This is kind of a dark chapter - hope you like it. As thanks for all your wonderful reviews and patience with my cliffhangers, I'll let you in on a little secret... chapter 19 is finished and entitled "All is revealed" :-)
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"But that's horrible!" Sarah cried in shock and stared at the grim map before her. "What will you do? Can you prevent this?"
The Goblin King sighed and ran his gloved fingers through his hair and made it stand up even more, before he turned away from her and looked out the window at the landscape before him.
"I don't know," he said finally and clenched his fists, hammering one of them against the wall in frustration. His whole body was rigid and threatening, and Sarah found he was the Goblin King once again, and not the more human Jareth that she'd seen in the past twenty-four hours. He looked fearsome and angry as he swept around and started pacing the floor.
"I'm beginning to suspect what is wrong," he continued at last. "I hope I'm mistaken, but this could be the work of my brother, Prince Corran. It would be so like him to threaten the very existence of the kingdom to get to me!"
Sarah was taken aback. "You have a brother? But why would he do this?"
"He wants the throne," Jareth said simply. "He's wanted it ever since our father died, and he cannot have it, ever! If it washis to claim, the Goblin Kingdom would suffer terribly. I'm ashamed to have him in the family and even worse, he's the next in line to the throne at the moment. That is also why everyone is begging me to get an heir."
"He is evil?"
Jareth stopped in his tracks and looked at her through narrowed eyes. "Oh, Sarah, you have no idea! Do you know why I took over the throne at such a young age? It's because my brother murdered my father!"
"No!" Sarah cried and reached her hand out in pity. He didn't seem to notice and went to a window to gaze out over the Labyrinth.
"We were the perfect family. Loving mother, kind father, two sons and two daughters. My sisters got married early and moved away, while my brother and I stayed at the castle and was raised as fitting for princes. The goblins did not like my brother and ran away from him when they could, but they wouldn't tell us why and evaded our questions. One day I burst into his room to tell him of a successful hunt, and I caught him red-handedly. A child has been wished away the same day, and he had taken it there to his rooms. When I arrived, the child was almost unconscious, but still whimpering in pain and anguish. Both it and my brother were naked and there were blood and bruises all over the child."
Sarah felt sick and didn't know what to say. It was clear that Jareth was as disgusted as her about his brother's behaviour -even with his back to her, she could see his fury and shame. She was almost sure this was a story he had never told anyone before and was very awed that he would share it with her.
"I yelled at him," Jareth continued with a harsh and bitter voice, "but he just laughed at me. 'What does it matter, Jareth, it won't remember anything?', he said, and I reacted with fury and struck him down, before I carried the child to safety and to my father, the King. He was as horrified as I and we decided to get rid of my brother the very next morning. He must have heard our conversation, for that night I woke up in my bedroom seconds before a knife would have ended my life. I fought him for a long time, until he was so badly hurt, that he fled. In the nearby room my mother had awakened at the noise, and was screaming in anguish. Corran had been there first and murdered my father."
"Oh, Jareth," Sarah whispered with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."
"He has made several attempt to get the throne since then," Jareth said, as he turned from the window and continued pacing again, "but if this is his doing, his powers have indeed increased!"
"I have one option left," he continued harshly, "and that is to seek out the High Fae Council and ask them to intervene with their magic. Maybe, if we combine our strength, we will be able to find the source and drive back the Bog."
Sarah could sense that this was his absolute last resort, but wondered why he hestitated. "Will they not help you?"
"Oh, yes, but there is a price to pay! I don't know what it will be – magic items, a piece of my kingdom, a precious heirloom of mine, or even my firstborn son – but the price is always too high for anyone to use them for anything but extreme emergencies. And I don't even know if their help will be enough. Corran might very well have tampered with wild magic without regards for the consequences."
"Well, if that is the way it is done, then that is what you must do," Sarah stated firmly, but dared not approach him, as he looked very intimidating. He stopped and turned to glare at her with fierce mismatched eyes.
"I can't believe this is happening!" he yelled. "My Labyrinth! My home! It's not fair!"
"No, I know it isn't," she replied gently and soothingly to try to calm him down, "but maybe that's just the way it is."
He plucked out a crystal of the air and smashed it against the wall where it shattered with a satisfying crash and send shards flying to all sides. Five crystals later, Sarah had had enough and hesitatingly took a few steps towards him, until she could put a hand on his arm and hold it back before he could conjure the sixth crystal. He snatched back his arm and glared at her with pained eyes, but then took a deep breath as if to steady himself.
"I will go," he hissed bitterly and lowered his head. "The sooner the better!"
Sarah opened her mouth to try to comfort him, but suddenly a disembodied echoing male voice rolled through the room.
