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THE CARNIVAL SAGA	By : thomcats Category: G through L > Labyrinth Views: 6350 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
LIVING HAPPILY EVER AFTER?

Late in May Sarah was flying from Boston to New York. She was going to stay with Anna for a while at Anna's invitation and it felt like a relief to Sarah to be on her way at last, leaving the turmoil of her homecoming behind her. The more proper physical distance she could put between herself and her home just right now, the easier it was to think about what had happened.
**********
Anna had been the one to finally convince Sarah that it was necessary for her to return home. There could be no way of postponing facing her family any longer. Sarah had been very apprehensive about the fact, but Anna had tried to calm her and said that everything was going to be all right once she was there and that Sarah magnified her fears of confronting her father and stepmother. They wouldn't notice any visible difference about her, save perhaps for the fact that she had matured during her absence. Anna had also promised to call her the moment she came to her flat in New York, and she had informed Sarah that she intended to go there within two weeks time.
They had deliberately kept off the subject of Jareth.
The first meeting with her family was sweet enough. The moment she flew into her father's embrace, she felt with a pang in her heart how much she had missed him, missed all of them. Karen hugged her for a long time and marveled at how grown up and beautiful she looked. Toby wouldn't let her go. She had to pick him up and carry him and he wrapped his little arms around her, never wanting to release his tight hold of her neck. Finally, Karen managed to catch his attention when promising all of them coffee and ice cream in the garden and with a shout of delight he let go of Sarah and scurried out onto the terrace. It had been a beautiful and hot Sunday in May, and the garden was looking at its best.
Sarah could think with joy and happiness of the afternoon when everybody was busy opening the presents she had brought them from Europe and the excellent dinner her stepmother had prepared for her. She had been especially happy about the fact that Toby seemed extremely pleased with the Harlequin doll that she had bought for him. Toby kept it in his hand and wouldn't let go of it, not even to let his parents have a closer look.
But the day had drawn to a close and finally Sarah found herself alone in her room. She had stood unmoving for what seemed an eternity, listening to the silence. The room was so small, so clean, so innocent; it belonged to somebody else, someone who didn't exist anymore. She felt a mounting anxiety, and she looked around everywhere for signs of Jareth, but she couldn't feel his presence in any way. In the end, she decided to go to bed hoping to catch some sleep at least; this would certainly be the best medicine she could think of.
Sarah remembered falling asleep almost instantly, but she woke up in the hour between night and daybreak and found that she had been crying. She realized that she had been dreaming, but she didn't remember her dream. Her throat was parched and her mouth dry and she felt she had to get something to drink. She went to the bathroom situated on the same floor as her own bedroom. The house was extremely quiet; she didn't even hear her own footsteps in the corridor, although she knew that if one stepped carelessly, the old boards would squeak loudly enough. She opened the door to the bathroom and stared unbelievingly into a black void. Instead of the bathroom, she found herself looking at what appeared to be an underground passage. It was totally dark and triggered a memory long forgotten in her mind — the oubliettes in the Labyrinth. She screamed and screamed and fell to the ground, losing her conscience.
The next thing she remembered was being in her own bed in her own room with Karen sitting by her side looking down at her with great concern. Karen told her that she had found her on the bathroom floor and that her father was calling the doctor. Sarah remained silent shivering both from fever and fear.
The doctor thought she had caught the flu — this contagious disease was raging through her home town for the moment — and he prescribed a medicine to ease the effects of the fever and ordered her to stay in bed and not excite herself in any way. It was a relief to Sarah to stop pretending and show exactly what she felt at the moment, exhaustion and depression, and she calmed down inside. Toby came to keep her company, and that also took her mind off things.
"I've already had the flu," he said and looked quite pleased about the fact. "When you were away. So I can be with you. Mom and Dad can't, so I've got to look after you," he added with an air of importance.
She couldn't but laugh at him. He jumped up into her bed and snuggled up to her and whispered excitedly, "I've got a secret!"
He looked as if he could barely contain himself.
"I couldn't tell you yesterday because Mom and Dad mustn't know."
"So tell me now," she urged him, "I'm dying to know."
"I've seen him!" Toby breathed in her ear, his cheeks blushing with excitement. Sarah's eyes widened and the smile left her face.
"When! Tell me when he was here!"
Neither Toby nor Sarah had mentioned a name. They both knew of whom they were talking.
Just before her homecoming, in fact, the day before, Toby had met Jareth in the garden.
"I recognized him at once," Toby said, "and he said he was so pleased to see me again. And I thought it was nice too. It was fun being with him. I wasn't scared at all."
Sarah closed her eyes. She knew all too well how extremely charming Jareth could be if that served his purpose. It seemed as if Jareth and Toby had toured the house, Jareth evidently wanting to "survey the grounds" if one might call it that. Toby had been a little bit puzzled by the fact that Mom and Dad were nowhere to be seen. He was so sure of that they were still in the house, but they must have gone out into the garden or taken the car to run an errand or something. When they had looked the house over, they had moved outside again, and Jareth had lifted himself and Toby to the top of the highest tree in the garden.
"It was such FUN!" Toby exclaimed. "We were flying! And it was marvelous sitting in a tree looking down on everything and knowing that we couldn't be seen. He said that he would be back and that we could do some more flying then."
Sarah closed her eyes again and started to shiver; she knew she had to tell Jareth next time she met him that she would NOT accept that he contacted Toby without her permission.
Sarah recovered slowly, perhaps because she didn't try in earnest. She slept copiously and hardly had anything to eat at all. She heard Dad and Karen talking with worried voices outside her door. Dad mentioned college, and she knew what that meant as well. She had ruined a whole term being away for so long. She knew that she had to deal with that problem too but later, not today, later.
**********
Anna brought her out of her lethargy, moving into her life, playing the guardian angel yet again. Sarah was sitting in the kitchen sipping tea, when Karen called from the living room,
"There's a friend of yours calling from New York. I don't recognize her voice. Someone you met in Europe?"
Sarah could clearly hear the curiosity in Karen's voice. She quickly left the table, feeling the blood quicken in her veins and she rushed upstairs.
"I'll take the call in my room if you don't mind," she shouted from the top of the landing.
"You've been ill your stepmother said?" There was a cautious question in Anna's voice.
"Yes," Sarah replied, "but I'm almost out of it now, feeling quite fine in fact. So many things have happened, so many things that I don't understand and that nearly scared me to death," she continued hurriedly almost in one breath. "Please can I come to you and talk to you and hopefully you can explain. . ."
"Please, please Sarah," Anna interrupted her almost laughing now. "Catch your breath and let me get a word in too. I called to invite you down to New York, but if you're not well maybe we will have to postpone it?"
"No!" Sarah cried, "I'll come as soon as I can. There is just one thing I have to do first and that is to see my instructor in college. He has contacted me, and I must see him and discuss what needs to be done with my studies. I should have been back in college in early April at the latest, and now I've missed the term after Spring Break. But I will be with you after that visit since I'm on sick leave just right now until the end of June. Doctor said something about my blood tests not being quite all right and that he needed to check them over again. . ."
Sarah's voice trailed off and there was a brief pause.
"It's settled then," Anna concluded, "be sure to call me the minute you're on your way," and she gave Sarah her phone number.
**********
It was breathtaking to be with Anna again. Sarah suddenly felt all alive. Anna's apartment in New York was no disappointment either, and Sarah had learned by now to expect only the very best, knowing that Anna had the wealth to acquire what she wanted and also that she had had enough time to pick her choices. Anna lived in a penthouse at the top of a tall building looking out over the Hudson River. The penthouse had two stories, and there was a balcony attached to the top floor.
