A/N: LEMONS+ (Some exposition first but lemons after - eat your dinner before your sweets :P )
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
There was meeting after meeting following the battle. Injured people to visit, dead people to bury and mourn, contracts and trade agreements to change due to independence. Then they had to consult with the unicorn as to any requirements the council may have concerning the Goblin Kingdom now being their sanctuary. It was never-ending.
The most important meeting was on the third day with Briyash. They were secluded in the study where they learnt that Sevlydi knew parts of the pearl prophecy but couldn't let Jareth or Sarah know because they had to be able to marry and travel to the moonstone caves themselves to fulfil that part of the prophecy without their motives being corrupted. It was an ancient oracular magic that even Jareth could not fully explain.
It bled down to the pearl initiating her marriage to Jareth. Once they were married as it was foretold, Sarah started manifesting the magic that Labyrinth had bequeathed her. Having that magic allowed her to go Aboveground during a wish. And then because she released the wished-away child to a human family, instead of a fae family, it fulfilled a proponent of the curse. The other parts being the destruction of the book and her wilful return of the pearl to demonstrate the purity of her intentions.
It still didn't make sense to Sarah how it all worked, but Briyash patiently explained over afternoon tea, that when the fae hunted the Council and stole their tears, the Council cursed them with infertility. Once they had started going extinct, they had encapsulated their souls into the pearls.
The fae, struggling to have children due to the curse, would steal them from the goblins and raise them as their own. Until a previous Goblin King made it fairer by creating the Labyrinth to allow those worthy to win their child back. And that meant that the trade of Stolen Pearl children would be, at least, more regulated.
The Council had concocted an escape clause so that their spirits would once again take their corporeal form: the Pearl Prophecy. A worthy challenger would win their child back and have the added boon of being the Goblin Queen to thus be able to retrieve the last wished-away baby designated by the red book. Destroying the red book destroyed the magic tying the wished-aways to the fae. Children could still be wished away, as they always have been, but the fae could not claim them.
Sarah had wondered how the curse of infertility was linked so closely to the return of the Council.
Briyash replaced his teacup in the saucer and cleared his throat. "Mythical creatures are the fuel of mortal dreams. And without them, dreams comprising elements of the Underground started dwindling. Fewer children were wished away because fewer people dreamed and believed in magic. The fae-folk were starting to lose their numbers."
"So the council was smart? Sarah queried. "They cursed them with infertility but also slowly started to take away their other means of acquiring children."
"Exactly, yes," Briyash readily replied. "The Council wanted to prove to the fae that their relationship should be symbiotic and not parasitic."
"So they created the curse, but also the means to break it using their own fae magic against them!"
"The fewer children that were born, the more in peril the fae became," Briyash stroked his beard in contemplation.
"That's why my father hangs on to this realm, and won't pass into the realm of the dead," Jareth explained. "Not enough heirs with only Nudalun having two children."
"And that's why the Council of Mythical Creatures used the Labyrinth to break the curse," Briyash clarified further. "Not for the sake of the fae, but the Council's sake. They ensured that one way or another the fae-folk would diminish through the lack of natural-born children and if that didn't happen fast enough, through the lack of Stolen Pearls. This is where you come in. The Red Book was enchanted to find one that was pure of heart and noble to break the curse. It found you, Queen Sarah."
"The Labyrinth was complicit," Jareth said, rubbing his chin. "But only because it was trying to find Sarah?"
"Precisely," Briyash said, clapping his hands. "The Labyrinth had to take children. It couldn't help it, but every time it took a child or a runner, it would assess its worth. Eventually, it found a runner who was worthy because she became the Champion. So you see, the Unicorn gifted the Pearl to you, Jareth, to find Sarah. Sarah Hi'Live who also returned the pearl and completed the spell that had been placed upon it."
"And Sarah had to marry me to be able to manifest her magic, to be able to travel Aboveground and claim the child," Jareth said. "If she didn't marry me, then she would never have enough power to actually travel through the veil when a wish was made. So the prophecy was needed to ensure that I would marry the Champion."
"That still doesn't explain why I had to be the one to do it, and not Jareth by himself," Sarah intercepted. "Like he could have broken the curse without any prophecy."
"Sarah, you know what I am," Jareth addressed her. "You know that I am my father's son. I would not have been compassionate enough to stop the trade. As much as I wanted to end it, my motivation was not rooted in genuine kindness."
"His Majesty is right," Briyash agreed, nodding his head. "His temperament would not have allowed such a weakness as compassion but—"
"But if it wasn't for what you made me," Jareth finished, fixing a meaningful stare on to Sarah's face.
"What do you mean?"
"Love, Your Majesty," Briyash answered for him. "Your moonstones were a matching pair, were they not?"
Sarah flushed red. "Yes."
"It is incredibly rare for the fae to visit the Moonstone Caves," Briyash supplied. "So rare it has been a few centuries since the last time. Love is not a fae mechanism."
"But they frequent the pearl cave because they choose power over love," Jareth clarified. "If I hadn't have seen the love you showed for Toby, I would have continued thinking mortals didn't deserve to have their children any more than the fae did."
"So I was chosen because—"
"—Of your capacity to love, yes," Jareth said, with a wan smile. "Something you taught me and I couldn't learn by myself."
"And now that the Mythical Creatures exist again, what function will your—our Labyrinth serve?"
"Any wished away children will once again be able to be adopted by humans, but the Elfish Council feel that with no book, and the goblins under control, they would be far and few between. Our Labyrinth is a test and there will always be those that need testing."
"And how is it that Sevyldi came to know about the part of the prophecy?"
"Things weren't going to plan," Briyash resumed. "Time was running out and Navas was trying to thwart the Prophecy so they could control the Labyrinth, take its power and steal more children, and perhaps they wanted the Pearl caves to themselves too. And what's more, you had arrived two years previous and that cut into the time The King had to court you. Instead, King Jareth chose to go down an unorthodox route and more time was lost to us. Sevlydi was informed so that someone close to both of you could make you aware of the urgency without divulging and therefore breaking the Ancient Oracular magic."
Jareth cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "You did the carving."
Sarah recalled finding the carving in the tree of the owl, the pearl and the figure— "the figure was me."
"Yes, I did the carving," Briyash admitted. "The fae-folk love symbology. I hoped it would hurry him down the right path and not the one he had committed himself to."
"You mean, of course, my deceiving Sarah into thinking Terry was a genuine person," Jareth inferred, his eyes narrowing.
"I meant no disrespect."
"And what if our moonstones didn't match? Wouldn't this all be for nothing?" Sarah cut in.
"I thought you didn't work in hypotheticals, Sarah?" Jareth said sharply.
"I don't, but this whole thing seems twisty and turny when the fae could have just not stolen all those pearls," Sarah said, crossing her arms defensively. She had acknowledged that her pearl was the same size and shape, but with everything going on post-war and their own healing, they hadn't spent much time together. Her vulnerability had her slightly on edge.
"Fae are power-hungry and given the chance, they would steal them all again to their own detriment," Briyash said sadly. "But the Council has received sanctuary now so you will not let that happen. You have claimed your independence from Navas, which is your boon for breaking the curse and setting the council free."
"What happens naturally with the pearls they cry?" Sarah had never thought to ask this question.
"They create new life, Your Majesty," Briyash answered solemnly. "The Council of Mythical creatures are not cruel. But they had their means of having offspring stripped away from them, so they did the same to the fae."
"Except, they gave the fae a get-out-of-jail-free card," Sarah mused. At their blank stares, she clarified, "the Council were generous to offer a way to break their infertility curse. Something the Council was never given in return."
"Until now," Briyash whispered, gesturing softly to Sarah.
They chatted for another half an hour before Briyash took his leave. Sarah finished the cold dregs of her tea and then looked to Jareth who sat deep in thought across from her.
"Jareth?"
"Yes, precious?"
"Are you happy?"
Jareth's eyes blazed as he contemplated that question. "Sarah? Do you believe me to be unhappy?"
"We've barely talked," Sarah said, swallowing her insecurities. "Not since the end of the war."
"We have been busy," Jareth answered, briskly. "I have been recovering from various injuries."
Sarah nodded. "Of course."
Though Jareth had his shoulder wound healed, he, unfortunately, had to rely on his cane once more because his ankle had been ripped back open. When they weren't both working to set the Kingdom to rights, they were exhausted and fell asleep straight away for the past three nights. Sarah understood, but when not so much as a kiss (aside from the odd chaste variety) had occurred between them since she had admitted her feelings, albeit indirectly, it confirmed her worst unspoken fear: once she told Jareth her feelings, he would stop feeling them for her.
