Thanks for info, Chapter 8 has been fully edited. Updates are probably spaced out about a week. Now that I'm getting into the meat of the story I'm finding I'm having to plan carefully or risk tripping up the whole story. The good news is that since I'm spending more time the chapters will be longer. I'm sorry guys I know you are used to seeing a more romanticized version of the goblin kingdom but I have watched the movie more times then I would care to confess to. Nothing in the movie so much as suggests that there were luxuries in the castle. All I saw was filth, chickens, and a dwarf peeing in a poorly kept pond so I have decided to stick with how the movie portrayed things to a certain degree.
Chapter 9 – Settling in and Lunch with the goblin king
Jareth took them out of the throne room and started leading them down a hallway that appeared to be never ending.
"How did we get here?" Toby asked.
"We walked here." Jareth replied
"No, I mean, how did we get to this fortress... castle whatever it is."
"It is called the Castle Beyond the Goblin City and I brought you here."
"By what means did you bring us here?" Toby asked in exasperation
"Magic"
"There is no such thing."
"How disappointing, all those hours in the Underground and nothing what so ever stuck with you."
Toby looked at Sarah "What is with your friends? And why won't they ever answer a question normally?"
"So many questions, so little thought behind them, what a pity." The Goblin King's mocking tones echoed down the hallway.
"First off Toby, that was quite rude." Sarah snapped. "Secondly you have to phrase your questions carefully. Think before you ask and most importantly think before you wish." She paused, "Better yet don't make any wishes, and then you will have no regrets. Goblin King when exactly does this hallway end?"
"When we get to the right door." He replied.
"Where is the right door?"
"Where ever I want it to be." He said grinning at her. Sarah had the distinct impression that Jareth was toying with them and felt like saying a few rude things herself. Toby walked beside her as he started muttering under his breath. After hearing the words 'transvestite tight wearing nut job' she gave him a warning elbow in the ribs. He just rubbed his side and glared back at her.
"Ahhh here it is." Jareth said, finally coming to a stop after what seemed to Sarah a half mile jaunt down the hallway. The door looked identical to every door they passed.
Toby apparently thinking the same thing said, "It looks like every other door in this hallway."
"So it does." Jareth replied. Toby rolled his eyes. Sarah started to giggle. In response to her laughter, Jareth gave her a genuine smile. Lacking the cynical attitude for once, totally transformed Jareth's looks, his eyes sparkled with merriment and the cutest little dimple appeared on his right check. Dear lord, he is utterly breath taking, she thought, feeling warmth flow from her belly to her nether regions as she gazed upon his striking figure.
Jareth held his hand in the air and a key just appeared out of no where. He then proceeded to unlock the door and ushered them into what looked like a very long narrow sitting room with three doors on the left wall, an old fashion settee on the right wall and a wooden box with what looked like toys in it.
"These doors lead to bedrooms. Not very luxurious but you should find them quite comfortable." He then preceded opening the rooms, all of them were identical. Each room had a hope chest, a wardrobe, a small window that let in a little of the outside light, a twin size bed with unremarkable linen on them, and a wash stand with a pitcher of water and a basin on it.
"Where is the bathroom?" Toby inquired.
"There isn't one. The wash stand is in the corner, a washcloth, a bar of soap, toothpaste and toothbrush has been provided so you may refresh yourselves."
"But what if I need to …. you know." Toby blushed.
"Indeed I do." The King grinned, sweeping his booted foot under the bed, out tumbled a porcelain chamber pot.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Toby gapped. Sarah had to admit she wasn't feeling too hot about the idea herself.
Jareth continued as if Toby hadn't spoken, "Once a week we go down to the bathing room off the kitchen and take a full bath. Now if you will follow me to my study we will continue our discussion." Toby and Sarah exchanged looks and followed Jareth out of the room.
Jareth tuned to face them. "Leave the dog."
"But he'll be scared in a strange place all by himself." Sarah protested.
"Sarah" he said in warning.
"Oh all right" She laid the dog on a bed and closed the bedroom door.
They walked back out in the hall and Toby closed the door behind them. Just as it closed Jareth reopened the same door and instead of seeing their sitting room, inside the doorway was an office filled with dusty bookcases, a large wooden desk sat in the center of the room with chairs set around it.
"But that is impossible; we should be in the sitting room again." Sarah protested.
"Have a seat. I will attempt to answer questions after I have laid out a few ground rules for your stay." Jareth said, motioning to some chairs.
They took their seats but Tessa had other ideas. She pushed out of Sarah's lap, held on to the desk and with an unsteady gait and large limp she cruised the desk hanging onto the edge all the way over to Jareth's chair. He promptly scooped her up on his lap and let her play with his amulet as he began to address the Williams siblings.
