And, here is the next chapter. There are some time jumps, but I think you guys will be able to figure them out. I know this chapter is a little short, but it's leading up to a lot, so just be patient. And thanks again to all who review.
Chapter 15
Addoyn shook his head as he stared through the spot where just a moment ago Jareth vanished. Something was wrong; he was still slightly shaken by the force of that scream. It had been a woman's voice; a very terrified woman if the summon was any indication, and he found himself unusually worried. He did not usually care much for mortals, but he sensed this woman might be special; if nothing else, special to Jareth. Sighing, he straightened the chair and sauntered over to the window. He was patient; one did not live to be hundreds of years old by being impatient, so he would wait. Jareth would return when he saw fit. After all, he thought as he gazed down to the city below him, Jareth always did dance to a different tune. He smiled at that. He might have enjoyed the moment of silence longer, but someone was searching for him; he could feel his path being traced into his sanctuary, and he sighed. There was no doubt as to who it was.
Her scent assaulted his senses before she even arrived. Besides, her magic was strong and she did not wish to keep tight control it, and as such it permeated everything around her. Sometimes he thought she did that on purpose; merely to frighten those she sought. But she never frightened him; infuriated him, aggravated him, sickened him even, but never frightened him. "Stop with the theatrics, and just come forward." Was all he said as he placed his hands behind his back, straightened his posture, and spread his feet slightly; looking very much like the councilman he was.
The air was filled with a fluty laugh seconds before she emerged from the shadows. Her long blonde hair fell in waves down to the floor, her soft lilac dress hung to her curves, and her sharp facial features were upturned in a grin. Smiling, she flowed over to the High Councilman and joined his vigil. Her smile turned into a sneer as she followed his gaze. "Pathetic, aren't they?" she asked meaning the common people below.
He shook his head and moved away from her. Her scent was overpowering, and exotically arousing, and distance was much needed. "I saw your son today," he mentioned lightly and was rewarded when her sneer changed to a downright frown. Her green and brown eyes darkened for a moment before she lightened them and smiled, leaning her weight to one side and placing a hand on her hip.
"And how is my darling son?" Very little concern laced her voice and Addoyn shook his head in disgust.
"You do realize what you are doing to him, do you not Temnestra?"
She waved him off, "Yes, yes, of course." She replied absentmindedly as she pushed down a wrinkle in her dress. She was vaguely aware the councilman was staring at her, and she met his gaze; blinking innocently. "What?" She asked exasperated. Without warning, he advanced on her and backed her into a corner forcing her to push herself against the wall. If it hadn't been for the dangerous glint in his blue eyes she might have been excited, but as such she had the decency to look slightly worried.
For a moment, their eyes were locked. Nothing really needed to be said. Temnestra knew Addoyn's position on her treatment of her son, for she had heard it many times before. "You should be nicer to him, Temnestra, he loves you," he would say. Or "Do not push him away; he is the only one you have." But she rarely listened to his nonsense. Jareth was hers to do with as she pleased, that was a perk of being the mother. Haughtiness spread across her face and she turned her face defiantly. To her utter surprise, Addoyn grabbed her chin and forced her face forward causing her eyes to widen in shock. Rarely did anyone dare to get physical with her; save that rather embarrassing episode with her son earlier. She did not know how to react, so indignantly she allowed Addoyn's hands to remain grasping her face.
Addoyn smirked. "You are a horrible excuse for a mother, Temnestra." Her eyes hardened and Addoyn tightened his grasp, "You don't deserve him." His voice was so low, barely a whisper, but she heard. She heard and grew angry.
"Do not lecture me, Addoyn." Roughly she reclaimed her face from his hands. Her eyes flickered triumphantly as he cringed when she said his name. Not many knew it, not many dared to utter it, but she dared. Her chest began to rise and fall quickly in anticipation of a fight, but she calmed herself as he released her from the wall and stepped back, the dangerous glint in his eyes replaced with a new, sinister one; one she had not seen in a very long time. She turned from him, partially from shock, partially because it was a sign of disrespect, and her eyes happened to fall on the stacks of papers resting messily on the table. Slowly she returned her gaze to Addoyn, who matched her stare. A cruel smile spread upon her pink lips showing her pointed teeth and she walked over to the pile; pausing as she saw the topics. Again she faced Addoyn, who watched with a small amount of concern on his face. "What have we here, Addoyn?" she asked with deadly calm. He sighed as she reached for the topmost parchment; face hardening as her fingers lingered over the title. Quickly, he stepped in front of her and grasped the paper tightly; folding it gingerly and placing it in a pocket of his robes, earning him a sneer.
