Underneath the Crystal Moon

a/n: I do not own Labyrinth.

Part Two: Damien

Chapter 5

Everyone was gathered in the dining room, the table specially extended for the occasion. Jareth sat at the head of the table, with Sarah on his right. Everyone took a seat, and Xen ended up between Phoenix and Eamon, across from Damien. Damien looked at her briefly before returning his gaze to the wine glass in his hand. He swirled the white wine in the crystal glass and stared at it expectantly. He looked beyond bored.

And to tell the truth, Damien was bored. The eighteen year old may have been a man with little to say about anyone or anything, but his thoughts ran constantly, holding their own little conversation behind the beautiful eyes he inherited from his father. The boredom came mainly from the fact that he liked being outdoors more than he liked being cooped up here in the castle. His mother had gotten a kick out of the fact that he would hide from her within the immense labyrinth as a child. She would seek him out after a space of time, and they would walk silently through the maze, listening to the sounds the creatures made and smiling at one another. His mother had never needed to hear him speak very many words, she knew him too well to think that words were necessary. He glanced at his mother then, a glass of juice in one hand and the other hand rested on her swollen belly. She was due very soon. She looked like she was ready to pop. He smiled inwardly and never betrayed it to anyone else. He had been extremely happy when Tanwen had arrived. She was a sweetheart. He had taught her how to ride, and had spent some hours with her inside the Labyrinth also.

She is growing up so quick. It will not be very many more years before men start vying for her hand, Damien thought.

The dryad was talking animatedly again, gesturing with her tiny hands as she told a tale to the queen about Xdrea. He caught the tale end of the tale.

"… and I told Xdrea she could not take the man home with her, for she already had waylaid two other men that same week!" Xen laughed and wiped tears from her eyes. Sarah was doing the same.

"When can I meet Xdrea?" Eamon asked lecherously. Xen elbowed him and he stuck his tongue out at her.

Those two get along well. Everyone gets along with Eamon. He is all lightness. It radiates from his pores. I am the opposite. I am dark. All my life I have been told I am darker than he, and even darker than Phoenix. People back off from me, and generally leave me alone. Why is that little dryad not afraid of me? I could snap her like a twig! Does she even realize it? She talks and talks like nothing ever bothers her. The only time I even saw her tense up was when I offered to heal her pain from riding.

Damien contemplated the dryad, sitting prettily with her red gold hair and the golden dress she had been provided with. She looked good in gold. He thought she looked better in that little dryad tunic she was accustomed to wearing. She had slim thighs, and nice calves. Her feet were little and always grass stained. Her arms were slender, and he wondered what she looked liked under the tunic.

What is the matter with you Damien? The girl is a queen, and you are working with her! You are supposed to be helping her, not undressing her with your eyes!

Sarah caught her son looking intently at Xen, and wanted to laugh.

Poor Damien. The boy does not know what to do with her. My children are so melodramatic. It is not like it would be a bad match. He is a prince, and she is a queen. Xen is going to have to revoke her kingdom's law against marriage. Her reign is too weak to not have a strong male presence. But I do not envy her the task. Not after what she has been through. She was lucky she lived through it.

Xen sat through the dinner, being a brave little trooper, even though she was exhausted and longed for sleep. When everyone started to make a move to retire she still lingered, not wanting to be ungrateful. Finally she could make her way to her room. The day after tomorrow would be Toby and Cara's wedding. But, in the morning Xen wanted to go out to the gardens and breathe the fresh air and find a nice tree to scamper up. So she accepted Eamon's offer to be escorted to her room, and stayed silent during the walk. Eamon talked enough for both of them. Normally she was talking as much as the crown prince, but she stayed silent out of exhaustion. Eamon was nice, but sometimes he was too nice for her tastes. She needed someone with a little acid on their tongue, someone who would fight back. Eamon would always be so accepting, and always so nice. Why would she want someone who would agree with whatever she wanted? Not that Eamon was a doormat, but he definitely was sensitive enough that he knew how to keep a girl happy. He was gorgeous, but she wanted someone who had enough bite to them that they would fight back against her sometimes overbearing personality.

Xen slipped in between the cool sheets, nude as always, and left her windows wide open. The cool air blew through the room gently. And she drifted slowly off to sleep.

She stood in the grove, wearing nothing but her own skin. Trees of all shapes and sizes swayed slightly with the gentle breeze, teasing her nipples to stiff points, and blowing her wild hair around her. She heard the sound of a twig breaking, and she turned around. Damien stood there, his hair down, his face wild with disbelief and wonder. They drank in the scars on her body, and the expanses of olive tinged skin. He wore black breeches and boots, but nothing else. He looked like he had just gotten up and had forgotten to get dressed all the way. He had never looked more beautiful to her. He always looked beautiful. So dark. So strong. She used to think the darkness in him would hurt the weakness in her, but now she knew his darkness would protect her, his darkness would embrace her. Only he could make it right. They stared at each other from only about five feet away, but to Xen it was too far. She needed to be as close to him as possible. She stepped forward….

Xen sat up in bed with a start.

"What was that about?" she asked herself. She unconsciously traced the scars underneath her round breasts before lying back down for a deep sleep. Nogrod stayed out of her dreams that night.