(Author's note: All right, all right! It's here!)
Chapter V
A whispery voice rippled across the emerald fields where wild horses skittered and raced, their long glossy manes billowing at their broad necks. The constant tinkling of a water fountain sounded in an empty, white courtyard and somewhere a lethargic tiger shifted his handsome head to yawn before sinking into slumber beneath a willow.
High above the tranquillity of the castle gardens, a princess lay sound asleep in a tower, the setting sun casting its pale light upon her peaceful face. A soft breeze toyed with her brunette hair, too mild to detach it from under the curve of her diamond headdress. She was blissfully unaware that she had slipped to the furthest reaches of the ledge, and now she rolled once more.
Lady Eldemay was jolted awake as someone grabbed hold of her, saving her from a grisly plummet to the stone walkway below.
"My lady!" an anxious voice cried. "Dost thou not know better than to sleep beside yonder window?"
The princess turned to her friend with a smile and got down from the sill, crossing to the four-poster bed against the opposite wall. The fox creature cradled in her arms looked up at her tenderly with his one eye.
"Thank you, my dear Sir Didymus," she said. "I don't know where I'd be without you."
"My lady is most kind," Didymus replied, nodding his head in gratitude. "Wouldst thou consider retiring your royal chambers? Only there appears to be a small matter of discussion needed in the main hall."
Eldemay acknowledged and smoothed out the creases in her lilac, satin gown. She followed the strange knight along elaborately decorated hallways and descended wide, sweeping staircases until she reached a towering set of ebony doors. They swung open at the slightest touch and she graced the glittering marble floor of a grand, oval throne room. White lace drapes fanned out like orange segments around star-shaped chandeliers, small children darted here and there as she made her way to the royal seat. The throne itself was covered luxuriously in velvet, two wooden unicorn horns sticking out from the top of the mahogany frame, pointing gloriously to the crown insignia that hung overhead.
Once she had taken her seat, Lady Eldemay gestured to Sir Didymus to perch on the golden arm and then proceeded to address the dwarf who stood in wait.
"Hello Hoggle. What is it you wanted to see me about?"
Hoggle stepped forward and gave a humble bow.
"Yer 'Ighness, I have received a message from 'is majesty askin' that all subjects be goin' to them outskirts of the city an' that you alone be allowed to stay 'ere." He made a befuddled frown as though going over what he had said to check his facts then looked at her expectantly.
"That's ridiculous!" the princess exclaimed. "Whatever for? Are you saying he is booting everyone out of my service?"
"It seems so," Hoggle answered sadly.
"Well I forbid it. Who does this 'majesty' think he is ordering me around when I never so much as see him? Nor do I even know so much as his name! Go and tell him that my people stay here!"
"With respect, Highness, he also tells me that you wouldn't like what 'e was askin' so he said to tell you if you didn't throw us out, 'e'd throw you out too," Hoggle said, shuffling his feet awkwardly.
Lady Eldemay glanced about the hushed room, the faces of a hundred children staring back at her, some with their fingers poised at their lips, others holding onto each other for comfort.
"Then I will go with you," she said finally.
"But what about Toby?" asked the dwarf.
Eldemay frowned, her eyes searching Hoggle's face for a clue to his thought trail.
"Toby?"
"He was the reason the king took pity on you. When you failed to get to him in time, you were given the kingdom. Don't you remember? Toby was your brother. You looked so upset when he changed that his majesty let you stay."
The memory of an angelic child screaming as its fat hands turned to knobbly claws and rosy cheeks became thick green skin flashed in the corner of her mind.
"That *thing* is my brother?" the princess repeated hopelessly.
Hoggle assured her that the goblin kept behind the locked doors of another chamber was indeed Toby.
"How long do I have to think it over?" Eldemay inquired, swallowing her grief.
"He's outside right now."
The princess pushed the castle gates ajar and strode across the courtyard with the fountain. From here, a set of carved stone steps led to a gazebo that peered out onto open fields and pebbled paths. Treading carefully and lifting her dress so that she would not stumble, Eldemay approached the rail of the gazebo and leant out as far as she could.
