This is one of my favorite chapters due to the humor. And please, before you give me any grieve about the storming of the council building. This story was written three months before the events at the Capitol in D.C., and I was NOT inspired on what had transpired that day. I absolutely condemn the storming of the Capitol, so please do not read into this in such fashion. If anything, my inspiration came from the Women's rights march and the BLM movement. As always, I try to keep real politics out of my stories as well as out of my songs.
Chapter 16
The Goblin Coffee Revolt
It had been over three months since Marjorie and Mark had moved to the Labyrinth Kingdom, and they had adjusted quite nicely. Kelan had performed the crystal ball ceremony, which Marjorie was relieved to hear, was not going to be painful.
It only involved Kelan to ask them whether they would adhere to all the Underground and Labyrinth Kingdom rules and regulations, not discriminate against any other citizen of the kingdom, and to defend the kingdom if needed with their lives.
Jareth' had walked them through the entire ceremony before hand so they knew what to expect. After answering yes to all, Kelan exploded two crystal balls over their heads and let the glitter rain down on them. It had been very similar to when Jareth had offered Sarah his dream crystal.
Afterwards they had a small party and reception and were welcomed as the newest residents of the Labyrinth Kingdom.
Mark immediately went to work at The Underground Café. He was rearranging the music to rock and jazz, and introduced a few new items for the bar, mostly beer and margaritas. The patrons took to the changes with great interest and business was hopping.
The margaritas and the beer were the greatest new thing in the Underground besides the Troll dolls, which still seemed to be top of the list. Sarah did not quite understand that one.
Since the High Goblin Council had put restrictions on Surface World items Jareth finagled some deals with black market goblins to arrange deliveries of certain items. Beer and Margaritas ingredients were added to the list.
"Are you becoming a bootlegger?" Sarah asked Jareth as she overheard a conversation him and Mark had about using the Underground Railroad to bring the items in.
"Whatever it takes to stimulate the economy, babe", he had cheerfully replied. "I really need to take this up with the High Goblin Council. They are starting to restrict more and more items. Not sure why, but it's not right." Sarah shrug her shoulders and left him to his business.
She stayed out of his shady dealings. After all she was the 'virtuous darling queen', as Jareth had put it so nicely, and he was the wild party king.
"Let's see how the wild part king gets out of this pickle", she murmured and Mara chuckled.
Mark told Jareth that they should go and get seeds to grow their own hops and barley, as well as sugar cane, and he could start making his own brew. His dad had sent him for two years to a beer brewer school, which now could come in quite handy. Jareth thought the idea was marvelous.
"We can make all kinds of beer. Lager, Pilsner, dark beer, blondes". Mark explained to Jareth. "Create a whole line of Labyrinth and Underground brands." Jareth told him to let him know what he needed and he would get it for him.
A couple of weeks later, the first brewing vats had been installed in a back room of the Underground Café and Mark was cooking his beer. They had managed to get quite a bit of barley and hops seed and started planting with the help of several goblin farmers, who were more than eager to explore this new promising market.
Marjorie had teamed up with Hoggle's girlfriend Krimble, and they had opened a small boutique called 'Surface Fashion' in Elvenwood. Marjorie had to import the jeans and shirts at first, but had told Sarah, she was planning on opening a production facility so they could be made locally in the Labyrinth Kingdom. Sarah thought that was a splendid idea and offered any assistance she could provide.
And just like that, Sarah had gotten involved in illegal Underground Railroad activities. Jareth was extremely proud of her.
"Well, look at you", he smirked, "becoming a little outlaw queen, aren't' we? I wonder what punishment the king ought to place on you for your smuggling activities." He circled Sarah as if she were a juicy steak.
"Oh cut it out", she laughed, "you are the biggest smuggler of them all."
Sarah threw at pillow at his head but missed. Jareth jumped and grabbed her before she could toss another one and held her arms down while she tried to wrestle away from his grip.
"Try it again, come on, babe, try it", he egged her on as she tried to get out of his arm hold. They wrestled for a few minutes and finally landed in bed where he held her down with a victorious smirk.
"I win, time to pay up", Jareth laughed as he bend over and kissed her. Sarah was no longer struggling. Mara nodded at Ceres and got up.
"Let's go, we know what's coming."
She trotted towards the door with Ceres in tow who couldn't help but to giggle. Yep, life at the castle was definitely more entertaining than in his old woods.
