Author's note: Standard disclaimer still applies. Thank you to anyone who reads this, and an especially big 'thank you' to those who have reviewed, you've no idea how happy your reviews make me. Any new reviewers and reviews will be greatly appreciated!
Sarah turned right onto the second corridor from her room. She'd tried to memorize the directions Mrs. Chartha had given her to find Jareth. She'd told Sarah, in a clipped voice, that, "'Is Majesty's meeting with the dwarves in the great 'all." At Sarah's confused look, she'd added, "You go right, two corridors down, up the left'and stairs, past the scullery, left after the fif' door…" She'd continued speaking as she left the room, Sarah's tray perched precariously on her head. Sarah'd struggled to hear the rest, but by the time Mrs. Chartha had finished, she'd been too far away. So, Sarah decided she'd follow the directions as best she could and wing it after that. After all, she told herself, the castle was surrounded by a Labyrinth and not one itself.
Thirty minutes later, Sarah rescinded her prior thought: the castle was a Labyrinth. That's the second time I've passed that funny little goblin statue, thought Sarah. Looking around, she selected a random door and, finding it unlocked, quickly passed through it. Right into a broom closet. She backed out of the closet, opened the next door and found herself at the top of a flight of stairs. Down she went, following the curve of the stone steps until she emerged into Jareth's empty throne room. Sarah sighed with relief. From here she'd have a much better chance of finding her way to the great hall. Hadn't Hoggle walked her there yesterday?
Emboldened by the familiar path, Sarah quickened her steps until she stepped into the noisy and active great hall, or Foyer-ville, as she decided to call it. It was as busy as before, and she scanned the hall for Jareth. She found him at a tented-home beside the smithy. He was kneeling down, deep in conversation with a bonneted dwarf-woman. Sarah caught a few words of their conversation.
"…And how long has he been like this?" Jareth peered into the tent, concern written plainly on his features.
"Ever since he got back. He's been on the bottle while his brother, Duggle over there, has to work the forge alone." Her last statement was spoken with a pointed emphasis towards the tent, as if this woman was indirectly chastising whoever was inside.
"I see," said Jareth. He stood for a moment, one arm across his chest and a hand at his mouth in a gesture of thoughtfulness, and then, his mind made up, he knelt back down and entered the tent.
Sarah listened to the muffled voices coming from inside the tent while racking her brains trying to recall where she'd heard that name before. It wasn't a normal name, not in the Aboveground at least. Perhaps from a book? Yes – that parchment she'd read over last night. Duggle was the brother of one of the dwarves that had disappeared into the darkness. He'd been part of the search party, with Jareth and another dwarf…Daggle? Interesting name. That was who must be in the tent now, and the dwarf-woman waiting outside the tent flaps, her hands worrying the hem of her apron, must be Daggle's wife.
Before she could appreciate the terrible loss this family of dwarves had recently experienced, Jareth emerged from the tent, and behind him, a tottering, bleary-eyed dwarf. Jareth was speaking.
"Mariah, if you would just escort your husband over to the apothecary, I think he's in need of one of Mr. Bisby's elixirs. After that, I'm sure Daggle will feel up to returning to work."
Mariah nodded her thanks, draped her husband's arm over her shoulder and together, they staggered away. Jareth raised his hand in salute to Duggle working on the bellows, and then stood in silence. His expression was brooding and dark; his stance stiff and unapproachable.
Sarah turned away before he could see how she'd been eavesdropping on him. She walked back the way she came, between two booths selling baked goods and dried meats. By the time she joined the traffic on the main thoroughfare, Jareth had composed himself. When his eyes alighted upon Sarah, he approached her. As he did, Sarah couldn't help but notice the way his jacket fit his body perfectly. His tights too.
"Good morning, Sarah. Did you find your way here without difficulty?" The tone was the same bright one he'd used in his greeting last night, and his smile was an impenetrable mask. Sarah was beginning to understand how tight a reign he kept on his emotions.
"Yes," Sarah lied.
