Chapter 2. Lilith

The tower of the Dark Queen Lilith was a long way from the Castle at the heart of the Labyrinth. Somewhere on the edge of night, and near the Dream Plane, it stood in majestic beauty. It was here she resided most days now. Travel held little interest for her, and she was not a Courtier. Court politics held no interest nor did the world of man. The Dark Queen occupied her time honing skills.

She was seated in her tower, working on perfecting her skill of working with the energies of crystals when she was racked by pain. She collapsed breathless to the stone floor of her tower. Panting she cried out for her minions to come to her aid. As handmaidens helped the Queen to her feet the pain passed as suddenly as it came. Lilith's dark eyes, pools as black as cooled lava, filled with fear. "Someone of my Kindred has fallen." She moaned.

One of the handmaidens handed her a crystal. "Perhaps you can scry?"

Lilith touched the clear crystal, instantly it showed her the one who lay still on a bed. "My son." She wept. "Why has my son done this?" She gathered her dark magic about her. "I go to the Goblin Realm."

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Hoggle stood with the healer, who was holding the goblet found near the King. He had not left the side of the King since finding him. The healer told him the King was resting and would not be conscious for some time. The healer was still trying to identify all the ingredients in the goblet.

"Unless we know what he ingested we can not give him the proper antidote." Falgon the healer said with a dark confidence.

Hoggle glared at the evil cup in the healer's hand. "Does that thing tell you nothing?"

"It gives us clues." Falgon sighed.

The dwarf looked at the pale figure on the bed. "What about his tower… has anyone checked in there? He's been spending most of his time locked up in there…There has to be some clue in the tower."

Slowly the healer put the goblet on a stand. "The King has put up wards to keep snoopy people out."

Hoggle sniffed the air, "uh oh." He whispered. "I smell trouble coming."

The room filled with an electric charge and from a dark corner emerged the figure of Lilith. Her face was filled with pain. "What has happened to my son?" she demanded of the two.

Falgon, who had had dealings with this Queen before fell to his knees. Hoggle just stared open mouthed. The healer did the talking for both. "We are not sure, Queen Lilith… we know he was found in this condition in the woods of the Labyrinth…this goblet was found near him. We are working on identifying the potion but there is little to go on."

Swiftly the Fae Queen gripped the goblet and brought it to her nose. "Sweet Danu… he's taken a drought of forgetfulness."

Hoggle gulped. "She can tell that just by sniffing?"

Flagon nodded. "Royal Fae have an incredible sense of smell. All their senses are heightened." Flagon stood up and approached the lamenting Queen. "We can not get in his tower, if you could lower his wards we may find what he mixed, and be able to create an antidote."

Lilith handed him the goblet. "It will do you no good; there is no antidote for this potion…" She moved to her son's bedside. "What could be so terrible that you'd wipe your mind clear of all memory, my beloved son?" Motherly tender hands moved to the soft tendrils of hair.

Hoggle watched, feeling guilty, and knowing in part some of what pained the King.

Flagon was not ready to give up. "There must be an antidote."

Lilith stood, "There is but one Fae who may know of one… Gilgamesh." She gathered her dark cloak about her. "Pray he will give me audience."

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Gilgamesh drank in the quiet; his home was a haven of peace. Surrounding himself with reminders of his past and his short time in the world of man, he enjoyed his self imposed exile. He had time to work on scrolls, and sandstone tomes. The intrigues of court had never been to his liking, and most Fae shunned him. He was not like them, not even in appearance. He still held onto the resemblance and similarities of the mortal realm from which he was born.

Even now, ageless, he looked like a mortal man of the long ago. He was broad chested, and muscular with arms that at one time could bend hard iron bands. His legs were as sturdy as his arms, and his mind like a vortex gathering in all that surrounded him. He was a man with an enthusiastic energetic appetite. Joining the world of the immortals had not decreased that.

At first, when he had turned, and there was still speculation as to what the cause of the transformation had been, he had tried to assimilate into the Fae culture. Now he didn't bother with pretending. He still dressed in the manner of the time to which he'd been born, and the area of the desert that had been his home. Long flowing robes, tunics of silk and fine leather breastplates were what he found comfort in. He still looked like a King of the Babylonian dawn. His tower, his house, his furnishings everything in his life now reflected Babylon as he remembered it.

