Chapter Eleven: Beauty and the Beast

'Thank you.'

Jareth's head inclined slightly. 'What was that?'

Sarah breathed out heavily. 'I said thank you. You've taken care of Toby; you ... you brought me back from wherever it was. I should thank you.'

'And now you have.'

The tone was not cold exactly, more completely lacking in emotion. Sarah felt a stab of annoyance that her professed gratitude was not received with more graciousness. 'So, what's the game this time?' she inquired, keeping her voice as icy as possible.

A sardonic smile curled the corners of his proud mouth. 'Really, Sarah, don't you think you're a little old to want games? Did our last encounter teach you nothing?'

'I thought that's what you do,' she retorted. 'Play games. Trick people.'

'You thought...' His eyes wandered over her. 'You thought many things. I confess to being somewhat disappointed if you have not progressed since then.'

Sarah felt her anger rising again. 'You know, I can't believe that I ever dreamt I could have been wrong about you. You-you are the most arrogant, deceitful, self-obsessed man I have ever met in my life!'

'Really,' he drawled, coming to a stop and leaning insolently against a wall. 'And just how many real men have you met?'

Colour flooded her cheeks. 'What the hell is that supposed to mean?'

'It wasn't a trick question, Sarah.' He looked down at her for a few moments and then some of the hauteur seemed to leave his face. 'There, is that enough of a game for you? Do you feel yourself more on familiar ground?'

Sarah forced herself to hold his gaze and found herself lost in his eyes. It was an unsettling experience, though not a frightening one; but it did leave her feeling more hopelessly confused than before. 'I don't understand any of this,' she admitted. 'I used to think that I did, but... I don't even know if what I remember happening is what actually happened. There are so many things that I need to ask...'

'I have a few questions of my own,' Jareth stated. 'Why did you go with him?'

'I thought it was you.'

'I know that, you silly girl,' he replied, with a flash of his old impatience. 'Allow me to rephrase. Why did you wish to see me? For what purpose would you have journeyed to the Underground?'

With all that had happened, her reasons seemed obscured even to herself. Jareth's relentless gaze demanded an answer and, deciding that simplicity would be her easiest option, Sarah squared her shoulders. 'I wanted to understand what happened, I wanted to understand ... you. When you ... he ... appeared he told me that the only way that could happen was if I agreed to return to the Labyrinth. So I said yes.'

Jareth suppressed the desire to take her by the shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattled. Part of him was flattered that she should trust him so implicitly; the other was furious that she should place herself in another's power. With an effort, he bit back the words and stalked along the pathway. Sarah sighed and followed aware that, at this rate, theirs would be a very long walk.

ooOoo

Goblin chess, Toby decided, was a definite improvement on the regular game. It had been Delaine's suggestion for after-dinner entertainment and Toby's initial reservations had begun to subside when they had decamped to the throne room and an enormous chessboard had appeared on the floor. The Goblins themselves acted as chess pieces, which added an undoubted thrill to the proceedings. Toby watched, fascinated, as one of Delaine's knights clubbed a pawn over the head, dragged it off the board and then performed a wild dance when it resumed its place.

'Cool!'

'Oh, well played, Your Highness!'

Toby looked around twice before he realised that the voice belonged to what looked like a fox that had appeared at Delaine's side, realising tardily that this was the same creature who had helped Sarah through the Labyrinth.

'Thank you, Didymus.' Delaine's two-tone eyes found Toby's bemused face. 'Your move, Toby.'

Sir Didymus looked as though someone had plugged him into a live socket. 'Forgive me, my Lord! I had overlooked thy presence!'

'Er, sure. Whatever.' Toby gazed down at the little creature that had almost prostrated itself at his feet. 'Don't you wanna stand up?'

Sir Didymus replaced his feathered cap. 'I am honoured to make thy acquaintance, my Lord.'

'I'm not a Lord.'

'But thou art the brother of the Lady Sarah!'

Toby choked. 'Lady? She's not a Lady! You should hear her swear when she can't get her car into gear - y'know, I didn't know that girls knew words like that!'

Sir Didymus quivered from nose to tail. 'My Lady is renowned throughout the Underground for her courage, beauty and wisdom! Is thou not aware of her valiant quest to reclaim her imperilled kin?'

'Her what?'

