Jareth, now donned in a simple white poet's shirt and pale blue pants, stared amusedly into his crystal, watching Karleigh carefully listen to Hoggle's instructions. That would come to his advantage later. He smirked and looked up at Seth, who was sitting on a chair across from the throne and fuming.
"What're you smiling about?" The infuriated Muse demanded. "What've you done to Karleigh?" He jumped up and grabbed the crystal from Jareth's hands. It immediately popped. Seth ground his teeth together. "Dammit Jareth if I still had my powers - "
"Would you like them back?" Jareth asked. His tone was low. Seth faltered. The offer was enticing, but with the Goblin King there was always a catch. "All it would take would be a letter to the High Court, Seth."
Blast it, Seth thought. He pressed a hand over his eyes. The magic in the Goblin kingdom was starting to get to him. If things didn't slow down he was going to pass out from the pounding that was starting in the back of his head.
Jareth bent forward and pressed a gloved finger to Seth's temple, making the man flinch. "Hold still," the King commanded. Seth reluctantly obliged, and a moment later the pain in his skull was fading. Jareth put his hand back in his lap.
Seth sat back down in his chair. "Thank you," he said. He was still angry at Jareth, but there was nothing he could do about it except proceed cautiously. He crossed his legs and stared at the Goblin King. Jareth smirked. "What exactly do you want in exchange for this letter?" Seth asked.
For a second Jareth was quiet. "You know that in politics," he began, "the best way to peace is most often marriage." Seth nodded hesitantly. What did that have to do with him? "Servitude is only a step below that. Your skills are highly regarded, Seth," and he looked at the Muse with nothing but seriousness in his eyes.
Seth suppressed a gag. "You want me to serve you? Never." Some things he would just not do, no matter what the prize was.
"That's not exactly what I had in mind," Jareth murmured. He waved his hand and conjured a wine glass, half full of the best red wine from his cellar. After a short pause had summoned on for Seth, too. The two men sipped their drinks in silence, regarding each other carefully.
Finally, Jareth pinned down in his head how he wanted to approach the tenuous subject that lay before them. "Seth," he said, slowly, "do you remember Lady Rachelle?" He flinched as Seth choked on his drink. "Such crass behavior," he murmured disapprovingly.
The Muse shot Jareth a death glare. "What does she have to do with anything?" he demanded, shivering slightly. Lady Rachelle was one of the reasons he was now a Muse for a human girl. She had hauled him into court and hired the best lawyers to see that he was given a guilty verdict. Though she had said she was angling for the death sentence, if at all possible.
"In your day, your skills with magic were well known through Underground," Jareth said.
Seth snorted. "They were my downfall," he muttered bitterly, remembering the humiliation of being caught and brought in before a judge.
Jareth snickered and sipped more of his drink. "Only because you decided to use them for evil, my friend," he murmured.
The features of Seth's face softened as he relaxed slightly. That sounds like something Kar would say... he sighed. Right now his charge was running through a potentially lethal maze and he'd done nothing in the year he'd been with her that could possibly aid her. I hope you're okay, Kar. Hoggle better keep you safe. Otherwise I'll make Jareth pay...
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No! Why! Why was this happening to me? "This is so not fair," I whispered. Hoggle shook his head. "You were the one who wanted to go this way," he pointed out. I sighed and leaned against the wall. Okay. I had to think.
We were standing in a very narrow corridor. The walls were so close together Hoggle couldn't even stand next to me, he had to walk in front. Now we had stopped and were apparently at the end of the pathway. In front of us were two doors, each angled so as to keep us in single file.
There was no clue, at least none that either of us could see, as to which door we should take. "Let's just turn around," I said, doing so, "and retrace our steps." Grumbling angrily, Hoggle followed me back down the pathway.
We walked for several minutes before I saw a red blob in front of us. I halted. From this distance it looked suspiciously like those two doors. Hoggle pushed me and I reluctantly kept walking. As we drew nearer to the blob I saw that my hunch was right. I groaned. "These can't be the same doors!" I whined. "Can they?"
Hoggle scratched his chin. "Things ain't always what they seem," he allowed, "but this is the Labyrinth. They could be the same doors. Looks like we got to choose one, anyway."
I sighed. "So which one?" I asked, looking closely at them. They seemed identical. "Dunno," Hoggle said. We were both quiet for a second, brooding over the choice. Then we met eyes. "You pick!" we chorused.
"Jinx!" I said, smirking. "You have to pick."
Hoggle griped but looked like he was actually considering it. "I know," he finally said. "The right one," he ordered. I stepped forward and turned the knob, then shoved the door open. I tried to ascertain what was in there but Hoggle shoved me and I stumbled inside, only managing to catch myself as he shut the door. "You take that one, I'll take the left one!" he said smugly, as it shut.
I jumped up and beat my palms against the door. "Hoggle!" I cried, furious. I tried the doorknob but it was locked. Fuming, I pivoted slammed my back against the door. "Typical," I muttered. I should have expected that the little dwarf would worm his way out of our deal. I began to look around the room.
The walls were curved in. They were covered with a dark red fabric, and the carpet was a matching color. There was a black, iron chandelier hanging from the ceiling, with over a hundred candles in it. "At least it's not Fiery Forest," I said, walking towards the center of the room.
As I did, several candles along the wall lit themselves, making me jump. There were six of them. Each hung under a large, medieval-style portrait. I walked up to the closest one to inspect it.
It was a picture of a pocket watch. I could feel my eyes narrow as I frantically searched for the one Jareth had given me. When I finally managed to open it and compare it to the painting, my heart skipped a beat. They both showed the same time. Creepy.
The second picture was an aerial view of the Labyrinth. Whoever had done it was a very skilled artist, it was absolutely gorgeous. I stared at it for a few minutes before moving onto the next painting. It was a portrait of Jareth lounging on his throne. I rolled my eyes and quickly walked on by, not letting myself get sucked in his glamour. Somehow the artist had been able to capture the air that surrounded him.
Fourth was a picture of a woman I didn't recognize. She had black hair that reached down to her neck and was done up very ornately, in a formal (pink, yuck) ball gown. Something that reminded me of the one Sarah wore in the movie and that you couldn't pay me to wear. Obviously she was a noble of some sort.
The fifth picture made me pause again. It was of a young child, maybe a toddler, sitting amongst a throng of goblins. If you looked closely enough you could see that all of the goblins were carrying a weapon of some sort, and through the window behind them was the Labyrinth, looking impossible as ever to defeat. The child's face was contorted with fear, and his eyes looked haunted. I shuddered. The reference was obvious here.
Sixth was of ... no!
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A/N: Yay third person! I have so missed writing in third person! ::hugs third person:: Yeh okay moving on. Deep breath now. This is why I changed the genre out of humor - I realized I couldn't be funny on command. ::sweatdrop:: Hope I don't loose any readers. Okay you can guess who or what you think the sixth portrait is of. In your REVIEWS. ::pointed look::
After I get three reviews on this chapter I will update. That usually takes around three days.
Thanks so MUCH to my reviewers, who are the only reason that I keep writing: Mab, Queen of Faerie. You have reviewed every chapter! Thank you! sych77, thanks for your enthusiastic review. I hope this was a quick enough update for you ;) Draco's Daughter, I'm glad you like it. Say hi to Pan for me ;) thank you for your review!