Part 4
He flew up to the window, even after promising himself he would never look upon the girl again.
After all, she had rejected his every offer, then on top of that the vexing creature had actually beat his
Labyrinth. However, he couldn't stay away. He landed in the large tree outside of the window and looked
inside. The room was completely empty, but it didn't faze him. She was probably at school. He ruffled his
white feathers and settled down to wait.
Several hours had passed, and there still was no sign of the girl. It began to grow dark, and as she
still did not show up, he decided that she must have stayed at a friend's house or something. It didn't matter
to him, he didn't want to see her again anyway. He spread his snowy wings and soared off into the night
sky. The next day, he flew back to the tree and settled down to wait again. Surely she'd be here today.
This went on for three days, before he finally realized that she wasn't there. He had seen the
stepmother come into the room to dust, he had seen the baby who had been wished away, toddle into the
room with a stuffed bear and sit down and play, but the girl never showed up. Angry and disappointed, he
took off for the last time, swearing that he was never going to come back here. After all, if she could leave
and forget about everything that had happened, so could he. If the dreams would leave him alone.
He flew up towards the moon and then the moon disappeared from sight, and he was flying over a
large castle with many turrets and a drawbridge. He flew straight towards an open window, inside, then
landed on a large throne, where he transformed into a man.
Jareth growled in frustration, as the goblins milled around, their antics which had once been
amusing now only annoying. How dare she forget when he couldn't get it out of his head. She should at
least remember her friends, even if she wanted to forget him. He stood up and kicked a goblin out of the
way. Stupid creatures. The only truly smart ones had left to live in the Fairy Kingdom. Yes, that was better
to think about, even if it did bring back bad memories. His only real friend, the heir to the Fairy throne, had
forsaken him for a mortal woman, who only wanted to get married because it was in fashion to married. He
had even overheard her saying it to a friend of hers, though he hadn't seen her. But, when he told Robert,
his friend had accused him of being jealous. Jareth had tried to reason with him, but to no avail. They
hadn't spoken to each other since.
It had been over fifteen years without real companionship. All he had now was the company of the
goblins, which was really nothing, and the foolish people who wished their siblings away. They were even
worse than the goblins, seeing as how they were intelligent beings, but they acted stupid. Even the magic
folk did it. They groveled and whined, and were terrified of him. None had ever gotten even to the first
oubliette. He could tell they didn't really care about the babies, just about what would be said about them if
the children were found missing, but he had to return the children if they at least attempted the Labyrinth, a
rule he made sure no one but himself and Robert knew.
Now, Sarah had been different. Even when he had first met her, though she had obviously been
frightened of him, she was more concerned about her brother's safety. She had made it to the oubliette in
just under two hours. That of course could not be condoned. After all, he did have his reputation to look
after. She had amazed him at every turn. He had expected to have to transport her home after he sent the
Cleaners, but she had found the secret panel in the wall. Every obstacle he threw in her way, she overcame
it as though it were.a piece of cake. Jareth quickly shook his head. "Stop it!" he commanded himself out
loud. The goblins stopped their frolicking and stared at him. He sighed in exasperation. "Not you!" They
shrugged and continued what they were doing.
Jareth lounged on his throne, his legs thrown over an arm. His back was against the other arm. He
had a pounding headache, but he couldn't keep his eyes closed. Every time he tried it, she kept showing up,
silhouetted in that blasted silvery dress against the back of his eyelids. Six months! Six months since she had
come and turned *his* world upside down, and then left it, and he still could not get her out of his mind.
So, he sat with his eyes open, and banished all the goblins from the room. It didn't help much, but he could
feel his muscles relaxing.
Just as he had become as relaxed as he figured he ever would, a goblin came running into the room.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
Jareth growled and stood up quickly. "You had better have a good reason for coming in here,
Jamfist, or your headed straight for the Bog!"
The goblin gulped and then continued yelling. "There's a message! For you! From the Fairy
Kingdom!"
Jareth winced at the volume, and waited. The goblin just stood there staring at him. "Well," he
demanded, "Where is it!" The goblin blinked, then frowned, then blinked again. Jareth smiled in that
pleasant mocking way he had when he was about to do something quite unpleasant. "Jamfist. Where is the
message?"
Jamfist's eyes brightened, and Jareth could almost see a light-bulb, like the ones in mortal's cartoon
shows, come on over his head. "Here you go Your Majesty," he stated with pride, handing Jareth the scroll.
