Chapter Twelve
More History Repeating
Sarah rolled slowly back into consciousness, savoring the warm and fluffy feel of the bed and the cold, fresh air that circulated through the room. Her head and back were a little sore, but that was to be expected. But Toby, she had seen him. Granted, it was not how she wanted to see him, and things hadn't gone as perfectly as she had imagined, but she had made a start. Hopefully things would get better soon.
She yawned, stretched, and smiled. Her eyes cracked open to look at the intricate design that adorned her hand.
She was going to be married. And not only was she going to be married, but she was going to be married to the man that lay next to her, smiling with the pleasure of watching her awaken.
"Good morning Sarah. You look pleased."
She rubbed her eyes and smiled. She found his hand and placed her palm against his, the designs binding them in spirit. Jareth kissed her forehead and ran a finger along her cheek. "How are you feeling?"
"As well as can be expected. I'm sore, but it was well worth it. I saw the look Toby gave me. Something cracked in the spell, I could tell by his eyes."
"I'm glad you agree. The healer could sense the same thing in your reactions. I admit I was more preoccupied trying to see if you were alive." He smirked and gave her hand a squeeze. "Now my mind is a bit more clear."
"How did the healer understand all that? It was as if he knew me like my spirit."
"A trained healer does not need words, only expression. He has studied the art of the body and healing for many millennia; not a blink is wasted on that man. He is the most experienced there is in the Underground."
"How amazing." Sarah snuggled into the covers and pressed against Jareth's warmth. His hair grazed her face like a cat's whiskers.
"We need to get up soon." Jareth sounded as if he would rather remain snuggled with her for another couple of hours.
"Why? Oh yes, the children." Another thought for her wonderful morning: A couple of charming children might soon become her niece and nephew. And she was going to go visit another Fae castle.
They rested for another quarter of an hour, then rose and dressed. It was nearing ten and the sun streaked warn patterns across the stone floor.
"Cora sent us an owl late last night inviting us to a late breakfast," Jareth called over to Sarah's closet. "We are supposed to be there by eleven."
"Sounds more like a brunch to me," Sarah selected a simple gauzy gown of royal purple and gold.
"A what?" Jareth poked his head out from his closet, a shirt half pulled on around his shoulders.
"A brunch," Jareth eyed her curiously. "Have you never heard of a brunch before?" Jareth shook his head and grabbed a pair of purple velvet pants to match Sarah. He enjoyed coordinating with her and she seemed to be amused by it.
"A brunch is a late breakfast and an early lunch combined. Br- breakfast, unch- lunch. My grandmother used to have them all the time. It's an excuse to sleep in and still eat good breakfast pastries."
Jareth smirked and grabbed his black boots. Sarah emerged and gave a twirl. Her skirt was so light and layered that it billowed all around her while she danced merrily to the bathroom.
"Are you ready, pet?"
"Almost- yes." He heard the sound of jewelry clinking. "Yes, I'm ready."
"You look radiant."
"And you look like a glam-rock star."
Jareth raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
"A glam-rocker? Glamorous rock?" Sarah offered, attempting to explain her Aboveground lingo.
"I know what a glam-rocker is. I happen to be friends with a vampire that lived in the Aboveground as a rock star for a time. He has slipped from public view now. You think I look like a rock star?"
Sarah gave him the once over: "Yes."
Jareth laughed and led her to the balcony. "Time to teach you to fly. I want you to see where it is that Corsicana lives."
"Me? Fly? Now?" Sarah looked about worriedly and wrung her hands, "I don't know, is it difficult?"
"Transforming is the tricky part. Flying is second nature once you become a bird."
Sarah nodded and bravely stood next to Jareth in the sunlight. It was a long way down to the ground, and while she wasn't afraid of heights, she had never actually flown before either.
"Simply believe. Believe you can fly, believe you have a bird's spirit within your soul and then let it break free and conquer your body. When you land, it is the same principle in reverse. Believe your bird soul is once more returning to its home."
Sarah stood and searched for the feeling. "I believe," she whispered, closed her eyes, and felt the strange feeling of something airy fluttering out of her core and through her mouth. It made her think of the ancient Egyptians and their Ka, and then she remembered reading something about ancient Egyptians in the library at the castle.
