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Shattered	By : TarnishedArmour Category: G through L > Labyrinth Views: 7733 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Based upon the work of Jim Henson; specifically Labyrinth, copyright 1986 by Jim Henson & associated parties. I do not own or have legal rights to Labyrinth, etc., or make any profit from them. *Individual disclaimers for other works in

Chapter List
- 45
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- 47
Jareth woke to a strange sound. He saw Sarah next to him, where she belonged. A smile graced his lips as he stared down at his Queen. Unable to resist, he kissed her awake.
"Mmmm…" Sarah hummed into the kiss. "Good morning to you, too," she purred. Sarah stretched, a long, indulgent movement that reminded Jareth of the palace cats, waking in the sun.
The sun. It was morning, and there was no sun.
What was going on?
"Get dressed," he said, his smile turning into a frown. "Something's…different."
"Wrong?" Sarah asked, noticing the worry on his face. She stood up quickly and looked around.
"No," he replied, frown deepening. "I…don't think so. What is it?" he noticed her expression.
"Dress in what, Jareth?" she asked, waving her hand around the room.
"Oh." He frowned for a moment then shrugged. "Here." With a wave of his hand, he dressed them both in similar colours. He wore breeches, boots, shirt and vest. Sarah wore a long, filmy dress that concealed less than it showed. She gave her king a wry look. The shoes were completely impractical, but she had to admit they looked damned good. "Shall we?" he asked, impatient.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Men," she muttered, taking his hand. "Get what they want and then forget all about romance-mmmph…mmmm…"
Jareth had stopped her complaint with a kiss that promised much.
"Shut up, woman," he murmured against her lips. "We've work to do."
Laughing, Sarah let him drag her out of their chambers. In the hall, Jareth saw Couric and swept him up, too.
"What's going on?" Couric asked, concerned with how strangely everyone was acting.
"I don't know," Jareth replied. "I just know something important is about to happen."
"Don't ask me," Sarah said. "I can't sense a damned thing from all the left-over magic."
"Sarah," Couric caught-step and bowed. "Queen Sarah."
"Pfft," Sarah waved away the title. "Call me Sarah, Couric. I'd say we've been introduced already - and Jareth I am not going to try running down the stairs in these shoes! Slow down!"
Jareth muttered something but slowed down at the top of the spiral staircase. "Well?"
"Do you want to walk or fall?" Sarah snapped, his reaction to the magic beginning to irritate her.
Couric shook his head. They were definitely well-matched, more's the pity. He couldn't hid the pain that flashed into his eyes after the amusement. So much the better that he was behind the newly-married royal couple.
Jareth and Sarah ran out into the courtyard of the palace. Jareth looked up and gasped.
Black clouds filled the sky as far as the eye could see. Pulses of lightning rippled from cloud to cloud and snarls of thunder shook the earth.
"A storm," Sarah said, smiling. She loved stormy weather, and had ever since that one night so long ago when an owl had flown into her brother's room and become a man.
"A storm," Jareth breathed, eyes closing in pure joy. The first heavy drops began to fall as everyone in the castle, the city beyond, and the realm walked outside to wonder at the skies.
=-+=-+=-+
"Marta!" Giely said, walking out of their cabin on the mountain. "Look!"
"Rain!" Marta gasped, tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, Giely, she did it!"
=-+=-+=-+
Didymus felt the heavy drops soak into his fur, wetting him to the skin.
"My lady, my sister-in-arms, my friend…and my Queen." He turned to the castle and bowed low, sweeping his bedraggled hat off. "I had no doubt."
=-+=-+=-+
"Mama, what's the wet stuff?" asked a little boy. He wasn't sure whether he should be happy because he hated his new vest or be upset because something was wrong with the sky.
"It's called rain," she said, lifting her hands in wonder. "Rain! We have a Queen!" she cried to the village. "We have a Queen!"
=-+=-+=-+
"Redok, what is it?" Tolliver asked, setting aside his tools.
Redok stood in the forge, soaking wet.
