Chapter Seventeen: Captive
"Beware the sleeping times. The times when your mind is so sure of itself that you feel impregnable, invincible. There's always some jerk out for vengeance who knows how to take advantage, and you shall soon find that you are quite pregnable indeed."
The world had come down in pieces around them, and Sarah awoke, blinking slightly, to find herself caught in Erik's tight grasp.
His arms were about her, holding her up against him, and he whispered broken apologies in her ear.
She lay content for just a while, unwilling to move, until the worried whine of Ludo came and she realized where, exactly, she was. Detaching Erik from her person, she pushed herself up, feeling the streaks of tears running down her face.
She stepped toward Ludo, giving him a comforting smile, and he roared with joy.
Then she turned back to Erik, a little tentatively.
"Was I— crying in my sleep?"
He saw instantly that she remembered none of what had gone on, and knew instinctively that it would not be wise to bring it up.
"I believe," he said, with a catch in his voice that he coughed to get rid of, "that you were missing your brother when you fell asleep, nothing more."
She looked at him for a moment, then nodded slightly. She didn't look entirely assured, but she was willing to suspend her disbelief and listen to Erik.
The Labyrinth worked its magic in mysterious ways.
Erik noticed the land flicker and change twice, and began to look around for Turnabout.
They walked on down the path, right and left turning; once, Erik called to them to stop, and doubled back to an opening he had seen out of the corner of his eye. It was cleverly hidden behind a curtain of ivy, and when he held it aside and the doorway appeared it was like some magnificent vanishing act in reverse. Sarah couldn't keep from smiling as she stepped towards the door.
Erik held up a hand in caution. "Let Ludo go first," he said. "No one would dare attack him."
She looked at him worriedly. "How do you know? He might not be the biggest creature in the Labyrinth, there could easily be something larger than he is. How do you know that he won't get attacked?"
Erik shook his head, light glinting off the mask. His thin slips set in a vague smile.
"Trust me," he said.
Sarah stared at him a moment longer, then turned to Ludo. "Alright— you go first."
"And you go just after him," said Erik, his voice low.
She whirled back to him. "What's going on?"
"Never you mind," said Erik sternly. "Just do as I say."
Sarah frowned mightily, but Ludo was already stepping through the door, and she caught hold of his tail and followed.
Erik stood behind, back against the wall, half hidden in the ivy— when Turnabout walked through cheerfully, turning to lock the door behind him, Erik caught him by the shoulders.
From inside the room came Ludo's roar of distress, and Sarah's cry.
"There's no way out!"
Turnabout gave a shriek like a kicked dog at his surprise, then relaxed visibly when he saw it was Erik who held him.
"Ah, fellow servant of His Majesty." He swept him a bow. "Doing our good work, are we?"
Erik tipped his head to one side.
"Tell me, Turnabout, what was your price?"
Turnabout raised bushy eyebrows.
"Beg pardon, monsieur?"
"What did Jareth promise you, for helping him lead Sarah astray? I look forward to quite a large reward— I was merely curious about your prospects."
Turnabout looked at the odd glint in Erik's eyes, and hesitated for just a moment.
"Why, I am to ascend to a throne in the castle beyond the goblin city," he said. His eyes began to glow a bit, feverishly. "A smaller throne than Jareth's, of course, but a throne nonetheless. I suspect I will be second in all the land! Why, brother— what did he promise you?"
Erik looked at him as though with pity, shaking his head slightly.
"He promised me the greatest treasure the world has ever held," he said slowly, and watched the pride drain out of Turnabout's face to be replaced with a tinge of jealousy. Then Erik leaned forward to whisper in Turnabout's ear.
"I just thought you should know."
With a swift movement of his hands, he had pulled Turnabout forward, hitting his forehead against the wall. Turnabout collapsed in a heap on the ground, and Erik stepped over him to open the door and let Sarah and Ludo out.
He smiled slightly at the suspicious look she gave him.
"It may take me a hundred years to gain back your trust," he said, "but at the end, I believe it will be worth it. I lay a great gift at your feet, mademoiselle—" He stepped back and indicated the prone body of Turnabout with a flourish of his cape.
Sarah looked down, then looked back up.
Erik smiled wider.
"Someone who knows how to find the castle at the center of the Labyrinth," he said softly. "And he's all yours."
Sarah returned her gaze to Turnabout's foxlike body, and took on an expression of excited hope. "You think he can help us?"
"I know he can."
She glanced up.
"What makes you so sure?"
He bent and took hold of Turnabout's arms, hauling him upright and handing him to Ludo, who took on the weight as though Turnabout were a tiny child, hardly any burden at all. Erik smiled slightly as Turnabout's mouth slacked open and a string of drool descended towards the ground.
"A caged animal will do anything to get out of its trap," he said softly. "Its not till you back them to the wall that you find out how hard they can fight."
Sarah wondered if he was talking about their captive— or about himself. She didn't dare interrupt his reverie to ask. His eyes were soft and reminiscent and cold, totally unlike their usual hard warmth— for a moment she saw what he must have looked like when he was mad, when he lived underneath an Opera House and listened to music, ate slept and breathed music,all day long.
She shivered.
Erik glanced back up at her at her movement.
The smile turned to vast amusement, and she saw to her surprise that Erik had a dimple— a half-one, anyway, on his left cheek. Instantly mesmerized by it, she laughed aloud.
He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her wrist.
"You shall conquer, milady, if I have anything to do with it."
She believed him.