AN: I just wanted to apologize for this utter shite. It's crap, excrement,
bluntly horrible. Bah. This is just a filler chapter so I can get out of
the crap I keep getting myself into.
*
Strangely Divine: Chapter Twenty Six: The Royal Guard
*
Things were rapidly getting worse.
*
You can't explain how it is for Nosferatu to drink human blood. Better then sex, better then life, better then all the happy feelings one can feel in a lifetime bundled up into one moment. Sarah's blood was hot and wet on Dacian's lips. He didn't care if she died anymore. If he couldn't make her his queen then there was no point in her living. The Goblin King's stupid possessive magic would be the end of her.
He could feel her pulse dwindling under his hand and then a funny thing happened. Her heart started beating faster and Sarah sucked in a deep breath of air. Dacian felt a great weight hit him full in the chest and he sprawled off her and onto the floor.
He drew up to his full height, shouting Nosferatu curse words at her. What the hell was going on! Why couldn't he so much as drain her blood? Surely the crystal could not protect her that much.
Sarah sat up straight on the bed, her green eyes bright. Her throat felt like it had been ravished with a cattle prod and sticky rivulets of her own blood ran down her neck. For a moment, she wasn't sure what had happened and she was sure she would pass out or become sick again.
"What happened!" Dacian demanded, he had flown into a rage, he thwarted at the nearby bedside table and sent candlestick holders, newspapers, and a tissue box clattering to the floor.
Sarah blinked, consciousness hit her hard and fast "I didn't." she started
"You hit me, I am your king!" Dacian roared "You do not hit your king!"
"I didn't hit you" Sarah looked around and then down at her necklace. "I didn't---"
Dacian made an enraged sound and flung the light from the night table into a nearby wall. It had been their only light source and now the room was bathed in eerie darkness. Sarah could only hear Dacian's frustrated breathing on the other side of the room as he stalked about.
Fear was grabbing at her stomach and she still wasn't quite sure what had happened. The crystal was emitting a soft blue glow that was strangely encouraging. Sarah took one last look at the crystal and then hopped to her feet and ran for the door.
*
There was a stunned silence around the table once Emily had finished with her tale. Griffon had two cigarettes going at once now and was slurping down red wine with reckless abandon.
"You are joking, right?" he coughed into his hand.
Emily and Timothy glared at him. "Of course she isn't" Timothy said.
"You believe me?" Emily gave Timothy an incredulous look. "Why?"
"Well, besides having read Sarah's copy of the Labyrinth and hearing her drunken tales it somehow makes---- sense" he paused "In a very--- very nonsensical, unscientific, illogical way"
"Oh I know" Griffon chuckled, he still didn't quite believe Emily's story. "But of course, despite not making any sense at all, you're believing this rubbish"
Fiona came storming up to the table then, nearly knocking over a waiter carrying a tray of food. "I think Jareth's gone back to the Underground" she said quickly to Emily.
"Right" Griffon said slowly, as he knocked back the rest of his wine.
Fiona glared at him but continued. "He just went poof- and it sounds like Sarah's gone poof but in a bad didn't-mean-to-go-poof way"
"Oh that's the worst way to go poof" Griffon moaned sarcastically he blinked as all of his friends got up to leave. "Hey--- wait!" he shouted after them "You don't seriously believe this load of shite, do you?"
*
The room was very quiet; every breath one took seemed to eco off the stone walls. In the centre of the room Dolan and Gaeton stood with their palms together, whispering in low voices an ancient spell in the most ancient of languages.
Ilareo pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders and glanced at the Goblin King. It was strange seeing Jareth without all the pomp and glitter that he usually showcased himself in. While still extraordinarily handsome, he seemed more approachable, more personable. More--- more of the Jareth that Ilareo knew as a child. But at the moment, this Goblin King had his jaw set in such away that his friend was afraid he would break a tooth.
"You love her, don't you?" He hadn't meant it to sound so amused and condescending, but he couldn't help it.
"Shut up" Jareth snapped.
Ilareo grinned and tossed his curly hair. "You've loved her since you first laid eyes on her. That's what Gwen said, I think she's right"
"How nice for you" Jareth said snidely, his lips curling into a sneer. "Would you like a trip in the bog before your wedding night? I'm sure Gwen would appreciate that"
"Come on Jareth, you'd have to live with the smell too, not just her" Ilareo nudged him good-naturedly. "Whatever it is, stop being so thick about it"
Jareth opened his mouth to answer but Dolan and Gaeton suddenly separated, Dolan's face remained the grave countenance both brothers had shared during the seeing, but Gaeton's bubbled over with joy now. "We found her" he announced.
