Chapter Six: A Secret and a Beginning

Sarah looked around her room, wondering what to do now that she was alone. She was reluctant to leave it again, fearing that Jareth may become angry and punish her. A while ago, that thought would have seemed ludicrous to her, but after seeing the scars on Faydra's back earlier, anything could be possible. The bouquet she picked whilst outside had been placed in a vase she had wished up and added some much needed color to the room. It occurred to her that she could wish for more flowers, but then it wouldn't be as nice as picking them herself. She stood on her balcony for quite some time, simply staring out to the lands beyond the Labyrinth and wondering what the other kingdoms out there were like. Were they ruled by solitary, brooding kings like Jareth, by lonely queens, or happy couples? Sarah resigned herself to a long wait before she knew.

As she leaned heavily against the balcony railing, Sarah noticed that everything outside was still and subdued; the only sign of movement and sound at all in the Labyrinth were little birds twittering about, and a couple of faeries hovering about the vines that grew up the castle walls. She watched silently as a small bird with maroon feathers and black beak flew in and settled on the balcony railing. It looked at her, squawked, then to her disgust it snatched a tiny faerie, which had also flown close to Sarah, out of the air and ate it. It made a light twittering noise as if in enjoyment before it flew off. Nothing of interest happened after that, and Sarah grew bored quickly, deciding to just read a book. Selecting a thin one from her bookcase, she settled onto her bed. Almost an hour later, she was so immersed in her reading, Sarah didn't even notice the door open.

"How has your morning been?" Jareth approached the side of her bed, dressed more fully now then he had been earlier, and looking a little pale. He was staring at her again, studying her like she was an insect under a microscope. She hoped it was nothing more than the fact he had never seen her wearing something so revealing before. Sarah looked at him for only a few seconds before she shut her book, placing it under her pillow, and got off the bed from the other side. Faydra was waiting in the doorway holding a tray with Sarah's lunch on it.

"Thanks Faydra, you can put it on the table." Faydra did as she was told, bowed a bit shakily to Jareth, and left without saying a word. Sarah moved to the table to examine what she was supposed to eat, frowning when she saw yet again another peach. She stared at it for a second and smiled when it turned into an apple, just as she wanted. She looked up to see that Jareth was gazing angrily at Sarah's bouquet of flowers that she had placed on the desk, but when he turned back to her, his expression was stoic.

"How has your morning been?" Jareth repeated the question as if Sarah did not just completely ignore him the first time. He clasped his hands behind his back and took a few steps closer to her. Sarah bit into her apple, taking her time in chewing and swallowing before acknowledging Jareth's question.

"It's been interesting, I suppose. Learned a few things…but mostly it's caused me to have a lot more questions now than I did when this ridiculous situation began." She shot an angry look towards the man standing to her left. He wasn't looking at her anymore though, he was looking at the floor and she wondered if he was making a point in not looking at her, or if he really was that uncomfortable in her presence at that moment. She felt a little bothered at his contrasting behavior and appearance from that morning. But she didn't want to risk asking him. "Did you want something other than to ask how my day has been?"

"Oh. Yes." His hands moved to his hips and he turned away, walking slowly towards the door. "I'm sure Hoggle told you about my one condition."

"Yes." Sarah took a step closer to him, her voice rising. "And I hardly see why you would…"

"That doesn't matter," he snapped harshly over his shoulder. "What matters right now is what day you have chosen."

"Today is Friday right?"

"If you wish to recognize days in this world the way you do in yours, then yes, I suppose it would be Friday." He placed his hand on the doorknob, ready to leave as soon as she gave her answer.

"Sundays then. The day after tomorrow." She took another bite out of her apple and Jareth glanced at her.

"Very well. I'll leave the door unlocked from now on, but I ask that you don't go beyond the Goblin city without supervision." Sarah nearly choked on her bite of apple.

"You mean…you're actually going to let me wander wherever I please?"

"Yes. Within reason. Is there a problem with that?"

"No of course not! It's just not the sort of thing one expects while being held captive."

"I can assure you Sarah, you are not being held 'captive'," he said. "But it can be arranged, if you wish." Sarah made a face at him and took another bite out of her apple. Jareth flashed her an amused smile and left.