Suddenly Sarah found herself on the ground, fluttering her wings madly until she stood on the stone. Above her on the rail was Jareth, the white owl of her dreams long since past. She cocked her head about to take in her own appearance.
Jareth flew into their bedroom and perched on the counter by the mirror. She followed suit and peeked at her reflection. Her feathers were a glistening obsidian black, a steak of red bordered by white across her eyes. She was small, about the size of a crow, but her wings were thin and curved like the blade of a samurai sword. She remembered glancing through the pictures in her father's bird watching guides at home. She was a swift.
Is there a reason we become the birds we do? Sarah thought.
She opened her mouth and let out a high pitched shree shree! and then jumped into the air. It was an amazing sensation, flying. The wind, the lightness. Behind her, she heard the low hoot of Jareth and he took flight out over the valley.
Sarah darted after him and swooped around; flying was instinctive for her bird form. It was amazing how simple the transformation had been.
They flew for fifteen minutes over the tops of oaks and redwoods until they crested the bordering mountain range. Sarah cried out in her bird call as a whole new kingdom came into view. A far distant set of mountainous hills gleamed white with a spectacularly large palace of modern construction and enormous green gardens of low hedge mazes and lakes. Sun glinted off the eastern towers and dazzled their eyes.
How familiar this looks Sarah chirped to herself. She half heard Jareth thinking about Corsicana's wedding. They held the ceremonies out in the gardens on a warm summer day. Sarah could even sense the location where Kade had proposed. It was a strange wave of recognition.
Soon enough Jareth and Sarah landed in an open courtyard amidst artistic rock fountains and grand stone platforms. Jareth whirled into his normal self and turned to the little swift that had perched on his shoulder.
"Now you must contain the spirit," he said quietly. She nipped at his ear playfully, then hopped into the air and tried very hard to contain the spirit. The bird landed ungracefully, its mind clearly concentrating on other things, and then quite suddenly it exploded in amethyst and ruby dust, revealing a disheveled Sarah sitting awkwardly on the ground, legs splayed about her, arms still stretched out like wings.
Jareth laughed till tears shone through his lashes and Sarah brushed herself off in a huff. "Oh please. It was only my first time," she mumbled as she adjusted her dress.
"I know, and much better than mine. I was ten, and I crashed into a wall the first time I tried to fly. Then when I transformed back I was still hooting like an owl because the spirit was trying to get out again."
"Well yes, but you were younger too. It's not so bad when you have an excuse."
"But at least you didn't have much of an audience. I tried my first flight when leaving a party at my cousin's castle. I begged my father to teach me, I thought I was ready, and he finally gave in just to teach me a lesson in pride."
Sarah laughed a little at her fiancée as three shimmering beings walked toward them. Their hair seemed as though it were defying gravity, their stride airy, as though they were gliding on air.
"Welcome to the palace of King Kade and Queen Corsicana, rulers of the Seelie court," the three faeries chanted in chorus.
Sarah took a step back and regarded the trio quizzically. "But I thought faeries were tiny and mean, last time I was here-"
"Shows what you know," a voice said off to one side. Sarah glanced around frantically. There was no one there.
"This way please, breakfast is waiting in the garden."
Sarah and Jareth strolled behind the three gliding faeries and Sarah realized that they all had shimmering wings that flickered into vision and then disappeared. She followed them a little warily.
"The faeries you saw outside the Labyrinth are Unseelie pixies. They dislike mortals and enjoy tormenting the Seelie. You took what Hobble had said for granted."
"How did you know what Hoggle said to me?"
Jareth watched Sarah sideways, "You were just talking about it."
"I was?"
"Jareth! Sarah!" her thoughts were interrupted by a joyous greeting from Cora and the children, who were sitting at a round table in the middle of a cactus garden. Sarah marveled at all the succulents, then realized that they were on a large round embankment nearly twenty stories above a prospering city. She blinked several times, feeling awash with deja vous.
"Welcome to the faerie kingdom!" Cora kissed their cheeks warmly. Sarah glanced over her shoulder and saw a tall and hansom Fae rise from the table.
