Chapter 3: Dazed and Confused
Who knows how many hours later Sarah awoke in a room that was not her own. The previous day's happenings seemed so jumbled. Had the Goblin King been sweet and understanding? Weird. . . .
Sarah sighed to herself, not at all perturbed by her new surroundings. She knew she must be in the Underground, somewhere in his castle by the like. Somewhere in the back of her mind she'd never really forgotten, just convinced herself it was a dream as protection from the guilt. Somehow, no matter how hard her psyche has tried, she could never completely forget this place, could never really bring herself to forget him. Somehow she'd just been kidding herself.
"Bah!" she shouted to no one in particular. "What the hell am I doing? Despite these revelations about my suppressed childhood, I've gotta get out of here!". What was it about this place that made Sarah start talking to herself anyway? Her memories about the Labyrinth slowly resurfacing, she knew she had babbled to herself the last time too. "Whatever" she rolled her eyes and pulled herself out of bed. "I guess it's time I go face Jareth and get the hell out of here. . . let's see if I can still remember the words. . .". Silently rehearsing for the duel that was sure to come, she made her way across the cool wooden floor towards a massive oak door. Looking down she realized that she'd somehow become attired in a long flowing night gown of white silk, "well if that feeds his sick little fantasies, so be it. A distracted foe is a foe easily overcome". Placing her hand on the brass knob, expecting the wood to be heavy and the hinges creaky like in all the castles she'd ever seen on TV, Sarah gave a gigantic shove. Sadly, Jareth seemed to keep his home in very good condition. The effort she applied being far too much, Sarah slammed heavy oak full force into the forehead of one very surprised Goblin King. He fell inelegantly to the floor.
"Jareth!" she screamed in surprise, his only reply being a sort of "uuoooo" moan as he pulled his hand to his temple, still stationary on the floor. Damn it! She wanted to defeat him, not kill him!
Unsure of what to do she asked, "Jareth are you okay?". Slowly pulling him to his feet she helped him into the room and onto a love seat by the window.
"If you're trying to kill me, I'll have you know I'm immortal." He still hadn't opened his scrunched eyes, and blood was slowly trickling between his pale fingers.
"Jareth. Look at me." Sarah demanded, for some reason concerned for her adversary. Two perfectly symmetrical blue eyes winced at her from under a blonde halo. "Oh God, Jareth I think you might be concussed. . . "
"Excuse me? I would never in front of a lady. . ."
"no, I mean you've had a large head trauma"
"wha….? How can you tell?"
"You're eyes. . . they're even" She took a closer look. "Jareth, we need to get you into bed"
"Fabulous idea darling, but I'm afraid I have a bit of a headache" He grimaced.
"Jareth!" she sighed in exasperation, she hated how familiar he felt, "you're seriously hurt. Stop thinking with your nether regions and let me help you!" He groaned, still holding his head, but slowly let her lead him to the bed.
"Remember those stars I move for no one Sarah?" he asked as she searched for a glass of water, water was supposed to help people right? She paused,
"yes?"
"they're spinning around my head. . ." and with that the Goblin King passed out cold.
Franticly Sarah tried to revive him, slapping his chiseled form. It seemed hopeless. . .
"Oh God. . . I've killed the Goblin King. . ."she thought to herself rather panicked. Spotting a pull-chain by the bed, Sarah gave it a quick yank. In response, two short furry goblins rushed into the room.
"Hurry!" she screamed "the Kings hurt!" The two goblins went into a tizzy, running smack into each other before rushing out the door. All Sarah could do was wait and hope the goblins wouldn't mess things up even more.
Thankfully, a few minutes later a man, or at least Sarah thought he might be a man, came through the passage. He was at least three heads taller than Sarah and seemed to float as if the ground were air. His hair was composed, if not of leaves, then of something very similar, and his skin had the distinct sense of sun dappled bark. For some reason just the sight of him made Sarah think of long walks in the park and the smell of fresh pine. Breaking her chain of thought, his deep baritone voice inquired,
"what's happened here?"
"um. . . well. . .I. . . er. . . hit him with the door. . .and. . .now he won't wake up" she looked interestedly at her shoes.
"I see" the treeman examined the king's head and eyes "nothing to worry about I think, let's just wake him up to be sure. . . Jareth. . .Jaaarreeethhh. . .your highness. . ." and when that didn't work. . . "Hey Goblin King! The Goblin's got into the wine cellar and the castle is ablaze!" The healer's eyes twinkled with mischief as a confused and slightly hectic Jareth sat bolt upright in bed.
"Bloody Goblins! Quick get everybody out! I. . ."
The warm face of the healer confirmed that there in fact was no fire. . .Sarah smiled despite herself.
