Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth, or sadly still, any of the characters.
Chapter Six
Successor of Fate
Over the next week or so, Jareth had made a full recovery. Sarah had not left his side for much less than freshening up. After the first few days, Jareth was allowed to get up and move around a little, mainly to accompany Sarah for meals. They had bonded even further over that week, Sarah talking endlessly in attempts to keep him entertained, revealing a lot more about herself. On the other hand, she had picked up on Jareth's movements, easily discerning when he was withdrawing into his cold self around others. Despite this, he was always warm to her, though not as blatantly as if they were alone.
Stubbornly, Jareth waited for the healer to say it was okay to go about normal business. Once cleared, Jareth announced Sarah's coronation for the next day. They would be bound in her mortal ideal of marriage, and also as rulers of the Goblin Kingdom. Though it was not the most glamorous title to withhold, Sarah had never complained or wished that her status was more elegant.
Jareth explained to Sarah of all the duties entailed with being Queen, and that she would learn how to harness her inner magical power that he had first gifted her with. He informed her that it had slowly been building within her during her stay in the Underground. He assured her that she had nothing to worry about, that she would pick it all up in good time.
It was the night before she would be Queen. Sarah paced her room nervously. With out Jareth or any of her friends to calm her nerves, she was a wreck. She hated to think of not being good enough and disappointing him. What if she wasn't right for this? Elda had come in earlier, helping to distract from the upcoming event by having Sarah pick out a gown. The dress they had agreed would be best was a white gown. It had a v-cut down the front and back. The mesh, lace sleeves belled out at the ends with delicate beaded embroidery of floral patters, matching that of the intricate designs along the bodice of the dress which cut open in the front to reveal under skirts of the same mesh lace as the sleeves.
Elda set aside long, dangling, vine like earrings with diamond shaped roses hanging from the end. A matching necklace and bracelet of the same fashion were set out as well. There was a beautiful silver tiara that would be bestowed upon her, that matched perfectly to the jewelry Elda had chosen.
With that decided and trusting Elda to do something with her hair in the morning, Sarah had bathed and prepared for bed, worrying over what was to come.
Sarah would sleep by herself tonight, explaining to Jareth that it was an Aboveground tradition that the groom should not see the bride the night before the wedding. Though he thought it silly, he played along to pacify her fears of "bad luck".
Deciding that she really should get some rest, Sarah crawled under the covers and attempted to sleep. She tossed and turned; Joker, the thief, and images of Jareth battered and bloodied all plaguing her dreams. She woke up several times in a cold sweat. Tomorrow was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life, why was this night so terrible?
Before Sarah knew it, it was late afternoon and Elda came bustling in and throwing the blinds open. Groaning, Sarah knew she had to get up, but the rest of the night had been no better.
"Morning, er afternoon Elda," Sarah said dragging herself from her bed.
"Goodness child, you look like you've been wrestling with your covers all night, no wonder you slept in. Well, no matter, go freshen up and we'll have you looking good as new." Sarah smiled at Elda's encouragement and went into her bathroom to wash her face and ready herself for the day.
Feeling a little refreshed, Sarah exited the restroom and moved to put the white gown on. There were several silken buttons going up the back of the dress that Elda needed to assist Sarah with. The dress had a slight train, and matching silken slippers with the same embroidery on them as the bodice of the dress.
Elda brushed out Sarah's hair making it straight before curling her long, dark locks in loose curls. Next, Elda applied makeup, a little foundation to hide the dark circles under Sarah's eyes. It was like magic how well it concealed them. She gave her the works with eye liner, and shimmering, glittering, silver eye shadow. For her lips, Elda applied a shining light pink lipstick.
Finally, Sarah put on the matching jewelry noticing that the tiara was already gone.
"Come here deary, take a look at yourself," Elda said brightly, her voice reminding Sarah of her grandmothers. Standing, Sarah moved to the full length mirror that was attached to the inside of the door of the wardrobe. She gasped. Again with Elda's help, Sarah could hardly recognize the beautiful reflection she was staring at.
"Thank you so much Elda," Sarah said.
