Disclaimer: The same as it's been for all the other chapters. There really is no difference.

The Incentive
by Fou Fou

Chapter 19: Regency Romance Heroine

A week later found Garith and Mara in an apartment for those who were appearing in the King Under The Mountain's court. A good portion of the preparations for the transition involved being fitted for new clothes that were in the latest fashions (something Mara would have preferred to go without. She was perfectly fine with designing clothes for others, but not when the situation was reversed). Overall, Mara was highly suspicious that Garith was getting the easier end of the bargain; he only had to wear tuxedos and other similar attire. She had to wear corsets.

I knew there was a reason why I didn't like court, reflected Mara when she looked back on the events.

On the other hand, the rooms were splendid. As it turned out, Garith, in his Casanova lifestyle over the years, had secured an apartment permanently in this particular court, and a respectable and lavished one at that.

"I must say, Garith, I'm impressed in spite of myself," said Mara after she had looked over the rooms. "However, I do have one problem,"

"What is that, my dear?" asked Garith from where he was lounging on one of the many couches, where he was 'resting from exhaustion that the previous week had brought on.'

Which of course is a load of crap, thought Mara, rolling her eyes.

"There is only one bed in this lavish apartment of yours," she said.

"Your point is?"

"I'm not sleeping with you. If I had a choice in the matter, I wouldn't even sleep in the same apartment as you, except for the fact that the Council ordered that we stay close on this trip, so I won't go off and do something I shouldn't."

Garith grinned at her, then said, "You know, most girls would kill to be in your position."

"And what position would that be?" asked Mara, highly suspicious that it would have something to do with having Garith's personal attention.

"Up until he met his 'true love,' Jareth was one of the Underground's most sought after bachelors . . . many mothers fought to get him as their son-in-law. True, his subjects are less than desirable at times, but overall the Labyrinth is a very nice, not to mention crucial kingdom of the Underground, since it is our major link to the Aboveground. And here you are, his bride-to-be, with the possibility of co-ruling that kingdom, not to mention the ability to fully take advantage of his infamous bedroom capabilities whenever you want . . . like I said, most girls would want that. You could almost say your father is doing you a favor by arranging the marriage. Jareth is of good standing, and the two of you are great friends. Yet here you are, doing everything you can to get out of it. Many would wonder if you were losing your mind."

To Mara's surprise, Garith actually sounded serious, as if he were genuinely interested in learning why she was trying to get out of what, as he said, sounded like a good match, if not a brilliant one. This prompted an equally serious response from Mara.

"But there is a problem with it, Garith. I'm not interested in Jareth that way. True, I do live in the same castle as him, but if anything, I see him as my brother, if not my best friend." Mara sighed, sitting down in a chair that was beside Garith's couch.

"When Nomar and I broke off our engagement, Jareth was the only friend who went out of his way to help me. We snuck Aboveground and he took me to an Opera, then when we got back, he brought out some of the best Elvin wine he had in the Labyrinth, and he gave me a little 'Help Mara Get Over It" party, just the two of us." She trailed off, a sad smile flitting across her face. After a few moments she added, "I lied to you when I said I never kissed anyone after Nomar. That night, Jareth and I, in a fit of drunken giddiness after much evil plotting on our revenge at Nomar, we kissed." At seeing the look on Garith's face, she said, "Oh, it wasn't really a real kiss . . . not like when we . . . well, after we kissed we both decided it only felt weird, no real, 'oomph' to it, I guess you could say. In any case, we never brought it up again, and so I had mostly forgotten about it until now. The thing is, I think that if we did ever get married, we would be good friends, but then there would be the whole problem if one of us ever fell in love, like Jareth. I mean, we're immortals, and we'd be forced into a relationship with each other . . . something neither of us wants . . . forever. I don't care what anyone else says, that is still a long time. And it would be miserable if the entire time one of us were yearning for another. True, we could have affairs, but would that actually be fair, for any of the parties involved?"

Mara shrugged, as if she didn't even know the answer to her own question. Looking up, she saw Garith looking at her with an odd expression. If it was any other person, she would think it was sadness with a mix of something else she could not describe, a look so intense she found herself frightened from it. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable that she just divulged that much information to Garith, and found herself searching for a change of topic before Garith could say anything.

