CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
She didn't die.
Sarah jumped out the window with her eyes closed, and her heart in her throat, but instantly the magic took hold in a flurry of feathers and twisting bones, converting her painlessly to an owl. Sarah opened her eyes to see the labyrinth unfurling under her as she soared behind Jareth. She followed him on an intuitive level she was sure was part of the magic. Flying was heady and intoxicating, only dampened by the reason she was soaring through the skies.
They went higher and higher until suddenly they both flipped upside down, and Sarah knew they were now Aboveground. It was night, and of course, a storm was raging across the cityscape. Sarah righted herself and let the magic lead her to a porch outside an apartment building. They both landed on the railing together and the next instant they were standing in full goblin armour on the balcony.
"Anything look familiar?" Jareth whispered as Sarah panted from the thrill and the exhilaration of flying.
"No, but I still think it is New York," Sarah muttered, looking out across the damp, noisy city. At Jareth's confused look, Sarah clarified with, "New York is where I was living before—"
"I think you ought to stay here." Jareth approached the balcony door. "They sometimes get violent."
"Well, they probably will if you threaten to kill them for interrupting us," Sarah said, with an impish smile.
"Don't remind me," he cursed. "Just listen to me for once and stay here. We don't know what's on the other side of the door."
"If it satisfies that magic that I am here, then fine." Sarah didn't want to face her past decision reflected back at her by another person. She would be quite happy to relive her flying experience in her mind, anyway. "Just don't murder anyone, Jareth."
Jareth pushed the door open without a word and strode in with minimal reliance on his cane.
Jareth marched into the darkened room. He let lightning illuminate the room only to discover that his 'wisher' was a male too busy wanking to notice him.
"Go and shut that door," said a sleepy female voice. "It has burst open again."
"In a minute," the male grunted. "I am nearly done."
"For fuck's sake," the female whisper-yelled. "It is your third fucking time tonight. Just go and shut the fucking door."
"Well, if you just let me fuck you I wouldn't have to fucking wank, now would I?" The male threw his blanket off and stormed towards Jareth completely nude.
"I have just had a fucking baby," the female answered just as the male realised Jareth was standing there with his arms on his hips.
"What the fuck?" he yelled. "Get out of my house."
"Who the hell are you?" The female scrambled out of bed. "If you wake the baby, I will murder you."
"Your baby is safe, and asleep I assure you," Jareth said, calmly, after the commotion died down. He peered at the male standing partly in shadows. There was something familiar about him.
"What the fuck?" The female blanched and backed away towards the door. "How do you know she's asleep?"
"My goblins have the babe," Jareth said simply. "You wished the child away, and the goblins obliged."
"Jo, go and check on Abby," the male said to his partner, without taking his eyes off Jareth. "Hey, do I know you?"
'Jo' left in a hurry, leaving them alone. "I don't believe you do."
"Nah...nah...nah, you're familiar," he said as he squinted. "Now, get out before I call the cops."
"I am the Goblin King." Jareth gestured to his armour. "You just summoned my goblins to take your child away."
"I jokingly wished her away," the man scoffed. "Jo is always tired, and she wouldn't put out. I didn't actually wish my child away. None of this is real..."
"What's said is said." Jareth studied his gloves with a well-practised air of boredom. He didn't even bother asserting that it was real. All too often the wishers would beg of him that it was 'just a dream.' He was never swayed by their pleas. Sarah had never once questioned the reality of his appearance. That had made her different from every other runner he had encountered. Sure, she asked for the baby back, but she never dismissed his corporeality. Sarah had truly believed in him.
"I will phone the police," the man threatened again. Jareth had heard that one before too.
"And much good it would do you." Jareth gave a cold laugh, turning away from the repellent man to inspect some trinkets on the dresser. "Do you want your child back?"
"Get out of my house." The man still shamelessly naked, stepped forward again. It was then he noticed a dusty picture frame right at the back of the dresser. He catalogued the photo for later perusal.
"I take it you do not want your child back then." Jareth levelled a stare at the mortal. His barely contained anger simmered just under the surface. He had been about to make love to his wife only to be interrupted by this literal 'wanker' who didn't even have the decency to cower in fear in his presence. He was tempted to slay the human on the spot, but an image of Sarah's crestfallen and disappointed face haunted him, and he knew he had to give this limp bog potato a chance to redeem himself.
"My child isn't missing," the moist fiddlehead replied, in a cocksure manner. "You shimmied up the drainpipe dressed as a gay fairy to try and what? Intimidate me?"
"I assure you, your child is missing, as your wife is just about to inform you." Jareth turned back to face the door, watching Jo run through, pale, distraught and crying.
"She's gone," Jo shrieked, gripping her partner's arms. "Abby is gone."
"Phone the fucking cops," the bog-turnip ordered, raising his fists to Jareth. Jo ran out hysterically to presumably do just that. "Give me back my baby."
"Certainly." Jareth waved his hand and produced a crystal. "You can either run the Labyrinth and win the child back, or you could take your dreams."
"My dreams?" The swamp cabbage watched the crystal weaving between Jareth's hands. He could see the temptation in his expression that had been devoid from Sarah's visage all those years ago. The cabbage lowered his hands from their aggressive stance. His eyes lit up and widened, and a devious smile curled his lips. That was until it slid off his face when he was interrupted.
"What the fuck, Mark?" Jareth turned around to see his Sarah, with her arms crossed and a look of thunder on her face. Mark? This wasn't her ex-husband, was it? He turned back to face the other male who looked equally perplexed. But as Jareth watched him, anger replaced his shock.
"Sarah?" Mark shouted. "You fucking cow, where the fuck have you been for the last three years?"
Jareth approached the dresser again and retrieved the photo frame. He knew there was something familiar about it. Inside the frame the naked man stood, dressed instead, in an impeccably tailored suit, with Sarah dressed in a white dress on his arm. Both wore massive smiles, though Jareth observed the smile did not reach Sarah's eyes. It was a charlatan's smile; an actress's smile.
"Did you just wish a child away, so you get more sex?" Sarah cried furiously. "Do you have any idea what you have done?"
"I have had the police questioning me for three years, you fucking bitch," he yelled. "And you didn't even have the decency to be fucking dead. Well, the police will be here soon, so they will know I didn't kill you. Instead, you ran away with some gay fairy to kidnap children."