"Excellent. I should be finished here in a few moments, so perhaps you'd like to wait outside. I think you'll find three familiar faces waiting for you." As Sarah caught his meaning, her excitement must have shown because Jareth's face relaxed into a genuine smile. "I'm sure you don't want to keep your friends waiting."
Sarah turned to go, but turned back just as quickly to ask, "You'll join us shortly?"
Her question caught Jareth off guard. He was at a loss for words, and all he could manage was a nod. It seemed to suffice as Sarah turned again and pushed through the large wooden doors. Jareth watched her go, his eyes taking in her every step until she was swallowed by the dull morning light outside. Shaking his head as if that could dislodge his thoughts, Jareth returned to his duties. He was due at the tanners', located far away from everyone else due to the inherent stench of the trade.
Sarah chose to go right when she stepped out into the grey morning. She scanned the nearly-empty streets for any sign of her friends. Given Ludo's giant size, they should have been easy to spot. As it was, Sarah heard them long before she saw them.
"..I say, brother, I'm quite ready for another adventure. These months of peace and tranquility have weighed most heavily on me. It will be a relief to face danger, to draw on courage and nobility, to chase down blackguards and villains with the strength of knighted steel…"
"Ludo … ready."
"Pipe down you lot. Jareth said to wait here; she'll be out soon."
"Our liege was very specific in his requests. What do you suppose he's got planned for us, eh? A bit of reconnaissance? Intrigue? Mortal peril?"
"Don't get your hopes up. It's going to be just like he said. We're to go with them into Labyrinth and nose around. See what happens."
"Nose around, you say? Just our luck then that I am well prized for my olfactory prowess! But, brother Hoggle, King Jareth surely must have imparted more instructions than that? As I recall, your discourse was rather lengthy. His majesty seemed almost angry with you"
"That's none of yer business so you keep yer nose out of it."
"Sar-wah! Sar-wah…friend!" Ludo had finally seen Sarah standing behind them, and he lumbered over quickly to hug her.
"Ludo! Oh, I've missed you!" Sarah returned his hug with fervor, and then turned to Sir Didymus.
"My lady, it gives me great pleasure to see thee again. I-"
Whatever Sir Didymus was about to say was lost in the quick embrace Sarah gave him. Before Hoggle could add anything, she'd hugged him too. "It's so wonderful to see all of you again!" And it was. While Sarah'd spoken with Hoggle several times over the years, she'd not seen Ludo or Sir Didymus since the night she brought Toby home. They both looked the same, Ludo with his reddish-orange, shaggy fur and innocent eyes and Sir Didymus, clad as the classic Arthurian knight atop his white steed Ambrosius. At least her friends seemed unchanged by the darkness spreading through the Labyrinth, both literally and otherwise.
When the joy of their reunion faded a bit, Sarah noticed how gloomy the day was. The entire city seemed to be lacking in luster, vitality, and life. As if she could brighten their surroundings, Sarah's tone was carefully light as she asked, "So, we're to 'nose around a bit'?"
"You heard that, did you?" Hoggle asked.
Sarah nodded. "I couldn't resist eavesdropping. By the way, why was Jareth angry with you?" Sarah was simply teasing him, trying to pass the time with a good-natured jest. She never expected him to answer, not honestly at least.
"Oh that? He told me off for leavin' you to those kids, like you couldn't take care of yourself." He made an inarticulate noise after his revelation, almost a "bleh," but not quite, its purpose to indicate incredulity or something like.
Sarah didn't have anything to add; she felt 'bleh' adequately covered the matter. To cover her disquiet, she looked around the city again. Down the empty street to her right, down the empty street behind Sir Didymus. Before she could look down another empty street, she felt a faint difference in the air, a slight reordering of things, and turned back to her right: Jareth was there.
As he walked forward, Sarah noticed that he had a modest bag strapped to his back via one strap running diagonally across his chest. All he needed was a helmet, and he could have passed for a biker. Whether or not he could actually fit his hair into a helmet was immaterial to Sarah's pondering. A stray thought about how he could wear boots with stiletto heels and still look deliciously masculine passed briefly through her mind.
