Rites of Passage by Betty Bokor
Jareth/Sarah. When Sarah is called to save the King, her life takes a whole new course, again.
Spoilers: The movie, the book, and some of the Return series.
Disclaimer: The Labyrinth original characters belong to The Jim Henson Company and Lucasfilms Ltd. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.
A.N. Sarah is back in the Underground and she is about to see the King.
Rites of Passage
Chapter 4
Sarah was shocked. She was about to ask more questions when a handsome man with long brown hair and pointy ears appeared by Hoggle's side. An elf? She desperately tried to remember her books about the subject.
"Miss Williams, right?" he asked before she could speak.
"Yes," she answered cautiously.
"I apologize for intruding in your life like this, but this is a dire emergency, Miss Williams. Hoggle here has vouched for you and we…" he faltered, "we need your help," he finished as if it had taken him a great effort to admit such a thing.
Sarah was not certain of what to do, but, after ten years, she knew she could trust Hoggle not to put her in harm's way. "Sure. What can I do? Shouldn't we meet in a more…" she was trying to find the right words, but she kept getting distracted by the idea that the King was dying. She wanted to know why and if there was anything she could do, she wanted to start soon.
"May we come in?" he asked.
"Yes," she said with a nod.
A second later, Hoggle and the man were in her room. She guided them to her living room and she offered them a seat.
"First, let me introduce myself, Miss Williams. My name is Shawn and I work for King Jareth," he said with a little bow of his head.
"Nice to meet you, Shawn," Sarah said mechanically as she bowed back.
They sat down and Shawn began, "To make this short –I'm not sure we have much time left– let's start with the war. You probably know of the ongoing war-"
Sarah looked surprised. Shawn stopped and looked at Hoggle. "She doesn't?"
"There are things he didn't allow us to talk about," he said in a low voice. "We have a list."
"What's in that list?" Shawn wanted to know.
"You know… the wished away… the wishers… That kind of Labyrinth business."
"And?"
"And his folks, his brothers… the war," he added carefully.
Sarah interrupted their exchange. "He knew you were coming to see me and he censored you?" she asked stunned.
"Well, of course he knew," Hoggle replied defensively. "He always knows everything that happens in his kingdom. Besides, it wasn't censure. He said those things were state matters and that we could talk about anything else but that."
"His brothers are a state matter?" she said feeling even more betrayed as Hoggle defended the King.
Shawn stepped in and agreed with him. "I'm afraid, yes. Those are all state matters and I understand the ban."
"Well, I don't." Sarah emphasized.
"You'll understand soon," Shawn tried to calm her down. "The High King has extended you permission to return to the Underground and that implies you can be given any pertinent information before you get there."
"The High King?"
"Jareth's father," Shawn said with a small smile.
"The King- I mean, Jareth, he's the son of the High King?" Sarah asked. She had read enough over the years to have a pretty clear idea of what that meant.
Shawn nodded. "His Majesty has been at war with the Unseelie for years. At least eight of your years," he added. He looked at her carefully, "I understand you're somewhat knowledgeable about the fae world, right?"
"Somewhat," she said softly.
"Then, you must understand that it's very important that the Unseelie aren't allowed to take over our world. The consequences would be catastrophic and the repercussions would affect your own world, too."
Sarah nodded.
"The High King has already lost his two elder sons in this confrontation and now his youngest son is at peril."
"Lost as in dead?" Sarah had to ask.
"I'm afraid so. Prince Jareth became the Crown Prince after such tragedy and that positioned him at the top of our enemies' list of targets. That's why he's been attacked."
"What happened?"
"Yesterday, right after having lunch, the King suddenly doubled in pain and became very ill. Keene-"
Sarah's questioning look stopped him.
"Keene is in our world what you are in yours. A healer, shaman… physician?"
"Like a doctor?"
"Yes. That's correct. Well, as I was saying, Keene was immediately called and he determined that the King had been poisoned, but, in order to generate an antidote, he needs to be completely certain of what's been used to poison him."
"Do you know who did it?"
"Unfortunately, though we identified the traitor, he took his own life before we could question him."
Sarah tried to take in everything she was being told. She wanted more details, but she understood there was no time to ask right then. She could get more answers later. She needed to concentrate on what she could do.
"Has your physician already figured out what the poison is?"
"He's clearly identified one substance, but it's mixed with another that he can't recognize. He believes it to be an Aboveground substance, one we aren't acquainted with yet. That's why we're here. Hoggle and Sir Didymus have called to our attention that you work with poisons and toxins."