"what. . . what happened?" inquired the king
"the mortal here seems to have given you a case of the dizzies. . ."
"yes, well she's been doing that for millennia. . ." he brooded up at her.
"I. . .um. . .hit you in the head." He looked so helpless.
"well that explains this bloody headache. . ."
The healer cut in "now Goblin King, I want you to have someone put this salve onto your wound every other hour for the next 24 and to wake you up twice as often for the same duration. The salve will make the pain go away and the swelling lessen. . .
"swelling?" Jareth materialized a small mirror and groaned at the grapefruit sized lump on his forehead
"Yes, swelling. You've been severely concussed and we have to make sure you can wakeup, so that's the whole hourly someone has to check on you bit. One of your servants can. . ."
"I'll do it" Sarah chimed in.
"huh?" both men looked puzzled. Sarah didn't even know where that had come from. Wasn't she trying to escape this place?
"That's right. It's my fault, my spilt milk, and I'll clean it up"
"glad to see you're genuinely concerned for me" Jareth rolled his now slightly mismatched eyes and flopped back onto the mattress, which didn't seem to be such a good idea, since he immediately groaned and grasped his still aching head.
The healer handed Sarah the salve, gave her written directions, and bid them both adieu. "You just call on me Miss if anything should go awry."
"Certainly doctor. Thank you."
He smiled down at her knowingly, "just doing my job."
Once again, Sarah was sure she smelled the faintest hint of forest as he exited through the massive oak door. He certainly seemed like a pleasant fellow.
Once alone with the king, it took Sarah a few moments to realize what she had done.
"What the hell. . ." she asked herself.
"This isn't hell Sarah, not even close." He was looking far too smug, cozily wrapped within the soft burgundy bed sheets.
"Listen Jareth, I'm not a kid anymore. I'm only doing this because though you are a bastard, it's my fault that you're now a concussed bastard, and I always fix my mistakes"
"Like when you wished your baby brother into the unforgiving grasp of the Goblin King?" Jareth smirked.
"Yes." A silent verbal stalemate stretched between the two.
Begrudgingly, Sarah pulled a stiff wooden chair next to the bed.
It didn't take long for it to be time for Jareth's first treatment. Calculating eyes watched as Sarah slid onto the mattress beside him. She carefully unwrapped the bandage that was constricting his golden mane. He winced a bit as bits of dried blood flaked onto the sheets.
"sorry" Sarah said, hissing in through her teeth.
"s'alright".
Jareth thought he would faint as she spread the pink, fragrant mixture over his swollen head. Was it from the wound or the girl? That was debatable.
"mmmm. . ."he sighed as she pulled her hand away, the tingling already telling him the swelling would be no more than a memory by tomorrow.
"don't get used to this. . . " She smiled. Woah! Had that maternal tone come from her lips? Sarah looked down at the Goblin King. Well. . . he did rather look like a little boy, all snug in bed. Her eyes moved to his muscular frame and lean fingers. . . well. . . maybe not such a little boy after all. He seemed to realize what she was doing, locking his eyes with hers. Startled, Sarah snapped out of her trance. He couldn't possibly know what she had been thinking. . . right? She braved another look, and there they were, eyes thick with knowing. As she reached to reattach a clean cloth over his wound, Jareth's hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her down beside him. For some reason, Sarah didn't feel much like fighting. She was far too tired. With far too much familiarity, he tucked her beneath his left arm.
"Sarah," he yawned, snuggling down into the thick down and her body, "why can't you just admit you want me and be done with it"
Completely drained, Sarah retorted slowly, "Jareth, I don't want you. . ." she sighed, unthinkingly snuggling closer "you have no power. . ." Jareth's glove sleepily covered her mouth
"shhhh luv. . ." he murmured. For once she didn't object, allowing herself to drift comfortably off into dreamland.
A few hours later, Sarah groggily opened her eyes. God, she was comfortable. She breathed in the sweet smell of the Goblin King's mane and nuzzled into his shoulder.
"mmm. . Jareth. . " he was so cute when he slept. Slept? Wait! How long had she been asleep? She was supposed to wake him up every hour! "Jareth!" she shook his shoulder, "JARETH!"
"Morning already" he groaned, pulling her into a groggy kiss. Sputtering Sarah pushed him away.
"Oh. My. god.", she ejaculated, wiping her mouth.
"I'm not God luv", Jareth smiled smugly at her perturbance
"How'd we get like that ! ", she demanded
"what, all cozy and entwined?"
She faltered, "Uh. . . yeah. . ."
Jareth pointed a gloved finger at his forehead "no idea. Concussed. Remember?"
