Deepest Fears

Riley was rushed to Jareth's room, where the royal physician quickly began examining him. After checking Riley's pulse for a while, he gently placed Riley's hand back on the bed and looked up with a sorrowful expression.

"What is it?" Jareth demanded, his eyebrows knitting together in search of answers. A pang of fear clenched his heart.

"Your Highness, Prince Riley has been poisoned with arsenic," the royal physician announced. A gasp escaped Scarlet's lips as she covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.

Riley's face was pale, his skin turned clammy. He writhed in pain, clutching his abdomen. Beads of sweat dotted on his forehead, and his breath came in shallow and rapid.

Jareth stared at the physician in shock. "What are you waiting for? Treat him immediately!" Jareth shouted, his fist striking the ground in frustration.

Before the physician could respond, Scarlet rushed over to Vera, who stood in shock, her mind racing. Scarlet grabbed Vera's clothes, tears streaming down her face. "Why did you do it?" she demanded.

Vera, snapping out of her daze, pushed Scarlet's hands off her clothes. "What did I do?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"You poisoned him. Don't think I don't know," Scarlet accused, lunging at Vera again. This time, she pushed Vera against the wall, her tears flowing more freely.

"Why did you do it? It should have been me!" she shouted in anguish.

"Enough!" Jareth's voice thundered, startling Vera. He turned to Raynell and commanded, "Take Scarlet to her room. She needs rest."

Raynell bowed and approached Scarlet, who stood stunned by Jareth's behavior. Jareth watched as Scarlet let out a sad chuckle before her gaze shifted between Vera and Riley, and then she dashed out with Raynell trailing behind.

"You all may leave," Jareth stated without looking at them. Ralph and Sirius huffed and left immediately, along with the other consorts except Vera.

"You may leave too, Consort Vera," he said wearily, his eyes tinged with red, a sign of tears held back.

"I don't wish to leave, Your Highness. If anyone should stay, it should be me with His Highness," Vera said calmly, moving closer to Jareth. He remained silent in response.

"Is there a way to save him?" Jareth asked anxiously.

"Of course, Your Highness. Using dried dandelion root is a common herb for treating arsenic poisoning, but Your-" The royal physician hesitated, meeting Jareth's gaze.

"But what?"

"Your Highness, the treatment isn't a guarantee for complete healing. The treatment comes with some implications even if prince Riley survive it," the physician finally admitted.

Jareth pondered for a moment, but Riley's groans brought him back to the present. "Start with the treatment immediately," he ordered.

Jareth stayed by Riley's side throughout the treatment, his worry evident. As Riley drifted into a deep sleep, Jareth continued holding his hand, unwilling to let go. Vera approached and patted his back, a gesture of support that Jareth noted.

"Your Highness, it's going to be fine. Riley has always been strong," Vera reassured him. Pausing to gauge his reaction, she continued, "I'm sure he'll come back as the cheerful and vibrant boy he's always been. But one thing is certain—he wouldn't want to see his brother in this state."

Vera took the chair and sat down beside Jareth, resting her head on his shoulder. She wrapped her hands around his arm, a smile fixed on her face. "Riley's incident seems to have worked in my favor. I wish this could continue," she thought to herself.

A knock interrupted the moment, and the door creaked open, revealing Raynell. He bowed and Jareth asked worriedly, "How is she?"

"She didn't look well when I left her," Raynell replied, his eyes briefly darting to Vera's hands clasped around Jareth's arm before returning to Jareth's.

"She's just pretending. This is one of her schemes to cause trouble for you," Vera scoffed.

Jareth smirked, his eyes glinting with a mix of amusement and challenge. He stood up and stepped closer to Vera, his voice dropping to a low, seductive murmur. "Vera, if pretending were an art, you'd be a masterpiece. But don't mistake her intentions—there's a depth to her you might not see." He brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, his touch lingering. "And that makes her all the more intriguing. Perhaps it's time to stop that fiery jealousy of yours....don't you think?"

Jareth lowered his back, his breath warm against her ear. He whispered, "Have you forgotten who I am? Scarlet doesn't need to bring chaos here because I am chaos itself."

With that, he turned to Raynell and commanded, "Search all chambers, including the consort chambers," before striding out.

---

Ilvia carefully opened the door, balancing trays of food to avoid spilling anything. She kicked the door closed behind her and placed the trays on the table. Moving towards the bathroom door, she knocked gently.

"Scarlet," she called out after knocking twice with no response. She cautiously opened the door but found the bathroom empty. She had left Scarlet alone earlier because her lady had wanted an alone time. Concerned that Scarlet hadn't eaten during the feast, Ilvia decided to bring her food. But where had Scarlet gone? She questioned herself.

Could Scarlet be in danger again? Was she planning something? Ilvia ran out of the room, her heart pounding with worry.

As Ilvia opened the door to look for scarlet she bumped into Jareth who kept pacing outside the door while biting his nails before Ilvia came out.

Upon Seeing Ilvia, he composed himself and stopped biting his nails and asked while stretching his neck to look inside, "Where is scarlet?"

"Hm your highness I can't find sca- my lady" she said beads of sweat formed on her forehead, glistening under the worries.

The sky was already darkening, a sign of an impending rain as the clouds gathered at an horizon, a loud rumble of thunder echoed interrupting the silence between Ilvia and Jareth. In haste, he dashed into the room.

----

The rain grew heavier with time, and the thunder echoed ominously, causing Scarlet's anxiety to spike. She bent down under the downpour, her head in her hands, legs shaking from fear. Each flash of lightning made her breathing more heavy. She was too frightened to raise her head, gripped by one of her deepest fears.

Regret washed over her as powerfully as the rain. She was tired and weak, mentally berating herself. It was her fault, she kept chanting in her mind. She had failed to save Riley and believed she couldn't save Jareth either. If she couldn't even save herself, how could she change anyone else's fate? Maybe this was for the better—at least she was free from Elvonia. She had escaped far enough that no one could find her, sparing everyone from the pain and sorrow she thought she brought.

"Fate is cruel," she whispered, shivering under the rain, tears mingling with the raindrops on her face.

Her wet clothes clung tightly to her petite body, soaked through and offering no protection. "Why Riley? He didn't deserve this."

"I should have done my best in protecting them all," she said in a hoarse voice, the thought of never seeing Jareth again bringing fresh tears to her eyes. What if he couldn't find her? But she convinced herself that this was all for the better.

The thunder roared more aggressively, causing her heart to race and bringing back vivid memories of her parents' death. The pain and fear from that time surged back, overwhelming her.

As the thunder roared a third time, Scarlet's trembling hands covered her ears, trying to block out the terrifying sound. Tears streamed down her face, her eyes tightly shut as she mumbled, "Please stop."

Then, the rain ceased pouring on her. She hesitantly looked up, her teary face lifting to see a white umbrella shielding her from the heavy downpour. Her eyes darted to the man holding the umbrella. It was the one person she didn't want to see.