Author's Notes: There was a bit of confusion about
what was going on in the last chapter, particularly at the end. I hate
to do this to you, but there isn't going to be a big recap/explanation
here. Everything's in that chapter or this one, and I think if
you look carefully, you'll find everything you need to know.
Chaper Twenty-Seven: The End of All Things
With a swelling thunder like a storm over the sea, she was torn away, whirled and thrust back into the mortal shell of her body that now felt like a cage of flesh and bone. Sarah thought the weight of it would crush her, and when she opened her eyes her fingers were numb from gripping the sides of her chair. Hours had passed, and it was night. The fire burned low until it was little more than glowing coals and ash, and outside the darkness was hushed and still. Jareth stood before the hearth, arm braced upon the mantle and his head resting upon it.
When Sarah opened her mouth, her voice was rusty, as if she had not spoken in a long time.
"What... have you done?"
The Goblin King straightened, and when he turned to her his eyes were harder than she'd ever seen. "I told you, Sarah. I did what I had to do."
She tried to stand but could not, her legs would not hold her. She didn't need Jareth to tell her what had changed, because Sarah could feel it. There is something in the air... She could feel it in the way the stones sang beneath her feet, and she knew the king's tower with its vaulted window to the heavens stood once more. She knew that thorn-vine no longer clung to every stone and tree in a veil of death and decay, and that the jagged gorge dividing the Labyrinth in two now flowed with the waters of the Merandanon, silver and serene in the moonlight. There was a great price to be paid for this healing, and she knew who had paid it.
All this, Sarah knew without having to be told, and it left her breathless and broken. There was one more thing that she had to make certain.
"Didymus?"
"He lives." Jareth walked to the window, letting the cool air wash over him. "And he will live, because of what we have done here tonight. The power of life and death, you said. Neither of us have it."
She followed his retreat with accusing eyes. Sarah felt it all-- the anguish, the loneliness, that hollowed-out, empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"He didn't deserve that. As much as you hate him, he didn't deserve it." Sarah wasn't talking about the little knight any more, and the Goblin King did not have to ask who she meant.
Jareth did not turn from the window. "Exactly what he did or did not deserve is debatable, my dear, but I do not think I'm obliged to debate it with you. He had what we needed."
She felt sick. "So you took it from him. And it wasn't enough to steal what he had, you... hurt him."
"I inflicted no more pain than what he bestowed upon me, and I took nothing more than what I was owed. You are not the only one to bargain with the Shadow King." Jareth paused. "Others would have been less merciful in my place."
Sarah's anger and bitterness gave her strength. Not what she had before, but enough to rise unsteadily to her feet, clutching the mantle for support. "You used me."
"You were willing enough."
"Never. I never would have said yes if I'd known it would cause him pain like that."
"You said you would give anything."
Sarah bit her lip. "He wasn't mine to give."
Jareth rounded upon her in spite. "Ah, but he was, Sarah. He is a mad creature, but he knows he loves you. You own him as surely as anyone can own another-- I could not have done this otherwise. He had not the power or presence of mind to hide from me, you consume his every thought."
His eyes were cruel, his tone mocking. "So you see, we are both are under your spell."
"Is that so?"
Sarah forced herself to face him, to hold herself upright. She wasn't sure she could bear to touch him, but she forced herself to do that too, to wind her fingers possessively through his hair. She hoped it hurt him, and she matched her voice to his, icy and unfeeling.
"Are you also mine, then? To use and dispose of as I please?"
Rage and resentment simmered in the Goblin King's eyes. "Isn't that what you wanted from the very beginning?"
Sarah did not answer, she only pulled him down to her in an unrelenting kiss, wanting to bruise his lips with wanting the way he'd done with hers. She clung stubbornly even though he did not return her embrace, her mouth working down the beautiful line of his jaw, over the taut cords in his neck to his throat where the pulse beat so wildly she knew his coldness was a lie.