"It's been a hectic time for all of us." She gritted her teeth against the wave of uneasiness washing over her that she was so used to living with when married to Mark. Jareth wasn't Mark, and it was perfectly reasonable to be tired and busy directly after a war. She began to doubt her own mind on the issue — beginning to think that she was being selfish to want some attention. As quick as these thoughts appeared, she snapped out of them. Sarah refused to live a life where she was fighting for constant reassurance and inflicted with self-doubt. After all, Jareth had spoken to Briyash about how he loved her. He had to still love her despite his insouciance.
Jareth watched her for a few moments before striding over to her. He knelt in front of her like he had so many times before. He placed his hands on her knees, ghosting his thumbs across the fine material of her dress.
"Precious thing, have I been neglecting you?" he asked, in a sultry voice. He pushed her legs open gently running his gloved hands along her inner thighs with the thin material of her skirt the only barrier. "I love you."
"Jareth—" Sarah rocked her hips forward and dug her hands into the armrests. Jareth abruptly took his hands off her and replaced them on her ankles. Slowly, sensually, he glided his hands up her legs under her skirts, lifting them up until her skin was exposed up to the apex of her thighs.
"Sarah, I love you," he murmured, pressing his lips against her inner thigh. The contact sent thrills through her veins and wetness to seep into her knickers. "I worship you, I adore you, I—"
"Sorry to interrupt," Sevlydi said, unapologetically, as he strolled into the room with a massive grin on his face. Sarah had never seen him so happy. His hair was perfectly plaited into a blonde braid and he wore a black circlet on his head. He wore deep black and gold robes and carried a swagger stick that he was joyfully swinging around. "I am going to go and pick Rica up now."
Jareth tugged Sarah's skirts down over her legs and scowled at his brother. "We will make sure that we will interrupt your reunion as much as possible, brother."
Sevlydi just laughed, then winked at Sarah. "Rica would enjoy that very much."
Jareth growled at his brother and turned back to Sarah. "Stop laughing, wife."
"Panic not, Jareth," Sevlydi interjected with a grin. "I plan on staying a few days with Rica at the chateau on the Galeci Peninsula. Your days of being interrupted— at least by me— will be far and few between."
Jareth stood up and moved to the window until Sevlydi left them alone. He turned to face Sarah with a stern look on his face. He growled and then stomped over to his desk. It seemed to be the end of any interaction between them.
She supposed that just because they both survived the war, they weren't going to live happily ever after with love and flowers and rainbows for the rest of their days without work and effort. She had a desire to make this marriage work more so than any preceding relationship. She stifled a yawn as she realised she just did not have the strength to break through Jareth's defences today. Perhaps, rather than take it personally, she had to give him time to mourn the dead and recover from his wounds.
"I am going to go and check on Toby," Sarah said, rising off her chair, her legs still wobbly from her earlier onset of desire.
Jareth wrinkled his nose and nodded. He waved a hand dismissively as he looked down at his paperwork on his desk. Sarah left silently, closing the door behind her softly.
Jareth was exhausted. The war had drained him, but then all the work he had to do afterwards was staggering. Sarah was snowed under too. He had tried to cover as much of her share as he could, to lessen her burden. He gritted his teeth at the thought that he only saw her in passing, in business or when they both collapsed in bed. Mealtimes, they were accompanied by Toby, Sevlydi and Nate who was training Toby in the role of ambassador. They were due to visit the Sprigett's on the next day to meet with Alicia who was also taking on the role.
His frustration with not having any time alone with Sarah especially after her tacit acknowledgement that she loved him, was seeping into his interactions with her. He could see the hurt that flitted across her face as he dismissed her just now. She had admitted that she had the same moonstone as him and while she still hadn't said she loved him explicitly, it was still a revelation that he absolutely relished. And he had repaid her by neglecting her for his job. It was unavoidable, yet a seedy feeling settled into the pit of his stomach.
He loved her so very much and had trusted her to allow him to put his energies into the priorities within the kingdom. But perhaps he had been wrong, and Sarah was feeling somewhat hurt by his withdrawn nature. He had promised himself he wouldn't pressure her into imparting too much more of her feelings after her moonstone revelation.
Perhaps he had gauged this incorrectly as well. Had he come off cold and aloof? She couldn't doubt that he loved her even now? She had been right when she suggested they needed to communicate better to make this work. He cursed, knowing that he still had to work to gain her trust, and not get complacent just because she had acknowledged her feelings.
After an hour of working, Jareth had had enough of his separation from Sarah. He closed his eyes and transported herself to where Sarah was. She was sitting in the library bent over her own paperwork, alone.
"Where is young Tobias?" he asked.
Sarah didn't even look up. "He is with Nate."
"Sarah?" Jareth asked tentatively.
"Jareth?" He watched her shuffle a few papers and continue to pour over them.
He sighed as he took a seat opposite her, and crooked his leg over the armrest. "Sarah, would you like to go on a honeymoon?"
Sarah finally looked up, confusion marring her features. "A honeymoon?"
"We can't go far or for very long, but I was thinking of a vineyard within the Goblin Kingdom. There is one that is a particular favourite of mine. Yet, I have never had the pleasure of taking a paramour there. I have preferred to go to that one alone, but would love to share it with you."
Sarah chewed her lip. "But a honeymoon, Jareth?"
"Is that not a usual custom of yours where you resided?"
"Yes, for the most part," Sarah said, shifting in her seat.
"We have a lot of work to do," Jareth continued. "We can't go for long, but it would be nice to get away just the two of us, even just for a night or two."
"We are swamped," Sarah agreed.
"Just imagine watching the sunset with rolling hills surrounding us," Jareth described. "Drinking the finest peach wine under a crochet blanket on the swing seat as we overlook the rows and rows of vines. Without nary a goblin nor a brother nor an ex-husband to interrupt us."
"Sounds— nice, but can we really afford to take the time off?"
"Grygiel can hold things together for now," Jareth swung his legs back onto the ground. "If anything major crops up, the goblins have permission to recall us. But we will work better if we have some respite, Sarah. After everything we have experienced, our people deserve to have monarchs that are productive and lucid and not enervated."
"So we could take turns," Sarah suggested.
"I want to go with you," Jareth said with a voice that sounded hard even to his own ears.
"Do you?"
"Bog damn it, Sarah," Jareth swore. "What is the matter?"
"We have responsibilities and we can't just go off galavanting off into the sunset," Sarah replied with arched brows. She was cutting him off again, he could feel it. He'd allowed their duties to put distance between them. He cursed his siblings and his father for the war they started and the mess they had to clean up.
"Yes, and they will still be there when we get back," Jareth half growled. "We still have months of your magical training ahead of us and probably months of clean up from the war. Yet, you more or less just admitted you love me and we have barely had a chance to tip our hats at each other, let alone bask in each other's extraordinariness."
"Jareth," Sarah sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. A mannerism he wholeheartedly related to. Except not when it was directed at him. "We can't put ourselves before the entire Kingdom."
"We've done nothing but put the Kingdom before ourselves."
"But what if —?"
Jareth practically leapt across the table to crouch by her side. He gripped the arm of her chair until his knuckles blanched. "We won't be leaving the Goblin Kingdom. We can travel back in a trice if we had to. Please, trust me, Sarah."
Eventually, she nodded, placing her hands on top of Jareth's. "I will come with you, but promise me that if we are needed, we can leave."
Jareth grinned. "Oh, my precious. You taking your role so seriously makes me love you all the more. I promise. I would not let my kingdom fall to wrack and ruin just as I won't let you wear yourself out."
"So considerate, Jareth." She took her hands away to push her hair out of her face.
"Don't think that I wasn't aware of your presence when I was recovering from my war wounds. I knew you tried to replace the Healer on several occasions. And you still carried on with all your regular duties, plus some of mine in addition to all the new ones the war has created. You need a break, love."
He moved her hands down to her lap and then cradled her face in his hands. "Remember that I would move the stars for you, and I am sure in time you would do the same for me, but I would not have you shine so brightly that you burn out, my love."
Jareth kissed her then. The first time their lips had met in days. It had been painful to be deprived of such luscious lips against his own; such a sweet-tasting tongue sliding against his. But more so that he had not shared any intimate moment with her. He would make it up to her if she would agree to come to the vineyard with him.