"Mark, will you listen to reason?" Sarah pushed past Jareth to stand right in front of him. "You need to go and get the child back."
"It's my child Sarah," Mark gloated, raising his eyebrows and grinning with malice. "It seems it wasn't my fault we couldn't have children after all."
Jareth saw the blood leave Sarah's face as she stepped back. Protectiveness unfurled inside his heart, clenching and unclenching the organ.
"Enough of this!" Jareth stepped forward, bringing his wife back into the circle of his arms. "You have thirteen hours to run the Labyrinth or —"
"Or what, fairy boy?" Mark laughed, brushing his floppy blonde hair out of his face. Jareth clenched his teeth at the realisation of how similar he was to this ogre's toenail. "You think you will get away from the cops?"
"Your law enforcement officers are no match for me," Jareth replied, in his most menacing tone. Jareth frowned at his further realisation that Sarah seemed to accept that brutish arguing and bickering was part and parcel of being lovers. It made sense that she would rather hurl invectives at a paramour when that was all she had received from her ex-husband. Sarah utilised it as a defence mechanism. He glanced at her, fired up and passionate with her hands on her hips and a scowl levelled at Mark. It was his duty to show her a more positive way to channel her passions.
"My wife will end up in jail where her arse belongs, and you can enjoy getting men's cocks in your arse for the rest of your days." Mark grinned. Jareth tilted his head to the side. How had Sarah put up with such a ghastly bigot?
"I am not your wife," Sarah said with venom.
"No, but I bet you miss this..." Mark smirked, grabbing his cock. Jareth bellowed with laughter. Mark's smirk flipped to a scowl. "Are you jealous, fairy boy? Your cock not big enough to fuck all those men you desire?"
"Mark, when did you become such an utterly despicable creature?" Sarah shook her head.
"Fuck off, Princess Perfect!" Mark glared at her. "Just look at you all dressed up. You always had a screw loose."
"At least I wasn't a loose screw," Sarah countered. "And at least I am not homophobic."
Jareth sighed. "Look, as much as I am enjoying this, can we please get on with it?"
"Whatever, Sarah." Mark ignored Jareth. "You never gave yourself completely to me. You may not have fucked others, but you certainly never gave yourself to me emotionally."
"I am not having this argument with you again, Mark." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "There was no-one else. You were paranoid and delusional, and quite frankly, hypocritical. You just projected your guilt onto me."
"I would never have had to cheat on you if you were there for me more," Mark accused.
Sarah laughed. "I am not some naive twat like the girls with which you have affairs. I don't buy your emotional blackmailing, so just give it up."
"You're such a bitch, Sarah!" He shook his head. "If you weren't such a bitch, your friends wouldn't need to come to me for comfort."
"Why, who have you managed to get to fuck you now?" Sarah asked indifferently.
"Jo and I just had a baby," Mark said proudly. "One that you have stolen probably because of your lack of ability to have any."
"We haven't stolen the child," Jareth reiterated with a long-suffering sigh. "Again, you wished the child away. Now, for the umpteenth time, do you want your child back or not?"
"Of course I do," Mark answered.
"So you are willing to forfeit your dreams?" Jareth presented the crystal again. Mark's mouth flopped open, but before he had a chance to answer, Jo came back in the room, sobbing. She stopped as soon as she saw Sarah.
"Sarah?" Jo, who was a mousy, short woman with no shortage of freckles, flicked her brown eyes to Jareth before darting back to Sarah. "We thought you were dead."
"No, not dead." Sarah shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint."
"Are you kidding?" Jo sniffed. "We're friends, of course, I am not disappointed you're alive. But—"
Sarah raised a brow and threw a pointed look at Mark. Jo seemed to crumble again at her silence.
"Where is my baby, Sarah?" Jo asked, sobbing afresh.
"She is in the Castle at the centre of the Labyrinth, well looked after," Sarah assured her. "Mark has to decide whether to take his dreams or find his child that he wished away."
"Mark?" Jo hiccoughed. "What have you done?"
"Sarah!" Mark turned to her. "This joke isn't funny. Give me back my child."
"It is no joke, Mark." Sarah shook her head. She glanced at Jareth, and when he saw the pain in her eyes he wanted nothing more than to whisk her away from this beastly quagmire-leek.
"So you're telling me that you disappeared for three years to become a child-stealing fairy?" Mark laughed.
"You wished the child away, Mark," Sarah said exasperated.
"I did!" Mark shrugged. "But it was a joke."
"What did you do Mark?" Jo screamed. "You know she always believed in fairies, and she probably concocted this plot against you. They probably have been spying on us."
"Don't be ridiculous," Sarah snapped. "Why on earth would I want to do that?"
"Revenge for everything and him ending up with me," Jo pointed out. "It's very elaborate, but not funny, so just give us our child back. Just because you didn't want one of your own—"
"I don't seek revenge on that homophobic bag of shit," Sarah snapped incredulously. "I don't know how clear I have to make this, but I never wanted anything more to do with him."
"Yet, here you are." Jo stuck her hand on her hip.
"Yes, because he made a wish, and we are granting it." Sarah pointed between herself and Jareth.
"The book only mentions the Goblin King, Sarah," Mark argued, feebly.
"Yes, but he has since married!" Jareth threaded his arm around Sarah's waist. "And this is the Goblin Queen you so rudely abuse."
"You married her?" Mark hooted. "Word of warning between us males, she is an ice Queen and will leave your balls blue for weeks."
"That has not been my experience." Jareth gripped his wife tighter giving Mark a pointy smile. He half expected her to blush, but she just set her jaw and glared harder at her mortal husband.
"For now!" Mark shrugged. "She will get bored, and she will only care about her own needs. Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Then it is my job to see that she is sufficiently entertained, preferably by me and that her needs are met." Jareth bared his teeth in disgust at his predecessor. "Also preferably, by me."
"If only, he wasn't a gay fairy," Mark said, turning to Sarah. "Then he really would be the perfect match for you."
"He isn't gay, Mark," Sarah said, indifferently. "If one was to label him, I guess pansexual would work."
Mark scoffed with disbelief. "His pants are stuffed with three pairs of socks and are tight as fuck, and he is wearing make-up. He is as gay as a pansy."
"It isn't make-up." Sarah swiped a finger over his markings. "They are his fae markings. His pants are not stuffed with three pairs of socks but granted, they are tight as fuck. Trust me when I say, there is no need for him to stuff his pants."
