AN: Whoah, its done. I'd like to take a moment to thank each
and every person who took the time to review, good or bad, it
means the world to me. Now that I've said that, feel free to
leave reviews about this last chapter. I ask all regulars, lurkers,
and first time readers to share their thoughts. I'd love to hear
them. Enjoy the read and hopefully I'll see you all soon with a
shiny new Laby series!
PS: This has been reposted post editing. Thanks Irene!
***************** Take Me Away: Chapter Eleven ******************
Sarah was having a bad day- actually a very bad day that had started
as a particularly bad night. She hadn't had a bad day in a very long
while. She could have done without having one again.
Her lips were blue with cold and her teeth were chattering with each
fierce gust of winter wind that whipped around her, freezing her
blood and turning her to ice. She placed number fingers over her
stretched stomach as she stumbled through the outskirts of the
Labyrinth.
It felt horrible and right with every step she put between her and
the Goblin King. Horrible because of things she barely knew
how to admit to herself, even as she fled from them in the fiercest of
winter's blizzards. Horrible because every step towards independence
made her more and more alone and she hated it, hated the emptiness
that was only partially filled by the life growing within her.
It felt right though, because she needed him too badly. Every day,
every hour, every moment of hope and happiness made her remember other
smiles and caresses that had turned to slaps and eventually, fists.
She hated the emptiness but she needed it, if only to prove that she
could have it, if she wanted.
And she didn't want it dammit! She wanted Jareth, angry and sullen
and frightening. She wanted him in a thousand different ways, wanted
to see how every moment made him tease and rage in turn. But she
couldn't stay until she knew she could leave.
Sarah wouldn't be trapped again; there were no more Goblin Kings to call
on since her last desperate action had become her most treasured
beginning.
She had walked through his private gardens with the mocking roses,
through landscapes that were familiar and fantastical as they shifted
and churned at will. She could feel the Labyrinth watching her as it
hurled ice and wind and snow at her, could feel its approval as it
reveled in her endurance and her pain.
She could feel it watching her with its magic as she paused before the
last wall of its kingdom, but it was nothing compared to the stare of the
Goblin King. His multicolored glare could cut through her like the storm
could, peeling away the few defenses left around her heart to scoff at
what lay beneath.
He hadn't followed her, wouldn't, but she could feel his rage, his
terrible kingly fury.
Sarah paused before the gates of the Labyrinth and stared beyond at the
wasteland she had entered from, where peach trees withered in the harsh
face of winter. She wondered whose dreams died when the fruit fell,
remembered her own dreams and suddenly didn't care.
Feet, frozen and muddied, and still painfully barefoot, lingered but a
minute more before stepping across the invisible threshold. Sarah left
the Labyrinth with her head held high and chin defiantly raised.
It disappointed and cheered her beyond belief when Jareth didn't come.
Sarah walked through a desert of barren peach trees as she moved beyond
the Goblin King's realm. Frozen sand crunched beneath her sore heels,
bloodying them so that she left red trailing behind her like ribbons on
the harsh ground. The wind sang as it howled, fierce and untamed,
unhindered by maze walls, free to claw at her hair and scant layers of
clothing.
She walked because she didn't know how to stop, how to stay, walked
until her strength failed her, and she took deep panting breaths that
mocked her weakness. The sand had shifted to brittle grass, yellowed
and thigh high. It stretched as far as the eye could see, a sea to
drown in.
Sarah stumbled to a halt and slipped beneath the waves as she slid to
her knees. Chapped lips were smiling as she cried, put thin arms
protectively around her middle and rocked. She whispered the words as
night claimed the sky, casting her in a physical darkness that befitted
the state of her soul. "I wish… I wish the Goblin King would come and
take me home, right now!"
***************************************************************
He didn't come right away. It would have surprised her if he had, he
was Jareth after all, and lived to serve the summons of no one, even the
woman who carried his child. He did come but that wasn't the
important thing. The important thing was that she had called him.
Had asked for him.
His hands were warm as they touched frozen cheeks, gentle as the mighty
Goblin King pillowed her weary head on his lap. "You shouldn't have
left," he said stiffly, a different kind of cold as he burned in his
fury.
