Chapter Nineteen #2
By the time he hit the corridor outside, there was more screaming.
He could hear it. He had to go down one flight of stairs and up a separate flight to get to the solar where Desdra did her work, so he headed in that direction.
There was no rush on his part until he managed to descend the stairs and end up in the foyer.
There were no Guardians, which concerned him.
He could hear more banging, more screaming, and it was definitely coming from overhead.
Just as he took a step, Stefan appeared from the reception chamber across the hall. He had a big iron rod in his hand.
“Stefan?” Jareth said, concerned. “What is happening?”
Stefan was in distress. “Come on,” he said, rushing over to take Jareth by the arm. “It is Lady Desdra.”
Shocked, Jareth made it up the stairs without any assistance.
Stefan was right behind him. By the time he hit the landing where the solar was located, Jareth could see a crowd of men standing in front of the solar door.
Two of The Guardians were trying to ram the door with their shoulders.
The entire Guard of Six was there, not including Hugh, who had gone straight back to Bristol Castle when they returned from Portbury.
But Aidric, Britt, Dirk, Orion, and Stefan were present.
So were four Guardians, including Zeus. Stefan handed over the iron rod to Heracles, who immediately tried to use it on the doorjamb to loosen the bolt and the latch.
“What is going on?” Jareth demanded, hearing more screaming and banging. “Who is with Desdra?”
“Her father,” Zeus said. He looked exhausted and unhappy. “As you are aware, he was here a short time ago and became abusive with Lady Desdra, so I chased him away. He came back this afternoon whilst I was sleeping and begged for admission.”
“He said he wanted to apologize,” Heracles said as he struggled with the rod and the doorjamb.
“He begged for the opportunity to speak to her and I told him he only had a few moments. I was on the landing the entire time. He must have gone into the solar and immediately bolted it, but I did not hear the bolt. I would have acted sooner if I had.”
It began to occur to Jareth what, exactly, was going on in that chamber. Horror and panic began to set in. Heart in his throat, he pushed his way to the door, putting his hands on it.
“Desdra?” he shouted. “Desdra, I’m here! Unbolt the door, love! Unbolt it!”
She was screaming something he couldn’t make out, which only fed his sense of panic. He swung around to The Guardians standing behind him.
“Is there another way in?” he demanded.
There was a huge sense of urgency and concern, from all of them. He could read it in their faces. But none were more concerned or anxious than Zeus.
“Unfortunately, that is part of the security of this place,” he said, teeth gritted. “Every room can be sectioned off, and it is nearly impossible to get in. Unless we want to go through a window, and it is impossible to get to them.”
Jareth opened his mouth but something heavy fell against the door and he could hear Desdra cursing and screaming at her father.
“Jesus,” he whispered in an urgent plea, putting his hands on the door again. “Jesus, help me.”
“I can try to get to the window,” Aidric said. “Do you want me to go outside and assess the possibility?”
Jareth thought for a split second before shaking his head. “Nay,” he said. “I want all of us to put our shoulders into this and ram that damn door open. God, I’d give my soul for a battering ram right now.”
Zeus shook his head. “We do not have one,” he said. “I would not know where to get one. But we can pound away at the door until it gives. That’s all we can do if she cannot open it.”
There was more screaming, more things falling.
Desdra was putting up a hell of a fight and Jareth was struggling not to lose his composure.
Just when he’d found some happiness, it was in danger of being snatched away.
He could hardly believe it. He wasn’t even worried about himself or the fever that plagued him.
Truthfully, he wasn’t feeling well at all, but he wasn’t worried about himself.
He was only worried about the woman inside the chamber that he couldn’t get into.
It was like a nightmare.
“Stefan,” he said, pointing to the door, “kick that door right where the latch and the bolt are. Ramming the whole panel isn’t going to work unless we can loosen the bolt and the latch. Kick it as hard as you can, as much as you can. Right in the seam.”
Big, powerful Stefan moved forward. Lashing out an enormous booted foot, he kicked once, twice, thrice.
Then he rattled the latch to see if it had loosened.
He couldn’t tell, and Jareth couldn’t tell, so he did it again.
And again. When he’d done it a few more times, he stepped aside to rest his right foot and Britt took over.
Big, mean Britt. He kicked and kicked and managed to shatter some of the wood in the jamb, which was good.
That meant they were making progress. Someone ran to grab an ax, hoping that would help.
All of those skilled knights and not one of them could break down that door.
Not one of them could help the woman in distress.
When Britt stopped kicking, he backed off and Zeus took over.
He kicked and kicked, hearing the commotion beyond the panel like they all were, using it to feed his determination.
And then… the screaming stopped.
The quiet was more terrifying than the shouting.
Jareth rushed to the door, calling for Desdra, but receiving no answer.
He had his hands on the door as if by sheer willpower he could get it open, but someone pulled him back as one of The Guardians, Orpheus, rushed up with the ax and began slashing at the joint where the latch and bolt were positioned on the door.
Three strikes of the ax and the doorjamb suddenly collapsed.
Orpheus, Jareth, and Aidric were at the forefront, pushing the door wide open and charging into the chamber.
But what they saw stopped them in their tracks.
Ciaran was over by the enormous lancet windows that faced the river. He had Desdra by the hair and had somehow managed to push her onto the windowsill where the gulls liked to gather. She was unconscious, literally hanging out of the window. If Ciaran let go, she’d fall.
