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Courtesan	By : Lasski Category: G through L > Labyrinth Views: 15072 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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
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Chapter 5 - King meets Courtesan.

                Late sunset the next day left a pink strip on the horizon below clouds of blue and a sky of pale yellow. The fairy lights leading up to the palace at the party shone sharp and bright in the fading light. Jovial music from lutes and harps were the perfect compliment for the evening stars. Later, the sounds would change from strings to bolder instruments such as the piano. Only when the party heated up, when the drink had been flowing and reserve gestures had been left behind would the music change to a seductive tribal drum cascade to match the orgies that were bound to end the night.

                Already a little tired from the three hours of training (Zekial being the sadistic bastard that he was decided to start her training before the ball rather than after it - no time like the present he had said. Yeah right!) She had had to do before coming to the ball; Sarah had downed three cups of dark coffee to bring the colour and zest back into her, and planned on consuming more during the night to keep her going. Though Carrick had sent her a pitiful look at her predicament he had known better than to offer a narcotic stimuli. Though Zekial didn’t punish the use of drugs he didn’t condone it. Being immortal meant that the long and short term effects of drugs didn’t occur, however the incredible healing that pushed the side effects away also pushed the drug through the body faster and the cravings came harder and faster. While it was difficult to become addicted, once one was it was more difficult to come clean than any mortal could hope to experience. Caffeine was the only drug that Sarah wanted in her system.

                Tonight she wore a dark golden dress with black stitching which complimented her pale skin and brought out just how dark her hair was. Dark eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow had given her a slightly smoky eyed look; just enough to look sexy but not too much that it was black in comparison to the dress and looked like someone had given her a black eye. Matching black and gold slippers were slid over her feet and if she spun fast enough the skirt flared up to show the dark underside and smooth bare legs. Her hair was down but pulled back at the sides with black and gold ribbons intricately entwined in the length.

                With the summit only three days away nearly everyone who was attending was there at the ball. The days surrounding the summit were just as, if not more, important that the summit itself as they defined what alliances were being formed and broken. Sarah was thankful that all she had to do tonight was play the part of courtesan, nonetheless a small knife was tucked away high on her thigh that she could easily remove without notice when the time came.

                A familiar mocking chuckle joined a small rumble of laughter from a group and the fine hairs on the back of Sarah’s neck stood on end and a shiver went down her spine. She turned around and saw Jareth and could not suppress a gasp.

                ‘Dear lords’ she gasped to herself for she could now see what her younger innocent self had been unable to recognise, what the growing woman had only but sensed. When she traversed his labyrinth the Goblin King had been a powerful presence at once both frightening and courteous, both gentleman and devil.

                Now… now she took note of the incredible physic, the muscles flowing into one another, fluidly moving and flexing in oiled refinement of his arms and legs which clothing could not help to hide. The platinum hair with golden streaks that caught in the light and transfixed the eye. His two coloured eyes that promised intense lovemaking without emotional attachment, pain as important as pleasure. Dark desires teased in with mischievousness and unpredictability.

                The only man who could possible measure up to him would be Zekial. Would that the two of them be standing side by side - one light, one dark, the two of them holding all possible sexual knowledge between them with the advantage of fae sensuality. It was enough to make any woman drop to her knees and give thanks for living and being born female.

                Sarah mentally gave herself a firm shake. She could not allow his physical attractions detract her from anything. Yet, in a position where she was told and taught that appearances were everything it was difficult to ignore it… him.

                “Isn’t he the finest specimen of male you have ever seen?” Kayla purred as she came up beside Sarah. “Imagine the money he could throw away. What he could do in bed.” Sarah wasn’t sure which greed Kayla was intent on satisfying more. “It’s said that the Labyrinthine King has never had to pay for his pleasures,” Kayla continued, “do you think perhaps that I might change his mind?” She looked over at Sarah and raised a finely shaped eyebrow, “Or do you intend to try after him first, considering your… history…” she drawled

                It was not a celebrated fact that Sarah had run the Labyrinth and completed it, in fact few people knew. The Goblin King’s antics in his own realm were rarely talked of as he protected his privacy zealously. But those that did know thought it was just one more attractive characteristic of the grand courtesan Lady Sarah. Only Kayla would use the opportunity to try and seek out a weakness. “He is well-built” Sarah admitted and Kayla snorted at the poor adjective, “and no doubt the legends of him in bed are well founded, but I would hardly waste my time chasing after him if he does not bed courtesans.”

                “Oh, I never said he had never bedded courtesans” Kayla gave a tinkling laugh, “only that he had never had to pay for his pleasures.”

                Sarah could believe that. “Either way” she replied, “I do not care for him one way or the other.”

                “Care for him?” Kayla gave her a sly look, “Who said anything about caring? I only thought that perhaps your past encounter with him may make him more amendable to paying you as well as taking you to bed.”

                “Not likely” Sarah muttered more to herself than Kayla. She hardly thought her victory over the Goblin King would make him amendable to anything concerning her. “Oh, and Kayla” Sarah finally decided to get away from the other courtesan, “don’t think. It doesn’t suit you.” With that parting shot Sarah made her way through the crowds to the food tables. What she needed was a good gulp of wine. She heard Jareth’s laugh again and gritted her teeth.

