Chapter Nine
Somewhere far away from where Tara slept, a young girl opened her eyes, wincing at the harshness of the sun upon her eyes. She pulled the covers over her head with a groan, wondering what had woken her up.
It was that dream again. The same dream she'd been having for the past month, or so. The dream about the woman her age, and a little blonde child, stuck in a kingdom of goblins and magic. She herself doubted she would mind, but the young woman was fighting every step of the way, though the child was perfectly content.
She pressed her eyelids closed for a moment, trying to figure out what day it was, and whether or not she'd have to get up to go to school.
Before she could remember the day, her alarm clock went off, the sound of it tearing through her mind like that of a fire engine siren. She groaned, and slammed her fist down on the sleep button, muttering to herself all the while.
Xanthes eyes shot open, and she scrambled out of the small bed that she and two of the softer goblins shared-- they were acting as teddy bears. They started ranting something at her as small feet touched the cold stone floor, probably an attempt to get her back in bed, but she ignored them. She needed to find Tara.
She tiptoed to the doorway of her small, far less extravagant room than Taras, turning toward the goblins.
"Shhhh." She whispered, "We're playing a game."
"What kind of game?" One of the little goblins asked, eyes wide with excitement.
"Well, I'm going to see how far I can go without being noticed." Xanthe exclaimed, "But I need you to be quiet so they don't realize I'm out of bed."
"Oh-- Okay!" The goblins whispered, nodding enthusiastically as they lay back down.
Now not having to deal with the goblins getting her caught, Xanthe stuck her head out the door, and looked up and down the hall. Once content that she wasn't going to get caught, she tiptoed out, and broke into a run, nearly throwing herself into the door at the other end of the hall. She took a deep breath to calm her breath, and bit down on her tongue, concentrating on opening the door without making too much noise.
It opened a little, and she looked through it. There were two goblins standing guard, probably more for if Tara came to kidnap her back than to make sure she didn't try to escape. She frowned, and looked around in thought before the lightbulb went on over her head. She took off one of her silver (because plastic was far to expensive) rings, and slipped behind the door. She took a deep, calming breath, and threw the ring as far as she could.
"What was that!" One of the goblins cried out.
"What was what?" Asked the other, blinking.
"That noise!"
"What noise?"
Xanthe bit her lip, and wondered why goblins had to be so dumb. She removed another ring, and threw that one as well, making a double clang as it knocked against the first ring.
"That noise!"
"Oh, that noise!"
The two goblins rushed through the door to investigate, and Xanthe ran through while their backs were turned.
She ran through a second door without time to check what was behind it, and let out a cry of triumph despite herself. She gasped, and covered her mouth, shutting the door as she slowly turned around.
There, before her, was Damien.
"Xanthe!" Tara cried out, sitting bolt upright, and then reeling back to the bed with the pain and dizziness of such a drastic change.
"I suppose you'll take that as a lesson." Jareth stated blandly, not even bothering to open his eyes or move his arm from her waist to speak. "It isn't wise to try to get up so soon after waking. You've just witnessed the effects first hand..."
"What have you done to Xanthe!" She demanded, ignoring the fact that he had been talking entirely.
"I assure you I do not know what you mean." He drawled in the same tone, "Do go back to sleep... You will need your rest for tomorrows practice."
She felt her eyelids get heavy regardless of how she tried to fight it, but shook her head vigerously, trying to shake it off. "Grrr-- NO! I want to see Xanthe! Right now, you son of a bitch!" She jolted out of the bed, only to collapse in a heap on the cold floor.
Damien walked in at this unfortunate moment, dragging Xanthe, arms tied behind her, with him. "Your highness." He adressed the still relaxed goblin king with a low bow. "I found this wandering around outside her quarters."
"TARA!" Xanthe cried out, trying in vain to get away from her capter. "LET ME GO! TARA! TARA!"
"Speak of the devil..." Jareth grumbled, finally opening his eyes and lifting his upper body away from the matress. "Let the girl go, Damien. My servant hasn't shut up since she came here because she wanted to see her."
Tara was just so happy to have Xanthe in her arms, limp as they may be, that she didn't even notice that Jareth had regarded her as 'his servant'. It was his minor victory.
"Calm her down, Tara, and send her back to bed." Jareth commanded, "You need rest."
A tear slipped down Tara's face, but she wiped it away before lifting Xanthe to face her, smoothing away the childs own tears with her thumb. "What's the matter, princess?" She asked gently, working on undoing the binds on her hands.
"I had a bad dream." The little girl whimpered, "There was a lady. She knew where we were, but she thought we were just dreams. The alarm clock was so loud..."
Tara froze, eyes drifting from her task to her nieces teary eyed gaze. This was the dream she had had before she saw Damien finding Xanthe. "What did the lady look like?" She asked as gently as she could, not aware of the two masculine stares on them as she dropped the ropes, and moved her hands to the girls face, caressing her cheeks and holding her so she couldn't look away. "Xanthe, love, I'm serious. What did the lady look like?"
"She had red hair." Xanthe sniffled, "She had to go to school."
Taras face visually paled, and she looked instinctively to Jareth, pulling Tracey into a tight embrace. She hoped, and she prayed that her king had answers, but it appeared that he did not. He looked away, and she lowered her gaze to the floor behind her niece, still holding her close.
"I want Xanthe to sleep with me tonight." She requested once the child had fallen asleep in her arms. She looked up pleadingly at Jareth from her place on the stone floor. "Please..." She knew that playing the loyal servant could get her a lot, and right now, the only thing she wanted was Xanthe. Her pride no longer mattered.
"What have you done to earn such an allowance?" He asked coldly, looking down on her in all matters.
"I've..." She tried, but could think of nothing. She'd faught, and faught, and faught, the entire time she was here. Now was it time to pay for it? Would he really make her pay so dearly? She knew he could be cruel.
"Xanthe needs me." She pled instead of trying to use herself. "My lord..." She added in for good measure.
"Then what will you give me, your lord, in return?" He questioned dryly, lifting an eyebrow over one mismatched eye as if challenging her to think of something to use. "Perhaps we can arrange a... trade." The tears in her eyes were not lost upon him as she swore obediance without argument. He knew her Xanthe was a powerful weapon against her.
"Very well." He stated lowly, "I can be generous, Tara. But do not forget our trade, for if you dishonor it, the price will be great."
"Of course, my lord..."
Authors Notes: Disclaimer thingy! No, Jareth doesn't belong to me! But the mystery lady, and Xanthe, and Tara -do-!
Yes, this is another short chappie. Sorry! Needed to post -something-!
And I'd like to thank telekinetic91 for telling me why I wasn't getting any reviews. I didn't even know I was blocking anonymous reviews! So, yeah. Everyone bow down to telkinetic91!
