Exchange Fic #15: The Rescue (3/3)
The actual identity of the writer will remain secret until all the submissions are in and posted.
****
Title: The Rescue, Part Three
Author: tallulah99
Recipient: wizzcat01
Prompt: Poor Jareth, always the villain of the piece, forever the bad guy, but what if just for once he was the hero in the tale (intentional or reluctant)? After all, good guys always get the girl - right?
Rating: T for some swearing
Plot Summary/Author's Notes: A dozen years has passed since Sarah's first visit to the Labyrinth and this time Sir Didymus has gone and gotten himself into a world of trouble. Unable to save him on her own, Sarah swallows her pride and requests Jareth's aid. Is he willing to set aside past grievances and journey with her across the Underground to confront Didymus' captor? Who is the Borderlands Queen and what is her history with the enigmatic King of the Goblins? Will their quest be successful? And who is it that needs to be rescued really?
Part One
Part Two
The first thing Sarah thought when she awoke to the stream of pale light coming in through the windows was how surprising it was that she had slept at all, much less soundly and without dreams.
The second thing she thought was how strange it was that she was actually warm.
She blinked sleepily and then realized with some alarm that the source of the warmth was Jareth himself. She lay on her side near the edge of the stone shelf, wrapped snugly in his arms. Her back was flush with his chest and she could feel the gentle stirring of the hair on the back of her neck as he breathed.
She tensed to slide away from him and felt him waken immediately.
"Good morning," he said pleasantly.
The rumble of his voice, inches from her ear did funny things to her insides. She rolled forward, dropping off of the ledge and onto her feet. "What, are we spooning now?"
He gave her a deceptively innocent look. "You looked cold."
She gave him a dubious look.
"Okay, fine. I was cold. Does that better suit your delicate sensibilities?"
He sat up and she was pleased to see that he didn't look nearly as put together and unruffled as he customarily did. It was a small thing, but nevertheless mildly vindicating to have evidence that he did in fact use his magic to keep himself looking so polished and put together all the time. "I don't have 'delicate sensibilities'," she said, irritably. "Let's just keep the cuddling to a minimum, okay?"
"Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the cold, hard, stone ledge this morning?"
Sarah scowled at him.
"Not a morning person, then? I'll file that bit of information away for future use." He stretched languidly, and permitted himself a small smile of victory when he caught her watching him. He winked and she hastily averted her eyes.
"Oh, please," she said with an unladylike snort. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away, pointedly ignored him until he stood and shook out the heavy coat that had been draped over top of them as they slept.
"Wait, is that a coat? Where did you find a coat?"
He glanced over at the darkest corner of their cell and then back to her. "Try not to think about it too much," he suggested.
She looked over at the pile of straw and tried very hard not to think about what might be hidden underneath it. "Well, thank you for keeping me warm…I guess." She made a face.
Jareth chuckled. "I must admit, it's been some time since I've gotten such a lackluster reaction from a woman after spending the night with her."
He was smiling at her, joking, but Sarah looked up, suddenly serious. "How long has it been?"
His smile faded.
Her eyes flickered away from his and then back again. This time she held his gaze, waiting.
He paused for a moment before answering without a trace of humor, "A long, long time."
She flushed and said quickly, "Not that it matters or anything. It's none of my business. I was just…I don't know, wondering…for no reason." Feeling foolish and wondering what strange compulsion had made her ask such a revealing question, she moved quickly across the cell, putting as much space between them as she could manage, which wasn't nearly as much as she would have liked.
It wasn't like there was anything to reveal, she told herself sternly. Simply getting through a full day without having the desire to throttle him was hardly grounds for advancing any sort of relationship. Then she shook her head, annoyed that the word 'relationship' had even flitted through her mind in conjunction with the Goblin King. Hadn't she spent the past dozen years hating and fearing him in equal measure? She was simply overwrought by the fact that they were stuck in a freaking dungeon together for the foreseeable future, that was all.
Okay, yes, he had proved that there was more to him than she had previously suspected. He was in fact capable of something like normal human emotion, but was it enough to mitigate twelve long years of mutual antagonism? Did she want it to be enough?
She thought of the comfort his warm presence had given her during the whole ordeal of the day before, of tic-tac-toe and the countless stories he had told to keep her distracted, of his fingers wrapped tightly around hers in the dark. And then reluctantly, she also thought of waking in his arms, of being pressed protectively against his chest beneath a ratty coat he had scoured their cell to find for her.
She pressed her forehead into the bars and squeezed her eyes shut. What a perfectly horrible time to develop complicated feelings.
She wrapped her hands around the bars and squinted into the distance, straining to see signs of activity at the far end of the dungeon. "I don't suppose you got a room service menu when we checked in, did you?"
"I regret to say that I did not."
"Oh well, I guess that's okay. It's always so overpriced anyway." She turned around and leaned back against the bars. "Honestly, I think this place has gone downhill. They missed our wakeup call too."
He was leaning against the stone ledge with his arms crossed, watching her with a bemused smile on his face.
"What?" she asked, a bit self-consciously.
"I am merely marveling at your ability to distract yourself."
"Maybe I am distracting myself," she said, defensively. "But it sure beats the hell out of sitting here and wallowing in fear of what's to come. What good would that do me?"
"That's not all you're distracting yourself from," he chided with a flash of pointed teeth.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied loftily, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
He chuckled, a low and seductive sound. "Oh I think you do, Sarah. You just don't - "
The resounding crash of steel on stone made them both jump. It was the sound of the massive outer door being thrown carelessly into the wall behind it.
"Oh God." Sarah backed away from the door and made no protest when Jareth reached out and yanked her backwards, putting himself between her and the approaching racket. They both knew it was a futile gesture. If the guards were there to take them, there was nothing either of them could do to prevent it, though she appreciated the attempt nonetheless.
It was Elsbeth who came traipsing into view a few moments later, however, and Sarah was suddenly very grateful for Jareth's chivalrous streak.
The Queen of the Borderlands meandered aimlessly down the corridor, humming softly to herself. She was still dirty, barefoot and wearing the same tattered and stained gown as before, but the jewel-studded tiara was missing today. She seemed in no hurry, stopping from time to time to swing back and forth on the iron bars and adding a little skip to her stride every few steps, presumably in time with whatever tune was playing in her head.
"Oh!" she said when she spied them in the back of the cell, seeming genuinely surprised to find them there. "My Jareth!" she exclaimed happily, and then looked around the dungeon, with a puzzled expression. "You have chosen your accommodations most peculiarly."
"We seem to have lost our way, Elsbeth," Jareth said smoothly. "We would be most appreciative if you could assist us."
"I am a good helper," she said seriously and then with a negligent flick of her wrist, she wrenched the cell door off of its hinges and threw it across the room without ever so much as laying a hand on it. "Now you must come and play!" she cried. "I simply love new toys!" She pranced back up the corridor on her tiptoes, twirling with her arms raised over her head and giggling when she lost her balance and staggered.
Sarah followed Jareth with her hand fisted in the back of his shirt, unwilling to lose physical contact as they made their way up and out of the dark, cold prison that she hoped with all her heart she would never see again.
Her joy at reaching the upper level faded once she'd had a chance to examine her new surroundings and suddenly the dungeon cell didn't seem like such a bad alternative. The room they entered was a wreck, all crumbling walls, scattered debris and splintered wood that might once have been castle furnishings. There was an occasional flash of metallic silver as the indistinct light glinted faintly on a strange assortment of unidentifiable tools that were strewn carelessly around the room. Most worrying of all, however, were the dark stains that covered the stone floor in large, dark splotches. There were more of them than Sarah could count easily in the dim light and many were overlapping, making it even harder to discern, but she thought dozens at least. No effort had ever been made to clean up the foulness in the room and eventually, despite her best efforts, she was unable to avoid stepping in one of the spots. She shuddered as her shoe stuck slightly in the congealed mess and had to repress the urge to be sick. The stench was suffocating. She had to fight hard to keep from thinking about what kinds of atrocities must happen here.
She clutched Jareth's shirt tighter and then greedily seized the hand he surreptitiously offered to her behind his back. The solid feel of his fingers tightened around hers was both a lifeline and a tether, keeping her from completely losing her mind.
She was unable to completely suppress the faint sob of relief when Elsbeth continued on through the room without stopping and on into the next corridor. Jareth squeezed her hand in reassurance.
Any hopes either of them may have held of making a run for it once they were out of the dungeon were dashed when they came to the end of their journey and Elsbeth skipped ahead of them into the room. A soundless phalanx of her guards closed in behind them, cutting off the only exit as efficiently as if she had put up a wall.
They were in a fairly normal sitting room, though large. The furnishings were heavy and antiquated, all burgundys and golds in repeating patterns on rich fabrics with raggedy tassels hanging off of just about everything. The warm, yellow light that made the room shimmer came from dozens of candles spread across every surface.
Sarah swallowed, but reluctantly let go of Jareth's hand before Elsbeth noticed. She somehow sensed that the girl would not approve of such unsanctioned contact. She glanced up at Jareth's face. It was stony and pale and he was watching Elsbeth with the same cautious wariness she felt, waiting to see what her mood would bring.
"You are the human," Elsbeth said conversationally after she had climbed up on one of the large sofas and made herself comfortable. She sat with her legs crossed and smoothed her hands over her tattered skirt as though it were some fine, delicately woven fabric rather than soiled rags.
With a quick glance at Jareth, Sarah nodded. "Yes, I am."
"See, I remembered!" Elsbeth said musically. "I have not had another human to play with in a very long time." She blinked slowly and gave a disconcertingly vacant smile. "Do you like to play games?"
"Um…I guess. I haven't really played any in a long time."
"Neither have I!" she crowed, her eyes wide as if she had just discovered something they had in common by amazing coincidence. And then she stopped and looked oddly thoughtful, her head tilted dramatically to the side. "No, perhaps that is not true. I think I may have played with someone this month…or maybe it was next week?" She shrugged and smiled again, that same empty up-tilting of her lips that did not come close to her eyes. "It matters not. I know they could not have been human. I am the only human here." Her eyes slid over Sarah in a calculating manner. "Or I was. Only now there is you."
Sarah froze under the girl's scrutiny, not knowing what to say that wouldn't spark another dangerous temper tantrum.
"Did you bring her here, my Jareth?" she asked without moving her gaze from Sarah. "Were the people bad to her too?"
"No, Elsbeth," he said shortly without elaborating. His lips were pinched and pale. He was worried, Sarah realized with an unpleasant jolt. Her own fear ratcheted up a few notches.
"Do you have bad people?" Elsbeth asked. "Is that why you came here?"
"Um…no," Sarah managed. "I came to visit my friends."
"You have friends?" Elsbeth's expression lit with interest.
"Some," she said evasively, already wishing she hadn't mentioned them.
"I have no friends but my bears," Elsbeth sighed, an exaggerated, theatrical gesture. "And sometimes my Jareth, when he comes to visit me, but that is not often and even then, he never wants to play with me. Isn't that terrible?"
"Um…"
"Oh, I know, I know!" Elsbeth was on her knees bouncing on the cushions. "You can be my friend too!" She fell over on her side, in raptures. "We shall have ever so much fun! Wouldn't you like that? Wouldn't you like to be my friend? Wouldn't you like to play?" She sobered abruptly and levered herself into a sitting position, looking at Sarah impatiently. "Well, would you?"
"I…I don't know. I…" She looked at Jareth, panicked.