Jareth took it, then waved a hand at the goblin who disappeared. Jareth didn't know where he sent the
creature, and didn't really care. He carefully unrolled the scroll, then cursed. They would send something
like this at the last possible moment, when he had no time to plan excuses. There was only one week until
this blasted coronation, and he couldn't refuse, or it would seem as though he didn't favor the girl, whoever
she was, to become Queen. That would be disastrous. While, he could care less what the other kingdoms
did, Alyssa could not become ruler of the Fairy Kingdom. She would ruin it, and the others all depended on
the fairies to keep the waters and the plants fresh. At least the ones that were meant to be. He cursed again.
Then he brightened. Everyone knew he didn't deal with the other kingdoms directly. He could send a
delegate in his place, and no one would think anything of it. But who to send?
At that moment, Hoggle walked in, a wary yet defiant expression on his face. "Yer Majesty, I
thinks." he trailed off at the look on his king's face. It was the same look he'd had when he gave Hoggle
that enchanted peach.
"Hoggle," Jareth said brightly, "Just the dwarf I wanted to see." he grinned and told Hoggle his
brilliant plan. The dwarf sighed. At least he wasn't being sent to the Bog of Eternal Stench.
Hoggle walked into the castle foyer, where a man waited, taking names. He handed the scroll to
the man, along with Jareth's explanation. The man raised one gray eyebrow, and shook his head.
"Welcome to the Fairy Kingdom, um.Hogmeat?"
"Hoggle!" Hoggle growled.
The man grinned. "Oh of course of course, terribly sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all, "Well,
it's progress."
Hoggle wondered what was progress, and how he had become involved in this ordeal. All he had
wanted was for Jareth to help Ludo from the goblins, who had once again trapped the poor beast and were
using those terrible nipper sticks, and he got stuck coming to a fancy shindig, where he was sure everyone
would overlook him and maybe even step on him. It had happened before. He really missed Sarah. She
wouldn't have let him get pulled into something as crazy as this, and she would have helped Ludo. But, it
seemed as though she had forgotten about them. No big surprise really. She did have a real life to live, and
he and the others were just part of a fantasy best remembered as a dream. So it came as a big shock, when
he saw her walking regally through the crowd to take her place beside the man with the silver white hair, and
even more of a shock when she smiled at him. She remembered.
Then, that Elven girl had come up and nearly ruined the whole show. Of course, she couldn't
know just how brave Sarah was, or how determined. She found out though, and it shocked Hoggle
completely along with everyone else. He was a bit reassured when she winked at him. It told him she'd
explain later. When she did, he couldn't believe his ears. She was as strong as the Goblin King, not just in
will power, but in magic as well. Then, Sarah made him promise not to tell Jareth, that if he wanted to
know, he would have to get over whatever aversion he had to the kingdom and come himself. Hoggle
agreed. He would do anything for the first friend he had ever had.
Jareth waited in his throne room, for the dwarf to come back. It wasn't curiosity that kept him, but
necessity. After all, she was the daughter of his best friend, even if they had had a falling out. He wanted to
make sure everything had gone without a hitch. He watched the door as the dwarf walked in. "Well?" he
asked.
Hoggle shook his head. "Just as boring as you said it would be."
"Nothing happened then? Everything went all right?"
The dwarf nodded and said, "It went like magic."
Jareth sighed. "Good. Now go on. I freed your.friend. He's with the knight." He dismissed the
dwarf and walked up to his chambers. Then he stopped, and transforming into a white owl, flew out a
window and on to Earth. He landed on the tree outside Sarah's window, but just like six months before,
there was no one. He heaved a sigh and prepared to take off again, when a movement caught the corner of
his eye. He turned towards the window again and saw the stepmother with Toby. He was holding up a little
red leather book with gold writing on it, slobbering all over it. His mother took it from him and scolded him
for a minute, then opened it and began reading. Jareth magically magnified his hearing and leaned towards
the window a bit.
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home
with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child and he wanted everything for himself.." The woman
made a sound of disgust, "Why is it always the stepmother who is evil? Why can't the father ever be the evil
one, the one who does all the bad things. Or even the real mother, who.oh never mind. You don't even
understand what I'm saying."
Jareth smiled to himself. It was a great opportunity. If he could get her to say the words, then he
could take Toby and make a trade. The baby for information on Sarah's whereabouts. He magically made
the words appear, and the woman unaware of what was about to happen read them out loud. "I wish the
goblins would come and take you away right now. Hmph, what sort of rubbish is that.Ahhh!" She
screamed as Toby suddenly disappeared, and Jareth flew threw the window.
