Chapter Twelve: He Was a Fortune-teller He Said

'The boy looks well, don't you think?'

'The b- Who?'

'Jareth.'

'Yes, he looks very g- He Looks fine.' Sarah's mind was reeling. Jareth was immortal; she wondered how old this man was if he considered the King a boy. 'Who are you?'

He twinkled at her. 'I am Ambrosius.'

Sarah moistened her lips. 'Ambrosius is the dog. Sir Didymus uses him as a horse.'

'Yes, that was taking something of an advantage.' Somewhere beneath the beard and moustache she felt that he was smiling at her. 'As you were kind enough to name your pet after me, I thought it only fair that I should take on his form for the duration of your visit.'

'My dog was called Mer-' She stopped, her eyes huge. 'No.'

'I'm afraid so.'

Sarah gripped the arms of her chair tightly and then the tension drained out of her body. Surrendering to the sublime surrealism of the situation was the only way she could cope with this latest revelation.

'It's very nice to be able to speak with you at last, my dear,' the wizard continued.

Sarah managed a faint smile. 'Thanks.'

'You still have many questions.'

She nodded, her eyes never leaving his face. Another glass appeared at her side and she took hold of it. Ambrosius settled back against the cushions, watching her for some moments. 'Sarah, did you never think it strange that what happened to you the last time you were here should follow exactly something you had read in a book?'

'Well, I...' Sarah frowned. 'I suppose I thought that it had been written by someone who had been in Labyrinth before me, maybe... I-I don't know.' In truth, Sarah had never really thought about that too much before: despite the fear and the danger she had experienced, being in the land that was so like the book she had loved as a girl had felt surprisingly natural.

'The book was written for you, Sarah.'

'Why would Jareth-' His last words to her sprang into her mind. 'No... You. You wrote it.'

Ambrosius smiled, evidently pleased by her deduction. 'Indeed. I wrote it and made sure that it was delivered into your hands. I knew that, sooner or later, you would call upon the Goblins, and then...'

'And then the whole thing would play out,' Sarah finished. 'You wanted me to defeat Jareth?'

'Oh, my dear girl, you still don't see, do you? Jareth can't be defeated by a few words out of a book, certainly not by those that have very little meaning.'

Sarah felt her face flushing: she had always considered her triumph over Jareth and his Labyrinth to be a great achievement; to hear it now dismissed so lightly was an affront. 'But I won. I beat him, I said the words and he vanished!'

'Yes. Because he was as bound to that book as you were. Poor Jareth,' he chuckled slightly. 'He so desperately hoped that you would see through all of that, but you really were determined to keep him as the villain of the piece, weren't you?'

'I can't live within you...'

Sarah caught her breath; his cryptic phrases suddenly made a little more sense.

ooOoo

If Jareth had appeared in the throne room in the hope of a little peace and quiet, he was doomed to disappointment. The chess game was in its final stages and the room was on the brink of a riot. He looked around in disgust.

'Where is Sarah?' Delaine inquired, catching sight of him.

'Talking with Ambrosius.'

'Ah. That's probably a wise idea.'

Jareth sighed. 'It wasn't mine.'

'Well, that much is obvious - I did say that it was a wise idea.'

Toby sniggered. 'I don't think Sarah likes you very much,' he piped up and then added thoughtfully, 'That's probably your own fault for scaring her so much in the first place.'

'I wish you'd make up your mind whose side you're on,' Jareth growled, throwing himself onto his throne.

'Well, Sarah is my sister,' Toby stated reasonably.

'Exactly. So he will support her.' Delaine smiled sweetly at her brother. 'The way I do you.'

'Hah!'

Jareth glowered for a few moments but then found his attention attracted to the game. Toby's queen repeatedly coshed a bishop over the head before frog-marching it to the sidelines.

'Oh dear,' Jareth said mockingly. 'It looks like he's got you in checkmate.' He sat back, smirking and ignoring his sister's narrowed, lethal eyes.

ooOoo

'There was no possibility that you would not solve the Labyrinth, Sarah,' Ambrosius' voice broke gently into her reverie. 'That was the point. Or do you really think that we have endless wearisome teenagers struggling through the Labyrinth in order to retrieve some unwanted relative or other?'

