Chapter 3

Why hello all, I know it has been a while. I've have mostly been busy with work and the holidays. Also constantly been suffering from writer's block. A lot of Writer's block!

Second Note of the day: This Still Beta less, I know, GASPS, Faints with horror. You don't need to tell me that I need a beta. I know I need one. I will find one eventually or eventually manage to drag my dear friend out of retirement on promises of candy and chocolate and not writing like a person who doesn't sleep and lives off the crack. At the end of the day though I can't keep not having a beta keep me from writing. So Unless you wish to help by offering any services of the grammatical kind. Please be kind and Please Rewind.

Well, have fun with this one.

Chapter Three

Sarah laughed politely as she listened to the man talking at the mingling group of people. These parties were all the same, she thought as she smiled as she took a sip from her glass of champagne. These parties were always much more relaxed compared to her apprenticeship days.

Now she wore colourful robes that floated around her body as she made her rounds. Mingled and less nervous about everything in general. Yes, she was much better at these parties at this point in her career. Flirty smiles, fluttering lashes worked wonders at drawing attention to oneself. While soft touches and voice could set another person at ease in her presence. Her whole life was an illusion of grace and social wit.

She flapped her fan with a flick of her wrist. Letting it hide half of her face for a moment as she scanned the room for a brief moment. It wasn't long before she heard her name being called in the distance. She put down her glass and hurried over to her sister.

"Sarah is magnificent at dancing," Ruby told them with a flourish as she held her instrument. "Shall I play the storm?"

"Of course," Sarah agreed, inwardly groaning. How Ruby always managed to get her dance was a mystery. She knew that Sarah was uncomfortable dancing even in the smallest of crowds.

She counted in her head along with the strings of the instrument. Before falling into the familiar steps of the dance. Using the long sheer panels from her robes, her fan to aide her performance. She was lost in the footwork, the movements that she didn't see the parting of the crowd. The drums came in from another companion, the rhythm pulsing all the way up into the veins that lead to her heart. Spinning until she was dizzy, she reminded herself to spot. The music came to a crescendo as she fell to her knees breathless as she caught her breath. Slowly she rolled her body up as the music got louder, getting to her feet she resumed the steps. She is in the middle of a turn when she saw him standing there. Leaning casually against a post with a look of fascination on his face as he watched her.

It felt like it was a game afterwards, each turn of the room he was so near yet in the blink of an eye he was gone. It was a rather empty feeling by the end of the night when they managed to miss each other once more.

She pulled at her robes as she bade goodnight to her hosts before leaving with her sisters. She felt him watching. What a strange man he was for never approaching her.

"Seems like you have admirer Sarah, he wouldn't take his eyes off you" one of the girls whose name was Isla teased her. Isla was dress in bright blue robes that matched her sky blue eyes.

"I rather have someone straightforward and direct. Why would I want someone who hides in the shadows," Sarah shook her head?

"Sarah, you do realize who that was, do you not?" Isla asked her friend with a look of shock on her face. When Sarah gave her a rather puzzled look she begins laughing. "Oh my dear sweet innocent Sarah," she leaned over and whispered. "That was our king in disguise, he sometimes will come to parties as a commoner. He won't approach us, but there is nothing saying we can't approach him. By his interest, I am sure you would be most welcome to approach him." Isla teased her.

"Oh leave her be," another interrupted the teasing. Dawn was dark skinned was dressed in bright red for the evening. Her eyes glittered gold as she wrapped her arm around Sarah. "You don't have to do anything you are not comfortable with."

"I am not a baby," Sarah huffed crossing her arms. "I can easily converse with many types of men. I have kissed men before"

"Yet you seem completely oblivious to their true intentions when they do speak with you. Those boys also don't count either "Isla corrected her. "I swear the one gentlemen a few nights ago was begging for a private audience. Yet you weren't picking up on anything."

"Just because I don't encourage them doesn't mean I don't see their attempts," Sarah sighed. "I just haven't met anyone who sparks my fancy enough to navigate those parameters of our life."

"Until now?" Isla elbowed her in the side.

"I have no desire to be the king's mistress," Sarah huffed crossing her arms. "He is the very reason why I am here is it not?"

Isla and Dawn both shifted uncomfortably. Sometimes they forgot that Sarah was actually not of this world. Of course, they seen her markings over the years, they were a part of her. No one actually thought of her any different. What Sarah was never told that many of the girls found themselves jealous over them. The shimmering gold that marked her back that made her stand apart from the others.

Not another word was said until they reached the Chateau. The Madame was waiting for them at the door. Taking a head count, of her girls as another filled her in on the whereabouts of the missing ones. It was a quick washing up before they joined in a small room.

Drinking from the various pots and snacking on light food. They told the Madame about their night and reported any mishaps that may have happened. Finally, the Madame bade them all goodnight and told them all to sleep in. It wasn't until Sarah was out of earshot that Isla whispered to the Madame who watched Sarah close the door to her room.

The king was watching Sarah from afar. He had yet to make his presence known but he had set his sights on her. Which only meant he would be around more at parties. The King loved a good game and the more Sarah pushed him away the more intrigued he would be.

Sarah would notice him in the corner of her eye at different events and parties. He never approached her, keeping his distance. Each one of them stepping carefully around to avoid one another. It was like the more she tried to avoid him the more he appeared.

"He's like a stubborn itch that refuses to leave." She said into the mirror one night as she washed her face.

Did he realize who she was?

Apparently not.

It was early afternoon when the Mistress pulled her aside. Handing her an invitation that held the royal seal.

