted the unfamiliar.
'Damn'
'Do I sense guilty?' a sly voice whispered inside his mind and, as he was about to negate that, he was pulled back into reality by the priest's voice asking him:
"Do you wish to engage yourself to Queen Sarianka Michaela Elina from the Third Dynasty of the Blue Moon, being aware of the consequence the mentioned engagement would carry?"
"Yes" he said simply, loud enough for the entire Ballroom to hear. A couple of noble Ladies started crying, their matchmaking mother patting them in their back, trying to comfort them for the most eligible bachelor of all the Underground has just gotten engaged, which was for them as good as if he had gotten married.
"Sorry" he mumbled quietly o her after doing quite a lot of thinking. Sarah at first felt touched by his apologies, for she knew that he wasn't a man who liked to admit he had been wrong and much less apologize but her vicious tongue got the best of her.
"For what Jareth? For the thirteen hours of Hell or for making this unpleasant thing of marrying you even more unpleasant?" she asked sharply, yet no one but he heard her comment. Feeling his pride being wounded he retorted with a taunting voice:
"Come on, Sarah, the thought of marrying me can't appall you that much"
She raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
"The only reason I'm doing this, my King, is because beggars can't be choosers"
Suddenly the Goblin King's eyes hardened and he looked at her with fake admiration.
"Low blow, my dear. I didn't know you had it in you. Now I believe that it's your turn to answer to the priest" he hissed. Sarah averted her attention from his cold gaze to the kind and smiley face of the religious man and tried hard to focus on what he was saying:
"Do you wish to engage yourself to Jareth Cain Lucifer of the High Dynasty of the Fae, being aware of the consequence the mentioned engagement would carry?"
"Yes" she replied simply. There wasn't much else to say, and certainly nothing she would want to share with a room full of strangers.
There was more sobbing and crying from young noble Ladies and some sighs of disappointment from the single (and some married) noblemen.
The priest then turned to the witnesses, who swore to be absolutely sure that both Jareth and Sarah were getting engaged by their free will and desire, without any kind of threat or coercion (well, if you take Sarah's omens of doom and Jareth's suspicions of Damien taking his throne and position they are not lying entirely). The priest, after such a serious and formal event, threw his Latin book to a side and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like: 'Well, you've tied the knot!' and then looked at them, expecting.. Expecting what?
"Jareth, why is he looking at us as if he was waiting for us to do something?" she wondered when she took a close look and noticed something even more disturbing "Jareth, why is everyone looking at us as if they were waiting for us to do something?"
The slight feeling of panic that had started to build up inside her grew stronger when the King of the Goblins lifted her chin with one of his gloved fingers and whispered, lowering his head towards hers.
"How is every love-bound sealed in fairytales, Sarah?" he said. She was about to gasp in sudden realization when, out of the blue, his mouth was on hers.
'And what a nice mouth that is' Sarah thought blissfully and then she opened her eyes wide 'Where the Hell did that come from?' she wondered when a sly voice answered her: 'Probably form the same place from where your reaction of kissing him back and entwining your hands in his hair came from'
'What?' Sarah wondered when she noticed that the little nagging voice was right. She was actually in the arms of her nemesis kissing the daylights out of him. His hands had made their way to her waist but one of then had ventured farther and was now delightfully stroking the small of her back in circling, rhythmic movements. For just a moment she was taken by his kiss, the feeling of warmness, security and passion his arms provided her and the thought that they would be joined forever. She wondered absentmindedly how he had learnt to incite such contradictory and powerful emotions, while she sighed, unwittingly giving him full access to her mouth.
'He has had a willing subject to practice with, Sarah. Never forget that' the nagging voice whispered in her ear. That shattered the moment and the queen of angels pulled back from his grasp, panting for air and looking at him with a blank stare. But her eyes, traitorous little things, were shinning a very bright shade of red. A mixture of flames and red wine was the red, something unique and accuser. It was a mixture of anger (the flames) and. passion, as bittersweet as wine.
"Changeling eyes" Jareth muttered into her ear "A rare blessing indeed"
"Blessing?" Sarah spit back, knowing that her eyes were still crimson flashlights "Then why do I feel like if they were a curse?"
With those words she swept past him and into the crowd of people, feeling stupid for having fallen for the Goblin King allurements.