Mark's eyes dropped down to his bulge and then back to Sarah's face. Jareth smirked, smug in the knowledge that his wife was on his side. She could have hung him out to dry, and been as snarky as she is with him when they are alone. But faced with a common enemy, she showed her loyalty to him, even if it was just loyalty to his cock.
"I call bullshit," Mark declared, loudly.
"Are we going to argue about whose cock is bigger all night, or are you going to make your choice?" Sarah produced her own crystal. "I want you to stop talking, Mark. Just nod or shake your head when we ask you a question."
She tossed the crystal at her mortal husband, hitting him in the chest. Jareth watched as Mark tried to talk, but no sound came out. Jareth was impressed at how fast and with minimal training his wife was getting the hang of her magic.
"Mark, nod if you want to choose your dreams." Sarah indicated the crystal in Jareth's palm.
"Don't you dare nod," Jo screeched. Jareth presumed Sarah's flashy show of magic was enough to convince her that this was real and not some nefarious revenge plot. "Don't you fucking dare."
"Nod if you want to retrieve your child," Sarah said after Mark remained still.
Mark nodded slowly, his eyes on the crystal.
"Wise choice," Sarah said. She leaned forward and in lower tones, said to him, "in the short time I have been married to Jareth, he has shown that he is capable of being a better husband than you, and that is what matters. Not the size of your cock. But before you resume talking, you should know that in fact, you do have the smaller penis."
Jareth smirked again, though his heart pounded at her public declaration of him as a husband. And a better husband than her mortal spouse. It did cross his mind, however, that the bar was set low as he had wished his own child away just because he was horny.
"Where is the red book?" Sarah asked Jo. "The one titled 'The Labyrinth.'"
"In the babies room," Jo answered in a shaky voice.
"Fetch it," Sarah ordered. She released herself from his side as soon as Jo left. Sarah started pacing up and down the room. Jareth watched her pick up a pair of jeans and a shirt that was crumpled on the floor and throw them at the silent Mark.
"Put these on," she ordered. "You've embarrassed yourself enough."
"We really need to get back," Jareth reminded her. He observed her throwing another crystal at the human.
"We will as soon as I have the book." Sarah came to stand in front of Jareth. "But I wonder, what will happen to the children who would be better off coming to live Underground — don't worry he can't hear us— all the abused children that would have decent lives with our human settlements, like Ghent."
"The Labyrinth will find another way to gather children, Sarah," Jareth said with a sigh. "Having the book in our possession will slow it down, but you're right, it won't end the trade completely. Let's focus on getting this challenge underway."
"Stupid wishes in the heat of the moment are perhaps different from those that would wish away their child to give them a better life then they could offer, surely?"
"Yes, indeed," Jareth said in a measured tone. "As I said, I do not think removing the book from circulation will stop all wishes, but it will stop the wished away children being Stolen Pearls. It allows us, as you say to regain the power of adoption to humans again."
"Because the book came into being as part of the curse?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, children were wished away before the book existed," Jareth explained, eyeing the mute and apparently deaf Mark who was beetroot red in either humiliation or anger. "And they will be wished away long after the book has been destroyed. But they won't be tied to the magic of the book, so the fae can not lay claim to them. We get to select the families again. You and I will be able to ensure those wished away children have happy and healthy lives as our subjects."
Jo came back in and flung the book at Sarah, before collapsing upon the ground in hysterics. Sarah picked it up and tucked it into her chest plate. Sarah tossed another crystal at Mark, who grabbed his ears and throat.
"What did you do to me?" he shouted.
"You were wasting time." Sarah walked back to Jareth's side. "You have chosen to retrieve your child. So let us begin."
"Mark, you have thirteen hours to solve the Labyrinth before your child becomes one of us, forever," Jareth said in a bored tone. Mark wasn't worth demonstrating any sparkle or flair. He waved his hand holding the cane out behind him, and Mark gasped as he noticed the Labyrinth sprawled out below their balcony. Jareth sent a sleep spell via crystal to the hyperventilating Jo. If Mark failed, she wouldn't even remember she had a baby. Mark, on the other hand, would remember for the rest of his life.
The three of them moved to the sandy hill. Mark seemed to swagger slightly as he walked past the two monarchs. The clock appeared, and Jareth told him in a very lacklustre tone, that his time had started.
"I will beat this easily," Mark said confidently. "Why not just give me my child back to save you the embarrassment?"
"Goodbye, Mark!" Sarah grabbed Jareth's arm, and they both transported back to the castle.
Sarah collapsed on the floor of the throne room as soon as they had landed. She rested her head in her hand and tried not to sob. Mark had touched a very sore nerve; one that she had buried deep within her. Sarah spied the wee baby, fast asleep, curled up in the centre pit with Cookie for company.
"Well, that was —" Jareth stopped talking, so she looked up to see Jareth with an expression akin to concern plastered on his face. "What did that cockroach of a husband mean when he said you couldn't have children?"
Sarah looked at him from between her fingers but then lowered her hands in defeat.
"It wasn't so much that I couldn't have children." Sarah shrugged. "It was that I didn't want any."
"Well, that is understandable if that man was to be the father." Jareth shook his head in disgust. His armour dissolving in an instant, leaving him standing in a loose flowy white shirt and tan leather trousers.
"I have never told anyone this." Sarah bit her lip. "I only tell you now because you need to understand why I married that man."
"Yes, well that was my next question," Jareth said, jerking his head back in disbelief.
"He was charming to start with," she explained. "And I think I told you how much he needed me, and how it felt powerful. Well, I grew tired of his clinginess, and he grew weary of being emasculated by me. I earnt more money, had a better job, and so on. When the balance of power shifted, things were a bit better. He proposed. I accepted. Then before we got married I—"
Sarah paused. The pain from what she was about to divulge was still raw. Jareth knelt in front of her and placed his hand on her knee. "I am listening."
"This is the bit no one in the world knows but Mark and I." Sarah felt hot tears splash down her cheeks. Jareth wiped them away gently with his gloved fingers. "Before we got married, I fell pregnant. I had been wavering about whether to marry him or not. He hadn't cheated on me yet, at least not that I know of, anyway. But I felt like I was simply leading him on when I didn't love him anymore; hadn't really loved him for years."
Sarah paused and studied Jareth's face through her tears. He remained concerned and interested, but there was no other discernible feeling in his expression.