The room was silent; both councilors glared daggers towards the other. Though they agreed on many things, Jareth had been a sore subject for many, many years, and had been the subject of debate for many years as well. After all this time, Addoyn was helpless to force Temnestra to treat her son better, for in the Underground, the mother has nearly absolute rule over her offspring. As such, Jareth was hers. Addoyn knew it; Temnestra knew it; Jareth may be ignorant, but his understanding was never relevant to their arguments; arguments that never solved anything and always ended with a rather awkward truce. They stood, time froze, and suddenly they both smiled. Small smiles, but smiles nonetheless. The palace clock chimed and simultaneously they turned their heads towards the window. Nothing was going to change, not in this moment. Jareth was still going to be misused by Temnestra, and Addoyn would still disagree with the treatment; however, on this matter it was best to agree to disagree. He extended his arm out to her, and she accepted.
For many years they had worked together; creating a strong framework for the Underground. Treaties, tariffs, laws; all aspects of Underground life was touched by the council, and together they were a formidable team, and though it was quite often that they disagreed about Jareth, he was just such a small part of their world, and neither were able to discard hundreds of years of hard work for one problem. Flawlessly they have worked around the issue; skirting the hurt, and allowing it to fester unchecked, for the Underground was more important than their personal matters, more important than just Jareth, and for now, arm in arm, they had work to do.
Sarah awoke feeling very alone. The blankets were still wrapped tightly around her and she snuggled in their protective embrace. Hesitantly she glanced at her clock, and then to the window. It was nearly two in the afternoon, but the thick clouds and white snow cast a grayish tint across her world; a perpetual morning. Tomorrow she had school, but for now, she was glad it was a Sunday. A small smile appeared on her face and she sat up slowly. The normalcy of school would probably do her good. No possessed, out-to-kill-her child, no Goblin King with his empty expressions…her thoughts lingered there a moment. Jareth had come again. That pleased her, but also frightened her a little. She in no way believed she had him at beg and call, which brought forth a question. Why did Jareth come when she called? True, this last summon was an emergency, she shuttered as she remembered the panic, but pushed it down. He would not have left if she wasn't safe, right? She nodded to herself and resumed answering her own question. He answered her today because it was imperative, at least to her, that he do so, but what about the other night? Hadn't he even said he was busy? Biting her lip she allowed her eyes to roam around her room. What about the time she wished away Toby? Well, that was a stupid question, she had wished away Toby. But she hadn't really known he was going to be taken. A small thought occurred and she shivered despite the warmth of the blankets. Maybe she had.
When she was a child all she could talk about were the small creatures constantly following her, constantly talking to her; showing her things no other child could dream of. Her parents, her real mother and father, had grown so worried they had sent her to a doctor. At seven she was visiting a therapist due to hallucinations, and for most of her life she thought of them as such, but what if they weren't? Searching her memory, she could almost make out the thick skins, the pig noses, the dumb expressions…those had been goblins. Was that when she had first found the book? She nodded to herself again. That was when her mother and father were divorcing. So unhappy was she that she threw herself into the world, such a strong believer. Maybe that was why he had come…because deep down, she knew he was real, and she knew, even at fifteen, that if she called he would come, for she believed in him. She wrinkled her nose. That didn't make her a very good sister, did it?
A hushed voice outside her room caught her attention and she held her breath. She stayed still, even after recognizing Carol's quiet but clearly panicked voice. "I don't know," there was silence, and Sarah realized Carol was on the phone. "Look, you just need to come over here and examine her. I mean…she doesn't look like a one month old baby! Hell," her voice rose a little, "she looks like she's going on five! And her hair…doctor, her hair is touching the ground." There was silence again, "From the bed?" was Carol's next sardonic reply, and Sarah frowned. What was going on?
She unwrapped herself and blushed deeply as she saw her naked body. Had he…she couldn't think of it, she dashed out of her bed and sought out clothes; a blue sweater and a long wool skirt of burgundy. Because, she mentioned to herself, it was the middle of July and freezing outside. She ran a brush quickly through her hair and opened her door. Carol was pacing the hallway, the phone pressed to her face along with an angry expression. Shaking her head, Carol responded, "Fine, it can wait until tomorrow. Thanks Doctor," she said dejected and hung up the phone.
"Everything alright?" Sarah asked softly.