"Yes, I do."
"Do you think you could join forces with Keene to try and find out what this poison is?"
"Sure."
"Great." He stood up and gestured for her to do the same." You have to tell me what you'll need. We'll take you to Keene as soon as you're ready, but you need to make a list of what has to be transported and pack for a few days with us. We're hoping this would be solved soon."
"I'll need books and equipment and my laptop-" she stopped. "You don't have electricity there, do you? I won't be able to power any of my-"
Shawn interrupted her. "We have magic, dear. You can't imagine what we can do… Just write your list and our contacts here will take care of it."
Sarah nodded and went to her room to pick up a duffel bag and start packing some things. She had time until Monday morning to help and then she would figure it out. It probably needed to be done sooner than that.
Half an hour later, after calling her parents and her neighbors to tell them she was going on a short trip –she so rarely went anywhere that they would worry if they could not reach her– she was back standing in front of her mirror with Hoggle and Shawn.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
She just nodded. Suddenly, the idea that, in seconds, she would be back in the castle beyond the Goblin City had become all too real and lots of conflicting emotions were pulling at her. She closed her eyes and Shawn noticed her distress.
"Are you sure you can do this?" he asked. "Not many runners have ever returned. I thought it wouldn't be that hard since you kept in contact with your friends. Usually everybody gets the memory of the incident wiped out, but your case was different-"
"I'm fine," she interrupted. "I can do this. Don't worry about me. Let's go."
Hoggle held her hand and a few seconds later she was standing on the familiar stone floor of the castle. Thousands of memories pushed each other in her mind.
"This way," Shawn said, signaling a passageway ahead of them. They walked until they reached a tall wooden door. Shawn knocked and then opened it to reveal a large, well lit room that seemed to serve as a laboratory. Numerous shelves were filled with bottles and jars, carefully labeled and organized. Many instruments Sarah did not recognize were in another area of the room.
"Keene, I have the lady doctor here."
A tall, thin man turned around to look at them. His wavy hair was as long as Shawn's, but lighter. It complemented well his dark eyes and framed his pale face in a pleasant way.
Another elf, Sarah thought as she looked at his ears.
"Miss Williams, a pleasure to meet you," he said with a little bow.
He did not give Sarah much time for pleasantries as he immediately began explaining the current condition of the King and his own progress in the making of the antidote.
Sarah was impressed by his accurate terminology and the vast knowledge he seemed to have of human medicine. She had to make a comment about it.
"I've trained aboveground, too," he said looking down. "Sometimes, the wished away don't get to us in optimal condition… and they're all human. I needed to learn."
Sarah was surprised. She had not thought of it that way. Who did really wish away children and meant it? Probably, in many cases, people who were not taking good care of them to begin with, right? She speculated.
After a couple of hours, Sarah was working on her own. The symptoms of the King had been many; first, nausea, vomiting, labored breathing, and widespread pain, immediately after consuming the poisoned meal. High fever, weakness, and delirium had soon followed and, finally, full-fledged hallucinations that had compelled Keene to put the King in a drug-induced coma.
Through his research, the scientist had learned that the King had ingested a toxic substance found in the roots of a plant that was native to the Labyrinth. He had discovered the thin filaments characteristic to the root among the many components of the sauce used by the cook. Nevertheless, the root had not explained all the symptoms and Keene had been unable to identify any other foreign substance in the meal or in the blood of the King.
Sarah was allowed to check every step of the investigation and, at first, she was unable to find any errors in Keene's work. He had helped her learn the differences between fae and human blood and she had concentrated on analyzing all the samples available to study, but she did not see anything special.
Then, she found something. While Keene had been studying the meal served to the King, he had marked several substances as "unidentified Aboveground material". He explained that, over the years, the King had incorporated to the palace menu several fruits, vegetables, and meats found in human meals around the world, in order to make the transition of the wished away easier.
After thorough examination, Sarah focused on a small fruit that Keene had been unable to recognize. She studied it carefully and finally concluded that it matched the description of the fruit from the Rhodotypos Scandens or black jetbead shrub. It was a shiny black berry included in the King's fruit salad among many other berries. She had never seen the fruit before and she did not know of its properties. She researched it and was not surprised to find out that it was highly toxic. She run to Keene with her findings and they both studied the configuration of the toxin present in it, amygdalin. Keene realized that the substance was a cyanogenic glycoside, a substance that, while usually fatal to humans, could only cause great distress to a fae and would eventually be eliminated from the body without causing permanent damage. If he took all the symptoms it triggered out of the equation, all that was left was the poison of the underground root.
