Sarah held her father strongly, tears running down her cheeks. She breathed in his sent, a mixture of sandalwood and aftershave that brought back memories of her childhood: her father teaching her how to cook so they would prepare together their first Easter meal, hanging mistletoe in the walls with the aid of her father during Christmas Eve, buying birthday presents with him for Karen. He was always clueless as for what to buy her that he ended-up needing her assistant as a 'female' to aid him.
As memories flooded back she gripped his shirt tighter, as if she was afraid to let go of him. Gently he lifted her chin with one of his hands and smiled tenderly at him.
"Stop crying, Aingeal" he pleaded softly; calling her by the nickname he had put her when she had been a little girl. Sarah smiled and poked him gently in the arm.
"It's been a while since you called me that way. I've missed it" she commented lightly, stepping out of his embrace to take in his appearance. He was dressed fro the occasion and the only odd thing was the backpack he carried on one of his shoulders. It was filled with books and little bottles Sarah had seen before.
"You used the family books!" she said brightly "I didn't think you had that kind of magic"
Sarah had always been aware of her origins… She descended form a regal family of Heirs to the Angelique Throne, but she also belonged to a powerful magician family. Her father had received all his knowledge from his father, who had received it from his father in return and so on, so forth. Robert Williams was a man who had found the way to combine magic and normality in his life, well, at least till Linda Williams had waltzed into his life. From that moment on, it all had been a mess. But now, seeing his all grown-up little girl dressed like a Queen and looking as imposing and yet as gentle and as kind as the Queen he had always known she was inside made it all worth it.
"Oh, well, let's just say that to pull this whole 'portal thing' off I had some help" he muttered as he showed her a single crystal feather that seemed more like a baby feather "I used the magic in this little thing"
"This is mine… From when I was little" she said, surprise clear in her expression and her face. She cradled the baby feather tenderly, remembering the first time her wings had grown in her back and the first time she had changed plumage. It had been both terrorizing experiences for a girl who could barely talk, much less cope with the truth about growing wings in her back and missing mothers. Speaking of which...
"Karen knows that you are here, dad?" the raven haired woman scolded softly, imagining an overly-anxious Karen Williams talking to every person who knew her father over the phone to try and discover his whereabouts. Robert Williams grinned and gestured to somewhere on the background of the ballroom. There, sure enough, was Karen, smiling and holding a grinning Toby in her arms. The little child squealed and wriggled in the arms of his mother, trying to get out of the embrace and into the arms of his sister. He finally managed to free himself from his mother and ran towards Sarah, knocking her to the floor with the impact of his hug. Both siblings giggled, not minding the fact that they were lying sprawled in the floor in front of what looked like the whole Underground nobility (looked and was, as a matter of fact) till she was reminded by a gentle cough from her father.
"Sweetheart, I do believe we have company" he said pointedly, glancing at the group of gaping immortals. The girl sighed and stood up, helping her sibling do the same. Then she brushed off whatever dust the dress may have collected from the floor and pulled back her shoulders becoming the perfectly-mannered, indifferent monarch she had been all night. The transformation was obvious, for her eyes lost all their pinkish hue to become steel-grey, as if she was defying anyone to tell her off for her previous very un-queenly like behavior. Nobody dared. She smiled.
"What are you doing here?" she asked her father, the grayish tint of her eyes softening almost to the point of becoming like a reflection of clouds after a thunderstorm.
"It was my fault, Sarah, don't take it out on daddy, please" Toby interjected before Robert had time to reply "I wanted to see you so much and I didn't understand why you couldn't come home. And mommy wouldn't explain also, and I couldn't go to sleep and I wanted you to sing to me so I did what you told me to do on an emergency like that"
He sounded proud all of a sudden but Sarah took one look at Karen suddenly accusatory glare and her father's demanding face and gulped. Whatever had she said?
"What was exactly what I told you to do in case of an emergency like that, Toby?" she enquired carefully, very much aware that she was being strictly watched by a pair of mismatched, mocking eyes… Well, actually two pairs of mismatched eyes, but one pair was much too busy concentrating in certain stream of blood-red hair and icy stare to care that much about what the little boy was about to say.
"You told me, and I quote 'Toby, whenever you want to see me and mom or dad won't tell you where I am, throw a tantrum in the middle of the room till they take you to where I am, okay?' So I did exactly what you told me" he answered with a grin, his eyes twinkling in a mixture of innocence and mischief.
