A/N- The regular disclaimer.
...words are binding...
The dress was made of white silk and studded with tiny pearls, as if all the stars that danced in the too-clear skies of the Underground had fallen, only to be gathered and sewn to the full cascading skirts of her dress. The neckline was low, but not too low, the elegant plunge that exposed her neck and shoulders halting before it crept close to the tight swell of her bodice, suggesting but not stating, subtly intriguing but not brusque. Each step closer to the alter made her skirts whisper, a low murmur of sophistication.
A lace veil hung over her face, white flowers with delicate vines, Sarah hoped that it obscured her face as much as it hid the rest of the room, though from the silence she could have been the only one there. Just the low reverberating notes of the organ and her own thundering heart. Her feet moved slowly, almost as if she hadn't given them permission to move, but nothing like the paralyzing control of the binding. No, she was making them move, though her mind was screaming out to turn tail and run, her feet continued their ever-shortening journey down the stone path of the aisle.
It was a chapel- a cathedral, the light dim, wavering between reality and fantasy. The slow notes of the organ were eerie, drawn out in the dead silence of the vaulted ceiling, lingering in the air. But no more came, the last notes of the song finished, even before she was, fading from the air to leave her to the silence. The thundering of her heart.
Oh God. I can't do this. Her eyes, fixated just in front of her feet, locked on the flat dark stone of the floor hit a step. Stone steps that led up, to the alter, steps that drew her gaze up helplessly onto a pair of gleaming boots, and then higher, up, up to the face of the Goblin King. No- I can't- Oh God-
He wasn't smiling, not even a glimmer of the self-satisfied smirk that had been constantly on his face. Neither did he appear nervous, his eyes fixated on her, it was as if he could not move, frozen the moment her gaze had turned up to his. But it was the look in those eyes, it was the look in those eyes that made Sarah's feet start trying to go backwards.
The absolute need in those eyes.
Run away.
But she couldn't, the minute she tried to step backwards she could feel the binding start to wake, dormant but not active until that point. Pushing her forwards, forcing her foot onto the step. Sarah tried to open her mouth, tried to scream, felt the terror rushing up, terror at being trapped, captured, bound, tried to cry out- but she couldn't. Couldn't open her mouth to scream, couldn't do anything but stare into the mismatched eyes and feel herself begin to burn with the need that was in them. Couldn't do anything but feel herself scream, again and again, inside her own head.
The need in those eyes. She felt herself begin to be consumed. I lost something… Losing herself. The world spiraled and was gone.
Sarah woke in the dark, in a cold sweat that left her shivering even as she pushed off the suffocating covers that held her still. Ten minutes later she still couldn't open her mouth.
...words are binding... Three Months…
The hour before dawn, when the sun has not yet peeked above the horizon, and the warm arms of light reached out shining to give life to the world. The cold hour of grey half-light, stirring the air, as cold as night, but lacking the softness darkness brings. Half-light, illumination with no warmth, truth with no compassion. And Sarah shivered. How long she had been awake- she wasn't sure, restless slumber giving way to waking dreams and fading back, until now the morning grey seeping through her window she lay silent on her bed.
The long shadows that clung to her room parted before the thin shafts of creeping white, like the cool hand of Frost, inching closer to caress her bare legs. Quickly she curled them in, stiff sheets whispering at the movements, quieting as she stilled, knees hugged into her chest. Falling back into that death quiet, the silence before life has begun. Sarah had not recognized the silence until she disturbed it.
She closed her eyes, as always, the dream was waiting, lingering at the back of her mind. Weak now, bleached in coming dawn, fading next to the precision of her room. The gasping terror that had seized her was gone, leaving an ache in her chest, a tight pain that she almost could forget. Almost. Sarah hugged her knees closer.
It was always the same, the same dream, ever since that night, barely a week gone by. Sarah no longer could define it as anything but that night, and count the days it marked, or rather, the nights. By day it was different, in the light of day, she could breathe, she could speak, fight, laugh even. Sometimes. And as the sun disappeared, she almost did not notice, did not want to notice. She talked with him, like as not, fought with him, sometimes she even forgot it was merely a gilded cage, that she was bound by the foolishness of her own words.
But at night, when she finally surrendered herself to sleep, the dream came. The screams were left, unborn in her throat, constricting her, leaving her gasping for air. Yet, at night it was easier. The dream was so close, so real, it was easy to let the terror lull her rational mind, easy to surrender to the passion that darkness offered. Easy to escape.
It was the harsh truth of half-light that Sarah feared the most. Alone, truth without compassion, it was so difficult to face. She wanted to be held, to be told that it was alright, comforted. It was now that she thought of her family, how they thought of her, if they thought of her. She wanted her father, she wanted Toby.
She wanted her mother.
Sarah hugged herself closer, biting her lip. She was too young. She was too young to be this old. Mum- The tears were warm on her face.
...words are binding... Three Months…
"Sarah."
"Mghoway"
"Sarah-"
" 'Gway" She pulled the pillow tighter over her head.
"Sarah- Open your eyes this instant." Sarah tried to ignore the voice that had been pestering her for the last ten minutes. He was worse than a bloody alarm clock- at least they had a snooze function. "… I did warn you."
Suddenly Sarah wasn't curled up comfortably in a warm, downy blanket. She hit the floor with a thump, half-lidded eyes glaring up at the intruder to her room. Wait, what the bloody hell was he doing in her room? Her sleep-studded eyes did not want to open anymore than they already were, but the glare she managed was enough to make him back up a step. "What the hell are you doing in my room?"
He answered with a smirk that was quickly submerged under a blaze of light as the curtains she had managed to close before falling asleep once more were flicked open, letting in the scorching Underground sun. Sarah made a choking noise and stood up, flinging the pillow she still clutched at him and diving for the curtains.
"Getting you up, a task that apparently you can't seem to manage on your own." Jareth flicked his eyes over Sarah, appreciating the disgruntled-irate glares she sent him, her hair in a chaotic swarm about her face. Was it just him or did her eyes seem redder, bloodshot? "Haven't you been sleeping well?"
Sarah glared, turning away from him to stalk to the wardrobe, "It's none of your business, Goblin. Now leave." Jareth chuckled, that low deep laugh that froze her where she stood, sorting through the glowing fabrics. That laugh. He came closer to her, the sound of his footsteps behind her familiar, a painful anticipation that suddenly seemed to swell in her stomach. His hand brushed close to her neck, hovering over the hectic tangle of her hair, not even touching her skin, but she could feel him with every nerve in her body.
"As my lady wishes." Soft, slow words in her ear, drawn out deliberately. Gods she wanted- she wanted- she didn't know what she wanted! "Breakfast shall be waiting in the courtyard for you. As shall I." And he was gone. Sarah's breath shuddered out. She hated him. Still, her pace quickened as she headed for the bathroom, dress in hand- why she was hurrying?
Sarah closed her eyes. There were a thousand reasons, but the truth? That could wait for half-light.
A/N- Eeep. I'm sorry. Again. I wish I had an actual excuse, but the only one is that school started again, and that's not much of a reason. Ah well, it's up now. Finally. As always, my thanks to my reviewers, I don't think there would have been another chapter if I hadn't had the encouragment. This chapter was more then a little melancholy, I promise a little humor soon, and a bit more Jareth.