"Come with me, my love," he said into her mouth. "Come with me to Fael Unarith."
"OK," Sarah answered, pulling him back against her lips.
Sevlydi had originally planned on travelling to Navas escorted by the High King. But Aviis had suggested he would visit Navas himself and retrieve Rica for his own safety. Sevlydi had agreed so now he was waiting in a chateau on the Galeci Peninsula.
Galeci was all sunshine and sea, and twisting grapevines.
A wizard tower was the main feature of this Goblin Kingdom village on the Eastern Coast. It had fallen into disuse with the growth of the Labyrinth. Historically, the Wizard Tower would have been the centre point for magic reserves. Now a quaint town had popped up around the crumbling ruins of the tower.
Sevlydi was dressed in Rica's favourite colour, gowns of flowing yellow like spun gold. No longer needing to wear the Goblin Kingdom's official robing, he had hastily discarded the black and golds for this more simple attire. Simple, but form-fitting so Rica could embrace him in his full glory. His cock twitched at the thought of his lover.
He paced impatiently across the marble floor of the living space. He couldn't wait to have Rica in his arms again after so long. They had all been so consumed with Sarah and Jareth that it was barely any consideration for him. Sevlydi bared his teeth. He wasn't a selfless creature, and though he didn't want Jareth's unhappiness, it had felt like his wedded bliss had come at his own expense. Not that he regretted hiding Rica away for all that time to save his life. He missed him, but he'd rather he was alive and absent than captured.
However, the result had been the same. He still ended up captured, and if they had lost this war, Navas would have executed Rica just to add salt to the wound. He had been incredibly hard on his new sister-in-law, despite her not knowing the stakes. He was sure Sarah would grow in love with his brother, so he couldn't feel too much guilt over pressuring them to marry.
He stalked over to the window to look down the long curving driveway that still remained empty. Oh, how he hoped Aviis would find him and he wasn't too hurt. He loved Rica. Loved with a purity that was mostly unknown among the pure fae. He thanked the Bogs daily that his ancestor was a mortal. There was nothing quite so intoxicating as mortal-love. Rica, not being a High or Royal fae, was basically a mongrel of mixed heritage—a cry to the days when mortals were kidnapped and fucked frequently by the fae for their fertility. Of course, with fewer dreamers Aboveground, that had become an activity that was ventured only but seldomly, and indeed, incredibly frowned upon in today's society. Until Sarah.
The purer the fae the better, as power became more sought after than love or children. Hence, why the ruling class were mostly all pure fae. Until Jareth was born at any rate.
A noise roused him from his reflections. It was the sound of wooden wheels grating and crunching against loose pebbles.
Aviis didn't stay very long after he had escorted Rica, for which he was grateful. Rica and Sevlydi could barely tear their eyes from each other as soon as they had walked inside. As soon as Aviis had left with their heartfelt thanks, Rica had bounded up to Sevlydi and embraced him.
It wasn't much longer until they hastened to remove each other's clothing. Once they were naked, Sevlydi kissed Rica, pouring all his anguish of their separation and love into his kiss.
"I am so sorry, Rica," Sevlydi crooned, almost breathless as he fondled Rica's balls. They were now kneeling in each other's arms upon the shaggy rug, offering scant protection from the cold, hard marble floor. Sevlydi was too desperate to transport them to the bedroom. Rica's magic wasn't strong enough to transport them both, especially after having been weakened during his prison stay.
"Oh, my prince, you don't have to be sorry," Rica gushed into Sevlydi's mouth. "You waited for me."
"Always!" Sevlydi gasped as Rica ran his hand along the length of his cock. "I have missed you so much."
"I missed you," Rica replied. "I missed your cock in my arse. Stop talking and fuck me, Your Highness."
Sevlydi obeyed, flipping Rica over he continued to fondle Rica's erection as he rubbed his own against the cleft of his lover's arse. "I will fuck you, Rica De Škriatok."
"That's...not my...name," Rica panted.
"It will be once you marry me," Sevlydi said, inserting his fingertip into the anus of the other man while still caressing his penis. Rica groaned in response. After a few moments of working his finger into the hole, he added a second then a third, all while Rica grunted and moaned and rocked back and forth on his hands and knees.
"I am ready, Your Highness," Rica said, digging his hands deep into the shag carpet, after Sevlydi had applied lube up and down his own length.
"Marry me," Sevlydi cried as he eased his cock into Rica.
"Yes! Yes!" Rica cried in response. Sevlydi felt Rica's muscles tightening around his cock. He nearly wept with joy as he felt his balls hit Rica's arse, and he was completely enveloped. He eased back out and then started thrusting in and out, riding his absentee lover like it was the first and last time he ever would do it. Sevlydi wept into Rica's hair as he made love to him. He kissed his shoulder blades and soaked up the scent of the man of his dreams.
After riding him slowly for a while, he reached around and started jerking Rica's throbbing cock at the same pace. He wanted Rica to just enjoy the pleasure for a change. He usually got Rica to see to his own needs as he fucked him from behind. He may even be magnanimous and let Rica have a go at riding him, something that he had so far been unwilling to let happen. Love can make one generous.
"Faster," Rica cried, so he obeyed, and picked up the pace, ploughing into his lover as he watched themselves in the nearby mirror. Seeing the look of anguished desire on Rica's face set him off and two more thrusts became his undoing, spurting loudly and violently into his lover, while he felt the trickle of his lover's come flowing over his hand at the same time. "Yes! Your Highness!"
They both collapsed in a sweaty heap upon the shag carpet.
"Did you really propose to me?" Rica asked in wonder, after a few minutes of just breathing.
"I did, and you accepted," Sevlydi pushed Rica's hair out his face to kiss him. "We are our own separate Kingdom now, no longer under Navas rule. So I am sure we don't have to deal with the official engagement process malarky. Jareth will waive all that so we can just marry."
"It must be good to be second-in-line to the King," Rica muttered.
"It feels good to be inside you again," Sevlydi, waved his hand dismissively. "When you're ready, you can have a turn coming inside of me."
"You must have truly missed me, Your Highness," Rica pushed himself up to rest on his elbow, cradling his head in his hand. "I definitely won't say no."
"If I have learnt anything from watching my brother, is that love is a fragile thing," Sevlydi mused. "And it should not be taken for granted. I don't want to take you for granted. If you enjoy coming in me, let me know, and we can always do it again."
"How bounteous of you," Rica said, sealing his lips over Sevlydi's in a warm kiss.
Fael Unarith was in the North of the Goblin Kingdom. Various small towns were scattered around the border of the vineyard, but it was large enough that it felt like it was isolated. The border was marked by a circle of peach trees. It didn't escape Sarah's notice that she was contained within the boundaries of thousands upon thousands of peaches.
The hills were rolling and as promised, the vineyard was picturesque. They had arrived in a courtyard surrounded by three walls blanketed with ivy. The pebbled ground was raked to perfection with nary a stone out of place. Large barrels were scattered tidily around the courtyard, complemented by large concrete vases with wild, yet tamed plants spilling over the sides. Large birds, similar to peacocks strutted around the area without any concern of the two figures watching them.
The fourth side opened up onto the view of the vineyard. Each line of vines ended with a rose bush of various colours, but uniform in size. Sarah stood, hands clutching her elbows as she took in the scenery.
"They are planted to help detect disease," Jareth explained when Sarah pointed them out. "They both get affected by the same diseases, but the roses will wither first so the viticulturist will know to treat the grapevines."
The wall directly opposite the vineyards had four wooden doors, currently, all closed but one. Out of this door came a human around Sarah's age. He was tall with auburn hair and a massive grin that was almost hidden by his bushy beard.
He bowed low. "Your Majesties."
"Ah, Craig," Jareth greeted the man. "Queen Sarah, this is Craig the Winemaker."
Craig, the Winemaker took them through the open door and gave them a small tour. Then he led them to a chalet that overlooked a small lake.
"This is all yours for however long you require it," Craig said, fiddling with the ends of his moustache.
The goblins who had been carrying their luggage placed it within the living space and then made themselves scarce. Sarah peered curiously around the room. It was elegant but cosy. They had their own private courtyard in a similar style with ivy-covered walls and a view of the sprawling vineyard set amidst the hills.
"On the other side of the hills is the Labyrinth," Jareth said at her shoulder. "We are very close, but far enough away to believe we are in a different Kingdom completely. Fael Unarith is the one place I can truly be alone and by myself."
"Except for right now," Sarah laughed.
