A/N: Foremost, million thanks to my ever-lovely, supporting and fantastic beta! Thanks, Anaknusan (once again) for your help. Secondly, thanks to all of you for your encouraging commenters. I hope the way I'm portraying Jareth makes sense to you. I don't really see him as a fluffy type of character, or very evil to that matter either. Also, I assure, there will be romance, and maybe a tiny-winy amount of smut too. I just have to write the story a bit further...
Disclaimer: Let me ask: Do you seriously think I would be writing fanfiction under a pseudonym if I owned Labyrinth?
Riiiight...
The Land That Is Not
Chapter Eight
"So, what will it be?" Jareth teased lightly, bending closer. "Will you risk saving your brother only to lose him again…" His sharp nose nearly touched Sarah's face. The crooked features remained as still as if they were carved in stone but the fire burning in his eyes gave away his exhilaration. "Think carefully, Sarah…"
Sarah couldn't find any words, fervently trying to formulate a way out of his demands. "What." Her voice strangled in her throat, and she swallowed down the bitter taste the trapped state of life brought to her mouth. "Will you promise you'll return Toby back to his home, to his family?" she asked after a prolonged silence.
"Sarah, you hurt me." Jareth smiled. "I'm a king after all, am I not? And if you can't trust in a king's word, then what can you?" He mocked with a voice that sounded like a sleek purr coming from his throat.
"That's hardly convincing," Sarah muttered, gaze trailing about the room, its grey cold stonewall adorned by dark web-like cracks, pale light gleaming on the surface of the coffee colored archaic furniture. Her heart fluttered like crazy, and she was certain the King heard its nervous pulse. She surely heard it.
"With that you have to be satisfied." Elegantly, Jareth shrugged his shoulders, and his gleaming pendant threw a reflection of a burning sun in her eyes, snaring her attention.
She stared at him. "But that's not," she whispered.
"Fair?" Jareth arched his eyebrows, and a ghost of a smile played in the corners of his lips.
She didn't answer, recognizing the bait in his words. "Will you promise?" Her voice trembled a little, but she refused to show the Goblin King the extent of her fears.
He frowned. "How many times do you need to hear it woman?" The voice remained dangerously low.
Sarah bit her lip. "I'm about to give up my life," on your mercy, she nearly added. "I rather have it secured that I won't be doing it for nothing."
Jareth measured her sourly, and his eyes glazed over as he leaned away from her. "You're never satisfied," the man hissed. "I'm disappointed on how little you've grown."
Sarah shook her head vigorously, almost taking a step forward yet stopping herself even before the movement actually started.
"No. That's not it…I only-"
"Really, Sarah. I'm a busy man, and I don't have all day," he interrupted.
"Please," she cringed at her own words and broken tone. Placing her hands on her temple, she tried to chase away the sprouting headache she felt coming. Things were evolving too fast for her liking. Maybe she was only dreaming? For a while, she hoped she was only imagining this surreal situation, standing in the cold and drafty room of the Goblin Castle, having her brother stolen. It were as if all her nightmares were about to come true. This couldn't happen - not after all these years... But, stubbornly, the image of the Goblin King remained very solid, watching her with intensity, measuring her. The dark cape swayed gently behind his back, and an image from the past surfaced from her memories: He and Sarah facing each other in the dusky room with raindrops hitting against the white-framed glass doors of her parent's balcony, the thrill and the dread churning her stomach.
Quickly, Sarah averted her gaze, banishing the image, afraid the King would somehow sense her scattered frightened emotions.
"I just want to hear that Toby will be safe."
His face remained impassive, only his nostrils flared. Finally, the man snapped, "Fine. I promise you that. Once I've found Toby, I'll send him immediately to his parents. And he will be safe." Locking his teeth together, he continued, "Is this enough for your mistrustful mind?"
"Thank you." Forcing tears back, Sarah nodded weakly. Her chin drooped against her chest, and she asked with a soft voice. "What do you want me to do now?"
The smile in his voice was evident. "Say your right words." The King slowly replied, words dribbling of hardly concealed glee. Wincing, she jerked up her head and stared at him, frightened.
His smile widened, and he flashed a row of shiny teeth, sneering."It's not enough to eat from my land." The Goblin King stepped up closer, his eyes fixed on her. He leaned closer. "If you're to become one of us, forever, you need to pledge yourself to me."
