Underneath the Crystal Moon
a/n: I do not own Labyrinth. Or the Beatles song mentioned beneath. Or The Beatles for that matter.
Part One: Phoenix
Chapter 7
Phoenix went out to the stables after spending the morning helping her mother decide on the decorations for the masquerade ball. They were making it a theme of animals. Everyone had to wear an animal mask. She was wearing the mask of a peahen. It was her mother's idea. Sarah would be wearing the mask of a female osprey. Jareth would be wearing the mask of a male osprey. Sarah's dress was snow white. It was off the shoulder, and has long flowing sleeves. The empire waist made room for her growing stomach. The gown was dotted with feathers. She was having Jareth make her a necklace made from large, black stones that would shine in the candlelight.
Phoenix's dress was something her mother designed. The gown was slender, clinging to her form, and made out of silver toned velvet. The bottom flared out just enough so that Phoenix would be able to dance comfortably. The neckline was a deep v, skimming the insides of her breasts, and ending right below her breastbone. The collar came up high, and caressed the sides of her neck. It flared out slightly at the top. The sleeves were slightly gathered to a point where they met the bodice, and were long, coming to a point on top of her hands. The neckline was trimmed with clear, shimmering stones. The collar was trimmed with sapphire blue feathers. The gown had a short train that could be held up with a small loop underneath the skirt. Phoenix thought her mother had outdone herself this time. The mask of the peahen was made from silver and white feathers, with touches of sapphire at the edges. Phoenix would also wear her tiara. It was made of silver. It was intricately fashioned, and shone with a single onyx set into the center. The rest of the tiara was sprinkled with rubies. She only wore it when the occasion warranted it.
"So, is Uncle Toby asking Cara to marry him, or has she already agreed and they are just going to announce it?" Phoenix asked her beautiful mother. Sarah paused in the act of writing something down for the decorator.
"He has not asked her. She knows he is going to, but he has not asked yet. He wants to ask her in front of everyone," Sarah told her daughter quietly, "Did you apologize to Aidan?"
"I offered him a truce," Phoenix said carefully. Sarah laughed. She was so like her father, always bargaining.
"I think I can handle it from here, dear. Go take Daemon out," Sarah urged her daughter. Phoenix needed no prompting to take her horse out for a ride. She dressed herself in her riding habit with a snap of her fingers, and walked out to the stables.
Aidan was brushing Daemon's mane when she came down the path to the stables. Daemon looked very happy to be brushed, and Aidan was talking to her horse in a very soft and low tone. Phoenix could not hear what he was saying to her horse. Aidan was wearing clothing identical to what she had put him in last night. He had slender, but strong legs, and his hair was shiny and thick. She cleared her throat to get his attention.
"You want him saddled?" Aidan asked her as he backed away from her horse.
"Yeah, I'm going to take him out for a very long ride. Poor thing hasn't gotten a good amount of exercise since you came here," Phoenix gave a fake pout as she stroked the horse's side. Aidan found his attention drawn to her lower lip, and he wanted to suck on it, kiss it. He shook his head and fetched her saddle. He was still getting the hang of it, but Phoenix helped him out. She launched herself onto Daemon and rode him off the castle grounds.
Aidan had been working hard all day. It was late in the afternoon when Sarah came out to see him.
"Queen Sarah, would you like me to saddle Clover?" Aidan asked her.
"No, no. I do not like to ride very much when I am this pregnant. Ophelia doesn't like it either," Sarah said as she patted her stomach.
"That's a pretty name," Aidan commented. Sarah nodded.
"Could you let her out into the pasture for a while though? She does need the exercise, don't you girl?" Sarah purred while petting the horse's head.
"Thank you for Hanyou," Aidan said to her, and Sarah smiled brightly.
"You're welcome. Listen, I have something I wanted to talk to you about. We are having a masquerade ball in about a month," Aidan nodded, "and it has an animal theme. I was wondering if you would like to go as a peacock. I have the mask made already, and I have designed the costume, so it would be no hassle for you"
"Thank you, Queen Sarah," Aidan told her.
"Sarah. Just Sarah. As with everyone else in this family, we all use familiar names when we are alone. But in public, you will always be required to call us by our titles. Speaking of which, you need court lessons. How about tomorrow afternoon? You can take a break from the horses and come see Jareth and I in his study. We need to teach you some things. And we will have to get Phoenix to help you learn how to dance. So many things to do, so little time," Sarah said.
"How you manage it I will never know," Aidan said humorously. Sarah turned to leave. Then she stopped.
