Chapter 4

Sarah finally found her friends, but not before befriending an opera singing bird, a special Olympic snail, and an accordion playing alligator. Fortunately for the readers, the bird ate the snail, the alligator ate the bird, and Sarah, well, she didn't eat the alligator, but she didn't speak to it either. Moving on, when he saw Sarah, Ludo shouted, "Sarah!", because really, he needed to get rid of his lisp eventually. "Hoggle work," he said, and Sarah visibly relaxed. If Hoggle was just at work, that meant there was no trouble.

"Duty calls," thought Jareth, as he trudged on to his throne. He prepared himself to receive the new Queen of Carn, a small country northeast of the Labyrinth. Since the last queen had disappeared, relations have been rocky between the two kingdoms. But Jareth planned on maintaining the same good spirits between them as he had with the former monarch. A mutt entered the room. Jareth thought his name was Didley Mouse.

"His Royal Highness the King of Goblins!" The mutt shouted, and the goblins echoed.

Jareth rolled his eyes. "I know who I am. There is no need to announce me to myself, thank you very much."

"You are welcome, your Highness!" Cried the brown droopy thing. Jareth sighed.

"Out! Out! The lot of you! And it's Majesty to you." He punctuated his command with a a few fierce kicks. Several goblins scattered.

He appraised the throne room. There were feathers strewn all over the pure stone floor. Darn it! Carn was famous for it's chickens. That was the only reason such a small kingdom survived so long in the Underground. The whole country was an eighth the size of his, and yet their profits were nearly equivalent. It was full of chickens, supplying them to every kingdom on this side of the world. Chickens were the main food of the goblins. If they ran out of them, Jareth would have an eternal headache trying to figure out what to do.

A stray goblin informed him that the Queen of Carn had been sitting outside for nearly half an hour. Jareth rubbed his eyes. He took out a crystal, and focused on her face. Disapproval shown clearly through the stone. He turned back time.

Judy stepped out of her carriage, observing the gold castle walls rising tall above her head. The red sun reflected mutely in the yellow metal, and she could swear the bricks were gold plated. But the Castle Beyond Goblin City was majestic, she had to give it that. Far more so than her own little mansion in Soul City. She felt a headache coming on. Judy's rule on Carn was tentative at best, conjectural at worst.

She had no time to deal with all the souls that were coming in, and the elves that turned them into chickens were about to have a strike. Something about food safety. The Queen of Carn needed someone to advise her on how to run her own country. Asking for help was all well and fine now, but if she waited any longer, it would be a major faux pas. Four months into her rule was bad enough. Since Jareth ran a similar business to her's, perhaps he could offer some advice.

Judy was led through golden gates by a little goblin, and then through a mixed metal door, which was held open by two giants. 'Where did Jareth get giants?' She wondered.

"Her Royal Majesty the Queen of Soul City of Carn!" Echoed the squeaky voice of a well fed goblin.

Judy nodded her head to the fellow royal, hiding her wince. It was only too true that Soul was the only city of Carn. Her small kingdom held the weight of the entire country.

"Rise," said the king, nodding himself.

"His Royal Majesty The King of Goblin City of the Labyrinth!" Cried the dutiful voice.

"Thank you, Mouse. That will be all." Jareth responded. There was no reason to be rude in front of his guests. Especially when his guest was of such high importance.

Judy took in the scene. the throne room was just as it was the last, and first, time she was here. The arched ceiling, the torches lining the heavy stone walls. Ha! She knew it was only gold plated. Finally her eyes settled on Jareth, and she suppressed a gasp. Then she suppressed a laugh. What was the meaning of this? There he was, sitting in all his splendor, back straight and knees at a right angle. Her eyes were drawn to his forehead, where, clear as that blasted red sun, was the word "LOSER" imprinted in peach pink.

Jareth smirked.

The queen didn't know what to do. Was this some sort of test? She knew that the Goblin King liked games. To mention the marking would be impolite, but to seem oblivious might be perceived as cheap. Even if it was there without his knowledge now, the king would discover the word eventually, and then she would be perceived as a monarch who ignored what was staring her in the face. Her face gave a little twist, breath catching. But Judy was queen, and she was here on business. Loser or not, it was of no consequence as long as he would help her with her elves. She mastered herself.

Jareth watched the young queen assess him, noticing with delight her gaze lingering on his face. Her breath caught, and he grinned, envisioning the thoughts that must be racing through her mind. Granted, women usually focused on his pants, but choice is a queen's prerogative. He decided to break the silence.

"Hello."

Simple, Judy thought. "Hello," she answered concisely, and the proceedings began.

CUT to Sarah

Sarah was now well on her way into the woods surrounding the Labyrinth. With Ludo, of course. The fairies were thicker here, and they tended to bite. Sarah wished Hoggle was here, with his canned fairy repellent. She had some hanging around her neck, but she had a sharp feeling it was past it's expiration date.

"What shall we do next?" She asked Ludo. "Dance? Pick flowers?"

"Back," said Ludo, shuffling his feet. "Sarah dark."

Sarah smiled at him. "I know it's getting dark, but we still have some time to explore." So they did.

For hours and hours Sarah and Ludo frolicked in the wood, finding all sorts of creatures. There was a whole team of Special Olympic snails who let them watch a match with the Special Olympic turtles. The turtles won, and the snails invited them over for some post race ail over at a nearby bush. There they met their children, who worked as messengers for the Labyrinth's fairies. "But how are you messengers if you're so slow?" Sarah asked at one point. "Who you calling slow!" Yelled one of the athletes. But a red postal snail interrupted. "Not everyone wants their message to be delivered quickly."

They met a bunch of wild fairies, even more feral than the Labyrinth's. A worm warned them off a path that led west, into the mountains. Sarah definitely didn't want to meet any trolls.

"Mountains home," Ludo interrupted Sarah's strain of thought. She looked at him.

"Ludo lost. Mountains home. Rock." A stone rolled towards him, as though to prove his point. Ludo grew agitated.

"You were lost in the Labyrinth? Oh, how terrible! Alright. The first thing we'll do is get you home. Well, the second. Let's just get Hoggle first. These fairies are killing me. And we might need Sir Didymus, that little knight, to protect us if we get into any trouble."

Ludo and Sarah started back on the path they first came on.