It took some time the words to sink in, but once clear, she drew in a shaky breath.
The leather of his jacket creaked, and she felt his touch, feather-like, against the skin of her chin. "Go ahead, Sarah," the Goblin King urged her softly.
"I wish…"
She clenched her fist together. The fear almost made her speechless. What would the man do to her? His dark-lined, gleaming eyes that contrasted against his pallid skin and the gaunt bony features reminded her about ill-wishing sprites and feys she had read about in so many fairytales. The ethereal, an almost unnoticeable sparkle glimmering around his face and the blond uneven mane that cascaded down on his shoulder increased his inhuman-like appearance. She was ready to believe almost anything from him.
"Surely you know the rest." He mocked, letting his hand to fall down, watching her with luminous alien-like eyes. "I remember very clearly you utter the same phrase years ago."
"I wish." Sarah hardly recognized her own voice, yanking in a deep breath of air. "The goblins would come and take me away."The content was written everywhere in his face, and, trembling, she squeezed her hands so tightly together the sickles of her nails bore through her skin. Oblivious to the pain, Sarah gulped a mouthful of air and finished the sentence. "Right now."
Yet the same wind kept on blowing in the room, arriving through the arched windows and gently stroking her hair and her skin while carrying the birds' distant chirping and faint clattering and thumping like someone chopping firewood or banging a hammer. The man and the woman remained alone, facing each other in the cold and shadowy room somewhere in the Goblin Castle. Nothing changed and still everything was different. Sarah felt rather than saw it: the shift taking place around her. In her and her world. A faint lurch in her stomach, a small tug within her told something changed if not the Goblin King's expression before that. The man looked so pleased with himself, Sarah felt sick.
"Now, it wasn't so difficult, or was it?" Jareth's eyes flickered of self-satisfaction he didn't even bother to hide. Mutely, she only cast down her eyes.
"What?" he teased.
Sarah let the air to escape her lungs as he answered in a loud puff. "No."
"No what?"
Her teeth clasped loudly, and she tasted iron, biting in her own flesh. The blood infiltrated her mouth, flavoring her words with bitterness as she, hissing and still staring at the ground, added. "Your majesty."
Sarah rather heard than saw him relaxing. His clothes shifted at the change of his breathing, and he took a step backward.
"And now, Sarah" Jareth's voice was cold, "I want to hear everything."
"Everything?"
He clasped his mouth in a tight line. "I'm not interested in your life, Sarah."
She cringed at his tone, and a sudden twinge nicked her somewhere between her heart and her throat.
"I want to hear all that happened since Toby's disappearance."
She glanced around, thinking, and finally shrugged her shoulders, for what else was there to do? And if it would urge him to look for Toby… "From where I should I start?" she asked quietly.
He didn't reply at first, sauntering toward the table before turning to look at her. "My precious, Sarah." His mouth twitched as he noticed Sarah shifting uncomfortably at the words. "Where else but from the beginning…naturally."
If Sarah was surprised of the level of how well the Goblin King could listen to her uninterrupted, she found it harder to realize the King genuinely was worried. Realizing it, made her feel somewhat better. Maybe the King would truly help her after all? Sometimes she noticed his eyes widening as if he were surprised though she couldn't decide if she only imagined seeing his reaction. At least one thing became evident the further her story progressed: the King didn't know Mr. Hoopoe. He kept on inquiring about him, his looks and his words. And when she started describing how she called for the messenger god to take her to the Underground, something akin to amusement briefly shadowed his face. Sarah, however, skipped the last bits of Hermes' offer, noticing, during her monologue, a dangerous glint that appeared in the King's eyes.
When she finished at last, all her energy was sapped, and her throat felt sore from too much talking. She observed the man wearily, with an unpleasant feeling in her stomach as the nervousness started playing pinball with her organs.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jareth leaned against the table. "My, you've been busy," the man muttered, regarding her slowly. "With peculiar book-sellers, magic cloths, and lustful gods it almost appears," he nearly smirked though there was a dangerous edge in his voice - almost like bitterness? "…your life to be eventful without the Underground and tell-tale fantasies you used to tell to yourself."
Sarah didn't answer, and he pulled himself straight. "Yet, the true problem lies that you so carelessly allowed your brother to be stolen from you."
"I beg your pardon!" Sarah resisted.
"Don't try to deny it, Sarah," Jareth snapped. "He was on your responsibility and you let him be stolen."
