CHAPTER 7
He saw the magic emit from her wish. His mouth was hanging open. He said, "You have the power of wishing. Only the Goblin King has that power, that I know of. That's amazing." She got spooked a bit and realized this was the power that Jareth gave her.
She was skeptical and asked, "Is that bad or good?"
He laughed happily and said, "That's incredible. You just wished my brother and I happy loving prosperous lives for as long as we live. That's like the kindest gift anyone ever gave us in this life."
She smiled and said, "Good. I really meant that for you both and now I won't have to worry about you after I leave." She kissed his cheek and went inside.
Sarah went upstairs and her kitten was crying his heart and wiggling to the middle of the bed. She came into the room and said, "I'm so sorry it was too cold out for you and I didn't want you to catch a cold, my baby Midnight." She stoked the fire and cuddled him to her neck and got his bottle and filled it up.
She sat in front of the fire and fed him, rubbing him.
—--28th day
The few days she learned from Ruvyn, the spells: containing, releasing, lightening, weighing, bleeding, mending, healing, breaking bones, fixing broken bones.
Ruvyn said, "My brother told me what you did for us a couple days ago, last night. I told him you were special. I just didn't realize how special you really are, Sar. Thank you for your wishing gift. We will always be grateful that you think so fondly of us." He kissed her cheek. She kissed his cheek back.
She said, "I won't ever have to worry about either of you when I'm gone. You both have been a blessing to know." He smiled at her and walked her to the inn.
—--30th day
The day came to leave and she was a little sad but had to go. She woke, went to the bathroom, got dressed and had everything packed up the night before to take with her. She fed the kitten and left him on the bed in his pouch. His little eyes were open now but not focused yet. He wiggled around more and more. She went down and ate breakfast and went to saddle and bring her horse up to the inn.
She went back inside the inn and Camus and Ruvyn both followed her up to grab her stuff from her room to take to her horse. She grabbed Midnight.
She put the kitten in her cloak with the top clasp undone to let the air circulate in her cloak's front for him. She packed up the horse and tied everything down. She turned to each of the brothers and hugged and kissed them lightly on the lips.
She said, "I don't know that I'll ever see you again, but just know. I'll be just fine because of your help. I will always think fondly of you and if I ever return remember me too."
Camus said, "How could we forget the one girl who taught us good fae women do exist. Be safe, beautiful."
Ruvyn said, "You are truly beautiful inside and out, Sar." She mounted the horse and she waved goodbye with tears in her eyes. She left to go down the mountain, to Bhaile.
The mountain was not so bad the trail was a zig zag pattern and wasn't as hard as up on the other side. She stopped and fed the kitten by keeping him inside the cloak so the wind wouldn't touch him on the horse as they made their way down. She made it to the Bhaile by nightfall. She got her baggage and got a room for the night, the innkeeper was human. She took her horse and boarded him over night. She went back to the inn and went to her room and fed the kitten and had him potty. She put him in his pouch and hung him around her neck outside her cloak and went down to find dinner and wine.
A woman approached her sitting next to her and was saying, "Ya be needin' company fer tha night stranger?"
Sarah said, "No thank you."
She asked while trying to pick up the pouch around her neck, "What tha' ya got that?"
Sarah flinched and grabbed her hand in her gloves hand and said low and deadly, "None of your damn business woman!"
The woman said, "Well ya don ave' to get huffy bout' it."
She muttered deliberately, "I 'wish' you would go away and leave me alone." The woman got up and walked away like nothing happened. It worked.
The innkeeper walked over and asked, "Whatcha be needin'?"
Sarah said, "What food do you have? A wine, please.?"
He said, "We got fish pie. Six coppers." He turned and poured her a wine and Sarah put six coppers on the counter. He picked it up and went to get her a serving.
When she got back to her room she fed the kitten, took a bath and washed her hair. She wanted to be fresh before getting caught in the Labyrinth freezing her ass off. After, she stoked the fire and dried her hair. It was getting extremely long. She'd wait until she got to the Goblin City to get some scissors to cut it properly, unless they had a barber. She crawled in bed with her kitten and cuddled him under her chin keeping him warm and fell fast asleep. She only woke up for feedings.
—--31st day
The next morning, she woke up and did her morning routine. She fed the kitten and played a little with him, ate breakfast, packed up and was on her way to the Labyrinth. Like Aron told her it was a half a day away from Bhaile. She came upon the Labyrinth's entrance, but there is no Hoggle to lead her in. It started to snow. She dismounted to lead her horse inside. She asks out loud, "Will you open and allow me passage to the Goblin City?" The kitten cried out and Sarah pulled him out of his pouch and kept him inside her cloak to block him from the wind and snow while feeding him. She cooed and started humming.
