Chapter Thirteen
Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes
Jareth and Sarah finished their tour inside the building. Sarah said nothing of her plan, deciding it would be best to wait until they returned to their castle. Their tour ended for the afternoon in the gardens. Sarah stood at the top of a steep waterfall that trickled over tan bricks into a craterlike well with swirling hedge mazes.
"How beautiful. It looks like The Getty Museum in Los Angeles," Sarah breathed.
Kade smiled and looked out at the horizon of a setting sun, "Corsicana was very inspired when we visited there a few decades ago."
Sarah smiled distractedly. They started to walk up to the courtyard.
"Sarah! Jareth!" Kathy was running to them to say goodbye. Jareth gave the children hugs and began to discuss something with his sister. "Sarah," Kathy whispered, tugging at her flowing dress.
"What is it?" She bent down so Kathy could whisper in her ear.
"Do you believe in faeries?" she said under her breath something mischievous underlying her seriousness.
"Of course I do, we are in the land of the faeries, aren't we?"
"If you believe in faeries, clap your hands," she repressed a giggle. Patrick cast Kathy a sideways glance and the rest turned to look at her. Sarah raised her eyebrows in confusion, but straightened and clapped twice.
A shimmer sparkled along the air in a wave as if the sound had carried some shimmering dust. Sarah blinked.
"Clap harder," Patrick advised.
Sarah began to applaud and watched the shimmer form into a whole throng of faeries. Her mouth fell open in disbelief. Somewhere behind her, Sarah heard Cora giggling.
"The Seelie court has decided to welcome you and offer their blessings to you and Jareth," Corsicana said solemnly. "Pat, Kathy and I had a lot of fun deciding how to introduce you to them.
Sarah still stood speechless. "What- why- how-" she stammered, looking over the smiling faces. Shimmering wings glittered in downplayed extravagance throughout the crowd. When someone stretched their wings, they became solid for a moment or two and then faded to a glimmer. They all wore spectacular dresses and clothes of bright fabric and flowers. She then remembered that faeries had the power to conceal themselves from people when they wished. "Have they been here the whole time?"
"Yes, most of them live here or in the city below. This isn't just our home, it also contains the capital building. We frequently hold gatherings in this courtyard. Oh Sarah, you must come sometime to the festivals! We have dancing and a feast and so much amazing entertainment! I'm sure you would love it!"
Sarah nodded silently, eyes wide with amazement.
A woman in green and gold stepped forward from the crowd, her wings fluttering lightly. She breathed out words from a foreign language resonating like Gaelic with the passion of French, and the crowd repeated it. Then she repeated the chant in the common language, "Grace the royals King Jareth and Sarah! Blessed be the Kingdom of the Goblins!" The crowd repeated her words again, then bowed their heads and fluttered their wings in a sign of respect.
The woman in green walked up to Jareth and Sarah and took their hands briefly. "As the ambassador of the Seelie, we congratulate the two of you for your joyous union and welcome Sarah as a member of the court."
"Thank you," Sarah blinked and bowed her head. The entire court bowed in return.
Sarah watched open mouthed as the court dispersed and went calmly about their day. Jareth gave Cora a kiss goodbye and Sarah quickly followed him. They transformed into birds and set off to return home.
Once they returned, Jareth went off to do some work on the planning of a new bathhouse in the Goblin City, and Sarah scurried off to the library.
By the time Jareth was finished with his work for the day, Sarah was surrounded by at least twenty books and was scribbling furiously over a long scroll of parchment. As he approached, he saw her wave her hand to make the parchment grow another foot and then continued writing on the blank space.
"Sarah," he ventured wearily, noting that every book was about magical architecture, "What's all this?"
She jumped, "What? Oh, just some planning. Do you think we ought to build a courtyard adjacent to the throne room?"
"Oh no," he muttered, rubbing a hand across his face. "You aren't serious, are you?"
"Of course I am! You saw how lovely your sister's palace looks. I always did think this place was looking rather outdated, and that just confirmed it."
Jareth tried to protest, "You are above all that petty stylishness though-" he fell silent at the look Sarah shot him.
"It's not just about that. This castle is ready for a change. I've looked up nearly all the spells I will need. I think I can do this myself-"
Jareth suppressed a look of horror. "But really, Sarah, don't you think we should at least hire a decorator?"
"Nonsense. I took a few engineering classes in college and I used to watch plenty of home decorating shows. I want to have some fun with this!"
Jareth sat down next to her to look at the notes she had taken. The spells were all quite accurate and her sketches looked tasteful. "Well, if this is what you want-"
Sarah planted a kiss on his cheek and hopped up to go speak with the goblin that ran the library. "Will you please leave these books and materials out for me, Bingly? I will be back tomorrow morning."
