The Tale of the Labyrinth By Eamane-Shu
After a
week Danae’s mood had improved drastically, although she generally kept to
herself, she was often seen sitting in the gardens or the library always in the
company of Sirnim, the little black kitten that Jareth had given her. That
morning she was sitting in the Gardens studying an ancient spell book that
Jareth had given her, as Sarah sat down next to the girl she saw her turn to a
page entitled ‘To Raise the Dead’ Danae’s forehead wrinkled in a frown as she
turned the page, looked at the next spell and closed the book.
“Hello”
said Sarah softly as she sat down on the soft grass next to the princess.
“Hey Sarah,
what are you doing out here?”
“Hiding
from Jareth” seeing Danae’s confused look she elaborated “He wants me to go and
placate Sir Didymus, while he checks out the Bog of Eternal Stench.” Danae
laughed, it was a wonderful sound, bubbling up from inside her, it had been
heard too little in the Castle lately, and as Danae improved, so did Jareth’s mood,
gone were the dark clouds of worry that had been hanging over his head for the
last month. Well mostly Sarah mused, the frequent
attacks on the Labyrinth were a worry, especially as he didn’t know who was
committing the atrocities.
“I received
a letter from Ivenan today” said Danae quietly, “He’s coming to visit this
afternoon, on state business with Jareth. It’s going to be hard, seeing him
again. I don’t know if I’m ready to face him, but I can’t not speak to him,
he’s been a friend my entire life. It’s all so confusing.”
“I know,
it’s going to drag up a lot of memories of Roland, but it will get easier, I
promise. I remember just after my mother died…”
“Your
mother died?” She was shocked, Sarah had never mentioned it before “When? I
thought you lived with both your parents. Before you came here I mean.”
“Karen was
my step-mother. My real mother died when I was eleven, she wasn’t looking where
she was going properly and she got hit by a car, she died on impact.” Sarah had
tears in her eyes “The hurt never really goes away, it’s still always there,
but it gets easier, you learn to live with the pain, and after a while you
don’t really notice it anymore.”
The two
girls sat in companionable silence for five minutes, Danae smoothing out the
wrinkles of her dove grey dress, in three days she would officially come out of
mourning for Roland, and she would no longer be expected to wear the funeral
colours, which did little for Danae’s pale complexion, they left her looking
pale and drawn, giving her an unhealthy pallor, though that had much to do with
the lack of sunlight that the girl had seen in the last month.
“Sarah?” she asked quietly.
“Hmmm?” The
other girl replied, still deep in thought.
“I think
that Ivenan is going to ask to marry me.”
“What?”
asked Sarah suddenly shocked, Roland had only been dead for a month and his
brother was now asking for his fiancée’s hand in marriage.
“I think
that’s his purpose for visiting the Labyrinth today, he’s going to ask Jareth
for my hand.”
“Do you
want to marry Ivenan?”
“It doesn’t
really matter.” She stopped talking as she saw Jareth approaching them, “I
think I’m going to go have a lie down for an hour or so.” She quickly scooped
Sirnim into her arms and vanished.
“If you’re
looking for Danae, you just missed her.” Sarah said as Jareth sat down beside
her.
“And why?”
he murmured seductively into her ear “Would I be looking for Danae when I can
have you?” he bent his head and traced his tongue from the base of Sarah’s neck
to her earlobe. She pressed her lips up against Jareth’s for a passionate kiss.
“I’ve
missed you.” He muttered into her hair eventually. Since Roland’s death they
had spent little time alone, as they had almost constantly been watching over
his sister, but now that Danae was on the mend, hopefully he could spend more
of his time with Sarah.
“You look
awfully nice today” Sarah commented with a smile that brought a grin to
Jareth’s face.
“What this
old thing?” Jareth laughed, Sarah had been informed by Danae that Jareth’s
wardrobe was bigger than hers, and Danae had two entire rooms in the castle
that were there just to store her many gowns. Today he was wearing a pair of
grey britches, a white shirt and a floor length leather coat. He brought his
lips down to hers again, although this time, using his body with a slight
pressure he pressed Sarah down deeper into the grass. She wielded underneath
him completely, though bit his lip to show a tiny bit of defiance, she would
never simply submit to him, he noted to himself, though it would be fun to try.
He traced his hand along her side, stroking her neck, moving down the creamy
skin her dress showed off, to cup her breast softly. Despite herself Sarah
moaned gently at his caress, and they lay like this for some time, until Jareth
eventually dragged himself away.
“You know
Ivenan is coming to visit later,” Jareth told her, Sarah nodded back and he
continues “He apparently knows who is behind the recent string of attacks.” He
informed her in a low murmur, which would be difficult for her to overhear. The
attacks over the last few weeks had caused fear to run throughout the city, and
visiting tradesmen were becoming fewer and fewer, as they all worried that they
would be next.
Sarah
frowned softly, she hoped that that was Ivenan’s only reason for visiting as
Danae wasn’t fit to make any descisions at the moment, and a relationship with
Ivenan would be hard for her, he looked so much like Roland that Sarah was
surprised that she could bear his company at all. They sat together in the
grass, Sarah’s head resting on Jareth’s lap quietly, seldom speaking, simply
enjoying each other’s company for a short while, until their solitude was
interrupted by Danae, who suddenly appeared in the gardens clutching an
official document to her chest, her face was paler than usual and there was
fear in her mismatched eyes.
“Jareth,
this just came by urgent courier.” She thrust the letter into his hand. Jareth
read it and disappeared. Danae grabbed Sarah’s hand and transported them to the
castle.
“Go find
Aldous” she commanded, and for the first time Sarah saw Danae in a new light,
not just as the sweet girl she had befriended, or as the desperate woman who
had just lost the man she loved, she saw Danae now, regal and proud, capable in
a crisis. A woman who when the time came, no matter how much it would hurt,
would marry the man her brother instructed her to, for the good of her people.
“There’s an emergency, Jareth will need to speak with him.” Danae headed off in
the direction of Jareth’s study, leaving Sarah alone in the entrance hall.
Danae
entered Jareth’s study to find him pouring over a map of the nine kingdoms with
Ivenan. “What happened Jareth?” she asked slowly.
“I just
spoke with the King’s former ambassador from Mannat.”
“Former
ambassador? Was he demoted?”
“No, King
Lysson was executed this morning.” Danae gasped, but Jareth continued, despite
his sister’s reaction “It seems that an alliance has been formed between
Hirstead, Littenhan and the Netherworld.”
“They’ve
completely conquered Mannat” continued Ivenan, his voice husky and tired,
“Killed the entire royal family, and have placed in new rulers. It also seems
that they are the party responsible for the attacks made recently outside the
labyrinth.”
“Who are
they?” asked Danae shakily taking a sip of water from the glass that Jareth
conjured for her.
“Prince
Harris of Littenhan, the second son I believe, and his new wife Lady Annabel of
Hirstead.”
Danae
dropped the glass on the floor, in shock; she suddenly looked up from the
shards of glass amongst the water on the floor, to meet Jareth’s mismatched
eyes with her own. They stared at each other wordlessly for a time, before she
finally spoke her voice croaky. “I stole her husband away from her, so she took
mine.”
“There is
more to this than revenge Danae.” Jareth spoke up, “This is more than Roland’s
assassination, this is an act of war, clearly
displaying their intentions.”
“What
intentions are those Jareth?”
“We’re
going to be next.”