"You need to come out here," he said, smiling. "It's raining."
Shocked expressions greeted him before everyone in the forge rushed for the door.
"You mean, Sarah?" Tolliver asked, blinking.
"Queenrunner," Redok replied, smugly. He had withheld a great deal of information when he returned to Destria.
Tolliver followed his old friend out into the downpour, tears filling his eyes as he began to laugh and laugh.
=-+=-+=-+
Oakheart stumbled toward the elvengrove, shaking. He had never tasted rain. No living elf had. His arms went around the elfinflower who worked in the orphan's wing, where the unwanted children stayed before they were taken to good homes. He kissed her, fondled her in the rain, all propriety forgotten as they lurched to their grove and the haven of their trees.
The stories were all true.
It was absolutely intoxicating.
=-+=-+=-+
"Jareth, I don't understand," Sarah said, staring at her King.
"Rain, Sarah," he laughed, lifting her and spinning her around. "It's raining!"
"And?" she demanded, getting dizzy as she looked down at him. He abruptly dropped her back to the pavement and embraced her, kissing her in the storm.
"It hasn't rained since my mother, Queen Janna, died," he told her when he pulled back. "As is the land, so is the king; but as is the spirit, so is the queen. I could hold the land, keep it vital, but you, Sarah," he lifted her again, spinning her. "You have brought us life!"
Couric watched as Sarah learned the most basic lesson of the realms. He rejoiced that this land could now taste of the rain, but he wept for the loss he would have to experience.
The rain hid his sorrow from the world.
Back inside, Jareth declared a holiday. It was superfluous. No one was listening. They were too busy partying.
"Well, that went well, oh royal one," Sarah laughed as they went back up to their room. "Think they'll be hung over tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? Nah," Jareth replied. "They'll still be drinking. Next week, they'll be hung over."
Sarah started to laugh when a sudden wave of sorrow made her gasp.
"Sarah?" Jareth asked, studying her face.
"Did you feel that?" she asked, looking at Jareth.
"No…the sorrow?" he said after a moment. "Who could…oh, no." he whispered, leaning against the wall. He looked at Sarah and said, "Couric."
"The King's Lover?" she enquired. When he nodded, she smiled. "Jareth, I know I wear your collar, but there are times when rules should be bent."
"If you could have anyone else's child," he said softly, touching her cheek reverently, "I would disagree. As it is," he sighed. "I did not think how you becoming my queen would affect him."
Sarah frowned. "What do you mean?"
"He's Grean," knowing she wouldn't understand, he continued. "There, they have a royal line, a strict set of marriage laws, sumptuary laws…I can't think of any facet of life they don't have a law about - and yes, that includes the King's Lover." Jareth gave her a sharklike grin. "He bit off more than he expected with me."
Sarah laughed. "I have no doubts." Sobering, she asked, "So, we aren't married."
"No, love. We are more closely bound to one another and the realm than any vows could make us. Couric has learned a great deal, but he hasn't figured out that the titles of King and Queen are just to make our lives easier. Really, we are…" Jareth struggled for the words.
"Lord of Earth and Water of Life," she supplied. "Or some such grand crap. We are mystery and lord of mysteries-"
"Blood-lord," Jareth corrected. He couldn't stop the changes in his appearance as he said it.
"And Mystery," Sarah said, feeling her magic surge around her in response to his sudden change. Her pupils became cat-slitted, her hair turned white with thin black streaks radiating back from her face. "Never forget."
Jareth suppressed a shiver as he looked into those eyes and saw the dark knowledge that he had learned so long ago. "Dark Lady of Cats, Princess of Cats," he hissed, leaning in and biting her neck hard.
Sarah hissed, arching into him. "Prince of Cats…Jareth…"
"Janrecth," he purred into her ear, his fingers digging into her flesh. He pronounced the name 'Yanrekt'.
Sarah shook her head, and the change faded from her. Jareth allowed his magic to fade back into his normal appearance, too. Perhaps it was too soon for those games. But later… He couldn't stop the feral smile that played at his lips.