'Never let it happen again' the nagging voice inside her whispered 'Never'
"We are supposed to be the merry soon-to-be-wed couple, Sarah, but I think that you are failing to give that impression" Jareth, King of the Goblins, hissed at his fiancée, sitting in her throne next to him. She looked sideways to him, her eyes now a cold icy color that rivaled Queen Augustine's, and replied stonily:
"I've everything that has been asked from me. Just leave me alone"
Her battle spirit seemed to have taken a break, and she felt so very tired. She was sick and tired of everything. The constant fighting, Lady Dalila's stupid attempt to get Jareth's attention, her fiancée's constant taunting, her conflicted emotions. it was too much too soon.
She felt like if she were five and had gotten lost in the park, like it had happened to her when she had been a mere child.
"Hush, Sarah, it is all over" her father had soothingly whispered to her when she had been found ""It's all over now, sweetie. Daddy's here to make it all good again"
But there was no daddy that time; she was alone, horribly alone. As Sarah contemplated that, staring at the night through a window near her throne she spotted a shooting star making its way across the midnight-blue sky. Queen Augustine smiled at her.
"Make a wish, Sarah. And, who knows. it may come true. Everything is possible on the Underground" she said knowingly. The Angelic Monarch smiled.
"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. I wish. I wish they were here." she whispered hopefully and then held her breath for a second. two seconds. a minute. But nothing happened.
There was no magic spark, no tingly feeling. No nothing. And Sarah sighed.
"So much for getting my hopes up." she muttered under her breath. The band that was currently playing (a rare mixture of elves, centaurs and two pixies with flutes) changed the melody they were playing and Sarah's ears suddenly perked up. She knew that song. She knew that tune! She had heard it since she was five years old, for crying out loud!
At first, she let her mind think that it was a coincidence or a hallucination of some sort. Maybe someone had copied the tune from Aboveground. Maybe. maybe.
Damn, there were too many maybes for her liking.
After a couple of seconds the song was followed by a very deep, male voice that reminded Sarah distantly of Frank Sinatra.
"There's two things I know for sure.
She was sent here from heaven, and she's daddy's little girl"
Suddenly every noble in the room was aware of how rigid Sarah had become upon hearing the first lyrics of the song. They whispered among themselves, wondering who the mysterious singer could be.
"As I drop to my knees by her bed at night,
She talks to Jesus, and I close my eyes.
And I thank God for all the joy in my life, But most of all..."
"The whispers and gossips had risen to such a loud level that the Goblin King had to hit the floor with his cane to control it.
"Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer.
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair.
"Walk beside the pony daddy, it's my first ride"
"I know the cake looks funny, daddy, but I sure tried"
Oh, with all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right.
To deserve a hug every morning and butterfly kisses at night"
Sarah went from rigid with shock to warm with happiness in less than five seconds. Her changeling eyes, which had turned the most mesmerizing shade of soft pink, like the colour of magnolia's, searched the crowd of people, looking for any sign of her enigmatic singer, but she didn't find him, much to her disappointment.
Sweet sixteen today.
She's looking like her momma a little more every day.
One part woman, the other part girl.
To perfume and makeup, from ribbons and curls.
Trying her wings in a great big world. But I remember...
Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer.
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair.
"You know how much I love you daddy, but if you don't mind,
I'm only going to kiss you on cheek this time."
With all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right.
To deserve a hug every morning, and butterfly kisses at night.
Jareth looked at her and, seeing the breathtaking tone her eyes had acquired, he felt a pang of envy. He hadn't made her that happy. and he never would.
All the precise time.
Like the wind, the years go by.
Precious butterfly, spread your wings and fly.
She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise, and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride room just staring at her.
She asked me what I'm thinking, and I said, "I'm not sure,
I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl"
Then she leaned over... and gave me...
Finally the singer made it to the center of the ballroom, where the huge staircase leading to Sarah and Jareth's throne was. He was a middle-ages man, dressed plainly in a poet's shirt and black trousers. He looked directly towards Sarah and a small smile graced his rather handsome features. To everyone's surprise the queen of Angels returned the smile as tears ran down her cheeks. She was laughing and sobbing at the same time. She stood up and titled her head, looking always at the man in front of her.
Butterfly kisses, with her mama there.
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair.
The singer and was Sarah the person that started singing:
"Walk me down the aisle daddy, it's just about time.
Does my wedding gown look pretty daddy?"
