《Matters of the Heart》Chapter 16
Advertisement
Sarah looked up at the scorched trees in the twilight. Their encounter with the dragon seemed so long ago now. She stooped to gather up a few more branches of firewood before returning to the camp. As she neared the bridge, she slowed. She could hear something; it was a soft, lilting voice, rising and falling with the melody of a song. At first, she thought it was Jareth. That is, until she got a little closer and recognized Terra's voice. Terra was sitting on the bridge as Sarah remembered her doing before, with her feet in the water and the glowing daisy clutched in her hands. Sarah crept closer, curiosity getting the better of her. She started to make out the words of the song.
But I'll be there for you as the world falls down
Sarah felt a sudden chill. So it had been Terra who she'd seen in the forest the night she and Jareth had...
She pushed the thought away.
Falling
Falling down
Falling in love
Sarah let the firewood fall from her arms, alerting Terra to her presence. Terra turned her face quickly to see the intruder and as Sarah caught sight her face she saw the stain of tears on it.
In that instant, something clicked in Sarah's mind. She straightened, stepping forward and looking Terra directly in the eye.
"You love him, don't you?" she asked, "You're in love with Jareth!"
Terra simply stared at her, making no effort to hide the fact that she'd been crying.
"It all makes sense now," Sarah continued, "The reason you keep that daisy with you everywhere you go. The reason you chose to be his protector without him ever knowing. The reason you were crying in the mirror portal. What were you going to say?"
Advertisement
Terra drew a shuddering breath, "He's lonely, and I can't make him happy."
"So you brought me back, thinking I could make him happy instead!" Sarah gasped, "You tried to manipulate me into falling in love with him! That's why you burned the carriage, so that we could have more time together! You thought if I was forced to get to know him that I would end up choosing to stay so we could be together." Sarah shook her head sadly. "But that's not what I want! I love my family! I love my home! This isn't my place."
Terra looked desperate, "It could be. All you'd have to do is say the word, and you and Jareth could live in absolute bliss."
"But I don't love him!"
Terra's eyes clouded with confusion, "But you kissed..."
"It was a mistake!" Sarah insisted, "I was confused! It didn't mean anything! Jareth is a wonderful person, but a life with him would only lead to misery!"
Terra suddenly leapt to her feet, her eyes ablaze.
"You toyed with his feelings!" she spat.
"No, you did that by bringing me here in the first place!" Sarah shot back, "And even if things had gone according to your plan, where would that have left you? Nursing a broken heart for the rest of your life!"
"Better me than Jareth!" Terra shouted willfully.
"Don't you understand?" Sarah said, "You could both walk away happy! Tell him your true feelings!"
Terra shook her head vigorously, "He loves you, not me! He's never seen me as anything but a friend!"
"His feelings could change!"
"A heart never changes!"
"It can! If you give it a chance!"
"You can't tell him! You can never tell him!"
Advertisement
"Tell me what?"
Terra's eyes widened, focusing on something just behind Sarah. Sarah turned to see Jareth standing there, looking intrigued.
"You...heard us?" Sarah asked.
"Not really. I heard you two shouting but I couldn't make anything out. What did you want to tell me?" His gaze wandered to Terra's face and his expression became worried. "Terra, what's wrong? What is that flower you're holding?"
Terra stared in astonishment, "You don't...recognize it."
Sarah opened her mouth quickly, taking the opportunity to set things to right, "Jareth, Terra—"
"No!" Terra sprang forward, seizing her by the collar and shaking her roughly, "You can't tell him! You can't!"
"Terra, stop!" Jareth stepped forward and yanked her away from Sarah.
Terra suddenly grabbed hold of him instead, bursting into tears. Jareth looked down at her in stunned silence while she weakly clung to him, shaking with sobs. Sarah wanted to say something but her voice had abandoned her. After all the time they had spent together, she had come to see Terra as such a resilient figure. It was hard to see her so utterly broken now.
But what else could have been expected? She had spent her whole life keeping secrets that should have come to light years ago.
Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat, "Jareth, that flower is one you gave her. She kept it all these years."
"I kept it," Terra choked, drawing sharp breaths to quell her tears, "So that I could look at it and remember you, Jareth."
"Terra..." Jareth murmured, sinking into the long grass and enveloping his friend in a tender hug.
"I became your protector," Terra pressed on, "So I could feel close to you." Terra buried her face in Jareth's chest, stifling another sob. "I did it all," she said, "Because I love you."
