Titania and Grizbine appeared on the hillside border of the Goblin Realm. Grizbine was spewing and sputtering; the High Queen remained silent, watchful.
"Surely you don't believe him." Grizbine snarled. "You promised this realm to me."
Titania waved him off and looked back toward the Labyrinth. "I said I would support your claim, I never promised the realm, only my support." She paced. "If the child is his, and is born…no one will ever wrestle the kingdom from him."
"You don't believe it's his, do you?" Grizbine's gravely voice dropped an octave.
Titania shrugged. "Who is to say? He does have witnesses." She laughed softly. "I had not counted on him being so resourceful."
"His time is up!" Grizbine complained.
"Nearly up," corrected the High Queen. "Of course, should something happen to his consort…"
Grizbine looked at the High Queen with dark eyes. "Such as?"
The High Queen shook her head, "I will not even make a suggestion. I must remain out of this. If that creature is carrying the heir, Jareth's child…. It is Oberon's line. I must not be involved. What ever you do, or plan….I don't want to know."
Grizbine laughed, "But you don't care if I do something, do you?"
The High Queen walked the opposite direction of the Goblin Realm. "I don't care one way or the other Grizbine."
The Fae with the darkened heart looked back toward the Castle he coveted. "This is not over yet, Cousin."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sarah watched the goblins revel as horns blared. The ring of Goblins moved away from the King and Consort, and began to dance everywhere in the room. Sarah had to laugh. Jareth began to move to the goblin horns being blown. He grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her into the dance.
Carlin looked into the throne room, pleased to see the High Queen had left and everything and everyone was still in one piece. From his vantage point he watched the King pulling Sarah into the celebration with the Goblins.
"You love them, don't you?" Sarah asked as Jareth and the goblins celebrated.
He stopped dancing. "Yes, …Of course I love them, they are my subjects."
"No, I mean you really love them."
He looked at her with confusion. "Sarah, I'm a Fae King. These are my people, given to me by my Father. To not love them would be an insult to my Father." He motioned to the dancing happy goblins in the room. "By nature they are fun loving, if somewhat mischievous, not unlike a certain little boy who was sort of wished upon them."
'King of the Wild Things,' she thought with mirth. 'How that suits him.'
He looked around the room, "I'm their King, and they love me… they don't judge me, they accept me…Yes…I love them." He placed a hand to her throat, stroking with his finger tips. "You did your King proud this day, Chatelaine."
"All in a day's work, Sire." She teased.
Jareth looked at her, dressed in the colors of a Barn Owl. "My she owl." He murmured. The gown Sarah had envisioned was a thing of beauty, and grace. More sophisticated than the spun sugar dress he'd dreamed up twenty years before. This gown even Fae women would envy, but it was Sarah's curves that drew his attention. Fire ignited in his veins, blood raced to his head. "Come." He ordered in a husky voice.
Sarah felt her lower lip tremble and fought to stop it. "Where?"
"Away from eyes." He held out his hand. "Come."
Sarah looked at the hand, placed hers in it. "As you wish."
Jareth smirked, "Remember that, Sarah." He transported them away from the throne room and the revels of the goblins that remained there. When they arrived, it was in a remote tower above the castle.
"What is this place?" She asked looking around the round space.
"This is one of my secret places, Sarah. This is Daan Ol Khraan." (The Owl Nest) He watched her move.
Sarah stopped, looked more careful at the space, his owl's nest. "Why did you bring me here?"'
He looked at her piercingly. "You know why you're here, Sarah." The cape fluttered like wings on the wind. "You've dressed us like mated owls." He pointed out with a sensual grin
"I… didn't mean… it was…." She found she could not look at him. She walked to the wide window and tried to catch her breath.
"It was time to bring you to your mate's nest." Jareth stood behind her rested his arm above her on the wall. At her ear, he said dangerously. "There's only one way in, and one way out. That is unless you've sprouted wings, or wish to jump."
She shivered as his breath bathed her ear. "You'd never let me jump."
His free hand came though her arm settling on her waist. "That's true, Sarah. Even if you were not carrying my child, I would never allow you to jump."
"Do you come here often?" She asked, stalling.
Jareth grinned. "Often enough."
Sarah turned slightly, looked at him. "I'm not an owl."
"Nor am I at the moment," he said firmly. The hand that had been at her waist now was on the small of her back. His eyes moved over her with interest. "I think you'd make a magnificent she owl."
