Variations On A Theme
Standard discalimer: If you recognize it -- I don't own it.
Authors note: I know I should be working on my other story "Are You Home", but I am so stuck and this just demanded to be written that.... well .... I did. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy reading your feedback.
--Onaree--
The dawn broke bright and clear but the Goblin King's mood was as dark as midnight.
The night before he had watched, alone, as that little chit of a girl celebrated her victory over him. Him-- the Goblin King. It still galled him. Nobody had ever won--ever. Not being about to stand the loneliness--no anger at her victory. He flew back to his castle.
Flying into the window in the throne room, Jareth transformed back to human form. He threw himself upon his throne but found that he couldn't keep still so he started to pace the floor.
Back and forth, faster and faster, as he mumbled to himself.
The goblins in the room watched silently, slowly backing way from this caged tiger of a king.
Jareth had never felt such pain as this girl had caused him. This was not how it was supposed to be. He should have won-- easily. He couldn't believe that he had resorted to begging at the end. She had absolutely no mercy on him. It hurt so much. She had pricked his ego and broken his heart, although he was trying *not* to think about that so much. Concentrate on the fact that she beat his unbeatable labyrinth. The damage it would cause to his ego. Not knowing what else to do, he did what the fae usually did when they were in pain-- they took it out on someone else.
He called one of his goblin guards out to him. The goblin started to edge over carefully until he was his king's face and ran over to him, awaiting his orders.
"When the Hoggle and Sir Didymus arrived back in *my* kingdom they are to be arrest and kept in the dungeon until I send for them." The goblin just stared at him. "Well, go after them!" As he kicks the goblin towards the door.
Jareth watched the goblin gather several fellow guards and leave the throne room. He stalked out of the room and went to his chamber and his bed. But try as he might he couldn't sleep for the look of *her* eyes as they danced and the sound of *her* voice as she said those awful words 'you have no power over me' over and over in his dreams.
In the dungeon, which is at the lowest part of the castle, Hoggle and Sir Didymus are thrown into a cell together.
The walls are dank and green with a rank smelling slime. The sound of dripping water echoes thru the cell. Dirty straw covers the dirt floor and rustles with the movements of the things that live in it.
Hoggle and Sir Didymus look around. Didymus looks confused, but Hoggle is resigned. He sits on the dirty straw floor with his head in his hands.
"Why ever have we been put in here?" Didymus said as much to himself as to Hoggle.
"As we's stormed the city and helped the little lady corner his majesty, I thinks me might be upset with us, that's why."
"But helping a fair maiden is part of a knight's duty, is it not."
Hoggle retorted, "Even if it means betraying yer king. We lets her win." Hoggle put his head back down and said despairingly. "I just hope he makes it fast, that all I hopes."
Didymus patted Hoggle on the shoulder. "Do you regret helping he fair lady?"
Hoggle looked up at him surprised. "I don'ts regret what I's done, but I'm a coward so's I'm afraid." Hoggle stared into Didymus's eyes. "I's do it again, I would."
"So would I, my brother, so would I." Didymus said as he tried to get comfortable for the night.
The two prisoners slept fitfully in their cell.
As fitfully as a certain Goblin King. Who woke feeling all the worse for it the next morning.
Jareth appeared in the middle of the cell with a paper in his hand and cleared his throat.
Hoggle who really hadn't slept at all started at the sound and seeing the king tried to shake Didymus awake.
"Just five more minutes, Ambrosia." He muttered before turning over in his sleep.
At this Jareth stepped directly in front of Didymus and cleared his throat again. When this and Hoggle's shakings didn't wake the knight up, Jareth stomped on his tail. This woke the knight who screamed and clutched his tail in his arms, looking up at the king.
In a soft, conversational voice he asked. "Did you sleep well?" They both nodded. "Good then your trial can begin." In the time it took him to say this they were transported to the throne room. Several goblin guards came over and stood to both sides and behind them.