"He was in my home!" Sarah protested faintly. "No one entered there during the time, I'm certain. He was safe!"
"And still someone took him," Jareth sneered.
"And just how did you think I'd been able to detect that?" Sarah asked jadedly. "I heard no sound. Saw no one entering my apartment."
"Hmm," he only replied, glancing out the window. "A pity you gave away the cloth this mute woman gave to you…"
"It was my only change to," Sarah answered quietly and shuddered, "be spared from paying another price."
"Yes, I can believe he had his eyes all over you from the first moment." The King let out a dry snort, returning his attention back to her. "Old gods are notorious from their lack of subtlety and tact though I'm neither surprised about you refusal. You've taken quite a habit of turning others down, it seems."
She eyed him coldly, but her voice was coated with sugar when she spoke, "You must be talking about your own experiences…"
"Careful, precious," Jareth silkily replied. "I'm your king now."
"And you promised to find Toby," Sarah reminded, the unfamiliar sense of urgency forcing her to speak aloud.
"All in due time," Jareth snorted. "Before acting rashly I want to know what there's to know." That same, almost-dangerous gleam appeared in his eyes. "I've learnt my lesson."
"But I've told you what I know!" Sarah forced her eyes shut, powerless against the King's accusations.
He took a deep breath. "Then I don't need you any longer."
What did he mean by that? She warily watched him and asked finally with a small amount of crabbiness lingering in her voice. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me right, Sarah. You're dismissed."
"I'll be damned!" she exploded. Just who did he think he was? "You owe me at least that much."
"I owe you nothing!" Somehow, he was next to her from across the room. Sarah didn't even see him moving, yet now he stood only inches away from her with a white and rigid face. Gasping, Sarah backed away. She remembered all too well her encounter with the incarnated Labyrinth, and there was something very much akin to that in the King's expression.
"Sarah Williams, it's time for you to realize this: I owe you nothing," the man hissed.
She reached the wall, feeling the cold stones pressing against her back as she stared at the furious Goblin King. His eyes gleamed as he bent so close to her his mouth nearly touched her face. "You gave up all your rights to demand anything from me only moments ago." The Goblin King snarled, forcing her to lift her chin up while looking into her eyes. "Never again forget that, Sarah."
She didn't dare to voice a word, neck tilted in awkward position with her blood rushing though her veins and her pulse thumping against the gloved hands of the Goblin King. His grip tightened around throat, preventing her from swallowing, and she stared at the man, terrified. Unexpectedly, he released her, stepping back.
"You would do well to remember this, Sarah." The King's eyes were just depthless pools of darkness as he hissed, "You might be stuck in the Labyrinth but I will see to that you'll never call this place a home."
"And am I now supposed to be sad because of that?" Answering sourly, Sarah rubbed her sore neck. Her skin throbbed where the King's glove-clad fingers had pressed her.
His eyes narrowed. "Don't tempt your luck," he warned. "I won't tolerate disrespect from any of my subjects nor do I abide any slothfulness. Expect your work as a servant wench to start immediately!"
"I assume you want me to broom your royal arse in that case?" Sarah hissed, unable to prevent herself any longer.
"Get lost, Sarah!" the King snarled, pulling himself straight. "Or I'll forget that I just made a deal with you."
She escaped the room before he could hurl more insults or accusations on her with unshed tears stinging her eyes. Whatever had made him so cruel? Sarah wiped angrily at her face, shivering. The grey stones breathed coldness upon her as she wandered aimlessly through the empty corridors.
Her steps led her to an empty bench on a small balcony behind an arched doorway. She glanced around and, when she saw no one, sat down. Resting her chin against the palm of her hand, she stared with tear-dazed eyes over the courtyard at the distant forms of the maze she remembered solving years ago. Another sigh escaped her - just like her victories. She squeezed her eyes tightly together, repressing a shudder. The Goblin King had finally succeeded. She had lost to him, his Kingdom hated her, and she had doomed her friend. Sarah didn't know what the King had done to Hoggle but there remained little of hope she would ever again see Hoggle's round face in front of her or hear his advice. How could she ever tell this to Didymus or Ludo?
"They'll never forgive me!" Sarah let out a muffled sob. The tears emerged, cascading down her cheek and falling to the ground. The finality of her actions throbbed in her head, and leaning forward, she sighed, "Oh, what have I done…?"
