| �What the hell are you playing at?!� �Michelle, I simply had some business to attend to. I don�t know why you�re so worked up.� She tried to slap him, but he caught her arm. For a moment his face was distorted with anger, but then he saw Dominic looking at him from behind his mother. Jareth smiled and looked Michelle in the eyes. He still held her wrist up with his left hand, but the other he let trail to her face, and kissed her on the lips. Michelle was too amazed to move. It was a very beautiful kiss, or would be if the man didn�t still have a tight grip on her wrist. It was soft and meaningful, and suddenly she felt like she was going to cry. This was so similar to six years ago. Jareth could still see Dominic, and knew that the little boy was smiling. It was the perfect decision on his part, and the gasp behind him told him he�d killed to birds with one stone. He let go of Michelle�s wrist, and ended the kiss. She took a step back, too caught up in trying not to show her own tears to notice the scenery change back to that room, and so Jareth was along with the girl again. She was sniffing. He smirked, and walked to her, lifting her chin up with a single finger. �Chin up, my dear,� he said, �only an hour left and then you can go home.� He laughed in her face, �What a shame your little sister won�t be going with you.� Quaggy was a goblin. His appearance was somewhere in-between a frog and a dwarf, and his wrinkly skin was of a shade of green that would remind many of their Grandmother�s toilet. He waddled along on his webbed feet, which made a smacking noise on the stone floors of the castle where he worked, and tried his best to avoid trouble. This usually meant avoiding Jareth, or any place he might like to be, anyone he might have a problem with, or anyone he might like particularly. The problem with this was that he lived in the castle, where Jareth could appear at any moment. His way out of this problem was thinking that the castle was so huge, and he was so small, that if he kept himself on a small patch of floor at the edge of rooms, the probability of Jareth falling over him was so minuscule that in theory it should never happen. Of course, science�s theory�s of probability is completely the opposite. Quantum physics states that if something is possible, and can be imagined, somewhere in the great expanse of the universe it will happen. If it is undesirable, you just have to hope that it happens to some other random collection of particles. Obviously this will not work for everyone. Today, quantum theory decided to come into action for Quaggy. As he plodded around the dining hall laying down knives and forks, which was a strange new effort for the new residents of the castle. As he looked down to count how many knives were out, his eyes met those of the one man he had spent the majority of his life trying to avoid. His face was right in front of his. Shortly, however, he noticed that the face was the only similarity between the man in front of him and his dread Lord. Not many of the goblins had enough brain cells to remember Jaden, and those that did, also tended to have enough brain cells to forget him. Quaggy wouldn�t have known which of these categories he fitted into. The arrogant bastard grinned at him. Michelle considered her options. There weren�t many. Even if she could get her and Dominic back home, Jareth would simply come back to get them, maybe even leave her there, then she wouldn�t even have Dominic. She decided that the best thing she could do at the moment was to try not to anger Jareth, which was easier said than done. She would just be quiet, look after Dominic, and try not to do anything which might be interpreted as flirting. She wasn�t really sure what Jareth interpreted as flirting. She watched Dom play catch with some goblins. It was quite unsuccessful; the goblins had already tried to eat the ball three times. Well that was a comfort, Dominic would be bored in no time, and then Jareth would be at a complete loss. And every little annoyance she could create for Jareth made her a little happier, but it wasn�t exactly the big revenge she had planned for him. Quaggy waddled down the stone-floored corridor, his webbed feet making a quiet slapping noise of the floor. He was only vaguely aware of the dark shadowy figure following as he padded towards the room where the Prince and his mother were. As he arrived at the door, Jaden�s face again came into view. The man put his fingers to his lips and disappeared into the shadows, while Quaggy tidied himself up a bit for the new residents. His efforts, however, were for nothing, as his first greeting on opening the door was a ball in the face. Michelle and Dominic laughed, and the other goblins joined in after they new it was expected. �Dinner is served, your highness, madam.