"Eamon has a terrible tell. When he has a good hand he always shifts his feet a little. And Damien scratches his nose when he is bluffing. A bunch of amateurs they are," Sarah commented, reminding Aidan of tonight's poker game.
Aidan showed up at dinner wearing a black suit, since everyone was required to dress for dinner. Back in the Aboveground, he would be wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but here they all dressed at least semi-formally for dinner. There was talk of the decorations for the masquerade, and also talk of the Queen of the Trees. Her name was Xen. She had been found locked in the dungeon when Sarah and Jareth had ordered their goblins to scour the kingdom for any prisoners or survivors shortly after the birth of the triplets. She had been imprisoned there by the former queen Xandra, when she had been caught protesting the war against Sarah. She was also the highest ranking dryad in the kingdom. Jareth told Damien he would like him to go to the Tree kingdom shortly after the masquerade to help Xen set up her court and also help with the continued reorganization of her kingdom. There was pressure on her to produce an heir, and the tiny queen had no idea what to do about it. Damien just nodded, deep in thought. The middle of the three never said anything unless it was really important.
Shortly after dessert and coffee, Eamon, Damien, and Toby led Aidan to an average sized room whose entrance was hidden by a statue of an ugly goblin.
"This room is not used for anything, so we started using it for poker," Toby said quietly. Damien waved his hand and a round table, big enough for four people, showed up. Toby blinked and there were cards and betting chips on the table. Eamon gave Aidan a wink and made a cart full of liquor appear.
"Eamon, will we really be drinking that much?" Toby asked.
"It's Aidan's first poker game!" Eamon protested innocently. The oldest triplet was like a breath of fresh air. He was the light to his brother's dark. Everyone liked Eamon. He had an infectious smile and a sly twinkle to his emerald green eyes.
Damien rolled his eyes and sat down. Eamon went to the cart and started mixing different colored liquids. If poofed at one point and let off green smoke. Aidan looked at the drink with no small amount of dismay.
"You wouldn't try to kill me, right Eamon?" Aidan asked. Eamon let out a loud laugh.
"No, as long as you don't break Phoenix's heart. Then I would demolish you," Eamon said seriously. Then he gave Aidan a big smile and laughed. He handed the drink to Aidan. The rest of them got the same drink.
"To being Fae, which makes it to where we have to drink a lot of this stuff to get very drunk," Eamon said as he slammed down the glass of green drink, forgetting that there was one non-Fae sitting at their table. Aidan downed his and was surprised it tasted like honey and vanilla going down. Golden and sweet. Eamon poured them each another, and Damien started dealing the cards.
"Five card stud, joker's wild," Damien said as he looked at his cards.
They began to play, not being very serious, and enjoying the conversation. After his third drink, Aidan started to feel a little woozy.
"What's the name of this stuff, Eamon?" Aidan asked, his speech a little slurred.
"I have never given it a name. It's good though, huh?" Eamon told him. He watched as Aidan got up and walked to the cart, where a pitcher of the drink stood. Aidan poured himself another drink. He slammed it and had another. Only then did he sit down, with his eyes glazed over. Toby started to chuckle.
"Eamon, he's not Fae! He is more than likely extremely drunk!" Toby laughed. They showed no mercy and took Aidan for all he had, then they drank as much of the concoction that they could stand. Or not stand, by the way they started to stagger around the castle, singing a song Aidan had taught them a song by someone he called 'The Beatles'. They staggered through the castle halls singing:
"Well, shake it up, baby, now, (shake it up, baby)
Twist and shout. (twist and shout)
C'mon c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, baby, now, (come on baby)
Come on and work it on out. (work it on out)
Well, work it on out, honey. (work it on out)
You know you look so good. (look so good)
You know you got me goin', now, (got me goin')
Just like I knew you would. (like I knew you would)
Well, shake it up, baby, now, (shake it up, baby)
Twist and shout. (twist and shout)
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, baby, now, (come on baby)
Come on and work it on out. (work it on out)
You know you twist your little girl, (twist, little girl)
You know you twist so fine. (twist so fine)
Come on and twist a little closer, now, (twist a little closer)
And let me know that you're mine. (let me know you're mine)
Well, shake it up, baby, now, (shake it up, baby)
Twist and shout. (twist and shout)
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, baby, now, (come on baby)
Come on and work it on out. (work it on out)
You know you twist your little girl, (twist, little girl)
You know you twist so fine. (twist so fine)
Come on and twist a little closer, now, (twist a little closer)
And let me know that you're mine. (let me know you're mine)
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now. (shake it up baby)
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now. (shake it up baby)
Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now. (shake it up baby)"
They sang it over and over, staggering through the castle. Well, all of them but Damien. Damien just staggered with them.