"My birth name was Janrecht. The last child of any pairing is given the first letters of his mother's name and the last of his father's. My mother was Janna, pronounced 'Yana', and my father Kolbrecht." Jareth shrugged. "Labyrinthians use the j pronunciation that you do, most of my subjects and friends skipped the n, and I can't recall how the 'cht' changed to 'th', but I'm fairly certain I was drunk at the time…" Jareth's brow furrowed in thought for a moment, then he shook his head. "No matter. Couric, as the King's Lover, does not have to leave. In fact," his eyes narrowed, "he can't leave because I'm not tired of him yet."
"And he remembers this devil's bargain you made with him?" Sarah sighed, the tugging of his sorrow keeping her from teasing Jareth.
"He'd damned well better," Jareth growled. "Otherwise, well, I'd have to send you out of the room and take care of his insubordination myself."
"What makes you think you get to keep him or your riding crop to yourself?" Sarah asked, arching an eyebrow. "I remember Gainstock very well."
Jareth chuckled, then sobered. He had just remembered something important. Gainstock. Of course. "Sarah, come here for a moment."
Sarah stepped close to him, shivering a bit in her soaked clothing. When Jareth placed one hand low on her belly, Sarah blinked. The gentle surge of magic that swept over her made her gasp. She felt…something different.
"Jareth?" she asked, a world of questions in her eyes.
"You are life," he whispered, awed at what he had discovered. "A child, Sarah." Jareth looked at Sarah with tears in his eyes. For so long he had ached for a child. In one day, he had gained a Queen, the waters that would nourish his realm and help it grow, and a child.
"Oh," Sarah stared down where his hand covered her belly. She raised her startled gaze to his. "I…never thought…so soon…"
Jareth said nothing, just wrapped her in his arms. Sarah was surprised when he buried his face in her neck, until she felt the shudders and shaking of his body. Unashamed, Jareth wept for joy as he held his Queen, the mother of his child.
So many things were clear to him now.
Just around the corner, Couric stopped. He thought to ask Jareth if he should stay or go-but he had overheard the last few words.
A child. A royal prince or princess.
He turned and went back to his room to finish packing.
The next day, the storm still raged. No one left the castle. No elves were present. They were all communing with their trees. Sarah had the sneaking suspicion they were communing with more than their trees, given that rainwater did for elves what pixie liquor did for most other races.
Somehow - Sarah did not want to know how - her pack, armour, and clothing had appeared in their room during the night. She wore her amulet again, her collar still in place. She was wearing a simple gown, nothing like what she would have in her closet as Queen, but it was very convenient because she and Jareth couldn't seem to keep their hand - and other body parts - off each other.
As the storm raged outside in the late morning hours, a more relaxed storm invaded the palace. Jareth and Sarah were in the hall outside their room, debating whether or not they should join the merriment. No decision had been reached, each arguing different points at different times, then reversing their position as soon as the other agreed. They had been arguing in the hall for hours, and more than once, they had tabled the argument. The few servants that passed through this particular section of the castle had grinned to see King and Queen rutting against the wall. As far as they were concerned, it was about damned time Jareth met his match, past time a Queen's touch came to the castle and the realm.
"We should go join everyone, be seen together," Jareth said, thinking of the number of people who would be able to greet them as the royal couple and avoid a formal court presentation.
"I'd much rather drag you back to bed and enjoy the time we have before the work starts," Sarah replied, running her hand up his thigh and gripping him, sliding her hand up and down his length.
"Sounds like a grand idea to me," he said, reversing his position. Sarah's expression, though, had turned thoughtful.
"You know, I don't really know anyone here," she began as Jareth's hand slid up to cup her breast, teasing the nipple through the cloth.
"Majesties," came a soft voice, carefully interrupting what was obviously a private debate, if debate was the proper term. Couric had seen Jareth and Sarah and walked over to tell him he was leaving, as he should. He had not intended to interrupt their love-play, but he had put this off long enough.
