Chapter 33: The painting

They walked down the hall and Sarah looked at the spot where the painting use to be. Jareth watched her and smiled. When they got to the doorway Jareth grabbed a coat and placed it around Sarah's neck and tied it for her. Then he took his cape and fastened it to his coat. He opened the door and allowed Sarah to go first. He placed his hand on her back and escorted her through the city. Sarah was looking at everything. It was a much nicer day today, then the day that Sarah went out the last time.

Sarah felt safe being help by Jareth, and she knew now that nothing was going to happen to her. She remembered when Jareth had told her that she was not to go out of the castle without the king to escort, her because bad things would happen. And he was right. And well today she had her king as her escort and was glad. She was watching all of the goblins busy at work, selling things to other people. And when she passed the corner where she was abducted she shivered. And that only made Jareth pull her closer to him, knowing what she was thinking about. She turned her head and smiled at Jareth.

Finally after an hour of walking they got to a large building that looked very different than all the other buildings and houses. All the other buildings and houses looked run down and uncared for. But this building was beautiful and very classy. This definitely looked like a place the king would visit. Two guards bowed to the king and queen, than opened the doors for them as well. Jareth and Sarah bowed to them as a thank you, and then walked into the building. There was a line of guards on either side of the hall, and a red carpet in the center of the hall led the way. Jareth looked at Sarah as she looked at the hundreds of paintings on the walls.

            "Jareth who are all this paintings of?"

            "These paintings are of my family, Sarah."

            "There are so many."

            "Well we have been around for a very long time."

            "Right!" They continued down the all and they turned left to face a door that was being guarded by a tall goblin.

            "Jareth, how come this place is full of guards and your, I mean our castle has hardly any?"

            "Because I don't live here. If I did it would not need to be guarded. I am all the security you need. I know everything that is going on in my own, I mean         our own castle."

            "Oh."

The guard moved to one side of the door and turned the knob of the door, forcing it to swing open. Jareth told Sarah to walk in first and she did. Then Jareth walked up behind her. It was a big open room, and in the corner of the room Sarah could see tremendous rectangle that was covered by a red velvet cloth. She assumed that it was a painting because it was resting on an easel. She walked over to it, looking behind her to look at Jareth.

            "May I?" Jareth nodded his head, yes. She put out her hand and grasped the cloth. Slowly and carefully removing the cloth, she began to see Jareth's face appear from under it. And then more of the painting was being uncovered. But this time the painting looked different. Sarah gasped at the sight.

            "Do you like it my love?"

            "Jareth, it's…it's…us!"

            "Yes, my queen it is." He said sliding his arms around her waist and holding her tightly.

            "Oh Jareth it's truly beautiful. And it looks just like me!"

            "Well I would hope so."

The painting was indeed Jareth and Sarah standing next to each-other. The gown that Sarah was wearing was the exact gown that she was wearing when she first arrived in the Underground.

            "But why that gown Jareth. Why the one that I made? I mean don't get me wrong I still love it. But out of all the gowns you have seen me in. why that particular one?"

            "Because the gown you are wearing in this painting is the gown I saw you in, when you reentered my life. I will never forget that day. Remember when I first saw you I said,

            'Nice gown, we match perfectly. It must be a sign for something'?"

            "Yes."

            "Well that was it."

            "Oh Jareth. I am so lucky to have you. And this is just wonderful. Do we get to take it home? Or is it going to stay here?"

            "We can take it home. And put it back where it originally came from." Jareth kissed Sarah's forehead and pulled her closed. Sarah trailed her finger across the painting.

            "We look good together don't we?"

            "Without a doubt." He grinned. He took the cloth from Sarah and placed it back on the painting. Just then a little man walked in, wearing an apron that had paint splotches all over it. And he had a paintbrush tucked behind his ear. When he saw the king and queen he bowed.

            "Ah, Your Highnesses. How nice it is to see you." Jareth and Sarah bowed in return.

            "Ah Wendell. Another wonderful job. I am truly pleased. This is your royal highness, Queen Sarah." He said putting his hand out and Sarah stepped forward and bowed again.

            "It is a pleasure to meet you. And the painting you have done, what a spectacular job." Sarah spoke delicately.

            "Why thank you. And it is an honor to meet you as well. I enjoyed painting you. You are quite a beauty, and it was a challenge to make sure that all of it        showed in this painting. The king would have it no other way." When he said this Sarah looked at Jareth who simply smiled at her.

            "May I add Your Highness, that you are very lucky to have found this girl? She is definitely what you need, and have needed for quite some time."

            "I know Wendell. I know." He stated taking Sarah hand and kissing it gently.

            "Well we must be off now. It was really nice to see you again."

            "Why thank you, Your Highness. It was a pleasure." He bowed.