When Sarah slowly opened her eyes he didn't look angry though, just
tired and relieved, distant as always, but the concern in his touch
betrayed him. He put his own boots on her bare feet, gathered her
carefully in his arms as the storm howled and the grass bent, and finally,
finally, took her home.
***************************************************************
The castle was warm, the chair he deposited her in soft beyond belief.
"Will you stay now?" Jareth demanded crossly as he knelt to gently take
off the snow caked boots from her swollen feet. He stared up at her,
imperious face lined with the weariness of eternity and the cautious
hope of stolen mortality. His features were sharp as ever, his mouth
cruel with its insightfulness, beautiful with its veiled truths.
Sarah smiled crookedly at him, her own eyes weary beyond belief and dark
with memories of the mortality, the hope she had wanted to leave behind
with her naiveté and innocence. She reached down and traced his
cheekbones with numb fingers, feeling a thrill of power as the Goblin
King tensed and shivered with her touch, because of the warmth of her
chilled touch. "Will I always have the choice to leave?"
Anger bloomed and died in the pale ice of his eyes, leaving shadows
behind. "Yes," Jareth finally whispered harshly, willingly giving back
some of the power that Sarah had granted him.
She nodded once, accepting the gift of his limited kindness while
acknowledging the remaining steel. The Goblin King would never be a
weak man and she needed the knowledge of his strength. It made her
stronger because he was her King.
He was her dance partner in life, for life.
Sarah leaned forward and pressed blue lips to his brow, lingering until
she was flushed. "Then I'll stay."
A broken sigh left him as a suddenly ungloved hand reached up and rested,
palm down, on their joined hope. Their child kicked once, hard, in
reaction, and Jareth grinned ferally as Sarah winced. "Tea?" he asked
as he rose fluidly with a panther's still grace.
She rose laboriously without his help before taking the proffered arm.
"Yes," came the stiff, dignified response, "green tea please, with rose
petals."
Jareth's pealed laughter rang in the halls of his castle as he and his
future Queen walked barefoot to slowly fetch their tea. Together, they
left wet footprints behind.
"Oh Lord, what fools life makes of us all, human, Goblin King, and
everything in between."
and every person who took the time to review, good or bad, it
means the world to me. Now that I've said that, feel free to
leave reviews about this last chapter. I ask all regulars, lurkers,
and first time readers to share their thoughts. I'd love to hear
them. Enjoy the read and hopefully I'll see you all soon with a
shiny new Laby series!
PS: This has been reposted post editing. Thanks Irene!
***************** Take Me Away: Chapter Eleven ******************
Sarah was having a bad day- actually a very bad day that had started
as a particularly bad night. She hadn't had a bad day in a very long
while. She could have done without having one again.
Her lips were blue with cold and her teeth were chattering with each
fierce gust of winter wind that whipped around her, freezing her
blood and turning her to ice. She placed number fingers over her
stretched stomach as she stumbled through the outskirts of the
Labyrinth.
It felt horrible and right with every step she put between her and
the Goblin King. Horrible because of things she barely knew
how to admit to herself, even as she fled from them in the fiercest of
winter's blizzards. Horrible because every step towards independence
made her more and more alone and she hated it, hated the emptiness
that was only partially filled by the life growing within her.
It felt right though, because she needed him too badly. Every day,
every hour, every moment of hope and happiness made her remember other
smiles and caresses that had turned to slaps and eventually, fists.
She hated the emptiness but she needed it, if only to prove that she
could have it, if she wanted.
And she didn't want it dammit! She wanted Jareth, angry and sullen
and frightening. She wanted him in a thousand different ways, wanted
to see how every moment made him tease and rage in turn. But she
couldn't stay until she knew she could leave.
Sarah wouldn't be trapped again; there were no more Goblin Kings to call
on since her last desperate action had become her most treasured
beginning.
She had walked through his private gardens with the mocking roses,
through landscapes that were familiar and fantastical as they shifted
and churned at will. She could feel the Labyrinth watching her as it
hurled ice and wind and snow at her, could feel its approval as it
reveled in her endurance and her pain.
She could feel it watching her with its magic as she paused before the
last wall of its kingdom, but it was nothing compared to the stare of the
Goblin King. His multicolored glare could cut through her like the storm
could, peeling away the few defenses left around her heart to scoff at
what lay beneath.