Somewhere along the way, her own anger changed to something else just as demanding, and Sarah pulled at the hem of his shirt, sliding her hands beneath it. His skin was hotter than she'd ever felt it, the muscle of him hard and unyielding against her touch. She skimmed lightly over his chest, reaching around to rake her nails down his back.
"Beloved," she whispered in his ear. "I mean to claim what is mine."
As if in response, the healing mark on her own thigh flared and she could feel the Goblin King's fury, the urge both to hurl her across the room and to drag her to the floor beneath him. His resistance weakened with her every touch, and she knew it. Isn't this what you wanted from the very beginning? Pulling the collar of his shirt aside, she bit down on his shoulder, not inches from the mark she'd given him. Salt blossomed on her tongue, and Jareth growled, his hands closing upon her waist.
They did not make it to the bed. Ivory silk pooled on the crimson floor and Jareth lay beneath her, bare to the waist with his chest bearing the faint lines of her nails from the night before. She knelt over him, the dark waves of her hair washing like satin over his skin. His eyes struggled not to reveal... fear? Anticipation?
Sweet torment...
She licked from the flat of his belly up to his chest in one long sweep, relishing the taste and heat of him and the way Jareth shuddered beneath her. Tracing down the sensitive line of his scar, Sarah teased him with lips and tongue, watching how his head fell back, his eyes closed. His mouth parted in sensual response, though he held his body stiff and unwilling. Smoothing her palms over him, she could feel each muscle tensed in her wake but she ignored it, rolling down the waist of his breeches and sliding them over his hips as he twisted free. She only hesitated for a moment.
"Sarah!" The Goblin King half-rose off the floor, gasping, but she pushed him back with a firm hand and did not stop what she was doing.
Each movement was deliberate and unhurried. When his entire body tightened and his breath came raggedly, she did not relent. When he reached for her, she evaded his grasp and only increased the pressure of her weight on his lower limbs, pinning him to the ground. Jareth groaned helplessly at the exquisite torture of her mouth upon him, warm and wet. Each movement upon him forced another faint cry from his lips that he could not stifle. He did not trust himself to look and barely trusted himself to think about her cool hands on his hips, the soft material of her dress slick against his thighs. Another moment and he would lose control entirely.
"Enough." He said, voice hoarse.
She did not stop. Gods, she did not stop, and he didn't know if he had the strength to make her. Sarah did something that strangled the breath from his throat, and he ached with wanting her until he could bear it no longer.
"No more." The words were halfway between a whisper and a groan. "Please."
Gathering his will, he rolled from beneath her, hauling her up to him to seek her mouth and tugging the loose neck of her gown down to bare her shoulders. Sarah tasted like honeyed wine, the heat of the banked fire bringing out a sheen of sweat on her breasts and throat that he lapped up hungrily. This time he used his teeth gently, enough for her to shiver at the implicit reminder before turning his attentions downward. The pale rose of her nipples tightened at the wet circle of his tongue and the cup of his palms, rough on her delicate skin.
Her sighs grew more urgent, the hands on his back and shoulders more demanding. Slipping between the legs that parted eagerly for him, his hands slid up the creamy silk of her thighs, pushing the folds of her skirt higher to bunch awkwardly around her waist. Jareth uttered a fervent curse, wanting it out of the way but too impatient to undress her. He wanted to see her by firelight... But she was more than ready, and he could not wait.
He took her with a desperate ferocity that had Sarah crying out against the invasion of his mouth and the rigid length of him that drove into her. Sarah moaned against the curve of his neck at the way he filled her, each thrust assaulting her still-tender flesh that gave way in slick surrender. The heat between them built and built, each movement of his hips taking her closer to the edge. There would be bruises in the morning, but at the moment, Sarah did not care.
His mouth on hers, Jareth ran his hands down her body, loving the way she moved beneath him with her head flung back to expose her white throat. He could taste himself on her lips, salt, musk and desire, and the memory of her taking all of him was nearly enough to make him lose control again. The half-healed scratches on his back reopened and bled freely even as she locked her legs tighter around his waist. Raising her hips off the floor, he thrust even more deeply into the moist heat of her, drawing out each one to make it last.