"Don't." she whispered. "I…don't want…this."
"Yes you do," he said confidently as he bent to her throat, his lips touched the pulse beat, and she moaned. "You want it as much as I do."
Sarah closed her eyes. She could protest, weakly, but he was right. She wanted his touch, much as she told herself she hated it, she wanted it. "You bastard."
"Yes, Sarah." He continued to thrill her with the touch of his lips on her skin. Her breath came in short gasps. He swooped her up and carried her back to the center of the room to a pile of pillows on a mattress on the floor. With a wave of his hand, the only garment left between them was the owl cape on his back. He hovered over her briefly, then as he descended, pressed into her. She let out a soft cry. He moved his lips to her ear. "You are like velvet."
"Damn you," she whispered, as her arms wound up his back.
"Damn us both, Sarah." His movements were matched by hers. "We need each other, no other will ever do."
Sarah kept her eyes shut. In her mind, it was different. They were not at war, or at odd ends. In her mind, he still looked at her the way he had in the Crystal Ballroom. In her mind, he still sang to her, and wanted her. With her eyes shut, she was under the spell of the spicy scent that was his alone.
Jareth closed his eyes, seeing her inner thoughts. He pulled her closer, thrust harder. "Like it or not," he growled deeply. "We belong to each other, woman."
Sarah fell asleep in his arms, under the feathery cloak. He closed his eyes and held her close. Troubled dreams disturbed Sarah's rest. She was back in her apartment, and Paul was threatening her. He was dragging the children away from her, telling her she was unfit to be a wife or a mother. Words he had used often enough to hurt her. When she tried to stop him he raised his hand and struck her. Sarah sat up and screamed.
Jareth had seen her dream; he too sat up. "Sarah. It was just a dream. He can't hurt you, not ever again." He kept his voice calm. Green eyes filled with hot tears and pain. Sarah looked at the man beside her, then buried her face in his neck. Jareth held her close. "Jenny said he hit you. Did it happen often?"
"Not at first." She sobbed. "I thought it was over when he left…but…" The soft long tendrils of Fae hair brushed her face. "I was afraid he'd hit…the children in time. He never wanted…them." The memory was overpowering. "He said Gwynn could not possibly be his."
"He accused you of being unfaithful?" the pained Fae asked.
"Yes." She pulled back, ashamed. "He found my sketch book."
Jareth blinked. "He thought Gwynn was mine?"
Sarah nodded.
"You let him think that, didn't you?" he began to snicker. "I was so right about you, Sarah! You can be cruel." Grinning he brushed her tears away. "And now Gwynn is mine. Gwynn, and Jenny…and you." He pulled her close to his heart. "He can't hurt any of you anymore."
"But you can." Sarah said in a sob.
He nodded. 'But I won't,' he thought
She looked up though the hair, "You told the High Queen that your Father knew about the baby, was that true?"
"Most definitely," he chuckled. "Truth is always the best weapon, Sarah." He leaned back into the pillows and pulled her down with him. "I told my father the moment the cooling off time had expired that I was going after you, after we consummated…"
"You raped me!" She corrected him hotly.
"Six of one, half a dozen of the other." Jareth stated firmly. "How ever you want to describe it, I let my Father know before I returned to the castle that my seed had been planted in very fertile ground." He placed his hand over her womb with reverence. "He was as elated as I."
"Great, he must be at least as arrogant as his son." Sarah frowned.
Jareth moved closer. "Even if you were still married, I was going to have you, Sarah." It was a statement, firm and unyielding. "You want to know the real reason Paul was angry? Why he found ways to hurt you? It was because he knew you didn't belong to him. He knew he could never touch you, not deeply, not soul deeply. He knew he was never truly in your heart."
Sarah looked at him. "You did this." She accused.
A Fae hand cupped her chin. "No, Sarah. We did this. You are my chosen. I tried to tell you that before we were interrupted by the High Queen. That is why I was drawn day after day to watch over you in the park."
"I'm not Fae!"
"It happens, not often, but it happens. Fae and Mortal, chosen for one another." He said smugly. Sarah shoved him away, turned and looked for something to cover herself. "Face the fact woman. You and I are joined."
"I'm having your child," she said unpleasantly. "Not because I want to, but because you raped me."