Hoggle thought to himself... as if we kin git away, as he saw them surround him and Didymus.
Jareth stalked over to his throne and threw himself upon it. "Sir Didymus, did you not take an oath with me?" He started quietly.
"Yes, my king."
"And, exactly, what did you swear to do?"
Didymus stood suddenly very tall and proud. "That I would let no one pass without my permission."
"Then how did she get across with bridge?"
"Sire, she had my permission?"
Jareth stood up from his throne and stalked over to the prisoners and shouted "How in the name of the crystal moon did she get your permission?"
Didymus realizing, finally, that things are not going well answered meekly. "Ah, well, ah."
He looked around him very unsure.
In a quiet voice Jareth prompted, "Go on."
"She asked your majesty."
Jareth's eyes widened and turned his back on them. He thought to himself: it was so simple but no one else would ever think of asking. And he had never told Didymus that he couldn't give permission so when she asked he would say yes. Even having gone back to her home she still flouts him. He turned back to Didymus, "I understand that I no longer have a bridge over the bog, is that not correct."
"Yes, strangely it fell apart as soon as she stepped upon it."
"Then, Didymus," he purposely left off the sir to make his point, "you shall be in charge of rebuilding it. And Zek and Eek with assist you." He pointed to a guard who came up to the king. "You are dismissed."
The guard escorted Sir Didymus out of the throne room wondering why he had chosen those two goblins for the job. They were stupid by goblin standards, and that is saying something.
Hoggle watched as Didymus was escorted out of the room. Knowing that he was next, he huddled on the floor, kneeling and trembling in terror.
Jareth, jabbing Hoggle in the side with his foot none too gently asked. "Hoggle, did you or did you not come to me after you ran away from King Mahanaga of the Dwarf Kingdom and give your oath that you would be loyal to me if I took you in?"
Hoggle nodded, but he was shaking so badly that Jareth was not totally certain of the fact. But he decided to accept it as such. This was perfect, thought Jareth. The perfect person to torment. I may not kill him later, I'll never have anyone better to torment. "Now what kind of punishment do you deserve. You with your questionable loyalty before you ever took an oath with me." Jareth walked over to his throne. "Sit at my feet," he snapped.
Hoggle got up and sat when Jareth's finger pointed beside him.
"I should kill you for what you've done." With his wolf's smile he looked down at Hoggle, who was huddle in a ball at his feet. This won't do, he thought to himself, you need to look into their eyes-- to see their pain to forget your own. "Look at me when I speak to you, is this the respect you have for you king?"
Hoggle looked up at Jareth. His eyes watery with unshed tears and every so often tremors would race through his body.
"Better," he said with a nod and slapping his riding crop against his thigh. "Let me think, what is the best way to die?"
Before Hoggle could even think he heard his voice softly say, "Old age." He clasped his hands to his mouth and stared up at his king, terrified of what his outburst might bring.
Jareth, on the other hand, was desperately suppressing a smile. He was afraid that the dwarf would faint from fear too quickly, but that comment showed that he would be able to enjoy himself. He looked down at Hoggle, "Did you say something, Hogbrain?" he said sweetly.
Hoggle just shook his head.
"Good," Jareth pretended to ponder while tapping his crop against Hoggle's shoulder. "Hmmmm, boiling oil.... been done. How about tying each arm and leg to a different horse and having them pull, what do you think?"
Jareth looked down at Hoggle who was shaking his head in disbelief. "No, your right, too messy." He glared down at Hoggle's level suddenly, "And the city is enough of a mess thanks to you."
The King sat back in his throne and smile like a man who was warming up to a favorite subject. "How about being drowned in the bog of eternal stench. That would be appropriate would it not?" Jareth was feeling so much better, he took a long look in Hoggle's eyes and knew that if he wanted to do this later he had better stop for a while. The poor dwarf was sweating badly and looked like he might have a heart attack at any moment. He felt so much better that he would be generous.
