Chapter 6

"Pardon me, Your Highness," Jareth said icily, his words clipped as he held his temper in check with obvious effort. He held the crystal in one hand and took hold of Edana’s wrist in the other, smoothly pulling her out of the throne. "But I believe this seat is reserved."

For some reason, he really seemed to tower over her tonight, and Edana could almost feel the anger radiating from him, it was so intense. Her wrist was still painfully enclosed in his grasp, but she didn’t even attempt to break free, knowing it would make the situation even worse. He took a step towards her, and as much as she tried not to she took an involuntary step back. Three steps later, he had her pinned against the cold stone wall. She swallowed hard and looked up at him, trying to keep a defiant appearance, but flinched away from his gaze.

"What exactly did you think you were doing?" he inquired.

"I… well… no one was here," she said lamely, finding her voice.

"The fact that no one was here does not make the behavior any more acceptable," he admonished her sharply. "You will not ever do this again," he ordered, his voice conveying unspoken threats that Edana had no desire to find out more about. "Is that understood?" He lifted her chin with one finger so that she had no choice but to look at him.

"Yes sir – ah… Your Majesty," she finally managed to say, her voice strained and shaking.

Jareth had felt her trembling steadily worsen from the time he first touched her until now, when she spoke. He regretted his harshness, then just as quickly was angry with himself for getting wimpy and lenient in his old age. And then an aspect of the situation which he had previously overlooked occurred to him. He gave Edana a quizzical glance, then looked at the glass orb still in his hand and released her wrist. "Don’t go anywhere," he muttered. He sat down in the throne, squinting back and forth between the very frightened young woman and the globe in his hand several times.

Edana contemplated his sudden mood swing with interest. She could understand his anger at what she had done, but was confused now. Was he plotting an appropriate punishment for her? What was going on? She then became distracted by watching him watching her. He was wearing soft black pants, of what fabric she could not tell. They were loose, compared to the tights he normally appeared in. He had bare feet. He also was wearing a black silk shirt that he had been in too great of a hurry to bother buttoning. Despite her anger with him at the moment for treating her so roughly, she was certainly appreciating the way he looked right now in the moonlight. Suddenly he spoke.

"Come sit down," he said, obviously still deep in thought by the absent quality in his voice. All traces of his former fury were gone, however.

"You said not to go anywhere," Edana objected belligerently. Now that he was no longer towering over her, she was much less intimidated by his presence.

"Sit down!" he ordered, eyes flashing.

Edana put he hands on her hips and sauntered slowly to the velvet cushioned chair. She had no idea how sensual an effect this made.

Jareth noticed, and was all the more amused because he knew she would not have done it if she had thought he would appreciate the result. Once she had seated herself, trying in vain to prevent the short skirt of the camisole from getting any shorter, he began to absently pass the crystal from one hand to another. "You contacted Sarah," he stated, breaking the odd silence. At Edana’s nod, he sighed. "How? Tell me what happened."

Edana raised both eyebrows. This she was not expecting. "I came in here because I couldn’t sleep, and I saw the crystal and picked it up. I thought I should let Sarah know that I’m all right. Then I remembered how you had used the crystal to see her before. So I did."

Jareth closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the throne. "But what did you do?" he asked in exasperation.

"I don’t think I did anything, really. I just thought about it. I’m sorry if I broke it." Jareth seemed not to hear. He looked greatly troubled. Of course, Edana found this look upon his elegant features extremely attractive, but she was finding that to be the case regardless. It must have been a full five minutes before he spoke again. "Don’t worry about it," he said, still pensive. "Get some sleep."

"I’m still not –" Edana began, then yawned as he distractedly waved the fingers of one hand in her direction. "Thanks, Jareth," she said through another yawn as she left the room.

What does this mean? He asked himself. Perhaps she will prove to be an even greater asset than I thought. But how much damage to his plan she had done by talking to Sarah remained to be seen.

* * * * * * *

Why were you so worried last night when I used the crystal?" Edana asked as soon as she saw Jareth the next morning.

He gave her a frustrated look. "Don’t worry about it. I was just tired," he said tightly.

No matter how much she bothered him for the next few days, he would say no more about it, though he did start to get extremely intolerant of the nuisance she was making of herself. "Ask me again," he said warningly, "and I will have you put into the dungeon until you can figure it out for yourself." Edana had no doubt that he would carry out the threat. She retreated to one of the hallways she had not yet explored. (Actually, she had seen it on the tour Jareth had given her about a week earlier, but she didn’t remember it on account of being terribly drunk at the time.) She followed a twisting staircase up for two floors, then emerged in a large room at the top of one of the turrets. There was a piano under the window, and a number of other music-related items.

