Continuing Tales

One

A Labyrinth Story
by Corrie McDermott

Part 10 of 40

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One

"So what happened with Dartaynian? Anything interesting?" Lee asked, elbow propped on Sarah's bed.

"Just dinner." She shrugged. She pulled a few pins from her hair and her dark locks cascaded in curls down her back and shoulders.

"Yeah, and I'm going to believe that when you come home dressed like a tart." Lee rolled her eyes.

"A tart?" Sarah echoed.

"Look at you Sar, all dressed up, hair curled, frilly dress with a low neckline and your boobs practically falling out. Weirdness for the girl who wears nothing but jeans and t-shirts."

"Believe what you want, but nothing happened." Sarah glanced at herself in her vanity mirror. It was only a little cleavage. She wasn't falling out, was she?

"Nothing? Does he want to see you again, or have you already scared him away?"

Sarah spun to face her friend.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't very nice of me. I was only teasing."

"I didn't scare him away, for your information, he asked my permission to court me."

Lee tried to look excited, but inside she was a wreck. This didn't bode well for her plans. "Oooh, and what did you say?" Please have said no. Please have said no.

"I guess I said ok. We'll be courting as friends." Sarah disappeared behind the large wooden changing wall.

Damn.this puts a damper on things. "So what does that mean exactly?"

A few moments later, Sarah stepped from behind the changing wall, dress over her arm and dressed in her pajamas. "I don't know exactly. He wants to spend time with me."

"And you agreed to this? You who never goes anywhere or does anything, but stick your nose in a book?" Sarah smiled. "I'm surprised, Sar." Lee told her.

"I guess I just couldn't say no. Although I don't really remember saying yes either. Dart's a little pushy, but his manners more than make up for it. He is the complete opposite of Jareth."

"Have you.um, seen Jareth lately? I think he's been in hiding or something."

Sarah put the dress in her closet. " Well he came out of it tonight. I saw him in the hallway before I entered my room."

"..And?"

"And we had heated words and parted. What else is new?"

"I think you are a little harsh with him, Sarah. Give the guy a break, eh?" Getting Sarah and Jareth together would be harder than she thought.

"Me a little harsh on him? Please! After what he did to me? I'll be as harsh as I want with him."

"What did he do to you that was so horrible?"

"He took my baby brother and he forced me to go through his Labyrinth to get Toby back."

"So? That's not so bad. Weren't you the one to wish him away?"

Sarah glanced to the side, her voice softer in tone. "Yeah."

"So Jareth just did what you wanted. That's real bad isn't it?" Lee honestly did not get Sarah sometimes. She didn't know the whole story between Sarah and Jareth but she had heard bits and pieces. From what she understood, Jareth had done everything Sarah wanted and apparently it still wasn't enough.

"That's not the point!" Sarah was clearly flustered and Lee sighed. "Look, just because you have a crush on him, doesn't mean that I have to like him, ok? He's a manipulative bastard who nearly turned my baby brother into a goblin. Don't trust him, don't turn your back on him and if you can try and help it, don't like him."

Lee rose from the bed. 'Yeah, sure. Whatever." She yawned. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Sarah frowned. "You aren't going to stay over tonight? You've slept in my room almost every night since we got here."

"I'm tired and my own bed is looking mighty good right now. I'll see you in the morning."

Sarah watched her go. "Yeah, sure." She plopped down on her bed. Just thinking about Jareth made her blood boil. Pulling the covers over herself she fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

Lee yawned and stretched as she entered the hallway. Sarah was still sleeping, and by the looks of things when she had checked in on her friend, Sarah had had a restless night. Her sheets and blankets were scattered and thrown everywhere. She decided to let Sarah sleep.

"Ah, Lee, is Sarah awake?"

Lee stopped mid step in the hallway and turned to face Dartaynian. She nearly groaned when she saw him. He was all dressed up in fancy clothes and he held a bouquet of flowers in his hand. What a lame ass dork this guy was. "She's sleeping."

"Perhaps you would allow me to accompany you to breakfast?"