"And I'd do it again," he taunted. "You are the chosen! And only you can bear the heir to this throne."
"Stop saying that!"
"Sarah," he snickered. "There is no way out of the tower. No door, on stair."
"I didn't ask for this," she whispered closing her eyes.
Jareth sat up. "Stop thinking with your mundane mortal side. Think with that inner spark of magic." His voice took on a different sound, mesmerizing. "See beyond the mortal barrier. I am a King, the son of a King. What I do for the Kingdom…"
"No!" she covered her ears. "I won't listen to this…. It's wrong."
He pulled her hands away from her ears and pulled her up against his chest, lips at her ears. "See with your soul."
She kept her eyes shut, "I won't."
"You will, because you can't help yourself." He warned. "I am part of you, as you are part of me."
Sarah pulled free, and moved away from him. "You have no power over me!" she cried out like a talisman.
"Sarah," he leaned back into the pillows with a look somewhere between exasperation and amusement. "Of course I have power over you."
"No!"
"Sit." He said calmly, watching her roam the room looking for an exit. When she would not, he said it firmer. "Sit!" She glared at him, but sat down. "I was trying to explain some of this to you when we were interrupted earlier. You and I are bonded. Not just to one another. We are bonded to the Kingdom, to the Labyrinth!"
Sarah blinked rapidly. "Come again?"
"The Kingdom is not complete without you. No other will do," he stated.
"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" she asked angry that he had her where she could not escape.
"The Kingdom needs a King…. One who can control the Labyrinth, especially since the last king let it go wild. However, all things need both sides... male and female.
For the kingdom to thrive it must have a female nurturer. That would be you, Sarah."
The woman shook her head, "I don't want any of this! I'm here because you cheated, like you always do."
"You're here because I corrected a mistake I made on your last visit," he countered.
"It wasn't a visit!" She insisted. "I was here on a mission to save Toby!"
"Call it whatever gives you peace, Sarah." He rolled to his side and surveyed her.
"I didn't know that seeing the things you secretly desired was going to send you screaming into the night. If I had, there would have only been you and I in the Crystal Ballroom twenty years ago and everything would have been different."
"I was fifteen…" she fought not to look at his eyes. His scent was heavy in the tower room, even with the openness of it. "You're suggesting you had…. lewd plans even then."
"Lewd?" He scoffed. "Woman I planned on giving you a kingdom."
"You planed on…forcing yourself on an innocent child."
"I planned on guiding you into womanhood," he corrected.
"I was too young," she insisted.
Jareth smiled. "Was not Isabella of Angoulême, the mother of two by the age of fifteen?" He chuckled. "Stop thinking like a mundane. You were young, granted, but your body was already calling out to mine."
"You are so damn twisted, Jareth. You do know that, don't you?" She looked away from his lounging form.
"More twisted then you can imagine," he boasted proudly. "Come here."
"Is a simple REQUEST beneath you, Your Majesty?"
"Beneath me?" He looked down to the pillows. "Yes, that's precisely where I want you, and now." He waved his hand and she was no longer across the room but under his lean body. "I am King, I don't make requests, simple or otherwise, I give orders and directions."
"King? Ha! A spoiled bully is what you really are, Jareth." She struggled. "And I don't take orders."
Jareth moved his hand over her and she shivered under his touch. "Fear not, Sarah. You only have to take orders from me…your Sovereign, your Lord, and your…"he pressed his body to hers. "Master."
His touch and his scent in the tower were beyond resisting. Skin to skin contact set her quickly aflame. "You cheat," she protested.
"Is that your new catch phrase, Sarah? It used to be 'that's not fair'," he teased. Slowly his hand warmed her.
"Don't do that." Her lips quivered as her body arched to his touch.
"Had you but waited a moment longer in the ballroom I'd have dismissed all those there. I'd have taken time in unwrapping you." He murmured in her ear.
"No, don't." She drew in a harsh breath.
"Don't what?" he coaxed. "Don't touch, or don't talk?" He stormy eyes gazed into hers. "Still fighting me, are you? Fine. It makes my victory all the sweeter." Softly he began to hum into her ear.
"Cheating bastard," she whimpered as her hand began to caress him in return.
"Open to me, Sarah. Welcome me. Better still, invite me," he whispered darkly.
Sarah looked at him, "Bastard."
"Close enough," he said as he slid within her.