TBO
Chapter Ten
The lessons went... Well, there has to be a word for it, Jareth mused. Some sort of cross between miserable and terrifying... on my part, anyway; she was absolutely delighted. Even if she did set the curtains on fire. Blast that girl, Fae aren't supposed to get heart attacks...
Mid April now and raining, Sarah was away at work and Jareth took Faolan Underground for a walk. The Goblins that always showed up were somewhat busy, but then again, it was always a busy day for Goblins when it was rainy Above. That was when their best mischief was carried out.
Faolan trotted at his side as Jareth loped easily over roots and underbrush. The Fae wolf stopped, suddenly, stock still but not hackled. Jareth, noting the lack of furred companion, looped back around to see what was the matter.
The huge wolf-- because the beast had grown at a magic pace and now stood as high as Jareth's waist-- had gone stone still as a tiny little wood-drake perched on its nose. The scene was one Jareth knew he'd have to sketch later, for Sarah, because moments like these reminded both mortal and Fae man that the pup, despite his size, was still the cute little pup that had curled up in their laps not two weeks ago.
Things like this, the little things that Jareth wouldn't even have noticed, had he still been running his country from the Castle, made Jareth glad the Bog had flooded.
Well... Sort of.
Kind of.
More glad to have a vacation, really, but there was nothing short of the Bog flooding that would have procured a vacation for the Fae king, so he figured he'd take what he could get.
Sarah had actually given him a disposable camera for moments like this, but such things didn't work very well Underground, so he made do with photographic memory and the colored pencils he'd stolen from Sarah. He (usually) showed her the drawings, which she hung up on the wall or tacked up on the door. Most of the sketches were of Faolan, or a Goblin, or Faolan with a Goblin. He had a few that he'd never show Sarah, because he knew how much she hated having her picture taken and she'd probably see being drawn as even worse. So he kept those to himself, showing Sarah the portraits of the Goblins and the Fireys and the feylings who came to visit their King while she was at her classes.
But this picture... For some reason, the little wood-drake caught his attention. With a whistle, the Goblin King summoned the drake to him. The miniscule drake perched upon his hand, its leonine head and mane gleaming burnished-copper against his black gloves as the forest-green serpentine body wrapped itself loosely around his wrist. The wood-drake trilled questioningly at him, and Jareth found himself questioning his actions, too. For some strange reason, the drake reminded him of... Sarah? Maybe it was the eyes, emerald and clear against the darker milieu of the drake's leathery hide.
It trilled again at him, and when Jareth made no indications of doing anything, the tiny dragon unwrapped itself to "swim" through the air to its nest in a nearby willow, disappearing into its nest of ash twigs. The low whistle it cried gave Jareth the vaguest sense of disappointment.
Shaking the melancholy thoughts from his head, Jareth called to Faolan so the two could return to the dorm.
It was completely by coincidence that Jareth had returned in time to catch the phone call.
Merely chance that it happened to be Toby calling.
Entirely fate that Toby asked what Jareth was getting Sarah for her birthday.
Not at all planned, of course, Chame thought as she listened to her son rant and watched him pace. Sarah said I couldn't tell him... She said nothing about someone else informing him.
"Two days, Mother! She doesn't even tell me, and now I have two days before she turns twenty-one to find her a present! Why the hell wouldn't she tell me? Does she not trust me with something like this? How the bleeding hell did she think I'd feel when I found out I'd missed her birthday?! And--"
"Jareth, calm down. Who is "she" and why are you so worried?" Chame knew damn well who he was talking about, but it wouldn't do for her darling son to know that, so Chame kept her expression blandly interested and her tone only vaguely curious.
"Sarah! Damn her mortal hide, that girl always has me jumping through hoops, this time--"
"Have you no idea what to get her?" Chame couldn't keep the amusement from her voice. Off in the distance, one of her flowers recorded the conversation. Later, after Jareth had given Sarah her gift, Chame would be sure to show it to the girl. A flustered Goblin King? Sarah would be in stitches!
"I know a few things, of course, but twenty one is the coming of age Above, and I want to... I don't know. Get her something to reflect that it's a special time, I guess."
"Well? What sort of thing does she like?" Chame, ever the actor, let a hint of exasperation shine through in her voice. Faolan rumbled from his resting space-- a rather sunny little patch of moss in Chame's court, where he was very comfortably sprawled out. "What are you laughing at, pup?" The Unseelie Queen murmured.
"She likes... Books, and company, she likes shiny things--" Jareth snorted. "In fact, her first animal form will probably be a magpie. Anyway, she likes to look at jewelry, but rarely wears nice ornaments. She likes dangly earrings, but Toby got her a pair of earbobs already, so--" Jareth was cut off, once again, by his mother.