"Guard," he pointed to the closest, "take him to the small chamber near mine and keep him under guard while I decide his fate."
The guard grabbed Hoggle by the waist and half dragged him out of the chamber. Not because he was trying to be ruff but because he could barely walk on his own. The guard dumped him on the small bed by the window and left the room, banging the door behind him. Hoggle could hear the bolt being thrown by the guard and relaxed. He felt safer locked away from the King, even if a locked door in his castle would prove no obstacle to him. And fell into a exhausted sleep.
Later when he woke, he looked around the chamber he was placed in. And wondered.
The chamber was small by the standards of the castle but still a nice sized room. Actually it was about the size of the little cottage that he lived in. It was built into a thick section of the wall and was the traditional cottage for those that tended the front gate. This was obviously a servants room, but it was still nicer than he was used to. The bed was soft and the room was airy with a large window. It might only overlook the kitchen garden but it still let a lot of light and air into the room. The room also had a few rugs on the floor. They may have been old and very worn but still they would keep the chill of the stone floor off bare feet.
Hoggle was totally perplexed. One moment Jareth was wondering how to kill him and the next he gave him a nice room. It may not be as nice as his own but he had to know that it was nicer than Hoggle was used to. And why a room and not the dungeon? So many questions made Hoggle's head hurt so he laid back down on the soft bed and went back to sleep.
The day's soon fell into a regular pattern for Hoggle. The guards would bring him his meals and every day or so Jareth would torment him with his possible punishment. He would ask Hoggle, torture first then execute or just torture to death. Perhaps send him back to Mahanaga. That was the worst. Mahanaga would pick something slow and painful and enjoy ever minute of it. No, he would rather be terrified by Jareth than tortured by Mahanaga.
After a great many weeks, Hoggle began to wonder if this *was* his punishment or if there was something more going on than he was aware of. It seemed so strange. He was well taken care of, he had lots of food and good food at that. He had discovered that the guards would even bring him more if he asked. He had never eaten so well.
What confused him most was Jareth's behavior. He had heard the gossip from the guards. The King was in the foulest mood that anyone had ever seen him in. He was kicking goblins left and right. And, truth to tell, he did frequently did kick goblins. But never as much as this. And much harder than his want. True goblins have thick skins and are difficult to hurt so being kicked is unpleasant but acceptable. But he had actually hurt a few.
But what really made Hoggle wonder was the fact that he always seemed so much happier after tormenting him. Even the guards noticed and remarked on it. Hoggle was still terrified every time he was taken before the king, but no longer after he left him. Somehow he knew that as long as Jareth seemed more relaxed and less on edge when he was done with him than when he started, Hoggle wouldn't be executed.
Jareth sat on the edge of his large bed and just blankly stared at his chamber. It was a sumptuous room. And immense bed dominated the room. A heavily carved four poster bed. The mattress was the softest down to be had in the kingdom. The bedclothes the softest of silk and linen, richly embroidery in bright colors. Not a better way to sleep, except for having a beautiful woman sharing to with you.
Wait, where had that thought come from. He had had many women in his bed. Being such a power and unmarried king, many women have suggested a physical alliance in hopes of making a political one. And when it came to women throwing themselves at him, well no one would ever accuse him of ducking.
But in the end he was always happiest afterwards when his time and his bed were his own again. Not one did he think of after they had gone. Not one.
But there is one gone that you think of, that soft and annoying voice in his mind whispered, constantly.
Jareth started to pace his chamber in hopes of stilling that voice that had haunted and distracted him for so long. But it always came back, worse than before. At first tormenting Hoggle had stilled it, but the effect lasted less and less each time.
He need to do something and he need to do it now before these feelings drove him mad.
He transported himself to his study and took a large yellowed sheet of parchment out of a locked drawer of his desk where he kept important documents and read it aloud to himself. "I Robert Williams do freely exchange The Goblin King's claim upon my sister Jane Williams for a future child of mine to be payable upon demand by said Goblin King."