"I have shared my bed with many partners, Sarah, but I have never brought anyone here," Jareth said, sternly. "Never."
"Well, it is beautiful," Sarah conceded, moving away from the door to inspect the bedroom. It was simple but comfortable. Sarah bit her lip as she imagined what the bed may or may not be used for later in the day. She spun on her heel to explore somewhere else when she came face to chest with Jareth.
"Ooff," she said, as she walked into him.
"Apologies, Precious," he said as his arms gripped her shoulders to steady her. "Running away from the bedroom so soon?"
"Not as fast as you're trying to run to it, Jareth," Sarah said, as she let him fold her into her hug.
"Let us take the tour of the Vineyard, partake in some wine tasting and then eat our evening meal, hmmm?" Jareth's breath caressed her hair as he spoke. "I promise you the cuisine is exquisite here. The best in the Kingdom."
The food was indeed exquisite. After their tour and some wine tasting, they were seated in an ivy-covered courtyard overlooking the lake framed by manicured hedges. Their meal consisted of fine cheeses, slices of rich meat and artisan bread to dip in finely crafted oils. It was accompanied by a white peach salad composed of kale, endives, heirloom tomatoes, candied walnuts, caramelised stone fruits (of which peach was the main one) and white balsamic-yuzu vinaigrette.
It was a matter of trust that she allowed Jareth to provide forkfuls of the peach salad into her mouth. The sweet salad slid down easily and Jareth leaned in to kiss her lips, swiping his tongue over any residue left behind.
"First time having peach since my run," Sarah observed as she offered a forkful of her calamari to Jareth. He took it and grunted with appreciation.
"Thank you, for trusting me, Precious," he said, softly.
"I missed eating peach," she mused. "I was cut off from a whole world of peach related foodstuffs. Peach ice-cream, peach tea, peach wine…"
"I apologise, my love," Jareth said with a sigh.
"We have forever to make new peach related memories," Sarah replied, with a slight shrug.
"That is, if you choose to stay with me as your husband," Jareth said, prodding his meal with his fork.
"I don't have any choice, do I?"
"But you could always choose another mate."
Sarah wiped her mouth with a napkin. "And so could you."
"Sarah," Jareth said, clearing his throat. "Would you contemplate getting a bond-mark?"
"What's that?" Sarah asked, placing her napkin next to her plate.
"It's a rare bit of magic that allows me to always find you and you to always find me," Jareth explained.
"I thought that's what we had the moonstones for?"
"It would be, if you actually carried yours with you," Jareth said, accusation tinting his tone.
Sarah pulled her medallion out and flipped it over, showing him her moonstone imprinted underneath the sickle-shaped pendant. Jareth, in turn, did the same to his.
"Ever since the war, actually," Sarah said in defiance of his accusation.
"Thank you, Sarah," he said with a small smile. "The mark would be permanent and unremovable. It will also mean that we would be unable to give our hearts to other lovers. So you can see that the act of getting a bond mark is not very popular amongst the fae."
"So why would you want to do it?"
"My heart is yours."
"Yes, but hearts change," Sarah whispered.
"Mine won't."
"But mine might."
Jareth scrubbed his hand over his eyes. "Yes. I wouldn't want to restrict you. Forget I asked."
They ate in stilted silence for a few more minutes. The only sounds were the scrape and clink of their cutlery as they ate.
"Jareth?" Sarah prompted when the silence got too heavy to endure.
"Mmm?"
"I will think about it, ok?"
"You will?" Jareth looked up and stared into Sarah's eyes like it was the first time he had seen her eyes.
"I will," she said, patting his hand that rested on the tabletop.
"That's all I can ask, Precious. It's not an outright no, and so I can at least hope."
"It's a lot to ask right now, but be patient with me. I will get there."
"I trust you." Jareth, a bit perkier, took a sip of his wine and offered a taste to Sarah. "This one is the blueberry infused wine. What do you think?"
After their dessert, consisting of dark chocolate brownie, with salted caramel ice-cream, vanilla chantilly cream, chocolate shards and honeycomb, they walked back to their chalet to sit on the swing seat in their courtyard. Sarah was feeling sufficiently full after their degustation.
They watched the sunset in companionable silence. Jareth pulled the blanket closer around them as the night air seeped in. Sarah started chatting away about inconsequential things, like not having shaved her legs in three years, or not having been to the dentist.
Jareth assured her that magic could heal her teeth if necessary but with all the potions available to her, she shouldn't have concerns over her teeth at all. And as for having not shaved, Jareth offered to get her a razor if she wanted. Shaving hair was not a fae custom so not something he had considered while trying to make her comfortable. Sarah shrugged and told him it had been quite nice not having any expectations to shave her legs. Sarah bit her lip at the thought she potentially killed off any romance by discussing her teeth and her hairy legs. Jareth just laughed.
"I want to know all of you, and that includes any inane thoughts you may have," Jareth assured her. "They are interesting to me."
Though married, it was nice that he was also a friend with whom she could discuss trite, everyday things. "Just wait until I start feeling comfortable enough to discuss my monthly period with you."
"I look forward to the day you are comfortable enough to do so."
"Thankfully, Helena taught me how to make my own towels when I first stayed with them," Sarah giggled. "I can't imagine the mortification of having to ask you for help when I first came to stay in your castle."
"Why mortification?" Jareth questioned. "Do not most humans with wombs menstruate?"
"Yes."
"A perfectly human function should not be shameful."
"Perhaps from your fae perspective that does not identify with feelings of shame," Sarah retorted. "But while you are correct that it is not shameful in and of itself, we are degraded and taught to feel as such."
"There are some things I will never understand about humans, as there are probably things you will never understand about us."
"We will learn together."
"Indeed."
The lapsed back into companionable silence. Sarah rested her head on Jareth's shoulder as he pulled her tighter to his side.
"A sunset has never looked so beautiful," Jareth said, softly.
"It is a rather fine sunset," Sarah agreed.
"Only because the company is the finest in the universe," Jareth retorted, watching her, not the sunset.
Sarah elbowed him lightly. "You're going to miss it if you watch me and not the sun."
"I don't care."
Sarah turned to Jareth to see his face lit with the orange light of the sunset, his blonde hair almost transparent as the final rays burned the sky. She leaned in and kissed him wholeheartedly.
"You also owe me a kiss for having the same shaped moonstone as me," Jareth reminded her. Sarah laughed and planted a firm kiss on his lips. He didn't release her that easily though, and let the kiss linger for a while longer.
"Debt paid!"
"Sarah," Jareth murmured as he pulled away from her, running his fingers under the shoulder straps of her dress. "I want to make love to you."
He scooped her up in his arms and carried her inside, peppering her head with kisses as he moved. He took her into the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. Leaning above her, he just gazed into her face as he toyed with her hair. After a few moments, he closed the gap to kiss her. Sarah felt the electricity building her in veins as he kissed her leisurely, but sensuously.
"Sarah," he said her name like it was a prayer. He ran his hands down her sides as she gripped his shoulders. He pulled her up into a sitting position and started to remove her clothing. Piece by piece, all while gazing at her. Her heart was in her throat and if she didn't say something soon, she would burst. The feelings that were bubbling under the surface as he undressed her had her near euphoria.
"Jareth," she murmured as she ran her hands down his pale chest. "I —"
He stopped untying her dress, to tip her face back by her chin with his finger. "Yes, my love?"
Faced with his earnest expression, she couldn't say what she wanted to. Instead, she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips, searching and pressing for more from him. He grunted into her lips and continued divulging her of her attire. Sarah managed to slide his shirt down his back and slide her hands down the back of his trousers to cup his bum. He grunted again as she squeezed.
She gently pushed him back so she could strip him of his pants, now that she was all but naked except for her shift. Jareth quickly removed that over her head and they both sat there naked, soaking each other in. Sarah could never tire of watching his naked body, with the fine dusting of hair over his pale skin. His taut stomach, hiding deceptively strong muscles. His sinewy legs and arms that often held and supported her. But most of all his eyes and of course his smile. It could be both dangerous and captivating. But Sarah had seen his real smile. His secret smile. The one he had just for her, full of warmth and adoration.
"You are beautiful," Jareth mumbled, as he started kissing her arms up to her shoulders, his hand tracing the same route on the opposite side. They lay back down, stroking and kissing each other. Sarah made a small noise at the feel of the cool silk on her back, but she was soon oblivious to that as Jareth licked and nipped at her tender, kiss-bruised lips.
