A Prophecy Speaks
a/n: I do not own labyrinth.
Chapter 22 –or- Homecoming
Jareth had missed Sarah desperately. He missed her kisses, her smell, just the feel of her in his arms. He hoped everything had gone well in his absence. It must have, because as he stood just within the border of his lands, everything looked fine.
The meeting of the kingdoms had yielded no new information. The general consensus was that they would wait until after the wedding to make any moves against Nogrod the Usurper. It was very frustrating.
Sarah felt Jareth enter the kingdom and change into his owl form. He was flying straight for the castle. She wondered what he would think of the flowers she had planted in the courtyard. The place definitely needed more flowers.
Jareth walked into the castle, past the bowing guards and the scurrying maids. He knew that Sarah would be in audience room this time of day. He steered himself that way.
As he rounded the corner he stopped short. Sarah was holding a baby, while listening to the kitchen mistress talk about wanting more garden space.
"Larna, take as much land as you need for your kitchen garden. We do need to eat, after all. You may go now." Sarah dismissed her. Larna curtsied.
"Well now, who is this?" Jareth asked of the baby in her arms.
"This is Aaron. I adopted him," Sarah told him.
"What? Could I talk to you in private?" he asked her.
Sarah handed Aaron to Toby. She followed Jareth into the next room.
"Don't you think that you should have discussed this with me?" Jareth asked her.
"That little boy got wished away by his own mother, Jareth. She was a junky living in squalor. Aaron was malnourished and abused. He had bruises on him." Sarah told him.
"Sweetheart, we cannot keep every child that is not wanted. If we did this whole castle would be filled with kids," Jareth told her softly.
"I know. But Aaron is special. I am not asking for him to have any special treatment. He cannot be a Prince like Toby. But we can educate him and raise him, and in time we can employ him. He will make a good employee, given time," Sarah cajolled him.
"And I suppose that this has nothing to do with you loving kids in general, hmmm?" Jareth asked her teasingly.
"Stop that!" Sarah chided him.
With the matter decided, they walked back to the audience chamber, where Toby was keeping Aaron busy.
"Toby, have you behaved while I was gone?" Jareth asked the boy.
"Yeah. I don't like my tutor" Toby told him.
"Why?" Jareth asked him.
"He is a stuffy goblin. Boring," Toby told him.
"Ah, but hearing about goblins and fairies and various other creatures is a lot more fun than, say, learning about math, right?" Jareth asked him.
Toby nodded and gave him a hug.
Queen Xandra walked into the room and inclined her chin at Jareth.
"Ah, you are back. I am glad. I need to get back to my trees. These three have been a handful,"Xandra told him.
"You will be back in time for the wedding, Xandra?" Sarah asked her.
"Yes, my child. I would not miss it. I will be gone within the hour." Xandra told them as she left the room.
"I'm going to miss her," Sarah sighed.
Jareth looked around and noticed what his bride had done while he was gone. The stone floors and walls were scrubbed clean. There were white rugs scattered throughout the room. She had replaced the chairs they had been sitting in while they received guests with two blackwood chairs that looked very similar to their thrones. There were new sconces and candelabras all over the place. The place was clean and neutral. He nodded in approval.
Sarah grabbed up Aaron and brought him to Jareth.
"Aaron, this is King Jareth," Sarah said very seriously to the little boy. Aaron blew a raspberry. Aaron's fingers touched Jareth's hair and he spoke a babble of noises.
"What a sweet boy," Jareth murmured.
Sarah gave him a warm and rich kiss. He wanted more of that.
"Agee? Come and take Aaron please?" Sarah told her maid. Agee came and took the baby.
"Toby, have you done your homework?" Sarah asked him.
"No. I guess that means I have to go do it now," Toby sighed and headed for his bedroom.
"Alone at last," Jareth said as swept Sarah up in his arms. He kissed her with a great passion, and slipped his tongue inside her mouth to taste her sweetness. She breathed life into him. He hated being away from her. When they were married he could remove her clothes and taste other parts of her. He loved that idea. Several minutes later he finally set her down.
"Core? Please have our lunches sent to the garden gazebo." Sarah asked as she led Jareth out of the castle and into the garden. Sarah had become every inch the Queen he had thought she would be, and it warmed his heart.
They sat down on a blanket inside the gazebo. Sarah leaned back against him and spoke.
"What did you find out?" Sarah asked him.
"Nothing. No news and no movements from Nogrod's camp. They are waiting for something," he told her.
"The wedding. They must be waiting until after the wedding. They did not succeed in stopping it, so they will try afterwards," Sarah assumed.
"That's the general consensus," Jareth admitted.
Their lunch appeared before them. As they ate, Sarah told him about her call to go get Aaron and of the girl who accepted her dreams instead. Jareth told her about the rest of his visit. After a few minutes of silence, Sarah looked at Jareth wickedly.
"Only a month…and I get to see what you look like naked. I wonder if you look like what I have dreamed about?" Sarah mused. Jareth nearly spit out his wine. Sarah let out a twinkling laugh.
"Yes, and only a month until I get to kiss you in more places than you care to admit," Jareth joked with her. She smiled.
"How quickly will war pull you away from me?"Sarah asked quietly.
"I do not know yet, my love," Jareth told her.
Sarah wanted to cry. The Queen in her knew there were no other options. But the woman in love wished there were another way. Jareth and Sarah laid there until their duties called them back to reality.
a/n: The next update will be a big one I am hoping, depending on how far I get. I am on chapter 34, and I am uploading so as not to rush myself. If anyone has any tips on writing battle scenes I would appreciate it. I am not that experienced at it.