He hadn't followed her, wouldn't, but she could feel his rage, his
terrible kingly fury.
Sarah paused before the gates of the Labyrinth and stared beyond at the
wasteland she had entered from, where peach trees withered in the harsh
face of winter. She wondered whose dreams died when the fruit fell,
remembered her own dreams and suddenly didn't care.
Feet, frozen and muddied, and still painfully barefoot, lingered but a
minute more before stepping across the invisible threshold. Sarah left
the Labyrinth with her head held high and chin defiantly raised.
It disappointed and cheered her beyond belief when Jareth didn't come.
Sarah walked through a desert of barren peach trees as she moved beyond
the Goblin King's realm. Frozen sand crunched beneath her sore heels,
bloodying them so that she left red trailing behind her like ribbons on
the harsh ground. The wind sang as it howled, fierce and untamed,
unhindered by maze walls, free to claw at her hair and scant layers of
clothing.
She walked because she didn't know how to stop, how to stay, walked
until her strength failed her, and she took deep panting breaths that
mocked her weakness. The sand had shifted to brittle grass, yellowed
and thigh high. It stretched as far as the eye could see, a sea to
drown in.
Sarah stumbled to a halt and slipped beneath the waves as she slid to
her knees. Chapped lips were smiling as she cried, put thin arms
protectively around her middle and rocked. She whispered the words as
night claimed the sky, casting her in a physical darkness that befitted
the state of her soul. "I wish… I wish the Goblin King would come and
take me home, right now!"
***************************************************************
He didn't come right away. It would have surprised her if he had, he
was Jareth after all, and lived to serve the summons of no one, even the
woman who carried his child. He did come but that wasn't the
important thing. The important thing was that she had called him.
Had asked for him.
His hands were warm as they touched frozen cheeks, gentle as the mighty
Goblin King pillowed her weary head on his lap. "You shouldn't have
left," he said stiffly, a different kind of cold as he burned in his
fury.
When Sarah slowly opened her eyes he didn't look angry though, just
tired and relieved, distant as always, but the concern in his touch
betrayed him. He put his own boots on her bare feet, gathered her
carefully in his arms as the storm howled and the grass bent, and finally,
finally, took her home.
***************************************************************
The castle was warm, the chair he deposited her in soft beyond belief.
"Will you stay now?" Jareth demanded crossly as he knelt to gently take
off the snow caked boots from her swollen feet. He stared up at her,
imperious face lined with the weariness of eternity and the cautious
hope of stolen mortality. His features were sharp as ever, his mouth
cruel with its insightfulness, beautiful with its veiled truths.
Sarah smiled crookedly at him, her own eyes weary beyond belief and dark
with memories of the mortality, the hope she had wanted to leave behind
with her naiveté and innocence. She reached down and traced his
cheekbones with numb fingers, feeling a thrill of power as the Goblin
King tensed and shivered with her touch, because of the warmth of her
chilled touch. "Will I always have the choice to leave?"
Anger bloomed and died in the pale ice of his eyes, leaving shadows
behind. "Yes," Jareth finally whispered harshly, willingly giving back
some of the power that Sarah had granted him.
She nodded once, accepting the gift of his limited kindness while
acknowledging the remaining steel. The Goblin King would never be a
weak man and she needed the knowledge of his strength. It made her
stronger because he was her King.
He was her dance partner in life, for life.
Sarah leaned forward and pressed blue lips to his brow, lingering until
she was flushed. "Then I'll stay."
A broken sigh left him as a suddenly ungloved hand reached up and rested,
palm down, on their joined hope. Their child kicked once, hard, in
reaction, and Jareth grinned ferally as Sarah winced. "Tea?" he asked
as he rose fluidly with a panther's still grace.
She rose laboriously without his help before taking the proffered arm.
"Yes," came the stiff, dignified response, "green tea please, with rose
petals."
Jareth's pealed laughter rang in the halls of his castle as he and his
future Queen walked barefoot to slowly fetch their tea. Together, they
left wet footprints behind.
"Oh Lord, what fools life makes of us all, human, Goblin King, and
everything in between."