Carol nearly jumped out of her skin as Sarah's voice reached her ears. She spun towards her friend and hugged her tightly, a deep frown on her brow. "Of course everything's not alright! I was gone a few minutes, and when I get back there's a strange man, and I mean a very strange man hovering over you in the bathtub, you were blue, he knows you…"
Sarah backed away from Carol. "Ok, ok, calm down," she said as Carol's usually pale skin took a red tint.
"That's not all…you need to look at Deirdre." There was fear in her voice and Sarah held down the shudder. No need to increase Carol's fear of the child. Slowly she nodded and approached the room. It was dark, darker than it should have been for the window was open, the lights were on, but the light seemed to be sucked out of the room before it had a chance to fully brighten it.
Sarah looked back at Carol, "Is she down for a nap?" Carol nodded and Sarah allowed a breath of relief to pass her lips. She did not want to encounter Deirdre awake right now, not with knowing what she knew. The crib was just a few inches away, so she snuck into the room quietly and peered in. The cot was empty. At first she thought Jareth had taken her anyway, and she wasn't sure if that bothered her or pleased her, but she felt Carol's hand on her shoulder turning her towards the larger bed in the middle of the room. Sarah's breath caught her throat as she saw a little girl, a beautiful little girl at that, sleeping in the bed. Recoiling out of the room she stared wide eyed at Carol, "That's…that's…" she couldn't bring herself to finish. Carol just nodded and Sarah brought a hand to her head, rubbing her temples.
Damn, she thought, this complicates things.
Jareth was being called. He sat and rubbed Sarah's small hand once more before standing from the bed. It was a bloody inconvenient call too, but there was urgency behind it. His goblin's never called him for unnecessary reasons, for their king tended to be upset if he was called for the mundane and often one or more of the goblins were thrown into a wall or sent for a very unpleasant swim when such summons occurred. He let his eyes linger on Sarah's sleeping face a moment before he allowed his gloved hand to brush her cheek. She was very quiet asleep, probably the only time, he mused. Well, he thought placing his hands on his hips, what was he to do with her? It would be rather unwise, even down right stupid, to leave her with Deirdre in the next room without some form of protection other than that other mortal's presence. He began to pace, quick thoughts entering and exiting his mind. Finally, he settled on a simple, yet very effective, protection spell.
He leaned down next to her bed, and placed a hand on her shoulder, and placed another hand on top of her own and concentrated; allowing the words to flow from his mouth. The spell wove as he spoke, encircling her with a small glow, and he repeated the spell until he was satisfied it would do her some good. Standing and brushing his straight pants off, he transported to the Labyrinth.
The first thought was of the cold. It was absolutely freezing. The second thought was of the screaming voices at the castle doors begging and pleading entrance into the castle. Jareth closed the distance between the window and him in a single movement and peered out. The storm was getting worse. Not only was the air clouded over by thick patches of snow falling from the dark clouds, but shards of ice were now slicing through the air as well. Several pieces were inches long, and the goblin huts down in the city were no match for the icy daggers. Jareth watched in horror as shards demolished houses before his eyes. Many of the goblins themselves were being pelted and their bloodied bodies fell helpless to the ground, he could hear them whimpering even from his tower. He turned his sights to his Labyrinth, which was not faring much better. The icy rain was chipping pieces off the wall like it was butter. Jareth fought the urge to surrender, and instead he leaned on the floor. He was going to need as much strength as possible, and when sitting it was easier to concentrate. He could not really believe what he was about to attempt, but something needed to be done, his subjects were literally being destroyed.
He sat on the floor and rested his arms on his bent knees and closed his eyes. He allowed his senses to wonder through the Labyrinth, into every nook and cranny, and upon sensing a creature he captured it in a perfect crystal sphere. For hours he sat like that, concentrating on every single subject, and when he thought they were all safe in the crystal, he reached out and searched again. Satisfied, he pulled the crystal into the confines of the castle and placed his subjects into the great hall. He could hear them screaming out their loved one's names, screaming in pain, some screaming in relief, and he could hear the smarter ones trying to organize the crowd, sending goblins into different portions of the lower castle. They were safe there, all knew it, and their panic eased from Jareth's senses. That was small solace though. He listened from the floor as the rain and snow destroyed his world. Using the last traces of energy he had he pulled a very powerful shield over the castle, barely noticing the icy glint of his skin or the beads of sweat upon his brow before he closed his eyes and allowed exhaustion to sweep over him and encompass him in a warm, dark, embrace.
Bum bum bum! Well? Deirdre's getting powerful, ne? I should just kill that little twirp right now! What do you guys think of Addoyn and Temnestra? Well, gotta go, I'll try and get out another chapter soon.