Chapter Six
* * * * * * * *
Cos these are the days of our lives
They've flown with the swiftness of time
These days are all gone now but some things remain
When I look and I find-no change!
* * * * * * * *
Jareth slipped down to the ground, looking at the entrance to their town, to his
home, and towards Shay. He had no hope for them, and all the while the marriage
approached. The magical shop that he had been directed towards, had proven fruitless.
He might have believed that answers were offered, but then.... there were also so many
more questions.
Freddie supported himself with a single hand against the strong trunk of a nearby
oak tree. He held an apple in one hand, looking at its shining red body carefully, and then
tossed it carelessly into the air, catching it in the same hand without moving.
"All is not lost, dear.... there are always other options," Freddie stated, preparing
to bite into the glorious fruit.
He took just the smallest mouthful and then grinned seductively, his playfulness
ever evident in his features. Jareth merely smiled and then sighed deeply, leaning all the
way upon his back, to gaze up at the network of leaves and branches overhead that filtered
out the warm sun rays.
"What is left for me to do? I am nineteen years of age Freddie, and my marriage is
but five short months away," Jareth moaned.
Freddie looked at the apple again and then tossed it over his shoulder. He
squatted down near his friend, grimacing at the lack of movement he was allowed in his
leather trousers.... not to mention the lack of balance in his heeled boots. Such were the
pains one paid for fashion.
His intentions were meant only in concern with his friend, though, and he paid little
attention to the pain he sustained from remaining in such a position. Freddie laid one hand
on Jareth's shoulder and then raised his eyebrows slightly for effect.
"The worry is not helping, take a day off, take two. You will not find the answer
now Jareth, not when you are looking so very hard. What do you expect, a magical spell
to cast upon this mess of circumstances to make things right in the world?" Freddie
inquired, tittering a bit at the thought of such fantastic options.
Jareth began to laugh as well, but his mirth was promptly cut off as his eyes
snapped open wide. His mouth dropped in the stunning shock of his personal revelation.
Ever so slowly the blonde noble turned to face his waiting friend, a broad smile forming on
his thin lips.
Shaking he raised up to a sitting position, and gripped Freddie's upper arms with a
bit too much force. His eyes simply danced with anxiety, anticipation. Freddie himself
wrenched free from Jareth's vice-like grip and then rubbed his arms, all the while watching
his friend's oddity.
"Tell me about her!" Jareth demanded, licking his lips as he waited with baited
breath.
Freddie rolled his eyes and continued to massage the injury that had been inflicted
upon his slender arms. As if he had a clue which "her" Jareth was now referring. There
had not been a lack of women in Freddie's life. Slowly a smirk formed over his handsome
features as he thought about his escapades in romance.
"Darling, about which of my many love affairs do you wish to know?" Freddie
asked, holding a hand out at arm length to check his finely manicured nails.
Jareth shook his head adamantly at Freddie's question. He wished to know about
none of them. Once more he licked his lips, seeming almost insane in the way he was
acting.
"Tell me about the Goblin Queen," Jareth finally proclaimed.
Freddie dropped his hand immediately and then fixed Jareth with a calculating
gaze. The noble did not once flinch, nor back down in what he wished to hear. There
really was no choice; Jareth had become accustomed to receiving that which he so desired.
"What of her?" Freddie asked, stalling for time as he rose, slightly trembling, to his
feet.
He watched Jareth follow suit, all the while fearing what was to come next. The
Goblin Queen was not some trivial matter. Certainly going to her, which was precisely
what Freddie supposed was in Jareth's mind, would prove disastrous in the long run. She
was not to ever be trusted.
"She can save me, she has power and can teach me! God, Freddie, don't you see
the perfection in this plan? It cannot go wrong!" Jareth stated, his laughter bubbling up in
the middle of his speaking.
"No... no she cannot! She is nothing but a harlot, a woman of trickery!" Freddie
replied and then began off towards town.