"So, what are the bedding arrangements going to be?" she asked. "I'm fine with sleeping on a couch in here . . . you haven't had sex on it have you?"

"What do you think I am?" asked Garith in an indignant manner. The strange look that he had moments before was gone, faded away to Mara's pleasure.

"A slammer."

"I beg your pardon? You think I'm a prison?" asked Garith.

Mara laughed, shaking her head. "It's something I used to call Jareth, back when he used to bring home woman, sometimes more than one, to well . . . you know. I was more than slightly disgusted with it sometimes. Well, unfortunately, English fails to have any bad, insulting words for men who sleep around, but plenty for females. It is almost sexist. So I decided that the term 'slammer' should apply to a male whore."

Garith laughed. "Almost as brilliant as your 'Barbarian Horde of Whores,' I'd have to admit."

Mara gave an imitation of a modest smile. " I was quite proud of that one." After a moment she added, "So do I have to worry about anything while sleeping on the couch?"

"Don't worry about it, you can sleep in the bedroom. And I promise you, I'll put new, clean bedding on it, so you don't have to worry about anything."

Mara simply cringed at that suggestion while Garith laughed.

Back in the Aboveground, things were finally going back to normal for Sarah. True, the annoying police officer (she learned his name was Terry) still occasionally called her down to the station for questioning. Also, to her surprise, his goofy partner, Joe, actually asked her out, hoping, no doubt that she would reveal to him, a sympathetic ear, her experience with the so-called aliens. Thankfully, throughout this whole experience, Tom and Andrew were Godsends, helping her to fend off the two unwanted advances.

On a more humorous side, rumors were running around campus about what had happened to Garith and Mara. During the questioning of the student body by the police, news of Mara's fiancé had leaked out. Some said that Garith was the jealous snubbed lover, trying to steal his love back and failing miserably, which would explain Mara's cool attitude towards him. Another was that Mara's fiancé was a high-ranking member of the Mafia, and Garith was from another organization, wanting to eliminate her to hurt them. The fiancé, after finding out what Garith attempted, put his love into hiding and that he was sending a dozen hit men and an army of ninjas out to get Garith. No one was quite sure where Sarah fit into the whole thing, and neither did she feel obliged to enlighten them. She merely told them, like she told the police, that her memory of the time was very hazy, and would they please leave her alone so she could catch up on her work.

The only two students who she did tell the truth to were Tom and Andrew, feeling they deserved an explanation.

"So, what are you going to do about this Jareth guy?" asked Andrew.

"I dunno," Sarah said. "I mean, I really like him, but I don't see how that is really a possibility right now. I can't contact him, I doubt that the Council finding out what Mara was trying to do is going to make it any easier."

"True," said Tom thoughtfully. "And you said yourself that you don't know enough about the rules of this Underground in order to actually do anything here."

"I hate having to sit around like some useless bubble head waiting for the world to solve its problems for me!" stormed Sarah. "It's just not fair!"

"That's life for you," said Andrew. "It's not supposed to be fair."

"Don't I know it," muttered Sarah angrily.

After a few moments of awkward silence Tom asked, "So, are you going to go out with that Joe guy?"

Sarah laughed. "Yeah, we're going to Morelli's Cafe Thursday afternoon. I tried to put him off, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. He really wants to know about those aliens." After a moment. "The funny thing is, he's actually not that far off from the truth. Except this has more to do with mythical creatures, than extraterrestrials."

The two boys joined in, laughing. For the time being at least, Sarah felt as if nothing in the world was wrong and it was just an ordinary day. If only things were like that Underground.

"Her Highness, the Princess Mara K'Talven daughter of His Royal Majesty King Taranus K'Talven of the Shadow Elves, accompanied by Monsieur Garith, spawn of the Vampire Grithten."

