b Chapter 20 - Girl Scouts on Parade /b

This statement itself almost sent Sarah reeling again, she was going to have to be careful with this one.

Noticing Sarah's apprehension, Nelly's expression became downcast. "Said to much, have I?" She sighed, "excuse my intrusion, I really do have a knack for sticking my mouth where it doesn't belong."

Sarah smiled at this gesture. "Actually," she said, "I hadn't even had time to think about it. You happened upon me just as I had gotten up."

"Oh! Of course," Nelly laughed, "That was the whole purpose for my visit, which I completely lost track of." She stood then and reached out for Sarah's arm. "If you'd like, I can take you to your bath house, you can-" she paused for a moment, taking in for the first time what must be Sarah's clothes, "bathe, change your... attire, and maybe we can talk after that?"

Sarah nodded happily. A shower? She was beginning to think Jareth really did live in Medieval England, and was just two hills short of a shire.

Arm in arm, Nelly led Sarah out of her room, which Sarah noted was unlocked, and down a long corridor to the right.

"The trick about navigating the castle," Nelly informed, "is always go right. Eventually you always end up somewhere."

"What if I go left?" Sarah wondered aloud, "where do I go then?"

"Oh!" Nelly smiled, "Never go left."

She pointed down the corridor to a large red wooden and golden door Sarah hadn't taken notice of before, though it was so near her own she wasn't sure how she'd missed it. Nelly continued with the explanation that now seemed so obvious.

"You see, Jareth is always left."

Sarah walked out of the large bath house a much happier woman. She had learned that the bathrooms here were operated by magic. She had no idea why, unless it was to serve as some tragically not-so-hilarious prank to be played on guests. For whatever reason, to open the bathroom door you had to first locate a golden stone in the walling of the corridor, and kindly ask the golden stone to open up. As she learned from Nelly, if the stone refused to open, which happened frequently, you simply poked it in the place it's face would be, and went on about your business.

As she exited, she looked to Nelly's approval for the outfit she had chosen.

She had never been one for dresses of any kind, but she had found a simple gown made of extraordinarily light white material with golden edging and design she assumed at least partly to be real gold.

And the fact that every outfit in the armoire fit her like a glove was both amusing and disconcerting. She, being Sarah, rationalized that it was obviously some sort of enchanted closet that only spit out clothes that fit you.

The thought that Jareth had such a keen grasp of her anatomy was not something she intended to delve any deeper into.

Nelly applauded at the sight of her, "Yes, Sarah," she said happily, "you'll fit in here very well."

For the sake of both friendship and answers, Sarah bit her tongue.

As they rounded about another right hand turn Sarah found that they were outside, encased by an ample garden full of flowers so colorful and unusual they could have been in a painting.

Nelly located a simple silver cushioned bench and sat, motioning Sarah to do the same.

"It's beautiful out here," Sarah remarked, quite taken with the surroundings. "Almost like a living water color."

Nelly nodded, "It's called Nyu li'myuni cy, which in your language would translate to 'the garden of the little princess', I believe."

Sarah could only nod as she watched what she presumed to be a dove like creature picking for seeds near the fountain.

"So," tested Nelly, "how are you finding your stay here in the Sil Elvin?"

"The what?" Sarah questioned, "This is the Underground, right? I mean -- I thought-" So Jareth had brought her all this way to save a kingdom that wasn't even his? What had he done, gone real estate hunting the minute after she left, then concocted this miserable story about how poor baby boo boo King of the Goblins had gotten himself fired? Well what was she supposed to do? Just swoop in and save the day like some sacrificial Wonder Woman? Really, it was ridiculous, the gaul of that stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, terribly enraging man that she just couldn't stop-

"Sarah?"

"Yes?"

"You just looked a little..." Nelly questioned with a simple look of understanding. An odd look, in fact, one that to Sarah seemed as if she knew a little more about Sarah's thoughts than she would have liked.

"No, please, go on. What is the Sil Elvin again?" She coughed, and attempted with all her might to sink back into the addictive thoughts of a certain Goblin King.

"It's here. It's this place." Nelly shook her head, "He really hasn't told you much, has he?"

Sarah shrugged, "All I know is that there's some rule about-" she choked back the word that had almost escaped her lips 'marrying', "-about going back to the Aboveground." she finished.