Jareth sensed someone was at the gates of the Labyrinth. He pulled up a crystal and saw a black cloaked figure in men's clothing standing at the gates feeding a kit with a tiny bottle inside their cloak humming. He knew it was a female from the voice. Jareth was mesmerized watching the cloaked stranger gently feeding the kit and emitting healing magic on it while she hummed. She kissed the kit on the head and rubbed it on the bum with a leaf. After a few moments, she put it in the kit back in her cloak. She was so caring and gentle. He was going to watch over her and had the Labyrinth open for her to make it to the Goblin City safely. He did not know who she was but found her interesting.
He appeared quickly at the worm's home in the beginning of the entrance of the Labyrinth and said, "Come out to greet your king worm." The worm came out.
The worm said, "Yes, yer majesty, greetings."
Jareth said, "There will be a woman in a black cloak with a horse entering the Labyrinth. I want you to tell her the shortcut to the castle and the Goblin City."
The worm said, "Yes, yer majesty. I will do as ya ask of me." Jareth disappeared.
—--
Sarah led her horse inside slowly and went down the corridor moving things out of the way of her horse. Jareth was watching.
The worm said, "Ello!"
Sarah looked over at him and said, "Hello, nice to see you."
The worm said, "I know yer not a runner. Ya tryin' to get to the castle the fastest way?"
She said, "Why, yes please. If it's no trouble. Thank you."
The worm said, "Aww. No trouble atall. The passage is right across from me. Go to tha left all tha way an ye'll get there in an hour walking. Ya got such nice fancy manners. Ya say please an thank ya. Nice. Maybe sometime ya can come in an ave' tea with me an tha misses?" Sarah thought what a little stinker he was making her go right last time. The worm was to mislead runners so they proceed through the maze instead.
She smiled and said, "Thank you, again. Maybe another time. Good day." Sarah felt the wall and passed through. She led the horse in and went to the left.
The worm said to himself, "Yep a nice. Go figure." He went back inside.
Jareth watched the exchange and thought she was polite and not mean at all to him. Something told him this person was different. She was singing while walking a Celtic tune he never heard of:
"The Old Ways" by Loreena McKennitt
"The thundering waves are calling me home to you
The pounding sea is calling me home to you
On a dark new year's night
On the west coast of Clare
I heard your voice singing
Your eyes danced the song
Your hands played the tune
T'was a vision before me.
We left the music behind and the dance carried on
As we stole away to the seashore
We smelt the brine, felt the wind in our hair
And with sadness you paused.
Suddenly I knew that you'd have to go
Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time
And I wondered why.
As we cast our gaze on the tumbling sea
A vision came o'er me
Of thundering hooves and beating wings
In clouds above.
As you turned to go I heard you call out my name,
You were like a bird in a cage spreading its wings to fly
"The old ways are lost, " you sang as you flew
And I wondered why.
The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you
The thundering waves are calling me home, home to you
The pounding sea is calling me home, home to you
—--
Jareth thought her voice was strong and beautiful. She had him mesmerized. He couldn't stop watching her. That song was from Aboveground and she had an American accent. She is very odd.
Sarah walked going left at every turn and came out after about an hour to the entrance to the castle. She thought wow it bypassed the junkyard and the main gate. She led the horse across the courtyard to the Goblin City.
She took her horse to the inn. She tethered him to the post, grabbed her baggage and went inside. There were about a half dozen people there. Sarah asked in her low voice for a room. The male innkeeper was about forty and said, "Six silver fer standard rooms, eight silver fer one with privy, pump and tub."
She said, "I'll take the eight silver one for three days." She put three gold coins down. The innkeeper gave her back six silver and a key saying number six. She asked for the place to board her horse and the innkeeper said the stable was further down the street. Sarah took her baggage up to her room and put it on the floor then she locked the door. The kitten would be hungry again soon. She took her horse to board him.
When she returned to the inn, she returned to her room and took off her cloak. She fed the kitten, played with him on the bed until he got sleepy and left him on the bed to sleep in his pouch. She went down to get a drink and listen to the gossip. She asked for an ale and sat at the bar at the end.
Two men were talking about the music night tonight and how they had six musicians. He said he was coming and his friend said he would.
A big human man plopped down next to her and ordered an ale. He elbowed her twice in the ribs painfully. He was sparing for a fight with her thinking she was a small man. The bar seats were all empty and he had no other reason but to cause trouble with her. He elbowed her again. She stood up to leave.
