Reaching out
Jareth scanned the Labyrinth, idly passing a crystal orb between his fingers. He resisted the temptation to check on Sarah again. He could hardly bear to think of her back in the Underground after all this time.
Closer in space perhaps, he mused. But not in ease of touch. He had grown used to looking over her as she played out her mortal life, seeming so innocent of her weighty past. It had been intoxicating, perching on her windowsill, watching whenever he pleased. Now that she had touched the magic of the court, her former place of power, she would begin to regain her formidable talents. She was no longer the child he had toyed with in the Labyrinth.
And what did she mean by bringing cold iron back with her, he wondered. What new game was this. She must be playing for keeps this time.
If only she hadn't been so stubborn, he thought, bringing a crystal before his gaze, staring into a memory. He held Sarah close, swirling through the ballroom. She had been completely compliant in his embrace, making no effort to domineer him. She was the creature with whom he had striven for supremacy over the fairy court for ages, but with the experience of a young woman, without the strategy and domination of the Fairy Queen. He treasured the memory of her in that state, he realized sadly.
On the other hand, it would be good to have his lover and rival back again. Jareth had not understood what his queen had hoped to gain from her incarnation as a mortal, but he did not believe she would have undertaken the risk without good reason. She was too canny a witch for that.
Could he stop her from taking back the realm she had held so long? he asked himself. Did he want to, if the price was losing her to Earth?
How deep was her game?
He felt someone enter the balcony. He turned and smiled warmly at the well-turned out boy awaiting his attention.
"Come, Tobias," he said, waving his human charge toward him. "Join me." Jareth had given up on the idea of renaming the boy. It made it nearly impossible to get meaningful answers from the goblin's about the boy's location when they misplaced him, among other problems. But "Toby" was too informal for the ward of the Goblin King.
The boy moved to Jareth's side. "What did the goblins do this time?" the boy asked.
"They forgot to respect the boundaries I gave them," the Goblin King explained.
"But the chamber of stairs, no goblin has violated that rule in all the time I've been here," Tobias said, careful of his diction. If he slipped into goblin speak his guardian would correct him.
"Well I suppose the excitement of a chicken-" the Goblin King began to laugh then cut himself off. It was unusual behavior, come to think of it. He began to grow suspicious.
"Your Majesty?" the boy asked anxiously. "What do you think got into the goblins?"
"Nothing, I'm sure," Jareth said. "It's time for your lesson."
Sarah took a moment to check the progress of the fairy trio bearing the crystal to her before turning her attention back to the fountain. If that sphere contained what she thought it did, she would have much to do.
Stretching her attention over the dusty ruins, she strained to touch the patterns. She could almost feel them, nearly grasp them. She felt so close to understanding, but some necessary element eluded her.
An image swam into her mind, of threads of magic dancing in her hands. The fountain, when she had created it. An alien feeling rushed over her. Her knees buckled with an intense feeling of vertigo and deja vu.
She took a deep breath and walked around the fountain. She had done this before.
She dipped her hands into the water and brought a cupped handful to her lips. The water tingled she drank, and she felt calmer, more connected.
She sat on dusty ground, cross-legged, and let her senses expand.
Brunga scuttled quietly into the maze. He didn't see anything different than the part of the Labryinth he was just in.
Suddenly he was hoisted into the air. "What's this?" asked a gruff voice, as the hand turned him upside-down.
"I say, it is a goblin. Verily, I hath not seen one of their kind since, well for a long time," said another voice.
"Should I stuff it down the outbliette, yer knightship?" Brunga twisted around to see who was holding him. A dwarf! He thought they were all gone.
"Methinks there may be more to this goblin than meets the eye." The dwarf righted Brunga as his companion approached.
Sir Didymus examined the goblin. "What is thy business in the dwarven realm?" he demanded of the goblin. Brunga saw other dwarves creep out of the shadows toward them.
"Her Majesty sent me," he blurted. "No oubliette, please, oh please."
"Majesty?" Hoggle asked suspiciously. "What majesty is that?"
"Her," said Brunga desperately. "The Fairy Queen. Sarah. She told me to follow the fairies here and find a knight, a dwarf and a monster."
Sir Didymus looked sad.
"Thou hast completed part of thy mission, goblin," he said. "But not all. My brother Sir Ludo hath passed beyond the shadows." He doffed his cap and looked down.
"Wha?" the goblin asked.
"He means the monster died," Hoggle explained.
"His kind is as short of life as they are noble of heart," the fox sighed.
Brunga shook his head. This was getting too complicated for him.
Sarah's old comrades and Brunga crept through a thorny stretch of maze, accompanied by several dwarves who had elected to come with Hoggle, who had gained standing among his brethren for his stand against the Goblin King during his adventures with Sarah.
All had been reluctant to accept Brunga's claim that their comrade had been the Fairy Queen in some sort of disguise.
"It was her all right," the goblin told Hoggle. I knew it as soon as she spotted me in her brother's bed."
"Then why didst thou not see her for a queen when thou didst pose as her brother?" Sir Didymus asked. "Surely thy sight didst not become more keen overnight. Perhaps thou sawest something else in the fair maid's noble spirit-"
"Nah, it's her," the goblin said. "It was just like when his high kingness sent me to her room to steal the-" Brunga belately cut himself off.
"Right," said Hoggle, "Speaking of that bastard, let's get out of here before he-"
The dwarf gasped as briars closed in their path. One of the other dwarves snatched him back just before the thorns snagged him. Ambrosius whimpered.
The group put their backs to one another, looking for a way out. There was none.
The briars tightened.
Hoggle stumbled against Sir Didymus's steed and fell.
"Hey," he said, pushing at catch in the stone. "Get off the door."
"Wha?" asked Brunga, trying to evade the thorns.
Hoggle pushed the door aside. "Suit yerself." Brunga fell in, quickly followed by the others.