She looked at the salty stream of tears grazing the man's cheeks and smiled tenderly.
"Daddy don't cry" she sang, almost in a pleading manner. The man smiled back at her and took up the song where she had left it:
"Oh, with all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right.
To deserve a hug every morning, and butterfly kisses.
I couldn't ask God for more, man, this is what love is.
I know I've gotta let her go, but I'll always remember.
Every hug in the morning, and butterfly kisses."
"You. you look lovely, my dear" the man whispered, wiping away tears "Like the true Queen you have always been, though you hid it from me all these years, just to spare me the pain of knowing that, someday, I was going to let you go"
"But. Why? I don't want you to let go!" she cried, her eyes turning a passionate shade of violet a mixture of pain and love.
"I don't want either, Sarah. And I'll always be there for you. That's why I came"
The strange man opened his arms wide and the queen, without doubting for a second, threw herself into his arms, wrapping her wings around him and burying her head into the silk of his shirt.
"I've missed you.daddy"
Author's Note: *Wipes tears from face* what a lovely scene. (Trying not to burst into tears) Anyway. sniff. This chapter is ten pages long, sort of a way to say how sorry I am for being a lazy author. Believe me, I suffer a huge case of writer's lock, but I do the best I can. The next update will probably be "the Damned and the Lonely" and, for those who are concerned about Jareth having a mistress, believe me that Sarah is going to take care of that little problem on the next chapter (wink, wink). See you soon all and have a nice day!
Hugs an peaches from your author,
Sabi (and her little muse, who wants some kind of credit for poking me and nagging me till I finish each chapter., nasty little thing. Ouch, stop poking me! *Sabi grabs frying pan and look menacingly at muse* I warn you, little bugger!)
Soon Sarah realized that, in many ways, Gareth and his Queen were a match made in Heaven. The Queen was very intelligent and prone to make witty remarks, which her husband seemed to enjoy very much listening. And the pair had the strange habit of 'crossing wits' whenever possible. They verbally argued about almost everything, seeming to like their little battles of intelligence where there was no winner. Queen Augustine was extremely perceptive and a little bit aloof. Yet she wasn't afraid of any of the members of the court, who surely didn't like the fact that one of their most powerful Kings and Fae had gone and married a simple human girl. She appeared to be not more than a child but actually she was twenty one and a successful writer.
"How did you meet Gareth?" Sarah asked once the men were off to discuss with other men whatever men discuss when they are all together (being a female I wouldn't know.). Augustine seemed to remember that faithful day with a mixture of apprehension and tenderness.
"It was raining. I was fifteen, and he frightened me so much. I had never had fear of any person before, I remember. He shocked me, you could say" she replied "But the rest is a really long story. Let's just say that I had to pay a little visit to His Labyrinth" she added with a knowing smile which Sarah returned.
"So you went through the same hell. We should start a club or something" she muttered and the two Majesties laughed out loud. As the chords of a song began sounding the Queen of Dragons smiled sweetly at her husband and approached him.
"You asked for our song" she stated simply, while Gareth took one of her fragile, milk-white hands and led her towards the dance floor. Sarah stood near Jareth, and suddenly arched an eyebrow.
"What is it with the two of them looking like two lovebirds? Why is this song so important?" she asked. The music wasn't a waltz or a slow song, but something between slow and fast. It was like a mix of tango and waltz with a rapid tempo. AS the couple of Dragon Monarch started dancing in a very strange way they also started levitating, floating in mid-air as if they were actually stepping in something solid. As Gareth started singing in his deep, British-accented voice Jareth replied to Sarah:
"That is their song. Everyone has a song, every couple"
The sable-haired woman nodded, suddenly the notes of a certain music box song sounding inside her head. Memories of herself twirling in the arms of a majestic-looking goblin King roamed through her mind and she closed her eyes, trying to revive the experience. She had been dazed, dizzy and her heart had seemed to pound in her ears instead of in her chest and she had first blamed the peach for all that but. Something told Sarah that it hadn't been the damn peach the one that had made her feel the way she had felt.
"No. he is already taken, he has a mistress!" she thought painfully "Please, don't let me fall in love with him!" she pleaded to whoever was listening. From somewhere in the dance floor Augustine and Gareth watched the torn-apart couple with pity.
"He loves her" Gareth said simply.
