Record update time? I was inspired this morning after reading the reviews so I started writing the next chapter. Please enjoy and sorry about any bad grammar.
Chapter 7
Sarah watched over Toby as he slept in bed. John had forgotten to ask her what her new master's address, and so Sarah used the chance to say that Toby needed to go to bed. John did ask how long she would be staying in the house, and Sarah answered saying she would go into town and speak with her master about how long she would be permitted to remain. She hated to lie to John since he was kind to Toby and to her, but she did not know how to resolve this situation.
Sarah wanted to bring Toby back with her to the Labyrinth, however she did not know if Jareth would allow this for her. She believed he would since Jareth was fond of children, but she did not know how she would call upon him to help her. Another wish might do the trick, but she felt hesitant again. If she wished herself and Toby away to the Goblin King would they belong entirely to him? Then Jareth would be the one to decide their fate after he married Blanche. Although Sarah trusted him she wished to remain independent of him in this situation. He already owned too much of her heart and soon he would be forced to send her away. If she had to leave she wished to leave on her terms not his.
Sarah sighed and glanced out the single window in Toby's room. The moonlit snow cast reflected light into the small room. The air in the room was frigid, even with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders Sarah felt cold.
"As your slave I will not allow you to feel cold again."
"Liar." Sarah said aloud as she heard his vow echo faintly in her head. Her grasp tightened on the blanket as she sat huddled over in her chair.
The door opened slowly, Sarah looked over expecting to see John checking on her and Toby, but instead she saw Karen.
Sarah jumped up from her seat and stared at Karen. Karen was stilled dressed in her bedclothes from before, but with a thick robe to protect her thin frame from the cold. Karen looked at Sarah with an annoyed expression, and then stepped into the room shutting the door behind her.
"What brings you here Karen?"
Karen walked slowly over to the foot of Toby's bed and sat down on the edge of it. She looked down at her sleeping son and did not speak.
"Karen?" Sarah's becoming anxious then. "What are you doing?"
"Checking on my son." Karen answered angrily. "I can't have an old servant tainting him again." Karen glared at Sarah then. "Where did you run off to last year?"
Sarah stared back defiantly. "I found work far away from here." She said honestly.
"Where and for who?" Karen pressed.
"I won't tell you." Sarah said. "You'll just tell them lies." Karen would do anything to hurt Sarah again.
"I only tell the truth, and the truth is my servant, no, my step-daughter ran away from home." Karen told her mockingly. "And her poor sick step-mother dearly wishes for her to stay, and remain." She added threateningly. "I can't afford to pay for staff anymore Sarah, and I can barely afford to keep Toby in school, so either you come back and keep this house running, or I send Toby away for good."
"You wouldn't dare." Sarah said softly, not believing Karen's threats.
"You little witch!" Karen snarled. "I kept you in this house, and this is how you repay me?! I wish I had a child that listened to my orders and didn't need school! That would be better than you and Toby!"
Sarah stared at Karen horrified for a brief moment before a great rush of wind thrust the window open. Both Karen and Sarah covered their face as the wind circulated roughly through the room. Sarah was pushed against the wall by the force of the wind and Karen braced herself on Toby's bed to stop from falling over. When the wind finally left the room Sarah opened her eyes and immediately saw that Toby was no longer under the covers of his bed.
"Toby?" Sarah cried softly. "No…how could-?!" Sarah turned to accuse Karen of what she did, but instead she cried out again at the sight she saw before her.
A familiar little elf was in the room with her and Karen. "Hello Mother." Adele said as she curtsied for Karen.
Karen stared dumbfounded at the little elf before her. "Mother?" She repeated.
Adele giggled and stepped forward to touch Karen's face. She stared until Karen was trapped in her gaze.
"Yes, I am your daughter. I am your sweet little Adele." She told her sweetly. "I love you, and I swear to take care of you and listen to you. I will even stay at home to take care of you instead of going to school."
"Yes." Karen said dreamily.
"You love me very much." Adele told her.
"I do." Karen said happily.
Adele smiled sweetly at Karen. "It's time for you to sleep Mother." Adele told her. "Lie down on the bed." Karen obeyed and Adele pulled the blankets over so she would be warm. "Sleep now Mother and we'll play together tomorrow."
Sarah stared in shock as Adele pulled the final bits of the blanket over to cover Karen's sleeping form. "Adele?" Sarah said quietly.
Adele turned and smiled sweetly at Sarah. She rushed over and hopped into Sarah's arms.
"Sarah!" She said happily snuggling Sarah.