Three stories down.
Jareth stepped forward, cautiously.
“Bring her back inside,” he commanded quietly. “Bring her inside and we will discuss what your terms are for her safety.”
Ciaran eyed the man he didn’t know. “I want to talk to Chester de Long,” he said. “Bring him to me immediately.”
That brought a wave of confusion. “Chester is dead,” Jareth said. “I am the new lord of Aphrodite’s Feast. You may speak with me.”
That brought outrage from Ciaran. “Do not lie to me!” he said. “I will toss her from this window if you do not bring Chester to me immediately!”
“Throw her from that window and you will not live beyond that very moment,” Jareth said, hazard in his tone. “Why are you even doing this? You are her father. You are supposed to protect her.”
Ciaran wasn’t moved. His gaze lingered on Jareth, appraising and calculating.
He’d just spent the past several minutes chasing his daughter around the solar, trying to grab her because he knew her screaming would bring The Guardians.
And these other knights—he wasn’t sure who they were, but he recognized them because they had been with his daughter when she had come back into town.
He had only arrived in Bristol when she had returned from wherever it was she had gone, so the entire situation was confusing to him.
But he knew one thing.
He was in a precarious situation.
You are supposed to protect her.
Protecting Desdra had never entered his mind.
He only wanted her money and any other money he could get his hands on.
But those plans were now ruined because of her screaming, so once he’d gotten his hands on her, he’d managed to knock her on the head with the butt of the shovel she’d been using against him, hard enough to render her unconscious.
At that point, the door to the chamber was about to be destroyed, so he used the only leverage he could—his daughter’s life.
Men were breaking in to help her, so he had to keep them at bay as long as he could, and he did that by lifting her into the windowsill.
It had worked—the men hadn’t advanced on him—but he knew that wouldn’t last.
If he was going to escape with his life, he had to think fast.
“Bring me Chester or, I swear, I will throw her from this window,” he said again, trying not to sound desperate. “I must speak with him!”
Zeus, who was feeling extraordinarily guilty about this situation, stepped forward. “He speaks the truth, le Daire,” he said steadily. “Lord Chester died several weeks ago. Lord Jareth is now the lord of Aphrodite’s Feast. You must speak to him.”
He was indicating Jareth. Hearing the confirmation of Chester’s death from Zeus, a man who had no reason to lie, only further destabilized Ciaran. He was unsure what to do at that point, and Jareth, seeing the confusion on his face, sought to take advantage of it.
“Tell me what you want,” he said, taking a step forward, very slowly. “If you have a disagreement, surely we can come to a pleasing solution. Only let your daughter go. We do not need her if we are to discuss things like men.”
Ciaran’s gaze darted to Jareth. “That is far enough,” he told him. “Come no closer.”
“What do you want, le Daire?”
Ciaran began to see a way that this situation might work out to his advantage. They didn’t want Desdra thrown from the window and Ciaran very much wanted money. Any money at this point. He had a pirate to pay and, damnation, the man wasn’t going to wait. No one was going to wait. Not even Ciaran.
He pointed to the scattered ledgers on the table.
“Money,” he said simply. “I know there is a great deal here and I want it. Bring it to me and put it on the table. Then you will stand back and allow me passage out of here. I will never return. You have that assurance. But if you do not swear a solemn oath to let me leave unharmed, I will let my daughter fall from this window. This I vow.”
Jareth shrugged. “As I said, if you let her fall, you’ll not live to take another breath,” he said.
Then his gaze turned hard as he took another step in Ciaran’s direction.
“I will personally destroy you. I will obliterate you from the face of this earth and even in death, you will be so smashed, so mutilated, that not even God will be able to put you back together again. Do you understand me? Obliteration is something I give my most hated enemies, something not even your soul will recover from. Now… I will give you some money simply to be rid of you, but make one more threat against her and you’ll not like my reaction.
You are not in command here. I am. And I will tell you how this is going to end. ”
Ciaran’s features tightened. “I do not know you,” he said. “I do not care. But understand me when I tell you that I will throw her through the window if you take another step. Get out of here and get those men out of here. Bring your money back to me. I will not wait forever.”
“You’ll wait as long as I tell you to wait,” Jareth said. “Remove her from the windowsill and release her. If you do that, I will get your money and you will be allowed to leave, unharmed. Those are the terms.”
“You do not dictate terms. I do.”
Jareth cocked an eyebrow. “Clearly, you do not know how this works.”
“Do as I say or—!”
He never got the chance to finish. Desdra chose that moment to awaken and, though groggy, quickly became aware enough to realize that she was being hung from a window.
She didn’t know how she got there, or why, but she immediately screamed and started to panic.
Kicking her legs, she hit her father in the face, which caused him to lose his grip.
After that, everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
Jareth, seeing that Desdra was coming around, made a break for the window to grab her.
She slammed Ciaran in the side of the head with her foot, which forced the man backward.
He had been holding her by the back of her garment and his grasp on her slipped.
Jareth could see this happen as he ran at her.
God help him, he could see that she was now falling, headfirst, out of the window.
He could see everything right before his eyes, and as fast as he moved, he wasn’t fast enough.
He managed to grab part of the hem of her dress as she tumbled out, but it wasn’t enough.
It slipped through his hands, and she right along with it.
Screaming all the way, Desdra fell three floors to the hard-packed earth below.
Then… silence.