A/N: Again, million thanks to my fantastic beta, Anaknusan, and all of you for your encouraging comments. I'm finally returning my full attention back to the story in the hope of finishing it soon. You can expect updates more often in the future. No, I still don't own the Labyrinth.
The Land That Is Not
Chapter Ten
Swarming in the corners of the dry dust-covered room, the dark shadows looked ready to prey on him. The fingers of the red tinted light of the setting sun entered the room through the windowpanes, painting the walls in blood red. All around, he heard odd voices: croaking, crying, and cooing. He perked his head, discerned the sound of heavy breathing…His heart raced in his chest so quickly it caused physical pain. If he had been able, he would have whimpered when a huge shadow materialized in front of him. A hand, filled with scratches, an array of fine lines of healed scars - a killer's hand - stretched forward from the door of his cage, reaching out for him. He retreated. The hand shouldn't touch him; it reeked of wrongness, old magic and blood. He almost fell from the raft, and cried as the fingers curled around him, the pressure squeezing the air from his lungs. The grip tightened, the warmth of the hand's owner burnt him; and he screamed.
He screamed, screamed and screamed, and screamed, and screamed…
"Toby!" Sarah's cried, flinging her eyes open and gasping for air. She stared at the ceiling, disoriented, not remembering at first where she was and what had happened. Then, the memories flooded over her. Suffocating a moan, she covered her mouth and forced back the tears, realizing she had another day of torment ahead of her.
The goblins proved more bothersome than she could ever have predicted. They were nothing like in her memories, teasing her, pulling her hair and forcing her to do the most humiliating tasks. Whether they had conjured the idea by themselves or if it had been Jareth, she couldn't tell, but their pranks only got worse after the incident in the garbage chute.
Groggily, Sarah scrambled up, rubbing her eyes and banishing the worry from her mind and wincing from the pain in her sore muscles. The memory of her nightmare still lingered in her mind, flickering images of scars, birds and blood. She chafed her head, trying to remember the details but the images slipped away like they were covered in oil, fading further, until only nagging worry remained in the back of her mind.
She barely prevented herself from rushing in the direction of Jareth's study immediately, eager to hear if he had succeeded in finding Toby already. However, the grim-faced goblin steward appeared to sense her thoughts and kept her under his sharp scrutiny until midday. She finally succeeded slipping from the great hall and sneaked into the corridor, hurrying to the entrance of the King's private wing. Her journey was short lived as two guards at the door blocked her way.
"I have to know if he's found Toby." Sarah tried to reason with the goblins, twisting her fingers, painfully aware that her absence would soon be noticed and, most likely, severely punished. She looked at the guard with a lion-shaped bronze helmet pleadingly. "Please let me in."
"Nay, only those with permission can enter. The King said no one was to be allowed in," the guard answered grimly. His hold on his spear tightened as he lifted up his chin, and the lion opened his mouth, letting out a silent roar. The teeth in the animated animal's mouth gleamed in the dim light. "Especially you, human!"
"Can you at least inform him that I inquired about my brother?"
The guards glanced at each other; the winged vulture of the other guard's helmet flapped his wings, and the miniature lion wagged his tail. Finally, the lion-headed guard turned to Sarah.
"Trust me, human. When the King finds your brother, you'll know about it," he sneered.
Her shoulders slumped, and wearily she turned, returning to the main hall only to receive a loud and angry lecturing from the goblin steward. The goblin delivered a painful slap on her fingers with his twisted snake-shaped cane before ordering her to return to work while others snickered at her humiliation.
She gritted her teeth tightly together and tried not to care. As she picked up the broom, the steward turned around.
"You two!" he snapped at the two furry creatures wresting on the floor. "I thought already I ordered you to take the tray to the lady!"
Sarah's eyes narrowed and she chafed her fingers, glancing around with the corner of her eyes as she pulled herself upright. Her back screamed from the movement, and she winced, hearing a loud crunch in her spine. Her gaze followed the goblins passing by and vanishing to the darkness of a looming doorway. The King had a guest in the castle? Another human like her or some unlucky wished away? Maybe she could try to reach this person instead of Jareth and ask for help. She snorted. Unless, of course, that someone was like Jareth himself.