He flew up to the window, even after promising himself he would never look upon the girl again.
After all, she had rejected his every offer, then on top of that the vexing creature had actually beat his
Labyrinth. However, he couldn't stay away. He landed in the large tree outside of the window and looked
inside. The room was completely empty, but it didn't faze him. She was probably at school. He ruffled his
white feathers and settled down to wait.
Several hours had passed, and there still was no sign of the girl. It began to grow dark, and as she
still did not show up, he decided that she must have stayed at a friend's house or something. It didn't matter
to him, he didn't want to see her again anyway. He spread his snowy wings and soared off into the night
sky. The next day, he flew back to the tree and settled down to wait again. Surely she'd be here today.
This went on for three days, before he finally realized that she wasn't there. He had seen the
stepmother come into the room to dust, he had seen the baby who had been wished away, toddle into the
room with a stuffed bear and sit down and play, but the girl never showed up. Angry and disappointed, he
took off for the last time, swearing that he was never going to come back here. After all, if she could leave
and forget about everything that had happened, so could he. If the dreams would leave him alone.
He flew up towards the moon and then the moon disappeared from sight, and he was flying over a
large castle with many turrets and a drawbridge. He flew straight towards an open window, inside, then
landed on a large throne, where he transformed into a man.
Jareth growled in frustration, as the goblins milled around, their antics which had once been
amusing now only annoying. How dare she forget when he couldn't get it out of his head. She should at
least remember her friends, even if she wanted to forget him. He stood up and kicked a goblin out of the
way. Stupid creatures. The only truly smart ones had left to live in the Fairy Kingdom. Yes, that was better
to think about, even if it did bring back bad memories. His only real friend, the heir to the Fairy throne, had
forsaken him for a mortal woman, who only wanted to get married because it was in fashion to married. He
had even overheard her saying it to a friend of hers, though he hadn't seen her. But, when he told Robert,
his friend had accused him of being jealous. Jareth had tried to reason with him, but to no avail. They
hadn't spoken to each other since.
It had been over fifteen years without real companionship. All he had now was the company of the
goblins, which was really nothing, and the foolish people who wished their siblings away. They were even
worse than the goblins, seeing as how they were intelligent beings, but they acted stupid. Even the magic
folk did it. They groveled and whined, and were terrified of him. None had ever gotten even to the first
oubliette. He could tell they didn't really care about the babies, just about what would be said about them if
the children were found missing, but he had to return the children if they at least attempted the Labyrinth, a
rule he made sure no one but himself and Robert knew.
Now, Sarah had been different. Even when he had first met her, though she had obviously been
frightened of him, she was more concerned about her brother's safety. She had made it to the oubliette in
just under two hours. That of course could not be condoned. After all, he did have his reputation to look
after. She had amazed him at every turn. He had expected to have to transport her home after he sent the
Cleaners, but she had found the secret panel in the wall. Every obstacle he threw in her way, she overcame
it as though it were.a piece of cake. Jareth quickly shook his head. "Stop it!" he commanded himself out
loud. The goblins stopped their frolicking and stared at him. He sighed in exasperation. "Not you!" They
shrugged and continued what they were doing.
Jareth lounged on his throne, his legs thrown over an arm. His back was against the other arm. He
had a pounding headache, but he couldn't keep his eyes closed. Every time he tried it, she kept showing up,
silhouetted in that blasted silvery dress against the back of his eyelids. Six months! Six months since she had
come and turned *his* world upside down, and then left it, and he still could not get her out of his mind.
So, he sat with his eyes open, and banished all the goblins from the room. It didn't help much, but he could
feel his muscles relaxing.
Just as he had become as relaxed as he figured he ever would, a goblin came running into the room.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
Jareth growled and stood up quickly. "You had better have a good reason for coming in here,
Jamfist, or your headed straight for the Bog!"
The goblin gulped and then continued yelling. "There's a message! For you! From the Fairy
Kingdom!"
Jareth winced at the volume, and waited. The goblin just stood there staring at him. "Well," he
demanded, "Where is it!" The goblin blinked, then frowned, then blinked again. Jareth smiled in that
pleasant mocking way he had when he was about to do something quite unpleasant. "Jamfist. Where is the
message?"
Jamfist's eyes brightened, and Jareth could almost see a light-bulb, like the ones in mortal's cartoon
shows, come on over his head. "Here you go Your Majesty," he stated with pride, handing Jareth the scroll.