While the announcer was belting out his declaration, very few people seemed to pay attention except for the casual glance in their direction, as if to only find out where the loud noise was coming from. Mara was just fine with this. It had been years since she had last come to a court like this, and she had forgotten just how intimidating it could be. Certainly it wasn't as casual as a party in the Aboveground. In the center of the room, a large group was dancing to the orchestra that was set up in a dais under the throne of the Mountain King, who was currently elsewhere. Not recognizing the dance, Mara suddenly began wondering if the dances had changed since she last came. It was possible, right? After all, she hadn't come to one of these events since Nomar, and that was well over 200 years ago. Mara found herself regretting her long respite for the social scene of the Underground.

I just hope no one asks me to dance, thought Mara. Knowing me, I'd probably accidentally break out in Aboveground dancing! How scandalous would that be?

"I don't suppose you'd have any good ideas about who we should go after first?" said Garith as the two of them strolled to the refreshment table to get a drink.

Mara shrugged. "I don't recognize half of these people, they must have joined within the last two hundred years."

"When you decide to go into mourning, you really become anti-social," remarked Garith. "I certainly hope you never become that way on my account."

Mara rolled her eyes. "I doubt you'd have to worry about that. That whole thing was about my heart breaking; I doubt I would even have to remotely worry about any matters of the heart, so I can assure you, my next anti-social jaunt won't be for a while."

"Well, I'm just saying I hope I never break your heart. It really would make me feel awful."

"You? Break my heart?" asked Mara. "I don't know where you ever got such a ridiculous idea. I've made a solemn vow never to fall for any rakes."

"So not only do you call me made up names, but you use regency romance novel insults. Well actually, I suppose a rake could be a good thing in one of those books, so long as he was a reformed rake. I doubt the virtuous heroine would be interested otherwise."

"Please tell me you haven't been reading regency romance novels, Garith, please."

"What if I have?"

"Well first of all, we're talking about a complete reevaluation of your psyche here, and second of all, it's somewhat creepy to be think that a person with your reputation reads soft core porn for girls."

"Why do you think all the girls at the campus were fawning over me? I have the sexy, irresistible rake role down to an art form," said Garith with a playful smile. "But you must admit, I have been fairly reformed lately."

"That's because you've been put under strict orders to stay with me, and you know I won't tolerate your indiscretions with some girl in my vicinity."

"Because you're jealous, and you want me, admit it."

"I do not! I just don't like watching other people make out like sex craved lunatics!"

"What about behind closed doors?"

"I can't believe I'm having this conversation. New topic, Garith."

"Are you a sex craved lunatic behind closed doors, Mara?"

Mara glared at him. "I don't believe that is an appropriate question to ask a women, especially a princess."

"You always use the princess thing when you're uncomfortable. And you blush most prettily. You're blushing right now."

"No I'm not!" said Mara, putting one hand to the side of her face. It indeed felt warm. Wonderful.

"Fine, I'll change the subject, since you blush so prettily. If I ever did become a 'reformed rake' and swore to turn from my wicked, polygamous ways, would you ever be interested in me?"

"No."

"Why not?" asked Garith, a hurt expression on his face.

"Because I'm not a romantic heroine, I'm a realist. Things don't happen like that in real life. Life is rarely a romance novel." Mara shook her head, as if trying to completely rid such silly ideas from her mind. "Now let's get to work. Maybe if we're lucky, we can find some willing candidates and make our job a whole lot easier."

A few hours later (that did involve Mara dancing . . .much to her chagrin and embarrassment since she stepped on the Light Elf's feet three times), Garith and Mara reconvened to discuss prospective blood donors. Eliminating druids and dwarves after already securing the blood of Arinu and Hoggle, they still had eight races left. From the guests at the current gala, they found one Shadow Elf with a grudge against the Underground Council, a Light Elf who owed Jareth a debt, a Troll who seemed to have taken to Garith, and a Djinn that Mara had known back in her old prankster days. The only other possibility was an extremely gorgeous creature who, along with the Troll, had taken a particular liking to Garith, and claimed to be exactly one tenth of the major races in the Underground.

"What is her name again?" asked Mara after Garith said this.

"Morrigan Something or another, I don't know," said Garith vaguely. "I don't really know her that well."

