Ch 7
The Pretend Prinecess or The Girl with the Peach?
As soon as we left the mall Jareth and I drove in silence till we were out in the middle of nowhere and then, bags in hands Jareth sent us back to the underground. We arrived in the throne room, the goblins creating as much chaos as usual.
"Casey? Casey are you alright?" Jareth asked as he put a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah…I'm gonna go lay down for a wile…" I said quietly as I took some of the bags with me to our room.
"Alright but tell me if you need anything…" He said as a goblin came up to him and tugged lightly on his pant leg.
"Um are you King Jareth? 'cause if your not we have kill you to protect the queen." he little creature said
"Of course I'm King Jareth, who else could have appeared in the throne room?!" Jareth exclaimed angrily
"Well you don't look like the King…" one very, very soon to be dead goblin said.
"Oh I'll show you I'm the king!" Jareth said and the last thing I heard before I was out of earshot was one cry as the goblin was most likely kicked.
~*~
After I packed at the things into my closet I sat on the bed and cried. I loved Jareth and I would never want to leave the labyrinth but…Sabastion brought back all the horrible memories. All I could think about was is Jareth doing that to me now?
I was tired and I just wanted to get out for a long time. So I pulled on one of my Queen-Like Dresses, just incase I had to use my queenly position to have somebody get me strait back to the castle. I wore a plain white gown with a black cloak, seeing how it was getting dark and it was a bit cooler than I expected, and headed out towards the stables. I kindly asked a goblin for a horse and he brought me a beautiful ebony black mare, he showed me how to ride the horse (Named Hannah) and I thanked him kindly as I trotted off towards the forest.
Little did I know my day was going to take a turn for the worst.
~*~
I has passed the same tree about seven times, I was SO lost.
Oh Crap Jareth is SO going to kill me when I get back…
So I kept trotting around till I saw a fire in the distance. When I got there I saw somebody sitting with a cloak on, their hood up covering their face.
"Excuse me but I need to get to the castle at the center of the labyrinth, can you help me?" I asked
The person, a woman by the look of the swell of a chest, lent up a small bit and I could see her smirking. She lent up a bit more and I could see long strands of very fair blond hair. She pulled her hood off fully and smiled a smile showing of her extremely pointy teeth. Emerald green eyes stared me in the eyes.
Queen Adrienne
"Of course, the king will be wondering where you are my lady." She said in a hauntingly sweet voice.
I almost passed out.
Oh Shit…I'm dead…D.E.A.D…She is going to take me back to her castle and eat my liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti! But before she kills me to get my liver she'll drug me up and cut my head open and feed me my own cooked brain!
"Queen Adrienne…what a surprise… Uh what are you doing here?," I started before I gained a bit of courage "And on my lands no less! Wait till Jareth hears about this! I will make sure he tells his father and you will lose your throne, I'll see to that!"
As soon as I saw the look on her face I really regretted saying all that. She stood and I, not wanting to be dinner I ran to my horse, she grabbed at my hair. She got a hold of a very big chunk and pulled hard, a few strands came out with skin attached.
"I can tell you and Jareth have taken your relationship to the next level. Did he make love to you? Did it feel good? I can tell because only if you love him and only if it is incredible sex can you be changed. But I must say…He is just using you, just so he can become High King." She said as she threw me to the ground. "He will never love you as much as he loved Sarah."
She must have read the look on my face because she lifter her head and cackled.
"Oh this is rich! He didn't tell you did he? Sarah really did come to the labyrinth and steal his heart! He still loves her, he is not in love with you. I mean how could he? Sarah was at least more beautiful than you," She sneered. "For your sake, I'll let you go, but if you don't leave Jareth at the alter I will kill you and him."
She threw me on my horse and placed a spell on the horse. It shot off as fast as I had ever seen a horse move and within no time I was back at the castle. When I left the horse with the goblin he told me Jareth was worried sick and was in the throne room.
