DISCLAIMER - I don't own Sarah or Jareth or the Labyrinth (unfortunately) they belong to Jim Henson & Co, and I'm definitely not making a profit from this. (Bummer) All other NPC's are a figment of my own imagination.
Chapter 12 – Learning
Though the sun splashed golden light across the room, she felt grey and lifeless when she woke, she head aching, and her body complaining about the lack of movement as it cramped as soon as she turned over in bed. The rustling of paper, and the clink of a glass being placed back on the desk in her room punctuated the silence at random moments. Rolling back over she propped her head up on the lumpy pillows and watched him read more papers that were now scattered over her desk, the sunlight turning his pale hair golden.
"Breakfast is waiting for you." He said without looking up at her. She groaned and rolled back over onto her side, burying her head under the duvet. She stayed like that for as long as she possibly could without suffocating before finally giving in to the need for oxygen and poking her head out slightly. She tried to go back to sleep, but her throbbing head refused to silence itself, and she really needed to use the bathroom. Sighing in frustration she crawled from the bed and staggered over to the bathroom, firmly locking the door behind her. Noticing that the bathroom had been cleaned and that fresh clothing had been placed on the dresser in the corner she made use of the facilities, changing out of her rumpled and blood stained nightgown for another of exactly the same design.
Moving over to the washbasin, she was pleased to find that the hot water tap, actually now provided hot water and began to wash herself, every so often having to stop to pull up the long sleeves. After the 5th time of soaking the bottoms of the cuffs she wished desperately for one of her comfortable slips that she wore at home, and nearly swore aloud when in front of her eyes the night gown changed into a sleeveless silk slip, covering her to mid thigh. She didn't really care if He was still in her bedroom, it was her bedroom after all, and she was damn well going to wear what she liked. If she couldn't experiment with her own magic in the castle, she could still try doing things this way, and he could take a cold walk in hell before she stopped and did as she was told. Now that her arms were uncovered she could see the scar lines her trip down agony lane had cost her perfect body. She sighed cursing herself silently for letting him get to her so much.
Putting the long silk dressing gown on and leaving it undone she walked back out into her bedroom, swallowing another curse as she saw several small extremely dirty goblins facing Him lounging behind her desk as he gave them strict instructions. Snarling under her breath she climbed back into the bed and pulled the covers up around her, trying to drown out the sound of His voice. Her curiosity though won the war and she listened with foreboding as he ordered his armies out into the Labyrinth to scour its paths for assassins and spies. He finally dismissed them and sighing called for Isenith. The strange boy that was Isenith appeared from nowhere to stand in silence before his King, listening to his orders.
"This came for you My King." He said finally, handing over a scroll. Sarah watched from the recesses of the bed as He broke the ornate seal and read the document within, his face swiftly moving from anger to annoyance to reluctant acceptance.
"A private audience with the High King." He said finally, throwing the scroll down on the paper littered desk. Isenith nodded and walked away, back into the nothingness from whence he came.
She lay there in silence, itching to ask questions about the audience, and about the assassins, but she didn't really want to speak to him at all.
"Now that you have finished ear wigging into my business, your breakfast is getting cold." He said returning to his work.
"I'm not hungry." She snarled, burying herself further under the duvet and closing her eyes. She felt movement on the bed next to her and cautiously opened her eyes to look up directly into his own mismatched angry blue and green ones, inches away from her.
"You have 2 choices, you can get up, dress and be courteous enough to eat breakfast with me, or we can do things the hard way." He whispered, not blinking as she held his stare.
"What does the hard way entail?" She asked sarcastically.
"You don't want to know." He replied, still not moving. They continued to stare at each other, Jareth trying not to reach down and kiss her, and Sarah trying not to scream as she felt fear coursing through her body, as she couldn't move beneath the covers and the weight of his body around her.
"If you want me to get up, you're going to have to get off me." She said, choking down her claustrophobia with difficulty. He nodded and climbed off the bed, letting her escape from the other side. He returned to her desk and picked up the papers he had previously been reading.
Holding herself together she retired to her dressing room before letting the tears that had threatened to expose her escape. She chose the first dress from the closet, blood red with a black bodice and loose floating sleeves of the softest silk. Tying her hair back from her face with a ribbon she dried her eyes and returned to the bedroom. She was just in time to see the same young girl replace the tray of food on the table by the window seat before disappearing in a flash. Sarah went and sat down quietly, not really wanting to touch the food, but didn't really want him to come over and start threatening her again. Her fear of him won and she slowly chewed on a piece of toast, picking up her discarded book. After reading for several minutes, and not really taking in what the book was saying she looked around at him. Wiping her fingers on the napkin and placing her book back down on the seat she stood and walked over to her desk, where she stood waiting, until he finally sighed, and looked up at her.
"I'm busy Sarah, what do you want?"
"Number 1; an apology." She said marking off the things on her list with her fingers. "Number 2; an explanation, Number 3; Your Knowledge of magic, Number 4; your sworn promise that you won't ever touch me again unless I give you my permission and Number 5… I'll think of something for number 5 later." She said in the Fae language as she folded her arms in satisfaction.
"And why, should I give you any of those things?" He asked, keeping his expression blank as he leaned back in the chair. To say that he was impressed was an understatement. Not because she had learnt his language, it was easy to understand how she had done it, but because she had figured out what magic was all about in such a short space of time.
"Because I refuse to be frightened of you any more, I'm not a 15 year old ignorant child. Also because unless you teach me about magic then I will continue to experiment on my own and probably end up killing us all and doing Elindah a favour." She watched him smirk at that thought and resisted the urge to climb across the desk and beat him to death just to take it off his face.
