Chapter 34: Equine Jealousy
Sarah sighed his name, and his arms tightened around her. "Oh, Sarah," he whispered, his voice hoarse.
She opened her eyes. Jareth was back, in his white ruffled shirt and neatly-tied hair. His eyes twinkled as he asked her, "Did you enjoy yourself with my alter-ego?"
Sarah grinned guiltily. "Jareth, if you only knew how weird it is to be involved with someone who has multiple personality disorder…" she shook her head.
He smiled. She tried to get off his lap, but he held her there. "In my case, though, it is not a disorder. It is the natural order." He brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and went on. "Don't you have different 'faces' that you show the world? I already know that 'Sarah the student' is quite a different person from 'Sarah the protective big sister.' This is the same idea, except that the magic added to the mix makes the dichotomy that much more pronounced. You just saw my 'public face,' if you will."
"And now I'm seeing your private one?" Sarah asked softly, tracing the arch of his eyebrow with gentle fingers.
He nodded slowly, and brought her face down to kiss again. This time it was achingly tender, and Sarah felt her heart melting. She threaded her fingers into his blond mane and held him even closer as the kiss deepened. She felt as if she were drowning in him, and she didn't even care.
Who knows how long this might have gone on, if Jareth's mare hadn't decided to come over and nose her way in. Sarah watched in bewilderment as Jareth had what appeared to be a rational conversation with the horse.
"Janna, my darling, jealousy does not become you," he told her sternly.
Janna snorted.
Jareth went on. "Whatever Sarah and I do together is no concern of yours… and if I were you, I'd mend my attitude. Just in case she does accept me, she'll be your queen. As it is, she's already my guest and you must respect her as such."
The mare tossed her head and looked away.
Jareth sighed. "Janna, you know it's not like that. Of course I still like you. Even if I marry her, I'll still go for rides with you. I promise."
Janna swung her head back over and curled her lip. Jareth scowled. "Dover told you that, did he? Well, next time I'd listen to Dover if I were you. He knows Sarah far better than you do. Off you go, now, and tell him I said so." Janna nickered and trotted back over to her companion.
"How do you understand what she is saying?" Sarah asked in wonder (tinged with a bit of skepticism—was Jareth having her on?).
"Magic, mostly. It has an effect on animals, making them much more intelligent than in your world. With horses, because they are far, far-distant cousins to the unicorns, there is an element of telepathy as well."
"So you're hearing her thoughts, then?"
"More feelings than thoughts, but yes. And she's not that subtle; you could probably figure out what she was saying even without any magic or telepathy."
"I could, in fact. Should I be jealous?" Sarah teased.
Jareth let out a short burst of laughter, and then glared at the horses. "Well?" he demanded. On cue, they both tossed their heads and whinnied as he laughed again. Still grinning as the horses calmed, he told Sarah, "See how laughable it is, to be jealous of a horse? Even they think it's funny."
Sarah couldn't keep a straight face at such nerve and egotism, and burst out laughing herself. "You made them do that!"
He shrugged gracefully,stood up and stretched. Sarah eyed his lean body as he did so, and then looked away and blushed. If she did end up married to him, she was beginning to think that the consummation part of it certainly wouldn't be a chore. The man had the body of a dancer: muscular, slender, flexible, and strong. Just looking at him made Sarah's heartbeat speed up.
He held down a hand to help her up. "Come, we should be getting back." He glanced over to the horses. "Janna! Dover! Time to go."
They trotted over and Sarah laughed delightedly as Dover nuzzled her. "What a sweetie!" she exclaimed, scratching him under the chin. She glanced up at Jareth, charmed. "Will I be able to understand him, the way you do Janna?" she asked.
Jareth's heart leapt. She hadn't added the caveat if I marry you. "Certainly," he answered. "It may take you a while to establish a similar rapport—Janna and I have been through a lot together. Haven't we, girl?" he asked the mare affectionately.
Janna rolled her eyes and blew out sharply through her nostrils. It was as if she were saying, "I'll say!"
Jareth and Sarah both laughed. Sarah put her arms around Dover's neck and hugged him, saying, "I look forward to getting to know you, then, Dover."
A/N: I have to admit, after I'd already named that sweet grey gelding, I watched "My Fair Lady" and when I was uploading this all I could think of was Eliza's lusty shout of "Dover, move your bloomin' arse!" Got a fit of the giggles imaging Sarah saying that. Especially the Sarah in this story; she's definitely a bit prim for that sort of language! Eariwen, welcome back! This was actually the "jealous of a horse" chapter that I'd been talking about -- I wrote it the same night I emailed you. Glad things'll be slowing down a bit for you. Think I've got this in the homestretch now (why am I using horsey metaphors now?) -- another week ought to finish it off. Thanks, everyone, for your patience.
R&R (read and review), if you please. Thanks.