Edorin sat on the throne, his back rigid and his face blank. Before him stood one of his guards, dressed in the same thick black armor as the rest of his army, but with spiked shoulder pads and green trim. One of his enormous horns had been cut off – lost in a previous battle – but he was just as enormous as his brethren.
"You are certain of this?" The Troll Lord asked.
The guard nodded.
"Yes, sire. The Goblin King and his servants just passed the Field, and are heading this way. My scouts sent me word only a moment ago."
"Hmmmmph," Edorin murmured thoughtfully, tapping his long nails on the throne's armrest. "A bold move. Have one of your men follow them."
The guard stiffened.
"I am…afraid it will take a bit of time, sire. Regrettably, I lost my only man in the area. He had attempted to pursue them through the Field."
"There is nothing regrettable about it," Edorin replied coldly, "He was obviously a fool. Death was a suitable punishment. I have no use for incompetent soldiers."
Underneath his armor, the troll shuddered.
"Of course, sire."
"Send word to your scouts. I want the exact location where Jareth is."
"Shall I send the Elite to apprehend them, sire?"
The Troll Lord frowned heavily, his piercing blue eyes fixed on his servant.
"No. Let them continue on."
"Sire?" The troll said in bewilderment.
"Trail them, but stay out of sight. That is all." Edorin replied, dismissing the creature from his presence with a careless wave. The troll bowed respectfully and left quickly. The raven-haired Fae was mildly amused at his subordinate's obvious confusion. It was different than his normal plans. But in his previous campaigns, he had never before controlled the Labyrinth. And Edorin was enjoying his new toy too much to let the game end so quickly.
Meanwhile, Sarah and the rest of the odd little team were walking in silence, following closely behind Jareth. He led them through the many passageways, doors, and staircases. The Goblin King glanced at the upcoming fork in the road and turned left. Sure enough, it led right into the corridor it was supposed to. Silently, Jareth breathed a sigh of relief. So far, they had been lucky. So far. But he had to stay vigilant; Trolls were incredible fond of strategy. All it would take was for him to let his guard down, and wham! His head would be sliced off as cleanly as a dandelion. He'd lose an arm or leg at best.
Jareth glanced down at his left arm. It was still aching something awful. He hadn't enjoyed lying to Sarah, but he didn't want to tell her the truth; that he had used some of the Insignia Ring's magic to heal his broken arm. It wasn't even fully healed. He had mended the bone, but that was all. The damage to his muscles was still there. Carrying her had been incredibly painful, but it had been so worth it. To hold her in his arms, to feel her warm breath and smell her sweet hair, to gaze upon her peaceful, angelic face while she slept...
Before, he had been willing to trade all he possessed to do that, and now, he knew full well how worthwhile the trade would have been. But it wasn't enough. He would no longer be content to embrace her just once, not if it meant he would never be able to do it again. No; he wanted to be with her always, to never leave her side.
You have no power over me.
The Goblin King was jerked back to reality by the unforgiving memory. He shook it off best he could, silently cursing out his own traitorous subconscious.
"Jareth?"
The Fae glanced back towards the owner of the voice, who just happened to be Sarah.
"Something wrong?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, "Edorin hasn't changed anything on you, has he?"
"Not yet," He said grimly, "But it's only a matter of time, I'm afraid. Thankfully, we'll be able to bypass most of his traps."
"How is that?"
"By going through most of my traps," The Fae replied.
"Great," Sarah mumbled, "This keeps getting better and better."
"I'm surprised at you, dear Sarah," Jareth chided, smirking, "I didn't peg you as one to back down from a challenge. Perhaps the weeks of my absence have made you grow soft."
"Oh yes," Sarah retorted dryly, "Whatever would I do without you to throw snakes on me and chase me down with the Cleaner?"
"Still sore about the snake, are we?" He said, "And as for the Cleaner, you brought that upon yourself. Calling the Labyrinth a 'piece of cake'! You humans and your conceit."