Lee shrugged, looking very uninterested. "Sure." She ignored his offered arm and started the way on her own.

The walk to the dining room was fairly quiet. Dart, being the gentleman he feigned to be, pulled out a chair for Lee and pushed it in once she had sat down.

"I have a dilemma that perhaps you could help me with." Dart told her after seating himself. Two of Jareth's goblins entered the room with trays of fruits and biscuits and juices. One was set down in front of Lee and another was set down in front of Dart. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"I won't eat food prepared by goblins. Take it away." He told the goblin and the creature took the tray away.

"So what is your big dilemma?" Lee asked. She had yet to look at him especially after the way that he had treated the Goblin. Her opinion of the guy was plummeting by the second. She stared disappointedly at her tray. She was in the mood for bacon this morning. Maybe she should not have told Jareth that she wasn't fond of pork. She loved bacon.

"Sarah is a little shy and does not approve of talking about herself or her life in the mortal world."

"And you expect me to blab her life story to you? Fat chance." She crunched on a piece of fruit.

"I do not expect you to yield a lot of information to me, just some." He told her bluntly.

Lee tapped her lips. "Hmm, let's see. Sarah is a very simple person. She's quiet, shy and she loves to stick her nose in books. She doesn't date very often because she thinks men can be pigs. She has never had sex so she has zero experience. She doesn't like to party. She doesn't like to dress up. She lived at home with her mom and dad until recently. And I really don't think that she is your type." She smiled innocently. "I think that just about covers things."

Dart grinned at her. "And what do you think my type is, Lady Lee?" He tried to hide his glee at learning that the mortal girl was untouched. He always enjoyed taking them for the first time.

"Someone outgoing, someone who likes to party and have a good time. Someone not bound to books and fantasy, but to fun, excitement."

"Ah, like yourself? Are you suggesting that I should court you and not Sarah?"

Lee wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Hell, no. I would never date you."

Dart raised a brow. "And what is wrong with me?"

Before Lee had a chance to respond, Sarah entered the room. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and she was rubbing at her eyes.

"My dear." Dart was out of his seat in a moment. He reached for Sarah's hand and placed a gentle kiss on her skin. "Good morning." Lee rolled her eyes as Dart pulled out a chair for Sarah.

"Thank you, Dart." Sarah smiled sweetly.

"My dear, I was thinking of something wonderful that I would so much like to share with you."

Sarah smiled. "What is it?"

"I have heard that you enjoy reading. Would you like to browse my library?"

Cough."Horrible pick-up line" cough.

Dart glanced curiously at Lee and Sarah glared at her.

"Ooh, had something nasty in my throat." Lee smiled innocently. She coughed again for good measure.

"As I was saying, would you like to browse through my library? I have books that are thousands of years old in hundreds of different languages. Every subject imaginable."

Sarah's eyes lit up and Dart smiled sweetly. "I would love to take a look."

Lee drummed her finger loudly on the table. Sarah wanted to hit her for being so rude.

" Splendid! Should we leave now?" Dart suggested.

"But I haven't eaten breakfast."

"You can eat at my castle. You could have, what was it that you called it? A buffet breakfast?" Sarah nodded with a smile.

Lee slumped in her chair. She could go for a buffet breakfast right now.

"Well, then it's settled. Breakfast out on the balconies overlooking the falls and then a tour of my library." Dart offered Sarah his arm.

"Let me go change first."

Dart smiled and seconds later Sarah was dressed in an elegant and very form fitting dress.

"Dart!"

"You look stunning." He told her. He again offered her arm, which she took this time. He then glanced at Lee. "Good day, milady." He and Sarah disappeared from the dining room in a flurry of glitter.

Lee groaned. "Me and my big mouth! I wanted to try and deter him from going out with Sarah and I gave him a reason to wisk her away! Way to go Lee." She sighed and got up from the table, leaving her breakfast tray almost untouched. As she left the dining room she was unaware of the figure with wild golden hair, that had watched the entire scene unfold from the shadows in the kitchen doorway.

