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Warning: (brief) nudity
Jareth walked slowly around the glittering ballroom.
"Perfect," he said. Everything was going according to plan.
Lady Chelsea was walking by his side along with a brown-haired, male Fae.
"It looks exactly as it did before. I remember it like it was yesterday…" sighed Chelsea dreamily.
"She will certainly be impressed, Your Highness," said the male Fae to Jareth's left.
"I'm sure she will, Hailey. Thank you both for your help; you may leave."
Without waiting for them to bow, he turned into his owl form and flew out through the nearest window.
"I wonder if she's awake yet…" he thought as he soared over the twisting corridors of the Labyrinth. He took a hard right turn and barrel-rolled, alighting gently onto a balcony chair. The sight of Sarah through her balcony window caused the king to involuntary tighten his talons around the back of the seat on which he perched. She was still in her sleep-clothes, hair somehow perfect. Maybe she had brushed it already. He had specially requested a mermaid's brush and vanity set for her. He hoped she liked it…
She was going through a pattern of stretches he had seen her do time and time again. It was her regular ballet warm-up, but she did it often in the morning; she was elegant. When her night shirt rose just enough to expose skin, tingles skittered across the skin of his forearms and neck. He ignored the stirring in his groin when she stood and bent over to touch her toes. She was enticing; his mouth was practically watering.
She walked gently to her wardrobe. Interesting, she usually went to the dresser to pick out breeches. He wondered if she had yet noticed that the dresses alternated almost every day.
"Dear God," he whispered as she began to undress. Despite watching her constantly, he had never spied on her when she was completely naked. He has been present a few select times, but he had averted his eyes. He enjoyed the tease. The temptation. The wait for what would someday come. She was facing the wardrobe and had undone buttons of her nightshirt. She slipped it off her right shoulder. Then her left…
It floated to the floor.
Her back was smooth as marble. He longed to run his fingers across her bare skin.
Then, she straightened up as if she sensed he was there. She turned towards him.
An audible screech left his beak as he saw her in all her glory. She was perfect. More beautiful than any Fae, the perkiness of her youth enhanced by the cool morning air on her skin. He saw her beauty for less than a second and disappeared before she saw him.
Sarah heard a whoosh outside. Forgetting her nakedness and without shame she darted to the window.
"I know you're out there!" she yelled. "Don't be a coward. Come back!"
But he was gone. He didn't hear her cries. She shook with rage. How dare he spy on her? How dare he leave her alone? She was good enough to look at, but not good enough to talk with?
"Would a 'good morning' kill him?!" she yelled out loud.
She was angry at herself for wanting him there.
~ .*. ~ .*. ~ .*. ~
"Lesson-day ten," Sarah thought to herself as Jepha entered the room, "I can do this."
Another day of reviewing the other realms. Sarah still didn't quite understand the geography of it all.
"Baroness, how does one get from realm to realm? Earth is round, gravity keeps our feet in the ground, and we can circumnavigate. But coming to the Underground was like walking through a doorway. I don't think we're on a different planet, so is the Underground really…underground?"
"Yes and no," replied the Baroness. "I know it's hard to understand magic, but several from the Aboveground have almost found us. Einstein. Schroedinger. That Mr Hawking from your realm actually comes quite near to figuring it out. Think of our worlds as different planes existing in the same space. Our 'globe' is not unlike yours; it is simply smaller. And in a way, it is underground. Six realms are below yours, and the Underground is below that. Now, travel to and from the Underground…that's a bit more complicated. Humans end up here every once and a while by stumbling into an enchanted wood or falling into a cursed pool. Or by wishing," she nodded towards Sarah. "But the realms between the Underground and Above, they would still be navigable even without magic."
Sarah remembered the conversation with Didymus about their world being like the globe. It seemed they were literally inhabiting the same earth.
The days were winding down to the ball. Sarah was getting more nervous with each sunset. The last few nights, she let Isabell stay in with her. After all, the bed was big enough for the two of them, and she needed the comfort.
"How are you feeling?" asked Jepha on the penultimate day.
The day after tomorrow was the ball. Meaning, tomorrow was the last day to study.
"I never did like tests," said Sarah, "and this feels like one big test."
