Kate stumbled into the room, and heard the heavy wood door slam shut
behind her. Just beyond it, the goblin guards were whispering to
themselves. She could still feel their nasty little fingers digging
into her arms, could still smell them. Rotted turnips. That's what
they smelled like. She shivered in disgust.
It was clear that the Labyrinth she had dreamed about was quite
unlike the Labyrinth of reality. How foolish she had been to
romanticize it all. She wondered what in the world was wrong with
Jareth. In her mind's eye she saw his face twisting in pain as he
doubled over, his hands on his stomach. He had been so intent on
getting her out of the room, away from him. The look in his eyes had
been of pain, but more than that, of humiliation.
Heaving a weary sigh, she turned to take a good look at the room
around her. The first thing she saw was that it was a bedroom, and it
appeared to be something out of the Elizabethan period. An enormous
bed stood with long, thick draperies of red on either side, and about
a hundred pillows of numerous shapes and sizes, all in black velvet
lay propped against a massive and ornately carved headboard. On
closer inspection, Kate realized that the headboard was in the shape
of an owl in flight. It's wings spread out on either side, the detail
work so extensive that she could actually see wisps of feathers
carved into the wood. It was indeed impressive.
Turning, Kate took in the rest of the room, which was empty except
for one wall which was covered in a tapestry. She took a few steps
toward it, mesmerized by rich colors of scarlet, green, and gold.
Woven into the tapestry were pictures of the Labyrinth itself: A
winding maze of stone walls...a castle...and lastly, a large door
about six feet high.
"How am I ever going to get out of here?" Kate wondered aloud. For
all she knew, the Goblin King would keep her locked in this room
forever. And she was certain the goblins would obey his every
command. She could still hear them outside her room, standing guard
in case she tried to make a run for it.
Not that she would. She was smart enough to know that she wouldn't
get five feet before being attacked by a goblin mob, or worse, by
Jareth himself. He wouldn't let her leave until he was ready to do
so. The bad thing was, she had no idea how long that would be. Would
she be forced to stay prisoner in this dusty old room until Jareth
grew bored with her?
Then a thought struck her, and she turned to regard the tapestry in
front of her. Her aunt's words echoed again and again in her
mind. "Not everything is as it appears to be in the Labyrinth."
Taking a deep breath, she stretched out her hand and gently touched
the tapestry where the picture of the door was. Just as she had
hoped, her hand went straight through it. Excited now, Kate stepped
all the way through the tapestry, until she was on the other side.
She found herself in a dark corridor. The air was musty and cobwebs
hung like shrouds along the walls. She had no idea what part of the
castle she was in, but it didn't matter. She had won a small part of
the battle.
She knew it was true what Aunt Sarah had always said, "Never take
anything for granted in the Labyrinth". With renewed confidence, Kate
started to make her way down the long hall.
Not so very far away in the Throne Room, Jareth was standing looking
out the window. The fierce pain had subsided now, gone as quickly as
it had come. There was no way to know when an attack would seize him,
but he had hoped it would never be in her presence.
Gripping the cold wall on either side of the window, he cursed under
his breath. He was angry. Angry at himself for not being able to
control the pain, angry that he had shown weakness in front of her,
angry at her for looking into his eyes and seeing the torment there.
He knew she saw it, he was certain of it. He refused to show any sign
of true emotion with her; he had shown his feeling once with her aunt
and he had lost. He would not make that fatal mistake again.
Humans were so different than he was. They wore their emotions on
their sleeves for all the world to see. He could take one look at
them and know what they were feeling: sadness, happiness, pain. And
he refused to let anyone - most of all that girl - see his
vulnerability.
His thoughts drifted to Kate, and he cursed again, louder this time.
He needed her, but he bloody well wasn't going to let her know it.