*
Sarah found the doorknob and couldn't believe her luck when it opened into a brightly lit hallway with pretty pink carpet and pictures of cats on the walls. She didn't bother to hesitate but shot down the hallway as fast as she could.
Dacian heard her leave the bed but didn't bother to turn around until she had opened the door. "Sarah!" he shouted, stunned at first that she had escaped. Then he ran after her with such preternatural speed that he almost became a blur.
Sarah opened the door at the end of the hallway and slammed it shut. Dacian hit it seconds later and the whole frame rattled. Sarah leaned against it and glanced around at this new room. It was a kitchen or some sort, a coffee pot was bubbling happily on the counter. She couldn't believe it. It was a bed and breakfast. She was at a B&B in the middle of England with a psychotic vampire. It was almost funny.
Dacian threw his weight against the door and the whole thing shook and cracked. Sarah sprinted through the kitchen and skidded on the 'welcome' mat and then she was outside on a cobble stone alley street. A tabby cat gave her a strange look as she ran by. A homeless man sat up when she found the sidewalk and ran past him.
Sarah wasn't sure where she was going, perhaps the McDonalds? She didn't know.
"Sarah!" Dacian stumbled up onto the street and watched her dark figure run down the dark street. His blood boiled at her reckless defiance. She was to be his Queen or she was to die. There would be no escape for her.
He ran after her, attempting to form a magic crystal that would bring her to him. A black ball the size of a quarter formed in his hand and Dacian tossed it triumphantly. It had no effect though and Sarah disappeared around a corner. The Nosferatu prince made an enraged sound, unable to believe this mortal girl was getting away from him.
At that moment cold English rain began to pour down from the sky. Sarah's hair stuck to her face in thick wet clumps but she didn't care. She was getting away. She was free. That was what mattered. Then her high heel got caught between a cobblestone and she fell forward, catching herself with her hands.
"Shit" Sarah sobbed. When had she started crying? Possibly back in that kitchen, her heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would flutter out of her chest. Every instinct told her to run, get away. Fight or Flight, it was definitely flight.
As she was stumbling to her feet, Sarah felt him grab her around her waist and whirl her around to face him. The rain did not do Dacian's good looks justice. He looked rather like a cat that had been left out to drown in the gutter. Black velvet *certainly* did not look good in the rain.
His grip on her wrist was crushing and Sarah tried to wriggle away. Dacian gritted his teeth before he brought his hand back and slapped her sharply across the face. "Do not defy me" he said in a low deadly voice she heard him use before. "You will die Sarah"
"Let go!" she screamed, her anger causing nothing but a white noise to sound in her ears. The rain was pelting down her face, making what was left of her eye makeup run. Tears poured down her cheeks as well, but they were more angry then frightened now.
"I don't think so" Dacian said in that same low whisper.
Sarah opened her mouth to say something else when all of a sudden there was a great spark of green light. She screamed instead and Dacian pulled her close to his chest so violently that Sarah wondered if he'd broken some of her ribs.
"I do think so" said a strangely familiar voice. Sarah wiggled to see who it was and felt so happy she wanted to die. A line of twelve men wearing grey cloaks and light blue breeches stood at attention. Their left hands were stretched outwards and a glittering crystal sat in each of their palms. At the front of it was Ilareo, looking both angry and relived.
Ilareo bounced a crystal in his hand. "Let her go Dacian"
"I am a Prince you swine!" Dacian roared. "Do not address me as if I am one of your common foot soldiers!"
"You are no longer a Prince" Ilareo said softly, "Your title has been revoked by the court of Calais and you are under arrest. Release Lady Sarah"
Dacian snarled and opened his mouth to snap something else but the farthest Fae in the line threw his crystal at him. Instead of Dacian's usual darkly lush mouth, there was now a riveted zipper that would not open no matter how Dacian tried.
Ilareo sent the soldier an amused look. "That will do, Sebastian" he turned back to Sarah and beckoned her with crooked fingers. "Come on now" he said softly and Sarah found that she appeared at his side an instant later.
She leaned against his grey cloak and felt herself swoon. Her last memory before fainting was of the King's royal guard advancing upon Dacian in the rain. Then she fainted.
*
Ilareo appeared with a very wet Sarah in his arms to her chambers at the Goblin Castle. The Court of Calais was currently in an uproar. It wasn't, after all, every day that the title was revoked of the only heir to a Kingdom. The Trolls were ecstatic, of course. The Nosferatu were livid. It was a mess and the High King and Queen were doing their best to sort it out without Jareth's help for now.