"Sure thing, Sarah. I'll bring you some coco too," the little Goblin squeaked in a well mannered accent.
"Come on Jareth! Let me show you where the courtyard will be. It will be the perfect place for the ball! We should have it this spring. Maybe late spring, around the end of May."
Jareth relented to being dragged around the castle in the fading light to envision Sarah's plan. He was worried to have his beloved castle tampered with, but he trusted Sarah's judgment and knew he would get used to the change. Whatever kept her happy was alright with him.
After they had made a roundabout trip of the castle, they went off to have a light dinner. They sat in silence for a few moments, Jareth thinking about the new style of the castle. Sarah poked at her plate nervously, and just as Jareth was about to ask what was wrong, she took a deep breath.
"Jareth, I know how I can get through to Toby," she said strongly. "I need to go back to the Aboveground to get something."
Jareth eyed her cautiously, "Alright. We can go tonight if you like." She smiled half-heartedly and nodded. He could tell that she would explain her plan in due time.
They finished dinner quickly after that and Sarah looked to Jareth with a trace of worry. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she felt the spinning sensation of moving through time and space.
They landed inside her room. Everything was just as she had left it a year prior, though now four o'clock sunlight was strewn over the floor. The bed in disarray from her restless night after Andromeda had poisoned her. On the floor lay Lancelot. Sarah stooped and picked him up, pressing his worn plush fluff to her face and smelling the little boy Toby that she remembered. She hugged the bear tightly as a tear trickled down her face. She didn't know if it was possible to ever see that boy again, but the least she could do was remind him of that little boy he once was.
She brushed the tear away with determination and stepped to her bedside table. There, next to the music box that she treasured so much, the gift from her mother that inexplicably connected her to Jareth, was the little red bound book. She brushed her fingertips across the gold embossed title, Labyrinth. She picked it up quickly and smiled at the worn pages and soft feel of the old leather.
Jareth watched is silence as she stared at it with determination. He waited for her to find whatever it was she had been looking for. He had no idea what she could possibly need from the Aboveground to defeat the most powerful witch of the Underground. To his surprise she turned happily and announced that she was ready to leave.
He glanced skeptically at the bear and the book. "Is that all?"
"This is everything. This is exactly what I need," she said with confidence. Jareth held her tightly and they spun through the mid afternoon air.
They returned to the nighttime of the Goblin kingdom and began to walk toward their room.
Jareth cleared his throat a few times, "I beg your pardon, but what exactly is a worn-out bear and an old book going to do to save Toby?"
They entered the room and Sarah simply handed him the book, spun into a white nightdress, and flopped into bed with Lancelot tucked under one arm. "The bear is from Toby and my childhood. And the book is why we are here."
Jareth barely heard her. He had read the title on the book and quickly opened it. He sat down on the sofa and waved on a light. Within the next few hours, he scoured the book. It began like the book he knew to have escaped to the Aboveground, the story of the girl gone to rescue her brother from the evil king. But it had changed. Whether Sarah had ever noticed or not, he did not know, but as the story progressed it became apparent that the girl and the king had an affinity for one another. He was not surprised when he realized that the names were Sarah and Jareth, nor that the baby brother's name had changed to Toby.
The story had changed into Sarah's story. Once he reached the end, a dreamlike rejection and fall through oblivion, he lowered the book and looked at Sarah. She was asleep on the bed, the bear tucked up under her chin. He looked back down and had a thought.
"I wish I knew what happened next," he whispered into the pages, then closed the book. When he opened it again, it began another story. It began with a lonely girl and the stories of her dreams. He flipped to some part in the middle and scanned it, reading about Andromeda and the grown Toby. He tried flipping to the end, but as long as he flipped the pages, they continued flipping and flipping as if it were some enormous book, though the size never changed. He blinked and stared at it. A magic book.
"I wish I could see the table of contents," he murmured, flipping the book shut and open. There on the first page was a list of four stories under the main title of Underground. By the names of their titles, they appeared to be about Amelia Deshvat, Sarah's two adventures, and then a fourth that was entitled "Toby". To the right where the page number should have been was a phrase. He read Toby's aloud: "I wish to read Toby".
He turned the page and before him was a tale about Toby. He read a background Toby's childhood, leading until the point where Andromeda took him. The rest of the pages behaved the same way as the book called "Sarah's Return" and kept flipping endlessly.
Without thinking he muttered, "I wonder how this book works," and then stopped flipping the pages abruptly as a little note appeared on a page in the book.