He then took out a blank sheet of parchment from his desk, wrote a few short paragraphs on it and signed it with a flourish. He rolled them together with the newer document on the outside, melted some wax and sealed the document. Finally using a stylus to mark a design (a stylized version of his pendant) in the wax before it cooled.
"Guard," he yelled out into the hallway. Soon the patter of small feet and the clink of armor could be heard racing down the hallway. One of his taller goblins stood at attention awaiting his king's orders. "When I return I want that dwarf Hoggle waiting for me in my throne room." The guard nodded but stood there. "Well, go." And the guard did, with all speed.
Hoggle, in his chamber as he know thought of it, was finishing his soup when there was a loud pounding at the door. "Come," he said. The guards had become very respectful of him since when Jareth took out his anger on Hoggle he wasn't taking it out on them.
The same guard that Jareth had spoken to, came into the room and very sadly spoke. "His Majesty said you were to wait in the throne room until he came back."
"Why's you so sad looking, Urk?"
Urk looked down at his feet and shuffled them a little. "The king seemed different than he usually does when he calls for you. Not angry, more determined like. And he had a document in his hand. I think he's decided what he is to do with you." Urk shuffled his feet some more and said softly. "I'll miss you, Hoggle."
Hoggle sniffed a bit as his eyes watered, "I's guess it had to come so time. I'll miss you too my friend." Hoggle put his arm around Urk's shoulders and they slowly walked out of the chamber together.
Jareth arrived at the High Court of the Fae shortly after giving his orders to Urk. He went up to the Lord of Documents. "I have a document that I wish registered with the court. And be quick about it, I have much to attend to." He said as he handed the man his document.
The fussy and balding man broke the wax seal and quickly scanned the enclosed documents. His eyebrows seeming to be determined to crawl off his face as they raised higher and higher while reading. He looked up sharply at Jareth. "You do understand the ramifications of these documents, are you certain you wish them registered?"
"Yes and yes." And disappeared before the Lord of Documents could say another word.
Standard discalimer: If you recognize it -- I don't own it.
Authors note: I know I should be working on my other story "Are You Home", but I am so stuck and this just demanded to be written that.... well .... I did. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy reading your feedback.
--Onaree--
The dawn broke bright and clear but the Goblin King's mood was as dark as midnight.
The night before he had watched, alone, as that little chit of a girl celebrated her victory over him. Him-- the Goblin King. It still galled him. Nobody had ever won--ever. Not being about to stand the loneliness--no anger at her victory. He flew back to his castle.
Flying into the window in the throne room, Jareth transformed back to human form. He threw himself upon his throne but found that he couldn't keep still so he started to pace the floor.
Back and forth, faster and faster, as he mumbled to himself.
The goblins in the room watched silently, slowly backing way from this caged tiger of a king.
Jareth had never felt such pain as this girl had caused him. This was not how it was supposed to be. He should have won-- easily. He couldn't believe that he had resorted to begging at the end. She had absolutely no mercy on him. It hurt so much. She had pricked his ego and broken his heart, although he was trying *not* to think about that so much. Concentrate on the fact that she beat his unbeatable labyrinth. The damage it would cause to his ego. Not knowing what else to do, he did what the fae usually did when they were in pain-- they took it out on someone else.
He called one of his goblin guards out to him. The goblin started to edge over carefully until he was his king's face and ran over to him, awaiting his orders.
"When the Hoggle and Sir Didymus arrived back in *my* kingdom they are to be arrest and kept in the dungeon until I send for them." The goblin just stared at him. "Well, go after them!" As he kicks the goblin towards the door.
Jareth watched the goblin gather several fellow guards and leave the throne room. He stalked out of the room and went to his chamber and his bed. But try as he might he couldn't sleep for the look of *her* eyes as they danced and the sound of *her* voice as she said those awful words 'you have no power over me' over and over in his dreams.
In the dungeon, which is at the lowest part of the castle, Hoggle and Sir Didymus are thrown into a cell together.