"You can also go out on the roof of the building if you want to," Anna said, "but you don't know who or what you might meet there. There are other people, who have access to the roof as well, and if you are scared of heights, I don't recommend it. I much prefer my balcony, which is safe and where I can be incognito."
The first night, at sunset when the shadows were getting longer and deeper when they were sitting out on the balcony with drinks, Sarah told Anna the incredible story about her meeting with her professor in college, this being the first of the many strange new things happening to her that Sarah wanted to discuss with Anna.
She had arrived in college being very apprehensive, mentally rehearsing a defense speech, but her teacher, Mr David, greeted her warmly and took her into his study and placed her in a comfortable chair. On his desk, there was a sizable volume of hand-typed papers. When Mr David left the room in search of coffee for both of them, she sat staring at the heap of papers, her mind suddenly going blank. She became aware of that the contents of this big essay slowly seeped into her consciousness, and she knew all out of the blue that it was an essay written by her, concerning research she had made in Italy on the Commedia dell'Arte Theater and its influence on modern comedy; she knew how many pages it contained, and she could see the different photos she had included, and she felt at once extremely dizzy and cold sweat broke out all over her face. Mr David found her slumping in the chair, and he became extremely worried and alarmed.
"Oh, I know that you've been ill," he exclaimed, "perhaps you shouldn't have come so soon after all."
He rushed to get her a glass of water, and Sarah recovered a little after drinking some. She straightened in the chair and kept her silence. Better let Mr David do all the talking under the circumstances.
"Feeling better?" he inquired and continued almost at once. "At first, when you called from Italy and said that you wanted to do research for your paper there, I was very skeptical but seeing this result I must say that I'm very impressed indeed."
While he was talking, her mind acquired knowledge about the telephone call that she was supposed to have made to him.
"It is certainly well above average standard, and I'm going to give you a top grade for this work. As far as the rest of the finals go, it's hard to tell at this very minute how you will be able to cope, being on sick leave as it is. However, there will be a second chance to complete the finals at the end of June before Summer Break, and if you are well enough by then to pull it through, you would certainly benefit from it. In the meantime, I'll give you a list of books to read if you think you can handle that, and please feel free to contact me at any time if you need advice."
On this happy note, their meeting had ended, and she had left his office totally dazed and confused. All the way to the airport to catch her flight to New York, she kept repeating to herself, ‘Why? Why has Jareth done this to me?' And now she directed this question to Anna.
"Why? Tell me why?"
"I could only guess," Anna answered slowly, "but it is so hard to try to divine his motives. You will have to ask him yourself. And I'm quite sure you will," she added smiling when she saw Sarah's mouth settle into a thin line.
Then Sarah went on to tell Anna about all other disturbing things that had happened to her since her return home; how Jareth had contacted Toby, her dreadful experience in the bathroom and the mere fact that the doctor had given her a certificate of illness until the end of June when she actually didn't feel very sick at all.
"To me it sounds as if Jareth is the one stalling for time now," Anna mused.
She leaned forward and took one of Sarah's hands.
"I gather that what happened to you in the bathroom is really what disturbs you the most, that's true isn't it?" And Sarah nodded silently.
"However," Anna went on, "this is something that you will have to learn to live with. I do understand that it must have been a frightful scare. No one has prepared you in any way for what awaits you in the future."
"You see," she continued after a short pause, "this is part of your new life. I know of course what you decided to do when you were in New Orleans, and I also know that Jareth is furious with you for not thinking your situation over beforehand, although he asked you to."
At these last words, Sarah bowed her head and sighed deeply.
"I only wanted to be sure that I would not ever be parted from him again; that was all I was thinking of at the moment," she whispered.
"This new life means among other features that you can see things that ordinary people cannot see and go places where they cannot go. You can for example enter and leave the Labyrinth on you own, and you will be able to see all the creatures that live in there."
"But I don't want to go into the Labyrinth again," Sarah interrupted vehemently.
"But my dear," Anna looked at her with compassion, "you ARE already in the Labyrinth; it is all around you."
"What do you mean?" Sarah cried and stared at Anna in anguish. "I've been there! I know what it looks like!!"
Anna now held on to both of Sarah's hands as if trying to comfort her and calm her down.
"Sarah, when you first entered the Labyrinth you had certain ideas of what it would be like. You had read books and played fantasy games. Then of course the Labyrinth looked the way you expected it to look and so did Jareth's castle and the Goblin City and all the rest. But now you have to learn that the Labyrinth can look like anything, and you can't tell from one time to the other what to expect – a little like meeting Jareth, don't you think so? This is the heart and core and the meaning of the Labyrinth; no person will experience it in the same way."
When tears started to roll over Sarah's face, Anna gently caressed her cheek and said
"Come, come, I know you are a brave, young woman, you can manage, I know that. But I will help you out with some basic facts about moving around in the Labyrinth now that you are a part of it," she added.
"Let's start with paying a visit to the King, and then I will show you how to come and go there all by yourself."
**********
Anna remembered that she had an invitation to an art exhibition at the Guggenheim and said to Sarah that this would offer an excellent opportunity for them. Sarah decided to let destiny in the form of Anna just take its course. She handed herself over to Anna in complete trust that she would come to no harm. Anna dressed her in red lace, bringing out the blackness of her long, thick, dark hair and the absolute pallor of her skin. She put on a white dress herself and looked at the effect in the mirror.
"Dressed to kill," she laughed confidently.
Guggenheim Museum was filled with a throng of buzzing people, mingling up and down the famous sloping ramp and around the ground floor where the drinks were served and a small exhibition displayed. Sarah didn't know the artist, but found his few large paintings slightly alarming. They somehow reminded her of labyrinths, covered as they were with circular splashes of bold colors. When they arrived, there was a press conference going on and some TV-station recorded the session. Anna greeted a lot of people and introduced Sarah, but Sarah couldn't afterwards remember any names. The evening was a blur to her and deep down inside the anticipation grew when she thought about her coming meeting with Jareth.
Anna brought Sarah to the top of the spiraling ramp under the large glass dome. There she took Sarah by the hand and turned to her.
"You must concentrate now," she said. "Think hard of the Labyrinth or of Jareth and look around for any feature that's here now but wasn't present when we entered."
Sarah closed her eyes but didn't know what image to focus on since she didn't know what Jareth's castle or garden looked like today. Instead, she thought of him. Then she opened her eyes and looked around. At first, she couldn't see any difference at all. But after a while, she saw a painting on the wall that she hadn't seen before and that was quite different from the others.
"Yes," Anna said, "that's the opening. Let's go."
"But what will the others say?" Sarah inquired.
"They will not see us; even right now we are already invisible to them."
Anna led Sarah to the painting and touched it lightly. Sarah saw the painting sway open to the side just like a door. In front of them was the same dark passage that had scared her so much in her own bathroom a couple of weeks ago. This time she dared enter it holding on to Anna.
**********
Before Sarah knew it, she was standing in a lovely garden full of trees and bushes. It was night, but the air wasn't cold, and it was filled with the balmy scent of many flowers; Anna gently pressed her to move on and when the trees and the bushes cleared, the castle unexpectedly came into view. It was awesome and beautiful, but not looking like Sarah remembered it. This made her think more of an English 18th or 19th century castle, embedded in green foliage. They could see lights in the large windows on the second floor.
When they came near the entrance, Sarah felt someone tugging at her dress, and she looked around startled but at first she didn't see anyone. Then she looked down and realized that it was a little goblin, holding on to her skirt.
"Take you to the King," he said and unceremoniously dragged her along upstairs.
Anna followed behind. The entrance hall was huge and full of shadows, and silence enveloped them. The little goblin urged them upstairs. The second floor was elaborately decorated with antique furniture, paintings and carpets, all glowing in the faint light. They saw a door slightly ajar at the end of the large upper room, and they approached it. The little goblin had disappeared without a trace when Sarah looked around.