He grabbed her arm painfully and said, "Ye some kinda weakling boy?" She was glad she left the kitten upstairs.
The innkeeper said, "Leave em' be Jackel!" He tightened his grip and it was super painful. Sarah flipped his arm around and pinned it to his back with his pressure point in his wrist between her fingers. Not a sound could be heard from eight or nine people in the tavern inn.
She slammed his head down on the bar hard, busted his eyebrow open and roared, "The only boy in here is you acting like an ass! You touch me again and I'll break every bone in your oversized body and feed it to the wolves! Now apologize or feel the pain!"
Jackal yelled, "I'll be tearing ye head off, boy!" She squeezed hard on the pressure point and the man screamed in agony. He said, "Ok, ok… I…I'm sorry. Now let me go!" She released him. He bolted up and took a swing at her. She ducked and kicked him in the nuts and he bent over and howled and she punched him in the face and his nose was crunching.
She said deadly mean, "I was minding my own business and you caused this! I'll take you piece by piece if I must! Apologize and mean it!" He stood back up and yanked her hood off. She punched him in the face again and swept his feet making him fall backwards to the floor again.
She yelled, "Apologize, you stupid animal!"
He sat staring at her. He was astonished that a dark haired beautiful fae female, at that, she was wearing men's clothing and fought like a man too. He said, "Sorry, malady fer the misunderstanding." He got off the floor and left. Everyone was staring at her. She stomped upstairs to her room.
She was fuming pissed off. She unlocked her door, relocked the door, shed her cloak, made a fire quickly, took off her gloves and laid down on the bed with her sore arm over her eyes. She felt it before she saw him, magic snapped and crackled in her room.
Jareth stood there and said, "That was impressive for a female fae. You fought like a human male." She sat up and looked at him astonished at his audacity. He didn't say a word and just stood there with his head cocked and staring at her.
She calmly and in control said, "Yeah, well tell my bruised arm how impressive it was."
He cocked his head like an owl would and said, "Why do you have an Aboveground American accent and dark hair?"
Sarah looked him in the eyes, "You don't miss much do you?"
He cocked his head again like trying to hear better and said, "Like what?"
She said, "Nevermind. I'm from very far away. Answer me this question? Why are you in my room that I paid for and locked the door? Couldn't you wait to approach me in the street somewhere?"
He was put out for being reprimanded, "It's my kingdom. I can go where I please."
She said, "Ah, but it's my bedroom bought and paid for in your kingdom for privacy and it's not polite behavior even for a king to intrude on a ladies privacy in a private room, even if it's his kingdom. It's bad protocol and behavior for any man to do that. Perhaps, it was a mistake to come here. I should have gone elsewhere. There's people trying to hurt me, fae men watching me through their crystals, without a doubt in my mind, and now this. I'll be leaving at sunrise and forget the three days I paid for." Jareth pouted and knew he stepped in it and she was right it was an invasion of privacy for a fae female. He had never been called out on anything and hated feeling embarrassed. It's just he wanted to know who she was so badly and if she was alright. He may have overstepped himself.
Jareth pouted and said, "You don't have to leave. I may have made an error, but my intentions were mostly to see if you were alright."
Sarah thought he was cute when he pouted. She said to herself, 'Stop it, Sarah! He's seeing some chick called Lady Zilyana from the Fairy Kingdom and a Princess Emiline from there too. He's not for you.' She sighed and said, "He bruised my arm pretty badly."
He sat down next to her on the bed and lifted the tunic sleeve up on her arm to the elbow and it was already turning black. He waved his hand over her arm and did a diagnostic spell. He hissed and said softly, "It's cracked, both bones and deep bone and tissue bruising. My healer at the castle can heal it like new for you? Will you come with me?"
She said, "I can heal it myself, but thank you for the offer." He frowned, not being able to help her. It would ingratiate her if he could have.
She cast a green crystal and pressed it into her forearm and emitted healing magic on her arm, as she did it. The bruising faded and the arm stopped aching. She was healed.
He said, "Who are you? Where did you come from?"
She wasn't sure she should tell him yet. She said, "I'm Sar. I just came from Bhaile." He huffed. She giggled.
He said, "You are not like any other fae, why is that?"
She said, "Because I have never been like everyone else and I like it that way."
Jareth said,"That's how humans think, not fae."
She said, "I was raised by humans. So there you go." His eyebrows went up. He knew that explained why she acts differently.