The walls are dank and green with a rank smelling slime. The sound of dripping water echoes thru the cell. Dirty straw covers the dirt floor and rustles with the movements of the things that live in it.
Hoggle and Sir Didymus look around. Didymus looks confused, but Hoggle is resigned. He sits on the dirty straw floor with his head in his hands.
"Why ever have we been put in here?" Didymus said as much to himself as to Hoggle.
"As we's stormed the city and helped the little lady corner his majesty, I thinks me might be upset with us, that's why."
"But helping a fair maiden is part of a knight's duty, is it not."
Hoggle retorted, "Even if it means betraying yer king. We lets her win." Hoggle put his head back down and said despairingly. "I just hope he makes it fast, that all I hopes."
Didymus patted Hoggle on the shoulder. "Do you regret helping he fair lady?"
Hoggle looked up at him surprised. "I don'ts regret what I's done, but I'm a coward so's I'm afraid." Hoggle stared into Didymus's eyes. "I's do it again, I would."
"So would I, my brother, so would I." Didymus said as he tried to get comfortable for the night.
The two prisoners slept fitfully in their cell.
As fitfully as a certain Goblin King. Who woke feeling all the worse for it the next morning.
Jareth appeared in the middle of the cell with a paper in his hand and cleared his throat.
Hoggle who really hadn't slept at all started at the sound and seeing the king tried to shake Didymus awake.
"Just five more minutes, Ambrosia." He muttered before turning over in his sleep.
At this Jareth stepped directly in front of Didymus and cleared his throat again. When this and Hoggle's shakings didn't wake the knight up, Jareth stomped on his tail. This woke the knight who screamed and clutched his tail in his arms, looking up at the king.
In a soft, conversational voice he asked. "Did you sleep well?" They both nodded. "Good then your trial can begin." In the time it took him to say this they were transported to the throne room. Several goblin guards came over and stood to both sides and behind them.
Hoggle thought to himself... as if we kin git away, as he saw them surround him and Didymus.
Jareth stalked over to his throne and threw himself upon it. "Sir Didymus, did you not take an oath with me?" He started quietly.
"Yes, my king."
"And, exactly, what did you swear to do?"
Didymus stood suddenly very tall and proud. "That I would let no one pass without my permission."
"Then how did she get across with bridge?"
"Sire, she had my permission?"
Jareth stood up from his throne and stalked over to the prisoners and shouted "How in the name of the crystal moon did she get your permission?"
Didymus realizing, finally, that things are not going well answered meekly. "Ah, well, ah."
He looked around him very unsure.
In a quiet voice Jareth prompted, "Go on."
"She asked your majesty."
Jareth's eyes widened and turned his back on them. He thought to himself: it was so simple but no one else would ever think of asking. And he had never told Didymus that he couldn't give permission so when she asked he would say yes. Even having gone back to her home she still flouts him. He turned back to Didymus, "I understand that I no longer have a bridge over the bog, is that not correct."
"Yes, strangely it fell apart as soon as she stepped upon it."
"Then, Didymus," he purposely left off the sir to make his point, "you shall be in charge of rebuilding it. And Zek and Eek with assist you." He pointed to a guard who came up to the king. "You are dismissed."
The guard escorted Sir Didymus out of the throne room wondering why he had chosen those two goblins for the job. They were stupid by goblin standards, and that is saying something.
Hoggle watched as Didymus was escorted out of the room. Knowing that he was next, he huddled on the floor, kneeling and trembling in terror.
Jareth, jabbing Hoggle in the side with his foot none too gently asked. "Hoggle, did you or did you not come to me after you ran away from King Mahanaga of the Dwarf Kingdom and give your oath that you would be loyal to me if I took you in?"