"Gods..." he whispered breathlessly against her skin. "Sarah..."
Their second mating was a war of aggression and desire, and it seemed that Jareth's worst fear had come true... the fire consumed them both.
Afterward, he would not be separated from her, would not allow her to leave the protection of his body. Jareth buried his face in her neck against the damp tangle of her hair, murmuring her name and other sentiments that had no words. He'd come close to losing her again, and despite all his strength, the pain was nearly unbearable. And it won't be the last time...
Sarah didn't move, not minding the solid weight of him on her. She was utterly drained, so tired that her thoughts skipped like a stone across a pond, leaving ever widening-circles rippling across the water. Love, betrayal, redemption, forgiveness... The ideas all ran together in her mind until she could not distinguish one from another, and the words lost all meaning.
She could hate what he'd done, but she could forgive him.
She could love him, because she had no other choice.
In the beginning, she'd wanted to hurt him as he'd hurt her, see that he bled and suffered. She'd wanted to see that he paid for his crimes, to exact her pound of flesh and spare her heart the bitter misery of wanting him always. But it was all one and the same, Sarah saw that now. They were irrevocably bound and always would be.
She wanted to tell Jareth what she knew, make him see that she understood. Sarah touched his shoulder, tried to say his name. But her tongue was numb and she had no words, then the darkness rolled over her and she knew nothing more.
"Sarah."
Jareth's voice was insistent, calling her out of sleep. She wanted to stay where she was, sink further into the delicious softness of the mattress until the sun crept over the bed. But he touched her, stroked the palm of her hand. A tingling warmth drove the fatigue from her limbs, chased the fog from her mind until she opened her eyes.
The Goblin King sat by the side of the bed, his expression dark with concern. He smoothed back her hair, spread loosely over the pillow. She smiled at him, raised herself slightly and found she was wearing a cool linen shift.
"I've brought you something to eat."
He fed her himself, bread and milk, a russet-skinned apple he peeled and sliced with a sharp silver knife. Sarah could not remember the last time she'd eaten, but she had little appetite. Jareth had none of his usual sharp banter. In fact, he barely spoke at all except to offer her more food or drink, all solicitous attention.
She frowned. He was handling her like she was made of glass, and it was not like him. Sarah caught the Goblin King's sleeve and forced him to look at her.
"What's wrong with me?" She saw now that he was tense with worry, and it frightened her.
"Nothing is wrong."
Instinctively, she knew it was a lie. There was no clock in the room to mark the passage of time, and she could not tell by the slant of light through the chamber window. She struggled to sit up a little further.
"How long have I slept?"
Jareth set aside the knife and did not look her in the eye. "Two days and two nights."
"Two days..." Sarah could barely speak. "Why didn't you wake me before?"
"I tried. It could not be done." Jareth touched her cheek and she could see the faint lines etched at the corners of his eyes. "I do not think it is safe for you here, Sarah, and my protection may not be enough."
Shaken, she could only listen.
Jareth struggled to find the words. "The king and the kingdom are one. It's not a riddle," he said, heading off her questions, "It simply is. One cannot live without the other. I was a long time learning this lesson, and it nearly destroyed everything I had."
"But it didn't." said Sarah. "You said you would be all right."
"And I will be. Only..." Jareth struggled to find the words. "Understand, Sarah. It may be the other half of me, but I don't control it. The Labyrinth has no memory or malice. It does not understand emotion, it only understands survival. But it wanted to be whole and it knew you were the key even if I did not. I should have guarded against it, but I failed to do so."
Jareth did not break from her gaze while he spoke, and she could see that he had not slept in the two days and nights she'd lain there.
"Never before has it interfered to turn the course of events the way it has with you. It doesn't do so out of the desire to harm or to help, it seeks only to sustain itself. The Labyrinth feeds off dreams... and dreamers. It will never have enough. You are the catalyst. It needs you, and it will take you if you allow it. I cannot stop it, Sarah."
