Those Cruel Eyes Edition 1

Chapter 4

Jareth was inside his throne room, lazily lounged across his throne, flicking his riding crop at goblins who came too near. The Goblin City had relaxed at their King's dramatic change in mood. Things had finally gone back to the way they were. No more goblins disappeared, and the castle was once again open to all. Jareth went back to his happy, singing self, playing mischievous pranks on the new guest at the castle: his aficionada, Isadora. All the goblins absolutely adored Isadora, and in return she was the kindest to the goblins than anyone, even Sarah, had been to the impish creatures. Jareth was right in the middle of humming a new song to himself when two small, elegant hands were placed over his eyes. He grinned.
"Hm, I wonder who this could be," Jareth said thoughtfully, making the goblins listening snicker happily.
"Paddle?" Jareth guessed.
A girlish giggle. "Nope,"
"Hoggle?"
"No!" another giggle.
Jareth froze, then with lightning speed he was standing and holding Isadora close to his chest, eyes still closed and her hands over them.
"Hmm..." he said, smelling her hair. "Is this... Isadora?"
She laughed and removed her hands from his eyes. "Yay! You win!"
The goblins all burst into laughter at the two's antics. Jareth rolled his eyes at what goblins find entertaining, picked up Isadora, and danced to his throne; Isadora on his lap and playing with his hair.
"What are you doing?" Jareth asked as he felt a strange tugging on his scalp.
"Braiding it," Isadora said, feigning indifference.
"Oh, no you don't." Jareth grinned, tugging his hair away from her fingers. She started to pull them away, but Jareth grabbed them both before she could. Isadora, thinking he was playing a trick on her, looked up at him, prepared to yank them away teasingly. The look in his eyes stopped her.
Jareth, the powerful goblin king, slid young and lithe Isadora off his lap and sat her on the royal throne as he got down on both knees as a sign of servitude; his hands still clasping hers. Isadora's breath hitched in her throat and tears beaded in the corners of her eyes in anticipation. All the goblins were silent, astounded and confused as to what was happening.
"Isadora," Jareth began, his voice as smooth as caramel, lovingly caressing her name, "I love you more than anything in the world. I not only owe you my sanity, but I owe you my life. I will take care of you, if you will honor me, love me, and in return I will serve you. Will you be my Queen?"
Isadora pulled her right hand away and put it over her mouth as tears streamed freely down her face. She was silent for a while, her eyes closed, and Jareth's smile faltered. Memories flashed behind his eyes.
"Do you really think I could ever love you?" Sarah sneered at him, her words echoing in his mind. Suddenly, it was Sarah he saw instead of Isadora, Sarah who removed her hand from her face and sneered at his attempts at finding love. Jareth closed his eyes for a moment to collect himself and banish the phantasm.
"Yes!" a shriek startled his eyes open. Isadora was grasping his hands with hers, tears still running down her face.
"Yes! Oh, yes, yes!" she launched herself into Jareth's arms. He laughed and they kissed, more passionately than ever before. When they finally broke apart, Jareth conjured a crystal and put it in her left hand. A blinding flash of light, and a lovely ring seemingly made out of pure diamond was intricately wrapped around her finger in a pattern of ivy leaves. In the center of the ring was a gold diamond, the exact shade of Isadora's eyes. Jareth took her hand, his eyes brimming with happiness, walked over to the grand window with the view of the repaired Goblin City and the Labyrinth surrounding it.
"Subjects!" Jareth called out, his voice magnified magically, "Meet your new Queen!"
The response was a sky-shaking roar of approval. With the Goblin City's approval, Jareth tightened his grip on Isadora's hand and lead her away from the window, out of the throne room, and into his private chambers, shutting the doors behind him.

Sarah was in the bathroom, applying mascara for her anniversary dinner. Robert was downstairs, grabbing their coats. Sarah leaned a bit closer to the mirror to fix a smudge under her eye. Out of nowhere, Hoggle 's face was in the mirror, emitting a small shriek from Sarah.
"Sarah!" Hoggle yelled, "Great news!" He bounced off the sink and slid to the ground. His grin was wide, his smile happier than ever. Sarah grinned and stooped down.
"What is it?"
"Jareth let me out of hiding! The greatest thing happened though! I was down at the bakery, getting more rock biscuits, when Jareth and Queen Isadora came out--"
"Wait, Queen?" Sarah started.
"Yeah, they got married six months ago. Anyways, they came out and told the city that we are going to have a baby prince soon! Jareth will finally have an heir!"
Sarah didn't speak.
"Sarah?" Hoggle asked cautiously, "You alright?"
"Yes," Sarah said, smiling at Hoggle. "That's great news!"
"Sarah!" came a call from downstairs.
"Oh, sorry, I have to go. See you later, okay Hoggle?" Sarah gave him one last smile and darted from the bathroom. Hoggle stayed where he was, looking at the door where Sarah left.
"Hm..." Hoggle muttered. He turned back to the mirror and disappeared.
Sarah rounded the corner in the hallway, hand over her mouth as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. She felt betrayed; her face paling as she recalled the soft look in Jareth's eyes before she made the biggest mistake of her life.
"Why did I say no?" she whispered, sinking down to the ground and burying her face in her arms as she sobbed her pain away. And this was where Robert found her, once more reduced to tears in front of a man she did not love; haunted by Jareth's eyes, his lips, his love. Gone.