"Oh, like you aren't any different?" The girl said, flipping her hair back, "You popped into the oubliette to make me admit it was hard, so you could feel like you were better than me. So I said the opposite of what you wanted me to say. If you had been in my shoes, you would have said the exact same thing!"
"I beg to differ."
"Beg all you want. It still won't change the truth."
Jareth glared at her.
"And who are you to decide the truth? I'm not an idiotic little human like you, so I wouldn't behave the way you did."
Sarah snorted.
"Give me a break! You think you're all high and mighty, but you're not, if the royal fit you threw afterward was any indication."
"I did no such thing."
"Liar, liar, thou pants are aflame."
While they continued arguing, Leija, Turnok, and Hoggle had fallen a few steps behind, but were still listening. The threesome watched the two bicker with mixed emotions.
"Isn't that cute?" Leija giggled quietly, "Their first quarrel."
"First?! That definitely ain't their first quarrel!" Hoggle chuckled, "There's a slew of 'em, let me tell you! I was there fer most."
"Yes," the gnome replied, smiling, "But it is their first lover's spat, isn't it?"
Hoggle choked like he was about to vomit. Turnok froze and went white as a ghost.
"What?!" They cried out in unison.
She blinked innocently.
"You didn't know?"
"Leija, they a-aren't…the two a' them ain't…t-they're…!" Hoggle tried.
"But they…that human girl?! With him?! The King…he would never! How could you say…?!" Turnok stammered, shock and disgust filling his voice. "Why do you think that?!"
"Oh, neither of them said anything," Leija replied, putting a hand to her cheek and smiling coyly, "But the way Milord steals glances at her…and how Mi'lady blushes so around him…it's obvious they care about each other. Just look."
They all turned to look at the pair ahead of them. Apparently, Jareth had once again said something to upset Sarah, and she was in the process of saying some very rude things in return. The dwarf and the goblin watched them brawl for a few moments, then stole a glance at each other. Turnok swirled his finger in circles beside his head and pointed at Leija. Hoggle gave a short nod.
Shortly afterward, the troupe arrived at an enormous gate. At the very top, a creature with the body of lion and head of a falcon was perched. It stood at attention the moment it noticed them.
"Greetings and salutations," it said, in a rather lofty manner.
"What?!" Jareth cried out suddenly, looking infuriated.
"I said, 'greetings and salutations'," the creature repeated.
"I know what you said!" The Goblin King snapped, "But why are you here? You aren't supposed to be here! The Griffon's Gate is supposed to be on the other side of the Labyrinth, guarding the exit to the Bog of Eternal Stench!"
"Ah," The griffon said, nodding, "I thought the air was smelling better. In any case, you want to pass, correct?"
"Uh, yes, we would," Sarah replied.
"Alright. Tell me the magic word, and I'll open the gates," The griffon said dutifully.
She turned to Jareth.
"What's the password?" She whispered.
He looked back at her with a combination of anger and helplessness staining his fair features.
"You don't know?" She gasped, "But it's your Labyrinth! You have the layout memorized! How can you not know?!"
"I never had to use a gate before!" He hissed back, "Why would I bother with memorizing passwords when I could simply transport myself to the other side?"
Sarah turned to the other three.
"Anyone know the password?"
One by one, she was met with shaking heads. Sighing, she turned back to the griffon.
"I don't suppose it's 'please', is it?"
The griffon considered it for a moment, before replying,
"No, but being polite won't hurt your chances."
Silence followed, until Turnok, who had an incredibly tiny amount of patience on the best of days, stepped forward.
"This is ridiculous!" He roared, motioning to Jareth "Don't you know who this is?! This is the Goblin King, the Lord of the Labyrinth! You should bow down in reverence and throw the gates open for him!"
The griffon rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yes, the Goblin King. Like I haven't heard that one before. Come now, I'm not a half-wit."
"You'd have to study up to be a half-wit," Jareth hissed under his breath.
"Can't you give us a hint?" Sarah asked the creature.
He shook his head.
