Disclaimer: See Previous Chapters
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and/or review. I am truly amazed at the overwhelming response to my little fic.
Chapter 13:
Seated upon a small stone bench, a bemused Sarah quietly contemplated the lovely garden that surrounded her as she tried to make sense of the myriad emotions that were roiling around inside of her. So much had happened so quickly that morning. She couldn't even begin to properly dissect the bulk of it all, especially the thrilling sexual experience that had left her rattled and inexplicably... eager... for more.
It had certainly come as quite an unwelcome shock to learn that everything she had believed about her first trip to the Underground had been false, to say the very least.
Jareth had tricked her! He'd manipulated her into wishing Toby away by leaving that book for her to find. He'd led her along like an unsuspecting sheep to the slaughter and she'd been totally unaware of his toying with her for over two-and-a-half years. Not to mention the fact that he'd been stalking her the whole damn time! The very thought of his machinations infuriated her.
Mostly.
It also filled her with a sense of wonder that she, Sarah Williams, had captured the interest of someone as important as the Goblin King.
Was that old line she'd barely paid attention to actually true? Had Jareth really given her certain powers because he'd fallen in love with her?
Impossible!She found the very notion absurd. He didn't even know her, for heaven's sake.
But he had gone to an awful lot of trouble to get her and keep her there, she reminded herself.
And he had just moments before made love to her- almost- as if he felt something... intense... for her.
Hadn't he?
"Oh, Hoggle. Please hurry up! I need to talk to you so badly."
"My Lady?"
Sarah jumped, startled by the deep, unfamiliar voice that had spoken to her. Turning to look over her shoulder, she saw a tall, golden-haired Fae dressed in some sort of black, leather-armored uniform standing in the doorway that led inside the castle.
"Oh! Excuse me. I didn't know anyone else was here," she said bashfully, embarrassed that this stranger had caught her talking to herself, or, more precisely, to a friend who wasn't even there.
"It is I who must apologize for disturbing you, My Lady. Allow me to present myself. I am Anlon, your humble servant and second in command of His Highness' troops." Stepping forward, he sketched a very precise bow. "I have been assigned to your security detail," he added proudly.
"Hello, Anlon. My name is Sarah." Standing, Sarah tried to make a graceful curtsy, but was stopped by a curt motion of the soldier's hand.
"Oh, no, My Lady. You do not need to curtsy to an inferior. It is beneath your station."
"Oh. Thank you, Anlon, for instructing me. I am not familiar with your customs, I'm afraid."
"Of course not, My Lady. You've only just taken your rightful place. You will learn in time." The charming smile he gave her did much to lighten her mood.
Maybe things weren't as gloomy as she'd been making them seem.
After all, here was one of those doting servants she was prone to fantasizing about.
"Thank you. You have made me feel better already, Anlon. I am very glad to have met you just now."
"You are most gracious, Lady Sarah. I do regret that circumstances took me from your home last eve before I'd had the pleasure of meeting you properly then. You were still unconscious when my commander bade me to give chase to the young master's abductors."
Sarah began to offer a polite response when her mind finally caught up with what her ears had just heard.
"Excuse me? I'm sorry, but what did you just say?"
"My Lady? I simply meant that..."
"Did you just say that you were ordered to go after the ones who took my brother... before I woke up?"
Anlon shifted, looking both concerned and wary now.
"I... er, yes, My Lady. My leader, Bram, commanded a search party ride out immediately after the battle and placed me in charge, since his first responsibility is to protect the king."
"Bram ordered it? Did the king know anything about this search party?"
"Yes. Bram has been His Highness' commander for many centuries. He has a finely-tuned sense of how the king thinks and reacts in just about any given situation. He would never act in a way that would displease His Majesty. He was merely anticipating His Majesty's orders," the guard explained hastily, as if seeking to exonerate his commanding officer of any wrong-doing. "The king was much pleased, My Lady, since he'd wanted it done anyway."
Sarah felt as if her entire head had been plunged into a bucket of angry hornets. Everything in her came to sudden life with a burst of sheer fury.
"Is that son-of-a... is your king still here, Anlon?"
Anlon looked at Sarah aghast, truly unsettled by her abrupt change in mood. "I... yes, My Lady. I believe he is in his study, finishing a few things while he awaits the soldiers he's chosen for the search to prepare their gear and make ready to leave..."
Sarah left him no time to finish as she darted past him and disappeared.
Anlon sighed deeply, wondering what damage he had just caused.
Jareth took another long swig of the strong whiskey from the heavy cut-crystal glass he held. The smoky heat spread through his sexually-frustrated body but did little to numb the throbbing ache that was driving him to distraction. Elbows on his desk, Jareth slumped forward, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily.
Why, exactly, had he expected things to go smoothly? Things never went smoothly when Sarah was involved. She always had, and likely always would, turn his world upside down.
Leaning back, he took another sip of the potent drink and smiled slowly, acknowledging to himself that he adored her and the chaotic effect she had upon him and he'd never wish to change one thing about her or their life together.
A sudden patter of rapid footsteps stopped outside his den, replaced by a frantic pounding upon the thick wooden door situated across the room from him.
"Yes?"
A small, fair-haired elven maid, flushed with exertion, came inside, slamming the door behind her.
"Majesty... oh, Majesty! The girl!"
Jareth raised an eyebrow questioningly before calmly replying, "Yes, Twila? Go on."
"The girl is setting up such a ruckus, Majesty! She's tearing the castle apart trying to find you and she's saying terrible things... things it ain't fit for a lady to say! She is almost here, Sire. What shall you have us do with her?" She asked, wringing her apron in her agitated hands.
"Why, show her to me, of course."
"Yes, Majesty," the servant mumbled, as if she was convinced that her king had failed to understand her dire warning. Or had entirely taken leave of his senses, perhaps.