Jareth shot to his feet. "Elsbeth - " he began.
"No!" she snarled. The flames of the candles in their holders flared under her agitation. "I am not speaking to you right now! You hush or I'll make my bears hurt you!"
"No!" Sarah cried, alarmed. She hurried on, trying to maintain some semblance of calm, "No, that's not necessary, Elsbeth. Of course, I'll be friends with you." She gave the girl a wobbling smile that she hoped would pacify her.
It seemed to, briefly. She spun in a happy little circle and then fell back on the sofa, giggling, almost sounding like a normal little girl for a moment. "Come on!" she said, sliding across the sofa and hopping to her feet. She grabbed Sarah's hand and started pulling on her. "Come with me! Let's go play now!"
She was surprisingly strong for her size, but would still have been no match for Sarah physically. Her magic gave her all the edge she needed, however.
"Get up!" she screamed and Sarah was thrown from her seat, landing on her knees with a sharp cry.
"Elsbeth, no!" Jareth shouted, lunging towards her.
The Borderlands Queen barely glanced at her former guardian and sent him flying into the opposite wall, pinning him against the stone several feet above the floor.
"I want to play!" Elsbeth screamed. "And you can't stop me! You never want me to have any fun! The Sarah is my friend and I want to play with her!.
Sarah scrambled backwards as the girl approached her, smiling again already. "Please," she choked through her tears, "Please don't." It didn't take much of a leap of imagination to surmise what kind of 'game' the girl must want to play. Jareth's story rang in her mind like a broken record, 'torn apart… eviscerated…'.
"Oh, but it will be such fun!" The girl's cheeks were flushed pink, her eyes bright with manic enthusiasm. "You will love my games! Some of my friends don't like them, but they are spoilsports and…do you want to know a secret?" She leaned her face down next to Sarah's ear, her breath warm and rapid against her cheek. "I make them play anyway," she whispered and then gave a high-pitched giggle that was like nails on a chalkboard.
"Ca-can't we p-play a different game?" Sarah tried, shaking. She attempted to rise, but it must have suited Elsbeth to keep her where she was. She couldn't move. "We c-could play hide and seek instead."
"But that is exactly what I want to play!" Elsbeth exclaimed happily. "I want to find what is hidden!" She knelt in front of Sarah, lowering her head and contorting her body sideways so that she could brush her cheek against Sarah's in her downward facing position. "There is a heart tight locked away, and where it's gone I cannot say, but I will search for 'ere more until it wash upon my shore." Her voice was a childish sing-song that, anywhere else, under any other circumstances, would have seemed sweet and pure and innocent, but coming from behind those empty, soulless eyes, it sent chills down Sarah's spine.
"Elsbeth!" Jareth called, struggling ineffectually against the force that held him. Cold fingers of panic had wrapped themselves around his heart and squeezed until he thought it must explode from the pressure. He would have given his kingdom and everything in it right that second for one single chance to use his magic. "You must not do this!"
The girl stood and put her hands on her hips, bow shaped lips curled into a pout. "But, My Jareth, you never play with me and I want to play. The Sarah is my friend now. She will play with me." She patted the top of Sarah's head gently. "Come and see my playroom. I am very good at hide and seek." She giggled again. "I always win!"
The force keeping Sarah on her hands and knees vanished and she sagged to the floor, tears coursing down her cheeks. This couldn't be happening.
"Come, come now!" Elsbeth said irritably, tugging forcefully on Sarah's arm. She was half dragging her towards the towering wall of guards that shuffled slowly out of the way at their mistress's approach.
Sarah cried out, pulling desperately against the vice grip the girl had on her arm as she towed her relentlessly towards the corridor. She could think of nothing but the room with the stained floors, the memory of all of those strange instruments with wicked edges burned into her mind. The blood roared in her ear. "Please, no!"
Sarah's terrified cry cut through Jareth like a dagger. Mindlessly he fought the invisible bands that held him firm. He was desperate to reach her, to save her. 'What are you willing to do?' came the voice from inside him. 'How far are you willing to go to save The Girl?' He knew the answer at once. It came without effort and without thought. All the way. He would do whatever it took to save her even if it meant… "Elsbeth!" he called out, "Let her go! Let her go and I will come and play with you instead!"
Elsbeth stopped and turned slowly, tilting her head to the side in query. "You want to play with me? Truly? You would come and play with me at last?"
"Yes," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. He gazed down at Sarah's pale, shocked face, and felt a certainty like he had never known before. "Yes, of course, but you must first promise that you will let her go. We cannot play properly until she is gone. It's time for Sarah to go home now."
Elsbeth looked puzzled, regarding the desperate expression on his face with curiosity, but she let him slide slowly down the face of the wall until he was standing on his own power once again. "We could all play together," she suggested hopefully. "The Sarah could go home after we play?"
"No," Jareth said, his tone firm despite the silent tears that tracked down his pale cheeks. "She has to go home now. You must allow her to gather her things and go and then… then we can play."
Elsbeth let go of Sarah's arm without a glance, leaving her on her knees in the middle of the room.
"What are you doing?" Sarah hissed.
He crossed the room in two strides and pulled her up off the floor and into his arms. "You would prefer I let her take you instead?" he whispered fiercely. "I must do this!" he brought his lips down on hers, kissing her hard and fast.
"No!" she cried as he released her. "I won't let you give your life for mine!"
"I'm not," he said with a mocking smile. "I'm giving it for Didymus."
"Please! Don't do it like this. Don't let her take you into that room! We'll figure out another way!"
"There is no other way," he said, determinedly. He took an uneven breath and let it out slowly. "I have lived a hundred lifetimes full of regrets, but I will not live to regret losing you when I could have prevented it. Allow me to bear responsibility for once in my wretched existence!"
He turned to face a perplexed Elsbeth, her elfin features screwed up in confusion. "Now you can let her go. I will stay with you, I promise. You may do with me whatever you wish. We will play whatever you like, but you must first let her find her friend - the puppy - and leave this place."
The enthusiasm was gone from Elsbeth's features and she stood looking at him indecisively. "Well, I am not certain…" she began.
"Be certain," he said. "I give myself to you freely in her stead." He turned his strange eyes on Sarah with apology there, but no regret, the ghost of a smile playing across his lips. "She is but a human, after all, and they are endemic. I am the only one of my kind. Surely we will have more fun together, you and I?"
Sarah choked through her tears, "Please, no…"
Elsbeth looked back and forth between them, doubt etched into the delicate lines of her face. "I don't understand why you are sad? We will have such fun."
"It's alright, Elsbeth," he said softly, his voice gentle. "It doesn't matter. Just… just let her go home now, alright, love?"
"Love?" Her wide, vacant eyes settled on him and for the first time, she seemed to look sad. "It is such a warm word. Does it feel like it sounds?" She went on without waiting for an answer. "I used to want one, but there was never enough to go around." She sighed. "I even tried to search for my own, you know. Pheera says you find love in a person's heart and I looked for it there, but I could never find it."
Sarah covered her mouth to muffle her cry of horror. Jareth closed his eyes briefly, his face creased with pain.
"Do you love her?"
He jerked in surprise at the question, so did Sarah. "Do I…"
"Love her?" Elsbeth repeated. "The human girl - the other one. Yes, that is what I want to know. Does my Jareth love The Sarah?"
"Yes," he said, roughly, but without hesitation. He was speaking to Elsbeth, but his eyes never left Sarah's.
"And you would let me look in your heart? So I can see it? I so want to see what love looks like! Is it blue? I have long felt it must be blue. Is it a stone? Like a ruby or a diamond? It should be delicate like a jewel, but strong and lasting like a stone. Oh, I should so like to see it!"
"Love doesn't work like that, Elsbeth," Jareth told her softly, sadly. "You cannot see it with your eyes, but yes, if that is what I must do to ensure that you will let Sarah and Didymus leave this place alive, then yes."
Elsbeth turned to Sarah inquiringly. "You have love for him too, I think." She said. "Do you not? Is there a love in your heart also?"
"Yes," Sarah choked out through her tears, knowing as she did that it was the truth she hadn't yet admitted to herself. "Yes! Please don't hurt him!"
Elsbeth nodded, thoughtful for a moment and then smiled. Her face was composed and the most beatifically serene expression softened her features until she looked like a child once more. "It doesn't mean what I seem to think it means," she said wistfully. She reached up and touched Jareth's face gently, tracing the path of his tears with one grubby finger. "I always wondered what it looked like, but I didn't guess that it's the tears that are diamonds." She reached for his hand and pressed it against her cheek. "Love looks like sacrifice, doesn't it, my Jareth?"
Jareth sank down to her level and gathered her, unresisting into his arms. "Sometimes it does, my girl. Sometimes it does."
She rested her head against his shoulder. "You never had the love for me."
"I did, Elsbeth," he said brokenly. "I did."
The girl shook her head. "No, not like the Sarah. Your windows don't glow for the cold girl." She sat up straight and looked at him. Her clear, vacant eyes were so close she nearly brushed his cheek with her eyelashes when she blinked. "You needed a queen, but I forgot to grow up." She butted the top of her head under his chin and sighed. "You were good to me, my Jareth, but spring must come and I don't know how to do it anymore." She wrapped her arms as far around him as they would go. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright, Elsbeth," he said again, softly. He returned her embrace and rocked her gently back and forth like a father would, comforting his child. He closed his eyes and let the tears fall freely into her tangled curls. Elsbeth's dark head was cradled against his chest, a contented smile on her delicate features.
Sarah's own chest felt tight as she watched him cradle the lost, broken little girl in his arms. She wiped warm tears away with the back of her hand and wondered at the human capacity for sadness. It seemed like a vessel that never filled no matter how much was poured into it, but add one single drop of true joy and the rest of it poured away like water down a drain.
She jerked in surprise as a drop of cold water landed on her cheek. Puzzled, she looked up, squinting against the sunlight that was streaming in through the upper windows and then flinched as another chilly drop landed squarely on her nose. She backpedaled out of the line of fire, searching the rafters for the source of the leak.
Finally, she spotted it. Far up, near the apex of the ancient vaulted ceiling, the cumulative effects of time and neglect had allowed a small crack to open up in the mortar between two of the heavy blackened beams that supported the roof. Snow melt dripped through the fissure and splashed almost soundlessly onto the stone floor far below.
This seemed somehow significant, but for the moment Sarah couldn't quite put her finger on why.
She moved to the window and looked out across the snow covered grounds, squinting hard against the glare of the sun's rays reflecting back off of the pristine surface. She had to work the rusty latch for a moment, but it finally gave way and the window swung out, away from its casing. A chilly, but fresh draft ruffled the loose hairs around her cheeks and she took a deep breath of the clean, sweet-smelling air. She stood at the open window with her hands braced on the casing, enjoying the faint breeze, her eyes closed in appreciation. Eventually she became aware of a faint pattering sound coming from outside and leaned out, curious.
A row of shining icicles hung from the corner eaves like a set of glass stalactites, their glittering points dripping a steady tempo onto the ground below the window.
"It's melting," she said softly. She turned to Jareth, as he sat, still gently rocking Elsbeth in his lap. "It's melting!" she said again, louder, her eyes wide with comprehension. The magic that had held winter in place was fading. Elsbeth had let go of the magical hold she had on the Borderlands. She had given Jareth's power back to him.
