Sarah's head was spinning: her sister had just admitted that she'd been to the Underground before her, she'd been living there for years, and to top it all off she was in love with Jareth, and he was in love with her!
"So, Alison...darling, are you coming or not?" Jareth, hand extended, stood waiting for the older sister's reply.
Alison sighed, "Alright Jareth, I'll go. On one condition," she could see his smile falter, but he hid it well.
"Anything love," he husked.
Alison smirked victoriously, "You have to give me the option of coming back Aboveground if I want to after this entire ordeal is over. Agreed?"
Both she and Sarah could see that he was not pleased with the condition, but judging by the loving look in his eyes when he gazed at Alison, Sarah could tell that he would make her change her mind...or at least he would try to.
Jareth straightened, "Very well then my dear, shall we?"
Alison took his hand, her eyes drifting back to Sarah, "Sarah? Coming?"
The fae's eyes narrowed, "we honestly don't need her help,"
The young woman faced him, eyes firm, "And what makes you so sure about that?"
He grimaced, "Alison, dearest,"
She was about to let go of his hand, when his grip tightened, "No...Sarah stay close and please try not to wander off."
The teenager grinned, "Wasn't planning on it,"
Alison squeezed Jareth's hand lightly, signaling that they could go, "Jareth..."
He looked at her and nodded, "Hold on tight,"
Sarah took her sister's outstretched arm and clenched her eyes tightly shut as she felt the warmth of magic envelope her, the feeling of carpet beneath her feet now gave way to soft grass. When she opened her eyes, she found that they we in a part of the Castle that she hadn't seen the last time she was in the Underground: they were in a small garden, with millions upon millions of exotic and magical buds in full bloom surrounding them, a small fountain could be heard trickling in the distance. Her emerald eyes fell upon the small fairies fluttering around the gardens, each small bud they touched exploded with color into a magnificent flower.
"Sarah?" a gruff voice questioned shockingly behind her.
The young girl spun around, a bright grin of happiness appearing on her face, "Hoggle!" she ran and embraced the small dwarf, his stubby arms wrapping around her waist.
"What're ya doin' here, Sarah?"
"My lady!"
"Sir Didimus! Ambrosius!" Sarah squealed with joy as she embraced her friends.
"Sawah! Sawah fwiend!"
"Oh, Ludo! Ha ha!" the large monster pulled her up into his arms in a crushing hug.
Alison watched her sister in wonderment, an admiring smile appearing on her face.
"Happy to be home my love?" Jareth's voice whispered in her ear, oh, how she had missed that whisper so.
Her gemstone eyes gazed up at him in a way that he'd felt he hadn't seen in a lifetime, "Feels wonderful,"
He smiled, caressing her face gently, "You know, I do love you, with all my soul."
She covered his hand with hers, "I know...I know,"
"Then...why did you leave?"
"Because I felt I had to, my family needed me," she said with a sigh, knowing that it was a stupid, yet truthful, excuse.
"You have family here, too. Family that needed you," he countered sadly, his hand drifting lower to her waist.
She smiled, "You, your mother, your father, and that wretch you call your brother?"
Jareth's gaze snapped up to meet hers, "And someone else, do you forget?"
Alison stopped his hand before it could rest upon her abdomen, "I know. But that person is in a better place, that person doesn't have to face this horrid situation that we're in now." When she'd been living in the Underground at Jareth's side, she'd conceived a child, yet due to his fiendish brother's antics, she'd had a miscarriage. Jareth's mother, Aurelia, had said the child would have been a son...Jareth's heir.
Sarah and her friends had been watching the two of them silently, the young teenager trying to process the situation, "What are they talking about?"
Hoggle looked up at her, "The King and Queen? Thems is talkin' about Jareth's brother, most likely."
"Queen?!"
Sir Didimus looked at her, "Why my lady, of course! Queen Alison has been our queen for many a year, the one who put the King's heart at ease, made him more compassionate towards his subjects. When she disappeared his heart encased itself in ice, never allowing himself to love another."
"Especially after the baby's death," Hoggle finished.
Sarah was shocked, "What baby?!"
"Jareth and Alison were gonna have a baby, but Jareth's brother didn't like that, so he casts a spell on the Queen, causin' her to miscarry."
The young girl's eyes rested on her sister, sorrow now welling up in her eyes: her sister had been pregnant, was going to have a child, but that couldn't happen. Oddly enough every problem had a common denominator in some form or another: Jareth. But no, she couldn't blame this one of Jareth, because that child that was Alison's child was Jareth's child, too. It was his brother's fault, the brother who was now trying to take over all of the Underground, the brother who was coming after her sister.
Sarah could see that even being in the Underground had changed Alison: she carried herself differently, with regality, she had a magical glow about her, a glitter in her eye that was etherial in every sense of the word. Her sister looked like a queen, a queen that only Sarah could dream about.
"Alison?"
The young woman's gaze broke from Jareth's and turned to her, "Sarah, what's wrong?"
The young girl smiled, she could tell that Alison had noticed the tears in her eyes, "Nothing, nothing,"
Alison walked over, putting her hand on Sarah's shoulder, "I'm still your sister, you can tell me anything."
Sarah sighed, "You really belong here, don't you?"
Jareth walked over to the two sisters, placing a loving arm around Alison's shoulders, and Sarah noticed that he was looking at her with a different gaze, not of anger or hate, but of understanding, trust, and, could it be, caring? "Sarah, I know how much you mean to Alison, and I just wanted to apologize to you for how I behaved earlier, you're my wife's sister, my sister for Elder's sake! Can you forgive me?"
Sarah was shocked, but also happy, "Of course, Jareth. Of course I forgive you,"
Alison smiled, "Now, I do believe I have a bit of explaining to do, don't I?"
