Author's Note: Thanks for all the support, guys.
Checked for continuity, spelling, and grammar: May 4, 2011.
Chapter Thirty-Two: Voices from the Past
She stood before him, once again in the room that had seemed a recreation of a famous Escher print. Of all the places in the Kingdom, of all the rooms in the Castle, this one Jareth had left untouched and unrepaired.
Give me the child...
Even now, pieces of stone walls and stairs floated around them, faded and blurred as though shrouded by a mist outside of time. All around them, whispers from the past fell, silver glistening on the air. The words echoed, weaving a delicate pattern with threads of the magic belonging to the place, the Labyrinth, the entire Kingdom.
Sarah, beware...
Amid it all, they stood, oblivious to everything except each other.
I have been generous up till now...
He was in the shadows, watching her with the piercing look of a hunter narrowing in on his prey, occasionally flickering to a haunted, pained expression.
But I can be cruel...
That she walked in, unexpected, unannounced, with no warning at all, surprised him on numerous levels.
Generous... What have you done that's generous...
She stepped into the centre of the room. Her face unreadable, eyes open wide. Deep pools regarding him, watching him in return.
Everything...
As she stepped into the light, her clothes transformed seemingly of their own volition. The long, white gown shimmered as she moved, bare toes peeking out from the hem as she walked.
Everything you have wanted I have done...
Clad as before, all in white, every inch the Goblin King she had fought and feared, she could not find the Jareth she had so recently grown close to.
You asked that the child be taken, and I took him...
He watched as she stopped at the center of the room, her eyes never leaving him. Her breath quickening as the silence between them continued.
You cowered before me, and I was frightening...
She stood her ground, slowly turning her head to watch him as he methodically began pacing around her, always in the shadows just on the other side of the light.
I have reordered time...
Behind her, out of her sight, he finally spoke.
I have turned the world upside down...
"Why have you come here, Sarah."
And I have done it all for you...
"To find you." She said it simply, stated it for the fact that it was.
I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me...
"To what end?" He stopped pacing, once more in front of her. "What could you possibly gain?"
Isn't that generous...
"Gain?" Confusion graced her expression, followed by hurt and anger that vanished as quickly as it came. "Is that what you think of me? That I would only come to you with the intent to use you?"
Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered...
"No." He paused, regarding her. "This is not your world. You do not know what the slightest action can find for a result."
I have fought my way to the Castle beyond the Goblin City...
"So I do not belong here? I should not have come?"
For my will is as strong as yours...
"What do you want from me, Sarah?"
Stop... Wait...
She broke his gaze, looking at blocks floating around them. "I don't want anything from you, Jareth. Except forgiveness, perhaps, for foolishness."
Look Sarah...
Though she looked away, he could not miss the tears filling her eyes. He emerged from the shadows, slowly walking toward her.
Look what I am offering you...
"And if, instead, I offer you everything? What would you do, Sarah?" With a flick of his wrist, Jareth offered her a crystal, just within reach.
Your dreams...
Her eyes closed, a pained smile graced her lips. "I thought at one point that all you wanted was to possess me...
And my kingdom as great...
...like a trophy, on a wall...
I ask for so little...
...or a puppet whose strings you could pull whenever you wished...
Just let me rule you and you can have everything that you want...
... But that isn't quite it, is it?"
My kingdom as great...
"Sarah-"
Damn, I can never remember that line...
"You terrify me, did you know that? What you have done. Who you are. What you are. And the amount of power that you have. The things you can use it for. The things you do use it for, and seemingly without a thought. Sometimes I think everything about you is so unknown and foreign that I have no chance of knowing the man you truly are beneath that arrogant and presumptuous exterior you always show."
Just fear me...
"And yet, if I really look for the answers, somehow I feel they would all be right there before me. Because that is where you are. But for some reason, the only answer I need is knowing that... that I love you. And I always have. Even when I thought I hated you. And that scares me even more."
Love me...
"But what is worse is having you stand here ready to tell me to turn around, and walk away. I cannot imagine you not being there, in my life. Not again. Please, Jareth," she wrapped her hands around the one offering the crystal, and gently pushed it toward him. "No more games, no more gifts I have no use for. All I want is right here. All I need is you. Don't shut me out. Don't make me leave. If you ask it, I will go. But don't. Please. Just tell me to stay and I will do so willingly and with all my heart."