Sarah waited until she was done eating her lunch before throwing the door open unceremoniously and looking both ways down the hallway. The walls were made of the same glowing stone that her room was and there were no windows to be seen. She stepped out, leaving the door open. First she peered left, then right, and stood thinking, wondering which way to go first. Suddenly a tiny little goblin with an oversized shirt came scurrying up from the left, carrying a strange, grubby looking little package in front of him. He ran right into her foot.

"Oh, excuse me!" The goblin looked up and gasped. "Oh I'm so sorry Lady Sarah! Please forgive me!" Sarah gaped when he threw the package aside and started kissing her shoe.

"Please don't do that," she sighed, leaning down and picking him up. He was so tiny that he fit in the palm of her hand. "Now, can you tell me what's in each direction?"

"Oh, of course Lady Sarah! The left goes down the tower into the main hall, where there are three hallways. One hallway is for the servants that leads to the kitchens and the laundry and whatnot, the walls down that one are painted blue, so everyone knows its servants only down there. The second hallway leads to the throne room and the castle gates, and the third hallway leads to His Majesty's private gardens." Sarah nodded, noting to check out those 'private gardens' soon. "Now to the right…that leads to another guest room as well as His Majesty's rooms at the top of the tower. There are many other rooms and passages throughout the castle, but they aren't of much importance anymore and most have been sealed off. However there is a secret passage….Here, I'll show you!" The little goblin jumped down from Sarah's hands and scampered along to the right

Sarah followed him until they reached the second guest room. She peered around the curving hallway to see that it ended in an ornately carved door. Right in the middle of it was a replica of the pendant that Jareth always wore. Sarah looked down at the little goblin who was staring at the wall near the guest room door and scratching his chin

"Ah ha! Here it is." He tapped on a brick that didn't seem to glow like the others. Suddenly bricks between the guest room and Jareth's room gave way to reveal a dark tunnel with a single torch hanging near the entrance.

"What the hell was that?!" The little goblin laughed as Sarah cautiously stuck her head inside but was unable to see anything.

"This passage leads to a very special place. It goes straight underground. But I don't want to spoil it for you. I'd recommend going at night and also to wear something that would keep you warm."

"If it goes straight down," Sarah said, as she stepped a little farther into the tunnel, still unable to see anything, "that means that it's a straight drop…but that's impossible…" The little goblin pulled the hem of Sarah's dress to get her out of the tunnel before he tapped the non-glowing brick again and the wall closed up.

"Thanks…uh…" Sarah had to tear her mind away from the thought of a freefall through a pitch black tunnel before she could think properly. "What's your name?"

"Oh! The Lady wishes to know my name!" The goblin clasped his hands together and sighed like it was the greatest thing that ever happened to him. "It's Rodney, my Lady." The goblin bowed proudly to Sarah before grabbing his discarded package from earlier and running up to Jareth's door. Sarah watched as he knocked on it, flashing a big grin back to Sarah. The door seemed to swing open without the aid of a person behind it, and Rodney ran inside. Sarah made a mental note of the non-glowing brick and decided to wait until she knew more before returning.

As she descended the spiraling tower, another goblin, this one much larger and carrying another sad looking package, passed her and then immediately began begging for forgiveness when he accidentally stepped on the train of her dress. She told him it was alright and he quickly continued on his way up the stairs. Nearly the same exact thing happened several times on her exploration of the castle. On top of all the bowing and every goblin and servant referring to her as "Lady Sarah", it seemed like every single goblin she encountered was carrying a package of some sort. Some were large, some small. Some were horribly wrapped in plain brown paper, and others were ornately decorated with bows and frills and shiny things. Sarah had tried asking a few of the women she found cleaning the throne room what was up with the packages, but all they could say was that His Majesty Jareth had forbade them to speak of it to anyone, especially her. It left Sarah wondering if it had anything to do with the way Jareth had treated her earlier.

