Chapter Nine: The Lady of Night

Sarah landed on something that felt like a velvet sheet that wrapped itself around her and fell with her the last two feet to the hard ground. For a moment, she was very still, just breathing, concentrating on not crying. Then she sat up and pulled at the sheet until she was able to yank her head free.

"Where am I?" The Goblin Queen asked aloud to the emptiness around her. She saw no difference when she shut her eyes than when she opened them. Have I gone blind?

A woman's trilling laughter shocked Sarah to her feet.

"Who's there?" The Goblin Queen demanded of the darkness.

The shadows above her shifted and Sarah looked up and saw the moon shining down through a deep hole in the ground. A dim white light spread out around, but did not touch any walls or corners. A woman stood before her, wearing a black velvet dress with long sleeves and a low V-neck that came only to her knees, and tall black high-heeled boots that laced all the way up. Her hair was blacker than night and curled erratically around her pale face. Her eyes were so dark, Sarah was sure the irises must have been black. The woman was even wearing black lipstick.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked the woman, forcing herself not to tremble.

The woman smiled and approached the Goblin Queen, her shoes making no sound against the dark floor. "I don't have a name." Her voice was hauntingly melodic. "But the goblins liked to call me the Lady of Night."

"What are you doing here?" The Goblin Queen put on an air of confidence and authority.

The Lady of Night laughed with a sound like little cold iron bells. "I do believe that I should be the one asking you what you are doing here." She began to walk around Sarah, slowly coming closer with every step. "This is my realm, Sarah."

"How do you know my name?" Her neck twisted to keep the Lady of Night in her line of vision as she walked behind her.

"I know a great deal about you," the woman answered with a sneer, "your majesty." Her mocking smile touched something deep within Sarah's heart. "I know that you were born human, like Jareth, and that you wished yourself to the Labyrinth for ever."

"How do you know that?" Sarah could hear the confidence draining out of her own voice.

"I am the Lady of Night, my dear." The woman answered, standing directly in front her once again, only a few inches away. "I have my own power, just as Jareth has his."

"What is your power?" Sarah asked quietly, looking up at the taller woman.

"Shadows," the Lady of Night hissed, "darkness. The power to block out all light, and swath all things in black. My strength knows no bounds, and I obey no rules."

Sarah's eyes widened. "You don't have to follow any rules?"

"No." the Lady of Night answered with a sudden brightness. "It's really quite nice."

"Then why have I never met you until now?" The Goblin Queen questioned.

The Lady of Night silently glared down at Sarah for a moment. "How well do you think you know your Jareth, my dear?" Her voice was low, menacing.

"We're engaged." Sarah answered immediately.

The Lady of Night laughed her ice-cold bell-like laugh. "Let me tell you something about your precious Goblin King. He was not the first being of power to live here, in the Labyrinth. In fact, he wasn't even born with power. He had to steal it from the Labyrinth."

"What do you mean, 'steal'?" Sarah asked, taking half a step back.

"I mean that he took what was not meant for him!" The Lady of Night growled vehemently. "I should have gotten the power of the Labyrinth, Sarah. It was always meant for me!" She calmed herself a little before going on, "I was born from the shadows, already infused with their power. Jareth was just a human boy, living among the goblins. He knows nothing of true power. True power has no limitations, no rules, no endings, no beginnings. It lives and breathes and courses through you. Here," the Lady of Night put a hand on Sarah's shoulder, "let me show you."

***

Jareth was walking into deeper and deeper shadows, leaving all light behind him, following whatever trail there was. He marched forward, focused only on finding the one who had escaped, until he realized how much the ground was shaking. The Goblin King stopped walking, looked ahead of him, and then turned and looked behind. Several yards away, the ground seemed to crawl. In the dim light, it was hard to be sure, but it look as though it might be a sea of small creatures all thundering toward him.

The Goblin King watched as one of the creatures leaped into the air, a small dark lizard-like shape with a mouth full of dark, shining teeth. It snapped its jaw when it reached the peak of its jump and then fell back into the crowd.

Jareth turned and ran into the darkness.

***

The sky was filling up with heavy gray clouds, but the world was growing steadily lighter. Jeremy had found the end of the hedge maze an hour before dawn, and had stumbled on into a forest as the sun rose behind the clouds. Every now and then, through the trees, he would catch a glimpse of the castle's towers, rising high above the goblin city, and he would press on with more energy than he'd ever thought was in him.

At length, he came to an open area where a few bushes grew and bore bright orange berries. Starving, but cautious, Jeremy picked one and looked it over, trying to decide what kind of berry it was and if it was safe to eat.