Thanks for the reviews! I went and took care of all the typos (I think my open office has a little problem with it!)
It was Sir Didymus who found the Goblin King sleeping in the garbage heaps. He was on his way to the castle to make a report and a few requests concerning his Bog (even though Hoggle was the Prince of the Land of Stench, Sir Didymus still considered himself to be the true ruler of that beloved land) when he had gone by the rubbish. He wouldn't have noticed the King had it not been for his boot sticking out.
"Um, what is this? Strange to find such fine boots in the rubbish heaps." he spoke to his dog and noble steed, Ambrosius, as he jumped off his back and made for the fine footwear. He sniffed the boot and tugged at it. "Not moving, eh? Don't tell me there is a body attached!"
And indeed there was, as he discovered when he knocked over a few piles of garbage. But the body of his King was the very last thing he expected to see, and it shocked his system so badly he nearly fainted.
"Your Majesty!" he gasped once he had regained himself. "Hast thou fallen? Canst thou rise? Majesty?"
He gently shoved the King, who didn't move, and then gave him a hard poke with his staff. The result was a sharp intake of breath by the King, confirming that he was still alive, but did nothing to rouse him.
"Ambrosius!" he called in his sharp, and slightly shrill voice. The dog came running up to him, and he quickly mounted. "Ready yourself for a great run, my steed! The King needs our help, but we must gather our allies to assist. Away!"
Ambrosius ran like the wind and Sir Didymus had to use all his strength to keep himself from flying off the back. As they ran down the streets of Goblin City the locals had to jump out of the way to avoid being run over by the charging knight.
A short while later a trio made their way up to where the Goblin King was sleeping. Ludo, the largest and gentlest of all, looked down from his great height and frowned at the state his ruler was in.
"He think garbage friend?" he asked his companions.
"Well, ya got to have some sort of friends!" Hoggle said, glaring at Jareth. "I just never thought he would associate with the trashy kind!"
Together the three moved the trash aside and pulled Jareth out of it. He didn't move, and Hoggle compared him to a discarded rag doll when Ludo picked him up and slung him across his massive shoulder.
"But, what is this I see?" Sir Didymus pried a peach out of Jareth's fist and sniffed it. "I never thought of him as a peach eating fellow. What say you, Brother Hoggle?"
Hoggle looked at the peach and felt the memories of the past come flooding back at him. He had given the same kind of peach to Sarah, something which he still regretted deeply though she forgave him, and now he knew the King had eaten it. He knew Sarah had lost her memories, now he feared that Jareth would lose his own. And then what would become of the Kingdom? Of the Underground?
"Hurry, we must get him to the castle! Move, Ludo! Sir Didymus, ride ahead and get the King's doctor and give him the peach, have him waiting for us in Jareth's chamber. NOW!" Hoggle started shouting orders like he was in command. Normally Sir Didymus would have argued with him over who was in charge, but he had a feeling that Hoggle knew more about the situation than he did, and so ran to do his bidding.
Hoggle took hold of Ludo's right leg and rode him to the castle, knowing he couldn't keep up with the giant's strides.
"Aw, Jareth! What have ya done?" he grumbled to himself as they headed for the castle.
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"Vell, I cen tell ye vone sing," the doctor said after he had finished looking Jareth over. Hoggle sat nearby. He found the accent of the doctor, whose name was Jibber and who came from the Outer Edge of the Kingdom, very annoying. The replacing of 'w' with 'v' and 'a' with 'e' (and vice versa) made him want to tear what little hair he had out of his head. But, seeing as how the King was not doing so well right then, he decided not to say anything. "Zee King iz completely exhausted."
"Yes, and?" Hoggle tapped his foot impatiently. He was sitting beside Ludo and Sir Didymus on a low and heavy bench, watching the doctor examine the King.
"He hes not hed zleep in a long time. My guess vould be zat he hes not zlept in zeveral monthz. I cen't tell vhy, not yet, but I vill run a few more testz." he picked up the peach that had a bite out of it and held it up to the light. "Ye zay zhat he took a bite out of ziz?"
"It was in his hand, so I would guess that he did!" Hoggle snapped, all the z's in Jibbers accent getting to him.
"Um..." he looked at it closely, then popped it in his leather sack. "I vill have a clozer look at it. In zee mean time, no vone iz to disturb zee King. I vant an armed guard placed at hiz door so zhat no vone cen get in, and I vill be beck soon to check on him. In zee meantime I vill azzign a goblin to keep an eye on him. If zere are any dewellopments I vant to be informed right avay!"
"Why not assign a nurse?" Sir Didymus asked.
"I know vhat you are sinking, and zee answer is no! Zee nurse in question iz a woman, and she iz not fit to attend zee king. I vill care for him myself, I will not allow that Fallen One to lay vone hand on him!"
Hoggle felt himself grow angrier with Jibber, and not because of his accent. How the doctor dared to speak of the fair lady way beyond him. But he wasn't about to pick a fight, not in the sick king's chamber. He would wait till another time to put that upstart doctor in his place.
Jibber picked up his medical nonsense (for that was what it all was to Hoggle, just a bag of nonsense) and slung it over his thin shoulders. He dropped a few bottles onto the bedside table, each containing some brightly colored liquid and pills, and headed for the door.
"Doc? Is there any great danger to the King? I mean, is his illness dangerous to his life?" Hoggle panted as he ran after the tall doctor. He was surprised at his concern for the King that had threatened him on multiple occasions, delighted in tormenting him, and scared the stuffing out of him in general.
