Chapter 10

I'll spin you Valentine evenings

Twilight, that magical time of day and night joined together for a few precious minutes. Scattered stars glinted dreamily over the half dark Labyrinth, and the castle stood alone ablaze in light. Everywhere firelight flickered an inviting melody as it danced on the walls.

Alone the Goblin King sat perched precariously in the sill of a huge stone window in the wall of his private study. Conveniently located in the north tower, it allowed him a beautiful view of the Labyrinth. A crystal hovered to the left of him; inside Sarah was staring at a peach Hoggle had just given her. His little present and his way into her heart. Mismatched eyes flickered several emotions, uncertainty wasn't one of them, he was so sure he would succeed.

"Every things dancing." Sarah's voice whispered from the crystal orb where her image was floating watched eagerly by Jareth. She held on a forked tree for balance then collapsed. It was time. Jareth summoned four more crystals and moved them easily in circles on his black encased hand, lifting one at a time he gently blew and the crystal orb became a bubble, a dream, that floated on the magic of the king.

0000

The ballroom was extremely opulent. Between glittering chandeliers were hundreds of candles where the wax, dripping for a hundred years, had formed stalactites. Bubbles decorated the room, and a fine mist covered the floor. A tall, gold detailed, thirteen-hour clock stood in a corner. It was almost twelve o'clock.

Sarah was looking for something, or someone. Someone important to her. She waded through the dancers in a hunt for the lost something, or someone. The dancers watched her, from behind their elaborate masks. The men wore fine shirts open to the waist and tight velvet or leather breeches. Some of them wore wide-brimmed, plumed hats; others had capes or carried staffs. The women's gowns left their shoulders bare and fell low between their breasts, debauch.

The dancers moved in a ring around the ballroom, with a kind of lethargic brilliance, in a drunken stupor that was impressively alive, and seductive. Moving together or elegantly reclined, they watched Sarah, or watched each other watching, and beneath the masks of horns and grotesque faces the mouths smiled at each other like knives.

Sarah's gown was silvery, the color of mother-of-pearl, with puffed short sleeves. She had a diamond necklace on that was twisted in a unidentifiable shape, and her hair was teased into a cascading waterfall of chestnut curls with silver vines entwined at the sides. Her eyes were wide, lush lips parted gently in awe. She was the picture of innocence in the setting of lust and chaos, a picture that excited the dancers, who never took their masked eyes off her, while they moved with weary grace to the sinisterly beautiful tune. Sarah walked slowly around the room. Two grotesquely masked women snickered behind their fans at her.

She turned away without noticing still searching for something. Then instinctively she turned and caught a glimpse of Jareth, entwined with a voluptuous woman, dancing past. She whirled around, but he had vanished. Hidden behind a few flaunting women, Jareth was watching, but Sarah had not seen him watching. His eyes were following Sarah wherever she went in the corrupt ballroom. She floated away, tense now, self-conscious, among people she could not understand but who behaved as though they knew something that she didn't know.

She moved hurriedly around the ballroom looking for Jareth. She saw Jareth, standing alone. He was a magnificent figure, upright and blond, in a midnight blue frock coat, glitter at the neck, shoulders, and cuffs. The gray undershirt and waistcoat coupled with silken ruffs complemented his fair complexion and shocking blond hair. On his legs he was wearing black tights and black, shiny boots. He was holding a horned mask on a stick, but he had lowered it now, to look straight at Sarah. Behind him, around him, dancers were whirling.

He held his hand out. She took it, feeling awe it didn't cease when she went spinning around the ballroom in Jareth's arms. She felt like the loveliest woman at the ball. Jareth was smiling charmingly, all his attention was on her. The touch of his hands on her body was thrilling. To dance with him seemed the easiest and most natural motion. She looked up at him with anticipation. She wanted him to kiss her, to say that he loved her. The beautiful man that she danced with was all she cared about. Looking up at his intense face she felt the emotion she had been hiding, the trust and love she felt for this man filled her as she looked in to his mismatched eyes that glittered with something. His usual indifferent mask had fallen back onto his face, but looking behind it Sarah could see that he cared. And there was the song, the song he was singing so gently and lovingly to her. It surrounded her and echoed within her heart.

As they whirled around the dance floor she caught sight of a golden clock with 13 numbers, over Jareth's shoulder. That looked familiar, and with that familiar feeling rose up the knowledge that she was supposed to be doing something. Something important. Something that had to do with someone special to her, not Jareth. It was someone else, someone closer, and someone… small… Toby!

