A Simple Wish

Chapter 3: "Is That The Castle Beyond The Goblin City?"

Sam had awoken, reluctantly, from the best nights rest she had ever experienced.

**Thank the Gods it was all a dream,** she thought as she rolled over on her back and opened her eyes groggily.

"What do you know," she said softly, "I haven't woken up yet." She sighed, "Well, I did ask for it." Sitting up, she pulled the black silk sheets tightly around her and began to survey the room.

It was a rather large room, not brightly lit, but the huge picture window opposite from the door allowed some muted sunlight to glare through. The scene from this window was a magnificent overhead view of the Labyrinth. It looked much like the pictures she had mulled over and fascinated at so many times.

"Well," she said, "some things are the same...at least at on the surface." Against the wall before the "King" size bed stood a small podium. The object on this was entirely covered by a shiny, red cloth. The rest of the room contained shelves that held books, trinkets, and a closet filled with unique, eccentric-looking clothing.

"This is definitely Jareth's room," Sam chuckled. Her attention was soon drawn back to the podium, however, and she tossed off the covers, hopped off the bed, and stood before it.

Making sure she was completely alone, Sam grasped the cloth with her slender fingers and pulled it from the hidden object. She was somewhat disappointed to discover it was a crystal, like the many others Jareth had lying around the room.

"It's just like the others," she whispered, "or...maybe it's something more." She tapped the mirrored surface with her fingernail.

Before she could examine the crystal further, Sam heard a commotion outside the door and quickly covered it up again. Then, she shuffled back to the bed and waited for whoever was outside to make their entry. When nothing happened, Sam set to straitening herself out as well as making the bed.

"If I have to be a guest here, there's no need to be a messy one," she said.

When her task was completed, Sam crept silently towards the wooden door and took one last look over her shoulder. **There's something strange about seeing how truly alike Jareth is to any other person, in some respects,** she thought. It seemed a very intimate and trusting gesture to put her in such a private, revealing place. Maybe it had been a lack of better judgment on his part, or perhaps, a trap. Storing away yet another bit of information, Sam wrapped her hand around the cool doorknob and turned it slowly. The door creaked loudly and she winced as two ugly goblins, dressed as guards, rushed toward her with fairly large, sharp-looking spears.

Sam cleared her throat and smiled when they stopped before her, blocking the way out.

"Ahem.....Hello there," she said in a friendly manner.

"Get yourself back in there, little girly. You don't want to be startin' no trouble. Jareth isn't in the mood for it," the goblin with the over-exaggerated nose barked.

"Yea, you heard him, get back in the room," the other with the long, pointed ears whined, shoving his sharp spear point at her.

"Hey!" Sam yelled in surprise, "Watch where you're pointing that thing! You could hurt someone." The two creatures seemed startled by her outburst but stood their ground.

"We just doin' our jobs, lady," Big-Nose said. Pointy-Ears nodded in agreement.

"Well, I suggest you be more careful. I wasn't trying to escape, I just wanted to see where I was," Sam lied.

"You be in the King's royal chambers," Big-Nose said, "and you're to stay put until Jareth says otherwise."

"Oh," Sam said, her thoughts suddenly turning back to the crystal. "Well, if Jareth wanted to know if I was where I'm supposed to be, how could he do it without coming all the way to the room?"

"This girl ain't one of the brightest, is she," Big-Nose whispered in a loud voice to his partner. Then he turned to Sam again. "He'd use the crystal in the throne room to connect with the main one in his chambers by rubbing it and thinking of exactly where he wanted to see. There's one in every room of the castle and they all link back to this one. Everyone knows that, but not how to use them," he explained and they both laughed at her ignorance. Sam, having been proud to gain this knowledge so easily, laughed with them. (Or at them, rather.) Still playing upon their stupidity, Sam interrupted.

"Oh," she giggled in a fake manner, "I KNEW that. I just wanted to see if the King found you two trustworthy enough to tell such a BIG, important thing like that," she ended with a toothy grin.

The two goblins smirked, if it could be called a "smirk" when it happened upon their disfigured faces.

"Of course he trusts us," Big-Nose said proudly, "we're his best and most loyal warriors."

"Yes," agreed Pointy-Ears, "that be the truth. No one can beat us as a team."

"Hmmmm," Sam scratched her chin in thoughtful contemplation. "As a team? I would think you," she pointed at Big-Nose, "would be the more powerful of the two. I mean, he does have more muscles," she ended, turning to Pointy-Ears. Big-Nose puffed out his chest and made a coughing noise.

"Well, you wrong missy," Pointy-Ears argued, "I be taller and stronger than him any day. I taught him everything he knows."

"What?!" Big-Nose exclaimed, "that's not right. I taught you! You bunchy old scab-face!"

"Hey, don't call me names you wart infested stooge!" Pointy-Ears shot back.

By now, the two were nose-to-nose and as they lunged for each other, Sam grabbed them by the hair and held them up level to her face.

"Listen, fellas, I think this is an important thing for you to work out, so I'll just leave you guys alone. How does that sound to you?" she asked. The goblins continued to argue in mid-air and seemed to have forgotten that Sam even existed. She dropped them back down to the floor and shut the door behind her with a click. She then patted each goblin on the head and started down the long hallway.

The halls of the castle were much like mazes themselves and were lit very dimly by torches. As the sounds of her guards' yelling faded, a new group of sounds touched her ears. Sam followed the origin of this noise the best she could manage. Not more than a few twists and turns later, Sam found herself before an archway that led to the throne room.

**That even looks the same,** she thought to herself as she peered from around the wall of one arch.

She watched Jareth sit down in his throne and then witnessed the event that caused her to lose complete control for the simple fact that it was the most purely hilarious, ironic thing she had ever seen.