"It cen eazily become so, but iz not at zhat point yet." he said, slowing his stride so the dwarf didn't have to run so fast. "Zee best I cen see iz zhat he haz been deeply troubled and it iz playing hard on his health. Vhat zee cause iz of his trouble, I cen't say right now. Have ye noticed anysing, or haz he told ye anysing?"
"No. He ain't in the habit of tellin' anyone anythin'. Ya think that talkin' to somone would help him?"
"It might. I sink ye should try and find somevone who cen be trusted in such sings. I know of no vone, but zere has to be somevone of zhat sort in zee Kingdom."
Hoggle thought instantly of one creature who was to be trusted. After showing the doctor to his little cottage in the city, the dwarf quickly ran out of the main gates and out into the Labyrinth. It was dark by that time, but he knew where he was going and nothing would stop him. He was going to find Eddie the Worm.
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Though Jibber had given Jareth a sleeping potion just to be sure he didn't wake up for a long while it didn't help. Around 13 o'clock, midnight, his eyes fluttered open. He was drowsy, but quite aware of his surroundings. He was also painfully aware of a snoring goblin in the corner, the sound ran like a creaking hinge through his ears.
How he had gotten back to his room in the castle was beyond him, he had no memory of it at all. The last thing he could clearly remember was being with Sarah in a dream. Her eyes, her face, the feeling of her being so near yet so far away, it was all too much. He felt his heart break with longing, and he cried out for her.
The goblin turned over and stopped snoring.
"Jareth?" a soft voice came from the darkness. He looked over to the corner of the room and saw her standing there. At first his heart leaped in his chest and he was overcome with joy, but then grew angry.
"Stop tormenting me!" he growled, throwing off his covers and getting out of bed. It was another dream, there was nothing more to it, and he had had enough of dreams. They were a poor substitute for reality.
"Jareth, please-" Sarah tried to go on, but he cut her off short.
"You are gone, Sarah. You left me, so why don't you just leave me alone. Your presence lingering here, never giving me peace, it is destroying me!" he went over to the farthest corner and turned his back on her. His gloved hands ran through his wild gold mane in an act of frustration. "I'm tired of hearing you but not seeing you, of seeing you in dreams and not being able to touch you for real. To hear your voice in my head but never with my ears. In my dreams I can hold you, but dreams are not real. Why must you torment me so?"
Sarah, or at least the phantom like form her presence took, hung her head. "I want to leave, I don't want to be here like this, but I can't help it."
"You won the Labyrinth, you got your brother back and you said the words that sent you to the Aboveground. Nothing of you should remain, but yet you are here. I have no power over you, remember saying those words? You took power over yourself with them, so you should be able to leave me alone!" he spun around and marched to the veranda doors, throwing them open wide. "Go! Out of my sight! Leave me to my loneliness!"
"I can't leave, Jareth! I'm trapped here, and I can't find a way out." she looked at him, her eyes brimmed with tears.
"You are trapped here? How is that possible?"
"I'm not sure. All I know is that ever since I left a part of me has been stuck here. I didn't leave it behind willingly, it was held here by something I can't explain." she walked over to him, but didn't reach out to touch him. Her face was tired and pale, nearly as pale as the long white gown she was wearing. "All I know it that wherever you go I go too, and I can't stop it."
"You have been following me around the Labyrinth? You are always just ahead, just where I can't see you, and are always laughing and speaking to me. Seems that you have been enjoying every minute of tormenting me!" he showed his sharp teeth in anger. But she didn't appear afraid.
"No, not tormenting you. I enjoy being with you at times, it just brings a lightness to my heart when you run after me, to know that you care enough to do so, but I don't mean to, or enjoy, tormenting. At one time I might have, when I was a girl and still headstrong and selfish, but not now." she went and sat down on the bed. He noticed her feet were bare when they stuck out from under the long flowing skirt.
As quickly as his anger had come it subsided and he became deeply sorry he had been so harsh with her. Her tears cut him to the heart, and he couldn't take the feeling on top of all the others that threatened to overwhelm him.
"Don't cry anymore, Sarah." Jareth sighed and stood in front of her, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes met hers.
"You are tired, Jareth." she observed. His eyes grew misty, though he tried to fight it off.
"Yes, I am." he felt a tear slide down his cheek. "I've tried so hard for so long to get over you, and I have lost. I thought once you were gone that your hold on me would be gone, but it is not so. Not having you here with me is destroying me, and I can't seem to stop it."
"I'm not fully here, but part of me is." she reached up and brushed away his tears. He held her hand against his skin, kissed the fingers gently. "I have been with you since I left."
"And yet I'm still alone."
"As am I."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I can't explain, I only know it to be true. This is not my world, Jareth. Things happen that I don't understand, all I know is that they are real."
"Why did you come to me tonight and never before?"
"The best answer I can give is that I heard you call, and I answered." she suddenly looked tired. Her hand touched her head as if it hurt. Standing quickly she swayed slightly as if she were dizzy. He put his arm out for her to take hold of, but she shook her head. "I have to go now, I can't stay."
"But you will return?" he couldn't believe he was asking her, the old him would have commanded her to do so.
"I don't know if if will be able too, but I will try." she headed for the door, her steps halting and unsure. "Just wait for me."
"Always."
She smiled, and then faded away into the darkness, leaving him alone.