Without warning, a hand plucked the diamond tiara from her head, causing her to cry out in alarm. There was the sound of a whiplash and a black horse bolted across the pasture, its rider brandishing her precious jewels in one glove. She watched feebly, seeing the dark stallion veer off and gallop in a perfect semicircle before coming to a halt where the grass met path, a metre from the gazebo.
Eldemay whirled to hurry down the steps and confront the thief whose face was hidden discourteously within a shadowed hood.
"Give me that!" she demanded, displaying her palm in an insistent manner.
"No." There was an air of amusement to the voice, which was most certainly male. His right arm raised the tiara aloft.
The princess scowled and darted around the other side of the horse to snatch at her possession. The man's arm straightened out of her reach. A chuckle echoed from inside his cloak.
Lady Eldemay ground her heel into the grass. "Oh-!"
"Let me guess," the rider's voice cut in. "It's not fair?"
The princess fell silent, her lips parted as the man dismounted and walked up to her. His hood slipped back to reveal a forest of feathery blond hair that shaped mystically about an owlish but youthful face.
"I know you," she said.
He grinned at her, startling her with the sharpness of his teeth.
"That's hardly surprising, Sarah," he said, placing the tiara upon her head so gently that she shivered.
"Sarah?" the princess replied in confusion. "But that's not-."
"Isn't it?" Jareth interrupted. "Are you so quick to decide? Dear me, you're beginning to sound more ignorant than ever."
Lady Eldemay scowled and spun from him, starting back to the castle. She flinched at the sound of his riding crop cracking against his knee-length boots. She turned her head to glare at him - but he had gone. Shaking her head, she began to walk again, colliding with the thick wire of the whip held firmly between his hands. She gasped and retreated a fraction, monitored by cold eyes.
Jareth noticed her horrified fixation on the length of cord in his grasp. He smirked and rapped it in his palm, enjoying how she jumped inside her skin.
"I like horses," he said candidly. "What did you think I'd use it for?
The princess ignored the remark and put on a haughty display.
"If it's any concern of yours, I'm supposed to be meeting the king. So if you've quite finished your cavorting, I think you'd better leave."
Jareth tilted his head, an imperious smile upon his lips.
"What ever's the matter, Sarah? I thought you liked to dance."
"Why do you keep calling me that?" Lady Eldemay said curtly, appalled that she was allowing the conversation to continue.
"Because, love, Eldemay is a very silly name for a silly little girl."
The princess flushed. "I demand that you leave!"
He chuckled.
"You really have no idea who you're talking to, do you?" He grinned roguishly.
"Of course I do." Eldemay retorted. "An extremely arrogant man who wastes my time and steals my crown."
"I'm impressed," Jareth said. "You flail ridiculously for words inside that pretty little head and still manage to form comprehensible sentences. However, I believe you need to be a bit more accurate in your perception." He unfastened his cloak from the one button at his chest and let the wind take it.
Lady Eldemay stifled a cry of surprise with a decorated hand. She paled at the sight of the royal pendant that hung about his neck, sparkling as it caught the last light of the sun. Dropping to one knee, she avoided eye contact, only to find the tip of a riding crop lifting her chin.
"On your feet, Sarah. I would not have you grovel at the feet of a stranger," the king said, laughing to himself whilst disguising any suggestion of crudity.
The princess got up at his command, casting a glance to the darkening sky. She tensed under his shrewd gaze, unsure whether she wanted to be in his company or fleeing to the castle.
"I wanted to talk to you about letting my friends stay," she said, eyeing the whip at his side with apprehension.
"I suggest we go inside before you catch a chill," said Jareth, moving close enough for his breath to tickle like cobwebs on her cheek.
"Only if you leave that out here," she uttered, looking once more at the object in his palm.
He revealed his pointed canines, grinning malignly.
"Does it bother you?" he asked, watching her cringe as he swished it to and fro before her face.
"No," she lied, "but it would scare the children."
Jareth shrugged and tossed the whip into the grass, not permitting the princess to see any magic in case her memory was triggered. Remaining beside her even when her pace quickened experimentally, he walked through the castle gates and entered the great hall.