He strode quickly, brushing aside bushes and tree limbs as he quickly continued
on. Jareth's frantic footsteps crashed through the foliage, as he ran to hinder his friend's
progression. Freddie stopped, as Jareth blocked his path, those powerful eyes now
desperate, pleading.
Jareth said nothing, but instead stood there, staring deeply at his dear friend.
Freddie sighed and then moaned as he admitted defeat. There was no way he could ever
deny Jareth anything.
"Oh damn you, you horrid thing! Damnit... fine Jareth I'll tell you about the
Goblin Queen," Freddie relented and then leaned his head back to look at the filtering
sunshine, which had begun to travel closer to the west.
Jareth promptly sat back down under the ancient trees, and leaned against one
thick trunk. He turned his intense gaze towards Freddie and waited in silent anticipation
for what was to come.
"Our darling Goblin Queen ... or the infamous "Queen of the tower" has a nasty
temper, and magic at her fingertips. She does not age, and is more beautiful than any
other living thing. She's lived a hundred years, and shall live three hundred more. Jareth,
do you understand what your getting involved with by going to her?" Freddie asked, his
campy accent dropping just slightly and his effected use of language fading to nothing as
all was cloaked in seriousness.
"I have no other choice," Jareth stated somberly and then lifted himself up.
Freddie watched his friend begin towards their town, half stunned at what he had
heard. Then, without another moment of hesitation, rushed towards Jareth. Freddie
caught his friend by the arm and forced the young noble to look at him. A deep
somberness overwhelmed Freddie's obsidian eyes.
"There is always another way," Freddie stated.
Jareth pulled himself free from the grip, but stood gazing into his dearest
companion's eyes. They remained that way, locked in a strange staring contest, one which
neither would ever win. Jareth would not turn down, not when he had been offered hope
in the pit of despair which had recently consumed him.
"Not only will she help me, teach me magic so that I can marry Shay, but I also
must find out what it is that I experience inside myself," Jareth explained and then sighed
slightly, turning to look at the walled-in town, "I will find her castle today, and return
shortly later to bid Shay farewell."
Freddie was silent in response and just watched as Jareth continued on towards
town. Just as Jareth disappeared from sight, Freddie leant back against the nearest tree
and placed a single hand over his eyes, breaths shaking as they heaved through his chest.
He swallowed, working at the lump which had just formed in his throat, and then removed
his hand from before his eyes.
The young man bit his lip, all teasing having gone out of his soul, and then shook
his handsome head. What was there to say, what was there to do? Freddie slowly began
walking back to town, his stature not quite as regal as it had always been before... and his
head hung in quiet dejection.
* * * * * * * *
He had saddled his young steed with all the haste of most youthful men, however
his purpose was by far more important than some joy ride. Jareth had left, had not even
noticed the silouhette of his friend standing in the shade of the entrance, as he raced out
and into the forest. No, he had been focused on one thing, and one thing alone, finding
the Goblin Queen.
The course back to the mysterious woods, from whence Freddie and himself had
turned away, was quite easy. It took little time to reach it, and then but a few moments of
encouragement to his spooky horse to move forward and into the rarely traveled section
of the old forest.
It was quite a lovely environment with ancient trees reaching high into the pure
crystalline sky overhead. The atmosphere was laden with a serene silence, with occasional
outbursts from animals as they scrounged through the overgrown underbrush. It was wild
and untamed, a true adventure if he had ever experienced one.
He had carefully found a path through brambles which raced across the ground at
all angles, and low hanging branches shrouded in garlands of ivy and vines that reached
around his neck more than once. Jareth meandered through, all the while sensing a
growing magnetism to one central point.
Without any form of warning the tree line promptly ceased to exist. Suddenly he
was in the slightest of clearings, and found the ancient masonry of some exquisite castle
directly before his widened eyes. Jareth halted his steed and slowly looked upwards, at
the amazing sight.
