Title: Of Demons and Goblin Kings
Author: The Big Bewildered Kadasa Mori
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is not owned by me… I think… therefore I am…?
Summary: Princess Sarah of Sylvan lived a quiet life, day after day, the same routine. When a demon, a fae, the same species that had slaughtered her mother years before, drops in front of her, her routine shatters. But if he thinks she's just gonna roll over and let him kill her, he's got another thing coming.
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Chapter 9
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Sketch pad in her lap (she'd found it after flopping into bed and yelping when her head smacked against it hidden in her pillow), Sarah stared out the window of her bedroom. She frowned. Why does this day seem so gloomy? she thought, looking out the window at the bright shining day. She'd woken up happy enough but for some reason her good mood had vanished quickly leaving only a dull and depressed state.
"Sarah!" Kitsune chirped happily, stepping into the room. "What's up?"
Oh goddess… I miss him… goddess! I actually miss him!
"Sarah?"
I can't… like him can I? Oh goddess!!!
"SARAH!"
The brunette turned, in confusion. "Huh? Oh hey Kit."
Kitsune pouted, ears going back. "Are you ignoring me again? You know I hate that!"
Sarah grinned. "That's why I do it!"
"Sarah!" She hit her with the pillow. Sarah cackled and grabbed the other, a huge pillow fight erupting.
This turned out to be a mistake because they annoyed Jenny, who was napping in a room down the hall. Sarah spent the rest of the day avoiding whatever area of the castle Jenny was in and Kitsune spent it hiding from the both of them so she wouldn't get into even more trouble.
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Humming to herself, Sarah made her way down the hall, heading towards the stables. Even though she'd spent the morning with Bella, she would much rather spent the evening sitting in hay rather than with her father and the suitors. As she turned the corner, she mentally wilted. Speak of the devil…
He father caught sight of her immediately, Perfecto and Grinny on either side. "Ah, Sarah," Richard smiled warmly and Sarah felt herself stiffen automatically, hair standing on the back of her neck like she was facing a tiger with sharp fangs with only a cotton ball as a weapon. He motioned towards Perfect Prince. "Wollburt would like to take you for a walk before dinner." Sarah only barely held back her snort.
"I would be honored," she said, curtsying quickly to avoid him seeing her twitching lips as she mentally thought, Wollburt. Heh. When she stood straight her face was molded into a polite smile. She spotted Grinny Monkey scowling at Wollburt. Perfect Prince held out his arm and she took it, winking at Grinny as they stepped out of the room.
Twenty minutes later she would have rather had Grinny instead of Perfect. She never thought she'd ever been so bored. She was sure even the training to rule the lands didn't come close to this torture. His voice just droned on and on and on and on and on… and on and on and on and on and on. She winced as she felt a dull throb in her temple.
Oh someone please save me from this never ending torment, she pleaded. Even that damn Sir Annoyance! Even Grinny Monkey! She rubbed her forehead then smiled brilliantly when Perfect turned to look at her.
"Do you agree?" She blinked in confusion as he hadn't actually addressed her since he took her by the arm. "Sir Leonard says that he can best me in fencing," he explained, motioning to Grinny who'd appeared sometime during the conversation. "You've heard of my training and ancestry. Do you think he can best me?"
She turned to look at Grinny and smiled falsely, fluttering her eyelashes. "I think Sir Wollburt will wipe the floor with you." Perfect chuckled as Grinny's smile dropped as well as his jaw. Grinny drew his sword.
"Very well! I will show you exactly who will wipe the floor with whom!" Perfect pulled his sword out and Sarah stepped back quickly, crossing her arms over her chest and hiding a victorious smirk.
Finally. Entertainment.
When Alex found them nearly fifteen minutes later, they were shouting insults at each other, calling their grandmothers to the third power names as they'd run out of names to call each other. The man blinked at the men who hadn't yet dueled each other, only insulted, then turned to Sarah with a raised eyebrow.
The girl shrugged. "I was bored."