Hoggle nodded, but he was shaking so badly that Jareth was not totally certain of the fact. But he decided to accept it as such. This was perfect, thought Jareth. The perfect person to torment. I may not kill him later, I'll never have anyone better to torment. "Now what kind of punishment do you deserve. You with your questionable loyalty before you ever took an oath with me." Jareth walked over to his throne. "Sit at my feet," he snapped.
Hoggle got up and sat when Jareth's finger pointed beside him.
"I should kill you for what you've done." With his wolf's smile he looked down at Hoggle, who was huddle in a ball at his feet. This won't do, he thought to himself, you need to look into their eyes-- to see their pain to forget your own. "Look at me when I speak to you, is this the respect you have for you king?"
Hoggle looked up at Jareth. His eyes watery with unshed tears and every so often tremors would race through his body.
"Better," he said with a nod and slapping his riding crop against his thigh. "Let me think, what is the best way to die?"
Before Hoggle could even think he heard his voice softly say, "Old age." He clasped his hands to his mouth and stared up at his king, terrified of what his outburst might bring.
Jareth, on the other hand, was desperately suppressing a smile. He was afraid that the dwarf would faint from fear too quickly, but that comment showed that he would be able to enjoy himself. He looked down at Hoggle, "Did you say something, Hogbrain?" he said sweetly.
Hoggle just shook his head.
"Good," Jareth pretended to ponder while tapping his crop against Hoggle's shoulder. "Hmmmm, boiling oil.... been done. How about tying each arm and leg to a different horse and having them pull, what do you think?"
Jareth looked down at Hoggle who was shaking his head in disbelief. "No, your right, too messy." He glared down at Hoggle's level suddenly, "And the city is enough of a mess thanks to you."
The King sat back in his throne and smile like a man who was warming up to a favorite subject. "How about being drowned in the bog of eternal stench. That would be appropriate would it not?" Jareth was feeling so much better, he took a long look in Hoggle's eyes and knew that if he wanted to do this later he had better stop for a while. The poor dwarf was sweating badly and looked like he might have a heart attack at any moment. He felt so much better that he would be generous.
"Guard," he pointed to the closest, "take him to the small chamber near mine and keep him under guard while I decide his fate."
The guard grabbed Hoggle by the waist and half dragged him out of the chamber. Not because he was trying to be ruff but because he could barely walk on his own. The guard dumped him on the small bed by the window and left the room, banging the door behind him. Hoggle could hear the bolt being thrown by the guard and relaxed. He felt safer locked away from the King, even if a locked door in his castle would prove no obstacle to him. And fell into a exhausted sleep.
Later when he woke, he looked around the chamber he was placed in. And wondered.
The chamber was small by the standards of the castle but still a nice sized room. Actually it was about the size of the little cottage that he lived in. It was built into a thick section of the wall and was the traditional cottage for those that tended the front gate. This was obviously a servants room, but it was still nicer than he was used to. The bed was soft and the room was airy with a large window. It might only overlook the kitchen garden but it still let a lot of light and air into the room. The room also had a few rugs on the floor. They may have been old and very worn but still they would keep the chill of the stone floor off bare feet.
Hoggle was totally perplexed. One moment Jareth was wondering how to kill him and the next he gave him a nice room. It may not be as nice as his own but he had to know that it was nicer than Hoggle was used to. And why a room and not the dungeon? So many questions made Hoggle's head hurt so he laid back down on the soft bed and went back to sleep.
The day's soon fell into a regular pattern for Hoggle. The guards would bring him his meals and every day or so Jareth would torment him with his possible punishment. He would ask Hoggle, torture first then execute or just torture to death. Perhaps send him back to Mahanaga. That was the worst. Mahanaga would pick something slow and painful and enjoy ever minute of it. No, he would rather be terrified by Jareth than tortured by Mahanaga.
After a great many weeks, Hoggle began to wonder if this *was* his punishment or if there was something more going on than he was aware of. It seemed so strange. He was well taken care of, he had lots of food and good food at that. He had discovered that the guards would even bring him more if he asked. He had never eaten so well.