"Not at all, any service for you, my future Queen," Elda said proudly. Sarah smiled and there was a knock at the door. "Don't be nervous now deary, you look worthy of a goddess." Just then another impatient knock sounded at the door. Expecting Dydimus, Sarah opened the door with a smile. To her disappointment it was two tall, armored knights, like those you see lining castle walls. They were silent, all but for the clinking of their armor. They bowed to her and turned, waiting for her to follow.
Sarah passed one final look to Elda and followed the two dark knights out. Their armor was dark, almost black contrasting greatly to the white gown. She kept her gaze averted to the ground as the Knights led her to an un-familiar place. Jareth had told her that the coronation would take place in the throne room. The only one that Sarah knew about was the one that all the Goblins had infested.
After a few minutes, the guards stopped at two large metal doors. The doors reflected everything around them almost like a grey scaled mirror. Making identical movements the guards thrust the doors open leaving them to make a loud banging sound on the inside wall. A bright light emanated from the room, everything was marble. There were several regally dressed people lining the aisle way that Sarah did not recognize. The guards lifted opposite hands, gesturing down the deep red carpet the way that Sarah was to walk down.
Taking a deep breath, Sarah held her head up high and began walking. There were extravagant silver and gold wall hangings, golden candelabras hanging from the wall; all matching the deep plush carpet that ran along the center of the aisle way. The rest of the floor was made of white marble.
Towards the end of the long aisle way stood Jareth, who offered Sarah his arm to escort her the rest of the way down He was also in white, matching Sarah with a silken, white over coat and poet's shirt. Taking his arm, she walked in step at his side. He remained impassive, but a sense of pride seemed to radiate from his features. Directly at the end of the aisle stood an overly dressed Fae, a large golden crown upon his head, and elegant silken robes of crimson. He was elderly with a long beard and a benign face.
Once they reached him, Jareth released Sarah to stand before the leader who presided over the Seelie Court. Moving off to the side, Jareth put his arms behind his back, anxious to have Sarah become his Queen. The elderly Fae smiled slightly at Sarah, holding an opened golden gilded black book. It didn't appear that he needed to read from it to know what to say.
"Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this Kingdom of the Underground, and the dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes in Seelie Court regulation agreed on, and the laws and customs of the same?" Sarah and Jareth had gone over what she should say, but somehow the pressure of the moment almost made her forget her simple response.
"I solemnly promise so to do," Sarah replied, un- able to look away. The eyes of all the elegant Fae rested on her as though she had rainbow colored hair and a clown nose on.
"Will you to your power cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgments?"
"I will," Sarah said, keeping her shaking hands down at her sides.
"Will you promise to remain a loyal, truthful, trustworthy, comforting, guiding and above all else loving companion to your King, in all his times of need?"
"All this I promise to do," Sarah said.
"Step forward Jareth, King of the Goblins," The old Fae said, his voice echoing off of the marble walls.
"Do you promise to remain a loyal, truthful, trustworthy, comforting, guiding and above all else loving companion to your Queen, in all her times of need?"
"All this I promise to do," Jareth replied gently, his eyes never leaving Sarah's face.
"Then by the power of the Seelie Court and all whom dwell under it's regulation, I now bind two lost souls come together in love, caring, honor, and joy to rule over the Goblin Kingdom." The elderly Fae closed the book, making it disappear in a cloud of glitter to be replaced by Sarah's tiara. "Please kneel Lady Sarah." She did so using Jareth's arm to lower herself. Once balanced on her knees, Sarah looked up to the elderly Fae who was now holding her tiara, no her crown, above her head. "With this crown, I bestow upon you all of the duties you have promised to up hold as not only a Queen, but a wife." Lowering the crown upon her head, the Fae lifted his hands in an open gesture. "Rise and be recognized as a Queen!"
Jareth again offered Sarah his arm, helping her stand before the crowd broke out into applause and cheers. Sarah couldn't help but smile brightly, as Jareth led her back down the aisle way, the elegant Fae all following behind. With getting Sarah ready and the length of the coronation, the sun was beginning to set, leaving a fiery orange and yellow line along the tree line.
They arrived next in the dining hall which comfortably seated all whom attended. There was a grand feast with foods and drinks of all kinds. The table was decorated in a silver clothe, and all of the best silver ware, dishes, and glasses were used. Many came up after the meal to congratulate two. Jareth would explain to Sarah who they were before the next group couple came up. It was a departure line, for everyone who was there waited to leave their good cheer to the new couple. The last two to leave were apparently old friends of Jareth's.
