Disclaimer: "Labyrinth" and everything from it belongs to Henson, though I wouldn't mind a lifetime lease on Jareth. Can't promise I'd pay much, but I would take very good care of him. *g* Oberon and Titania belong to William Shakespeare, though I don't know who was the first one to say that Oberon and Jareth are brothers. If anyone knows, please tell me. I want to give credit where credit is due. "The Phantom Of The Opera" and everything from it belong to Gaston Leroux, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and probably a few other people too. I'm not sure who owns "Grease," but it isn't me. Of course, I don't own Bowie, though I wouldn't mind borrowing him, and I just own two copies of "The Linguini Incident." I don't own the Oscars. If I did, I would've given Best Picture to Beauty And The Beast instead of The Silence Of The Lambs. Pillow Talk was the name of a nighttime program on a local radio station. They played love songs listeners dedicated. The song "Save The Best For Last" was sung by Vanessa Williams and written by Wendy Waldman, Jon Lind, and Phil Galdston. If the wedding scene is familiar, it's because it was borrowed from the film "Krull". The story and all characters not from the movie belong to me. I am not making any money from this. I wrote it strictly for entertainment purposes.
For Jareth, who is always showing me my dreams.
No One Can Blame You
Chapter One: "Too Much Rejection"
The royal summons from the king of Fey was delivered, naturally, by a messenger sprite. The little Fey being flittered over to where Jareth lounged on his throne, handed him the scroll that was more than twice her size, then curtsied and flittered away. The Goblin King unrolled the scroll eagerly, grateful to have something to occupy his time.
~Jareth the Goblin King,~
~Your presence is requested at the Fey Castle to appear before the Great King Oberon tomorrow at midday. His Majesty wishes to discuss something of great importance with you.~
**I know exactly what my dear older brother wishes to discuss,** Jareth thought darkly. **He knows I will never succeed. The Labyrinth will be his and there is nothing I can do about it.** He gazed around his throne room. As always, it was full of half-witted goblins, various animals, and piles of garbage. The horrid smell used to bother him, now he hardly noticed it. His heart fell as he realized that this would soon belong to Oberon. **These ignorant creatures are not ideal subjects, but they are*my* subjects. I must at least try to keep them.**
The next day, Jareth stood before his gold-framed silver mirror and admired his reflection. In an attempt to intimidate Oberon and anyone else who might be present, and to remind them that he was still a king, he wore what he knew to be a very powerful outfit. It was the same outfit he had worn when he was in the Escher Room with Sarah and his favorite black cape. With a final glance in the mirror, the Goblin King vanished.
He reappeared just outside the throne room of the Fey Castle. A uniformed servant bowed to Jareth as he opened the golden oak door. Jareth walked into the large, white marble room, keeping his face emotionless. There was no need for Oberon to see how distressed he was. With his boot heels clicking on the stone floor and the cape billowing behind him, Jareth knew he looked imposing.
The Fey King knew that the forthcoming announcement was upsetting his younger brother, but he was amazed at how calm Jareth seemed. "He even took the time to dress well, if flamboyantly. Why is it that he looks regal in clothes that look ridiculous on me?" he whispered to his wife.
"Because you do not have the same style, my love," Titania whispered back, smiling sweetly.
Oberon turned to his guest. "I am certain you know why you are here, brother."
Jareth's only acknowledgement was a slight nod.
"Even so, tradition dictates that I must remind you. Jareth, the time has come for you to marry and produce an heir. If you are not married by the next full moon, you must forfeit your kingdom."
The Goblin King's face turned a shade or two paler, but Oberon could see no other outward sign of his emotional state. Inside, it was a very different story.
**I knew that I must marry, but I only have a month?! Impossible!** "Oberon..."
"When you are in my kingdom, Jareth," Oberon interrupted, "you shall address me as Your Majesty."
Jareth groaned inwardly. "Your Majesty, a month is not nearly enough time to find a wife."
"You have had a thousand years. That is more than enough time for anyone."
"I rule a kingdom of goblins. I do not think any of them would make a proper wife."
His tone was cold enough to make the Fey King ask his next question carefully. "What about that girl who defeated you? What was her name?"
"Sarah," Jareth replied quietly.
"Yes, Sarah. What about her?"