"Ho!" the goblin steward noticed her inertia and cackled. "No idling here, human! You're supposed to work!"
Barely able to suppress her desire to plunge out her tongue, Sarah just puffed air between her teeth and bent over the floor. She sighed, continuing the mopping with the sweat pearling on her forehead and remembering vaguely that only a few days ago she'd sat in front of her desk and sipped coffee while designing different images and words to boost sales of the store called Labyrinth. Oh, the irony. If it weren't she whose palms were now burning of the fresh blisters, she'd actually find the whole situation rather amusing.
When Sarah finally completed all task assigned to her, it had grown dark. Smoking torches on the walls cast flickering lights; the goblins scurried past her, cackling and giggling, merging with the shadows. She saw odd forms out of the corners of her eyes, ragged-winged shapes, and men-like shadows gliding over the stones. A cold draft caressed her skin; and the hair on her neck stood up as she made her way to the big sleeping room she shared with the servants. Sarah's stomach gnarled loudly, and the pain in her muscles had subdued to a dull ache. Wary of the gleaming glances the goblins gave to her, Sarah entered the room and made her way to her sleeping place. Tiredly, she sat down on the bed, feeling the cold stones poking through the thin mattress and blankets, and lay down.
Staring at the stone ceiling, Sarah listened to the cackling and snickering. Sometimes, a booming echo the night breeze brought in the room reached her ears. The wind carried a nice smell along it, of flowers, fruits and mead. Her stomach grumbled again. Due to her slip to the King's wing, she'd missed lunch, and the hunger gnawed at her guts. What would she give even for a Big Mac!
One by one, the goblins started to quiet down, their voices to die away. Occasionally, a cooing sound of the chickens resting on the rafter above her interrupted the slowly silencing space, the sounds of snoring accompanying the birds'. Despite her soreness and exhaustion, she couldn't sleep. Her thoughts swirled in her head: worry for Toby, her present predicament, and the King and his mysterious guest.
She sighed, turning on her side and stared at the dark wall in front of her face, closing her eyes and trying to banish the nagging pain. The last few days had not been very uplifting, and she suspected it would only get worse, and she would need all her energy tomorrow. Silently, she wondered which would finish her off sooner: the goblins or their king.
Suddenly, she yelped, feeling a touch of hair and dry skin against her hand. Springing up, Sarah stole a panicked glace about. Her sight scattered around until she recognized in the darkness next to her bed a pair of red eyes like burning coals. It took some time to let her heartbeats calm down, and her shoulders drooped.
"Itys, what are you doing here?" Sarah asked in a soft voice.
The goblin sniffled, crawling closer with his limb scratching against the floor until Sarah perceived the stripes in his white-black fur. She glanced around, but, apparently, no other was awake.
"Itys couldn't sleep," the creature murmured. His voice wavered as he hung his head down. "Itys had a dream. Itys always sees the same dream." He sounded desolate and very pitiful.
Sarah stared at the goblin for some time and sighed then, shifting further from the edge of her mattress. She patted the fabric softly. "You better come next to me."
The goblin obeyed, pulling closer to her. Oddly, the movement felt comforting, and before Sarah knew it she had wrapped her arms around Itys. "Why don't you tell me about it?" she asked.
He remained silent, his breathing coming out labored. Then, the words started pouring out from his mouth. "It starts always nicely," he whispered, trembling, and placed his head against Sarah's chest. "I sleep in a bed. It's warm, cozy, and big. Itys has no bed, but in a dream Itys sleeps in a bed as big as the King's." He paused, blinking his eyes, and when he continued his voice sounded somehow different – calmer, more collected.
"I hear crying. It wakes me up, and I get up. The boards wail beneath me as I descend the stairs and walk through dark corridors to the kitchen. In front of the table, I see two women hugging each other. They both cry really, really, loud, and I ask, 'Momma, momma, why are you crying?'
Momma turns and looks at me, and I'm afraid, because I don't think momma is there. She looks weird; her eyes are so sad.
'Momma, who are you with?" I ask again. 'Why are you sad?'
