Drabble #51: Love and Logic

[redwolf]

Digging up an old challenge from Livejournal:

Inspired by suggestions from maq_moon, I offer a quote from William Goldman's The Princess Bride:

Love is many things, none of them logical

Right? So darned true. So tell us all about it. You know you want to.

Given our entries from recent months, let's continue with the suggested limit for this month of 500 words. Though remember that shorter pieces are most definitely welcome!

Your entry should take the following format, posted as a comment on this entry:

Word count: # of words
Drabble: $your_beautiful_drabble

Remember: Feedback is LOVE. So do reply to your fellow labyficcers' drabbles if so inclined. (Though be careful of concrit unless specifically okayed by the author beforehand. Authors generally write for love.)

Comments

Synopsis

[redwolf]

Word count: 500
Drabble:

Jareth had been both delighted to see Sarah’s summation of the accumulated reports and fascinated at how she had outlined all of the major points.

He looked at her notes on the blackboard, a finger tapping against his lips as he scanned through the list. “This is obvious,” Jareth motioned to the side of the board that detailed their troublesome neighbours. “But what is the purpose of this section?” He nodded to an extensive list of personnel and equipment.

Sarah scratched the side of her nose, leaving a smudge of chalk dust behind. A few days earlier Jareth had privately informed her that while he would head the force that dealt with their problem she would remain in the castle. Before she could protest he explained that, as the second most powerful magic user in the kingdom, even if her control was still a work in progress, it was her duty to defend the citizens of Goblin City. Seeing the wisdom in his logic, Sarah had promptly dedicated herself to figuring out the best method of performing her duty.

Rather than answering Jareth’s query directly, Sarah nodded to the side of the board where she had outlined the information on the troublesome young lords. “From what we know about this pair, they run in the same circles. They have no business skills, having embarrassed themselves often enough, due to either ignorance or weaponised incompetence, in the performance of their duties in the family enterprises that they have been quietly shuffled into positions that are little more than titles.”

“Director of paperclips? Manager of striped paint?” Jareth offered.

“Exactly.” Sarah shook her head, disgusted at the waste of potential. Everything had been handed to them on a plate and yet both young men had cast aside their many opportunities in favour of indolence and hedonism.

“They barely managed to scrape through their education and I have a suspicion that money changed hands to see them pass. They have an embarrassingly mediocre record of military service that, unsurprisingly, echoes the same behaviours they’ve shown in their business ventures. They have no reported magical skills beyond the basic, are unlikely to have transformational talents and, while their families may have coddled them and carry some responsibility for keeping them in check rather than beating the stupid out of them.” Sarah shrugged at Jareth’s amused snort over her frustration. “Both families are smart enough to tightly restrain their children’s access to funds.” Jareth was grinning broadly as she succinctly worked through their resume.

“As far as I can see their only discernible skills are drinking and whoring.” She shook her head, not terribly surprised that their obnoxious, self obsessed entitlement had alienated them from their peers. “With that in mind, it’s highly unlikely that their kingdom’s military is involved and there is nothing to indicate that they have the funds to hire mercenaries. Of course, there could be unseen actors manipulating their worst impulses from the shadows who could funnel resources into their hands.”