The Heart of the Labyrinth Part 2

Chapter 4     The Wedding Song

            The following month was both the fastest and slowest month for the two. Each day seemed to drag by, but at the same time, as the end of the month neared Juliet wondered where all the time had gone. Nothing got the nerves going as the realization that even after working the fingers to the bone cleaning, there was still an endless list of things to be done in a ridiculously sort amount of time, for a very long list of important people.
            During their busy time together, the King and maid found some time to talk casually with one another, over their meals or in the evenings. With no one else around, both appeared to loosen up more than usual. Even after Calden’s sudden appearance, Jareth soon calmed down, in fact, Juliet had a growing suspicion that the Prince’s offer was what initially compelled him to speak so freely.
            To her, his sudden friendship, if it could really be called that, was a breath of much needed fresh air. She knew he was likely to revert back to his usual self at a flip of the switch, but for as long as she could stay in good graces and at least pretend that it was all real, she would.
            One evening, the week of the party, the two were sitting in front of a warm fire comparing two kinds of fabric for place settings. They had had a nice meal of corn beef, cabbage and cooked carrots. Now they each had a cup of hot tea to sip while they made some final decisions on decorations. Some things would have to wait for the morning to see how they looked in daylight but there was a good many things that could be chosen that night.
            All around the small, compared to the average rooms in the palace which were massive, room were rolls of fabric draped over arm chairs, half a dozen different centerpieces lay on the oak table to their left, and a variant of color splotches lay on the tapestry like rug they sat on. Everywhere one would look; it was a chaotic mess of multiple themes that not all went cohesively together.
            In a pause in their discussion on color schemes for individual tables with their assigned seating, Jareth suddenly stared evenly at her and asked.
            “Do you still intend on going with that charmer of a half-brother of mine?” Still staring at the napkins, Juliet replied slowly.
            “I gave him my word, so yes, I do.” As per usual when his brother was brought up, Jareth’s attitude shifted. He tried to make his inquiry appear more nonchalant by casually looking over font styles for name cards when he began to say.
            “Honestly I don’t understand why you would even want to go with-” Here she cut him off in midsentence.
            “You’re doing it again.”
            “Doing what?” demanded he. Looking up at him she spoke with a slight pull of her mouth upward on the sides.
            “Harping on about your brother.” He opened his mouth as if to say something but opted to close it and only give her an exasperated look of doubt. “And if we’re going to be discussing things we don’t understand,” she continued. “What I don’t get is if he makes you so angry, why do you always talk about him?”
            “It’s because he makes me so angry I always speak about him.” His defense was not surprising.
            “All that does is give him a rent free place here.” When she said ‘here’ she tapped him on the forehead, giving him a slight amused smile before going back to her work.
            “Maybe if I warn you enough about him you won’t concede to his escorting you.” She made sure when she replied that she kept her voice as even as possible, knowing that the times she did stay calm, without shouting or using any emotion that it annoyed the Goblin King, but eventually made him calm as well. This was difficult for her at times, but it was worth it. Most of the time.
            “If my going with him discomforts you so much then tell me I’m not allowed to go with him and I won’t. I will oversee the other servants as originally planned.” It worked. Her plan worked. He just stared at her in silence for a moment. A look of confusion dominated every other emotion on his face. Then he asked in a quieter voice.
            “You would do that? Why?” She gave him a smile as she looked up at him, saying.
            “I trust you.” Again, there was silence and again she added on with a grin. “Though I can’t believe you would even consider this hideous napkin. Honestly, it is the ugliest thing I’ve seen and it goes with nothing.” Both laughed and looked at the fabric square she was holding. It was the most revolting combination of peach, lime green and beige they had ever seen.
            “I didn’t choose that. That is my father’s pick. He wrote quite a long letter about how perfectly charming it would look with any of these set ups that he sent us. He also added that he would leave it up to me to decide in the end what the correct choices are, but he highly recommended this one.” All the blood in the handmaid’s face drained.
