A/N: I updated! Sorry for the lateness though. Life's been hectic last months. Again, I'm eternally grateful at Anaknusan for her help. You're the greatest!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth.
The Land That Is Not
Chapter 14
Too late Sarah realized her own mistake, she barely had time to gasp aloud, "No! Jar-" His lips, brushing against hers, overrode the rest, his alluring musky scent enfolding around her. Her response was instinctual; she tried to pull away only to find he kept her face firmly still. The curving of his lips, the detectable smile against her skin, stirred up her resistance.
"Nn-" Again, he muffled her words with his mouth, taking full advantage of her parted lips, his tongue delving deeper in the cave of her mouth. She blinked, trying to cast away the wooziness of his proximity, his odd unearthly fragrance. He moved closer and carefully sat at the edge of her bed, the bed's springs squeaked faintly. The sound, though quiet, shattered the spell that threatened to engulf her, and she gasped, out of breath, turning her head and evading his lips. "No, I can't."
"Sarah," Jareth hushed while tasting the skin below her ear in a languid manner. "Such a tease…" Sarah inhaled sharply as he buried his head in the crook of her neck, nibbling her earlobe. Coiling her hair around his fingers, he gently coerced her to face him. The denial died on her lips as their eyes met, his gaze all darkness and desire. Her own face burned, her breathing sounded irregular; she found it hard to move. The world narrowed, focused on him. She could always pull back. She should, a little voice within her kept shouting. But what exactly did she fear? He fascinated and attracted her, Sarah grudgingly admitted, shuddering at the sensation his touch. Denying him now wouldn't change that.
With an audible breath escaping her lips, Sarah leaned into his kiss. Her hands rose to touch his face, the curve of his jaw, marveling at the softness of his wild-looking hair. Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him closer and answered his kisses eagerly.
When Jareth pulled away, he did so with a reluctant sigh, carelessly stroking her jaw and neck with his fingertips. Sarah shuddered at his sporadic, almost absentminded, touches. Bringing her hand to her mouth, she touched her lips gingerly. His gaze narrowed at her movement; an amused smile appearing on his lips. The sight of Jareth's smug face snapped her out of the feverish daze and she jerked herself away. The blood rushed to her cheeks and she rubbed her mouth as though to wipe off all marks of their kiss.
"You-" Sarah cringed at her husky voice, laced with undeniable hunger. "I didn't want you to-" her voice broke anew.
He tilted his head, wearing that same trifle smile on his face. "Do continue, Sarah. I'm simply dying to hear the rest." Beneath the buoyant reply was a triumphal undertone like an invitation for Sarah to claim her vicious denial.
Vowing she wouldn't give him any more chances to use her, or show any sign of weaknesses, she started, "You had no right-"
"I had all the right, Sarah." He cut in, a steely glint now in his gaze, and leaned closer. Despite only moments ago Sarah decided she wouldn't be intimated, she shrunk back. Almost lazily, he added, "You asked for it yourself."
She opened her mouth to deny his words but thought better of it and snapped it closed while giving him a dirty look. Sarah's dark silence only appeared to amuse him as he stretched out his hand to brush hair from her eyes.
"You cheated!" Sarah grounded out her reply, straining as far from him as the backrest of her bed allowed.
"Naturally." Her mood plunged at the gullible tone of his easy admission, and he smiled, baring his teeth and shaking his head softly. "But I didn't see you putting up too much resistance. From your response, I would think the opposite."
"Think whatever you want to!" she huffed pass the point of any caution. Finding necessary strength in the bitterness of her bruised ego, she declared, "This won't happen ever again. You can be sure of that!"
"Ever is a long time," Jareth agreed without any apparent concern of her anger. "Yet no more than a fraction of forever." She could almost hear the words, tangible in the air - not long at all…
"I meant what I said! Never again!" Sarah barely stopped herself from pounding her fist on the bed and trying not to think of the implication of his words.
"Still the child, I see," Jareth tutted, his gaze narrowing at her reaction.
"Oh, you've got nerve!" Sarah's anger burned away her humiliation, for a moment at least. "One could imagine being a king would help you develop even some maturity. You're just as conceited as you were ten years ago!"