Chapter V
A whispery voice rippled across the emerald fields where wild horses skittered and raced, their long glossy manes billowing at their broad necks. The constant tinkling of a water fountain sounded in an empty, white courtyard and somewhere a lethargic tiger shifted his handsome head to yawn before sinking into slumber beneath a willow.
High above the tranquillity of the castle gardens, a princess lay sound asleep in a tower, the setting sun casting its pale light upon her peaceful face. A soft breeze toyed with her brunette hair, too mild to detach it from under the curve of her diamond headdress. She was blissfully unaware that she had slipped to the furthest reaches of the ledge, and now she rolled once more.
Lady Eldemay was jolted awake as someone grabbed hold of her, saving her from a grisly plummet to the stone walkway below.
"My lady!" an anxious voice cried. "Dost thou not know better than to sleep beside yonder window?"
The princess turned to her friend with a smile and got down from the sill, crossing to the four-poster bed against the opposite wall. The fox creature cradled in her arms looked up at her tenderly with his one eye.
"Thank you, my dear Sir Didymus," she said. "I don't know where I'd be without you."
"My lady is most kind," Didymus replied, nodding his head in gratitude. "Wouldst thou consider retiring your royal chambers? Only there appears to be a small matter of discussion needed in the main hall."
Eldemay acknowledged and smoothed out the creases in her lilac, satin gown. She followed the strange knight along elaborately decorated hallways and descended wide, sweeping staircases until she reached a towering set of ebony doors. They swung open at the slightest touch and she graced the glittering marble floor of a grand, oval throne room. White lace drapes fanned out like orange segments around star-shaped chandeliers, small children darted here and there as she made her way to the royal seat. The throne itself was covered luxuriously in velvet, two wooden unicorn horns sticking out from the top of the mahogany frame, pointing gloriously to the crown insignia that hung overhead.
Once she had taken her seat, Lady Eldemay gestured to Sir Didymus to perch on the golden arm and then proceeded to address the dwarf who stood in wait.
"Hello Hoggle. What is it you wanted to see me about?"
Hoggle stepped forward and gave a humble bow.
"Yer 'Ighness, I have received a message from 'is majesty askin' that all subjects be goin' to them outskirts of the city an' that you alone be allowed to stay 'ere." He made a befuddled frown as though going over what he had said to check his facts then looked at her expectantly.
"That's ridiculous!" the princess exclaimed. "Whatever for? Are you saying he is booting everyone out of my service?"
"It seems so," Hoggle answered sadly.
"Well I forbid it. Who does this 'majesty' think he is ordering me around when I never so much as see him? Nor do I even know so much as his name! Go and tell him that my people stay here!"
"With respect, Highness, he also tells me that you wouldn't like what 'e was askin' so he said to tell you if you didn't throw us out, 'e'd throw you out too," Hoggle said, shuffling his feet awkwardly.
Lady Eldemay glanced about the hushed room, the faces of a hundred children staring back at her, some with their fingers poised at their lips, others holding onto each other for comfort.
"Then I will go with you," she said finally.
"But what about Toby?" asked the dwarf.
Eldemay frowned, her eyes searching Hoggle's face for a clue to his thought trail.
"Toby?"
"He was the reason the king took pity on you. When you failed to get to him in time, you were given the kingdom. Don't you remember? Toby was your brother. You looked so upset when he changed that his majesty let you stay."
The memory of an angelic child screaming as its fat hands turned to knobbly claws and rosy cheeks became thick green skin flashed in the corner of her mind.
"That *thing* is my brother?" the princess repeated hopelessly.
Hoggle assured her that the goblin kept behind the locked doors of another chamber was indeed Toby.
"How long do I have to think it over?" Eldemay inquired, swallowing her grief.
"He's outside right now."
The princess pushed the castle gates ajar and strode across the courtyard with the fountain. From here, a set of carved stone steps led to a gazebo that peered out onto open fields and pebbled paths. Treading carefully and lifting her dress so that she would not stumble, Eldemay approached the rail of the gazebo and leant out as far as she could.