"Of all the things for me to do," Sarah went on, hating the high pitched tone of her voice, "falling pregnant was never my plan. And I had taken precautions. At first, I wanted to have an abortion, but I couldn't go through with it. My own childhood bled into my decision-making process once I had decided to keep the baby. I would never abandon my child as my mother had abandoned me. So I went through with the wedding. I have already told you it was a nightmare, but I was also trying to hide the fact I was pregnant."
Sarah sniffed, and Jareth handed her a handkerchief. "How careless of me to overlook giving you this."
Sarah waved him off. "Don't worry, Jareth."
She wiped her face and blew her nose before continuing. "I lost the baby."
"Oh, Sar-ah!" Jareth pulled her into his lap and cradled her against his chest. Sarah found the embrace, and his heartbeat, comforting and soothing as desolation weaved through her.
"I blamed myself," she whimpered. "Losing the baby was my punishment for wishing Toby away. It was several weeks after we got married. Mark blamed me too. Then he got angry. It was like I had created a monster. He blamed me for not wanting to try for another baby straight away. Then shortly after that loss, my parents were murdered by the Pinnsburrs. Then I caught him with my best friend in one of the lounges at the funeral parlour. So I found my courage, and I divorced him."
Jareth was rocking her like she was a baby, as her tears spilt down his chest. "You are not to blame, Sarah. Not at all. He should have comforted you for your loss, not become angry with you."
"It was his loss too!" Sarah sniffed, inhaling Jareth's unique scent which had a calming effect on her. "And he was very good to me during the miscarriage and afterwards. Right up until he started asking for sex again."
"He was allowed to be angry with his grief, Sarah, but not for your unwillingness to try again." Jareth held her tighter as Sarah curled her fists into his shirt. "I appreciate you telling me this."
"I didn't know myself when I was with him," Sarah shook her head. "The determined child that beat your Labyrinth was lost to me."
"No, my love," he crooned. "You still showed strength during adversity. You came out of all your trials that much stronger."
"I should have had the courage to leave him well before I even accepted his proposal," Sarah said, thickly. "I never even wanted to get married. I do not know what possessed me. Where did that dragon-fighting girl go?"
"She is right here in my arms," Jareth declared, kissing her on the top of her head. "She stands before a fae as an equal; she stands before a king as his equal. And sometimes she stands in front of a fae King as his superior."
Jareth stopped rocking her, and she could feel his muscles tense up.
"What's wrong?"
"I am angry," Jareth hissed. "I am angry that I could not be there to stop all of this from happening to you. And I am furious that I contributed to your trauma by deceiving you further. I have caused you more damage than healing. That stops now. From now on, we will heal together."
They sat like that, without a word for quite some time. Jareth stroked her hair and rocked her gently while she cried into his chest.
"I can no longer blame you for not wanting to get married again." Jareth's voice rumbled against her ear as he spoke. "I won't apologise for you ending up married to me, but I will apologise that you again felt obliged to accept. Sarah, you deserve to marry someone you love; that you can accept with your heart and not just your mind."
"I thought I loved him," Sarah admitted. "I did. It was only on reflection that I learnt that I didn't love him. Not like I should have."
"Not that he deserved it." Jareth ran his fingers down her spine. "He didn't deserve you. I didn't like him the moment I met him."
"Well, you were there to take his child." Sarah sniffed. "It is probably customary for you to hate the wishers on sight."
"I saw him before that." Jareth had one hand still stroking her hair, which sent tingle after tingle down her spine, meeting up with the ones he had produced with his hand soothing her back. "At that party where you had disguised yourself as a cat. He called you a lot of colourful names."
"Was 'slut' one of them?" Sarah asked.
"I believe so, yes," Jareth answered.
"He was a virgin when we got together," Sarah explained. "I was not. It was always a sore point with him."
"What in all the bogs did you see in him?" Jareth shook his head.
"Hindsight is a beautiful thing." Sarah fiddled with the tip of Jareth's pendant. "We had a lot of shared interests, mutual friends, and Mark was entertaining and thoughtful, to begin with. I'd hate to say it, but he deceived me more than you did. You pretended to look like someone else; he really was someone else. I never saw the true Mark until it was too late."
Jareth didn't respond directly, continuing to touch and stroke her in placating movements.
"Fool me once..." Sarah muttered into Jareth's chest.
"I won't fool you twice, Sarah." He stopped his comforting motions and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I know nothing I can say will make you believe me, Sarah. Not after everything you have been through, but you are a Queen, and moreover, you are my Queen, and I will treat you as such."
Sarah pressed her face into his chest, inhaling his scent and seeking comfort from his warmth. They resumed their wordless embrace for a few moments longer.
"Sarah?" Sarah heard Toby and pulled herself away from Jareth to see her brother standing awkwardly at the doorway. "What's going on?"
"A parent wished away their baby," Jareth answered.
"Why is my sister crying?" Toby took one step forward. The lighting change threw his angular, gaunt body into greater definition.
"Because I am responsible for it." Sarah knew it was time to reveal her other well-kept secret. "I made a mistake many years ago that led me here."
"Sarah, that monster's choice and wish is not your responsibility," Jareth mumbled into her ear.
"Have you not wondered how I met Jareth?" Sarah asked, sidestepping Jareth's attempts at consolation.
"Well, I assumed it was when you wished me away." Toby shrugged.
Sarah watched Toby's face, and it appeared indifferent. No accusation, no malice to be found. Just matter-of-fact.
"Who told you?"
"No one." Toby shrugged again as teenagers often are wont to do. "You told me the story enough and then here we are. Not hard to put two and two together."
"Oh, Toby, I am so sorry!" Sarah felt fresh tears piling up.
"You refused your dreams to save me," Toby said, with yet another shrug. "And babies are annoying."
Jareth laughed. "You were a fine fellow though, Tobias, but you did have a set of lungs on you. You are thankfully too young to remember the indignity I suffered to placate you."
Sarah filed that tidbit away for later perusal. What had Jareth done to soothe the crying toddler?
"But don't you see from that one decision I made, how everyone's lives have been affected?" Sarah furiously wiped away her tears. She told Toby about the Pinsburrs and how they burnt down the family home, murdering Karen and Robert; which led to Toby's exile in his changeling-aunt's house. Sarah followed with a brief tirade on her abduction, which she pointed out, led to a forced marriage to Jareth. Last but not least, Sarah described her ex-husband Mark retrieving the red book and wishing his baby away.
