| �You�re late again, Goblin!� �Sorry, Sir.� �Well?� �Well, I had to clean the toilet, and I couldn�t�� �I don�t care. What has happened at the castle since Michelle ran away?� �Er�� said Quaggy. He never knew what Jaden wanted to hear, he just thought that taking the chance of possibly not dying horribly was a better option that the definite horrible death of not meeting Jaden would prove. �What has the atmosphere between them been like?� �Sir?� �The atmosphere, Goblin, the feeling between them.� �Er, they�ve been avoiding each other sir.� �Right.� Jaden paused a moment. �That�s going to make the other girl more important. Why did she have to run? It could have been so easy.� �What, sir?� �Well, maybe my dear brother will be nicer to her now Lucretia pointed out the error of his ways.� �Sir?� �Don�t bother trying to understand, goblin, you never will.� Quaggy shrugged. �Can I go back now sir?� he said. �Have you anything else you can tell me?� �Er, they went to buy books.� �Today?� �Yes sir.� �I�m sure Lucretia knows what she�s doing, she�s not going to risk meeting them there. Anything else?� �I don�t know sir.� �And how�s the boy?� Quaggy couldn�t see Jaden�s face as he asked this question, or while he replied. �He�s er� ok?� Lucretia returned to her cottage and removed her hat and gloves. Her clothes were quite old fashioned, but pristine and perfectly cut. Her skirt was long but didn�t touch the ground, and she walked with such elegance and grace, it never got dirty or caught on anything, it just flowed. She quietly put the kettle on, and sat back on a large armchair waiting for it to whistle, and looked at her new books. She picked up Wuthering Heights and started reading the first page. She then got bored waiting for Heathcliff to turn up so she jumped forwards a few pages. Then she got bored of the silly children running around, and skipped on a few more. Cathy had finally married Edgar, silly woman, and now Heathcliff had returned from wherever it was he went. �Good sales person is she?� asked Jaden. �You said you didn�t want her husband involved, and I didn�t want to make him suspicious so I bought some books,� she replied calmly. �Read Jane Eyre, the beginning of women�s independence. Think how boring your life would be if we all stayed home obeying our husbands. She married stupidly as well.� Jaden smiled and stood behind the armchair, from where he started kissing her neck softly. Lucretia stopped reading and looked up. �If you bite me, I will instantly change into something disgusting, slimy and above all poisonous.� Jaden laughed out loud �Lucretia!� he exclaimed quite falsely, �I could never do anything against your will.� �Apart from sleep with innumerable human girls,� she said bluntly. �Are we jealous, my precious?� he smirked, �I never thought you cared.� Lucretia smiled. �Why would I be jealous?� she said, �you think you�re my only lover?� Jaden�s smirk faded slightly. He stood upright and looked down at her angrily. �Well, what happened at the bookshop?� he said. �Don�t you want to play anymore?� she jeered. �No, what happened?� Lucretia grinned at her small victory, and paused briefly for maximum annoyance. �Not much,� she said. �Lucretia!!� �Jaden,� she said soothingly, �do you think I would be so thoughtless?� Jaden sat on another chair in a sulk. �She�s going to try to see her tomorrow. They�ll catch up on gossip and talk about life. They�ll talk about Jareth, and Pascal will defend him. The other girl will then see everything differently.� �Wonderful,� said Jaden. He stood up, walked to Lucretia and kissed her gently on the cheek. �How can I thank you?� he said, teasingly. �Dominic?� Michelle whispered gently. �Dom,� a bit louder. �Dominic,� she called. The boy lay tensely still, his lips glued together, but only just managing not to smile. His eyes were tight shut. �Dominic, I have a very cold, wet flannel here, and if your asleep you wont notice if I put it down your back.� One eye opened, just in case she wasn�t bluffing. She was, but she caught him. �Got ya!� she said. �Come on, it�s time to get up.� He removed the covers, and got up slowly, over dramatising his tiredness, yawning loudly with large expressions. Michelle laughed at him. �Come on, get washed and dressed.� It took ages, but she got him washed and dressed eventually, and then got him down to breakfast without him getting dirty. She sat him at the table and poured him some orange juice, and got him some cereal. �Don�t spill any!� she said, before settling herself down to get her own. She had started eating when Jareth stormed in. She didn�t look at him at first, and thought �what now?� and decided to ignore him. She smiled at Dominic who was looking at her questioningly, and indicated him to carry on with breakfast. �He�s still here, Michelle!� She stopped eating. �What?� she said. �Jaden! He�s up to something.� Dominic had stopped eating too, and was watching them. �Why?� she said, glancing nervously at Dominic. �I mean, why do you think he�s here?� �I can tell whether my brother is in my Kingdom.� Michelle thought for a while. She looked at Dominic, who sat innocently holding up his spoon. �Have you finished?� she asked. He nodded. �Well, go play catch with the goblins, I�ll be there soon. He nodded, and ran off, and Michelle watched and waited until she thought he was out of earshot. �You couldn�t tell before!� she said. �I wasn�t looking for him then,� he replied, looking deep into her eyes. She looked away and pretended to carry on with her dinner. �What do you think he wants?� she asked, as innocently as she could. �To hurt me in anyway he can. You and Dom are just easy ways to do that.� �Well if you�d let us be in the first place you wouldn�t have this problem,� she said it angrily because she was scared of what both of them could do. �On the contrary, you are much safer here with me, than on your own somewhere.� Michelle wanted to argue but couldn�t be bothered. She waited for him to say something, but he didn�t. He just sat there looking at her. �What do you want me to do about it?� she said after a while. �Tell me where he is.� �I don�t know!� Jareth scowled at her. �You said you were with him, you must have found him somehow.� �No, he found us. I just ran into him. I didn�t know he was there.� �So how did he know you�d be there?� �I don�t know!� They stared each other out briefly, but were interrupted as Dominic bounced back into the room. �Mummy, Mummy,� he babbled. �The lady from the bookshop is outside.� Michelle smiled. �Well, then lead the way Sir Dominic.� �Wait!� Michelle turned back to Jareth her eyes angry. �What?� Jareth took her hand and pulled her a little away from Dominic and almost whispered �She could be helping Jaden.� �I don�t believe you even suggested that!� Michelle exclaimed loudly. �She is one of my oldest friends!� She took Dominic�s hand. �Come on,� she said, and walked out on him. |