"Number 1; I will never ever apologise for something I meant to do. Number 2; unless you are specific about what you want explaining I will be unable to comply. Number 3; in order to comprehend magic, and the knowledge I possess you must swear to me that you will not continue to experiment without my being there. Number 4; I will not make a promise I have no intention of keeping, and for good measure, Number 5; do not ever, ever presume to demand anything of me." He said standing up and walking around the table towards her. She backed away from him, as he approached her and then stopped, letting him get as close as he dared, so close that had he not kept his arms by his sides he could have wrapped them around her. He leaned over her and whispered into her ear.
"If you're not frightened of me any more, then why are you shaking?"
"Because you're an unpredictable bastard." She responded, touching her lips to his ear before stepping back from him and disappearing into nothingness. Jareth shuddered as she whispered into his ear then cursed soundly before following her to the library. He looked up and realised that the library no longer soared into the distance, its painted ceiling looked back at him as defiantly as Sarah did from across the other side of the room.
"Though you claim not to be a 15 year old teenager any more Sarah, you certainly act like one." He said before mildly walking to a random shelf and picking up a book. He flopped down in a chair and began to read, completely ignoring her.
Giving up eventually on the books she knew would tell her nothing until she knew what she was looking for, she sat down in a chair and regarded her King, as much as she disliked admitting it, he was her King, she felt the tightening in her mind as he ordered her to do something, knew that however much she tried, she would be unable to disobey him unless he retracted his orders.
"You said the other day that the Goblins and other creatures in the Labyrinth didn't live very long…" She paused, unable to continue as she thought of the friends she had made on her first journey through the Labyrinth. Jareth put his book down and watched her.
"They all died some years ago. They were created for a single purpose, and once they had completed that purpose the Labyrinth no longer required them."
"It was after I stopped calling them through the mirror wasn't it." She whispered looking sadly out of the window. She didn't need to look at him to know that he nodded.
"Everything grows up one day." He said shrugging.
"Why is she trying to kill the Others?" Jareth looked up at her sharply.
"She is not. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The vulnerable always get caught up in the fighting. She wants to kill you."
"Why?"
"Because of the power you have over the Labyrinth, and over me." He said thoughtfully.
"I don't understand."
"The Labyrinth is an ancient magic. It has been twisted into the shape of the Labyrinth for so long, that it does not really remember being anything but the Labyrinth. It feeds from mortal dreams and hopes and wishes, keeping it strong. Elindah would free it from the cage it has made itself, and would use it against the rest of the Fae Kingdoms. She wishes not only to be High Queen, but Empress of all the lands."
"She'd have to kill you too though."
"No. She knows she is not strong enough to control the elemental force of the Labyrinth; she would have me bound and chained so that I would control the Labyrinth as she chose where and when to release it. She is…" He stopped.
"Is what?"
"A typical woman." He said. "She is manipulative, vengeful, irritating, and remarkably dumb for a Fae."
"Why did the High King send for you?"
"So many questions Sarah. I tire of this game."
"Why did he send for you?"
"Because she is his daughter. Because I have three times denied her request for marriage, because I have 3 times denied the High King's not so subtle hints, and suggestions that marrying his daughter would make me heir to the High Throne, which I do not want." He stood and walked out of the room through the door, leaving her to brood about what he had told her. After sitting in silence for several moments she got up and began to select books from the shelves at random before carrying several out into the Rose Courtyard to sit beside the fountain and study them.
"So many damn laws and rules." She groaned several hours later having read all the books she had brought out into the courtyard with her. Her back and shoulders ached and her eyes were sore from reading the small script. Lying back on the pillows filling the bench she looked up into the cloudless sky and thought about the staggering things she had leant in such a short time. She slept through lunch in the warmth of the sunlit courtyard and half woke only when she heard voices coming towards her.
"No Jareth, I disagree, surely you understand why she can not go with you alone, without escort, and if we are both there, we can protect her without needing anything else."
"If you insist."
"I do. The poor child must be lonely Jareth, she is so young, and so new to this world."
"She doesn't seem that way when she fights." She heard him say sulkily. Lucia laughed, lulling Sarah gently with her soft voice.
"Such a beautiful child. She will do us both proud." She said sitting down and moving Sarah's head onto her lap, stroking away the soft hair that had escaped from the ribbon. "But what is this?" She asked touching softly the exposed scars on Sarah's arms. "Why did you not stop her from hurting herself again?"
"I was busy."
"Busy my foot, just because she made you angry Jareth, you are to only one that can save her from herself!" Lucia gently ran her fingers over the scars making them disappear with a tingling sensation. "The Labyrinths Princess should not be marked so." She said. Her words vanishing into the peace of dreamless and nighmareless sleep as Sarah for the first time in many years felt comforted and safe.
The first few droplets of rain caught them off guard, and within seconds had Lucia shaking Sarah to wake her up.
"Come Sarah or we will all be soaked!" She said pulling her to her feet.
"The books!" Sarah gasped bending to pick them up from off the floor. The few drops of rain turned into a downpour like no other she had ever seen or experienced, the air turned to water, making her gasp as it hit her exposed skin as she tried to cover the books. In the seconds that it took her to follow Lucia and Jareth, who had refused to run in such an undignified manner, she was soaked right through, her hair dripping in ringlets.
"Will they dry?" She asked holding out the books to Jareth who was cursing the weather.
"Of course." He said ignoring her gasp as he made them disappear from her hands.
"I'll be in the Orangary if anybody wants me." Lucia said walking away, shaking droplets of rain out of her pale hair.
"And I need to change." Sarah said holding up the hem of her sopping gown. Jareth turned and regarded her.
"Just promise me you won't do anything stupid." He said sarcastically.
"I don't make promises I don't intend to keep." Sarah replied hurrying away up the stairs before he could think of an answer.
This isn't beta read, so if you notice any glaring mistakes or typos, I'd be really grateful if you could let me know! Thanks!