"And all because I didn't want to babysit you once again." Sarah had untangled herself from Jareth's lap and was now pacing the throne room. "I have negatively affected everyone's lives."
"Sarah!" Jareth's tone was brisk and commanding. "You may have set off a chain of events, but you did not continue it."
"Shouldn't you be checking on Mark?" Sarah snapped.
"No," Jareth said, firmly. "The goblins are watching him. They will tell me if anything is amiss."
"I seem to remember you would pop up unwanted throughout my challenge," Sarah pointed out, crossing her arms.
"You intrigued me," Jareth said, as his lips twitched. "Mark has nothing I am interested in."
"You're not even going to steal his time?" Sarah uncrossed her arms and wildly gestured towards the clock.
"Do you want him to lose his baby?" Jareth rose off the floor where he was still sitting. "He isn't a threat like you were."
"So if he wins, will you marry him too?" Sarah placed her hands on her hips.
"Sarah," Toby interrupted. "While, it wasn't easy losing mom and dad, and while it was hell living with Aunt Joan, those things are not directly your fault. You can't be responsible for what other people do. I should be angry, but I have spent years being resentful about everything, and I am too tired to carry any more bitterness and anger."
"You were always wise beyond your years, young man," Sarah said, ruffling his hair like he was seven again. "I could learn a lot from you when it comes to not being resentful."
Jareth met Sarah's eyes, and he offered a smile as if he conjectured her meaning perfectly. Sarah was well aware of her own resentment against Jareth.
"Stop it!" Toby batted her hand away from ruffling his hair. He may be insightful, but he was still a teenager. Abby chose to start crying at this time, so Jareth went straight to her, taking her out of Cookie's arms and cradling the wee thing. Toby wrapped his arms around his sister's shoulders. "I love you, Sarah and I am grateful that you won me back, and that you came back for me. We can make a new life now, out of the shadow of the old life."
"Cripes, you are philosophical for a teenage boy." Sarah patted Toby on his shoulder as they pulled away from their hug.
"I spent most of my time in the library hiding from Aunt Joan," Toby said. "I read a lot."
"The Toby I knew loved his computer games..." Sarah glanced away from Toby to see Jareth cooing at the baby. Sarah had seen him in the walking-state, holding her as a baby, but watching him with a baby in the here-and-now, piqued her interest. He was gentle and soft and almost kindly-looking as he rocked and soothed the wailing infant. Sarah's heart fluttered at the sight of her husband, then sank as she remembered waking up to a sharp pain in her abdomen and her pyjama bottoms covered in blood.
Tears welled up as she watched him. She instinctively knew he would want a child, whether it would be to secure an heir or just to experience fatherhood and by marrying her, she had denied him the chance.
"Sarah?" Toby elbowed her gently in the arm. "Don't look at him all misty-eyed. Society may consider me an adult in a year, but it's still gross."
Jareth looked up at his words, so Sarah blinked away her tears and scowled at him. "I am going to go and check on Mark."
"How are you going to do that?" Jareth followed her with the baby in the crook of one arm, as he used his cane with the other.
"Sevlydi can show me how to scry," Sarah called over her shoulder. True to form, Sarah was running away from her feelings again. Jareth should at least have a better understanding now, as he has dealt with child loss all his career. While not a planned baby, it had been very much a wanted child. And Sarah knew she never dealt with the pain sufficiently.
She found Sevlydi sitting in Jareth's study. He had maps and scrolls all laid out on the long table, by the wall.
"What are you doing in here?" Sarah asked him.
"Someone has to plan for this war," he said accusingly.
"We have a wished away child," Sarah informed him, defensively.
"I guess you are here to write to the next parents, then." Sevlydi rolled up a scroll and placed a pin into the map nearest him.
Sarah paled. She hadn't even considered that. "No, actually. I came to ask you if you could help me scry for the runner."
"Can't Jareth help?"
"He is busy with the baby," Sarah reasoned. "He isn't interested in scrying for him."
"Then why, are you?"
"He is my husband," Sarah admitted. "My ex-husband. The mortal one."
"Ah." Sevlydi looked away from his table of war planning paraphernalia, to study her. "Just say his name into this crystal."
He tossed her a crystal that he produced from thin air.
"What?" Sarah raised her brows dramatically. "No scathing judgement from my dear brother-in-law today?"
"I would love to, but I simply do not have the time." Sevlydi returned to his maps.
Sarah slunk out of the study and took a perch in one of the windows down the corridor. She propped her feet up onto the sill and leant back against the frame.
"Mark Fenwick," Sarah said into the crystal. She instantly saw him tearing down the endless corridor right at the start of the Labyrinth. He was cursing and swearing while he ran and tripping over the branches scattered across his path. She watched for a while before she realised Jareth was standing right in front of her.
"We can't help him." Jareth sat on the windowsill by her feet.
"We have to write to the next parents on the list," Sarah said with disgust.
"We do," Jareth bowed his head.
"Please tell me it is not the Pinnsburrs."
"I do not know." Jareth rubbed his forehead. "They wanted to be at the top of the list after being denied, but I said no. However, Omre and Nudalun like to interfere, so anything is possible."
"I am going to find Meffod and Yarbro and kill them with my bare hands," Sarah threatened, as Jareth sat down on the sill next to her. "Then for good measure, I am going to kill Omre and Nudalun."
"Maybe you will have the chance when the war starts," Jareth placed his hand on her booted foot. They sat like that for a few minutes. Sarah was the first to break the silence.
"Jareth?"
"Yes, Precious?"
"Do you want to be a father?"
Jareth turned his mismatched gaze to her. "Why do you ask, Sarah?"
"I feel that you may not have married me if you knew where I stood on this issue," Sarah answered honestly. She decided to be upfront about it.
"And where do you stand?"
"Losing my baby was the most unbearable pain." Sarah ran her hand over her flat stomach. "I can still feel its kicks and hear its tiny heartbeat on the doppler. I don't think I can risk this happening again."
Jareth didn't say anything, his face remained inscrutable, but his hand remained on her foot. Eventually, he nodded.
"I want to be a father, Sarah," he said, closing his eyes. "I could lie and say what you wanted me to hear, but I would rather be truthful with you. So I will tell you the blunt truth. I want a child of my own. However, I would rather have you, and no child, than a child, without you in my life. You are not getting out of our marriage that easily."