Sarah held up a shaking hand. "Is it doing this to me? Draining me, like--"
She did not finish, but Jareth understood what she meant. He folded her in a hard embrace. I've never wanted anything more than you...
"I am sorry, love. You cannot stay here in the Underground. You must go back."
Sir Didymus was proving to be a most feisty patient, and the goblin physician had long washed his hands of him. Wrapped in a blue and gold satin robe and propped up in his bed with half a dozen fat pillows, the little knight ruled over this tiny kingdom like a beloved tyrant. Goblins waited on him hand and foot and tribute in the form of several stout barrels of rhum sat in the corner. A fresh bouquet of flowers nestled in a vase on the sunny windowsill, and a fruit basket larger than Sir Didymus himself was proudly displayed within easy reach.
He was not yet allowed to stir from his bed and Hoggle had been running around nonstop, gathering news and gossip. As he pulled up a chair next to Didymus' sickbed, another goblin scurried up to fill the fox's waterglass and stuff another well-plumped pillow behind his head. Didymus gave a gracious nod of thanks and turned to his visitor.
"And what did His Majesty tell her?"
Hoggle shrugged in bewilderment. "All he said was that she couldn't stay."
"Ah." Sir Didymus popped a purple grape in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
"I suppose it's for the best," said Hoggle uncertainly. "She has a family and all, she'll want to return to them."
The little knight spat out a mouthful of grape skins, but said nothing.
"We all knew she couldn't stay here forever... with him. No mortal ever has."
"Indeed not," agreed Didymus, rolling around grape around in his cheek. "Living here too long changes you."
The dwarf rubbed his hands together awkwardly. "Er, yes. All the same, I thought... Well, surely there are always exceptions, and they did look happy. He really does seem to..."
He coughed awkwardly and his voice trailed off, not liking the gleam in Sir Didymus' eye that might've been an I told you so, had his friend been less than a paragon of chivalrous knighthood.
"My lady has saved the Labyrinth, as we hoped she would. Perhaps her job here is done, and perhaps it is time for her to go."
"That can't be the way the story ends! If Sarah has to go back and she never sees him again, it'll break her heart. You didn't see the way she looked at him and he at her. You know I'm not much of a one for this mushy stuff, but it was like... Like they were the only two people in the world."
The little knight nodded and took a sip of water while his friend watched in growing aggravation.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Hoggle demanded at last. "You've always been the soft-headed romantic around here. I thought for sure you'd have found some loophole so your beloved king can have his happy ending."
"My dear fellow," said Sir Didymus with regret, "There's no such thing as happily ever after."
They stood at the window so Sarah could see all the changes wrought in the Labyrinth from afar. The river was just as beautiful as it had been in her dreams, shining blue-silver in the sunlight, a rough stone bridge spanning the waters. Here and there she could see goblins rebuilding their cottages, and the rose garden had begun to bloom anew. Wildflowers sprouted up in odd corners of the courtyard, and she could see Ambrosius chasing butterflies on the riverbank. Everything had changed, the whole world was starting over.
"I wish you could see it, our kingdom."
Jareth steadied her on his arm, his hand in hers and his eyes bright. She felt stronger with him near, and Sarah knew it was no coincidence. She could detect the thin line of energy he fed her, a constant flow that kept the empty feeling at bay and allowed her to feel like herself again, if only for a little while. Jareth did not mention it, but she could not let him do it forever.
She squeezed his hand. "At least I got to see more of it this time around." she said, smiling.
"Not just this part of it near the castle, and not even just the Silverwood." His thoughts were far away. "There are so many wild and lovely places I would've liked to show you."
Regret stung her throat just a little, and she did not want to pretend anymore. "How much time do I have left?"
Jareth folded her in his arms. "Time enough to say goodbye."