"She loves him" his wife replied, shaking her head "But I can't foresee their future. Something is going to end up wrong, a heart will be broken. I.. I just wonder who's"
"Damn Fate, Chance and Destiny" the Dragon King muttered, cradling his love tenderly "They toy with emotions as if there were careless little things. They did the same with us"
"Yes, dearest, but look how we turned up" Augustine whispered "Maybe, just maybe, there is hope for them. I'll draw their celestial charts tomorrow and see. After all" she added impishly "The stars know everything"
"My Lady, my Lady" a voice called from somewhere behind Sarah. The angelic Queen turned to see Adriane making signs for her to come near.
"The bonding ceremony is now" she explained and suddenly Sarah's blood went cold. all of it. Suddenly she had the jitters; after all she had been though that was the moment her body chose to go all shivery and her stomach to feel queasy!
"Well, would you care to enlighten me about this ceremony?" the girl hissed to Jareth while they were surrounded by people who formed a circle around them. Adriane had gone to join her brother, who was accompanied by a creature that looked suspiciously like a pixie Lady.
"Well, first you should stop clutching my hand like that" the Goblin King stated flatly while he pointed towards their joined hands. Sarah's knuckles were turning white from holding his hand tight and she blushed, cursing, and promptly released his hand, mumbling an apology.
"Next, you must choose someone to be your witness. It has to be a creature of other race than yours. I've chosen my brother, for he is half Dragon because of his title" he explained. Sarah didn't think twice. The one trustworthy person she knew apart from Adrian and Adriane was.
"I choose Queen Augustine as my witness. She is human as me, but also and Infans caeli. It should be no problem" she said aloud and Augustine smiled.
"Thank you" she mouthed while she joined her husband inside the circle that the crowd of noblemen and women had formed.
"Now what?" Sarah asked in a whisper, suddenly more than nervous. She was starting to panic upon feeling all the pairs of eyes in the room following her every movement. Jareth chuckled and hold her hand gently, with the same gentleness that he had kissed her forehead with not long ago and tried to soothe her.
"The witnesses will display there true selves and then they will answer a couple of questions from the priest that is at their right, see?" he muttered pointing at a dumpy man clad in a robe with a rather benign face and a good-natured disposition. His smile served to calm Sarah's sensitive nerves enough for her to stop trembling. She wondered for the thousandth time why she had ventured into the Underground again, knowing what she would have to endure.
"Ready?" the deep, baritone voice of her future husband asked suddenly. She barely nodded, too enraptured in her own thoughts to even pay attention. She was thinking about Toby and her family, and how much she already missed them all. She needed them there, desperately, but instead she was all alone.
"My Dear Beloved, the time has come" the gentle, soothing voice of the priest said loudly before the man pointed towards the King of Dragons "Milord, if you would be so kind as to regain you true form." he asked softly. The Monarch nodded briefly before closing his eyes. A pair of beautiful silver-scaled dragon wings appeared on his back, followed by and arrow-pointed tail of the same color. Sarah watched that, amazed and curious but the only question she could come up with to ask Jareth was:
"Why didn't the wings tore his clothes?"
The Goblin King laughed out loud before answering, apparently very amused with the question.
"That's because his clothes are made of a special type of fabric. It's called 'eternity' and it doest tore or get stained at all. It is really helpful for magical beings that shape-shift, like my brother"
When the priest made a signal to Augustine to reveal her true form she smiled sheepishly and asked her husband to use his magic to change her outfit.
"This dress isn't made of 'eternity'" she explained with an apologetic smile. Her husband chuckled and created a crystal that, unlike Jareth's, was not colorless but of a translucent shade of gray. He threw it at the Dragon Queen who found herself dressed in a simple ice- blue tunic that was form-fitting till it reached her hips and flowed freely form that point on. The sleeves where also form-fitting till the elbow and then cascaded down, which so much extra fabric that it almost touched the floor.
"You look better this way than in a dress, my dear" Gareth gently told the petit red-haired girl slyly and Augustine blushed slightly.
"Ehem. I am sorry to interrupt your tender moment, but I believe we were about to discuss Sarah's and my union, not to see a lovely display of yours" Jareth chided, tapping his food against the cool floor. Gareth rolled his eyes and stepped away from his wife.