"I shall endeavor to not be in the near vicinity when boredom strikes again," he remarked dryly then held out an arm. "I believe I am to escort you to dinner."
She dipped her head in a bow and took his arm. "Dinner boys," she called over her shoulder as they exited the gardens and headed for the dining hall. "I must thank you from the bottom of my heart," she murmured.
Alex glanced her way. "For what precisely?"
"For rescuing me. I was about ready to commit seppuku."
He snorted. "You would ruin your dress."
"Oh dear. I hadn't thought of that. Next time I shall hang myself instead."
"Your neck will be bruised."
She scowled at him. "Then how do you suggest it?"
"Drowning."
"But then I shall be soaked and pruny."
"Only your fingers which will dry like flowers before the funeral."
"Hmm… you've a good poi-oh hello father." Both dipped low in respect to the king who stood in the dining room already.
"Hello you two," he grinned. "Are we getting along?"
"Very well, sire," Alex said lazily as he pulled out Sarah's chair. "I must admit that Sirs Leonard and Wollburt-" Sarah mentally snorted, "-have not been paying much attention to Princess Sarah's desires. They are more willing to battle with each other than win her heart." She shot him a suspicious look but he didn't look at her, instead keeping his eyes on the king. "Perhaps they could get to know her better." She glared darkly at him. "The princess is very sweet and I would wish everyone in the world would get to spend the maximum amount of time with her as possible." She felt herself trembling in anger.
Richard nodded. "I shall speak with them later."
As he said this, the two princes made their way into the dining hall and took their seats across from Sarah and Alex. "Our cook has provided a generous meal," Richard announced, "I order you to enjoy it thoroughly!" He laughed and Perfect Prince and Grinny Monkey raised their glasses, laughing as well. Alex just nodded and leaned into his chair as Richard rung the bell to signal dinner.
Sarah watched Alex coolly, still angry for his previous comment when she realized who exactly would be serving her. She stiffened into her chair and saw him glance at her quickly, frowning.
Kitsune leaned around her to set her plate down and tapped her shoulder. "Behave," she whispered. "I know it's not your favorite but the king demanded it."
"Kit…" Sarah whispered glancing back at Alex who was watching the fox with the same stoic face. Kitsune paled, mouth moving but nothing coming out. "Kit. Move," Sarah hissed.
She shook herself, lowered her eyes and went back to the kitchen. Just in time because Richard looked over and started talking about a new festival in town. Kitsune returned to the table and set Alex's plate down but he didn't look at her. Sarah's hand tightened around her silverware as she watched Alex out of the corner of her eye but he didn't look at her for the entire meal.
When it was over, he stood without his usual 'good night my lady' and made his way from the room. Sarah shut her eyes and sighed heavily. What did I do… She said her good nights to the other princes and her father before standing slowly and heading for the kitchen. Kitsune sat on the counter, eyes focused intently on the floor beneath booted feet.
"Kit?" She glanced over. "Sorry. I forgot he made you my personal servant for dinner…"
"It's alright." She smiled faintly. "It's for the best."
She walked over and hugged the fox tightly. "I knew there would be a down side to refusing food from any other servant besides you just to annoy him that one time."
Kitsune rolled her eyes. "I told you it was a bad idea but no, you didn't listen. You're such an idiot!"
"Abuse! Abuse!"
"Sarah! Kitsune! Shut up!" someone called from the other room.
Both girls ducked their heads and scurried out of the kitchen. "So, why were you so mad?" Kitsune asked as they made their way down the hallway.
"Huh?"
"When I came out you looked like you were going to rip off someone's head. What happened?"
"Oh." Sarah scowled. "Your friend decided to inform my father that I needed to spend all of my waking hours with the princes. Damn it. I'm gonna kill him!"
"So you lied to me." Kitsune froze and Sarah winced. She'd hoped to have totally bypassed his room but the familiar path led her straight past it. Alex motioned them back towards him and to the door. "In."
Both slunk in, Kitsune as red as her hair, chin permanently glued to her chest. Sarah crossed her arms and looked uncomfortable. She glanced at him and hoped he hadn't heard their short conversation.