So, it had come that he had seen the queen, sitting on the ledge of the tallest
window near the peak of the tower that seemed to scrape the sky. Her hair was silver, as
if a luxurious liquid floating about in the air. Jareth backed his horse into the shadows and
took in her beautiful appearance, captivated and beyond words for once in his life. He
could not speak to her, in fear that the rumors had been true and she would make him fade
into nothing.
Besides, he had those that would await his return, and his farewell. Jareth allowed
one more look at the lovely, and strangely powerful woman before clicking to his mount
to turn and head home. There was no time to waste. He glanced over his shoulder, as the
thick leaves obscured his view.
It seemed that, at that last moment when he could just scarcely see the Queen,
their eyes had met. It seemed as if she was looking at him, had noticed him even in the
darkness of the comforting shadows. Jareth shook the thought from his mind, believing it
to be nothing more than fear at what he would soon be doing, and how he would
approach such a magical entity as the Goblin Queen.
"This is my answer," Jareth had told himself, silently hoping that what he said time
and again was true.
High in the tower Cyria turned and looked down at the youth who had gazed up at
her for such a short time. Her emerald cat eyes narrowed in suspicion and tried in vain to
catch a glimpse of the mysterious man. However, he was gone, and left not a trace of his
presence in the shadowed realm of the forest in which he had stopped. His leaving did not
matter much, for the crystals would quickly show her who had braved the many terrible
tales to see the mysterious, infamous queen in her lonely castle.
She twisted the crystal ball about in her lithe fingers, watching intently as a faint
image formed inside, amidst the swirling fog of intense magic. The sight within stole her
very breath from her lungs and nearly caused her to plummet from the window upon
which she had perched herself.
"He is beautiful," she muttered, her lovely voice fluttering as she calmed her racing
heart.
* * * * * * * *
Jareth blinked open his reddened eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Even his sleep
was plagued by these memories, times that had long ago passed and had been buried
away. He had cried in his slumber, something that he had not done for so very long.
After all, he was a man, twenty-two... and a king.
If he had but listened to Freddie, then none of this would have ever happened. He
would not have caught Cyria's interest, would not have caused Shay and Freddie's death,
would not have ascended to the Damn throne which now was nothing but a constant
burden. Everything would have been different.
Jareth allowed a ragged breath to escape from between his lips. Even now, sitting
in his chambers as the morning just began to dawn outside, he could hear his dear friend's
voice. The last time he had spoken to Freddie had been when returning from Cyria's
castle to bid everyone a short farewell.
"It turned out to be the last farewell," Jareth muttered and rose to his feet, unable
to attempt to sleep any longer.
Freddie had seemed himself, when Jareth had spoken to him. The young man had
been joking as always, with the constant inward and outward smirk evident on his
handsome face. Always the jokester, and with seduction powers to rival Jareth's own.
The Goblin King laughed a bit at the memories, the times they had shared together before
Jareth's heart had been stolen away....
Despite the fact that Jareth had had little time to spend with Freddie when Shay
had become involved in his life, the King's friend had never once been mad with the sweet
girl. He had merely treated her as he had treated Jareth, with a laugh and constant, but
friendly, teasing.
"Darling, life is not as it should have been," Jareth muttered, even lifting his voice
just slightly enough to try to imitate his dear friend.
Freddie had had a glorious tenor's voice, one that rang when he sang. Very often
Jareth and his friend would duet, making the ladies swoon at the sound of their sublime
songs. Those had been great times, times that Jareth wished he could return to, if only for
a short while. However, there was no way he could ever go back... ever.
"If I could I would change the world for you, turn it upside down," Jareth moaned
and then threw open the door which led into the dimly lit passage way.
But he could not. Jareth stumbled out into the hall and turned, walking blindly to
the throne room where he would wait until full morning, when the Goblin would be about
once more. So was the amazing life of the King.
He finally was beginning to understand why Cyria had sat in the tower all day and
night, watching for someone to break the monotony of her existence. All Jareth wished
for now, was a single glimpse at lovely faces from the past... Shay and Freddie.