"I'd paid closer heed to what I allowed coming out of such a pretty mouth. A terrible waste, really," he hissed, mouth bending to a snarl.
Her teeth clasped together and she found odd comfort in her anger that obscured the uneasy elation somewhere in the pit of her abdomen. Her irritation gave her the strength she didn't remember owning. "Waste or not, that's mine to decide." Sarah fixed her chin in a defying posture.
"Truly?" Jareth arched his eyebrow with an unmatched elegancy, straightening his back. His voice oozed contempt. "You appear to have a quaint little habit of forgetting some essentials in your situation."
"You can't decide everything for me. Especially not my wants and want-nots!" Sarah snapped.
"I take only that which is offered to me. You should do well to remember that, Sarah. And I didn't hear you complaining," Jareth reminded darkly, and his lips curled up in a ridiculing sneer at her shocked expression. "I thought so too…"
She clenched her fists together, staring at Jareth with her eyes burning.
He got up, walking further from the bed and turned. "As enlightening as this conversation has been, I fear, Sarah, it has to come to an end. I do hate to disappoint you but it seems I have to bid you adieu."
"Such a pity," she growled. The faster he was out of her sight, the better. She felt sick in the stomach, the taste of his lips lingering in her mouth. She wanted to rub herself with a hard-edged brush everywhere he'd touched her.
"Yes, I agree. However, I hope you don't pine too much after me." He sneered. "I'll see you soon."
"She didn't have time to contemplate his words, or was it a threat?, any further.. As though sensing their master's retreat, a high-pitched cry tore her consciousness, the door slammed open and a wild flock of shrieking goblins packed in. Despite being prepared, Sarah's breath escaped and her vision blurred when Mikos hurled himself atop of her stomach.
"Sarah's awake! Mikos waited whole night outside. The King threatened he'd toss Mikos into the smelly bog up to Mikos' beautiful tail but Mikos stayed!" He fluttered his eyelashes and grinned with a whole row of his sharp yellow teeth: a gesture that was apparently intended to produce a prominent sense of safety in her. "Look what Mikos brought!" He proudly presented a dead rat, dangling the animal in his hairy fingers, and Sarah swallowed down her gag. "Other goblins wanted to eat Mikos' present, but Mikos said, 'This is for Sarah', and then everyone wanted to give their own present to Sarah. But Mikos invented it first."
A group of dirty fingers and hands pushed forward, each holding some sort of dead animal, rodent or similar. The goblins screamed with delight, talking over each other. The odor and the noise were unbearable. Putting on a smile, Sarah thanked each of them, explaining that, sadly, she had to decline from their fantastic presents. No, she wasn't hungry. Yes. The goblins had been very nice to wait for her, guarding at her door. Bitterly, Sarah thought, they could have protected her from their monarch as well. With a brutal efficiency, she forced the memory of his touch and the lingering aftertaste of his lips out of her mind, jerking her head as if seeing the Goblin King smirking knowingly at her. The bastard! Her hands clutched involuntarily as her gaze took an absentminded wander over the goblins' head, and sighed. She shook her head, noticing then a tiny figure at the entrance. The sight was a welcome interruption of her recurring thoughts.
Her face lightened. "Itys, please come here! Come and join us!" She patted the cover of her bed. For a moment, she forgot the Goblin King, enjoying from the company of the goblins. At least they were clean of any hidden agendas their master might have for her demise.
o O o
That night she dreamed being in the dark. She couldn't move or see around her. Everything felt different, the weight of her body, the dry dusty air. She let out a frightened scream, realizing her eyes were covered, her hands tied up. She was imprisoned. How did this happen? Where was she? Everywhere she heard strange sounds, like birds cooing, croaking and crying. And then, Sarah's ears perked, she discerned a human-like voice.
"You should hurry. The barriers won't keep him at bay for long," the rasping sound of a man sounded oddly familiar, tickling a distant memory.
"The alignment's not right yet, and I need her. The ritual can't be performed without her." There was a hard edge in the voice of a speaker, an air of command and power.
"You're wasting your time," the man snickered. "She's bound to the land and its king, and he'll be flying through the skies the moment he senses her whereabouts were you to abduct her."
