The ceremony completed, the bride and groom had made their way to the head table and the reception had begun. Sarah sat in her chair, fuming. Yet a small part of her mind was thinking of all the ways she'd get her revenge. She didn't notice the evil looking woman watching her closely. Penelope made her way over to Sarah, sitting down next to her with a huge smile on her painted face.
Penelope stared at Sarah through narrowed eyes. Jareth had been grinning at her as if they shared an intimate secret, as if they'd been intimate. Surely this could not be her supposed rival? Sarah for her part had been glaring at Jareth as if she'd like to rip his head off with her bare hands. Penelope liked seeing that, it would make her job that much easier. How dare he bring another woman here when Penelope had rights to him? True, she had neglected him for years, but she'd been busy, many men had wanted her company and she hated to deprive them of her charms. If this little interloper thought she'd just waltz in and take what was promised to her, she was in for a huge disappointment.
Sarah glanced at the woman but said nothing. She was going to find Jareth and do more than chain him to a wall this time. She was going to shove that riding crop right up his -
"I don't recall seeing you at these family gatherings before, who might you be?" The voice startled her and she blinked a few times to focus on the woman next to her.
"Sorry? Um, my name is Sarah, and you are?"
"Me, I'm the Lady Penelope LeTroll, close friend of the High King and Queen. They've been after me for years to marry Jareth, he and I are so - suited to each other. I came here tonight to finally put the boy out of his misery."
"Excuse me?" Sarah was slightly amused by the awful woman, but it was finely balanced by her fury at Jareth.
"I'm going to say yes to his proposal tonight and become his queen." Sarah felt a rush of anger boil forth and had to keep from strangling this woman with her bare hands. She forced calm into her voice and smiled at the horrible woman.
"Is that so? Well then, I'm very happy you both, you look the part of a goblin so the job should suit you just fine." Sarah got up and walked away, leaving a highly insulted Penelope behind.
As Sarah made her way to her assigned table for dinner, she was stopped by a guard. Curious, she let him escort her to a room towards the back of the ballroom. Opening the door, he ushered her inside. There was an older couple sitting there at a solid gold table, staring at her shrewdly.
"Come in my dear, and do close the door," the woman beckoned. Sarah came in and took a seat, waiting.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Sarah asked. The man laughed.
"No, you don't. My name is Doyle and this is my wife Melinda though she prefers Rayven. We wished to meet the Champion of the Labyrinth and get to know her. Tell me, what do you think the most important job of a king is? To please himself or protect his people?"
The question was odd, but Sarah didn't fell threatened by these people so she answered.
"A true king is pleased when his people are protected. There can be no greater reward than knowing he has done everything he can for his people yet long to do more."
"Very good. And do you think when he acquires a queen, his new goal is her happiness? To forget his people so that he may please her?"
"Of course not," Sarah said, confused by the line of questioning. "A queen's role is just as important as her king's. Without her subjects, there is no kingdom and no purpose. Her job is to protect them, maybe even more than the king would. She becomes a mother to them, guiding them and loving them. Anything less would be cruelty."
The couple looked at each other, then at Sarah. They rose and came around to her, kissing her cheeks.
"Welcome to our family, dear Sarah," the man said, smiling. She noticed then the resemblence between this man and Jareth.
"You're his parents, aren't you?" Sarah gasped, needing to sit down again. The woman laughed, nodding.
"Yes and we've been waiting for your return for quite some time. We never thought our son would find his match - especially not from the mortal world. But - you are his match. Tell us, has the blood lust started?"
"Blood lust? I'm sorry, what is that?"
"The need to claim Jareth, body and soul," Rayven answered, smiling. Sarah blushed, remembering Jareth chained and groaning as she sucked him into her mouth. The High King and Queen smiled.
"If that blush is anything to go by, I'd say that was a yes," Doyle laughed. "When Fae find their soul mate, they go through a change - it's called blood lust. You feel an overwhelming physical need to be with your intended, almost to the point of pain. It comes and goes at first, but eventually if you do not heed its call, you can lose your sanity. Being human originally, we were not certain you would have symptoms. But if you have felt it, it will make the mating that much stronger."
"Mating?" Sarah's mind was not working very well. Were they talking calmly about her need to rip Jareth's clothes off and claim his body? Sarah was slowly going insane and apparently she was going to be humiliated each step of the way. Doyle was speaking again and Sarah had to focus on his voice or start crying hysterically.
"You do plan to choose him as your own, do you not? Of course Rinna will guide you through your challenges and then you will have to publicly claim our son. If you have no intention of doing these things, you must say so now."
"He let me think he was the one getting married tonight. He lied to me," Sarah said hotly.
"He told you he was getting married?" Doyle said, surprised.
"Well no," she admitted. "But he let me think it. And I didn't like feeling so helpless about it."
"And did it make you want to give him up, dear?" Rayven asked, watching her face closely.
