Okay, once again I only recieved a few reviews for the last chapter and I'm confused as hell because I thought the last chapter would get much more than all the rest of them. It also appears that some of the people who had started reading Childhood's Lament weekly have dropped off and given up entirely... So I'd like some feedback via the messaging system as to what the problem is - are the chapters too long, too short? Is the story not moving fast enough? Is the story just not interesting enough? Is there not enough romantic tension? Is it just too damn boring?
Because, as much as I would personally hate to cancel this story just as it's getting to the plot arc, I'm not really writing this for me to read and me alone. I'm also not going to write this just so a few people can read it, though I adore those of you who have and are reading it. However, if you want it to continue, say so, otherwise it's going to be canceled soon.
Also, I'm getting rid of the "once a week" updating system. You'll still get at least one chapter a week, but on some weeks you might get two or three depending on how into the writing I am. Check back on Fridays, though, because if nothing's been updated on any other day, it will be updated on Friday. Guaranteed.
Chapter 9
"Sarah?" Thilly called for the third time in the last couple of minutes. "Sarah, are you sure you're alright? You seem so distracted and… oh… different."
Sarah assumed this was the tactful Changeling way of saying 'scattered and clumsy', considering that she'd already broken three goblets, split a wooden bowl down the seam, lit a wooden spoon on fire, thrown away several utensils because she hadn't thought to check the plates before scraping them into the trash, tripped over the hem of her skirt and ran into the glowering, threatening old Mrs. Noriche.
"I'm fine, Thilly," Sarah said, though even to herself he voice didn't sound too sure. "I've just got… things on my mind. You don't have to worry about it."
Thilly smiled her sweet, bright-white smile and continued drying the dishes Sarah was handing to her, stacking them neatly to her right. "It's just that, you're a real friend, Sarah, and I want to make sure you're well. Oh! You're not feeling ill at all, are you? Mrs. Noriche has already given you a warning for missing so many hours these past couple of days; you just can't get sick and miss any more!"
"I know, Thilly… I'm fine. Really, I'm fine – just a little tired, that's all."
Thilly nodded at this and went quiet, leaving Sarah to her thoughts. The same thoughts she'd been enthralled with all day.
What had happened to Jareth the Goblin King in that Tower Room this morning?
It would be a lie to herself and anyone who asked if Sarah denied being attracted to Jareth. Despite his abhorrent tendencies, he was a physically attractive man, and when he'd kissed her it was all Sarah could do to keep from falling over in response to the fluttering, girlish feelings that had risen up in her stomach and chest. She'd had many kisses before, but never one that seemed to be straight from a fairy tale – a handsome king falling in love with a peasant girl and both of them living happily ever after.
At the time, that was how it seemed.
But, of course, in the Underground nothing is what it seems.
So when Sarah had remembered that, she'd run away from him and the fairy tale kiss. For an instant afterwards she'd thought she'd made a mistake, thought that – just maybe – Jareth wasn't as horrible as he first appeared to be.
Then he'd laughed. Thinking about that laughter brought back feelings that Sarah couldn't even connect to actual memories, like something from a dream but so terribly real that she just couldn't forget all of it. Feelings of being lost, of being hurt and small and incapable of defending herself. Helplessness. Hopelessness.
And Sarah knew now that, despite all her teenage fancies and daydreams, she had to get away from Jareth. She had to get Toby and herself away from the Goblin King, try to find another way out of the Underground and return home. Somehow, some way, she'd have to save Toby from that horrible king, from this horrible place.
But as she thought of the Underground – or, at least, the Goblin City – as a horrible place, she was reminded of Thilly. She was Sarah's only real friend, and vice-versa, here and the thought of simply leaving her behind made Sarah feel sad and guilty. She just couldn't do that – give the girl a friend then just as quickly run away from her and leave her alone, like she'd done five years ago with Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus.
Sarah was finished with abandoning friends.