"That's a complication, true, but not impossible to overcome," Sarah shivered at the coldness she heard in a voice, an undertone of uncaring madness. "Did you bring me what I asked?"
The familiar-sounding man sighed, "Yes."
She heard shuffling sound as something was given away; and then, "You're certain it's what I requested?"
"She gave it away by her own hands. It's hers, you can be certain about it."
The other man let out a cackling sound, "As I said, only a complication." Sarah heard steps, and whimpered, sensing someone standing next to her, leaning closer. Like an unseen dread, darkness falling over her froze her veins. A breath tickled her skin, "Oh, don't you worry, boy. You're sister shall soon be with us…"
"Sarah!"
o O o
She woke up feeling even more sapped, details of the dream already evading her waking mind. Her head was light-headed but, grunting stubbornly, she forced herself up and limped, half-aslee,p across the floor and, barely aware of the soft fabric of her pale blue dress, slipped it over her head. As with most of her present dresses, this too remained faithful to the style of an old world, leaving her arms bare. Folding the embroidered leather belt around her waist, she wandered sleepy eyed out of the room.
At the sight of her groggy appearance, Phaedra asked, a trace of worry in her words, "Are you certain you want to get up, Sarah? You still look rather tired."
"No, I'm fine!" Sarah assured, all awake now, cringing at her outrageous lie. But she wasn't willing to take her change and have Jareth visiting her in similar circumstances. Blushing vaguely without any apparent reason, she stole a glance over her back, half-expecting and half-afraid to see the figure of the king lounging carefree against the wall. No one was there but she couldn't banish the feeling of being followed. She gritted her teeth, trying to rein in her paranoia.
The tingling sensation followed her throughout the day and made her jumpy. Her nerves were in a wreck by the evening, and her mood dropped more when Phaedra told her to attend the dinner. She had an uncomfortable feeling Jareth would bring up their yesterday's tête-à-tête somehow. What would Phaedra think about it? Sarah quickly glanced at Phaedra as she followed the woman but, as usual, Phaedra's feelings remained unknown.
They reached the dining hall and there was no more time to deliberation. Jareth walked up to meet them with an effortless pace. He was wearing dark-blue coat today with cuffs turned back to reveal lace spilling over his hands; shining white shirt left half undone to display his silver-gold pendant. His flaxen hair around his stark face, more wild than usual, shone like gold. His whole presence permeated the room, and Sarah's cheeks flushed, a ghostly memory of the touch of his mouth tickling on her lip.
"Sarah. Pleasing to see you up already. I trust you're feeling well tended?"
She forced the angry retort down her throat and smiled tersely, "Yes, thank you."
She could feel Phaedra's thoughtful eyes on her during the meal. Not daring to meet her stare, Sarah forked her food viciously. Stupid Goblin King, Sarah berated. Trust him to turn everything for his benefit. She frowned at the steak on her plate. Since spending a day in her bed, she had excessive time to ponder Jareth's explanation, which led to kind of a revelation. From a certain perspective, he had spoken the truth. She couldn't claim for sure that Toby's disappearance could have been avoided, but, on the other hand, her current problem, namely that she was now stuck in the Underground, resulted from her lack of knowledge. Jareth could have enlightened her if he wanted. Why hadn't he?
And what else didn't she know?
Phaedra's sudden movement caught her attention, shattering Sarah's contemplations. "Jareth, would you kindly keep some company to Sarah while I'm away?" she asked, face troubled.
He sounded equally surprised as Sarah was at her sudden departure. "Of course. Is something wrong?"
"No, no. I'm fine. I only forgot to check on something," Phaedra replied pensively, glancing at Sarah before turning away. "I'll be back soon."
They remained seated, and Sarah kept her eyes glued to her plate.
"You've been very silent, Sarah," Jareth commented at last.
"I guess that's because I have nothing to say to you." Contradicting her vicious glare, Sarah's voice came out sugary, but Jareth only smiled at the petulant words and leaned into a more comfortable position.
"Testy today, aren't we?"
She sighed, letting go of her pretence, put the fork on the table and faced him. "Jareth, what do you want now?"