He nodded without opening his eyes and she realized he must have felt the shift when Elsbeth dropped the wards. He tightened his arms around the girl, hugging her to his chest fiercely for a long moment before he finally relaxed his grip and rested his cheek on the top of her head. "It's time, Elsbeth," he said finally, his voice thick.
"I rather thought it might be," she said calmly. She sat up and placed a hand on each of his cheeks regarding him steadily for a moment before she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. Then she slid down from his lap and, giving him a quick backwards glance, she walked primly to the center of the room with her hands clasped in front of her, her expression composed and serene. Her eyes were clear and seemed almost focused. A small smile even played around the corners of her mouth as if she were thinking of something pleasant. At last she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Tilting her chin upwards, she let the sunlight wash over her face. "It will be warm soon," she said.
"Yes," Jareth said. "It will be." He followed the girl into the pool of yellow light and looked down on her upturned face with sadness in his eyes. Sarah moved to stand next to him and held out her hand in invitation. He took it gratefully, thankful to feel her warm presence by his side while he did what he should have done so many years ago and removed the rest of Elsbeth's humanity. He intertwined their fingers, squeezing lightly. When she returned the gentle pressure, he reached out with the other hand and placed it gently on top of Elsbeth's head. "Be well," he said softly and she was gone.
Sarah's heart clenched as she looked down at the befuddled little goblin that stood where Elsbeth had been seconds ago. She was a tiny little thing with sharp features, pointed little ears that bent forward at the tips and wide brown eyes. Elsbeth's had been a faint, nearly colorless, blue with nothing shining out from behind them. The windows to her soul had looked in on a vacant lot, long since abandoned and left to ruin. This new creature blinked up at her and she could see at once that there was a mind in there now, simple though it may be, that was capable of reason, of logic, of joy.
"Does she remember who she is?" she asked Jareth quietly. The goblin was darting quick looks around the room, taking it all in with short jerky movements of her head. She seemed puzzled, but not afraid.
"No," he said. His eyes were wet as he regarded the little creature, but he too was composed and serene, content with his decision. "She will to a certain extent, once the shock of the transformation has worn off, but even that will fade in time. And it will seem unimportant to her in any case." He knelt down to the goblin's level. "Hello," he said.
Her head tilted to the side as she regarded him uncertainly. "Hullo."
"Go and find Didymus," he said, without taking his eyes off the goblin. "I'll watch over her until you get back."
She didn't need to be asked twice and took off at a run, calling Didymus' name.
Just outside the great hall she skidded to an abrupt halt to avoid colliding with the motionless figure of one of the guards, sprawled where it had dropped when Elsbeth transformed. She skirted around it, leaving a liberal cushion between herself and the giant body. Dead or disabled or whatever it was, she still had no interest in getting a closer look. There were two more in the next chamber and she found another three as she worked her way through the rooms on the first level. The last one stood canted over to one side in a corner of what must have been Elsbeth's bedroom.
Sarah looked around the filthy apartment with its much abused furnishings and threadbare linens and felt an overwhelming sense of sadness for the little girl that had lived here. She may have been ancient in fact, but in essentials she had never really stopped being the damaged child that had been wished away all those years ago. There were toys in varying degrees of disrepair scattered around the room. Some were familiar, but most looked as though Elsbeth had created them out of random and incomplete memories from her time in the Aboveground.
The bed was tucked into a corner and seemed surprisingly small, like something that would be found in a regular-sized child's room. It was a very plain four-poster all done up in pink and white drapes and coverings. They were torn and dirty as most everything else in the room was, but here there seemed to have been at least some care taken to keep it neat and orderly. Sarah walked over and touched the covers with a tentative hand, thinking not only how simple it seemed in comparison to the rest of the castle's lavish furnishings, but also how much she would have desperately loved something just like it when she was ten years old.
In the middle of the bed she noticed a small, dark, oddly-shaped object, half covered by the pillow. Curious as to what could possibly have rated a spot next to Elsbeth as she slept; Sarah reached out and picked it up.
She dropped it immediately with a horrified cry and then fell to her knees on the floor next to the little pink and white bed. Tears splashed down her cheeks as her heart broke completely for the sad, lonely, little girl.
She reached out again with shaking hands and lifted the pathetic little toy that had probably held this special place of honor for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
It was an ancient, ruined teddy bear with mottled black and tan fur. The stitching on the back of its head had burst long ago, the stuffing all but completely gone. The hollow shell of the bear's head had been rolled up and stuffed inside itself to prevent it from flopping around and letting out the rest of the stuffing. Sarah held it gingerly in her hands and looked over at the hulking creature slumped in the corner. But for the dramatic difference in their sizes, they were identical.
Elsbeth had created her guards to look like the one friend she had ever been able to depend on.
Sarah bowed her head and wept, mourning the wasted life of a little girl who had never stood a chance.
When she had cried herself out and her tears were all spent, she climbed to her feet and spoke softly into the empty room. "I'm sorry, Elsbeth," she said and turned to go, ready to move on with her search.
From a distant corner, she heard the faint sound of movement, unnaturally loud in the silent chamber and froze with her heart in her throat. "Who's there?"
"My lady?" came the unexpected, and most welcome, voice of Sir Didymus from out of the darkness. "Is that you?"
"Didymus?!" she cried, stumbling across the debris strewn floor to the dim corner of the room. It took her a moment to find him in the gloom. A small cage had been bolted into the stone wall and he crouched there, his paws stretched out through the bars. She clasped them in her own, pressing kisses across his knuckles and crying all over again. He was dirty and his eye patch was missing, but overall he appeared healthy and uninjured. She was relieved to see the remains of a dish of food pushed into one corner as well as a pitcher that had some water in it, or at least it did have until he knocked it over in his haste to reach her.
"Oh, my lady, it is wonderful to see you, truly it is, but you must go. She must not find you here!" He shook her hands off of his and started trying to push her away. "Please, my lady! You must go!"
She found that she was laughing and crying so hard it was difficult to speak. "It's okay, Didymus!" she managed finally. "It's okay! She's gone! It's okay!"
"Are you quite certain? Is it truly over, my lady? Is she…?" His furry eyebrows went up in dismay.
Sarah wrapped her hands around his paws again, pressing them gently. "She's alive. Jareth turned her into a goblin, but she's alive."
The news seemed to reassure Didymus and he relaxed, sagging against the bars. "It is as well, poor unhappy child."
She pressed her forehead against the bars and he did likewise, tickling her cheeks with his whiskers. "I'm so glad you're okay. I missed you."
"And I, you, my lady." He sat back abruptly. "Wait a moment, you say that Jareth turned her into a… you mean to say he came here?"
"He's here now. He's waiting with Elsbeth…er, goblin Elsbeth that is, for me to find you." She sat up and started looking around the room, searching for the key.
"It's just over there, my lady," He pointed across the room to the large key hanging from a hook next to the cold fireplace. "My apologies for not making you aware of my presence sooner," he said as she picked her way over to retrieve the key. "I discovered that the queen would sometimes forget that I was here and I thought it best to avoid reminding her when I could help it."
"That was probably a wise idea." She worked the key into the lock and wrestled the heavy door open with Didymus' help.
Once free and standing upright, he flung himself into her arms and they collapsed to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs and fur. Sarah found herself positively giggling from the heady rush of relief. She hugged him fiercely and they talked endlessly over one another, what they were saying to each other not nearly as important as the fact that they could say it.
"She was not altogether cruel to me, you understand," he told her once they had calmed down enough to start searching for Didymus' belongings. "But her fits of temper were unpredictable at best and…well, let us just say, I was not alone in the cage when first I arrived." He looked back into the dim corner of the room and shook himself. "I think perhaps I shall not think on that again."
"Let's not think back on any of this again," she suggested.
Miraculously, they found not only his rucksack and eye patch, but his feathered cap as well among the detritus of the room. The latter was rather the worse for wear however, its jaunty feather having been snapped in two at some point. Didymus twitched his whiskers dubiously at it and then shrugged and put it on anyway.
Sarah caught him up on the finer points of their rescue operation as they made their way past the corpse of Elsbeth's 'bear' and back into the passageway. She was careful to leave out anything that might unnecessarily alarm or grieve him. He had been through quite enough without having to shoulder her burdens as well.
When they arrived back in the main hall, Jareth was alone. He would easily have heard them coming several rooms away and was smiling in expectation as they entered.
Sarah took quick stock of the room and, seeing no little goblin girl anywhere, gave him a puzzled look.
He nodded towards the open doors that lead out onto the castle grounds, but could not answer as Didymus had already thrown himself to the ground in front of his king's feet, seized his hand and launched into a gracious speech extolling the Goblin King's many exemplary attributes including, but not limited to, his bravery, strength, magical prowess, capacity for Goblin Mead, fashion sense and punctuality.
"My liege," he went on, bowing so low that his feather would have brushed the stone floor had it been intact. "Words simply cannot express my gratitude and appreciation for your generous and wholly unexpected participation in my liberation. I am eternally grateful and forever in your debt. I beg that you would consider me your most humble of servants from here on out. You need but ask and any task or service that it is in my power to carry out for you shall be done at once! At any time, day or night, winter, spring, summer or fall, I am at your command!"
Jareth's amused condescension changed swiftly to alarm and then on to outright panic during the course of Didymus' recitation. Sarah had a hard time maintaining her composure and really only managed to do so at all because she knew it would injure her friend's pride if she were to laugh. Instead she left them and made her way outside.
The sun was warm and she stopped for a moment on the steps, thankful for the gentle glow on her face. She hadn't been so sure she would ever see it again and the gratitude with which she now stood beneath it brought tears of joy that leaked out of her closed eyes and ran in silent streams down her cheeks.
"Why are you crying, miss lady?"
Sarah opened her eyes to find the Elsbeth goblin sitting on the thick marble balustrade a few feet away. Her skinny legs hung over the edge, kicking back and forth like a child's. "Because I'm happy," she said with a smile.
The goblin seemed to think this over seriously for a moment and then squinted her eyes nearly shut and scrunched up her nose in apparent effort.
"What's the matter?" Sarah asked, puzzled.
"I am trying to cry too," she said and renewed her efforts.
"For goodness sake, why?"
"Because I am happy also, so I should cry, right?"
Sarah let out a shaky breath. "No. No you don't always have to cry when you're happy, just sometimes when you're so full of joy that you can't help it."
The goblin looked thoughtful again and then nodded. "Okay."
Sarah thought of the innumerable years that Jareth had suffered with the pain of his guilt, had eschewed any connection to love, affection and sympathy for fear of repeating the horrible mistakes of the past, and how, for all of those same years, the lost, little girl that had been wished away had suffered with the confusion and chaos of a broken mind trapped inside an eternal and unchanging body. It saddened her desperately to think of all the unnecessary misery on both sides for such a very long time.
"Your name is Sarah." It was almost a question.
She blinked and nodded. "Yes, it is."
Smugly, the goblin grinned. "I knew it was. Some things are fuzzy, but I saw you before. You look like spring."
"Uh, thank you…I think," she replied, somewhat at a loss. "What's your name?"
The goblin opened her mouth to reply and then closed it again with a puzzled look. "I don't think I know that yet."
"Perhaps we can help you can choose a nice one for yourself," said Sir Didymus, appearing suddenly at Sarah's elbow. He reached for the goblin's hand and helped her jump to her feet. "Come and take a walk with me, little goblin, and we shall wander where green things soon will grow."
On a whim, Sarah called after them, "Wait, I um…have something for you." She had forgotten she was even holding it, but now she jogged down the steps and handed the pitiful little stuffed bear over to its rightful owner.