She doesn't reply. Instead, she looks at the other woman and says, 'I make him pay! By gods, my own flesh and blood – by my own son! He shall know the pain!'
Momma starts walking to me.
'Momma, why do you have a knife in your hand?' I ask but she doesn't reply.
The other woman stands up and follows momma. She's awfully silent, and I'm scared, but I'm trying to be brave, since father always says a prince shouldn't be afraid of anything, and I see that mommy is really sad. I run to momma and I hug her. I want to make her happy again. And then…then, I feel pain. It hurts really bad. And I scream, hugging momma. Why does it hurt so much? It hurts…" Itys' voice broke. He sniffed, and Sarah could feel his small heart trembling wildly, scared.
"It's always the same. Itys wakes up, and he's scared," he repeated.
Sarah couldn't move for a while; she found breathing difficult as she swallowed down the chunk that had stuck on her throat. "That's," it felt like her vocal cords were on strike, " an awful dream," she finished lamely.
"I think it's me - before," Itys mused quietly, snuggling closer to her and burying his hairy head in her armpit. Sarah heart twisted painfully in her chest from the memories Itys' gesture brought to life. When Sarah still lived at home, Toby crawled in her bed at nights afraid of his nightmares.
"Itys doesn't want to sleep."
She didn't answer, breathing slowly and staring in the surrounding darkness. On its own accord, her hand gently started caressing Itys' furry head.
"My brother used to have bad dreams too when he was a child," she muttered. The sound of the snoring reached her ears. She bit her lip, looking down at Itys. "I told him that he shouldn't be afraid of dreams."
"Even if Itys sees the same dream every night?" Itys sniffed.
"Even then," Sarah confirmed. "Dreams can't hurt you."
"But Itys' dreams are scary, and Itys doesn't want to be afraid…" He let out a muffled sob.
"You know why we dream?" Sarah gently asked the goblin.
"The King gives dreams," Itys answered slightly resentfully. "Itys doesn't like the King, who gives bad dreams at Itys."
Sarah hesitated, uncertain how to continue, "The King maybe knows your dreams but he doesn't give them," she said at last and touched the goblin's head soothingly. "Dreams are thoughts and wishes of your mind, messages your mind tells you." She could feel the goblin start.
"Itys talks to Itys in dreams?" Itys repeated, dumfounded.
She almost smiled at the words and nodded. "In a way, yes." Bending closer, Sarah looked at the goblin. She saw only the shadows of his outlines and his burning red eyes returning her stare. "Your mind wants to tell you something really important if you see the same dream. It tells you the same thing until you understand it," she told in a low voice.
"Miss Sarah thinks dreams ends then?"
She nodded.
The goblin didn't speak for a while. "Itys thinks he wants the dream to end," he said hesitantly, and his small body shivered and he wriggled closer to Sarah. "Can Itys sleep with miss Sarah?"
"Of course you can," Sarah caressed his head, pausing, and asked then, "Would you want me to sing to you? I used to sing to my brother when he had nightmares."
Itys peaked at her from the shelter of her arms. "Sarah would sing to Itys?" he asked in an awestruck voice.
"Why, yes." Sarah's brows curved up at his tone, "Or don't you want to?"
"No! Yes! Itys loves singing!" he vowed hastily, snuggling even closer. "Itys hasn't heard singing for a long time."
Sarah sighed, afraid that her voice would waver and betray her fear for Toby. What if she would never see him again? Almost angrily, she wiped her eyes in haste and started singing. The melody filled her ears, gliding through the dark hall. Surprised, Sarah felt the singing ease some of her worries, realizing that years had passed since she'd last sung to someone. As she sung, Itys crawled even closer. Sarah could hear his breathing begin to even, and when she finally fell into silence, the goblin was fast asleep.
"Sleep tight, Itys" Sarah brushed his head gently somehow warmed by his trustfulness and looked up. Her heart nearly stopped, and she gasped frightened, recognizing gleaming eyes staring at her unblinkingly. A shiver run down her spine as she realized that her singing must have woken up the goblins.
