So, I apologize for playing time back a bit with this story, but it simply had to be done.
You know, in the Underground, time flows differently - so when I rode out with that troll hunting party,
it had quite slipped my mind that years would elapse in the Above-world!
I will try to refrain from making the same mistake again.
Hopefully, those readers who are still alive, thought surely old and grey by now, will still enjoy my tale!
Lady Tari
Chapter 14
In a strikingly pretty green dress, that made her look a little paler than usual and, in fact, a bit more fae than she did, with hair done half up in a loose knot, half hanging down, Sarah entered the dance studio.
Three breaths were caught and held at her entrance. One was Jake's, who was overwhelmed by her look, her presence, knowing for sure that this is the one his Thursday night visitor spoke of. It had to be her. Her green eyes looked like they could hypnotize anything they wanted. It was something he had read about last night. He had been reading up on faes and their traits, and hypnotic qualities of eyes and voice were among the first listed.
Jareth, concealed in a dark corner, where he planned to remain through the entire evening, was the owner of the second one. He had been watching her all along as she prepared for this evening, but still could not hold back his surprise at how different she looked in the half-light – pale and nearly like his own kind. She was still a lot warmer than they, but the green dress he liked so much was definitely doing the trick. He chuckled at Jake's thoughts. The boy insisted on reading that rubbish every night – half of it wasn't even remotely based on reality. The other half was mostly accurate by accident. But the boy could not put those books down, and it amused Jareth to see him.
The third gasp came form Adam. He immediately accessed his mental catalogue of all the competition dresses he had ever seen and made it a point to compare them to how Sarah looked this evening. Even in that plain little dress, with her hair only a little out of the way, she looked stunning. What then, would a real competitor's gown do? What doors would that open for them? "Many" was the correct answer. Many.
Striding over to Sarah, who was standing alone and feeling a bit uncomfortable from all the stares she was getting, Adam greeted her with his usual "hey, kid" and told her he liked the dress.
The other guys who had been contemplating whether or not to come over and talk to Sarah and ask her to dance moved off instinctively. It was as though she was now off-limits to the commoners – always dancing with the TA. And now, again, he had come over and claimed her as easily as though she was his by right. Jake and Jareth wanted to hurt him with something blunt, but contained themselves.
However, Jake liked Adam's action. The only part about it that he didn't like, was that it wasn't him. He wanted Sarah. He suddenly realized that he didn't just want to help her get away from Adam – he wanted her just as much for himself.
There was a small problem though.
He felt the hairs on his neck prickle at the thought of the Goblin King.
The latter growled softly in his corner, not liking the direction of Jake's thoughts one bit. Apparently, he'd been too soft on the boy. Let him see the underground indeed! The only part he'd be seeing was the Bog. Or maybe he'd set the fairies on him...
Their sharp little teeth could do an extensive amount of damage. Smiling at his own wickedness, Jareth didn't notice that Adam and Sarah were no where to be seen.
When he did notice, it was a shock to realize that there was nothing he could do about it.
With this many people around, conjuring crystals was simply not an option. Panicking now, he began to scan the ballroom.