Anna pushed the door open and entered, taking Sarah by the hand, encouraging her to follow. They saw Jareth standing in front of a huge window in the dimly lit room. He was dressed in grey silk and black boots, and a small diamond chain kept a watch in place in one of his pockets. They advanced on the thick, expensive carpet almost without making a sound, yet he instantly turned around and gazed intently at them. Then a slow teasing smile curved his thin lips, and he raised his eyebrows.
"What an absolutely gorgeous pair you are," he greeted them, "looking like two beautiful witches out on mischief! Was it a nice exhibition? I almost had in mind going there myself, but I couldn't deny myself the pleasure of waiting for you to find your way here."
He left the window and began a slow tour around Sarah, who felt that she couldn't move. She tried to catch his eyes, but he wouldn't meet her gaze. Instead, he looked her up and down and made small appreciative noises.
"I hadn't realized how well red suits you," he murmured, "the color of blood."
Then he raised his head and made an almost imperceptible nod in the direction of Anna, and Sarah felt behind her that Anna silently left the room.
Jareth approached Sarah slowly and finally locked his mismatched eyes into hers, and she felt her stomach tighten. She clenched her teeth and thought that she would never get used to his different moods; that she would never get used to not knowing in advance what to expect when she met him. He hadn't touched her, yet the nearness of him burned her skin.
"You came here to ask me some questions, isn't that so?" He looked at her with cautious eyes as if he already knew what she was going to ask and had prepared the answers. Sarah made an effort to get out of his hypnotic stare and regain control over herself. She shook her head and went up to the window.
"You have visited Toby without my permission and without me being present," she ventured at last.
"Why should I seek your permission?" he asked behind her, "and what danger do you think Toby is subject to? As far as I know, nobody has wished him away again."
At which Sarah blushed furiously and kept her face turned away from him.
Then she whirled around and faced him.
"Why?" she asked. "Why did you "write" a paper in my name and send it to my instructor? I'm so humiliated and feel such a cheat!"
"It suited me," he answered coolly.
"Suited YOU?!"
She felt the heated anger in her throat. But before she could continue, he had approached her yet closer, and now he towered over her. His face was almost in shadows, but she could still see his mouth with lips tightly drawn over his teeth, and she could see his eyes glimmer at her in the semi darkness.
"It doesn't suit me that you flunk your work on account of me. Too much attention would be drawn to you on account of failure to complete exams."
"My work is MY work, and I don't want you to interfere with it," she interrupted.
"You seem to be forgetting that you belong to me now and the decisions, concerning what is best for you, are mine and mine alone." There was definitely an edge to his voice now.
"Don't defy me Sarah," he whispered as he bent down over her and brushed his lips over hers.
Then, before she had drawn her next breath, he was gone and the void he left was chilling.
Sarah looked around confused and scared and realized that Anna was in the room again.
"Come," Anna said, "we have to go back now."
Sarah followed her without a word. However great her anger was because of Jareth's intervening in her life, she yearned to be with him and had secretly hoped that he would have asked her to stay. Now she was being sent away like a little girl, being punished for bad behavior, and she clenched her teeth again and swallowed her tears of frustration.
The way out of the Labyrinth was of course not the same as the way in. That would have been too easy. Again Anna asked Sarah to concentrate on where she wanted to go, and as Sarah didn't want to go home to be alone with her thoughts, they decided to go back to the party.
"Be careful though," Anna said with a little laugh, "there is a Guggenheim in Bilbao and one in Venice as well, and if you're not concentrating properly, you might end up there instead. These things happened to me over and over again when I started to go in and out of the Labyrinth in the beginning."
**********
The days that followed were filled with different social occasions that kept both Sarah and Anna extremely busy. It seemed that Anna led a very hectic social life in New York in comparison to her rather quiet and secluded life in New Orleans. But then again, Anna had once said to Sarah that New Orleans was the place she went to when she needed to go into hiding.
In New York, Anna seemed to know all the right people to get into the right places, and Sarah followed her wherever she went, without asking questions. They attended fashion shows, went to theater premieres and charity balls. Sarah couldn't keep track of all new people she met. One or two of them seemed however to be special friends of Anna and these people she began to recognize. She felt though that Anna kept her at a small but significant distance from all these new acquaintances, and Sarah refrained from asking why, fearing that the answer might be that it was on a command from Jareth.
She constantly thought about Jareth and tried to understand his reasons and motives, and she realized now, afterwards, that her visit to him most likely was due to an order from him to Anna to take her there. Yet she still didn't understand why he should feel this need to completely dominate her life into the smallest detail.
When yet a week had gone by, Anna asked Sarah if she would mind being alone in New York for a couple of days. Anna had some urgent business in Europe, and she would be very happy if Sarah could stay in the penthouse in the meantime. Sarah didn't mind at all. It felt almost like a relief to have a weekend alone for a change after the hectic week that she had just lived through.
**********
Sarah followed Anna to the airport early Friday morning to wave goodbye, and then she returned directly to the penthouse. It was somehow an eerie feeling entering the now empty flat, which was so quiet that one could hear a needle drop to the floor. It almost seemed as if no one had ever lived there. To shake the feeling off, Sarah went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. She contemplated calling Dad and Karen but in the end decided not to; she knew that they would immediately start to ask a lot of questions that she didn't feel like answering just right now. She thought with a smile that this was the second occasion on which she was alone in one of the places where Anna lived, and she remembered how she rather shamelessly had searched the house in New Orleans and been rewarded with strange peeks into Anna's past. After just a slight moment's hesitation, Sarah began exploring the flat, well aware of the fact that she pried into private domains. But since Anna hadn't locked any doors or drawers, maybe Sarah was secretly encouraged to do so? She knew deep down in her conscience that she looked for traces of Jareth within Anna's life. She also soon discovered that there was none to be found here and even traces of Anna herself were absent. The flat was in a way very anonymous. ‘Maybe because she entertains here,' Sarah thought, ‘she doesn't do that in New Orleans.'
Then she went up and out onto the roof for the first time. It thrilled and scared her. Up there among the roofs of the other skyscrapers with only the blue sky above her and the distant murmur of traffic way down below, it was like being in another and strange world. She couldn't keep herself from going to the edge of the roof and peek down on the streets far below her. Vertigo hit her almost at once and for safety's sake, she kneeled and held on to the frail railing before daring to take another look. The cars looked like matchbox toys, and the people milled about like ants on the sidewalks. When she felt the nausea well up in her throat again, she withdrew and sat down far from the edge near a ventilating shaft that rumbled quietly behind her. She saw traces of human activities around her when she looked closer. Near the opening to the stairs, which led into the building, was a small shelter with tools, and a chair was standing alone in the opening.
Sarah left the roof and returned to the flat. It was but a short flight of stairs from the roof to the penthouse entrance, and she didn't have to take the elevator. Once back in the apartment, she went out onto the balcony. She understood what Anna meant by saying that it was an entirely different feeling being on the balcony compared with the roof. The balcony was so constructed, the brim being very wide, that you couldn't look down over the edge. You could only look out and around you at the spectacular townscape and the busy river. Sarah drew a deep breath, and her stomach settled at last.
**********
She didn't yet know what she was going to do with her weekend and decided that she at least would like to go shopping all by herself. Shopping was indeed one of her favorite pastimes. In the famous shopping palaces, she felt like a kid in a candy store. She was amazed at the amount of luxury being offered everywhere and the abundance of it.
