Author's notes: Response to reviews following the chapter. Much thanks to everyone who has let me know that they enjoy my story.
Jareth.
He sat in the darkest corner of the bedroom, his face hidden in shadow.
In the center of his bed, Sarah lay in a deep and peaceful sleep. It was not the nervous sleep of one who rested in the bed of an enemy, nor was it the troubled tossing of one driven by guilt. But then, he was already coming to understand that she neither hated nor pitied him.
Sarah sighed softly, contentedly, and rolled onto her back. The movement pushed the covers to her waist and Jareth's eyes glittered darkly as they roamed over the revealed flesh.
How often had he imagined this very scene? A century of longing, and now it seemed like a only another crazed dream that he was lost in. Sarah, lying willingly in his bed.
Sarah, resting happily in his arms.
Sarah, pleading for his touch.
Sarah, helpless beneath him…
Jareth passed a trembling hand over his face as he fought back the roiling emotions. He ached both physically and mentally, but he had to find a way to protect Sarah from Alryn. His foolishness had allowed the Dryn too close to her once already. If they thought she was the established queen or a mere plaything, there would be no appeal to her. But they had seen from the start that her status was uncertain and yet she wielded an unprecedented amount of power. Jareth could only hope that they were unaware of the previous victory that made Sarah easily his equal, regardless of what position she took with regards to the king. If they discovered that, he knew they would stop at nothing to make her one of their own. The results could be catastrophic.
He straightened suddenly, the beginnings of an idea tickling at his mind. Sarah began to stir and he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. When her eyes fluttered open he was already gone.
Sarah
Sleep felt like a long blink to Sarah. She closed her eyes with Jareth's arms around her and opened them when she felt his kiss. Yet the room was empty and it was clear from the angle of the sunlight through the window that considerable time had passed. She slowly pulled herself into a sitting position, feeling incredibly weary in spite of sleeping half the day. She felt a heavy weight over her heart.
Looking down at herself, she found Jareth's pendant resting on her bare chest. She touched it curiously and something rippled at the edge of her vision. A piece of parchment rested on the pillows, threatening to flutter away in the light breeze. She snatched it up quickly and read.
Wear it always, with my love. –Jareth
Sarah fell back on the pillows, the note clutched in one hand and the pendant wrapped in the other. She felt like a schoolgirl experiencing her first love. It didn't matter that the emotion had been biding its time for years (or in Jareth's case, much longer). Nothing else from the past mattered anymore. Not her first journey through the Labyrinth, not her traumatic history with Jareth, not her problems with the Dryn…
The Dryn.
Sarah sobered and sat up again. The Dryn did still matter. She pushed aside the thick sheets, rising to hurriedly bathe and dress. She had to find Jareth and speak with him about the power that Alryn held over her. The ball was only one day away, but that was plenty of time for Alryn to finish what he had started. If she didn't find a way to resist his call…
Sarah shuddered. She could too vividly recall the sensation of the Dryn's consciousness slithering through her mind. She thought she had prepared for anything before returning Underground, but 'anything' had mostly involved the Goblin King and his minions. It made sense that there were other realms outside the Labyrinth, but she hadn't thought to be dealing with any of them so soon or so directly.
As she prepared to leave, Sarah paused with her hand on the door, checking her appearance in the mirror. She looked like a proper queen. The pale blue satin dress had an intricate pattern on the bodice. Jareth's pendant hung over her chest as if it was made to be worn with the dress, the shape interacting with the bodice pattern in an optical illusion that made the two look conjoined. Sarah shook her head wryly. It was somehow fitting.
The corridor outside of Jareth's rooms was empty and Sarah hesitated, perplexed. She had no idea where Jareth was and even if she did, the palace was still a maze to her. She could spend days exploring and never find him. Or worse, she could run into Alryn. Sarah glanced quickly up and down the hallway, as if thinking of the man who could invade her thoughts would lead him instantly to her.
Something touched her shoulder from behind and Sarah stifled a scream as she leapt away. She was flattened against the opposite wall before her brain caught up with what her body was doing. Pulse racing, she stared in wide-eyed terror at the figure before her.
It was not Alryn but a petite girl in a cranberry dress with a full, ruffled skirt. Fine golden curls tumbled over her shoulders to the middle of her back. As Sarah fought to calm her nerves, she noticed incongruous things like the way the girl's lips and nails had been painted to match her dress, or how the pale yet vibrant blue of her eyes seemed to glow in the dim hallway.