"What's going on?" he asked, leaning back against the dresser and crossing his arms. "And who are you really."
Kitsune swallowed and opened her mouth but Sarah sighed noisily. "Goddess you're annoying ya know?" Alex raised an eyebrow and Kitsune looked at her sharply. "Kitsune's obviously my best friend but my father doesn't approve so from time to time I dress her up like a lady and parade her around. No one's the wiser 'cept you obviously."
"Obviously," he repeated coolly. "Now is she a lady or not?"
"She's a lady on the inside." Kitsune smacked a hand to her face with a groan.
"Indeed…" He looked between them for a long moment. "Well…" He stood straight and motioned to the door. "That's all I wanted to know." Sarah skipped towards the door, Kitsune following her. "Oh and my lady Sarah?" Sarah glanced back. "No more lying."
She rolled her eyes. "Yes sir."
"And Lady Kitsune?"
"Y-yes?"
"Thank you."
Her eyes went wide. "Huh? Whatever for?"
He motioned towards Sarah. "For keeping her in line. Without you she would have been set loose upon the world and for that I am eternally grateful."
Sarah puffed her cheeks out. "I hate you both."
Kitsune laughed and turned to Alex, curtsying. "You welcome my lord. Thank you for forgiving me for lying to you."
He gave a half shrug. "It was all her majesty's idea was it not?"
"Well yes but-"
"Not your fault," he assured her and put a hand to her shoulder. "Now it is improper for you to be in here alone with me."
She flushed. "Yes sir."
"Alex. When no one's around obviously."
"Obviously," Sarah chimed from the doorway. She was rewarded with a furious blush from Kitsune and a 'look' from Alex. Giggling she skipped off.
"Good night Lady Kitsune," Alex said as she walked out.
"Good night sir," she teased and hurried after Sarah. He sent her a half smile and shut the door.
Around the corner she squealed. "Oh my goddess!"
Sarah laughed. "You two are so cute!"
Kitsune smacked her hands to her cheek feeling them flaming. "Ohhhh! Sarah! You're so mean!"
With another laugh, Sarah wrapped her arm around Kitsune's. "Oh come now Kit. You've known me for this long and you've not figured that out yet?!"
"I've figured it out." She pouted. "I just didn't want to believe it."
"Tell you what. I'll be nice if you come play chess with me."
She sighed. "I guess I can spare enough time to play chess."
With a cry, Sarah raced towards her room. "TO THE CHESSBOARD!"
"Holy goddess-SARAH! Stop yelling!"
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The next morning, day two of no Jareth, Sarah thought perhaps some distance was needed as she found the urge to slaughter and maul much higher than before she'd met the demon. Grinny was acting stupid again and found that he perhaps would definitely not be able to procreate in the future thus putting him out of the running forever. Wollburt caught her ear for near two hours before she made the excuse that she'd forgotten she had a meeting with one of the maids and escaped. Sir Annoyance was annoying.
The third morning of no Jareth she found that she really did not want to get out of bed. She knew the suitors were awaiting her presence for lunch but she couldn't sum up the energy to care. She nearly bit Kitsune's head off and told her to leave her alone. When Kitsune threatened to dump ice water over her head, she got out of bed, got dressed and stormed down to lunch. Her father noticed her bad mood immediately and questioned her on it.
She fluttered her eyelashes and responded, "well, dearest father, there is this time in a girl's life where she goes through changes. It happens about once a month and she develops mood swings that include anger to rival a mother grizzly bear whose cubs have just been smacked around."
He stopped asking and forced the suitors to leave her alone for the rest of the day.
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Humming softly to herself, Sarah slowly dragged the brush over the canvas, color splashing onto the whiteness. She cocked her head, looking towards the window, picturing the blond fae sitting there even if he wasn't. She rubbed her cheek with her free hand. I really do miss him, she thought. Why? I hardly know him. Is it simply because he's a change from the boring routine? She frowned slightly, imagining him looking over with a raised eyebrow and asking what was wrong. Am I really that depressed?
