Chapter 11
Sarah woke up the next morning and yawned. Sitting herself up, she looked around. She felt quite disorientated until she remembered where she was. Also she was surprised to find that she was alone in the room and that all the furniture that Jareth had moved last night was back in their places.
"What time is it?" she muttered rubbing her head. She felt quite groggy, probably due to being up most of the night.
She noticed the big clock in the corner of the room; it looked strangely like the one Jareth had shown her when she started her Labyrinth challenge.
She frowned. "Eleven o'clock, no wonder he's gone." She noticed something else on her bed next to her crystal - a tiny envelope with a note inside. She took it out and read it:
Dear Sarah,
I didn't want to wake you so I started my paperwork early. Call me when you wake up so we can have breakfast.
Jareth
She smiled and replaced the note inside the envelope. She stretched her arms and tidied her hair with her hands before sitting up on the bed.
"Hey! I'm awake!" She called out.
She waited and a table appeared in front of her filled with different breakfast foods. Her eyes widened at the sight of all the different items. "Whoa."
Jareth appeared right behind her on the bed. She hadn't noticed, she was too busy looking at the food. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Glad you like it!"
She jumped and spun around, smacking him in the nose as she did so.
"Hey!" Jareth exclaimed putting his hands over his nose.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" trying her best not to laugh at the look Jareth was giving her.
"No matter. I'd just better remember not to scare you again," lowering his hands to reveal a slightly red nose. She couldn't hold it in any more and she burst out laughing. Jareth looked at her amusedly. "Crazy," he murmured.
He sat down at the other side of the table, and they both started helping themselves to breakfast. They sat in silence for awhile before Sarah decided to say something.
"I want to thank you for the crystal you gave me, I loved it. Thank you." she said nervously.
She felt quite uneasy sitting in her bedroom eating breakfast with the Goblin king.
"It was nothing, I'm glad you liked it," he replied. He was glad she had decided to speak because he really had not been able to find anything to say to her.
There was a knock at the door and Filly and Killy entered. They bowed first to Jareth and then to Sarah. "We were just wondering if you or the lady desired anything," they stated quickly. Not liking the look on the King's face, they suspected they were about to be kicked out.
"How many times..." He was cut off by Sarah.
"Aren't they just adorable?" she clapped her hands together. Jareth just looked at her.
"Are they twins?" she asked, turning her attention back to Jareth.
"Um, yes they are. Sarah, how can you possibly say they are adorable?" he said quietly. She scowled at him
"Would you like to join us for breakfast?" she asked them. They looked horrified at her request but it was too late. She had lifted them onto the bed and had sat one on either side of her.
Jareth's jaw dropped. What was she doing?
"Here, help yourselves," offering them items off the table.
"So, what are your names?" she asked them.
"Filly" he said.
"And Killy," said the other.
She smiled. "What perfect names for twins. I'm Sarah." she told them.
"Ah yes, we know milady and we are very glad that you are awake and well." Killy replied.
The three of them sat talking for ages; most of the food on the table had gone. She had completely forgotten that Jareth was there. She looked over at him to find him pouting, obviously not used to being ignored when with company.
He looked up at her. "Remembered I'm here than did you?" he stated coldly. He couldn't believe that she was more interested in talking to his goblins than to him.
She raised her eyebrows at him. Filly and Killy stood up and bowed again.
"We must go now miss, we have chores to attend to." And they left the room.
"How sweet are they?" She remarked after they'd gone. "Why didn't you join in with us? You didn't have to just sit there you know."
"Well, it's not normal for my servants to dine with me for breakfast; those two will have no respect for you know," he said annoyed.
"Oh, I think they will." She replied calmly. "I'm going to go in the bath now, and then will you come back so we can take that tour of the castle?" She added, changing the subject.
"Okay. I will see you in a bit, but those two are not coming with us." he said childishly.
"Fine, fine. See you later," Sarah replied, amused by his behaviour. He left and all the dishes went with him.