                After skirting around a few invitations for conversation and blocking off a few not so tactful advances Sarah finally made her way to the wine. Just as she was about to pick a glass someone passed her one already filled with the red liquid. She looked up, smiled and took the glass. “Thankyou, my lord” she said and inclined her head.

                “I thought we got passed titles last night” Paul said and poured a glass of wine for himself.

                “So we did” Sarah rejoined, “to what shall we drink to Paul?” Sarah had yet to search his room for the mission scroll, but if her bad luck on this continued she would have to get close to him to get it back if he had secreted it away somewhere. Goblin King or not. Tonight she hoped to seek out his room while he was still occupied at the ball.

                He looked down at him glass and swirled the liquid around. “May there always be wine when we meet,” he said.

                “Indeed” Sarah tapped her glass against his and sipped at her drink. “I see your king is making friends” she indicated the group which she had neared, “it is not a setting I particularly pictured him in. His solidarity from the High Court has made him somewhat of an… outcast.”

                Paul smiled that boyish grin again, his brown eyes sparkling. “No, it’s not exactly his scene but one cannot deny that he has a charm all his own. He may have been away from the court for a long time but he has lost none of his skills.”

                A charm of his own. Sarah looked at the Goblin King. That was one way of putting it. Jareth suddenly looked up and scanned the crowd and as soon as he saw Paul he saw Sarah. Those duel-coloured eyes pinned her to the spot and held her there. Without looking away he excused himself from the people he was talking to and made his way across the room. Sarah couldn’t move for the life of her.

                The chatter in the room dimmed to Sarah’s ears as Jareth walked up to her. His appeal was even more potent up close, the smell of him, the intensity of his eyes, the sheer presence of him in her personal space. “Jareth” she greeted more calmly than she felt. For three years she had alternatively obsessed over and obliterated from her mind this very scene where Jareth would learn of her being in the Underground. When he would find out when she was a courtesan. “Your highness, how pleasant to see you here.”

                “Sarah” Jareth returned through closed teeth. “What are you doing here?”

                His voice. Dear lords, how had she forgotten his voice? - That smooth English accent that rolled warmly over the skin, seeping through the flesh to heat the blood… Sarah forcibly put a barrier up around the insane reactions her body was giving off in response to Jareth. It could only be from years of indulging in sensual pleasure that she was having such a response and Jareth. Between his looks and fae sensuality, he was sensual pleasure personified. It was only natural that she be attracted to him. She sipped her wine; “I attend many of the festivities that the High Court put on, my lord”

                Jareth eyes darkened, as he didn’t get the straight answer he wanted and Sarah stopped the shiver that started at the bottom of her spine. Was everything about the man fascinating to her? Would his eyes darken in the same way in the throes of pleasure…? Damn it! She had to stop these thoughts! She was a courtesan not a sex crazed maniac! ‘There is a difference’ she replied bitterly to that annoying little mocking voice inside her head.

                “Must you always waste my time?” Jareth said smoothly, with an arrogance in his voice that made one feel low and irrelevant - indeed as if one was a waste of one’s time. The voice of a smug king.

                ‘Ouch’, Sarah flinched internally but kept her feelings to herself. She had heard worse. Then why did his words get under her usually thick skin? Well she could bite back with the best of them! “You approached me, my lord.” That said enough on its own. “But if you so wish I will withdraw from your presence.” Sarah bit back a smile - Jareth wouldn’t want to let her go until he had found the answers he sought. Not that she was about to tell him anything!

                Paul looked back and forth between his king and the courtesan, and a light of dawning realization and then amusement passed through his brown eyes. He knew he came to the ball for some reason, he just hadn’t expected the entertainment to be so… entertaining. Or that it would be so personal. A mischievous demon in him decided to push things to the next level. “Your highness” Paul said officially to Jareth and his king flashed warning eyes at him which he completely ignored. If he played this right Jareth would be so busy dealing with his own thoughts that he would never get around to reprimanding Paul. “May I formally introduce Lady Sarah-“

                                “I already know-“Jareth began.

                                                “-the most renowned courtesan in the Underground.”

                Two pairs of eyes fixed on him. A duel coloured stare that was unusually emotionally open and a dark feminine look that shot equally dark looks of betrayal. Hell hath no fury… Lady Sarah was no fool, Paul knew, but according to his plan they would be too busy with each other to exact revenge on him. Paul gave a mental, gleeful rub of his hands.

                “Courtesan” Jareth replied slowly, having regained his composure the split-second he had lost it. He looked Sarah over from head to toe as if her clothes would reveal her vocation. Sarah lifted her chin in a proud gesture that dared him to comment - at no time was Sarah ashamed of what she had become, not even Jareth could change that.