After having spent the better part of her afternoon in and out of stores and since it was now getting late, she felt like having a cup of coffee before going home, and she also wanted to rest her feet. She went into a small coffee shop not far from Bloomingdale's and ordered a large cappuccino. There were all kinds of people in the rather crowded place at rush hour, and Sarah didn't bother looking around at first. But then she heard a baby crying, and she saw a young mother at a table not far from the entrance. Her baby in the pram had started to howl in earnest, most likely because it needed a change of diapers. The mother kept looking at the door and didn't bother about her baby. Her eyes were glazed, she moved her hands restlessly, and there was an irritated frown between her eyes. Somehow Sarah got the notion that the mother was on drugs. ‘Some people just shouldn't have babies,' she thought with a sigh, and then she forgot all about the incident when leaving the coffee shop to have a last go at Bloomingdale's. She wanted to have one more look at the lingerie department.
When she was finally done with her shopping and reached the ground floor of the big department store, she heard a great commotion going on near one of the elevators. A woman was screaming and crying, and she heard the security guards talking rapidly in their walkie-talkies. A crowd had gathered, and Sarah joined to see what had happened. She instantly recognized the young mother from the coffee shop. In front of her was the now empty pram. Sarah stared at it and the mother and she involuntarily began to look around. People in the crowd kept gesticulating and shouting advice. One had seen the pram in the Ladies Room, at that time the baby was still in it. Another had seen it in the elevator, and then the pram was empty. The mother was incoherent and very clearly under drug influence by now. Sirens from police cars could be heard approaching.
Then Sarah saw the little creature with the baby in his arms, standing behind a pillar not far from the elevator. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to shout, but not a sound escaped her. She realized with mounting fear and exasperation that she was the only one on the entire ground floor that could see the goblin with the child. ‘If I can't say anything,' she thought, ‘I can at least act,' and she started towards the pillar. But although she wanted to run, her feet wouldn't move faster than at a very slow, leisurely pace. The goblin caught sight of her, and he vanished into the pillar with the baby in his arms. Sarah's knees almost buckled under her. ‘I have to get away from here,' she thought wildly, ‘or they might start wondering about my reactions.' Somehow she managed to ease her way out of the now totally crowded lobby and well out on the street, she hailed a cab and headed back to the penthouse as soon as possible. She shivered visibly during the whole ride. The cabdriver kept looking at her in the mirror, but he didn't say anything, maybe he thought she was ill.
Back in the quiet apartment Sarah kept pacing the floor. She was still extremely upset, and she took a small glass of whiskey to try to settle her nerves. The sun had set and dusk enveloped the skyscrapers around her; she felt as if she couldn't breathe inside the flat and impulsively, she decided to go up on the roof. Up there it was almost quiet, and it was getting dark quickly. She could even see the first stars in the sky. Then she became aware of that she wasn't alone. She saw a man sitting in a chair by the tool shed; it was a young man in old and worn clothes and when he saw that she noticed him, he rose and started moving towards her. She immediately regretted her decision to go up on the roof and turned at once to go back to the flat but realized soon enough that she wouldn't make it to the stairs before he reached her.
"Hi," he said, "didn't expect such nice company here at this time of the day. No one usually comes here in the night except me. Wanna share a joint?"
He held out what looked like a sordid and partly crumbled stick to her. She shook her head and pressed her arms into her stomach as if this simple gesture could provide her with all the safety in the world she needed now. The stranger moved around her in circles, and she could hear him mutter to himself. Then he closed in on her, and she could feel his foul breath on her face.
"Should really try this stuff you know, it's the best," he insisted waving the now extinct joint in his hand.
Sarah backed and he stumbled after her.
"I just wanted some air," she pleaded in anguish, "can't you leave me in peace? I will soon go down, and you can have the roof to yourself again."
But he wouldn't leave her in peace. He kept repeating that she had but come up on the roof, now she couldn't just leave like that. Finally, she sensed danger in the air. He wouldn't let her go, and she started to move backwards towards the stairs and tripped and fell, not seeing where she was going. Just as she fell, and the sky came into her view, she saw the huge bird soaring in over the rooftop. It was a great, white owl, and it headed directly for the man, now bent over her. The man was totally taken by surprise and took a few steps back. The owl did a turn and returned in incredible speed for another attack. The man began to shout and gesticulate as if hoping to scare the bird away, and at the same time he was moving towards the railing without noticing it. Sarah started to scream at the same moment as the bird came in for the kill, lunging forward, hacking the man in the face and flapping the wings rapidly. Sarah hid her face in her hands not wanting to see the fall, but she would carry with her the memory of the scream, forever imprinted on her mind.
She didn't know how she got to her feet and down the stairs to the flat, but once inside she slammed the door shut behind her and the silence hit her like a blow; the only sound she could hear being her own wild heartbeats. She approached the stairs within the penthouse to go down to the second floor, but froze with her hand on the railing. In the darkness at the bottom of the stairs, she saw him standing.
He disengaged himself from the shadows and began to move slowly up the stairs, coming clearly into her field of vision. The black leather suit he was wearing looked like a second skin. He had folded his arms tightly over his chest. She became acutely aware of the non-human side of him. He seemed to vibrate from the excitement of the recent kill, the skin drawn tight over his prominent cheekbones and his nostrils white and flaring. He looked directly at her. His eyes and teeth glimmered at her in the dark. He was hauntingly beautiful and dangerously sexy, and she could feel his desire for her, focused on her like a beam of light.
"No," she moaned, "no, no. . ."
"Yes!" he whispered under his breath.
Mad with fear now and rising anger she made a futile dash down the stairs trying to get past him, but he caught her effortlessly. She wasn't going to give in that easily and decided to put up a fight. That evidently took him by surprise, and they both lost their balance and tumbled to the floor in the hall beneath the stairs. They fought silently for a while, all tangled up in each other's arms and legs, their wild breathing the only sound to penetrate the silence. She tried to bite him and scratch him but to no avail. Finally, he got hold of both her hands and pinned them to the floor above her head with one of his fists. When he now had control over her, he shifted his weight over her body. She tried to jerk her hands free, but he held on easily not even using any force. Her breath came in uneven gasps, and her heart was hammering against his chest. He looked down at her with half-closed eyes, dark with desire.
"You killed him!!" she managed at last between gasps of breath.
"Yes," he smiled, flashing his pointed teeth, "I killed him for you. I'm not going to tolerate anyone or anything threatening you."
She saw him lower his head towards her, and she was still fighting him, not wanting to give in, not wanting to be kissed now.
But he kissed her. His lips were surprisingly soft, yet unyielding. He moved his hot mouth over hers and sucked her lips, forced them gently apart and inserted his hard tongue into her mouth. The taste of him drove her mad, made her shiver all over and a hot wetness flooded her. As if sensing this, he moved a knee in between her thighs and pressed it against her throbbing cunt. She moaned another ‘no' in his mouth, and she felt him smile against her lips as he kept on sucking and gently nibbling her, planting small bites at the corners of her mouth, licking his way from her chin down to her throat.
She twisted under him, fighting both him and herself now, trying in vain to free her hands.
"And you took that baby too!" she sobbed.
He lifted his head and took hold of her chin with his free hand, steadying her face, forcing her to look at him. His smile was vicious now, and she could see both arrogance and mockery in his eyes.
"Don't tell me that has come as a surprise to you. That's what I do for a 'living,' remember?"
She cried now; angry tears that trickled into her hair. He kissed her again, now hard and unrelenting, bruising her lips, making her lose her breath and gasp for air. Then he bent down over her and moaned softly in her ear
"I want to take you! I'm going to take you for as long as I want, I'm going to make you ache for me!"
Still holding her arms pinned to the floor with one hand he unzipped her jeans and eased them off her, not heeding her protests. With his free hand, he started to explore her, gently cupping her sex in his hand, feeling how hot and wet she was and she cried harder, because she couldn't hide how aroused she was and how hungry she was for him; he bent over her again and when she heard the sound of silk being ripped to shreds, she realized that he had torn her blouse with his teeth. Her nipples hardened when he wetted them and the cool night air licked her bare breasts.
