A Prophecy Speaks
a/n: I do not own labyrinth. Harrietta Potter – I know you can't wait. It is in chapter 24. I think. Thanks for reviewing!
And I think an explanation is in order. Someone recently commented that Sarah was a bit too "royal", so here is what I said in response: "to me sarah always seemed royal. in the movie i interpreted it as she had been playing a royal for so long in her plays and stories that she kinda had that built into her. a sort of haughty and cold nature that would lend itself to easily slipping into a royal mode. in my story she has retained that bit of self, as well as being thrust into a situation. The best rulers are those who are not born into it, rather thrust into it. They have no training, but great instinct." – so there is the explanation. Also, the 3 months between the coronation and the wedding goes by really fast, only 2 chapters. They are having to wait the three months because it take a long time to put together a royal wedding and get everyone there that needs to be there. Even three months is rushing it. See below for more.
Chapter 21 –or- Queen Sarah
Sarah still was not used to it. Everyone was bowing, even her friends. It was worse now that Jareth was gone on his trip. Only Toby did not bow, and that was only because he was eleven and did not realize he was supposed to. She had been taking crash courses in magic and statecraft since she had brought Toby here.
All the nobles had left not long after the ceremonies, except Queen Xandra, who had stayed on to help Sarah out. Her advice had been invaluable.
Sarah had learned a lot. History, art of war, strategy, politics. It was a lot to absorb. Toby had sat in on a lot of her lessons. They were finding a tutor for him. He needed to continue lessons. They had also learned diplomacy skills and all about native foods. She had finally learned about the dishes she had been eating and the wines she had been drinking.
Sarah learned she was only the second mortal to be turned Fae. No one could remember the first one. Her name had been lost to time. She had fallen in love with an immortal, and he had somehow managed to have her turned Fae. The instructors wished they had the knowledge.
Sarah learned of all the kingdoms and their leaders. The Tree kingdom was Xandra's. She was not allowed to marry, but she was allowed to mate to propogate the species. Her lands were not far from the Goblin City, just on the western border. The Mer Lands were just north of their border, and the Ice Lands were just north of that. The Dragon Lands were south of the labyrinth, and sat between them and the Dwarf Kingdom. The elves lived in the meadows and groves west of Xandra's lands. The assorted other creatures lived under committee rule in The Woods, on the labyrinth's eastern border. There were more lands, across the seas, but they were of no importance to the Underground.
It was expected that everyone, excepting the dwarves, would be at Jareth and Sarah's wedding.
And the dwarves are the reason her Jareth had gone to the Woods. The assorted nobles gathered there were there to discuss the dwarves, and what to do and Nogrod, their evil King.
They called him Nogrod the Usurper. Ten years ago they had a good king named King Gabigathol. Nogrod was his nephew, and very mad indeed. He was power hungry, and sought to rule. King Gabigathol had no heir, and Nogrod knew that his uncle would not choose him to succeed the throne. He was right. Gabigathol had intended on choosing his cousin, Sarg, to become King, as was his right under their laws.
Nogrod was determined, and had Gabigathol poisoned. He became quite ill, though no one could pinpoint the cause. While Gabigathol was sick, Nogrod started giving speeches about a sacred text he had twisted to his own ends. Some people listened, and fell in behind Nogrod. Enough people fell in line that Nogrod was able to usurp the throne. They marched on Belegrat and he killed Gabigathol while he slept. He sat on the throne and had a renegade priest crown him. He had held the post for the last ten years. All the time since had been spent on trying to gain a foothold in the other kingdoms. He wanted to rule the Underworld.
They were sure Nogrod was behind the attempt on her life. They were no closer to finding out how the dwarf got in either. She knew Jareth had tried everything. But everyone was aware that, except Hoggle, there had been no dwarf in the castle for over ten years.
Sarah pushed her dinner away from her and finished her wine. She missed Jareth. He had already been gone two weeks.
Sarah had abandoned her court dresses after the guests had left. She generally garbed herself in forest green silk. The dress was like a slip, with spaghetti straps and a scoop neckline. The dress fell into folds at her calves. She wore golden slippers on her feet. She was never without her ribbons (they were green today). She left her hair down and wore the circlet of the Goblin Queen on her head. It was not heavy, thank goodness.
Agee came into the room to turn down the bed for Her Majesty.
"Is His Highness in bed?" she asked Agee. Agee nodded.
"It's okay, Agee, you can take your leave now," Sarah dismissed her maid with a wave of her hand.
