Disclaimers: Just remember the initials JH. If you're a David Bowie fan then you know where the chapter title comes from. "Strangers When we meet" belongs to the ever talented DB who gave life to our favorite Goblin King.
Steely resolve is falling from me...
Sarah stood trembling in the dimly lit barn. Her mind was reeling with what had just happened. Jareth, The Goblin King and ruler of the Labyrinth and the Underground had kissed her. She sat on a stool and ran her hands through her dark hair. Anger suddenly engulfed her. "Bastard!" She stood and began to pace the cobble stone isle. "Who does he think he is? I want nothing from him but to go home!! And he expects me to like him?" * He's arrogant, selfish, conceited, dangerous, tall, handsome. * She shook her head, angry with herself for allowing the last two words to enter her mind.
"I will never love him and I am NOT attracted to him." She said to comfort herself. She gathered the tray of half eaten food and moved to each lantern, blowing out the flames. She left one lantern for herself to find her way back to the castle.
Metta met her at the doorway back into the castle. "Lady Sarah, I had grown worried when you did not return."
"I'm sorry Metta. How about that bath?" She had not ridden a horse in nearly 2 years and on her walk back to the castle her muscles had reminded her of that fact. She wanted nothing more then to sit and soak in her tub.
Metta accompanied her to her room. The young elf filled the tub and prepared Sarah's night clothes before leaving.
Sarah forced herself to forget about Jareth as she soaked, but his kiss was imprinted in her mind and her lips still tingled. She had been kissed by men before, why was this kiss any different? "Maybe because he's the Goblin King and no matter how hard I try to deter myself from noticing, he's still drop dead gorgeous." She sank deep into the hot, bubbly water feeling a sense of defeat.
"So he's handsome, so what. That doesn't change the fact that he's still an arrogant son of a bitch. If I keep reminding myself of that, there won't be a problem." This satisfied her, for now. She realized that she wasn't an immature 15 year old child anymore who had foolishly wished her baby brother away. She was a 25 year old woman now, she could handle the situation she was in. She was an adult after all. And being an adult she noticed things she would not have noticed as a child. Like how handsome a certain Goblin King looked in form fitting pants. She quickly banished the thought from her mind. She had evaded other handsome men before. She was still single after all. She sighed. Jareth wasn't just some other handsome guy she knew from work or school. Things had just become a whole lot more complicated for her.
She soaked a short while longer before getting out, drying herself and dressing in her nightgown. She collapsed onto her bed and pulled the blankets around her. Her body was exhausted from riding Velvet all day and her mind was exhausted from trying to repress images and thoughts of an insolent Goblin King. She forced her thoughts to Jareth's gift to her. Soon sleep claimed her and the only thing that filled her thoughts was riding a beautiful Arabian mare across endless green fields.
True to her word she began to take complete care of Velvet. If she didn't love horses so much she would not have accepted such a gift from the Goblin King, just to rebel against him. But her love for horses won. She kept herself very busy at the barn. She skipped breakfast, often lunch too. She would help Riley with the other horses and spend hours fussing over Velvet. She braided flowers into her long black mane and brushed her coat until it shone like bronze. She polished the saddle and bridle that belonged to the mare and now her so that it was spotless. She took very long rides out over the countryside. She realized she did all this to stay away from the castle and the Goblin King. She was still having an emotional battle on the inside. He mind told her to stay away from him, he was an arrogant, King who knew nothing of love or compassion. He only knew pain, suffering and cruelty. Another part of her wondered what it would be like to be in his arms, to try to dissolve the mask he flaunted, feigning dominance, to see him laugh a genuine laugh, to let him love her like he claimed to.
He did not attend dinner every night and Sarah became accustomed to eating alone in her own room when she came back from the stables. As time passed and she saw no sign of him, she started remaining in the castle a little more each day, hoping to catch a glance of him. He was no where to be found. To her astonishment, she realized that she missed him. Everyday that passed that she didn't see him, felt incomplete. She longed to see that wild blond hair and smug stance, those mismatched eyes, his weird choice of clothing that she had begun to grow fond of. Jareth just wouldn't be Jareth if he didn't wear the clothes he did.
He never came by the stables to see how she was enjoying the gift he had given her. At first she thought he might join her for a ride, but soon those thoughts vanished. He had meant what he said about getting her out of the way or maybe he was actually busy running his Kingdom. Still, he didn't appear for dinner, never asked her to dine with him. She even got back from the stables early a few times to bath and prepare for a dinner with him but no invitation ever came and when she arrived at the dinning hall at 7 it was deserted.
She longed to see him, even just to know that he was there, alive and present. She didn't know what she would say to him if she saw him. She just wanted to see him...