"I'm sorry" she apologized softly looking at her stepmother and then at her father... who wasn't exactly paying attention to her. He was starring intently at Jareth, lounging in his throne, twirling between his fingers one of her longest and more beautiful feathers, which glimmered in the light of the Ballroom. Neither one of the men were about to loose that staring contest they had locked themselves in and where silently challenging the other, coaxing him to give up.
"Oh, my" Sarah whispered with wide eyes. Jareth stood swiftly and Robert Williams stood in front of both Sarah and Karen, as if he thought they needed protection from him.
"You are him, aren't you?" he spat suddenly, placing one hand on the hilt of the sword that lay sheathed near his right hip "You are the Goblin King"
He said those last words as if he had uttered the worst of curses, looking once behind at his daughter and then returning his murderous gaze at the fair-haired Fae in front of him. The words of Lindara, once he 'beloved' lawfully-wedded wife: "Don't get too attached to that little girl, Rob, for once she grows up she'll be used, just as they were pretending to use me, to restore things as the way they used to be, the way that was convenient for them. And, in order to do that, they'll sacrifice that toddler of yours... to the King of the Goblins himself"
And there he was, just as she had described him: tall, fair both in skin and hair, with those mismatched eyes that seemed mocking, taunting and menacing all at the same time. He was slender but his very movement and posture spoke of unspeakable power that lay hidden within his lean body. His clothes and his face were showered in some golden dust he knew to be glitter and his features were almost feline in appearance, even his eyes seemed those of a lion, or a tiger, or some other predator, stalking their prey with patience and grace worthy of the most skilled Leannean Sidhe... for that was what he was. A Sidhe.
Out of the corner of the eyes he took in the other kinds of Fae present. Fairies, vampires, hobgoblins, elves, centaurs, sprites, nymphs, gossamer spirits and other types of magical creatures (named commonly 'the Fae' as a whole). There were angels there too, but they were not considered worthy to be called Fae, so they remained partly separated, but ready to defend the one they considered mort precious above all... His daughter.
Two figures caught his attention for a moment: one was that of a Sidhe that bore a striking resemblance to the one he knew to be King of the Goblins and High King of the Fae except that instead of golden hair he had a silvery-white mane framing his sharp features and instead of hazel and blue his eyes were grey and red. He was dressed in a silver frock jacket also, instead of the blue one that Jareth had on and he had something tattooed on a side of his neck. The other figure that had interested him was that of the woman that was besides the silvery-haired Sidhe: it was a petit young Lady, that seemed to be horribly young and ominously old at the same time, with an icy-look that could have frozen Hell itself in less than a blink, a river of straight, red-blood hair in which rested at the top of her head a diadem made out of some kind of quartz or crystal or something like that. She was dressed in a long, ice-blue tunic that narrowed at her waist and then flowed gently to her feet and fell to the floor in rich waves of satin. She was terribly pale, her skin colorless and her lips ruby red, covered all over with some silver dust that differed from the glitter that covered the Sidhe and most Fae and two beautiful dragon-like wings came out of her back, framing her beautifully as she stood, an arm slipped through one of the silver-haired man's arms, leaning her head in his shoulder, her expression indifferent.
"That line seems to have become a William's Family tradition" the Goblin King sneered, attracting Robert William's attention again. The Fae took a step forwards and look down at the defying mortal in front of him "And I do so hate it"
Sarah quickly grabbed her father by the shoulder and wrapped her wings around him, looking at Jareth with white-blue eyes.
"Jareth don't!" she half-shouted, locking her gaze with that of the golden-haired man. She knew what he was about to do. He had seen it a thousand times before: with boneless grace he would rapidly conjure a sphere and hex her father into next week, except that she wouldn't let him. Her eyes acquired dark specks that were the reflection of her stubbornness. Even after eight or so years, she still defied him. Such a pity...
"He is my father" she pleaded then, more softly, her eyes changing again, a pinkish hue tinting them. The Fae's eyes narrowed upon seeing that. Love, the love for her father shone the way that would never shine for him. He was mad with jealousy.
