Hey guys, I wanted to tell you sorry for posting so late! We had a bad coldfront come through and I ended up losing my electricity! Soooo no electricity, no computer! But thank goodness it is back on again, it certainly has been cold! Thank goodness for fireplaces! I made sure to make this one longer to help make up for lost time!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Labyrinth in any form or fashion. I do not make any funds from this free fanfiction. Everything Labyrinth is owned by Jim Henson and Company.
Chapter 5: Humble Beginnings
Maeryn slowly opened to door for Sarah and then followed her into the dining hall. She then announced Sarah's arrival, "Your majesty, Lady Sarah."
Upon saying her words, she turned on her heel and left the dining hall to leave Sarah and Jareth alone. Sarah fidgeted with her fingers and casually looked at Jareth. Jareth tried desperately to not allow his mouth to fall open. 'By the gods, she is stunning. This is going to be a long dinner.'
Jareth stood and said, "Please Sarah, please come and sit with me."
Sarah slowly but surely walked towards the Goblin King. When she got closer, he pulled a chair out for her, to sit close to him. Jareth could not help but gaze upon her lovely face. Her green eyes so full of life, there was magic within their depths. Her green dress made her eyes stand out even more, how breathtaking she truly was.
Sarah could feel Jareth's eyes upon her. Her mind was full of many confusing thoughts. She had wondered if he truly did like her. But if he really did, he certainly did have a funny way of showing it to her. Knowing that he was looking at her, made her feel a little uncomfortable.
Sarah decided to brave and chose to look up into the Goblin King's eyes. She slowly lifted her eyes to his and was amazed at the expression on his face. She looked up to see a pair of soulful eyes peering into hers. His eyes showed so much. They held such a loving depth. His eyes seemed to drive into her soul.
Sarah's breathing began to pick up a bit, due to all of the attention her eyes were receiving from his very own. She didn't know whether to be scared, fascinated or flattered. Her inner being began to tell her that yes, this King in front of her did harbor feelings for her. Sarah blushed and suddenly turned her eyes away from Jareths, she could not take any more of his intense gaze.
At Sarah's sudden move, Jareth was startled back into reality. "Sarah, please forgive my gazing at you. It's just that, that you look so lovely tonight."
Sarah had to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. She did not know what to make out of everything that was going on. This certainly was all so sudden. 'How on earth could he really like me?' pondered Sarah. 'He made me go through all of those awful obstacles in the Labyrinth. Why would someone do that to someone they liked? This is all so strange.'
Sarah quietly replied, "Thank you Jareth."
Jareth looked upon the dining table at all of the food. He looked back up to Sarah again and said, "My dear Sarah, please have some food. Eat and drink whatever your heart desires. We have wine, splendid meats, fruits, breads, vegetables and cheeses. Please, eat and drink up."
Jareth decided to take the lead and began to chose food for himself, hoping that this would make her feel more comfortable. Sarah soon began to follow Jareth's lead and started helping herself to some of the food. She took a small slice of meat along with a few vegetables and a succulent plum.
Jareth began slicing his portion of the meat, while Sarah nibbled on the vegetables that she had on her plate. Sarah would occasionally look up from her eating and look into Jareth's eyes. He would give her a simple, yet warm smile. Soon Sarah had eaten all of her food except for the plum. She picked up the small fruit and placed it to her lips.
Jareth turned to her just in time to see her pick up that plum and place it to her mouth. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for him then. It seemed that she was so very slowly placing that succulent burgundy fruit to her lips. How her lips slightly curved over the fruit and she slowly bit down. At that first bite, the dark juice that was within the fruit came out oh so slowly from the corner of her lips and gently ran down her chin. 'Even when she eats, it is so captivating, I have to touch her, I must.' Jareth moaned mentally.
Jareth's expression was priceless. Poor Sarah unknowing to all the attention that was being paid to her while she innocently ate the plum. Jareth's eyebrows curved a bit and he leaned towards Sarah. Sarah suddenly sensing the closing distance between them, straightened her back quickly. Her eyes grew bigger and bigger as Jareth leaned towards her face.
"You, you have some juice on your chin…" stammered Jareth as he gently wiped the juice away with his finger. He then did something that startled Sarah. He looked at the very finger that had removed the juice and placed it in his mouth to suck off the remaining juice, all the while he had his eyes closed.
Sarah stared at Jareth in amazement while her mouth was agape. She was not used to seeing a man, let alone a fae god do things like that. She never really had any serious relationships with any of the boys at school, they all seemed so odd to her. When she did go out, all they could ever do was try to grope her, which did nothing but anger her.