Everything was slower than their usual pace; everything just a little bit sweeter. Their touching, their kisses, their long meaningful stares — all occupying their own space and time. Jareth still managed to arouse her despite how measured each move was. She was in no hurry to slake her desire, choosing to enjoy their mutual deliberation.
It was only when Jareth moved to lick and nip at her breasts that a low moan escaped her. She could feel his erection throbbing against her hip, but he was in no hurry to see to his needs either. Sarah was uncertain she had ever had such an unrushed, purposeful sexual experience before.
Jareth left her breasts to kiss her mouth. It was short but sweet and as he pulled away he rubbed his nose against hers.
"I love you, my Sarah," he whispered, closing his eyes. "I want to remember every second of this."
Sarah swallowed as she felt a rush of emotions. Something that had been largely lacking when they had fucked against the wall. She didn't want release so much as she just wanted him to bury himself inside her and hold her tight. She had never felt this need so strongly in her life.
"Jareth, I need you inside me," was all she managed to utter.
"All in good time, my love."
"No, you misunderstand me," Sarah corrected, breathing deeply. "I want you inside of me not just to fuck me. I want you to hold me, love me — make love to me."
Jareth made a strangled noise before he kissed her vigorously. He caught himself after a few moments and resumed at a more languid pace.
"Sarah, oh my Sarah," he said into her mouth. "You are everything to me."
He pulled away, with regret in his eyes. He fashioned a crystal, flicked his wrist and produced a vial of blue liquid she had seen before. He consumed it with distaste before he leaned back in for a kiss. Sarah was surprised that no bitter tang lingered in his mouth and it was as sweet tasting as every kiss he had given her. But more so because it represented the sacrifice he was willing to make to love her. That vial contained his hopes and dreams of children, dashed for eternity. Sarah pushed away from his kiss to cup his face between her hands. She searched his eyes before she found the courage to speak.
"Jareth," she started. "I love you."
Sarah watched as emotion after emotion flitted across his face. It was more intense than when she had told him their moonstones matched because this was real. This was her confirming what he already knew. He broke into a smile before he buried his face into the crook of her neck, laughing.
"Sarah, oh my beautiful, loving, cruel, sweet Sarah," he cried into her neck as he shifted his weight above her. With one hand still supporting his weight, and his face in her neck and hair, he rubbed his fingers against her slick folds. Seeing how ready she was he buried his erection right into her centre with a cry. "I love you, precious."
Sarah arched her back as the feeling of fullness nearly overwhelmed her. Jareth kissed along her brow and down her nose, before placing a small kiss on her lips.
"This is better than any dream," he moaned softly without moving inside her. Sarah reached behind his neck and fingered his hair as they stared at each other. "Tell me again, Sarah. Tell me you love me."
"I love you," she said, assuredly.
"I love you," he said grinning. "So much."
He pushed away from her and Sarah whimpered from the loss as his erection left her nearly empty.
"Hush, Sarah," he whispered. "It is all yours." He inched his way back inside in agonising increments. Sarah arched her back yet again as he settled in her. He kissed her on the collarbone up to her ear. "I love you."
With every slow entry he made inside her, he would tell her he loved her, so with his every exit, she told him she loved him. The intense look on his face had her heart fit to burst. Even with their slowly undulating bodies, Sarah could feel the pressure start to rise. Her hands caressed his back down to his buttocks where she pushed them down deeper into her as she lifted her pelvis up to meet him. Sparks flew as they both groaned together, holding him deeply within her before he gradually pulled out again.
She wrapped her legs around his waist the next time he entered, so she could hold him there a bit longer. Jareth moaned from the strain of his ever decreasing control.
Sarah arched her back, exposing her neck. Jareth licked his way up to her jaw on the exposed flesh before he rocked his hips back and broke free of her legs around him. He grabbed her legs and lifted them over his shoulder and surged into her again. This new angle was deeper and caused Sarah to gasp from the shock of his cock delving so deep. Jareth caressed her face with his hands as he went back to work, still so slowly and sensually filling her.
When he deemed it time, he lowered one hand between their bodies and stuck his middle finger between her lips, rubbing at the bundle of nerves as he slowly eased in and out. Sarah let out a low moan as her muscles clamped tight around Jareth and then released in a convulsion of bliss and pleasure.
When she fell apart around him, he swallowed all her moans, before panting in her ear about how much he adored her. Despite how slowly he was riding her, she could feel a second orgasm building until they both shattered together. He cradled her in his arms as they caught their breath. His intense stare twisted her insides and sparked flames at the base of her spine.
"Tell me you love me, Sarah," Jareth repeated firmly, but softly. A dark glint of triumph shone in his eyes.
"I love you, Jareth," Sarah nuzzled his neck, inhaling his scent which was still enticing despite the sheen of sweat covering his body. Sarah groaned as Jareth pulled out of her and settled down beside her.
"I plan on taking you to heights you have never reached, my darling," Jareth whispered as he pulled her to rest against his chest. His heart was racing a mile a minute and she was sure hers was the same. Together, they drifted off to sleep, safe and secure in each other's embrace and love.
Jareth woke with a smile on his face. Sarah was still nestled into him and he gently squeezed her closer. She had told him she loved him. He had never experienced such pure joy. It was the most untainted, honest thing in his life and he was never letting it go. Nor Sarah. Now that he had her, body and soul, as his wife he would not part with her for anything.
As she stirred, she sought him out straight away, placing a kiss upon his breastbone.
"Hello," she said, shyly.
Jareth chuckled. "Hello, my love."
"Do you still love me?" Sarah asked with a sly grin.
"I do." He kissed her brow. "And you still love me. And we will love each other forever, Sarah."
"Forever!"
Jareth's heart soared with the love he saw deep in those green eyes of hers. It had been such a journey to get to this point. And it had been worth the wait. Despite his centuries of meaningless flings, last night had been the first time he had made love to someone.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, rubbing his thumb along her temple.
"Happy," she answered, with a smile. "Genuinely happy."
"I have waited so long to be the one that makes you smile," he said in return.
Sarah pushed herself up to sit facing him. "Jareth, I have an important question for you."
"Yes?" Jareth felt butterflies in his stomach at all the possible questions she may have.
"Will you marry me?"
Jareth laughed before he frowned. "We are married, my love."
"Yes, but neither of us chose to marry one another for love," she reasoned. "So will you marry me?"
"Yes, of course," he answered, grinning as he pulled her over him so she was straddling his waist. He wouldn't point out that he had chosen to marry her.
A few hurried kisses later and Sarah was shortly riding his cock as she scraped her nails down his chest. This was faster and more furious than last night, but Jareth needed this just as much. The stronger feelings inside him needed an outlet too. Sarah must have felt the same as she fucked him harder, crying out the violence of her emotions.
After they had come together, he had carried Sarah to the bath, despite his wounded ankle. There they made love to each other again, slowly this time, enjoying the extra benefits of being nearly weightless in the water. They cleaned up and went out to the courtyard for breakfast. They took their time packing before they were due to leave. They had to go back to their responsibilities but at least this time, he was working with a wife that undoubtedly loved him.
The castle was working like a well-oiled machine when they arrived back home. Sarah felt like they should have stayed away longer. But that thought was fleeting because apparently, they had a guest.
"Majesties," Cookie cried when she saw them lounging in the throne room. "Someone to see you."
That, someone, was Jareth's mother, Lilan. Sarah had only seen in her dream-walking but she looked exactly the same. Jareth's jaw was tight and she could detect a tic as he glared at the woman who had birthed him.
"Mother," he said, magicking up his swagger stick. "What a...surprise."
"I imagine it is, my son," she said in a cool, crisp voice.
Jareth rolled his eyes. "I heard father passed into the lands of the dying. Too cowardly to face the music when having lost the war with his own sons."
"That's true," she said, indifferently. "He has passed."
"That's quite a mess for Nudalun and Omre to clean up," Jareth ground out.
"Their trial will not be pleasant," she simply said.
"Why are you here?"
"To meet the wife of my son," she answered, glancing at Sarah who sat stoically in her new throne that matched Jareth's exactly.
"Well, now you have, so you may leave."
"Jareth," Lilan admonished. "Rumour has it that you have found someone to love and who loves you in return."
"What of it?" Jareth tapped the top of his boot with the head of the swagger stick. "You wouldn't know love if you saw it."
"No, perhaps not the romantic kind of love." Lilan's mask slipped slightly to show a flash of regret. "But I am a mother who—"
"—who abandoned her two children to imprisonment and then banishment," Jareth interjected with a bored tone.
