AN: A new chapter and you didn't have to wait a whole year for it! Truly, thanks so much to all of my readers, new and old, and a giant THANK YOU to those who have reviewed, especially my star reviewer IslandOwlArcher! I hope you enjoy this chapter with lots of Jareth and Sarah dialogue. In the next chapter we'll check on Hoggle, Didymus, and the rest of the captives and maybe look in on Karen and Robert too, but this chapter wound up being all JS. xo
Sarah and Jareth moved silently along the edge of the forest. The warrior dwarves had long since disappeared from sight, and the green glowing border that marked the entrance to the Dwarf Kingdom loomed in front of them. Jareth suddenly stopped, closed his eyes, and reached out his hands, his long fingers stretching out like pale feathers in the darkness.
"What are you doing?" Sarah whispered.
Keeping his eyes closed, Jareth answered, "Checking one last time for any spies or other unwelcome surprises before we cross the border. After that, it would be too risky to use magic before we reach the palace. Technically I could, since the rules of the Underground only prevent me from using magic to cross the border, but he dwarves are an incredibly suspicious people, and I'm sure they have wards in place to detect any unauthorized users. I'd rather them not know we are there until we wish to be known."
"Oh," Sarah answered in a small voice. Despite the caffeine and chocolate she had just imbibed, she was tired, worried about her friends, and more nervous than she wanted to admit in front of the Goblin King. Even though she now knew she could trust Jareth, after some of the trouble they had already gotten into on this adventure, she was a little scared to face what might come next without the bravado of Sir Didymus, the strong shoulders of Ludo, or even the stubborn grumbles of Hoggle. She also knew that probably before too long Karen, a perpetual morning lark, would be waking up and starting her day. What would she do when she realized Sarah wasn't home? The thought of facing her parents filled Sarah's stomach with as much dread as the idea of facing the warrior dwarves did.
Jareth opened his eyes. "I didn't find anything. I think it's time for us to cross."
"Okay, I guess we're really doing this," Sarah said. She took a deep breath and a step forward.
"I'll go first," Jareth offered, "just in case there are any booby traps."
"Booby traps?" Sarah asked. Jareth nodded and put his finger to his lips. Without his magic, quiet would help him concentrate if any threats did arise.
Sarah reached out and touched his arm quickly. "Be careful," she whispered. Jareth gave her a little smile and wink. As he crossed the border confidently, he was internally strutting and celebrating the look of concern she had given him – though he also did feel a smidge guilty. This was an insignificant portion of the border, and besides, dwarves really never used booby traps. It wasn't their style.
Sure enough, he crossed without incident and beckoned for Sarah to follow him. As she tentatively stepped across, he extended a gloved hand to her and pulled her through. With both of them safely within the borders of the Dwarf Kingdom, Sarah permitted herself a little sigh of relief.
"All that anticipation and we literally just stepped over," Jareth snorted. "Their lack of security is a little embarrassing." Seeing Sarah's face, his look softened a touch. "I keep telling you, everything is going to be okay," Jareth said reassuringly. "And I'm not exactly known for my sunny disposition and persistent optimism," he added with a little eye roll.
"How do you know?" she asked plaintively, pulling away from him. "Grown-ups…I mean, um, adults, always say that, and then bad things still happen sometimes." Suddenly she looked at him more closely. "Wait, do you know? I mean, do you know what's going to happen?"
Jareth regarded her carefully for a moment. "I think what you're asking is, can I see the future?" he finally responded. Sarah nodded.
"No. Well, not exactly," Jareth hedged. "You know I can reorder time to some extent, which is…complicated." Sarah nodded again. "It's easiest to do at a distance. If I'm far away from someone, like we are far from your family, it's like I can just tug on them slightly, to slow them down a bit, or speed them up. When I'm trying to actually move backward or forward myself, it's much more difficult and extremely tiring. So fundamentally I really can't see very far into the future, or the past, if it affects me personally. It's one of the safeguards in place to prevent sorcerers like myself from altering the timeline too much."
"Oh," Sarah said, a little disappointed but strangely relieved at the same time. "I guess that makes sense. What are the other safeguards?"
"Well," Jareth replied, "if anything is changed that alters the timeline significantly, there are others on the High Council who can reorder time and who would probably become aware fairly quickly. Getting the Council involved in my business is never something I enjoy, so I avoid that whenever possible. And then there are also the anchors," Jareth added.
"Anchors?" Sarah asked.
"Yes. There are certain planned events embedded in the timeline called anchors. They are not alterable, even for someone who can reorder time. Even if I become aware of an anchor beforehand, I cannot avoid it, or change the outcome. It must be experienced as it was planned."
"Wow," Sarah said, a little startled. "Are there a lot of them? How do you find out about them?"
"It depends," replied Jareth. "Sometimes you run into several in a row. Sometimes you can go decades without coming across one. Sometimes you don't have any warning they are happening, though there are different ways of learning about them. Announcements, prophecies…things like that."
"Sounds confusing," Sarah replied.
"It can be," Jareth said. "Sometimes you don't even realize you were caught in one until much later." At the frustration in his voice, Sarah couldn't resist smiling a little bit.
"What?" he asked sharply, scowling at her a little. Sarah had already started to recognize that scowl as an act he used in front of the goblins and smiled even more broadly.
"I don't know, it's just nice to know that in some small way you're not like…all-powerful," Sarah said, shrugging her shoulders. "All that magic can be a little intimidating."
"A few minutes ago you were hoping I was some kind of omniscient fortune teller, and now you're glad for the binds placed on me? Truly Sarah, I never will be able to live up to your expectations," Jareth said with mock exasperation. He privately realized with delight that their bantering had lifted her spirits far more than any earnest attempts at reassurance had.
"Whatever, you like it," Sarah teased, giving Jareth a playful shove. Jareth looked up in surprise only to see the same expression on Sarah's face. Was I just…FLIRTING with the Goblin King?
"Really Sarah, control yourself. Assaults against my royal person will not be tolerated," Jareth teased back, hands on hips. Sarah was taken aback for moment before she noted the mischievous glint in his eyes.
"My apologies, Your Majesty," Sarah said with a dainty mock curtsey.
"That's more like it." Jareth shot her a grin and then pulled a few steps in front of her to get a better look at the countryside. Sarah watched as the silvery strands of his hair caught the moonlight and shook her head slightly in awe at her situation.
"Who would have ever guessed I'd wind up alone in a forest at night with the Goblin King?" she wondered to herself. "And what's more, that I'd be HAPPY that he's here with me?"
As Sarah pondered these thoughts, Jareth spotted a tall foothill and climbed smoothly up to the top to get a better view. "Come up, Sarah," he called down softly. As she struggled up the rocky path he extended a hand to pull her to the top. A cloud covered the moon and darkness draped around them, concealing them from any spies in the wilderness.
"Look, Sarah," he whispered in her ear, pointing into the east. Ahead Sarah could see the forest ended, transitioning into craggy hills that ascended further on into snow-capped mountain peaks. Carved into one of those mountains Sarah could see the outline of a massive door emblazoned with the same horned helmet she had seen on the warrior dwarves' armor earlier.
"The Hall of the Dwarf King and Queen," Jareth murmured, standing close behind her. Sarah shivered a little looking at the vast rocky expanse before them.
"So…too bad about that whole no magic thing," Sarah whispered back.
"Hmm, yes," Jareth replied, raising one eyebrow at her. "But I think I have an idea."