The goblin turned it this way and that in her hands as if it were a familiar item that she could not quite place the purpose for. Finally, she brought it up to her nose and kissed it lovingly and then tucked it under her arm as she and Didymus headed out across the lawn.
Sarah watched in silent appreciation as her friend walked through the melting snow, pointing at this and that, chatting animatedly as he escorted his former captor across the grounds to where the garden had once been and soon had her poking curiously through the crust of snow, examining little bits of plants and searching for birds in the skeletal trees. In very short order they were racing happily around the lawn, stomping in puddles of snow melt and mud and laughing happily.
"Wow," she said softly.
"He is quite a unique sort of character, isn't he?"
Sarah turned to find Jareth leaning just outside the door with his arms crossed; watching as Didymus and the goblin frolicked and played as though they'd never once had a care in the world.
"He is that," she said with a smile. "Thank you for helping me save him."
"If I said it was 'my pleasure' you would know I was lying."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "You could just say 'you're welcome' and be done with it, you know."
A smile crept across his face. "You're welcome, Sarah." He pushed off of the doorway and came to stand behind her.
She felt only mild surprise and a warm, fluttery feeling that she wasn't quite ready to examine just yet when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. He pressed his cheek against hers and they stood still for a time, watching Didymus and the goblin wander once more in the direction of the gardens.
"She's going to be fine, isn't she?"
"Yes," he said softly. "She is. It will take her some time to acclimate, of course, but she will." He chuckled, "I believe Didymus will see to that."
"And what about you?" She turned her head slightly so she could see his face.
He glanced at her and then looked back out across the lawn, his eyes distant. "I have spent a dozen lifetimes lamenting choices I made and things I left undone. It's going to take me some time to acclimate as well."
"But you will," she said with a smile.
"I will," he agreed. "And I will no longer live with regrets."
He turned her in his arms then and brought his hands up to cup her face, his thumb brushing gently across her cheek. He looked down at her, his expression serious as he held her gaze for a long moment, his oddly matched eyes searching her face. "No more regrets," he said at last and then brought his lips down on hers with gentle force.
He kissed her with a single-mindedness of purpose and such thorough dedication to his task that it made Sarah's toes curl. His lips were warm and soft and when he burrowed his fingers into her hair and angled her head up to deepen their kiss, she let out a sigh that was nearly a moan and felt his lips curl up into a satisfied smile. Her immediate instinct was to pull back, to break off the kiss and lash out with some cutting remark, and then his tongue flicked across her lips and she promptly forgot all about it, sinking into him, opening her mouth under his demanding pressure as he explored her with his tongue.
"Ahem."
They froze.
Sarah felt embarrassment flood through her and pulled hastily away, putting far more space between herself and the King than was absolutely necessary given that they'd already been caught. At the foot of the steps, Didymus stood looking up at them with the little goblin by his side, one eyebrow raised in amused surprise. "My lady," he said with a sweeping bow, tactfully ignoring her flustered appearance as well as Jareth's completely unperturbed one. "Elsie and I have brought you a gift."
"Elsie?" Jareth eyed the goblin who ducked her head shyly, but nodded. He looked skeptical for a second and then shrugged. "Oh well, why not." He inclined his head in grave acknowledgement and said formally, "It is a great pleasure to make your acquaintance…Elsie."
She beamed up at him, pleased, and Didymus bowed his head in appreciation.
He turned to face Sarah. "As I said, Elsie and I have brought you a gift. I do hope you like it."
Elsie scampered up the steps and presented a small packet, loosely wrapped in what Sarah suspected was one of Didymus' more elaborate pocket handkerchiefs. "Happy birthday, my lady," she said with an awkward attempt at a bow and then darted back down the steps to hover just behind Didymus, peeking curiously around his shoulder.
"Birthday?" Sarah said, examining the item with a puzzled expression and then realized. "Oh…"
"That is today, isn't it?" Jareth said with a smile.
"I had forgotten," she said quietly. She carefully unwound the colorful fabric and gasped softly when it dropped away. She held a large flower nearly the size of her hand in the middle of her palm. The bloom was made up of five broad petals that started out a rich, nearly iridescent purple near the heart of the flower and then darkened into a deep, impossible shade of black as they arched up away from the center before tapering into fine points that lightly prickled the skin of her hand. The stamens and pistil that sprang like a tiny explosion from the center of the bloom were purple, tipped with a vibrant turquoise that fairly glowed in the sunlight. It was beautiful and strange like something from an alien planet.
She traced one velvety soft petal with a delicate finger and looked up at Didymus, giving him an incredulous smile. "Unbelievable. Even after everything, you still got me what I asked for for my birthday." She descended the stairs and kissed him softly on his furry cheek. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before. Thank you."
Unable to completely hide his smug expression, Didymus executed another courtly bow with a flourish of his hand. "It gets no rarer than that very flower you hold in your hand, my lady. It is the last black starflower left in this world or any other." He glanced in Jareth's direction. "When this one was plucked from the earth, the rest of them began to return to their former color. They are black no longer."
Sarah looked at the flower in her hand and smiled. "You don't do anything halfway, do you, Didymus?"
"My aim is to be of service, my lady." He was attempting to appear nonchalant, but he smoothed his whiskers and preened a little too casually for her to doubt but that was very pleased with himself.
"May I?" Jareth held out a hand and she carefully transferred the flower from her palm into his. "I'm afraid I did not have the foresight to get you a gift of my own," he said with a wry smile. "But I can, at least, make a small contribution to this one." He held his free hand above the bloom so that it was cupped tenderly between his palms and then concentrated briefly for a moment. "There," he said, handing it back to her gently. "After all that went into its acquisition, I should hate for it to dry out and fade."
Sarah examined the flower, but aside from the slight warmth it retained from his hands, it seemed unchanged. "Is it going to last forever now?"
He chuckled. "Not forever, no." He reached out and gently touched one of the petals. "I am no longer sure that anything should last forever. I have simply made it yours. It will bloom for you as long as you wish it to do so."
"Oh." She smiled, her eyes shining up at him. "Thank you."
He inclined his head without dropping her gaze. "You're welcome, Sarah."
"Look!" cried Elsie suddenly, hopping in place as she pointed excitedly across the lawn. "I see them! Look, Didymus! The birds, they're back!"
It was a pair of curious bluebirds, their brilliant plumage standing out as two vivid splashes of color against the otherwise stark and monochromatic landscape. They swooped down from the protection of the trees and began cautiously exploring the new environment with short bursts of flight and little hopping steps.
The magical wards that had kept the forest creatures at bay for so long were gone at last. It was only a matter of time before the animals began to return to the fields and the silent grounds were teeming with life once more. Soon birdsong and the trilling of insects would fill the silence and, in no time at all, the whole 'kingdom within a kingdom' would be swallowed up by the forest and forgotten.
A smile played across Sarah's lips as she watched the little birds complete their initial assessment and, with a quick flick of their wings, fly up to roost together on the decrepit garden wall. The male gave a preparatory shake of his downy feathers, like a performer about to make his debut, then puffed up his chest and sang a few trilling notes.
They were a portent, she thought as her heart sang right along with him, a sure sign that everything was going to be okay. She looked over at Jareth - maybe even better than okay.
He saw her glance and came to stand behind her, his fair hair tickling her cheek as he leaned forward. "What are you thinking?" His voice was a warm rumble in her ear.
"I'm thinking, 'what now'," she said, which was also true. "Where do we go from here?"
"Well," he began, wrapping his arms around her waist, "With the wards gone, we're free to travel by magic again, so in a few moments we'll attempt to corral Didymus and his new friend, who you will notice have already wandered off again, and then I shall take us all home. Once everyone has had a chance to rest, we'll work on finding a place for Elsie to start her new life in the Goblin City."
"Okay," she said, nodding. "Assuming you wedge a meal in there somewhere, that sounds reasonable." She leaned into his embrace and rested her back against his chest, her stomach fluttering pleasantly at the contact. "What about Didymus?"
"There is a place for him among the palace guards, if he so chooses to accept it, but I am inclined to believe that it will be a challenge convincing him to leave his bog."
She laughed softly. "You're probably right about that. He does take it very seriously." She tilted her head back so that she could better see his expression. "And then what about us?"
"Us?" he said, puzzled. "Is there an 'us'?"
She elbowed him sharply in the ribs and he laughed.
"Oh, that us," he said, deftly avoiding any further attacks on his person by simply pinning her arms to her side. "Well, that remains to be seen. I suppose it primarily depends on whether or not we can stand to be in the same room together for more than five minutes without mortal peril as a unifying force." He released her so that she could turn and face him. "I have been alone a very long time, Sarah," he said softly. He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from her cheek, tucking it tenderly behind her ear. "I am a solitary creature and unused to the company of others. I'm afraid my bad habits and faults are many and varied." He smiled down at her with a wry twist to his mouth, "difficult as I am sure that is for you to believe."
"I am shocked," she agreed.
He gave her a disapproving look, but went on. "Reasonable or not, my every whim has been indulged for the entirety of my life, for good or for ill."
"You don't say," she said, wide-eyed. "Wow, it sounds like being a king is a pretty sweet gig."
"Sarah," he admonished, aggrieved. "I am trying to be candid with you." He sighed. "I am not a kind man, or a good man. I am not, in the strictest definition of the word, a 'man' at all, and I certainly do not aspire to the foolish pretensions of one. Once before I tried to live up to your expectations as a villain and succeeded all too well, I am simply uncertain as to my chances of success in living up to your expectations as a hero."
Sarah reached up and kissed him softly on the lips. "I don't need you to be a hero, Jareth. Don't you realize that? I just need you to be you. That's it; that's the entirety of my expectations." She smiled. "We've both got rough edges and a lot to learn about each other. And, let's be frank, there's not a chance in this world or the other one that we'll get it right on the first try. But that's okay. We'll figure it out as we go."
"I cannot promise ours will be an easy path," he cautioned.
"I would be disappointed if it was," she said with a smile. "How boring would that be?"
He chuckled. "The one thing I think that I can confidently promise is that it will never be boring." He held out a hand in invitation, twining his fingers with hers. "Come, I think it is high time we left this place." He waved to Didymus and Elsie and they came trotting back, chattering animatedly with one another, barely bothering to acknowledge either Jareth or Sarah.
Sarah shook her head in wonder. Elsie was looking up at Didymus with rapt attention as he expounded on the merits of bog mulch for growing prize-winning rutabagas, of all things. Her face shone with something very like adulation. And Didymus for his part had taken the little goblin completely and wholeheartedly under his furry wing, transferring not even the slightest bit of ill-will or bitterness from his experiences under Elsbeth onto Elsie. Sarah was sure, if she were to ask him why, he wouldn't even understand the question.
"I love you, Didymus," Sarah said suddenly.
Had he been capable of it, Sir Didymus would have blushed an alarming shade of red. As it was, he simply stuttered and stammered charmingly until Jareth reached over and tapped him sharply on the head. "My apologies, my liege," Didymus said stiffly, embarrassed.
"No need, my friend," Jareth assured him cordially. "I was merely fixing the feather on your hat."
Startled, Didymus snatched the cap off of his head to look at it. Sure enough, the bright yellow plume, of which he had been so proud, was back in one piece, hanging from the edge of his cap at a jaunty angle. "Well, I say!" he exclaimed happily.