Unrest began to brew in Goblin City, as well as Elvenwood and other surrounding communities. The Labyrinth inhabitant had become accustomed to the goods from the Surface World like coffee, chocolate, beer, and margaritas. The beer situation might be remedied with Mark brewing it himself now, but the barley and hops seeds were still considered illegal.
A large group of goblin merchants as well as some fae and elven business owners had assembled on the square in Goblin City with their signs and bullhorns and demanded the High Goblin Council to make those items legal.
"Legalize chocolate" read one sign. Another one said: "Eggnog is not a drug", and others read "Make chocolate, not war" and "Give us beer or give us death".
Sarah was impressed with the organization of the protest. Krum was right in the middle of it and carried a bullhorn, as did a goblin named Nestor, who seemed to have organized the entire rally. He even had created a logo and a name of the movement: The Goblin Coffee Revolt", or GCR for short.
The Elder Council along with the High Goblin Council watched from the windows of their council building. While the Elder Council seemed to take the side of the goblins, the High Goblin Council dug in its heels. There was no compromise to be made with unruly lawbreaking goblins. If someone had the right to break the law, it was the council members, not the peasants on the street.
For two weeks daily rallies were held and more and more goblin joined. Ever increasing numbers of faes and elves participated as well, and before the two weeks had fully passed, several thousand protesters filled the streets of Goblin City.
"Free trade! Free business! Free merchants!" The rally goers chanted while walking around the square holding up their signs.
The streets began to look like a big party too. Goblin merchants had set up portable little booth selling illegal items like beer, chocolate, and coffee, and street musicians and performers kept the crowds entertained. Right under the noses of the High Goblin Council.
The business owners had started boarding up the windows of their shops as a few goblins thought this would be the ideal opportunity to shoot of firecrackers and blow up a few buildings. The elite fae and elven guards were called in to keep the peace along with Goblin City PD.
"Aren't you going to do something and step in?" Sarah asked Jareth with a concerned look. "This could get seriously out of hand."
Jareth paced his study, tapping his goblin stick against his leg, which always meant he was aggravated and tried to come to a solution. Every once in a while he would stop, look at Sarah as if he had an idea, and then kept walking again and tapping his stick.
"Do something", Sarah demanded in a very assertive tone. Jareth stopped his pacing.
"And what would you like for me to do about it? This is a matter between the High Goblin Council and the merchants. Nobody has asked for my ruling on any of it."
He sounded aggravated and continue his pacing.
"You should have done something months ago when I told you to talk to the councils." Sarah kept going.
"Oh don't start blaming me for this. That's the goblins' doing."
"Yes, because you turned a blind eye to it all and even instigated it." Sarah's eyes started to glow dangerously, but so did Jareth'.
"You had to go and turn everything around. Give the goblins education, fair treatment, a learning center, a swimming pool. Be the welcoming queen of equality. You are every bit at fault. Goblins can't be tamed nor ruled."
Jareth spoke those words and regretted them the instance they came out of his mouth.
"You are impossible, the same old reckless party king from five years ago. You haven't learned a thing. Agh, I'm done here."
Sarah angrily stomped her foot and turned to walk out.
Jareth immediately teleported himself between the door and Sarah and looked at her with a solemn face. He gently put his hands on her shoulder, slid them down her arms and held her hands in his.
"Let's not fight, babe. We swore a while back after our very first fight, we'll never fight again. Don't walk out on me. Please." His eyes were fixed on hers as if he was searching for a sign in them. His voice sounded quiet and sincere.
Sarah took a deep breath and nodded.
"You're right, let's not fight. We're not going to get anything accomplished if we go at each other's throats. And I love you too much to be in misery again because you're not with me during the night."
Jareth embraced her and kissed the top of her head. Sarah wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes.
"I'll call an emergency session for tomorrow with both councils. First thing in the morning, I promise."
He looked at her with gentle eyes.
"Why don't you do that second thing in the morning? I have plans for the first thing already." She looked at him with a soft smile. Jareth nodded and laughed.
"I like your plan better, let's go with it."
The next morning, right after they had finished the 'first thing', and Mara and Ceres had discussed the events of the upcoming day in front of the bedroom door, Jareth met with the Elder and the High Goblin Council in his throne room.
It was the same room Sarah had her coronation held at a few years earlier. Jareth conducted most of his important larger meetings in that room rather than his study, as he liked to keep official business away from his private quarters as much as possible.