Jareth slowly pulled the finger from his mouth and slowly opened his eyes. Realizing what he had done, he turned his eyes from her. Sarah still continued to stare at him in wonder. 'He truly is enchanting…..' Sarah mentally whispered.
Jareth took another sip of his wine and Sarah did the same. Things certainly had taken an interesting twist during dinner.
Breaking the odd silence, Jareth asked, "Are you finding things to your suiting Sarah?"
"Yes, thank you." Replied Sarah. "The bedchambers and bathing-room is wonderful, I have never seen rooms that beautiful before, thank you."
Jareth mentally smiled to himself. He was truly happy that she was finding his home enjoyable. He wanted to do anything he could to make her happy, he wanted her to want to stay.
Jareth smiled at Sarah and asked her another question, "Sarah, would you like me to show you the castle's gardens? I am sure that you have not seen them yet. You would find them to be quite enchanting."
Sarah smiled warmly at Jareth and said, "Yes, actually I would love to see the gardens."
Upon hearing Sarah's reply, Jareth stood up and offered his hand to Sarah at which she gladly accepted. As soon as Sarah stood on her own, she pulled her hand away from Jareth's, still feeling a bit unusual about these new occurrences. She smiled at Jareth, hoping to not be too rude to him. He began his walk towards the gardens all the while with Sarah following behind him. They soon reached a set of doors, and the Goblin King reached down and opened the doors. As soon as he opened them, he stepped aside to allow Sarah a better view of the now moonlit gardens. He enjoyed seeing her gasp in awe at the beauty of it. He couldn't help but show her a smile and she so graciously returned one to him.
Sarah walked into the gardens admiring the wonderful beauty. "I have never seen a garden quite like this! It is amazing! I never saw this garden when I was here before."
Jareth smiled affectionately at her, "Well maybe you didn't say around long enough to see it."
Sarah walked over to one rose in particular that had gotten her attention. It seemed to almost glow on its own and had a heavenly rich perfume. "This rose, it is beautiful! It has to be to most beautiful flower in this garden.
"No it isn't." stated Jareth. "But I can show you where the most beautiful flower is." Jareth began to walk off to a certain spot and Sarah followed.
They were soon at a pond, it was beautiful, and the full moon's reflection rippled on top of the water. "Come here and look Sarah." Jareth said.
Sarah walked to where Jareth was looking into the water. She expected to see the most glorious water lily in all of her life, but yet she found nothing, nothing but the water of the pond. Sarah's eyes reflected her internal confusion about the missing flower.
"I don't see a flower here at all, are you sure this is the right spot?" queried Sarah.
"Yes, in fact I know it is." Calmly replied Jareth.
Sarah looked at Jareth as if he had lost his mind.
"Look right there Sarah, just over the water. Just lean over and look."
As Sarah gazed into the water, she saw Jareth's reflection as well as her own.
"Don't you see it Sarah? The most beautiful flower ever. It is you Sarah, I have watched you grow and blossom into a breathtaking flower. Your skin and lips are like the silkiest petals ever found, and your eyes are like sunkissed dew of the morning. You are strong yet delicate like the most precious orchid ever known. You even have your own entrancing scent. You are divine to me."
Sarah stood flabbergasted. She had this idea that he just might like her, but she really didn't realize that it was this much. How on earth could any woman not feel flattered by words such as these? She looked at Jareth with a puzzled look on her face.
"Jareth, may I ask you something?"
"Yes, of course." Replied Jareth.
Sarah blurted out, "If you like me so much, then why on earth did you treat me so bad before? I had to go through that awful Labyrinth! It's just that to me, that does not seem what you do when you like someone. So I am a bit confused with all of this."
"Well, yes, I can see how you would be a bit confused by all of that. You are not used to the fae ways of life, nor are you familiar with the rites we go through in finding our soul mate." Jareth replied.
"Soul mate?" Sarah questioned nervously.
Jareth smiled at her, "Yes, Sarah, you are my soul mate, and I will do anything for you, I want you to be happy, you are my world. Please do not be nervous Sarah, I am willing to wait a little longer for you. Please let me show you the ways of my world, let me prove my love to you."
Sarah questioned Jareth, "How do you know that I am your soul mate?"
"Well," Jareth began, "It will take me awhile to explain to you and you still may not understand. There are no natural born fae female goddesses, so a fae god must venture carefully into the aboveground to find his mate."
Sarah interrupted, "Wait, you are telling me that there are not any women around here for you to chose from? Why aren't there any natural born females?"
Jareth started again, "Well, the thing is Sarah, that when a fae goddess bares a child for her mate, the child will only be male, always. Any future births are the same, they will always be male."
Again Sarah interrupted, "So how do you find a wife then, to even have any children!"
