Chapter Thirty-Three
Jareth
What would be Day 31 of Quarantine.
Underground.
The Labyrinth.
Toby found Jareth at the edges of the party, sometime after midnight. "Hey."
The Goblin King nodded. "Thank you for staying well away, as we discussed."
The young man made a face. "I basically missed the whole thing."
Jareth shrugged, unconcerned when it came to keeping his beloved's family safe. "I'm sure the kitchens appreciated the help."
Toby snorted.
One of the methods of ensuring that the young mortal remained safe from the throng of fae and other denizens of the Underground was to ensure he was at work. So, directly after the ceremony, Jareth had Toby go to assist with the kitchen staff. He had been told the young man performed admirably, showing a genuine interest and curiosity in how things were run with magic instead of technology.
And it had ensured that Toby was not there, when Aurora could have easily turned her deadly attention to the weakest amongst them.
So many moving parts.
So many things that could have gone wrong.
"I do wish you to know how grateful I am, that you listened," Jareth said now. "You will have more free reign today, with the coronation."
Toby grinned, brushing flyaway hair away from his face. "Is there going to be another party afterward?"
"Yes."
"Can I drink at this one?"
Jareth arched a brow. "If it were to me alone, young Tobias, I would say yes, but it is your sister's day, and you are hers, now. I gave you to her a few moments ago, as one of my grooms gifts."
Toby made a gagging noise. "You didn't!"
Jareth smiled and bowed his head. "Speaking of, I need to find my bride. The night has been long."
Toby looked around until he spotted Rico, looking dejected on one of the glittering golden guest chairs. The young man's expression brightened.
Jareth was waylaid by the new High King Ildris, the man's dark eyes unmistakably like Aurora's, but filled with a greater calculation. A higher degree of cunning. "I would speak with you, Goblin King."
Stifling a sigh, Jareth inclined his head back toward where he had been standing with the young Toby. "We could go for a walk in the gardens. The moonlight is bright enough."
"Yes," Ildris agreed. "That will do."
As he turned away, Jareth touched the tattoo on his forearm. He told Sarah what was happening and added, when I return, I think it time that we make our excuses.
He heard nothing back until he and the High King were near Ingrid's pools. Be careful, my love.
Ildris was silent for some time, watching the moonlight on the still waters, before his low voice rumbled out. "Aurora was our High Queen for centuries, and from what I understand she was victimizing your brother the entire time."
Jareth was silent, low-simmering rage still within him. A part felt as though her demise had been too quick, too easy. But they had needed to act quickly or risk being overpowered.
"I am told you gave her a gift, the night before."
"Yes," Jareth said at last. "A mirror from the heart of the Labyrinth. As her heir, it is yours now."
"I don't know if I want it. What would she have seen in it, that made her act this way? My cousin was many things, but flights of passion in front of witnesses? It was not her style."
Jareth's smile was cutting as he turned fully to face his new High King. "The mirror creates an intense longing for the vision within. Even I am not fully immune to the properties, though this does help." He touched his pendant, the amulet that was as ancient as Faerie itself. "I confess that I was aided by the Labyrinth. This place did not want her as supreme ruler."
King Ildris looked at the ground beneath his feet. As though it was aware of the conversation, the Labyrinth trembled. "Ah," he said. "I have not yet been given access to our most private archives, but from family dinners I remember that there was not much known of the Labyrinth. Its power and its properties." He eyed the ground, then the sky. "I would not wish to make an enemy of this place."
"As we would not wish to make an enemy of you. Despite these circumstances we find ourselves in," Jareth said. "Perhaps we can come to an understanding."
###
It was in the early hours of the morning when Jareth and Sarah finally managed to make their excuses and left the wedding party, Sarah stumbling a little as he took her in his arms like the bride she was, transporting them to his rooms in the tower.
"Let me down," she said through a yawn as soon as they were alone. "I can walk."
"You've had a lot of champagne," he said, moving to one of the couches before setting her down gently. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," she purred, hand running down his chest as he released her. "Definitely good enough to consummate."
Jareth let out a low laugh and summoned some water for her, watching as she took a sip. "More, please."
She smiled. "And then sex?"
He just stared, eyes not leaving her face.
Sarah Williams. Champion of the Labyrinth.