Sarah ran her hand through her hair and frowned when her hand met a load of knots. Her hair felt awful. She put her slippers on and walked over to the door which she presumed led to the bathroom. Opening it she went inside. There waiting for her was a steaming hot bath and along the side were various soaps, shampoos, and a hairbrush.
"Wow!" It looked wonderful. She got ready to jump in when there was a knock on the door. She sighed and out her robe back on. She went over to her bedroom door and answered it.
There stood Killy. She bowed.
"Lady Sarah, his majesty, King Jareth, sent me." she said excitedly.
"Really why?" she asked
"I am to be your maid, milady, isn't that wonderful?
"My maid? That's very nice but I really don't need one." She didn't like the idea of being waited upon.
Killy frowned. "Please miss, I would love to, and besides I would go back to being an ordinary servant otherwise." She looked up at Sarah begging her silently.
"Okay then, I would love for you to be my maid, but on one condition."
"What's that miss?" she enquired.
"You are not to bow and you are only to address me as Sarah, nothing more."
"Oh, but miss, his majesty would not like that." She looked worried and started fidgeting with her hands.
"Leave Jareth to me." Killy looked at Sarah with amazement at her using the king's name so freely. She was not like anyone else she'd ever met. She treated them like equals and did not want any airs or graces. She would make the most wonderful queen. The Labyrinth spirits were right; she had to help them get together.
"Killy are you alright? You looked a million miles away."
"I'm fine, miss."
"Sarah." she corrected her.
"Yes, I'm fine Sarah." She smiled. "Now you go off to your bath and when you come out I will help you pick the most perfect outfit." She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it.
Sarah had not even thought to look in there but what she saw amazed her. It was stuffed fit to burst with clothes, gowns, and accessories. She was speechless.
Killy ushered her towards the bathroom. "Go on."
Sarah finally got into the bath and sank under the water, coming back up covered with bubbles. She wiped her face, the bath was lovely - just the right temperature.
She examined the shampoos. She did not recognize any of them, which didn't surprise her. She was in another world after all. But that made no difference, for they smelled so nice, she would rather eat them than wash her hair with them.
She picked a fragrance that she particularly liked and massaged it in to her scalp. It felt amazing to get all the dirt off her, for she had not washed in over a week.
An hour later, the water started to get a bit cold and she decided to come out. She wrapped herself in a large fluffy towel and dried herself off.
She came out to see Killy sitting cross legged on the floor examining the crystal that Jareth had given her last night.
She saw Sarah looking at her and dropped it.
"I'm so sorry Sarah, I found it on the floor, I was just looking at it, please don't punish me" she begged her.
"Punish you? Why would I do that? I don't mind you looking at it; here I'll show you what it does." She picked up the crystal and squeezed it gently. When it started playing its song she handed it back to Killy. "Listen" she whispered to her.
Killy gasped. "The song from the masquerade ball! I haven't heard it once since then."
"Were you there?" Sarah asked shocked.
"Oh yes, I was just serving though obviously."
"So, it was real then. All those people, they were all real." She'd always wanted to know if it had all been a dream or if she had really danced with the Goblin King.
"Yes, quite real, why wouldn't it be? But I must say it was one of the nicest balls I'd ever been to. The King looked so happy, happier than I'd ever seen him in all the years he's ruled us and then you left."
She sighed. "He looked so broken hearted and you did ruin the ball for the rest of us too, might I add - not that I'm blaming you or anything, you had to get your brother."
"Yeah, sorry about that," remembering the way in which she had exited the ball.
"It does not matter Sarah, it was years ago. Now let's get you dressed. I've laid out the items which I think will suit you best, you pick which one you like. Oh and here's your crystal." She handed it back to Sarah carefully.
Sarah placed it in her drawer and walked over to the bed. She spent ages picking what she wanted to wear but finally settling on a short sleeved plain lilac dress with a pink sash. It was made of a lovely soft material, she felt so good in it.
"Now for some jewellery," said Killy, shuffling over struggling to carry the little box. Sarah lifted it out of her hands and her eyes widened at all the jewellery contained inside. All the bracelets, necklaces, and earrings she could ever want. She was tempted to put the lot on.
