AN: You guys have letylyf to thank for this chapter being written so soon. All it takes
is about a hundred wonderful reviews (and by wonderful I mean honest) in a day to get me
motivated... LOL Enjoy and please, please review! Reviews have kind of been lacking
in general lately and I want to know what the hell I'm doing wrong, okay? I promise I
don't bite.
Thanks guys! ~Kei
************************** Take Me Away: Chapter Eight **************************
"Why did you never call them?" Jareth asked as they walked, her arm tucked beneath his,
through the Goblin City. The City, like most of the Labyrinth was changed from the place
Sarah, in all her inadequacies, had created. It was larger for one, sprawling, with well
kept if shabby buildings made of wood and stone, like quaint villages tucked between hills
in the English countryside.
It was the first place they had visited that made Sarah remember what she had forfeited.
It left a bitter taste in her mouth and Jareth, sensing her unease, lingered with her as
they strolled down the deserted streets.
It wouldn't do to have Sarah be too comfortable.
She thought for a moment, marshalling her thoughts, as she tried to answer honestly, not
because Jareth asked, but because she felt like she needed to justify her lacks to herself
as well. Her friends, whom she had ignored for so long, would never ask why she had
abandoned them. It wasn't in their nature.
So Jareth asked for them.
He didn't bother to ask why she had never called for him. You didn't call your vanquished
foe to deal with matter so much beneath him. It wouldn't have been Jareth's nature to
rescue Sarah from the paths in life she had chosen. He could pity her to an extent, be
disappointed by the pain she had been forced to endure, but it was beneath him to be her
savior, her knight.
The Goblin King didn't rescue barefooted women. He took them. The irony made him smile
unpleasantly.
Sarah finally sighed softly. "I don't think I had a reason. Nothing that would matter.
Maybe knowing they would never ask about my lack if I should call them one day let me
forget them so utterly…"
"You didn't forget them though," Jareth replied with brutal clarity. He watched out of
the corner of his eyes as Sarah smiled and shook her head.
"Maybe I like pain. I stayed with, with HIM even when I could have left for so long. I
like to endure."
"And suffer," Jareth said, deadpan.
Sarah's smile turned to him, bright and hard and brittle with amusement. "I did wish
myself away to you."
"You make an excellent point."
"I thought so."
They laughed together and it was sharp, rich, and shallow, like Sarah's smile. There was
a symmetry to the dark haired woman from Aboveground and the golden Goblin King from Under
that was strangely beautiful in a frightening sort of way.
Sometimes they even frightened themselves.
"Why is the city so empty?" Sarah finally asked.
Jareth shrugged easily. "Because I wish it and I am King." And there was little more to
be said than that. It was simply the truth. And truth made Sarah the Goblin King's
possession, his subject. But she had given herself to that truth.
It was difficult to find a victor in a game that had no rules. Their relationship was
much more complicated than the Labyrinth that had brought them together.
************************************************************************************
There were clothes waiting for her when they returned to the castle, and Sarah to the room
she had first woken in from her nightmare. She didn't think of it as 'her' room because
nothing here was hers.
She was poor in every sense of the word. All she had was charity and the charity of the
Goblin King was fickle.
A small selection of simply cut but well made dresses were lying out on the large four
post bed. They were all similar in design and varied mostly in color. A set of
underclothes lay next to the dresses but there was still a conspicuous lack of shoes.
There was also, thank god, a porcelain bath tub set off to the side, by the burning
fireplace. Sarah flew to it and was thrilled to find lukewarm water already filled to
the brim. She stripped without a thought and climbed gingerly into the tub, sore from
the days activities.
The water stung her scrapes and bruises but she didn't care. There was a bar of rough
soap on the ground by the bathtub and she made thorough use of it- Sarah knew she had to
be rather ripe by now- it'd been two days since she'd bathed last in a world she was no
longer a part of.
The water was gray when she finally rose, stiff from the small tub. There wasn't a towel
but she went ahead and put the plain white underclothes on before yanking the green dress
over her head, not caring if it got wet.
There wasn't a mirror or vanity in the room so she combed her long hair with her fingers
the best she could before shrugging and tying it up in a sloppy bun. Sarah was hardly
here to impress.