He hadn't removed any of his own clothes, and the leather in his jacket grated and burned her skin when he pressed himself against her. Her arms ached from being pinned to the floor, and finally he let go of them, but he didn't release her. Instead, he straddled her hips with his strong thighs, now having both his hands free. He bent down over her and began licking her all over her body just like a big cat and at the same time he gently pinched and tugged at her nipples until they throbbed with pain and pleasure, sending waves of pre-orgasmic twinges down to her swollen vulva. When he was sure of that she wasn't going to fight him any longer or try to run away, he eased up on his hold over her and increased his caresses and fondling. He caressed her slowly and unhurriedly with his hands, kneading her breasts, parting her legs, feathering unbearable touches to the inside of her thighs. She still cried, her face all wet from tears, but the crying was as much due to pleasure now as to the fact that he had defeated her; that she had to admit that she had given in to him in the end.
He played her like an instrument, kissing her, sucking her lips and tongue at the same time as he gently began to move his fingers ever so lightly over her body, hardly touching her at first, seeking out the points most sensitive to his touch. Her violent shuddering reactions to his caresses told him where to concentrate. He found an extra sensitive spot on the inside of her thighs, near her mound. When he stroked her there, she almost came for him. Moving over to the other thigh, he just accidentally brushed over her swollen sex, and she bucked her hips, trying to stay in contact with his hand, moaning when he moved on. He found that circling the contours of her breasts made her achingly aroused, and her nipples turned to hard buttons when he wetted them with his tongue and toyed with them. His hands became more urgent. He moved them tightly and hard over her ribcage until he reached her hips that he gripped pulling her body towards his. She could feel her inside melt when he kissed her stomach with open mouth, hot and wet, fucking her navel with his tongue. Then his hands moved on to her opening, lightly fingering the folds and then seeking out the clit that stood out hard between them; he started flicking his thumb rapidly over it, getting his hand soaked in her juices. He went down on her, licking her clean and then suddenly, savagely, he took her clit in his mouth sucking it hard. She started moaning incessantly, crying and moaning, and then she jerked violently as he inserted two fingers into her tight, hot wetness, finding the spot in the roof of her cunt giving the most pleasure. He massaged it with his fingers until she spasmed around him and came in a whitelight orgasm while he sucked and fondled her. He didn't let go of her until it had finished.
Then he got on his knees and freed his hard, swollen cock. She began to shiver when he spread her, opened her up. And the breath was sucked out of her when she felt his cock slide into her in one savage thrust, a groan escaping his lips. He deliberately fucked her slowly and deeply now, going just a little bit deeper and harder with every stroke, his hips moving at an unhurried pace. When she started to shudder helplessly, he thrust all the way in and buried his hardness in her, holding still while she came in a series of violent orgasms. And then she sensed that he too was near his climax. He gripped her hips tightly and painfully and pressed his pelvis in between her thighs, up against her cunt. Unmerciful in his savagery, he pushed himself so deep inside that it almost hurt and as he released in her, holding still again, his throbbing twitching cock filled her with hot burning liquid over and over again, and he screamed in pleasure and agony. Then he rolled off her body and fell on his back to the floor, ripping open his leather jacket, exposing his chest, blank with sweat. He turned to her immediately and gathered her in his arms, seemingly not wanting to leave her deserted in the cold. She finally put her arms around him and accepted being drawn into his embrace. The silence around them was deafening.
**********
Jareth finally got up from the floor. He lifted Sarah in his arms and carried her to the bathroom. With an impatient gesture, he removed his clothes and filled the Jacuzzi with warm water and slipped both Sarah and himself into it. He leaned back and closed his eyes, holding her above the water with one of his arms, cradling her close to his body. Sarah felt her aching muscles slowly relax in the gently bubbling water. She also closed her eyes after a while. They still hadn't said a word to each other.
‘If I try to talk or if he starts talking now, I'm going to cry,' she thought and felt the burning tears under her closed eyelids. It was as if she had conveyed her feelings to him without words, because he tightened his grip on her and started caressing her neck under the hair that flowed around her head in the water like seaweed. She tried to handle the outrage and the pleasure inside her at the same time, but it bewildered and scared her and she didn't know how. She could feel him clench his jaw, and his muscles tensed like wires in his body. All of a sudden he got on his knees in the water, and he took her by the shoulders and shook her.
"Look at me!" he shouted. "Look at me! Do you think you're the only one to be had in this relationship? Do you think I WANTED to fall in love with you? Oh God. . ."
He closed his eyes over his rage and desperation, and he locked her into his arms with a power that could have crushed her ribcage, hadn't he relaxed his hold on her a little when on an impulse she quickly moved her head towards his throat and kissed the beating pulse there. It took him by surprise and he fell with her into the water, kissing her hungrily all over her face. She tried to calm him down and started to move her hands lightly over his chest. She leaned into him and took one of his nipples in her mouth, gently sucking on it. Although he released his hold on her, it didn't calm him down. With a low moan deep in his throat, he threw his head back, and she felt his cock harden against her stomach. She hadn't realized how very sensitive to touch his nipples were and when she found that out, she couldn't have enough of them. Then she lathered her hand with soap and began to lightly finger and fondle just the head of his powerful erection. She knew she didn't have to apply any pressure, and she didn't have to rub his hard shaft to give him the almost unbearable pleasure, she was administering to him now; no big movements at all, just the tiniest most delicious touches. He let go completely and he could have sunk to the bottom of the jacuzzi, hadn't she stopped him. He didn't hold back but abandoned himself to the torture of her caresses, and he came almost instantly in the most violent orgasm she had witnessed; eyes tightly shut, mouth open with a silent scream and his cock twitching in her hand.
**********
They slowly crawled out of the water at last, totally exhausted physically and mentally. Sarah still couldn't talk to Jareth. She didn't realize until afterwards that she was in a state of shock. She had an incredible need to be close to him, to feel him, to touch him as if she could only communicate with him in this primitive manner for the moment. He seemed to understand this without words and didn't let go of her. With a graceful gesture of his hand, he procured clothing for them, a linen shirt and jeans for himself, a soft warm bathrobe for her, and he put a bottle of wine on the table and lit the fire in the fireplace. Had it been on a different occasion she would have delighted in his magic, but tonight she just accepted it as an obvious part of the proceedings. Then he cuddled up with her in the corner of the sofa, putting her in between his legs, drawing her body close so that she rested against his chest. She closed her eyes only to see the images from the roof behind her eyelids and hear the awful scream inside her head. With a start, she opened her eyes again and looked wildly about.
"Shhhh. . ." he whispered in her hair. "Everything is all right. I'm not going to let anything hurt you."
Panting in small gasps and with cold sweat covering her face, she fell back into his embrace. He managed to persuade her to drink some wine. It was good and sweet and quickened the blood in her veins.
Sarah slept a little in his arms and when she woke with a start it was past midnight, and she noticed that he had put on the TV and that he was watching "Casblanca" with Bogart and Bergman. She felt somehow that all violence had left the room, both the violence connected with death and the other kind related to sexual desires. She couldn't describe how she felt the difference, but the air was lighter to breathe and as she rested against his chest, she felt his warmth but he was not burning her with his presence. When he felt her stir he looked at her,
"Does the TV bother you?" he asked quietly.
"No," she answered, speaking for the first time in several hours, "how come you're watching TV?"
"It's very relaxing," he smiled at her in amusement, "don't you watch TV when you need to unwind?"
"Yes, but I didn't think you had TV in the Labyrinth."
"I have access to any kind of technical wonder I could wish for, you'll be amazed." His laughter was a low rumble in his chest.