"I loved you," Lilac said calmly.
"Not enough!" Jareth placed his hand on top of Sarah's. "You have no idea what it means to love someone."
"I made a mistake out of fear and self-preservation," Lilan answered, truthfully. "I didn't think Effistod would actually banish you. I was not a good mother to you when it counted, but I had the potential to be a great mother for the amount of love I had for you and Sevlydi."
"You are lucky he is not here to see you," Jareth hissed.
"Introduce me to your wife, Jareth and then I will leave."
"Why didn't you go with Effistod into the land of the dead?" Jareth asked, ignoring her request.
"I am not ready," she offered simply.
"Why not?"
"I know I can never make things right between us, but I can at least try to make it better."
Jareth sniffed, flicked his fingers at his mother, and turned to Sarah. "This is my wife, Queen Sarah Hi'Live De Škriatok. She is the Queen of the Goblins in her own right."
Sarah gave an insusceptible nod to the former Queen of Navas. "Lilan."
Lilan frowned slightly at her lack of title but recovered with a swift curtsy. "Queen Sarah, it is an honour to meet the lady who could tie my son down."
"Mother, stop," Jareth commanded. "She hasn't tied me down anymore than you truly loved father."
Lilan stilled. "I...loved your father."
"If you did, then you are free to walk out of that door right now and never again enter my Kingdom," Jareth said, with a slight almost invisible snarl. Sarah admired how calm he was even in his anger. She could see the little tells of his inner rage but he still showed a composed front.
"I did not tie your son down," Sarah interjected, softly. "I was already Queen before I married him. I married Jareth to secure the throne and because he loved me, not to tie him down."
"I notice that you do not say you loved him," Lilan scoffed.
"I didn't marry him because I loved him, that's true," Sarah replied. Then turning to Jareth she added, "but I grew to love him and have fallen deeply in love with him since."
Lilan shifted, making her blonde hair sway elegantly in waves down her back. "I am part mortal and as such, I had always hoped that my son's embraced that part of me. I can not tell you how happy I am to hear that my son has found mortal-love when I could not."
"Both of your sons have found love, mother," Jareth reminded her.
"But he isn't in love with a mortal, Jareth," Lilan pointed out, with a harshness to her voice Sarah couldn't figure out. "Mortal love is more potent than anything a fae could offer. You have a treasure that no other fae can covet."
Jareth rolled his eyes. "So you have met her, so now what?"
"I seek sanctuary, Jareth."
"Why?"
"I fear Nudalun and Omre hold a grudge towards me because I would not help them in their plans to torture you," she admitted. "They wanted to know your weaknesses." She flicked her eyes toward Sarah. "They figured it all out without my help eventually, but they did not forgive me for dragging my heels. Now, Effistod has passed and I have no protection."
"You refused to aid them?" Jareth quirked a brow.
"Yes."
"Well, I have to say I am surprised," Jareth said, tapping his finger against his swagger stick. "I would have thought you would have sided with my half-siblings to save your own skin."
"Jareth," Lilan said with decreasing patience. "I can pay for my sanctuary."
"How?"
"The weakness that resides in the veil when you ripped it open after your father tried to trap you and Queen...Queen Sarah in the void"— she took a deep breath— "I can fix it."
"How?" Jareth asked sternly. Sarah baulked at the revelation that King Effistod had intentionally tried to stop her from coming back Underground. She tried to remain collected, but she found the urge to fidget too strong. Jareth casually rested his hand atop of hers in an effort to remind her of her station.
"I have no need for my magic any more, Jareth," she admitted. "I should have passed on with Effistod, but I wanted to make it right with you before I did that. To keep the veil from escaping I will patch it with every ounce of magical fibre I have within me until I am depleted. It should be enough."
"How did you know the veil was weakened?" Sarah asked.
"Effistod watched as you shattered it in your escape." Lilan flicked her blue eyes to meet Sarah's green ones. "He had planned to entrap the void as his weapon in the war, but the return of the magical creatures meant he was denied from doing so. Their magic was stronger than Effistod. He couldn't utilise the veil, so he let it consume him."
"Like the future-walking," Sarah whispered to Jareth, images of black fog devouring everything in its path scuttered before her eyes. Sarah glanced into Jareth's mismatched eyes to assure herself that they were whole and not empty sockets. His eyes managed to express concern and understanding as he looked back at her.
"We made the right decisions, Sarah," he whispered back. "It was a warning, not a threat. We avoided it. I am alive and I am with you."
Sarah's relief was palpable. As she saw no sign of the images in her head becoming reality. But how could they let Lilan sacrifice her entire magic stores? What would become of her?
"It is the least I can do," Lilan mumbled. "I sacrificed my sons so I may live, so I need to repay the debt and sacrifice my magic, my mana, my spirit, so you may live. You have so much to live for." Lilan's eyes darted back to Sarah. She garnered that was her way of giving her tacit approval for their marriage. Sarah nodded her acknowledgement and turned to her husband.
"I have to consult with the co-ruler," Jareth said aloud, rubbing his chin. "In the meantime, you may reside in a guest room."
"Thank you, Jareth."
"I could be cruel and demand that you refer to me as Your Majesty," Jareth ruminated.
"You could."
"I won't," Jareth said, "for now."
Sarah shifted in her throne.
"Something to say, my love?" Jareth asked, tapping his swagger stick against his thigh.
Sarah licked her lips and turned to Lilan. "I may not be a mother but I am a sister. I could never abandon my brother despite what dreams were offered to me. I will never understand how you could let your own sons be imprisoned and then sent away from their home. But in the end, you have done them both a favour. Both Jareth and Sevlydi have made the best of what they were given and more. Lilan, Jareth was offered a second chance and I would like to extend that to you. Bear that in mind while we deliberate."
Sarah rose from her throne and exited the room with Jareth following her lead.
Jareth and Sarah settled back into their routine of paperwork and putting their Kingdom back to rights. A few days had passed and they allowed Lilan to stay within the Kingdom but not the Castle for now. It was a compromise that suited both parties.
Eventually, they agreed to let Lilan patch the rift. Jareth was still wary of trusting her, but after he went down to the portal chamber and inspected the portal, he had concurred that something must be done.
Standing in front of the portal, they could see the black mist butting at the glass-like barrier. Jareth could see tendrils finer than what any mortal could detect leaching out of the shielding.
"Mother," Jareth addressed her without taking his eyes off the barrier. "You have the Goblin Kingdom's protection if you can heal this rift."
He went and stood with Sarah, holding her hand in his, as they watched Lilan place her hands against the glassy membrane. For what felt like hours, they watched as the black fog turned cloudy and gradually got clearer and clearer. When the fog was a mere transparent mist, Lilan collapsed to her knees.
He rushed to the side of his mother to see her pallid face covered in the sheen of sweat. Her breathing was laboured and any glamour she had utilised to conceal her true age was gone. Jareth placed his arms around his mother's thin frame and watched as she raised a shaky, wrinkled hand to push her now scraggly, grey hair out of her face. Harsh lines and wrinkles etched into her visage, changing the fae he had always known into something quite unrecognisable.
"I am quite without even a spark of magic, Jareth," she said through a thick wheeze.
"Someone fetch the healer," Jareth called before he corrected himself. "Someone go and inform Gilo that we are on our way." He scooped up his mother in his arms and walked out the portal chamber, with Sarah following, silently.
He didn't know if Sarah had noticed that he was now referring to their healer, by name, but he didn't mind if she hadn't. Sarah had taught him that sometimes kindness for kindness sake doesn't need an audience. The fae were slow to change so he did feel some inner pride in how quickly he was able to take the lessons on board to try and change his habits and behaviour. He didn't want to change to impress Sarah, but rather to be worthy of her. For while she had her faults, and had been particularly cruel to him over the years, she showed that empathy and kindness could win wars. Without her, the curse would never have been broken. Her anger at the cruelty of the fae had saved the fae from themselves. He was in awe of his courageous wife. And he strived to earn the love she had given him.
Jareth ensured that he showed Sarah how he felt at every opportunity, now that she was more receptive of his love. Sometimes they were like horny teenagers fumbling with each other in alcoves between duties, but mostly they spent their nights making slow, sensual love to each other. It was a new experience despite his many centuries of living. Every time she said, "I love you," his heart soared, his stomach swooped and his soul danced. What a difference between all those years ago when he had been simply happy to not have to choose his wife, to now being able to hold her heart as she held his.