"Well, no. It made me mad. I thought he was going to marry Genevieve and I saw her kissing Morgan but I didn't know they were engaged and Jareth let me think, and the things I did to convince him not to marry her, I -" oh she was babbling again and Jareth's parents held in laughter as she blushed bright red.
"Sarah, what do you really want out of this situation?" Doyle asked quietly.
"I'm not sure what is being asked of me. If it is to love Jareth, I already do. But this Queen of Wishes thing, I just don't know."
"Sarah, Rinna has spoken with us and explained your doubts. But you've used the magic unaided. Your body is adjusting with each passing moment. You need to commit to this or lose it all," Doyle said solemnly.
"What - what would happen if I turned all of this down?" The king and queen shared a glance and the queen nodded to her husband.
"She needs to know."
"Jareth would be rejected by you twice, and officially this time as you have full knowledge of what is asked of you. He would forfeit his crown and be banished. You would be sent back Above Ground and would never see Jareth or the Under Ground again."
"But my life above," she said and Doyle held up a hand.
"You, being born human still have ties to that world. When you wish to live there, you may. But your home would be your castle here and you would be expected to be here for royal business. Votes, trials, and such. Your life is always your own, Sarah. You just have to decide who you let into it."
"If he was banished, what would happen to him?"
"He'd be sent away to an area of the Under Ground that would eat at his sanity until he ceased to exist."
"You don't make this easy for me," Sarah sighed. Rayven shook her head.
"And you cannot choose him out of a sense of fear for his banishment. You must choose him with your entire heart for him to stay. Others have told him they loved him, but they have only wanted his crown, his power."
"Penelope," Sarah said, her eyes burning. "What of her?"
"What of her?" Doyle said dismissively. "She's a girl Jareth courted centuries ago just to get him out of the castle. He was driving us crazy with his pranks, we figured he should use his energies elsewhere. He cut her out of his life years ago."
"Well she's pasted herself back in - she thinks she's engaged to your son." Sarah's eyes blazed with an inner fury at the thought and the royals watched her eyes spark with great interest. The blood lust was strong in this girl, she would give Jareth many children.
"Well then, you must make certain she knows that is not the case," Rayven said. "If - of course - you've decided?"
Sarah paced the room, thinking about her feelings. She was angry at him for his deceit but, to be fair - he was Fae. They were by birthright a sneaky devious people who lived for their own amusement. But they were also loyal to those they chose to love and he had never lied to her. Confused her and used the situation to his benefit, but she had to admit - she had enjoyed him chained to a wall. She felt the urge to do it again. And make sure the damned door was really locked this time. She could live above when she wanted to, and she could be a part of his life here too. She really had no choice, she was his just as surely as he was hers. She looked at his parents who had let her come to terms with her feelings on her own terms.
"Oh I've decided," Sarah grinned. "He's not getting away from me that easily. But it's not going to hurt him to suffer a bit before I tell him."
Rayven laughed, hugging her. "Oh my lovely Queen of Wishes, welcome home."
JSJSJS
Jareth searched the ballroom for Sarah, barely noticing the various nobles and ladies vying for his attention. She must be here, he was going crazy thinking she'd left again. He heard the music for the first dance start up and spared a glance at his brother and sister in law swirling across the marble floor. It made him think of the dance he'd shared with Sarah so long ago, and his heart skipped.
"Jareth, there you are," a voice called. He spun around only to see Penelope gliding toward him, her low cut gown showing off her breasts to him. Once that would have been enough to tempt him into taking her to a dark corner and having meaningless sex. But that was over years before he met Sarah. Sarah - he needed to find her.
"Not now, Penelope, I'm looking for someone," he snapped, searching the room with his mismatched eyes.
"Would it be the lovely Sarah?" she asked sweetly. He looked at her, wondering what she was up to now. Casually pushing back some hair from her face, she smiled, pushing her breasts together to get his attention.
"What do you know of Sarah?" he asked. She was too stupid to hear the threat in his voice and smiled at him again.
"I introduced myself and told her of our betrothal of course. She's long gone, she wished us well in our marriage and walked out of here without looking back. Now - about that dance," she purred.
"We are not betrothed, woman. I've explained this to you before and I'll do it again. We courted briefly, I realized I did not want you, and the courtship ended. Now leave me to find my queen."
"Your - what? You cannot be serious Jareth, she's nothing. See how she doesn't think of you, there she is, in the arms of another. They look quite cozy, don't they?"
Jareth spun around to see Sarah dancing with one of his cousins. She was dancing quite close to him, hugging him tightly, letting her hands stroke his back. Jareth's eyes blazed in fury and he stalked over to them angrily. He was about to grab her when Penelope grabbed his arm, turning him to her, making sure Sarah could hear her words.