"Damien does not sing," he muttered as he followed his fellow inebriates. Doors opened as they passed them. Servants looked out of their doors as they stumbled by, and giggled behind their hands. Finally they reached the wing where all their rooms were.
Jareth opened his door with a scowl, but then motioned for his wife to join him. Sarahwore a thick robe over her nightgown. She rolled her eyes and laughed.
"What have you been drinking?" Jareth asked calmly. They all stopped and swayed in place before Eamon actually fell down. They all laughed uproariously.
"Just this drink I made up, I do not know what to call it though," Eamon said as he used the wall to get up, "I have not been this drunk in forever! Or ever!"
"Told you that you should not have finished mine! That's why you are more drunker than me!" Toby yelled. Another door opened and out stepped Phoenix, wearing a black nightgown with a robe over it. Her scowl eerily matched the one Jareth had been wearing only moments before.
"There she is! There's my little sister!" Eamon yelled and stumbled towards her. He looped his arms around her neck and kissed her cheek before pointing haphazardly at Aidan, "See that guy? That guy has been talking about you all night, but don't you worry, I told him I would kill him if he hurt you"
"Hey, you brought it up first!" Aidan yelled, and stumbled after Eamon. He stopped in front of Phoenix and swayed on his feet. Her face was just the littlest bit blurry, but so pretty anyways. He started to feel like he was going to pass out, so he said the only thing that came to his drunken mind: "You're so beautiful"
Phoenix watched as Aidan fell, face-first, into the floor. She didn't even have time to consider what he had said to her because just then Eamon let go of her and sank to the floor, dead asleep. Damien and Toby were laughing their heads off.
"Jareth, help Eamon to bed. I will get Damien and Toby to their rooms. Phoenix, help Aidan to his room, since it is right here," Sarah ordered. As always they obeyed her. Phoenix looked at Aidan in amusement. It was hard to be mad at him. He had called her beautiful. Her brothers should have known he would not be able to drink too much. She used her magic to levitate him off the ground, and floated him to his bed. She looked at him intently, and he was out of his clothes, and into black pajama bottoms. She used magic to make him sit up, and then she grabbed a brush out of thin air. She brushed his hair, noting how soft it was. She felt like she could look at him like this, really look at him. No one was watching her now. Every detail of his face was as she had imagined it. The long, black lashes on his eyes, the shape of his sensuous mouth, the broken nose. He really was beautiful. His chest was bare, but there was the littlest bit of hair on it, making her want to stroke it. His nipples were brown and flat. His pectorals were defined. His belly was taut, with nicely toned abdominal muscles. The pajama pants had ridden down so that they were snug on his hips, and she could see the defining lines of his pelvic bone as it went down and disappeared beneath the waistband. Could a man like Aidan love her? Most men feared the fire within her. She made herself look away. She covered him up and blew out all the candles.
Sarah sat in her room with her husband, still laughing about the spectacle. She called in a crystal and willed it to see her daughter. Her daughter was sitting on Aidan's bed, looking at him intently as he slept. Sarah saw her daughter reach out to his face, and saw her almost touch his lips, and then almost touch his chest. She was so obstinate. Sarah was sure that her matchmaking would pay off eventually. After all, they were meant to be together. As Phoenix stood and blew out the candles, Sarah dismissed the crystal.
"Jareth dear? Have you ever been that drunk?" Sarah asked.
"My dear, could you ever see me so drunk?" Jareth countered.
"I guess not," Sarah laughed at herself and joined her husband in bed.
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Aidan woke up in the morning and winced as he opened his eyes. They felt almost glued shut.
"What the hell happened?" he asked himself. He heard a knock and then his door opened. He could not get his eyes to open enough to see who it was. He just pulled his blankets over his head and moaned. Then, the covers got ripped away, and someone threw cold water at his face.
"Get up. I am going to show you how to jump your horse today," Phoenix said. Aidan moaned. Phoenix produced a glass with amber colored liquid in it. Aidan took it and downed it, and the hangover disappeared. He looked at the beautiful, but spiteful, princess.
"Thanks," he told her. She started towards the door. As she turned the doorknob she threw a look at him over her shoulder.
"You've got ten minutes shithead," Phoenix said affectionately before she walked out the door. The girl puzzled Aidan, and he loved a good puzzle.