With a gasp Sarah suddenly realized that this was all wrong, that she was supposed to be saving Toby from the man she had just realized she was in love with. She pulled away from his warm arms and looked around to see that all the other dancers had surrounded them. They were leering and nudging each other in the delight of a secret. The clock struck 12 and she pushed through the jostling, jeering crowd. She didn't look back to see the heartbroken look on the Goblin Kings face, the face that usually had a mask on was open for the world to see, she however, missed it. A young man in a skeleton mask tried to grab her, but she twisted out of his grasp. She pushed and ran until she ran into the shimmering skin of a mirror, no, a great bubble just in front of her. Beside her was a small, painted white chair. She picked it up in both hands, and hurled it at the bubble. The chair crashed through it. As the bubble burst, everything shattered in pretty bits of broken glass and fell.

She fell with it, through air and sharp glass and as she fell her beautiful silver/white dress shattered into her old clothes, blue jeans and poet's shirt and waistcoat. She was dropped unceremoniously into the Junkyard outside the gates of the Goblin City. She looked around confused, feeling something squishy in her hand she lifted it and saw a maggot crawl out of a rotten peach.

"YUCK!" she yelped and threw it away from her. Standing up she hurriedly brushed her hand against her waistcoat. She curiously looked around her, junk. Even stranger was that she couldn't even remember why she was here or even where she was.

00000

There was unimaginable pain coursing through the Goblin Kings chest. If he hadn't been Fae he might have thought he was having a heart attack. However, that didn't mean he knew what was causing the pain. It was completely unidentifiable to him.

It began with a thought. One thought… Sarah. That made warm tingly love fill his him, then he would remember how she wrenched out of his arms, and a knife would plunge through his heart, thereby causing the startling pain. Jareth suddenly knew what it was and chuckled darkly with unbelief. The Goblin King is heartbroken? He started to laugh in self-mockery, it's crescendo danced in the solid stone dome of his study roof, soon it was all that Jareth could hear as it echoed around him. The very walls were laughing at him, then his laugh turned to a sob and the walls were silent and drew the soft sound into their depths as a reminder of when a woman brought the mighty Goblin King low.

Jareth's sobs grew quieter and quieter until they were silenced. By sheer will and determination he bottled up his despair. He ran a gloved hand over his face wiping away the remains of his tears. That was enough, he would never cry over that woman, no girl, again. He got up from his desk and walked heavily up to the cradle that held the still sleeping Toby. Jareth leant over and gently brushed Toby's hair back from his eyes, the sleeping toddler snuggled closer and sighed a word. Jareth felt his heart constrict again, what was with this family being able to get over his emotional walls? Jareth kissed the child on his head and returned to his desk contemplating how the word, "Dada," made him feel.

There was a note lying innocently on his desk, one that had not been there before. Jareth's eyes narrowed when he saw the seal. The intricate and elaborate 'FC' emblem stamped into black wax sealed the letter from the Fae Council. Jareth sighed and closed his eyes, silently wishing that if he couldn't see it, it wasn't there. He was in a lot of trouble for breaking his engagement with Mecrinda.

However he needed to battle the Hydra and so opened the letter. He had just finished reading the letter, when there was a solid knock on the huge doors of his study.

"Come in." Jareth sighed he knew who it was; the letter had just said that he was coming to visit.

An elderly man walked through the doors. He had white hair and looked frail, you shouldn't take things for granted, however. The elderly man was really only that in appearance he was still a young as Jareth inside. Cold calculating violet eyes glistened with keen intelligence from under bushy eyebrows. A neat circlet of white gold encircled his white head. He was very old, and respected. The head of the council and unfortunately the uncle of the Princess of the Faeries. Jareth knew instinctively that this was not only a council visit he was going to be yelled at for a personal interest as well. Wonderful.

Standing up Jareth walked around his desk and motioned the Faerie King's brother into the room and ton the plush chairs sitting by the fireplace.

"Please sit down Elder Vacto and have a drink."

Elder Vacto took his offer and sat in one of the plush chairs. The one that faced the room. Even though he was over 200,000 years old the man had never let his guard down once. Jareth respected him for it.

"Goblin King, you cannot be at a loss as to why I am here." The Elder started as soon as Jareth had returned with the drink and had sat down on another plush seat adjacent.

"On the contrary I was wondering when you were going to get here. I was not thinking un-rationally when I broke off my engagement with the Faerie Princess." Jareth decided to be very blunt.

Anger flashed through Elder Vacto's eyes, but he wisely said nothing and allowed Jareth to continue.