She had no sooner finished before there was a knock on her door. She didn't have time to
answer it before it swung open and Jareth filled the doorway. He was dressed like the
King he was, in silks and lace and a hundred shades of gray. His hair framed his
unreadable, angular face like gold cloud with silver lining and his mismatched stare raked
her silently. Without a word he held out his gloved hand.
"Dinner."
It wasn't a question.
She padded gingerly forward and accepted the proffered arm. Her feet left wet prints
behind.
************************************************************************************
Dinner was a lonely affair, just Sarah and Jareth alone in a large rectangular dining
hall which was filled with an elegant, elaborate oak table that ran the length of the
room. The room itself was as beautiful as the rest of the castle, with high vaulting
ceilings and stone walls warmed with rich tapestries that were intricate and abstract
at the same time. Chandeliers lit the room with the glow of a thousand candles, though
Sarah doubted the candles ever went out, or melted.
Magic was handy like that.
There were two place settings out, with food already spread out at them, on at the end of
the table, the other next to it. Jareth took the end seat with his usual timeless grace
as he slid into the high backed chair, throwing one leg over the arm rest as he slouched
bonelessly.
Sarah struggled for a minute to pull her cumbersome chair out as Jareth watched with
hooded eyes. She finally sat, flushed, primly at the edge, uncomfortable suddenly in
the rich solitary atmosphere.
"Do you always eat alone?" she asked, irritated, as she stare down at the unfamiliar foods
before her. At least she recognized the utensils. Forks, knives, spoons, she was good.
"Do you always eat with others?" Jareth asked lazily as he spun a knife carelessly in his
gloved hands.
Sarah grumbled. "I hate arguing with you. I don't get to win nearly enough."
"And yet, you loose even more rarely," Jareth replied with quiet disdain as the knife
clattered to the table.
She beamed like a proud mother and reached for her saucer. She took a sip without paying
attention and grimaced. "Oh come on Jareth, isn't this taking it a bit far? I mean, you
could have at least served wine for dinner…"
It was Jareth turn to smile, a smirk that curled his lips into something handsome and not
nearly as serious. "But Sarah," he asked innocently, fierce as a contented tiger, "I
thought you liked tea!"
is about a hundred wonderful reviews (and by wonderful I mean honest) in a day to get me
motivated... LOL Enjoy and please, please review! Reviews have kind of been lacking
in general lately and I want to know what the hell I'm doing wrong, okay? I promise I
don't bite.
Thanks guys! ~Kei
************************** Take Me Away: Chapter Eight **************************
"Why did you never call them?" Jareth asked as they walked, her arm tucked beneath his,
through the Goblin City. The City, like most of the Labyrinth was changed from the place
Sarah, in all her inadequacies, had created. It was larger for one, sprawling, with well
kept if shabby buildings made of wood and stone, like quaint villages tucked between hills
in the English countryside.
It was the first place they had visited that made Sarah remember what she had forfeited.
It left a bitter taste in her mouth and Jareth, sensing her unease, lingered with her as
they strolled down the deserted streets.
It wouldn't do to have Sarah be too comfortable.
She thought for a moment, marshalling her thoughts, as she tried to answer honestly, not
because Jareth asked, but because she felt like she needed to justify her lacks to herself
as well. Her friends, whom she had ignored for so long, would never ask why she had
abandoned them. It wasn't in their nature.
So Jareth asked for them.
He didn't bother to ask why she had never called for him. You didn't call your vanquished
foe to deal with matter so much beneath him. It wouldn't have been Jareth's nature to
rescue Sarah from the paths in life she had chosen. He could pity her to an extent, be
disappointed by the pain she had been forced to endure, but it was beneath him to be her
savior, her knight.
The Goblin King didn't rescue barefooted women. He took them. The irony made him smile
unpleasantly.
Sarah finally sighed softly. "I don't think I had a reason. Nothing that would matter.
Maybe knowing they would never ask about my lack if I should call them one day let me
forget them so utterly…"
"You didn't forget them though," Jareth replied with brutal clarity. He watched out of
the corner of his eyes as Sarah smiled and shook her head.
"Maybe I like pain. I stayed with, with HIM even when I could have left for so long. I
like to endure."
"And suffer," Jareth said, deadpan.
