"Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 57
By Aiijuin
*Disclaimer =Labyrinth (c) Henson, Lucas, Jones, Froud; Gröeg (c) Brian Froud, Winkin', Blinkin' & Nod (c) Mothergoose Nursery Rhymes. Torok is from 1986 movie Troll, but has been changed around to meet my story expectations.
Be warned: Although this is a Sarah/Jareth romance story, it is also a profoundly dark fairytale!
Rated M+(Adult Scenarios, Abrasive Language, Innuendos, Sensuality)
**NOTE: Story numbering is behind by 1 chapter, because there is a prelude, which is not considered a chapter. Fanfiction . net automatically assigns numbers to the chapters by default, which I have not control over. Thank you!
Chapter 57: Such a Sad Love
Despite Arther's nervous tendencies and 'foot-in-mouth' syndrome, which he suffered from, he proved to be a great help to the Goblin King. The man was highly intelligent regardless of Jareth's reservations against him. He had helped locate over eight thousand instances of the runic symbol that 'Gavin' had asked him to find. Arther had also become like a member of the family at Henkies Estate, because his overtime work had kept him at the mansion for most of the day and night.
Furthermore, Arther was very helpful in removing Sarah from the house when Gavin needed privacy to practice and review the spells that might save her. Together she and the paralegal spent afternoons in the park together or over at the local bistro for a light lunch and an herbal tea.
In fact, Sarah found that she was becoming quite fond of Mr. Crowe's constant company and didn't mind being forced out of the mansion with he and Baby Jareth for most of the daytime. The weather was getting very cold now, as winter was swiftly approaching, so everyone was bundled tightly. Sarah welcomed this, because she was feeling self-conscious with her ever-changing tummy size. Arther was a perfect gentleman about everything. He always held the doors open for Sarah and paid for every meal. He even treated her to a bouquet of white roses and calalillies one afternoon, which he had bought from a local floral shoppe. This little treat didn't escape Karen Williams' eyes as she had seen her stepdaughter in town that day holding Mr. Crowe's arm, while he pushed the stroller with little Jareth, Jr. down the sidewalk.
As anticipated, Sarah had received an excited phone call from Karen that evening to bring her 'boyfriend' to dinner and introduce him. Sarah accepted only if Gavin was invited as well. Karen said it would be fine if Mr. King came along even though she felt it would be slightly awkward, however after Sarah asked him, he turned down the offer by saying that he was too busy with his research on 'The Big Case'.
Sarah and Arther arrived about six o'clock and Jareth Junior was brought along, because Sarah felt it would help to limit Mr. King's distractions as he concentrated. Robert recognized his co-worker from the office and Crowe was warmly greeted by the Williams family….with the exception of Toby. Toby gave Arther the evil-eye during the entire dinner, and shot him dirty looks throughout dessert. Arther didn't seem to notice the teenager's reaction, until Toby had finally spoken, "So, Sarah… how are you doing?"
Sarah smiled and said between a mouthful of tapioca, "Um, fine."
After she had swallowed, Toby proceeded to ask, "So, how is Jareth?"
Misunderstanding her brother, Sarah looked to the infant cuddled within Karen's arms, and then replied, "He's fine. He's sleeping better at night now, but when Gavin first brought him to Henkies Estate, he hardly closed an eye."
Toby shook his head and stammered, "No, no! I'm talking about the other Jareth. Have you heard from him lately?"
Sarah's face fell solemn and grim. He was the last person that she wanted to talk about right now. He had gotten her pregnant during one amazing dream and then abandoned her without another word. For all she knew, Jareth had moved on to haunt another woman or perhaps he was like the Troll King and took from Sarah what he wanted and then had forsaken her in the end. Her face reddened in frustration as she ignored her brother's question entirely. She was deeply hurt when she thought of the Goblin King and wondered what the fate of her unborn child would be after its birth.
The next morning, she found herself slamming groceries furiously on the counter of Gavin's kitchen. Her thoughts were straying back towards Toby's question from dinner last night.
It's not fair, Sarah thought pensively about the Goblin King. How can he be so cruel?
Gavin heard Sarah from the study room, pointed towards Arther, and then commented, "Do see if Sarah's okay, would you? She's making quite a ruckus in there and I can't concentrate on this passage. I think I've read it six times and failed to comprehend the word's meanings because of all the noise that she's making."