Jareth stopped when he was directly in front of them. He gave Sarah a slight nod in greeting and then said, "Shall we get on with it?"
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A few hours later, Jareth mused about their current situation. What a strange party we make, he thought. The last time these four were together, their sole purpose was to outsmart and defeat me. And they did. But now here we are, all on the same side. What fun would life be without its little ironies?
The five of them had fallen into a regular formation when they entered the Labyrinth: Jareth and Sir Didymus led the way, followed by Hoggle and Sarah, and Ludo brought up the rear. For the most part they were silent, keeping their eyes and ears trained on their surroundings, prepared for whatever may come. Sir Didymus occasionally supplied a running commentary filled with references to enemies he'd vanquished and his hopes for a perilous adventure. Hoggle grumbled now and then. Sarah, Jareth noted, remained completely silent. He'd resisted the urge to walk beside her, and he was constantly fighting the desire to look back at her. It would be so easy, he thought. Just a casual turn of his head, a glance over his right shoulder, but he wouldn't let himself.
Sarah examined the cracked ground at her feet. All around was disrepair and neglect. The stone walls were covered in dead vines and drooping fungi. Through the gloom, she could see how it stretched on endlessly. Miles and miles of nothing but disorder and ruin. Ever since she'd set foot in the Labyrinth this morning, she'd felt an overwhelming depression settle on her shoulders. The feelings of sorrow, dejection, wretchedness, abandonment – together they constricted her throat and made speech impossible. The utter despondency she felt now was such that her loneliness of the night before paled in comparison. As she'd done last night, Sarah thought of her family. What were they doing right now? Did they miss her? Did they know what she was doing? Did they care? Would Toby care when he came home from school and she wasn't there to help him with his English homework? Would Karen care when Sarah wasn't there to help with dinner? Would her father miss her when he came home from work and needed to relax? Sarah wished she could see her family, that she could reassure herself with their familiar faces and routines. Perhaps that might dissipate the sadness she felt.
Ludo interrupted the silence with, "Ludo…see." What he saw was anyone's guess, but he raised one gargantuan arm and pointed to a stationary pool of water some meters to their right.
Hoggle was quick to dismiss Ludo's concerns, telling him to "Quiet down! It was probably yer own reflection."
Jareth held out a hand to silence Hoggle. "I saw it too, and it wasn't his reflection." He approached the pool, motioning for the others to stay behind him. Sarah followed closely on his heels, quietly shushing Sir Didymus. They reached the border of the pool and stared into its murky waters. Nothing. Not even a ripple.
Her voice a whisper, Sarah asked, "What did you see, Jareth?"
"I don't know. A shifting of light over the surface, a hint of movement. I can't be sure what it was, but it's gone now." Jareth stepped back from the pool and looked towards the sky. The sun, from its cloud-covered position, was just past its zenith. "Let's rest for a bit, partake of some lunch, and then head back to the city."
"Retreat?! So early? So untried? Never! We must press on! We must endure! We must-"
Jareth silenced the zealous knight with a look. "It's past midday. I'd rather not be caught in the Labyrinth after dark, if it's all the same to you, Sir Didymus."
The chastised-knight recovered himself quickly, making a quest out of finding Sarah a suitable seat. After much deliberation, he finally took off his cloak and spread it on the ground near Ludo, and gestured for Sarah to sit. Jareth unstrapped the bag from his back and was preparing to unveil its contents when he noticed that Sarah hadn't moved. She was standing at the edge of the pool, her eyes directed at the surface but her gaze far beyond. He stood beside her and called her name quietly. Standing so close to her, Jareth noted with concern the pallor of her skin. He called her name again, louder this time, and touched her shoulder. That did the trick; her eyes lost their dazed look and she turned her head to look at him.
Jareth asked quietly, "Are you well?"
Sarah nodded, "I'm fine." She caught Sir Didymus's increasingly erratic motions out of the corner of her eye and hurried to oblige him.