Sarah called in her design of Jareth's wedding costume. She was sure he would look stunning and regal in it. It was a long black coat with silver embroidery. It had a very high collar. The black pants were soft, and the white shirt elegant. They had decided to defy convention and not wear their robes.
Sarah had been a bad girl once night and peeked into the Goblin King's dreams. Just a peek into his mind revealed her in a dress. It made her smile. How long had the Goblin King had that dream?
Jareth's dream dress for their wedding was hanging on a mannequin behind a screen. It was just as Jareth had dreamed except that the royal robe had been replaced by a long, sheer robe she had commissioned. It was made of chiffon and had a very deep, cowled hood. She would wear her formal crown, and the cape would cover the crown and most of her face, in a semblance of a veil.
Sarah had wanted to have some elements of a mortal wedding. Toby would carry the rings down the aisle. They were going to surprise him with his crown right before the wedding. It was made of plain gold, but was very nice. That had been Jareth's idea. Sarah had only asked him for one thing. She wanted red roses like she could have picked out at a mortal florist shop. He came to her not soon after that with a bouquet of red roses that looked like they were touched by morning dew. He made them out of crystal so that they would never die. Sarah had cried when she saw them, and he had kissed her and soothed her. His thoughtfulness never failed to amaze her.
Sarah heard a murmuring just then, and then an invocation of Jareth's personage. She had yet to be called for Jareths duties, but she knew this day would come. Jareth could not answer a summons from inside his own borders. She concentrated on the signal and flowed into her owl form. She flew out her balcony and into the night.
Sarah found herself in the mortal world on the patio of a trashy apartment. A blonde girl of about nineteen years stared in shock as Sarah turned back into her Fae form.
"Who are you?" the girl asked abruptly.
"Why Petra, I'm the Goblin Queen," Sarah told her.
"Bring back Aaron," the girl said.
"But you wished the goblins to take him away, and so they did," Sarah told her.
"Give him back. The cops will think I did something with him," Petra sneered.
"Forget about him. I can offer you your dreams", Sarah said as Petra's dreams appeared in a sphere before her. Petra stared.
"What about Aaron?" Petra asked as she was hypnotized by the sphere.
"You will forget, everyone will forget," Sarah told her. Sarah watched with disbelief as the girl nodded her head and started to reach for the crystal. Sarah let the girl take it before she changed back into her owl form and flew back to the Underground.
Once back in the castle Sarah walked to the audience room. On a set of pillows sat the child, a little cherub of a boy. It looked like he had not eaten for a while, and he had bruises on him in various places. Sarah smiled benevolently at him. She had rescued this one. His mother had not been too clean and did not even deserve her dreams, but those were the rules. The boy was about the same age Toby was when he was taken. His eyes were red from crying. Sarah felt for the boy. He obviously had been born to someone who had not cared for him.
She picked him up and carried him to her rooms. Despite Agee's protests that Her Majesty should not lower herself to bathing a child, Sarah changed herself into jeans and an old t-shirt she had hidden in her wardrobe. She drew the baby a bath. Aaron even giggled as she washed the dirt and memories from the boy. She healed the bruises. She kept his first name, but erased his last. Once he was bathed Sarah dressed him in a warm sleeper that she conjured. It matched his pretty eyes . She used a sphere to create a white crib with warm blankets.
"Agee, would you turn the covers down on His Majesty's bed? I will be sleeping there tonight." Sarah told her maid. Agee curtsied and left the room.
Sarah sat down in a conjured rocking chair with a sleepy Aaron in her lap. A sphere appeared in her hand and played a soft lullabye. As she rocked and listened, little Aaron fell asleep.
a/n: Morrigana – yeah, poor Karen indeed. Cancer is never pretty, but when it takes someone so suddenly there is little room for anything but pain. Here's your update, glad you like the story. And jumping-jo, thanks for another review. A month is a long time. But as you can see, anything can happen. I recently was notified that Toby says nothing of missing anyone or anything from Aboveground. I never even noticed that I did not put anything about that. When I write I see the scenes and hear the character's voices in my head. I see Toby as the same type of dreamer Sarah was, and that he did not have any friends in Europe. But FinalFantasyFangirl was right, he should have been missing someone. Since this is my first fanfic I am very grateful for the constructive criticsm. I will try to do better next time I promise, I am already working on the next story. Also, this story is being edited by my sister. I am posting before she edits them. I will be coming back and reposting the chapters when they are edited. I have done this with the first 15 chapters so far.