Chapter 37

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The Sea

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Sarah had fallen into an exhausted sleep and did not stir when Jareth peeked in on her. Sleep would not come to the King that night, he laid on his back and listened to Sarah's peaceful breathing. She was so near to him, just a fragile piece of material seperated them. It was so tempting for him to removed the offending material and hold her angelic form to his body. How he craved to hold her tightly, being so near, hearing her breathing and able to smell her scent. How she was tainted with the scent of magic, he wondered how he had not noticed before. The whole situation was maddening and he found that he was questioning himself again.

The night had not ended badly, they had been civil to each other. 'Perhaps there is hope still.' he wondered half heartedly and could only hope that things went his way the next day. Morning could not have arrived sooner for Jareth, as soon as the sun was up he was waking Sarah.

"Sarah." he opened the flap to her sleeping area. "Sarah. It's daylight. Come." he commanded a little louder than the first time. He rolled his eyes as he watched her frown and roll to her other side. "Very well have it your way." He left the tent and with a snap of his fingers the tent disappeared, leaving a very irritated Sarah laying on the ground in her lavender nightie.

"Ugh! I hate you." Sarah muttered as she got up from the ground and glared at him. Jareth threw at crystal at her which she failed to catch, it collided with her shoulder with a light thud and she was dressed in the same elaborate ridding outfit as the day before. Not only that but she felt refreshed and her hair was tidy again.

"You look lovely this morning." he smiled at her.

Sarah continued to glare at him. "I look the same as I did yesterday." she muttered still irritated.

"Ah, but you look lovely every day." Jareth tried to smile charmingly. Sarah regarded him suspiciously.

They were interrupted before another word could be said between them. "Hullo you two!" they heard Fionna call.

Sarah waved a greeting and mounted Seafoam whom she found already saddled and ready to go. "Did you have a nice night?" Sarah asked her horse. Seafoam whinnied in response, shaking her mane. "I bet you had a better time than me." she whispered.

Jareth was already ridding towards Fionna and Derryth, he fell along side Derryth and Sarah rode along side Fionna behind the two fae men. They rode leisurely and Sarah made small talk with Fionna. Everyone and awhile she was distracted by the laughter of Jareth and the Marquee. At these moments she would regard the Goblin King curiously. He almost seemed a completely different person while he talked and joked with the Marquee. "I suppose he is only cruel to mortals, or worse yet just to me and mine." she thought with contempt.

"Sarah?" Fionna broke Sarah from her thoughts when she noticed that the girl had stopped listening to her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry." she smiled sheepishly.

"May I see your ring?" Fionna asked.

"I would." Sarah frowned. "It wont come off though." she gave the ring a little tug. She held her hand out to Fionna as the rode along.

Fionna touched the ring on Sarah's finger and pulled her hand back as if it had shocked her. "There's a spell on that ring." she explained. "It will never leave your finger, unless you decide in your heart that you do not wish to be with the Duke."

"Oh." Sarah said and missed the dark glare they received from the Goblin King.

"It's a very pretty ring." she smiled somewhat sadly.

"Thanks." Sarah smiled slightly. They rode on through the day only stopping when Fionna had insisted that they have a lunch. Despite everything, Sarah found herself having a wonderful time. She talked very little with Jareth but they had avoided making snide remarks to each other, she was fascinated to see a whole other dimension to the Goblin King that she had not thought possible. He was always cold, cruel, and evasive; even to Priya who supposedly was like a daughter to him. He prowled around his castle like a terrible burden had fastened to his shoulders and was too proud to ask for help. Now she saw him light hearted, laughing. Not the laughter she was use to hearing from him, not the tainted and mocking laughter she heard all to often. This laughter was warm, genuine and she swore it took a thousand years of stress from his face. She had always been aware that Jareth was exceptionally beautiful, more so even than her darling Duke. As a teenager she had been infatuated with his devilish good looks, the cruelty and danger behind his eyes excited her. As she grew older the infatuation died out as she realized that cruel men were not worth their good looks and charms.

Sarah struggled to push these thoughts from her mind. 'Why am I thinking about this? Those feelings left a long time ago, I would be a fool to fall for that again. I will be with the Duke, he loves me, he will take care of me, he is kind.' She smiled, remembering the night he held her and comforted her. "Even if Jareth is not as evil as he makes out to be...he has done my family an injustice, I wont fall for his tricks."

The tree's began to thin out mid-day and soon they were out and a ridge lay before them. No one had said a peep about where they were going and why, but Sarah had a clue when a salty breeze came over the ridge and tickled her hair. Sarah almost fell off when Seafoam reared up in excitement. "Whoa girl!" she cried as she flung herself forward and grabed Seafoam's mane. Seafoam took off up to the top of the ridge where she stopped and let out a loud whinny.