Jareth let her go but resolved to keep an eye on her, purely for her sake, he lied to himself. To keep himself from dwelling on Sarah, Jareth returned to his pack, drawing out two loaves of bread, a wheel of cheese wrapped in parchment, and several apples. He tossed the first loaf of bread to Ludo, and then used a spare knife to slice the remaining loaf and the cheese. Jareth handed everyone a slice of each, along with an apple. Sarah set the bread and cheese aside and contemplated her apple. Its green skin, with just a faint blush of rosy pink, promised a much different taste than the last fruit she'd eaten in the Labyrinth. Pushing that thought aside, she bit into her apple, letting the tart taste distract her from the dolor crushing down on her.
She didn't know why she felt so out-of-herself, so abstracted. If Jareth hadn't gotten her attention, she might have stared at that pool for hours, unaware of the passage of time. What was wrong with her? First the inexplicable depression and now this absent-mindedness? Jareth must have sensed that something wasn't right, but she'd be damned if she gave him something else to worry about. She was fine; she could deal with this. Sarah took another bite of her apple, savoring its flavor. A trickle of juice ran down her chin and she raised her hand to wipe it away. As she did, she looked at Jareth. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his back ramrod-straight as always. Even out here, he managed to look dignified. Sarah watched as he took a bite of his apple. He mirrored her action of before, raising a black-gloved hand to wipe away a wayward trace of juice. Dignified, yes, Sarah thought, but never before had he looked so human.
Hoggle had finished his bread and cheese, and had eaten his apple down to the pips. Shrugging his shoulders, he popped that into his mouth too, chewing contentedly. Sir Didymus raised his slice of cheese to his nose as if he could discern the region of origin by scent. Given the fact that he couldn't smell anything in the Bog of Eternal Stench, Sarah rather doubted he'd have much luck with the cheese. Ambrosius was chewing on what looked like a strip of dried meat while Ludo finished his loaf, smacking his jaws in obvious thirst. Sarah wondered if the water in the dirty pool would be safe for consumption, but decided in the negative. Another option presented itself when Jareth pulled a full waterskin out of his bag, and tossed it to Hoggle. When everyone had had a sip, Ludo was allowed to finish it.
Jareth wrapped up the remnants of their picnic and stowed it away in his pack, which he slung over his shoulder as he stood. The rest of them followed suit, readying themselves for the trek back. Sarah stretched, reveling in the activity and the brief moment of clarity it brought. After her lunch and some rest, she didn't feel nearly as bad as before.
An hour later, she took it back: she felt worse. Sarah no longer bothered with searching for the source of the despair she felt; it was hard enough to suffer through it while resolutely putting one foot in front of the other. She saw Jareth send her a quick glance over his shoulder, and kept her face neutral. Why should he have to worry about her? He had enough on his plate. Because of her. It was a wonder he could bear to be near her. She was the source of his woes. The creatures that had disappeared into the darkness – her fault. All those dwarf villages crammed uncomfortably into Jareth's foyer – her fault. Daggle the dwarf's grief that had turned him from his wife and brother – her fault. The guilt she felt was compounded by her inability to think of anything she could do to fix it. Why had Jareth asked her to come? He didn't know what to do. He couldn't tell her how to help. All he could say was that she had done this. It was all her fault. And now he was parading her through the Labyrinth, inviting whatever lurked in the crumbling stone walls to look and stare their fill at the woman who had wrecked their lives. And after they got out of the Labyrinth, they'd be back in the city, back in the foyer. How could she go back? How could she face all those dwarves when she was the reason they'd had to leave their homes behind? How could she cheer up those goblin-children when she was the reason they were barred from their entertainment? Panic rose within Sarah, growing with every step she took toward the city gates.