The meeting didn't go too well. The leader of the High Goblin Council was quite opinionated and unwilling to budge on any demands, despite Jareth laying them out carefully. Even the Elder Council could not sway the High Goblin Council to agree to any new terms.
"No, all Surface World items will be deemed illegal from now on. We are not going to change this. We do not want our world contaminated with these other world's goods. We must keep our ways.
"With all due respect", Jareth interrupted quite aggravated at that statement, "but your queen is from this 'other world' you don't want to contaminate our world with. I consider this an insult.
Queen Sarah has been nothing but good to our world and the entire Underground. Things have dramatically improved since her arrival, and I beg to differ with you, but a mingling of cultures and worlds will only be of benefit to us.
We can accept the good and refuse the bad. To deny it all is foolish. It only leaves us behind the other dimensions and makes us vulnerable.
Our economy has been flourishing the past four years because of the imports from the Surface World, albeit being illegal. Let's come to an agreement and better the lives of our inhabitants by moving forward and accepting the goods from other worlds."
Jareth had given quite an impressive speech and the members of the Elder Council had all clapped and shouted "hear, hear", but it was to no avail. The leader of the High Goblin Council did not budge, and called the meeting over.
Jareth was furious and made his feeling known with Kelan.
"They are fools, fools and imbeciles. They do not know what is coming their way", Jareth bellowed angrily.
"They will find out very soon. Let them. Maybe a shakeup is what is needed in the goblin leadership." Kelan bowed to Jareth and left.
Jareth sat on his throne for quite some time and pondered. It was nearly late afternoon before he left and went down to see what was happening in Goblin City.
Thanksgiving had come and gone. Marjorie had insisted for Sarah and Jareth to come to their new home with the boys and have Thanksgiving dinner with them. Hoggle and Krimble, as well as Krum were there as well. It had been a nice relaxing family affair.
Marjorie still hadn't seen Ceres, and they kept it that way for now. Sarah didn't want to make an emergency run to Dr. Tartal's office on Thanksgiving, because Marjorie had gotten a heart attack seeing Ceres.
They both had enjoyed the day tremendously. The quiet family day was a perfect distraction from the Goblin Coffee Revolt, which was still raging in Goblin City and had now spread to Elvenwood, Faeville, Dwarf Town, and Trollston, amongst other settlements and cities.
Jareth held Sarah in his arms on the window sill after the boys had been put to bed. He had his arms tightly wrapped around her and kissed her every so often on her neck which made her giggle.
"I wish it could be peaceful like this forever", Sarah sighed. "What do you think is going to happen with this protest? Do you think there's going to be violence, considering the council is tone-deaf and won't change its rules?"
"I don't know, but I'm afraid the keg is about to explode, in a literal sense", Jareth took a couple of deep breaths.
"Let's not even talk about it, babe. I just want to sit here, hold you close to me, and enjoy this quiet time we have together." He gave her a tender kiss and then resumed his posture again as they listened to the call of a distant owl.
Things really started to heat up the weekend after Thanksgiving. Bottle rockets and Molotov cocktails had been thrown at the offices of the High Goblin Council, and Nestor and Krum stood in front of it with their bullhorns chanting their slogan: "Free trade! Free business! Free merchants!"
Roughly five hundred goblins, faes and elves, with a splattering of bridge trolls, dwarfs, wood fairies, and other creatures were assembled, wandering around, throwing firecrackers and bottle rockets, and the occasional explosive. The elite guards stood back, but blocked access to the building.
Jareth made its way down to the council building to see if he could deescalate the protest. When the goblin crowd spotted him he was cheered and his elite guard had to surround him to prevent the crowd from picking him up and body surf him above their heads.
He decided it was not a safe place to be at this moment and teleported back out. Likewise, Sarah was not able to leave the castle, for as soon as she did, the crowd cheered and tried to surround her.
Jareth and Sarah were supposed to stay neutral, but it became harder and harder, and when Jareth had run out of the last cup of imported coffee he had had enough.
"This is it. Now it's getting personal", he bellyached to Sarah looking sadly at his empty coffee cup.
"I can go to the Surface World and get some more", Sarah offered.
"No, you can't", Jareth sneered back still looking at his empty cup in dismay.
"What do you mean? You won't let me?" Sarah was confused.