Gwendolyn and Jareth had been pacing the floor moments before. Gwendolyn biting her finger nails and worrying over her fiancé and her friend. Jareth simply furious that he wasn't allowed to go because of some law that did not allow members of the Royal Family to fight battles or otherwise jeopardize their safety. So for that he was reduced to pacing Sarah's bedroom with Gwen. It was not the most calming experience for his frazzled nerves. Ordering time had been simple enough; you can always go back quicker then forwards, so though he attributed his distress to that, it was not the reason.
Sarah was the reason.
When Ilareo appeared, carrying the thin girl in his arms Gwendolyn made a wailing sort of happy cry and nearly broke down crying. Jareth stood back for a moment and looked at Ilareo and then at Sarah. Her pale skin was glistening with rain and her dress was clinging to her small frame. She was missing a shoe too.
The Goblin King took a tentative step forward and touched her shoulder.
Ilareo sighed and pushed her into Jareth's arms. "She's just fainted, she's not dead"
"We know that!" Gwendolyn snapped, sounding distraught.
Jareth held Sarah at arms length, his mismatched eyes wide and full of something like trepidation while Ilareo pressed his hand to her forehead and mumbled a Greek word.
There was a moment when it looked like it hadn't worked, and then Sarah's green eyes slowly opened. When she saw Jareth she hugged him furiously around the neck, her wet body pressed firmly against him.
Gwendolyn stopped biting her nails long enough to share a look with her fiancé. He just shrugged, a knowing smile lighting up his face as he stepped away from the couple.
Sarah pulled away after a while and glanced at Gwen and Ilareo. She flushed, feeling both confused and embarrassed by the way they were looking at them.
"Er--- thank you" she managed to say "I just--- I need to talk to Jareth --- his highness for a moment" Sarah felt a bit like she might pass out. The last ten minutes had happened to quickly for it to register yet and Jareth's stony silence was not helping her much.
The Goblin King grasped her hand suddenly; his face was blank and his grip hard. Without saying a word he pulled Sarah into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind them.
Gwendolyn sighed. "That girl will be the death of us" she muttered
Ilareo put his arm around her waist. "I think it's over now" he said softly, planting a kiss on her brow.
"Oh no" Gwendolyn shook her head . "I think that this is only just starting"
*
AN: Actually I just needed somewhere to end the chapter, there'll be another in a bit. Thank you for all the lovely reviews, I'm more looking forward to writing the sequel now then I am writing the end of this. Which is probably a very dangerous thing. Hmm.
Remember to REVIEW
*
Strangely Divine: Chapter Twenty Six: The Royal Guard
*
Things were rapidly getting worse.
*
You can't explain how it is for Nosferatu to drink human blood. Better then sex, better then life, better then all the happy feelings one can feel in a lifetime bundled up into one moment. Sarah's blood was hot and wet on Dacian's lips. He didn't care if she died anymore. If he couldn't make her his queen then there was no point in her living. The Goblin King's stupid possessive magic would be the end of her.
He could feel her pulse dwindling under his hand and then a funny thing happened. Her heart started beating faster and Sarah sucked in a deep breath of air. Dacian felt a great weight hit him full in the chest and he sprawled off her and onto the floor.
He drew up to his full height, shouting Nosferatu curse words at her. What the hell was going on! Why couldn't he so much as drain her blood? Surely the crystal could not protect her that much.
Sarah sat up straight on the bed, her green eyes bright. Her throat felt like it had been ravished with a cattle prod and sticky rivulets of her own blood ran down her neck. For a moment, she wasn't sure what had happened and she was sure she would pass out or become sick again.
"What happened!" Dacian demanded, he had flown into a rage, he thwarted at the nearby bedside table and sent candlestick holders, newspapers, and a tissue box clattering to the floor.
Sarah blinked, consciousness hit her hard and fast "I didn't." she started
"You hit me, I am your king!" Dacian roared "You do not hit your king!"
"I didn't hit you" Sarah looked around and then down at her necklace. "I didn't---"
Dacian made an enraged sound and flung the light from the night table into a nearby wall. It had been their only light source and now the room was bathed in eerie darkness. Sarah could only hear Dacian's frustrated breathing on the other side of the room as he stalked about.
Fear was grabbing at her stomach and she still wasn't quite sure what had happened. The crystal was emitting a soft blue glow that was strangely encouraging. Sarah took one last look at the crystal and then hopped to her feet and ran for the door.
*
There was a stunned silence around the table once Emily had finished with her tale. Griffon had two cigarettes going at once now and was slurping down red wine with reckless abandon.
"You are joking, right?" he coughed into his hand.
Emily and Timothy glared at him. "Of course she isn't" Timothy said.
"You believe me?" Emily gave Timothy an incredulous look. "Why?"