Arther nodded and walked out of the study. He peeked around the trim of the kitchen doorway and saw Sarah thumping down cans and tossing silverware into random drawers. He asked meekly, "Is everything alright, Sarah?"
She had tears in her eyes and stammered, "No! Everything is NOT alright, Arther! I'm …upset."
"I can see that," Arther nodded. "Is there anything that I can do to help?"
Sarah slapped both of her palms down on the marble counters as hard as she could, and then lowered her head. She let out a deep exhale and Arther knew that she was crying. He touched her on the shoulder and said, "There, there, now. I'm sorry that you're feeling so amiss."
Sarah was so completely troubled that she began to dry heave between sobs. Crowe quickly grabbed a glass from the shelf and poured her some water. After he had handed it to her and she drank some of it, Arther asked quietly, "Do you need to talk?"
Sarah nodded.
Arther continued, "How about we get our coats on and go out for a bit of fresh air then?"
Sarah nodded again as hot tears streamed down her face.
Arther took Sarah by the hand and led her towards the coat rack. He turned to Gröeg and said, "Tell Mr. King that Miss Williams and I have gone for a walk. Please look after the baby while we're away. Thank you."
Gröeg narrowed his eyes at Crowe, but nodded slowly. Arther helped Sarah get her coat on and together they walked out of the front door of Henkies Mansion and towards the local park near the Williams' house. Art knew that it was Sarah's favorite place to be.
He hugged her close as they approached the park and said, "I've been feeling very cooped-up in there. That mansion, despite its size, has become very claustrophobic for me lately. I suppose that I just don't like the idea of being stuck in one place for too long. It starts to play on the nerves, then…"
Sarah never spoke a word, but continued to nod in agreement with Arther. They walked over the old stone bridge and crossed to the other side of the lake. It was a frozen sheet of ice now, and there were white glints of frost everywhere on the grass. Both Sarah and Arther's faces had a rosy, winter glow from the sudden drop in temperature. He led her towards one of park benches and they sat down together.
Arther remained quiet and patient until Sarah was ready to speak to him. After she had pulled out a tissue and blew her nose, she began, "I'm pregnant… and I'm really frightened about everything right now. You see, I'm very sick, Art, and the father of this baby has pretty much taken flight. I don't think he's ever coming back. I could really use his help and support right now, but he's just gone… I haven't heard from him in months. I don't even know how to contact him…. I've tried and tried, but ….nothing."
Mr. Crowe patted Sarah's hand and replied, "But you have Mr. King to care for you. He's offered you a wonderful place in his home and comfort and support, right? He speaks quite often about you. In fact, he never stops talking about you."
"Really?" Sarah asked curiously. "I've hardly seen him or spoken to him lately. He just keeps shoving me out the door and handing me a credit card. At first, it seemed like every woman's fantasy come true, but then I realized that I'm not materialistic. I'd rather have companionship over useless junk."
Arther continued, "Mr. King loves you, Sarah. He really does. He is just very occupied with this extremely difficult case that has fell upon our laps, yet he still talks about you daily and consistently at that. He even calls your name during sleep after he's finally passed out from exhaustion on his study room desk."
Sarah rubbed her cold hands, and Crowe handed her his gloves since she had obviously forgotten to bring her own. The park was deadly silent as it began to snow.
In her mind, Sarah continued to compare Jareth, the Goblin King, with Gavin King the corporate lawyer. She wanted to be with the Goblin King, but hadn't realized that Gavin was in love with her so deeply. He had treated her very well as everyone kept telling her again and again. Sarah's biggest problem was that she didn't think of Gavin as anything but her father's supervisor and a dear friend. Suddenly, everything became more complicated than it had been several minutes ago, and barely anything made sense to Sarah anymore.
She stood up in a panic. Arther looked at her curiously as she stammered, "I'm sorry! I can't do this! I-I have to leave! I wish the goblins would take me away, right now!"
Nothing happened.
Sarah repeated again more desperately this time, "I wish the goblins would take me away, right now!"
The snow continued to fall undisturbed towards the ground softly.
Arther blinked at her in confusion. He furrowed his brow and tilted his head, until Sarah dropped to her knees in sorrow and screamed until her voice gave out, "PLEASE, NOW! Please…please. Oh, Jareth…why, why do you hate me? Why won't you answer me?"