Just then the door burst inward, striking the stone wall behind it with a ringing, echoing crash. The poor, timid elf squeaked in terror and swiftly fled from the room.
Jareth half-rose and gestured to the chair opposite him before saying, "Why, Sarah, what an unexpected, yet delightful, surprise. What brings you..."
Grabbing up the first object at hand - a rather large, incredibly heavy crystal vase on a table next to the doorway - Sarah pulled back her arm and launched it like a ballistic missile. "You lying, cheating, vile, despicable, no-good..."
"Now, Sweetheart..."
The vase, upon nearing the Goblin King's flaxen head, suddenly transformed into a harmless bubble that floated gently away, causing no damage whatsoever.
"Don't you dare 'sweetheart' me, you damned asshole!" Sarah screamed, launching a satisfyingly ponderous book at him next.
Jareth didn't so much as flinch, but merely waved away the lightweight bubble that suddenly replaced the un-abridged, leather-bound volume of Shakespeare's entire collected works that had been quickly approaching his smiling face.
"Stop doing that!" Sarah yelled, frustrated.
"Doing what?" Jareth asked in mock confusion, struggling to keep his laughter contained.
"Stop turning everything I throw at you into bubbles, dammit! I want to hit you upside the head with them."
"Ah. My sincerest apologies. Please continue."
"And stop being so smug and smirking at me like that! I could kill you for what you did!"
"What, precisely, have I done, Precious?"
"You know exactly what you've done! You tricked me! Again! You made me think that you could only help Toby if I agreed to marry you and... and..."
"Yes... go on. Please," he murmured huskily. "What else did you agree to, My Love?" In an instant he stood before her, looming over her, gently pressing her closer to the wall without actually touching her, as he had in the tunnels two years before.
Caught off-guard by his sudden appearance so close to her, Sarah blinked up at him and swallowed uncomfortably.
"Come now, Sarah. What was the rest of our agreement?"
Stomping on his booted foot she spun out from under his arm and scuttled away.
"It doesn't matter. I won't uphold any agreement that I was tricked into! You lied to me. You'd already begun searching for Toby. You only pretended you hadn't so you could blackmail me!"
Jareth heaved a beleaguered sigh. "Anlon. Of course. My faithful vassals can't seem to remember their loyalties when you are near."
Sarah began to slowly back away inch by cautious inch as Jareth began to stalk toward her.
"I'll never marry you! I'd rather die!"
Turning, she ran back through the door and sprinted down the hall, not really sure where she was going. She almost made it as far as the spiraling staircase at the end of the corridor.
But not quite.
The air left her lungs as she found herself slammed against his heaving, rock-hard chest, his arms like steel bands around her.
"Never, ever say that again, Sarah!" He hissed. "I mean it. I have been patient with you, but know this... you will marry me, Sarah Williams! Make no mistake. You are mine. Now and forever. You will bear my children and be my queen. Do you understand? I will never let you go."
And then all went black.
Sarah opened her eyes and risked a peak around.
She hadn't fainted. She was still gripped tightly to the Goblin King's chest, but now they were standing by a narrow little crystalline stream. He'd simply transported them somewhere else.
As soon as he relaxed his hold, she shook his arms off and put a few feet between them.
Sighing, Jareth sat, cross-legged, upon the ground.
"Come, Sarah. Sit. Let us discuss this rationally."
"I prefer to stand, thank you just the same."
With a gasp of outraged surprise, Sarah found herself firmly planted on the ground beside him.
"You can't just make me do whatever you want me to do!" She yelled, exasperated.
"Don't I know it," he mumbled, chuckling to himself. "I apologize, Sarah, but you can't expect me to react to your threats and childish behavior with my usual grace and polish."
Sarah rolled her eyes but said nothing. Silence passed between them for many moments, each trying to figure out how to broach the subject of Jareth's trickery. Sarah, having been through hell over the past twenty-four hours and then exhausting herself even further during her rage, felt a little more in control of her emotions, though she still wanted to make clear to him just how upset she was. Jareth, knowing he was once again caught in the web of deceit he, himself, had woven, simply wanted to find the words he would need to make her understand.
"Sarah... I know how my behavior must look to you, but..."
She waited patiently, looking him square in the eye.
"But, well, I was so desperate to have you back here that I saw no harm in using your situation to my advantage. I am sorry I lied to you, Sarah. Truly, I am. But I need you. I love you more than you could possibly imagine, Sweetheart. I didn't think about the consequences. I just acted on impulse."
Sarah felt herself drawn, against her better judgment, into the mindless, swirling abyss she always felt when she stared into his hypnotic eyes.
"Why do you lie to me so much when you claim you love me?" She asked, dragging her gaze from his.
"Would you have ever been here, near to me, then or now, if I hadn't lied?"
Having no firm answer for this, Sarah looked away.
"Despite my tiny, practically insignificant little falsehoods here and there, I want you to know, with certainty, that I haven't lied about what matters. I love you. With my entire being, I love you. And I want you for my wife... to love and cherish for all of eternity."
Taking her hand, he pulled her into his lap. Sarah was too exhausted to resist. She simply allowed him to rock her gently, savoring the smell and feel of this strange, beautiful, infuriating man who held her so gently.
She'd worry about showing him the remainder of her displeasure later, when she had rested up for a few minutes. She needed strength to let him have it the way she wanted to give it to him, after all.
Jareth smiled as the first soft snore escaped his beloved's parted lips, pulling her closer as he reclined back onto the fragrant grass beneath them.
How would he ever be able to tell her in mere words just how much he did love her?
Closing his weary eyes, the exhausted Goblin King napped peacefully there upon the bank of the shimmering stream, his future Goblin Queen wrapped lovingly in his protective arms.