The man was tall and dark haired, wrapped in silken blue robes with pointed ears. Sarah recognized his friendly seeming face as one of the Light Elves. He gave a respectful bow to both of them.
"Feyore," Jareth said coolly. "It is good to see you again."
"I can say the same."
"Eve, a pleasure as always," Jareth said nodding to her respectfully.
"So, this is your Sarah?" Eve smiled kindly to the new Queen, and gave a small bow. "May I borrow her for just a minute?" Jareth seemed a bit uneasy with this idea, but did not protest, simply keeping a conversation with Feyore.
"It's nice to meet you," Sarah said, trying to be kind.
"Thank you," Eve said, still smiling. "Jareth wasn't lying when he told us you were a sweet girl." She chuckled at Sarah's confused face, she didn't know when Jareth would have told them about her. "Why at the last Seelie Court gathering dear child. I'm sure you know Jareth's attitude towards other people, but he couldn't help but tell us a little about you."
"Oh, thank you," Sarah said, flattered that Jareth had even bothered to mention her to anyone else.
"Don't be silly dear, he told us all. You know about the unfortunate attack. Did you know it was Jareth's father who was the High Ruler of the court when the Dark Elves were banished?" Eve's eyes glittered, but seemed to dull when Sarah's confused look did not dissipate. "I'm sorry, it was not my place to-"
"No, no," Sarah cut in quickly. "It's alright, I'm glad you told me."
"Though Jareth had nothing to do with banning them, the Dark Elves have decided to bring their revenge down the generation. Quite an inheritance, wouldn't you say?" Eve was trying to lighten the mood with that last line, but it had not worked. Sarah now only looked worried.
"Thank you for telling me this, does Jareth, realize this?"
"I'm sure he knows, Feyore went to offer our help should the two of you need it. It's been years and we do not know what new tricks the Dark Elves have learned."
"Eve, come, it is time to take our leave." Feyore's voice sounded out of no where bringing the two women out of their chat.
"Well nice meeting you Queen Sarah," Eve said turning and following her husband out before Sarah had a chance to reply. Left in their wake, Sarah turned to Jareth.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Jareth sighed, his cold demeanor fleeing with the departure of the Light Elves. He moved forward to pull Sarah to him, she thought of resisting, but just didn't have the heart to pull away from him.
"I planned on telling you everything after the feast…"
"If I was to be your Queen why didn't you confide in me earlier…"
"I'm sorry Sarah; it's a hard subject for me to bring up. Can you forgive me?"
"Of course, I just… I just wish I would have heard it from you," Sarah said dejectedly. Jareth ran his fingers through her hair, the curls were quite resilient bouncing right back as he straightened them.
"I promise to never with hold something important like that from you again."
"You better not with hold anything from me!" Sarah looked up, matching his gaze stubbornly. Jareth chuckled at her fire.
"Alright, alright, never again dearest." Sarah nodded, seeming pacified by this. It had been a long after noon, and even though she had slept in quite late, she couldn't help but feel exhausted. The dinner had taken another few hours with all the chatting Fae, during which time the sun completely set going well into the early hours of the night.
"When will I start to use magic?" Sarah questioned, holding gently to Jareth's arm as they made their way to his bed room. "…and why have I never seen that room before?" Jareth smiled leaning down to kiss his Queen. Smiling, Sarah kissed him back.
"One thing at a time love, there will be time to discuss in the morning," Jareth said. Once they reached his room, Jareth picked Sarah up and laid her upon the bed. With a devilish smirk, he kissed her fiercely. Sarah was too wrapped up in the moment of all that had happened to be embarrassed. Things soon got too hot and steamy for innocent ears as they consummated their new found bond of King and Queen, Husband and Wife.
Author's Note:
Ha-ha, sorry, no Lemon; I'm trying to keep it teen here come on now. So it seems Jareth and Sarah have at least one night to themselves before having to worry about the vengeance of the not so nice at all Dark Elves. What will happen, what will they do? You'll have to keep on reading to find out. Thank you so much to all those who have reviewed! Please, please, please, keep on reviewing to let me know what you think. Also, please forgive any errors that slip my eye.