"Transform, sweetheart and let's get this over with before he gets cranky. It seems that he can't wait till he is formally bounded with his little angel" Jareth's twin muttered loudly enough fro everyone to hear. Augustine threw him a warning look, the typical 'don't-try-to- see-how-much-patience-he-has' look and closed her eyes. Almost instantly as a ripping pain surrounded her she fell to her knees, clutching her abdomen and trying hard not to scream. Her slightly colored skin lost all color and became as pale as moonlight and a little bit shinny as well. Her eyes became as pointed as elfin ears, her hair redder, like flames and huge, dragon-like wings appeared on her back. Those wings, unlike Gareth's, weren't made of scales but of the same crystal and quartz-like material her crown was made of. That material was called 'starlit quartz' and was the thing that composed the nucleus of stars and other heavenly bodies. The transformation was completed when a slight film of silvery-white, shinny dust appeared on her skin, hair and body, much like Jareth's glitter, except that it seemed somewhat different. Her eyes were glowing a luminous ice-blue as she looked up at her husband, watching her with a concerned expression.
"It's okay, darling It didn't hurt as much as last time" she reassured him. Her voice was still the same, but the tome was more regal, colder. She smiled and Sarah smirked at her.
"Glitter?" was all she asked. Augustine faked an indignant expression an answered airily:
"Stardust, not glitter! Stardust is cooler to the touch and silvery- blue, unlike glitter that has a silver-gold tone"
When it was obvious that the Queen of Dragons was well enough to continue with the ceremony the priest started mumbling something in Latin that everyone seemed to understand. Everyone except the raven- haired 'bride-to-be'.
"What the devil is he saying, Jareth dear?" Sarah asked casually with smile to disguise how lost she felt at the moment.
"Did I just hear the word 'darling'?" Jareth retorted, knowing that Sarah would surely want to hit him, but that would mean ruining their façade. They were supposed to be the merry couple, after all.
"Oh, do shut up" Sarah finally whispered with a tired sigh, but the Goblin King had never lost a battle, whether physical or verbal, and he wasn't about to let it be the first time.
"You were the one who started this conversation, Sarah dear" he murmured accenting the 'dear' part "So it's only fair that I decide when to end it. Besides, I have only been trying to help. You are every bit the ungrateful child I remember from eight years ago"
That seemed to struck a chord somewhere in Sarah's heart. She looked at him sharply, not minding all the attention she was getting ad hissed:
"You are wrong, Jareth. I am every bit the lonely, scared child I was eight years ago, alone in a big, unknown and dangerous land"
And finally, after eight years of thinking, analyzing and deciphering Jareth realized that he hadn't met a spoiled, selfish brat eight years ago in the Labyrinth. He had met a scared little kid, craving for a friend or a support while she confronted the unfamiliar.
'Damn'
'Do I sense guilty?' a sly voice whispered inside his mind and, as he was about to negate that, he was pulled back into reality by the priest's voice asking him:
"Do you wish to engage yourself to Queen Sarianka Michaela Elina from the Third Dynasty of the Blue Moon, being aware of the consequence the mentioned engagement would carry?"
"Yes" he said simply, loud enough for the entire Ballroom to hear. A couple of noble Ladies started crying, their matchmaking mother patting them in their back, trying to comfort them for the most eligible bachelor of all the Underground has just gotten engaged, which was for them as good as if he had gotten married.
"Sorry" he mumbled quietly o her after doing quite a lot of thinking. Sarah at first felt touched by his apologies, for she knew that he wasn't a man who liked to admit he had been wrong and much less apologize but her vicious tongue got the best of her.
"For what Jareth? For the thirteen hours of Hell or for making this unpleasant thing of marrying you even more unpleasant?" she asked sharply, yet no one but he heard her comment. Feeling his pride being wounded he retorted with a taunting voice:
"Come on, Sarah, the thought of marrying me can't appall you that much"
She raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
"The only reason I'm doing this, my King, is because beggars can't be choosers"
Suddenly the Goblin King's eyes hardened and he looked at her with fake admiration.
"Low blow, my dear. I didn't know you had it in you. Now I believe that it's your turn to answer to the priest" he hissed. Sarah averted her attention from his cold gaze to the kind and smiley face of the religious man and tried hard to focus on what he was saying:
"Do you wish to engage yourself to Jareth Cain Lucifer of the High Dynasty of the Fae, being aware of the consequence the mentioned engagement would carry?"