He offered her some more wine and urged her to drink. Not having eaten anything since lunchtime, the wine went to her head, and she fell back against his breast again. He decided that she needed something to eat and said that he was going to hunt in the kitchen for whatever was there, but when he rose and untangled himself from her, she panicked and wouldn't let go of him. He looked patiently at her as if looking at a child that was particularly troublesome when prompted to go to bed. Then he picked her up and carried her out into the kitchen and put her down on the sink while he looked for food. She knew well enough that he could have set at table in front of her worthy of a king, but she also knew that it amused him to do things in "the standard way" as he sometimes referred to it. He found some cold chicken and coleslaw salad in the refrigerator and brought it to her. Sitting on the sink, she wrapped her legs around his waist and drew him close to her body. She let him put tiny morsels of food in her mouth and obediently drank the wine he offered her. Then without any warning, she began to cry again. He didn't ask why and he didn't try to stop her. He let her rest her head against his shoulder, and he rocked her gently in his arms. When she had recovered a little, he lifted her in his arms again and carried her to the bedroom.
"You will have to sleep properly," he said.
She got frantic and locked her fingers in his shirt.
"Don't go, don't leave me," she cried in panic, "I can't bear to be alone, I'll die!"
He sighed and sat down on her bed. Then he removed their clothing, gently but firmly motioned her to lie down and slid into the bed close behind her, spoon-fashion, her buttocks curved into his hips. Not until he put his arm over her body, securing her in his embrace, did she fall asleep.
She woke with a slight start a couple of hours later with the echo of screams in her head. Her heart was fluttering fast, and she felt a great anxiety. It was still dark in the room, but when she could feel that he was still there behind her, she quieted down and relaxed with a sigh against him. He was sleeping, and she could feel his half-erect penis between her legs. She tightened herself around him and sensed the wetness in her sex that the mere contact with him triggered.
"I want you inside," she whispered, "take me."
She brought her hands down between her legs and touched him lightly, flicking her fingertips over the head of his cock and was instantly rewarded with feeling his erection grow in her hands. He stirred behind her, but she wasn't sure of whether he was awake or not. She lifted her free leg enough to manage to guide him into her throbbing cunt, sliding down over him, crying out softly when hit by the blissful feeling of being filled with him. His arm that had rested heavily over her came to life, and he moved his hand searchingly over her body, letting it come to rest over one of her breasts. His movements were lazy and sleepy, but he was definitely awake now. She felt him move closer to her, putting his lips against her shoulder, kissing her as he murmured hardly audible endearments to her. She couldn't see him, but she divined the catlike grin on his face. As he increased his rhythm and his strokes became more urgent and deeper, he took a firm grip of her hips, and she gave herself over to the oncoming orgasm as if letting go into a free fall. She fell and fell, into him into herself, closing her eyes, feeling him filling her with his juices, hardness and softness combined, urgency and relief at the same time. Part of her mind realized that she experienced falling from the roof but that she wouldn't touch the ground, being saved by his wings.
**********
The moment Anna walked into the flat, she realized that something fatal had happened. She went straight out to the balcony where Sarah was sitting, unmoving, with New York Times in her lap and staring unseeing out into the void. It was Sunday afternoon and the weather was sultry and oppressive, a storm looming over the city. Anna went up to Sarah and sat down in the chair opposite her. She had to touch Sarah to bring her out of her stupor.
"What's happened?" Anna asked anxiously.
Sarah turned her big sad eyes towards her and answered quietly in so many words, "Jareth has killed a man because of me."
They looked at each other in silence for what seemed an eternity.
Then Sarah proceeded to tell Anna about the abduction of the child — the incident that had started the chain of events — and she described in detail what had happened up on the roof. She left out her own encounter with Jareth in the penthouse later in the evening, that meeting being too private to disclose.
"And look here," she added opening the paper, "there is a little note on page 15 in New York Times about a man falling from the roof in the city and that they don't suspect any crime, the man being under drug influence. Then they go on with a short discussion about how the house-owners often neglect maintenance of such areas of their houses as roofs and cellars. That's all! And about the baby, not even a line."
She buried her head in her hands.
"What shall I do?" she whispered, not directing her question to Anna in particular.
They sat in quiet for a while again. Anna hadn't made any comments as if waiting for Sarah to speak and to come up with suggestions and solutions.
In the end however Anna said, "I've got a full week ahead, and you are welcome to come along as usual but if you don't feel up to it, I don't mind. You just do as you please. And of course you are free to stay as long as you like."
Sarah nodded but didn't answer.
However, Sarah joined Anna that evening after some hesitation. Anna was going to a small club in the Village where, by special invitation, she was going to attend a performance by a famous New York Underground rock group. Sarah thought that the music would deafen the voices in her head. Instead, it underlined her vivid imagination as if providing a soundtrack for what had happened to her. When they finally returned home and went to bed, Sarah had wild and scaring dreams that woke her up at intervals. The day broke, and she still hadn't slept properly. ‘Too late for sleeping pills now,' she thought. Then she sat up in bed and calmed herself, exerting a great amount of willpower. ‘I HAVE to solve this issue,' she thought. ‘It's cowardly to give in and wail about what is lost and cannot be undone. I have to go on from somewhere and take the consequences of what I have done and find a platform from where I can continue.'
She decided that she would do some very serious thinking and not shy away from any aspect of the problem, being it her own attitude or Jareth's. She also decided that she had to be alone to do this, absolutely and totally alone in an environment that was strange and unfamiliar to her, and she didn't want anything to distract her.
Sarah told Anna about her decisions and her plans the next morning, and Anna thought it was wise of her to pursue that line of action. Anna also gave her a key to the penthouse and said that Sarah could come back any time she wanted but that she would be happy if Sarah phoned her in advance, and Sarah agreed to do that.
**********
Sarah rented a car and headed west out of the city. She didn't know in advance where she was going, not knowing how far she could drive in a day. At first, she concentrated on the driving, it was long since she had been behind a wheel, and this simple action also took her mind off things. She stopped at small motels along the way and found that she slept dreamlessly during the nights out of sheer exhaustion. She didn't pick the motels where she stopped with care; she just took them as they came along. She didn't seek company but occasionally she could spend a couple of hours with the truck drivers over a shared dinner.
As the days went by, she found that she could start thinking about her problems without feeling the white, hot pain that had scorched her earlier. The car was an excellent place where to think she found. One morning, she reached the area of the Great Plains. She had never been there, and the beauty of the scenery took her breath away; she had never thought that the vast prairie could look like a green-golden sea with an endless sky above. She finally felt the urge to stop for a while and headed for the nearest small town and checked into its only motel. When asked how long she wanted to stay, she couldn't give a precise answer, but the owner didn't seem to mind, and he didn't show any curiosity about her. He asked her to pay in advance for a couple of days, and was content with everything when she did.
After a small and rather uninspired dinner, Sarah went to her room and for the first time since she had left New York, she had a faint feeling of Jareth's presence; she didn't see him though. She sat down on the porch outside her room and forced herself to face her situation, and she came to the conclusion that she loved Jareth without any reservations and that nothing either she or he had done, or could do in the future, would change this fact. She also recognized that she sincerely believed that Jareth loved her. But she admitted for the first time to herself that she had come to realize that this fact didn't make Jareth a better being, a "nicer" or more "good" person. She also realized that she would never be able to change him in this respect. Jareth had too much power in him for that. It came to her as a revelation that she couldn't judge Jareth with earth-standards. He simply lacked moral in the way she and her fellow humans interpreted that word. Not so that he was immoral. One could rather say that he was amoral in the sense of being unrestrained. He judged his actions only according to what was best for himself and therefore best for his kingdom and subjects. It was a question of pure survival and a non-human feature in him. Like a dominant lion, he was prepared to fight for his territory and his group until death. He had once said to her that he was prepared to kill for her and to die for her, and now she finally knew what that meant, to the exact word to be precise.