He was ready now to prepare the antidote. As he was about to start, he asked Sarah to check up on the King's condition. He wanted to administer the antidote and slowly bring him out of the coma.
Sarah agreed and was lead to the Royal Chamber by Hoggle, who had not left his seat in one corner of the Lab as she worked.
Though it was probably already morning –she had no idea how many hours had gone by since time passed differently in the Underground– the windows showed that it was still dark outside.
She was not feeling tired yet; the urgency of the task had kept her adrenalin going and the thrill of being there had helped keep her awake, but now she was shivering… and she was not cold. She was going to see him again, after almost ten years. She was not sure what she was expecting, but she was thankful that he was unconscious. She was not happy that he was sick, but it was a relief to know that he would not see her there.
When a guard opened the ornate double doors that lead to a room at the end of a long corridor, Sarah held her breath.
It was definitely the room of a King, mostly decorated in dark blue and gold. The marble floors had thick carpets defining different areas in the room and large windows had curtains constantly swirling in a gentle breeze. Against the back wall, centered between two more doors, was a large canopy bed. The canopy was covered in heavy blue and gold velvet, but the curtains were tied around the posts and there were ethereal white drapes surrounding the bed.
Sarah saw no one else in the room. She approached the bed cautiously while Hoggle stayed by the doors the guards had just closed.
When she reached the edge of the bed, she had to stop and take a deep breath. She took her stethoscope out of her bag and prepared to open the curtain. One more deep breath and she pulled out the white fabric.
She had to put her hand on the bed to keep from falling. She felt overwhelmed. She could not understand why this man provoked so many emotions in her, but it was undeniable that he did. She concentrated on going back to breathing normally and she looked at him.
He looked just the same as when she had seen him ten years ago. Nothing had changed. He was so beautiful… His wispy light hair haloed his head. His upswept eyebrows and his high cheeks were just as she remembered them. He was very pale, but she could not imagine him any other way.
She felt the need to touch him, to make sure he was there, but she stopped herself and used her stethoscope instead. She kept in mind how Keene had taught her to check the fae heart and followed his instructions. It seemed to be as he had expected.
As she finished the auscultation, the desire to touch him came back. The laces at the front of his white silk night shirt were not tied and left visible a pale strip of skin that seemed to call her hand.
She closed her eyes to regain command of herself. It was hard; all she could think of was how it had felt when he had held her on the dance floor.
The King seemed to moan in discomfort –she was not sure if it was real or just her imagination– so she reopened her eyes. She looked at him and realized that he was wearing gloves. They seemed light and soft, but she could not understand why he was wearing them.
She went back to looking at his face. His eyes had the shiny make-up she had seen the first time. Who in his right mind would apply make-up to such a sick patient? She stretched her hand and touched the edge of his eyelid.
"The mark of the owl," Shawn's voice came to her from a dark corner of the room.
Sarah was shocked, mostly for having been caught touching the King.
Shawn could see it in her face. He approached with a smile. "It's alright; I won't tell him."
"I'm sorry," she said guiltily.
He shook his head. "As I said, no problem." He reached the end of the bed. "Not many fae have the ability to transmute into animals. Jareth chose the owl as his second nature when he was very young. Being the youngest son of the High King, he knew he would have to take care of this Kingdom. There was no Labyrinth yet, but he already had an idea in mind, and he chose the owl because, though it's a fierce predator, it has an image that's less intimidating than those of the other birds of prey."
"And it's beautiful, too," Sarah said without thinking.
Shawn smiled again.
Sarah felt self-conscious. She wanted to change the subject. She indicated the eyelids with her hand. "Are they tattooed? It doesn't feel like make-up."
"It's not make-up. It's a symbol of his class, a mark that started appearing after Jareth began transforming into the owl form more often. His father has similar marks; you'll see. They suffer subtle changes according to his mood –darker, lighter, more defined, less defined; you understand– but they never go away. It's part of who he is."
"Why is he wearing gloves?" she dared ask.
"Ah…" Shawn smiled. "His hands are very powerful. His magic is one of the strongest in the whole Underground. When he's awake, even when he's sleeping, he keeps the power under his control. But he's unconscious now; we wanted to avoid any risks."
Right then, the doors opened and Keene entered the room. "I'm ready," he said.
A. N.: If you would like to see the pictures that accompany this story, though they are not all up yet, you can find them at BettyBokor at Deviantart. The right link is on my profile.