"Adele?" Sarah hugged her close and pressed her face into Adele's soft curls. "What has happened?"
Adele pulled back and looked at Sarah. "Your step-mother wished Toby away, so I took his place."
"Oh no Adele! Not Karen!" Sarah could not believe this was happening. She almost felt pity for Karen who suffer greatly once Adele had grown up and no longer needed Karen. Sarah would worry more for Adele though, and she would miss the little girl greatly.
"Don't worry!" Adele hopped out of Sarah's arms. "Everything will be fine, and now I'll get to grow up, and so when I come back to the Underground I'll be a proper lady!"
"That's wonderful for you Adele, but where is Toby?" Sarah asked worryingly.
"He is in the Goblin City." Adele told her and then she glanced quickly out the window. "Master is waiting for you."
Sarah followed Adele's line of sight and saw a barn owl watching them from the tree branches.
Sarah looked down at Adele tears beginning to well in her eyes. "Is this goodbye for now Adele?"
Adele was looking glum now too. "For now, but Master said human years pass quickly for our kind."
"So we'll be together again soon?"
"That's what Master said." Adele answered. "Bye bye Sarah!" She hugged Sarah again around her skirts.
"Goodbye Adele." Sarah said holding back her tears and wishing Adele an easy few years with Karen. She stroked her curly hair one last time before stepping away from her and leaving the room. She walked downstairs and past through the living room where John slept on the sofa with a book in his hands.
"Goodbye John." Sarah said quietly. "I hope that your school comes to life, and I wish you a good life." She said earnestly, watching him as he rested not knowing of what event shad just taken place. Sarah entered the kitchen leaving John to his dreams before stepping out the back door.
Sarah stepped out into the yard, snow crunched under her feet. She looked around in the branches trying to find where the Goblin King was perched.
"Jareth?" She called out looking around for some sign of life in the sleeping woods. Sarah then saw something red and round lying on the snow. It was a plump, red berry that followed a trail of berries leading into the woods. Sarah followed the trail laughing out loud at the dramatics of the Goblin King.
"Just like Adele's story." She said chuckling quietly as she traveled further into the woods. The woods were thick around the perimeter of their domain, but as she traveled further in the number of trees lessened as the berries led her to a dead meadow within the woods. A frozen stream cut through the empty space, and a thick branch hanging over the icy stream is where a familiar owl perched patiently waiting for her arrival.
"Hello Jareth." She said and the owl cooed softly in response. The only two breathing creatures within the forest.
Sarah stared at Jareth, wondering why he did not change back to his normal form to greet her. Then she remembered how her story for Adele had ended.
Sarah scowled at him and the owl hooted a few times as though it were chuckling.
"I should never doubt your attention to details." Sarah held out her arm as an invitation for him. He flew off the branch at once and landed gracefully on her arm.
Sarah laughed and stroked his feathers softly. He stared up expectantly at her and she laughed softly.
"You are far too cruel to me to be deserving of a kiss." She told him archly and he hooted again protesting her words.
Sarah smiled at the little owl perched on her arm. "If you say I must then I suppose I have no choice." She kissed the brow of his owl form and suddenly he vanished and the wind blew again, but not as fiercely as before and when she looked up again the Goblin was bowing before her.
"Hello Sarah." Jareth said reverently before rising up from his bow. "How dare you," He began saying mockingly "taking an absence without your master's approval." He said disapprovingly.
"I have only been gone a few hours." Sarah returned. "I would hardly call that an absence."
"True, but you have not earned a leave yet from me to vanish so quickly and so abruptly." He scowled at her then. "Your timing for such a vanishing was ill chosen as well."
"It is hardly my fault." She told him. "My brother wished for me to return and so I returned."
"Yes, I have been expecting this wish from him for a while now, his mother even made the same wish repeatedly during your absence before he made it."
"She did? But how was I not returned then?" Sarah wondered.
"Your wish to never be found by her override her wish to find you, and so you remained hidden in my castle."
"Where is my brother now?"
"He is with the goblins, and I believe he is enjoying himself with them."
"I can't wait to see him again." She told Jareth so he would promptly return them to the Labyrinth.
"But Sarah, I hired you to look after Adele, and now she is gone to fulfill her purpose in life." He reminded her. "What am I to do with you now that your wish has been fulfilled?"
Sarah had not realized that detail when Adele appeared, and now dread filled her stomach as she realized her time with the Goblin King was at its end. She hated that she could not leave as she wished to, and now she was at his mercy.
"I suppose I can no longer serve you." Sarah said loud enough to be heard by him.