"Me?" He quirked his brown, voice tinged with mock surprise. The lights on the walls wavered and cast shadows around them, and the logs in the fireplace cracked. He tilted his head face unreadable. "You're a contradictory creature, Sarah, a puzzle, if you like. I wonder if that is the only reason for your penchant for disasters."
"That's hardly an explanation," Sarah hissed and tensed as Jareth placed his hands on the table, his clothes letting out a soft sound at the movement.
She could swear she detected a half-hidden smile behind his eyes as he agreed, "No, it's not. But I rather like the metaphor."
Something in the way he said it pinched the bottom of her abdomen and, banishing her resentment, she wrenched her gaze from him. "I'm not some puzzle waiting to be solved", she muttered while firmly studying her half-eaten meal, uncomfortable with his attention.
"No, you definitely lack patience for the waiting part."
He was baiting her, Sarah grasped and, the previous encounter in mind, kept her silence. It strained her nerves, the stillness enhancing the uneasy atmosphere residing in the room. Not for the first time Sarah found herself mystified by Jareth. She had lived under his roof for some time yet she knew nothing about him - some trifle conversations he shared with Phaedra in her presence. Other than that, she had nothing tangible. What did it mean to be a Goblin King? Had he been born to his task or had he once been a child whisked away? Did he require sleep like her? What were his dreams like? His fears?
Unable to keep her curiosity on hold, she asked, "Jareth, how will Toby's disappearance affect on you? Or the Labyrinth?"
"And why would you want to know that?" His voice came out dangerous low, the cold mask descending over his features. The Goblin King didn't look pleased at all.
"I only wondered…" her words faded away.
"I guess you hope to see me gone, Sarah? Maybe you consider that a change of a king might prove to be an improvement for your situation?" His light tone prickled Sarah's skin and the harsh look in his eyes didn't bode well on her behalf.
"That's not what I meant! You've been a ruler of this place for - Gods know how long. This is your home, your kingdom. The goblins know you, I guess sometimes even like you… Why would I want to see you losing it?"
His countenance remained aloof and the uneven eyes dark, but the stiffness of his shoulders eased, slightly. "For reasons I don't need to explain I find your words hard to believe."
The allusion stirred up her anger. Like he was the only one losing everything?
"Why do you keep insisting that I'd be planning this beforehand? I would never put my own brother in a danger on purpose! And if you think that I rejoice seeing Toby as a future Goblin King, you're making an even bigger mistaken. Especially if the consequence is becoming someone like you, you better believe I rather see him as anything but." Placing the napkin on her plate, Sarah sprung up on her feet. "I think I've lost my appetite. Kindly convey my pardons to Phaedra, but I think I need to retreat to my room. I'm not feeling quite well."
She made it to half way of the dining room. "Not so fast." Jareth moved without her detecting or hearing it, grasping her tightly from the arms and spinning her around. "I'm not through with you yet, Sarah," he snarled.
The angry snap died on her lips, her anger flickered and waned. She swallowed, the scent of his skin surrounding her, the touch of his glove-clad hands reminding her about the last time she'd been so close to him. "Let go of me, Jareth." Surprised by how calm she sounded, Sarah fixed her stare on his chest and watched its steady moving. The black feathers – crows?– twined in his midnight-colored coat swayed gently, the column of sparkling crystal buttons, a nice flare in his outfit, ensnared her eyes.
In equally flat voice, he answered, "No."
She sighed before looking up. The angle of his jaw appeared even sharper. His mouth was cast in tight line as he returned her stare with hooded eyes.
"As much as you distrust me, at least believe that I have no desire to see you removed from your position, whether by my brother or anyone else." She kept her tone leveled.
His face remained impassive. "And still you are the cause of the very same outcome through your careless words."
She cringed. "I was selfish, I admit, wishing Toby away. But what would you want me to do: abandon Toby?" She let out a dry humorless chortle. "He was - is my brother."
"Do you honestly expect me to accept that as an explanation?" His words came out as a snarl, barely hiding his irk. "Nothing changes the fact you started this chain of most unfortunate events."
"Well, then, you should have left my wish unanswered!" Sarah snapped.