The only sound was that of birds twittering outside the window. And perhaps Sarah's heart as it twisted in her chest at his words. She gazed out the window across the Labyrinth, her gloved fingers tracing the pattern of the maze into the pane.
"That's a mighty big sacrifice," Sarah finally spoke up.
"Is it?" Jareth asked indifferently.
"Well, it depends on how much you want a child, I suppose." Sarah resumed tracing the Labyrinth with her finger. "But generally, forgoing the desire to bear children for the sake of someone who married you for political reasons, would be seen as a big sacrifice."
"But I did not marry you for political reasons, Sarah." His hand gripped her ankle. "If I was inclined to marry for civic purposes, any old-Forsythia substitute could suffice."
"No, but I married you for political reasons." Sarah placed her head back against the bricks of the window frame, to study him better.
"And I married you for love," Jareth said quietly. "So I respect your decision not to have children."
"That easily?"
"No," Jareth confessed. "It is a bitter disappointment, but I love you."
This time it was only Sarah's heart that penetrated the silence; the birds having flown off. Despite her feelings, or lack thereof, Sarah's whole being thrilled at each utterance of love. And she suddenly realised that though her feelings remained bound and gagged, she wanted him to love her. And it hurt to disappoint him in such a manner. But seeing her dead baby after they had pulled it out of her body, was a strong deterrent.
"I imagine that the pain you carry is more powerful than my disappointment." Jareth shifted on the sill, his grip loosening on her ankle.
Sarah sniffed. "Well, we will just have to find a willing person to be your surrogate, then. I am sure that won't be tricky."
"Sarah"— there was a warning in his voice—"stop trying to ship me off to other women. I am yours. And I do not appreciate you making light of your loss."
"It is my loss to make light of, Jareth." Sarah swung her legs off the sill and back onto solid ground. "I have a lot of things to grieve and mourn. Let me do it in the way I feel comfortable to do so."
"You are right, as always, Precious." He bowed his head. As Sarah walked past, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him; his knees were firm against her stomach. He stroked her hair, whispering, "Forgive me."
"So the next ball we have, start pointing out the women you would like to make babies with." Sarah placed her hand without the crystal on his chest, stroking his amulet with her index finger. "I have to approve them first. As Queen."
Jareth leant down and kissed her on the forehead. "I am sure you would approve of my pick. She is strong, determined, a fighter and very, very unbelievably sexy. If I can't have her, then there is no one else I would want to mother my children."
Sarah frowned. "She would have to be a good mother and pass on admirable qualities to the child. I am not sure 'sexy' alone fits the bill."
"She traversed to the ends of the earth for her brother, so she'd make an exceptional mother," Jareth murmured, his lips warm against her brow. Sarah flinched when she realised he was talking about her. "And I mentioned: strong, determined and a fighter, not just sexy. But you chose to ignore that in favour of singling out sexy, you vain little minx."
"That's all very flattering, Jareth, but I won't be changing my mind." Sarah pressed her hand harder against his chest. She hated denying him a child because of their all-but-arranged marriage. While only joking about him finding a surrogate, there was an element of truth to her words.
"I am not trying to change your mind, my love." She felt his lips moving against her skin again. "Only to convince you that I love you more than the idea of being a father. If I don't have a child with you, then I will forgo being a parent."
"We should probably go and write a letter to the next parents." Sarah ran her hand up Jareth's chest to his shoulder, lightly tracing the sinews in his neck with her fingers.
"We should," he murmured. "Or not. Actually, let's save it until we have a definite winner. Last time, I got complacent and informed the Pinnsburrs before you had won. I won't make that mistake again."
"Mark hasn't left the endless corridor." Sarah shrugged. "He's a dick, but I don't know that he deserves to lose his baby."
"Sarah, shall we break the rules?" Jareth still had his hands on her waist, and he opened his legs to pull her even closer to him.
"How so?"
"Shall we find a human family to adopt Abby?" He brushed her hair behind her ears and tilted her face up. "It was always our plan, so why not action it ourselves. We have a war on the horizon; what is one more thing for them to attack us for?"
"But what if the next family in line isn't a Navas family?" Sarah queried. "Then their kingdom may become an alliance of Navas."
"The Pinnsburrs are from Trew, not Navas," Jareth pointed out. "And as far as I know, Trew is staying neutral. But we can go look in the book and find out."
Jareth let go of Sarah with an air of reluctance. They made their way to the office where maps and parchments still surrounded Sevlydi. Jareth ignored his brother and marched with his cane over to his desk. He grabbed the hefty tome and passed it to Sarah.
"I will let you do the honours," he said as she grasped it. Sarah opened the book to the page marked by the ribbon. Columns divided the page. The chart listed the names of the parents, their kingdom of residence, and the child they had adopted. Next to the 'Pinnsburrs,' it said:
'Child~ Toby Williams of Above, Youngest Child of Robert Williams, and only child of Karen Williams, née Stanton. Runner~ Queen Sarah Hi'Live De Škriatok, née Williams, Champion. The child returned to Above.'
"I never agreed to take your last name," Sarah growled.
"I took yours," Jareth shrugged. "It's only fair."
"You took Williams?"
"No!" Jareth shook his head. "I am King Jareth Hi'Live De Škriatok, so I took your honorific last name."
"What a mouthful." Sarah shook her head. Sarah knew her title was Hi'Live but wasn't aware that it doubled as her last name.
"I am more than a mouthful, as you well know." Jareth beamed. Sarah had forgotten Sevlydi was present until he cleared his throat. Jareth grinned wider as Sarah scowled at him.
"Grow up," she ordered, good-naturedly.
"So who is next on the list?" Jareth asked. "Focus on the task at hand, and not what can or can't fit in your mouth."
Sarah glared at Jareth before she returned to the book.
"Though, I have yet to discover the delights of your mouth on that part of my body," Jareth continued wistfully, in a lowered voice.
"I can still hear you," Sevlydi called.
"And you are unlikely to," Sarah said with a smile, not looking up. "We keep getting interrupted."
"Yes, remind me to bog your husband." Jareth stepped closer, bringing his hands to her hips as she read. "Your ex-husband."
"Some family called the Grovesins," Sarah read. "Kuyt and Fiv Grovesins of Navas."