Sarah gasped, partially from being startled by Seafoams sudden behavior and from the awesome view that lay before her. The scene was almost indescribable, no ocean view aboveground could compare. The ocean seemed to go on forever but then they sky faded into a darkness that Sarah had never seen the likes of before.

"The view is pleasing to you." Sarah broke from her trance, normally she'd be annoyed at Jareth for sneaking up on her like that. However there was something so right about his melodic voice mingling with the salty sea breeze.

"It's beyond compare." She breathed in awe, forgetting for a moment whom she was speaking with.She missed the satisfied smile that graced Jareth face for a slight second. The Marquee and Marchioness smiled at the two from behind them. They made their way down to the sea shore, where various other unfamiliar fae and other races were gathering. The sun would be setting soon and Sarah could not imagine how beautiful it would be.

The four of the sat on a conjured blanket just out of reach from the lapping waves. Various rock formations protruded from the sea at what Sarah assumed would be wadding level, the shore was littered with various tide pools which Sarah wanted to investigate but they insisted she stay still.

"What is everyone waiting for?" she finally asked.

"A very private concert." Jareth smirked mysteriously. "Something few fae let alone mortal creatures are invited too." he half explained.

"And someone invited you?" she almost laughed at the idea and was rewarded with a glare. She shrugged an insincere apology.

"Quiet now." Fionna demanded politely, cutting off Jareth's opportunity to retaliate. "The Sun is setting." she smiled and cuddled closer to her Marquee.

Sarah glanced at the happy and so apparently in love couple. She mentally sighed wishing she had a special someone to share this moment with, instead she was here with the Goblin King. Inside she knew that it wasn't the Duke she wished to share this moment with either. Her down trodden thoughts were broken as the sun began to set and the sky burst with a violent explosion of colors. Once again she missed the soft adoring look that Jareth regarded her with.

Everyone was silent as they took in the amazing sight, all that could be heard was the wind and waves. 'Wait there is another sound.' Sarah thought as she listened carefully. A sweet melody was rising from the waters, it reminded Sarah was she always imagined the mythical sirens to sound like. Sarah's eyes went huge as she saw enormous crabs begin to crawl out of the waves onto the shore. More amazing than the size of these crabs were that they were harnessed like a horse and cart and pulled behind them large shells that held a large bubble of water. "Mermaids!" Sarah whispered in awe and looked to Jareth for explanation.

"That is King Prospero and his Queen Maveira." he then pointed to the second bubble. "And that is their eldest daughter, Princess Morganna." he whispered into her ear.

The merking began to speak, his voice was powerful like the waves during a mighty storm. It resonated magically from the enclosed bubble that he and his queen floated in. "Welcome dear friends of the sea..." the King began. His words were lost to Sarah as she noticed more merfolk surfacing from the waves, many came completely out of the water and situated themselves on the tide pool rocks.

Sarah's attention was drawn back to the magical water bubbles with the most beautiful sound began to resonate from them. Princess Morganna was singing a solo, in a language that Sarah did not understand. Understanding the words did not matter to Sarah, she felt her heart soar with the beautiful melody and she fought the urge to close her eyes. Not wanting to miss out on the beautiful scene mixed with the mermaids enchanting voice. The merfolk on the tide pools began to sing in harmony with the Princess. "They sing the song of the sea." Jareth whispered again into Sarah's ear, she nodded in understanding not realizing how near to her Jareth really was. The sun vanished beneath the sea and the merfolk left with it, the moon rose and the merking and queen said farewell.

Sarah sighed contentedly. Farra Sollys ny Heayst, the Land of Moonshine had three moons. Only two shone this time of year and they lit the sea in such a dreamy way. "No matter how long I may live here, I do not think this realms beauty will ever cease to amaze me." she finally spoke.

Fionna smiled at Sarah sweetly before embracing her. "We must be getting back, it was so wonderful to run into you both." she said farewell to them. After Fionna let go of Sarah she was surprised to see her and the Marquee both embrace the Goblin King in farewell.

"Take Care old friend." the Marquee said as he grasped Jareth's upper arm. Sarah did not miss the lines of concern in the Marquee's face and wondered if the Marquee knew about the curse that no one would tell her about. Sarah watched her friends vanish from sight and became aware that she was very much alone on the shore with a fiendish Goblin King.

Sarah turned to find Seafoam splashing in the Sea, followed by Askurr. She giggled, "Well at least they are getting along."

Jareth smirked. "Have we not been on good behavior today?" he asked.

Sarah considered this. "Yes I suppose we have." she shrugged and jogged after Seafoam.