"Sarah, how many times do I have to tell you not to defy me?" the King taunted softly, almost wincing when the pink vanished from her irises and was replaced by a color that was between red and black. It was hatred. That was all he got from her, all he could hope for from who was going to be his bride and his companion for life.
"Don't you dare speak to my daughter like that!" Robert spat, his face constricting with rage "You will treat Sarah the way she deserves to be treated!"
Karen shivered upon seeing the risk her husband was getting himself into but she took Toby from Sarah's arms and stood beside her stepdaughter. She had grown to love Sarah as her daughter and they seldom fought. She could remember one particular time when they had quarreled over her taking care of Toby while thy were out and she remembered vividly how Sarah had been so glad when they had returned, hugging her and her father and making them promise they would be there for her always, that would never, no matter what, stop loving her. They had promised and now they were there. And she was glad it all had turned out the way it had. She was going to support and stand by her little daughter.
"And who are you, mortal, to tell me how I may speak to my fiancée?" Jareth enquired suddenly, making Karen gasp and Sarah flinch. But Robert William didn't seem surprised or discontent.
"That promise was made years ago, and it's worth nothing" he reminded him "It was made without my consent and, besides Sarah is not a child anymore. It is her choice, not your and not mine either"
Jareth nodded, folding his arms over his chest and regarding the man in front of him with frigid mild interest. Finally she looked at Sarah and whispered softly:
"Yes, it is her choice. And she chose me"
Now Robert Williams was surprised, and turned to his daughter in hopes that she would shake her head and deny everything and then stared at her eyes: they were translucent, without any emotions.
She was hiding herself from him, and she had never done that before.
"You don't understand" she finally said "Everything is poisoned"
She unwrapped her wings from her father and then walked towards one of the huge castle windows. She leaned her hands and her upper body in the windowsill and stared at the Labyrinth. It seemed good under the moonlight but there were traces of withering vegetation and black, corrupted soil. Her eyes held sadness as she stared at it, knowing deep inside that it was all wrong.
"It started in my kingdom, but it's rapidly spreading" she whispered to her father, who had walked to stand a few feet behind her "Magic is being tainted"
But she knew even as he nodded that he didn't understand. She sighed and looked at Toby, smiling gently down at him.
"Come here, little one. Do you want me to sing you a song now? Maybe that way you will fall asleep" she offered tenderly, cradling the boy in her arms while she sat down on the windowsill. He nodded absentmindedly as his sister stroke his hair gently.
"I want you to sing my the song I like the most, Sarah" he pleaded suddenly with a voice already drowsy "The song you only let me hear"
Sarah stiffened all of a sudden and she looked at her brother with mild fear, shaking her head.
"Come on, little one, pick another song. I can't sing that song here" she half-whispered, her face pale. But the boy wasn't about to surrender and he yawned and replied that it was the only song that didn't fail to make him sleepy. He wouldn't be able to sleep with any other.
"But, Toby..." the Queen protested weakly, but all she received in response was a pout and a softly-spoken: 'Please, pretty please sissy?' that finally ended all her arguments against the idea. She took a deep breath and softly begun to hum a melody, so delicate, so hunting that entrapped everyone in the room. Finally she opened her mouth and the words that came out of her seemed to float in the air, suspended by some miracle and as gossamer and as eluding as the gently mist that forms between the darkest of the night and the dawn of a new morning:
Dancing bears,
Painted wings,
Things I almost remember,
And a song
Someone sings
Once upon a December.
Jareth's ears perked up at the sound of her voice but mostly it was the meaning behind the words she sung that somewhat intrigued him. It made him remember something but he wasn't quite sure what it was. He took some steps closer, as his ears registered the soft music on the background, music that could only be originated in the very heart of an angel.
Someone holds me safe and warm
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory.
A waltz... A never-ending waltz. Just a dream, a charade of reality, the only place he had fulfilled the need to have her in his arms. She was talking about it. The dancers twirling gracefully across the floor, their faces mocking her everywhere. Horses prancing through a silver storm... One of the Ballroom murals, one that she had eyed that time and was looking at that exact moment.
Far away,
Long ago,
Glowing dim as an ember.
Things my heart
Used to know.
Once Upon a December.
She picked Toby in her arms and gently lowered him to a chair nearby. He was fast asleep, his little hands tightened into even littler fists and a smile playing across his childish features. But there was no turning back now, not from that song. And she knew it.