"Oh, babe, it's not me not letting you. It's that damn High Goblin Council. Those arrogant little shits, sitting there thinking they can dictate what folks have for breakfast. They closed all travel in and out of the Underground. I can't even teleport or use owl form to visit the Surface World."
Jareth was seething. He slammed his cup on the table where it broke, which made him even more furious.
"They can't do that", Sarah argued. "They don't have the right. Overrule them, you are the king. They wouldn't even exist if it hadn't been for you."
"Got that right, babe. Unfortunately they did, right or no right. I'll fix their horynth coach, just wait."
Jareth stormed out and headed to Goblin City.
Sarah called Marjorie to check on them.
"Oh we are doing fine. Mark is still working at his brewery. They got it boarded up but he and a couple of the goblin workers are still making the beer. Krimble and I closed the boutique down for now to be on the safe side.
It's not us they are after, it's that council of theirs. I'll have one of our goblin boys bring you some coffee. I still have some extra from the move."
Sarah felt better knowing Marjorie was doing ok, and she had managed to get Jareth a few more cups of coffee. He should be happy about that. She sent him a crystal ball to give him the good news.
Jareth in the meantime had taken the podium in Goblin City. Nobody was going to mess with his morning coffee and now the bill was coming due for the council.
Jareth held a rousing speech and called on all goblins to stand up for their rights, their dignity, and their freedoms; and for their morning cups of coffee and bars of chocolate in the evening.
He got an earsplitting applause as the crowd went wild. And when he picked up his goblin stick and proclaimed he was going to storm the council building, a thousand goblins were screaming behind him. Jareth had officially started the revolutionary part of the Goblin Coffee Revolt.
News travelled fast in the Labyrinth Kingdom. The king and his goblins had stormed the council building and were tearing it apart from top to bottom. The members of the High Goblin Council tried to escape out the back door, but the protesters were waiting for them.
"Toss them into the Bog of Eternal Stench", some screamed. "No, take them to the lava field with the obnoxious fumes", others demanded. Either way, the outlook was not good, and the members turned themselves over to the elite guards for protection.
Jareth appeared victorious and had the members brought to him by his guards. They stood in front of the protesters as he stood by the podium.
"So, you thought you could bypass our laws and rules and proclaim all travels restricted and all imports stopped. Only I, the king, can decide on that. For this infraction, all of you will be punished."
The crowd cheered at those words and several firecrackers went off in the crowd. Jareth motioned them with his hands to be silent and a hush fell over the crowd.
"I, however, won't be the one passing judgement on you. No, it will be those, what did you call them earlier? Peasants?" He motioned his hands across the crowd and the protesters started to boo and move closer towards the surrounded members in a menacing manner.
"It will be those so called peasant that will bring judgment down upon you. I give you all to the crowd!" Jareth pointed his goblin stick at the council members and his elite guards stepped back and away from the council members.
In an instant the crowd descended upon the council members and carried them away, screaming with fury, "toss them into the bog. No toss the into the lava fields."
Within minutes the square was empty and nothing was left besides protests signs laying in the streets and empty beer and eggnog bottles.
"Well, that went rather well", Kelan said to Jareth as him and the Elder Council ascended the stairs towards the podium.
"Looks like we'll be getting all new members and with it peace and prosperity, and hopefully coffee, and some of that new drink. What do you call it? Margaritas?" Kelan and the elders bowed and walked into their council office.
Jareth sat down at the steps as he told the elite guard to go back to their base. He had been sitting there for a few minutes when Sarah's crystal ball arrived.
"Sweet", was all he said after he had read her message, and he made his way back home to have his coffee, albeit late.
It took a few days to restore travel in the Underground and between dimensions again. Soon the Underground Railroad was bringing in more goods from the Surface World.
Jareth had drawn up a new decree that from now on all goods from any other dimensions were subject to the approval by the king and queen, and the king and queen alone.
He had also officially overseen elections for the new members to the High Goblin Council. Nestor had been voted the leader by the goblin community and Krum became its secretary, with eleven other goblins acting as regular members.
"You are moving up in the Underground", Jareth had told him and Krum's big ears had turned red as he happily grinned at Jareth. Sarah gave him a hug and a kiss on his forehead, which made his ears shine as red as a traffic light.
"Well, babe, I guess we got that fixed. Now we can go back to more important things." He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.
"Oh, and what would that be?" Sarah grinned, as if she didn't know already.
"Let me show you", he said and teleported her back to the castle's bedroom.