Most of the Fae were content to leave him in peace. Few, very few, would venture out to his tower seeking audience. He was too plain speaking for some of the Fae, and didn't play the games of politics. He didn't bother with flowery speech, or with veiled threats and insults. He spoke as he had when he was a mortal man. Royal Fae, some at least, feared the untamed power that seemed to surround the Babylonian.

Something in the air about him changed and he prepared himself for the uninvited guest. His eyes darkened when the woman stepped into the light. "Lilith." He said with a bit of annoyance. "To what do I owe the honor of this impromptu visit?" He took a seat, not bothering to offer her one.

"I come to ask you for help, Lord Gilgamesh." She stood with a piteous look on her face. "I will beg if need be, Gilgamesh."

The one time King remembered his court manners and stood again, taking her arm he guided her toward a low lying couch. "Come, be seated…tell me what the matter is that troubles you." He knelt beside the woman.

"My son Jareth has taken Ishtar's Tears." She whispered softly.

"Ishtar's Tears?" Gilgamesh gasped. "Lilith, are you certain? I thought we'd gathered all the remains of that vile potion… how could he get a hold of it?"

The Dark Queen whispered. "We believe he must have found a copy of the formula … Gilgamesh…he looks…so….empty…. come help him." She begged.

"He's the Goblin King, is he not? Why turn to me, this is a court matter." He stood up and backed away. "My accords with your High King include me not interfering in court matters, or had you forgotten? You and your line are Royal Fae, why not turn to Oberon for aid?"

"You are the only one who's ever brought someone back from Ishtar's Tears. Not even Oberon has ever used that God forsaken potion! It's been banned…and…" she wept.

"You've not gone to your High King." The man suggested, seeing her nod he groaned. "I don't like being put in the middle of a Fae matter. There is no gain for me, only tribulation and conflict with a Fae King whom I prefer not to annoy!"

Lilith pulled herself together, wiping the tears from her face and speaking in a voice with authority. "You are a King, so this you will understand… Jareth can not be seen as weak. I've been given the realm of the darkness, of dreams and nightmares and of the creatures that inhabit those realms… I've many children, sons who rule Kingdoms no other Fae care to. Sons and daughters of my line rule over the creatures who strike fear even in most Fae. Of all my sons and daughters, this one….this one is different." Her confession was as cunningly quiet as her tears were loud. "He is my heart, and soul, he is my favored son. He rules with more passion than all the rest. He has even tamed the Labyrinth, and become its Master."

The one time King took a seat. "I understand… I too am a parent… and have a favored child."

Lilith smiled wistfully. "No matter how much you love all your children… and I do love them all… somehow… one…stands out. One holds all your hopes. Jareth is strong in ways few are, and he has heart…But if an enemy knew he was weakened…I hate to think of the Goblin Realm in the hands of any other." She drew a raw crystal from the air. "This is my son."

Gilgamesh had heard of the Goblin King yet was not personally acquainted with him. "He's fair of face." He said turning to the Queen whose own hair was dark as night and whose skin was rich olive. "He looks…"

"Like one of the Seelie High Court?" Lilith finished for the astonished man beside her. "He does, indeed. He is the only one of my offspring who resembles the fair Fae. Can you help him?"

The man stood up and glanced about his peaceful retreat. "It will mean leaving my home." He lamented. "But yes, Lilith I will help."

Lilith cautioned. "It will mean moving in secret." She stood up and held out a hand. "I am adept at the art of stealthy movement. Allow me to transport you."

Clasping the hand he smiled. "I am at your service."

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Sarah refused to leave her room the rest of that evening, reducing a chance of being with Mrs. Miller. She waited in her room until she saw her father pull out of the drive to go to work the next morning. Then she swiftly moved down to the kitchen. "Karen, can we talk?"

Karen was sipping coffee, smiled up at her stepdaughter. "Well good morning sleepy head, I thought you might have jet lag…" Her voice was pleasant and welcoming.