She saw him, and saw at once that he had understood. Damn him, for being present every time she made a fool of herself. Adrian gently bowed before her and offered her his hand, which she took and they began to waltz to the rhythm of the entrancing tune. But Sarah paid attention only to the cold pair of mismatched eyes, which followed her every movement with barely-contained rage. And she sung only at him, though not only for him:
Someone holds me safe and warm.
Horses prance through a silver storm.
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory.
Far away,
Long ago,
Glowing dim as an ember.
Things my heart
Used to know.
Things it yearns to remember.
It hurt. It stung all over her body, the ache coming to rest finally in the pit of her stomach, making her want to double over and cry in pain. But she stood her ground and taking strength from where there was none she never stopped and never faltered, though she couldn't keep the hurt out of her eyes. It was pitch black softened by lilac, such a beautiful color for such horrible feelings. She felt her heart throb, and she held back a gasp, closing her eyes tightly shut.
And a song Someone sings Once upon a December...
Suddenly it was over and she stood there some minutes, leaning on her Advisor, and slowly walked away, pressing her back against one of the Ballroom's many columns. Jareth by now was seething with anger, practically growling, his teeth clenched as well as his fits partially occulted by the ruffled of his shirt. But just as he was approaching her, wanting an answer for what she had just done, dancing with another man when she was his, he paused by the window and what he saw reddened him speechless: his Labyrinth, his precious thing that he had watched slowly begin to corrupt and loose its lush appearance, was practically brimming with life and magic. The vegetation had returned to its usual green colour and had grown faster than light, covering the spaces that it had left naked after it had begun to die slowly. Roses had blossomed, their petals seeming luminous under the pale glow of the moon. The very walls of the Labyrinth seemed cleaner and glimmering in the dark, alive again and loving every minute of it. The grass was a bluish kind of green again and had covered every inch of corrupt soil, finishing everything off.
Sarah had just healed his Labyrinth... And now was paying the price for it.
"You foolish, foolish girl!" he growled stalking past Robert Williams and taking Sarah by her shoulders "Whatever are you trying to do to yourself?"
She wouldn't look at his eyes and instead took a handkerchief that she had asked Adriana to fetch seconds ago and brought it to her lips as she coughed. When she finally pulled it away, it was soaked with blood.
"I was trying to show him" she said, lifting her head in a royal gesture of defiance "I was trying to make him understand..."
But Jareth didn't even let her finish, positioning two fingers beneath her chin to make her look at him even if she didn't want to.
"Make him understand by what? Killing yourself?"
"I'm stronger than that" the angel complained but the King had already picked her up in her arms and was carrying her off, in spite of all the struggling.
"Always so damnable stubborn!" he said with a strange voice. Nobody moved as he left the Ballroom, followed closely by Adrian and Adriane and walked straight into Sarah's bedroom, placing her in the bed softly. By now she was barely conscious.
"Leave" he ordered the two angel advisors, never staring back. Though they were tempted they didn't put up any resistance, knowing that the King was not in the mood to be trifled with.
He deftly touched her forehead, feeling the pain she was feeling and wincing snatched his gloved hand away from her. She could deal with such pain, she was an angel, but he barely had angelic blood in his system to put up with such levels of ache. But as his hands were urging him he tried to touch her again, but she instinctively recoiled from his touch, turning her head to the other side and frowning in her almost sleeping state.
"So cruel, even in your dreams. Kind to the rest, yes, but cruel to me, Sarah" he whispered. Without another word he walked towards the door and out of the room. Adriane hurried in to get her Queen into a nightgown and Adrian stood by the door, while Robert Williams found himself face to face yet again with the King of the Fae.
"If she wakes up tonight, would you tell your sister that I want her to know that I understand?" he softly asked the silver-haired advisor, who nodded.
"You can tell my sister yourself, Sir, for she will escort you and your family to a set of chambers that have been arranged for you" he answered softly. As if in cue Adriane walked out of the Queen's chambers soon after and asked Robert, who was carrying Toby and Karen to follow her. The man did so but Sarah's stepmother stood there some more time till her husband was out of earshot and then turned to Jareth:
"You may fool yourself and you may also fool Sarah, but don't think that for a second you are fooling me. I know what you feel... for her, I mean"
"And how would you know that, mortal? He sneered crossing his arms over his chest in an arrogant movement.