Jareth tossed another, what he hoped was casual, look over his shoulder at Sarah. The brooding expression on her face was still there, and instead of lessening, her pallor had deepened. Just a few more minutes, he said in his mind. A few more minutes and we'll be out of the Labyrinth. The gates to the city were directly ahead; all they had to do was to keep walking. Just a few more minutes. Jareth resisted the temptation to quicken his pace, to hurry to the gates. There was no need to rush, to display his disquiet so plainly. In all his years as King, he'd never felt so unwelcome in this Labyrinth. He might have been imagining it, but every step they took towards the gates brought a thickening of the air, a gathering of potential. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end; the atmosphere was charged with power. The sky changed from grey-green to an ever-darkening blackness. The path to the gates lengthened before them. It was as if the Labyrinth didn't want them to leave and was making its desires known.
"Getting a bit dodgy, in't? Don't like the look of those clouds, to tell you the truth," Hoggle said.
"Ludo…scared." Jareth couldn't agree more.
"Quicken pace; we're almost there," Jareth bit out tersely. Everyone double-timed it, everyone that is, except for Sarah.
Why should she hurry to leave the Labyrinth? The current, foreboding atmosphere was likely to be the gentlest reception she'd ever have in the Underground. Why should she rush toward the very sign of her guilt? No, thank you. Mr. High-and mighty-Goblin-King couldn't tell her what to do; he didn't have any power over her. The alien resentment and rebellion rose within Sarah, prompting her to curb her pace.
"Sar-wah," Ludo called. Jareth turned back to see what the matter was and saw Sarah slowing down. Ludo wouldn't go forward without her. Sir Didymus urged his steed around and was trying to get her attention. Even Hoggle had turned around. Sarah ignored their earnest attempts to get her attention. Her expression had changed from brooding to defiant, the wanness of her skin lending her a touch of the unreal.
Jareth gave the menacing sky a quick glance before he made his decision. Sarah wasn't well; something had her in its grips and they needed to get her out of here. He turned around and grabbed her arm, prepared to drag her out if need be; he would see her safe inside the city walls. The moment he touched her there was a blinding flash of lighting followed by a roar of thunder. "Sarah, move!" Jareth shouted. The skies opened up and hail pelted down at them, and still Sarah resisted. Jareth yelled at Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo, raising his voice in order to be heard over the din of the thunder, "Run! Go, get to the gates! Leave her to me!" He must have been convincing because they didn't waste any time in racing towards the city gates.
Jareth tried dragging Sarah again; she dug her heels in, refusing to take one more step out of the Labyrinth. Jareth couldn't magically whisk her out of there, not without her permission, which she seemed incapable of giving in her present state. With no alternative, Jareth transferred his grip, one arm across her back and the other under her knees, lifting her up. Her attempts to free herself were feeble, allowing him to concentrate on getting them the hell out of there. The ground trembled beneath his feet as the thunder reached deafening heights. Just a few meters ahead, the trio of friends broke through the city gates, which were swinging back and forth tauntingly. Ludo grabbed a hold of the left hand door and wrenched it off its hinges, leaving the way clear for Jareth to sprint into the city, Sarah safe in his arms.
The city was gloriously bright and quiet compared to the tempest in the Labyrinth. Wanting as much a barrier between them and that gale, Jareth charged Ludo to "Put the door back and bar it!" While Ludo did as he was told, Jareth forcefully slowed his breaths, willing his pulse to stop racing. Sarah shifted in his arms and it was with profound relief that he noted her healthy complexion and focused eyes. Jareth set Sarah on her feet and then immediately sagged against the city wall, relief making his posture slack.
Sarah's head felt so clear it was almost dizzying. A moment ago, she'd been consumed by panic, rebellion, guilt, and anger, each emotion narrowing her consciousness further and further until she'd been aware only of dim sounds and shapes. Now, she heard and saw everything with startling clarity. Ludo was barring the city gate. Hoggle was seated on a rock, panting. Sir Didymus was coaxing a trembling Ambrosius out of hiding. And then there was Jareth, resting with his back propped up on the city wall, trying to catch his breath. As she watched, he slid down the wall until he was nearly seated, his legs doubled up under him, his head back against the wall, and his eyes closed.
Sarah waited until he got his breathing under control and then she asked the question she had to ask: "Jareth, what just happened?"
Jareth opened his eyes and met her gaze head-on. His answer was frighteningly simple: "I don't know."