His bride. His wife.
"You still haven't told me what you discussed with the High King," she said as she set the empty goblet down on a side table. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes," he said gently, taking the hand she offered him and helping her to rise. "Shall I undress you with magic or would you prefer the slow approach?"
She grinned and wobbled a little on her feet, leaning against him. "Take it off however you want," she whispered. "I just want to be with you."
Alcohol and exhaustion were within Sarah's expression, however, her eyelids drooping slightly as she blinked.
He grasped her face and kissed her, sinking into the sensation for just a moment before pulling away. "Sleep, I think."
She pouted, lower lip fully out. "I thought—"
"You're dead on your feet. As am I. Let us make love when we wake, my dear, but sleep together in the meantime."
In the end, Sarah did not need much convincing. She staggered toward his wide bed, falling onto it so that he had to undress her with magic, not bothering to garb her at all in the end. She murmured sleepily as he tucked her beneath the covers, undressed himself, and crawled in next to her.
###
It was at the apex of midmorning when Jareth woke, not even having the memory of falling asleep. The last thing he recalled was tucking Sarah against him.
But now fingers were trailing down his exposed chest, followed moments later by the press of heated lips.
"Good morning, husband," she whispered, and his eyes flew open, finding sunlight streaming through the multiple windows of his tower room, illuminating a most erotic performance by his bride, who took him in her mouth without another word.
Jareth hissed, hands clawing at the covers, and she made a satisfied sound as she pulled him deeper, sucking harder. "Gods!" he cried, eyes sliding shut again as he tried desperately not to thrust up into her waiting mouth.
Sarah sucked him for some time, making low noises in the back of her throat, until Jareth said, "Precious if you keep going…"
She popped him from her mouth, smiling, her lips wet as she crawled up his body, thighs going to either side of his hips.
Sarah did not speak as she grasped his length, lining him up before sinking down, her muscles clamping down around his cock enough to make him gasp, grasping her waist. When she began to rock he lost himself to sensation, head tipped back as she rode him.
There was the sound of birdsong, of voices so far below in the courtyard that they were little more than gentle noise, and Sarah's hard breathing. Her little gasps of breath as he hit deeper, his hips flexing to thrust into her, were like music.
She laced her fingers with his, bending to press a kiss to his lips as she continued her motions. Her tongue was soft, petting against his own, and soon he could sense that his end was coming upon him. He gripped her hips, holding her in place while he rocketed into her several more times before going still, her breathy moans against his ear as he poured into her.
Sarah's hands slid up his chest to his shoulders, then along his neck and into his hair. She purred. "I can't believe we're married."
Jareth grinned, hugging her close, still buried to the hilt within her. "It took long enough. I've wanted you for some time, precious, remember."
"How could I forget?" she raised up, dark hair like a curtain around them. She wiggled and slid him from her, rolling off him so she was stretched by his side, skin illuminated by the sunlight. "Every year…"
"For thirteen years," he said, smiling and cupping her face. How incredible, to be able to touch her so freely! "You are worth it, my love. Every second of waiting, to have this as the outcome."
She slid toward him, her smile hesitant. "You're sure you're glad it was me?"
"Yes, I'm sure," he assured her. "You are my match. We resonate. And today, I will crown you as Queen by my side."
###
They slept, talked, and loved away the morning, and now it was early afternoon, and the coronation was to take place in a scant few hours.
"Are you ready?" Jareth asked Sarah, combing through her hair with a boar bristle brush while she hummed in appreciation.
"To be Queen? I don't think anyone would ever be ready for that." She laughed a little and reached up, grasping his hand. "I'm just glad you'll be there with me, helping. There's still so much I don't know."
He gripped her back. "I would never let you do this alone, precious." Kissing her cheek, he finished with the brush and looked at her through the reflection in the mirror. "You do still want to do this?"
"Yes," she breathed. "It feels right."
He nodded. "It does."
###
Unlike the wedding, where everything was in shades of cream and gold, silver and opalescence, the coronation was something fierce. A grand showing of everything The Goblin Kingdom represented. Black dominated the color scheme, and Sarah herself was dressed with only hints of deepest emerald to intersperse with the dark hues.