"Oh, how rude of me. Sarah, this is Kade, my husband. This was his castle until I moved in and redecorated," she laughed. Kade looked remarkably like Jareth, though his hair was chestnut and short but still spiked in messy tufts. His eyes shone with amber and green, accenting the ruddy color in his lips and blushing his cheeks. His clothes were a variation of Jareth's, his forest pants were loose and tucked into tall brown boots, the shirt cream colored in a long renaissance style, also tucked in and belted at the waist with a black sash. Sarah spotted a silver necklace with a sickle moon and large sapphire.
"Welcome, Sarah," Kade said as he kissed her cheeks lightly. "I have heard that we are soon to become siblings, is that so?" His voice sounded dark and warm, though not a bit frightening.
"Yes, Jareth and I are engaged." Kade nodded and smiled at Jareth, kissing his cheeks in greeting then embracing him like a brother. Jareth looked very happy to see him.
"Please, let us sit out here. It is so wonderful to enjoy the sunshine. Although I must admit it is getting rather hot-" Cora waved her arms casually in arcs across the sky and a sheer periwinkle canopy appeared overhead and shaded their eyes and skin from the brighter rays of sun. "Come on, breakfast won't be served for another half-hour."
The group moved under the comfortable shade and took places around the table. It was lain all in white and the same lilac color of the canopy.
"Sarah and I will be sisters, and then we can paint our nails and style our hair together. Isn't that what you do in the Aboveground?" Cora looked eagerly at Sarah, indicating her interest in foreign customs.
Sarah laughed at the innocent expression on Cora's face. "I suppose so. I have no sister as of yet, but I am sure we will have many wonderful times sharing our customs." Cora clapped her hands in delight.
"Have you set a date for the ceremony?" Kade asked as Cora gabbed Sarah's hand and studied the pattern around her wrist.
"Not as of yet. The castle could use some updating before we host a ball. I am sure you will agree that it is quite out of date." The men began to discuss kingly duties, and Sarah fell to chatting with Cora.
"What a beautiful pattern! And look how similar ours are," she stretched her hand next to Sarah's. They indeed bore very similar leaves and patterns. "They are different with everyone. My cousin's is a spider web with dew drops of pearl. It is very unusual."
Kathy and Pat waved at the party from a high tower and then disappeared to explore more of the palace.
"Cora, why do different people transform into different types of birds?" Sarah asked, waving back to the children.
"Each type reflects different personality traits. Why?"
"Jareth taught me to fly today. I changed into a swift."
"A swift! How unusual, especially for a mortal." Cora thought about this for a moment.
"What does it mean?"
Cora rubbed her neck thoughtfully. "Generally it indicates strength, knowledge, and feminine characteristics-" Sarah raised an eyebrow. She had been a tomboy growing up. "But it also indicates psychic abilities."
Sarah looked at Cora. She was watching her steadily. "Does this mean I have psychic powers?"
"I don't know. It might be an indicator. Have you ever noticed anything along those lines?"
"Not really. Well actually, I suppose just this morning I had a strange experience: I was thinking about something and Jareth answered my thoughts as if I had spoke to him. I thought maybe I had wondered aloud on accident."
"Try thinking of something meaningful but direct your thoughts toward me, as if you were speaking to me in your mind."
Sarah tried to think about complimenting the style of the palace, but even as she tried she knew that her thoughts were drifting toward Toby. Cora closed her eyes tightly and threw a hand to her temple. Her mouth grimaced as if indicating some painful headache. All in an instant she gasped and sat back in her chair. She simply sat and breathed for a moment.
"So, did you hear anything?" Sarah inquired tentatively. Jareth and Kade had stopped to watch Cora, who was breathing heavily.
"You are very gifted with psychic talents."
"What?" Jareth almost jumped from his seat.
Cora looked at him with wide eyes, "Are you sure she is mortal? She projected every memory of Toby concerning the Underground, and then some."
Jareth and Kade looked at Sarah, who sat in shock watching Corsicana.
"She transformed into a swift, but I didn't think much of it at the time," Jareth mumbled. "Her powers must have concentrated."