I thanked the goblin but headed to the garden to think over everything over. I sat by the peach tree and pondered who was lying and who was being sincere.
Jareth assured me that it was Jim Henson that ran the labyrinth as a child, not Sarah. But could I trust Queen Adrienne? I mean she wants her daughter to marry Jareth and she would do anything to advance her daughter.
"Oh God! There you are! You had me worried sick!" I herd Jareth, already transformed back and was back in his kingly robes, say as he came over to me and gave me a quick hug. "I was so worried when you didn't come to dinner and then I couldn't find you in the castle. But the goblin in the barn told me you when on a horseback ride, you should have told me we could have gone on a picnic for dinn- what's wring?" His mood changed so quickly I was worried I had whiplash.
"Nothing…Jareth do you promise you have been truthful about everything you've told me about your past?" I asked taking his hands and looking deep in his eyes.
"Casey, what have you heard? Is it about Sarah?" He said as my emotions took over, I nodded and started to cry Jareth pulled me into his arms.
"Oh sweetheart…I'm sorry…I should have told you myself. What do you know?" He said as he wiped away my tears, I noticed he didn't' have any gloves on.
His hands were strong, his fingers longer than I would have thought, and soft…very soft. But they were a bit paler than his skin. His nails were manicured perfectly, and the veins in his hands were didn't show like most men's hands…then again Jareth is not most men.
"That she did run the Labyrinth and she stole your heart and you still *sniff* love her. An-an-and that your using me to become high king." I said between sobs.
"What? That's preposterous! My god, that's not true so far from the truth! Who told you that?" Jareth said angrily as he held me to his chest
So I told him everything, minus the part where Adrienne told me to leave Jareth at the altar.
"That little snake, She is all wrong. Sarah did steal my heart but she broke it too. She also became very ill with Cancer and didn't live," Jareth said, his eyes glazing over. "She called to me before she died, she was twenty, and told me she wanted to buried in the Underground and that she wanted me to move on and find my perfect queen. I did as she wished. As for using you to become high king, you should know that I love you by now. We can go see Sarah's grave if you would like."
I nodded as I blew my nose in a handkerchief Jareth handed me. I grabbed a few flowers on the way.
~*~
Her grave was beautiful, flowers were everywhere. It was like the old fashioned graves where it looked like they cover the person was cover in cement. Sarah wore her ballroom scene dress and her hands held a peach, like the cover of twilight.
"Oh Jareth…I'm so sorry…" I mumbled as I placed the flowers I picked by her grave in a vase that Jareth conjured up.
"It's quite alright, I should be the one who is apologizing. I should have told you…" He said but I put a finger to his lips.
"It's fine, I'm just glad you told me before I did anything drastic…" I said smiling
"What drastic thing would that be, my dear?" He whispered in my ear as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind
"Well, I would have most likely removed what I have newly discovered that I like most about you…" I said winking
"Ah, well that would be a shame…I would rather miss my hair." He said, I could hear the smirk in his tome
"Jareth, don't tempt me to rethink my decision…" I said as I turned to look him in the eye. He gave me a half smile before kissing the top of my head.
"Come, lets go and get something to eat. I have yet another valentine evning planed for you my dear." He said with a wink
~*~
A few weeks had pass since I had discovered Jareth's secret and life in the castle had never been better. I had ventured out of the castle, with Jareth this time, to see all the inhabitants of the labyrinth. In the morning we stopped at the blue worm's house for tea with him and his wife. Then we found the guys who stood in front of the door to the castle and the other to certain doom. They let me go into the certain doom one to say hello to the helping hands. Then I meet with the royal guards and the noble goblins (I know the words 'Noble' and 'Goblin' just don't go together) along with the town goblins. All in all, I've had some very productive days..
"Jareth?" I called as I sat in the bath in our room, we were both getting ready for bed
"Yes?" He said, he was wearing a pair of black tight tights, his heeled boots, and had his black poet shirt in his left hand, which were lacking his gloves.