"Ah, Fiv," Jareth took his hands off Sarah and rubbed his chin. "I had forgotten she finally got married."
"You know them?" Sarah asked. "What are they like?"
"I know Fiv," Jareth corrected. "I am unfamiliar with Kuyt."
'Well, what is Fiv like?"
"Sarah, all I know about her was— " Jareth paused. "How to put this delicately?"
"All you know about her was that you fucked her?" Sarah asked, raising a brow.
"That's it!" He grinned. "We didn't really talk."
"I got that." Sarah closed the book with a thud. "So we don't know if they are decent people based on your prior knowledge of them."
"Not really, no." Jareth looked thoughtful. "She had a remarkable—"
"So we head to Ghent and find a family." Sarah crossed her arms. "I know many lovely families there, but won't it put them in danger?"
"I will increase the security of the family we choose," Jareth said. "Once the war comes, they will all have forgotten about the baby."
"Sire," came a harried voice from the door. A goblin rushed in nearly bowling into Jareth's legs.
"There are lots of somebodies to see you at the gates," the goblin huffed. "Very angry somebodies."
Jareth shot an alarmed look at Sarah and then nodded at the goblin. "I will be right there."
The goblin skidded off, and Jareth grabbed her arm. "It is to do with the baby. The Labyrinth is telling me. She wants you to come with me."
"You think it is the Grovesins?"
"Perhaps, but there are four of them." Jareth drew his brows into a puzzled frown. "Sarah, listen to me. Stay close to me and do not let go of my arm for any reason whatsoever. They aren't currently posing a threat, but I will not have you harmed."
Jareth ordered Sevlydi to check on the baby. Sarah linked her arm with his, and they disappeared from the spot. They reappeared outside the gate to the Labyrinth, where she had entered all those weeks ago to visit Terry. The booth was occupied with a goblin, swinging his legs and chewing on a leather belt. Rows and rows of lavender, that she was sure weren't there before, lined the road and the outer wall, perhaps in an attempt to keep the sandy desert at bay. A lone black and gold flag waved feebly in the dying breeze atop the gate.
A group of four fae stood bickering in front of the horses and carts in which they must have travelled. They wore cloaks so Sarah couldn't see any distinguishing features about them. A few goblin guards stood pointing their spears at the party.
"What have we here?" Jareth asked loudly, stunning the foursome into silence.
"Jareth," came a melodic voice from the crimson cloak. The owner of the voice pushed down her hood and strode towards the two monarchs. "I never thought I would see you again."
She kissed Jareth twice on each cheek. Sarah gripped Jareth's arm so tight her nails almost dug in.
"Ah, Fiv Grovesin!" Jareth guided the fae a few steps away from him. "Have you forgotten your station? Because I dread to think you have forgotten mine."
"Your Majesty." Fiv swept into an elegant curtsey.
"And this is my wife, Queen Sarah Hi'Live De Škriatok." Jareth patted Sarah on the arm. Fiv was an elegant creature with a slightly upturned nose and blonde ringlets down to her waist. She had a blue-eyed stare that belied innocence and purity. Her gaze descended upon Sarah without hesitation. Fiv gave a smaller, but still quite an ostentatious curtsey.
"Pleasure." Fiv smiled, then indicated behind her. "This is my husband, Kuyt."
"And to what do we owe your arrival in our Kingdom?" Sarah asked in a clear voice, casting her eyes over the other two strangers. They remained isolated and standoffish.
"We have come about the baby," Kuyt spoke up. He was also blonde, with a blonde beard, trimmed short, over his very square jawline. Was everyone blonde in this infernal dimension?
"What baby are you referring to?" Jareth asked ponderously.
"The one that has been wished-away," Fiv spoke up. "We are next in line."
"No, we are," came a familiar voice. Meffod Pinnsburr came marching forward, throwing off her hood. "This baby is ours."
Sarah was horrified that they were here, but more so by their burnt and scarred faces. Jareth stepped forward, half blocking Sarah, radiating anger. Yarbro kept his distance, shifting from foot to foot. 'Wise', Sarah thought.
"I suggest you leave our Kingdom," Jareth warned. "There won't be a second chance."
Meffod laughed. "I see you still bear the scars of the last time you tried to defy your family."
"As do you!" Jareth smiled. Sarah would not want to be on the receiving end of that smile. "Though I am disappointed to see you remain alive."
"Yes, I suppose you are..." Meffod ran her tongue across the tips of her teeth. "To have nearly been defeated by us must hurt you."
"Meffod Pinnsburr," Sarah interrupted. "Tell me why a kidnapper, a torturer, a murderer, and a manipulative fae such as yourself should deserve to have a baby?"
Meffod turned her scornful gaze onto Sarah. "I do not have to answer to a mere mortal."
"No, I don't suppose you think so." Sarah shrugged. "Because of your actions the goblin you recruited as a spy, lies in a cell awaiting his death. Does that not affect you at all?"
"Why should it affect me?"
"I have read a lot of fairy tales, Madam Pinnsburr." Sarah stepped around Jareth. "Each villain has some redeeming feature: a backstory that makes their motivation somewhat understandable, if not acceptable. I wonder what yours could possibly be?"
"This is not a fairy tale," Meffod scoffed.
"No, but I would like to think there is some redeeming feature about yourself," Sarah persisted. "I would hate for your life to be forfeit without so much as one positive aspect shining through."
"My life to be forfeit?" Meffod shook her head.
"Indeed!" Sarah inspected her gloves. "You threatened my husband's life. Do you think you could do so while keeping yours?"
Meffod tossed her head back and howled with laughter. "You think you can threaten me, little girl?"
Jareth cleared his throat. "You are standing in her kingdom, so she is entitled to threaten you."
"This is not her Kingdom," Meffod barked. "This Kingdom is under Navas rule, and she is not the sanctioned Queen."
"While arguing semantics may buy you some time," Sarah interjected. "It won't save your life."
"You couldn't even give me a papercut, let alone end my life," Meffod snarled.
"Please tell me one redeeming feature, before you draw your last breath," Sarah asked again, closing her eyes with impatience. "And I thought you were the more intelligent one between you and your husband."
"I shall do no such thing," Meffod snapped.
Sarah just smiled and stepped back. "As you wish."
"War is coming," Meffod growled at them.
"It is," Jareth bared his pointy canines. "It is a shame that you won't live to see it."