"True, and now your brother is in my possession as well." Sarah looked at him in alarm. "Do not worry Sarah, he is safe in the Goblin City, but the laws of my land forbid me from returning him to Earth until his mother recalls her actions at the end of Adele's tenure."
"So, I cannot see him again?"Sarah said angrily. The Goblin King had pushed her far too much this time.
"Sarah-." He began saying, but Sarah cut him off.
"No! I can't this anymore!" She snapped. "I will speak now or never speak to you again!"
Jareth stared at her and nodded to say that he would hear her speak.
"I have served you loyally for nearly two months. I have made Adele a well mannered little girl. I have done as you asked, and yet you have treated me so cruelly!" She accused.
Jareth stared at her silently waiting for her to continue.
"You could not let me reject these feelings that you have put upon me to accept. You let my heart grow fond for you during your absence and you still seek me out to elicit these feelings and all the while you are courting another right before my eyes. Why do I still love you now? You will leave me for a woman you do not love, and now you have taken my only brother away from me! Why after all that you have done!"
"Sarah." He said warningly reaching out to grasp her arms.
"No!" She said trying to push his hands away from her. "I am free of you now! I longer serve you as Adele is longer with you! You cannot make me stay by your side any longer!"
"I will not force you to stay Sarah!" He said holding onto her she tried to pull away. "Listen to me!" He struggled to keep her within his grasp. "Listen to me now as the last command of your master!" He entreated.
Sarah stopped her struggle against him and stared up at him waiting to hear his final words before she fled from him for good.
"Sarah," He began "I will admit I have been cruel to you, far too cruel than you ever deserved, but you were the one that first looked at me with such cruelty in your eyes." He pulled her closer to him. "The night of the fire I wished for you to see my feelings for you, but I saw your hesitation that held back your ability to see my intentions. I cursed that expression your eyes held and knew I had no choice but to act at once to change your eyes from their hesitance to reveal their inner fondness. I decided to ally myself with you're jealously to reveal those hidden feelings you held for me. Blanche was used as a tool to accomplish this end, but I made one miscalculation in my pursuit of you." He admitted.
Sarah stared wonderingly at him. His grip on her had eased as he realized that he had her complete attention. Jareth held her against his chest and raised a hand to cup her face.
"I realized that you would soon flee out of anger if I did not reveal my feelings for you soon. Then you vanished before my eyes and I glimpsed at your future here if you were to leave me for this realm. I can longer allow the risk of you leaving me before I confess my feelings to you Sarah."
"Sir-." She began saying.
"No." He cut off. "Know me only as Jareth as I am no longer your master. I beg of you now as your servant to remain with me. Return with me to my kingdom as my bride." He begged her desperately pressing his head to hers. "I cannot live without you now Sarah. You are mine as I am now yours. Please answer me Sarah."
Sarah stood silently for a moment. In that time the pain her heart had endured throughout these trials vanished from her. Joy filled her mind as she realized that she was always his intended, but she would pay him back for his previous antics. For now though, she would enjoy this moment with him.
Sarah raised her arms to embrace him around his torso. Jareth wrapped his cloak around her as she entered his embrace.
"You are so cold." Jareth said. "How can you have forgotten to wrap a cloak around yourself before leaving the house?"
"Because I knew you would be here to keep me warm as you promised." She teased.
Jareth chuckled. "I will always be here, but where will you be?" He asked her still waiting for an answer from you.
Sarah smiled and pulled back to look at him. "With you." She said simply.
Jareth grinned and raised her up in his arms and spun her around in the frozen meadow. Sarah giggled at his antics and laughed till he paused and he began to lower her again and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him before he could place her back on the ground.
Jareth accepted her kiss gratefully and held her up against him as he kissed her back. Sarah kissed his lips, then the corners of his lips, and his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder.
"Sarah…" He murmured against her hair. "I finally found you, and I won't allow any force in this world to take you from me."
"What force would dare intervene?" Sarah said as he let her feet touch the ground again. She smiled up at him as he looked down at her with a somber expression.
"I swear that nothing will take you away from me." He repeated to her. "I'll always care for you and you alone."
"I know." Sarah said touching her hand to his face and giving his lips a quick kiss before saying. "Let's go home now Jareth."
Jareth grinned at her. "Yes, my little wife." He said trying out the word. "Your brother is waiting eagerly for you as we dally here."
They transported back to the Underground in a swirl of wind and snow where Toby and the goblins waited for their return to the Goblin City, and another creature was also waiting for the dear couple to return.