She picked out each piece and examined it before settling on a plain silver locket with tiny lilac stones on the front. It complemented her outfit perfectly. She also picked out a pair of small diamond earrings.
Killy picked up a brush and withdrew a small pot from a pocket in her robe. She started to brush Sarah's hair.
"What's that you've got Killy?" Sarah asked, meaning the pot in the goblin's hand.
"Oh, this? It's a recipe my mum gave me years ago. It makes hair shine like the sun; it's no use to me now. My hair's so dry and horrible, but it will make yours look wonderful. She sighed and gazed at the long sheet of brown hair in front of her. It seemed a lifetime since she'd had lovely long hair like that.
"Killy, did you and your brother get wished away?" Sarah had to ask but she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer.
"Yes," Killy replied. "Many years ago by our mother. You see our father was a bad man; he used to hit us when he would return home drunk, which was nearly every night.
Our mother couldn't leave him, she had nowhere for us to go. But, one night, she couldn't take it any longer and asked King Jareth to take us away and he agreed." Killy's eyes were sparkling with tears. "We heard that she died mere days after we had gone, I guess she only lived to make sure we were safe."
Sarah was shocked; this was not what she had expected to hear. She stood up and bent down in front of the crying goblin and hugged her.
"I'm sorry," She told her.
"No matter Sarah, it is in the past. We love it here serving King Jareth. He has given us a much better life than we ever had at home."
"Do all of the children that get wished away get turned into goblins?" Sarah asked.
"No. If there is a slight chance that the child wished away could be wanted again by someone who cared about them, then they would be given to a Fae family to be looked after."
"And if they never will be wanted?"
"Then they get turned into goblins, unless a Fae family wants them especially, but we were happy to stay in the castle."
Sarah thought for a moment. "So Toby would never have been turned into a goblin."
"Good heavens no, that child is loved by so many people. Do you believe him to be still alive Sarah?"
"Yes, I'm sure he is. That man has got him and I don't know why, but as soon as I'm better I'm going to start my own quest to find him. Hopefully, with Jareth's help, we will find him." she replied, a determined look on her face.
"And you have told the King this?" asked Killy.
"Well, no, not yet. I hope to bring it up later today at some point."
"Good. Now come on, let's get you finished, the King will be waiting for you." She started fussing over her.
"Wow!" Sarah exclaimed stroking her hair, "You've done it really nice. It's lovely, thank you."
"Yes, you look lovely to go spend the day with the King."
"Why would I need it look lovely to do that?" she asked suspiciously.
Killy shifted her weight onto her other leg. "Well, he is royalty you know, you wouldn't show up in front of your King or Queen without looking nice, now would you?"
"No, I guess not," she laughed. Not wanting to go in to details about how they have Presidents where she came from, not kings.
"Then go on, go have fun." And she left. Sarah frowned. How could she be so cheerful and happy after everything she'd been through?
Jareth was sitting in his study, his feet up on a chair. He'd finished his paperwork ages ago and now was eagerly waiting for Sarah to appear. An hour later and still no sign. "What's taking her so long?" he muttered. Someone knocked on the door.
"Enter." he called out and Killy shuffled in.
"Sarah is ready, your Majesty."
"About time. What took so long? And it's Lady Sarah. I'm surprised at you Killy."
"She does not wish for me to call her Lady Sarah. She ordered me to call her Sarah and we got talking, that's what took so long."
"Indeed. What of?" he enquired.
"I told her of myself and my brothers past." Jareth was amazed, she must really like Sarah.
"How did that come into the conversation?" he asked curiously.
"She asked if we had been wished away and she also asked if you would have turned Toby in to a goblin."
"I see."
"I must go now your Majesty and thank you for letting me be Sarah's lady in waiting, I really appreciate it."
Jareth smiled. "Your welcome Killy, I thought you would like it."
She beamed back at him, bowed, and left the room.
Jareth tidied himself a bit and changed his clothes. He then appeared outside Sarah's room and waited for her to come out.