Jareth smirked at himself as he read the note:
Dear reader,
This book is not ordinary in any way. It was created by Lord Maaron Devoir as a parting gift to Lord Deshvat Devoir and Amelia Moulin before they depart to the Aboveground. It was designed to record the events of the Underground as witnessed by the reader and record them as a story. It is my hope that my nephew Alrende will one day read these stories and dream of the world to which he belongs. We can always revisit the past with this book, and the present appears when the witness holds it and believes its power, but the future is always a foggy mystery. I offer here my love to Deshvat and Amelia, and offer the dreams of the Underground to Alrende.
Forever yours,
Maaron
Jareth understood what Sarah planned to do, but he did not think she was aware that the book was magical. He set it down and dragged himself sleepily to the bed and collapsed with fatigue.
"Jareth. Jareth! Get up, quickly! I- I don't know what happened. It's gone! Or, changed, or something. What's wrong with it?"
Jareth sat up and mumbled a bit, wiping the sleep from his eyes and running a hand through his puff of hair. "The book?"
"It's different! But it's also the same, what's wrong with it?" she cried frantically, waving the book at him in a panic.
Jareth explained as best he could what he had figured out, the wished to see the author's note. Sarah gasped when she turned the page and found the letter. Jareth directed her to the table of contents and then fell back asleep as she became engrossed in the book.
A few hours later, after the sun had risen, Sarah stood in front of the castle and admired the changes she had already conjured. With spells and crystals she had changed the exterior into soft beige limestone and the floors into large slate tiles. She had already reshaped the garden into the shape of the goblin insignia; a crescent made of fruit trees and the orb a large and deep round pond filled with graceful red and yellow fish of varying sizes. Rocks protruded in different places, giving a warm place to bask and grow greens. Surrounding the pond was a walkway interrupted by an enormous waterfall that fell from the point where the orb and crescent met. Here the path moved down a wide flight of steps and descended behind the waterfall, giving a twenty foot cascade of water.
Sarah was admiring the effect of paving the pathways in all the gardens with warm tan bricks when a beautiful cat leapt from the bushes. It was snow white except for the chocolate Siamese markings. She had never seen a cat around the castle before, and so she approached it cautiously. It was possible it was an enemy in disguise. She pet it lightly and sensed no harm. It purred and rubbed against her legs, twining its tail through them.
"Well hello there, little fellow. Where did you come from?" She picked him up and sat on one of her new benches around the pond. She pet it fondly for a minute or two, then gazed up at the castle. "I think we should try white marble for the floors up there. It will be too dark with the slate. Don't you think, kitty?" It purred more heartily and nudged her hand with his head. She scratched his ears, which had little peaks of fur at the tops making owlish tufts.
Sarah floated a complicated crystal over to the slate stairs that led to the garden pathways and watched it burst and feather the white marble over the grounds. In the distance a few goblins made shrill noises and she could only imagine that the floor had successfully changed.
With a pensive flick, she changed the brick walkways into grass. She nodded with satisfaction. "Alright, that's enough of a break. I want to reshape the gates before I go in to meet Jareth for breakfast."
The cat followed Sarah as she made her way to the castle gate. She conjured a number of crystals and tossed them this way and that until she had the contents specifically the way she desired. She rolled three of them into the gate and watched it change from an immense and foreboding wooden structure into limestone pillars at the top of a flight of broad marble steps. The third crystal shattered and water began to flow down the steps on either side, carving a geometric basin that reminded Sarah vaguely of a salmon ladder.
"Well, I think that looks nice. The castle will still be so big that it will appear menacing to anyone who reaches the castle form the Labyrinth. She turned and smiled with a bit of pride at the new reshaping of the exterior of the castle. The rooms were bound to be in odd disarray, but the goblins were prepared to help with the interior redecoration. The castle now bore a far more geometrical shape, very similar to the styles Sarah had seen at the Faerie Court.
"I think that's enough for now. Come on, little kitty, I'll carry you for a while. We have a long walk to get to the dining hall and I'm not sure I can travel by crystal with you." She bent and lifted him so she could look at his face. "You have lovely blue eyes. Just like-" she stopped and frowned a bit, turning the cat's face into the sun so she could get a better look. He blinked a bit, but not enough to conceal the unusual pupils of the Goblin King. "Jareth!"
She felt him twist in her hands as he morphed into her fiancée. She glared at him, unsure whether to be amused or irritated that he had been spying on her. He was laughing his teasing laugh, which made her cheeks grow red with embarrassment.
"That was entertaining. 'Little kitty', am I?" He took her arm, still laughing at his little trick, and walked with her through the new garden up to the castle. "Oh come now, don't be mad. I was curious about what you had been up to this morning, so I thought I'd surprise you."
"Well you know what they say, 'curiosity killed the cat'." She fumed along, mentally kicking herself for not noticing the eyes sooner.
"I'm not sure I trust anything that 'they' say. Unless you define who and when 'they' said such a thing, I'm not going to feel threatened. All the same, I do hope you don't plan on killing me."