The room felt like the center of the world. Sitting on Jareth's throne with her arms resting on its curiously curved sides, Sarah could close her eyes and feel all of the Underground like a fine network of energy pulsing from her fingertips. All the hidden catacombs and tunnels were known to her, the dark oubliettes like forgotten tombs buried deep in the earth. She could follow the Merandanon's flow as it spilled through the green hills, feel the rebuilding of the Labyrinth walls as they went up again, stone by stone. And far away in the Silverwood stood a gray-timbered cottage with a mossy stone roof, waiting quietly for its owner's return.
Sarah wondered if this is how Jareth felt all the time, as aware of the land and its rhythms as he was with his own body. It was magnificent and exhausting at the same time, this constant pull at her as the Labyrinth fed off who she was and what she could be. Again her hands shook, and Sarah clutched at the arms of the throne to overcome the sudden dizziness that overtook her. It was a grim reminder that while the Goblin King could feed and be fed off this living land, she could not. There was nothing for her here.
Saddened, she opened her eyes, looking over the gathered crowd of inquisitive goblins and her friends, both of them standing hat in hand and suddenly shy.
"My lady," said Sir Didymus, bowing as best he could with his midsection heavily bandaged. "I have always said that thou art as brave as thou art beautiful."
Hoggle cleared his throat several times before he could speak. A brand new handkerchief peeked out from his back pocket, and he looked like he might need it before long.
"You won't wait so long this time to call us. " he said gruffly, "We'll always be there."
"I won't make the mistake of forgetting about you again." promised Sarah.
"See that you don't."
She glanced to where Jareth stood at a discreet distance, his eyes fixed on her always.
"We will look after him for you, my lady," whispered the little knight. "Never fear."
Sarah smiled through her tears. "Thank you, Sir Didymus. I do believe... he might need it. No matter what he says."
He took her to the king's tower, where they stood on the balcony outside his bedchamber. Below them, the Labyrinth's serpentine walls were hung with a misty veil of pale green as leafy buds burst open. A cool wind blew in from over the river, and the sun was reaching its peak in the sky. All around them, brilliant color spilled across the landscape as if from a painter's palette. Nowhere does the sunlight look like this, thought Sarah with growing sadness. I'll never see anything like it for as long as I live.
"Will I see you again?" she asked him.
Jareth put his arms around her. "I will always be there."
"That's not what I meant." Sarah pulled back from him. "Tell me the truth, Jareth."
"I cannot live in your world, Sarah. But I will always answer you when you call."
"But you won't be able to stay."
"No."
Sarah looked down at her hands, one gripping the other so hard her knuckles were white. She glanced up and tried to smile. "Then it really is goodbye. I thought fairy tales were supposed to have a happy ending."
"Sarah, I promise you, if there is a way...""... you will find it." she finished for him.
Jareth's eyes were bright as he leaned in and kissed her, lingering as long as he could. "I always do as you ask."
Sarah smiled again, but had to turn away. She told herself that the dazzling sun was to blame for the tears that blurred her vision. You will not cry, she told herself fiercely. You won't. This is not the end. She prayed Jareth would not touch her now, that he would not pull her into his arms, or her resolve would break and all would be lost.
He did not touch her. She heard him pace the stone walkway, and if she closed her eyes, Sarah could picture him leaning on the edge of the balcony, looking out over the Labyrinth. That was the way she would always picture him when he was gone. That hollow pain seized her again and she fought to push it down. Then she realized he'd been calling her name.
She wiped her face on her sleeve and turned. "What is it?"
Jareth stood before her, smiling that slightly crooked smile he had that made Sarah hold her breath. He looked the same as he did when she'd first seen him, standing in the nursery with the curtains fluttering in the wind behind him and the air glittering with the light of a thousand stars.
Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered...
They'd been through it
all, and they were still there. Amor vincit omnia.
Sarah wasn't sure whether she wanted to laugh or to cry. She crossed her arms. "You can't be serious."
He moved nearer, stroking her face with his bare hand, so close she could not think.
"Sarah, don't you trust me?"
Sarah could still feel his kiss burning upon her lips. "No."