            "Yes it was very nice to meet you Sir Wendell."

            "Please, with His Majesty's permission, just Wendell is fine." He said looking at Jareth. And Jareth nodded that it was okay.

            "Well then, it was nice meeting you Wendell."

            "My lady." Wendell smiled and took Sarah's hand and kissed it. Jareth put his hand on her back and they began to walk to the door. And he briefly turned around.

            "Oh Wendell!"

            "Yes, Your Highness?"

            "You can have that dropped off today."

            "Of course."

            "Good! Come my love." Jareth said as he turned back around and began to walk through the doorway. As they passed through the door quickly shut behind them and the guard was back in front of the door. They walked down the hall. And Jareth stopped every couple of steps to find that Sarah was stopping to look at the paintings closer. She smiled at all the paintings of Jareth, from when he was a young boy to today. There were so many.

            "Soon you will be on the wall next to me Sarah."

            "I hope so." She smiled and walked to Jareth so that they could leave. When they got to the doors the guards opened them for the king and queen. Jareth and Sarah stepped outside and began walking back to the castle. Sarah noticed some poor goblins sitting by a trash can looking through it to find some food. As she watched she was saddened by it and began to cry.

            "Sarah, what ever is the matter?"

            "Jareth those poor goblins, they look so hungry."

            "Well what would you like me to do about it?"

            "Feed them Jareth give them some food. They can't just eat waste!"

            "Sarah why does that bother you?"

            "Because you are suppose to be caring for them and it does not look like you are doing that. Making them eat trash is not my idea of caring!" She shouted angrily.

            "I see." Jareth said with a frown on his face. He did not like that he had upset Sarah.

            "Well we are going to have to fix this." Jareth stated. He turned to the goblins and changed the garbage can of waste into a table full of delicious foods. There were fruits, vegetables, and cook meats. They looked to the king and smiled, bowing to him in thanks. Jareth nodded his head, to show that they were noticed. He turned to Sarah,

            "Is that better?"

            "Well, what about all the other goblins, you have to treat them better too. Just look at their homes!" Jareth looked around at the homes and buildings and agreed that they were indeed unbearable. So he fabricated a crystal and threw it at the houses in the distance. Suddenly they were all repaired and looked brand new. They were beautiful. Sarah smiled at the transformation.

            "Anything else that you feel should be changed my love?"

            "Just one more thing."

            "And what would that be?"

            "Their clothes, are all moth eaten and un-kept."

            "Well that will have to change too." Jareth waved his hand and suddenly all of the goblins where in wonderful, vibrant clothing.

            "There. Would that be all for the day?"

            "Yes I think so. Jareth are you mad?"

            "No, of course not. I think it is good that you are taking action on this. This has needed to be done. I just feel awful that I have not done anything earlier."

            "Oh Jareth don't feel bad on my account! You are a busy man, and there is a lot that you have to do. But it is done now so don't worry." She said looking into Jareth's eyes.

            "Let's go home." She smiled and then took his hand and they continued down the road. They got to the castle and Jareth opened the doors. When they stepped inside Jareth untied Sarah's cloak and took it off her shoulders, placing it on the hook. Then he undid his cape and hung it on the hook as well. He took Sarah's hand and they walked down the hall to their bed chamber. Sarah looked at the wall and saw that the painting was now hanging on the wall. It looked so good. Sarah stopped and admired it. *What a wonder surprise it was!* She thought. Walking into their bed chamber Sarah saw Jareth sitting in rail on the balcony. She walked up to his and leaned over to look into his eyes.

            "Jareth, wha…."

            "Am I a bad king?" Jareth interrupted.

            "Oh Jareth." Sarah said, kneeling down on the floor looking up at him, as she was rubbing his knee.

            "I mean it Sarah! Am I really so cruel to my people?"

            "Jareth, you are what you are and you can't help that…."

            "Well I want to do something about that!" He shouted getting up and walking over to the other side of the balcony and placing his hands on the rail, as he looked out over his kingdom. Sarah sighed and got up. Walking over to him she took his hand and kissed it. But Jareth was not looking at her.

            "Jareth, I use to think that you were a horrible man…"

            "Your point?"

            "Will you just let me finish!..." She yelled grabbing his face and forcing him to look at her. "…But something inside made me love you for who you are. Then I got to know you better and that love grew even stronger. If you had that affect on me, a mortal, then you must have the same affect on your own people. It might even be just as great. Deep inside they love you Jareth, even if they are afraid of you. But if you listen to them and understand them, they will love you even more; just as I do. Do you understand what I am telling you Jareth?" She asked searching his eyes for an answer. Jareth took her hand and kissed it, and while placing it back down he smiled at her.

            "What would I do without you?"

            "I don't know."