A long time might have passed or no time at all, when her contemplations were interrupted.
"Miss?"
Startled, she sat up, wiping hastily at her moist cheeks, and looked down toward the squeaky tired-sounding voice that had spoken. Sarah blinked. A small black-and-white haired goblin was leaning against the stonewall, eyes drooping, almost snoring. It yawned.
"Miss should." He yawned again, whisking a turf of fur from his eyes. "…come."
"To where?" She hesitated, a memory of the King's vehement words echoing in her ears, and glanced around, half-expecting to see the King lurking somewhere behind the corner. To her relief, she saw no sight of the King or his white owl-shaped form for that matter. Only dark rooftops of the Goblin City beyond the castle walls shimmered in the pale light of the Underground's daylight.
"The King told to get Miss. Miss works now," the goblin replied.
"No doubt I will love the task he'd planned for me..." she muttered darkly, dusting off her hands on her jeans and rising to her feet.
He shrugged his shoulders without answering and, turning clumsily around, started limping inside the castle. Sarah stopped, narrowing her eyes. The goblin dragged his other leg behind him, swaggering ungracefully across the floor. Sarah had never seen such bad splayfoot, or limping. The leg looked like the bone had shattered too many times never ever having enough time to heal. She shivered, hearing a loud rasp against the stone floor as the goblin swept the dusty corridor with his leg like it were some sort of grotesque broom. Sarah heard him yawning another time.
He stopped, glancing over his shoulders, and noticed Sarah staring at him. "Miss comes," the goblin commanded wryly, feebly attempting to pull his leg next him and make it appear straighter.
Sarah shook her head. "You still haven't said what I'm supposed to do."
His face twisted, the mouth pulled into an ugly leer, and he groomed the stubborn pile of hair from his eyes another time. "Don't know," he muttered resentfully.
"Don't know or won't tell?" Sarah folded her arms across her chest. "I don't follow you anywhere until I hear where you're taking me – King's orders or not!"
He frowned and his movements turned sluggish, almost desperate. "Won't, won't, wont'," he muttered. "Won't tell. They never tell. Always Itys just fetch, Itys go. Itys's here and there. Never knows. Always so, but Itys never knows," he ranted, grasping on his head and shaking it vigorously. Wide-eyed, Sarah stared as the creature begun to bang his head against stonewall. The loud thumping bounced back-and-forth, rhythmically. She winced at the sound and unable to allow the small goblin to punish himself so cruelly hurried to him.
"Hey, cut it out!" she cried, grasping his shoulder and forcing him to cease his desperate attempts to slice open his skull. She dragged him further from the wall. "You're gonna hurt yourself if you keep going on like that," she scolded him gently, giving the dazed goblin a worried look. "You hear me?"
He returned her stare, gasping, "Miss Sarah doesn't want Itys to get hurt?" There was a note of utter amazement and awe in his voice, and the brightness of his red eyes grew stronger.
Instead of answering, she released her grasp and back-stepped, asking, "You know me?"
He shook his head. "Everybody knows Miss Sarah!" he told, lowering his voice. "Miss's very famous in the Underground. Caused more mess than goblins in hundred years."
"Oh," Sarah blushed. "Thanks, I guess."
"Miss Sarah comes now," Itys insisted, grasping her from the arm and pulling her with him. Sighing, she gave in and allowed the little creature to lead her away from the small balcony to whatever trial the King had planned for her behalf.
Sarah's fears were proven right. Holding her nose, she stared at the huge hole in the floor, back at Itys and another goblin, who both were inspecting her reaction keenly, and then back at the hole. "And tell me just what exactly am I supposed to do here?" She spun around and looked at the goblins with a disgusted frown on her face. The room smelled at least as bad as the toilets of the bars after 4 am - if not worse.
The other goblin jiggled his ears. Sweeping his hands to the dirty leather overalls that provided him hardly any protection from the stench and the dirt of the room, he looked down at his hands and the parched wrinkled paper he held upside down. He read aloud, apparently very proud about his talents, "The cleaning day. Cleaner: Sarah Williams."
"You got to be kiddin' me, right?" she asked tiredly, turning to Itys. "This has to be a joke."
Itys blinked. "Itys never jokes," he argued meekly.
"You got that right," the other goblin snorted. Poking the little Itys with his dirty fingers, he left dark oily marks in his fur. "Quite a feign for a goblin. Wonder if you're even a true one."