                Jareth suddenly hissed something under his breath that neither Paul nor Sarah caught, and Sarah gave a surprised gasp as Jareth grabbed her arm and hauled her across the ballroom, past the watching crowds, and into the corridors beyond. Sarah, stunned, could only stumble after him in his wake. The talking in the room quietened for a moment but returned to status quo after a moment more. Stranger things had happened than a king dragging a woman from the room be she courtesan or otherwise.

                Paul looked after them with an almost child-like look of disappointment in his eyes. Feeling a prickle of awareness from behind him he turned to see the High Duke, Lord Zekial watching him. The mischievous devil still in him, Paul raised his glass of wine in recognition. Zekial gave a smirk that was a shade too dark to be friendly and turned back to his companions.

                As soon as Jareth had pulled her into a random empty room Sarah wrenched herself away from his grip, rubbing her arm where she was sure bruises would form. “Have fun?” she snapped at him.

                “Don’t defy me now” Jareth bit out just as coldly, “what in all of the Underground are you playing at being a whore in the High Court. Do you realise the danger you’ve put yourself in, little girl?”

                “A courtesan, Jareth, not a common whore” she said to him with a composition taught, “and I am certainly not playing. I am one of the most highly prized courtesans trained personally by Lord Zekial himself” she declared.

                “Zekial!” the ice in his eyes sizzled away in the face of red-hot rage and Sarah actually took a step back. Always, always, Jareth had been composed, barely having to raise his voice, the tone alone carrying authority to be obeyed - or the seductive quality to entice. But the way he roared that one name, suddenly, surprisingly, hatefully, Sarah suddenly saw a whole new dimension to Jareth. It was raw and primal, lacking any distinction between right and wrong, good and bad. But just like any of his mercurial moods it went as quickly as it came as if it had never been. “Tell me everything. Tell me how you came to the Underground, how you came to be a courtesan…. One of Zekial’s courtesans” he said calmly if coldly.

                “I don’t have to explain anything to you” Sarah turned to leave the room but Jareth planted himself between her and the door making it clear that he was not above using physical force.

                “Don’t make this hard on yourself Sarah. I can make life very difficult for you. Zekial’s courtesan or not” Jareth threatened.

                And he could too, Sarah could see that. She decided it wasn’t worth the trouble over it - after all what was quick background story? She shrugged as if it was of no consequence and briefly outlined how Zekial had approached her and what he had offered her, leaving out the whole spy quarter of the deal.

                “Why Sarah? Why choose this life?” his question didn’t plead but commanded an answer. Kings couldn’t afford to plead… to show weakness.

                “I was dying in my world Jareth, your world spoiled me for anything so… mortal. Later I discovered being in close proximity with fae awakens and heightens the sexual needs of an individual. It was why Zekial's proposition was so enticing, where before the Labyrinth I would have thrown his offer back in his face."

                Jareth frowned, "but I never was close enough to you for a long enough time to-"

                "The peach dream Jareth" Sarah reminded him softly.

                He shook his head; "it was just a dream."

                "But it was still your essence in the dream, your fae spirit dancing with me. That was enough."

                Jareth looked stunned for a moment. "If I had known that would be all it took I would never have placed you in such a position." It was the closest Jareth would come to an apology.

                “What’s done is done,” she said giving a half smile. “Besides, I'm glad you did. I'm happier here than I could have ever been Aboveground." It was the closest Sarah would come to accepting his apology

                Jareth sat down on one of the chairs and swung his leg insolently over the side and rested his arm against his bent knee. “Not only a courtesan but one of Zekial’s” he murmured more to himself than to Sarah.

                It was then that Sarah finally took stock of what sort of room they had entered into. It was one of the smaller, more intimate lounge rooms. As the night was getting on, any number of people engaging in sexual exploits would soon occupy it. Sarah suddenly felt caged with only Jareth in the room. “Well,” she said regaining his attention, “it was nice to see you again, my lord. I hope you enjoy the rest of the party.” She inclined her head and once again turned to leave.

                “Going so soon Sarah?” Jareth mocked making her feel as if she was running away instead of leaving amicably. “Aren’t you going to try and sell your wares? I would think that Zekial had taught you to take any opportunity available to you?”

                “Why is it that my greatest crime to you isn’t that I’m a courtesan, but Zekial’s courtesan?” Sarah asked shrewdly. There was a reason why she was such a good courtesan and spy. Jareth eyes turned to ice and Sarah decided to push him just that little bit more, “besides, I heard that the Goblin King never had to pay for his pleasure. Have you been away from the court that long that it has changed? Don’t tell me the great Jareth has lost his charm?”

                “You go too far Sarah” he warned quietly his eyes narrow slits.

                Sarah forced a laugh. “The old double standard Jareth? You can insult my libido but I can’t insult yours. Males always were the weaker sex” she sneered and decided to end this little interlude. “Look, I’ll do my job and you can do yours and we’ll stay out of each others way. Agreed?”

                Jareth stared at her for long seconds and then nodded. “Agreed.”

                As Sarah joined the masses again she knew two things. The first, she harboured no resentment towards Jareth for the whole Labyrinth fiasco. The second, she had to stay away from him - if nothing else, he was an assault on her senses that she couldn’t control and most definitely couldn’t afford.
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Courtesan