'Wearisome?'

Ambrosius' black eyes twinkled and despite the perceived insults his voice was warmed by affection. 'You did have many sterling qualities, my dear, but you were only ... um ... only...'

'Sixteen,' she said quietly. Little more than a child.

'Mmm, sixteen, yes. That is young, I suppose,' he said, with the air of one who has no concept of what age means. 'And you had all of the failings natural to youth. However, due to the circumstances of your life and your temperament at that time, I was rather concerned that those failings may become too ingrained.'

'So, it was what? Just some sort of test?'

'No, my dear. Think of it more as a, er, what's the expression... Ah yes!' He brightened. 'A learning curve.'

Sarah repeated the words silently and felt more of her certainties slipping away. 'You said that Jareth was bound by the book.' Ambrosius inclined his head. 'So, he was never going to turn Toby into a Goblin?'

Ambrosius laughed: a warm, golden sound. 'He isn't a monster, my dear. It was necessary for you to view him as an opponent and to believe that you may lose something precious to you.' This time it was Sarah's eyes that betrayed a flash of wry amusement. 'Yes, I know that you didn't think of Toby as very precious at the time.'

Images of the arrogant Goblin King flitted through Sarah's mind. 'And Jareth really isn't evil?'

'Evil?' Ambrosius shook his head. 'No, my dear, not evil. When I created the character of the Goblin King for you I merely exaggerated a few of his personality traits a little.' The corners of his mouth twitched. 'A very little.'

Sarah finished her drink, the glass promptly vanishing. She stared at her empty hand for a moment. 'Okay, I can accept all of that, I guess. But that still doesn't explain why you went to so much trouble over me.'

'No, well, that is where it becomes complicated.'

'Becomes? It hasn't exactly been simplicity itself up until this point.'

Ambrosius remained silent for a moment, taking stock of the dark haired young woman before him. He could still see in her traces of the girl he had known and he had enjoyed watching her mature over the years. It had been a while since he had seen her last; and as this was the first occasion he had ever been able to hold a conversation with her, he fully appreciated the woman she had become all the more. 'You are a mortal, Sarah; but you are not an ordinary one. You're smiling.'

Her grey eyes softened in the dancing firelight. 'Jareth said something similar to me once.'

Ambrosius tutted. 'That boy would keep going off the script... Now, where was I?'

'I'm not an ordinary mortal,' Sarah offered.

'Indeed. There was a time, many ages past, when our worlds and the world of men were more closely intertwined. The souls of your kind do afford you a sort of immortality; and for those mortals who were touched by our magic, well, a residue of that magic remained with them, even after death. Yours is an old soul, Sarah. Even though in and of itself it has no magic power, it still bears the traces of magic. I recognised it from the moment of your birth.'

'Wait, wait. Do you mean I'm a reincarnation of someone you used to know?'

He tilted his head, pondering this. 'Not exactly. Although I suppose that it is as good a way of explaining it as any - if it helps make sense of it to you.'

'Okay.' Sarah attempted a positive smile. 'Let's just stick with the reincarnation theory, then. And my old soul. That you recognised.'

'I recognised you as the person whose destiny was bound to the Labyrinth, because of the power you possess.'

Sarah closed her eyes and felt like weeping. 'I don't understand - how could you recognise my destiny when it's something that hasn't happened yet?'

Ambrosius conjured himself a drink and took a delicate sip, careful to keep his moustache from dipping into the cup. 'I did say that it was complicated.'

'You weren't kidding.'

'I knew that in the future you would be linked to the Underground.'

'Which is why you had Jareth give me some of the Labyrinth's power.'

'Yes!' He exclaimed in delight.

'But giving me the power is what linked me to the Underground.'

'My dear, you understand it perfectly! Oh I am pleased!'

Sarah was shaking her head. 'But... But...'

'Jareth wasn't certain, but I told him that you would understand. Although you have grasped it far more quickly than I had expected.' He raised his glass to her in salute.

Sarah felt as though her mind were trapped in Mobius strip: Ambrosius' logic seemed unendingly circular and yet she couldn't locate the flaw big enough to dismantle the edifice. She felt as though she would go mad and shook herself; she found Ambrosius' black eyes still on her. 'So this...' Her voice failed her momentarily. 'This power is what Khazad wanted from me?'