"Who is Toby?" Now, this was part of the acting particularly important to pull off. When the two women were listening and laughing at this later, Sarah would hear this part-- very important, since Sarah's family hadn't really come up during their conversations, only being discussed occasionally, and never in detail.
"Sarah's younger brother. She likes fuzzy socks, too... And she likes writing, should I get her a nice quill pen? Maybe a Phoenix down quill, with unlimited ink..." Jareth's brow wrinkled as he thought, and Faolan yawned.
"Slow down. What does she like best of the things you've mentioned: books, writing, company, or... shiny things," Chame snickered to herself.
"Probably books and company tie for first, then writing, then shiny objects." Jareth paused. "I don't know what books she wants, though, and how the hell could I give her company?"
It really is ironic, Chame thought, that he's giving her pretty much what I gave him. The Fae Queen said nothing aloud, merely resting her chin on her be-gloved knuckles and giving Faolan a pointed look.
"A pet? It would have to be something small, to stay with her in her dorm... Something that is fairly self-reliant, too. I wonder if..." Jareth, in his mind's eye, flashed back to the forest-drake. "Mother, do you know when the drakes have their clutches(1)?"
"The local drakes all clutch(2) at different times. The fire-drakes' clutch is always at Midsummer, so there's another three months, if you want to wait. The ice-drakes, river-drakes and sea-drakes clutched two weeks ago, but all of those three grow too large to give her, since you said she'd living in a... dorm? Yes, a dorm. That leaves the rock-drakes, wood-drakes, and the wind-drakes. The windy ones clutch tomorrow, the rocky bunch clutched a moon ago, and the woodsy group clutched three days ago. Which do you think she would like?"
"Sarah would like all of them," Jareth said absently. "I think she'd find the wind-drakes and the wood-drakes best to her liking." Jareth ceased his pacing suddenly, cape flaring dramatically about him as he nodded decisively. "I'll be by tomorrow to see both clutches. Until then, I have some work to do. Faolan! We take our leave, most esteemed Mother."
As the two Fae disappeared from her court, Chame let a smirk steal across her features before returning to her Queenly mask.
Sarah blinked when she entered the room. She had absolutely no idea what Jareth was doing, but it looked like he was trying to... dance? To Diary of a Madman, at that. What the bloody hell does he think he's doing?, she wondered, mystified at seeing the royal Fae jump around carelessly... well, as carelessly as one could, considering they were in a room smaller than a prison cell. Faolan was, as usual, spread out on the bed and laughing, as usual.
"Jareth, that's too loud! And I need my desk to work, so shove over, bub." The Fae King she addressed pulled a face before turning the music down... infinitesimally. And stepping to the side long enough to plop down on the bed, onto Faolan. The two Undergrounders wrestled until Sarah threw the Biology textbook at them and shut the music off.
"Knock it off. I have an announcement to make," Sarah proclaimed. "Dad and Karen invited me home over the weekend. Since I know you are mature and responsible beings, I am giving you two choices: do you want to come back and stay with me, or do you want to stay here?"
Jareth and Faolan looked at each other, and then back at Sarah. "We'll go with you. It's no fun, trying to pester one another, so we'll tag along and pester you!"
Sarah cradled her head in her hands. "I should have just forced you to stay here," she groaned.
Jareth smirked at her while Faolan's tail beat against the bed. "What fun would that have been? Anyway, I have a new spell for you..." Sarah, as predicted, perked up immediately.
"What is it?"
"Depending upon which spoken command you use, this rune..." Jareth grabbed a piece of paper from Sarah's desk, ignoring her protests. He sketched the rune, then, in a slightly heavier hand, he traced out a ward to keep the rune from activating. "As I was saying, this rune can either create an umbrella or call down lightening. Honestly, I doubt I should be teaching you this one, but as a mature and responsible mortal, I am giving you two choices: do you want to learn to make umbrellas, or call down lightening?"
"Both. And stop mocking me! Wait, quick question. Who does the lightening hit when it's called down?"
"Whoever you tell it to. Now, pay attention..."
So much for paying attention, Jareth thought as he summoned his own umbrella. It propped itself open, a severe black umbrella lightened with crystal orbs and dancing Goblins. He watched the room in general as he pondered their current situation. Sarah had, by some miraculous stroke of... luck... managed to combine the umbrella rune with the rain rune (say that five times fast), so it was raining umbrellas. Faolan had wedged himself under the bed, and Sarah was using her backpack as a shield as she shouted out the same word with different pronunciations. Should I tell her it's the rune and not the word? Jareth wondered absently. As the umbrellas-- the size of the little ones bartenders put in mixed drinks, but fully functional-- turned sky blue with rubber duckies, he decided to give her three more minutes, before he'd deal with the aftermath.
He would have to keep one of every kind of umbrella, of course. And then he would show them off to his siblings, exclaiming loudly on the bargain he'd gotten on these little pieces of art. He'd porbably give some to the Worm family,too. Jareth would never, ever let her live this down. These umbrellas were blackmail material, they truly were.