"Sarah!" Thilly whispered harshly into her ear, startling Sarah out of her thoughts. The Changeling girl was looking pointedly at her and Sarah was suddenly aware that she was clutching, her knuckles and fingertips white, onto what appeared to be a porcelain plate that Thilly was trying to pry from her grip. "Careful, Sarah, this is expensive! Mrs. Noriche will have your head if you break this one!"
"Oh!" Sarah hastily let go of the plate, trying her best not to seem embarrassed for her thoughtlessness, but she'd let go too suddenly and the plate slid from both hers and Thilly's grasp, falling with what felt like slow-motion to hit the stone floor and sending a too-loud chink! to echo through a too-quiet kitchen.
Both Sarah and Thilly stared at the plate, now split into four sizeable chunks as well as several smaller bits that made the plate impossible to repair. Everything had gone deathly quiet as Changelings and imps alike looked from Sarah and Thilly, to the plate, and then to the kitchen door.
"Excuse me!" a throaty voice cried as its speaker parted a sea of servants. Sarah finally looked up to see Mrs. Noriche barreling down at her, the woman's thicker build making her an easy find in the mob of thin, waif-like Changelings.
No one really knew what Mrs. Noriche was. She had the hair and complexion of a Changeling but she was far too broad and her face was neither innocent nor pleasant like the others. Her teeth were too sharp, her tongue sometimes flicked from her mouth like that of a snake, and her disposition was the equivalent of a wounded tiger with anger management problems. Her eyes, too, weren't the usual hue for a Changeling's – they were a near-black blue and squinty, always peeking out through knitted brows like cold chips of cobalt glass.
And those little chips were staring – or, rather, glaring – directly at Sarah.
"You!" she pointed, her voice little more than a growl. "I've had just about enough of you. You miss hours, you trip, you forget customers and you daydream all day long! You run into everything, you can't do anything right, and you BREAK MY ELVENWARE PLATES!"
Her voice had risen from a growl to an all-out scream and her complexion had turned from waxy grey-blue to a heated purple-red. Thilly was falling apart at Sarah's side, wringing the hem of her skirt so hard that Sarah could hear the stitches ripping, but Sarah herself was too shocked to move. She simply gawked at Mrs. Noriche, her brain only capable of meaningless thoughts such as what one would actually call that horrid color of the hefty woman's face.
"I don't care if His Majesty wants you around to 'help out'! You're about as much help as a maimed marmot and I want you gone! I wouldn't care if the King himself walked in here and told me to let you stay! I want you GONE, you good-for-nothing little wretch! GONE – DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
And to make her point, she stamped one foot and pointed to the door. Sarah stood there for a heartbeat, but it was a heartbeat too long as Mrs. Noriche grabbed her arm and spun Sarah in the direction of the swinging door, ripping the apron from Sarah's waist as she passed. In the blink of an eye, Sarah was out of the kitchen and standing, thunderstruck, in the deserted hallway.
She could hear the commotion of dishes clanging and work being resumed behind the door, so her abrupt dismissal hadn't interrupted too much in the lives of the servants, but Sarah was lost as to what to do, where to go, who to tell. She knew she probably just lost her basis for staying in the Underground, knew that Jareth would eventually figure it all out, laugh at her once again, and send her back without Toby, and that worried her profusely.
But, as she made her way to the room she and Thilly shared, Sarah also realized another thing, and that realization made her stop and smile uncontrollably.
She no longer had any obligations, no longer had anything keeping her from leaving the castle. She was free, but only until Jareth found out about her unemployment and returned her to the Aboveground.
But, Sarah decided, he'll never get the chance... I'll be gone, with Toby – and Thilly – before he even knows what's happened.
And as the bell that designated the actions of the servants dolled out three notes that meant lunch, Sarah retraced her steps and headed toward Toby's room. She had an agreement of an hour of lunch with her brother, after all, and even if she was no longer employed, she couldn't just let that go to waste, now could she?