The evening slowly enveloped her. It wasn't cold, and she stayed yet another hour on the porch. There was more to face and contemplate, and she had set her mind to do it all tonight. She knew she had caused a terrible and irrevocable difference to her life when she had entered his world in the incident in New Orleans. She had done it with the same impulsiveness as when entering the Labyrinth, not thinking at all about the consequences, and she knew that Jareth was very upset with her because of this. He had implored her to be fully aware of her choices when she made them. She didn't exactly know all the details about her new life, but she had already been made aware of the hard consequences of her choice. Yet to come was to face the fact that she would most likely be very old compared to earth-standards, and eventually she would have to explain why to her family. However, it would take a considerable time before anyone would really notice, and she decided to postpone the confrontation concerning this issue with her family until later, at least she wanted Toby to be older before she told him.
**********
So sure was she that she had come to terms with all the problems and finally cleared her mind that she in earnest expected to find Jareth in her room when she went back in there. But the room was empty, and there wasn't a trace of him anywhere. She felt greatly disappointed and bewildered, and the old anxiety came back. ‘He must know by now that I desperately want to see him, that I miss him and long for him,' she thought.
"Jareth?" she called softly but she couldn't feel his presence in any way.
She somehow slept through the night, and after that followed two totally blank days. She sat in the bleak motel room as if paralyzed and couldn't bring herself to do anything. When the third night came, she knew she would be unable to sleep, and she cried in her distress. When she had recovered somewhat, an idea, a thought, started to form in her head. ‘If he won't come to me, I will go to him. There is nothing to stop me now. I can go into the Labyrinth on my own. At least I will be able to ask him face to face if he still wants me or not.' A fever seized her, and she dived into her memory to recall exactly how Anna had performed the transition. She remembered that she was to concentrate on Jareth and then look around for a feature in her surroundings that was new, that she hadn't seen or observed before. She closed her eyes and brought forth the mental images of him, and thought with great concentration about him for a long time; then she slowly opened her eyes. The room around her looked exactly as she had seen it earlier. She couldn't find any new features in there. She went out on the porch, and when she found nothing there, out into the small garden surrounding the motel. There, at the back of a small green patch, she found a little tool shed that she didn't remember from before. She approached the tiny, wooden hut with great care, and when she took hold of the handle to the door, it swung open silently, and in front of her was the hidden dark passage. She ran into it, fearing that the door might otherwise slam shut in her face.
It was night in the Labyrinth too. She shivered with fear and the garden she found herself in, didn't look as pleasant and inviting as it had done on her last visit. It looked sinister and scaring, dark and barren; the wind was sighing through the trees, and she stumbled forward, hoping that she would soon reach the clearing where she could see the castle. Finally, she got there, and she saw the castle looming in the distance. Also the castle looked different tonight and Sarah remembered what Anna had said to her about the Labyrinth forever changing its form and appearance. The castle was in total darkness, and she couldn't see a single light in any of the windows. ‘Suppose he isn't here at all?' she asked herself in anguish. ‘Suppose I have come in vain?' She couldn't linger in the cold but ran towards the entrance.
The door seemed to be overpoweringly heavy, but it opened easily enough when she touched it. The huge entrance hall was empty and dimly lit, deep shadows filling the corners. She hastened upstairs but also the great hall on the second floor was empty and in semi darkness. She was so scared now that her whole body was shivering and her teeth clattered; she thought she heard a sound and turned quickly, but nothing moved behind her. Then she went into the room where she had encountered Jareth on her last visit, but also this room was empty and quiet. She paused for a moment to catch her breath and contemplate on what to do next. The only sound she could hear was her own heartbeats. Then she saw the opening, partly hidden behind a curtain, at the end of the room. It seemed to be a staircase leading upstairs. She entered the stairs without hesitation; there wasn't really any other place where she could go now. The stairs opened up onto a small landing, and she could see only one door at the end of the corridor. She approached it cautiously and opened it and stumbled into a large room, beautifully and expensively decorated. She saw the canopied bed and she finally saw him and she realized that she had entered his bedroom. He had his face turned away from her, and he seemed to be sleeping; she slowly went up to the bed and just stood there beside it, her arms pressed into her stomach and her head bowed, her whole body in anguished cramp. But he turned his head, and she felt that he was wide awake and had been so all the time. He reached for her and took a firm grip of her hip and drew her towards the bed.
"What took you so long?" he asked softly.
When she continued to stand rigid by his bedside, he got up and stood before her naked, and he looked at her for a while. There was nothing erotic about his nakedness at this moment; he looked almost regal in a way that she couldn't describe, reminding her of a Greek statue, his pale skin faintly luminescent in the moonlight that shone through the window. Then he came very close to her, and he pulled her into his embrace. She cried out, a cry of genuine pain, as if something had finally broken inside her. She threw her arms wildly around him as if she was drowning, and he was the only one that could save her. Her knees began to shake and gave away, and he lifted her up in his arms and laid her down on the bed. He kneeled beside her and started to remove her clothes. When he had undressed her, he once more took her into his arms and again she cried out. He stroked her hair and whispered soothingly in her ear
"It's over. Don't cry my darling, don't cry."
At last she began to unwind, the warmth emanating from him slowly seeping into her. She knew that no place on earth — either on the ground or under it — felt more secure to her than being in his arms. It had always been like that, right from the start, from the moment he had shared her bed for the first time up until now. She felt she could lie close to him forever, in contact with his soft skin, feeling his heartbeats, and the world could collapse outside for all she cared. She felt that she wanted to explain about her journey and all the thinking she had done in the meantime, but before she could open her mouth, he lightly put a finger over it and whispered
"Not now, we will talk later, perhaps tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
And she stopped trying and rested her head on his breast, nose and mouth in close contact with his skin so that she could taste him and inhale his scent. She finally felt the blissful sleep wash over her, and she didn't resist it. Soon she slept like a baby in his arms, and he lay looking at the window over her head with dark, soft, peaceful eyes.
She surfaced a couple of hours later to the sensation of feeling his lips brush searchingly over hers and his already powerful erection pressing into her stomach. She opened her eyes wide, and a delicious ripple of anticipation traveled through her whole body, and she moved closer to him and put her hands at the small of his back pressing him into her body. When he felt that she was awake he rolled her over on her back and covered her body with his.
"I can't help it," he murmured against her mouth. "I can't be this close to you not wanting to possess you. I want to have you," he groaned licking her mouth before kissing her.
She met him halfway and tentatively inserted her tongue in his mouth. He continued kissing her for a long time, tasting her, feeling her, probing her. She felt her nipples harden and ache with the need to be touched, and she got hold of one of his hands and moved it down to her hot and wet sex.
"I'm going to make you go mad with desire," he whispered. "Until you come. I want to see you come."
"We can be two to play this game," she whispered back to him and raked her nails gently over his chest, toying with his nipples on the way down to his crotch.
He arched his back in pleasure exposing as much of himself to her caresses as possible. Then they melted together again touching, licking and biting everywhere. He sat up in the bed and turned her around so that she had her back against his chest, and the whole front of her body open for his hands to explore. He gently cupped her breasts and squeezed them until she moaned. Then he ran his fingers over her ribcage down to her wet cunt. He dipped two fingers into her, moistening them, and moved them in lazy circles around her opening, gently flicking her clit as he moved over it. Her breath came in small moans now, and she squirmed under his delicate touches. When she started to come he put his fingers back into her and gently but insistently pressed them against the roof of her cunt, while he rubbed her clit with his thumb. She came in a long, sweet, undulating orgasm that never seemed to end, and then she fell exhausted into him.