He had begun to remove his gloves more often around me, he said it was a very personal thing to see his bare hands. He said that they were unusual because they were more graceful, like women's hands, they came in handy if he wanted to play an insturment or quickly undo buttons on a shirt but they couldn't hold a sword properly. So he always wore gloves…well until now.
"Can you belive its only a week and four days till our wedding?" I giggled as I stepped out of the tub, I was no longer uncomfortable being naked in front of Jareth.
"No, the days ticked by so fast it was like only yesterday that you wished yourself away." He said smiling as I pulled on his navy blue silk robe.
"Yeah, I only wish I could have my friends and family could be at the wedding…" I said sadly.
"Well…we could, I don't know how you would explain it to your mother that your getting married at the tender age of fourteen…or fifteen…but if you want I can most likely work that out." He said smiling as I walked out onto the balcony.
I could see the sun setting from there. I could also see the labyrinth, the massive stone structure spanning out from where I could see.
Jareth stood next to me, his hand intertwined with mine.
"Jareth, I love you.' I said softly as I lent back against him, his signature natural smell was beautiful. He was like the smell after a rainstorm, the scent after winters first snowfall, or of a crackling bonfire when your around family, and the smell of a new book. All together it was everything I loved.
"I love you too, Darling. Now we have a big day tomorrow! Lets get some sleep." he said picking me up bridal style, I shrieked telling him had to put me down. He did.
By throwing me onto the bed.
I had never though I had giggled so much in my life.
"What are we doing tomorrow that would make you want to go to bed before eleven?" I asked as I settled in, pulling off the robe.
"Well…I didn't tell you but all the kings and queens from each country are coming tomorrow to see if you are a worthy bride of the king. Its tradition." Jareth said
"Jareth I don't even know the names of half of them! You should have told me before!" I said
"Don't Worry, I'll be with you the entire time and don't forget we have the funny announcer guy…I forget the actual term…Now get some sleep!" he said as he blew out the candle, leaving me to fume on the dark.
~*~
"Darling…Darling wake up…" I head somebody murmur in my ear softly.
"No…five more minutes." I groaned as I flipped over, away from the source of the voice.
"Casey, darling, if you don't get up now I will be forced to tip you head first into the bog of eternal stench." The voice responded
I could not resist a chance to quote any movie so I smiled as I turned back to the voice and said as I opened my eyes
"Not the bog!" I begged in my closest Hoggle voice.
I was granted the gift of Jareth with no shirt giving me a 'Are-You-Serious?' look.
"Well that was easier than I thought." he said as I sat up, for once with my nightgown on my body and not on the floor.
"Ugh…too early…" I groaned as I sat Indian style on the bed, Jareth giving me a light kiss on my bare shoulder.
"C'mon, you need to get dressed. The King's and Queen's will be arriving soon."
"But I don't want to!" I groaned letting myself fallback onto the bed and covering myself with the blanket.
"I can make you." Jareth said as I felt one of his cool hands slide inside the blanket and touch the inside of my thigh.
"Funny, Jareth, Funny." I said with a shiver as he pulled his hand away and pulled the blanket off my face and pressed his lips to mine softly.
"I'm a funny man." He said as he got up and rooted through his wardrobe to find something to wear.
He grabbed his standard heeled ridding boots, with the same outfit he wore in the scene with the never-ending stairs. I got up and picked a dress with a similar, but lighter silk pattern fabric as Jareth's shirt, it was a harmonious swirl of black and maroon. I wore a short sleeve shift underneath, the dress was a simple strapless design with an flowy, empire waist. Underneath the empire waist was a thin jeweled ribbon that wrapped around and tied into a thin bow. I wore beautiful, black silk slippers. All in all, Jareth and I looked like a perfect couple.
"Ready?" He asked taking his hand in mine.
"Ready." I said firmly as we left the room.