And then they were gone, and the silence of the courtyard was broken only by the exultant song of a single, joyful bluebird.
The End.
****
Title: The Rescue, Part Three
Author: tallulah99
Recipient: wizzcat01
Prompt: Poor Jareth, always the villain of the piece, forever the bad guy, but what if just for once he was the hero in the tale (intentional or reluctant)? After all, good guys always get the girl - right?
Rating: T for some swearing
Plot Summary/Author's Notes: A dozen years has passed since Sarah's first visit to the Labyrinth and this time Sir Didymus has gone and gotten himself into a world of trouble. Unable to save him on her own, Sarah swallows her pride and requests Jareth's aid. Is he willing to set aside past grievances and journey with her across the Underground to confront Didymus' captor? Who is the Borderlands Queen and what is her history with the enigmatic King of the Goblins? Will their quest be successful? And who is it that needs to be rescued really?
Part One
Part Two
The first thing Sarah thought when she awoke to the stream of pale light coming in through the windows was how surprising it was that she had slept at all, much less soundly and without dreams.
The second thing she thought was how strange it was that she was actually warm.
She blinked sleepily and then realized with some alarm that the source of the warmth was Jareth himself. She lay on her side near the edge of the stone shelf, wrapped snugly in his arms. Her back was flush with his chest and she could feel the gentle stirring of the hair on the back of her neck as he breathed.
She tensed to slide away from him and felt him waken immediately.
"Good morning," he said pleasantly.
The rumble of his voice, inches from her ear did funny things to her insides. She rolled forward, dropping off of the ledge and onto her feet. "What, are we spooning now?"
He gave her a deceptively innocent look. "You looked cold."
She gave him a dubious look.
"Okay, fine. I was cold. Does that better suit your delicate sensibilities?"
He sat up and she was pleased to see that he didn't look nearly as put together and unruffled as he customarily did. It was a small thing, but nevertheless mildly vindicating to have evidence that he did in fact use his magic to keep himself looking so polished and put together all the time. "I don't have 'delicate sensibilities'," she said, irritably. "Let's just keep the cuddling to a minimum, okay?"
"Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the cold, hard, stone ledge this morning?"
Sarah scowled at him.
"Not a morning person, then? I'll file that bit of information away for future use." He stretched languidly, and permitted himself a small smile of victory when he caught her watching him. He winked and she hastily averted her eyes.
"Oh, please," she said with an unladylike snort. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away, pointedly ignored him until he stood and shook out the heavy coat that had been draped over top of them as they slept.
"Wait, is that a coat? Where did you find a coat?"
He glanced over at the darkest corner of their cell and then back to her. "Try not to think about it too much," he suggested.
She looked over at the pile of straw and tried very hard not to think about what might be hidden underneath it. "Well, thank you for keeping me warm…I guess." She made a face.
Jareth chuckled. "I must admit, it's been some time since I've gotten such a lackluster reaction from a woman after spending the night with her."
He was smiling at her, joking, but Sarah looked up, suddenly serious. "How long has it been?"
His smile faded.
Her eyes flickered away from his and then back again. This time she held his gaze, waiting.
He paused for a moment before answering without a trace of humor, "A long, long time."
She flushed and said quickly, "Not that it matters or anything. It's none of my business. I was just…I don't know, wondering…for no reason." Feeling foolish and wondering what strange compulsion had made her ask such a revealing question, she moved quickly across the cell, putting as much space between them as she could manage, which wasn't nearly as much as she would have liked.
It wasn't like there was anything to reveal, she told herself sternly. Simply getting through a full day without having the desire to throttle him was hardly grounds for advancing any sort of relationship. Then she shook her head, annoyed that the word 'relationship' had even flitted through her mind in conjunction with the Goblin King. Hadn't she spent the past dozen years hating and fearing him in equal measure? She was simply overwrought by the fact that they were stuck in a freaking dungeon together for the foreseeable future, that was all.
Okay, yes, he had proved that there was more to him than she had previously suspected. He was in fact capable of something like normal human emotion, but was it enough to mitigate twelve long years of mutual antagonism? Did she want it to be enough?
She thought of the comfort his warm presence had given her during the whole ordeal of the day before, of tic-tac-toe and the countless stories he had told to keep her distracted, of his fingers wrapped tightly around hers in the dark. And then reluctantly, she also thought of waking in his arms, of being pressed protectively against his chest beneath a ratty coat he had scoured their cell to find for her.
She pressed her forehead into the bars and squeezed her eyes shut. What a perfectly horrible time to develop complicated feelings.
She wrapped her hands around the bars and squinted into the distance, straining to see signs of activity at the far end of the dungeon. "I don't suppose you got a room service menu when we checked in, did you?"
"I regret to say that I did not."
"Oh well, I guess that's okay. It's always so overpriced anyway." She turned around and leaned back against the bars. "Honestly, I think this place has gone downhill. They missed our wakeup call too."
He was leaning against the stone ledge with his arms crossed, watching her with a bemused smile on his face.
"What?" she asked, a bit self-consciously.
"I am merely marveling at your ability to distract yourself."
"Maybe I am distracting myself," she said, defensively. "But it sure beats the hell out of sitting here and wallowing in fear of what's to come. What good would that do me?"
"That's not all you're distracting yourself from," he chided with a flash of pointed teeth.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied loftily, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
He chuckled, a low and seductive sound. "Oh I think you do, Sarah. You just don't - "
The resounding crash of steel on stone made them both jump. It was the sound of the massive outer door being thrown carelessly into the wall behind it.
"Oh God." Sarah backed away from the door and made no protest when Jareth reached out and yanked her backwards, putting himself between her and the approaching racket. They both knew it was a futile gesture. If the guards were there to take them, there was nothing either of them could do to prevent it, though she appreciated the attempt nonetheless.
It was Elsbeth who came traipsing into view a few moments later, however, and Sarah was suddenly very grateful for Jareth's chivalrous streak.
The Queen of the Borderlands meandered aimlessly down the corridor, humming softly to herself. She was still dirty, barefoot and wearing the same tattered and stained gown as before, but the jewel-studded tiara was missing today. She seemed in no hurry, stopping from time to time to swing back and forth on the iron bars and adding a little skip to her stride every few steps, presumably in time with whatever tune was playing in her head.
"Oh!" she said when she spied them in the back of the cell, seeming genuinely surprised to find them there. "My Jareth!" she exclaimed happily, and then looked around the dungeon, with a puzzled expression. "You have chosen your accommodations most peculiarly."
"We seem to have lost our way, Elsbeth," Jareth said smoothly. "We would be most appreciative if you could assist us."
"I am a good helper," she said seriously and then with a negligent flick of her wrist, she wrenched the cell door off of its hinges and threw it across the room without ever so much as laying a hand on it. "Now you must come and play!" she cried. "I simply love new toys!" She pranced back up the corridor on her tiptoes, twirling with her arms raised over her head and giggling when she lost her balance and staggered.
Sarah followed Jareth with her hand fisted in the back of his shirt, unwilling to lose physical contact as they made their way up and out of the dark, cold prison that she hoped with all her heart she would never see again.
Her joy at reaching the upper level faded once she'd had a chance to examine her new surroundings and suddenly the dungeon cell didn't seem like such a bad alternative. The room they entered was a wreck, all crumbling walls, scattered debris and splintered wood that might once have been castle furnishings. There was an occasional flash of metallic silver as the indistinct light glinted faintly on a strange assortment of unidentifiable tools that were strewn carelessly around the room. Most worrying of all, however, were the dark stains that covered the stone floor in large, dark splotches. There were more of them than Sarah could count easily in the dim light and many were overlapping, making it even harder to discern, but she thought dozens at least. No effort had ever been made to clean up the foulness in the room and eventually, despite her best efforts, she was unable to avoid stepping in one of the spots. She shuddered as her shoe stuck slightly in the congealed mess and had to repress the urge to be sick. The stench was suffocating. She had to fight hard to keep from thinking about what kinds of atrocities must happen here.
She clutched Jareth's shirt tighter and then greedily seized the hand he surreptitiously offered to her behind his back. The solid feel of his fingers tightened around hers was both a lifeline and a tether, keeping her from completely losing her mind.
She was unable to completely suppress the faint sob of relief when Elsbeth continued on through the room without stopping and on into the next corridor. Jareth squeezed her hand in reassurance.
Any hopes either of them may have held of making a run for it once they were out of the dungeon were dashed when they came to the end of their journey and Elsbeth skipped ahead of them into the room. A soundless phalanx of her guards closed in behind them, cutting off the only exit as efficiently as if she had put up a wall.
They were in a fairly normal sitting room, though large. The furnishings were heavy and antiquated, all burgundys and golds in repeating patterns on rich fabrics with raggedy tassels hanging off of just about everything. The warm, yellow light that made the room shimmer came from dozens of candles spread across every surface.
Sarah swallowed, but reluctantly let go of Jareth's hand before Elsbeth noticed. She somehow sensed that the girl would not approve of such unsanctioned contact. She glanced up at Jareth's face. It was stony and pale and he was watching Elsbeth with the same cautious wariness she felt, waiting to see what her mood would bring.
"You are the human," Elsbeth said conversationally after she had climbed up on one of the large sofas and made herself comfortable. She sat with her legs crossed and smoothed her hands over her tattered skirt as though it were some fine, delicately woven fabric rather than soiled rags.
With a quick glance at Jareth, Sarah nodded. "Yes, I am."
"See, I remembered!" Elsbeth said musically. "I have not had another human to play with in a very long time." She blinked slowly and gave a disconcertingly vacant smile. "Do you like to play games?"
"Um…I guess. I haven't really played any in a long time."
"Neither have I!" she crowed, her eyes wide as if she had just discovered something they had in common by amazing coincidence. And then she stopped and looked oddly thoughtful, her head tilted dramatically to the side. "No, perhaps that is not true. I think I may have played with someone this month…or maybe it was next week?" She shrugged and smiled again, that same empty up-tilting of her lips that did not come close to her eyes. "It matters not. I know they could not have been human. I am the only human here." Her eyes slid over Sarah in a calculating manner. "Or I was. Only now there is you."
Sarah froze under the girl's scrutiny, not knowing what to say that wouldn't spark another dangerous temper tantrum.
"Did you bring her here, my Jareth?" she asked without moving her gaze from Sarah. "Were the people bad to her too?"
"No, Elsbeth," he said shortly without elaborating. His lips were pinched and pale. He was worried, Sarah realized with an unpleasant jolt. Her own fear ratcheted up a few notches.
"Do you have bad people?" Elsbeth asked. "Is that why you came here?"
"Um…no," Sarah managed. "I came to visit my friends."
"You have friends?" Elsbeth's expression lit with interest.
"Some," she said evasively, already wishing she hadn't mentioned them.
"I have no friends but my bears," Elsbeth sighed, an exaggerated, theatrical gesture. "And sometimes my Jareth, when he comes to visit me, but that is not often and even then, he never wants to play with me. Isn't that terrible?"
"Um…"
"Oh, I know, I know!" Elsbeth was on her knees bouncing on the cushions. "You can be my friend too!" She fell over on her side, in raptures. "We shall have ever so much fun! Wouldn't you like that? Wouldn't you like to be my friend? Wouldn't you like to play?" She sobered abruptly and levered herself into a sitting position, looking at Sarah impatiently. "Well, would you?"
"I…I don't know. I…" She looked at Jareth, panicked.
Jareth shot to his feet. "Elsbeth - " he began.