"It has come to my attention that the Mortal the Prophecy foretold is here and is currently running my Labyrinth for the child that lies in that cradle." Jareth inclined his head to Toby's cradle. "I was entirely my fault that the Faerie Princess got involved with me and I apologize for the hurt I must have caused. But I cannot deny my destiny any longer. I thought I could cheat Fate but I was wrong and so many people have paid for it. I thought it better to break the engagement before it went to far and there was no way that Mecrinda could salvage her dignity."

"You address my niece by her first name?" Vacto's eyes were affronted. "She is the Faerie Princess-."

"And I am the Goblin King, Elder Vacto. We are equals." The old man relaxed slightly knowing Jareth was right.

"You do understand the position that you have put yourself in? My brother is not happy with you right now and it could cause great harm to the Underground if you do not right it." Elder Vacto fixed Jareth with a steely glare. Jareth shifted in annoyance, no one had the right to intimidate him.

"And exactly. How am I going to right this?" The sarcasm filled his voice with spite and Vacto raised an eyebrow at the young Goblin King's bravo.

"You either marry Mecrinda or you marry someone else. But it must be soon."

Jareth nodded his head in understanding. He clicked his finger and a crystal appeared in his hand, leaning over he showed Vacto its depths.

"This is Sarah Williams, my future Queen."

0000

Inside the Crystal, that same Sarah Williams was desperately confused. There was an old Junk lady hovering around her room piling junk into her arms and lap and just generally on top of her. There was a pencil box, a game, a doll, a music box, a plastic horse, and a teddy bear. All her things, everything she cherished was being placed into her lap at a tremendous rate. Lastly the junk lady picked up one of Sarah's favorite things, her lipstick. Sarah looked at it all dazed and distracted. She let the lipstick go, it fell onto the vanity table, and saw instead a red leather bound book the golden letters proclaiming Labyrinth. She opened it to a book-marked page, a favorite.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen…" Toby! She suddenly realized what was happening.

"It's all junk!" she exclaimed and started throwing off all the trash the Junk Lady had piled on top of her. As she did so the walls of her fake bedroom began to fall, and she could hear familiar voices calling her name.

0000

"You see, she is the Mortal. No other has ever made it this far." Jareth smirked at Elder Vacto as the older Fae stared open mouthed at the determined human.

"She surely must be," he whispered, "my poor niece." He shook his head sadly, and Jareth felt his heart sink.

"I'm really sorry, I would have married her if things had been different. Please understand that I intended to marry her. I wanted to marry her; everything she touched caused peace to flow through my kingdom. She would have made a perfect Queen. But I…" he faltered slightly when he realized he was going to say love Sarah, he recovered, "feel the Mortal is the one foretold in the prophecy." With another click the prophecy appeared and the silver of Geletia's inner voice filled the room.

In the years to come the Prince will grow to be a King.

He shall govern fairly and bring prosperity to the land.

The Labyrinth will call him Master and bow to no one,

But for the Queen that will emerge from the Mortal realm to claim back the child that was taken.

The Mortal will defeat the Labyrinth and take back what is hers.

The High Prince will love her, and sacrifice greatly to keep her.

When both ascend the throne as Husband and Wife peace will reign

'till 60,000 summers pass and Mortal realm joins in marriage to the Fey realm once more.

Elder Vacto sat in silence as the voice died away and Jareth cleared his throat, "my hands as you can see are tied, and the Fate of the Underworld is tied to Sarah. We have to marry, it is our destiny to be together."

Vacto nodded his head finally understanding the situation that the Goblin King found himself in. "I will try and explain this to my brother, however I think it would be wise to make a formal apology to His Majesty and to Her Highness, if you do not want a war."

Jareth nodded and stood up a clear sigh that it was time for the Elder to leave.

"Thank you for your hospitality Goblin King. Good luck in the Future."

"Thank you for your warnings and advice Elder Vacto. Good health."

"And long life." The Elder finished off and walked firmly out of the study. Jareth let out a stressed breath. That had gone so much better then he had thought. Thank the goddess that Vacto had been sent to him, any other and he knew that he might have had war on his hands.

AN: gods i hate this chapter. there is a reason that Elder Vacto is so accepting, its because he has common sense not to cross the Goblin King, and future High King. the man understands Jareth's position and obligation to Fate.

I hate this chapter and plan to burn every single reminant of it the moment i post it. i just could not find a way to fix it. its just so appalling, you have my humblest apology for the angony your eyes must have endured. Sorry.

Next chapter Mecrinda visits Allera, and then Jareth and the shit hits the fan!

Cassee