* * * * * * * *
Cos these are the days of our lives
They've flown with the swiftness of time
These days are all gone now but some things remain
When I look and I find-no change!
* * * * * * * *
Jareth slipped down to the ground, looking at the entrance to their town, to his
home, and towards Shay. He had no hope for them, and all the while the marriage
approached. The magical shop that he had been directed towards, had proven fruitless.
He might have believed that answers were offered, but then.... there were also so many
more questions.
Freddie supported himself with a single hand against the strong trunk of a nearby
oak tree. He held an apple in one hand, looking at its shining red body carefully, and then
tossed it carelessly into the air, catching it in the same hand without moving.
"All is not lost, dear.... there are always other options," Freddie stated, preparing
to bite into the glorious fruit.
He took just the smallest mouthful and then grinned seductively, his playfulness
ever evident in his features. Jareth merely smiled and then sighed deeply, leaning all the
way upon his back, to gaze up at the network of leaves and branches overhead that filtered
out the warm sun rays.
"What is left for me to do? I am nineteen years of age Freddie, and my marriage is
but five short months away," Jareth moaned.
Freddie looked at the apple again and then tossed it over his shoulder. He
squatted down near his friend, grimacing at the lack of movement he was allowed in his
leather trousers.... not to mention the lack of balance in his heeled boots. Such were the
pains one paid for fashion.
His intentions were meant only in concern with his friend, though, and he paid little
attention to the pain he sustained from remaining in such a position. Freddie laid one hand
on Jareth's shoulder and then raised his eyebrows slightly for effect.
"The worry is not helping, take a day off, take two. You will not find the answer
now Jareth, not when you are looking so very hard. What do you expect, a magical spell
to cast upon this mess of circumstances to make things right in the world?" Freddie
inquired, tittering a bit at the thought of such fantastic options.
Jareth began to laugh as well, but his mirth was promptly cut off as his eyes
snapped open wide. His mouth dropped in the stunning shock of his personal revelation.
Ever so slowly the blonde noble turned to face his waiting friend, a broad smile forming on
his thin lips.
Shaking he raised up to a sitting position, and gripped Freddie's upper arms with a
bit too much force. His eyes simply danced with anxiety, anticipation. Freddie himself
wrenched free from Jareth's vice-like grip and then rubbed his arms, all the while watching
his friend's oddity.
"Tell me about her!" Jareth demanded, licking his lips as he waited with baited
breath.
Freddie rolled his eyes and continued to massage the injury that had been inflicted
upon his slender arms. As if he had a clue which "her" Jareth was now referring. There
had not been a lack of women in Freddie's life. Slowly a smirk formed over his handsome
features as he thought about his escapades in romance.
"Darling, about which of my many love affairs do you wish to know?" Freddie
asked, holding a hand out at arm length to check his finely manicured nails.
Jareth shook his head adamantly at Freddie's question. He wished to know about
none of them. Once more he licked his lips, seeming almost insane in the way he was
acting.
"Tell me about the Goblin Queen," Jareth finally proclaimed.
Freddie dropped his hand immediately and then fixed Jareth with a calculating
gaze. The noble did not once flinch, nor back down in what he wished to hear. There
really was no choice; Jareth had become accustomed to receiving that which he so desired.
"What of her?" Freddie asked, stalling for time as he rose, slightly trembling, to his
feet.
He watched Jareth follow suit, all the while fearing what was to come next. The
Goblin Queen was not some trivial matter. Certainly going to her, which was precisely
what Freddie supposed was in Jareth's mind, would prove disastrous in the long run. She
was not to ever be trusted.
"She can save me, she has power and can teach me! God, Freddie, don't you see
the perfection in this plan? It cannot go wrong!" Jareth stated, his laughter bubbling up in
the middle of his speaking.
"No... no she cannot! She is nothing but a harlot, a woman of trickery!" Freddie
replied and then began off towards town.