Jareth followed her. "Sarah you're not dressed for the sea." he called out.

"Who's fault is that?" she called not looking at him. He tossed a crystal at her which hit her in the back of the head with a light thud.

"Hey! That hurt!" she lied as she spun around. Jareth laughed openly.

Sarah looked down, she was dressed in a light gauzy grey gown that ended above her knees, her feet were bare. Jareth joined her with an open white silky shirt and rolled up trousers. "It's Autumn!" Sarah exclaimed. "We should be freezing." she accused.

Jareth rolled his eyes. "Why do you always try to limit my power?" he asked dryly.

"Well I'm sure your power does have it's limits, you're not God you know." Sarah crossed her arms and tried her best not to linger over his revealed skin. Jareth only snorted in response. Sarah turned back to go after Seafoam but noticed she was very far away now, shrugging she turned to the tide pools she had been curious about before.

Sarah wadded out futher to the larger rocks, the waves were surprisingly gentle and she was only thigh deep when she reached to rocks. Jareth followed closely behind, letting her do as she wished. Sarah was almost atop the rock when something grabbed her ankle and pulled her back. Sarah screeched as she fell backwards into the sea. Her head came up and she sputtered out the little bit of water she'd taken in and looked around for the Goblin King she would like to murder. Instead she came face to face with a giggling mermaid.

"Behave yourself Muireall." Jareth's voice lightly scolded the mermaid.

"Awww! I was only out for a little fun." she smiled mischievously. Jareth laughed.

Sarah stood, soaking wet and glared at them both. "Sarah, this is Princess Muireall. The youngest and most naughty of Prospero's offspring." he smirked. "Muireall, I'd like you to meet Lady Sarah Williams."

"Oohh. She's prettier than I thought she would be." she sized Sarah up. Sarah knew she'd upset under normal circumstances but this was the first mermaid she'd ever met.

"One must not underestimate Sarah." Jareth chided. Sarah did not know if Jareth was insulting her or complimenting her.

"Please don't talk about me like I'm not standing here." she finally sighed out. Muireall giggled.

"So I see you got your horse back." the mermaid motioned down the shore to Seafoam.

"That horse." Jareth said with disdain. "That fool of a horse is Sarah's. She's taken a deep loyalty to her." he said disgusted that the horse would prefer Sarah to him.

Muireall laughed at him. "I'm sure Seafoam is happy to be away from your horrible cousin." she teased. Sarah crossed her arms at this.

"The Duke is not horrible, Seafoam seemed plenty happy there." Sarah defended. Sarah's magic levels became more detectable as her anger rose. Muireall made a face at Sarah.

"You've got to be kidding me, he's foul! My father won't allow him to vist our Kingdom, he's that bad." the mermaid stopped short when she caught sight of Sarah's ring. "No! It can't be." the mermaid seemed horrified at the idea.

Jareth snorted. "It's true. Sarah may be able to solves Labyrinths but she has no taste in men." he sneered.

Muireall could feel Jareth's concealed heart ache over the matter and did not know if she wanted to hurt Sarah or the Duke. "Sarah I should drowned you now before you make the biggest mistake of your life." the mermaid exclaimed dramatically.

Sarah just made a noise of frustration. 'Why does everyone hate the Duke? I just don't understand." she frowned.

"And Jareth." the mermaid continued. "Why didn't you tell me that Sarah is not human? She reeks of magic."

"What?" Sarah exclaimed forgetting the Duke for the moment.

Jareth shot Muireall a dangerous look. "She's picked up an unusual amount of magic, that's all. The healer is looking into it." his voice had a hidden warning to it that only the mermaid would sense.

Murieall could take a hint. "Oh I see." she smiled, wondering what games her friend was up to. "Pleasure to meet you Sarah. I won't drown you but if you marry the Duke you might wish that I had." she warned and then vanished beneath the waves.

"You have peculiar friends Goblin King." she said as she wadded back to the shore.

"What of you?" Jareth mocked thinking of her strange trio of comrades.

Sarah turned on him abruptly and he waited to see the infuriated glare on her face. Instead she looked on him the way one looks at a small child that is trying your patience. "Thank you Goblin King." she said simple.

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "For bringing me here, it was lovely. I'll never forget it." she admitted.

"It was my pleasure." Jareth responded a bit surprised.

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Author's Note: Okay so that was the thing at the sea. Hope you like it, don't get use to this whole Sarah and Jareth being somewhat nice to each other thing. I'm leaving on vacation soon, so I'm going to try to get at least one more chapter up before then. Hopefully I will get two new chapters up before then. Thanks to everyone who's reading and especially those who have been leaving reviews :-)