"I've been up for hours. I stayed in my room so I wouldn't have a confrontation with Daddy." Sarah said pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I need answers and he'll just give me a lawyers run around. I'm trusting that you'll be more direct." She spoke frankly to her stepmother.

The strawberry blond sighed. "I'll try."

"Why does Daddy think I'm a danger to Toby," holding up a hand she silenced the automatic protest. "Mrs. Miller practically accused me of trying to harm him last night. I brought a stuffed toy in England…a little dwarf thing I found in a shop near my mother's apartment… and you should have seen Mrs. Miller go over it with a fine toothed comb. She acted like I would hide something harmful in the toy…She said Daddy told her to inspect anything I had to Toby."

Karen closed her eyes and groaned. "I hate that woman!" she complained. "I never wanted her to sit for Toby, but your father insisted…. Oh Sarah, this all goes back to your nightmares. … Your father over reacted when Dr. DeCaro told us about your progress….He's got it in his head that you hate Toby."

"Karen, I don't hate Toby!" Sarah grabbed hold of her stepmother's hand. "I love him… ok, I'm not the best big sister… but… I was not prepared for you…or him…how could I be….Daddy didn't even tell me about you until the day he dragged you in here telling me I had a new mother. I mean what did he expect?"

The older woman nodded. "I told him that was a mistake. I wanted to meet you long before we married. But no one can tell Robert Williams what to do." She sighed. "I know you don't hate Toby. You're wonderful with him…and he misses you so. I was hoping your father would allow you to finish your senior year at the local school, but he won't relent." She felt compassion sympathy and mercy toward the confused teen"Sarah, we only have a few days, let's make them count…you, me and Toby."

Sarah looked at the woman she'd treated so poorly only a year before. "Funny isn't it… you defending me….Ok, you, me and the kid. What would you like to do first?"

Karen smiled, "I want you to go up stairs and put on one of your prettiest outfits…I want to take you and Toby to Kruss' Studio and have a portrait made of you together." She waited until the girl left the room and then dialed up Mrs. Miller. "Sarah told me she brought home a present for Toby…but I don't see it… do you know what happened to it?"

"I threw it away, like your husband instructed me to." The older woman said in a pronounced tone of dislike.

Karen was seething, she hung up the phone then went to the trash barrel, finding the little dwarf toy under a blanket. "Bitch!" she snapped and cleaned it off. Taking it back to the kitchen she found a sponge and cleaned it so it looked good as new. "How dare she toss such a sweet little fellow?" Sarah returned to the Kitchen Toby in her arms. She had washed and dressed the boy for Karen. Karen handed him the little dwarf. She smiled at Sarah, "Such a cute little fellow, we should give him a special name."

"How about …Hoggle?" Sarah said, and quickly added. "It will be easy for Toby to learn to say."

Karen agreed, grabbed her purse and keys and said. "Well then, I think he should be in the pictures with you. Such a cute little man… I love that big nose, and his eyes…."

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Queen Lilith stood off to the side while Gilgamesh looked at the King. "How much did he drink?"

"No one seems to know." She replied. "In fact the boy put wards up to prevent any of his subjects from entering his private tower."

The man picked up the goblet and joined her where she stood. "Ah but that will not prevent us, now will it?"

Lilith winked, "There isn't a ward he knows that I don't know a way around. There are quite a few I know that he does not." She led the way to the tower, past Goblins who were scurrying about their daily chores. "They are keeping up appearances." She advised the man. "They have no desire for anyone but Jareth to rule them. In spite of his treatment of them from time to time, they adore him." She looked at the wards, placed her hand to the wall and they vanished. "Inside we should find the answers we seek."

"No, only what he did." The old King corrected. "Not the reason why."

Entering the secret sanctum of her son, the woman looked about. "He must have been working there." She pointed to the table with containers and a small cauldron. "Look, a scroll."

The King moved toward the table with caution, fearing more wards that may go undetected. "Hold this," He handed the goblet to the woman while he inspected the table and picked up the scroll. "It's Ishtar's Tears alright. I was sure every copy of this had been destroyed."