Silence stretched, Sarah and the goblins stared at each other in the darkness. The crescent moon cast its feeble glow in the room, the moments ticked away slowly. She tensed when the goblins stepped closer, enfolding her arms protectively around Itys. One of the smallest ones appeared in front of her bed from the shadows of the room, blinking eyes with a brass helmet in his hands.
"Would…you sing another song?"
Sarah gaped at the question, inhaling sharply, and returned the goblin's stare. Temptation to decline tingled on the tip of her tongue before she snapped her mouth tightly shut. Punishing the creatures for following their orders didn't make sense. They lived here, and Sarah's victory years ago had nearly destroyed their home. Hadn't she learned that lesson already?
"After that you promise to let me sleep in peace? Okay?" she confirmed wearily.
The goblin gave her an enthusiastic nod, leaning closer. "One song only. Sarah can sleep after that!"
None of the goblins moved or uttered a word, bespelled in their place. She nearly forgot the words when she noticed some of the goblins wiping their gleaming eyes as if they were crying. She finished the song, expecting them to say something. Instead, just as silently, they pulled back to the shadows of the room.
She shook her head, lowering down on her bed. Careful not to wake Itys, Sarah rolled on her side and crinkled her eyes as she caught a sweet scent. Her stomach grumbled, and she reached out with her hand. Her fingers touched a cool item, half-hidden beneath her pillow. Carefully, Sarah pulled it closer, taking in a deep breath. Her lips curled up in amusement, recognizing the soft texture of a peach.
She woke up in a next day with a set of clean clothes brought next to her bed, still mismatched but more fitting than the earlier ones. She glanced around, half-expecting the clothes to light up in fire by themselves. When no one appeared to pay any attention to her, she shrugged and picked them up.
The morning passed uneventfully. Sarah waited for the goblins to start their pranks, pulling of her hair, mean and painful tasks, or chicken poo thrown on her. However, the scowling goblin steward only glance at her sourly and ordered her to go and fetch flowers from the King's garden. After she dutifully completed the task, he snapped at her.
"What do you want me to do with it? I'm not a cow! Go and make a nice bouquet of those!" He swung his cane and drove Sarah away.
Awed, she obeyed, not understanding the reason for their changed behavior from the evening before. Unsurprised to find Itys in her bed yet again, Sarah shook her head and noticed then a crowd of gleaming eyes surrounding her bed.
"Let me guess. You want me to sing another song?" She watched the little monsters gathered around her.
"It has been quiet in the castle," one of the goblins, the same that had fetched her from the fountain some days ago, confessed. "The King doesn't sing to us anymore…"
Her brows bolted up at the words, but she didn't have time to consider the message more closely when Itys snuggled closer to her, stealing her attention.
"Oh, well. I guess another song won't hurt you," Sarah agreed with a sigh.
It turned out to be a permanent arrangement: Itys sleeping in her bed while Sarah told stories or sung to the other goblins. Somehow, she even started to look forward to the evenings. Having someone near to her eased her loneliness, and the reaction of the goblins amused her a great deal. No matter how bad the tale or her singing, the goblins listened to her with a hungry gleam in their eyes and squeaked of excitement and joy like small kids. The days passed by, and Sarah started to get used to her life in the castle.
Despite her improved life, Sarah kept on dreaming restlessly, each morning a little more worried about her brother. She couldn't shake off the dreadful feeling that haunted her night and day, and the lack of the Goblin King's success to find Toby didn't ease her worry. Not that Sarah would have seen the Goblin King too often. If she hadn't known better, Sarah would have guessed he was avoiding her, or that his mysterious guest kept him busy.
"She doesn't like us," Mikos explained one time to Sarah while swaying in a chandelier above her head, and farted just to prove his words. "The King said that she's a lady and ordered us to stay out of her way."
"You mean, his queen?" Sarah voiced, suddenly feeling her hands starting to shake.
The goblin shook his head. "Nay. The King says wife is a waste of time. He has had many ladies before the lady." The goblin stopped swaying in the lamp and looked out of the near-by window, muttering, "King's ladies always have as many clothes as the King has. Mikos likes to try them. Mikos also likes how the ladies scream if they see Mikos wearing their dresses." He grinned, revealing his sharp teeth, and Sarah sighed.