"They're going to love you. We feel like we already know you, Champion."
Sarah blushed and turned her eyes downward with the weight of the compliment.
"Thank you, Baroness. I know from a knowledge standpoint I'm ready. I'm confident in the teachers I've had," she said smiling big at the Fae in front of her. Jepha bowed. "But I still don't know if I'm ready. There are so many what-ifs. I'll do my best."
"Just be yourself"
"That's the part that scares me," admitted Sarah, being more vulnerable than she had ever been with the Baroness. "All I can do is be myself. And what if they don't like my self?"
Jepha rose and took long strides to the girl who looked more like a child than ever before with her wide eyes and furrowed brow. Breaching etiquette, Jepha kneeled before Sarah and took the girl's face in her hands.
"It doesn't matter who does or doesn't like you. They are fools if they don't like you. Your presence here goes beyond being liked. You're a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope. You have every right to be here. This world would be lucky to have you."
Sarah felt tears stinging her eyes but held them back. She felt like she was lying to Jepha. Her plan to prevent the wedding felt like a betrayal to people that were, apparently, counting on her. But she didn't want to be royalty; being a princess was the dream of a child, and she was growing up. Sarah took Jepha's hands in her hands.
"Thank you, Baroness. Thank you."
The next day, Sarah rattled off greetings and titles and names as quickly as she could say her own. She was ready.
"Baroness Jepha," Sarah ventured at the end of the day. "I've read a book called The War Years. Is it very…accurate?"
Jepha's face was still as a stone.
"May I see this book?" she asked, monotone.
Sarah quickly retrieved it, remembering to keep her posture even though she wanted to curl up into a ball. She handed the moderately thick tome to Jepha, forcing her fingers not to shake.
"Intended Queen, intended queen," she repeated internally. Queens didn't shiver and shake.
Jepha turned through the pages slowly, flipping ahead and flipping back. After a few moments of silent, in which Sarah barely breathed, Jepha said, "Ah yes. I know this. It's decently accurate."
Sarah exhaled. "Thank you, I understand. I was expecting an autobiography or dramatization, but this book was pretty straight forward. Informative and descriptive. I just wanted to know if it was real or not."
"It's real."
Sarah waited for the Baroness to elaborate, but she remained tight-lipped. Sarah pressed on.
"It seems like people don't really talk about it that much. The war."
Jepha sighed and seemed to relax as she resigned to the fact the topic was going to be discussed whether she wanted to or not.
"Yes. It's just that…we've had peace for so long. There's no need to talk about it. Talk of the war stirs up painful memories. There's nothing to discuss. The Ice Giants were in the wrong and have since repented. The council keeps everything in check. We've moved on."
Sarah thought by the bulging vein in Jepha's neck that they had in fact, not moved on. But, she wasn't going to get much more out of her. And she didn't want to end their time together on a sour note.
Later that night, Sarah gently stroked Isabella's sleek coat.
"I don't know if I can do this, Isabell. I don't know if I'm meant for this."
But isn't this what she'd always wanted? All those nights dreaming of being something more? Somewhere greater. Someone greater? Yes, she wanted to be an actress…but wasn't that just another way of getting to be a queen, a fairy, a swan—if only for a little while. And now here was her chance, and Toby's humanity wasn't on the line anymore.
"Would being with Jareth be so bad?" Sarah asked the creature who let out a loud snort.
"That bad, huh?" Sarah remarked with a chuckle.
But really: would it be so bad? She considered life with him. Forget being queen for a moment, she considered being Jareth's wife.
"I can't imagine being anyone's wife yet," Sarah told Isabell, "But being with Jareth wouldn't be so terribly bad, if he would just do this the right way. No kidnapping. No forcing. No games. I need to get to know him. I've seen so many facets, so many sides of the king, but I need to get to know the man."
Sarah lifted her hand off of the Peryton.
"What am I saying?" She whispered to herself. "What am I saying?!"
This was basically kidnapping. This was wrong. She was just a kid.
"Isabell, I can't do this." Then, she had an idea struck her.
"He may have blocked the door, but has he block the skies?" She set her hand back on her Peryton's neck. "It's now or never, girl."