Advertisement
Awakening
A potent tale of self-discovery. Centuries ago, the prophetic Golden Age ended in war, and history spiraled into darkness... Now, only scholars retain the last portent of the mythic city A'lara, concealed in a distant glade for the advent of the dragon mage. At the edge of the Known World, the slave Larin escapes her new lord before she meets his dark masters. Deep in the mountains, the legendary elf Kingard awaits his call to battle. When young Darek flees imperial mages tasked to exterminate shape-shifters, he launches them all on a voyage to redeem their unsought destiny. United by fate and guided by prophesy, their growing band of fugitives journey for A'lara to fight the ancient evil infiltrating the capital. But looming over the gears of fate, their enemies follow the same prophesies. With the unknown close upon them, Kingard and his allies face a mortal quest to restore their infected empire. Praise for Awakening: If you love Anne McCaffrey, J.R.R. Tolkien and Tad Williams, then Awakening is a novel you will surely want to pick up. D.N.Frost is a consummate world-builder with a knack for creating characters that are complex and three-dimensional. Frost writes with graceful prose that is descriptive and well-edited. The plot is fast-paced and entertaining. What really sets this novel apart is the cartography, which is a spectacular accomplishment. Incredible world-building! - M.L. Spencer, author of The Rhenwars Saga ★★★★★ This novel was published in 2014, and it includes 19 antique watercolor maps! Check them out: Maps of Awakening: an atlas directory
8 140The Traitor Games
Welcome to the Traitor Games, and congratulations on your invitation to join as one of the races putting on a show for the galaxy. Your species has been judged as too violent for integration into the Galactic Conglomerate and thus the decision has been made to relegate you to a probationary period during which members of your species will be pitted against each other in games of lies and betrayal. Unfortunate, but the great thing about a probationary period is that it can end! How can we do that; you might be asking. Well, that's easy, if those participants can earn enough points through playing the games, they can potentially buy out your probationary time. Of course, other rewards will also be on offer for success in the games, and if none of your species chooses to be selfless, well then it just goes to show that you wouldn't have been a good fit for us anyway. All those on Earth unlucky enough to not be chosen to become part of one of the most popular shows on Galactic Television, fear not. We will be streaming the various games your race is participating in all across the world. Should we run out of participants, even with our most generous three life system, we will draw more from the population. Good Luck! Noah Landry is one of these participants, he just doesn't know it yet. He blacks out while walking to the local bar McCaffery's, and finds himself, somewhere else. He's wearing clothing he doesn't remember putting on and rocking an absolute banger of a headache. Now he needs to figure out where he is, what's going on, and how he can get out of the Traitor Games. [Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 78Animus-Blade: Sword Singer
My first story, feedback is appreciated. Fifteen-year-old bookworm Joan lived a poor but sheltered life, her only worry was the upcoming rite that granted individuals of her age a soulbound magic weapon called an Animus-blade. Failure to acquire one labelled you as an outcast who is left to rot by society at large and Joan has good reason to believe that she will be among them. But after her only friend, Alessia goes missing Joan is slowly dragged into the cruel world and is forced to decide how she will confront the darkness in the recesses of humanity or be broken by it. [Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge - April 2022]
8 212The Things left Unsaid
it's been 6 years since lan Zhan left wei ying, who now has 2 kids and struggles daily to make ends meet. Finally after going through a lot he decides to seek out his husband in hopes of making life better for the kids.Will he figure out what went wrong the first time? Will they reconcile?
8 63falcon [sara lance]
She couldn't save her sister. But she sure as hell will save her, in more ways than one. [sara lance x oc] [ranked #1 in saralance 11/05/18]
8 214The Cullens Shared Mate
THIS IS A COMPLETED STORY AND THERE WILL BE NO SEQUEL ANY TIME SOON.In this story Elizabeth Swan is the older sister of Bella Swan. Bella hates Beth for being older than her and her not being the only child. She especially hates her when she grows close with the Cullen family. You should also now that I made this cringy and like other stories because that seems to be what everyone likes. Some of it will be cheesy and other parts will be extra dramatic but its intentional. Bella is not with Edward in this story. None of the Cullens are together they only consider eachother siblings. Esme is not in this story and I am so sorry, I love her but with how im doing it I don't know if I could fit her in correctly. In this story the Cullens are a coven that was blessed with having only one mate that they must share with eachother. THIS IS A BELLA BASHING STORY. It is based in 2020 and ALL the Cullens are seniors. Well except Carlisle. The coronavirus is not a thing. Bella will be VERY out of character, go with it.There will be some cursing and smut with warnings when it will happenI do not own twilight or its plot I only own Elizabeth Jo Swan and the plot I created. This will not follow the timeline or the plot completely so bare with me.
8 130