"Just give me my child," Meffod said, restlessly. The Grovesins uttered their own declarations about the ownership of the baby, largely ignored by everyone. Meffod spoke over the top of them. "The baby doesn't need to be caught up in the middle of a war."
"Say your goodbyes to your husband," Sarah instructed. Meffod laughed but did not turn to face Yarbro. Instead, she raised her hand and moved to step forward. In an instant, Sarah clicked her fingers, and Meffod disappeared as if a hole had opened up right below her. Yarbro started, and Fiv gasped. Kuyt and Jareth both remained placid in their demeanour.
"Meffy?" Yarbro rushed forwards. "What have you done with my wife?"
"Take one more step, and you will end up in exactly the same predicament," Sarah warned.
"Control your wife," Yarbro yelled at Jareth, before reconsidering. He clarified by saying, "your fake wife"
"She is the Queen!" Jareth's lips curled. "She has equal power here."
"What right do you think you have to hurt my wife?"
"The same right you think you had to hurt my husband." Sarah shrugged. "I grow tired of your whining. You seem to be in a hurry to join her."
"You can not kill us," Yarbro blustered. "Navas will not allow it, the High Court —"
Sarah clicked her fingers, and he too disappeared. The silence yawned on for what seemed like an eternity with the four remaining souls in a strained impasse.
"Your Majesty," Fiv addressed Jareth, eventually, in barely a whimper. "You were never so cruel before."
"What do you know of my cruelty?" Jareth raised a brow.
"We were intimate once," Fiv reasoned. "You certainly were not a selfish lover."
Kuyt cleared his throat while Sarah snorted. Jareth gave Sarah a look from the side of his eye, before flicking his eyes back to Fiv.
"Madam, do not mistake my prowess in bed, for lack of cruelty," Jareth said with a callous smirk. "However, the Pinnsburrs have committed crimes against both myself and my wife. We are not dolling out cruelty, but justice. They killed my Queen's parents."
"And she just killed two Trew fae," Fiv accused, pointing a shaking finger at Sarah.
"Did she?" Jareth asked, nonchalantly. "I didn't notice."
"Jar—I mean Your Majesty," Fiv pleaded, "give us the baby. For old time's sake if nothing else."
"The runner hasn't used up his allotted time," Jareth reminded her. "Come back in ten hours."
"But—"
"And as for old time's sake," Jareth said with derision, "a quick fuck behind the curtains at the Pantherie Ball, doesn't endear me to give you a child, Fiv."
Sarah studied Fiv's meticulous form as she processed Jareth's words. She seemed to deflate. Even her curls seemed to slacken. Unbidden, images of Jareth entwined with Fiv, fully dressed but still going at it like rabbits, flashed through her mind. Sarah shook her head to clear the images away.
"We have tried for so long to have children," Fiv reasoned. "And we are next on the list."
"Did you visit the pearl caves?" Jareth dragged his cane through the sandy ground at his feet as he spoke. Sarah wondered why he had abruptly changed the subject. "Before you married?"
"Yes," Fiv answered rapidly. "Of course we did. Kuyt chose a silvery green pearl for me. It is gorgeous."
"What animal did you receive your pearl from?"
"I believe it was a kelpie," Fiv answered, her brow furrowing.
"And if you saw that kelpie right now, would you return your pearl?"
"It is my pearl," Fiv retorted, stepping back from the Goblin King. "And kelpies do not exist anymore."
"Fae stole those pearls," Jareth recalled. "Stole them in such numbers, that many of the Greater mythical creatures ceased to exist. We still have imps and goblins and other lower beasts, but the Greater Mythical Creatures and their Council have all been hunted to extinction. For mere pearls that either dictate who you will marry or simply just as a gift. I assume your pearl was just a gift? And not a bridal-pearl?"
"Who wants to be told who they should marry by a lump of stone?" Fiv scoffed. Sarah inclined her head at the female. She happened to agree with that assessment of the situation.
"Lump of magical residue," Jareth corrected.
"Kuyt selected the pearl, it wasn't selected for him," Fiv clarified.
"You celebrate your stolen pearl like you would celebrate your stolen child," Jareth said in disgust. "Then both will be neglected and abused by you. All for what?"
"Yes, all for what?" Sarah shook her head in disbelief. "If bridal-pearls are so frowned upon, why do you covet such lumps of magical residue in any case?"
Fiv glanced at her and sneered. "You don't know?"
Sarah shrugged. "I guess I do not know why animals had to be hunted to extinction for a mere wedding gift."
"It is about status and power," Kuyt spoke up for only the second time. "The more you have the better the pearl you can select. The more likely your prospective wife will agree to marry you."
"That's it?" Sarah jeered. "That's just a game. It's just a game to you?"
"When they don't marry for love, they have to make it interesting," Jareth rested his hand on her shoulder.
"They lost the ability to have children of their own, for a game?" Sarah hissed at her husband. "It doesn't make sense."
"And which of their rules has ever made sense, hmm?" Jareth said to her. "You saw how I ended up here in this Kingdom. You know how relationships are punished. It makes no sense at all, yet it is very real."
"You lost the unicorns and the phoenixes and the griffons for a game," Sarah cried out, incredulously. "You do not deserve the honour of being a parent if you can sacrifice your ability to have children and wipe out entire species, for a game."
Fiv and Kuyt just stared at the two monarchs with looks of disbelief and impatience while they spoke.
"The pearls have innate magic that brings a little more power to a married couple," Fiv said. "They are coveted for their beauty, their rarity but also as a channel or a focus for magic."
Fiv held up her hand, showing off a ring with a pearl dead centre. Sarah could feel her magic reacting negatively to the fae couple showing off their stolen wares. Spirals of dust started forming all around them, hitting the lavender bushes with such force they trembled and dropped their purple heads to the ground.
Jareth must have sensed her magical agitation because he ran his gloved hand down her arm and grasped her hand in his. Offering a slight squeeze, Jareth's succour managed to calm down her anger and the dust whirlwinds spluttered to nothing.
"Come back in ten hours," was Jareth's only response. He wrapped his arms around Sarah and they vanished back to the castle.
A/N: It has been a heck of a week. I didn't think I would get this out until Tuesday but I did it! Thank you, everyone, for your support. Everyone gives their readers cookies. I am offering feta cheese, olives, hummas and crackers.