"Couric," Jareth said, smiling. He didn't move his hand from his queen.
"Hello, Couric," Sarah said, warmth in her voice. She didn't move her hand from her king, but she did stop moving, which was more than he did.
"I came to say goodbye, Majesties. Jareth," he corrected, blushing a bit.
"Why would you do that?" Sarah asked, blinking. "Are you not happy as King's Lover?"
"I have been more than content," Couric replied, drawing on his years of indoctrination as a Grean, carefully inscrutable. "But you are here, now, my Queen, and -"
"And it changes nothing," Jareth interrupted. "As long as you please me, Couric. I believe those were the terms."
"They were, Sire, but -" Flustered, now Couric just stared at the man and woman before him.
"As long as you please us," Sarah corrected, reaching out and taking Couric's hand. "Stay."
"Stay," Jareth said, putting his free hand on Couric's shoulder, pulling him close.
"I shouldn't," Couric protested, his mouth moving while his heart screamed at him to shut up.
"Why?" Sarah asked, curious.
"The marriage, the royal line -"
"Isn't a question here. We aren't married. We rule by will, by solving the King's Labyrinth, completing the trials. As for children, that's no worry. Sarah can't have children with anyone else. Neither can I. Why do you think there isn't a wing devoted to royal bastards?" Jareth cocked his head to the side, birdlike. "Didn't you know that?"
"Well, no," Couric replied, stunned.
"One king, one queen," Sarah said, smiling and tugging Couric closer. "No other royals exist in this realm. There are no princes, no princesses, no true nobles - other than by their own efforts."
"My sisters work in a mining town, guarding the mine and the people while working as healers. Two of my brothers still quest as knights," Jareth went on, "and I do have several cousins who changed races. I think one is an ogre. He never did have any sense."
Sarah snickered, then sobered. "Couric, you don't have to be my lover," she told the slightly older man. "Just stay. Be my friend, if you don't want more -"
"Excuse me?" Jareth interrupted. "Mine to give, remember?" The look he gave to Sarah made her roll her eyes.
"And you gave me all you held," she replied, "therefore, I can and will -"
"And you gave me all you are," he retorted. He did not want to lose control of his queen.
"And all I am is part of what you hold, which leaves me back where I was originally." Sarah gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. "Not that I won't be a reward for someone when you require - just as you will be when I require." Sarah turned back to Couric, leaving Jareth with his mouth hanging open. "Now, as I was saying, if you don't want to be my lover, that's no reason you can't continue as Jareth's. I like you Couric. That you can put up with His Nibs here -"
Couric couldn't help it. Between Jareth looking like a stranded fish, Sarah's neat summation of the balance of power, and his own shock at being offered the position of Royal Consort, not just the King's Lover, he began to snicker. Then to laugh. Soon, he was laughing so hard he was leaning on the wall, holding his sides while tears ran from his eyes.
"You…" he gasped. "You…sound like…"
"If you finish that sentence," Jareth said, having recovered form the shock of Sarah's earlier point, "I will throw you out into the rain until your woolens shrink."
"Yes, Jareth," Couric moaned between laughs. Sarah had started laughing, too. The look on Jareth's face when he realized he wasn't holding all the cards anymore…
The thought sobered her for a moment. She still had his mark over her heart, she was still sworn to him in all five ways. Technically, he could order her to bed or punish her. As she considered this, knowledge swelled within her and she understood that the oath was only half given.
"Jareth," she said, now serious. "Couric, come with me." She opened the door to the chamber she would now share with Jareth and Couric. When she reached the bed, she slid out of her gown and onto the massive elven-made bed.
"Well, if you insist," Jareth grinned at her, suddenly enjoying where he thought she was going. With a wave of his hand and a light jump, he bounced onto the mattress beside her. Sarah shook her head and held out her hand for Couric to join them. The young man concentrated, waved his hand, and climbed up into the bed where he was bid.