Jareth brought her forth into the throne room, holding his arm out so that her hand could rest lightly upon it. They matched, just as they had the day before. Only this time, she wore goblin armor. Glittering and perfectly suited to her, yes, but still very much an outfit more suited for war. She wore a tattered, glimmering cape of black and emerald. Her hair was pulled up, braided into a complicated pile atop her head.
The throng of congregated guests was slightly different now than it had been at their wedding, containing High King Ildris and his entourage, newly come to take over an entire wing of the castle. There were rumblings of war, already, now that there was a perceived power vacuum. Ildris had remained here, to oversee the coronation, but he would be needed at the Seelie Court, and soon.
As Sarah looked out upon the fae, the centaurs, fairies, scattering of goblins still awake, and Toby, her representation of humanity—Jareth felt something strange shift in him.
The Labyrinth. It was focusing so intently that he could feel a great anticipation, and words. Actual words!
Queen. My Queen.
Pride flowed through him, and Jareth raised a hand to the assembled group. "Long has this day been awaited. The Labyrinth itself blesses that the Champion, Sarah Williams, be granted today the title of Goblin Queen. The very first. May her reign last a thousand years!"
"A thousand, thousand years!" Aldric bellowed from near the front, granting him a quick smile from Sarah.
The crown that Jareth had prepared materialized in his hands. It was an amalgam of lethal-looking black gold points, brilliant emeralds, and fine, twisting silver. It looked spectacular, especially, nestled among her raven tresses.
Jareth bowed slightly to her, and announced, "Queen Sarah of The Goblin Kingdom!"
"Queen Sarah!" echoed those in attendance. There were whoops of enthusiasm from Toby and Rico, and then a rolling cheer. "Long live the Queen! Queen Sarah!"
Sarah sank onto her throne, and after a moment standing to the side, gazing at her with barely-disguised wonder, Jareth took the seat beside her.
The throne room erupted in noise and cheers. Even High King Ildris raised a fist to the sky and called out alongside the others.
###
There were more guests and attendants then what could fit comfortably in the throne room, and they spent time snaking through, bowing to their new Queen while she stared serenely down at them, or else gave a half-smile at some of the antics of the sleepy goblins who remained. Most of the rest of those would be down before the end of the month. Samhain was typically the last day before the entire kingdom would go quiet.
But there were fae, Jareth knew through his talk with High King Ildris, who would be joining his court now, and even more moving forward.
Apparently there had long been a dearth of places to put the more troublesome members of their court. For the fae who skirted the line between crime and acceptable social behavior. Young ones, most far less in years than either Aldric or Jareth, but he could not help but want to hope that this could be a good thing.
Yes, dozens of troublemakers descending upon his kingdom would have given him a headache of monumental proportions in the past, but his Sarah? She was up for the challenge.
And she needed peers. Perhaps they could take some of these precocious fae in hand and create a court like no other.
Plus, Jareth could not have said no. Not after what had transpired, and all that he and Ildris had spoken of. The laws of the Seelie Court were clear in terms of regicide. The perpetrators were tortured and killed. But never before had the ones doing the killing had this much a right to it. Rights writ down long before the Seelie Court was founded, with all its little laws. The Laws of Faerie were as old as the land itself.
And something had changed since Aurora died, her body now on its way back to the Court. From the scattered reports he had heard between all the goings-on, Jareth had heard flowers were blooming along the route. Apples, plums, and peaches were hanging ripe from trees long barren. It was unsettling, but a good sign.
Faerie itself was celebrating her demise. Surely, having its own power used to torment another was never what the land had wanted. Never how that power should have been used.
When the line of attendees reached its end, Sarah rose, looking to Jareth with an expression so regal that he felt the impulse to bow deeply. "Shall we?"
Jareth offered his arm, and with a nod toward his brother, they disappeared from the throne room.
###
They had prepared pavilions out on the sweeping yard for the vast majority of those celebrating the coronation, but High King Ildris and members of the Seelie Court would feast and dance in a massive, multi-stored greenhouse that had been emptied of all but the largest trees and flowers for this occasion.
The sun was still casting slanted, crimson rays when Jareth and Sarah arrived, their guests well into the celebration.
High King Ildris saw them first and raised a goblet in toast. "To our Goblin King and Queen."