'You, my Lord.'

'Oh.' He felt the tips of his ears burning with a sudden, unreasonable embarrassment. He looked over Sir Didymus' head at Delaine, in mute appeal. Delaine was watching the exchange with the same sardonic smile her brother wore and offered no help whatsoever. 'Yeah, I know about that.'

'Then your sister is the Lady Sarah, and you are the Lord Toby.'

And with the matter apparently settled, Sir Didymus sat back to watch the match and Toby wisely kept silent.

ooOoo

Darkness had fallen and their path was lit only intermittently by the full moon, which itself was frequently obscured by clouds. They did not venture into the Labyrinth, but prowled the castle grounds - they were extensive enough as far as Sarah was concerned. The night air was sweet but cool enough that she could feel its chill through the thin silk of her dress.

Sarah looked up at her companion. 'How would this Khazad even know who I am?'

Jareth stopped, staring fixedly at some unspecific point in the distance. 'Because he will be aware that since your time in the Labyrinth you have been ... watched over.'

'By whom?' she asked quietly.

'Your friends. And me.' He turned his gaze upon her and Sarah remembered the words that Khazad had spoken to her in her bedroom, wondering if his deceit could have any basis in truth.

'I have watched over you, from time to time. My doing so placed you in great danger and for that I am truly sorry.'

The intensity in his eyes was too much; she felt a shiver run through her and inadvertently hugged her arms around herself.

'You're cold.'

'I'm all right.'

They had changed location before she finished speaking. Sarah caught her breath and looked around at the walls of books and glowing crystals. Jareth waved his hand and a fire sprang up in the hearth. Ambrosius was curled up in one of the armchairs by the fire and Sarah was astonished when, instead of chasing him out, Jareth cast him a single glance and said nothing.

She warmed herself by the fire for a few moments, making yet another attempt to make sense of her own thoughts and feelings - not to mention the strange, mercurial being that was Jareth.

'Drink?'

'Thank you,' she responded unthinkingly and then suppressed a smile - the familiar exchange between host and guest making the situation appear so normal. A façade that was shattered in the next instant when the offered drink materialised out of thin air just next to her right hand. Sarah grasped the thin stem and for a moment felt strangely boneless. A few sips from her glass restored her and she faced Jareth again.

'So, now that I'm back here, what happens?'

'How do you mean?'

His tone was, again, unemotional, his glittering eyes unreadable as he watched her over the rim of his glass. Sarah felt the anger rising again and even though she was aware that this was rapidly becoming her default position when talking to him, she couldn't stop herself. Being angry with Jareth was easier than trying to understand him; and understanding him was a feat that she was beginning to believe was beyond the power of any mortal.

'Toby told me that I was kidnapped so that this Khazad guy could attack the Underground. I'd like to know exactly what's going on.'

Jareth pursed his lips. 'It sounds as though Toby has told you the relevant facts.'

'Toby is ten. He wouldn't know relevant facts if they jumped up and bit him on the ass!'

'Really? I'll pass that insight on to him.'

Sarah's eyes flashed stormy grey. 'He's a child. He's bright, but he's a child. I deserve to know what the hell is going on and as no-one else is doing any talking, I guess that means that you're the one who gets to tell me.'

'Lucky me,' he commented. 'However, as you are now out of harm's way, you need no longer concern yourself with the business of the Underground.'

'Well, that's not good enough. I know that Hoggle said you told him not to say anything to me but if I can't get the story out of you I can get it out of him.'

'Oh yes, because we can always believe everything that Hoggle says!' Jareth retorted bitterly before he could stop himself.

Sarah slammed her glass down. 'At least he tells me the truth!'

'Oh, does he now?'

'Okay, apart from that one time: but that was only because you made him lie to me. Why the hell should I believe anything you say to me when you couldn't begin to understand the meaning of the word truth?'

'I have never lied to you, Sarah.'

She laughed, incredulous. 'Oh yeah? What about Toby, huh? You said if I couldn't get to him within thirteen hours he'd be yours forever, but if I did I'd get him back and that would be the end of it, but that wasn't true, was it?'

His lips curled with the patronising arrogance she particularly disliked. 'You got him back, didn't you?'

'But what did you do to him? He's got your eyes now, for God's sake! You gave him that damned crystal so he wouldn't forget you and now he thinks you're some kind of hero!'