"Who's that?"
Sarah yelped, glad years of practice had forced her to pull her brush away from the canvas as she jumped, the feminine voice startling her. She turned to glare at Kitsune, the only other person allowed in her studio. "What was that for?!" she snapped.
"What?!" the fox demanded defensively. "I called you and you said 'what?'!"
"I did?" she blinked owlishly. "I don't remember."
"Well you did!"
"Oh. I'm sorry. What did you want?"
She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks. "I don't want to talk to you anymore."
Sarah pouted. "That's not nice Kit."
"Oh… fine. Only because I really want to know who that is." She motioned towards Sarah's painting.
"No one really," Sarah said easily, lifting the brush to continue the detail on Jareth's boot. "Just from a dream I had the other day."
"Dream?" Kitsune raised an eyebrow. "Sarah, that's too real to be from a dream."
"But my dreams are very real. For example, one night I had a dream where marshmallows ruled the land and used their stick horrible puffyness to force us to throw water over fires and burn all the sticks."
"How could you burn stuff if you were-oh why am I even asking?!"
She set her painting supplies down and spun to face the fox. "Because you know that you can't defeat my logic."
"Sarah! Your logic is that you can burn stuff that's wet!"
"Exactly. You can burn anything Kit. It just takes practice."
"You can't burn water!"
"You can so! It turns to steam!"
Kitsune flinched. "Oh dear lord. You actually used knowledge! I thought it a foreign concept to your remarkable brain!"
Sarah rolled her eyes. "I can be smart when I wanna be."
"But making you want to be smart is the trick," Kitsune replied with a grin. "Now come on. I want some help folding laundry and Jenny's still mad at us for having a pillow fight and waking her up."
"Aww… I hate the laundry."
"So do I. And it's your fault I got into so much trouble today so the least you can do is help me out."
She sighed and stood, following the redhead out of the room. "You're disowned as my best friend Kit."
"I know. But you still love me."
"Indeed." As she closed the door, she smiled to herself knowing that the painting was forgotten.
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Later that night, after a short pillow fight with Kitsune after teasing the fox about her crush on Sir Annoyance, Sarah glanced at the balcony. She took another look at the door to her room before sliding out of bed and shuffling over. Opening the doors, she slid out and sat down on her legs, looking up at the sky far above her.
"I don't do this often," she murmured softly so that her voice wouldn't carry. "But I feel that..." She sighed. "Send him back soon." She frowned. "I'm lonely. I didn't realize it until he left. So please… send him back." When nothing outrageous happened she smiled weakly. "As silent as the dead stars are and just as helpful."
Getting to her feet, she slipped back into her room and shut the doors behind her.
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To all readers and reviewers,
Long time since I updated :( I'm sorry. Not only was my RL busy, but I had a road-block on this one. It's a short chapter because I didn't know what else to write! Next chapter will be much longer!!!
Have a merry Christmas, a happy holidays and a fantastic new years!
- Kadasa
Next chapter preview: Chapter 10
A single swift knock at the door interrupted them and before Sarah could shout not to come inside, it swung open, Kitsune entering. She took three steps into the room and stopped dead, staring between them.
Sarah paled, set her hair brush down quickly and walked towards her. "Kit… Kitsune, it's all right. Please don't scream."
"What the hell?!" she cried. "Why's there-"
Sarah slapped a hand over her mouth. "Don't Kit. Please don't scream. Don't yell. Don't. Please."
Kitsune nodded, warily watching Jareth who'd retaken his seat. Sarah released Kitsune and shut the door behind her. She looked at Sarah, eyes narrowed. "Are you having a secret affair?"
Sarah choked and Jareth spewed out his drink, coughing furiously and pounding his chest. "No!" Sarah shrieked, turning bright red. "He's just a friend!"
Kitsune noted Jareth's look of surprise but didn't comment on it. "Oh? Is he who I've been smelling around recently?"
Sarah made a face. "I suppose… Kit that's an awfully weird statement. Don't say it again, yeah?"