� He turned with his nose in the air, and Michelle took Dom�s hand and followed. The Dinning Hall was large, but looked very much the same as the rest of the castle, with stone walls and floors, except it had a large table in the middle set at three places, one at each end and one in the middle. Michelle and Dom looked at Quaggy. He shrugged and ambled out of the room. They stood waiting for quite a while but nothing seemed to happen. What seemed a long time later, Jareth strolled in, didn�t even look at them, and sat at the far end of the table. He poured himself a glass of red wine, and drank. Michelle stood for a while embarrassed, and then coughed in the politest way she could. �If you wait for me every time you want some food you wont eat very much.� Michelle frowned at him, and indicated to Dom to sit at the end of the table before sitting herself in the middle seat. The meal was a traditional roast with chicken and potatoes. Dom tucked in, but Michelle left the chicken. She didn�t want the attention telling Jareth she was a vegetarian would draw. Jareth didn�t seem to eat much at all. Once they had finished that, both Jareth and Michelle declined dessert, and simply sat and watched while Dominic tucked into a huge slice of chocolate cake. Every now and then, however, Michelle thought she felt Jareth�s gaze swivel to her. There was nothing she could do about it though, so she just kept looking at her son. When dinner was finished, and goblins had cleared away, Jareth had no idea what to do. His face was a picture of worry looking at Dominic, so Michelle smiled and said, �What would you like to do now, Dominic?� Jareth looked agitated, so Michelle smiled. Dominic puzzled over the question as if it had deep philosophical meaning. Eventually he asked Jareth: �Do you have a piano?� �No,� said Jareth slowly and carefully, in a voice that could split rocks. Dominic thought again. �What about any board games?� �No,� he said again. Dominic gave up trying to help, and put on his sulky face, sticking out his bottom lip as far as it would go. Jareth�s face was panic stricken. Michelle almost laughed out loud, but she hid it in a napkin she used to wipe her mouth. He glared at her; he had to think something up quickly. �Let�s go for another walk,� he said, and so, to no one�s real amusement, they wondered around the Kingdom for the second time that day, Jareth striding and the other two straggling behind, and shortly Jareth decided that it was acceptable to send the boy at least to bed. Michelle took this on herself without being asked. She chased the boy up the many stairs, into his room, got him changed, chased him to the bathroom, got him clean, chased him back to the bedroom, and into bed, where she tucked him in. �Good night,� said a voice behind her. She jumped at Jareth�s voice but didn�t give him the pleasure of seeing her turn around. �Good night,� she said herself, and kissed his forehead. �Daddy, will you read me a story?� Michelle�s mouth dropped, and she felt tears of betrayal in her eyes. �I�m sure his Majesty has much more important things to do,� she said icily. Dominic put on his sulky face again. �Oh, I wouldn�t be so sure,� said Jareth, sliding past Michelle. The boy�s face lit up. �But I haven�t got any books.� Return of the great sulk. ��But then again,� he added putting his hands behind his back, where Michelle saw a brightly coloured children�s book appear, �I wonder what this could be.� Jareth was surprisingly good at it, showing the boy the pictures, and even animating some of the characters. Michelle was thoroughly confused by this point, she didn�t know whether to trust Jareth on his own with her son or not. She decided to stay anyway, Dom would be asleep within seconds anyway. And he was, before Jareth got half way through, fast asleep, with a silly little grin on his face. Jareth kissed him on the forehead, as Michelle had done, and quietly left they left the room, Jareth shutting the door behind them. Michelle suddenly realised that the two of them were alone, and her whole body shivered. He stood in front of her for a minute, looking at her. It scared her when she couldn�t figure out what he was thinking. He lifted his hand, she tensed, he stroked her face, she bit her lip to steady her nerves. Then he lent forward, and kissed her on the forehead, like he had done with Dominic. �Good night, Michelle,� he said, and walked off. She stood still for half a second, then ran into her room as quickly as possible. She leant on the door and got her breath back. Eventually she walked forwards, ready to go to bed, but as she approached she stopped. The rose was beautiful; just lie something out of a romance. It was red and perfectly formed, without a thorn in site. Someone had laid it on her bed. She picked it up and smelled it instinctively. The perfume was wonderful. She wondered whom it was from. |