He strode quickly, brushing aside bushes and tree limbs as he quickly continued
on. Jareth's frantic footsteps crashed through the foliage, as he ran to hinder his friend's
progression. Freddie stopped, as Jareth blocked his path, those powerful eyes now
desperate, pleading.
Jareth said nothing, but instead stood there, staring deeply at his dear friend.
Freddie sighed and then moaned as he admitted defeat. There was no way he could ever
deny Jareth anything.
"Oh damn you, you horrid thing! Damnit... fine Jareth I'll tell you about the
Goblin Queen," Freddie relented and then leaned his head back to look at the filtering
sunshine, which had begun to travel closer to the west.
Jareth promptly sat back down under the ancient trees, and leaned against one
thick trunk. He turned his intense gaze towards Freddie and waited in silent anticipation
for what was to come.
"Our darling Goblin Queen ... or the infamous "Queen of the tower" has a nasty
temper, and magic at her fingertips. She does not age, and is more beautiful than any
other living thing. She's lived a hundred years, and shall live three hundred more. Jareth,
do you understand what your getting involved with by going to her?" Freddie asked, his
campy accent dropping just slightly and his effected use of language fading to nothing as
all was cloaked in seriousness.
"I have no other choice," Jareth stated somberly and then lifted himself up.
Freddie watched his friend begin towards their town, half stunned at what he had
heard. Then, without another moment of hesitation, rushed towards Jareth. Freddie
caught his friend by the arm and forced the young noble to look at him. A deep
somberness overwhelmed Freddie's obsidian eyes.
"There is always another way," Freddie stated.
Jareth pulled himself free from the grip, but stood gazing into his dearest
companion's eyes. They remained that way, locked in a strange staring contest, one which
neither would ever win. Jareth would not turn down, not when he had been offered hope
in the pit of despair which had recently consumed him.
"Not only will she help me, teach me magic so that I can marry Shay, but I also
must find out what it is that I experience inside myself," Jareth explained and then sighed
slightly, turning to look at the walled-in town, "I will find her castle today, and return
shortly later to bid Shay farewell."
Freddie was silent in response and just watched as Jareth continued on towards
town. Just as Jareth disappeared from sight, Freddie leant back against the nearest tree
and placed a single hand over his eyes, breaths shaking as they heaved through his chest.
He swallowed, working at the lump which had just formed in his throat, and then removed
his hand from before his eyes.
The young man bit his lip, all teasing having gone out of his soul, and then shook
his handsome head. What was there to say, what was there to do? Freddie slowly began
walking back to town, his stature not quite as regal as it had always been before... and his
head hung in quiet dejection.
* * * * * * * *
He had saddled his young steed with all the haste of most youthful men, however
his purpose was by far more important than some joy ride. Jareth had left, had not even
noticed the silouhette of his friend standing in the shade of the entrance, as he raced out
and into the forest. No, he had been focused on one thing, and one thing alone, finding
the Goblin Queen.
The course back to the mysterious woods, from whence Freddie and himself had
turned away, was quite easy. It took little time to reach it, and then but a few moments of
encouragement to his spooky horse to move forward and into the rarely traveled section
of the old forest.
It was quite a lovely environment with ancient trees reaching high into the pure
crystalline sky overhead. The atmosphere was laden with a serene silence, with occasional
outbursts from animals as they scrounged through the overgrown underbrush. It was wild
and untamed, a true adventure if he had ever experienced one.
He had carefully found a path through brambles which raced across the ground at
all angles, and low hanging branches shrouded in garlands of ivy and vines that reached
around his neck more than once. Jareth meandered through, all the while sensing a
growing magnetism to one central point.
Without any form of warning the tree line promptly ceased to exist. Suddenly he
was in the slightest of clearings, and found the ancient masonry of some exquisite castle
directly before his widened eyes. Jareth halted his steed and slowly looked upwards, at
the amazing sight.