Arther dropped down unto the grass beside her and hugged her within his arms. He tried to console her, despite the fact that he seemed clueless as to what she was crying about or whom for that matter. Crowe rocked her gently like a child and whispered to her, "Sarah, please! I don't know what is wrong, but I'm here for you and I promise I'll never leave you. I've grown quite fond of you also, you know… You mean the world to me. In fact, you mean everything to me."
Sarah whimpered as her nose began to bleed. Now, two unnaturally, gorgeous men were attracted to her and declaring their undying love for her, while Jareth was ignoring her… or so she thought.
Sarah pushed Arther away, and said between gasps of air, "Oh, Arthur! I never meant to mislead you either, but there's only one man that I'm in love with, even though I don't know why. He's a such an immature jerk… Why do I even care about him at all? I'm so ... so sorry."
Arther took a tissue from his pocket and dabbed Sarah's nose lightly to wipe the blood from it. She grabbed the tissue defensively out of his hand and he laughed, "No, Sarah. I'm not in love with you…not that way. Actually, I'm a much closer to Mr. King than I am to you for the most part…"
Sarah sniffled and apologized ardently, "Oh, I'm sorry… You're in love with Mr. King. I had no idea."
Arther blinked in surprise and held out his hands with a 'no' gesture. He replied frantically, "Oh, no! It's not that kind of love… I mean, I have nothing wrong with a man loving a man romantically, but… well, my love for Mr. King is very complicated, you see, and its not very easy to explain. If I didn't love him so, then I would have told him months ago to take this job and cram it up his arse after the way he treats me on a day to day basis. I do love you… Um well… Oh, boggart! This is so complicated to explain, maybe I'll just skip talking about it altogether."
Sarah really didn't understand what Art was talking about, and assumed that he had a strong attraction towards Gavin King despite his denial, but was afraid to actually admit it openly at this time. Sarah changed the subject to relieve the man's discomfort. She cupped her hand under his chin gently and said, "Hey! It's my birthday in three weeks, and I was wondering if you would like to come to a small party that my family is throwing?"
"Your birthday?" Arther squealed enthusiastically. "Oh, yes, I would love to, Sarah… Thank you! How old will you be, then?"
"Thirty-three."
"Wow!" Arthur exclaimed, "You look much younger."
Sarah chuckled and hit Art on the shoulder, "Oh, come on! Everybody acts like thirty-three is two years shy of eighty-three! Thirty-plus people are still considered youthful adults! We're not ancient…. Although, I am feeling pretty ancient today."
Arther laughed in unison with her and then stopped as he was reminded of something, "Oh, yes! Speaking of parties, I almost forgot to tell you that Mr. King and I have been arranging a Winter Solstice Party for next week. It's going to be held at the presidential loft of Regal Suites downtown on 33rd street. There will be dancing and lots of delicious food, plus I've even convinced Mr. King to hire a live band. Oh! And did I mention that it's a costume party?"
Sarah shook her head in shock, "A- A costume party?"
"Yes," Crowe answered with a nod, "Mr. King enjoys Halloween, and regretted that he had missed it this year since he was away on business travel at that time. The entire office brags that he always holds the best costume parties in town. So, to make up for it, he decided to make an excuse to hold one and, hence, the Winter Solstice Party instead. Although Winter Solstice doesn't actually happen until December 21st, Mr. King said that he wouldn't be able to hold it on that day due to the interference of this unusual indictment that has sprung up."
Sarah closed her eyes, and figured that Mr. King wouldn't be able to make it to her birthday party either…
When she opened them again, she found herself nodding in agreement to attend. She asked, "That's strange. I never received an invitation though."
"Well," Art explained, "It's actually a company party, and Mr. King only invites employees and their spouses, but no children are allowed, mainly because it a black tie function and he serves alcohol. I can invite someone with me to be my date. However, since the research for this huge case began, I don't actually have time to find one… Still, it would be an honor to have you attend it with me. That is, of course, unless you hate dancing and parties..."
Sarah smirked and rubbed her belly. The baby had woken up and her stomach had grown large again. She said, "I love dancing and parties! I just hope that you don't mind dancing with me as I look right now."
Art laughed, "I may have said it before, but I'll say it again, Sarah Williams… You are the most beautiful woman that I have ever laid eyes upon, and nothing could ever change that."