"Well, besides having read Sarah's copy of the Labyrinth and hearing her drunken tales it somehow makes---- sense" he paused "In a very--- very nonsensical, unscientific, illogical way"
"Oh I know" Griffon chuckled, he still didn't quite believe Emily's story. "But of course, despite not making any sense at all, you're believing this rubbish"
Fiona came storming up to the table then, nearly knocking over a waiter carrying a tray of food. "I think Jareth's gone back to the Underground" she said quickly to Emily.
"Right" Griffon said slowly, as he knocked back the rest of his wine.
Fiona glared at him but continued. "He just went poof- and it sounds like Sarah's gone poof but in a bad didn't-mean-to-go-poof way"
"Oh that's the worst way to go poof" Griffon moaned sarcastically he blinked as all of his friends got up to leave. "Hey--- wait!" he shouted after them "You don't seriously believe this load of shite, do you?"
*
The room was very quiet; every breath one took seemed to eco off the stone walls. In the centre of the room Dolan and Gaeton stood with their palms together, whispering in low voices an ancient spell in the most ancient of languages.
Ilareo pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders and glanced at the Goblin King. It was strange seeing Jareth without all the pomp and glitter that he usually showcased himself in. While still extraordinarily handsome, he seemed more approachable, more personable. More--- more of the Jareth that Ilareo knew as a child. But at the moment, this Goblin King had his jaw set in such away that his friend was afraid he would break a tooth.
"You love her, don't you?" He hadn't meant it to sound so amused and condescending, but he couldn't help it.
"Shut up" Jareth snapped.
Ilareo grinned and tossed his curly hair. "You've loved her since you first laid eyes on her. That's what Gwen said, I think she's right"
"How nice for you" Jareth said snidely, his lips curling into a sneer. "Would you like a trip in the bog before your wedding night? I'm sure Gwen would appreciate that"
"Come on Jareth, you'd have to live with the smell too, not just her" Ilareo nudged him good-naturedly. "Whatever it is, stop being so thick about it"
Jareth opened his mouth to answer but Dolan and Gaeton suddenly separated, Dolan's face remained the grave countenance both brothers had shared during the seeing, but Gaeton's bubbled over with joy now. "We found her" he announced.
*
Sarah found the doorknob and couldn't believe her luck when it opened into a brightly lit hallway with pretty pink carpet and pictures of cats on the walls. She didn't bother to hesitate but shot down the hallway as fast as she could.
Dacian heard her leave the bed but didn't bother to turn around until she had opened the door. "Sarah!" he shouted, stunned at first that she had escaped. Then he ran after her with such preternatural speed that he almost became a blur.
Sarah opened the door at the end of the hallway and slammed it shut. Dacian hit it seconds later and the whole frame rattled. Sarah leaned against it and glanced around at this new room. It was a kitchen or some sort, a coffee pot was bubbling happily on the counter. She couldn't believe it. It was a bed and breakfast. She was at a B&B in the middle of England with a psychotic vampire. It was almost funny.
Dacian threw his weight against the door and the whole thing shook and cracked. Sarah sprinted through the kitchen and skidded on the 'welcome' mat and then she was outside on a cobble stone alley street. A tabby cat gave her a strange look as she ran by. A homeless man sat up when she found the sidewalk and ran past him.
Sarah wasn't sure where she was going, perhaps the McDonalds? She didn't know.
"Sarah!" Dacian stumbled up onto the street and watched her dark figure run down the dark street. His blood boiled at her reckless defiance. She was to be his Queen or she was to die. There would be no escape for her.
He ran after her, attempting to form a magic crystal that would bring her to him. A black ball the size of a quarter formed in his hand and Dacian tossed it triumphantly. It had no effect though and Sarah disappeared around a corner. The Nosferatu prince made an enraged sound, unable to believe this mortal girl was getting away from him.
At that moment cold English rain began to pour down from the sky. Sarah's hair stuck to her face in thick wet clumps but she didn't care. She was getting away. She was free. That was what mattered. Then her high heel got caught between a cobblestone and she fell forward, catching herself with her hands.
"Shit" Sarah sobbed. When had she started crying? Possibly back in that kitchen, her heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would flutter out of her chest. Every instinct told her to run, get away. Fight or Flight, it was definitely flight.
As she was stumbling to her feet, Sarah felt him grab her around her waist and whirl her around to face him. The rain did not do Dacian's good looks justice. He looked rather like a cat that had been left out to drown in the gutter. Black velvet *certainly* did not look good in the rain.