"No!" she snarled. The flames of the candles in their holders flared under her agitation. "I am not speaking to you right now! You hush or I'll make my bears hurt you!"
"No!" Sarah cried, alarmed. She hurried on, trying to maintain some semblance of calm, "No, that's not necessary, Elsbeth. Of course, I'll be friends with you." She gave the girl a wobbling smile that she hoped would pacify her.
It seemed to, briefly. She spun in a happy little circle and then fell back on the sofa, giggling, almost sounding like a normal little girl for a moment. "Come on!" she said, sliding across the sofa and hopping to her feet. She grabbed Sarah's hand and started pulling on her. "Come with me! Let's go play now!"
She was surprisingly strong for her size, but would still have been no match for Sarah physically. Her magic gave her all the edge she needed, however.
"Get up!" she screamed and Sarah was thrown from her seat, landing on her knees with a sharp cry.
"Elsbeth, no!" Jareth shouted, lunging towards her.
The Borderlands Queen barely glanced at her former guardian and sent him flying into the opposite wall, pinning him against the stone several feet above the floor.
"I want to play!" Elsbeth screamed. "And you can't stop me! You never want me to have any fun! The Sarah is my friend and I want to play with her!.
Sarah scrambled backwards as the girl approached her, smiling again already. "Please," she choked through her tears, "Please don't." It didn't take much of a leap of imagination to surmise what kind of 'game' the girl must want to play. Jareth's story rang in her mind like a broken record, 'torn apart… eviscerated…'.
"Oh, but it will be such fun!" The girl's cheeks were flushed pink, her eyes bright with manic enthusiasm. "You will love my games! Some of my friends don't like them, but they are spoilsports and…do you want to know a secret?" She leaned her face down next to Sarah's ear, her breath warm and rapid against her cheek. "I make them play anyway," she whispered and then gave a high-pitched giggle that was like nails on a chalkboard.
"Ca-can't we p-play a different game?" Sarah tried, shaking. She attempted to rise, but it must have suited Elsbeth to keep her where she was. She couldn't move. "We c-could play hide and seek instead."
"But that is exactly what I want to play!" Elsbeth exclaimed happily. "I want to find what is hidden!" She knelt in front of Sarah, lowering her head and contorting her body sideways so that she could brush her cheek against Sarah's in her downward facing position. "There is a heart tight locked away, and where it's gone I cannot say, but I will search for 'ere more until it wash upon my shore." Her voice was a childish sing-song that, anywhere else, under any other circumstances, would have seemed sweet and pure and innocent, but coming from behind those empty, soulless eyes, it sent chills down Sarah's spine.
"Elsbeth!" Jareth called, struggling ineffectually against the force that held him. Cold fingers of panic had wrapped themselves around his heart and squeezed until he thought it must explode from the pressure. He would have given his kingdom and everything in it right that second for one single chance to use his magic. "You must not do this!"
The girl stood and put her hands on her hips, bow shaped lips curled into a pout. "But, My Jareth, you never play with me and I want to play. The Sarah is my friend now. She will play with me." She patted the top of Sarah's head gently. "Come and see my playroom. I am very good at hide and seek." She giggled again. "I always win!"
The force keeping Sarah on her hands and knees vanished and she sagged to the floor, tears coursing down her cheeks. This couldn't be happening.
"Come, come now!" Elsbeth said irritably, tugging forcefully on Sarah's arm. She was half dragging her towards the towering wall of guards that shuffled slowly out of the way at their mistress's approach.
Sarah cried out, pulling desperately against the vice grip the girl had on her arm as she towed her relentlessly towards the corridor. She could think of nothing but the room with the stained floors, the memory of all of those strange instruments with wicked edges burned into her mind. The blood roared in her ear. "Please, no!"
Sarah's terrified cry cut through Jareth like a dagger. Mindlessly he fought the invisible bands that held him firm. He was desperate to reach her, to save her. 'What are you willing to do?' came the voice from inside him. 'How far are you willing to go to save The Girl?' He knew the answer at once. It came without effort and without thought. All the way. He would do whatever it took to save her even if it meant… "Elsbeth!" he called out, "Let her go! Let her go and I will come and play with you instead!"
Elsbeth stopped and turned slowly, tilting her head to the side in query. "You want to play with me? Truly? You would come and play with me at last?"
"Yes," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. He gazed down at Sarah's pale, shocked face, and felt a certainty like he had never known before. "Yes, of course, but you must first promise that you will let her go. We cannot play properly until she is gone. It's time for Sarah to go home now."
Elsbeth looked puzzled, regarding the desperate expression on his face with curiosity, but she let him slide slowly down the face of the wall until he was standing on his own power once again. "We could all play together," she suggested hopefully. "The Sarah could go home after we play?"
"No," Jareth said, his tone firm despite the silent tears that tracked down his pale cheeks. "She has to go home now. You must allow her to gather her things and go and then… then we can play."
Elsbeth let go of Sarah's arm without a glance, leaving her on her knees in the middle of the room.
"What are you doing?" Sarah hissed.
He crossed the room in two strides and pulled her up off the floor and into his arms. "You would prefer I let her take you instead?" he whispered fiercely. "I must do this!" he brought his lips down on hers, kissing her hard and fast.
"No!" she cried as he released her. "I won't let you give your life for mine!"
"I'm not," he said with a mocking smile. "I'm giving it for Didymus."
"Please! Don't do it like this. Don't let her take you into that room! We'll figure out another way!"
"There is no other way," he said, determinedly. He took an uneven breath and let it out slowly. "I have lived a hundred lifetimes full of regrets, but I will not live to regret losing you when I could have prevented it. Allow me to bear responsibility for once in my wretched existence!"
He turned to face a perplexed Elsbeth, her elfin features screwed up in confusion. "Now you can let her go. I will stay with you, I promise. You may do with me whatever you wish. We will play whatever you like, but you must first let her find her friend - the puppy - and leave this place."
The enthusiasm was gone from Elsbeth's features and she stood looking at him indecisively. "Well, I am not certain…" she began.
"Be certain," he said. "I give myself to you freely in her stead." He turned his strange eyes on Sarah with apology there, but no regret, the ghost of a smile playing across his lips. "She is but a human, after all, and they are endemic. I am the only one of my kind. Surely we will have more fun together, you and I?"
Sarah choked through her tears, "Please, no…"
Elsbeth looked back and forth between them, doubt etched into the delicate lines of her face. "I don't understand why you are sad? We will have such fun."
"It's alright, Elsbeth," he said softly, his voice gentle. "It doesn't matter. Just… just let her go home now, alright, love?"
"Love?" Her wide, vacant eyes settled on him and for the first time, she seemed to look sad. "It is such a warm word. Does it feel like it sounds?" She went on without waiting for an answer. "I used to want one, but there was never enough to go around." She sighed. "I even tried to search for my own, you know. Pheera says you find love in a person's heart and I looked for it there, but I could never find it."
Sarah covered her mouth to muffle her cry of horror. Jareth closed his eyes briefly, his face creased with pain.
"Do you love her?"
He jerked in surprise at the question, so did Sarah. "Do I…"
"Love her?" Elsbeth repeated. "The human girl - the other one. Yes, that is what I want to know. Does my Jareth love The Sarah?"
"Yes," he said, roughly, but without hesitation. He was speaking to Elsbeth, but his eyes never left Sarah's.
"And you would let me look in your heart? So I can see it? I so want to see what love looks like! Is it blue? I have long felt it must be blue. Is it a stone? Like a ruby or a diamond? It should be delicate like a jewel, but strong and lasting like a stone. Oh, I should so like to see it!"
"Love doesn't work like that, Elsbeth," Jareth told her softly, sadly. "You cannot see it with your eyes, but yes, if that is what I must do to ensure that you will let Sarah and Didymus leave this place alive, then yes."
Elsbeth turned to Sarah inquiringly. "You have love for him too, I think." She said. "Do you not? Is there a love in your heart also?"
"Yes," Sarah choked out through her tears, knowing as she did that it was the truth she hadn't yet admitted to herself. "Yes! Please don't hurt him!"
Elsbeth nodded, thoughtful for a moment and then smiled. Her face was composed and the most beatifically serene expression softened her features until she looked like a child once more. "It doesn't mean what I seem to think it means," she said wistfully. She reached up and touched Jareth's face gently, tracing the path of his tears with one grubby finger. "I always wondered what it looked like, but I didn't guess that it's the tears that are diamonds." She reached for his hand and pressed it against her cheek. "Love looks like sacrifice, doesn't it, my Jareth?"
Jareth sank down to her level and gathered her, unresisting into his arms. "Sometimes it does, my girl. Sometimes it does."
She rested her head against his shoulder. "You never had the love for me."
"I did, Elsbeth," he said brokenly. "I did."
The girl shook her head. "No, not like the Sarah. Your windows don't glow for the cold girl." She sat up straight and looked at him. Her clear, vacant eyes were so close she nearly brushed his cheek with her eyelashes when she blinked. "You needed a queen, but I forgot to grow up." She butted the top of her head under his chin and sighed. "You were good to me, my Jareth, but spring must come and I don't know how to do it anymore." She wrapped her arms as far around him as they would go. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright, Elsbeth," he said again, softly. He returned her embrace and rocked her gently back and forth like a father would, comforting his child. He closed his eyes and let the tears fall freely into her tangled curls. Elsbeth's dark head was cradled against his chest, a contented smile on her delicate features.
Sarah's own chest felt tight as she watched him cradle the lost, broken little girl in his arms. She wiped warm tears away with the back of her hand and wondered at the human capacity for sadness. It seemed like a vessel that never filled no matter how much was poured into it, but add one single drop of true joy and the rest of it poured away like water down a drain.
She jerked in surprise as a drop of cold water landed on her cheek. Puzzled, she looked up, squinting against the sunlight that was streaming in through the upper windows and then flinched as another chilly drop landed squarely on her nose. She backpedaled out of the line of fire, searching the rafters for the source of the leak.
Finally, she spotted it. Far up, near the apex of the ancient vaulted ceiling, the cumulative effects of time and neglect had allowed a small crack to open up in the mortar between two of the heavy blackened beams that supported the roof. Snow melt dripped through the fissure and splashed almost soundlessly onto the stone floor far below.
This seemed somehow significant, but for the moment Sarah couldn't quite put her finger on why.
She moved to the window and looked out across the snow covered grounds, squinting hard against the glare of the sun's rays reflecting back off of the pristine surface. She had to work the rusty latch for a moment, but it finally gave way and the window swung out, away from its casing. A chilly, but fresh draft ruffled the loose hairs around her cheeks and she took a deep breath of the clean, sweet-smelling air. She stood at the open window with her hands braced on the casing, enjoying the faint breeze, her eyes closed in appreciation. Eventually she became aware of a faint pattering sound coming from outside and leaned out, curious.
A row of shining icicles hung from the corner eaves like a set of glass stalactites, their glittering points dripping a steady tempo onto the ground below the window.
"It's melting," she said softly. She turned to Jareth, as he sat, still gently rocking Elsbeth in his lap. "It's melting!" she said again, louder, her eyes wide with comprehension. The magic that had held winter in place was fading. Elsbeth had let go of the magical hold she had on the Borderlands. She had given Jareth's power back to him.
He nodded without opening his eyes and she realized he must have felt the shift when Elsbeth dropped the wards. He tightened his arms around the girl, hugging her to his chest fiercely for a long moment before he finally relaxed his grip and rested his cheek on the top of her head. "It's time, Elsbeth," he said finally, his voice thick.
