Your Eyes Can Be So Cruel

Chapter 5: Cleaners.

The picture of Sarah's silent face was in a crystal in the throne room of the Goblin King.

"She's in the oubliette…" The goblins cackled wickedly. I stood silent in the back, my hands folded over my dress.

"Shut up." Jareth told the goblins. "She shouldn't have gotten as far as the oubliette. She should have given up by now…" From where I was standing I could see the hurt in Jareth's eyes that he tried so hard to hide.

"She'll never give up…" I whispered. Everyone went silent.

"Won't she?" Jareth said, looking at me with harsh eyes. "She'll soon give up when she realizes she has to start all over again." Jareth knew Sarah was smart, but with the time she had left, there was no way she could reach the castle from the beginning.

"Hoggle!" Hoggle's face appeared in the crystal. "She's in the oubliette. Get her back to the outer walls."

"She's quite determined, your Majesty." Hoggle said, looking surprised. "It won't be easy to-"

"Do it." Jareth tossed the crystal into the air, where it turned into a bubble, and then popped. He turned his head to look at me. I kept my eyes fixed on the floor, not being able to look at the disappointment in his eyes. All the goblins looked from me to their king.

"Leave us." Jareth commanded and all the goblins bolted out of the room at once. "Elizabeth." I walked out from where I was standing and bowed before my king, not saying a word.

"Elizabeth, you've let many girls fall into oubliettes; even when they have barely started." I closed my eyes.

"I know." Jareth grabbed my arm and forced me to stand up and look at him.

"The labyrinth changing didn't stop her. What makes you think an oubliette will?" He growled.

"You-you told me to waster her time." I whispered. "I thought that…" Jareth let go of my arm and hit me across my face, sending me straight onto the steps of his throne. He stood there, glaring down at me.

"You are first and foremost my servant, Elizabeth. I raised you only as a favor to Hoggle. You are nothing more than another goblin to me. Don't make another mistake." He turned and walked out of the room and into his room. I sat up, my hand over my cheek, wincing as the pain of new bruises washed over me. I stood up and walked over to the window, looking out over the Goblin City.

'That's not the first time he's hit me…With Leila…he hit me so hard I had a cut on my face from his ring…This girl, this…Sarah, has to be more important to him than Leila was…' With these thoughts still running through my mind, I slowly walked to my room. 'Jareth isn't a cruel man…' I thought.'There are very little things that make him mad, but what I did…I guess I crossed the line this time.'

xXx

"Elizabeth!" Jareth came storming into my room. I stood up from my chair and bowed to him. "Come with me. I need to have a talk with Hoggle." I stood up and followed Jareth to the passageway outside the oubliette.

I hide in the shadows as Jareth, dressed as a beggar, sat against the wall. I rubbed my cheek where he had hit me. It was still red. I could hear Sarah's and Hoggle's voices echo through the passage, coming ever closer. A small crystal rolled through the opening and hopped into Jareth's mug.

"So what have we here?" Jareth said as Sarah and Hoggle walked into the room

"Uh, nothing." Hoggle said.

"Nothing. Nothing!?" Jareth stood up and threw off his costume. I came out from the shadows and stood behind Jareth.

"Your Majesty!" Hoggle said bowing. Sarah looked at me around Jareth and motioned to the redness on my face.

Are you okay? She mouthed. I shook my head.

Don't ask. I mouthed back.

"Hello Hedgewart." Jareth said.

"Hogwart." Sarah corrected him.

"Hoggle!" I said.

"Hoggle." Jareth said his voice a little too nice. "Could it be that you're helping this girl?"

"Helping? In what sense?" Hoggle asked.

"In the sense that you're leading her toward the castle." Hoggle's eyes shifted from Jareth, to Sarah, to me and then back to Jareth.

"Oh, no, no, no, your Majesty. I was leading her back to the beginning."

"What!" Sarah exclaimed. I smiled.

"I told her I was going to help her unriddle the labyrinth – a little trickery on my part – but actually…"

"What is that plastic thing around your wrist?" Jareth said, interrupting him.

"This? I…Why, er, my goodness, well I never, where did this come from?"

"Hoggle." Jareth said, getting impatient. "If I thought you were betraying me, I would be forced to suspend you headfirst into the Bog of Eternal Stench." My eyes widened. That was the most horrible fate you could give a person. Put even one toe into the bog and you will stink forever.

"Oh, no, your Majesty!" Hoggle begged. "Not the Eternal Stench!"

"Yes, Hoggle." Jareth turned and smiled at Sarah. "And you, Sarah – how are you enjoying my Labyrinth?" Sarah hesitated before she answered.

"It's a piece of cake." Jareth raised on elegant eyebrow.

"Really?" He said, sounding intrigued. "Then how about upping the stakes." He pointed to the side and the thirteen hour clock appeared. With a wave of his hand the hands of the clock began turning faster.

"Good luck now, Princess." I said smirking.

"That's not fair!" Sarah said.

"You say that so often. I wonder what your basis of comparison is." He walked around her, pulling me along by the arm. Hoggle opened his mouth to say something but I shook my head and he closed it again.

"The labyrinth is a piece of cake is it?" Jareth laughed and conjured up a crystal. "Well, let's see how you deal with this little slice." He threw the crystal down the passageway behind him and a solid wall of furiously spinning knives and chopping cleavers came speeding toward us. Jareth pulled me to the side and out of the way of the 'Cleaners'. I turned to look at Hoggle with fear in my eyes.

"Run!" Hoggle shouted and rand in the other direction with Sarah close behind. The Cleaners passed Jareth and I and continued on after Sarah and Hoggle. I watched it go in horror, knowing there was a locked gate in the tunnel. Eventually, I heard the sound of metal cracking, bending, and breaking as the Cleaners chopped it's way past the gate, The noise faded away, as did the sound of Sarah's and Hoggle's cries. Jareth's grip tightened on my bare arm.

"They'll be alright." I said. "She's smart, she found a way out." Jareth looked at me wincing in pain and then at his hand on my arm. He quickly let go and I rubbed my arm to regain feeling. Jareth looked down the passage only to see nothing.

"Come, Elizabeth, back to the castle."

"Sorry, Majesty," I said "but my duty is to follow the girl."

"Oh, right." Jareth said and walked back over to me. I shook my head slightly to move a stray hair out of my face. Jareth looked at me, tilted his head, and raised one gloved hand to stroke my cheek where he had hit me. I looked up to see his blue eyes full of concern.

"I did that…" he mumbled. "I'm sorry." I turned my face away.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing." I knew he could see right through that. He had always been able to see through my lies. I sighed, knowing that he meant so much more to me than he knew.

"Excuse me, your Majesty, but I must be going." I bowed quickly and walked as fast as I could out of the passageway.

Authoress: Now, I don't want Jareth to seem like the bad guy...

Too late.

Shad up _ Anyway, o-o I had to create something that could happen between the two so they could have a fluff moment too o-o that's the first thing I thought of... Next chapter is gonna have J's POV too =]