"She refused me. I offered her the greatest gift anyone could receive, and she rejected it."
"You offered her your kingdom?" Oberon asked. "It is a passable kingdom, but hardly the greatest gift."
The Goblin King glared at him. "I was referring to myself."
Oberon laughed long and hard. Jareth took the opportunity to leave after he bowed to Titania. Instead of magically transporting himself back to the Goblin Castle, he decided a flight was exactly what he needed. Jareth transformed into a barn owl and flew out an open window.
He flew over the Fey Kingdom, noticing the vast willow forest that was once Salica, the elf kingdom, and the many flower meadows that had been Linaria, the fairy kingdom. Both lands had been taken over by his father, the previous Fey King. It seemed that Oberon wanted to continue the tradition.
**He will never have the Labyrinth, I swear it. I must find a wife before the next full moon.** As he approached the Labyrinth, Jareth's thoughts turned to love. **Such tender emotions towards the woman I marry will not be necessary. My parents married without love and lived very well. I could not call them happily married, but they were content. I can only hope to find the same contentment.**
After an uneventful flight home and a change of clothes, Jareth paced the length of the ledge, turned, and paced back. The Escher Room was the place Jareth went when his life seemed unbelievably complex. A psychiatrist might call it comparative therapy; all Jareth knew was that after an hour or so there, he usually felt better about his problems. At the moment, he had been in the room for five hours, with no relief in sight.
**A month! Oberon expects me to be married in a month!**
Furious, he formed a crystal and hurled it at the farthest flight of stairs. It bounced off and ricocheted around the room, even whizzing by Jareth once or twice, unnoticed. The crystal gained speed until it finally hit the arch of a doorway, where it shattered, sending a shower of glitter on Hoggle.
"I will lose everything!" Jareth shouted with such volume, fury and despair that it made the dwarf want to run for cover. He stood his ground, though, and remembered why he was there.
"Yer... Yer Majesty?"
Jareth looked up (or in Hoggle's case, down) at him, then was standing in front of him in an instant. His withering glare was enough to make Hoggle tremble, but he refused to cower before his monarch.
"What is it, Hogwart?" Jareth demanded.
"I was 'earin' ya ... hafta get married, Yer Majesty," Hoggle said, his voice shaking.
**Bad news certainly travels fast. I am sure even the false alarms are talking about it by now.** "What of it?" **Does this cowardly nothing think he can actually change my situation? Wait, does this cowardly nothing even *think*?**
"Why dontcha marry Sarah?"
The Goblin King glared at the dwarf. "Do you think I haven't considered that, Hogwash? Sarah is the first person I thought of. She would never consider marrying me, not after what I did to her brother."
"Ya only took 'im because she asked ya to, Yer Majesty."
"Sarah despises me. She would never consent to marrying me."
"Didja ever ask her?"
"I couldn't," Jareth said quietly, thinking back to the last time he had seen her. **I admit that my offer did not exactly sound like a proposal. Perhaps Sarah misunderstood my intentions. She is the only woman I could ever marry -- she is the only one who could ever understand me. If I can't have her ... this kingdom is no longer worth ruling. If she refuses me, I will give Oberon the Labyrinth immediately.**
The young woman made her way back to the hall of dressing rooms, stopping at the door boasting a large gold star with the name Sarah Williams. She knocked on the door and heard Sarah's immediate reply.
"Come in, Ronni."
Veronica Thomas let herself in and handed Sarah the bottle of Evian, smiling as she drank it thirstily. "One would think you haven't had water in days."
Sarah smiled back nervously. "You know my throat always goes dry when I get nervous. Broadway is in my blood and I've been doing this for years, but I still get nervous on opening night in a new city." She sighed and took a long sip. "It's better than having a shaky voice, but it's hard to sing when your throat feels like the Sahara. I don't know what I did with my sports bottle."
"I think we may have left that in Denver," Veronica said. "I can get you a new one tomorrow."
"You don't have to do that, Ronni," Sarah said, feeling much better now that her voice wasn't threatening to crack. "I'm perfectly capable of buying my own sports bottle."
Veronica smiled. "What are personal assistants for?"
"Getting me into this costume," Sarah said, smiling back. "I don't know how women back then got dressed."
