Chapter Eleven: Jareth Waning

It was a moment before Jareth realized the shadow lizards were gone. It was another moment before he heard her icily beautiful laughter. The Goblin King raised his eyes to the standing form of the Lady of Night.

"I would have loved to watch you suffer more," she admitted, "but your stupid wench started screaming so loud I couldn't stand it."

"Sarah!" Jareth started to get up, but his legs collapsed beneath him and he crashed to the hard stones. His ears felt filled with cotton as he examined the state of his clothes, torn and ripped everywhere, his legs and arms and stomach bleeding. The pain reached out to him as if through a cloud. He steeled himself against the protest of his body and stood. It took every ounce of strength he had left to stumble over to her and wrap his arms around her cold body. "Sarah," he whispered, "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you." Her tears coursed down her cheeks and dampened his neck.

"Ah," the Lady of Night sighed, "so you are capable of love. I always did wonder."

Jareth turned to glare at her. "What do you want?"

The Lady of Night smiled. "The same thing I've always wanted." She plopped herself into his golden throne. "You know," she added thoughtfully, "I was thinking of letting you rule beside me, but, now I can see that your heart is clearly spoken for." She frowned and sighed. "Such a pity."

A small gurgle drifted into the room from beyond the doorway. The Lady of Night's expression changed in a snap. Her eyes wide with awe, her neck turned to face the doorway.

"No!" Jareth shouted, not daring to move lest he fall again.

Another little sound and the Lady of Night stood and went into the hall, following the noise until she came to a small, dark room where a goblin woman dozed near a baby crib. Her lips parted in wonder when she looked inside the crib and found the infant.

"Hello, you," she cooed gently, lifting the baby from his bed. "You're so beautiful." She stroked his golden locks of hair and stared into his blue-gray eyes.

***

Jeremy followed Sir Didymus silently in the forest, thinking of Brian and Sarah and of how his meeting with the Goblin King would go. It's only Jareth, he told himself. This is Sarah's fiancé. He's family. He'll have to give Brian back to me. But if family really mattered to him, would he have even taken Brian in the first place? Jeremy scowled at that thought and tripped over the suddenly still forms of Sir Didymus and Ambrosius.
With a whump, he landed face-down in the middle of a small clearing, where a small group of large red creatures with chicken-like legs were sitting in a circle, staring at each other.

"What's that?" One creature asked in a slightly interested tone.

"Looks like a man." Another one answered with a bored yawn.

"Oh, um, sorry about that!" Jeremy picked himself up and brushed himself off. "Didn't mean to interrupt anything. "He smiled awkwardly and stepped out of their circle, toward the opposite end of the clearing.

"No worries." A red creature sighed.

"Yeah," another one added glumly, "no nothing."

"My word!" Sir Didymus exclaimed as he caught up with Jeremy and continued leading the way through the trees. "Something is terribly wrong!"

"What makes you say that?" Jeremy asked, looking around as if something were about to jump out at them.

"Well, look at the trees!" The fox waved his hand over his head. "The leaves are dying and there are no seasons here. The Goblin King's power is significantly weakened."

"How do you know that's what it is?" A paper-dry leaf fell of a branch and drifted past Jeremy's nose.

"His power," Sir Didymus answered with a bark, "gives life and magic to the Labyrinth." He barked again, then growled. "If his power is weakened or destroyed, then the Labyrinth," he growled again, "will revert back to its original," he barked twice, "state." Suddenly, the fox leaped off the dog's back, landing on all fours and growling viciously at Ambrosius.

"Sir Didymus!" Jeremy yelped, "what are you doing?"

Ambrosius barked at the fox and chased it off into the trees.

Jeremy watched them go, not entirely sure they were aware of what they were doing. He looked up through the thinning leaves and saw the castle looming ever closer. I have to save Brian. Jeremy thought as he continued his march through the forest.