His smile broadened. 'He shows infinite wisdom.'

'And you wouldn't call that deception?' She glared at him in disgust. 'Like I said, you're the last person I would expect to hear the truth from.'

'And just what sort of truth is it that you want, Sarah? The complete truth? Or just the parts of it that you want to hear?'

'I want to hear all of it.'

This time his smile was triumphant, nasty. 'Very well. Let's start with your friend Hoggle, shall we?' A crystal appeared in his hand, spinning mercilessly between his fingers. 'Good old dependable Hoggle. And I'll tell you a little story. Once upon a time, the most beautiful garden in the whole of the Underground was right in the heart of the Labyrinth. Titania's Garden - a gift from the Fairy Queen to the Underground. Wood Nymphs lived there...'

The crystal had become a vista of incredible beauty - Sarah gazed in awe at the sun dappled garden, almost able to feel the soft breeze and the warm sun on her face.

'But then, as now, and as there have always been and always will be, there were those who wished to attack the Underground and conquer the Labyrinth. Hoggle,' he made the name sound like an insult, 'was a valued adviser to my father.'

Sarah started slightly. 'Your father...'

'He was trusted, respected. But as you found out during you visit, Sarah, his loyalty is easily bought. Only back then his price was higher than a plastic bracelet and a pretty smile. Our enemies offered him jewels. And he told them how to get into the Labyrinth. Then he told the King that diplomatic overtures had been successful and the danger was past; our defences were lowered and the portal that the Wood Nymphs guarded was unprotected. And that is where they broke in. There was a battle.'

Sarah wanted to avert her eyes, but could not. The crystal showed her the carnage of the battleground: terrible beasts and beings that she could put no name to and the desperate Goblins who fought bravely but with little apparent hope of success.

'All that was left to us was magic. The sort of magic that we have always tried to avoid in the Underground. It was a terrible spell and my father-' He broke off. Ambrosius raised his head and whined softly. Jareth continued, his voice controlled and weary, 'My father was drained by it. The battlefield was submerged...' The crystal stopped spinning and faded from sight. 'Do you know what the eternal stench in the Bog is, Sarah? It's the dead and the undead trapped beneath the surface.'

She felt her heart hammering against her ribs; her eyes were fixed on the carpet, unable or unwilling to meet his. 'Ho-Hoggle did that? But... but he's still here. He's not in prison, or-or exiled...'

Jareth sighed, ashamed of himself for his anger and his loss of control. 'It was a long time ago. What does it matter now?' For a moment his face had that same grey, gaunt look that had haunted her these past weeks; a branch broke in the fire, sending up a shower of sparks and the moment passed. 'What do you want to know, Sarah?'

She looked away from him and then something else that Toby had told her came into her mind. Something that she had all but dismissed at the time, but had been nagging at the back of her mind. 'Toby said that... He said that you had given me some sort of power.' She looked at him questioningly.

'Yes, I did.'

'What sort of power?' She felt proud of herself for managing to keep any trace of accusation out of her tone.

'The Labyrinth is not just stone and brick. The magic that binds it is a living thing - it needs to be fed and nurtured and in return it gives great power. That power can be manifested as magic,' he conjured a crystal and then vanquished it again, as though to demonstrate. 'Or it can simply reside within a person, sustaining their dreams and being, in turn, sustained by them.'

'But why me?' She shook her head. 'I'm just an ordinary person, why... Why would you do that to me?'

Jareth hesitated, looking past her. 'It was Ambrosius' idea.'

'Ambrosius?' Sarah laughed in spite of herself and, following Jareth's gaze, looked over to where the dog was sleeping. She froze. Where Ambrosius had been, a man was sitting, the firelight playing over his face. The face itself was lined and partially obscured by a heavy, grizzled moustache and beard, but the eyes that observed her were keen and black.

'It's not quite so ridiculous as it may sound,' he observed mildly. 'Leave us, Jareth. Sarah and I will have a little chat.'

Hearing someone give Jareth an order was only fractionally less surprising than seeing him obey it without a murmur.

'Sit down, my dear,' Ambrosius said kindly, gesturing to the armchair opposite his. Sarah needed no further encouragement, but sank down, her eyes fixed on his.

To be continued...