"Easy, they had maids." Veronica helped Sarah into the gypsy-like costume and made sure the bodice wasn't too tight. "Can't have you suffocating from your own corset."
There was a knock at the door, and Veronica let in Jean and Lisa, Sarah's hairstylist and make-up artist. She sat back and watched as they finished the transformation from Sarah Williams, actress, to Christine Daae, chorus girl and pupil of the Phantom of the Opera. When they were done, Veronica smiled approvingly and said what she did to Sarah before every performance.
"You'll knock 'em dead."
While Sarah bewitched the audience with her beautiful voice, Veronica watched the performance from backstage. There was once a time when she would have given anything to be in the older woman's place. Veronica had dreamed of being a successful actress, but after several bad auditions, she realized that acting was not all champagne and roses. She knew then that she still wanted to be in show business, but felt that being behind the scenes would be just as enjoyable.
Veronica thought back to the day she met Sarah Williams.
It was 1995, and she was working as an assistant seamstress for the touring production of ALW's "The Phantom Of The Opera" when Andrew himself hired Sarah to play Christine. The second-generation theatrical actress had just finished a three-month run of playing Sandy in "Grease" and many people thought Sarah was not good enough to be the opera ingenue. Andrew, though, had seen her and knew that she was perfect for the part.
The head seamstress asked Veronica to alter the Christine costumes to fit Sarah. At the first fitting session, Sarah seemed so nervous and so overwhelmed. She was taking singing lessons to help her sound like an opera singer. Veronica helped Sarah adjust to the change from rock to opera and the two women became good friends. After Sarah played Christine for six months, she decided that she needed a personal assistant to help her keep track of everything. Unsurprisingly, she picked Veronica.
Veronica had worked for Sarah for five years now and loved every minute of it.
Jareth watched Sarah's performance from a crystal. Her first song, "Think Of Me," enchanted him and made him wish that he could sing it with her. **She has become so successful in her career as an actress. If she agrees to become my wife, she will have to give up the stage. A Goblin Queen's duties are too numerous and too important to include acting.**
When Sarah went backstage during a change in scene, Jareth noticed the young woman who helped her change costumes. He heard Sarah ask the woman how she was doing, and the woman smiled, saying she was fantastic. **It appears that woman is very close to Sarah. She is the link to my future Goblin Queen.**
As Sarah went back onstage, Jareth focused on the young woman. One of the stagehands called her Ron. **That is hardly a feminine nickname. On the other hand, it reflects her appearance. This woman is ... dowdy compared to Sarah. Those baggy clothes do nothing for her. And that hair...** Jareth smirked to himself. **Perhaps I can offer her something, like a makeover, in exchange for helping me woo Sarah. She certainly needs one.** With that, Jareth prepared for his first visit to Earth in several years.
For Jareth, who is always showing me my dreams.
No One Can Blame You
Chapter One: "Too Much Rejection"
The royal summons from the king of Fey was delivered, naturally, by a messenger sprite. The little Fey being flittered over to where Jareth lounged on his throne, handed him the scroll that was more than twice her size, then curtsied and flittered away. The Goblin King unrolled the scroll eagerly, grateful to have something to occupy his time.
~Jareth the Goblin King,~
~Your presence is requested at the Fey Castle to appear before the Great King Oberon tomorrow at midday. His Majesty wishes to discuss something of great importance with you.~
**I know exactly what my dear older brother wishes to discuss,** Jareth thought darkly. **He knows I will never succeed. The Labyrinth will be his and there is nothing I can do about it.** He gazed around his throne room. As always, it was full of half-witted goblins, various animals, and piles of garbage. The horrid smell used to bother him, now he hardly noticed it. His heart fell as he realized that this would soon belong to Oberon. **These ignorant creatures are not ideal subjects, but they are*my* subjects. I must at least try to keep them.**
The next day, Jareth stood before his gold-framed silver mirror and admired his reflection. In an attempt to intimidate Oberon and anyone else who might be present, and to remind them that he was still a king, he wore what he knew to be a very powerful outfit. It was the same outfit he had worn when he was in the Escher Room with Sarah and his favorite black cape. With a final glance in the mirror, the Goblin King vanished.