Edana was elated, to say the least. She had not been able to play since she had moved into Sarah’s house. She sat down and dusted off the keys, then pressed a few notes. The sound was closer to a harpsichord than a piano, making her all the happier. She had always wanted a harpsichord. She began to play anything that she remembered, slowly at first, then with fewer mistakes and greater proficiency.

Jareth heard the sound from another wing of the castle and, curious, followed it to its source. It had been many years since he had heard any music but his own in the great stone halls. Of course, travelling minstrels or other visitors had passed through from time to time, but they usually stayed no longer than a week and were always followed by a long stretch of time before another one came along. He leaned in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, and listened contentedly.

Edana could feel the Goblin King's stare, but only absently, and for some reason she was able to ignore being watched for the first time in her life. She moved smoothly from one piece to another, samples of every type of music that she had learned long ago. In truth, she was only partly conscious by this time, a huge part of her soul and mind so attached to the music that they felt disconnected from her body.

To say that Jareth was impressed would be a grave understatement. He was not accustomed to seeing a lovely young woman playing an ancient instrument with such passion. Perhaps that was why he liked watching Edana so much. Her entire being was thrown into playing. Her eyes were closed and she moved with the flow of the music, as though it had possessed her. Bluntly put, it was incredibly seductive. Jareth was more than a little disturbed that he seemed to be connecting sensuality with everything that Edana did. He wasn’t supposed to fall for her, she was supposed to help him get the woman he really wanted. He left, brooding, and not wanting to disturb her.

* * * * * * *

"I can have the piano brought to a more convenient room, if you like," Jareth offered at dinner. "Your playing is… spectacular. I have rarely heard anything more enjoyable." He felt somewhat uncomfortable dispelling compliments, but made an exception since it was so well deserved and, he was sure, would encourage her trust of him.

"Oh, it really wasn’t –" she paused, remembering what he had told her about compliments. "My thanks, though I’m sure that if I practiced my playing would be far better. I like that room, though. I don’t mind going so far to get to it. It lends atmosphere."

After that, though completely unconnected, the conversation was mostly small talk intermixed with long silences. Jareth seemed not to be paying attention to anything. He wore a distant expression and did not offer his usual thought-provoking, or at least teasing, conversation during the remainder of dinner. He was startled when Edana spoke, both because of her abruptness and subject matter.

"You’re still in love with her, aren’t you?"

"What makes you ask?"

"I want to know why you’re letting me stay here. It certainly doesn’t benefit you, and I fail to believe that it’s because you’ve suffered a sudden bout of extreme munificence."

"I don’t mind your staying here," Jareth said slowly after a considerable pause. He had not thought she would be so perceptive, though he was more surprised that he liked her better for it. "I have not yet had a chance to discuss things with Sarah, but don’t rule out the possibility that I might… ask you to stay." He thought he was being rather diplomatic, only to find that he once again underestimated her intuitive capacity.

It took only a few seconds for Edana to discern his true intentions. Her temper blazed, and for once she made no effort to curb it. "You arrogant bastard," she hissed, pushing her chair back from the table forcefully and standing up. "What was your plan, to use me as bait to get your precious Sarah to come here and offer herself in exchange for me?" Jareth said nothing, just stared impassively back at her during the tirade. It made her even angrier. She leaned across the table towards him. "So you’ll settle for me if you can’t get Sarah? Don’t bet on it. I'm through with being the second best because Sarah’s perfect, and I will never be anyone's consolation prize. Either I’m acceptable for who I am or I’m not, but I’ll tell you something. I wouldn’t stay here at your request even if it meant no other man in the world would ever want me!" She stalked out of the room in a whirl of flame red hair and deep green dress, the embodiment of passion in its purest form.

Never had Jareth seen such a magnificent display of fury, except of course a few times from himself. He was enthralled by this strange woman at the same time that he had to resist the urge to strangle her, at the moment over how she had spoken to him. She really had no respect for royalty – for authority in general. Yet, despite this, he was impressed by it – stimulated in any number of ways. The fact remained that she would have to be punished, if only to enforce to her where she stood and what he simply could not allow her to get away with. So far he had put it off, but now he saw that it was necessary. As for her parting shot, he reasoned, she could not have meant it. Though she would not admit to it, her distress at not having romance in her life was her most obvious quality, for all she tried to hide it. No, soon she would return and apologize reasonably, fearful of what he would do in response to her indiscretion. So he waited, his ire growing as she still failed to return.