No Choice At All
Part 2
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A feather, two earrings, and three green jewels: each day a present laid in wait for Sarah. She was determined to refuse to let tokens reduce her to a state of hysteria. She refused to let Him any further control. He had no power over her. The thought served to reassure her frantic nerves, if little else. Six years and unthinkable fathoms separated her from His Labyrinth.
But at the sight of those jewels upon the third morning cut a calming resolve into Sarah. This taunt was unacceptable. Three jewels: one over each sleeping eye and the third and last gracing the tiny brow. No, such omens crossed the line of acceptable, eliciting a maternal horror in her that Sarah feared in herself.
If he wished to visit her again –for she took the visits now to be of a personal nature- then she would be there personally to greet him.
That night, she rocked her son asleep safely in the circle of her arms, eyes obsessing over the only window. Moonlight gilded her thoughts, tying one moment seamlessly into the next, entrapping and mesmerizing her in starlit depths.
From the moment of realization, she hated herself for it, but she must have fallen asleep.
Sarah seemingly awoke from her trance-like dream and immediately felt a strangeness surrounding. She could think of no more precise of a description. It felt strange.
"You have your mother's eyes."
The voice stilled her heart and blood. Blinking back the haziness from her vision, Sarah spied a tall, fair figure not two yards from where she sat. He almost glowed in the moonlight, as if directly taken from some midnight dream or fantasy. Oh, how close to the truth that was. It was only as she spotted the bundle in his arms and heard Jonathon's giggles did she realize the emptiness within her arms.
Jareth's eyes caught her own with a piercing gaze as he jostled the baby playfully.
"Ah," he said with a fiendish grin, "we seemed to have woken mummy. I do hope she's not cranky."
"Give me back my baby," she said as threateningly as she could. Jareth frowned and looked down at the child in his arms, paying little mind to the hands reaching out to him. "Now!"
He had the audacity to look to her disapprovingly with a tsk. "Temper, temper."
"Please," she rose from the rocking chair slowly, watching the other with each move. Jareth merely flickered a seemingly bored eye upon her, mismatched gaze lazily focused down upon the child, "don't hurt him."
He looked to her sharply, mock aghast. "I'd never dream of such a thing!"
"Then why are you here?" she asked, taking a daring step towards him.
Tucking the child further into his arms, he turned from her grasp and strode purposefully to the open window. "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah . . ." He leaned into the windowsill. "What do you take me for, some kind of monster?" He sighed. "Our relationship has ever been a misunderstood one."
"We don't have a relationship," Sarah bit out, eyes worrying upon her son and open window.
The look was not lost to Jareth and he smiled knowingly to her before looking down at the two-story fall below.
"I'm hurt," he said without feeling. "Thirteen blissful—."
"Hellish," Sarah inserted.
"Hours," he continued as if never interrupted, "and you forget in –what? - three short years?"
"Six," Sarah corrected.
"My, my how time flies."
"Please," Sarah said, eyes focused upon the lithe figure draped over the windowsill, "give Jonathon back and leave."
"But I just got here," he complained flatly.
"Don't you have other toddlers to snatch or pubescent girls to bother?" she asked, crossing her arms protectively beneath her breasts.
Jareth overtly observed the motion; his eyes rising to her own as if to be sure she had saw him watch. "Oh, but it's not the same, Sarah." Jareth smiled to her.
"You're sick!"
"How can any measure up to that witty repartee?"
"I hate you!"
"Or your humble graciousness."
"Stop it! Just stop it!" she exclaimed, surprised by the ardor in her own tone.
Jareth fell silent; one gloved finger captured in Jonathon's small fist, waiting gaze upon her. She merely stared back at him, lost for words, and tired in the search. He raised one brow as if to say, "Well?"
"You can't do this," she stated firmly.
"This?"
"This!"
"And why not?"
"Because it's not --."
"Fair?" he suggested with a wicked grin.
"No," she said, mustering her resolve. "It's not in our agreement."