He reappeared just outside the throne room of the Fey Castle. A uniformed servant bowed to Jareth as he opened the golden oak door. Jareth walked into the large, white marble room, keeping his face emotionless. There was no need for Oberon to see how distressed he was. With his boot heels clicking on the stone floor and the cape billowing behind him, Jareth knew he looked imposing.
The Fey King knew that the forthcoming announcement was upsetting his younger brother, but he was amazed at how calm Jareth seemed. "He even took the time to dress well, if flamboyantly. Why is it that he looks regal in clothes that look ridiculous on me?" he whispered to his wife.
"Because you do not have the same style, my love," Titania whispered back, smiling sweetly.
Oberon turned to his guest. "I am certain you know why you are here, brother."
Jareth's only acknowledgement was a slight nod.
"Even so, tradition dictates that I must remind you. Jareth, the time has come for you to marry and produce an heir. If you are not married by the next full moon, you must forfeit your kingdom."
The Goblin King's face turned a shade or two paler, but Oberon could see no other outward sign of his emotional state. Inside, it was a very different story.
**I knew that I must marry, but I only have a month?! Impossible!** "Oberon..."
"When you are in my kingdom, Jareth," Oberon interrupted, "you shall address me as Your Majesty."
Jareth groaned inwardly. "Your Majesty, a month is not nearly enough time to find a wife."
"You have had a thousand years. That is more than enough time for anyone."
"I rule a kingdom of goblins. I do not think any of them would make a proper wife."
His tone was cold enough to make the Fey King ask his next question carefully. "What about that girl who defeated you? What was her name?"
"Sarah," Jareth replied quietly.
"Yes, Sarah. What about her?"
"She refused me. I offered her the greatest gift anyone could receive, and she rejected it."
"You offered her your kingdom?" Oberon asked. "It is a passable kingdom, but hardly the greatest gift."
The Goblin King glared at him. "I was referring to myself."
Oberon laughed long and hard. Jareth took the opportunity to leave after he bowed to Titania. Instead of magically transporting himself back to the Goblin Castle, he decided a flight was exactly what he needed. Jareth transformed into a barn owl and flew out an open window.
He flew over the Fey Kingdom, noticing the vast willow forest that was once Salica, the elf kingdom, and the many flower meadows that had been Linaria, the fairy kingdom. Both lands had been taken over by his father, the previous Fey King. It seemed that Oberon wanted to continue the tradition.
**He will never have the Labyrinth, I swear it. I must find a wife before the next full moon.** As he approached the Labyrinth, Jareth's thoughts turned to love. **Such tender emotions towards the woman I marry will not be necessary. My parents married without love and lived very well. I could not call them happily married, but they were content. I can only hope to find the same contentment.**
After an uneventful flight home and a change of clothes, Jareth paced the length of the ledge, turned, and paced back. The Escher Room was the place Jareth went when his life seemed unbelievably complex. A psychiatrist might call it comparative therapy; all Jareth knew was that after an hour or so there, he usually felt better about his problems. At the moment, he had been in the room for five hours, with no relief in sight.
**A month! Oberon expects me to be married in a month!**
Furious, he formed a crystal and hurled it at the farthest flight of stairs. It bounced off and ricocheted around the room, even whizzing by Jareth once or twice, unnoticed. The crystal gained speed until it finally hit the arch of a doorway, where it shattered, sending a shower of glitter on Hoggle.
"I will lose everything!" Jareth shouted with such volume, fury and despair that it made the dwarf want to run for cover. He stood his ground, though, and remembered why he was there.
"Yer... Yer Majesty?"
Jareth looked up (or in Hoggle's case, down) at him, then was standing in front of him in an instant. His withering glare was enough to make Hoggle tremble, but he refused to cower before his monarch.
"What is it, Hogwart?" Jareth demanded.
"I was 'earin' ya ... hafta get married, Yer Majesty," Hoggle said, his voice shaking.
**Bad news certainly travels fast. I am sure even the false alarms are talking about it by now.** "What of it?" **Does this cowardly nothing think he can actually change my situation? Wait, does this cowardly nothing even *think*?**
"Why dontcha marry Sarah?"
The Goblin King glared at the dwarf. "Do you think I haven't considered that, Hogwash? Sarah is the first person I thought of. She would never consider marrying me, not after what I did to her brother."
"Ya only took 'im because she asked ya to, Yer Majesty."