The lines in the old man's face deepened and the sparkle in his eyes hardened. 'Yes. By gaining control over you, he no doubt hoped to trick you into giving the power to him - or even take it by force, if necessary. And that would make it very easy for him to penetrate the Labyrinth.'

Sarah shuddered, remembering what she had seen in Khazad's eyes. Ambrosius sat forward suddenly.

'You saw it, didn't you? What he planned to do?'

She nodded. With more speed and agility than Sarah would have credited him, Ambrosius rose from his chair; she noted, vaguely, that he was far taller than she had realised, before he placed his hands on her temples. The images flooded across her vision: the terrible machines, the ruined castle and, this time, an owl - its wings broken, its white feathers stained with blood.

Ambrosius released her and returned to his seat, his head sinking down onto his chest. 'I see his imagination has not progressed much.'

'But now that I'm here,' Sarah whispered, her mouth suddenly parched, 'that can't happen, can it? The danger has passed, surely?'

He met her wide, appealing gaze. 'For now, perhaps. But having come so close to his goal I fear that he will not give up so quickly. You have nothing to worry about, my dear,' he hastened to reassure her. 'You and Toby are perfectly safe while you are in Underground and you will remain so when you return Aboveground - Jareth has put very strong safeguards in place.'

'Return... Yes...' What she would have termed her real life seemed very distant at present.

Silence fell; between the warmth from the fire and the low, melodic humming of the crystals, Sarah felt her eyes growing heavy.

'I think that is enough for one night,' Ambrosius said, rousing himself. 'You should rest, my dear. You need to get your strength back. There will be someone to show you the way to your chambers, don't worry.'

Sarah eased herself up, her limbs feeling leaden and stiff. 'Goodnight, Ambrosius.' She hovered for a moment by his chair; he took one of her hands and squeezed it gently.

'Dream well, my dear.'

Sarah glanced over her shoulder as she left and saw him throw a handful of something into the fire: the flames turned blue and in the weird light his strong profile seemed to radiate power. She crept through the door and closed it softly behind her, leaned against it and hoped that her head would stop reeling.

'My father used to say that Ambrosius lives backwards.' His voice came out of the darkness. Sarah let out a long breath as he approached her. 'That's how he is able to prophesy the future - he remembers it.'

'Is that possible?'

A faint smile played around Jareth's mouth. 'When you have seen as much as I have you realise that there is very little that is not possible.'

An answering smile found its way to Sarah's lips. 'I should have known I wouldn't get a straight answer.'

'That entirely depends upon your definition of a straight answer.'

Sarah groaned. 'Please, no more. I'm too tired for verbal fencing.'

One elegant eyebrow arched. 'Truce?'

'Truce. For now.'

Jareth laughed. 'Come. I'll show you back to your room.'

He was wearing what Sarah surmised was casual wear by Labyrinth standards - silk shirt, breeches, boots and the ever-present gloves. They walked in a silence that felt almost companionable and she could almost forget that he was an immortal being already hundreds of years old.

'Now what's on your mind?'

She started guiltily. 'I was just thinking that you don't look that much older than me; that's pretty incredible.'

'Mmm. One of the upsides of immortality.'

'And what are the downsides?'

'Well, the never-ending life insurance premiums are murder.'

Her eyes widened. 'You pay life insurance?'

He looked at her scathingly.

'Oh.'

There would come a time, Sarah thought mutinously, when she would wipe that smirk off his face for good.

'Well, here we are,' Jareth said, coming to a halt outside of a heavy oak door. He opened it ceremoniously and then stood aside to let her pass. 'Good night, Sarah.'

'Jareth.'

He looked at her expectantly, a flicker of surprise crossing his face at her use of his name.

'The other night, when Khazad came - you knew that I was ... thinking about you, right?'

'Yes.'

'But he came instead.'

'He was, no doubt, as aware of where your thoughts were turning as I. He appeared before you could call to me.'

'I see.' She bit her lip and then looked up at him again. 'Would you have come, if I had called?'

Whatever his answer was never passed his lips: instead he smiled, inclined his head to her, and vanished.

To be continued...