The girl giggled prettily. "Are you okay, Lady Sarah?" she asked in a sweet voice that immediately made her seem much younger than the dress and makeup made her look. She was barely into her teens, Sarah guessed.
"Fine, you just startled me," Sarah replied, stepping closer. "How do you know my name?"
The girl giggled again. "You don't recognize me!" She twirled, showing off her dress. "It's me, Emily!"
Sarah was astonished. "Emily?" she asked, trying to reconcile in her mind the image of the shy little goblin child with that of the beautiful giggling girl before her.
Emily nodded. "King Jareth said we get to look different for a few days!" Her voice dropped to an awe-filled whisper. "I feel really tall."
"You look lovely," Sarah assured her. Emily beamed.
"A nice man gave me this pretty dress," she confided. Sarah grinned, unable to imagine all of the goblins suddenly wandering around as normal people, especially if their mischievous nature stayed intact.
"Emily, do you know where Jar- er, King Jareth is?"
The girl nodded again. "I saw him go into the gardens earlier. They're really pretty. Wanna see?" Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Sarah's hand, tugging her down the hallway. As they traversed the twists and turns of the palace, Sarah was amused to find Emily as talkative as a human as she was as a goblin. By the time they reached the courtyard leading to the gardens, Sarah had heard in detail about Emily's experience of waking as a human and about her new friend who had generously given her the lovely dress and helped her with her hair and makeup.
"Well, here you go Lady Sarah," Emily said finally. "Just don't get lost or King Jareth might never find you." Her eyes went to the pendant around Sarah's neck and she giggled uncontrollably, as if she had just made the most amazing joke.
Sarah smiled and shook her head. "Thank you, Emily. Have a good time with your friend." Emily gave a little wave, a distant expression on her face as if she was already far away. As she turned away, the gentle breeze brushed her curls away from her shoulders and Sarah froze.
Low on the girl's neck, almost at the junction between neck and shoulder, the skin was marred.
The mark of the Dryn.
"Wait! Emily!" Sarah called after her, but the girl had already vanished back into the labyrinthine walls of the castle.
Sarah was horrified. The new "friend" Emily had talked about so much must have been one of the Dryn. He must have given her such pretty clothes and makeup in exchange for marking her. A child like Emily would never have understood the consequences of that trade. And had it been only blood, or had the Dryn asked for more? She was only a child!
Sarah shuddered, and suddenly wondered if Alryn had been the one to find Emily. Could he have taken her when he was denied Sarah? Had he known that Emily was the guide Jareth had assigned her?
Was this her fault?
Sarah felt suddenly exposed, as if ten thousand eyes were watching her accusingly.
With a strangled sob, she darted into the gardens, running as if she could somehow escape her own fears.
By the time Sarah stopped running, she was deep within the gardens. She paused by a small pond and stared into the dark water, mentally berating her reflection for such foolish actions. The girl in the water no longer looked queenly. Her hair was a tangled mess and her dress was stained from her headlong rush through the flora. Even tinted by the murky color, it was clear that her eyes were red and puffy.
Sarah laughed harshly. "You are the Queen of Fools," she told the watery image, before turning her back on it.
Because of her foolishness, Jareth had spent a hundred years in mental anguish. Because of her foolishness, he had suffered physically at her hands. Because of her foolishness, Emily would suffer for the rest of her soon-to-be immortal life. Because of her foolishness, Sarah was on the brink of joining her.
It's only forever, not long at all…
Sarah sank to her knees, fighting back another sob. Even if Alryn was unable to finish his work with her, what kind of future would she have? Would she always be under his spell?
And poor Emily. At least Sarah had the Goblin King fighting for her. Emily had no one, and furthermore Jareth had been clear that the entire purpose of altering his subjects' appearance was for the Dryn to take them. He would not lift a finger if Alryn came for the girl.
A shuffling noise and a surprised grunt brought Sarah back to her surroundings with a cold stab of terror. She froze in a huddle on the ground, tensed to spring away at the slightest provocation.
"Who's…there…?" she whispered so softly that it was almost lost in the wind.
A squat figure lumbered into the clearing.
"Me."
Response to reviews:
Cree: I'm not that much better. I did wait over a year between one of my updates! I don't plan to do that again though…
draegon-fire: Yes, yes exactly! I'm trying to get them past their pain, but at the same time I don't want it to be as simple as one conversation and bam, everything's good again. Things take time to heal. But yes, hopefully it will show that they are beginning to move past it now.
And to everyone else, thank you for your kind comments.