"I rather thought it might be," she said calmly. She sat up and placed a hand on each of his cheeks regarding him steadily for a moment before she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. Then she slid down from his lap and, giving him a quick backwards glance, she walked primly to the center of the room with her hands clasped in front of her, her expression composed and serene. Her eyes were clear and seemed almost focused. A small smile even played around the corners of her mouth as if she were thinking of something pleasant. At last she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Tilting her chin upwards, she let the sunlight wash over her face. "It will be warm soon," she said.
"Yes," Jareth said. "It will be." He followed the girl into the pool of yellow light and looked down on her upturned face with sadness in his eyes. Sarah moved to stand next to him and held out her hand in invitation. He took it gratefully, thankful to feel her warm presence by his side while he did what he should have done so many years ago and removed the rest of Elsbeth's humanity. He intertwined their fingers, squeezing lightly. When she returned the gentle pressure, he reached out with the other hand and placed it gently on top of Elsbeth's head. "Be well," he said softly and she was gone.
Sarah's heart clenched as she looked down at the befuddled little goblin that stood where Elsbeth had been seconds ago. She was a tiny little thing with sharp features, pointed little ears that bent forward at the tips and wide brown eyes. Elsbeth's had been a faint, nearly colorless, blue with nothing shining out from behind them. The windows to her soul had looked in on a vacant lot, long since abandoned and left to ruin. This new creature blinked up at her and she could see at once that there was a mind in there now, simple though it may be, that was capable of reason, of logic, of joy.
"Does she remember who she is?" she asked Jareth quietly. The goblin was darting quick looks around the room, taking it all in with short jerky movements of her head. She seemed puzzled, but not afraid.
"No," he said. His eyes were wet as he regarded the little creature, but he too was composed and serene, content with his decision. "She will to a certain extent, once the shock of the transformation has worn off, but even that will fade in time. And it will seem unimportant to her in any case." He knelt down to the goblin's level. "Hello," he said.
Her head tilted to the side as she regarded him uncertainly. "Hullo."
"Go and find Didymus," he said, without taking his eyes off the goblin. "I'll watch over her until you get back."
She didn't need to be asked twice and took off at a run, calling Didymus' name.
Just outside the great hall she skidded to an abrupt halt to avoid colliding with the motionless figure of one of the guards, sprawled where it had dropped when Elsbeth transformed. She skirted around it, leaving a liberal cushion between herself and the giant body. Dead or disabled or whatever it was, she still had no interest in getting a closer look. There were two more in the next chamber and she found another three as she worked her way through the rooms on the first level. The last one stood canted over to one side in a corner of what must have been Elsbeth's bedroom.
Sarah looked around the filthy apartment with its much abused furnishings and threadbare linens and felt an overwhelming sense of sadness for the little girl that had lived here. She may have been ancient in fact, but in essentials she had never really stopped being the damaged child that had been wished away all those years ago. There were toys in varying degrees of disrepair scattered around the room. Some were familiar, but most looked as though Elsbeth had created them out of random and incomplete memories from her time in the Aboveground.
The bed was tucked into a corner and seemed surprisingly small, like something that would be found in a regular-sized child's room. It was a very plain four-poster all done up in pink and white drapes and coverings. They were torn and dirty as most everything else in the room was, but here there seemed to have been at least some care taken to keep it neat and orderly. Sarah walked over and touched the covers with a tentative hand, thinking not only how simple it seemed in comparison to the rest of the castle's lavish furnishings, but also how much she would have desperately loved something just like it when she was ten years old.
In the middle of the bed she noticed a small, dark, oddly-shaped object, half covered by the pillow. Curious as to what could possibly have rated a spot next to Elsbeth as she slept; Sarah reached out and picked it up.
She dropped it immediately with a horrified cry and then fell to her knees on the floor next to the little pink and white bed. Tears splashed down her cheeks as her heart broke completely for the sad, lonely, little girl.
She reached out again with shaking hands and lifted the pathetic little toy that had probably held this special place of honor for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
It was an ancient, ruined teddy bear with mottled black and tan fur. The stitching on the back of its head had burst long ago, the stuffing all but completely gone. The hollow shell of the bear's head had been rolled up and stuffed inside itself to prevent it from flopping around and letting out the rest of the stuffing. Sarah held it gingerly in her hands and looked over at the hulking creature slumped in the corner. But for the dramatic difference in their sizes, they were identical.
Elsbeth had created her guards to look like the one friend she had ever been able to depend on.
Sarah bowed her head and wept, mourning the wasted life of a little girl who had never stood a chance.
When she had cried herself out and her tears were all spent, she climbed to her feet and spoke softly into the empty room. "I'm sorry, Elsbeth," she said and turned to go, ready to move on with her search.
From a distant corner, she heard the faint sound of movement, unnaturally loud in the silent chamber and froze with her heart in her throat. "Who's there?"
"My lady?" came the unexpected, and most welcome, voice of Sir Didymus from out of the darkness. "Is that you?"
"Didymus?!" she cried, stumbling across the debris strewn floor to the dim corner of the room. It took her a moment to find him in the gloom. A small cage had been bolted into the stone wall and he crouched there, his paws stretched out through the bars. She clasped them in her own, pressing kisses across his knuckles and crying all over again. He was dirty and his eye patch was missing, but overall he appeared healthy and uninjured. She was relieved to see the remains of a dish of food pushed into one corner as well as a pitcher that had some water in it, or at least it did have until he knocked it over in his haste to reach her.
"Oh, my lady, it is wonderful to see you, truly it is, but you must go. She must not find you here!" He shook her hands off of his and started trying to push her away. "Please, my lady! You must go!"
She found that she was laughing and crying so hard it was difficult to speak. "It's okay, Didymus!" she managed finally. "It's okay! She's gone! It's okay!"
"Are you quite certain? Is it truly over, my lady? Is she…?" His furry eyebrows went up in dismay.
Sarah wrapped her hands around his paws again, pressing them gently. "She's alive. Jareth turned her into a goblin, but she's alive."
The news seemed to reassure Didymus and he relaxed, sagging against the bars. "It is as well, poor unhappy child."
She pressed her forehead against the bars and he did likewise, tickling her cheeks with his whiskers. "I'm so glad you're okay. I missed you."
"And I, you, my lady." He sat back abruptly. "Wait a moment, you say that Jareth turned her into a… you mean to say he came here?"
"He's here now. He's waiting with Elsbeth…er, goblin Elsbeth that is, for me to find you." She sat up and started looking around the room, searching for the key.
"It's just over there, my lady," He pointed across the room to the large key hanging from a hook next to the cold fireplace. "My apologies for not making you aware of my presence sooner," he said as she picked her way over to retrieve the key. "I discovered that the queen would sometimes forget that I was here and I thought it best to avoid reminding her when I could help it."
"That was probably a wise idea." She worked the key into the lock and wrestled the heavy door open with Didymus' help.
Once free and standing upright, he flung himself into her arms and they collapsed to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs and fur. Sarah found herself positively giggling from the heady rush of relief. She hugged him fiercely and they talked endlessly over one another, what they were saying to each other not nearly as important as the fact that they could say it.
"She was not altogether cruel to me, you understand," he told her once they had calmed down enough to start searching for Didymus' belongings. "But her fits of temper were unpredictable at best and…well, let us just say, I was not alone in the cage when first I arrived." He looked back into the dim corner of the room and shook himself. "I think perhaps I shall not think on that again."
"Let's not think back on any of this again," she suggested.
Miraculously, they found not only his rucksack and eye patch, but his feathered cap as well among the detritus of the room. The latter was rather the worse for wear however, its jaunty feather having been snapped in two at some point. Didymus twitched his whiskers dubiously at it and then shrugged and put it on anyway.
Sarah caught him up on the finer points of their rescue operation as they made their way past the corpse of Elsbeth's 'bear' and back into the passageway. She was careful to leave out anything that might unnecessarily alarm or grieve him. He had been through quite enough without having to shoulder her burdens as well.
When they arrived back in the main hall, Jareth was alone. He would easily have heard them coming several rooms away and was smiling in expectation as they entered.
Sarah took quick stock of the room and, seeing no little goblin girl anywhere, gave him a puzzled look.
He nodded towards the open doors that lead out onto the castle grounds, but could not answer as Didymus had already thrown himself to the ground in front of his king's feet, seized his hand and launched into a gracious speech extolling the Goblin King's many exemplary attributes including, but not limited to, his bravery, strength, magical prowess, capacity for Goblin Mead, fashion sense and punctuality.
"My liege," he went on, bowing so low that his feather would have brushed the stone floor had it been intact. "Words simply cannot express my gratitude and appreciation for your generous and wholly unexpected participation in my liberation. I am eternally grateful and forever in your debt. I beg that you would consider me your most humble of servants from here on out. You need but ask and any task or service that it is in my power to carry out for you shall be done at once! At any time, day or night, winter, spring, summer or fall, I am at your command!"
Jareth's amused condescension changed swiftly to alarm and then on to outright panic during the course of Didymus' recitation. Sarah had a hard time maintaining her composure and really only managed to do so at all because she knew it would injure her friend's pride if she were to laugh. Instead she left them and made her way outside.
The sun was warm and she stopped for a moment on the steps, thankful for the gentle glow on her face. She hadn't been so sure she would ever see it again and the gratitude with which she now stood beneath it brought tears of joy that leaked out of her closed eyes and ran in silent streams down her cheeks.
"Why are you crying, miss lady?"
Sarah opened her eyes to find the Elsbeth goblin sitting on the thick marble balustrade a few feet away. Her skinny legs hung over the edge, kicking back and forth like a child's. "Because I'm happy," she said with a smile.
The goblin seemed to think this over seriously for a moment and then squinted her eyes nearly shut and scrunched up her nose in apparent effort.
"What's the matter?" Sarah asked, puzzled.
"I am trying to cry too," she said and renewed her efforts.
"For goodness sake, why?"
"Because I am happy also, so I should cry, right?"
Sarah let out a shaky breath. "No. No you don't always have to cry when you're happy, just sometimes when you're so full of joy that you can't help it."
The goblin looked thoughtful again and then nodded. "Okay."
Sarah thought of the innumerable years that Jareth had suffered with the pain of his guilt, had eschewed any connection to love, affection and sympathy for fear of repeating the horrible mistakes of the past, and how, for all of those same years, the lost, little girl that had been wished away had suffered with the confusion and chaos of a broken mind trapped inside an eternal and unchanging body. It saddened her desperately to think of all the unnecessary misery on both sides for such a very long time.
"Your name is Sarah." It was almost a question.
She blinked and nodded. "Yes, it is."
Smugly, the goblin grinned. "I knew it was. Some things are fuzzy, but I saw you before. You look like spring."
"Uh, thank you…I think," she replied, somewhat at a loss. "What's your name?"
The goblin opened her mouth to reply and then closed it again with a puzzled look. "I don't think I know that yet."
"Perhaps we can help you can choose a nice one for yourself," said Sir Didymus, appearing suddenly at Sarah's elbow. He reached for the goblin's hand and helped her jump to her feet. "Come and take a walk with me, little goblin, and we shall wander where green things soon will grow."
On a whim, Sarah called after them, "Wait, I um…have something for you." She had forgotten she was even holding it, but now she jogged down the steps and handed the pitiful little stuffed bear over to its rightful owner.