"First off there is not a large staff. As a matter of fact, the only residents in the castle, other then ourselves is Ida, Braxton and now Jordon. Everyone here does their part to keep the castle running smoothly. You will be responsible for keeping your quarters clean and washing your cloths. Sarah, Ida could use some help in the kitchen, in return Ida will baby sit, Tessa while you and I work on that problem of yours. Toby your job will be to do miscellaneous errands and help out in the stables. Your chores will start tomorrow. I'm giving you three the rest of the day to settle in. Are there any needs here that I haven't addressed?"
"Actually" Sarah spoke up. "Tessa needs a crib. She is not ready for a big girl bed." She chewed her lip. "Would it be possible to bring her crib from home to make the transition easier?"
"Done. Anything else?" Sarah shook her head.
"I know both of you were wondering about the demonstration in the hallway." The brother and sister exchanged looks. "Well, I wanted to make it abundantly clear that not everything is what it seems and that one must watch what they say. Fae as a rule can't lie. We don't always want to be forthcoming with information and due to this have become masters of wording and subtlety. Consider the hallway incident a lesson in being Fae. Secondly do not trust anyone besides Braxton, Ida or me. Any other fae you address, assume they have an agenda that is different from yours and therefore at cross purposes. This especially goes for Jordon. Until I can figure out the exact reason he is here it would be best if you three avoid him and keep contact to a minimum. The hallway is enchanted with a transportation spell. You simply think of where you want to go, open the door and you will be there. It should make the chance of getting lost nonexistent." He held his hand in the air and two necklaces with keys attached appeared. "Here are your room keys." He handed them to the respective recipients. "Any questions?"
Toby spoke up, "What is there to do around here for fun?"
"There is the library, the labyrinth and the village to avail yourselves of. The keys around your neck, in addition to opening your suite, mark you as guests and under my protection. None will harm you while in my kingdom. The midday meal will be ready in an hour, that should give you time to unpack before meeting the rest of the residents."
Sarah closed the door and looked around. They were once again in the seemingly never ending hallway. Toby took his key off and tried it in door only to find it wouldn't open.
"Come on you stupid door," he said jiggling the doorknob.
"Toby you're not doing it right. Remember you have to think of where you want to be then try the key in the door."
"This is stupid, Sarah. It isn't going to work."
"Humor me kiddo."
Toby closed his eyes tightly. Upon opening them he tried the key once more. The door opened and swung in effortlessly. "but…I…. how did that?"
Sarah grinned, "magic" she replied walking through the door.
They stepped into the sitting room to find their luggage had been neatly arranged on the settee. Sarah peeked into the bedrooms to find that indeed Tessa's crib had been transported down and placed where the bed once was; the Goblin King had even had the foresight to bring the changing table from the nursery. Excellent! She thought.
"How long are we staying?" Toby asked as he picked up his things and preceded to carry them into the room closest to the never ending hallway.
"I don't rightly know."
"Mom and Dad are going to flip their wig when they call and we don't answer. You know for sure, at the very least, they will call in two days to wish you a happy birthday."
Sarah chewed her lip. "I hadn't thought about it. I'll talk to Jareth and we'll figure something out. Toby, please don't be too mad at me for bringing you here. I'll make it up to you some how."
"Forget it sis, its pretty cool living in a castle, attending horses and all that jazz." Toby said falsely cheerful.
"I know you miss your friends and your Xbox, not to mention indoor plumbing," she added the last item somewhat wistfully. "but I'm sure we will have lots of fun and adventure here."
"Sarah" Toby called softly.
"Yes"
"Perhaps it is time you told me that story after all."
Sarah smiled, the Williams siblings curled up on one of the beds and she began to recant her journey through the labyrinth.
Sarah, Toby and Tessa arrived in a large kitchen. Off to the left through an open doorway was a large rough hewed wooden table. Bustling busily around the kitchen was a tall thin, strawberry blonde female who had to be Ida. A tall muscular male with dark sandy blonde hair who she remembered to be Braxton was strapping a dark haired infant into a wooden high chair. Another dark haired girl sat at the table playing with her utensils.
Smiling Ida turned around and extended her hand in greeting to Sarah "Oh hello Sarah, I've heard so much about you." They shook hands with each other and then Ida and Toby shook hands and Braxton joined in all murmuring politely about how nice it was to meet one another.
Feeling a tug on her shirt Sarah turned around to see the dark haired little girl, who announced proudly, "I'm Leslie and I'm six years old. That's my baby sister Riley." She gestured to the infant,
Sarah smiled at her and said "It is quite lovely to meet you Leslie. I'm Sarah this is my brother Toby and that is my sister Tessa." She gestured to each sibling in turn.
"Please have a seat everyone. The fairy salad will be on the table shortly." Ida made shooing motions towards the table.