Again, Nelly smiled.

Sarah was beginning to find this uncomfortable.

"Okay," approved Nelly, "then I'll tell you for him."

"Basically," Nelly began, "A very long time ago our land was splintered into many factions. And one day, after a very terrible war, a group of kings decided that uniting the borders was the best plan of action. And so, the thirteen corners alliance was born."

Nelly paused to make sure Sarah was following. "The thirteen corners alliance selects one king every thousand years to be it's leader... Sort of it's... you would say-"

"like a President?" Sarah finished.

Nelly looked pleased. "Yes, only we call him the Lord Protector. He manages the peace and the alliances of all thirteen corners. It's a very important job."

"And you say he's elected every how long?" Sarah gaped.

"one thousand years."

"But if Jareth is running for a re-election, than that would have to make him-"

Nelly smiled, "You know, Sarah, despite his boyish good looks, Jareth is much older than he looks, at least by your Aboveground years."

"How old is he?" Sarah gushed before she could stop herself.

Nelly laughed, "tsk. tsk. Sarah. That's really none of my business."

She winked Sarah's way, "but on with the lesson. This council is made up of all the kings of the thirteen lands. There are three territories that border the Sil Elvin. The Beruitian, and Queen Taru to the East, the province of Opavia and King Euric to the North East, and Vaidil and King Hongus to the North. Vaidil is where the Sil Elvin gets most of its Goblin population, they migrate for the better wages and weather."

"Goblins aren't natural to the... Sil Elvin?"

Nelly laughed, "No, of course not. At least they weren't at first. The Sil Elvin, not surprisingly, was a kingdom of fae, like Jareth and I. There are still quite a lot of them, but I'm afraid that in these parts you won't see many. The Goblins have resided here for centuries, hence the "Goblin City" and "King of the Goblins" bit. And-" she continued, "the Goblins here are hardly as idiotic as they might have seemed on your first visit."

So it was true, Jareth had really dumbed down the battle for her.

"Oh no," Nelly corrected, "I can see what you must be thinking, the Goblins around the palace really are that -- job specific, one might say. They consist mainly of the changed children."

"You mean he really does that?" Sarah gasped.

Nelly nodded, "of course. It isn't all a fairy tale. But there is a fairly substantial upside. Most of the children that are turned here are from unwanted families, terrible situations, and the like. I mean, what kind of person wishes a child away?"

It took her awhile to understand her mistake, and when she did, she rapidly continued "The southern parts of the Sil Elvin are oceanside."

"The Underground has a beach?" Sarah grappled with this idea, and nearly laughed aloud at the image of a Goblin King on holiday, sunscreen plastered across his face, and swimming bottoms that would be, without a doubt, much too tight.

Nelly was silent for a moment, and looked almost sick. "There are loads more, but I won't bore you with their names or addresses. Basically these three members of the council we call the three kings, are very powerful men. Their lands all butt up to each other, and long ago the council entrusted a very important piece of land to one of the kings, Facor of Haan Elvin."

"Why is it so special?" Sarah asked, wondering what could be so important as to entrust to a man with a name so similar to the large snake like dog in the Never Ending Story. All she could think of at the moment was a pre-pubescent Brady shouting, "FAAAALLCCOOOOOR!"

She didn't really know the movie that well.

"No one knows except the three kings." Nelly answered, "and Facor has gone missing."

She sighed then. "They're cousins of Jareth's you see, his mother's people. And no one seems to be worried about where the King has gone except Jareth. Unfortunately, he can't make a move until he's assigned again as Lord Protector."

She stopped for a long moment to take a breath and flick a large green bug off the sleeve of her gown.

"Of course, you must be aware of your role in that respect."

Sarah nodded.

New life seemed to emerge from Nelly at that moment, and without hesitation she rushed, "So what do you think? Is it wonderful? Horrible? How do you feel, really?"

For a moment she stopped and made a face with so much excitement and anticipation that Sarah thought she might rip in two. She took a large breath and then whispered, quite loudly, in Sarah's ear, "I heard Jareth had some Blesphamene as a midnight snack! Go on, tell me everything!"

"Blesphamene?" Sarah questioned, confused. Wasn't Jareth drunk? or something?

"The same as in the peach, dear girl." Nelly gushed.