"Ugh" that smug bastard.
"my guess is that you were trying to seduce me. I'm just glad that I'm not a man so easily taken advantage of. In my weakened state, who knows what might have happened. . ."
"Double Ugh."
Sarah rolled her eyes and began Jareth's next salve treatment.
A few hours later Sarah's stomach began to rumble. With a perked eyebrow, Jareth looked up.
"What" he asked "was that?"
"my stomach"
"Are you sick?" he looked a little worried
"no, doesn't your stomach ever rumble?"
"not up until this point in my life, and since I'm centuries old, I very much doubt it will in the future" Almost childlike, Jareth had risen to his knees and was now crouched in front of Sarah's stomach. It grumbled again. Perk browed and slack jawed Jareth placed a gloved finger on her stomach as if it might bite him. She giggled, looking down at the blonde head so near her abdomen. He seemed awestruck.
"Should I leave you two alone"
Jareth looked up a bit confused.
"You and my stomach" It grumbled again. Wide eyed, Jareth asked,
"What makes it do that?"
"Well. When Mortals are hungry. . . our stomachs rumble", Sarah watched his innocence dissolve as he replied smugly,
"how droll. . . ", but for some reason continued to gaze bemusedly at her midsection.
"what!", Sarah exclaimed, "Doesn't yours do that!"
"Well of course not. Think about it. As an immortal, I don't even really need food. I mean, I enjoy it. It keeps me strong, but if I miss a few meals now and again. . . well how atrocious would it be if my own body couldn't handle its discomforts quietly?" He seemed pleased she was curious.
"I never really thought about it like that. What other things are different about immortals?" Escaping could wait. Sarah was genuinely interested.
"Well, quite a bit actually. . ." Jareth pulled the cord by the bed "but I'll tell you after we eat. I simply can't talk through that infernal grumbling", he cocked his eyebrow with mischievous disdain. . . only the Goblin King could make stomach pangs a grave offense.
A few minutes later Sarah bit into the most delicious eggs she had ever tasted. Jareth inspected her over his toast and tea.
"Do you always eat like a Sailor?"
Embarrassed, Sarah pushed he plate away. "Excuse me?"
"well I suppose I'll have to get used to it. . . "
"what!" Sarah could see where this was going, and she didn't like it at all
"Then again, perhaps you should watch it; can't have the people saying the Goblin Queen is a heifer, now can we?"
He did not just say that.
"Not that I'd love you any less of course, what's on the inside and what not. . ."
He really did just say that.
"On the other hand, I do like you just the way you are. . ."
He was blathering now.
"Jareth!" her eggs landed in his lap "if you think I will ever become your queen, you have another thing coming to you." She stood up with fervor. "You are a POMPAS JACKASS, and I for one don't plan on staying here another moment" She raised her chin. "now if you'll excuse me I believe I was on my way to escape before you came along and hit that poor door with your block of a head! I'm surprised all that horribly batted hair didn't cushion the blow. . ." Sarah was frothing now. Why the hell was she still here playing house with the king? It seemed so easy to regress here. What the hell was she doing? Everything here suddenly seemed childish and silly, "and another thing! Who wears legging these days? Seriously Jareth. Dou you like that we can see your junk? A grown man, just flaunting his junk to the world, what's with that!" She was on a roll now, " and let's talk about the eye shadow. . .". She hadn't noticed the flame that had steadily been growing within the kings eyes. . . "a man and ruler no less wearing Mary Kay, it's just. . . "
"That. . .is. . . ENOUGH!" he bellowed, shocking them both momentarily with his volume. Regaining her composure and intensifying her anger she countered,
"I don't believe it is". Grown up Sarah, a sophisticated woman of the world, squared herself defiantly. " I DEMAND Jareth, do you hear me? DEMAND you snap your stupid gloved fingers and take me home right now, I won't be playing nurse anymore"
Enraged, Jareth jumped from the bed and grasped her wrist.
"Who do you think you are!" he hissed between clenched teeth "Calling me to come and get you, forcing me to spend time in the mortal realm, giving me a concussion, insulting my royal attire, and then demanding that I take you home! Well look around Sarah," Jareth's arms went out, gesturing to their surroundings, "This is it luv! You. Are. Home. Get that through your bloody head. You are going to be my Queen, and that is final" The Goblin king stalked to the door, turning before it slammed to give her one last icy stare. Just a second too late, Sarah regained her composure and threw the bottle of salve from the nightstand angrily at the place where he had just been. It shattered against the door, leaving a pink stain to slowly ooze down the wall. Exasperated, she slid to the floor screaming,
"and if you think I'm bandaging your head!" Sarah collapsed into a fit of tears.