Lilith read over the shoulder of the King. "Where could he have gotten a copy of that?"

"He must have found it right here…who was King before Jareth?" Gilgamesh asked.

"Oh there were several dozen before him, some lasting only a century." Lilith shrugged. "However, during the time of this scrolls' writing, the King here was Kuzel a Goblin. One of the last of the Goblin Kings, and there is much about him we don't know."

"I'll bet our friend Kuzel was a minor player in magic…." Gilgamesh sniffed the parchment. "It's Goblin alright, and they never did pay much attention to orders from Fae until Fae started living among them." He moved to the wall of scrolls. "Good Goddess, there are forbidden scrolls by the score here." He touched one or two of them and shook his head. "Your son's scroll library here is full of dark secrets, Lilith. He must be a man of great strength to have never resorted to using some of these. Few, even among the Fae would be able to resist such temptation… and he had to have known what was here."

Lilith sighed. "So we know what and how…but not the why." She looked down at the goblet in her hands. "What could make him want to forget everything?"

Placing his hand under her chin, the man whispered; "Only one thing can induce that kind of heart ache."

Lilith gasped; "A woman."

"A woman."

Hoggle was standing in the hall, hidden and thought, 'A girl…the girl.' The dwarf sunk back into the shadows of the tower and made his way out. He knew he had to move quickly and go into hiding. He wondered if there were time enough to warn Sir Didymus or Ludo.

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Sarah sat with the photographer going though background after background. Nothing seemed to please her or Karen, until they found a woodland glade with a little waterfall off to the side. "That's it." Karen said. "That's perfect."

Toby, clutching his toy dwarf was seated in Sarah's lap. His head resting on Sarah's heart, looking up at his sister with total adoration. The man snapped the shot quickly, not wanting to even bother posing them. "Just be natural with each other." He said taking shot after shot. Pausing he said, "Shall we get mom in here too?"

Karen shook her head no. "This is for them." She stated strongly. "Just them."

When the roll of film was taken, they packed up and left. Sarah thanked Karen for so thoughtful a gift. Karen quipped, "See, the old stepmother is quite so wicked, is she?"

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Lilith and Gilgamesh entered the throne room, she as the Queen of the Night and the mother of the ruling monarch took her place on the throne. "Goblins hear my words and mark them well. I will know who it was that caused my son such heart ache, so don't try to protect her."

One Goblin, a lanky fellow with a helmet that had cockeyed horns, came forward. He bowed on wobbly legs, his low white mustache twitching as he spoke. "There was a girl…majesty. But she's long gone."

"A girl?" Lilith asked in astonishment.

"Yes, Queen of the Dark and Air, a girl… a girl who ate a peach." He looked like he was trying hard to remember something, and not quiet making the connections. He repeated himself. "The girl that ate the peach and forgot everything… and then remembered…."

Gilgamesh covered her lower face not wanting the Goblins or Lilith to see his amusement. It the matter were not so serious, it would have been hysterical. He was sure the Goblins could be fierce warriors, but this band of miscreants seemed more incline to mirth and merriment.

Lilith was trying to listen to the Goblin fellow talking, but she was having a hard time with his mutterings and ravings.

"She came here with her friends, they sacked our village…she and the King…. Fought…well not really fighting with fisticuffs… but the stair room, one of his best puzzles was ruined…." The tall lanky Goblin muttered on. Other Goblins began to say things as well, denouncing the evil girl for deed done in the Labyrinth. Soon they were all speaking at once.

"Silence!" Ordered the Queen, she looked at the King who was laughing softly. "It's not funny."

Gilgamesh placed a hand on hers. "Oh my dearest Lilith, it is. Your handsome son was felled by a mortal, and not just a mortal but a female… a girl… not yet a woman."

"My poor boy." The Queen lamented, and then she too found the humor. "Well, the mighty Jareth, who refused to be used as bait for a royal marriage was refused by a mere Mortal." The Queen snapped her fingers and the room went still, all the Goblins were giving her their complete attention. "Does this mighty human girl have a name?"

In unison, the Goblins in the throne room cried out. "Sarah."