"Yes" she replied simply. There wasn't much else to say, and certainly nothing she would want to share with a room full of strangers.
There was more sobbing and crying from young noble Ladies and some sighs of disappointment from the single (and some married) noblemen.
The priest then turned to the witnesses, who swore to be absolutely sure that both Jareth and Sarah were getting engaged by their free will and desire, without any kind of threat or coercion (well, if you take Sarah's omens of doom and Jareth's suspicions of Damien taking his throne and position they are not lying entirely). The priest, after such a serious and formal event, threw his Latin book to a side and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like: 'Well, you've tied the knot!' and then looked at them, expecting.. Expecting what?
"Jareth, why is he looking at us as if he was waiting for us to do something?" she wondered when she took a close look and noticed something even more disturbing "Jareth, why is everyone looking at us as if they were waiting for us to do something?"
The slight feeling of panic that had started to build up inside her grew stronger when the King of the Goblins lifted her chin with one of his gloved fingers and whispered, lowering his head towards hers.
"How is every love-bound sealed in fairytales, Sarah?" he said. She was about to gasp in sudden realization when, out of the blue, his mouth was on hers.
'And what a nice mouth that is' Sarah thought blissfully and then she opened her eyes wide 'Where the Hell did that come from?' she wondered when a sly voice answered her: 'Probably form the same place from where your reaction of kissing him back and entwining your hands in his hair came from'
'What?' Sarah wondered when she noticed that the little nagging voice was right. She was actually in the arms of her nemesis kissing the daylights out of him. His hands had made their way to her waist but one of then had ventured farther and was now delightfully stroking the small of her back in circling, rhythmic movements. For just a moment she was taken by his kiss, the feeling of warmness, security and passion his arms provided her and the thought that they would be joined forever. She wondered absentmindedly how he had learnt to incite such contradictory and powerful emotions, while she sighed, unwittingly giving him full access to her mouth.
'He has had a willing subject to practice with, Sarah. Never forget that' the nagging voice whispered in her ear. That shattered the moment and the queen of angels pulled back from his grasp, panting for air and looking at him with a blank stare. But her eyes, traitorous little things, were shinning a very bright shade of red. A mixture of flames and red wine was the red, something unique and accuser. It was a mixture of anger (the flames) and. passion, as bittersweet as wine.
"Changeling eyes" Jareth muttered into her ear "A rare blessing indeed"
"Blessing?" Sarah spit back, knowing that her eyes were still crimson flashlights "Then why do I feel like if they were a curse?"
With those words she swept past him and into the crowd of people, feeling stupid for having fallen for the Goblin King allurements.
'Never let it happen again' the nagging voice inside her whispered 'Never'
"We are supposed to be the merry soon-to-be-wed couple, Sarah, but I think that you are failing to give that impression" Jareth, King of the Goblins, hissed at his fiancée, sitting in her throne next to him. She looked sideways to him, her eyes now a cold icy color that rivaled Queen Augustine's, and replied stonily:
"I've everything that has been asked from me. Just leave me alone"
Her battle spirit seemed to have taken a break, and she felt so very tired. She was sick and tired of everything. The constant fighting, Lady Dalila's stupid attempt to get Jareth's attention, her fiancée's constant taunting, her conflicted emotions. it was too much too soon.
She felt like if she were five and had gotten lost in the park, like it had happened to her when she had been a mere child.
"Hush, Sarah, it is all over" her father had soothingly whispered to her when she had been found ""It's all over now, sweetie. Daddy's here to make it all good again"
But there was no daddy that time; she was alone, horribly alone. As Sarah contemplated that, staring at the night through a window near her throne she spotted a shooting star making its way across the midnight-blue sky. Queen Augustine smiled at her.
"Make a wish, Sarah. And, who knows. it may come true. Everything is possible on the Underground" she said knowingly. The Angelic Monarch smiled.
"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. I wish. I wish they were here." she whispered hopefully and then held her breath for a second. two seconds. a minute. But nothing happened.
There was no magic spark, no tingly feeling. No nothing. And Sarah sighed.
"So much for getting my hopes up." she muttered under her breath. The band that was currently playing (a rare mixture of elves, centaurs and two pixies with flutes) changed the melody they were playing and Sarah's ears suddenly perked up. She knew that song. She knew that tune! She had heard it since she was five years old, for crying out loud!