Sarah's smile turned to him, bright and hard and brittle with amusement. "I did wish
myself away to you."
"You make an excellent point."
"I thought so."
They laughed together and it was sharp, rich, and shallow, like Sarah's smile. There was
a symmetry to the dark haired woman from Aboveground and the golden Goblin King from Under
that was strangely beautiful in a frightening sort of way.
Sometimes they even frightened themselves.
"Why is the city so empty?" Sarah finally asked.
Jareth shrugged easily. "Because I wish it and I am King." And there was little more to
be said than that. It was simply the truth. And truth made Sarah the Goblin King's
possession, his subject. But she had given herself to that truth.
It was difficult to find a victor in a game that had no rules. Their relationship was
much more complicated than the Labyrinth that had brought them together.
************************************************************************************
There were clothes waiting for her when they returned to the castle, and Sarah to the room
she had first woken in from her nightmare. She didn't think of it as 'her' room because
nothing here was hers.
She was poor in every sense of the word. All she had was charity and the charity of the
Goblin King was fickle.
A small selection of simply cut but well made dresses were lying out on the large four
post bed. They were all similar in design and varied mostly in color. A set of
underclothes lay next to the dresses but there was still a conspicuous lack of shoes.
There was also, thank god, a porcelain bath tub set off to the side, by the burning
fireplace. Sarah flew to it and was thrilled to find lukewarm water already filled to
the brim. She stripped without a thought and climbed gingerly into the tub, sore from
the days activities.
The water stung her scrapes and bruises but she didn't care. There was a bar of rough
soap on the ground by the bathtub and she made thorough use of it- Sarah knew she had to
be rather ripe by now- it'd been two days since she'd bathed last in a world she was no
longer a part of.
The water was gray when she finally rose, stiff from the small tub. There wasn't a towel
but she went ahead and put the plain white underclothes on before yanking the green dress
over her head, not caring if it got wet.
There wasn't a mirror or vanity in the room so she combed her long hair with her fingers
the best she could before shrugging and tying it up in a sloppy bun. Sarah was hardly
here to impress.
She had no sooner finished before there was a knock on her door. She didn't have time to
answer it before it swung open and Jareth filled the doorway. He was dressed like the
King he was, in silks and lace and a hundred shades of gray. His hair framed his
unreadable, angular face like gold cloud with silver lining and his mismatched stare raked
her silently. Without a word he held out his gloved hand.
"Dinner."
It wasn't a question.
She padded gingerly forward and accepted the proffered arm. Her feet left wet prints
behind.
************************************************************************************
Dinner was a lonely affair, just Sarah and Jareth alone in a large rectangular dining
hall which was filled with an elegant, elaborate oak table that ran the length of the
room. The room itself was as beautiful as the rest of the castle, with high vaulting
ceilings and stone walls warmed with rich tapestries that were intricate and abstract
at the same time. Chandeliers lit the room with the glow of a thousand candles, though
Sarah doubted the candles ever went out, or melted.
Magic was handy like that.
There were two place settings out, with food already spread out at them, on at the end of
the table, the other next to it. Jareth took the end seat with his usual timeless grace
as he slid into the high backed chair, throwing one leg over the arm rest as he slouched
bonelessly.
Sarah struggled for a minute to pull her cumbersome chair out as Jareth watched with
hooded eyes. She finally sat, flushed, primly at the edge, uncomfortable suddenly in
the rich solitary atmosphere.
"Do you always eat alone?" she asked, irritated, as she stare down at the unfamiliar foods
before her. At least she recognized the utensils. Forks, knives, spoons, she was good.
"Do you always eat with others?" Jareth asked lazily as he spun a knife carelessly in his
gloved hands.
Sarah grumbled. "I hate arguing with you. I don't get to win nearly enough."
"And yet, you loose even more rarely," Jareth replied with quiet disdain as the knife
clattered to the table.
She beamed like a proud mother and reached for her saucer. She took a sip without paying
attention and grimaced. "Oh come on Jareth, isn't this taking it a bit far? I mean, you
could have at least served wine for dinner…"
It was Jareth turn to smile, a smirk that curled his lips into something handsome and not
nearly as serious. "But Sarah," he asked innocently, fierce as a contented tiger, "I
thought you liked tea!"