Sarah stood up. "Well, I can't stay in here forever. Come on feet." She put on some pink shoes with feathers on the end and left her room.
Opening the door she stepped outside and looked around. She was so glad to get away from those four walls she couldn't wait to look around.
Jareth stared at her. She had not seen him, but he was too busy watching her to let her know just yet. She looked lovely. The dress she had picked complimented her figure perfectly and she had her hair in a new style which suited her a lot. She turned around and her eyes met his.
"Jareth, what are you doing lurking around over there?"
"Nothing," he replied, not being able to think of anything else to say.
"You were going to scare me, weren't you? Jump up behind me or something? You know what happened last time you did that."
He laughed. "Yeah, I sure do." He was glad that's what she thought, it saved him from explaining to her why he'd been staring at her for the last five minutes.
He offered her his arm. "Shall we?"
She took it and he transported them to the garden in the Labyrinth.
"I thought you'd rather have some fresh air first."
She nodded.
He knew that she'd been stuck inside for a while now. He found there was nothing better than this place to cure any upset in one's life, so that's why he brought her here.
She twirled around, her arms stretched out. "You thought right; it's so nice to feel the wind on my face again. Where are we exactly? It looks familiar; I don't remember seeing this place in the Labyrinth."
"You didn't. It's a garden, a secret one. It cannot be found, you can only be shown its location. Then you can come whenever you want, but only a select few are allowed to enter." He announced himself to the gate and requested that she do the same.
"What do I say?" Was he crazy? He just spoke to a gate and asked her to the same.
"Your name will suffice, though you can go into your whole life history if you wish. It will listen but it's not too good at responding." He grinned at her.
She shook her head. "Um it's Sarah, Sarah Williams."
A face appeared in the circular handle. "Ah." It shook its face. "I was wondering when I'd be seeing you again, grown quite a bit since the last time, haven't you?" His eyes looked her up and down.
"You! You're the knocker from the Labyrinth!" She knew she'd seen it before. "You had a handle in your mouth the last time didn't you?"
"Ay, that's me, glad to see you again miss. I knew you'd be the one to complete the Labyrinth and become..."
Jareth cleared his throat sharply. "The gate."
Sarah tapped his arm. "Don't be so mean. He was only saying hello."
The knocker sniffed. "No matter miss, we are quite used to it. I will see you again, I'm sure." It melted back into the gate, which had sprung open. Jareth gave the now bare gate an evil look before bending down his eyes to the level with the space the knocker had occupied.
"You'll know better than to behave like that again next time. Just because Sarah is here does not mean I cannot punish you as normal. Think before you speak." he growled to the gate as Sarah ran ahead.
The handle appeared again. "Sorry, your Majesty, forgive me."
"Come on!" Sarah called and Jareth followed her.
He caught up with her. "This is one of my favourite places."
Sarah looked around with widened eyes. "It's so beautiful." She could not think of a better word to describe it.
"It's an enchanted garden," he told her. "It represents the Labyrinth's energy. It's always alive and beautiful, but if anything happened to the Labyrinth, this garden would also be ruined." He took Sarah's hand and led her through the garden.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see." He took her to another little gate and pushed back some hanging vines.
In front of her she saw a most beautiful clearing. She gasped. There was a waterfall and a beautiful dinner laid out for them. She looked around some more and saw little birds watching them from the trees.
Something jumped by her leg. Looking down she saw two small beady eyes staring up at her. She squealed, causing Jareth to jump. "Oh my god, how cute!" and she scooped the little brown and white rabbit in to her arms.
Jareth was amazed by her reaction. "Does everything of a different species look adorable or cute to you?"
"No. There are some things I hate, spiders and rats for example; anyway it's a girl thing." She held the rabbit up to him by its middle. "Besides, how can you not think that's cute, that's what I want to know. It's like a soft toy."
"Indeed." He was seriously freaked now, but he just realised he was being pushed aside by some creature. He was not happy.