Jareth sighed, "I was trying to get to that. Now, as I was saying, the fae god must venture aboveground to find his true mate. To make sure that he finds his true mate, he lays a sort of trap for her, one that only she will be drawn to."
Sarah began to interrupt again, but Jareth stopped her, "Wait, please hear me out. Yes, a trap sounds absolutely animalistic, but it is the only way. We have to make sure that she is the one. If a fae god takes the wrong female by intent or accident, their children will die at birth and the female will not be able to take on the powers of immortality to become immortal like her king. In other words, the wrong female is not strong enough for the fae way of life. She will go to an early grave."
Sarah gulped at these words but was really entranced by all of the interesting information.
Jareth continued, "To make sure we obtain the correct female, we use the trap or bait. This bait is a book, the book of The Labyrinth. The book actually draws her to it, no matter where in the world she is, it will call to her. This book is very old and has been used for many generations. Only the correct female will be able to read the words of this book, therefore saying what is needed to allow the fae god to obtain her. The second she picks the book up, it actually reads the female's mind and writes the words that will pertain to her and her situation. For example Sarah, the book read that you had a brother that you wanted, at least at that time, to be rid of. So it scripted a story just for you, one that you could relate to and would want to read and act out."
All the while, Sarah gasped in amazement as things kept falling into place, despite how bizarre they seemed.
Again, Jareth continued, "You see Sarah, there is another test that only the correct female could ever pass, the Labyrinth. The fae god must have something that would make the female want to take on the Labyrinth, something important; like for you, it was Toby. If the female completes the Labyrinth, she is truly the one, the intended bride. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to woo you enough to make you want to stay with me. You were not around long enough, but now I will do everything in my power to prove my undying love for you. I was surely lucky to have a second chance in having you, it is truly a miracle"
Sarah had an expression of shock and humor on her face, "So you are telling me that you were the one that stuck that book in the park. That you put it there for me to find all of those years ago. That must have been why I was so intent on going into the woods behind the park. You know Jareth, I had just turned fifteen years old, how on earth do you really think I would be prepared to be someone's wife!"
"Actually, I was not the one who placed the book there. As for your other comment, the book will only call you when the time is right and it knew you were ready whether you realized it or not." Replied Jareth.
Sarah gave Jareth an odd stare and asked, "I thought you said that only the fae gods are allowed aboveground. So if you didn't put that book there, then who did?"
Jareth showed a puzzled look, "That is something I have wondered myself. You see, a long time ago, the book was stolen. The book was supposed to be used by myself only. It was to be passed to me and from me, my sons would use them and continue the cycle. Whomever stole the book is most likely the one who put it there, as to why I do not know. Another problem is how they went to the aboveground without my knowledge is something that truly bothers me. As I always know when someone goes aboveground. They may only go aboveground in certain extreme circumstances and only with my permission. I always sense when one leaves the underground realm to enter the aboveground realm. No one in my time has ever dared to do so, as the punishment would be more than cruel."
"So you are telling me that your father found your mother with that book? Speaking of which, where are your parents?" Sarah questioned.
Jareth sighed deeply and looked a bit sad, "Yes, my father found my mother in the exact same way, his father did the same and so on. As for where my parents are, they have passed onto the spirit realm, they were killed when I was just a babe of about a year."
Sarah looked very embarrassed and felt awkward, "Oh, Jareth, I did not know, I am so sorry. I hope you do not mind me asking, but how did they die, I thought that you said that fae gods and goddesses were immortal?"
"Sarah, you may ask anything of me. First of all, fae gods and goddesses are immortal, in the sense that they will live forever unless they are killed, and to kill them it must take enormous power. Occasionally they will become seriously ill, but it is usually from being drained of their power from an intense battle. But even then, they will not perish if they are cared for properly. My parents were killed in a very intense physical and emotional battle. Jareth sadly replied.
Sarah's concern and curiosity of Jareth's sad past got the best of her, "Jareth, please tell me what happened."
Jareth knew that this would come up sooner or later and he knew that it would invoke painful memories for him. But it was something that he had to do. He would keep nothing from Sarah.
"Very well," Jareth stated, "But be warned it may be a bit confusing and I will tell you some things that may upset you, as they are horrific." Jareth showed a garden bench to Sarah and motioned for her to sit down, "Please come and sit with me, this may take awhile…."
Thank you all for your reviews! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, I already have the next chapter in the works. The next chapter will have a information on Jareths past and his parents. Also a little bit of a warning, there will be some deaths in the next chapter, deaths brought on by murder and injury, so if you are squeamish, you may not want to read it. But I will not make it gruesome, promise!
Katgome