An invitation that only had her name written on it. The invitation was for and her alone.

"I don't understand?" Sarah asked looking up at the only mother figure she had ever known.

"It seems you have impressed his majesty. He wishes for your company." Madame Belinda told her. "The choice is yours and I will not make you go. I was hesitant to bring it up knowing your limited involvement when it comes to men. You have been a companion for two years and still, haven't had any interest in anything then entertaining. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Though most girls experiment or tread the waters to decide which path they choose. It is a public party, but you will be by his side for the evening. He will respect your choices, he is a good man as well as a king."

Sarah found herself nodding. "Can I think about it? I will let you know in the morning?" She asked unsure of what she wanted to do.

"Of course," Belinda nodded with a smile. Even she wondered if the King knew just who Sarah was? The robes and gowns she wore hid her markings during parties. No one would truly know unless she undressed.

Sarah found herself dressing for the evening with more care than usual. A small group of apprentices sitting in her room admiring her as she once did to her older sisters. How long ago was it when she was the one sitting and watching? Now she was the one being watched, it was strange to think of.

Straightening the blue over her shoulders with a tug she looked in the mirror. The long sleeved ivory tunic skimmed her body underneath it.

How did she agree to this?

"One day, I want to look just like you," Yasmine one of the younglings spoke up dreamily.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Sarah told her smiling. Her eyes, on the other hand, held a touch of anxiety in them. "But I am sure you will have even more pretty things to wear when you are older."

In all actuality, the King was a perfect gentleman. It didn't surprise her at all, but at the same time, she thought he would be different. He was attentive to her, as she was to him as she walked next to him. While she made sure that his guests were entertained with small talk pretty tricks. He made sure that her glass was always filled. This was not the sort of party she was used to. It was more relaxing knowing the chance of one of the other girls putting her up to dance was slim.

The palace alone was a sight to behold with hundred of flicking floating jars. The angry little fairies trapped in glass jars as their wings lit up the night. They were a nuisance in the underground, she long gave up any feelings towards them.

He never touched her, she noticed. Even as he guided her around the room, he never once laid his hands on her. Constantly using gestures and other means of leading her. When it did seem like he was about to touch. His fingertips came millimetres from her body, hovering like she had a force field around her. It was strange to her. She was his for the evening and yet he behaved like she was the one who held more class.

She knew companions where a class of their own, it was something she always has known. She tried to remember anyone avoiding any physical contact with her or her sisters but draw a blank. It was halfway through the night when noticed him avoiding all contact with his court.

"Do I offend you in some way, Sir?" She found herself asking him trying to understand his behaviour.

"My apologies, I do not understand?" His eyebrows moved with his surprise.

"You are allowed to touch me," she raised her eyebrow towards him to show she wasn't angry just curious.

"It appears I have forgotten my gloves," he smiled wistfully, showing his bare hands. "My magic is transferred through my hands, I do not wish to spark you with any sort of unconfined magic. I meant no disrespect towards your being, you are very beautiful."

Sarah merely nodded. Some of the older girls wore gloves to help them control their magical urges. She never had to take those classes as she had no magic. Sometimes it was easy to forget that she lived in such a world. Magic was an everyday thing for most people. Though she was curious about why he did not just send for some gloves.

"Do your hands affect your lips?" She asked slyly as she drank a sip of her champagne. She watched his eyes narrow for at her words, swirling with the same emotion she saw in all men at one point or another. Lust. "You know I saw you once when I was younger, you were escorting my older sister home. I swore you smirked at me for being still up at three am."

"I don't remember that," Jareth hummed after he pondered for a moment, "but to answer your question. My lips are free of the magic of the magician variety though I have been told that they are skilled on their own."

"Hmm," Sarah hummed. "I am going to go join the dancing." She told him as she handed him her glass. Not asking permission before she joined the crowd of people. She looked over her shoulder toward him to see a flash of shock across his face as if a memory appeared to him.

A few weeks later-

"I have no desire to be your mistress," she found herself telling him honestly or maybe it was to her wine glass? Sarah had no idea at this point.

"Yet you keep coming back here," he retorted after a moment with peaked interest.

"You pay quite handsomely," Sarah teased him. "How can a lady deny such a sum for her home?"

"So this is nothing more than your duty?" Jareth asked her straightening up even more like she wounded his pride. She was always different from the others. The other would have been long into his bed and gone by now.

"Well, I do wonder some days but a mistress is such a pariah in society," Sarah answered honestly. Though there was a slight tease in the tone of her voice.

"You wonder what?" Jareth asked her to elaborate on her own words.

"I wonder what it is like to kiss you. Though then I remember that it would ruin our lovely banter." Sarah laughed as she motioned between them.

"Who says it has to ruin anything?" Jareth asked her. "Surely a kiss can be a kiss? Unless you are over romanticizing your own first kiss?"

"Of course not!" Sarah huffed loudly. "It's not like I have never kissed anyone before," she stated rather put out at his assumption. "I merely doubt that anything is what it seems with you." She stood in front of him with hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised as if they were baiting him.

"Do not test me, Precious," Jareth growled lowly using a pet name she never heard from him before. "I can have you begging for mercy way too easily. Though mercy will be the sound of you screaming my name" he spoke so low that his voice ran like shivers down her spine. As his thumb ran over her slightly parted lips.

"There is one thing you don't know about me Your Majesty," Sarah spoke up with a smirk. "I never turn down a challenge." She looked up at him with dark green eyes.

He must have taken it as a challenge as he pushed her against the wall. Capturing her lips with his one before she could even make a sound.