When she had recovered a little, she turned around in his arms and looked up at him and into his teasing eyes.
"It's not fair that you should have all the fun," she said and cradled his hard cock in both her hands.
She put her tongue to the purple head and applied tiny licks to it, catching the clear drop of liquid that formed there. His hips involuntarily moved with her every touch, but he didn't want to come just yet, so he caught her hands and rolled around in the bed with her and she found herself trapped beneath him again.
"Oh, you're such a bastard!" she exclaimed laughing, but he silenced her with his hot mouth, devouring her, pressing his teeth against hers.
Then he teased her with his hardness just probing the entrance of her sex. It drove her wild, and she dug her fingernails into his back, trying to make him enter her at last. Instead, he withdrew a little and started running his hands hard over her whole body. He squeezed her breasts and the soft flesh at the inside of her thighs, fingers moving close to her opening, but never touching it. He tugged at her nipples and bit them just hard enough to make her cry out in pleasure and pain. She was a shivering aching blur of desire for him now, and she didn't want to wait any longer.
"Take me," she gritted through her teeth. "Take me!"
She looked wildly into his face, at his beautiful smiling mouth and his hooded, unreadable eyes burning with a strange light. Then he slid into her. It wasn't a hard thrust, just a very soft and gentle movement but it drained her of all fury and made her go totally weak, consumed with liquid fire. Helpless in her throes of pleasure she exploded in a series of orgasms. He held on to her shaking body, moving inside her very slowly and deliberately. At last she fell back in the bed all spent. He hadn't come yet and seemed to enjoy prolonging his own sweet torture. He kept his huge erection in her throbbing cunt, while she slowly drifted to the surface of her consciousness. And when she moved her hands searchingly over him, wanting him again, not getting enough of him, he slowly and lazily began to increase his rhythm, filling her with long, heavy strokes. It felt as if he could go on like this forever. But in the end his desire for relief overpowered him. He moved one of his hands in between them, down to her cunt, and teased her clit while he fucked her, hard and fast now. She rode the wave with him, melting into the sexy sensation of feeling his need for her. Then he almost stopped, and they were suspended in mid-air for a millisecond. His body went rigid and pushed a high, sharp cry out of him and his eyes rolled back into his head before he closed them tightly. He impaled her with his swollen cock, and she felt it stiffen and pulse inside her, filling her again and again with hot, wet liquid. His relief was hers too, and she let the final shuddering orgasm flood her before they came to rest at last. She fell asleep with his cock securely buried inside her, not wanting to let go of him.
When she woke up the next time, the daylight filled the room. Her heart skipped a beat in initial fear, because she didn't recognize her surroundings at first. She looked in wonder at the tasteful furniture and the beautiful paintings on the walls, and then she remembered where she was and immediately turned her head to search for him. Her heart and body were filled with instant joy when she found him sitting in the bed beside her, his back turned to her. She was so used to finding him gone in the mornings that she almost doubted her eyes, and she had to touch him ever so lightly to feel that he was real. He put his warm heavy hand on her, caressing her body gently. But he didn't turn around. She sensed with a short jolt of alarm that he wasn't relaxed, but concentrated and tense.
"Stay with me," he said in a hardly audible voice, "at least for a little while. Try me out, give me a chance."
She stopped breathing for a fraction of a second while the thoughts rushed through her head. This was the first time ever that he had pleaded with her. Whatever he had wanted from her he had taken, with or without her consent.
"Yes!" she whispered breathlessly and reached out and touched his hand.
She saw a slight movement of the muscles in his back as if he slowly exhaled. Then he slipped into the bed, in between her legs, and put his head to rest on her stomach. She was never to see the expression on his face.
**********
Finally, they couldn't put off getting out of bed any longer and she yawned and stretched her limbs, feeling that she ached all over although not unpleasantly so.
"I'm hungry," she said, "feed me."
She heard him chuckle low deep down in his throat, and then he lifted his head and looked at her at last.
"There is an old saying," he said, "that you have to take what's coming to you, if you choose to lie down with lions, but no one ever mentioned the lioness!"
Then he got them out of bed and found a long silk robe for her to slip over her nakedness and chose a silk shirt and black tights for himself.
"I thought that we might have breakfast in the library. It's one of my favorite places in the palace," he said.
She nodded prepared to accept anything he proposed and feeling a thrill within her when she thought about all the new things about him and around him that she was going to discover.
He took her by the hand and led her out of the room into the corridors that were like little labyrinths in themselves. It would take ages before she was to find the way on her own in this maze she thought. They passed the great hall on the second floor, this place she recognized at least, and then he opened a door that she hadn't observed before and pushed her gently inside the huge library. She had never seen a place like this before in her life. The ceiling was made of glass, and she could see the heaven above her. Then she looked at the room itself and saw the endless high bookshelves. How far they stretched and how large the room was, she couldn't tell. Some shelves contained books that seemed to be extremely old, and other shelves harbored literature of a seemingly younger date. She stopped in her tracks and voiced a silent ‘Oh' in surprise. He laughed and shook her gently.
"Come, come," he urged her on.
She noticed that they followed a passage between the shelves furnished with a red carpet on the floor and stored that piece of information in her mind. It might come in handy, should she ever lose her way in here.
They went farther into the room, and unexpectedly she found them standing in what appeared to be a rotunda. At least it was a round clearing in the room without shelves and books. Then she saw an old man at the desk. He was dressed in a long robe, somewhat looking like an old monk. He rose when they entered and made a deep bow in front of Jareth.
"Master," he said, "I have been informed that you wish to take breakfast in the Orangerie. It's waiting for you."
Then he bowed in the direction of Sarah and murmured
"Your Ladyship is most welcome to the Library."
Sarah was all confused by now and didn't know what to do, so she merely inclined her head and kept her silence. She observed that the old man had a feather-pen in his hand but on his desk was the latest model PC.
"This is Ibn Ben Akbar," Jareth informed her, "he has been in charge of this library for as long as I can remember. I think he came here during my father's reign. Am I correct?" he addressed the old man.
The librarian merely bowed again, and he didn't comment on the information concerning the hundreds of years that he had apparently spent among his books. Instead he pointed to his desk and said
"Master, when you have time, there are two new books that have arrived today. They are essays in the field of chemical warfare. Let me know when you are ready for them."
"Thank you Ibn, I will," Jareth answered, and then he turned to Sarah and the mischief was dancing in his eyes now.
"Do you think that I'm allowed any days off in this place?"
Then he brought her along to a room adjacent to the library, which evidently was the "Orangerie" that Ibn had mentioned. Sarah found that it was a greenhouse full of orange trees with glass walls permitting a view out into the garden beyond. There awaited them a sumptuous breakfast. They had their meal in silence for a while, and then Jareth answered her unspoken questions.
"Whatever you would like to know, can be found in there," he made a gesture towards the library, "good or bad, necessary or superfluous. My so called Black Cabinet, for example, containing forbidden literature, would make the Vatican green with envy."
He looked intently at her now.
"You may not understand today why I wanted to show you this room first of all, but you will soon. I consider it the most valuable item in the whole palace."
"Apart from you of courses," he added and grinned at her.
Sarah blushed and inclined her head trying to sort out all the various impressions that had poured over her.
More immediate, commonplace and little problems surfaced though, and she lifted her head and looked anxiously at him.
"What about the car and my luggage?" she asked, all at once remembering what she had left behind in the motel.
"It's all taken care of," he replied calmly.
Then she drew her breath wanting to put all her worries, her thoughts and her explanations in words to him, but again he put a finger to her lips and smiled softly.
"Not today. You needn't explain anything. Maybe we will talk about it tomorrow or perhaps the day after tomorrow."
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THE CARNIVAL SAGA

LIVING HAPPILY EVER AFTER?