Sarah hoisted herself onto Isabell's back. With the wings in the way, this was not exactly like riding a horse. She wiggled around until she found a stable position.
"Please, let this work," she prayed. If Jareth had guarded the skies, what would happen to them both?
No time to think about that now. She squeezed her knees into the peryton's sides and clicked her tongue.
"C'mon!"
The wind cracked as Isabell's wing's whipped open. They were off the ground before Sarah had time to take a breath.
Sarah laughed in disbelief. "We're free!" she cried.
They soared into the night sky, higher and higher. Sarah didn't know where they'd go yet, but the feeling of flying was too wonderful to let her care about anything else besides being up in the air. Isabell began to drift smoothly in large circles, gliding downward until she had to flap her wings to gain elevation again.
"If only we could stay up here like this," sighed Sarah. The stars seemed extra bright tonight and the Labyrinth lay silently below. Sarah looked longingly at the twisting and turning passages beneath her. It was wild, it was free, it was…magic. That was where she wanted to be. Not stuck inside castle walls.
A feeling of dread filled her stomach as she thought about the past two weeks.
"A lacking consort means a lacking monarch," Chelsea had sneered. "The Intended is only a reflection of how worthy the king or queen is of their position."
"Lady Sarah, if I may be so bold," Gwyreign had said at their last meeting, "it means a lot to me—to us, that you're here. Politically, we have been in a time of unrest. Everything has been peaceful, quite peaceful, it's just…the whispers have been accumulating. I think your presence here will show that His Majesty is just as capable as ever."
Politics.
Politics politics politics. Everything sounded so harmonious in all the lands as opposed to the Aboveground.
"Is Jareth a beloved ruler?" Sarah had asked the Baroness.
"By most, yes," Jepha answered with a smile. "Though his reckless nature is always the center of gossip. Still, he is a good king and his love of the Goblins has never skewed his focus. Not until—" Jepha stopped short, and the normally regal Fae widened her eyes in worry after speaking so unguarded.
"Until me," Sarah thought. "It's alright, please continue."
"Your Ladyship, I don't mean to be so bold. It's just…in recent years, there has been quite a lot of grumbling at court. They say the King is…out of touch and has his priorities mixed. I assure you it is nothing to worry about. I should not have said anything in the first place. Rumors and gossip are no reason to be worried. Things are quite calm."
Sarah returned to the present.
"Is it really my responsibility to keep it that way?" Sarah thought to herself as a strong gust of wind tossed her hair about. She thought of Didymus and his fervor for life. He was an outpost to the king, and if the king was deposed…
She thought of Ludo and all the other creatures who lived freely in the Labyrinth. She thought of Hoggle…
"Oh, Hoggle," she said out loud. The poor dear wouldn't be able to take it. It was bad enough she had defeated Jareth only to become his prisoner, and it would be worse if a political uprising, or revolution, or whatever happened when Faerie folk didn't like their leader, broke out. Sarah didn't want to think about it. Would the Crystal City intervene? No, she didn't want to think about it.
"Isabell, we have to go back. Whoooaaa!"
The flying deer flapped it's wings frantically in a show of what Sarah figured was surprise. She wobbled left and right on the back of her flying companion, grasping its neck for dear life. Isabell steadied herself and they glided once more; Isabell let out a few gentle mews.
"Really, we have to go back. I can't be the cause for more trouble."
The peryton let out a low grumble on the brink of a bellow and did not head back towards the castle.
Sarah sighed. "C'mon," she said with a nudge of her knees. Isabell finally banked left and soared down to the bedroom balcony. Sarah hopped off and scratched underneath the peryton's chin. "Good girl. I know I should get away, but there's too much at stake here. I'm not going to marry him. Or I'm not going to marry him like this. I just have to play a part. I just have to play the game."
Isabell huffed, which probably meant something like "I don't approve but I sure hope you know what you're doing."
Isabell blinked once and then leapt into the air, flying around the castle parapets and out of sight.
"It's probably better I'm alone tonight anyway. I have to focus for tomorrow."
Sarah had a plan. Sarah was playing the game, but she would not be a pawn. She thought, ironically, that she would not be the queen either, in this real-life game. But, she would play the game and win. All it would take was some cleverness and a very public audience.