Cora explained to Sarah that the transformation is also a way of meditating and gathering your natural powers. "You will have very strong powers after regaining Fae or human form."
"But that doesn't explain how she came by psychic powers," Kade interrupted. "They are not easily given." They all stared at her closely. Sarah blushed under so much scrutiny.
Kade looked her up and down as if gauging her size. "Sarah, how old are you?"
"Twenty-four," she responded shyly.
"So young," whispered Cora. Sarah studied her face. She looked no more than thirty but had to be hundreds, if not thousands of years old.
Kade closed his eyes and fell into deep thought, "Then how old is your mother?"
Sarah could not see the logic of this question but answered obediently: "Forty-five."
"Making your grandmother…?" he continued.
Now she began to see his logic, but she could hardly believe it. "I don't know, somewhere in her late seventies, but what are you saying? You can't seriously think-"
"What about your great-grandmother?" he cut her off.
"She's dead. She died before I was born. I guess she would have been over a hundred. Her name was Amelia. I don't know her maiden name. Anything else you want to know?" Sarah said with slight irritation at being left out of their thought process.
Kade and Cora exchanged looks of understanding recognition and Jareth simply stared.
Sarah glanced around helplessly at the Fae surrounding her. "Well? What does that mean?"
Jareth responded in surprise, "Sarah, why didn't you ever tell me?"
"What? That I had a relative that might have been around a hundred were she alive?"
Jareth rolled his eyes in exasperation, "No, that you are related to Amelia."
"I didn't know it was important. What does it mean?"
"Amelia, your great-grandmother, has been to the Underground before," Kade began. "She used Faerie magic when she was seventeen. She was going to run away from her farm and eleven older siblings."
Sarah nodded impatiently, "Yes, yes, I know. It wasn't the life for her, she knew she was being suffocated, wanted to explore the world, etcetera, etcetera. She disappeared for a time and the next anyone knew she was somewhere in her mid-twenties and married with a son. So she was in the Underground?"
Jareth grinned at her temper. She was becoming more like him, and he like her for that matter. "Yes, she was in the Underground. She used Faerie magic to bring her luck in her escape but accidentally brought herself to the Underground. She was here for a short time, but married a Fae noble and had a son. The Fae man, Lord Deshvat Devoir, is a well-known seer. He is still considered by most the master of mind reading."
"He is still alive? Why did Amelia return to the Aboveground?" Sarah interjected.
Kade picked up the story. "Lord Devoier is alive and well. He looks not much older than he was then. We are rather good friends," Kade smiled with some inner anecdote. "Amelia and her son, Alrende, were forced to return to the Aboveground when Alrende was only a baby. Seelie extremists threatened the Devoir line with removal from the court."
"Why? Who are Seelie?"
"Seelie is a general term for Fae of pure heritage. They tend to work light magic, as opposed to the Unseelie, who tend to work dark. The Unseelie are less discriminating of pure heritage and are mostly composed of cross-breeds. However, the conservative Seelie believe that only those of pure lineage may remain in the court. They threatened to not only remove Lord Devoir's title, but to throw his entire living lineage out of the court. Lord Devoir's father and grandmother held very important positions in the court, and if they were to leave then more conservative Seelie would gain control and threaten the peace with the Unseelie."
Sarah furrowed her brows, "You mean to say that is was politics?" Kade nodded. "But I know I had a great-grandfather David and my grandfather's name is Allen. Are those the same people as Alrende and Deshvat?"
"Yes. Lord Deshvat Devoir came with Amelia to the Aboveground and remained with her for forty years, altering his appearance to keep the façade of ageing. Then he began to appear unusually young and faked a mortal death. He visited her in secret until the end of her life, but Alrende never knew of his Fae ancestry. These were the terms of the Seelie court."
Sarah nodded worriedly, "But Amelia married a Fae, she had a child, she lived in the Underground; why didn't she live longer? Wouldn't she have had Fae magic?" She looked into Jareth's eyes wondering what would happen to her. She didn't want to think of Jareth alone after she passed into the next world.