"Give it up, love - she's not your anything. Come, take me to bed, I'm tired and need you to massage the fatigue from my naked flesh."
"Yes, Jareth, help her relieve her tension," Sarah said lightly. "I'm sure your cousin can do the same for me."
Jareth growled low in his throat, a dangerous sound that made Sarah's pulse jump. He pulled Sarah to him, throwing her over his shoulder roughly. In an instant, they were gone from the room. Penelope stomped her foot and screamed.
"Guard, please escort the Lady Penelope to her guest room," Rayven said, bored. "She appears to need a massage. Give her one." The large goblin smiled with crooked teeth and Penelope backed away. Undaunted, the guard picked her up and carried her towards the guest rooms. She'd get away from him, Rayven thought, but at least it would keep her busy for awhile.
JSJSJS
Sarah was naked. Very naked and tied to a bed, her wrists over her head, bound to the headboard. She looked down to see her legs spread wide open and tied to the floor on either side of the bed with long silken ropes, a pillow propping up her sex to Jareth's hot gaze. He had gagged her almost the instant they'd rematerialized in his room before using magic to strip her, pushing her down upon the mattress with a fury that almost scared her. She struggled fiercely, knowing that she couldn't get free but still needing to try.
"You think to mock me in my own home?" he hissed, riding crop in hand. He brought it down hard on her right breast, watching her flinch. Immediately, he leaned down to take the wounded breast into his mouth, sucking and biting roughly as she moaned. His other hand pinched her left breast, twisting the nipple between his fingers, as she gasped through the gag. His hand went lower, to between her thighs and he stroked her sex roughly, sliding his finger into her wetness, then bringing it to his lips to suck the juices into his mouth. Her eyes closed and he flicked his wrist again, striking her labia with the tip of his riding crop.
"You will not close your eyes unless I command you to do so, wench," he growled as his clothes disappeared with a flick of his wrist. He conjured a crystal filled with amber liquid, breaking it over her body like an egg. Honey, she thought madly, as it covered her body. No, not honey, something else. The liquid covered her breasts, her stomach, down between her thighs. He waited, watching her as the liquid glowed and her eyes widened.
She squirmed helplessly as tiny fingers tickled every part of her body that the liquid had touched. She was writhing madly, the heat between her thighs threatening to consume her. He climbed on the bed, massaging her breasts, sliding his hands over the liquid covering her body. The fingers turned into tongues and teeth and she sobbed breathlessly. He was killing her.
"Do you like my magic, Sarah? Do you like feeling my passion for you? It clouds every moment of my existance, it buries my sanity under its weight. I'm still doing what you asked, I didn't marry her. And you still left didn't you? You still thought to run from me after your lips were upon me so brazenly. Now it's time for you to suffer the same insanity you've put me through. And trust me - I've locked the door."
She screamed through the gag, tears welling up in her eyes. She was going to kill him for this, just as soon as she could get free and turn the tables on him. Her heart was racing, her blood rushing through her body like fire. His mouth claimed a breast again, licking madly, going lower to her stomach, his tongue swirling inside of her navel until she was thrashing on the bed, begging for more. He smiled up at her darkly lowered his head to her sex, sliding his tongue over her clit, as she pulled at the ropes binding her to his bed.
His teeth nipped at her clit, sucking harshly, letting his tongue cover the bundle of nerves over and over as his hands held her hips in place. Rising up, he removed the gag and she choked on her passion for him.
"Still thinking you can leave me?" he growled, anger and love mixing in his mind in equal parts. She loved him beyond words.
"Jareth, please, I'd never leave you. Take me, please, no more teasing. I love you so much," she sobbed and his heart burst into understanding. Entering her with one fluid movement, there was no time for sweet words or promises. Her bindings became undone and she was holding him, rolling with him on the bed. Claiming her king with a determination that stunned him with its intensity. He pounded into her ruthlessly, her legs tightly around his waist, pulling him into her even more. Each thrust made their shared magic explode into waves of pleasure, each scream of passion merged their souls more tightly into the others. It was perfect and it was hell and Sarah wanted more.
"Faster, harder, mine," the words came from her mouth in panting whispers. "Forever, Jareth - mine, forever."
With a final scream of triumph, he came within her, filling her with himself in a pulsing rush of power. Her walls tightened as he came inside of her, squeezing every last bit of him she could get. They lay there together, breathless and catching their breath. He kissed her brow and smiled.
"I shall have to tie you up more often, love. It seems I do have power over you when needed."
"Hmm, to a point, my king. Your parents seem to like me."
At his look of surprise she smiled. "So tell me more about these challenges I must win to earn your heart."
He kissed her long and hard. "That's to win your throne, you won my heart the moment I knew you existed."
"Mmm, sounds nice. Sleep now, talk later," she said, fading into slumber. He pulled her close and smiled. Later he might have to tie her up again so he could propose properly. Never hurt to have some leverage.