Chapter 37. Questions, no answers

Devon found Jareth at the edge of the forest, brooding. "You look terrible, cousin," the Baron commented coolly as he took a seat on the stone wall beside the path. Quietly he wondered why the Ruler had come here, instead of his favorite haunt, the puzzle room.

One gloved hand came up in a gesture that was vulgar at best, and his face was grim. The King knew he looked terrible, he didn't care. "I've been hoist on my own petard." He muttered darkly.

"Really," Devon asked carefully; he'd seen his cousin in such moods before; "How so?"

Jareth stood up, began to pace a few steps, tapping his leg with the riding crop he often carried. "I told Sarah she was to be moved into my chambers," he sighed deeply as he paced.

"Were there fireworks?" Devon smirked; "Was the girl properly grateful, did she throw herself at your feet in appreciation?"

"She turned me down," the reply came in huff as the man paced slowly, taking his time while contemplating his situation.

Slipping off the wall, Devon placed his hands behind his back, and mulled over the significance. "She turned you down?"

Nodding the King continued to pace. "Not only did the blasted woman turn me down, but she had irrefutable facts on her side! She rendered me speechless." With troubled eyes he turned to his cousin and confidante. "She said my chambers were not for the housing of a slave, but for a Queen. That my station could someday demand I take a Queen and give the Kingdom an heir."

"That is sound judgment," Devon mused. "You didn't tell me your little witch had brains as well as beauty."

Frustration registered on the King's face. "I never gave it more than a passing thought," he admitted. "At first, I thought being sent here was a punishment, you know that."

Devon shrugged, he was well aware of his cousin's feelings on the matter of having been named the Goblin King.

"Taking a Queen has not been in my thoughts, not since Sarah… refused my offers when she ran the Labyrinth." Pacing again he tapped out a tattoo with the swagger stick. "Certainly not before that, I never considered taking a Queen, I saw no need of one."

"Well refusing the offers of dreams…" Devon rationalized quietly; "when one is so young…"

"I didn't just offer her, her blasted dreams Devon! I offered her me!" Jareth roared, still burning over the rejection. "I never sang Fae song to any other living being! Nor do I plan on singing to another ever again."

Devon cleared his throat, "That could pose problems if the High Court demands you take a Queen."

Jareth chewed on the inside of his cheek, "Devon I marked her." He said lowly.

The Baron dropped al pretence at civility and calmness. "You what?"

"Marked her," Jareth repeated.

Thunderous reality fell over the Baron. "Does anyone know?"

"In the High Courts, no," Jareth shook his head, and began to pace once more. "But Sarah knows, damn her, she knows."

--

Ghillie Dhu stared at the mortal girl, "I beg your pardon?" He asked shakily as he came to his senses.

Sarah ignored his look of revulsion. "Look, if I were Above, I'd know how to prevent my getting pregnant, but I'm not there, I'm here." She spoke in a rush of words. "I have to prevent the possibility of him getting me with child."

"Blasphemy!" The Healer cried in scorn backing away slightly as if fearful of contamination.

Her shoulders hunched, and the mask of bravado fell away. "Healer, I cannot allow him to get me with child." She began to wring her hands. "No child born of a slave will ever be acceptable to the High Courts… no child born of a slave can rule." She began to feel the sting of tears. "And no child born to a slave belongs to its mother…."

The old healer began to see her point of view. "Child," he spoke gently to her, knowing she was upset enough as it was. "Come sit with me," he extended a hand to her and drew her toward a set of chairs against the far wall. "I understand your predicament; I hope you'll understand mine…" He drew a long breath. "The Fae don't …they are not able to…" He frowned; it was a difficult subject to broach. "Fae women do not reproduce quite as well as mortal women do."

"I understand that," she whispered. "But I also know Fae men don't always leave their mortal lovers with a child…"

"True enough," Ghillie Dhu agreed. "However, we are not talking about just any Fae man here, now are we?"

Sarah sighed deeply, "No."

"There is only one fool proof way of preventing a pregnancy…." The old healer mused.

"Not an option," Sarah protested. "I'm his… Tagaan or Rhuukarlaan, his slave in bondage… I can't refuse him entry to my bed, or refuse to come to his… believe me I would if I could." When the old one raised one brow she huffed. "Alright that's not exactly true, either." Sarah admitted shyly. "Healer there has to be some way."

He looked terribly uncomfortable. "Child you are asking me to commit a crime."