* * *

It was after dinner when Sarah returned to Jareth's castle and she found Lee and Hoggle out in one of the sitting rooms in the hallway.

'Hoggle!" Sarah cried out. "I haven't seen much of you lately." She moved toward the dwarf and he made no attempt to greet her. She frowned.

"You ain't called us."

"I've been busy."

"You shouldn't get involved with 'im. He's only going to hurt ye." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Who?"

"Darytaynian. Worse than the Goblin King, he is." Hoggle told her. Lee sat back in her chair, looking rather smug.

Sarah put her hands on her hips. "I happen to like Dart. He is polite and kind and considerate and that's more than the Goblin King will ever be."

"He's charmin ya. Just like he does all of 'em."

"Lee has been feeding stories to you to try to make me change my mind about Dart. She's making allies."

"And why would I do that?" Lee shot back at her.

"Because you're jealous. I've got someone wonderful, who also happens to be attractive and you can't stand it. And I've decided to stay longer then my 3 weeks." Lee's jaw dropped. "Dart told me that time passes differently here. 3 weeks back home is a month and a half here. I'd like to stay and spend even more time with him."

Lee jumped up. "I don't believe this."

'That doesn't mean that you have to stay. I'm sure if you pour on the charm with Jareth, that he will send you home early. Or maybe finding your way into his bed might send you home faster."

Lee shook her head, ignoring the blow. "No, I don't mean about going home. I just can't believe that you're willing to spend so much time with some guy that you don't even know!"

'You do it all the time, so why should it be any different for me?"

"Sarah, you know the kind of lifestyle I lead and where it has gotten me. Wasn't it you just less then a week ago who reminded me how my actions almost got me raped? If you want my honest opinion, I don't trust Dart. He seems shady to me. I don't want to see you hurt."

"I don't want your honest opinion and I don't want your concern either. I can take care of myself. I'm very happy spending time with Dart."

"And what about your friends?" Lee glanced down at Hoggle who was staring angrily at Sarah. "They thought that they would get to spend some time with you. They haven't seen you in 8 years, Sarah. You finally show up and after seeing them twice you take off with some creep."

"Dart is not a creep!"

"He's worse 'en a creep." Hoggle spat.

"Hoggle, I can't believe that you are taking Lee's side on this. Do you know Dart personally?" Sarah demanded, hands on her hips.

Hoggle shook his head "No, but I know the stories about 'im quite well."

"Stories. You know stories, Hoggle. You don't know the truth about him."

"And neither do you!" Lee cried out. "You've hung out with him, what? A total of 3 or 4 times? You don't know anything about the guy!"

"And that is why I am spending time with him. I want to get to know him. He treats me with respect. He accepts me for who I am. He doesn't care about the fact that I like to bury my face into a good book. Unlike you, who reminds me and other people all the time how silly what I do is! I'm sick of getting stepped on. I'm sick of people preaching to me how I should live my life! If you have a problem with me spending time with Dart, deal with it or go home!" Sarah spun on her heel and entered her room, slamming the door shut.

Lee grunted. "Pfft, that went well."

"She's mad that we is tryin to persuade her to do other 'en what she wants to do. Once she sets 'er mind to somethin', it's damn near impossible to change it. She ain't changed much at all." He grinned as memories of her stubborn determination from the past entered his mind.. "She'll find out the truth about 'im eventually."

"And what if she finds out too late? What then, Hoggle?" Lee didn't give him a chance to reply. She stomped off into her own room and slammed the door shut.

Hoggle sighed and, after a short while, turned to walk slowly down the hallway. He stopped and cowered in a corner as a shadow stepped into the light. The Goblin King glared down at him and Hoggle pressed himself into the wall.

"Hogwart." He greeted coldly.

"Yer majesty.."

The Goblin King stepped past him and continued on his way down the hallway. No doubt he was headed to his throne room to kick some goblins around. Hoggle moved away from the wall and watched him go. The dwarf had a feeling that the King's appearance just after the ladies' argument was not a coincidence.

One

A Labyrinth Story
by Corrie McDermott

Part 10 of 40

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