"Sarah, you don't appear to understand the extent of my position." Jareth leaned closer, his breath tickling her lips and his voice but a whisper. "When someone utters the words, meaning them, it calls for the attention of the Labyrinth. You asked the child to be taken away, twice. One time can be thought as a joke. Second time, never. I admit that your first wish was but bragging words yet it doesn't change the fact your underlying meaning remained the same. You repeated the plea."
"And I took my chance. I reached the castle, fair and square; those were the terms." She tried to jerk her arm free but found the act rather futile in his steel-hard grip. Giving up her pointless struggle, she faced him chin courageously up. "But had you immediately told me what my victory meant, Toby might still be safe. This isn't only about you losing your precious throne but you losing in your stupid game!"
The following silence could have shattered kingdoms. Realizing she had gone too far, she swallowed down a heavy lump in her throat.
"Careful, Sarah." The looming threat of his words tingled on her nerves and she whimpered at the force of his grip. His face remained cold, expressionless.
Intimidation could work both ways. Feigning braveness, she raised her chin and met his angry eyes. "Just go on and threaten me. When magic tricks and illusions fail to work, terrorizing is what you know best, right?"
Or then not.
"Terrorizing?" His almost casual tone, warm breath against her skin, and tightening grip on her arm caused her to shiver. His voice acquired a frosty quality and he leaned closer. "Sarah, I assure you, if terror is what you require, I can do a lot worse."
Only then the depth of his ire reached her mind and the panic emerged with such a force it nearly knocked her breathless. She started struggling, anxious of the rage behind his gaze. "Let me go!" she demanded, nervous.
Instead of obeying, he twisted her arms so strongly tears surged in her eyes.
"Jareth! Don't!" It came out more like a muffled cry.
"You should have considered that before your hasty accusation, Sarah." Jareth's voice reached her through a thick mist of obscuring pain. He twisted her arm harder, and she groaned, yielding to the aching pressure. "I'm a fair man, Sarah. No one can say anything else."
"I hardly…describe this as fair." Sarah panted and tears leaked through her eyes.
"Don't tell me, Sarah, I'm not meeting your expectations?" His same, calm tone conflicted with the brutality of his assault.
"I didn't…ask this!" She choked, bending even steeper, until she found herself in an almost horizontal angle. She bit her lip, squeezing her eyes and swallowing her cries. Sarah heard him saying something more but didn't catch the words, her mind burning up with the pain.
Another bolt of ache coerced through her body, bolting her eyes open. She strained to focus on his words, her world a whirling mixture of pain. When her gaze focused, she made out his figure, face only inches away from her.
"Jareth, stop this…" half-aware of her rough voice, she gasped aloud.
"Regretting your words again, Sarah? Tsk, tsk." He was mocking her, looming above her like a shadow sprung to life. "I'm not surprised. You never could handle the outcome of your wishes."
His ridicule had the opposite effect. It returned her strength, if only momentarily. Sarah jarred his teeth and hissed, uncaring of the moistness in her eyes, "Go ahead then! Do your best. You have no power over me!"
Her reply ignited his fury. He lowered his face even closer, lips almost touching hers. "You swallow down your words, Sarah. Trust me. I'll make you to -" unexpectedly, his voice trailed off and his body immobilized. Fixing his eyes over her, he looked across the room. Pain forgotten, curiosity replacing her fear, Sarah glanced toward the same direction. Her knees buckled beneath her, and for once, she was happy that Jareth's hands supported her weight when she realized Phaedra stood at the door. She watched them, had been watching them for – who knew how long.
Did she imagine it, or did Phaedra's eyes twinkle briefly? Sarah blinked and the sight disappeared, the woman's face a pure epitome of dignity as she measured them coolly. "I hope I'm not…interrupting anything?"
"No." To her relief, Jareth regained his self-control, the pressure of his fingers digging into her skin releasing their hold. "Sarah and I were just discussing that she better go to her room. She's still strained because of the Panic Song. Isn't it so, Sarah?" He glanced at her, warningly.
"Yes." Her words a hiss, she pulled herself straight and snatched herself free, quickly backing away. A step. Another. Green eyes challenging of a pair of uneven ones, she kept her stare. A muscle in his jaw twitched, his eyes flashed darkly.
"Goodnight, Sarah."
She didn't answer. Turning around, she passed Phaedra and, keeping her head high, left the room slowly.