A hush fell over the crowd, the musicians stopped their playing, and then everyone was echoing the toast. Jareth summoned a cup of wine for them both, passing one to Sarah so she could join in. She took a demure sip, but kept her gaze on him. There was a weight to that look that he was unsure of.
They made a small circulation of the room before he was able to pull her to the side, behind a potted shrubbery that created a shaded alcove.
"What's wrong?" he whispered to her.
Sarah tapped her shoulder, her voice sliding through his mind a moment later. Something happened, when you crowned me. The Labyrinth feels stronger in my mind.
Jareth could not help but smile. "You are ruler in more than heart and soul, but by law, now. All the laws, witnessed by the High King himself. Of course this feels different."
She narrowed her gaze, not taking her hand from the tattoo. I thought it had settled, before.
He shook his head, and finally slid fingers to the tattoo of an owl in flight, one of her sketches inked now permanently into the skin of his forearm. I told you that it might change, when your claimant was cemented. There will be some adjustment, now, but you are no longer mortal. You are our Queen, and the Labyrinth has claimed and changed you. You're touched, and that power is finally coming to settle here, in Faerie, where it and you have always belonged.
It was hard to explain, without relying on the words of the fae language. He wanted to switch to it, to say what was writ in his soul. Her language simply failed to express what this was, what she now was, to all of them.
"You are a miracle," he said aloud. "Nothing less."
Sarah tilted her head, then startled and straightened, ensuring her crown was still in place. She was opening her mouth to say something when a loud voice interrupted their little pocket of quiet. "There you are! Sarah, I'm an adult. If we were in Europe I could have a drink. Let me drink. Please?"
She sighed, rolling her eyes as she moved away from Jareth and toward her brother. He let her go with a slight squeeze to her fingers, then emerged himself to continue playing the game he had been so long denied. None other than Aldric by his side.
"A day long in the making, brother," he said now, nodding to where Sarah was surrounded by well-wishers and those hoping to find favor with the new, young Queen. They did not know her at all, and the probing questions were obvious even from across the dance floor. Aldric offered a small toast of his own. "May her reign and your own be long and full of fortune."
"I approve, brother," Jareth said. Then, quietly. "There are many I wish were here to celebrate with us."
Aldric pulled in a breath. "I am sorry—"
"I know," Jareth said. "That does not make it any better, or what you did anything less than murder. You must atone."
His brother's expression could have meant anything, and nothing. "I don't know what would be enough."
Jareth nodded. "We will speak on this more, soon, but I think you should begin with the families of those you wronged. See what justice they require."
Aldric paled. Some of those families were here, tonight. They seemed to sense the tone of conversation between Goblin King and his long adversary, and had their chins raised, their eyes slitted toward the two. "Now?" Aldric whispered.
"You may as well. This is going to take up a good deal of your time." For how long, it was little telling. His crimes listed in the dozens.
Aldric grasped a goblet of spirits from a passing server and dashed down the contents, gasping slightly. "I will do as you ask, Goblin King."
###
Jareth stood on the balcony overlooking the dance floor, forearms propped on the railing and cloak hanging around him, making him, no doubt, look like a brooding sort of character. That's where Sarah found him at last. "King Ildris has departed," she said in greeting. "The representatives from the centaurs and the elves have also left. I think the party is dying down."
"Did you ever let your brother imbibe?" he asked, turning to look at her. She looked stunning, the crown still glittering atop her head.
"A small sip of faerie wine, and he was stumbling off to bed," she said, laughing. "I think he'll be embarrassed in the morning, if he remembers anything."
"Faerie wine is exceptionally strong, my love," he admonished.
She held up her hands and smiled, then gestured for him to come to her. "When I first had a drink, it was about four fingers of tequila all at once. I was absolutely floored."
Jareth wrapped an arm around her waist, sparing a glance at the dance floor to see that Aldric was still deep in talks with about two dozen people. All of them, Jareth knew, were from families of those wronged.
Rumor was already spreading that lord Aldric was to pay an exorbitant bounty to each family member, for each person slain. He had also been called to duel by one family member, and another wished him to foster a youngling, someone it was told was more feral goblin than sophisticated fae in temperament.
Sarah tapped him on the chest. "I want to be alone with you now."
