Chapter 1
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Oh I don't know… it's positively mischievous. Pray tell what incorrigible thoughts you're having."
"Sweet Sarah, I'm dwelling on the beading of your gown, the light shining through your hair and those perfect pale hands clasped together. Romantic enough my dear?"
"Quite, but you can't honestly expect me to believe that your thoughts are so innocent, Jareth."
He gave a small laugh. "You are right as always, precious. I had hoped to save you from a monstrous blush before addressing our subjects. Heaven knows how you'd berate me for vexing your poor nerves before public speaking."
"It's never been my favorite thing, I'll admit, but I do believe my time with you has quite improved my skill at it." Sarah stood and held out her hand. "Shall we?"
Jareth took the outstretched hand and joined her in standing, a smile gracing his sharp features. "You know my love goes on forever and ever. You and the child growing inside your womb are the two most important things in my life."
Sarah grinned back at him. "Now is not the time for mushy sentiments- go on and gather everyone's attention before your child decides now is a good time to puke on your shoes."
Jareth squeezed her hand in response before nodding at the page to his right. On que, the page let out a booming call for silence and attention to the Goblin King.
"Dearly beloved friends, family, and citizens of the underground, my queen and I have some joyous news to share with you." Jareth looked at his wife, tender emotions flying across his face. "I am more than pleased to announce that Sarah and I are pregnant!"
Cheers erupted and glasses clinked in delightful celebration all throughout the castle beyond the goblin city and goblins raced throughout the labyrinth to spread the news. It would be safe to say that within the hour, the entirety of the Underground would be aware that the Goblin Queen was with child.
While various nobles and creatures of all types approached the humble couple with congratulations and parenting advice, there was a disturbance far from view.
Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, lay the castle beyond the goblin city. Through deceptions uncounted and tragedies unimaginable, lay the fortress beyond the dark elves' forests.
Inside the highest chamber, a king lay dying. Eleven elves of high station surrounded his deathbed, each one tense with anticipation and fear. The death of an elfin king with no heirs meant a struggle for power, a bloody and gruesome battle that would end before word of the prior king's passing even left the fortress.
As the king's breath became more labored and his chest heaved with more urgency, eleven elves leaned in. They cast wary glances at one another and the scepter that the frail, bony hands of their king held onto like a lifeline. Any moment now, he would release the object and the boldest of the eleven elves would claim it. Should he be challenged and loose the greatest test of strength, he would be punished by death.
The elves of this region were of a dark and terrific kind, not nurturing and lively, or the picture of winter holidays in the Aboveground. These elves bred disaster and feed on the blackest of nightmares. They had been docile for decades but with the death of the king would also come the death of their dormancy.
The king was so close to leaving now, and the wait was driving one elf particularly mad. In his impatience, he reached for the scepter.
Scrambling in sluggish outrage, the king screeched in labored fury. "It's mine!" He gasped and clutched the scepter closer to his breast, wheezing at every movement. "It's mine!"
The brash elf hissed in response and drew back, glaring at the other elves that now knew of his intentions. He had dealt his cards too soon, a possibly fatal mistake.
The energy of the king's earlier excitement had been too great. With one last painfully gasping breath, he let go of his scepter and his life. His body dissolved into dust, a layer of dark soot under blue velvet sheets. A ghastly picture of departure displayed in front of eleven elves that cared very little for it.
The next few moments would define everything.
Jareth choked on his champagne in glee of the ridiculous picture displayed in front of all his guests. Sarah was playing pin the chicken on the goblin with a few of his favorite pesky subjects and she was getting increasingly frustrated with her blindfold and the jeering from her playmates. Jareth occasionally threw in a good barb to see her face flush in indignation and her sharp tongue to lash out in response. The guests at his party continued their merry making, dancing in circles and downing large amounts of alcohol. Some watched Sarah's game, admiring her willingness to waste her time on ridiculous creatures, while some envied her husband's obvious devotion.
After finally placing the convoluted drawing of a chicken on the right screaming goblin, Sarah tore off her blindfold and made a beeline for her husband's lap. "I cannot believe you allowed me to make such a fool of myself!" She downed a glass of water. "You're lucky I'm confident in everyone's opinion of me because otherwise I'd chew your head off."
Jareth wrapped his arms around her waist. "You magnificently silly precious thing, we both know you enjoyed that far more than you're letting on. Now stop wriggling, it's improper enough that we're sitting in this position, don't excite me into doing something dreadfully inappropriate."
Sarah raised an eyebrow at him and leaned forward until they were nose to nose. "Tell me a little more about this something you'd do…"
It hadn't taken more than a minute for the same impulsive elf to reach for the scepter again. This time he was stopped by one of the other eleven elves.
"What do you think you are doing, Arvid? You are too weak to be king." Spoke the tallest of the elven, grabbing the scepter out of the impulsive elf's hand. "I, the deceptive Eerikki, lay claim to the scepter; all who challenge me do so now."