Jareth even had one of his dreams come true. He had decided to take Sarah on a date night as a break from their endless responsibilities. He took her to a hanging garden. A hanging garden floated above the Labyrinth with a pool at the centre so transparent you could see the maze sprawling out underneath it. Some of the most luscious plants and flowers enveloped the garden with fairy lights and candles illuminating the greenery. Sarah had been enamoured.
"Why haven't you shown me this before?" Sarah asked leaning back against his chest as he sat up against a tree, hand feeding her cheese and grapes.
"This was where I wanted to propose to you," he explained. "If I had been given the chance to woo you properly."
"You wanted to propose to me?"
"I did," he kissed her below the ear. "You would have said yes, and then we would have made love up here."
"Or I would have said no, and then left you alone to wank your misery away," Sarah said, grinning.
"While you went to do the same to try to drown out your regret," Jareth teased back. Then he paused. "Do you still have that crystal I gave you?"
"The voyeuristic one?" Sarah asked. "Yes."
"Hmmm," Jareth hummed. "We should make use of those again. I loved watching you take your own pleasure, Sarah."
Jareth bit back a laugh as Sarah squirmed at the memory of him masturbating to images of her. He was certain she could feel his reaction to their conversation digging into her back.
"Propose to me now," Sarah suggested, as she passed him a grape. "We are here now and it's romantic and candlelit." Sarah gestured at the floating pods with candles that hovered around the garden. "So it's the perfect opportunity."
"Sarah?" he started. "Will you marry me?"
"Nah," Sarah said shoving a handful of cheese into her mouth.
"Will you marry me?" Jareth asked again, through gritted teeth.
Sarah chewed thoughtfully on her cheese. "No."
"Sarah!" he said in the same tone he had used with her when she was fifteen. "Marry me!"
"Jareth!" Sarah replied, mimicking his tone. "No, I shall not."
"Sarah!" he growled, as he snaked his hands around her waist. "Marry me or you will not enjoy the consequences."
Sarah leant forward to take a sip of her wine. "I will not marry you."
Sarah suddenly spat out her wine as Jareth dug his fingers into her soft flesh to tickle her midsection. Sarah writhed and laughed as she sprawled onto her back to try and get away from him. Jareth straddled her and moved his hands up to her armpits.
"Relent!"
"No!" she said between laughs.
"Marry me!"
"Never!"
He pinned her hands behind her head and kissed her full lips, his hair tickling her face. She was delightful when she was playful. But more so when she was intentionally being defiant. Her body melted into his as he kissed the tension away.
"Marry me, Sarah," he said softly, his lips a hair's breadth away from her smooth lips.
"I will," she said, quietly as she closed her eyes and tugged his lips back to hers.
Jareth didn't waste any time making his fantasy come true, kissing and tracing every feature of hers as he buried himself deep within her warmth. As they lay spent in their mutual exertions, Jareth kissed her ring finger on her left hand before rolling back to gaze into her eyes. Sarah lifted her hand up to see a ring glittering on her finger.
"What's this?"
"Your mortal custom upon getting engaged is to present a ring to the object of your love, is it not?"
"Yes, but we are already married." Sarah shifted her hand to catch the different angles in the light. He had a replica of their pearl inset in the middle with miniature moonstone replicas either side of the centrepiece. "Not all cultures have engagement rings or even rings."
"But I would like something to represent the fact that you wanted to marry me and not just because you had to save your own bacon." Jareth kissed her jaw.
"I have nothing for you," she said, still admiring her ring.
"We can visit the jewellers in the morning," he promised. "There is always the bond-mark that you could get."
"But that may be many years away," Sarah said, lowering her hand to rest on top of his.
"I am a patient man," Jareth kissed her brow. "I don't expect anything from you now that you have given me the world with your love."
"You are so sappy, Jareth."
"Only with you, my love," he said stroking her brow. "Do not ever let the goblins know about my soft side."
"We can't let our subjects know you have a soft heart underneath all that tight clothing and glitter," Sarah teased.
"I can assure you that is the only thing that is soft underneath my tight clothing," Jareth laughed. "I swear to the Bogs, that living with you is like walking around with a permanent hard-on."
"Well, we will have to remedy that then," Sarah said leaning over to kiss him.
They eventually got a reprieve. The Kingdom was officially separated from Navas and Jareth wasted no time in making a decree that anyone could marry who they wanted regardless of their ability to have children or not.
Sevlydi wrote a letter informing the two monarchs that he was engaged to Rica. Jareth and Sarah celebrated their divorce from their parent Kingdom, as well as their brother's engagement with his subjects at one of the many inns in the Goblin City. The city had been in celebration mode since the end of the war. The goblins were ecstatic as they could be for simple-minded creatures, that they would no longer be captured and sold into slavery by ruthless fae under the guise of trade and Navastian economics.
"Good riddance to the colonisers," Jareth cheered at a group of inebriated goblins who cheered back in return. Sarah had never seen Jareth full of such bonhomie. He wasn't even drunk.
He linked arms with her, singing as they went back to the castle. Sarah couldn't help but giggle at this carefree side of him. She joined in with the last few verses. Jareth finished singing, and he twirled her around before he lifted her up in the air. He kissed her on the nose on the descent.
"My bringer of victory," he said in hushed tones against her neck. Sarah shivered from the sensation of his warm lips against her flushed skin. Her clit throbbed at his proximity. The next second he had transported her to his bedroom. They stripped each other using magic and he lifted her up into their bed, where he kissed her all over. Hot open-mouthed kisses at her neck turned into sucking her peaked nipples into his mouth. Hot tantalising kisses down her stomach turned into nips and licks around her centre.
Sarah shuddered and groaned as his tongue entered her and swirled over her folds. She heard herself get louder as he inserted his finger, then two inside her. He pumped the fingers in and out, expertly hitting the right spot each time. Sarah's legs were frantically shaking, and she almost clamped his head between her thighs with the effort to stop them shaking.
"Don't make me tie your legs down, Sarah," he rebuked.
Sarah whimpered from the deprivation of his tongue, though his fingers were still working inside her. Her whimper was also due to the thought of being tied up while Jareth paid her attention. Better yet, tying him up and having full control over what she did to him. She almost came at the thought. Jareth must have sensed it because his fingers ceased immediately.
"Not yet, Precious,' he growled. After a few moments, he eased his fingers back to work, soon followed by his tongue.
She expected a quick release like usual with Jareth, but he drew this one out, stopping at the most tantalising moment to kiss her on her mound, her thighs or her stomach before he started his ministrations again. When she did tumble over the edge she felt it reverberating up through her stomach and through her legs.
She barely had time to recover before Jareth crawled up her body to place a knee either side of her head. Sarah took him into her mouth willingly as he held his cock to her lips, enjoying the velvety softness over the hard steel of his erection against her tongue. He groaned and his eyes rolled while he bit into his bottom lip. Slowly he started rocking his hips plunging deeper and deeper into her mouth. Just when she thought he was about to release, he withdrew from her, panting, sweating and smiling.
"May I?" he asked, stroking her clit. At her frantic nod, he produced the blue liquid that was so familiar to her now and guzzled it.
He rolled her over and got her to sit on her hands and knees. Slowly, he eased himself inside her kissing her from just above her buttocks all the way up her spine. A tantalising shiver wrapped around the base of her spine and exploded outwardly around her body. When he reached the base of her neck, he had completely impaled her.
"Fuck," Jareth cursed. "Sarah, I fucking love you."
Sarah could only groan in response. It had always felt good with Jareth but this position, she could feel him deeper than ever before.
"Fuck," Jareth cried out again. Sarah echoed his response with a fuck of her own.
"Jareth!"
"Yes!" he hissed. "Say my name. I want to hear my name on your lips as you come, Sarah."
"Jareth!"
"Oh, fucking hell, Sarah," he cried as he picked up the pace.
"Good evening, brother and sister," came a cheery voice from the door. Sarah screamed and threw one hand up to cover her breasts, as she burrowed down into the bed to hide the rest of her nakedness. She was briefly aware of Jareth swearing before she realised Sevlydi had returned from the Peninsula. Jareth wrapped himself around her to protect her modesty as much as he could. She felt him soften slightly within her, but still, he did not withdraw.
"I have come home, with Rica," he announced.
"That's it," Jareth shouted. "I have been interrupted for the last time." He clicked his fingers and Sevlydi disappeared from the spot.
"What did you do?" Sarah asked, panting heavily, her arms still trying to keep her from collapsing while hiding the important bits.