Sarah couldn't help but laugh at his unwavering logic. "No, I don't. I didn't know you could become any other animals."
Jareth cast a sideways smile, "I suppose you-"
"-took it for granted. I know; it's a habit."
"The new design looks fantastic. I agree with you- that the castle still appears oppressive, especially to someone as distraught as one who has run the Labyrinth." He chucked a crystal into the air and they reappeared by the breakfast that was awaiting them. Sarah gave him a sarcastic look that said she thought he was being lazy. "I was hungry," he explained sheepishly.
Sarah sat down and pushed her plate to one side, leaning on the table with crossed arms. "The book."
Jareth mimicked her pose, "What book?"
"You know which book," she scowled.
"What about it?" his brows furrowed at the direction the conversation was taking.
"I need to deliver it to Toby. He must read it. If he reads it, I am sure that he will remember. I want to take him Lancelot too. Lancelot and the book."
Jareth nodded, musing on the plan. "Very clever. Well, we can't just deliver it to him; Andromeda would likely destroy it. We could fly there and catch him alone, but there is always the chance that he will tell Andromeda of the book before giving it a chance."
She nodded slowly, "I think that is the best way though. I doubt he would say anything once he saw Lancelot. Let's leave after breakfast."
Jareth was surprised at the abrupt decision making, but figured that it was Sarah's affair and that he would let her confront it in the manner she thought best.
They ate quickly and moved onto the terrace for their flight. Sarah stuffed the bear and book into the pockets of her olive colored cloak and stepped toward the battlement. She took a deep and steadying breath and transformed into the little swift. Jareth was already soaring toward the horizon, sailing in graceful arcs through the air.
They soared over the land for an hour, the light on the lakes and rivers dazzling their eyes. It was a glorious and sunny day, a good omen. Just as Sarah began to feel fatigue in her wings, she spotted a towering castle set into the distant mountainside. Once they were within a hundred meters of the tallest parapet Jareth veered to a shady and obscured spot and landed. Sarah perched beside and watched him transform back into his human shape. She followed his lead and soon stood next to him, surveying the castle.
She reached into the folds of her cloak and checked that she still had her items, then turned to look out over the land of Camelot. She noticed other smaller castles within sight and figured she must be in some district of nobility. She placed her hands on the stone to lean forward over the battlement, then froze suddenly, her eyes closed.
Sarah felt more than saw the memory of her brother leaning over the same battlement. He was grown, nearly as tall as when she had seen him last. Her mind snapped through the halls and down staircases to a bedroom in this wing of the castle. He was there, stretched out across his bed, playing absentmindedly with a dagger.
Her eyes snapped open. "I know where he is," she murmured under her breath.
"I thought you might be able to tell. Lead the way, but be cautious. We don't want to be seen, even as birds." Jareth and Sarah transformed back into their winged disguises and Sarah flew down to the window of the great bedroom. Toby looked startled as the two birds landed on the balcony.
Sarah grew into her normal shape and immediately whipped out Lancelot. Toby was about to yell something, but instead his jaw hung open in confusion. He quietly set down the dagger and stood up, his eyes focused on the worn bear.
Sarah stepped forward, offering it to him. He eyed her warily and then took it. He examined it carelessly, as though he didn't care what it was, but Sarah noticed him hold the ear the way he used to as the young Toby.
"What's this?" he scowled. "Why are you here?"
"I brought this for you to remember. And this," she pulled the book out and held it to him. He moved as if to take it, then stopped abruptly, trying to make it look like a normal gesture of indifference. Sarah simply set the book on his bed and stepped a little closer to him. Jareth remained in the background as an owl, his head jerking about, senses on alert for the witch.
"What makes you think I'm interested in a bear and a book?" he flung Lancelot onto the bed and sidestepped toward the door.
"Because they will help you remember the Toby that you really are," Sarah made to put her hand on his shoulder, but he hit it away.
"My name is Galahan-" he started angrily, but his eyes flickered with something like reminiscence.
"No, your name is Toby, and you will understand once you have read the book."
Toby looked dumbfounded. Sarah gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you Toby," she whispered, then quickly transformed back into the swift and darted out the window. Jareth followed. She chanced a glance back and saw him staring after them, the book now in his hands.
Jareth guided them down to a clearing once they were away from the castle. They transformed and then returned to the castle through crystals.
Sarah looked pleased with herself and began walking toward the front of the castle again. "I think I can finish the exterior of the castle today. Care to join me?"
"How do you know he won't tell Andromeda that we were there?" Jareth followed.
"I just do. I guess it's a sister-brother thing."
Jareth shook his head in wonderment and trotted ahead to keep up with his fiancée.