Sarah placed the rabbit in Jareth's arms. He looked at her. She laughed. The poor rabbit looked quite out of place in the arms of the Goblin King.
He then did something she didn't expect. He lifted it up in front of him and put on a mocking voice. "Oh, how sweet! I mean, Sarah, how unbelievably gorgeous is this little bunny?" He squealed, quite uncharacteristically.
Sarah stood there gob smacked before bursting into a fit of giggles, holding her sides with tears coming down her face. She took a deep breath and composed herself.
Removing the rabbit from his arms, she turned around. "Men," she tutted and let the rabbit go. It bounced off, glad to be rid of the psychos.
They sat on the grass and Jareth stretched out his legs. He loved this place; it always made him feel relaxed. He began to eat.
"You know, I'm still quite full from breakfast," Sarah told him, poking her chicken with a fork.
"That may be, but it's been hours since breakfast and you have to keep your strength up. I would hate for you to be too tired to look around the castle. You'd have to go back to bed."
"Hmmm, chicken sounds good," and she started to eat. "Jareth, can I ask you something?" She thought now was as good a time as any to ask about Toby.
He nodded, urging her to carry on.
"Jareth, this is going to sound crazy, but I need to find Toby. He's here in the Underground, I know it and I'm going to find him, but I need your help." She paused and waited anxiously for his reply. He had put his fork down and looked at her.
"Sarah, what do you mean, you know he's here?" He waved his hand. "The only one who can bring mortals to the Underground is me and that's the way it's always been."
He thought for a second. "I've heard there is one other, but that's irrelevant. He lives faraway and has never caused any bother to anyone. Anyway, it's impossible." He emphasised the word 'impossible'.
"It takes only one person to kidnap a child, who is this person?" She was excited. This had to be the man she saw. She was close to her answer she could feel it. Their meals lay forgotten.
Jareth sighed. "He is an enemy of mine; I have not seen him since school, but what would he do with Toby? He has neither heard of you, nor cares to."
"Oh, thanks." she replied.
"Sarah," he warned her. He wasn't about to get in an argument over something like this.
"Look. He's here, the guy who took him had MAGIC, therefore, he must be here and I've had this feeling ever since I arrived here. He's close, I know he is and I'm going to find him with or without your help."
Jareth smiled. There was the fiery Sarah he knew and loved, she would make a perfect Queen. Jareth, he warned himself, get those crazy ideas out of your head. It's never going to happen so just forget it.
Sarah was waving her hand in front of his face, "Helloo, anyone there?"
Jareth snapped out of his daydream and carried on as normal. "Sarah, where would we start? Even if he was here, where would he be?"
"We'll plan that later, are you going to help me or not?"
"Fine I will, but don't blame me if nothing comes of it."
Sarah jumped up and hugged him. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."
Jareth went as stiff as a board. What did she just do?
Sarah held her hand out to him. "A quest?"
He recovered and grinned at her and took her hand. "A quest," he agreed.
They stood up and left ready to explore the castle.
XXXXXXX
In a twisted castle surrounded by a moat of molten lava, a raven haired man laughed evilly, as did the black-haired temptress that had her arms draped around the mans neck. Both found the image in the ring of fire that the man controlled quite amusing.
"She's clever than she looks, my sweet."
"Yes, but he's as dull as ever," waving her hand at the image of Jareth in the ring.
"Soon our plan will be in motion and there shall be no more Goblin king, Sarah or any stupid prophecy. We have waited years for this day. All their land shall be mine."
"Ours," the woman reminded him.
"Of course," he replied sweetly. "I'll call the boy."
"TOBIAS!" the man boomed. A blonde haired boy about nine with stunning blue eyes ran in through one of the dragon guarded doors.
"Yes father?" he replied and bowed.
"Today your training intensifies; you will aid us in defeating the Goblin King and his magical girlfriend."
"Yes father." The boy walked out without question, his small boots clicking on the red tiled floor.
"What will we do with the brat when they're dead?"
"We shall see how he performs; if he does well, I will carry on raising him as my heir. If not, we'll kill him."
They laughed again, manically.