Without warning, a hand plucked the diamond tiara from her head, causing her to cry out in alarm. There was the sound of a whiplash and a black horse bolted across the pasture, its rider brandishing her precious jewels in one glove. She watched feebly, seeing the dark stallion veer off and gallop in a perfect semicircle before coming to a halt where the grass met path, a metre from the gazebo.
Eldemay whirled to hurry down the steps and confront the thief whose face was hidden discourteously within a shadowed hood.
"Give me that!" she demanded, displaying her palm in an insistent manner.
"No." There was an air of amusement to the voice, which was most certainly male. His right arm raised the tiara aloft.
The princess scowled and darted around the other side of the horse to snatch at her possession. The man's arm straightened out of her reach. A chuckle echoed from inside his cloak.
Lady Eldemay ground her heel into the grass. "Oh-!"
"Let me guess," the rider's voice cut in. "It's not fair?"
The princess fell silent, her lips parted as the man dismounted and walked up to her. His hood slipped back to reveal a forest of feathery blond hair that shaped mystically about an owlish but youthful face.
"I know you," she said.
He grinned at her, startling her with the sharpness of his teeth.
"That's hardly surprising, Sarah," he said, placing the tiara upon her head so gently that she shivered.
"Sarah?" the princess replied in confusion. "But that's not-."
"Isn't it?" Jareth interrupted. "Are you so quick to decide? Dear me, you're beginning to sound more ignorant than ever."
Lady Eldemay scowled and spun from him, starting back to the castle. She flinched at the sound of his riding crop cracking against his knee-length boots. She turned her head to glare at him - but he had gone. Shaking her head, she began to walk again, colliding with the thick wire of the whip held firmly between his hands. She gasped and retreated a fraction, monitored by cold eyes.
Jareth noticed her horrified fixation on the length of cord in his grasp. He smirked and rapped it in his palm, enjoying how she jumped inside her skin.
"I like horses," he said candidly. "What did you think I'd use it for?
The princess ignored the remark and put on a haughty display.
"If it's any concern of yours, I'm supposed to be meeting the king. So if you've quite finished your cavorting, I think you'd better leave."
Jareth tilted his head, an imperious smile upon his lips.
"What ever's the matter, Sarah? I thought you liked to dance."
"Why do you keep calling me that?" Lady Eldemay said curtly, appalled that she was allowing the conversation to continue.
"Because, love, Eldemay is a very silly name for a silly little girl."
The princess flushed. "I demand that you leave!"
He chuckled.
"You really have no idea who you're talking to, do you?" He grinned roguishly.
"Of course I do." Eldemay retorted. "An extremely arrogant man who wastes my time and steals my crown."
"I'm impressed," Jareth said. "You flail ridiculously for words inside that pretty little head and still manage to form comprehensible sentences. However, I believe you need to be a bit more accurate in your perception." He unfastened his cloak from the one button at his chest and let the wind take it.
Lady Eldemay stifled a cry of surprise with a decorated hand. She paled at the sight of the royal pendant that hung about his neck, sparkling as it caught the last light of the sun. Dropping to one knee, she avoided eye contact, only to find the tip of a riding crop lifting her chin.
"On your feet, Sarah. I would not have you grovel at the feet of a stranger," the king said, laughing to himself whilst disguising any suggestion of crudity.
The princess got up at his command, casting a glance to the darkening sky. She tensed under his shrewd gaze, unsure whether she wanted to be in his company or fleeing to the castle.
"I wanted to talk to you about letting my friends stay," she said, eyeing the whip at his side with apprehension.
"I suggest we go inside before you catch a chill," said Jareth, moving close enough for his breath to tickle like cobwebs on her cheek.
"Only if you leave that out here," she uttered, looking once more at the object in his palm.
He revealed his pointed canines, grinning malignly.
"Does it bother you?" he asked, watching her cringe as he swished it to and fro before her face.
"No," she lied, "but it would scare the children."
Jareth shrugged and tossed the whip into the grass, not permitting the princess to see any magic in case her memory was triggered. Remaining beside her even when her pace quickened experimentally, he walked through the castle gates and entered the great hall.