The Folly of Feeling

"You insulted me!" Jareth snapped, icy and unmoving as the stones, "For that I should kill you! And yet you have the unbelievable gall to stand here before me and request asylum? Mercy? Not for you, Sarah. Never for you!"
Sarah bowed her head, hot tears welling up in her eyes.

"Please, Goblin King..."

"Oh, do stop with the dramatics. It was endearing when you were a teenager, but has somewhat lost its flavor!"
"Fine! Jareth, then!" she defiantly met his gaze. "I'm here because I can't live out there anymore! My husband beats me nightly, he's having an affair with the neighbor's daughter, for God's sake! My parents are dead, my little brother died of a drug overdose last year, and I just lost my job! It was either you, Jareth, or a bridge!"

"Take the bridge, then!"

He hadn't aged at all, not a day in twelve years. The pale golden hair still shone with an inner light, the eyes still seemed to hold forbidden secrets in their depths.
As forbidden as any secret a sixteen-year-old could imagine from such a sensual, otherwordly figure.
The city was rebuilt with great splendor and indolent luxury. Even the hedges forming the greater part of the Labyrinth were thicker and greener than Sarah remembered. It was paradise.

She was a fool not to have noticed it before.

But her short-sightedness could be forgiven, being as young as she was. The world still neemed bright and full of promise then. It took years before she realized that her life was slipping away and she was utterly miserable and helpless and tired.
This was her final chance.

"I know I hurt you, Jareth..."

"You have no idea, little girl!"

That voice, that beautiful rich voice.

"Do you know the kind of hell I've been through?!" Sarah demanded, moving forward. Instantly the goblin guards on either side of the throne brandished their pikes menacingly, and she stepped back.

"Of course I know! Not a day has passed that I have not seen you, watched your life unfolding into the sorry mess it is today! I had to steal a toddler to get you here once, but now it takes a few beatings and deaths and the loss of some ridiculous grunt-work position in a factory to drag you again before my throne?"

"A few beatings?! He caused me to miscarry THREE TIMES, Jareth! And the last time he beat me so badly that I was in bed for a solid month!"

Jareth glared at her, not allowing so much as a ghost of an expression of pity to cross his features.

"Yes, yes. I know. Really, inside I'm weeping." he hissed.

Sarah could take it no longer. She burst into tears, falling to her knees on the thick red rug and hiding her face in her hands. Pure misery washed through her soul, and a feeling of total desolation. She wanted to die, to just end it all and maybe wake up somewhere fresh and new and clean again. Outside in the city, it had begin to rain. The enchanted clouds opened up and poured sweet relief down upon the thirsty hedges, the fairy-glen and the gardens behind te castle. A clap of thunder sounded, and the world outside darkened.
It seemed fitting to Sara, that the heavens were sobbing all around her as her heart crumbled into dust.

Jareth hated to hear women crying. Next to rocks falling and country music, it was his least favorite sound. He motioned angrily for one of the guards to go to her aid, but the creature just stared at him without even a flicker of comprehension on its stupid, kindly face. Jareth sighed.
'Idiots'
He got up from his throne and moved to kneel beside the sobbing girl. Taking a silk handkercheif from his sleeve he handed it to her. "Just settle down, damn it. The goblins are staring."

Sarah took the proferred fabric and wiped at her streaming eyes, drawing a shaky breath as she did so.
"You can't imagine what I've been through." she whispered brokenly. "No, I suppose I cannot. But you've put me through a great deal as well, Sarah."

"I...I know."

"Coming back here was a rather brazen thing to do, I hope you realize."

"Yes."

Jareth sighed. He was in a quandry.
At long last, he grudgingly made a decision.

"You may stay, Sarah. But you will serve in the castle doing every nasty little chore that needs doing. Even the chamber maids will be above you. But you will have a home and an alternative to the bridge you spoke of so movingly. Return to your world and gather what things you wish to bring with you, including that little dog I've noticed. He'll be the first to go when your husband finds you missing. And don't forget your stories. I may regret this decision..."

"You won't! I swear it!"

"Oh, leave off. I already do. But I can't very well have you killing yourself and causing a stir. Just be swift. I have very little patience left for you."

Sarah was on her feet instantly, her tears drying in a wave of new hope. Cleaning goblin toilets seemed like a blessing compared with her current situation. Impulsively, she threw her arms around Jareth's neck and hugged him.
"For pity's sake, woman! Control yourself!"

But he hugged her back, briefly and scowling all the while. With a lighter heart that she'd had in a very long while, Sara turned and fled from the throne room, preparing to enter her world for the last time.