The goblin turned it this way and that in her hands as if it were a familiar item that she could not quite place the purpose for. Finally, she brought it up to her nose and kissed it lovingly and then tucked it under her arm as she and Didymus headed out across the lawn.
Sarah watched in silent appreciation as her friend walked through the melting snow, pointing at this and that, chatting animatedly as he escorted his former captor across the grounds to where the garden had once been and soon had her poking curiously through the crust of snow, examining little bits of plants and searching for birds in the skeletal trees. In very short order they were racing happily around the lawn, stomping in puddles of snow melt and mud and laughing happily.
"Wow," she said softly.
"He is quite a unique sort of character, isn't he?"
Sarah turned to find Jareth leaning just outside the door with his arms crossed; watching as Didymus and the goblin frolicked and played as though they'd never once had a care in the world.
"He is that," she said with a smile. "Thank you for helping me save him."
"If I said it was 'my pleasure' you would know I was lying."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "You could just say 'you're welcome' and be done with it, you know."
A smile crept across his face. "You're welcome, Sarah." He pushed off of the doorway and came to stand behind her.
She felt only mild surprise and a warm, fluttery feeling that she wasn't quite ready to examine just yet when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. He pressed his cheek against hers and they stood still for a time, watching Didymus and the goblin wander once more in the direction of the gardens.
"She's going to be fine, isn't she?"
"Yes," he said softly. "She is. It will take her some time to acclimate, of course, but she will." He chuckled, "I believe Didymus will see to that."
"And what about you?" She turned her head slightly so she could see his face.
He glanced at her and then looked back out across the lawn, his eyes distant. "I have spent a dozen lifetimes lamenting choices I made and things I left undone. It's going to take me some time to acclimate as well."
"But you will," she said with a smile.
"I will," he agreed. "And I will no longer live with regrets."
He turned her in his arms then and brought his hands up to cup her face, his thumb brushing gently across her cheek. He looked down at her, his expression serious as he held her gaze for a long moment, his oddly matched eyes searching her face. "No more regrets," he said at last and then brought his lips down on hers with gentle force.
He kissed her with a single-mindedness of purpose and such thorough dedication to his task that it made Sarah's toes curl. His lips were warm and soft and when he burrowed his fingers into her hair and angled her head up to deepen their kiss, she let out a sigh that was nearly a moan and felt his lips curl up into a satisfied smile. Her immediate instinct was to pull back, to break off the kiss and lash out with some cutting remark, and then his tongue flicked across her lips and she promptly forgot all about it, sinking into him, opening her mouth under his demanding pressure as he explored her with his tongue.
"Ahem."
They froze.
Sarah felt embarrassment flood through her and pulled hastily away, putting far more space between herself and the King than was absolutely necessary given that they'd already been caught. At the foot of the steps, Didymus stood looking up at them with the little goblin by his side, one eyebrow raised in amused surprise. "My lady," he said with a sweeping bow, tactfully ignoring her flustered appearance as well as Jareth's completely unperturbed one. "Elsie and I have brought you a gift."
"Elsie?" Jareth eyed the goblin who ducked her head shyly, but nodded. He looked skeptical for a second and then shrugged. "Oh well, why not." He inclined his head in grave acknowledgement and said formally, "It is a great pleasure to make your acquaintance…Elsie."
She beamed up at him, pleased, and Didymus bowed his head in appreciation.
He turned to face Sarah. "As I said, Elsie and I have brought you a gift. I do hope you like it."
Elsie scampered up the steps and presented a small packet, loosely wrapped in what Sarah suspected was one of Didymus' more elaborate pocket handkerchiefs. "Happy birthday, my lady," she said with an awkward attempt at a bow and then darted back down the steps to hover just behind Didymus, peeking curiously around his shoulder.
"Birthday?" Sarah said, examining the item with a puzzled expression and then realized. "Oh…"
"That is today, isn't it?" Jareth said with a smile.
"I had forgotten," she said quietly. She carefully unwound the colorful fabric and gasped softly when it dropped away. She held a large flower nearly the size of her hand in the middle of her palm. The bloom was made up of five broad petals that started out a rich, nearly iridescent purple near the heart of the flower and then darkened into a deep, impossible shade of black as they arched up away from the center before tapering into fine points that lightly prickled the skin of her hand. The stamens and pistil that sprang like a tiny explosion from the center of the bloom were purple, tipped with a vibrant turquoise that fairly glowed in the sunlight. It was beautiful and strange like something from an alien planet.
She traced one velvety soft petal with a delicate finger and looked up at Didymus, giving him an incredulous smile. "Unbelievable. Even after everything, you still got me what I asked for for my birthday." She descended the stairs and kissed him softly on his furry cheek. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before. Thank you."
Unable to completely hide his smug expression, Didymus executed another courtly bow with a flourish of his hand. "It gets no rarer than that very flower you hold in your hand, my lady. It is the last black starflower left in this world or any other." He glanced in Jareth's direction. "When this one was plucked from the earth, the rest of them began to return to their former color. They are black no longer."
Sarah looked at the flower in her hand and smiled. "You don't do anything halfway, do you, Didymus?"
"My aim is to be of service, my lady." He was attempting to appear nonchalant, but he smoothed his whiskers and preened a little too casually for her to doubt but that was very pleased with himself.
"May I?" Jareth held out a hand and she carefully transferred the flower from her palm into his. "I'm afraid I did not have the foresight to get you a gift of my own," he said with a wry smile. "But I can, at least, make a small contribution to this one." He held his free hand above the bloom so that it was cupped tenderly between his palms and then concentrated briefly for a moment. "There," he said, handing it back to her gently. "After all that went into its acquisition, I should hate for it to dry out and fade."
Sarah examined the flower, but aside from the slight warmth it retained from his hands, it seemed unchanged. "Is it going to last forever now?"
He chuckled. "Not forever, no." He reached out and gently touched one of the petals. "I am no longer sure that anything should last forever. I have simply made it yours. It will bloom for you as long as you wish it to do so."
"Oh." She smiled, her eyes shining up at him. "Thank you."
He inclined his head without dropping her gaze. "You're welcome, Sarah."
"Look!" cried Elsie suddenly, hopping in place as she pointed excitedly across the lawn. "I see them! Look, Didymus! The birds, they're back!"
It was a pair of curious bluebirds, their brilliant plumage standing out as two vivid splashes of color against the otherwise stark and monochromatic landscape. They swooped down from the protection of the trees and began cautiously exploring the new environment with short bursts of flight and little hopping steps.
The magical wards that had kept the forest creatures at bay for so long were gone at last. It was only a matter of time before the animals began to return to the fields and the silent grounds were teeming with life once more. Soon birdsong and the trilling of insects would fill the silence and, in no time at all, the whole 'kingdom within a kingdom' would be swallowed up by the forest and forgotten.
A smile played across Sarah's lips as she watched the little birds complete their initial assessment and, with a quick flick of their wings, fly up to roost together on the decrepit garden wall. The male gave a preparatory shake of his downy feathers, like a performer about to make his debut, then puffed up his chest and sang a few trilling notes.
They were a portent, she thought as her heart sang right along with him, a sure sign that everything was going to be okay. She looked over at Jareth - maybe even better than okay.
He saw her glance and came to stand behind her, his fair hair tickling her cheek as he leaned forward. "What are you thinking?" His voice was a warm rumble in her ear.
"I'm thinking, 'what now'," she said, which was also true. "Where do we go from here?"
"Well," he began, wrapping his arms around her waist, "With the wards gone, we're free to travel by magic again, so in a few moments we'll attempt to corral Didymus and his new friend, who you will notice have already wandered off again, and then I shall take us all home. Once everyone has had a chance to rest, we'll work on finding a place for Elsie to start her new life in the Goblin City."
"Okay," she said, nodding. "Assuming you wedge a meal in there somewhere, that sounds reasonable." She leaned into his embrace and rested her back against his chest, her stomach fluttering pleasantly at the contact. "What about Didymus?"
"There is a place for him among the palace guards, if he so chooses to accept it, but I am inclined to believe that it will be a challenge convincing him to leave his bog."
She laughed softly. "You're probably right about that. He does take it very seriously." She tilted her head back so that she could better see his expression. "And then what about us?"
"Us?" he said, puzzled. "Is there an 'us'?"
She elbowed him sharply in the ribs and he laughed.
"Oh, that us," he said, deftly avoiding any further attacks on his person by simply pinning her arms to her side. "Well, that remains to be seen. I suppose it primarily depends on whether or not we can stand to be in the same room together for more than five minutes without mortal peril as a unifying force." He released her so that she could turn and face him. "I have been alone a very long time, Sarah," he said softly. He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from her cheek, tucking it tenderly behind her ear. "I am a solitary creature and unused to the company of others. I'm afraid my bad habits and faults are many and varied." He smiled down at her with a wry twist to his mouth, "difficult as I am sure that is for you to believe."
"I am shocked," she agreed.
He gave her a disapproving look, but went on. "Reasonable or not, my every whim has been indulged for the entirety of my life, for good or for ill."
"You don't say," she said, wide-eyed. "Wow, it sounds like being a king is a pretty sweet gig."
"Sarah," he admonished, aggrieved. "I am trying to be candid with you." He sighed. "I am not a kind man, or a good man. I am not, in the strictest definition of the word, a 'man' at all, and I certainly do not aspire to the foolish pretensions of one. Once before I tried to live up to your expectations as a villain and succeeded all too well, I am simply uncertain as to my chances of success in living up to your expectations as a hero."
Sarah reached up and kissed him softly on the lips. "I don't need you to be a hero, Jareth. Don't you realize that? I just need you to be you. That's it; that's the entirety of my expectations." She smiled. "We've both got rough edges and a lot to learn about each other. And, let's be frank, there's not a chance in this world or the other one that we'll get it right on the first try. But that's okay. We'll figure it out as we go."
"I cannot promise ours will be an easy path," he cautioned.
"I would be disappointed if it was," she said with a smile. "How boring would that be?"
He chuckled. "The one thing I think that I can confidently promise is that it will never be boring." He held out a hand in invitation, twining his fingers with hers. "Come, I think it is high time we left this place." He waved to Didymus and Elsie and they came trotting back, chattering animatedly with one another, barely bothering to acknowledge either Jareth or Sarah.
Sarah shook her head in wonder. Elsie was looking up at Didymus with rapt attention as he expounded on the merits of bog mulch for growing prize-winning rutabagas, of all things. Her face shone with something very like adulation. And Didymus for his part had taken the little goblin completely and wholeheartedly under his furry wing, transferring not even the slightest bit of ill-will or bitterness from his experiences under Elsbeth onto Elsie. Sarah was sure, if she were to ask him why, he wouldn't even understand the question.
"I love you, Didymus," Sarah said suddenly.
Had he been capable of it, Sir Didymus would have blushed an alarming shade of red. As it was, he simply stuttered and stammered charmingly until Jareth reached over and tapped him sharply on the head. "My apologies, my liege," Didymus said stiffly, embarrassed.
"No need, my friend," Jareth assured him cordially. "I was merely fixing the feather on your hat."
Startled, Didymus snatched the cap off of his head to look at it. Sure enough, the bright yellow plume, of which he had been so proud, was back in one piece, hanging from the edge of his cap at a jaunty angle. "Well, I say!" he exclaimed happily.
And then they were gone, and the silence of the courtyard was broken only by the exultant song of a single, joyful bluebird.
The End.