"Sorry, but no hints. It's the rules."
"This is impossible," Leija said quietly, her shoulders slumping, "Even if we do guess the right password, how do we know that he won't immediately change it?"
The griffon's feathers ruffled at the sound of this.
"I beg your pardon, little miss!" He huffed, putting his beak in the air, "But I am not some common vulture! If there's one thing I take pride in, it is my impeccable morals! I never lie!"
An idea blossomed in Sarah's head. She looked at Jareth, and saw a familiar smug smile spread over his features. His devious mind was thinking the exact same thing.
"But how would we know?" The girl asked aloud, sounding innocent, "For all we know, that could be a lie."
"But it isn't! I simply do not lie!"
"Talk is cheap, my dear sir," Jareth said, crossing his arms, "And if we do not know the password, how are we to judge if you are telling the truth or not?"
"I certainly don't like what you are implying!" The griffon said angrily, looking hurt, "And I am telling the truth, and I'll prove it!" He opened his beak, but immediately shut it.
"Well?" Sarah demanded, "We're waiting."
The creature looked down at them the sheepishly.
"It's just…well, I can't. I can't tell you the password."
"I knew it!" Leija cried out suddenly. She pointed an accusing finger upward. "You are planning on changing it!"
A look of horror came over the griffon.
"What?! No! That isn't what I meant at all!"
Sarah snuck her a wink, which made the gnome girl smile.
Nice going, Leija!
Hoggle quickly hopped on board as well.
"Sure, sure," He said, feigning sarcasm, "Aye 'suppose that's the truth, too, eh? That's just disgraceful, that is. Ye kiss yer mother with that mouth?"
"I only meant…!" The creature tried, before being interrupted by Sarah.
"Did you make up the rules as well?"
"No, of course not! They…!" The poor thing cried.
"Are we expected to just stand here and listen to this rubbish?" Jareth said, fixing the griffon with a disapproving glare.
"But I…!"
The only one who was still in the dark about their plan was the Captain of the Royal Guard.
"Sire," Turnok said meekly, walking up behind him, "I think he really is telling the tr…"
Jareth quickly silenced his clueless subordinate with an unmerciful kick in the gut that knocked the wind right out of his lungs. Thankfully, the griffon didn't seem to notice.
"Shocking," Sarah said, shaking her head.
"Truly awful!" Leija agreed.
"What a barefaced liar!" Hoggle added.
The humiliated griffon, who looked as if he was either on the brink of crying or exploding, just couldn't take any more of their abuse and finally shrieked indignantly,
"Pumpernickel! It's pumpernickel! It's always been pumpernickel, and it always will be pumpernickel! Now just try the password, and you'll see that I've been telling the truth!"
They kindly gave him a few minutes to recompose himself. Finally, the creature said, "Alright, what is the password?"
"Pumpernickel," All of them replied in unison.
"Correct!" The griffon snapped. He stomped over to the middle of the gate and pushed a hidden switch. The stone gate rumbled open, and they entered. Leija and Sarah looked up at the seething beast as they left.
"Sorry for misjudging you," Sarah said gently.
The griffon mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. Leija obviously felt the worst for her part in it, because she stopped to look right in the griffon's eyes.
"We all are very, very sorry, sir. You were completely right. You're a good, honest, hardworking griffon, and you should never let anyone else tell you otherwise. Someday you'll meet a very nice she-griffon, and you'll live happily ever after."
Leija bowed slightly and hurried after her companions, leaving the griffon to wonder what exactly had just happened.
Ooof-da! Sorry for the delay, guys. I've been sick lately…well, actually I'm still sick…and while you'd think that would give me time to write more, it hasn't. All my free time has been occupied with sleeping. One good side effect of illness is that Jareth is apparently a cootie-phobe *points to vacant space usually occupied by the Goblin King and his hot poker* Anyways, hopefully I'll feel better soon, and I'll get back to writing faster. Love you lots, and PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW! Your reviews are like healing cookies of righteousness to my soul!