Jareth took it, then waved a hand at the goblin who disappeared. Jareth didn't know where he sent the
creature, and didn't really care. He carefully unrolled the scroll, then cursed. They would send something
like this at the last possible moment, when he had no time to plan excuses. There was only one week until
this blasted coronation, and he couldn't refuse, or it would seem as though he didn't favor the girl, whoever
she was, to become Queen. That would be disastrous. While, he could care less what the other kingdoms
did, Alyssa could not become ruler of the Fairy Kingdom. She would ruin it, and the others all depended on
the fairies to keep the waters and the plants fresh. At least the ones that were meant to be. He cursed again.
Then he brightened. Everyone knew he didn't deal with the other kingdoms directly. He could send a
delegate in his place, and no one would think anything of it. But who to send?
At that moment, Hoggle walked in, a wary yet defiant expression on his face. "Yer Majesty, I
thinks." he trailed off at the look on his king's face. It was the same look he'd had when he gave Hoggle
that enchanted peach.
"Hoggle," Jareth said brightly, "Just the dwarf I wanted to see." he grinned and told Hoggle his
brilliant plan. The dwarf sighed. At least he wasn't being sent to the Bog of Eternal Stench.
Hoggle walked into the castle foyer, where a man waited, taking names. He handed the scroll to
the man, along with Jareth's explanation. The man raised one gray eyebrow, and shook his head.
"Welcome to the Fairy Kingdom, um.Hogmeat?"
"Hoggle!" Hoggle growled.
The man grinned. "Oh of course of course, terribly sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all, "Well,
it's progress."
Hoggle wondered what was progress, and how he had become involved in this ordeal. All he had
wanted was for Jareth to help Ludo from the goblins, who had once again trapped the poor beast and were
using those terrible nipper sticks, and he got stuck coming to a fancy shindig, where he was sure everyone
would overlook him and maybe even step on him. It had happened before. He really missed Sarah. She
wouldn't have let him get pulled into something as crazy as this, and she would have helped Ludo. But, it
seemed as though she had forgotten about them. No big surprise really. She did have a real life to live, and
he and the others were just part of a fantasy best remembered as a dream. So it came as a big shock, when
he saw her walking regally through the crowd to take her place beside the man with the silver white hair, and
even more of a shock when she smiled at him. She remembered.
Then, that Elven girl had come up and nearly ruined the whole show. Of course, she couldn't
know just how brave Sarah was, or how determined. She found out though, and it shocked Hoggle
completely along with everyone else. He was a bit reassured when she winked at him. It told him she'd
explain later. When she did, he couldn't believe his ears. She was as strong as the Goblin King, not just in
will power, but in magic as well. Then, Sarah made him promise not to tell Jareth, that if he wanted to
know, he would have to get over whatever aversion he had to the kingdom and come himself. Hoggle
agreed. He would do anything for the first friend he had ever had.
Jareth waited in his throne room, for the dwarf to come back. It wasn't curiosity that kept him, but
necessity. After all, she was the daughter of his best friend, even if they had had a falling out. He wanted to
make sure everything had gone without a hitch. He watched the door as the dwarf walked in. "Well?" he
asked.
Hoggle shook his head. "Just as boring as you said it would be."
"Nothing happened then? Everything went all right?"
The dwarf nodded and said, "It went like magic."
Jareth sighed. "Good. Now go on. I freed your.friend. He's with the knight." He dismissed the
dwarf and walked up to his chambers. Then he stopped, and transforming into a white owl, flew out a
window and on to Earth. He landed on the tree outside Sarah's window, but just like six months before,
there was no one. He heaved a sigh and prepared to take off again, when a movement caught the corner of
his eye. He turned towards the window again and saw the stepmother with Toby. He was holding up a little
red leather book with gold writing on it, slobbering all over it. His mother took it from him and scolded him
for a minute, then opened it and began reading. Jareth magically magnified his hearing and leaned towards
the window a bit.
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home
with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child and he wanted everything for himself.." The woman
made a sound of disgust, "Why is it always the stepmother who is evil? Why can't the father ever be the evil
one, the one who does all the bad things. Or even the real mother, who.oh never mind. You don't even
understand what I'm saying."
Jareth smiled to himself. It was a great opportunity. If he could get her to say the words, then he
could take Toby and make a trade. The baby for information on Sarah's whereabouts. He magically made
the words appear, and the woman unaware of what was about to happen read them out loud. "I wish the
goblins would come and take you away right now. Hmph, what sort of rubbish is that.Ahhh!" She
screamed as Toby suddenly disappeared, and Jareth flew threw the window.