"Oh, Gari!" cried the girl coming over to them. Upon hearing the nickname, Garith cringed while Mara tried to hold back her laughter. Brushing back a strand of her amber hair she said, "Oh, Gari, I've been looking all over for you! I haven't seen you in so long since you left for that horrid assignment for the Aboveground to baby-sit that bratty princess. You don't know how much I've missed you. I was quite determined not to let you out of my sight, but somehow you must have gotten lost in the crowd when I was talking to the Ambassador to the Dragonlands. Therefore, I shall make sure that you do not leave my sight at all, and I'll telling you so you'll remember not to get yourself lost!" She turned towards Mara. "He is ever so absent minded you know. If you don't pay attention to him he tends to wander off. I can't imagine why." Turning back to Garith, clutching his arm somewhat possessively she continued on. "Oh we simply have so much to catch on. Stheno . . . you know Medusa's sister? She's gone and gotten herself married some Incubus. Imagine that, an Incubus! Of course I don't know why some sex demon would be interested in her, she was such an ugly little thing. And really, surely she'd realize the dangers of marrying one of those creatures. But then, she's always been rather flighty. Oh, Gari! You must tell me how you've been. Of course, it probably wasn't that interesting, with that girl, and you must be ever so frustrated. You know what I mean of course. Perhaps we should leave early . . . go back to your room maybe, relive all the good times."

Garith glanced over at Mara, who was raising her eyebrows at him. They went up even higher when Garith finally was able to get a word in.

"Morrigan, I don't know if that is the best idea, I'm here on business."

"Oh pooey on business," said Morrigan with a pout. "It's never stopped you before. Remember the time when you and I went into the closet of the . . ."

"Yes, I do. Quite vividly," said Garith

"I don't believe you and I have been properly introduced," said Mara coolly. Her opinion of this Morrigan was close to nonexistent, though she couldn't decide if it was because the girl had sex and boasted about it with Garith or the fact that she just kept prattling on and on. Though when she thought about it, she really shouldn't be upset about the sex thing, after Garith after all sex with all the girls at school. Why would she be getting upset about him having sex with this brainless twit?

"I don't believe I've ever seen you before here. You must be a newbie or something? Because this is my 20th year and I never remember having seen you here," said Morrigan with great authority.

"And just because you've been out in society for twenty years you're an expert?" said Mara.

"Well, I have been labeled biggest gossip in the Underground Herald three years running. I was also labeled something else, but its far too racy for a young girl like you to understand," said Morrigan with a wink.

"If you're talking about 'slut,' I know what it means," said Mara. "I'm the 'brat princess' you were talking about just a moment ago, though mostly I go by the name of Mara."

"So why aren't you with your fiancé?" asked Morrigan. "Or are you still requiring Gari here to baby-sit you because you cause so much trouble and no one can stand you? Gari told me so much about you before he left. How you've been nothing but trouble, living in the home of a man your not married to, all the while playing the part of the virginal queen. How your ex-fiancé dumped you for your sister because he couldn't stand you. How you're nothing but a whiny, selfish princess. Gari, darling, I'm sorry you still have to put up with this pest. Here come with me. I'm sure Mara here will be fine on her own for a quarter of an hour or so. The coat room is right over there, come on."

Mara stared at her, never having felt so embarrassed or hurt in her life. She could feel her face flushing and she found herself wishing she were back in the Labyrinth. However, she figured she had probably brought it upon her self, and therefore she should end it as regal as possible. Calmly, and with as much dignity as she could muster, she said, "Garith, you go ahead. I'll be back in our quarters. It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Morrigan. Congratulations on your titles. I bid thee goodnight."

With that, she spun around, heading for the nearest exit. Behind her, she heard cries of "Mara, wait!" from Garith, and "Oh, Gari forget about her. You didn't like her anyway, I know you didn't," but that only served to make her move all the faster, as if leaving the ballroom would make the whole thing disappear.

Mara was in the middle of tearing off the beautiful dress she had been wearing when Garith barged into the room. "Look, Mara, about what happened back . . ." he trailed off as Mara gave an indignant squeak as she pulled the dress back up to cover her. Not that it made much of a difference, she was still wearing massive amounts of under things including the hideous corset, but that didn't mean she wanted Garith to see her in it. Especially after what just happened.

