Chapter Thirty
Gift Horses
Sarah glared at him, "You're lying!"
"Here, in a place of worship?" he teased. "I told you Sarah. The truth is always the best weapon." Jareth watched the truth sink in.
"The Labyrinth wants a mommy?" the words even sounded bizarre.
"No, the Labyrinth wants you for its mommy," he corrected smoothly. "I have to be the King; you have to be the mommy."
"Wait, you said you had a little over four hundred years to provide an heir. Why didn't you…." She waved her hands wildly. "With some lucky Fae?"
"They didn't interest me," he scoffed. "Spoiled vain creatures, and the likelihood of finding one who could breed in the right time…"
"Breed? Are we back to the brood mare?" She snapped
Jareth looked at her with indignation. "Your kind can have children far easier than mine." He slammed his fist on the bench. "Maybe that's why there have always been more mortal children wished away than any other."
Miserable, Sarah sat down again. "There's no excuse for what I did twenty years ago. I behaved exactly as I was complaining about Toby. It was selfish, spoiled and stupid, and I paid dearly for not knowing the power of words." Thoughts of that night, of finding the crib empty, still haunted her. "I'll never forget the moment he disappeared."
"And you shouldn't," snapped the man at her side.
"There is nothing you can say that can make me feel any worse than I already feel." Sarah whispered.
"Want to bet?" he turned, looked at her with almost contemptible glee. "If you had accepted my offer when we were in the broken room, I'd have let him go."
Sarah looked at him. "That's a lie, and we both know it."
"But the thought makes you feel worse, doesn't it?" Jareth boasted. He stood up, "And to answer your question of why I didn't breed with a Fae…because I was already fated for you, you stubborn, foolish, prideful, defiant, pigheaded Mortal Female!" He stormed out of the chapel only to storm back in a short time later.
"Back so soon?" she asked.
He sulked as he took a seat. "Yes, I'm back."
The chapel, silent for a time, gave the pair a chance to compose. Sarah found the words to continue. "The two are not connected, are they?"
"Not entirely, no."
Sarah laughed, "I thought the ruse was hard, this is worse."
"The Labyrinth wanted you for its Mommy, I needed an heir… So I killed two birds with one stone." Jareth admitted coldly. "Giving myself the pleasure of your company for the rest of eternity."
"Did you study with the Marquis de Sade?" she muttered, not pleased with the prospects before her.
"Don't compare me to cheap imitations, Sarah."
It was a stalemate, and they both knew it. He stared at her, she at him, both biting their tongues. Sarah spoke again. "Why do I get the feeling you're leaving big chunks of information out?"
"Some things, you're not ready to know, some I have no intentions of ever telling." Jareth snipped.
"Do you suffer from MPD?" she shot right back at him. "One moment you are sweet as honey, then the next I think you're going to take my head off."
"Ours is a complex relationship at best Sarah," he warned. "At least you will never be bored."
"I'd like to know that I'll be alive."
"Death is not an option," he simpered. "Too easy an out for you."
"Bastard," she whispered.
"I'm starting to wonder if that word means the same thing in your realm as it does here," he teased. "You use that term so often, I'm beginning to think of it as a term of endearment."
Sarah blushed. "You are too twisted for words."
"Oh I think if anyone can find the words, it would be you, Sarah." Jareth heard a strange sound. "What is that sound? I keep hearing it…"
"I'm hungry." She sighed. "It's my stomach."
Jareth stood. "Let us take our discussion to the table."
"No," she refused. "I won't lay this on a table with the children present. I will not have them witness us acting worse than they do. They should not have to worry about our problems."
His eyes softened for a moment. "All right then, we put our discussion on hold. I can behave though dinner if you can." He held out his hand. "Besides, you need to eat for the baby's sake."
"It's been a long day," she agreed. "I'm sure the children will be happy to see their Mr. King."
"Mr. King…" he mused. "We really must do something about that." He watched as she placed her hand on his. "To dinner."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Jenny and Gwynn were seated at the table, waiting. Jenny smiled up as the adults appeared, turning to little Gwynn. "I told you they'd be here!"
Gwynn jumped down from his high chair and ran to the man. "Keee, keee, kee." He was not quite able to say the word King yet, but in his mind, it was close enough.
Jareth picked him up and at the instant changed him and Jenny into the striped pjs of which he was so fond. "Hello moppets." He greeted them warmly. "Miss me?"
Jenny also left her chair and ran to embrace the man. "Oh yes,"
Sarah watched as her children showed loving kisses on the man who had them in his arms. He leaned them toward her.
"Now kiss Mommy." He ordered gently. "Mommy has had a very hard day."
Jenny put an arm around her mother's neck, the other about Jareth's. "Everything is right now." She said.
Jareth looked at Sarah. "Yes it is."
Gwynn kissed one adult then the other.
Two happy children held fast to two perplexed adults.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Jareth carried the little ones from the dinning room to his bedchamber. He settled himself and the little ones while Sarah got the storybook. Jenny was huddled in between her mother and the man, Gwynn sat in the man's lap. Sarah looked at the bookmark, opened the page and began to read.
When the story was finished, Jareth looked down at the sleeping children. "You lost them about five minuets ago, Sarah."
"You could have told me then." She closed the book.
"I was enjoying the story." He chuckled.
Looking at him with chagrin, she commented. "I would think these a bit complaisant and peaceful for your tastes."
"You know so little of my…tastes, little consort." He teased back.
Sarah bit back the words on her mind, she didn't want the children to wake up to them sparring. "You're very good with children." She said instead.
"Years of practice." He admitted with sadness.
"No, it's more than that." She reached a hand over to her sleeping son. "You've a good and natural touch. I saw that when you had Toby. He had no fear in the Escher room, he was just having fun." She looked into mismatched eyes. "The books don't say much about how the other kings handled the duty of collecting."
"Some handled it better than others." He spoke in a reserved tone. "Most wanted to get rid of the collected as quickly as possible. I saw that as being overly expedient. I had the orphanage added to the Castle, and I issued an edict on how the children were to be treated. The wished away are not to be treated as slave labor, which some were before my reign started. They were not to be treated as pawns either. They were to be loved and cherished. All children should feel cherished."
Sarah heard the pain in his voice. "I understand." She whispered, remembering her on again, off again, relationship with her own mother. She cleared her throat. "Time we put these two to bed."
"I'll do it, Sarah." He and the children vanished.
Sarah contemplated her circumstance while he was with the children in the nursery. When he returned she was deep in thought. He stood in the doorway for a time watching her. "A penny for your thoughts," he called to her softly.
Green eyes filled with conflict met his. "I was just thinking of how much alike we are in some ways."
Long lean legs carried him to the bed. He reclined and looked at her with an arrogant grin. "Really, you and I? Do tell."
"We are both children with stepmothers, for starters. We are both a bit selfish and spoiled," she said with honesty.
Jareth nodded. "We are both stubborn as well."
"Yes, we are." She agreed. "Why would fate want you to be saddled with some one like me?"
"Because," his voice went low. "You are my equal." He closed his eyes. "I've been told it's best not to look a gift horse in the mouth."