"Oh?"
"No."
"We came to an agreement?" he asked, as if the concept was a novel idea foreign to him.
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes!"
Jareth sighed as a man whose patience was being infinitely tried. "Sarah, must I have an ulterior motive for dropping in on my Friday girl?"
Sarah looked to him silently.
"Well . . .that ruins the surprise. What a pity," he said blandly.
"I hate you!" she seethed.
"At least, you're consistent."
"Why can't you just leave me alone? Why couldn't you find some other girl and turn her life upside-down?" A brittle quality broke into her voice. She knew that she sounded desperate.
And she was.
He moved to her, eyes deep and possessing. The babe was silent and still within his arms. His movements were distinctly predatory. Sarah resolved to hold her ground in the midst of such a daunting approach and gaze. A gloved hand freed from Jonathon's sleepy fist rose to hover over her cheek, pre-caress. He leaned forward and her lips parted in gasp and expectation. At the last moment, he turned, lips lingering a breath away from her ear.
"Don't you see, Sarah?" he asked, voice like velvet, pulling back to look upon her face.
She sidestepped from him, inadvertently placing her cheek into his waiting palm, forcing a caress he appeared pleased to give. Yet, it felt more of the taking than giving variety.
"See what?" she whispered.
"I can't." He looked down upon her and she felt as that same fifteen-year-old girl pleading for her brother. But there was a passion in his eyes she had not seen at that time. The passion promised and frightened her. The reassuring warmth of her son was forced back into her arms before Jareth strode to the window with determination. Sarah greedily wrapped Jonathon in her embrace.
"Yes, you can," she said, hugging the baby to her breast.
Jareth looked to her pointedly and sidelong before turning back to the window. "I can't. Not until I win."
"I've already won."
"Oh, have you?" It was more of a statement than a question seeking answer.
"Yes," she said adamantly. "I had to solve your labyrinth and I did, though you tricked me and poisoned me. I won and you promised that'd be it. Done. Finished. I get Toby and my life back, without you."
Jareth turned and rose one dark finger to point at Sarah. "I made no such promises." Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but his hand opened to bare a palm. "Think, Sarah. When did I ever utter such ridiculous words?"
She was momentarily paused.
"Well, you didn't say it in so many words."
"Ah," he said, folding his arms smugly.
"But it was insinuated."
"Insinuated?" He laughed.
"Yes," she said, her voice breaking.
"Dear girl, did you learn nothing from my labyrinth?"
"What do you want with Jonathon anyways? There's nothing special about him."
A smile grew across his face.
"You take far too many things for granted, Sarah. Who ever said I wanted the baby?" He rose a brow in mocking request. "Hmm . . .?" He appeared rather pleased with himself as he turned to the window again.
"You have no power--."
He turned back sharply.
"Are you so sure?" he asked, a seriousness about him that struck a cold fear within her. "Be warned, I don't take kindly to losing. In fact, I don't lose. Pretty words of mortal fairy tales are only that. Just because you happen to stumble upon random words strung into significance does not give you the right," He paused, "or power to use them. Be warned, Sarah."
She could not withstand the power of his gaze and took momentary relief in looking upon her son. When she looked back to the window, she was not surprised to find the Goblin King gone.
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To the readers and past reviewers:
Thank you for reading and I'd appreciate a review with feedback.
Jessie Deal: Again, I am sorry I did not quickly post the next part. Thank you for reviewing.
Serpintine: I'm glad you enjoyed the first part. I love your screen name. Thank you for reviewing.
Kitten4: Seeing as how much you seemed to enjoy the first part, I'm sorry how long it took me to post this one, especially in view of it already having been finished. Thank you for reviewing.
Lady Silma: Kinda funny to look back on reviews from back then, huh? Wrangle more out of me. You didn't do a good job, Silma! I blame you. *Clears throat* OK. All my fault, I admit it. Thank you for reviewing.
Bonnie4: Here's the more I have at the moment. Thank you for reviewing.