Sarah took a moment to regain her composure, as she wondered exactly how much this pretty stranger knew, and how exactly she was privy to information concerning certain peaches.

A bell rang and Nelly sprang up. "Oh, I have to be off, Sarah."

Sarah smiled dejectedly, "Well, it was nice meeting you-"

"Oh no, Nelly continued. I'll be back, I just-- I'll just be a minute." She smiled brightly and scampered off into the castle, leaving Sarah, for better or worse, alone with her thoughts.

There were so many things she hadn't had time to absorb. At the height of her questioning, her desire to work things out once and for all, she often times found herself awaking the next morning, unable to tell if what she thought had occurred had truly happened, or if it had all clouded by a dreamy haze.

One thing was for sure.

She was completely, undoubtedly, three thousand percent sure of last night's events. From the moment Jareth stumbled into her room, looking more lustful than liquored (she would just have to go ahead and erase that moment entirely) to the moment when in a moment of agony, he had declared his love for her.

And taken it away.

'You can't do that,' Sarah mused angrily to herself, 'You can't just say you loved someone, and that... well...'

Her breathing slowed to a halt as the words of last night came floating back to her.

"I thought I could do so again."

How those words haunted her now, as much as did the lingering touch she could feel on her cheek even now if she let it come.

The hot tear that had slid down her face.

What had she felt then?

What she wept for, she still wasn't sure. She passed it off as the pain of never returning home, but there was something else, something familiar and new.

"He said that he never meant to hurt me," Sarah whispered aloud to herself, her vision of the flowers cascading in the breeze beginning to blur. Inside, she finished the rest of her thought 'But it couldn't be true', she rationalized.

"He said it was all a game."

And with that, the confusion was forgotten, the need in his eyes, the feel of his hands on her body, his lips pressing so hungrily against hers, the fear in his questioning, "Am I so frightening" as if pleading with her to say no.

And if she had?

But it was all gone now, unremembered and unresolved, while the anger was reborn.

"Go and see her, Jareth" Nelly pleaded. "She's sitting right there in the garden, enjoying the sunshine, the pretty flowers, the birds tweet tweeting and all that. Yes, a good unexpected visitor is just what she needs to make the day complete."

Jareth responded to his sisters ramblings with a mere quizzical glance, and then returned to a stack of papers on his desk.

"Really now, whatever happened last night couldn't have been that terrible," she mused without thinking.

This remark certainly got his attention.

The dancing bear nearly shrieked as a quill flew at his puffy little bear head, and he was only just able to dodge it.

Really, faes were enough hot headed to handle, but royalty?

Now that was spectacularly aggravating.

As the bear complained silently, the Goblin King rose to his feet and removed his glasses.

Leaning languidly against a bookshelf he inquired, "What exactly would you know about that, Nelly dear?"

"Oh nothing," she stuttered, "Little bird told me. You know, those doorknobs are awful gossips."

He seemed unconvinced as ever.

This was really not going well.

"Indeed."

He paused for a moment, and took a stroll around the room, eyeing up and down every object he came in contact with, the most interested of all, he reserved for Nelly.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Alec's supply of Blesphamene has gotten to, would you Nelly?"

She shook her head. "No, big brother, no idea."

Nelly was a terrible liar, and Jareth knew it.

"Why would you even dream of doing such a thing?"

"Oh come on now, Jareth. What harm could possibly have come from a little-"

"Drugged stupor?" Jareth interjected. "Oh, I don't know, maybe a few hundred equally grotesque chairs, a slap or two in the face of masculinity-" he paused for a moment, choosing his words wisely, "a profession of love here or there, obviously nothing that can't be fixed by a little walk in the garden."

Nelly stood very still, shock written plainly across her delicate features.

"Oh."

"Oh indeed," snipped the Goblin King as he returned to his desk and reaffirmed his glasses, peering over them at her in a most school teacher like way he added, "I think I've had enough with meddling for the time being, Nelly."

He pointed to the door, "Now be a good girl and go mind your little toy."

As Nelly stormed out, she of course failed to notice that the papers gracing the kings royal desk were blank, and that by all accounts, he hadn't done a thing all day.

He looked back to his main object of interest as soon as he was alone.

A small gilded crystal floating at his fingertips, the impression of a young girl walking in a garden of rainbows reflected back in his eyes.

The man had an addiction, at least that much was certain.

--

avi