At first, she let her mind think that it was a coincidence or a hallucination of some sort. Maybe someone had copied the tune from Aboveground. Maybe. maybe.
Damn, there were too many maybes for her liking.
After a couple of seconds the song was followed by a very deep, male voice that reminded Sarah distantly of Frank Sinatra.
"There's two things I know for sure.
She was sent here from heaven, and she's daddy's little girl"
Suddenly every noble in the room was aware of how rigid Sarah had become upon hearing the first lyrics of the song. They whispered among themselves, wondering who the mysterious singer could be.
"As I drop to my knees by her bed at night,
She talks to Jesus, and I close my eyes.
And I thank God for all the joy in my life, But most of all..."
"The whispers and gossips had risen to such a loud level that the Goblin King had to hit the floor with his cane to control it.
"Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer.
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair.
"Walk beside the pony daddy, it's my first ride"
"I know the cake looks funny, daddy, but I sure tried"
Oh, with all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right.
To deserve a hug every morning and butterfly kisses at night"
Sarah went from rigid with shock to warm with happiness in less than five seconds. Her changeling eyes, which had turned the most mesmerizing shade of soft pink, like the colour of magnolia's, searched the crowd of people, looking for any sign of her enigmatic singer, but she didn't find him, much to her disappointment.
Sweet sixteen today.
She's looking like her momma a little more every day.
One part woman, the other part girl.
To perfume and makeup, from ribbons and curls.
Trying her wings in a great big world. But I remember...
Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer.
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair.
"You know how much I love you daddy, but if you don't mind,
I'm only going to kiss you on cheek this time."
With all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right.
To deserve a hug every morning, and butterfly kisses at night.
Jareth looked at her and, seeing the breathtaking tone her eyes had acquired, he felt a pang of envy. He hadn't made her that happy. and he never would.
All the precise time.
Like the wind, the years go by.
Precious butterfly, spread your wings and fly.
She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise, and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride room just staring at her.
She asked me what I'm thinking, and I said, "I'm not sure,
I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl"
Then she leaned over... and gave me...
Finally the singer made it to the center of the ballroom, where the huge staircase leading to Sarah and Jareth's throne was. He was a middle-ages man, dressed plainly in a poet's shirt and black trousers. He looked directly towards Sarah and a small smile graced his rather handsome features. To everyone's surprise the queen of Angels returned the smile as tears ran down her cheeks. She was laughing and sobbing at the same time. She stood up and titled her head, looking always at the man in front of her.
Butterfly kisses, with her mama there.
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair.
The singer and was Sarah the person that started singing:
"Walk me down the aisle daddy, it's just about time.
Does my wedding gown look pretty daddy?"
She looked at the salty stream of tears grazing the man's cheeks and smiled tenderly.
"Daddy don't cry" she sang, almost in a pleading manner. The man smiled back at her and took up the song where she had left it:
"Oh, with all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right.
To deserve a hug every morning, and butterfly kisses.
I couldn't ask God for more, man, this is what love is.
I know I've gotta let her go, but I'll always remember.
Every hug in the morning, and butterfly kisses."
"You. you look lovely, my dear" the man whispered, wiping away tears "Like the true Queen you have always been, though you hid it from me all these years, just to spare me the pain of knowing that, someday, I was going to let you go"
"But. Why? I don't want you to let go!" she cried, her eyes turning a passionate shade of violet a mixture of pain and love.
"I don't want either, Sarah. And I'll always be there for you. That's why I came"
The strange man opened his arms wide and the queen, without doubting for a second, threw herself into his arms, wrapping her wings around him and burying her head into the silk of his shirt.
"I've missed you.daddy"
Author's Note: *Wipes tears from face* what a lovely scene. (Trying not to burst into tears) Anyway. sniff. This chapter is ten pages long, sort of a way to say how sorry I am for being a lazy author. Believe me, I suffer a huge case of writer's lock, but I do the best I can. The next update will probably be "the Damned and the Lonely" and, for those who are concerned about Jareth having a mistress, believe me that Sarah is going to take care of that little problem on the next chapter (wink, wink). See you soon all and have a nice day!
Hugs an peaches from your author,
Sabi (and her little muse, who wants some kind of credit for poking me and nagging me till I finish each chapter., nasty little thing. Ouch, stop poking me! *Sabi grabs frying pan and look menacingly at muse* I warn you, little bugger!)