When the new round of umbrellas had miniature devils and angels waltzing along its circumference, he finally spoke a single word.
"Teiryu."
The umbrellas froze in midair, and Jareth watched bemusedly as Faolan and Sarah peeked out at him.
"What'd I do wrong?" Sarah sounded utterly confused, and Jareth grinned wickedly as he displaced the miniature umbrellas with a wave of his hand. "I said that blasted word over and over and over and nothing happened! Well, they changed color, but that was it. And why weren't they full-sized, like yours is?"
"Remember to raise your hand if you have a question, class. Yes, Miss Williams? Do you have a question?" Jareth trilled this in a sickly sweet voice and watched the tick over Sarah's left eye twitch with annoyance. Excellent.
"Please, Mister King, I am having a bit of difficulty with this problem. Could you assist me?" One of Jareth's eyebrows rose. So the mortal was taking the challenge, hmm?
"Of course, Miss Williams. Take notes, class, there will be a quiz on this tomorrow." Sarah, acting in character, groaned in dismay. "Miss Williams, you in particular should be paying extra close attention," Jareth chastised.
"Me in particular? What a coincidence-- I'm the only one in class!"
"Anyway, you screwed up the rune. See this line, right here? Upper left radical, one of the strokes near the loop-- yes, that's the one. You flipped that line; it's supposed to go diagonally the other direction with a hook. Here, I'll give you a sheet of paper and you can get practicing." Jareth sketched another ward on a new page, this time around the border so Sarah had room to practice.
"Are you serious about having a quiz tomorrow?" The rain fell gently, but a gust of wind slammed it forcefully against the window.
"Certainly, certainly. So, how were your other classes? Is your essay coming along well?" Faolan wiggled out from under the bed and laid his head on Sarah's lap to get his ears rubbed. When she obligingly petted his head, his tail nearly swept Jareth's feet out from under him. Sarah laughed as she watched the Goblin King right himself before moving a half-step to sit on Mega-Poofzilla.
"Ugh. I absolutely dread finals. I honestly do. Biology is really weird right now-- I mean, I understand it, but the teacher keeps looping back to first-semester material and it's really not so bad except that I've forgotten most of it. And the essay... Dear lord, I have the whole damn thing outlined, but I haven't had the time to sit down and write it!"
"Hm. Could you recite it, word-perfect, if I asked you to?"
Sarah glanced up at the Fae King. Her hands stilled, no longer writing or scratching Faolan's ears. "You're up to something. And is this right?" As she went to hold up the paper, Faolan, impatient with her, bumped into her arm, sending the paper flying. Jareth caught it out of the air as it drifted by.
"Yes, that's correct. Faolan, stop being so pushy. You're too big for that now." Faolan's response was a soft whine, but the wolf was far more preoccupied with Sarah's hands, which were framing his face and stroking the smooth fur of his lupine cheeks. "And you, Sarah, you're spoiling him rotten," Jareth accused.
"Yup."
"You need to stop, too. He's staying with me after this whole thing is over, and I don't want to deal with a spoilt wolf."
"Of course you don't. Why on earth did you think I was doing it? Durrh. And what the hell are you up to?"
"I can type. Faster than you, I might add, since I type with two hands at Fae speed as opposed to typing with three fingers at mortal speed."
"Umm. Sure, I guess. Hang on, I'll turn on Word and then you can sit here, alright? And... thanks. In advance."
"Not a problem. Faolan, you do realize you'll have to move to she can get out, don't you?" Faolan huffed but obediently moved aside. When Sarah stood and bowed him into the desk chair, Jareth draped across it like it was his thrown and propped the wireless keyboard in his lap. He cracked his knuckles, and waited for Sarah to begin.
True to his word, the Goblin King was a very fast and efficient typer. At the end, Sarah snickered and looked at the clock. "Eighteen minutes for a twenty-page paper. You should be a secretary, Goblin King. How did you get so good at typing?"
"A long, long time ago, when I decided to have the scrolls in the library replaced with books-- for the most part-- I skipped ahead in time to get a bunch of type-writers. I have four Goblin Scribes, and each of them is just as good with a type-writer (or keyboard) as I. I'll admit that it took me a decade or so to perfect my... what's the new euphuism, mad skillz?"
Sarah burst out laughing. "Don't try to modernize yourself," she told him. "Please, for the sake of society, just... don't!"
Chame watched as Jareth wandered amongst the clutch of wood-drakes. The one he'd seen yesterday hovered over her clutch as Jareth inspected all the rascally little drakes. The wind-drakes had clutched today, but he'd found each of them lacking, somehow. That one was unintelligent by drake standards, that one kept running into things, that one was too shy, and so forth.
The wild wood-drake was watching Faolan cautiously as he sniffed at her clutch; Jareth too seemed more expectant of the wild one than the cultivated drakes who milled around him.