            “He chose this?” Jareth gave her an amused nod, which sent her to gales of laughing again. “No wonder he asked you to do this.” Falling back and gripping her side from laughing so hard, Juliet relaxed, enjoying the moment. She turned her head to look at him; she couldn’t remember ever seeing him truly laugh before. Of course he laughed with the goblins back at the castle, but it was mostly to make whatever joke or quip sound funnier than it really was; but now, now he was laughing because he was happy.
            Jareth caught her stare and stopped laughing to inquire.
            “What is it?” Embarrassed by being caught, the teenager looked away, trying to hide the flush in her cheeks.
            “Nothing,” Was her response when she sat up, immediately fumbling over a few things in front of herself.
            “No, that was something. What is it?” A tightness clenched within her stomach. After lasting as long as she could not looking at him, and knowing he wouldn’t let the silence last much longer, Juliet took in a slow breath to buy her a few more seconds to think of what to say.
            “I was… just thinking that… if we’re going to have a ball you cannot do that gosh awful 80’s hair the goblins told me about with Sarah. My goodness!”
            “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That was some fabulous hair.” Letting out a mocking ‘ha’ she gaped at him, grinning.
            “Let me guess, that was an attempt to set a fashion trend that ultimately crashed and burned, then fell off a cliff into a lake of molten lava.” He cocked his head to the side, defending.
            “It did not, it was quite the rage.”
            “For who? The drag queens of America?” By now they sat practically nose to nose, both with challenging smirks on their faces. Whenever Juliet talked to Jareth, he always made her feel bold; this got her into trouble at times, but also helped her gain favor with the ever moody king.
            “You’re trying to insult me.”
            “Insult you? Never” Jareth continued grinning as she sarcastically said this.
            “Insulting inclines the other person is embarrassed about whatever it is deep down and I’m not embarrassed about it.” With her head tilted to one side she probed.
            “What are you embarrassed about?”  Away from her he looked, then back, saying.
            “I’ll tell you what, I bet you can’t guess or make me embarrassed in five questions.” A wide Cheshire cat like smile spread across her face. Mischief ran through her, pushing her to ask.
            “Very well. Is the reason you dislike Calden because he stole your woman?” Half smiling Jareth replied.
            “No.”
            “Alrighty. So you dislike him only because he’s the crowned prince of all the Underground?”
            “No again. Are all these questions going to be about my half-brother?” Ignoring his question she persisted.
            “Is it because your father remarried?”
            “No, is isn’t that.” His replies came quicker now, more on edge.
            “How many times has your father actually seen you?”
            “Including last month, eight.” It froze her where she sat staring blankly at him. ‘Only eight times? How can a father only see his son eight times when he’s grown up so much?’ Her mind thought.
            “Are you serious?” Blinking, the Goblin King stared at the fire before them, nodding his head.
            “If he’s only seen you a hand full of times and he remarried, what happened to your mother? Did he kick you out of the castle or something?” It pained Juliet to see the slight tremor in his lower jaw as he opened his mouth, to see such pain and struggle to keep his emotion under control. He turned his head away, but she saw something fall from his dipped face. An instant later he turned his head a slender back towards her to say.
            “That’s more than five.” Dred filled her until she felt like she was going to burst. Behind the dread came a rush of panic. They had finally relaxed together; they had finally trusted each other. Why did she always say something wrong? Why couldn’t she just smile, work and listen to him brood over his brother like she always did? It really wouldn’t be that hard, but nnooo, she just had to open her big fat blabbering mouth.
            A sniff broke the quiet that had only been filled with the crackle of the fire for some long minutes. Jareth stood to his feet, with tea in hand, and said as he stepped over the collection of party décor.
            “We’ll finish this in the morning. Go to bed Juliet.” Not having the strength to argue she nodded her head, but waited on the floor for him to leave. When he did and the door had shut, she covered her face with her hands, silently scolding herself with a sorrowful voice.