"No I'm not." Sarah protested.

Ghillie Dhu looked more upset than uncomfortable now. "On the contrary, you are not only asking me to commit a crime against the laws of the Fae, but to commit an act of treason against the King in whose country I dwell."

"I can't have his baby," Sarah stated brutally.

The old healer wished he could comfort her but knew he could not offer more than a few words. "Perhaps he has no intentions of getting you with child… unless he wishes it, you will not be," the healer paused looking for the right term; "Impregnated."

"You mean he can knock me up or not at will?" Sarah blustered out vulgarly. "It's up to him, my inners has nothing to do with it?"

"Fae physicality is not exactly the same as mortals, you did know that. While your body must be receptive of his…seed, it is he who determines whether or not there will be seed. I was under the impression that you understood the differences in our physicality." The Healer said calmly. "You were the one who put an iron restraint about the King, were you not?"

Guilt over her part in the deeds that had nearly killed Jareth showed on her face. "I didn't want him dead," she muttered. "I just wanted back what he stole from me…"

"What exactly is it you claim he stole," demanded the old man.

"Well let's see, you can start with he stole my baby brother…" Sarah had risen from her seat, her angry words erupting.

"Ah, and you had no part in the boy being take?" taunted the old Fae knowing he was hearing only a half truth.

"Okay, I said something I shouldn't have said. Nevertheless that does not give him the right…" She protested guiltily.

"Of course it does," interjected the old one. "You're a Celt, are you not? Surely you understood the long standing agreement betwixt your blood and ours. A wished away child is the property of the Goblin community, every Celt knows that. He had every right to take the child, and that is what he did. He took the child, he did not steal him. You more or less gave him to the King."

Stomping a foot Sarah bellowed at the man. "I didn't mean it! I never meant it! I was just pissed that I was stuck at home watching the kid while Daddy and Karen got to go out and have fun!" Hearing her own words she seethed angrily. She thought she was over the resentment and frustrations of that night so long ago. "It wasn't fair! It's not fair!" She began to tear up. "I risked my life to get Toby back, doesn't that count for anything?" Sarah stomped her foot again, angry that tears were now coming. "Have you any idea of how much I wanted to just accept the offered gifts the King kept shoving at me? And what does he do, he steals my dreams…."

The old healer shook his head, "What do you mean?"

"He's got them locked up in a crystal orb… he keeps them by his bed." She snarled, "Like some God damned fucking trophy! Watching them, toying with them, for all I know he could be taking an active part in them!"

Ghillie Dhu had lived a very long time, and he thought he'd heard almost every thing that was possible to hear. He found he was wrong. Every time he thought he'd had the boy King figured out, he found he was wrong. "So that's what he's been hiding," muttered the old man distractedly. "Child, tell me this… why would King Jareth feel he is due your dreams? He certainly would not take them simply because you refused the offer of them. There has to be a reason he feels they belong to him… what did you take from him?"

"I didn't take anything from him!" She protested a little louder than she'd wanted to. "I ran his Labyrinth! He pilfered precious hours from me, threw every obstacle he could think of in my way, dropped me down a damn Oubliette, and nearly plunged me into the bog of stench…." She began to chant the litany of her journey. "Then the bastard hides my brother in that fucking puzzle room and I have to leap to get from where I am to where Toby was sitting, very likely breaking my neck!" She stood up. "Does that sound like I took something from him?"

Ghillie Dhu nodded, "You took the child."

"I won him back!" she snarled; "Fair and square!"

He had known the boy King from birth on, he'd known this plucky human only for a few brief weeks. Ghillie Dhu mused to himself that this time the boy had met his match; this mortal girl was just as stubborn and willful as the Goblin King. He mused she was just as spirited as the woman whose title she now bore. "And still he harvested your dreams into a vessel."

"Him and those damned crystals," Sarah was muttering, not even noticing the eyes of the old healer watching her like a hawk. "Turn it this way," she said mocking the King's voice and inflections. "It'll show you your dreams…" she waved her hands much the way Jareth had in her brother's nursery. "Look at what I'm offering you Sarah…." She snarled. Her words drew the complete attention of the old one now. He listened carefully. "Putting me a ball gown; waltzing me up and down before all those people! Singing to me," she was so caught up in her own fury she forgot where she was. Rage filled her and she cried out in frustration, her hands now balled up fists digging nails into her own palms.