"I WISH THE GOBLINS WOULD COME AND TAKE YOU AWAY, DANIEL! RIGHT NOW!"
Jareth groaned and cursed under his breath. "Not now!"
"So that's how you are summoned," Sarah said amazed and looked around to see if the baby would appear as well. It did not. Instead, Jareth stood up straight and disappeared into thin air, leaving her alone in the room. She waited for a few moments, but nothing else happened. Well, she thought, he would probably be in the throne room once he had taken the baby. Talk about bad timing – they couldn't possibly ask a Quester to face the Labyrinth now, could they? But what other choice did they have?
She took a piece of cinnamon bread with her and left the tower room to join him downstairs, although after facing their situation and hearing the story about his horrible brother, she wasn't really hungry anymore. Her heart was full of pity and compassion for Jareth, who obviously knew and liked every corner of his Labyrinth and now had to watch it be destroyed, maybe even by his own kin. It wasn't fair, she agreed miserably, and felt utterly helpless.
In the throne room there was no sign of Jareth. There was, however, a huge noisy crowd of goblins gathered, and in the middle of the crowd sat a small boy all alone, crying desperately. He must have been 6 or 7 years old and was dressed in jeans and a dirty wrinkled t-shirt with a Spiderman print, and he looked so lost and frightened and reminded her so much of Toby, that Sarah forgot everything else and ran down to him, pushing the goblins aside. They were yelling and laughing and one of them was poking at the boy with the backend of a spear, and Sarah tore it furiously away from him.
"Stop it! And shut up!" she shouted at the goblins, and amazingly they obeyed instantly and drew back, looking at her in wonder. The boy cried even harder.
"Shh," Sarah said and squatted down beside him. "It's ok, Daniel, you're safe now. No one will hurt you here. The goblins are not mean; they just want to play with you. It's ok."
He looked at her with big brown eyes and apparently satisfied that she was not a goblin, too, he reached out for her, and she took him and held him close, soothing him and murmuring comforting words to him, just like she would do with Toby when he was smaller and had hurt himself. The boy sobbed pitifully in her arms, and she noticed with horror the blue and black bruises on his arms and a patch of dried blood in his blond hair. This boy had been mistreated and beaten, and she felt the anger grow, as she held him. Here, and with Jareth as king, he would be safe.
As the boy's sobbing lessened and he began to calm down, the Goblin King suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, looking tired and disgusted. Sarah tightened her arms protectively around the boy at the thought of the abuser Questing the Labyrinth to get this child back.
"Don't worry, Sarah," Jareth said flatly. "His father is not coming to get him."
She felt the boy relax a bit more in her arms at the words, and smiled bitterly at Jareth. "Good! Then I won't have to ask you to drop him into the Bog for what he has done to this child."
"It's often like this, Sarah," he sighed. "I can't believe some people can be so cruel! I'll tell you about it later, but I have to go to the High Council as soon as possible, and I may be gone for many hours. Will you take care of the boy for me in the meantime? I'm sure the twins can help you if you need it."
"Of course, Jareth," she said and spontaneously blew a kiss at him. "Good luck."
He smiled sadly and disappeared again, leaving her alone with the boy.
"Who are you?" he whispered brokenly. "Where am I? Can I stay? I don't want to go back to him, ever!"
"Of course you can stay," Sarah replied in her most charming and reassuring voice. "I'm Sarah, and you are Daniel, right? Like Daniel in the Lions' den? Do you know that story?"
The boy shook his head and she held him closer and recounted the tale of brave Daniel, who had faced evil and dangers, but who had stayed true to his heart and faith and therefore nothing could harm him. "Just like nothing will harm you here, because you're such a good boy."
"My father doesn't think so," Daniel said in a small voice, but with a hint of interest. "He hates me!"
"Your father is wrong," Sarah replied steadily and thought fast to make up a story to soothe the child. "You are here and safe because you're such a good boy. We're going to have so much fun together. How about the story of Peter Pan – do you know that one?"
When he nodded, she continued: "This is just like Neverland, Daniel. You can stay here forever and play and have fun and never ever go back or grow up. Wouldn't you like that?"
"Are there evil pirates?" he asked and looked trustingly at her with his eyes that were red from crying.
She shook her head. "Nooo, not at all. There are dwarves and nice goblins and pretty fairies like Tinkerbell."
"Ok," he replied and smiled at her, "Are you like Wendy who can tell me stories at bed time and tuck me in? My mom is dead, so I never had anyone to tuck me in."
"Of course I will, sweetheart," Sarah whispered, and was almost on the verge of tears herself. She hugged him again. "Are you hungry? How would you like some milk and cookies?"
His smile was answer enough and Sarah laughed and stood up. "Come on, little rascal, let's go find something nice for you."