"Hey!" Sarah snapped, stepping up. "Pick someone of your own size and leave him alone!" she commanded.
The goblin just gave her an ugly frown. "Like you?"
"You watch your words, mister…goblin!" Sarah shook her finger in front of his face and let out a scared yelp when the creature suddenly jumped up scrunching his teeth together. She pulled herself upright, snatching her hand quickly back to herself before the goblin succeeded in sinking his teeth into her flesh. The clasp played a loud pinball in the space as he bit air instead of her fingers.
"Monster!" she hissed, rubbing her palm protectively.
"Don't fret!" the goblin snorted. "Be happy you still have your hand." He gave her a sly look. "Cleaning the garbage chute can be a quite nasty task with bleeding fingers…"
Sarah frowned at the obnoxious creature, placing her hands on her hips. "You can forget about it!" she snapped. "I'm not going to do that!"
"You're certain?" the other goblin asked with a gleeful glint in his eyes.
"No!" Itys cried frantically, taking a step forward. "Lady shouldn't defy the King. He wants…"
"Oh, be quiet, you rotten no-good-a-goblin!" the other goblin cut him short, slapping Itys with a casualness one could only master in many years. With a similar flippancy, Itys squeaked, and throwing his arms to protect his face, bent over.
"Itys' sorry, Itys' sorry!" he started ranting, sagging his body, and Sarah's eyes flamed from annoyance. "Itys will be silent."
"And better be good," the goblin spat.
"Hey you!" She stepped closer to the other goblin, mindful not to extend her hand too close to the creepy little creature and its pointed yellow teeth. "Stop that this instant!"
"Ha!" the goblin only leered, stuffing his hands in his overalls and lifted his chin. His black eyes glinted darkly as he returned her stare. "Go ahead. Make my day and make me!"
"You asked for this," Sarah muttered under her breath, leaning over the goblin. She didn't even scratch the goblin's tail. Cackling, the creature sprinted to run and flashed faster her eye could perceive to the shadows of the corners, leaving her to shove for empty air instead of the wedges of his hairy ears.
"Stupid clumsy human!" She heard his voice from the shadows, laughing. "We'll be having a swell time with you in the castle!"
She didn't pay any more attention to the annoying little goblin. Instead, shaking her head, Sarah knelt down next to Itys and gently touched his shoulders. "Are you alright?"
He jarred his hands half-open, peeking through his fingers at her.
"He's gone now." Sarah encouraged him, and Itys sniffed, slowly lowering his arms to his sides and stole a curious glance at her. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" She worried, but Itys only shook his head and looked down, sweeping the floor with his healthy leg. The gesture reminded Sarah sharply of her brother when the kid was feeling uncomfortable and anxious. She shoved the memory of Toby hastily away, not willing to dwell in her worry for him. But… Sarah creased her brows at the sudden realization; remembering the goblins were all just a bunch of small kids: alone, abandoned and lacking someone to love. Itys too, no doubt, had once been a boy of Toby's age. She nearly ruffled his hair just to assure the small goblin that everything was fine but decided against that. Itys was not her brother. He was Jareth's minion. Even if he was apparently a simple-minded one and bullied by other goblins, she ought to remember he was not her friend. Sarah scrambled back to her feet.
"What did you mean by saying I shouldn't defy the Goblin King?" she asked after awhile.
Itys glanced around, hesitating. He took a step closer. "Itys knows he waits for the miss to say 'no'." The goblin nodded reassuringly. "Itys knows," he repeated quietly, gently rubbing his twisted leg, apparently unconscious of the gesture.
She froze and nervously glanced about, gulping down a painful lump in her throat. The King expected her to decline? Uninvited, memories from a lecture she attended during her studies returned back to her mind, prickling her skin. Sarah had nearly vomited in her lap during the lecture and had to escape the classroom when the teacher reached from his list of twenty most used torture items item number six: breast ripper. Sarah still remembered the image of the cast iron sphere with sharp spikes attached to it like teeth of a hungry mouth. Oblivious to her own reaction, Sarah covered her mouth, worried. Would the King be capable of such cruelty?
Her shoulders sagged, and she brought her gaze back to the stinking and dirty hole in the floor. One thing was sure, compared to possibilities her imagination was creating in front of her eyes, cleaning a garbage chute wasn't that bad job after all.