Braxton grinned at the Williams, "My wife can be pretty possessive and domineering when it comes to her kitchen. Not even the King dares to interrupt when she is busily brewing up a meal. It's worth it though, she is quite a cook," he winked at them.
They all had a seat. Jordon strolled into the kitchen with a jaunty grin on his face, "I hope I haven't missed any of Ida's famous cooking."
Braxton shot Jordon a disapproving glower as he seated himself. Sarah wondered what was going on with all the tension between Jareth, Jordon and Braxton. She didn't have long to think about it since Ida with Braxton's help started bringing in a lovely display of flowers cutting and some other type of greenery. Oh dear Sarah thought as she realized that the display was really some sort of dish that was being laid before each person.
Toby looked at Sarah and mouthed the word 'flowers' with wide eyes as the two siblings looked down at the bouquet of flowers and greens laid out before them.
"Go on; best not wait for his majesty no telling how long he will be." Ida urged. Sarah stared in amazement as the three fae in the room began to dig in quite eagerly into the delicate flower buds; none of the humans moved a muscle towards the food.
"Sarah, it is quite rude to stare." Jareth spoke from the doorway. "These Heyana flowers are considered quite a delicacy among Fae. Ida went through a lot of trouble for our guests, the least you can do is try it." Sarah blushed as much she hated to admit it he was right. She was being quite rude.
"No worries," Ida reassured with sincerity, "I guess I got so carried away in the kitchen, it didn't occur to me, the dish might not appeal to Abovegrounders"
Sarah felt like an ungracious cow and quickly tried to soothe things over. "No, no, it was just so lovely I didn't stop to think it was edible." She quickly stuck a flower in her mouth and began to chew. The petals had a tartly bitter taste to it and a texture that was papery with a powder like coat on it.
Jordon grinned at her. "Dear, I believe you have a petal stuck right here," he said pointing at the outer edge of her mouth. She ungraciously flipped the petal with her finger into her mouth and quickly swallowed almost choking as it got stuck in the back of her throat. She snuck at peak at Jareth, who was busily looking at his on plate. Judging by the upturned corners of his mouth, he was having quite a good laugh at her. The Rat!
She immediately went on the offensive to take some of the heat of the embarrassing spectacle off herself. Smiling brightly at Toby, she coaxed while crossing her fingers under the table, "Go on Toby, the Heyana is quite good." She almost felt guilty for sacrificing her brother to the fae scrutiny, but not quite.
Toby shot her a look that quite clearly said she would pay for this later and reluctantly took a bite himself. He shrugged and just merely said "It's alright" and proceeded to pick through the flowers eating the greens in slow steady bites. Sarah looked jealously over at the younger children who had been given mashed potatoes, mushy beans and finely cut up fruit. She turned back to her plate and alternated between choking down her fairy salad and trying to coax Tessa into eating some mashed potatoes.
Ida laid out desert with Braxton's help; three layered chocolate cake for the adults and chocolate pudding for the younger children.
"This is the best cake I have ever eaten. What did you put in it?" Sarah asked.
"Fairy dust" Ida smiled.
"Come again?"
"Fairy dust" She said more loudly. "It is a natural byproduct of magic. We draw on dreams to perform certain feats and there is always a little waste. Mainly the outer edges of the dream. They congeal into a glittery substance called fairy dust, quite harmless really but rather delightfully brings out the taste in food when used right."
"Oh" Sarah said not being able to think of another thing to say to the odd explanation.
"Do you three have any plans for the afternoon?" Jareth asked.
"I sure don't" Toby answered glumly. Sarah just shook her head no in answer.
"Then perhaps I can show you around the town and Labyrinth this afternoon before I have to leave."
"Excellent!" Toby said for once excited. Sarah supposed she probably shouldn't have made the labyrinth sound so appealing in her story.
Ida smiled, "I would be honored to watch Tessa, if you would like. I have lots of experience babysitting humans. Usually I watch all the Labyrinth's foundlings. Plus I bet Leslie and Riley would love to have a playmate for the afternoon."
Just then Leslie started bawling "I want to go home! I want my Mommy!" Riley seeing her sister cry started bawling too. Ida picked up the baby and soothed her.
Braxton brought himself level to Leslies face. "I thought you wanted to see the horsies. Don't you still want to see the horsies?" Leslie rubbed the tears out of her eyes with her fists and nodded. "Well then you can't go home yet if you want to see the horses can you?"
"I want to see the horsies" She said poutingly.
"Well then let's go!" Braxton picked Leslie up in a swoop and spun around with her making her giggle. Ida carried the baby out holding onto Leslie's hand, Braxton followed carrying Tessa.
Jareth looked at Jordon and said pointedly, "I assume Braxton has detailed all your duties for the day."
"Yes, your majesty." Jordon replied throwing Jareth an unreadable look. "My Lady," He bowed and disappeared, leaving behind fairy dust.