"Call it a motherly instinct. But I know and I just hoped it all turns out well in the end. She deserves it and I think you do too"
And soon the King was left by himself in front of his future bride's chamber door. He gingerly pressed one of his palms, which was suddenly ungloved, to the wood and then sighed.
"Sweet dreams, my Angel of Music" he whispered before leaving him too. But no one saw the figure in the shadows, glaring intently at the door and at the spot where the fair Fae had been. The figure was dressed in a ball dress that actually managed to show more skin than dress and was livid with anger.
"You may sing and charm him all you want during the day, you stupid angel" Dalila said, a smile suddenly coming to her lips "But during the nights he is all mine"
And with that she teleported herself out of the hall.
Sarah twisted and turned in her bed, dark images plaguing her dreams. She felt some kind of weight pressing against her ribcage, making her to gasp and pant instead of breathe. She cried weakly in her sleep, protesting and trying to be rid of the darkness that threatened to engulf her. She clutched the bed sheets, holding back a scream. She felt as if someone was trying to tell her something, but couldn't quite grasp the warning. The shadows crept closer, sporting menacing blades and knives, as if prepared to jump at her and stab her to death any moment from now. Sarah eyed them wearily, stepping back, knowing though that there were shadows back there too. What started like a cautious walk ended up as a frantic run as she tried to avoid the darkness that suddenly closed down on her, raising their weapons in the air and letting them fall mercilessly to her body...
"No!"
She woke up with a start, immediately sitting up in the bed and holding a hand, trembling and abnormally pale, to her heart. She knew her forehead was covered in perspiration and that she was shivering in spite of the satin sheets and velvet bedcover. She glanced around, briefly pleased and reassured when she noticed she was in the safety of "her bedroom", so to speak, but that reassurance was short lived for, at the end of her bed shadows crept, waiting their turn to attack.
"Who is there?" she called out in a voice she hopped wasn't shaky and drew the covers over her trembling body, wrapping her wings around her as well. She eyes the door surreptitiously calculating if she would be able to reach it before they caught her, and then, screwing all calculation made run to the door, but at the last moment she turned and leaped into the balcony with the huge French door that were open and then extended her wings and let herself fall into the thin air, that surrounded her, chilly and oddly refreshing. She flapped her wings and looked back, knowing that the shadows would find the way to follow her. Deciding that it wouldn't be wise to leave the castle's surroundings but, knowing she had little chance to loose them there so she bolted towards the only place were she knew she could hide:
The Labyrinth.
She flew swiftly to the twisting walls, hiding beneath their own shadows as she. Without touching the floor she passed through the Hedge Maze, through the forest were there was one of the few lights that could be seen in the maze: the bonfire around which the fireys danced, randomly stopping to play crocket with the most unusual set of legs and heads. They actually looked up and winked, throwing their heads in the air so she could listen when they said "'Allo, miss!" She smiled slightly but flew past her as quickly as her tired wings would allow her. She was too weak from healing the Labyrinth to be dashing about in the middle of the night.
"Well, I have to options: or be here, six feet above the ground or later be six feet under" she muttered under her breath, gliding through the clouds, trying to turn to the castle again. She recognized the Bog by its smell rather than by sight and the big tree near the bridge where she had met Sir Dydimus first.
Filling the joints that kept the bones (however invisible they were) of her wings united protest for such an exercise in the middle of the night after having all her energy drained off using her healing powers the angel understood that time was running short and that she had no alternative but to try to enter the castle as quickly as she could. Unfortunately the shadows were getting nearer and nearer till she found herself in front of a closed window. Instinctively to avoid the impact she threw her hands in front of her face but was surprised to hear the glass shatter before she made contact with it. She fell to the stone floor of the castle, covered in thousands of shards of the finest crystal she had broken somehow. The shards dug themselves into her the palms of her hands, into her body and feet but she picked herself up from the floor, refusing to give in after all she had been through. She looked at her surroundings and felt danger creeping behind. The only way she had of protecting herself was a shield she could create as a defense, but it wouldn't last much. She couldn't call on the Great ones either, for it would take all of her remaining energy and would most surely leave her unconscious and helpless.