"I bogged him," Jareth growled.
"But…"
"He will remove the smell with magic, and all will be well," Jareth grunted, as he kissed her on the shoulder. "May I please continue?"
"By all means," Sarah said with faux politeness when she felt like screaming, "just fuck me, already."
Jareth grunted again and she felt his hands cupping her breasts and lightly running his fingers over her nipples, They instantly hardened, and a gush of liquid heat rushed between her legs. She felt every twitch of Jareth's cock within her as it hardened again, and gradually he started thrusting within her once more.
"I love you, Jareth," Sarah shouted as the pinnacle within her started to reform. She was so close to the brink of her release when Jareth took one of his hands away from her breasts and slid them down over her mound where a finger found her clit and gave it a gentle rub. The pinnacle was crested and Sarah crashed down hard, writhing and clamping down on his cock harder than ever. Her orgasm stretched out as Jareth kept going until he too reached his pinnacle and came, cursing and proclaiming love, deep inside her.
"Jareth, that was…"
"Amazing," Jareth finished for her. "However, I do prefer it when I can see you." He paused to kiss her along her spine. "You do make the most exquisite face when you orgasm."
"Romantic!"
"Of course, I would rather look into the eyes of the woman I love as I make love to her," Jareth said, stroking her hip. "That is a given."
Without taking his cock out he manoeuvred them both into the spooning position to sleep off their exertions. As she was drifting off, she was cognizant of his gentle singing — the song about the mopey king who lost his love, but he changed the lyrics as he sang, to make it a song about a king finding his true love and keeping her. His love also returned that love in equal measure. Sarah snuggled deeper into him, feeling his cock flinch within her at her movement. She went to sleep smiling, his baritone voice her deepest consolation.
When Sevlydi returned from his reunion with the Bog, he was a changed man. He seemed to float through the castle as light as a feather. Sarah found Rica a sweet and endearing man who was the perfect counterpart of Sevlydi's sceptical nature. They hadn't been back long before they got married. Sarah enjoyed attending a wedding that wasn't her own.
She got to dance with Jareth without it being forced. It was in fact the first dance that they willingly shared together since the ball. It was incredible to feel the hard planes of his body against hers, and know exactly where she stood with him. Long gone were the dances of defiance, of trickery, of deceit. This dance was open and honest and she had never enjoyed a dance more.
"We make new memories to replace those that sit like rotten peaches in the sun," Jareth had whispered, echoing her own earlier words, as he pulled her tighter into his embrace. She turned away, smiling, to scan the crowd, noticing Lilan watching next to a bower within the treeline.
Sevlydi was more reluctant to forgive Lilan than even Jareth. Even with her complete depletion of magic, he still invited her to the wedding. She watched the proceedings with a frail smile on her face from a chair where she stayed the entire night; too feeble to dance.
Both Sarah and Sevlydi remained sober. It was a far cry from her wedding night, She also got to spend some more time with her friends. The Spriggets and her trio of friends were in attendance. She still wasn't used to them kowtowing to her. Jareth had insisted they know their place, which was supposedly beneath her. That had sparked Sarah's determination and she insisted harder still that her friends and companions see her as the friend she always was.
"If anyone is lower than me, it's you, mister," Sarah had said after spending the day with Helena Sprigget. She had jabbed him in the chest when he had told her that she needed to let her friends curtsey and bow to her instead of telling them not to every five minutes. It had turned from bickering to play fighting to passionate love-making within minutes.
"I will always bow to you, my love," Jareth had said, with what passed as sincerity, after they lay spent in each other's arms.
"I do not believe you for a second." Sarah kissed her husband on the tip of his nose. Part of her did believe that he held her in higher respect than even himself. "But so you should. I am by far the most superior of us both."
Jareth smirked. "Is my ego rubbing off on you, Sarah?"
"It's not the only thing," Sarah remarked as she felt his erection rubbing against her. "But it's not ego when I am Hi'Live, the curse breaker."
"I have a little curse that you could break for me," Jareth teased, his eyes glinting. "You just have to rub your hand over it a few times and it's secrets will be spilt."
"Can I use my mouth?"
"You can indeed!" Jareth exhaled sharply as Sarah wrapped her lips around his cock.
The outcome had been a compromise. Alone and privately, they didn't have to bow to her. In public, they did. Jareth had wanted to add a clause where Hoggle had to bow to her, regardless of the situation. Sarah had playfully swatted him. Sarah and her friends had agreed to the compromise, though Sarah still felt uncomfortable when they genuflected. She had visions, slowly over time, of creating a more democratic Kingdom and doing away with the absolute monarchy. She hadn't voiced these plans to Jareth yet. He'd just argue that the Labyrinth voted them in, so that was all the democracy they required.
"Hey, sis," Toby called from the edge of the dancers.
Toby had enjoyed seeing more of the Underground. He filled out a bit more now that he was eating decently and receiving enough sleep. Living Underground had been healthy for him, giving him purpose and freedom. Sarah hoped that he would find genuine happiness as she had. He seemed to be enjoying his training under Nathaniel as he took on the Ambassador role with Alicia.
She had watched him giving Alicia looks all night. Sarah had smiled at the easiness of his potential romance compared to hers. There would be no entanglements with a fae disguising themselves as a human, for Toby.
Though, without Terry, who knows if things would have worked out for the best in the end. Without the ruse, Sarah may never have learnt the lengths Jareth would have gone to save her. At the end of the day, she knew that he loved her and that she loved him. She wasn't ready to give him her all with a bond-mark but she was open to the future possibility.
All of this had come to fruition from a Stolen Pearl wept from the eye of a magical creature. The greatest magic had been that which Jareth had bestowed upon her: his enduring love. But beyond a doubt, the most vital thing she had learnt was to trust again. And though it seemed implausible given their history, she had learnt to trust her once-villain, now lover. In some ways that was more powerful than love.
Sarah was interrupted from her reverie, by Jareth at her elbow. He had gone to fetch her some wine as they took a break from the wedding festivities. He handed her a flute, which she downed almost instantly. It would be the only drink she would consume. She wanted to remain stone-cold sober to enjoy this night with her husband. She kissed him on the cheek and he squeezed her hand.
"I love you," she said, without reservation.
"And I, you," he said, beaming down at her. "More than all the peaches in my vineyard."
"That much?" Sarah widened her eyes dramatically.
"More than the crystal moon," he continued. "I love you more than the stars you keep demanding I move."
"A real measure would be if you loved me more than the bulge in your pants," Sarah scoffed, lightly.
"Ah, but would you still love me if I was bulgeless?" Jareth winked at her.
"Hmmm, good question," Sarah laughed. "I am not sure you want me to answer that."
Jareth clamped her to his side and dug his fingers in to tickle her. "Minx."
Sarah tried to wriggle free, laughing and writhing. "Peace, Jareth. I love you, bulge or no bulge."
Jareth released her from his tickles but still kept his arm around her waist.
"You can pick the next song," he said, showing her the crystal, deftly dancing across his fingers.
"Can I?" Sarah grinned, slyly.
Jareth narrowed his eyes at her. "You can, but do not choose…"
Sarah grinned wider as she snatched the crystal from his hand and twirled it around her own. "Come on, Eileen."
Sarah laughed at his sour look as she tugged her husband, her lover, her friend, her love back to the dancing. The twang of the Dexy's Midnight Runner's track filled the forest air, causing more than one bemused look at the sudden onslaught of the lively music.
"My thoughts, I confess, verge on dirty," Sarah sang as she dragged a sullen-looking Jareth along with her. "Ah, come on, Eileen…"
All these mixed emotions
We keep locked away like stolen pearls
Stolen pearl devotions we
Keep locked away from all the world
©Savage Garden, 1997
A/N: So that was that. The final chapter (with the epilogue to come). I hope it answered any questions. If not, they will hopefully all be answered in the epilogue. I will save all my big thank yous for the next instalment because I am feeling too emotional about doing it right now LOL.
Credit: Savage Garden, Tears of Pearls.
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come one, Eileen (awful yet catchy song). I had to end with another reference. HAD to.
I had help with the food in this chapter. I got inspiration from a winery menu!
And you finally got your massive lemon scene LOL. And bonus ones to boot. ;) And more cockblocking LOL.
Thank you if you got this far. You are the most valuable player and deserve all the sweetcorn fritters I am about to make for dinner. Plus raspberry and caramel chocolate slices for dessert. Congratulations and thank you from the bottom on my heart.