Jareth laughed. He threw the peach into the air and lightly caught it again, then took a bite, keeping his gaze locked with hers. Sarah eyed him suspiciously. The Goblin King gave her another crooked little smile, and pulled her close, hands buried in her hair. His lips were warm and tasted of summer and spice with the juices of the peach mingling sweet in his mouth. It robbed her of breath and yet it was nearly chaste, a coming together that flared with the heat of a distant fire, carefully contained.
When the kiss ended, Jareth did not let go. They stood there for a long time, Sarah folded in the sheltering circle of his arms. Tears stung her eyelids, and she brushed them away on the front of his shirt.
"I don't think I can do this. I'm not strong enough to leave you."
Jareth did not answer right away, only let out the barest of sighs. Stroking her hair, he bent to whisper in her ear.
"Sometimes," he said, "The way forward is the way back."
Sarah felt him tremble, and she started to push away. "What? Wait, don't--"
The world around them began to spin and the ground vanished from beneath their feet. Sarah was falling, the air rushing past her at a dizzying speed and Jareth's cloak fluttering about them like bat's wings. She could see the whole universe, spinning planets and fiery stars, bright moons dancing in their ancient and eternal orbits...
"I'm not ready," she cried. "Just wait..."
The Goblin King's lips brushed her temple ever so lightly.
"Don't forget me, my Sarah."
And then he let her go.
The stars winked out one by one leaving her in darkness, and in vain she reached for the light that was no longer there. Around her, the air lost its springlike warmth and grew cold as winter. It rushed past her now nipping at her skin like needles and Sarah thought she might never be warm again. But with every passing second, she felt stronger, as if a great weight had been lifted from her and the burden scattered to the winds. But there was a great price to be paid for this healing, and she had paid it.
Sarah could calculate down to the very moment that she'd lost him. One minute he was there, the next, Jareth was gone as if he had never been.
"Sarah."
The voice was unfamiliar at first, like the light that slanted through the window, filtering through the curtains and casting its narrow beam across her bed. Sarah groaned and pulled the covers up over her head. A galloping horse with a rider all in black, a forest where trees were the pillars of heaven... A king with eyes like the winter sky. Still half-asleep, she murmured something unintelligible. It was such a wonderful dream. If she could just hand on to it a little longer...
"I can let you sleep in if you'd like, but Toby's getting impatient to open his presents, and Karen's made breakfast. Blueberry pancakes, your favorite."
Sarah blinked in confusion. "Dad?"
Her father laughed a little. "Who else did you think it would be?"
He knelt by the bed. "Seriously, sweetheart, I came up to see if you're feeling all right. Still under the weather, maybe?"
"No..." Sarah pulled the covers down, but kept her face to the wall. "I mean... I guess I feel okay."
Feeling her forehead, her father frowned a bit.
"Well, you're not running a fever. Tell you what, take your time, I'll keep Toby busy. We can open presents after breakfast."
Hearing the door shut quietly, Sarah sat up and looked around her room. Everything looked so... ordinary. Neatly propped on the nightstand was the Labyrinth book. A glance at the window sill at the potted plant showed her nothing but a withered bit of vegetation that could have been anything. All the magic was gone.
If it hadn't been for the taste of ripe peaches lingering in her lips, Sarah would've doubted any of it had happened at all. Slipping out of her flannel pajamas, she quickly examined herself. On her right thigh was a circular scar, the slightly puckered skin shiny and white as if it had been there for years.
Quickly pulling on her clothes, Sarah went to her vanity and peered at her reflection in the mirror. Nothing had changed. Everything had changed. She touched her cheek, remembering the heat of his hand on her skin.
I will never forget...
Author's Notes: At last! I had no idea the story would be this long when I started writing it, and while it was a lot of fun to do, it's a relief to have it come to a close, too. I hope you liked it, and thank you to everyone who stuck through until the end-- especially those of you who were so kind and supportive, offering your frank feedback and cheering me up when I needed it. You know who you are.
Comments/reviews welcome.
Oh. I suppose I should mention that there is an epilogue...