I'm not sure what to say about this chapter, I thought I could resolve issues between Jareth and Sarah, maybe I just raised more.
Chapter 5
"Give me the child." A defiant voice rang out through the throne room echoing around the bare stone walls.
Jareths head snapped up. "Impossible." He breathed as Sarah strode into his throne room.
He hadn't noticed her attire before in the darkness of her bedroom, some sick twist of fate had made her wear the exact outfit she had worn nine years ago. He had to admit she looked much better in it this time around, but silently cursed himself for the weakness that made him think that.
"It isn't possible, you can not have traversed the Labyrinth so quickly!"
"You think I didn't see this day as a possibility? You think I wouldn't plan for when you would drag me back to the Labyrinth?" Sarah continued towards the throne that Jareth was now sitting straight in, little Jay held tightly in his lap.
"How?" The short question was all he could manage.
"The clue was in the story all along. 'Say your right words, The goblins said' or at least that is what the Book instructed. So I asked the right question of a little blue worm."
She had walked the outer corridor of the Labyrinth for at least 5 minutes until she heard the voice of the worm. His hair was no longer an electric blue, it was now streaked with grey.
"'Ello Lady Sarah, I see you solved the labyrinth."
"Thank you for your help last time." She bent down to the little worms eye line. "How's the missus?"
"She's good. Would you like to come inside and 'ave a cup of tea and meet her?"
"No sorry. I have to get to the castle."
"Not solve the labyrinth again?"
"Not this time. Do you know how to get to the castle beyond the goblin city?" Of course the worm wouldn't know how to get through the maze but he would know the short cuts that all the denizens of the Labyrinth would use.
"Turn left not right. That way will take you straight to the castle." The worm was beaming.
"Thank you again. One day I'll come in for that cup of tea." Sarah promised before continuing on her journey.
"Turns out that the Castle beyond the Goblin City isn't that far away when you know the right path to take."
Sarah could see the anger on Jareths face as she grew closer to the throne. His scowl was pronounced.
"Do I have to start in with the tired old lines, or are you actually going to talk to me?" She demanded after the Goblin Kings silence went on too long. "Fine then, 'Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I fought my way back here'..."
"Sarah! Stop this, just say your pathetic curse and get out of my sight." He commanded and Jay disappeared from his arms in a puff of glitter.
"Like I'm going to let you get off that easy. I waited for nine years to have this talk with you."
Jareth couldn't help but stare at the enraged woman, she looked magnificent when she was pissed off, he would enjoy angering her, "Where would you like to start?" He rested his black gloved fingertips together.
"Well I would like to finish at the misconceptions you have about the child, about where he comes from, but lets start at the beginning. 'What no one knew', why I ended up in the Labyrinth the first time."
"You wished away your brother. It is my duty to take the unwanted children of your realm. You were silly enough to offer him to me." He kept his face perfectly controlled
"Jareth I was 15, a child, didn't you ever do something witless when you were that age. Oh wait I forgot, you're the goblin king, a vain fae bastard who delights in toying with the emotions of innocent little girls and obvious never does anything stupid."
"I toyed with your emotions?" The mask of indifference slipped slightly at the insults.
"It took me three years to figure out the meaning of 'fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.' and realizing that I've never had a stable relationship with any male other than my kid brother, after meeting you, took a lot longer."
"You must of know how I felt about you." incredulity tainted his voice
"Not at the time. You don't really make the best first impression. All I knew is that you made me choose between my brother or you, which in my head was no choice at all. Especially as I thought it was all some trick. It broke my heart a year or so later when I realized even if you had been serious I would have made the same choice." her voice had climbed to shouting volume and then back down to plead with him. "I need to know, for my peace of mind if nothing else, what ever happened after you said those words. Did you love me at any point, or was it all a trick?"
Jareth could see the tears in her eyes and had to go through Sarahs list of transgressions in his mind to keep his rage from fading. He found it hard to speak, clearing his throat before replying, "I was intrigued, before you wished Toby away, by the power of your belief. You were one in a billion in the modern aboveground, where magic is fading." He managed to sound aloof and uncaring. "Then your stubbornness attracted me further, you were so determined, you dared to defy me even persuading others to do so too. I had to posses you, I had to keep you." He snarled but quickly calmed himself. "I realize now to tame you would have broken what attracted me to your soul. Even then you took my breath away, even so young you were beautiful ."
"But was I more than a passing obsession to you, the immortal king?"
"Yes, you are the obsession of my life." He didn't look pleased at that thought. He stood and closed the distance between them reaching up to place a gloved hand around Sarahs neck, his body mere inches away from hers. "I loved you." It cost nothing to admit after all this time not when he had all the power.
Sarah felt her pulse racing, she was sure that Jareth would feel that through the soft leather of his glove. Strangely, though she didn't feel scared of Jareth, he wanted lasting revenge not to hurt her, this wasn't the way she had envisaged the conversation going. "So are you going to kill me or are you going to kiss me," She looked up at his face, straight into his mismatched eyes. "I'm pretty sure a certain part of your anatomy is saying kiss me right now." she whispered.
He could feel her pulse racing through the leather of his glove, but he saw no fear in her eyes, green eyes that he was drowning in.
He wasn't sure when he brought his mouth down to cover hers. Her lips tasted of peaches. The taste drove him insane, he brutally pulled her body the short distance into his with his free hand, now angry that Sarah had denied him this for so long.
Sarah couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around the infuriating King and parting her lips for him. The scent of cinnamon and musk fill her head, driving her onward.
Eventually it was Sarah who had to come up for air, having to stop Jareth from continuing by using every ounce of her strength and willpower to push him away. She staggered backwards her knees week and her lips swollen but smiling.
"OK that was nice." Was all she could say before she fainted. Jareth was quick enough to catch her before she collapsed on the floor.
"Well I always wanted you in my arms Sarah." He said trying to form coherent thoughts. The kiss had scrambled more than a few of his brain cells. Half were raging at him for kissing his enemy the other half raging that he shouldn't have stopped.
He picked the dazed woman up and transported them to an empty bedchamber, his bedchamber. He placed Sarah on his bed and smoothed the hair out of her face, unsure of what to do with her now.
A knock on the door was a welcome interruption. "Come in."
A small Goblin entered, he never knew how his subjects knew where to find him, they just did. "Queen arrived Sire."
"Which one?" He look sharply at the blue and orange fur covered creature.
"Yer Step-Mother, High Queen Titania."