"Go away, Garith," said Mara. "I'm changing."

"I can't see anything. And this is important."

"I can't see why that is. I'm sure you would rather be with Morrigan."

"I have absolutely no interest in Morrigan. And she should not have said that."

"What those stories about me? You told her them. Why should you be upset about that? Isn't that what you think?"

"Mara I didn't know you then besides hear-say. I would hope you'd realize by now that I don't feel that way. You're a smart, intelligent girl who is funny and spontaneous (though you tend not to let me see that side of you). And I know why Nomar broke the engagement off now . . . and it's not because he couldn't stand you. You're a wonderful person, Mara," said Garith, stepping closer to her and grabbed both her shoulders. "And people who say otherwise don't know better."

"Thanks, Garith," said Mara as she closed the gap between them to hug him. Much to her annoyance she felt tears welling up and she began to sob onto Garith's shoulder. Vaguely, she felt irritated with herself for acting like such a romance heroine, dissolving into tears like that, but found that she could care less. She decided to blame it on PMS.

After a moment, Mara pulled away from him and wiped an errent tear away. "So what took you so long coming back."

Garith held up a few vials filled with blood. "I told you that Marrigan was one tenth of a bunch of the major races in the Underground. I took her advice about the coatroom, but instead of sex, I did a little mind trick on her and got some blood. I know it offends your morals Mara . . ."

"Oh forget it," said Mara. "As long as she's fine, she deserves it."

"She'll be fine, just lightheaded for a few days. I'll send these blood samples to your uncle and we'll see if they work. If they don't, then we'll just go back to where we started at the beginning of the night before the unfortunate blast from my past. And now, I shall leave you, my dear, so you may finish changing . . . unless of course I could perhaps persuade you to . . ."

Mara laughed. "Not tonight, Gari," she replied.

Garith cringed. "Please don't call me that. I hate that nickname."

"Sweet dreams, Gari," Mara called out as Garith turned to leave

"Remind me to leave something slimy in your bed later . . ." he said over his shoulder.

"I'd like to see you try!" said Mara just as shut the door behind him.

Later that night as Mara was getting ready to fall asleep, she couldn't help but feel that maybe this whole thing with Garith wouldn't be such a horrible thing after all.

Author's Note:

That's right, "slammer" is now a part of the English language. Use it, and end sexism.

ScarletSerpent: Sorry, Meg, thatit took a few days to post this. Sarah stole the chapter so she could read it. It isn't my fault.

Sarah H. : That's right, it took so long to post because you stole the revisions. Boo on you. Still love you though.

GiveMeYourCoffee: I'm glad you liked it. I can't imagine sitting around and reading this story for that long. I think it's above 150 pgs right now. Wow.

AngelMusic: Thank you for that note about Vampires and Elves. However, since I've already started this story where it is impossible for that to happen, I'm probably going to continue along that path. I'm hoping more J/S "fluff" will be in next chapter. I am planning on going through this all when it is all done, doing a thorough edit of everything, so hopefully I'll catch those mistakes. I'm glad you like it.

Raydias: Thanks. Thanks. Thanks.

Danalas the Lady Chaos: Yeah, I've been really bad about updating this past few months. Life got crazy, and I had a major brain cramp. I think the writing juices are ready to go again. (hopefully). I've only got a few chapters left to go I think. There is an end in sight. I'm not sure if the uncle suspects a life bond, but he thinks something is going on.

WildPixieChild: I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry for the long update.

silverkonekotsukari: I'm glad you like this story. Hopefully this chapter meets up to your expectations.

CasseeinaMirror: I don't know, I just have a huge amusement about using tampons in conversations with guys. One time an ex boyfriend kept on bugging me about what I was talking about with my friend, until finally I just said, "I asked her for a tampon, ok?" He turned red, then let the conversation drop.

Jessica: Thanks for the offer of revisions. At the moment, however, I'm using Megs since she lives near by and can normally return the chapter to me within a few hours. Otherwise I'd gladly accept your offer. I'll keep you in mind.

AmarieElfMaiden: I'm glad you like the stories and the characters. I've been working hard at this.