Your Eyes Can Be So Cruel

Chapter 6: Confessions and Jareth's Present

I ended up wandering through the labyrinth for about an hour, not really caring where I was going. In my mind, I could still see his blue eyes staring into mine and feel his hand against my cheek. I found myself standing next to the Wise Man, who was asleep sitting on his chair that was carved to look like books. I was sitting there at the foot of his chair, lost in thought, when Hoggle walked up.

"Elizabeth?" I looked up.

"Hi, Hoggle…" He came over and turned my face with his hand.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Nothing." I turned my face away from him.

"Jareth did that, didn't he?" I nodded.

"Damn you Jareth! I swear if he does it again imma - "

"Do what?" I said smiling. "He scares you, remember?"

"Doesn't he scare you?"

"Sometimes…" I said, remembering his hating eyes when he hit me. "Not as much as he scares you."

"Ah, I see." Hoggle said.

"See what?" I asked looking at him.

"You think he's handsome, don't you?" Hoggle said smirking. I sighed.

"Yes, I daresay he is…" I said quietly.

"That's what I thought." Hoggle said sounding satisfied.

"What's that supposed to mean!" I exclaimed. Hoggle walked over to a wall of the labyrinth.

"You love him!" Hoggle declared and then ran off before I could say anything. I shook my head and stared at the ground.

"Maybe…maybe Hoggle's right." I mumbled "I think I do love him…"

xXx

I saw Elizabeth's sad face in the crystal. I had this odd little habit of checking up on her when she wasn't within my sight.

"You think he's handsome, don't you?" I heard Hoggle ask.

"Yes, I daresay he is…" came her reply. My eyes widened as their conversation came to a close.

"That's what I thought." Hoggle said sounding satisfied.

"What's that supposed to mean!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"You love him!" Hoggle declared.

"Maybe…maybe Hoggle's right." she mumbled "I think I do love him…" I couldn't recognize the feeling that went went through me. I brought up another crystal to see Sarah, who was helping a giant creature with ginger hair. I looked from crystal to crystal. Elizabeth…she was my servant, but…was that all she was to me? Sarah…I loved her, there was no doubt about that, but did she love me in return? Not being able to make sense of it all, I tossed the crystals into the air and laid in my bed, falling into a restless sleep.

xXx

I knocked on the door to Jareth's room, but there was no answer. I quietly opened the door and walked in. Looking around, I saw Jareth asleep on his bed. I walked over and moved some hair out of his face, smiling.

"Leila…" Jareth mumbled. So, that girl was still haunting him. He looked so innocent when he slept, so much like a child…I just wished there was some way for me to take his pain away, not let him suffer anymore. I cleared my head of these thoughts and shook him gently.

"Master." He grabbed my wrist.

"What is it?" He sat up and I bowed, he still holding onto my wrist.

"Sarah, she's reached the bog." I told him, looking up. He opened his eyes and looked at me. In his eyes was something that I've never seen. I could see that he was conflicted. With what I couldn't guess.

"Damn that girl. Where is Hoggle." He asked.

"Wandering around the Labyrinth." Jareth released my wrist, walked around me, and swirled on his cloak over his poets shirt.

"Lets go." He said. I only half heard him. His eyes had stirred new thoughts into my head that I couldn't comprehend. For some strange reason, I had this feeling that Jareth knew what I had said…

Things aren't always

What they seem…

'Of course.' I thought as I followed Jareth. 'He'll always love Sarah…'

xXx

"I'm coming, Sarah!" Hoggle said when he heard her scream for help. He turned around and then stopped dead in his tracks.

"Well," Jareth said pleasantly, looking quite handsomely fiendish in his cloak. "if it isn't you."

"It isn't me." Hoggle told him, trembling as I giggled.

"Where are you going, Hoggle?" I asked sweetly.

"The little lady, she gave me the slip…er…but I just hears her now…" Jareth's eyes narrowed. "So, I was about to, uh, take her back to the beginning, like you told me."

"I see." Jareth said. "For one moment I thought you were running to help her. But no, not after my warnings. That would be stupid."

"Me?" Hoggle said. "Help her? After your warnings?" Jareth elegantly inclined his head.

"Oh dear," he said, seeming concerned. "poor Hoghead!"

"Hoggle." I corrected him.

"I just noticed that your precious jewels are missing."

"Uh…" Hoggle looked down at his belt where a red bag of jewels usually hung. "Oh yes, so they are. My lovely jewels. Missing. Better find 'em…but first, I'm off to take the little lady back to the beginning of the Labyrinth, just like we planned." I rolled my eyes.

'Hoggle you really are a bad liar.' I started to walk off, as did Hoggle.

"Wait." Jareth said, and we both froze and turned around. "I have a much better plan." With a wave of his hand, Jareth produced a bubble from the air, which became a crystal in his hand. "Giver her this." He tossed the crystal to Hoggle and it turned into a peach when he caught it.

"Wha– what is it?"

"It's a present." I looked at Jareth. The look in his eyes, the almost evil smile, I knew he was planning something. Something which I would have to be a part of.

"It ain't gonna hurt the little lady…" Hoggle said slowly.

"Now, why the concern?" Jareth asked.

"I-I won't do nothing to harm her." Jareth laughed.

"Come, come, come, Hogbrain. You give her that or I'll tip you straight into the Bog of Eternal Stench before you can blink." Hoggle nodded and then started to hurry on his way to Sarah.

"I'll tell you what."

"There's more?" I said. "What more could you do to him!" Jareth just ignored me.

"If she ever kisses you – I'll turn you into a prince."

"You will?" Hoggle said.

"Prince of the Land of Stench." Of course, there was a catch. Hoggle turned away from Jareth's laughing and walked off.

"What's that peach going to do to her?" Jareth stopped laughing and turned to look at me. I folded my arms across my chest. "C'mon, out with it. What'll it do to her?"

"It will show her what I'm offering." Jareth said, smiling pleasantly as he disappeared. Sighing, I turned back into a raven and flew off to my room.