"Jareth," Sarah said, her face calm. "Do you remember marking me?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied, smugly. "You were so eager -"
"Say it now. Swear to obey me." Her face was serious, her voice deadly.
Couric's jaw dropped.
Sarah's face didn't change. Jareth almost made a smart-assed comment, but recognized the look in her eye. She was more than just his lover, his challenger, his gana, or his prize. The woman looking at him, so calm and regal in her nakedness, was his queen. Queen and beloved and the only one to whom he would answer for his actions. The sovereign power over the women of the realm. Water to his fire. Fertility to his vitality. Comfort to his strength. He was King of the Labyrinth, Blood-lord of Mysteries, Keeper of the Solution, but she was the Labyrinth, the Mystery, the Solution. Will to will, kingdom to kingdom, she was his match in every way. As she bent to him, so must he bend to her.
"Sarah, Queen of the Labyrinth, I am yours to command, yours to take and give, to pleasure and to punish," Jareth said softly, his voice reverent. He closed his eyes when Sarah moved her thumb to rest over his heart and shivered when her mark was magically imprinted on his skin. He looked down. Where she wore the image of his amulet over her heart, he wore the image of hers - a perfect circle filled with the gentle ripples, much like waves, across the surface. He smiled at her, seeing only the silver amulet hanging from the midnight ribbon against her fair skin.
Couric watched them, saw how closely they fit, and closed his eyes. No one should see this kind of devotion -
"Couric," Jareth said, interrupting the other man's reverie. When the dark eyes were on him, Jareth continued. "I never asked for your oath of fealty, but if you are to continue here, with us, you will be a confidant of sorts. We will require your oath of fealty to us."
"To…both of you?" Couric asked. It was not done. No woman swore a man to her - not even the Queen, and yet, Sarah had just sworn the king to her. No man save a king could swear a woman to him - and Sarah had so sworn.
"Yes, Couric," Sarah replied, "if you will consent to be my lover as well?"
"Majesty - Sarah…Jareth…I…but…here…" He couldn't form a coherent sentence.
"We'll make it easy on you," Jareth said, remembering another time words had failed his paramour. "Swear to obey us," he said.
"King Jareth and Queen Sarah of the Labyrinth, I am yours to command," Couric choked out, amazed at his own willingness to defy all that was known to be right and proper in all the realms. Once he had found his voice, he was able to continue. "I am yours to take and to give, to pleasure and to punish."
Jareth's hand moved over Couric's heart, leaving his mark. Sarah's hand followed. Nestled in the arms of Jareths' mark rested Sarah's mark, completing the whole.
All three looked down at the mark and smiled. This was the completion, the two made to balance and to rule.
"Beautiful," Sarah murmured, taking in a long look at Couric.
"Quite," Jareth said, looking in the mirror across the room. He pursed his lips. "You know, I've always wanted to do this," he added, producing a crystal and tossing it to the ceiling. Where the crystal struck, the surface of the stone turned to a huge mirror.
"Pervert," Couric teased.
Jareth and Sarah gave him identical shark-smiles.
"I learned from the best," Sarah replied, eyes growing dark with the sudden desire to play with her king and her consort.
"Mm, that you did," Jareth smirked.
"Legend in his own mind," Couric said, pointing to his king.
One pair of mismatched eyes narrowed while the other widened. Laughter and a growl filled the room as Jareth lunged for his queen and his consort. They spent several hours laughing and teasing, touching and pleasing, as the stormy afternoon slowly became night.
None of them noticed the changes throughout the castle and kingdom that took place that day. Everywhere the royal arms, the image of Jareth's amulet, hung a watery moon filled the space between the outstretched arms. A silvery circle filled the void between copper-bronze arms. Shields, crests, embroidered napkins, official seals, armour - all changed to reflect this joining of king and queen.
Night fell and the land grew quiet as the rains slowly stopped. Throughout the land serene, the pale light shone from the highest tower at the heart of the labyrinth, a crystal moon radiating balance and strength to all the realm.
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