It was late in the evening, the sun had set and it was raining outside. Both her parents were working until midnight and Rose had sought refuge from Daisy's sugar-induced playing and gallivanting throughout the house on her back porch, reading her book under cover of the awning and by the light that emanated from inside the house. She was close to the end; it was only two chapters away. At the current point she was at, the Goblin King had forced one of his minions to poison the young princess, who fell into a deep sleep in a forest, only to awaken to find herself in a ball room. Rose gazed ahead to the next page and immediately noticed the word 'kiss', and as much as she wanted to skip ahead, she went back to her spot. However, before she could start reading again, her sister Daisy burst outside and yelled that Meerkat Manor was on television and demanded Rose to come in and watch it with her. Rose glanced angrily at Daisy, who only poked her tongue out and told her to come inside again. With an annoyed roll of her eyes, Rose went inside and threw her book into her room before settling on the couch with Daisy to watch one of their favorite shows.

A few hours later, Daisy was asleep and Rose was clearing up the living room of all the various things Daisy had left sitting about. A few times Rose cursed under her breath upon finding objects that she had told Daisy to take care of earlier in the day. She bent down to pick up an overturned Lego bucket and had to hold back a shout of anger when she saw her book lying there, wet and stained with what appeared to be milk. She cursed a few times and wondered how Daisy could have gotten her hands on the book and then spilled milk on it without Rose noticing. Holding it by the back cover, Rose carried the book into the kitchen and dropped it into the sink. She grabbed a dishcloth and started wiping and dabbing at the pages.

"I wish the goblins would come take her away. Then I wouldn't have to clean up after her anymore." Rose sighed and grimaced at the state of her book. "It'd be nice if goblins really did exist…" Rose gave up and wrapped the book in a towel to dry overnight. Sleepily she trudged into her room, changed into her pajamas, and dropped into bed. Eyes closed, she rolled over expecting there to be a body in her way, but there was nothing. She had rolled all the way over the other side of the bed and her little sister's sleeping form wasn't there. Rose snapped her eyes open and looked around. Daisy wasn't in the room. Her feet almost skidded across the floor as she rushed to search the house. But Daisy was gone.

"Okay, calm down, maybe she's just being stupid and hiding somewhere." Rose returned to her room and at on her bed, holding her head in her hands and thinking about the places in the house small enough for Daisy to hide in. She got a few ideas into her head, and made to get up to go look in those places. When she stood, however, there was a chest in front of her. She looked up and gasped at the man with wild blond hair and eyes that didn't match. He smiled at her and Rose startled, falling back onto the bed. She stared blankly at him until she saw the emblem on his clothing. It resembled a little doodle she found on one of the pages of the book.

"You him aren't you? The Goblin King?" He nodded, still smiling. "Where's Daisy?"

"You know very well where she is," he stated simply, hands on his hips and cape fluttering lightly around his legs.

"Please, bring her back, I didn't really mean it…"

"Oh you didn't?"

"I didn't! It was a passing remark… oh! This is impossible. It's just a book!" Rose clutched her head in confusion and closed her eyes tightly. At the mention of the book, Jareth's smile faded and his eyes glowed with anger. "Please bring her back! She must be terrified…" Rose's expression turned pleading and Jareth's anger lessened at the sight of tears welling in her eyes.

"Your sister is in my castle at the center of my Labyrinth." He turned and pointed out the bedroom window, and Rose peered around him to see a foreign landscape outside. It was curious and tempting and Rose couldn't help but stand up and move to Jareth's side to look out the window. She turned around to make sure she was still home, but behind her was now more of the same of what was in front of her. A tree was next to her, the bark and leaves glittered beneath the moonlight and oddly, there was a clock with thirteen numbers on it hanging from one of the branches.

"You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth," Jareth began, pointing at the clock, "and make it to my castle to reclaim your sister. If you fail, your sister will become one of us forever. The memories of her will be wiped from the minds of those who knew her, and the book you possess will be given back to its rightful owner." Rose didn't hear anything after the first sentence, she was too busy gaping at the expanse of the Labyrinth and how different it was from the description in the book. The book said the place felt dead, but what was in front of her now was fully alive and green and perhaps the most beautiful sight Rose had ever seen, especially in the light of a full moon. When she turned back to where Jareth had been standing, he was already gone. Rose wiped away her tears and shook off her shock of the situation and made her way down the hill toward the Labyrinth gate that stood open, almost as if it was waiting for her.