"He gave you a choice," muttered the old man to himself. "The child or your dreams, and you took the child." He shook his head. "There must be more to it…"

"Turning my friend against me, sending me that poisoned peach…" She was still muttering angrily.

"What poisoned peach?" He said loud enough to get her attention.

"The peach he had Hoggle give me." Sarah snarled.

"And you ate it?"

Sarah, still angry snapped. "I was hungry!"

"The Persephone Cannon…" the old man sighed. "He used the Cannon to trap you, and I'll bet he used it on the baby as well…"

"What?" Sarah stopped her angry sputtering of words. "What did you just say?" Her face had lost all the color of rage and was now deathly pale.

Motioning her to be seated, the Healer took her hands. "You do understand the Cannon don't you?"

"Sort of," she admitted quietly. "But I only took one bite of the peach," she said defensively. "It couldn't have… I mean one lousy bite?"

"How old were you at the time?" Questioned the old healer, thinking fast.

"Fifteen," Sarah said disgusted.

"History does repeat itself," he muttered. "I sorry my dear, but if the King wishes to get you with child, there is little I can do to prevent it." He stood up. "I suggest you and the King discuss your options and quickly."

The Harpy was still at the window, Sarah looked at the healer. "You won't help me?"

"I cannot, there's a difference." He stated with terrible calm.

Sarah shook her head, moved toward the window. "Thank you for your time, sir." She motioned the harpy to take hold of her, flinching as the creature touched her.

"A moment," the healer said. "Why do you flinch when this one touches you, does she repulse you so much?"

"With a few exceptions, I can not bear the touch of others." Sarah said, "Its part of the punishment the King has decreed upon me." She motioned the Harpy to fly.

The Healer shook his head, "How like Zoltarie, Jareth is." He made a mental note to have a long discussion with the High King on the subject of his son. He looked at the window the Tagaan or Rhuukarlaan had just exited. "This one is more clear thinking than the last one," he mused.

--

Devon entered the foyer of his home; he could hear the sounds of harp music coming from the music room. He moved toward the sounds, and came to rest against the frame of the open door. He watched as Bryn strummed the strings of the instrument skillfully, her face at peace. "That's lovely," he commented as she finished.

Moss green eyes met the clear blue ones. "I didn't hear you come in."

Walking slowly he moved into the room to join her. "You were intent on your playing."

"Thank you for the ability," she set the harp up right, leaving her hands on it for a moment. "I've always loved Celtic harp music; to be able to play it is a great source of pleasure." She looked from the instrument to the man. "You seem troubled, Baron."

"So formal," he sighed sadly. "I had hoped we were progressing past this point, Cariad."

She sighed, "I think there are times when we seem to end up back at square one." Her face was calm, but she felt strange energies surging within her. "What's wrong, Devon?"

He closed his eyes, blocking out everything but the sound of her voice, and her breathing; "Your friend and my cousin, for one thing."

"Theirs is a troubled affiliation," agreed the red haired girl. "I doubt even they have an understanding of the workings of their bond."

Blue eyes opened, less pained and by far calmer. "Play something for me, Cariad. Something healing."

--

Sarah moved away from the Harpy as soon as she set foot in the tower. She moved as far away as she could get, and that meant going into the bathing area. Daisy looked at the winged female, before going to the King's slave's side.

"The healer was of no help?" she asked.

"He says he can't help me, a matter of Fae law." Sarah leaned on the tile wall, trying to cool down and calm down.

"He is Fae, and subject to laws that even we are not." Daisy agreed. "What was it you needed of him?"

Looking at the guard, the Tagaan or Rhuukarlaan spoke carefully. "Something I read in that first scroll," Sarah refused to allow tears, not now, not here. "You know the laws?"

"Goblin laws, yes, Fae laws I'm a bit murky on," Daisy moved closer. "What did you read?"

"No child born of a slave," Sarah whispered before the words caught in her throat. She turned, placed her face on the cool tiles and allowed her tears to flow. "Daisy, I cannot allow him to get me with child!" She sobbed.

Knowing this was not the time to discuss the scrolls, Daisy moved closer and placed a hand to the girls shoulder. The girl didn't even flinch, and Daisy knew the changes were happening much quicker than any of them had expected. The King's curse upon the girl didn't work against Goblin touch any longer. She murmured soft words of comfort, "Sarah, what will be, will be. Take courage, and don't lose faith."

Red eyed, and desolate, the mortal girl barely noticed the hands on her shoulders as she sobbed into the wall.