~*~
"Darling, this is King Romulus, and his wife, Queen Ophelia of the Werewolves." Jareth said as King Romulus took and kissed the top of my hand. I curtsied back to both before saying
"A pleasure to meet you both, please say as long as you want. It is a pleasure to have you in our castle."
King Romulus was of a large build, but he was kinder than I would have guessed. He looked like Emmett Cullen to me. Queen Ophelia was beautiful to say the least. She was curvy but in a subtle way, he hair was fire red and her eyes gleamed like Emeralds.
She smiled as they walked to their seats at the table.
For the occasions we had rearranged the great hall to be set up more like a council meeting (well…the goblins moved everything…). There were seats for eight, one for each of the Kings and their wives. Each would give me difficult questions about myself and everything I encounter in the labyrinth so far. I was to stand alone in front of all of them and answer truthfully. After they questioned me they would deliberate and High King, Azriel would appear and they would give us their opinion. My future Parents-in-Law would talk together and would say if we were to be wed, but they wouldn't tell us till two nights before our wedding.
The next week and a half were to be hell.
Not only because I may be turned down to marring the perfect guy, but in the entire time span the entire council of Kings and Queens would be staying in our castle till the day after the wedding.
Yeah my own personal hell.
"Ah, Casey I would like you to meet our friends to the north, King Lucius and Queen Carmine of the Vampires." Jareth said as I took a sip of water.
I almost spit it out at the sight of King Lucius.
He looked identical to Lucius Malfoy of the Harry Potter series. The same long, pale blonde hair, the ascent, the eyes, the clothes.
I wanted to faint.
"King Lucius?" I spit out in a strange, high pitched voice.
"Yes, and I have noticed the similarity of my looks and the character of the Harry Potter series." He said with a smile as he kissed the top of my hand
"Oh…I…How do you know-?" I started before Jareth filled me in
"King Lucius and his wife are the only other country, besides ours, that is allowed above ground." he said
"Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't know.," I blushed, "I didn't know."
"That's quite alright, my lady," I heard Queen Carmine say, in a light Spanish ascent "it's a very common mistake."
Queen Carmine was beautiful. She was curvy in all the right places, her hair was a crown of caramel colored hair. She had full lips and the same color eyes as he husband.
"Please sit, stay as long as you would like in our castle. You are just a pleasure both of you." I said with a bright smile.
Carmine gave me a hug and peck on the cheek as they left to take their seats.
"Darling this is King Mitrik and Queen Katreena of the Warlocks." Jareth said
"Welcome to our Castle please sit." I said pleasantly as both of them acted very friendly
King Mitrik had blonde hair that was similar to Bill Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel, out in every direction like a porcupine. His eyes were the same color of maroon that my dress was. His wife Katreena was rather plane looking, she had dark shade of brown hair that was down and wavy. Her eyes were the same color of her hair, but what she didn't have in looks she had in personality. But there was one thing that I found most comforting…
She was a wished away bride. She also must have been reason because we could talk about resent movies and such.
Maybe this was not going to be as bad as I thought…well that was until Queen Adrienne and her daughter, Princess Marlys of the land of Moraine strutted in like they owned the place.
"Oh god…please tell me they are not staying!" I whined to Jareth quietly.
"Yes they are, please try to make nice with them…" He said kissing me on the forehead lightly before going off to the side.
I felt small as I stood in front of all of them…knowing their decision would make or break my wedding.
"Meep." I whispered quietly
~*~
A/N- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEEE!!! ^^
Today I am legally Fifteen! Whoo! And to think I have only been writing fanfic for a year…time flys…well this is like a little B-day present to all my reader…oh and I would like to say that I am currently writing the next chapter to my James fic AND I have come up with the plot to the sequel to this story. Yes it is coming to be the time I will say good-bye to this story and move on…TO THE SEQUIL! Ha-ha yep got some BIG plans for this one. So that's it for now…I'll write to you later.
Casey.
(Happy Birthday to me ^^)