Do as I say...
Without warning, he slipped his hand from hers, leaving the crystal resting in her palms, and closed the distance between them. "Sarah," he murmured, cupping her face, "did you really think for one moment that I could deny you anything?"
And I will be your slave...
He trailed his hands down her arms until they reached her own. With his fingertips, he gently lifted them to eye level. His voice was low, as much a caress as a whisper. "If you reject it, Sarah, truly reject it, you will leave here and never again return, for there will be nothing left to return to. It contains not only your dreams, but my own. Accept what I offer. Become mine alone as I have been only yours since last we met on this spot. Bring our dreams to life and unite them. Make them one, as we shall be."
There was immediate silence around them as the floating objects came to a halt. Even the air paused, fairly bursting with a magic still unnoticed by the two it surrounded.
Eyes brimming with tears, she searched his own for a long moment. Without breaking contact, she slowly closed her hands around the delicate sphere. Enfolding her hands within his, he brought them to his lips and fell to his knees. "Sarah," he breathed, feeling her tremble as the crystal disappeared, "open your hands."
She did so, her gaze drifting from his face to their hands. There, tangled in their fingers, was a gold chain. And, in the centre of her palms, a pendant. It too was gold, formed in the shape of a crescent. Embedded in the centre was a circular medallion of silver, engraved with a variation of the symbol she recognized as being for infinity. "This is..." her brow furrowed. "You wore this. Before."
"It is one of the symbols of my power, so to speak," he said, watching her face. "It disappeared with the destruction of my Kingdom." When she moved to give it to him, he stopped her. Disentangled his fingers from the chain, he closed her hands around it once more. Holding them gently, he said, softly, "No, Sarah. It is yours now."
Her eyes flew to his, mild confusion evident. They moved back to their hands, and he held his breath as she pulled hers free and looked at the pendant once again. "Then as it is mine," she began slowly, spreading her hands apart so the pendant dangled from its chain between them, "I would have you, Jareth, wear it for me." As she slipped the chain over his head he closed his eyes. He felt her hands linger at his shoulders, then again as she traced the shape of the symbol before letting it fall to his chest.
Before she could move away, his eyes flew open and he grabbed hold of her hands once more. She gave a startled gasp. Slowly, he rose, placing them atop the pendant where it lay close to his heart. Holding them there with one hand, he closed in on her once more and traced the side of her face. After tucking her hair behind her ear in a now familiar gesture, he clasped the side of her face and tilted it upward. Running a gloved thumb against her cheek, he leaned closer and whispered her name.
As their lips touched for the first time, the air silently exploded around them. The magic of the kingdom, slowly gathering to this place, took the form of a warm breeze, and wrapped itself around them. As they were gently lifted slightly off the ground, they finally noticed something had been going on around, though for Sarah the notice was only at the back of her mind.
Jareth, suddenly fully aware of what had just happened, simply held Sarah closer, letting the spell that would eventually bind them together completely plant its seeds.
The inhabitants of the Goblin City and the Labyrinth, indeed the entire Kingdom of Goblins, felt the land swell with magic. Slowly it built, then it felt as though time stood still. Suddenly, earth glowed, water pulsated, air hummed, and fire blazed. The plants seemed to reach up to the sky in praise, and some would later swear they heard music. Most simply wondered what their King could possibly be up to. But in the Castle Gardens, a Dwarf, a Knight, a Beast, and a handful of Castle Goblins were gathered.
"Hark!" said Sir Didymus. "Dost thou feel that?"
"Yeah, I feel it," replied Hoggle. "And I hears it too."
"What is the King doing?" one of the Goblins asked.
"It ain't His Majesty doing nothing."
The Goblins exchanged slightly concerned looks. "So... what is it?"
"It be the Labyrinth's magic, announcing His Majesty's choice of queen has accepted him. And approves, I would guess."
"Indeed! Thou speakest the truth, friend Hoggle!"
"Sawah stay," agreed Ludo.
"Ohhh," comprehension dawned on the Goblins. One spoke up, "Sounds like cause for a little celebration. Let's get to the kitchens!"