Anam Cara

The Champion Learns a Secret

Jareth stiffened, his whole body rigid, jaw clenched as the muscles in his body strained against his austere posture. "Where did you hear that name?" His voice low, edged with a visceral suspicion and betrayal.

Sarah observed his stiff motions. His long fingers digging into the leather upholstered arms of his seat, the fabric straining against his claw-like grip. His breathing shallowed. Hooded eyes fixed their predatory gaze on her. Had she seen this look on his face ten years ago, she surely would have trembled with fear, but now, it only stirred rueful pity.

"You talk in your sleep," she said quietly. "The same nightmare every day. Always ending with that name. Who is she?"

Jareth rose slowly, retreating from his Champion. Opening the doors to the balcony, he struggled to the balustrade, using it to support his weight. His eyes took in the landscape as the world reawoke after the storm that had finally passed. He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of humid flora around him, the warmth of the sun on his face. If only he too could have his sins washed away so easily.

He had never spoken to anyone of her. Brigid. Trying so hard to forget her. Of course, Sarah would be the one to discover his greatest secret. Still, he wasn't sure he could confess his greatest shame.

She joined him outside, silently staring out at the distance. Her focus found a random point among the twisting walls of the Labyrinth to hold her attention far away from the one thing she longed to study.

They stood there in the quiet between them. For how long she couldn't say. Time never seemed to flow steadily when she was with him, either passing with unnerving swiftness or drawing to a complete standstill.

"Two hundred years ago, I met a young mortal maid in the company of a fellow Fae. We were attending the Yule festivities of the High King as we did every year. She was beautiful unlike any human, or Fae for that matter, I had ever seen. Dark hair. Fair skin. I wanted her the moment I saw her. I would have done anything to have her."

"And?" Her heart beat wildly, throat dry with anxious anticipation of the answers she finally heard.

"I did," he said with an ominous aura surrounding him. His arms shook with the effort of standing and holding his weight.

Sarah took his hand as his elbow buckled. He'd been up too long. She pushed him too far again. Gently, she pulled him back into his room, leading him to the bed.

He allowed himself to be moved by the smaller figure beside him, savoring the nearness of her while he could. For surely, she would forsake him once she learned everything. He sat on the edge of the bed. His fingers combed through his hair, as he rested his head on his hands, hunched over as he leaned on his legs.

She waited for the shock of his fragmentary confession to come but deep down, she had expected as much. Hearing her suspicions confirmed did not lessen the weight she felt on her heart though.

"What happened to her?" She sat next to him, wanting to wrap her arms around him, comforting him or maybe just herself but settled, instead, for mere proximity.

"I don't know." It was the one piece of knowledge that was beyond his power to attain. He who had prided himself on pushing the boundaries of erudition could never answer that one simple question. His one failure.

She blinked back tears at the pain she heard in his voice. "And you've never loved anyone else."

"I couldn't," he whispered. His emotions drained what little energy he had. Saying all of this out loud was never part of his plan. Admitting to anyone his feelings for the mortal girl who disappeared seemed surreal. He needed time. Space. Rest.