"I think you do, my love. You two go on, I have a few things to tend to before we head off."
"Where?"
"Jareth's parents are supposedly expecting us, but I have some things I want to tell you, first."
Alison linked arms with her sister and began walking her through the gardens, whilst Jareth headed inside the castle to consult with someone of high importance.
Sarah was amazed at the life her sister had been living, Alison told her everything, about her life in the Underground as Queen of the Goblins, as Jareth's loving wife, and as a magical being herself now.
"Sarah, a few years ago, Jareth and I found out that I was pregnant, and that's when things suddenly changed for us."
Sarah nodded, "I know, Hoggle and Sir Didimus told me. What happened to you was horrible,"
Alison sighed, "Our child was going to be a boy, the heir to Jareth's throne. But his brother, Hethro, wasn't going to have any part of it. He wanted the Goblin throne for himself, it was one step closer to the throne of the King of the Underground. A throne, which Jareth and Hethro's father, currently possesses."
"But if Jareth's father were to...God forbid...pass away, that would make him King of the Underground, and you Queen!"
Alison nodded, "And that is what makes Hethro's blood boil, that his younger brother may become his ruler very soon. You see Sarah, Jareth's father is ill, on the verge of death thanks to one of the many curses Hethro has cast uppon our family, and Aurelia wants Jareth to take on the throne now so that his father may rest instead of having to rule the realm. Jareth won't do it, thinks it would cause Hethro to inflict more damage than he already has."
Sarah sat down on a stone bench in the garden, her sister sitting beside her, "And what do you think? You're his wife, doesn't he listen to you?"
She nodded, "My opinion is one he takes to heart very seriously, and I've told him what I think."
"That is?"
"That he should do whatever he thinks is right. He's a brilliant man, Sarah, only a fool would question it...but he doubts himself which is what worries me the most. Hethro will do anything he sets his mind on without a second thought, which is what I think he thinks makes him stronger, more powerful than Jareth. But there is another factor that Jareth has accomplished that Hethro falls short."
"What's that?"
"Love. The love of a companion, of a lover....of a wife."
"That's why Hethro is after you?! Because you're Jareth's wife?!"
Alison gave a sad nod, "Jareth is afraid I won't be able to protect myself from him, he forgets that I'm not human as I once was. But then again, he has good reason to worry, I could have fended off that curse that took our child away, yet I did not."
She led her sister through several twists and turns of the garden, leading her to a small alcove illuminated by the two suns above the entirety of Goblin City. Sarah saw, in the center of the alcove, a small statue of pure white marble, it was a statue of an ornate bird, at its feet a small plaque.
"It's a phoenix, considered good luck in the Underground, very rare, too. Jareth and I saw one the day we found out I was going to have a child."
Emerald eyes read the plaque, tears pouring out like small raindrops.
~Here rests in peace
Kyne Luca, Prince of the Goblins
Son of Jareth and Alison, King and Queen of the Goblins
Grandson of Gautier and Aurelia, King and Queen of the Underground
May the Magic of Elders Past Protect him in Everlasting Happiness~
"Sarah?" Alison questioned her sister, seeing the tears falling down the young girl's cheeks.
"I...I am so sorry," she sobbed, Alison quickly running over to catch her in her arms.
"Sssh, Sarah, there's nothing for you to be sorry about, nothing at all."
"What's wrong?" Jareth came running into the alcove, seeing the two sisters on the ground, Sarah sobbing in Alison's arms.
Alison looked up at her husband, "She just starting crying,"
"A-A-About what's h-happened t-t-to you both, it-it-it's horrib-b-ble!" Sarah cried harder.
Jareth knelt down beside them and placed a hand on Sarah's back, "Sarah, it was our own stupidity to trust my brother, there is nothing for you to cry over."
The young girl looked at him, the understanding smile on his face said it all, Tears aren't necessary.
"Alison spent many an hour crying over this small statue," he told her.
Alison nodded, "I sobbed for days out here, but I learned to let go and live in the present."
"I think you two should get some rest, I have to travel to Glacerieulo. My father has summoned me,"
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"No, you help Sarah settle in, I'll be back before you even notice I'm gone."
Sarah watched as one of Alison's alabaster hands grasped Jareth's, "Be careful,"
Jareth bent down and placed his lips gently on hers, a sight that Sarah found surprising, "I shall. I love you,"
"And I you."
With that, Jareth disappeared into thin air, leaving the sisters alone.
"Come on, let's get you in a room and comfortable," Alison helped Sarah to stand and led her back to the Castle. They walked through the winding corridors, goblins of every shape and size bowing low with smiles at their newly returned Queen.
"You're very popular around here," Sarah teased.
Alison smiled, "The goblins like me because I taught their King how to be kind, here's your room." She opened the door to reveal a magnificent room fit for a princess. A plush bed, an ornate vanity and wardrobe, a beautiful balcony overlooking the gardens.
"This is incredible," Sarah beamed, hugging her sister close, "thank you."
Alison smiled, hugging her back, "You're welcome, now get some rest, if you're hungry just call for Hoggle, he'll help you." She shut the door and let Sarah be, heading down to her own chambers to change out of her uniform and into a more suitable lavender gown, the bodice surrounded with golden stitching and amethyst gemstones. As she sat at her vanity brushing her long waves into a comfortable coiffure, she couldn't help but wonder as to why her husband's eyes seemed full of sorrow when he told her he loved her...all the while feeling as if she was being watched from afar.
~Oh Alison, how you've become more beautiful since the last time we met. Miscarriage suits you well. Does Jareth know what I have planned for you? Is that why he ran to Glacerieulo in such haste? Well, he won't have to worry for long, because soon he will have lost both his throne, and his Queen.
To be continued...