When she saw a huge oak door something inside her told her it was Jareth's chambers the ones on the other side of the wood. Her heart felt suddenly light again and she touched the bronze handle carefully, glad when she realized it wasn't locked. She carefully pulled the heavy door open, noticing it didn't creak or groan. But her eyes registered several things more interesting than that, things that made her stomach churn and her head feel dizzy and confused. A red dress lied carelessly tossed on the floor, along with a pair of breeches, a white silken shirt and... a blue, glitter-showered frock coat. Her eyes left the floor to immediately gaze towards the bed, where a very much naked Dalila played with a lock of golden fair hair, while Jareth, his serene face and closed eyelids indicating he was asleep, had an arm wrapped around Dalila's narrow waist. Her heart stopped beating and a cold sweat covered her already bruised and tattered body as she wondered madly what was one to do in situations such as that one.
She closed the door quickly glad when she realized Dalila hadn't noticed her and made a run for the passage that stretched itself at her left, that led her far away from what she had seen, far away from those to points of the twisted triangle she had been forced to form. She found herself then in a large, open hall filled with portrait and instinctively knew she was in the Portrait Gallery. She grabbed a sword that was pinned to the wall with its twin companion as a decoration and nailed a shadow to the wall in the place in-between two stone blocks that formed it. With movements too nimbly to belong to a person that had suffered a night as hectic and as exhausting as she had Sarah took the other sword and slashed every dark figure she saw, moving by instinct and sensing rather than thinking. But they were way too many shadows and she was so tired... Her movements finally weren't fast enough and she bit her lip as she felt the sword she had been previously holding slip from her grasp and then stab her left wing, remaining there as someone twisted its hilt to move the blade of the weapon inside her flesh.
She screamed then, her voice filling the silence of the night, a scream that came from a thorn heart and that was able to freeze her attackers for a couple of seconds. When they were capable of moving again they grabbed her by the waist and sent her smashing against a wall, her wings receiving all the impact. She fell to the floor, not sure which way was up and which down but registered the sudden burst of light that was caused by a crystal that reflected the pale light of the moon that streamed from an open window in the Gallery. The crystal burst into a thousand pieces as it touched the shadows, which screeched and squeaked as they disappeared, till only their comrades that had been killed by Sarah with the use of a normal weapon remained as corpses and proof of the angel's ordeal.
She looked up, her eyes deep blue from all the pain she felt finding a mismatched gaze, sharp features and wild golden hair attached to a lithe body she knew too well.
"My God" she heard that cultured voice whisper with barely concealed anger and worry as he knelt besides her "What have they done to you? What has happened?"
'You happened, Jareth!' Sarianka thought silently, avoiding his touch as if he had the plague or something 'You happened!'
But when he inched closer to her and she felt the warmth of his body as he said softly, as a caress 'My precious one' with a voice that seemed filled with some kind of longing pain she couldn't fight herself anymore. She was too tired and too confused. She forgot that triangular little issue that separated them for a while and threw herself into his fiery embrace, letting tears finally make their way down her cheeks as she clung to the Goblin King, who returned the favor by slipping his arms around her, rocking her back and forth as his mouth kept whispering those same, damnable words that had cost Sarah her pride and her dignity:
"My precious one"
Author notes: Wow! I totally love this chapter! It had a depth I didn't think it would have but it all came to me as I kept writing. In two days I wrote ten pages of this chapter and those were the best pages I've written in this fanfic (well, in my opinion of course). Well, I did promise you would have this chapter soon and, considering the usual time that passes between post and post I would say I did pretty well with that promise. Well, I put my heart and soul in this chapter, or at least tried to make it as good as I could so you would fill that it was worth the wait. Well, please tell my if I accomplished my goal and bear with me, for I have TONS of homework, plus an oral, a portfolio for math (took me 13 pages but it's finally done), a research of Malcolm X, three tests (and I have to sleep and eat too, remember that).
Well, see you around. I'll try to post as soon as I can, but you know how that can be up to maybe a month (muse hits me with stick for saying I wouldn't pay attention to her for over a month). Hey, you go and do my homework and I'll gladly write! The problem is you would only get me ceros! (More poking and hitting for poor author). That's it! I am soooo going to tell this to your superiors! (Reader understands that Sabina finally went mad and silently tries to get away without being noticed).
See you soon! Best wishes,
Sabi (a.k.a. School slave)