Jareth took her hand comfortingly, "The magic fades in the Aboveground. It remains dormant but can resurface with prolonged visits to the Underground."
Sarah's fear did not ebb. "What about the Seelie court? Wont they consider me impure?"
The other three laughed and Sarah relaxed a little.
"Jareth is not of the Seelie court," Cora explained. "Neither am I. Our lineage is mostly of moderate Seelie and interbreeds with many other races. We have traces of vampire, druid, goblin-"
Cora broke off with another laugh at the startled expression on Sarah's face. Sarah couldn't imagine any Fae interbreeding with a goblin. Jareth was nothing at all like his subjects and she had always assumed he ruled them because the Goblins were too unintelligent to rule themselves. Over the past, she had come to realize this was a half-truth.
"Yes, goblin. Strange, no? But we are primarily Fae and considered royalty of the Unseelie court. Kade is Seelie, and when we married we created the modern Seelie-Unseelie court. We are not in favor with much of the Seelie court, but the tides are turning to a balance."
Sarah nodded, once again at ease with the situation.
Just then an number of faerie servers brought out great platters of food. Kade excused himself and vanished to find the children.
Cora cleared her throat, "Jareth, the children have asked if they may remain here for a week. I understand that you have given them a week to decide about their future residence," the air hung with an unasked question.
"I think it is most appropriate for them to remain with you and Kade. You are the prospective parents, after all."
Cora nodded with a smile, "Would you like to spend the week with us as well?" she looked between Jareth and Sarah.
"We are delighted by this proposition, but regretfully we must decline," Sarah said. "We would love to visit again soon, and invite you and Kade to our castle as well. You are welcome anytime."
"Thank you, as are you," Cora grinned. Sarah mentally projected the thought that she was anxious to begin remodeling the castle and make wedding preparations.
Jareth got a confused look in his eye, "What's all this about remodeling?"
"It would seem you need practice direction your thoughts!" They all laughed as Kade, Pat, and Kathy arrived.
They chatted amiably while eating. Kathy was particularly pleased with the unicorn stable and Patrick was eagerly awaiting archery lessons with Kade. After the many courses were finished, Corsicana led the children off to play and Kade took Sarah and Jareth for a tour of the palace.
The grounds were immense; it would be impossible to view it all in one day. They wandered through the towers and across the courtyard. Sarah was highly impressed with the large collection of art. Each room was naturally lit with skylights and contained themed paintings, sketches, statues, sculptures, and all imaginable types of mediums.
"Oh Sarah, you will like this room. It is Cora's favorite," Kade briskly led them to a cavernous room that held countless artifacts. Sarah was in awe already by the amount, but upon closer investigation she realized why the room was so special.
"It's all from the Aboveground!" She laughed, gazing up at a free-form statue made out of Coca-Cola bottles. To the right of it was a demonstration of brightly painted hubcaps and metal bars. Hanging from the ceiling was an unusual mobile of bicycles, tires, and what appeared to be the barrel of a washing machine. She noticed that on the walls hung paintings reminiscent of Picasso, Dali, DaVinci, and many other famous artists. She could recognize their styles, but not the actual paintings.
"All of these pieces were either inspired by Fae who have been Aboveground or Abovegrounders who have been here. We have collected them for generations," Kade explained while Sarah darted around the room to see all the pieces.
She came to a sudden halt when she saw a portrait of a woman that looked almost exactly like herself. The woman had red hair and a wider face, but the same nose and chin. The lips were full and drawn sensuously into a little bow. Sarah immediately recognized it as her great-grandmother Amelia.
"Yes, it's Amelia," Kade confirmed. "One of Lord Deshvat's friends painted it just after they were married. Deshvat kindly donated it to our collection once she left. He has several other portraits that are much larger than this hanging in his home."
Sarah smiled and nodded. In Amelia's hand was a red leather book. Now she knew where it had come from. When Sarah was a little girl she had found the book in a box in the attic one rainy Saturday. Since then she had read it enough times to know many parts of it by heart. Sarah laughed a little as she mused over everything that little book had done for her great-grandmother, and now for her.
It was at that exact moment that Sarah knew how she would save Toby.