"Lucky me that I share both my room and my clothes with you and the others" she muttered absentminded, straightening the lopsided portrait on the wall, and continued walking.
"Would Sarah want to have lady's dresses?" the goblin jolted, wiggling his ears and jumped to the floor, following Sarah.
She froze and turned to look down, inspecting the goblin for a long time. The ardent gleam in his eyes didn't look promising, and Sarah bit her lip thoughtfully. "I think it would be better if you respected the king's order and just stayed away from her," she finally said.
The goblin's expression fell. No doubt, he had planned to try the clothes by himself first. Sarah shook her head, returning her attention back to her work and forcing the churning feeling of disappointment in the back of her mind. Whoever the King had as his guest, or how many lovers he had, wasn't her business. She wasn't interested, she assured herself.
Mikos left soon, after Sarah shooed him away, stating that the goblin prevented her from working. But when finally alone, she still found it hard to concentrate on her work, and her eyes kept on stealing thoughtful glances at the King's private wing more than once. Suddenly, she felt a tug in the hem of her skirt and looked down.
"Hi Itys." Smiling fondly, Sarah recognized the goblin.
"Miss Sarah," the goblin let go of the skirt, articulating very clearly. He had taken her words seriously, and it looked as if he was making progress. He moved more energetically, and his eyes twinkled more like his fellow goblins. "Itys was asked to bring you to the lady."
Despite the fact that she had decided only a moment ago Jareth's love life didn't belong to her, her heartbeat sped up. She narrowed her eyes, inspecting the goblin closely, and asked slowly.
"Why?"
Itys shrugged his shoulders. "Itys not know…" he muttered, but something in his tone didn't reassure Sarah. She inspected him in length but the goblin's stare didn't waver.
"Okay, lead me ahead," Sarah finally agreed.
The room Itys took her was located high in the castle, somewhere in the King's wing. The goblin appeared nervous, glancing repeatedly around.
"Lady waits," he nodded towards a dark wooden door. "Itys waits outside for Sarah."
Her stomach fluttered nervously as she lifted her hand and knocked.
Dark red curtains on the window fluttered in the gentle breeze, and elegant tapestries depicting fantastic images of men, dragons and gods alike decorated the walls. It was as if she had stepped into another world. Her gaze wandered around, on the lush decoratum, chandeliers and dark furniture. She stopped uncertain and nervous, finally noticing the woman. She sat on a bench next to the window, watching Sarah with an impassive face. Her dark hair curled down on her shoulders, half-covered with a light veil, and a folded fabric of her dress hissed as she rose to her feet.
The woman inspected Sarah, her mouth twitched, and she took a step closer. "So, you are Sarah." Her pronunciation sounded odd, but her voice was low and melodious.
"Yes, ma'm," Sarah muttered, looking down, suddenly painfully aware of her patched old dress and flour stains in her cheeks. The woman looked so regal, dressed in white stainless and expensive clothes. The glittering golden jewels around her neck and wrist jingled cheerily as she walked across the floor, and the light breeze fluttered the fabric of her dress. Even if not the queen, she certainly looked like one.
Sarah sensed her stopping in front for her, inspecting her in silence.
"I see now why Jareth's been in a foul mood."
Startled, Sarah jolted her head up, looking at the woman. Their eyes met, and she swallowed, nearly backing away. Something dark and sad flickered behind the woman's eyes. She shrunk away as the woman approached, expecting - she didn't know what. The woman made her painfully aware of herself. An overwhelming stupor of Jasmine filled Sarah's nose as the woman said, "My name is Phaedra."
Sarah opened her mouth. "I'm…"
"Yes, I know. You're Sarah Williams," Phaedra interrupted impatiently, regarding her with puckered brows. Her dark eyes flashed, the pale lips twitched. Thoughtfully, she raised her hand and touched Sarah's cheek with her cool fingers, tilting her head and measuring Sarah with a veiled gaze. Phaedra leaned closer, and Sarah's eyes bolted wide-open when she felt a gentle touch of lips brushing against her mouth.
She heard Phaedra whispering. "And even if it shall be my undoing, I'm happy to meet you in person."