Jareth rumbled a laugh. "As you wish, my love."
He spirited them away. One moment they were looking down upon a massive gathering—still, despite that there were noticeable gaps in the attendees—and the next they were in his private tower room.
Sarah let out a gusty sigh and stepped away from him, lifting the crown off her head a moment later. "This thing grew heavy within the first hour. I don't have to wear it all the time, do I?"
"Only when you want, but I wouldn't outside of the most official of functions."
She twisted it in her hands, and with a wave Jareth lit all the lanterns and the fire, so that they were cast in a soft yellow glow. The firelight caught the emeralds, the dark gold, and the silver. Made it seem to come alive.
He had made it with magic, after all.
"It is so beautiful," Sarah breathed.
"You are the beautiful one," Jareth said, motioning her to a cabinet along one wall fronted in glass, where his own seldom-worn crown rested. He had forgone wearing it as this was Sarah's day, not his own. The glass doors unlocked at a gentle press of his magic, and she opened one to place her crown on a cushion beside his, stepping back to take in the effect.
Jareth's crown was similar to hers, twisting black gold and highly polished silver, but there were no gemstones to soften his, it was more like a facsimile of the Labyrinth itself. He was fond of it but, like Sarah had complained, found it heavy and cumbersome at times.
"Wife one day, Queen the next," Sarah said, then started to shed her armor, untying everything as she moved into his bathroom. "I need a good soak, and to sleep for the next week."
Jareth followed her, chuckling. "There is much to be attended to. Even our honeymoon must wait."
Sarah huffed and shimmied out of her pants, long legs flashing white in the low light. He found himself mesmerized as she finished peeling off the last of the undergarments, letting them fall just where she was. A trail of clothes leading to her.
She looked over her shoulder at him, hair starting to come loose from the intricate braids. Her gaze was all woman, all wanting, and she smiled at whatever she saw reflected in his own, turning from him to draw the bath.
Jareth attended to her, stripping down to just pants until she insisted he join her.
They talked and laughed. He told her all the things that he had been keeping back as they were surrounded by others. The conversation he had with Aldric, and the deals he had made with the new High King. Their punishment, of a sort, to bring in all the troublemakers from the Seelie Court. He kept the bath heated as they spoke, and they both relaxed into the warm water, words flowing and bouncing off the walls of the room.
Jareth could not help the feeling of the eternal, as they spoke and jested, teased and learned from one another, until they were both yawning and stumbling out of the bath. He dried her and she did him, tender kissing turning heated.
They petted and kissed into the bedroom, not bothering to dress. Her skin was like silk, warmed from the bathwater and perfumed from soaps and oils. She smelled incredible, and all for him.
Sarah wrapped around him as secure as a vine, wet and willing and whispering sweet nothings to him as she climbed ever higher.
Jareth made love to her until she started to whimper, to beg, and then allowed himself his end.
It was closing in on midnight when she slipped into sleep, curled tight against him, and Jareth…
He stayed awake. Watched the moonlight shift over her skin. Listened to the sound of the night birds and the remaining insects, the high-pitched echolocation of the bats, and breathed in the scent of her. He kissed her when she shifted restlessly, and soothed the path of her dreams.
He felt that new, shining cord of connection between her and the Labyrinth.
He watched the dawns light crawl over her, illuminating her pale skin and perfect body an inch at a time.
She was perfection. Everything he had ever hoped for. Despite that there was his brother in the equation, this here was purely the two of them. Would remain so. It was, as he had felt earlier, eternal.
They were destined.
Jareth believed that.
Author's Note:
*waves*
Hi, folks.
Well, here we are. Final chapter. Well. There's the epilogue, and if you don't see that yet you should see it soon. I made sure to wait to post this until I had both chapters ready, so that we could be done-done.
Which means this is the second-to-the-last author's note! My goodness.
General announcement that I HAVE COMPLETED my original fiction trilogy (plus a prequel novella). The finale came out on the 18th. I'm very excited about it.
I'm hoping that this chapter satisfies, and that you have enjoyed this journey with me. I cannot believe we're at the end. It's been four someodd years! My gods.
Thank you all for your patience an support throughout this. See you in the next and final note.
Cheers,
~CrimsonSympathy