"May I?" The Goblin King asked the drake. She trilled her acceptance after studying him for a long moment.
Eight drakes made up the wild one's clutch, each of them with their own markings and colors. It was like looking at a living bouquet, one that was looking curiously up at you while nibbling on a seed.
Two stood out to the Fae King. One, golden in scale and silver in mane, had wrapped itself peacefully around its siblings. It was ever-so-slightly larger than the others in the clutch; a born guardian. The other was quite clearly the runt of the litter, with its mother's auburn and forest-green coloring. This one was tiny, and it seemed to be defiantly glaring up at him. He reached down to stroke one finger between the green-ice eyes... And yelped as it bit him.
"Well, this one has Sarah's personality, to be sure," Jareth commented through gritted teeth while trying to gently pry the drake's jaws apart.
"Wonderful! And it will need a nesting tree, of course. May I see it? Ah, may I see her, I should have said," Chame crooned to the clutch's runt, and though the runt nipped at the Queen as well, it seemed to be a friendly nip. "Drake's Maple. I should have known. Well, I happen to have a few cut in a bonsai style. Come along, Jareth. Faolan, you may stay here if you behave."
Jareth loped after his mother. "I'll need time to get that one settled in tomorrow-- do you know of anything that can get Sarah out of the house for a while?"
Chame hummed, and nodded slowly. "I do know a few things... But you are not allowed to question myself, Sarah, or Karen afterwards, understood?"
"Why not?" Jareth stopped abruptly as his mother paused to examine a small tree.
"If anything, it will be a girl's night out and a gift from myself to Sarah. You don't get to question it because it will be my gift to Sarah. Understand?"
"Yes, Mother." At this, Chame nodded and set Jareth to replanting the tree in a magicked copper planter.
"Hello, Williams residence," Karen spoke softly into the phone. She trapped the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she stirred Sarah's birthday cake and listened to the voice on the other end.
"Good evening, may I speak to Missus Karen Williams, please?"
"Speaking. May I ask who is calling?"
"I am a friend of Sarah's, Chame. I haven't met you yet, but you've met my cousin at Toby's party, or so I've heard. You have met Jareth, haven't you?"
"Oh, yes, I did. So you're Jareth's cousin? What can I do for you?"
"Well, it has come to my attention that Sarah's birthday is tomorrow, and I was wondering if you could sneak her out for a Girl's Outing," Chame replied. "Surreptitiously, of course-- I have someplace special in mind, if you could convince her to walk to the park with you; I could pick you two up and take you. You'll have to be crafty about it-- I don't want her suspecting anything!"
Karen laughed. "I'll see what I can do. What time should I try and get her out?"
"How about noon-ish? Tell your husband we'll be back sometime between three and five, and I can drop you off at your house." Just a hint of magic was in the words, enough to influence the answer without it being a full-blown compulsion.
"That sounds excellent. I look forward to meeting you-- but how will I know who you are?"
"Sarah will recognize me." Karen rolled her eyes at herself.
"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Goodbye."
Late Friday evening, Sarah, Jareth, and Faolan arrived at the Williams household.
This was, in and of itself, not a particularly note-worthy event, since it was only an hour's travel from the dorm. Nor was their arrival-- though Jareth actually visible this time, and staying in the guest bedroom with Faolan. Toby and Robert thought Faolan was just "too cool", and though it took Sarah nearly ten minutes of fast talking and heated debating, Karen allowed the wolf in the house, on the condition that he was with someone at all times.
No; though entertaining, none of these events were particularly note-worthy. It would be the events that occurred on Saturday and Sunday that would be written in Goblin history books.
(1) A clutch is a nest of dragonets.
(2) Depending on word usage, clutch can mean several things. To clutch means to hatch, to have a clutch means to have a nest of dragonets. The word is taken, I believe, from the Dragonriders of Pern series.
Oro: Raining umbrellas... I love oxymorons! Let's see, what I don't own here...
Sarah: Labyrinth.
Jareth: Or its characters.
Quill: Or the reference to the Ozzy song... I like Ozzy.
Oro: Yes, yes, we know you do. Otherwise it wouldn't have shown up here, now, would it?
Sarah: The next announcement Oro will make is very important.
Jareth: Very, very important.
Quill: Unbelievably important.
Oro: I will not be able to post next week. I will be busy studying for midterms. I may post something during the week after next, to blow off steam, but it will not be Thy Bog Overfloweth. I'm extremely sorry, but this chapter was lengthened to make up for it and the next chapter will be just as long-- if not longer. I will have it posted Saturday after next. Goodbye, and hopefully, I won't die of a brain bleed trying to remember kanji or chemical structures of lipids... If I do, you'll know because the next chapter just won't be posted. Or written. Maybe I should outline the rest of the story in my will...