Chapter Three: Breaking the Rules
Sarah lifted the little boy from the arms of a large hunch-backed goblin and cuddled him and sang to him until he fell asleep, so near to sleep herself, she didn't even hear her fiancé return.
"Sarah," Jareth gently placed his hands on her shoulders, approaching her from behind.
The Goblin Queen emitted a small gasp and jumped slightly. "Oh! Jareth. I'm sorry, I think I almost put myself to sleep."
The Goblin King smiled and took the boy from her. "You should go sleep. I can take care of this."
Sarah leaned against his arm, watching the child sleep, "but I'm the Goblin Queen. I have a responsibility just as much as you do."
"It's alright, Sarah," Jareth assured her, "I did this by myself for a long time before you came along. Go get some rest. You need it."
"So do you." The Goblin Queen closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of his musky cologne.
Jareth sighed. "Then at least come and sit down." He led her to her throne and sat down beside her.
"What's his name?" She asked, resting her chin on her arm, which was laid across the side of the throne.
"Hm?" He watched her reach out her other hand and stroke the little boy's yellow hair.
"The baby," Sarah yawned. "What's his name?"
"Oh, uh, I didn't catch it this time." He reached out his own hand to brush the side of her face with his thumb. "You should sleep, Sarah. It's been a long day."
She waved his hand away. "Who's coming for him?"
"An uncle." Jareth settled deeper into his throne.
"Aren't you going to watch him?" Sarah yawned again.
"Watch who?" The Goblin King asked petulantly.
"The baby's uncle." The Goblin Queen clarified, too sleepy to be annoyed by her finance's tone.
"Oh. Well, he seems resourceful. I'm sure he'll find his way."
Sarah sat up a little straighter. "That's not like you, Jareth. You're always watching the people who come after their children."
He shrugged. "I'm tired."
"You'd never be that tired." Suddenly, the woman vanished.
Jareth sighed deeply and murmured to the boy, "she's not going to take this well at all, is she, Brian?"
Sarah returned then, staring into her own crystal. "Jareth! That looks just like Jeremy!" She stared at him and looked at the baby in his arms. "Jareth! Is that..."
"Yes, Sarah," He answered tiredly, "it is Brian. And that is Jeremy."
"Jareth!" By the tone in her voice, he knew that she was fully awake and ready to argue. "You can't just-you have to give him back! This is Brian! And Jeremy! And my mother! Jareth! How could you?"
The Goblin King rolled his eyes. "Sarah, he made the wish. The goblins took the baby. He almost didn't even believe that I am the Goblin King. It was all I could do to get him to demand the baby back."
"So give Brian back!" Sarah demanded, a little too loudly.
Brian squirmed in Jareth's arms and he stood up to rock the child. "I can't. I can't go against the wish that boldly. He has to prove himself."
"Prove himself to whom?" The Goblin Queen demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"The labyrinth." Jareth hissed.
Sarah stared at him.
The Goblin King sighed. "Our power comes from the labyrinth and is ruled by the labyrinth. When he proves himself to the labyrinth, then we will be allowed to give him back the child."
"Allowed?" Sarah gaped. "Allowed! What if I just take the baby and vanish myself to wherever he is and give him back?"
"You have no idea what that would do!" Jareth took a step back from her, holding the boy closer to his chest.
"Oh, yes I do!" She stepped toward him with her arms open. "It would send them both home and then I could get some damn sleep!"
"I told you to go to sleep as soon as I came back!" The Goblin King growled as quietly as he could.
"Because you didn't want me to know that Jeremy and Brian were the ones involved this time!" As she advanced on him, he retreated behind the thrones.
"Because I knew you would react just like this! Will you please give me a chance to explain the rules?"
"Jareth, I am tired, and this is about my family! I'm not interested in explanations! And I don't care about your stupid rules!"
"They're not my rules, Sarah! If you just take the child to him, you will weaken our power and the power of the labyrinth. It would be like breaking the law of gravity."
Sarah stopped chasing him around the thrones and forced her tired brain to function. "What?"
Jareth watched her carefully. "If you broke the law of gravity, there would be nothing left to hold the earth together. It's the same with magic. The magic starts to break down and then you don't want to see what wakes up."
The Goblin Queen pressed her fingertips against her temple. "What wakes up when you break the rules, Jareth?"
"Darkness," the Goblin King whispered, "shadows. A power that does not have rules."
"That doesn't sound half bad." Sarah admitted, swaying on her feet.
"You need to sleep, Sarah. You're exhausted. I can handle the baby."
Sarah shook her head. "No. You never give the searcher enough of a chance. There have been – what, ten? – since I came here. Only two of them have succeeded, because you wouldn't intervene."
Jareth took a very deep breath. I've become more patient than I ever thought possible, he realized, and she's still so difficult to deal with! "You know well that you were the first who succeeded when I was doing this by myself. Those statistics are through the roof, considering the track record. You know I can't intervene."
"Well, maybe I can." Sarah took her own deep breath, stowing her crystal safely into a pouch hanging from the brown belt wrapped around her waist, over the dark green dress with off-the-soulder sleeves. Then she vanished.
"Sarah," Jareth whispered as he closed his eyes, "you don't know what you've done."