So, it had come that he had seen the queen, sitting on the ledge of the tallest
window near the peak of the tower that seemed to scrape the sky. Her hair was silver, as
if a luxurious liquid floating about in the air. Jareth backed his horse into the shadows and
took in her beautiful appearance, captivated and beyond words for once in his life. He
could not speak to her, in fear that the rumors had been true and she would make him fade
into nothing.
Besides, he had those that would await his return, and his farewell. Jareth allowed
one more look at the lovely, and strangely powerful woman before clicking to his mount
to turn and head home. There was no time to waste. He glanced over his shoulder, as the
thick leaves obscured his view.
It seemed that, at that last moment when he could just scarcely see the Queen,
their eyes had met. It seemed as if she was looking at him, had noticed him even in the
darkness of the comforting shadows. Jareth shook the thought from his mind, believing it
to be nothing more than fear at what he would soon be doing, and how he would
approach such a magical entity as the Goblin Queen.
"This is my answer," Jareth had told himself, silently hoping that what he said time
and again was true.
High in the tower Cyria turned and looked down at the youth who had gazed up at
her for such a short time. Her emerald cat eyes narrowed in suspicion and tried in vain to
catch a glimpse of the mysterious man. However, he was gone, and left not a trace of his
presence in the shadowed realm of the forest in which he had stopped. His leaving did not
matter much, for the crystals would quickly show her who had braved the many terrible
tales to see the mysterious, infamous queen in her lonely castle.
She twisted the crystal ball about in her lithe fingers, watching intently as a faint
image formed inside, amidst the swirling fog of intense magic. The sight within stole her
very breath from her lungs and nearly caused her to plummet from the window upon
which she had perched herself.
"He is beautiful," she muttered, her lovely voice fluttering as she calmed her racing
heart.
* * * * * * * *
Jareth blinked open his reddened eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Even his sleep
was plagued by these memories, times that had long ago passed and had been buried
away. He had cried in his slumber, something that he had not done for so very long.
After all, he was a man, twenty-two... and a king.
If he had but listened to Freddie, then none of this would have ever happened. He
would not have caught Cyria's interest, would not have caused Shay and Freddie's death,
would not have ascended to the Damn throne which now was nothing but a constant
burden. Everything would have been different.
Jareth allowed a ragged breath to escape from between his lips. Even now, sitting
in his chambers as the morning just began to dawn outside, he could hear his dear friend's
voice. The last time he had spoken to Freddie had been when returning from Cyria's
castle to bid everyone a short farewell.
"It turned out to be the last farewell," Jareth muttered and rose to his feet, unable
to attempt to sleep any longer.
Freddie had seemed himself, when Jareth had spoken to him. The young man had
been joking as always, with the constant inward and outward smirk evident on his
handsome face. Always the jokester, and with seduction powers to rival Jareth's own.
The Goblin King laughed a bit at the memories, the times they had shared together before
Jareth's heart had been stolen away....
Despite the fact that Jareth had had little time to spend with Freddie when Shay
had become involved in his life, the King's friend had never once been mad with the sweet
girl. He had merely treated her as he had treated Jareth, with a laugh and constant, but
friendly, teasing.
"Darling, life is not as it should have been," Jareth muttered, even lifting his voice
just slightly enough to try to imitate his dear friend.
Freddie had had a glorious tenor's voice, one that rang when he sang. Very often
Jareth and his friend would duet, making the ladies swoon at the sound of their sublime
songs. Those had been great times, times that Jareth wished he could return to, if only for
a short while. However, there was no way he could ever go back... ever.
"If I could I would change the world for you, turn it upside down," Jareth moaned
and then threw open the door which led into the dimly lit passage way.
But he could not. Jareth stumbled out into the hall and turned, walking blindly to
the throne room where he would wait until full morning, when the Goblin would be about
once more. So was the amazing life of the King.
He finally was beginning to understand why Cyria had sat in the tower all day and
night, watching for someone to break the monotony of her existence. All Jareth wished
for now, was a single glimpse at lovely faces from the past... Shay and Freddie.