His grip on her wrist was crushing and Sarah tried to wriggle away. Dacian gritted his teeth before he brought his hand back and slapped her sharply across the face. "Do not defy me" he said in a low deadly voice she heard him use before. "You will die Sarah"
"Let go!" she screamed, her anger causing nothing but a white noise to sound in her ears. The rain was pelting down her face, making what was left of her eye makeup run. Tears poured down her cheeks as well, but they were more angry then frightened now.
"I don't think so" Dacian said in that same low whisper.
Sarah opened her mouth to say something else when all of a sudden there was a great spark of green light. She screamed instead and Dacian pulled her close to his chest so violently that Sarah wondered if he'd broken some of her ribs.
"I do think so" said a strangely familiar voice. Sarah wiggled to see who it was and felt so happy she wanted to die. A line of twelve men wearing grey cloaks and light blue breeches stood at attention. Their left hands were stretched outwards and a glittering crystal sat in each of their palms. At the front of it was Ilareo, looking both angry and relived.
Ilareo bounced a crystal in his hand. "Let her go Dacian"
"I am a Prince you swine!" Dacian roared. "Do not address me as if I am one of your common foot soldiers!"
"You are no longer a Prince" Ilareo said softly, "Your title has been revoked by the court of Calais and you are under arrest. Release Lady Sarah"
Dacian snarled and opened his mouth to snap something else but the farthest Fae in the line threw his crystal at him. Instead of Dacian's usual darkly lush mouth, there was now a riveted zipper that would not open no matter how Dacian tried.
Ilareo sent the soldier an amused look. "That will do, Sebastian" he turned back to Sarah and beckoned her with crooked fingers. "Come on now" he said softly and Sarah found that she appeared at his side an instant later.
She leaned against his grey cloak and felt herself swoon. Her last memory before fainting was of the King's royal guard advancing upon Dacian in the rain. Then she fainted.
*
Ilareo appeared with a very wet Sarah in his arms to her chambers at the Goblin Castle. The Court of Calais was currently in an uproar. It wasn't, after all, every day that the title was revoked of the only heir to a Kingdom. The Trolls were ecstatic, of course. The Nosferatu were livid. It was a mess and the High King and Queen were doing their best to sort it out without Jareth's help for now.
Gwendolyn and Jareth had been pacing the floor moments before. Gwendolyn biting her finger nails and worrying over her fiancé and her friend. Jareth simply furious that he wasn't allowed to go because of some law that did not allow members of the Royal Family to fight battles or otherwise jeopardize their safety. So for that he was reduced to pacing Sarah's bedroom with Gwen. It was not the most calming experience for his frazzled nerves. Ordering time had been simple enough; you can always go back quicker then forwards, so though he attributed his distress to that, it was not the reason.
Sarah was the reason.
When Ilareo appeared, carrying the thin girl in his arms Gwendolyn made a wailing sort of happy cry and nearly broke down crying. Jareth stood back for a moment and looked at Ilareo and then at Sarah. Her pale skin was glistening with rain and her dress was clinging to her small frame. She was missing a shoe too.
The Goblin King took a tentative step forward and touched her shoulder.
Ilareo sighed and pushed her into Jareth's arms. "She's just fainted, she's not dead"
"We know that!" Gwendolyn snapped, sounding distraught.
Jareth held Sarah at arms length, his mismatched eyes wide and full of something like trepidation while Ilareo pressed his hand to her forehead and mumbled a Greek word.
There was a moment when it looked like it hadn't worked, and then Sarah's green eyes slowly opened. When she saw Jareth she hugged him furiously around the neck, her wet body pressed firmly against him.
Gwendolyn stopped biting her nails long enough to share a look with her fiancé. He just shrugged, a knowing smile lighting up his face as he stepped away from the couple.
Sarah pulled away after a while and glanced at Gwen and Ilareo. She flushed, feeling both confused and embarrassed by the way they were looking at them.
"Er--- thank you" she managed to say "I just--- I need to talk to Jareth --- his highness for a moment" Sarah felt a bit like she might pass out. The last ten minutes had happened to quickly for it to register yet and Jareth's stony silence was not helping her much.
The Goblin King grasped her hand suddenly; his face was blank and his grip hard. Without saying a word he pulled Sarah into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind them.
Gwendolyn sighed. "That girl will be the death of us" she muttered
Ilareo put his arm around her waist. "I think it's over now" he said softly, planting a kiss on her brow.
"Oh no" Gwendolyn shook her head . "I think that this is only just starting"
*
AN: Actually I just needed somewhere to end the chapter, there'll be another in a bit. Thank you for all the lovely reviews, I'm more looking forward to writing the sequel now then I am writing the end of this. Which is probably a very dangerous thing. Hmm.
Remember to REVIEW