Chapter Six: Love Me

                        (Jareth's POV)

When she whispered my name like that, it sounded so… lonely, lost. So terribly sad. As if she has locked herself away from the world of hurt and sorrow for those few hours she has sundered herself from me. My brothers have done something I don't yet realize, don't yet fully know of. Her mind threatened to shatter under the weight of some external force, something Lucifer and the others had slipped inside of her. I can't figure out what… and so I simply gaze on her her, her beautiful, fair countenance, her dazzling eyes, her full and perfect lips... her adorable nose. I wanted to kiss her, to claim her again, but… did she have to be so divinely beautiful?

"Ravyn, talk to me. Please." She looked so confused, so frightened suddenly.

"You wield so much power over me, Jareth. How? Your voice does things to me, strange things. Your eyes… you know," she said, and she began sounding like the old Ravyn, the smart ass, no nonsense girl I knew, "your eyes should be outlawed, I swear!" I smiled, showing teeth.

"You like my eyes, then?"

"Did I say that? I don't remember saying that. No, I don't."

"Don't tell falsehoods. You like my eyes." Ravyn sighed in exasperation.

"No one says falsehoods anymore, my vampire prince. Your age is beginning to show. And no, I do not like your eyes." Then she sobered, looking like a sweet little rabbit caught by a bloodhound.

"Ravyn?"

"Can I… can I have a hug, Jareth?" She sounded lost and scared, a little girl once more. I put my arm around her, held her against me. At first, she tensed up, but then went limp.

"Ravyn, there's more to this than you're telling me, more than I know. What is it?"

"Can you read minds, Jareth?"

"Yes, I can. But, why-"

"Read mine then." Her eyes turned from warm green to glacial emeralds, and her face became cold and cruel. Her order was said imperiously, indifferently. The images Venom had fed her were sickening. Shards of evil, vile fantasies… I tore my mind from them. Ravyn laughed with grim humor.

"You see… now you see." Then she wilted like a flower and started to cry. Cradling her to me, I murmured softly to her the song I had once sung:

                        I'll paint you mornings of gold

                        I'll spin you valentine evenings

                        Thought we're strangers till now

                        We're choosing a path between the stars

                        I'll make my love between the stars

I stopped when she shook her head. "What is it?" She looked up, blinked slowly.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Just… thank you… for everything." I kissed the top of her head, breathed in the intoxicating scent of her silky hair. "I love you, Jareth." My heart soared.