Dreams of ball rooms, faces, masks…the dark shadow of a whisper as yet unspoken.
"You've done this before," Sarah squeezed the peach into a mushy pulp in her hand, as she stood suddenly alert.
The realization dawned like a snake shooting through the grass. Before she had time to think a step further, a silken tone sleeked its way into her eardrum.
"And so have you…"
Sarah gaped, right hand still full of peach puss. Wheeling around, she planted her feet in bold opposition, bracing herself for the overpowering presence of the Goblin King.
"Lovely little Sarah, unwitting seducer of the Fae…time you made use of that wit."
"Wha…"
"Hush now before you fill your delectable mouth with falsehoods. Don't feign ignorance with me, Sarah. I can be generous, nurturing, kind…but try and deceive me and you shall learn a different lesson." He let a gloved hand rest lightly on a raised thigh as he pressed his feline weight into a curiously shaped stone.
"Generous?" her eyes popped from their sockets as they did once long before, "I really must be missing the sense of that word. This is the second time I hear it from your lips."
He spread his hands with irritatingly smug nonchalance at the air around them as if to encompass the whole of the Labyrinth in one catty swoop.
"All right…my dear King…if I understand you mean my time here, my torment…"
"You desired it. I was only crafting for you the sanctuary you called out for in the night."
He was no longer propped up on the rock. His footsteps edged gradually and restlessly towards Sarah's sober expression.
"This…" she trailed taking in her surroundings with marked intent, "is your gift to me?"
"It's your gift to yourself, my child."
"Now, you!" she had to restrain herself from reaching up to grab a hold of the darkly sparkling smirk spread across his self-satisfied face. "I shall not insist, but I will ask. Don't prevaricate."
"I'm not, believe me, I'm not…" his voice waxed rich and languid dusted with the shimmer of half-forgotten dreams. He only inched more steadily closer.
"So I am to understand one thing…you…have done this before."
"Something like it. It's of no consequence."
"What does it mean?"
"Am I not your slave? Would you question me now Sarah after everything you've promised in your heart of hearts…" he turned his head, displaying a regal profile to Sarah's racing senses, "and then, you yourself are not without some experience in the matter…"
"It can't be the same," Sarah's brow furrowed, grasping at a dim and foggy memory.
"It isn't. But the comparison might still be drawn…" Jareth let his eyes flood over Sarah's conscious being until he could detect the dilation in her pupils and the clouded look of wonder he always loved to sire in her gaze.