Arvid growled and went for the scepter again. "I, the impetuous Arvid, lay claim to the scepter. Trial by stone!"
The other elves began chanting, "Trial by stone, trial by stone!" while the two challengers stalked each other in a circle. In minutes, all had made their way to the dark elven cave of Darce, which held the stone of Macabre.
One of the smaller, more fiendish looking elves stepped forward. "Challengers Eerikki and Arvid shall each be given one chance to split the stone of Macabre in half. He who is triumphant shall be named king; he who is defeated shall perish. Should neither be victorious, both will be exiled." Eerikki and Arvid were each handed elongated swords made of black diamond, a weapon the dark elves specialized in creating. The two moved to opposite sides of the silent stone. "Begin."
Eerikki and Arvid circled one another around the stone, the other elves separating to side of the contender they believed victorious. Arvid made the first move, dashing towards the stone without thinking and swinging his mighty sword. A resounding clank enveloped the cave, ringing in elfin ears. Arvid moved back with wide eyes: his swing had not broken the stone.
Eerikki let out a calculated laugh as he advanced on the stone. He was not capable of feeling fear, his movement dictated by flawless strategy and dark intent. In one smooth arc, Eerikki's sword came down, colliding with the stone and sending off sparks. As though the stone were made of straw, it broke clean in half, the large upper portion crashing to the floor as dust flew up from the ground.
Eerikki released a cry of victory and satisfaction, taking hold of the scepter once more and raising it above his head. "From this moment forward I shall be known as Eerikki, the great and deceptive king of the dark elves! Bow before your new ruler!"
An ethereal glow of a hellish red consumed Eerikki and he felt ecstasy at the power flowing from the scepter through his veins. After the transformation was complete, he pointed at Arvid. "The challenger was defeated- kill him!"
The gruesome scene that followed is not to be described.
Fine invisible threads tie the Goblin King and the High King of the Underground to all of its kingdoms. It is in this way they can monitor them at all times. All they need do is produce a crystal and witness whatever event is playing out. They are also able to feel drastic changes in the monarchy, so when Jareth choked a second time that night, it was not in jubilance.
"Are you alright, my love?" Sarah asked from her throne next to his and placing her hand on his wrist.
Jareth didn't respond, instead producing a crystal and watching everything from the previous dark elf king's death to the present terror unfolding in the cave of Darce. The images made him physically ill.
"Jareth? What's going on? Is something wrong?" Sarah tried to glimpse what he was viewing in his crystal, but he made it vanish before her lovely eyes were scarred by its contents.
"The king of the dark elves has just passed on and a new king has arisen." Jareth finally divulged, turning his attention the vision of beauty beside him. "His name is Eerikki."
"Are you worried he'll pay us a visit?" Jareth shook his head. "Then why are you so tense?"
"You were not alive when the dark elves waged war on the goblin kingdom the last time it happened. It was an atrocious war of attrition that lasted for decades and brought on endless casualties. My uncle before me was Goblin King, and he lost his life ending the war. I was left to clean up the mess and war reparations are still not entirely finished. The dark elves have been quiet since, but something in me doesn't believe it will stay that way."
Giving him a reassuring smile, Sarah cupped his cheek. "We can't predict the future, so do not attempt it. It's useless to waste energy on paranoia. Let's enjoy the rest of this night and deal with our suspicions in the morning."
Jareth's eyes rested on his wife's abdomen, where her billowy dress hid a tiny bump. "You're right; I'm probably just overreacting. Now I have so much more to lose. And I won't lose you. Ever." He said with conviction, his posture mirroring the intensity of his tone.
Sarah pulled him to his feet. "Let's take a turn around the room and say goodnight to our guests." Sarah wove her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. "I love you, my gorgeous Goblin King. And baby loves you too."
In retrospect, maybe the Goblin King, next in line to rule all inhabitants of the Underground, should have been more suspicious and anxious concerning the new elfin king. Those thirteen hours he spent in his wife's heavenly embrace were just long enough for Eerikki to hatch a deliciously evil plan involving the death of the Goblin King and his family.
Dangers untold and hardships unnumbered awaited a sleeping pair of royals and their unborn child.
A/N: This is not my first fanfiction, but hopefully the first I'll finish. I'm a huge Jim Henson fan, if you couldn't tell by the plot similarity to The Dark Crystal. I love the trial by stone scene and I just had to use it. Too bad I don't picture skeksies in the underground- on second thought… No I don't plan on incorporating those creatures. However, I will include a guessing game at the end of each chapter! I love stories that do that so I'm jumping the bandwagon.
In the beginning of the chapter, Jareth spoke a song lyric from what band?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Leave your comments, questions, concerns and answers to the trivia above in a review!