What confused him most was Jareth's behavior. He had heard the gossip from the guards. The King was in the foulest mood that anyone had ever seen him in. He was kicking goblins left and right. And, truth to tell, he did frequently did kick goblins. But never as much as this. And much harder than his want. True goblins have thick skins and are difficult to hurt so being kicked is unpleasant but acceptable. But he had actually hurt a few.
But what really made Hoggle wonder was the fact that he always seemed so much happier after tormenting him. Even the guards noticed and remarked on it. Hoggle was still terrified every time he was taken before the king, but no longer after he left him. Somehow he knew that as long as Jareth seemed more relaxed and less on edge when he was done with him than when he started, Hoggle wouldn't be executed.
Jareth sat on the edge of his large bed and just blankly stared at his chamber. It was a sumptuous room. And immense bed dominated the room. A heavily carved four poster bed. The mattress was the softest down to be had in the kingdom. The bedclothes the softest of silk and linen, richly embroidery in bright colors. Not a better way to sleep, except for having a beautiful woman sharing to with you.
Wait, where had that thought come from. He had had many women in his bed. Being such a power and unmarried king, many women have suggested a physical alliance in hopes of making a political one. And when it came to women throwing themselves at him, well no one would ever accuse him of ducking.
But in the end he was always happiest afterwards when his time and his bed were his own again. Not one did he think of after they had gone. Not one.
But there is one gone that you think of, that soft and annoying voice in his mind whispered, constantly.
Jareth started to pace his chamber in hopes of stilling that voice that had haunted and distracted him for so long. But it always came back, worse than before. At first tormenting Hoggle had stilled it, but the effect lasted less and less each time.
He need to do something and he need to do it now before these feelings drove him mad.
He transported himself to his study and took a large yellowed sheet of parchment out of a locked drawer of his desk where he kept important documents and read it aloud to himself. "I Robert Williams do freely exchange The Goblin King's claim upon my sister Jane Williams for a future child of mine to be payable upon demand by said Goblin King."
He then took out a blank sheet of parchment from his desk, wrote a few short paragraphs on it and signed it with a flourish. He rolled them together with the newer document on the outside, melted some wax and sealed the document. Finally using a stylus to mark a design (a stylized version of his pendant) in the wax before it cooled.
"Guard," he yelled out into the hallway. Soon the patter of small feet and the clink of armor could be heard racing down the hallway. One of his taller goblins stood at attention awaiting his king's orders. "When I return I want that dwarf Hoggle waiting for me in my throne room." The guard nodded but stood there. "Well, go." And the guard did, with all speed.
Hoggle, in his chamber as he know thought of it, was finishing his soup when there was a loud pounding at the door. "Come," he said. The guards had become very respectful of him since when Jareth took out his anger on Hoggle he wasn't taking it out on them.
The same guard that Jareth had spoken to, came into the room and very sadly spoke. "His Majesty said you were to wait in the throne room until he came back."
"Why's you so sad looking, Urk?"
Urk looked down at his feet and shuffled them a little. "The king seemed different than he usually does when he calls for you. Not angry, more determined like. And he had a document in his hand. I think he's decided what he is to do with you." Urk shuffled his feet some more and said softly. "I'll miss you, Hoggle."
Hoggle sniffed a bit as his eyes watered, "I's guess it had to come so time. I'll miss you too my friend." Hoggle put his arm around Urk's shoulders and they slowly walked out of the chamber together.
Jareth arrived at the High Court of the Fae shortly after giving his orders to Urk. He went up to the Lord of Documents. "I have a document that I wish registered with the court. And be quick about it, I have much to attend to." He said as he handed the man his document.
The fussy and balding man broke the wax seal and quickly scanned the enclosed documents. His eyebrows seeming to be determined to crawl off his face as they raised higher and higher while reading. He looked up sharply at Jareth. "You do understand the ramifications of these documents, are you certain you wish them registered?"
"Yes and yes." And disappeared before the Lord of Documents could say another word.