"Sarah despises me. She would never consent to marrying me."
"Didja ever ask her?"
"I couldn't," Jareth said quietly, thinking back to the last time he had seen her. **I admit that my offer did not exactly sound like a proposal. Perhaps Sarah misunderstood my intentions. She is the only woman I could ever marry -- she is the only one who could ever understand me. If I can't have her ... this kingdom is no longer worth ruling. If she refuses me, I will give Oberon the Labyrinth immediately.**
The young woman made her way back to the hall of dressing rooms, stopping at the door boasting a large gold star with the name Sarah Williams. She knocked on the door and heard Sarah's immediate reply.
"Come in, Ronni."
Veronica Thomas let herself in and handed Sarah the bottle of Evian, smiling as she drank it thirstily. "One would think you haven't had water in days."
Sarah smiled back nervously. "You know my throat always goes dry when I get nervous. Broadway is in my blood and I've been doing this for years, but I still get nervous on opening night in a new city." She sighed and took a long sip. "It's better than having a shaky voice, but it's hard to sing when your throat feels like the Sahara. I don't know what I did with my sports bottle."
"I think we may have left that in Denver," Veronica said. "I can get you a new one tomorrow."
"You don't have to do that, Ronni," Sarah said, feeling much better now that her voice wasn't threatening to crack. "I'm perfectly capable of buying my own sports bottle."
Veronica smiled. "What are personal assistants for?"
"Getting me into this costume," Sarah said, smiling back. "I don't know how women back then got dressed."
"Easy, they had maids." Veronica helped Sarah into the gypsy-like costume and made sure the bodice wasn't too tight. "Can't have you suffocating from your own corset."
There was a knock at the door, and Veronica let in Jean and Lisa, Sarah's hairstylist and make-up artist. She sat back and watched as they finished the transformation from Sarah Williams, actress, to Christine Daae, chorus girl and pupil of the Phantom of the Opera. When they were done, Veronica smiled approvingly and said what she did to Sarah before every performance.
"You'll knock 'em dead."
While Sarah bewitched the audience with her beautiful voice, Veronica watched the performance from backstage. There was once a time when she would have given anything to be in the older woman's place. Veronica had dreamed of being a successful actress, but after several bad auditions, she realized that acting was not all champagne and roses. She knew then that she still wanted to be in show business, but felt that being behind the scenes would be just as enjoyable.
Veronica thought back to the day she met Sarah Williams.
It was 1995, and she was working as an assistant seamstress for the touring production of ALW's "The Phantom Of The Opera" when Andrew himself hired Sarah to play Christine. The second-generation theatrical actress had just finished a three-month run of playing Sandy in "Grease" and many people thought Sarah was not good enough to be the opera ingenue. Andrew, though, had seen her and knew that she was perfect for the part.
The head seamstress asked Veronica to alter the Christine costumes to fit Sarah. At the first fitting session, Sarah seemed so nervous and so overwhelmed. She was taking singing lessons to help her sound like an opera singer. Veronica helped Sarah adjust to the change from rock to opera and the two women became good friends. After Sarah played Christine for six months, she decided that she needed a personal assistant to help her keep track of everything. Unsurprisingly, she picked Veronica.
Veronica had worked for Sarah for five years now and loved every minute of it.
Jareth watched Sarah's performance from a crystal. Her first song, "Think Of Me," enchanted him and made him wish that he could sing it with her. **She has become so successful in her career as an actress. If she agrees to become my wife, she will have to give up the stage. A Goblin Queen's duties are too numerous and too important to include acting.**
When Sarah went backstage during a change in scene, Jareth noticed the young woman who helped her change costumes. He heard Sarah ask the woman how she was doing, and the woman smiled, saying she was fantastic. **It appears that woman is very close to Sarah. She is the link to my future Goblin Queen.**
As Sarah went back onstage, Jareth focused on the young woman. One of the stagehands called her Ron. **That is hardly a feminine nickname. On the other hand, it reflects her appearance. This woman is ... dowdy compared to Sarah. Those baggy clothes do nothing for her. And that hair...** Jareth smirked to himself. **Perhaps I can offer her something, like a makeover, in exchange for helping me woo Sarah. She certainly needs one.** With that, Jareth prepared for his first visit to Earth in several years.