The journey to Threasedene was long and tiring. Jareth was quiet for the most part of the journey, occasionally breaking the silence to point out places of interest to Sarah, such as a Fae temple or the villages in the lands outlying the labyrinth. The lands between the Labyrinth and Threasedene were lush and green. There were few trees, and the landscape, although beautiful had a barren empty quality to it.
"If you look out of the window Sarah you can see the outpost of the Goblin Army."
"I thought that the Army was inside the goblin city." Sarah mused.
Jareth smiled and Sarah suddenly thought that he reminded her of a cat, playing with its food. "No that's not my army" he laughed at the thought. "How could I defend my Kingdom with a rabble like that? The guard that you encountered is merely there to prevent people getting through the goblin city and completing my labyrinth. It serves no other purpose. The real army of the Goblin realm is however a force to be reckoned with"
Sarah stared at him, then spoke, a shocked look on her pretty face "You mean you have your own personal army just to stop people winning back their children?" Sarah looked at him disgusted, and Jareth decided that in this instance discretion was the better part of valour and chose to remain silent for the rest of the journey.
Suddenly the carriage stopped, Sarah moved to get out of the carriage when Jareth spoke. "It is my role as King to prevent the labyrinth from being completed, by any means necessary, fear, seduction betrayal, they are all my tools, and I do not hesitate to use them when I deem them the right approach." Sarah leapt out of the carriage, anything to get away from him, not noticing that they were still in the middle of the grasslands and the city of Threasedene was still far in the distance.
Jareth followed "I have done this to a thousand others, this is my royal duty."
"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered" Sarah muttered to herself, Jareth hearing her glared at her angrily.
"It won't work this time Sarah"
"I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city to take back the child that you have stolen from me."
"What child?" he challenged her mockingly.
"For my will is as strong as yours. And my Kingdom as great" she continued. But this time he did not retreat. Sarah paused and every second felt like an eternity, she felt a cool breeze drift across her face. It was calming and it soothed the turmoil inside her head, out of the corner of her eye she could see Danae and Aldous standing outside their carriage, keeping their distance from the ugly scene. "You have no power over me", said Sarah dully. Jareth just stood looking at her, the expression on his face impossible to read. "You have no power over me" she cried, tears forming in her eyes, which then slowly started to streak down her face. "You have no power over me!" she screamed hysterically. Jareth turned away from her, no longer able to look. Sarah's legs gave way beneath her and she sank to the ground, her legs unable to hold her up any longer. She sat on the floor sobbing to herself "He has no power over me, he has no power over me." Danae ran over to her and pulled the distraught girl into her arms. "Shush now Sarah, Shush. Be at peace." She wiped the tears off Sarah's face, her own eyes brimming with tears over the state of the girl, and Sarah began to calm down.
When Sarah had quietened Jareth walked over to her and scooped her up into his arms. He then carried him over to Danae's carriage wordlessly. He was surprised at how light she felt, like carrying air. Sarah just stared up at him, astonished that he was no longer angry with her. He seemed almost sad. He placed her into the seat of Danae's carriage and said to her softly, "I had hoped that we could become friends." Then he walked away silently and Danae climbed into the carriage.
The two girls travelled without speaking, Sarah unwilling to talk and Danae not knowing what to say. Eventually Danae broke the silence "Well we're nearly there, I can see the gates of Threasedene." Sarah suddenly felt terrible as she was dreading seeing Jareth again. Danae reading the worried expression on Sarah's face said comfortingly "You don't have to see Jareth until court tomorrow. He'll be at the Goblin Palace." Sarah looked at her confused, so Danae continued, "Jareth, as King, resides at the Goblin Palace, however the Ladies of the royal household, have their own Palace, where they all stay on trips to Threasedene, with the exception of the Queen of course, who stays at the Goblin Palace with the King. The princess's palace as it's referred to, which is much smaller and cosier. Well anyway, Jareth and I decided that it would be for the best if you stayed at the Princess's Palace with me as it would cause less gossip for one thing."
Sarah suddenly interrupted Danae's babble, which had now turned to courtly gossip mongers. "Why did saying those words to Jareth have no effect this time?"
Danae paused, obviously thinking of a reasonable answer, she sighed then began. "It's to do with the very nature of the labyrinth. Which is to teach you what you need to know, which was in your case that not everyone else was to blame for your problems." Sarah opened her mouth as if to start protesting but Danae continued. "Jareth did not make you wish your brother away, nor did he make you run the labyrinth to win him back, he did his best to try and make you give up, but he couldn't. Jareth could manipulate your surroundings, the challenges you faced and even your friends, but he could not manipulate you! Jareth never had any power over you when you first entered the labyrinth, but you didn't realise this until your final confrontation."
"Well that explains why it worked the first time, but not why it won't work now" said Sarah grumpily.
"The reason it worked last time was because it was true. But this time is different; you gave yourself over to Jareth so this time he does have power over you. That's why it doesn't work anymore."
Sarah felt a single tear trickle down her face. She shook her head, not allowing despair to conquer her any longer.
"What is the labyrinth exactly?" she asked.
"Well we're not entirely sure. It's an entity with a very strong magical life force that predates any written knowledge of our people. All we seem to know is its purpose."
"Which is?"
"To teach us." Danae sighed "Why it does this I don't know but it just teaches us lessons that we could not have learnt another way."
"And how does it do that?"
"By any means necessary. But the labyrinth only has this effect on mortals. It has never once in over ten thousand centuries tried to teach a higher being anything, we can pass through unchanged."
Sarah interrupted impatiently, "But what has the labyrinth got to do with snatching babies?"
"Absolutely nothing. If a child is wished away, and we only take what is given to us, whoever the child is wished away to is obligated to take the child. And if they want the child back, as frequently they do, a task is set."
"What kind of task?"
"Well obviously the goblins have the labyrinth, another kingdom has an unswimmable river which they have to cross in an allotted time, and the Dragons I believe have a series of obstacles culminating in a leap of faith across a fiery precipice."
Sarah looked down and whispered to Danae, confiding in her "When I defeated Jareth, when I found myself back at home, I thought I'd destroyed him. I never ever dreamed I could find myself back here. I convinced myself that I had won."
Danae shook her head at Sarah, and said quietly "What kind of King would he be if his rule could be destroyed that easily? The only thing you hurt was Jareth's pride"
Sarah looked out of the window as they passed into the city, the buildings of Threasedene looming above her, they were built from white marble, which shone a soft orange in the light of the setting sun. Danae's carriage turned and pulled away from Jareth's carriage until it reached a small palace built from white stone, but where the white marble of the rest of the city looked harsh and cold the palace looked warm and inviting.
Danae led Sarah through the palace, and into a small set of chambers. A bedpan and nightgown were waiting for her, while Sarah changed behind a small screen Danae lit a small candelabra and closed the velvet curtains, blocking out the light of the rising moon. Sarah climbed into the large bed too exhausted to speak, Danae leaned over to her and kissed her goodnight then slipped out the door quietly. Sarah blew out the candles and let darkness claim her. Soon she was fast asleep dreaming of a ball as she always did.
